Typecast

In the run up to Christmas I'd really recommend that you sign up to Suppose.com  to grab yourself some bargain presents.  The great people at Suppose are currently sending me email alerts to their best price drop products so that I can try them out - and I'm not disappointed. I've recently acquired this  Joseph Joseph Elevate Kitchen Utensil Gift Box  set which price-dropped to £23.00 (down from £37.10) and it's going to make a fantastic present for my daughter in her new house. How does Suppose.com work? Suppose are passionate about finding great deals from major retailers.  After signing up for an free account on Suppose , you can search for an item on the website, track it and then receive an alert when the price drops.  Yes, it's that simple! You can also receive alerts your favourite UK retailers and access the pricing history to ensure that you are getting the best price.  Watch out for more recommendations from Suppose...

Almost three months I've been waiting for my Linky's Dream stationery subscription box...THREE MONTHS. But it was so worth the wait.  I'm astounded at the goodies you get for the price and it's all wrapped up and put together so beautifully. Here's a little unboxing video that I made.  This isn't a review - I first saw these stationery boxes on Anna Brim's YouTube channel - but I wanted to share with you how much thought goes into each box and how it's presented.  Leah from Linky's Dream hand-picks the items to go in your stationery box and sometimes does a bit of research to see what you like so the box is almost personalised. She only makes (I think) 200 of these boxes per month hence them selling out so quickly and everyone cramming for the advanced orders.   Catch up with Leah here Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram   PS... Leah's stationery box subscription is sold out until April 2015 but there's plenty...

Back in my childhood (oh, so long ago), I remember my Nana playing Sun Bingo with numbers in the newspaper. If she knew I was due to visit she would save the numbers for me to cross off her weekly card. We never won anything but she introduced me to that "I just need one more number" thrill!  Sun Bingo has moved forward into the digital era now and their Having A Ball show is available live online each Thursday from 7pm with Brian Dowling returning to host the play-along show.  I've partnered with Sun Bingo to bring you a recap of each live show , celebrity interviews, some behind the scenes secrets and a teaser for next week's show. I'll also have a bit of a giveaway for you in a couple of weeks so watch out for that.  The format of the live show is produced in three 30-minute slots of chat/bingo play with a host/chat. The chat sections are with studio regulars Rustie Lee and Jean Martyn and a celebrity guest and feature some "players news...

Those of us of a certain * cough * age will remember Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, et al. They were our 1980's idols : The Brat Pack - so named after a fairly negative article in the New York Magazine in June 1985. It felt like all coming-of-age movies starred these beautiful people and their (film) collaborations were the thoughts and actions of our angst-ridden teenage lives played out on the big screen.  It wasn't just us that was feeling this way. Fast forward 30 years and now we have a Brat Pack for the 21st Century.  This time we can access them on the small(er) screen of YouTube but the premise is the same. Zoe Sugg, her brother Joe, her boyfriend Alfie Deyes, Louise Pentland, Tyler Oakley, Tanya Burr and Grace Helbig, to name but a few, are being touted by the media as "the most famous people you have never heard of" (see these articles in the Independent and on Buzzfeed as examples); they are the teenage idols of today - sort o...

I can't remember where I first discovered washi tape but I can remember the first set I bought (a set of 10 thin rolls of washi tape - all different colours).  I had become hooked on watching "decorating your Filofax" videos on YouTube and needed some of the action. I probably don't have as much washi tape as everyone thinks I do but I do keep it topped up and enjoy seeking out slightly unusual designs.   Anyway, some of you asked to see the collection, so here it is!

As mentioned previously on this blog , I live in an old, end-terrace house in the North of England. It's the sort of house that manages to retain heat in the summer and is freezing cold in the winter. If there was a way of harnessing that summer warmth and saving it for the winter, believe me, we'd be up for trying it out.   Over the past few years we have taken advantage of Government-funded and regeneration schemes to help make our house more season-friendly but we occasionally have to resort to old-fashioned methods of keeping warm. We have turned the thermostat down by one degree to save up to £75 per year and we all throw an extra layer of clothing on.  We can often be found huddling under one of my very special crochet blankets too (one in the lounge, one on each bed).  With the money we save we like to take a trip or two out to the beach, have a nice long walk with the dog and treat ourselves to the best fish and chips in Lancashire on the way back. T...

I tend to avoid the programme Loose Women because it gives me 'the rage' for various reasons. However, Judy Finnigan made her debut panel appearance today and has definitely made an impression with the Great British Public, and not necessarily a positive one.  The lunchtime discussion turned to the subject of whether convicted rapist, Ched Evans (found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail in 2012), should return to Sheffield United and his job as a football player when he is released from prison next week. Judy Finnigan attempted to suggest that Evans had served his time (less than half of the given jail term) and that the rape was not violent and [..] the victim had had far too much to drink...  WOAH!  JUST HOLD ON A MINUTE THERE, WOMAN!  It's obviously not just me who disagrees with the wording of her support for Evans as there seems to have been a social media storm based around her thoughts. As was  mentioned by Tanya on Twitter , I wo...

How do you know when a news item is of social importance? Have you ever noticed what happens when an interesting news story breaks? Tomorrow's *chip paper stories still have a life span even though they are of mediocre interest. Here is my version of the seven steps to creating a social media trend . 1. People attempt to be the first to (re)share the 'breaking news' update in their own social network, cross-posting a short update on all their main channels, sometimes even leaving out the official link. 2. Wikipedia entries are hurriedly updated with information changing rapidly as further details are released. 3. Buzzfeed create a real article as opposed to a comedy listical. 4. Bloggers blog about it. Vloggers vlog about it. Clickbait titles with non-related content are published with the hope that website statistics will increase (albeit for a short period of time). 5. Professional social commentators attempt to predict who/what el...

Last week I announced my blogger relationship with Bureau Direct , a most fabulous online stationery store that I had ordered from in the past.  I have been challenged to select something each month that I would like to try out. Not an easy task when you have the pick of the website. However, I know that I want my stationery to be fun and affordable . I want it to be useful rather than decorative and I want to enjoy using it. So I took my time choosing a few items that I could use every day and got rather excited when the parcel arrived, so much so that I decided to share it with anyone who wanted to watch ... So after using everything I ordered for a few days, here are my thoughts. The mini notebooks are just the right size to tuck in the back of my Filofax or my handbag and the paper doesn't bleed as it is very good quality. The sticky notes came in tabs of 20 stickers so I removed five from each pile and stuck them on the dashboard of my Filofax to use ...