25 Jul 2011

GIVEAWAY 1!

Here's the giveaway I promised you and there's plenty more to come so get following my blog. If you follow by email you'll get all these nice posts straight to your inbox!)

The very lovely Christine at Planet Events Direct has offered up some great prizes for y'all and so I decided to do an interview with her so you can find out a bit more about her and her business. Here's the interview.

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WHAT IS PLANET EVENTS DIRECT ?
Planet Events Direct is an Online Craft & Lifestyle shop based in London, UK selling through the Folksy.com website. We sell a range of premuim quality of crafting materials such as mother of pearl buttons, Glass & Crystal prepacked mixed beads, sewing supplies, furnishing trimmings, jewellery making supplies, strings of freshwater pearls & gemstones alongside other eclectic and ornate bits & bobs.....as well as beautifully crafted jewellery and accessories items at extremely competitive prices.

THE PERSON BEHIND PLANET EVENTS DIRECT
My creative career roots are in Upholstery & Soft Furnishings and as a child, and whilst growing up i embraced and dabbled in many crafty disciplines such as cross stitch patchwork & quilting, papier mache right through to dressmaking, baking and pottery.
In my late 20's, due to numerous factors, i decided to leave behind my job as a Medical Secretary and concentrate on forging a new career as a Soft Furnisher & Upholsterer.

WHERE DID IT ALL START ?
Whilst working as a Soft furnisher & Upholsterer i noticed a lack of good quality instantly accessible, price concious crafting materials which i myself needed for my own creative projects, as well as receiving numerous requests from customers who had previously commisioned work from me, who wanted advice about creating their own bespoke accessory/homewares pieces from scratch.
After doing the necessary research i took the decision to start selling the mentioned items by Mail Order. After some time i heard about Folksy.com and decided to set up a shop on the site. The shop celebrated its 2nd Anniversary of trading on Folksy this year.

WHO IS PLANET EVENTS FOR ?
Its for anyone who wants to source a selection of premuim quality craft & lifestyle items for their bespoke needs.
Wheter beginner or seasoned crafter we are sure that you will find something to suit you in our Online shop.

 
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF PLANET EVENTS DIRECT
There isnt one. Each day usually consists of processing orders, dealing with suppliers, making up jewellery and accessories, catching the last post :-) amongst everything else. Priority is given to making sure that our customers receive an excellent shopping experience with after sales assistance where necessary.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU PARTICULARLY DISLIKE/LOVE ABOUT RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS ?
Dealing with Royal Mail/Courier Companies over lost/delayed parcels can be quite stressful.......grrrrrrr !!!!
Recieving orders of shiny sparkly materials to make up jewellery/accessories usually does the trick of cheering me up. yay!!

HOW DO YOU RELAX & UNWIND AWAY FROM RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS?
Spending quality time with my family, going for long solitary walks, swimming and watching films which make me laugh is a great way to de-stress and unwind for me, i also like reading in a quiet room for a few hours.....time permitting !

ANY ADVICE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO RUN AN ONLINE SHOP ?
Maintain self belief, confidence, determination, drive and ambition within yourself in healthy, equal amounts whilst not forgetting that you are only human and at times there will be situations/events which you do not have any control over. In times like this just let it go.......tomorrow will be another day :-)

WHATS THE FUTURE PLANS FOR PLANET EVENTS DIRECT
To continue to grow the shop, keep listening to the needs of our customers and to make sure that every purchase from PLANET EVENTS DIRECT is a satisfying shopping experience for the customer.

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The prize is this lovely pair of earrings



What we would like you to do is:

  • Follow my blog
  • Check out Christine's online shop and then come back and let us know underneath this post which is your fav item in her shop. If you're feeling generous you could put a link so other people can see what your fav item is.

We'll finish the giveaway on Sunday 31st July and pick a winner at random. So what are you waiting for?



15 Jul 2011

My new fav bathroom product.

I've become a bit fanatical about those body puff things. On my trip up to IKEA I saw a pack of them for cheap...
Ikea Body Puffs
Not only do they exfoliate you while you soap yourself but they probably use about half of the shower gel you would normally use without something like that. It makes the shower gel foam lots and lots so you won't have to buy as much as often! My skin is normally a bit pimply and I've been trying to get it in better condition in case (god forbid) the weather becomes nice enough to wear summer clothes on a regular basis. I reckon these body puffs are too good to pass up and you'll thank me for your new improved skin and lowered expenditure on shower gel ;)

5 Jul 2011

Nom Nom Nom - healthy bait

I've been trying to get creative with my lunch. Especially since our place of work will soon be further away from the ASDA I use as a fall back when I'm too lazy/short on time to make something.
The other night we tried this lovely recipe from Morrisons. It's a very delicious, cheap and easy recipe. I had it with some boiled rice and pitta breads for my tea and then again for my bait the next day.


  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • ½ tsp ground tumeric
  • ½ tsp Schwartz Crushed Chilli
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 800ml vegetable stock
  • 150g red lentils
  • 150g puy or green lentils
  • 420g can chickpeas, drained
  • 200g fresh baby leaf spinach
  • fresh coriander

  • Method

    1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the
      onion until it begins to brown. Add the garlic
      and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes.
    2. Add carrot and spices and stir well to coat
      the vegetables; cook for 2 minutes. When
      you can smell the spices, they are cooked,
      so add the tomatoes, stock and lentils. Cook
      over a moderate heat without the lid for 30
      minutes, or until the lentils have softened.
    3. Add the chickpeas and heat through.
    4. When you are ready to serve, remove the
      cinnamon stick, stir the spinach through, and
      serve with toasted wholemeal pitta bread or
      brown rice and a few sprigs of coriander.
    If you're entertaining sometime, your guests might like it served with some houmous and pomegranate seeds!