I Found The Coolest Doodling Downtime Distraction For My Summer Holidays- The Wallpaper Colouring Book

I do enjoy a colouring book. I’ve blogged about them often before as I go through little phases of indulging in them. I’ve pondered about the adult colouring book market, along with adult advent calendars, as maybe being a sign of the fall of our species and the apocalypse, but once again double down on taking part all the way. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen my 1980s’ style My Little Pony duvet from my stories yesterday, so I am very much one of those adult children.

Adult colouring books are proven as useful stress relievers. I find them fun to do while listening to a podcast or audiobook. You can pick them up super cheap from places like The Works, or used book sellers on eBay. That might sound odd, but big resellers like WeBuyBooks and WorldofBooks on eBay have grading systems, and with the colouring books they are guaranteed to be blank.

I bought a handful of colouring books I had my eye on from those two sellers and similar on eBay and got them for £2 rather than £6 each new, and sure enough they’ve turned up as new. I got three Mid Century print colouring books (naturally) but the book I wanted to share with you that might have a broader appeal is ‘The Wallpaper Colouring Book’ curated & edited by Natalia Price-Cabrera, with illustrations by Gemma Latimer and Jessica Strokes. 

 It’s an absolutely fabulous book even on its own, uncoloured, as the pages are a nice thick quality, and there is a wealth of information about the eras of wallpaper design starting as early as 1730 right through to 2004.

Each era has a description of wallpaper of that time, with 2 pages of the print to practise colour schemes & combinations. You turn the page & have the most unique part of the book. The wallpaper print from that year is printed as if ‘hung’ on a 2 page spread, blank for you to colour, but there are full colour, photographic image ‘props’ of furniture from the period to stage the ‘room’ you are decorating. 

It’s such a simple, but such a clever idea, and it really helps bring the book to life. It means you are doing more than just repeating a pattern. You can really have fun decorating an imaginary, tiny, little, two page spread room. You can use the colours you’ve practiced on the pages previously, or go by the furniture props. 

Each room also has a furry friend, pugs, sausage dogs and cats will judge your colour coordination! If you need a guide to the trends and tones of the eras, then there is a swatch colour guide at the end of the book to help you match your pens, or pencils if you don’t want to wing it. 

 Amazon has The Wallpaper Colouring Book, but I got my copy from a used book seller on eBay for a few quid, and it was as new.

The Most Unusual Pet Beds For Cats & Dogs on AliExpress

I’ve always been a bit of a bargain hunter. I can’t leave Tesco, even if I’ve just gone in for milk, without a quick nosy at each of the reduced sections, and you better believe that I know which aisle in every supermarket in town each markdown shelf is located.

So when I discovered AliExpress, the Chinese website and app where thousands of small businesses and sellers can sell their products worldwide, and found their minuscule prices, I was hooked. So much so that now after a few years of buying from the site, I’m a platinum member. That’s a lot of 99p scarves, knic-knacks, and anything & everything they’ll print the Roblox logo on for my son.

What I like best about the app is if an item arrives and it’s broke, defective, the wrong colour, print, or anything else, you can open a claim with customer service rather than the seller, and send them a photo. You usually get a full refund, no hassle, within 24 hours. So it takes the risk out of what otherwise might be paying for a T-shirt for example, then the print being bad quality. If it is, you simply send customer service proof and the seller’s money is refunded to you by AliExpress, you don’t have to try to haggle with someone in another language.

Ditto if an item fails to show up. Whilst items shipping from Asia will take a few weeks to arrive, so you will have to wait longer, if your expected time expires, you can claim a full refund for that item, even if it shows up afterwards (although I got in touch with the seller the one time that happened to me, and resent the payment cause I felt guilty!)

Anyway, this post isn’t even sponsored by AliExpress, I’m just a huge fan, and I was spying out some cat beds for Mrs Meow this afternoon, so thought I would share some of the most fun designs I spied along the way. Who doesn’t enjoy some comical photos of dogs and cats inside funny pet beds after all? All beds were priced under £20, with the majority being under £10. I used the search “pet beds”. 

Challenge Your Dad This Father’s Day To Take On M&S’s ‘Daddy of All Burgers’. The 1kg Hunk of BBQ Beef That’s So Big, They Had to Bake A Special Bun To Hold It.

Tomato Mix £2.50 : Sauce £1.50 : Steak 3 for £10 Offer (or £5)

It’s Father’s Day this Sunday, June 16th 2019, and usually this time of year when we gather at my parents’ house at the weekend, the BBQ is whipped out with the weather being so nice. That’s when it hasn’t been raining for three weeks straight. I don’t know what’s up with our spring this year, but I’m just hoping that once July rolls around surely it’s got to stop.

Halloumi £4.25 : Sauce £1.50 : Burgers 3 for £10 Offer (or £4.50)

M&S has so many delicious BBQ products in their the Grill range, which is packed with 3 for £10 mix and match offers, and I’m dying to try them actually barbecued! They invited me to pick up some of their new for 2019 products, which I will be trying this weekend, come rain or shine, with my family. If they aren’t being BBQed by my Dad, everything can be easily cooked on the grill, or in the oven. The halloumi, which I got the pesto variety this time around, I had bought the chilli variety two weeks ago and grilled it myself and it turns out just great.

Daddy of All Burgers £8.50

Their show-stopping product, which could almost be a Father’s Day present for a real BBQ-loving Dad, is their ‘The Daddy of All Burgers’. It’s a 1kg BBQ beef burger with a creamy cheese sauce in the centre, which is wrapped in bacon. That’s the size of eight quarter pounders. It costs £8.50 and there are special hamburger buns to go with it which cost £1.50. If your Dad has ever wanted to compete in one of those food challenges, now is his chance! Alternatively the whole family could share one, just pick up some sides like M&S’s Deli Coleslaw and a side salad.

The Grill 3 for £10 mix and match offer extends over burgers, steaks, chicken and fish, so you can pick up tastes that will please everyone, and there’s also and offer right now for 2 packs of premium sausages or bacon for £5. It’s a smart time to buy and stock the freezer, as most of these items can be frozen on day of purchase, so if there’s an item you really love, you could get yourself a few for over the summer for future BBQs.

Camembert £1.75 : Peppers £1.80

In the 3 for £10 offer I chose the new BBQ Beef Sizzle Steaks, they are simple but look absolutely delicious (very top photo). For something a little more exotic I chose the Masala Salmon Burgers with red chilli (second photo down, above). I like trying something a bit different. I’ve had basic fish cakes before, but nothing like this, I’ll be nabbing one of these for myself on Sunday for sure.

Beetroot £1.75 : Pork Belly £3 for £10 (or £4.50)

The Pesto Halloumi Kebabs in the same photo above are £4.25 and are separate from the offer. If you haven’t had a cheese kebab before you are missing out. Halloumi is a firm cheese that doesn’t completely melt like cheddar and cheeses we are more used to. So it can be used in cooking and heated up. Just give it a try, it’s a real treat.

Buns £1.50 : Burgers 3 for £10 (or £4)

Camembert is another cheese that is traditionally cooked, and the Grill also has one available in a really intriguing sweet chilli variety. This would be a scrumptious snack in the evening to heat over a campfire or mini BBQ grill, and to have with a crusty loaf. It doesn’t need much more with it because it is sure to be bursting with flavour on its own. I will let you know over on Instagram. 

Back to the 3 for £10 the Grill offer and I picked up Spanish Style Pork Belly. I love these boxed meat joints as they are really good for sharing and they just easily pop in the oven, and they are packed with juicy flavour. This one comes with a roasted pepper sauce on the side. 

I also chose some Blue Cheese and Bacon Jam Burgers. I think these will be my favourites when we cook them on Sunday, I am a big blue cheese fan, especially on a burger. The M&S Brioche buns are a super accompaniment to any BBQ and you can get a pack of four for £1.50 from their bread and bakery department. 

Texan Slammers 3 for £10 (or£4) : Crisps £1 (on Offer)

The last two items from the Grill I picked are the Texan Style Slammer sausages, and the Thai Kebabs. The Texan Slammers are cheese stuffed jalapeño peppers which then get wrapped in bacon, which then get wrapped inside a sausage, tasty madness! The Thai Kebabs I chose because they come with a satay sauce, it’s a nut-free blend which means all families can enjoy it, and you can bring it along to all BBQs you may be attending without effecting anyone’s allergies which is handy. 

Kebabs 3 for £10 (or £4) : Crisps £1 (on Offer)

The fresh fruit and vegetable section of Marks and Spencer is bursting with lots of happy, in season goodies to accompany all these BBQ ​mains. I spotted the multicoloured Summer Selection Tomatoes (very top photo), the perfectly crisp Sweet Red Pointed Peppers (fourth main photo), and the Cocktail Sweet Chilli Beetroot (fifth main photo) which are sure to impress BBQ guests. There are also a range of the Grill table sauces to compliment your summer dishes, like the Piri Piri, or House BBQ in this blog, but also Smokey BBQ and Burger Sauce that I featured previously. They can be used as dipping sauces, or marinades. 

The very colourful, funky crisp packets are new in store too and just £1 a pack right now. There are a couple of other flavours but I grabbed the Chicken Katsu Curry, the Habanero Hot Wings and the Asian Pulled Pork. The packaging alone wins me over, I love it, very summery and they will brighten up this Father’s Day BBQ even if the sun doesn’t shine.​

If you are looking for some last minute Father’s Day gift inspiration, the Marks and Spencer website has you covered from fashion to food to accessories, and don’t forget a card! 

RHS Botanical Illustration- The Gold Medal Winners, A Tome For Those With a Passion For Art, The Gardening World- Or Both Combined!

The Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library has a long tradition of partnering with artists to create beautiful artworks for their collection. In fact since they first started commissioning in 1806, they have gathered over 30,000 works of buds, fruits, flowers and leaves.

A new book, published by ACC Art Books, and curated by Charlotte Brooks, presents sixty botanical studies by gold medal winning artists from the Lindley Collection. The book, RHS Botanical Illustration- The Gold Medal Winners includes an essay detailing the long-standing relationship between artists and the RHS.

Each splendid, full colour illustration includes a short biography of the artist and a discussion of their winning composition. The artists are diverse, from around the globe, but the style is consistent, botanical illustration is described as, ‘a genre of art that endeavours faithfully to depict and represent the form, colour and detail of a plant’. Still you will see the artistic finesse and style choices between each gold medalist. It is especially interesting to see different people approach such a precise artistic genre I find. The subtle stylistic flairs are so fascinating. Click any image below to see detail.

Charlotte Brooks, the creator of the wonderful book, has worked as art curator at the RHS Lindley Library for over 15 years.  She also works on the judging panel, and researches Anglo-Chinese Botanical Art. 

The book itself it simply stunning and would make a glorious gift for anyone who loves floral gardening, or equally has an interest in still life drawing or painting. It would make a really good reference for botanical drawing as there is a lot of excellent work in there.

RHS Botanical Illustration Gold Medal Winners by Charlotte Brooks, available on ACC Art now.