Monday 25 March 2013

Beading Beautiful Boutique

Being a fan of beautiful things I thought I'd share these lovely hand made and personalised  items by Sarah at Beading Beautiful Boutique . 


Beading Beautiful Boutique makes gorgeous, handmade personalised frames that are designed and created by the lovely Sarah.

I wanted a different colour other than blue so Sarah suggested a mix of greens with a bit of silver and gold and this is what was created. I was over the moon when I received it as it's fantastic and just what I'd imagined,the picture doesn't do it justice. I was going to save it for Alfie's first birthday but I just couldn't wait and it now has pride of place on his nursery wall. 

The frame arrived within a couple of days of ordering and was well packaged, I call that excellent service!

These would make perfect first birthday presents, new baby gifts, wedding gifts etc. Sarah is always coming up with lovely, unique ideas and will accommodate any requests where possible. 

Her frames amongst her other beaded items that she makes are so lovely I've already got my order in for a few more!

You can find her Facebook page here at Beading Beautiful Boutique or contact her on Twitter by clicking here!


Don't delay, order today!

Helen X


Sunday 24 March 2013

Busy Bee!

I've been quite slack in the last couple of weeks with blogging. I've had a baby full of cold and then my husband contracted the dreaded 'man flu', combine this with a return back to University, studying, juggling motherhood and life it really hasn't left me with much time  to myself! However, I'm starting to adapt, the real challenge will be when I return to placements and need to complete a portfolio and an exam *stress!*.

Here is a couple of recent pictures of me and my gorgeous little man who is rapidly approaching 10 months, cannot believe in a couple of months he will be 1 year old........madness.

This little bean has made some incredible developmental leaps in the last couple of months, I absolutely love watching all the new things he learns to do everyday. He can now crawl with such speed I have to really have eyes in the back of my head! He can pull himself up, confidently walk with his walker, occupy himself with toys, remote controls, my phone etc amongst other things! The best thing he has learnt to do recently though is starting to form sounds that are beginning to sound like words. He can now say Mama, well I say that it often comes out as bramma ma or bumbum.....but it's fine I can settle for being bramma!

His personality is really starting to show now, he is such a little man with a huge personality.Incredible.

He's also growing at alarming rate too he only seems to be in clothes five minutes before he's in the next size!




Alfie will be starting Nursery for 2 days a week in April, I'm confident he will be fine but I'm not looking forward to leaving him initially, I think I will be finding it more of an emotional challenge than him! He's such a happy little chappy that I'm certain he will love it.

My promise is to blog more often, it's more of a promise to myself more than anything! Its difficult to think what direction to take this blog in, something which maybe requires more thought!

For now it is bed and book time.

Helen X

Tuesday 12 March 2013

GlossyBox Review March 2013

My third Glossy Box arrived this weekend, it doesn't seem five minutes since the Valentine's box but this was a nice Mothers Day treat for me. The theme of this box is 'city chic' and the items included are supposed to enable easy transition from 'board room to bar stool'. I quite like the theme of this box, I'm all for quick beauty fixes on a day to day basis. 

                
First impressions of this box were generally positive (apart from the pathetic perfume sample!). There seemed to be a nice mix of products that I would use. 




Glossy Box Contents  (L-R):



1. Tresemme Salon Finish Extra Hold Hairspray (£4.69 for full size 500ml, received 100ml in Glossy Box)  This didn't excite me as such as I've used Tresemme products before and wouldn't call it a luxury brand, never the less I'll use it and it will be handy to pop in my handbag. I can't really add much more as it's a hairspray and does what it says on the tin!



2.  Juicy Couture 'Couture La La'  perfume sample (£63 for full size 100ml, received a sample vial) This is very disappointing item to be honest. I could get one of these vials for free by going into a large department store. The scent is OK, quite zesty, I would wear it but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. This is the worst item I've received to date. 



3. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Skin Protectant (£25.00 for 50ml, received in Glossy Box 7ml) I have read alot about this popular beauty item, there is alot of buzz about it in the beauty world so was pleased to receive it, quite a small size but I've read that it lasts for a long time. This was the fragrance free version. It's basically an intensive moisturiser that can be used on the lips, hands, cuticles, nails etc. I think the cost of a full size item is very expensive considering that I felt that the consistency is very similar to that of Lansinoh nipple cream (used when breast feeding!). On comparing the ingredients they are actually very similar but Lansinoh is a lot cheaper. It's a nice product to receive though and I'm already finding it a decent product.



4. Nails Inc Polish - St. James (£11 for full size 10ml, received 5ml in Glossy Box) Brilliant! Love Nails Inc and very happy to receive another bright red to add to my collection.  Cute size received and I'll get alot of use out of it, my favourite product of this months box.






5. Jelly Pong Pong Lip Blush (£12 for full size received) I love this item! I used to use Jelly Pong Pong items a few years ago but  never really found them to buy other than on Ebay. I got sent a nice pink shade which looks quite bright on the swatch but is a really nice pale pink colour when worn. It contains beeswax and ceresin so its really smooth to apply and I found I could build up the layers and the colour would become a bit deeper. 








The added extra included this month was a little travelling book which takes you through some of the most popular cities with advice on places to visit, where to eat and stay. There are also some stickers in the centre to use (shown in picture below) . It's a sweet added extra but I would have preferred a product personally!

Overall pleased with this months box, I guess it's hard to get it 100% right all the time, I look forward to the next box. 

Anybody get anything else? Opinions on this months box?

Helen X




Friday 1 March 2013

NOTD Ciaté Mistress


My apologies for being a bit slack in the last few days, I've been busy back at University and sorting that out. I'm back though!! 

Today's gorgeous nail of the day comes courtesy of another  Ciaté mini paint pot (5ml) in the classic red shade 'Mistress 039'.



I don't think you can ever beat a classic red shade, it screams 'I'm someone who knows what they want in life and I'm not afraid to get it'. It's one of those nail colours that just doesn't date and really goes with just about anything. I really do love Ciaté paint pots, they provide a great coverage and an epic shine, they dry really quickly too which is always a bonus!

Now to decide on my next 'nail of the day' post! Any suggestions? 

Helly's Top Tip: With it being such a fierce colour it's really important to wear a good base coat to prevent staining of the nails. 

Helen x