The Stellar SEA31 glass electric kettle can boil up to 1.7 litres, or just one cup, without effecting the heating element. Clever, if you're trying to save the world one tea bag at a time.
The best part for me however is the novelty that it lights up blue when in action, so I can have a little disco in the kitchen in the morning.
A guest post from Emma from Crafty.
"Hello from Crafty's shack (chalet) out country! We are delighted to be embarking on new boutique premises on the Dublin Road.
Crafty Hair & Custom Clothing Boutique will open its doors late Oct and we are so excited.
You will be able to book your new hair style whilst getting thrifty fashion hints and tips from myself, chief crafter Emma Gilles.
Crafty art design homewares antiques and the usual pruck will all be available to purchase everything for sale ethos!
Crafty custom clothing and wooden jewellery will be available to purchase along side our new section for makers and fashionistas.
“Crafty Paraphernalia” Find, hoke, purchase all sorts of things to create with.
A haberdashery of the extraordinary kind - vintage beads, cloth, bottle caps, screws, thread, jam jars, hooks, eyeballs, bulbs, cogs, broken jewellery, things, lego, more things..things we don’t know what they are but they are cool for embellishing all for sale in our new boutique.
Crafty's customising service will be available to add an embellishment or twist to your clothes to make them unique to you. Just
Our country chalet is available for hen parties and birthdays and our Dublin Road boutique too !
Check out our haircrafting and fashion workshop menu to book us for your next hair style or party get in touch and get ethical and crafty!
Free eyelash tint for all bookings and £5 off voucher for Kitsch readers! Just quote this blog!
Help save the world whilst looking damn good book a crafty workshop and learn how ;)!
Photograph of Kitsch box Erin Elizabeth Kelly.
Wintour would wince; you can shop high fashion whilst relaxing in your pyjamas. Avenue 32 is a high fashion, online department store, with dozens of celebrated designers showing their latest collections.
Roberta Benteler founded the site in 2011, and already it's made a name for itself as the place to click to for luxury fashion. Avenue 32 was voted the second best online fashion store by Vogue UK, high praise indeed.
The website isn't simply a shop either, each designer curates their own department. There are videos, behind-the-scenes features and an insight into the thought behind the various collections. They also make available their Little Black Book.
If you've been following New York Fashion Week, you can compliment your wardrobe with pieces chosen from Avenue 32 in the same vein as the collections seen on the run way, thanks to a current feature put together especially for the site.
If you already know your stuff, then you'll want to jump straight into the shopping, and visit a globe s worth of talented designers, without leaving home. Up and coming folks like Thakoon Addition, Pinky Laing, Carolina Bucci and Oliver Peoples have stores nestling side by side on the virtual shopping avenue.
I adore high fashion, as it often is more quirky than high street, and I dress as weirdly as my personality. Unfortunately, I do not have the budget for high fashion, but now and then I do invest in one pricier item. Having one or two good quality, designer pieces means you can look smart by pairing them with high street items. For example having a leather handbag, can set off any outfit. I enjoyed having a browse round Avenue 32 and choosing my favourite items to share with you.
Tim Ryan £1.405
Alexander Lewis £955
Thakoon Addition £245
Ettienne Deroeux £395
Antorio Marras £690
Antonio Marras £830 jumper
Carvan £240
Carven £320
Fawn print skirt, my favourite piece. Carven £310
Hello blog-reading brands! Want to do some blogger outreach and be seen on this blog which averages 14,500+ unique visitors a month worldwide? (source URLspy.co.uk)
We, the Smyth family, are, fingers-tightly-crossed, buying our first home at the end of October. We've already started sorting, boxing and tidying up our beloved, little seaside rental we've lived in the past four years. I thought it might be worth while putting my blagging-bloggy feelers out and asking, "does your brand have any products that can make moving house easier?". Feel free to email me on kitschandink@me.com and we can work something out that benefits both parties.
In the meantime, how about these real life retro futuristic living spaces and buildings? Architectural swoon.
Jewellery is a universal form of personal decoration that dates back to prehistoric times. It is said t o have originally been worn for protection or as a mark of status. One of the most important developments in the history of jewellery is the evolution of metalworking practices, which became more complex to allow for more intricate designs.
Gold was (and still is) one of the most valued metals – so cherished that it was often buried with its owner after death. Find out more about the history of gold here. Nowadays, jewellery tends to be worn to represent religion, symbolise love and commitment or simply for ornamental fashion purposes. This article will concentrate on ornamental jewellery.
Technology and use of materials
Although still popular materials, technology has allowed us toevolve past the use of just gold, silver or platinum in jewellery making. In the 1920s, new technology allowed machines to cut and polish gemstones and create sharp lines and edges, generating more complicated gemstone cuts – and in the 1930s injection-plastic moulding techniques were developed which meant glass jewellery became more affordable. In later decades, lost wax casting was introduced which made it possible to mass produce pieces of jewellery.
Contemporary technology now means that almost anymedium can be used to fabricate jewellery. This allows for more elaborate designs as creative jewellers evolve the trade to keep abreast of fashion trends. The result is eclectic fashion accessories and fascinating styles.
Tatty Devine, for example, burst onto the mainstream accessories scene in 2012. Producing handmade acrylic jewellery, the brand started in London's Portobello and Spitalfields markets making jewellery from found objects like guitar plectrums. Its designs are about expressing personality in a fun way, and the items are certainly unique with the most popular piece being their personalised perspex name necklaces. There are now two permanent Tatty Devine stores in London, a concession in the Oxford Street branch of Selfridges, numerous pop-up shops and over 300 stockists worldwide. They were even recently awarded MBEs for services to the fashion industry.
Photo from Liverpool Design Festival
We’ll also see creative uses of materials and unusual designs in this month’s London Fashion Week, where the world’s best fashion and accessories designers come together to present new collections of work – including the weird, wacky and wonderful.
Holly Fulton, winner of the Swarovski Emerging Talent Award for Accessories at the 2009 British Fashion Awards,combines unusual matters in her jewellery. Last season, for example, her accessories used burnt black petrified wood withagate attached to jewel encrusted tops. There’s much respect for her in both the jewellery and fashion markets, so much so that even home appliance manufacturer LG is capturing her designs on a new washing machine (find out more here).
2014 and beyond
So where is the future of jewellery design headed? Well further advancements in technology mean that 3D printing is now feasible. The technology, called laser sintering, is made possible by companies such as German-based manufacturer EOS, and is already being employed by trade supplier Cookson Precious Metals.
This amazing video shows how a 3D printer works
The method means more personalised jewellery will soon be available on the high street as complex designs can be can be created more quickly, and can be more easily altered.
Moreover, a report from industry insiders suggests that 2014 jewellery trends will be focused on the unusual and surreal and will also take Asian and African influences. It looks like we have an exciting year ahead and we can’t wait to see what jewellery designers conjure up.
This is going to be incredibly clichéd, but if you are looking to get away from it all, the piece of paradise to escape to is the Fermanagh Lakeland area. I'd stayed in our family touring caravan in Castle Archdale in the early 90s, but had little memory of the holiday, and visiting as an adult with more perspective on the beauty of nature, I felt like it was part of my county I'd never explored before.
Lough Erne is situated in the very far west of Northern Ireland, almost on the border. Fermanagh Lakeland Lodges had invited us to stay with them for the weekend in one of their lakeside houses, and with the summer drawing to a close, we welcomed one last adventure before school started back.
The drive from Belfast took just over two hours, but with the majority of the journey being the M1, it's very smooth sailing. If you enjoy driving, as I do, it's a pleasant trip, even as you reach the rural areas the roads are an easy drive.
The Lodge reception will email you directions the week before your stay, and we found the location using those with no problems, and without a Satnav. Check in is quick, easy and friendly. We arrived at our lodge and got unpacked. As its self catering, I suggest picking up bread, milk etc in one of the towns before you get too far out, as the nearest petrol station is a fifteen minute drive or so.
There was a lovely welcome hamper for us, with local produce, the finest being Tickety-Moo ice cream, made just down the road. The lodge itself has everything a family would need for a self catering stay. The kitchen has a freezer, fridge, dishwasher, oven, microwave, and a bread bin which my son seemed to find absolutely intriguing. The house is on several levels, with an entrance hall, downstairs lounge area and two twin bedrooms with a bathroom. Up one level is the kitchen and dining area, and balcony with the beautiful view you see above. The top level has the double bedroom and another bathroom, plus a storage room.
After our long drive, we had an early night. After a great night's sleep, we headed off on Saturday morning to Enniskillen, one of the nearest towns, to pick up food for the rest of the weekend. It's a bustling town with plenty of charity shops, which pleased me, and a great deli butcher where we bought burgers for Saturday night.
Our chosen activity for the day was a visit to the Marble Arch Caves, a Geopark with a tour of an underground cave system. It's well worth the visit if you are in the area.
After our underground adventure we travelled back to the lodges, to explore the grounds a bit. There's a lovely walk along the lakeside and back through the woods. After such a busy day our son was worn out and almost dozed off getting a piggyback!
He soon perked up when we stopped at the playground though.
We picked up Northern Ireland Monopoly from reception, much to my husband's delight. I hate Monopoly and refuse to play it at home, but I was suckered in by the novelty of buying local properties so agreed to a game, which he won. So I now hate Monopoly again!
Sunday morning brought the highlight for my husband, the Lodges' boat rental. As well as canoes, rowing boats, bikes and other activities, you can rent a motor boat to take out on the lough. We life jacketed up, got our instructions and off we went.
A huge thanks to the staff at Fermanagh Lakeland Lodges for a superb weekend. We were already talking about coming back next summer on our drive home. If you fancy a getaway yourselves, check out their website for excellent deals.
They've out together a Relax and Rewind package for autumn which includes your stay, use of a boat, a welcome hamper and waterside picnic. World of Kitsch readers can get an exclusive 15% off with the code
76980
Time to treat yourself and your family before the winter.
Mica Angela Hendricks is an artist and a mother. Read about her collaboration with her daughter on her blog. You'll find a link to buy these masterpieces there too.
As heard on BBC Radio 6's Lauren Laverne Show.
