Locked in.....sounds good to me!

Today, a little light relief from the worsening Ebola crisis, the news carried a report of a chap in London, who got locked into a bookshop last night.  He was only apparently rescued after his tweets were re-tweeted umpteen times.  Apart from feeling that the shop staff really should have checked the shop more thoroughly before departing, I got to wondering what I would do in the same situation in my local bookshop.   

It is quite unheard of to have no other distraction other than shelves and shelves of books to fumble through, other than if you are a library assistant (but in my experience, all that sort of work is now done robotically these days), or a student, so it is quite a delicious prospect to me.  Usually my reading time is surrounded by family members, alternately arguing, running around, requesting sustenance and talking to me, with the telly blaring and the cat scratching at the door.  It can take me weeks and weeks to get through a good book.  

I think I would firstly flick through all of Kirstie Alsopps craft books, move onto the cook books, especially the cakes and pastries, photography, medieval history, interior design then the music biographies, stopping off at the cafe to make a coffee and munch a muffin or two.  Then downstairs to the manga graphic novels, completely missing the chic lit, then onto Nordic Noir then lastly the historical fiction.  For many of us, this sort of opportunity will never arrive - perhaps I`ll hide in the loo next time I`m in the shop, just hoping I`ll be forgotten!!

Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara review

A couple of weeks ago I treated myself to this new edition mascara from Bourjois.  I`m a big fan of vintage style make up and styling and have weekly struggles with the perfect vintage eyeliner flick, which can take me ages to achieve neatly.  That being the case I thought I`d try something to make this process a little easier, quicker and less likely to end up in a black smudgy mess.  

Well, the first thing I noticed was an odd shaped mascara applicator (usually shaped as a loo brush) this one has the usual bristles on one side and much shorter ones on the other side of the brush.  It seems that the user can apply mascara from eyelash root to tip, beginning with the shorter bristles at the root, twisting the wand to allow the longer bristles to spread the mascara to the tips. 

It`s a little tricky to do this successfully and I`ve made repeated attempts with varying results, from near perfection to near disaster!  Unfortunately the mascara itself seems too liquid to do the job properly, it is not waterproof either so it`s liable to spread around during all day wear. To tell the truth, I`m a little disappointed !  I guess I`ll keep going with traditional eyeliner for my doe-eyed look!

Good Points

Nice packaging

Easily found in major chemists

Affordable (less than £10)

Rich black colour

Bad Points

Fiddly

Flaky after the mascara has dried

Smudgy

Doesn't leave a clean line

La Roche Posay Review

I`m a 40 something who still has awful skin...

Sometimes I feel that I really should be going to a AA style meeting, standing up and confessing to this fact.  I`ve always had acne, well since my early teens and still have problems now, whilst most of my peers left pimply horrors in the distant past, a flare-up just about any where on my face has the capacity to completely spoil my day/week/special night out/holiday.  In fact when my best friend got married, I developed an awful, infected pimple which not amount of concealer could conceal.  I was most self conscious and felt that everyone was staring at me and not the bride.

I have tried everything that the chemist has to offer as well as numerous trips to the doctor, nothing has worked for any length of time, usually because the treatments were so harsh my face felt like it was being injured and my scaring was worse than ever. Very frustrating.....

About a year ago I stumbled upon this range of premium skincare, La Roche Posay, it encouraged me not to view my spotty skin as an enemy and that my oily, sore skin was in fact sensitive and needed treatment.  I began to feel more positive about my appearance - for once I felt confident and did not allow the state of my skin to dictate my mood.

After a week or so, my clogged pores had begun to clear, my skin was calmer and less inflamed, giving my skin time to heal itself, something it had never encountered previously due to constant flare-ups and infections.

So yep - I`d recommend this one, there are many I would not!

So lastly good points & bad points:

Good Points

mild and fresh fragrance

non oily/greasy

great for oily sensitive skin

use under moisturiser and make up

Not so Good Points

quite pricey

can be difficult to find| 

(stocked by Boots - or but online)

New stuff

Here is a selection of my new handmade Christmas decoration....all ready for the Christmas season. Yes, I know it is only the end of September and it`s 20 degrees outside, but still - I just couldn't help myself.  I don't even personally like Christmas and there are all sorts of great things going on before then, Guy Fawkes night, my birthday, a little family holiday and a great music festival I`m going too.  Never mind!

Strictly returns!

Last night, Strictly Come Dancing returned!  This year, we have no Brucie, no Artem, no James and no Robin,,,,but we do have Pasha and Kevin from Grimsby AND Claudia has nice hair and make-up this year so it`s not all bad.
So far it`s Caroline and Pasha all the way for me

Looking forward to the rest of the series, Saturday night has just got interesting for me again!

Visit me at my online shop MUSTARD CITY RESIN WORKS for a range of glitzy, unique and one-off pieces of resin jewellery and home decor!

Busy busy busy!!

Gosh its been busy here today...hence my second post of the day!

I finished off a lovely set of earrings and a set of Christmas hanging hearts in between having a haircut, going to work, making dinner for the family, then clearing up after them, making packed lunches for tomorrow, oh yes and a bit of housework!  Phew!

Here are my finished pieces.....

Ahhhhh Christmas

Well, its that time of the year when us crafters naturally turn our minds to Christmas crafts.  This year I have settled on making copius amounts of christmas decorations.

Being a big fan of resin casting, making jewellery and anything else that I find pretty, I have begun casting tree decorations and making wineglass charms (although I rarely drink!).  Here are a few of my creations so far....

I, like umpteen other watched the return of Dr Who this weekend.  I was a little apprehensive as our family will miss Matt Smith so much, especially our children, who loved him as their `first Dr` (mine was Tom Baker - so you can guess how old I am!).  However Peter Capaldi is one of our most esteemed actors and it seems it was an act of genius casting.  I thought he hit just the right note of confusion, madness and brilliance of an alien who often seems to be on the cusp of transforming into something more evil than the evil he is trying to overcome.

Anyway!  I got all inspired by the episode`s Victorian setting and created a new Etsy treasury, featuring a few of my most favourite steampunk goodies on offer from UK sellers - click below to view!

my new steampunk UK Etsy treasury


I did sneek in one of my items - a steampunk inspired necklace!

Lost in France....

We returned a couple of weeks ago from our summer holidays - as the children are older, we decided to venture overseas with them for the first time as a family.  A trip to the south of France was agreed upon and we merrily made our way, via Eurostar and the TGV to the Cote d`azur.
Cue a horrendous mix up at Avignon TGV station, involving getting on the wrong train at the wrong time and we were whizzing back towards the North of France.  Luckily all French stereotypes were overturned when we were given lots of help getting our holiday back on track, the guard on the TGV explained we could get off at Lyon and then speak to customer services to see what they could do.  I could have kissed the chap at the enquiries desk when he allowed us free access to the next TGV back to our original destination in the South.  The only problem being the train had no more seats so we would have to stand; we ended up in the baggage section and felt like box car hobos, but we got to were we had to get to - albeit a little later than anticipated.
All in all a great adventure - for the children - not us adults!  We spend the next week sunning ourselves, swimming in the med and eating fine French food.  Luckliy our trip back passed without any problems PHEW!  Needless to say, we`ll do it all over again next year!

Friday - sometime in August 2014...

I`ve just opened my NEW Etsy shop, featuring my new passion, resin jewelley and I thought I`d share with you some of my designs!
Daisy the cow (pic2) is now sold and is on her way to her her new home in the US of A.  In the last few weeks and months I have created a tonne of necklaces, brooches and rings, which I dont possible have enough limbs or time to wear, hence my new shop.

take a peek at
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MustardCityVintage

Delicious Decoupage

One of my very favorite pastimes is the extremely addictive craft of decoupage.  I happened to stumble upon it one wet and rainy afternoon when trying to entertain the children a few years ago.  Since then I have had a go at all sorts of techniques and covered all sorts of objects.  I really enjoy the space the craft gives you to express yourself and find your own style, the items you buy especially to decorate, up cycle or save from a skip can enhance your home or make perfectly unusual and highly appreciated gifts for others.

I have rounded up 3 of the best examples I could find on ETSY created by very talented decoupiers - visit their shops for more details!

A colourful, unique bag from Love Kitty Pink

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/lovekittypink

A cockerel treasure box from Decoupage Delight Deco 

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DecoupageDelightDeco

For shoe lovers Hello Kitty Heals from Kapow Couture

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KapowCouture

Obviously I cant leave this without showing off some of my own work!!!

Here is a mini drawer set, perfect for a jewellery box or maybe as an addition to a dressing table to pop your lipsticks or smaller makeup items in.  I have gone to town with crackle glaze and gold paint and have even lined the mini drawers with paper.

Wedding Favours

With the summer just around the corner (!) and people planning weddings and parties, I got my thinking cap on and came up with some soapy wedding favours.  Brides give their guests all sorts of gifts these days - sugared almonds are just soooooo 20th century!  I`ve known, little cupcakes, flower pots with herbs, cactus and choccies but not soap.

English Rose and Patchouli soap wedding favours

Fleur de Lys shea butter wedding favours

I`ve made these by the traditional `hot-process` method of soapmaking and I`m sure they will make an unusual wedding favour, all supplied in cellophane bags with ribbon and a little name tag.  Visit my shop for further details.