Pimping my Pamper Evening

Well, I think this is officially my longest break from blogging since I started. The last couple of months seem to have passed in a blur and I thought it would be nice to share what has been keeping me otherwise engaged, particularly as it's beauty related.

As well as the usual exam invigilating I do at this time of year, I have been busy organising a ladies pamper evening as a fundraiser for my daughter's pre-school. It's the first time I've ever organised an event like this, so I don't mind admitting that I've been learning as I go. The pre-school my daughter attends is a lovely setting and the staff are really dedicated to providing early years education for all children, irrespective of their background and need. They have experience of supporting vulnerable children, which often requires input outside of nursery setting. They also have a well earned reputation for supporting children with additional needs and parents do come outside of catchment to enroll their children. As it isn't a privately run nursery, fundraising events like the pamper evening help with costs of purchasing new equipment, toys and books, as well as enabling them to subsidise educational trips for the children.

As a newbie at event organising, I have a new found appreciation for how much effort it actually takes. I certainly take my hat off to all the PR girls. Embarrassingly, in a bid to avoid using stock imagery for the posters, I created an image that seems to have an unfortunate, how shall I put it...'alternative interpretation'. I will spare your blushes by not expanding any further! With only two weeks to go until the big night, I still have plenty to do and I'm anxious to make sure everything runs smoothly. I really wish that I could suddenly become less shy, as it would make selling tickets much easier. Did I mention I have a sash?!

Of course, you will be unsurprised to learn that I have enlisted the help of friends that I've made through blogging. HelenJNT and I will be running a stall together, Oxford Jasmine will be offering Rebel Nail manicures and Karin of English Rose Cosmetics will be selling her lovely handmade products. I'll be showcasing some beautiful pieces from The Fushigi Shop on my stall because I couldn't miss an opportunity to share. I also want to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to escentual.com for generously donating a prize for the raffle.

I will end with a cheeky little plea. If any of you are in the South Oxfordshire area on 10th July and want to come along, offer your service for a stall or (cheekiest of all) provide a prize for our raffle or lucky dip, do get in touch. Without completely giving away my location, I'm very close to a main train route into London, so you don't even need to be that local to join us.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reporting how it all goes.

New Beads and Bangles

In lieu of a beauty post today, I thought it would be nice to share the recent additions to my jewellery collection. The first couple of pieces I want to mention were Christmas presents from my husband. We don't always exchange gifts at Christmas but when he was fishing for ideas, I said that I would love to have a few more beads to add to my leather Trollbead bracelet. Although it was a brief conversation, the idea must have stuck as he sought out a local independent jeweller that stocked a good range of their beads.

The beads he chose were the limited edition Lithuania Flag bead (from the World Tour collection) and a Blue Flower bead. Although I'm not certain I would have picked them out for myself, I love them both very much. I tend to gravitate to the black and white beads so it's nice to have an injection of bright colour. Especially with the weather being so drab at the moment.

I purchased the leather Trollbead bracelet that I wear the beads on a few months ago from www.mememeaccessories.com. The price included the clasp and leather strap for less than the cost  of the fastening alone and I reasoned that I could put up with not getting my first choice of leather colour for such a bargain price. I may the beige replace with a darker leather strap at a later date.

The other two beads shown on the bracelet were made by Summersday and purchased from Dawanda (I previous spoke about them here). It's interesting to note that the artisan beads move freely on the leather strap whereas the official Trollbead glass beads are very snug on the leather and hard to move. Although beads that don't move around allow you to maintain their placement on the bracelet, I actually rather like the freer movement of the artisan made beads.

My next treasure was a gift to myself from The Fushigi Shop. This is 'The Cageless Bird with Sharp Needles', to give it its full title.

I kept going back and looking at this bracelet on the website for a couple of weeks. I decided to buy it in the end so that I could stop torturing myself and before someone else snapped it up. I'm very pleased I stopped dithering as I love it and know I will get a lot of wear out of it. Miss MB is also very taken with it and as far as she's concerned, I'm wearing it on a loan basis!

My Jewellery and Other Knick-Knacks

I fancied a break from makeup writing today and instead wanted to share my little jewellery and trinket corner. I picked up both the jewellery stand and mini drawers from my local Cargo shop, after being inspired by Everyday Beauty to change the way I store my pretty things. It's rather nice to have my favourite pieces of jewellery displayed like this as it gives me pleasure to see them, even when I'm not wearing them.

These last two necklaces were both made by the super talented lady behind The Fushigi Shop (and writer of Worship at the House of Blues, of course). Be Careful What You With For is the more recent purchase of the two and I'm very attached to the little heart with wings. I bought the Sweetheart Molasses Impression necklace almost a year ago now as a wedding anniversary present to myself and I always get comments when I wear. It's always a delight to tell people that it was made by a friend.

Both of these troll style beads were made by the artisan Summersday who sells through Dawanda. The Anaconda murano glass bead cost €10.50 and the Shabby Chic flower bead cost €12.00. As you can see, I haven't got round to buying a silver troll bead bracelet to put them on yet, instead I wear them on a necklace chain. Having gone back to look at Summersday's Dawanda store might just prompt me into action though!

I bought this 10m2 bracelet about a month ago after years of admiring them. I love it but after reading the warning note that arrived with it saying not to get it wet, I do feel a bit paranoid when washing my hands and often forget to put it back on again after washing up. Hopefully I'll relax a bit when it's not so 'new'. I purchased this from Orit London and it cost £80.

This ArtDeco style ring was a gift from my Mum, so it is of unknown origin. I love the style and shape and I'm looking forward to giving this its first outing.

My trinket drawers contains a bit of a mix of items that I want to have easily to hand without having them out on display. The pretty pump tube to the right of the drawers is the Renouve natural handsantizer which I am currently testing.

In the top drawer I have new makeup that I'm testing or waiting to photograph. In the middle drawer, I have my Model Mirror and iPod shuffle with the earphones I use for running. The bottom drawer houses nail polishes that I intend to use and don't want to lose in my big box. My current nail polish storage is a big box which isn't particularly satisfactory. I really want to buy an Alex drawer system so that I can store both my makeup and nail polishes together in my wardrobe but I confess that a trip to IKEA holds about as much appeals as a trip to the dentists!

After writing this post, I realise I probably should have entitled it 'What's on my windowsill?'. Do you like to have jewellery and other knick-knacks out on display, or do you prefer to have everything tidied away?