Wednesday 27 March 2013

Some Recent Buys

This weekend I was very naughty and bought things... but it's OK because they didn't really cost me very much.



B&M is an absolute gold mine at the moment for all things shabby chic. My past few visits to the store have resulted in much umming and ahhing over which bits I should buy as everything is absolutely gorgeous! This time round I played it safe by picking up some oven gloves as we were in need of another pair. I also got the memo board because it is an absolute steal at that price! Most other shops seem to have them at around the £8 mark - Bargain! The lights were also a necessary purchase, I felt. Though I'm still not entirely sure where I'm going to put them as our home doesn't house a fireplace... I'll think of somewhere.

No doubt I'll be heading back there soon to pick up more bits and bobs. They do the heart shaped plates and bowls too which I've noticed a fair few bloggers possess, which I am rather envious of - so sweet!


And of course this post wouldn't be true to character if it didn't contain stuff from Primark... ;)



I saw this dress and just had to have. It was £13 which I usually begrudge and it was also in a bigger size but after trying it on, it was fine and I couldn't say no. This dress is very me :) It's one of those that would look nice dressed up for a night out, and one to pair with a nice thick knit cardi and flats for a more casual look. Larvly!



I also wandered over to the underwear section and snapped up these beauties. They were marked down to £3 for the bra and only £1 for the knickers! Not usually a colour I would wear but they're very pretty and "English Rose".

Have you had any good buys recently?x

Friday 22 March 2013

On The First Day Of Spring...

...I decided to do an outfit post! I needed to leave the house anyway to pick up a prescription so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do one.


 

Dress: Boohoo.com, Cardigan: Primark, Tights: Primark Slippers: Asda

The first day of spring was also the day I decided to go out the house without a coat feeling mildly comfortable though since having drafted this post, the weather has obviously decided to turn yet again and the feelings of true spring won't be happening for ages yet! Boo!

But yesterday was a good day.... I made my first Etsy sale to a stranger :D absolutely over the moon! It's given me the kick up the arse that I needed to create some more goodies. So I've even completed the cover that I used as a DIY in my post from last week, which you can now see over in my Etsy shop.

I hope she likes it!


Happy days :)

Thursday 21 March 2013

Commandments To Saving

Being an avid reader of the beautiful Dotty Dolly and noticing that she has recently been contacted by Money Supermarket to help judge a competition in which £100 can be won simply by sharing some top saving tips, I thought I'd have to have a bash at this. Being a cheap skate and the Queen of savvy saving, it isn't exactly a difficult topic for me. I love saving money. Love, love, love it! I think I have a bit of an addition to saving if we're being honest. I just like the feeling of being financially secure even if that does mean cutting back on a lot of luxuries.

So without further ado, here are some of my top tips...


Only treat yourself if you really feel you deserve it, and even then don't spend much. I avoid high street shops such as Topshop, River Island etc. like the plague unless they have sales or I have vouchers to spend there. If I feel I need a clothing treat I usually just head to good ol' Primark to sate my clothing appetite. Though of course I don't only shop in Primark. I also like to shop in H&M, New Look and Supermarkets as some good bargains can be found in those. I stick by rules where I won't spend any more than £15 on a dress unless it is absolute perfection, but even then I begrudge it. Shoes are a similar affair. £20 is pushing it for me. Skirts have to be less than £10 and tops cheaper still. My friends find me to be absolutely mental, but if it's doing me good in the long run, I really could care less! Also look on Ebay. A lot of the time people end up selling things that they've missed out on returning within the allocated 28 days time slot and you really can grab a bargain!



Always use websites like Topcashback and Quidco. They are fantastic at saving you money when you shop online. You can generally find that most retailers are associated with them in some way which means you can really claw back the £££s. Always look at the discount offered between the two sites before you purchase as sometimes you can get an even better deal from the other one. Similarly if its renewal time take a long hard look at what the different companies offer as you can often find yourself getting a huge cashback deal that you wouldn't have had otherwise if using just the price comparison websites.



When food shopping buy only Supermarket own branded stuff, unless there is a particular offer on for a better brand. I generally stick to a "only £1 or under" rule, which the boyfriend can get quite annoyed about. But at the end of the day if we can bring in our weekly shopping total to be as minimal as possible, we make savings in other areas. As well as the £1 rule, I also aim to spend as close to £20 as possible and if i go over £30, well that just feels like a fail to me. Bearing in mind, that is to feed two people, so £20 is a bloody marvelous achievement in the grand scheme of things!



In a similar vein to the above, if you see an offer that is too good to be true... snap it up. Snap as much up as you possibly can! These offers don't stay around forever and a lot of the time it's because of a mistake or needing to clear old stock for new. Recently Asda were selling off their 'chosen by you' selection of pasta goods for just 35p each! Of course we grabbed as much as was feasible. Last night was another goody for me, where work had been delivered some food goods, which our store doesn't sell so colleagues got their pick of the crop for just 20p per item. I got 5 jars of pasta sauce and lemon juice for just £1.08 (inc staff discount).



Another thing to bear in mind when food shopping, or any shopping really. Shop around. If milk has gone up an extortionate amount in one shop, just hop over to another. I understand most people aren't able to do that but it really does help. Plus, it also broadens your horizons by seeing what other shops have on offer.



When going out to wine and dine I tend to pick places that are cheap, and even then, am drawn to buying the cheaper things on the menu, even if being treated by someone else! A strange habit, but it saves money for everyone. Yes, OK. I'm a cheap date. There I said it. On a night out I will also opt for the cheapest drink going, though this is often a mean feat being someone who cannot abide beers, lagers, wines and alcopops.


I feel this post could go on and on... and on! So I'll cut it short here, and I hope you enjoy and even try out my tips :) From doing these I was able to buy my own car aged 17, including paying for all my driving lessons which took me around 1 year to finally be able to drive (not to mention 3 driving tests...)

Monday 18 March 2013

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

...These are a few of my favourite things!

Today I thought I would share with you some of the Etsy things that I am salivating over. As you can see there is an apparent theme, but more so these are the kind of things that I adore and obsess over. Black and white, stark but embellished, deers, trees and birds... These things definitely make me tick and are what I embody myself to be... If that even makes sense?
 
How stunning are these cushions!? They are absolute perfection. VERY me.
 
I MUST HAVE THESE LEGGINGS! Oh <3
 
And this skirt from the same seller is also a beauty!
 
We live in a rented house and I've always wanted decals, but these are silhouettes of trees are just YUM! Yes please!
 
I was actually going to buy these for a friend who has mutual tastes (she's a keeper and my fave shopping buddy) but they were a bit out of my price range. They are beauts though.
I couldn't not include this woodland themed washi tape. So cute! 
and last but not least... I have a MASSIVE collection of necklaces that I'm unable to wear as anything remotely touching my neck irritates my eczema, but that doesn't stop me from hoarding them! This one is lovely and I know that Fable & Fury's jewellery is of a very high standard :) I'm actually wearing one of their creations in my profile image!

Do you like my finds? Have you seen anything similar lately? I'd love to know :)

Wednesday 6 March 2013

In Love With Fashion

Here are some of my top picks that I am currently coveting from In Love With Fashion!






For some reason I was most drawn to the navy dresses 1 & 2, but blue brings out my eyes and suits my complexion no matter how my skin is behaving, and with their nipped in skater styles they were always gonna be on my radar weren't they? ;) I also love these skirts. The bow style one is supposed to be red but looks much more on the pink side to me, it's still gorgeous though! I love all sorts of delicate frills and fancies! The mint green lace skirt comes in various different colours but for some reason unknown to me I was most drawn to this one. I'm not usually one for pastelly colours but I can see it working well. I'm probably out of my usual depth, picking colours that I wouldn't usually wear but I do love them so I can forgive myself :D

The other items are by the lovely and whimsical Crown & Glory 1, 2, 3 who are featured as brands on the website, alongside Inkwear who create these very pretty fake tattoos 1 & 2. Brilliant for someone like me who has a condition that wouldn't allow for real ink.

There is currently a competition running over at E-Tail PR where you can win £200 to spend on In Love With Fashion. Perfect-o!

So what pieces have you got your eye on?

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Love can grow from the last grain

I quite enjoy seeing people's lifestyle kinda posts in mini pictures so thought I'd show case a few of my own that have been lurking on my phone.








1st row: An outfit I wore recently, my mug, one of my wardrobes which now has even more in it

2nd row: Organising my buttons into jam jars (only a fraction of my collection there!), Card I made my Mum for her birthday, The latest addition to my shop which has since been bought

3rd row: Pic 1 & 2 Matching bed covers!, Tea & Marble cake from Bunty's in Lincoln - YUM!

4th row: Decorating a rented house, Pretty teabag rest from B&M Bargains, Today's Primark buys (I think I have a problem!)

Sunday 3 March 2013

It's The Little Things

So if you watched my Youtube haul video yesterday you'll know I said that I won some things over the past few days. It's just these little victories in life that make you smile and god knows I've been needing some kind of pick-me-up recently.

I've been entering a few competitions and giveaways lately because Emma from Purpleeerose wrote a post on her wins which really inspired me, and Victoria from Victorias Vintage seems to be lucky in winning things too.

I'll start with my prize from Hannah Zakari, which arrived moments after submitting my video to Youtube. I never expected them to send it as recorded mail, neither did I expect to receive as many goodies as they included! I'm completely overwhelmed :)



I clearly didn't read what I would win properly. I thought it would just be one item, not all 4 variants! As well as those stunning nail stickers - right up my street(!), postcard, blogger project postcards of some stunning bloggers who I already follow, and a catalogue too which also included some stickers. I am so, so pleased. My day was made :) Thank you Hannah Zakari! Anyone thinking of buying from them totally should. Everything is of the highest quality and made so well :)


Next up I won a Treat Box worth £10 from Patisserie Valerie via Twitter!




I was under the impression that I would just get what I was given but no, I was given free reign! That scared me somewhat and as you can see it ended up being all cakey cakes and mostly of the chocolate variety. Lots of people were jealous let me tell you ;D

I also won the Red Spotted Hanky competition via Twitter which won me £10 credit. Bloody fantastic!

And as another Victory the wine coloured lace Dorothy Perkins dress I blogged about on a Wish List the Wednesday before last momentarily came into stock in my size. I was quicker than lightning adding it to my basket, applying the 25% off code bringing both store pick-up fee (can anyone else believe they do that?!) and dress down to £20. I used a gift card I had from Christmas which stated a £10 balance and to my absolute joy found I had nothing more to pay. There was actually £20 on the card. SCORE! So the beautiful dress I was pining over is mine for absolutely nothing! It did however come in a torn package bag so it must have been sent back by another customer but I shouldn't really care because it didn't cost me a single penny :D

Winning.

So thank you to all those involved, you have made me a very happy little Jenny Wren :) x

Saturday 2 March 2013

Primark & Dunelm Mill Haul

My camera wasn't working properly to take detailed pictures of yesterdays shopping haul and then my laptop refused to save any recorded videos so I had to do it directly on Youtube. This is only the second video I've ever made so please be kind :)





I got purchases from Primark including a lovely marl grey cardigan, a nice floral/birdy printed top reminiscent of  delftware pottery, a feather print top and the notorious super cosy tights. I also visited the new and improved Dunelm Mill shop here in Lincoln where I purchased some fabric paint and a fabric pen. The paint is the cheapest I've been able to find it anywhere. The only peeve I have with the new store is that their craft section seems to be much more condensed, much to my dismay, but still an improved store nonetheless!

So yeah, please give it a like if you would be so kind :D

If for some reason you can't see the embedded version you can view it here

xxx