Yes, you read that right! I can’t speak for people in other countries, but for those of us living in the UK, it’s hard to find a home-delivery cupcake company if you don’t live in London.

A couple of days ago I had a real craving for cupcakes and, lacking the time [...]]]>

Yes, you read that right! I can’t speak for people in other countries, but for those of us living in the UK, it’s hard to find a home-delivery cupcake company if you don’t live in London.

A couple of days ago I had a real craving for cupcakes and, lacking the time to make any, decided to investigate bakeries that deliver to me. There were a few options, but they all hand-deliver and delivery would cost more than the cakes I wanted to order, so not particularly practical unless it’s for a celebration and thus, a nice large order.  So, on a whim, I decided to look on eBay and actually found quite a few bakers willing to send cupcakes through the post.

So, being the girl that I am, I picked the cheapest and placed an order for these beauties! Now, ordering cupcakes for postal delivery is not for those who are easily upset by excessive packaging! These were individually wrapped in clingfilm, boxed, then the box was inside another box full of bubble-wrap. They still arrived a little squashed, but completely fresh and ready to be eaten!

I’d already eaten one by the time I remembered to photograph them

The verdict? Yummy! Sweet and delicious with the best buttercream I’ve had in ages, certainly better than I could have made (I always lose patience when making buttercream, and mess it up) and arrived two days after I placed the order (baked on the 26th and posted yesterday). I totally recommend Redcaz‘s cupcakes to anyone who fancies a little indulgence by mail! She does other flavours too, and larger cakes, as well as lots of craft items I haven’t even had time to look at yet, but I just wanted to post and really recommend these! I meant to save a couple for breakfast tomorrow, but I ate 4, the boy thoroughly enjoyed the other two, and if I wasn’t trying to be healthy at the moment, I’d get straight Online and order another flavour to try.

Can you recommend any mail-order cupcake sellers or other purveyors of delicious baked treats?

My apologies for the photo – bare legs, creased skirt and all, I wanted to take a photo before I started wearing them whilst they were still new and shiny!

It has come to my attention of late that I live quite a sedentary lifestyle. I don’t go jogging, a [...]]]>

My apologies for the photo – bare legs, creased skirt and all, I wanted to take a photo before I started wearing them whilst they were still new and shiny!

It has come to my attention of late that I live quite a sedentary lifestyle. I don’t go jogging, a gym membership would be a terrible waste of money for me as I’d barely ever have time to go, but I was recently presented with the opportunity to try out a product that would help me make the most of the exercise I do get, wandering to the shops, the bus stop etc.

I was sent a pair of Sketchers Shape-ups, trainers that profess to shape you up whilst you walk, with a rounded sole and inserts to help maximise muscle tone and promote good posture. I hoped that these shoes would help to tone up my legs and bum, as well as working my back muscles, hopefully helping my scoliosis too as I’ve heard good things from other people with scoliosis who have tried similar products.

The first time I wore them they felt a little… odd. The rocking sensation when you walk takes a while to get used to, but the accompanying DVD that shows you how to walk to get the maximum benefit soon put my fears of falling flat on my face to rest.

Looks: These aren’t style statements it has to be said, they’re big, chunky and a little reminiscent of the mid-90s platform trainer trend, but when worn the thick sole isn’t as obvious as it looks like it may be in the box. They made me think of “skater” trainers, and I’m thinking of swapping out the white laces for some bright red ones. That said, I did rather like the addition of subtle glittery spots of decoration!

Comfort: These things are wonderfully comfortable on the feet! They’re so padded that even with feet as narrow as mine, they felt secure on, and just tight enough to prevent rubbing.

Do They Work? Well, if the pain in the backs of my legs the first few times I wore them is anything to go by, definitely! They certainly take time to get used to, and new users are recommended to wear them for short walks at first, as they do work muscles that don’t usually get much attention, especially when the wearer is as lazy as me! Still, after wearing them for a couple of weeks I am finding it is becoming much easier, I’m used to walking in a different way and even when wearing other footwear I find myself able to keep going for longer without having to rest my legs.

Overall, I’m really pleased with these and I intend to keep wearing them on a regular basis – they certainly seem to have started working for me and I hope to see things continue to improve!

If you’re in the UK and like takeaways, click to read

1, 2, 3

A few weeks ago, I was offered [...]]]> This Sparkle Shopping post won’t be of interest to those of you outside the UK, so I’m cutting the post here so it’s easily skippable.

If you’re in the UK and like takeaways, click to read

1, 2, 3

A few weeks ago, I was offered the chance to review a website that allows you to order online takeaways from participating outlets, in exchange for a voucher to try out the service for free, and although it’s not within the usual range of topics on here, a combination of the prospect of free food and how great the idea looked prompted me to say yes.

Just-eat.co.uk is basically a website where, if there are takeaways listed near your address (it’s fairly new so I think there are some areas that aren’t served yet) then you can order online with a card for delivery either at a specific time or “as soon as possible”, and pay online so that you don’t need to pay anything at the door. I love the idea, since often when I find myself feeling too lazy to cook, I also don’t have enough cash and discovering Just-eat means that I can now order from somewhere other than Pizza Hut with a card!

The Pros:

• The site is quite easy to use, and payments are taken securely (with the option to pay by cash on the door if you want to).
• Although the range of restaurants is fairy limited in my area at the moment, I believe they are expanding, and four restaurants in a small town like Loughborough is a good start!
• Aside from a 50p charge to pay by card, there are no extra charges, you pay the same as you would ordering directly from the restaurant, which also means you are bound by the restaurant’s minimum order amounts for free delivery etc.

The cons:

• I had a few problems getting my voucher code to work (a needlessly complicated process that’s currently covered incorrectly in the FAQs) and when I called customer services they told me to email instead, and that I’d hear back that evening. I have sent a total of three emails in total, over several days, and I’ve had absolutely no replies. The second time I attempted to order from them however, the customer services rep I spoke to was very helpful.
• The website doesn’t seem to work properly in Opera, I had to use Internet Explorer.
• If you’re using a low screen resolution, such as on a netbook, the “floating” shopping basket on the right hand side of the screen may become too large for you to click the proceed button!

My Verdict, then, is that just-eat is a brilliant idea and its creators have definitely found a gap in the market that needed to be filled. The website itself could do with a bit of a re-design to make it compatible with all browsers and screen resolutions, and if you have a problem ordering I would definitely suggest you call rather than email, but I will probably use the service again. All in all, it’s a great site, as long as everything goes smoothly and they have restaurants in your area!

Eventually I intend to create logos for various different post types however I realise the attempt above is rather poor. It was thrown together using MSPaint at work, in about 30 seconds, so please don’t judge! This post was originally going to include a showcase of recent Etsy discoveries, however my [...]]]>

Eventually I intend to create logos for various different post types however I realise the attempt above is rather poor. It was thrown together using MSPaint at work, in about 30 seconds, so please don’t judge! This post was originally going to include a showcase of recent Etsy discoveries, however my Aveeno review became longer than I expected it to be, so the Etsy post will be posted separately soon.  

I frequently have annoyingly dry skin, particularly on my hands (probably related to poor circulation as they’re often quite cold too) and so when I was offered the chance to test and review some moisturising products I jumped at the chance. I was sent three products from Aveeno Skincare Solutions on the understanding that I would write a completely unbiased review on my blog, even if my impressions are negative, but on the whole I was very pleased with the products.

Overall I had one main criticism of the products and that was the lack of information on how the creams in particular are to be used. Thus, I may have not used them the way they are intended to be used.

The first product I tried was the 24-h0ur moisturising lotion, which I decided to use it all-over after my morning shower. The cream is quite thick and takes a while to soak in however once it had, my skin felt a lot smoother and dry patches (particularly on my elbows) were instantly softer. After a few days of use I found that these dry patches were almost completely gone, so I was very pleased with this product. A little also goes a very long way!

I will probably continue using this item, but perhaps only when my skin is particularly dry, since I love the smell of my body butters and an un-scented cream just isn’t the same. I was very impressed with it’s effectiveness however.

I was unsure of the difference between the moisturising lotion and the product simply called Aveeno Cream at first, since they both had exactly the same instructions on the back of the packs, however there was a marked difference. The Aveeno Cream absorbs much more quickly and I used this primarily as a hand cream. I get very dry skin on my hands, but this stuff is brilliant!

It feels a little sticky at first, but this goes away within a few seconds. My hands felt much softer almost instantly, and remained that way for some time. I have trouble with my hands after doing the washing up in particular, and I usually find myself having to re-apply hand cream many times after doing so. I only needed one application of Aveeno Cream and my hands felt great again!

The only product I wasn’t that keen on was the bath powder. The neutral smell of the creams was fine, but when running this product under water the oaty smell really didn’t appeal to me, and neither did the brown colour it sent the water. I usually have showers instead of baths, so when I have time to relax in the tub, I favour something foamy and pleasent-smelling to soak in.

Having said that, my skin did feel a lot softer when I got out of the bath, but I felt that this didn’t have any advantage (for me at least) over the moisturising cream. I would prefer to use a nice sweet-smelling bubble bath then slather myself in cream afterwards than bathe in the bath powder. I imagine it would be a great product for people with conditions such as eczema however.

Firstly I need to make an apology, this review is long overdue and it’s entirely my own fault – I mislaid a folder containing various bits and pieces I was working on for this blog, including a couple of zines and a notebook, and I’ve only just un-covered it. It seems I managed [...]]]>

Firstly I need to make an apology, this review is long overdue and it’s entirely my own fault – I mislaid a folder containing various bits and pieces I was working on for this blog, including a couple of zines and a notebook, and I’ve only just un-covered it. It seems I managed to shut it inside my “archive” folder for my course, so I didn’t find it until I started revising!

Shavings is a zine written and illustrated by nine people in total, living in different parts of the UK. This zine is full of absolute gems, it manages to be funny, informative and thought-provoking in equal parts, packed with interesting articles and fabulous illustrations and comic strips. Shavings manages to combine writings on a whole host of topics including satire, the British small press and video game humour into a cohesive publication that’s great fun to read.

Some of my favourite features were:

British Small Press: Golden Days to Dark Era – a really well-written, concise history of zines etc. in the UK, that reads as an excellent introduction both for avid zine readers and those who want to know more.

The Longest Dream – the writer’s thoughts on growing up, moving on and change, which I’m sure most people will be able to relate to in one way or another.

The fabulous cartoons – soft toys, worms, whether or not Hell is fluffy… I don’t want to give away too much, but I really recommend you read them!

My verdict: I loved this zine, and I’m truly sorry I didn’t get around to reviewing it earlier. There really is something for everyone and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! I recommend you email shavings.zine[at]gmail.com immediately for more information, or visit editor Rhiannon’s Livejournal and purchase yourself a copy for just £2 (paypal to rhiannon.gunn[at]gmail.com, add £1 for postage if you’re outside the UK), you won’t regret it!

Specs: 30 Pages, half A4 size, monochrome throughout.

I love zines. I discovered them a few years ago, when I was bored and using the random option on Livejournal. I was already dimly aware of their existence, but until that point I had no idea the scene was so large and varied. That it extended beyond fans of a particular band [...]]]>

List #12

I love zines. I discovered them a few years ago, when I was bored and using the random option on Livejournal. I was already dimly aware of their existence, but until that point I had no idea the scene was so large and varied. That it extended beyond fans of a particular band putting together a pamphlet of gig reviews, or writings on a particular music scene, and that it encompassed young and old alike, on just as huge a spectrum of subjects as the traditional press if not more so was news to me.

Zines are still one of my favourite sources of reading material, their small size and shorter articles makes them ideal for carrying around in a handbag and reading on journeys plus for someone as voyeuristic as me, they lend a great view into other peoples’ lives as they’re so honestly written.

When I started this blog, it seemed a good opportunity to showcase some of the great zines I’ve read recently, so I’ve decided to feature a semi-regular zine review post, where I write about a zine that’s inspired me or made me laugh. If you write one you think I’ll like, or know someone who does, please let me know – I’m always looking to expand my collection and I’ll buy most zines that strike me as interesting though obviously I can’t guarantee every one a review.

So, on to List # 12, a zine I saw advertised on the zine_scene Livejournal community, available at Everyday Pants Illustration. As you can probably tell by much of this blog, I love lists. Lists to remind me of things, lists to tell me what I need to get done, lists to organise my thoughts both in blogging and other aspects of my life.

List is a zine compiled of, surprisingly enough, lists and illustrations by Ramsey, and chronicles her move from Baltimore to Chicago. Her “Immediate To Do List for a New City” piece in particular struck me as brilliant, and something I’ll have to remember for next time I move whilst her lists of things she’ll miss and things she’s happy to leave about Baltimore are really interesting from the perspective of someone who’s never visited the city, as it gives a real insight into what her life was like there.

The guest and found lists add another dimension to the zine, and it’s amazing how much you can find yourself learning about and empathising with a person just by reading a short list of facts they wanted to share with you. “Top 10 Things Library Patrons Really Do” in particular is a great look into how people act in a particular setting.

Ramsey’s fabulous illustrations bring the whole zine together and really allow her sense of humour to shine through. I particularly liked her “A Day in the Life” comic strip and her adorable picture of her cat, Stella.

If you like lists, and are in the least bit curious about other peoples’ lives, I cannot recommend this zine enough. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you say “wow, me too!” out loud, and it’s perfect for reading on the bus to work!