Cath Kidston Sales Spree

We all know I am a big fan of bargain hunting and shopping, I always like a little mooch around the sales. and just after Christmas, the first place I wanted to have a little browse was Cath Kidston. I wanted to see if there were any bargains to be had. I also wanted to see if they had a certain something that I had fallen in love with, after seeing it online. 

Father Christmas left Master Poppins a delightful pair of cosy 'London Buses' Pajamas. I love them, what good taste Father Christmas has. 

I spied something in the sale, that I thought a lovely addition to the pj's and imagined how smart my little 8 year old would look. It was the matching 'London Buses' dressing gown and it was a great sale price so made that decision a little easier that I had to have it for him. 

He loves wearing it. He also has the little matching bed socks and so looks super cosy at bedtime. 

 I couldn't leave the drawstring washbag behind could I ;)

This was the item I fell in love with online. Yes it's 'London Buses' again...(can you tell I quite like this print) 

The jacquard skirt is so comfy with the elasticated waist and fits perfectly, its a lovely length on me neither too long or short, but just on the knee. The jacquard fabric is a nice quality and it was a bargain at £15, as it was originally £40. I'd been holding out on getting this skirt for a while so I'm glad I waited and got it for such a fantastic price. 

I also tried on their 'Stop Thief' printed skirt in a very similar style.

I may have had another 'fall in love' experience and the 'Clocks' jacquard skirt as well. It has such a lovely vintage appeal, again at £15 rather than it's original £40, so I snapped it up. 

Back to the 'Stop Thief' comic style print, and although I love it, thought perhaps a little too child like for me to actually wear, but I couldn't resist these sale bargains. 

Master P loves his new Backpack.

And he has something safe to keep his pennies in.

And me too.

 Miss Poppins is fast building up her collection of cosmetics so she'll always find a use for the 'Stop Thief' cosmetic bag. 

Hmmmm, I am getting to rather like this print too. This cute barrel drawstring bag is perfect for swim days, and although doesn't have a waterproof lining, one quick air after its been used and it's back good to go. 

Whilst at the till point paying for my haul, I noticed these pretty hamper boxes behind the till, They looked so pretty, and super prices at half price.  

I purchased 3 different sizes and thought they would be perfect for storage to keep all those bits and pieces in. The teen in the house has already bagged the medium sized one for all her hair bows and accessories. 

I thought I'd better make a run for it before I spied something else I 'just had to have'. The Cath Kidston sales are super lovely, and I spent a long while just browsing before making my purchases. Everything I ended up buying was a sale purchase so I am pleased to have saved a pretty penny or two.

X

My Pretty Christmas Gifts

Hello lovelies :) 

Although I am somewhat playing catch up in blogland, I thought, if like me you enjoy nosing at other people's pretties, then you may like a 'nose' at some of the lovely gifts Santa and others left me under the Christmas tree.

We all know Christmas is not just about the presents, but they do make a lovely and welcome addition to Christmas day don't they. So without further ado here are some of the lovely, special gifts from loved ones and of course, Santa himself ;) I love them. 

I thought I'd start with a big one. 

Oh my, I just love my mum who knows me so well, and always, always picks the perfect gifts for me. On a visit to my home a while ago, she could see our fire surround had a 'half painted' look to it - (due to running out of paint) and not a good look by the way. She discreetly asked what colour I had used, and I replied Annie Sloan "Old White". Now I do love to use AS paint - though it has to be said, occasionally on some pieces of furniture it and I do not get along, but mostly we do. However it is in my opinion quite pricey, especially for a thrifty person like myself who likes to spend her pennies in the wisest, thriftiest way possible. I was more inclined to live with a half painted fire surround and work myself up to going on a little Annie Sloan spree some time soon and after I'd saved some pennies up. 

Well, I was over the moon unwrapping these little beauties.  

Yay that surround can now get finished.

I am a big fan of Mark Jacobs 'Daisy' perfume and was delighted to unwrap this scent that I don't have for my 'Daisy' collection. Again from the lady that knows me so well.

The bottle is gorgeous.

Sticking with a Daisy style theme, this lovely necklace was worn as soon as I opened it. I love it :)

As was my (floral) Christmas jumper and I couldn't wait to get cosy in it. 

Of course, there had to be a little Cath Kidston surprise ;)

I'm quite well known in my little family for seeing little pretties before Christmas and giving a little hint here or there. I fell in love with this 'candy floss' pink raggy bath mat and hoped santa would be kind :) 

He was. It's the prettiest thing, perhaps too pretty for wet just got out of the bath feet to be stamping on. The raggy texture is just the loveliest thing to run your hands over.

 And its perfect for my our pink, girly bathroom.

Being a wordy person who loves inspirational quotes and sayings dotted around the home, I especially loved this East of India flag, perfect for next to my bed.

And for the kitchen diner.

Being someone who rarely wears foundation these days and if so, only for special occasions, have found this Maybelline one the most suitable for my skin type. It has a lovely silky soft feel to it and gives a lovely glowy look. I'd run out a long while ago and thought nothing of it. It was a nice surprise to get a nice new bottle. (Extra gold star for the husband remembering the exact colour shade) 

These had been on my wish list for a while and although I have a pink pair that I have had for a number of years, I find this brand has a certain shelf life and my pink ones were definitely past their sell by date. I pondered and pondered about what colour to go for and being a colour person thought it had to be a big bright colour. However my practical side won and even though not a 'fashion' boot per say many fashionistas can be seen wearing them about town as well as the muddy fields. As I like to wear mine about town too, I thought black gloss a good choice and would go with everything. A lovely treat from Santa.

I love pretty scents and these Morris & Co scented drawer liners smell delicious, too nice to be hidden away so am thinking of other plans for them. 

Being a Downton Abbey fan, I love this set of 3 signature soaps. Just lovely. 

These cosy boots were bit of a bargain, so Santa tells me...

I love notebooks, and this was a lovely sparkly number along with a pretty pen.

I indeed had some gorgeous gifts. 

Oh I have to share the present we got for Miss. Poppins, our ever growing up teenager. Buying for her was proving a challenge as ideally I didn't want to be buying items beyond her years but also knew she probably was a bit too old for play dough. She loves her music and singing, and enjoys uploading various songs on her ipod/iphone. She had mentioned she fancied some sort of music system that could play music in her bedroom. 

I saw the perfect, drool worthy, delicious thing, and I thought she'd love it. I know I do, I really do. 

Its a lovely Emma Bridgewater radio, in the Sampler hearts print, and perfect as it has a dock to pop her ipod/iphone in and listen to her music. It has DAB radio and an alarm clock feature. I have to say the dock is a good quality one judging by the music we can hear blaring out of her room. 

Isn't it pretty.

Do you think she'll share?

No, I thought not either. *sad face

It can be hard buying for teenagers, but this got the thumbs up and was a reasonable price too as a pre-Christmas offer.

I hope you have enjoyed your little moochy at my prezzies. Family, friends and Santa himself have truly spoilt me and I love everything. Please feel free to leave a little comment if you would like to know where anything came from, I'll get back to you asap. 

I have it on trust from Santa he'll know, well, he knows everything, doesn't he...

X 

A (Very Belated) Happy New Year

Well hello there lovelies :)

Goodness me, what a long blogging break I have had. I am though coming back very refreshed and full of new year cheer. I can't believe we are now into 2015, which also happens to be my 8th year of blogging. Gosh now I feel really old. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year, filled with good health and happiness. Although winter is most certainly not my best season, (I am definitely a summer girl) I so enjoy Christmas and all the festivities surrounding it. And of course, there was always going be a hint of pink on our Christmas tree.

This was our artificial 'space saving' tree that we had in the kitchen diner, it looked very pink and pretty in the corner. I adore the scent of a real Christmas tree, and missed that so only a few days before Christmas itself, the husband came home with a surprise. A real tree and we all got stuck in decorating it in the lounge. Luckily I have collected many tree decorations over the years so this was to be our 'winter ice' tree, an array of silvers and whites. It was a hit in the house, especially when the presents started appearing underneath it. 

Oh we all love presents don't we, I know I do, though I did have little hints around the house of what's really important at Christmas.

But back to presents ;) Oh the husband did good, so good. I know this brand is very popular and I'm never one who likes to be same as, same as, but I have wanted one of the MK rose gold watches for like, forever.

Oh you'd like a little peek inside, ok, here's me wearing the little, well, not quite so little delight.

Over Christmas I saw some really cute and retro bed linen and knew I just had to have it, well done Asda :)

I wonder if I can get away with using it all year round. Its been packed away for now but I have a feeling it may make its way back on the bed before too long. As for New Year, it was rather a sedate one here in the Poppins household, a special family tea followed by films and the fireworks on the television. Im sure I've heard staying in is the new going out, so we must be very on trend :)

We did have a lovely family walk on New Year's Eve, and although weather wise, a little rainy, it was lovely spending time together as our little family of four.

We just ambled along, swinging off tree branches...

  And had great fun standing amongst some very big twigs...

Even the occasional silly selfie was taken along the way...

It was a fun walk :)

As for creativity, I'm still enjoying making my little crafts and loved making these little bunting sets just before Christmas.

I always send a little something as a thank you with orders, and I just love the pretty ditsy floral fabric I used for the lavender heart I sent with the pink bunting. It was from hobbycraft and perfect for some upcoming spring makes I think.

Talking of hearts, I recently made some lavender hearts for bride and groom to be's. I love the natural, french inspired look of these hearts.

I am trying to be creative in other non-sewing ways, and now I have all my ingredients, I am looking forward to making up some tea cup candles. With the amount of tea cups and saucers I have hidden away, that could be a lot of candles. 

I'm using flaked soy wax, and a variety of fragrances. I think they'll make lovely homemade birthday gifts. I'm excited to get going and shall pop back and share my results.

2015 has me feeling very inspired, and I am making much use of my library card, loaning crafty books to help with my creativity. I am enjoying this book 'The Art Of Handmade Living' and where I found the inspiration for the teacup candles. 

I always aim to loan books now rather than buy them, unless its a super duper can't wait to get my hands on it book, but otherwise mostly my library card does the talking rather than my bank card. 

So as the title suggests, a very (belated) Happy New Year to you. I am aiming to pop by far more frequently and am of the thinking of having a set blogging day to give me a bit of routine may work best, rather than my thus far as and when blogging approach. 

Before I go. Yes, it's now official I am the mother of a teenager!

Miss. Poppins had a fun filled and busy 13th with all her friends, I loved the way she displayed her birthday cards behind her bed on the wall, maybe a little creative soul is hiding away in there.

For now, if anyone has any 'parenting a teenager' tips, I'm all ears and eyes. 
I have a feeling I'm going to need them!

X