Vintage Bits and Bobs and Rather Nice

As you can see from her collection  you just know that Julie loves vintage and quirky items, china, linens and lace, she goes on little journeys and sources some great pieces and so her "Rather Nice" and Vintage Bits & Bobs stores were born.   Looking for some china then Julie has some wonderful pieces, sipping a cup of tea from a china cup is in my opinion pure heaven.  Julie also reworks some of her finds to fit in the modern day home.

Julie hand dyes her cotton tape with brewing 2 tea bags from Tea Pigs Bollywood chai is her favourite, she then adds the tape to let it infuse and says that the aroma of cinnamon and cardamom fill the room and it feels like down town Cochin at the chai stall. I am going to have to try this out for myself.

Pop over and have a look at some of her other lovely items, you never know you might just find something you just have to have:) As for me I am off to have a cup of tea.

Julie's Blog

Julie on Etsy 

Julie on FaceBook

If I kept a Diary... This weeks Entry

You know when you have a few days or sometimes weeks where you are not in control of events! well this week has been one of them and if I kept a diary this is how it would read.

Sunday.... Removed a baby deer from a friends swimming pool  which had drowned due to the cover being broken.

Monday.... Said my farewells to my Aunty B (not my real aunt but as close as one can get) and brought  home her kitten of 3 months, called her Bea and hopefully she will be good company for my other cat Dylan.

Tuesday...... Receive the news that Aunty B has passed.

Wednesday..... Crematorium at 2pm, never known a funeral to be arranged so fast

Thursday.... Family get together which Aunty B would have approved off immensely

Friday.... Went to go shopping to discover my 4 year old cat Dylan lying dead at the gates and had been hit by a car. We live in the country and at a guess I would say no more than 12 cars pass here daily, but then it only takes one.

So I am hoping  for a very quiet and uneventful weekend and look forward to a brighter next week.

Behind The Showcase Sterling Silver Stud Earrings Giveaway

Who doesn't love a success story and I for one am delighted to see Huiyi achieving her dream. I am

also thrilled that she felt I played a small part in helping her on her way. Picture below shows a pair of gorgeous little sterling silver Teardrop Studs which Huiyi has sponsored for this giveaway valued at $30 inc. postage worldwide. I am using Rafflecopter again so good luck to all who enter, and now Huiyi has a little story to tell you.......

Hello my name is Huiyi  pronoucned "Hway Yee" a Cantonese name which means "a kind girl" (blush blush:)

After finishing my degree to become an interior designer I then went on to study jewellery design at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, after my graduation I then moved to the states. I felt lost in the commercial world and went back to interior design for a living but always felt there was something missing and this needed to be corrected. At the beginning of 2010 I came back to the UK, and it was whist waiting for my documents to be approved I decided to make something fun and something I liked. My first “Pencil Lover” collection was born but as I had only sold two items over a two year period,  I felt my confidence beginning to slip away.

Luckily for me I met Krishenka aka Christine who was also selling on Etsy, she was very patient with me and gave me lots of help & encouragement whilst I was learning how to stand up, just like a newborn. How time flies and here we are now in 2012 and after working very hard for the past two years I now have 180 items in my Etsy shop and have sold 1,368 items. Last month a set of my sterling silver earring studs was featured on the US TV CBS channel show called “Fashion Matters”.

It was another fantastic encouragement to my career. Looking back, all the hard work was worthwhile and I love what I am doing now and am planning many more new designs in the near future. I am delighted that Krishenka and I still keep in touch and I hope that whoever wins my set of teardrop earrings will enjoy wearing them for many years to come.

As an extra special treat for you I am offering free worldwide shipping using this code at the checkout "KrishenkaShipping" till the 31st Oct.

Behind The Showcase

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CabArtVintage Oh La La

Now this is a shop that I could happily browse around for some time in fact I just did!  I would like to introduce you to Christine who is the owner of CabArtVintage . Based in Provence, France, she has a fabulous range of French  vintage goods, as you can see from the pictures below. She has over a 100 items in her shop and I would have happily added them all on this page. A girl after my own heart with her love of vintage and the flea markets of Southern France. If you love vintage pop over, feast your eyes and say bonjour.

All Together Now

Lets see how many different faces you can pull :) was great having all of them together (for a short time that is:)

The Cakes that Tracey Makes

I came across Tracey's  Face book page yesterday and what fantastic cakes, toppers and  all so very creative.  I love the shoe below, its beautiful, original and a work of art. You can see more of Tracey's cakes on her page but for now feast your eyes and you wont gain an ounce:)

Alva Rhassoul Mineral Wash Review + Giveaway

I am into my 6^th week now of trying  Alva Mineral Wash Cream.  I used it twice in the first week and the 2^nd week 3 times, now I use it every morning as I find the tingle I get from the this is so stimulating and refreshing, and it leaves your skin feeling really soft and deliciously clean.  You only need use a small amount for a face wash, it's a light chocolate  colour, with a hint of bergamot and citron fragrance, the smell reminds me  a little of tea tree oil. I personally prefer to use it in the shower, just give the tube a good shake first to mix and apply gently massaging into your face and leave on for a few minutes,.... Hint... if you have a piercing it's best to remove first or it will end up down the drain and join mine grrrr.  It  also removes dead cells and rebalances the skin by tightening the pores. I had a very annoying whitehead just under my eye where my glasses rest and I know from experience not to try and remove by squeezing, and after a week it just vanished without me having to do anything to it bar washing with the Mineral face wash, that got Alva big brownie points from me! Within the first week I can honestly say that I saw a difference to my skin texture, nothing overly drastic but certainly enough to make me happy using this product, and for me the most visible effect is the total reduction of the dreaded blackheads on the sides of my nose.

Rhassoul is a natural mineral clay mined in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Silica- rich volcanic clay based organic face wash containing, silicon, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, lithium and trace elements and certified organic, and not tested on animals.You can find  more information about it here:........................ Alva Mineral Wash

The tube is a chunky150ml, and even after 6 weeks still has plenty left so (in my opinion) this is going to last at a good 3 months which I think for £11.95 is excellent Value. 

Alva are generously offering one of my readers a 150g tube of the Mineral face wash, 2 runners up will receive a 50% discount code and if you really can’t wait to try this for yourself then I have a 25% discount code for specially for you, and you can rush off and get one right now.  Just add "KRISHENKA25" at the checkout to receive your discount. Hope you love it as much as I do, and would welcome you to comeback and tell me what you think.
PS: I just bought the face mask  and used the discount code and at the checkout you need to click on the little green basket to open the window for you to enter the code. Alva are working on changing this to make it easier but thought I would let you know.

Alva Facebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dreaming in White

Snowflake Ornament,... cranberrydream... $11.50	White Vintage Reind... allthingswhite $7.00	Romantic Pure White... CrabApplCreati... $34.00	Pure White 100% dup... DesignersNeeds $17.90
20 Felted balls 15-... HoneyCanada $8.50	White Snow Stallion WildHoofbeats $35.00	Pure White Fine Art... SCPerkinsPhoto... $12.00	Natural Pure White ... oksana $45.00
Pure White - Embroi... TheChestOfDraw... $65.00	Ready to ship White... Lori411 $4.00	White crochet angel... linzes $9.00	FREE SHIPPING Fabri... CleosCultureCo... $15.00
Cherry Tree Print ... BeneathNorther... $22.00	Decorative White Se... EsscentsSoaps $14.00	Lace gloves - shabb... LittleWhiteDre... $65.00	Handwoven Bamboo Pe... AllOrganicText... $36.00

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