A new beginning

I've not been blogging for a while now and this is due to the fact that I'm really busy. Half November I started a temp job working as a bookseller in a big shoppingmall near where I live (Bluewater). This means that I don't have much time off. The time I do have off work I've been spending making hand made Christmas presents some of them knitted for friends and family. I can't reveal anything yet as some might read this blog and find out what I am giving them if I spill the beans so no can do!

I've also been watching X-factor (which ended yesterday) whilst knitting and am happy to see Alexandra Burke Crowned as Queen of the night. Her perfomance of Candyman a few weeks back made me her fan and I was blown away by her version of Listen a few weeks back, which she repeated with some help of no other than Beyoncé yesterday. Alexandra not only has a great voice she seems like the kindest, most humble person in the world. She seems so down to earth and gratefull. She comes from a though background, but not much was said about this in the show (which is nice as very often contestants use this as the 'feel sorry for her/him' affect to draw extra votes). It's nice to see a fresh, humble person with a great voice at the beginning of a new carreer due to winning something so commercial as Xfactor. It feels right.


Alex's performance of Listen

Ofcourse Alex winning was great, but the best victory goes to Barack Obama last month. The media here in the UK kept emphasising the fact that he is the first black man to be voted to the highest office in the USA. This surpised me as before the victory there was not that much attention focussed on this fact. It is a remarkable fact considering the history of the United States, however having said that I do not believe that the colour of Obama's skin is the most important thing here.



The feeling of unity and brother/sisterhood shared on that night is what gives me hope. This man might unite people all over the world into one big... uhm.. well, extended family if you like. Where we all respect eachother as individuals, but at the same time share a responsibility to the wellfare of all it's members. We might not agree, but the fact that we are family makes us tollerant enough to listen to each other and (re)consider our standpoint. And like with our real family we might even take other things (than sheer cold logic) into consideration when it comes to decision making. Things like friendship and the bond that we have formed. It would be fantastic if his presidency starts a new beginning for us all where we focus on what is good instead on what is bad. That we look at our wish list and realise that most around the world have exactly the same things on that list: living a happy, peacefull live with our loved ones in relative ease.
Wouldn't it be a beautifull world if we all started working towards that together.

And finally I would like to end this update with the best message of joy and hope! My dear friend Charlotte who has suffered so much in this last year has given birth to her second child Danny! He is the cutest thing ever and both he and his mom are healthy. The whole family and everyone who has heard of their pain is over the moon for them. In case you have not read my post Charlotte's warning or seen the massive exposure Charlotte gained in the News with her story, then read this and you will never forget it (which might save babies from dying!!):

Did I Kill my Baby with a Kiss?

Charlotte and her husband Mohamed have worked very hard to get the message out and it was very painfull for them to tell the story and keep being confronted with the pain of loosing Mira. However the thought that Mira's story might save other babies was enough for these two brave young people to go out there and spread the word. Please do the same! Thank you!

Wear your poppies with pride!!

When I came to the UK in 2006 I didn't know why at the end of October people started wearing poppies on their coats. As The Netherlands never got involved in the Great War (we remained neutral and escaped the fighting) we never suffered like other countries during WWI. The poppies represent the fields in which so many young men lost their lives. These simple flowers was all that covered their graves. Fallen lives remembered each year when millions buy a poppy and wear it on their coat. Now the poppy stands for remembrance of the fallen and support of the men still in out there serving the country.

The poppy strikes a cord with me. In the Netherlands we have something similar: remembrance day. And I always feel quite emotional about the fallen. The day after on the 5th of May we celebrate Liberation day. The day our country was free again after the German occupation during WWII. And funny enought it's that word that has less meaning here in the UK: LIBERATION! The British Isles have not been occupied by an external force for such a long time, that it's hard to explain what liberation day feels like. To feel that men from countries like the UK, the USA, Canada and many other corners of the world came and fought for my countries liberation brings me to tears. That I grew up in a prosperous country where I as a woman have rights and I can speak my mind, have a career and/or a family if I wish it. To live a life in peace with loved ones is all because of the sacrifice of these brave men (and women that supported them back home) over 60 years ago. The word gratitude doesn't even begin to describe it.


Liberation of Stiphout, The Netherlands by the 11th British Amour devision on September 22nd 1944

So when I wear my poppy, I wear it for them. For those who fought for my countries liberation and I think of all the others that have fallen on battlefields for freedom. I also think of all the men out in the troubled regions of the world trying to bring balance and peace.



As a knitter I want to mention a very special poppy on the Knit on the Net website: one you can make yourself. When you donate £2 (about $4) to The Poppy Appeal you get to download it for free. But you have to be quick. The pattern is available until midnight on Tuesday, 11th November, 2008.


About The Poppy Appeal

(from their website)
Poppy Man has launched the 2008 Poppy Appeal among friends in Basra. This year's theme "Serving those who Serve" emphasises the need to help men and women who are serving today, as well as ex-Services and dependants.

The British public holds great affection and respect for its Armed Forces. The Poppy Appeal is your opportunity to show your support, so please give generously and wear your poppy with pride.

So please knit your poppy and wear it with pride!

Don't click please!

You are never allowed to push red buttons in real life, unless it's an emergency (which it never is). This can be very frustrating so in order to get rid of some of this frustration I bring you the

BIG RED BUTTON

A must click for all you 'rule-abiding-citizens' out there that want to have a go at breaking this particular one. Happy Clicking!!!

Bella & Solo

I've not been blogging for a while because I've been busy being a mammie to two little ones! Bella & Solo joined our family on the 14th of September and are growing like crazy! They are the cutest of cute and sometimes a bit naughty. They are settling in very well which means that I have a little more time (between the frequent cuddles and the similarly frequent warnings) for blogging and other things, like cleaning the house. They came via Cats Protection. Their mom was taken into care and a little later they found out she was pregnant. These two where the last of the litter (we really wanted one cat, but now having both we can't imagine we ever felt that way).

They really like to meet you all so here we go:


14 weeks

These are the two little fur balls at 14 weeks when we first got them. This photo was taken on the second day. They had an appointment with the vet at the end of their first week with us and they are two brave little soldiers as they got their injection and didn't bat an eyelid (even though they have two for each eye) and didn't make a sound.


Miss Bella

This is Bella she's the smallest and has such refined features. Every time I look at her I'm amazed that nature can produce such an exquisite animal. She's sooooo pretty and yet soooo small. Still she's a very brave little explorer. Always first to go into new areas of the house and when play fighting with her brother she doens't get intimidated at all! This tiny little miss knows how to stand her ground. You get instant purrs when you stroke her and she's got the nack of sitting very prettily on your hand down to an art, this ofcourse so you can stroke her with the other.


Cutie Solo

Solo was very frightend on the day he came to us, but that soon passed and now he's a playfull brave little guy. He's very cuddly sometimes even miaouwing to let you know it's long over due. When he's picked up he lounges in your arms and sometimes turns around so you can hold him like a baby whilst stroking his tummy. All that cuteness goes out of the window when he's got one of his CraZy half hours. This is when he runs around like a loon attacking his toy or sister in playfull insanity. She ofcourse usually takes up the challange with pleasure.


15 weeks

After all that crazy playfullness they usually have a breather on top of their scratching post/tree which resembles a small palace. When they spot me on the sofa they come and have a cuddle (sometimes this last all afternoon) before waking up and doing it all again.

Link:
Get some nice Christmas goodies at the Cats Protection Shop

iKnit day

On Saturday September 6th I went to my first ever iKnit day in London. It was great. Unfortunately I went alone as my knitting buddy Louisa moved back to Australia (Gosh I miss you girl!!). After arriving on time I joined an enormous queue at the Royal Horticultural Halls. It was snakeing around the building. It seems that most knitters will not be late when a day off knitting goodness is on the menu. All where exactly on time, which can't be said of the doors opening. We only had to wait about 10 minutes which was fine as it didn't really rain much.


So much to see and do

After entering the building I went to listen to Jane Sowerby who had a presentation called "Victorian Knitters vs Today’s Knitters". It seemed very interesting, but I couldn't hear a word. After about 20 minutes I could not guess by her lips what she was talking about anymore and I left. They really should have given her a mic. Such a shame as it seemed very interesting and I'm working on my first lace shawl. I then walked around the market a bit and payed for the first edition of a new sewing magazine to be send home later this month. After inspecting the market (which was extremely busy) I sat down on the stairs and enjoyed my duck wrap I had bought earlier at M&S (yum!). Then I knitted a bit on the shawl and watched a very good fashion show. It was old fashion knits (from the early war era). I took several pics with my mobile but for really good quality shots go to the Iknit Flickr page! I think I fell in love with at least half a dozen of the models (not the girls, the patterns!!)


a fantastic knitty day!

After the fashion show I spotted this girl spinning. She was part of a booth that sold handspun and fibre. I fell for one of the beautifull fibres and although I had promised myself not to get involved in spinning (don't need another hobby) I couldn't help it I was hooked. The girl was Moonspinning and the fibre was made by her booth partner Rockpool Candy (Inga). Both their fibre was for sale but the one I choose was made by Inga. Anyway Moonspinning was showing this girl how to spin and I was hooked. She didn't sell any spindles so off I went to look for one. In the end I bought a very beautifull spindle at the iKnit booth. They had quite a number and all where made out of different types of wood. I felt a bit like Harry Potter choosing his wand. The spindles where all much lighter than the one Moonspinning was using. This made it a bit harder to learn (I went back to her and she taught me! Yay!), but it was fab. So in the end I bought 200g of merino and 200g of alpaca fibre (undyed) and I am now practising.

I also bought fantastic yarn called Manos del Uruguay, Manos Silk Blend. It was £18 ($32) for two skeins and I hope to make a small Clapotis after I finish my shawl. And a Clover yo-yo maker. This funny little gadget is for leftover bits of fabric. You can sew them into decorative disks which you can use for decorative projects. I also watch a catwalk presentation by Maggie Jackson from Maggiknits. And although her work is very high standard and funky it was not my cup of tea. A bit too much going on in her creations. I like more classic knits I guess.

There was so much more: Yarn Harlot gave a talk (I missed out as the tickets had sold out), I had a chat with the Dutch Knitters over from Holland and it was great to speak to my fellow Dutchies. I made new friends, saw enormous knitting needles and saw gorgeous knitted projects. Can't wait till next year!



One of the Clover Yo-yo projects

Links:
Shaped yo-yo Clover projects
Normal yo-yo Clover projects
Ravelry links:
Manos Silk Blend yarn
Adamas Shawl I'm working on...

Downloadables: Yarn Tags

September is my birthday month and besides the joy of getting presents it's also very nice to give away things. So to keep your stash organised I've made some Yarn Tags. These labels are in PDF format and can be printed out on A4 or Letter size paper. Use sturdy paper or photopaper (this is usually a bit thicker), print and write the details of your yarn on the tags & use! I find them quite handy as I seem to loose the tags that I can't thread yarn through to attach it to the ball/skein.


Keep your stash organised...

To download the Yarn Tags simply right click the link and select 'save source as' OR click the link, let the page load and click the 'save' icon on the top left.

Happy Living Group on Ravelry

Hooray! There now is a Happy Living Group on Ravelry for everyone to join.



The group is there to help anyone who wants to knit any of the Happy Living Patterns, but also to have lots of fun. The Happy Living group is a place for sharing. I hope we can talk knitting in general and crochet, gardening, food or travel.. it’s all good. It’s a place where everyone is most welcome and I hope you will feel happy to join in.

*small warning: I might talk a lot as I'm quite enthousastic about it all*

Free Pattern: Cashmere Neck Warmer

I'm happy to add an old favorite to the Happy Living Patterns. Already published in a previous Blog post, I'm glad to announce the PDF download of the Cashmere Neck Warmer. This cowl is made from Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere and it's soooo soft.


A very simple pattern with stunning results

Pure Cashmere is a luxury that for centuries was only for the very rich. Now it’s still pricy but available for anyone. This small project only requires 3 skeins of 25g. You can even make it with 2 skeins. It will be a bit shorter, but still functional and beautifull. This makes it a very affordable luxury indeed.


Super soft Cashmere...

The pattern is very easy. It consists of 3 knit rows and 1 row with purl 2 together and yarn overs. So it knits up very quick making it prefect for last minute (Christmas) gift knitting. And who wouldn’t want a cowl as soft as this. The only problem might be that you would want to keep it yourself. Happy Knitting!!



To download the Cashmere Neck Warmer simply right click the link and select 'save source as' OR click the link, let the page load and click the 'save' icon on the top left.

Free Pattern: Leafy (Winter Head Band)

Today I would like to announce the completion of my First downloadable knitting pattern: Leafy, a wintery head band (PDF). I designed this in September 2007 and made several in the last year for various friends and colleagues. My dear friend Louisa also tested the pattern. Now I finally had the time to make a proper PDF file for downloading and today it is finished. Just in time for everyone to make several as Christmas presents (just a suggestion).


Leafy keeps ears warm in winter

The pattern was born out of a desire for warm ears without the messy hair that hats give. I'm a big big fan of hats, but needed another addition to my collection. And so the idea for a winter head band was born. I had scored a ball of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran for half price and decided to use this.



Make the band wide enough to cover your ears

As I'm fond of leaves I looked for a pattern that incorporated some sort of leaf design. The name was not difficult to imagine, knitting friends and I soon started calling it the Leafy. :-D hehe. This together with the colour of the yarn worked really well. I have also made Leafy in Bordeaux red and off white, both work really well, but my favorite is still a grey green.


The finished head band... super soft

To download Leafy simply right click the link and select 'save source as' or click the link, let the page load and click the 'save' icon on the top left.

Where the hell is Matt?

I love this video. Our world is so beautifull and everyone dancing is so much better than everyone fighting. We should dance more!

Free Rebel Knitter patterns

After paying for my shopping today I passed the newspaper stand at my local Sainsbury's and spotted the Guardian with a big ball of wool and the word Knitter on it. I picked it up and... YES! A free 12 pattern supplement + interview etc etc from Rebel Knitter aka Mazzmatazz. She is sooo cool. Anyway you can now score these patterns online too. Just go to the Guardian Guides Rebel Knitter site. Love the Ocimum mits.


Ocimum

I hope this means that knitting will finally loose its granny status with the non-knitting community. They are sooo behind.

More anti-girly knitting: The ANTI Craft. Most macaber in its creations.

Plurk-mania

I blame Miss V from Lime & Violet. In her last three podcast she and co-host Carin didn't shut up about it and I finaly checked it out. And yes, yes it is as expected the black hole of no return. Once you take the plunge you won't ever see daylight again. Well, sort of.



What I'm talking about? Plurking ofcourse. Yes, for all you Dutch people out there, I know it sounds like a scold word, but it's all very decent. Decent and all consuming. Plurk is like one giant message board. You post a thought or sentence and people can reply. The more people you know the worse it gets. And again we have Miss V. to thank for an unlimited source of knitting friends.

So why should you Plurk? Well I've made about 10 friends from all over the globe in less than 1 day. Which is great. Most of them are, ofcourse, knitters.. which is great too as we share an interest. It's fantastic to see others thoughts, share tips, progress on socks and other general knitting related talk. It's like having a community that is spread all over the world.

Find me on Plurk!

Yarn! It ties people together or better it show the ties that are there without us knowing. :)

Beautifull Iran

Kelar Dasht by Ali Madjfar

We all hear about that evil country Iran on the news every so often. And I'm not saying that the news channels are at at fault. I'm sure that what they are reporting is news. However I would like to point out that in Iran there are countless of people like you and me just living their lives. That besides the political view there is another that of our fellow human beings.


Isfahan by Ali Mudjfar

No one shows this better than Ali Madjfar. This extremely good photographer tells the story of his country in pictures. His beautifull landscapes makes me fall in love with his country even though I've never set one foot in it. If the pictures take your breath away, how magnificent must the real thing be? Ali also has the knack of capturing beautifull arab architecture. The colours and shapes are stagering and speak of a sparkling culture. And that is only his Throughout Iran gallery!! There are others on Persia: the ancient Iran, Caves, People, Nature, Insects, Birds, Skies and temples... and more!



Handicraft by Ali Madjfar


So for a new perspective visit Ali's site and get inspired!

Cheap Jane Austen TV Films on iTunes

Last year ITV had a Jane Austen Season and showed three new adaptations and one older one on the telly. One of them I didn't like at all, one was oke and two where very good indeed. See my review below for more info. For all of you who already know all about any and every Jane Austen Adaptation I shall come straight to the point.

On the English version of iTunes (I don't know if other county versions have the same) you can get Emma with Beckinsale and Nothanger Abbey with Felicity Jones for a mere £ 1.98!!!!
To find these by going to the iTunes Store. Click on 'TV Programmes', you can find this in the top left menu. A new menu appears below the one you just clicked with 'Studio/Channels'. Find 'ITV' in the list and click it. A new page loads with all that ITV offers including the two Jane Austen Films. Hooray!!!

To be clear. After you bought the films you can only download them once. So download them to your home computer (not work as I almost did). After they are downloaded you can watch them on screen and/or place them on your iPod. Watch them as often as you like! I've watched Nothanger Abbey on my screen and the image was pretty much what I expected for a tv movie: not great, but by no means bad. I thought it well worth the money and now I've seen how good the movie is I'll be looking out for the DVD as well as I wouldn't mind having one version on my iPod for when I travel and one for watching lazily from the sofa.


The Jane Austen ITV Adaptations




There was the horrible version of Mansfield Park with Billie Piper who really didn't pull off the role at all. I'm a very great fan of Jane Austen Adaptations off all kind and not very critical at all. If it remotely resembles the story and people wear pretty froks I'm half on my way of being pleased. But with this Mansfield Park I didn't get much futher than half way as indeed the best thing I can say about this tv movie is just that: it remotely follows the story line of Jane Austen and there are girls in pretty dresses. Although to be fair it seems hard to make into a good movie from the story. The 1999 version of Mansfield Park is alright, but by no means great. And although I liked actress Frances O'Conner, she was rather too old!



And older adaptation they showed again was Emma with Kate Beckinsale. This adaptation I liked, but for some reason I had trouble liking this Emma. When Gwyneth Paltrow plays her, Emma has a certain sweetness over her that I also see in the book. Kate somehow doesn't have that, which makes me feel that her Emma is a little bit more stuck up and less remorsefull of her own actions. Nevertheless I bought the DVD and it's part of my collection and long over due a view.



The last film I saw last year was the new adaptation of Persuasion. I always loved the book and the film version of Persuasion (1995) with Amanda Root. The story is very mature and the new adaptation had a very fresh feel without sacrificing the familiar story too much. Ofcourse a tv film has only a certain amount of minutes to tell the story so it has been cut, but all in all I really loved this version and it's on my 'to buy list'. Actress Sally Hawkins did a good job!





The only film I missed out on last year was Nothanger Abbey. I felt really sad as I would have like to see a different version that the horrible 1986 Northanger Abbey in my collection. So when I spotted it at iTunes for a very good price I grabbed my chance. And what a relief... it's great. It has that fresh feel to it. The actress playing Cathrine, Felicity Jones, is great she has that fresh faced young girl feel to it, with an overactive sensual imagination which young girl so often have. I loved it!!

Visit to Canterbury

Ever since I moved to the UK two years ago I wanted to go and see Canterbury. This because it's not to far from where I live and well because of the fact that:
Ever since I learned about Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales in English lesson at school.

So we decided to go during the Christmas break of 07, but we didn't because my boyfriend got ill. Then we decided to go during the May Bank Holiday in 07, but we didn't because I got ill. There where a couple more half formed plans after that, that never worked out due to unexpected (family) events. So when this May Bank holiday came up and my boyfriend mentioned going to Canterbury I decided not to get too excited about the idea. But the day came, we went and it was a superb day out indeed.

We left around ten as it's an hours drive. When we got there we parked at the station as it's easy to walk into town all you do is go to the roundabout where the tank/gas station is and turn left. You will then see the impressive city gate that STILL welcomes visitors from all over. How many people must have passed underneath that stone arch over the centuries?


Hidden treasures...

Behind the gate is the high street. Besides your usual British shops and some independent cute little stores there are hidden treasures here. Halfway down we found a great old church and a Elizabethan looking building. There was also a little stream and when I looked out I again thought: how many years has this view not chanced? The only difference is the clothes of the people futher along in the boat. That's all.

In the middle of the high street there is an alley going to the left. When you follow this at the end there is a huge gate, which is the entrance to the cathedral grounds. After you pay your way you gain access and low and behold the view opens up and the cathedral in all it's glory is before you. Quite impressive. I can see why.. when people still lived it huts and low buildings.. this building inspired awe.


The Cathedral, quite impressive.

On the inside the cathedral is massive and divided into various floors and parts. The hight of the building is dazzling and one wonders how they managed such a feat in the days before even the steam engine was invented. But then the Egyptians build the piramids.. still it's pretty amazing. One of the greatest beauties where the lead and coloured glass windows. Being more a spirtual person than religous I particulary liked the geometric ones which look modern and timeless at the same time. In fact I think these windows can be of great inspiration for modern design and crafts.


Beautiful windows all around

We followed one of the exits on the side of the building that lead into an enclosed section with out buildings. On one side there was a kitchen/herb garden with a great ruined wall with a huge tree next to it. I thought the scene quite pittoresque.


A peek at the back: ruins and tree..

After our visit to the Catherdral we had a very nice lunch and then proceeded to the gate again, but we didn't go through this time. Instead just before the gate we took a turn to the left and walked into the garden park that follows the river bank. It was a lovely warm, sunny may day and the park was full with people taking a stroll and enjoying the warm weather. It had little bridges over the stream that happily flowed along completing the picture of a lazy spring day.

On our way back we took small roads, instead of the motorway, to Ashford where there is a shopping outlet. The roads where lovely with overhanging trees and rolling country hills. Kent is absolutely beautiful. To complete the day we scored some bargains at the Ashford Designer Outlet. Which made a nice ending to a perfect day!

Link:
Read The Canterbury Tales online.

Los! Floating lamps...

The announcement on LOS!

In January I wrote about the very remarkable Levatating lamps designed by Angela Jansen. She used the technology from Crealev for a lamp called LOS! On Los! Concepts it is announced that something will happen in July. One can only hope they will go on sale!

Wallpapered Magazine Holders

Having slight 'Magazine-holic' issues I always feel I need to find good storage for them. So with the new office almost finished I was on the look out. Bless Martha and her fantastic idea's. In July's Living I spotted the tutorial for Wallpapered Magazine Holders.


My new fab Mag Holders

So of to B&Q I went to buy my selected wallpaper. But when I got there you could tear a bit off for free to take home (and test against your wall I imagine). So that saved my almost £20. I took my scrap home and bought four KNUFF Ikea Magazine Holders at £2.99 each. After some crafing the result is quite stunning! If you want to do the same this is how you go about it:



Wallpapered Magazine Holders




You will need:
4 Magazine Holders from Ikea.
Wallpaper scrap
craft glue
pencil

First choose which part of the design will look best. I placed the wallpaper right side up on the table and used one of the magazine holders to roughly see what part would work best. If your scrap of wallpaper is quite large mark where the top and bottom of the magazine holders will be, taking an extra margin about about 2.5 cm (1 inch) and cut.

Turn the wallpaper right side down and trace around the Magazine Holder with a pencil four times. Match each side line up, so that they fall on top of eachother. Cut exactly on the lines.



Pick which end you want to start with and lay the wallpaper out in the right order. It's not a big deal if you mix them up as you can simply switch the Magazine Holders around at the end to reastablish the right sequence.



Take one of the strips and dot some glue on the back. Spread it around with a brush or scrap of paper making sure it's evenly spread out.



Position the wallpaper RIGHT SIDE UP on the back of the Magazine Holder. It's an easy mistake to place them upside down, so pay attention.



Make sure the wallpaper is alligned with the sides and no wood is showing. If you do see wood, lift it back up and shift it around a bit until it's in place properly.



Once it is in place, press down and smooth out from the center to the edges to avoid any air bubbles showing. Repeat the whole process for each folder.



All finished!!


It took me less than half an hour so it's a quick and easy project that brightens up a livingroom, bookcase or office in a cheap and fast way.

Protect and Perfect, review 2

In October 2007 I too became a victim of the No7 Protect & Perfect Serum hype. As you can read in my second blog post on the subject, Protect and Perfect, review 1, it did do a good job, an extremely good job considering the reactions. Now I've been using the whole line and I thought an update is in order. If you don't know what all the fuss is about read the other two post first (post 1, post 2)



The Serum
I'd like to start with the star product: The Serum. I give this product an 8.5 out of 10. As we all know it really works (as science has proven). It is a very nice product to use. When you apply it on your skin it makes it soooo smooth. I feel the difference straight away. I do wish it would work all day until crashing into bed at night, but this is not the case. If you have a dinner or go out for the night you might want to use it again. For this reason I substracted half a point. The only issue I have with this product is... sadly enough with the packaging. I've have bought the product three times now and it was packaged differently each time. First I got a tube with a flat top. This was great because by standing it on it's head the product was always ready to use. The second version had a pointy screw top and thus as I used more it was exactly like waiting for the ketchup to decide to come out of the bottle. They tried to sell me this second version again, but thank god they had a glass bottle with a pump. Quite posh the glass and it did work find, but I like the precise controle you get with the tube. You can decide exactly how much to squeeze out. So the first packaging was the best. For all this I substract another whole point. Sooooo if Boots go back to the first packaging they gain a whole point bringing the total score to 9.5... Boots get going!!



Day Cream
A very good overal product. I give this a 8 out of 10, but with a note that it's extremely good value. As far as day creams go this is a good deal. For less than 20 pounds you get quite a good day cream. Yes premium brands are 'only' about 10 pound more expensive, but this No7 P&P cream seems to last and last and last. I can't believe I'm still using a pot I bought months ago. The cream has a good thickness to it and you only need a little to cover face, neck and décolleté. It tends to lay on my skin (combo normal/greasy with sensitve area's too) for a while after applying it. This is not a problem for me as I apply my make-up later. But not convinent. So 1 minus point for this. The when it sinks into the skin it is very good however. The last point to be substacted is (again) because of the packaging. The glass jar is very nice, but the shape is all wrong. Pleasant for the eye, but annoying to use. I believe usablitly should come before looks if you use it every single day.



Night cream
Also a good overal product with a score of 9 out of 10. Almost the same points as the day cream. Only difference is that the night cream doesn't get a point substacted for laying on the skin a little longer. This is because this is a good thing for night creams. They need to be a little rich and be taken up slow. This so the skin can relax and recover from the day. The skins own abillity to recover is phenomonal and a good night cream will help it a great deal. The design of the jar is the only bad point, but if that gets sorted it get 10 of 10, not bad for a night cream costing less than 20 pounds.



Eye cream
Nice, but not spectacular: 7 out of 10. I think I have issues with eye creams... they never really deliver. I tried all sorts. So I can honestly say that this No7 P&P eyecream is half decent. The price, just over 15 pounds, ain't bad. The feel of the cream is good: light and airy. It gets half a point taken off because I like it go sink into the skin a little quicker. And it also gets half a point taken away because of the horrible colour. It's a murky beige. I have no idea why but twice a day I think it weird. That leaves another 2 points that have been taken away and it is AGAIN because of the packaging. And it's 2 points this time because.. well quite frankly the designer of this package should be shot (figuratively speaking ofcourse). They should not be working EVER in design again. Does it suck that much you wonder?!! YES it does. It's the same shape as the big jars, but because it's not big you can't get your finger in properly. So from the very start it's hard to reach the cream. I got fed up with this very quickly so now I use a little flat plastic nutella spread stick. It's one of those plastic sticks you use as a spoon with the individual packs of Nutella you can take away on picnicks etc. Now I ask you how silly is it that I need to use a Nutella stick to get to my eye cream??? Exactly -2 and be glad I didn't take away more points.

Conclusion
Overal I'm very happy with the products. It's very good value for money as the quality is pretty high. The thing that really lets the line down is it's packaging, which looks fine, but annoys every time you use a product. Because it's used twice a day this counts for quite a bit of agravation. Once they sort this out it is as close as you can get to a-brands like Clinique and Lancôme.

Links:
First Protect & Perfect Post
Protect and Perfect, review 1
Boots: No7 Protect & Perfect

Cleaning a Le Pliage bag

A few years ago I bought a new sort of white canvas bag from my local bag shop. It was a Longchamps, a real one and at an affordable price. Grant you it wasn't all leather but it was cute and above all practical. Ofcourse we now are all familiar with the Les Pliages bags from Longchamps. You can even have design your own Pliage, but back then it was a very new and lovely surprise.


Stylish and handy... Les Pliages!

Through the years I've not used the bag a lot. I mostly took it out and about during the summer time, but about 2 years ago it got a bit dirty. A white bag that is not white no more is not a good thing. I tried cleaning it but failed... until last week!


The big bother of my Le Pliage

My colleague has two Les Pliages she uses regurarly and I always felt a pang for my perfectly fine, yet smudged little tote. It was in the attic waiting to be loved once more. So I searched around on the internet and found a very old forum post that mentioned Woolite. I tired it and it worked a charm. My Le Pliage is so white it almost hurts to look at it now. It is happily coming out and about with me and we all lived happily ever after.

Here is how you clean your nylon / canvas tote:

Place your bag in the sink and slowly fill it with handwarm water. Add a good dash of Woolite. Don't let the water come too high. I left it about 2 cm underneath the handle base. This is leather so either protect it or like me fold the top of the bag over the side, letting the handles hang. If you want you can place an object on the handles to stop your bag from flipping back.
Leave for 5 minutes.
Drain the water from the sink and lift your bag. Some water might have entered it. You can leave it in the empty sink to empty itself or if your impatient like me, tip it out. Do this carefully so you get as little water on the leather as possible.
Lay it flat on a clean tea towel and dry your bag with another tea towel. Now if the area around the handles need cleaning get a sheet or two of kitchen roll. Use pure woolite and rub it carefully over the area. Use new wet towels of kitchen roll to clean the soap off and dry this area too. Repeat for other side.
Et Voilà!

Happy Living Tip 3: One Sip Awareness

Are you busy? I sure am. Do the days rush past, giving you hardly any time to actually realise what is happening? No worries you are not alone. Many of us are in the same boat and to be honest it’s not new either. So it’s not surpising that there is a well known trick to make you less stressed and more at peace with yourself and your busy day. This trick doesn’t take any extra time after you practise it a few times. It’s really simple. By focusing on something small, in this case taking a sip of water from a glass, you bring awareness to what you are actually doing right that moment. By doing this your body calms down and you become less stressed. It also works on your mind. By focusing completely on this one action there is no room for anything else. So for one sip you mind is quite. And you have the choice of doing it as often as you like. One sip or ten. Whatever you feel you need.


Get a glass of water

One Sip Awareness

All you need is a glass of water (or another non-alcoholic drink)

Be ready to grab your glass and take a sip, here we go:
Reach for the glass and look at your hand reaching for the glass
See your fingers wrapping around the glass
How does it feels to your touch?
Pick up the glass
What is the weight like and can you feel your muscles respond?
Bring the glass towards your lips
Is there a shift in sensation in your mouth as you are about to drink?
Does it feel dry or is there more salavating now that you know you are about to take a sip?
Place the glass on your lips and sip
How does the drink feel? Warm, cold, cool, smooth, textured?
Taste the liquid in you mouth and be aware of the sensations
Swallow and feel the throat constrict
Can you feel it go down?
Return the attention back to your mouth
Is it the same?
Are you still thristy?
Do you want to drink more?
If so how do you know? How does your body tell you?

Finish your drink in peace. Bring awareness to however many sips you feel comfortable with. Even if that means only once every drink or even twice a day. There is no wrong or right.

The idea of drink awareness is well known to help become more in tune with youself and your surroundings. Oprah has an audio version of this excersise on her website connected to her 'A New Earth' Class. It's free and very helpfull! Please make sure to check it out.

Halo

I love Dutch Design. It's so hip and happening. A while back I spotted this great blog called Minirobot. It has all sorts of great, crazy items. Like the very funny and thankfully only visualy offending (your nose is safe) 'fart pants'. Yes! I know and I'm not joking either...


Odor free!! (thankfully)

But what I really liked was a lamp made by a Dutch designer named Wieland Vogel. I wrote him to ask the price, but he wouldn't say. The lamp is called Halo (Aureool in Dutch) and it's a fantastic concept. When you hang it in a room you can concentrate the light by leaving it small (great for dining) or pull it out which makes the light spread wide (great for lounging/parties). If you are interested you might like to inquire, although I'm not sure you would get an answers. I believe they might plan actual production or something of the lamp, however so far (and I've waited a few months for this post) I've not seen any evidence. However it's great for inspiration! I wouldn't mind a less industrial (more elegant) looking lamp that works in a similar manner.



Images from Minirobot