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 

Mother's Day....

Wishing you a happy Mother's Day. For us it is a little bitter sweet, as my husband's first without his own dear mum, and thinking so very much of my own little baby boy born to soon and who each Mother's Day we can't help but think of and miss. It is also however a day where I give thanks for how grateful and thankful I am for my own Mum and children who are always there for me, the caring and special people I do have around me, who pick me up when I feel down. Who know me, understand me and are my world. My world here is just a tiny slice of my life and often I can be guilty of only painting a pretty side of it, sometimes I guess it just makes the other *stuff* a little easier to cope with....

I treasure the handmade card given to me by the children....

As for my little brood, we are spending some special, quality time together and my thoughts are with those whose Mum's are not around for whatever reason. Thinking of you....

X

Pretty Little Press Release....

It was really lovely and very flattering to see this little blog of mine mentioned in Popular Crafts magazine that I picked up from the newsagent over the weekend....

I always maintain this blog has always been a creative outlet for me in many ways, I love writing, crafting, taking pretty photographs, talking about my family, and of course I love to shop. So this blog is kind of like a documented journey of all things I enjoy. So very lovely that others have enjoyed it enough to spread the word.....Thank you

X

    

Would You Like £60.00 Free To Buy Something Pretty, Super Giveaway....

Thank you very much for your lovely comments about my crafty makes, as for time, well I have to say most of it gets done late into the night, seems the most peaceful, calm and relaxing time for me to craft, when everyone has gone to bed ;0) Almost like I am doing a night job.

Right, word has got around that I love to shop and maybe some of you do too. The lovely peeps at CSN online stores, where you can find everything from lights to furniture to cookware, thought it would be a nice idea to offer one of my lucky readers, a £60.00 voucher to spend online at one their fabulous websites to buy anything you choose :0). So I thought it would be a nice idea to do a giveaway, especially as the sun is shining, I know I would love it for one of you to win a free £60.00 voucher to buy perhaps....

I think it is a very generous gift from CSN, and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning £60.00 to spend on what you like, is leave a comment on this post, you shall go in the hat, and a winner shall be picked in a weeks time. 10th June. You may like to have a mooch on the online websites and see, if you won, what you would spend your £60.00, or $60 for any American/ Canadian readers, on. For my UK readers your one time use free £60 gift certificate can be used here, here,  here, here, here, and here If any of my USA/Canadian readers win then you can use your gift certificate here 

Once a winner has been chosen I shall need your email address to pop over to CSN, they shall then send over your £60.00 certificate and then you can go shopping, for free :0)

Good luck if you would like to go in the hat

EDIT: A winner has now been chosen, thank you to all who entered :0)

XX

Thanks And A Little Ramble....

Hi Di Hi ;0)

Well thank you very much for your lovely comments on the mice thing. I tell you friends I have thrown/given away maybe half my house in the last couple of days. I think I have come to the realisation that I am rather partial to hoarding and I am fed up of it now, so with spring a coming, my home is in for a thorough spring clean. And actually I am finding it all rather therapeutic. I even threw away a romantic and beautiful Christmas card Mr. P gave me years ago, yes I keep everything, and you know what, I didn't bat an eyelid.

 Hey, with our little mice thing, Mr. Poppins wanted to do the man thing and go a searching for any holes that Mr. or Mrs. Mousey may be using, and what did I find him using, only my pink tools. Now he has about 20 tool boxes so why he was using my little pink screw driver I shall never know ;0)  Anyway he seems to have done the trick, as so far so good and the mice may have upped sticks :0)

I have some lovely thanks to two lovely ladies. The first being the ever so talented Luluiz who kindly sent me some VERY special paper. There has been a project in mind I have been wanting to do for what feels like donkey's years, but you know how it is, these things always get put on the back burner, blah, blah. Anyway with seeing the fantastic and wonderful project here that Liz was doing, I had to email her for a little advice. I kind of knew the basics but it is so nice and helpful isn't it when someone out of friendship and support helps you out when you have a question. I am very, very grateful Liz :0) So look what act of kindness Liz has sent me out of the goodness of her heart, may look like a little paper to you, but to me means so so much more. Please do say hello, Lululiz is offering a wonderful Giveaway to celebrate her 100th follower.

I can now crack on with my project. I think you may have guessed what I am doing, but if not here is a little clue ;0) Since I have had my adorable children, so for 8 years now, I have always wanted one of  these, sigh. Every Christmas and Birthday I look out for a bag shape ;0) I know the exact style I want and have my photograph ready. So now with the special gift from Liz lets see if I can produce my very own version for now.

I also want to thank my wonderful and special pal, Mary my Bargain Hunt buddy. Apt actually that I mention out stint on BH, as although has been lovely and sunny, is a little chilly as the day draws in, so guess what I am wearing right now as I type, yes the fabulous and ever so fetching BH Fleece. I am so glad Mary and I insisted on being The Red Team, we wouldn't do it if they gave us blue, honestly, we wouldn't. The red suits our completions so much better. Is funny, when I go on my own little bargain hunt I always wear my lucky BH fleece, and it ALWAYS gets me a couple more pounds off a pretty than I think it would if
I was not wearing it. Hmmmm I wonder how often Mary wears hers ;0)   

Well look what pretties came for me. Mary knew I was after a couple of knitting needles, as I have decided I don't like crochet, it doesn't like me and I am no longer going to pretend I am any good at it, so I had a go at knitting. And you know my hands seem to likey. I won a lovely Yarn giveaway at Karen's and am now looking to make a knitted bag. Look at the Ohooo so cute knitting needles Mary sent me to help me along, aren't they adorable. Beautiful colours in their own special case, two cool chunky ones too, and also pretty CK tissues and a sweet card. thank you so much Mary, my forever friend.

I have also been enjoying making some of my doorstops and pretty hearts for a little order that came my way. I adore this fabric, one of my favourites. Even though it is now running out, I don't mind it going to a good home too. Hopefully I am not too precious over my fabric, I think there may be a couple of you that have had a little of this special one. And I know I have certainly had more than my fair share from you all for my kitchen project. Spread the fabric love, that is what I say :0)

I have also made a couple of sweet hearts for a lovely  lady.

And then of course there are the other 352 projects I have on the go to be getting on with ;0)

I have been tagged by the lovely At Home With Mrs M. to talk about shoes, my shoes. Well I love shoes and I shall look forward to chatting about one of my favourite subjects with you. For now, I shall leave you with a sneak of my newest pair, of course there is a flower or two and sky scraper heels to boot. And the price, was a bargain. 

So hope you are all gearing yourselves up for the weekend. We have had a little exciting news regarding Miss. and Master. Poppins' work  getting paid to have fun. I have to take a little jaunt to London for the day next week, on my own with two young children, eeek. I am a little nervous I have to say, I can't remember the last time I went down there on my own. Though shall be fun and a little adventure for us, I bet I shall have a tale or two to tell upon my return. It is a casting for an advert, and hope you can have your fingers crossed for us all, tis all fun and games in this Poppins' house I tell you ;0)