Cable & Cotton, Grown Up Fairy Lights You Can Design Yourself
/When I was 13 I had the great want to be an interior Designer. Most of my scribbled, felt tip masterpieces included an important accessory- fairy lights. My favourite idea was to cover a ceiling in fake ivy, with twinkling fairy lights poking between the leaves. Absolutely lovely for the Rainforest Cafe, but not really okay with my parents in a suburban home. I did however cello tape some pieces of plastic ivy up the wall beside my bed, and wound some plain white fairy lights through that. As you can imagine, this looked INCREDIBLE. Ahem.
Anyway, the fairy lights thing still hadn't abated even though I'm now 32. A few years ago I bought bird shaped fairy lights in Ikea, and I've a string of lampshaded, twee lights inside one of my cabinets. But most people's houses are more stylish than mine, and that's where I introduce you to Cable and Cotton.
These beautiful linenesque globed lights are gentle mood lighting suitable for any home. The globes come in dozens of colours, and you can handpick the colour scheme you desire on the website, and choose the number of lights too.
I picked one of the preselected colour schemes, mojito, as I knew the colours would be right with our vintage print duvet. The lights are on a clear string, so no ugly green wires when it's day time.
And how gorgeous does this wedding look with a ceiling of Cable and Cotton lighting? I also think small shops could be very funky by decorating their window or shop with lights in their exact logo colours. Very eye catching. Prices start at around £24.
If you are living near Brighton, you can visit the first Cable and Cotton store. It looks like my dream shop.
Ikea. I Don't Mean to be Rude but, Shut Up and Take My Money!!!
/Sweet baby Jesus. Ikea have brought back their first ever piece of flat pack furniture. The table that started it all. The one, the only Lovbacken side table. First released in 1956 she's a work of mid-century perfection.
Ive looked high and low for tables like this, and picked up a few in my time. The slanty legs, the Formica type wooden top, it's just beautiful. I want one. And it's only £40. The tables I've seen before are vintage, but usually badly marked and more expensive than that. I hate the go-to comparison of Mad Men era, but this is about as Mad Men as you can get. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if you were fighting Don Draper in the pick up aisle for the last flat pack.
Ikea Belfast have them in stock already, alternatively check out Ikea Online.
Kopparberg Pear Cider & Nachos = Summer, & There's a Non-alcoholic Option!
/Picnic perfect Kopparberg.
Kopparberg is the original and best pear cider on the UK market. I used to love a bottle or four on a summer evening in my single days. These days I don't drink at all, so I had forgotten all about Kopparberg as an option.
When they contacted me to try out their new flavours Elderflower & Lime and Cloudberry I had to let them know I'd have to use my husband as taste tester due to my teetotalness. Their lovely PR made my day when she offered to send me lots of alcohol-free pear and mixed berry versions to join in with the taste test.
Rejoice! Now non-drinkers, expecting mums & those with early alarm calls tomorrow can enjoy an icy cold Kopparberg too. It tastes just like the regular version from what I remember, and it goes wonderfully with nachos.
You can check out the full range of flavours and say hi to the team at the Kopparberg UK Facebook page, or Twitter.
Hand Drawn Creative's First Ever Gallery Show
/Neal McCullough is the Eames' lounge chair owning, typography loving, artistically talented man behind my World of Kitsch banner design. He's having his first gallery show next month, here in our home town, Bangor Northern Ireland.
"After almost five years in business, it's finally time for Hand Drawn Creative to have a nice little summer gallery exhibition. It's being hosted by my good chums at Syncspace in Bangor's Dufferin Avenue (one minute's walk from Bangor Train Station). I'll have new work and old gracing their walls from Wednesday 7 August. The Open House Festival will be in full swing all through August, and this event will be running alongside some great music-themed events in Bangor, so if you're in town, do swing by Syncspace.
If you know me, or want to know more about what Hand Drawn Creative does, I would LOVE to see you on 7 Augustfrom 6.30pm"
Designer Sunglasses at 'British Summertime' Prices! My Retro Picks from SmartBuyGlasses.co.uk
/This week Twitter has been about two subjects, the rather royal baby, and people going, 'it's too hot!'. The baby arrived yesterday, and so did the rain, but don't be down heartened if you've only just splashed out on a new BBQ, as the cloud-splitting sun is set to return.
This wet interlude gives you time to prepare, and check out Smart Buy Glasses for discounted designer frames, ski goggles, as well a prescription glasses & prescription lenses for sunglasses too. With Prada , Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Ray Bans and Costa Del Mar frames amongst the discounted designer labels, it's the best UK site of its kind I've come across.
Here are my top picks from SmartBuyGlasses ranges.
Bolle £46.65
Gucci £99.95
Burberry £199.95
D&G £105.95
Marc Jacobs £155.95
Ray Bans £85.95
Versace £126.95
Horrendously Ugly Retro Green Bathrooms, I Love You
/Avocado green bathrooms are due a come back by now surely?
SnapBox UK- No More Boring Walls
/My son has become obsessed with The Aquabats on CITV. The US-import is, without exaggerating, the best children's tv programme in years. Unfortunately any toys or merchandise are nowhere to be found, due to the fact the series is only one series old here in the UK. Whilst I've given their creators my hard earned cash for what official merch there is to buy, I was disappointed I couldn't find any large posters of The Aquabats for my son to stick on his wall. You always want your favourite band on your bedroom wall when you're a kid, so I used SnapBox UK to help him out.
Hey Homies!
Look how crips and bright the print is. How beautiful would your home, family snaps look in this format? It's easy to find out. You can connect your Facebook, Instagram etc. accounts and pick which images to transform into artwork as easily as clicking.
How about you make your own family portrait? Or create a photo canvas of your child's favourite pet to hang in their bedroom? It's time we started printing physical photos again, and SnapBox UK is there to help.
Ten per cent of Brits have lost irreplaceable picture memories after dropping their smartphones down the loo
Survey reveals Brits are literally flushing their photos down the toilet!
New research reveals that over a third of Brits (36 per cent) have lost valuable photos after relying on their smartphones to store them. New innovative digital photography service, SnapBox, found this includes ten per cent from dropping their phone down the toilet (4 per cent whilst drunk!) closely followed by eight per cent in the bath.
Clumsy Brits also admitted to losing precious memories by dropping and damaging their smartphones (28 per cent), which could be easily avoided if special photos were more regularly printed and displayed in the home. The research highlighted that people have fallen out of love with the tradition of printing and displaying photos in the home with the top reason (19 per cent of respondents) being that they now have far too many photos to choose from, possibly following the surge in daily smartphone photography.
A generational shift was also witnessed, with only eight per cent of 18-24 years olds now displaying their photos in a traditional photo album, compared with 26 per cent of people over the age of 55. These findings suggest the trend for taking photos on smartphones, rather than cameras and displaying snaps on social media has changed the way young people now share and store their memories.
John Doe at SnapBox comments on the research; "There is a whole generation of people who are relying on smartphones to capture and save all of their memories. Photos are all too often gathering virtual dust on phones and social media where no one can enjoy them. We're hoping this research raises awareness that a smartphone is an unreliable way to store precious photos, especially for those who are particularly accident prone. People need to start making their memories count!
"Imagine losing the irreplaceable snaps of your baby's first steps or best friend's wedding, these are memories you can't go back and relive. Don't let your friends and family become a JPEG, display your memories with pride for all to see", advises Doe.
The research is revealed at the UK launch of SnapBox (www.snapboxuk.com) . The service turns photographs, including those from Facebook and Instagram, into high quality canvas prints. Following a successful launch last year in the US, SnapBox is set to offer Brits a stress-free solution to the worry of what to do with the growing number of precious images saved on smartphones today.
To begin your SnapBox order, simply log on to www.snapboxuk.com, upload a photo from your computer or mobile device, or select one from your Facebook albums. Alternatively, email an image from your device to snapbox@snapboxuk.com. You'll get a SnapBox preview email back in a few minutes. Choose your size and continue.
