Category Archives: life stuff

Stylewise Direct

20th June 2016

Today’s outfit post is one with a little bit of a twist to it. You see, it actually features items from a Stylewise Direct who sell women’s wholesale clothing meaning that the items for sale on the site aren’t available to buy as a single unit, they need to be bought in bulk.

So why am I featuring them? Well, because I know that several of my blogger friends have their own blog shops, or might be thinking about starting one and therefore when Stylewise Direct got in touch I thought it would be great to be able to attest to the quality of some of their items for anyone who might be looking for a supplier or taking the plunge in to setting up shop.

Stylewise Direct sent me the floral dress and floral bomber jacket for the purpose of this blog post.

Because I’m not very good at explaining things at the moment I’ve used the Stylewise website to help me out, from their “About Us” section:

“Stylewise Direct aims to fulfil the gap between the suppliers, customers, retailers and warehouses by providing latest trends as soon as they hit the fashion scene at the lowest prices possible without compromising quality. Our main priority is to keep our customers happy and benefited.

We are one of the top wholesalers in women’s and ladies clothing in United Kingdom. Located in Manchester and established since 2000, we have been going strong by keeping our existing and new customers happy by giving them the best deals in the industry.

Our main aim is to make our customers grow round the clock by giving them the best deals so they never miss out an opportunity to grow big, which will make our customers different from others.

We have an extensive range of ladies clothing and supplies for group store buyers, bulk buyers, small retailers and wholesalers. We are also suppliers of discounted ex-chain store clothing…”

My main concern over cheap clothing is always about the fit and quality and this is where Stylewise Direct have lived up to their word. Both the dress and the jacket are excellent quality, true to size and well made. The floral jacket is my favourite of the two pieces and given these are currently flying off the rails on the high street would be a very worthy investment, I’ve been living in mine since it’s arrival.

The customer service I received in the process of sorting out my order was also second to none, something I think is especially important if you are making a bulk purchase or are running to a stock deadline.

I might not be brave, or organised enough to set up a blog shop of my own but if I did then Stylewise Direct would be my wholesaler of choice. Is this something you would consider, or do you already have a shop of your own? I’d be really interested in hearing about your experiences.

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Posted in life stuff, outfits, review, shopping

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Rolo Cookie Cups

10th June 2016
I’ve found baking to be a great help to me of late. With time on my hands at an abundance getting lost creating in the kitchen has both kept me occupied and helped me to discover delicious new treats to add to my daily diet. Of course it’s also making me incredibly popular with family, friends and colleagues and one of my most recent hits were these Rolo Cookie Cups which really couldn’t be simpler to make but look pretty special.
You’ll need:

115g unsalted butter (softned- I find ten seconds in the microwave does the trick)

115g light brown soft sugar, although caster sugar works fine

1 large egg

225g plain flour

Half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

12-16 Rolos depending on what size tin you use

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 170c (make it 160 for a fan oven) and lightly grease either a 16 hole mini muffin tin or 12 hole standard bun tin.

Put the butter and sugar in to a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg then add the flour and bicarbonate of soda.

Using your hands roll small handfuls of dough in to balls and place a ball in to each of the baking tin holes. If the mixture is too crumbly then a splash of milk helps, it’s too sticky then dusting your hands with a little flour will make things less messy.

Now pop the cake tin in to the oven, leaving the balls as they are. Bake for around 12 minutes until lightly golden. Use the baking time to get your Rolos unwrapped and ready.

Once cooked take the cookie cups out of the oven and straight away push a Rolo in to the top of each one (be careful as they are of course going to be very hot!) Leave the cookies to cool in the tin completely before removing and enjoying!

I’ve made these a few times now and have experimented with different chocolates as well, celebrations worked well as did squares of plain old milk chocolate.

Let me know if you make these, especially if you try out some different toppings. They are so quick and easy to do and an instant crowd pleaser!

What have you been baking lately?

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Posted in baking, food, life stuff, recipes

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The Making of a Shoeaholic

08th June 2016

My love of shoes goes way back, some of my earliest memories involve footwear and over the last 29 years I have fallen in and out of love with countless pairs of (usually highly impractical) shoes so when a website called Shoeaholics got in touch asking if I’d like to share my shoe obsession story (and pick out a pair of sandals) I was more than happy to oblige.

It’s a fond family tale, that time I threw a tantrum in the middle of our local Clarks shoes store. My Mum, my Nan and myself were shopping for school shoes- not easy when you’re blessed with feet more like flippers and were severely limited in choice. I had tried on a pair of red shoes, fallen in love with said red shoes but I believe red shoes were either deemed to be not a good fit or not what the adults had in mind for me. No other shoe was good enough for me and I threw a pretty epic tantrum (I should point out I had only just started school here) and you know what? I might just have won that battle as there were some photos knocking around at some point of me wearing red shoes with my school uniform.

Shoes were actually a key feature in many of my childhood photos and if I was better organised I would have dug some out for this post. There’s the ones of me attempting to walk around the garden in Mum’s fuchsia kitten heels, one of me in my first ever pair of (red now I think of it) wellies and one quite hilarious one of me sporting my Grandad’s walking boots when I can only have been about two years old. I also went through a phase of being obsessed with jelly shoes and it still saddens me now that I could never quite squeeze my flippers in to a pair like these.

Dress: H&M | Carvela sandals c/o Shoeaholics

If there’s one thing I love more than shoes then it’s a pair of bargain shoes so Shoeaholics is pretty much my dream website as it stocks brands such as Carvela and Kurt Geiger (to name just two) at up to 75% off their original price. You’ll also find handbags for sale- hugely tempting- and you can get an extra 15% off of your first order when you sign up to the newsletter.

I really am kicking myself now for not having photographic evidence of my childhood shoe escapades but I’m pretty sure there are plenty more to come in my future. Are you a shoeaholic? Make sure to share your memories with me in the comments, or on social media with the hashtag #imashoeaholic.

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Posted in life, life stuff, outfits, shoes, shopping

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Kate Spade & Space Cats

03rd June 2016
Despite owning many, many watches there has up until now been one designer who’s wrist wear I have been on a mission to obtain. Call me a blogger cliche but there is something about Kate Spade’s watches that makes them instantly covetable so when WatchShop.com got back in touch and offered to send me one to say I was over the moon would be a hell of an understatement.

Watch c/o WatchShop.com (get it here) | Dress: Cutie | Trainers: K Swiss (available here)

Polka dots and rose gold (artfully matched to my trainers, of course) are two of my favourite things so it was a no brainer that I went for this subtle statement piece. Everything about it is just perfect, from the beautiful packaging to the size of the dial. I am pretty sure I say this about every new watch I get but this really is a new favourite and will barely be leaving my wrist.

I thought it would be fun to do a couple of outfit photos as well, making the most of an overnight stay at my parents’ place and having mum willing to play photographer. I’m not really doing much in the way of outfit posts at the moment, not until certain areas of my life improve but there’s gonna be the odd exception and I had to make one for my favourite Space Cat print dress and new rose gold K Swiss trainers that are so ugly that they are beautiful (and I just had to have them).

Are there any watch designers that you’re seriously coveting right now? I feel like I’ve ticked a major box on my “things I wish I owned” list with this one and I shall be forever grateful to WatchShop.com for hooking me up.

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Posted in accessories, jewellery, life stuff, outfits, shoes, shopping

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Lolly’s Sweet Treats

16th May 2016
Have I ever mentioned how much I love sweets? To be fair I probably haven’t dropped it in to conversation as my relationship with food has somewhat deteriorated lately but now that’s all changing and I’m pleased to say that sweet sugary goodness is firmly back on the menu! So it was quite timely really that Lolly’s Sweet Treats got in touch and offered to send me some samples of their wares. I’d have been foolish not to take up this chance, especially from a company that stocks retro favourites and packages them in seriously lovely glass jars!
Two jars were delivered to the door and packed full of some of my favourite confections. I have a real thing for liquorice so the heart shaped jar stuffed with giant liquorice comfits was pretty much heaven. Honestly if I could only eat one type of sweet for the rest of my life it would be liquorice, it probably comes from being spoilt when I was younger with all types of the black stuff by my Dutch relatives but yeah, I have a serious addiction.
The second item was possibly even more exciting. A giant bottle stuffed full of sweeties that remind me of going to the corner shop on the way home from school for a 10p mix up (showing my age here!). The bottle was literally rammed with sweets and chocolates and included some all time favourites like coconut mushrooms, icy cups, foam bananas and flying saucers- to name but a few!

Both jars came beautifully packaged and also well protected from the hands of the postal system and I’d love to receive one of these as a gift at any time! Products aren’t just limited to jars either so be sure to take a look at what else is on offer. Lolly’s Sweet Treats is supported by The Princes Trust and is certainly a shop to keep your eye (and sweet tooth) on with lots of exciting products soon to launch. I know for certain I’ll be placing several orders in the future…liqourice catherine wheels and some foam mushrooms are calling out to me as I type.

What’s your favourite retro sweet? Liquorice aside I don’t think I could narrow it down there are just so many I love (she says as the jar in front of her is rapidly going down)…

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Posted in food, gifts, life, life stuff, review

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