| Bakes, Books And My Boys

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Being a bit of a crafter I always get disappointed at craft stores. We are a pretty male heavy family and its so disappointing to find everything angled for men at football and not much more. Now while you might not find the brand Stampin’ Up at craft stores you can find them online and I just love this set they set me for Fathers Day to review!

How cool is that? Even the youngest (9yrs old) loved the stamps in this set! Geared Up Garage Cling Stamp Set however is one of those set that are not just aimed at Fathers Day alone! With 9 stamps that you can interchange the possibilities that the set offers are superb!

They also have some fabulous dies, ribbons and embellishments which go with the set to really bling out your card. I personally a lesser approach but take a look at this pinterest page just to get an idea of a small about of cards you can make from this set!

The cards that I’ve made here were from playing around the evening they arrived just to give you a glimpse of what can so easily be achieved from this set even if you aren’t a skilled crafter.

The stamps are so easy to make. You push them out their set and fix the lined template on the back (it helps guide you on a placement) and the reusable sticky effect holds the stamps to your block and then its simple a case of rubbing the black momento pad across the top and press on the blank card. It dries in seconds and is ready to be painted on with watercolours in minutes.

Stampin’ Up were also kind enough to send me their markers. Because their blank ink is waterproof you can easily create a fashionable watercolour effect instead of block colour. I used a child’s watercolour brush and their pens for the colour on these.

I cant wait to really get stuck in to this set and show you some more ideas with some embellishments soon! I love how easy Stampin’ up sets are and they have something from beginners through to the advanced season crafters! And who doesn’t love a handmade card?

asmodee

Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger

Tuesday, June 04, 2019

The eldest was very excited about this months board game as part of luck at being one of the bloggers from Asmodee UK bloggers board game club. Having discovered the books last summer, he couldn’t wait to get started on this game during the half term week and it kept him blissfully quiet in the evenings!

House of Danger is a Choose your own adventure game for 1-4players. You play as a detective and psychic investigator who is trying to figure out why he is having strange nightmares. Haunted by the mystery of the missing owner of Mansion in your home time you take the case on. You work on your psychic senses and skills as a detective and choice to solve the mystery. During the story you explore the mansion and all its secrets.

Starting at chapter one you read the text on the card and start the game. A goal card tells you what you need to complete during the chapter and each story card give you an extra part of the story and choice to make….

Sometimes the cards give you a challenge, there are 5 different ones but you roll the dice and if the number matches or exceeds the danger meter you succeed. There are five chapters to work on during the game and taking risks can offer higher rewards.

Aimed at 10 years + its playable from one person up to many. Eldest played this on his own a couple of times – perfecting his skills I think for playing with his friends. It takes a while to play – there are a variety of chapters and the first took just under an hour to complete. I suspect the whole game would take a week to complete if playing solo. He replayed chapter one towards the end of the week with one of his friends and said it was great fun replaying it with his friends and added extra to the game.

If you read the CYOA games when you were younger, you’ll love the nostalgia of the make up and the art work matching the books! The writing is surprisingly engaging for the reader and you do really start to get into pretty quick.

I suspect that having played this a couple of time you might want to swap it for another set but so far it hasn’t lost its shine and its encouraged my son to also hunt out some more of the books! All in all a great game to have round the house!

My person favourite for this game was that he was putting aside electronics out of choice with out being asked to play!

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Add a touch of luxury to your bedroom

Friday, May 24, 2019

hotter shoes

Fitness Shoes with Hotter

Monday, May 20, 2019

Fitness! As most of you know I don’t really wear any shoes other than Hotters – there’s little point, I’m on my feet all day chasing kids or walking the dogs so I might as well look after my feet and treat them well and be comfortable. Yet despite this I don’t walk fast enough for it to count as exercise so for the past year myself and friend have been doing Zumba during the week and oh my goodness is it fun! That being said it can leave your heels and legs sore as you’re constantly dancing on them up and down. Hotter though knowing of this problem sent me their rather gorgeous Rebound trainers to try out and I fell in love – so much so that they are now used for everyday as well as Zumba.

I chose a gorgeous vibrant blood orange for my style as I just love the colour and it lifts any outfit! And hopefully distracts from my total out of beat Zumba moves. You can grab yourself a pair in white or carbon black. They’re leather so mould with your foot and typical hotter shoes they are like wearing slippers and cradle each step. They have shock absorbing soles which is where it really helped my feet. I often get severe pain in my heels if I’m dancing so to wear these and not feel this was really fabulous and makes me slightly cross to think of the trainers I’ve bought which just don’t compare!

One thing I really liked was the laces. They don’t slip! Bouncing on my feet most laces slide and loosen with activity, but these keep the same tension throughout the day. Being part of Hotter Active collection, the soles of the shoes have more cushiony I have found than my other trainers which I think helps dramatically to your feet feels during the day and activities. Also, the shoes are super lightweight with tiny air bubbles.

So much lighter that I actually ended up going around London with them at the bottom of my rucksack without noticing. I could write none stop about Hotter shoes but quite frankly once you’ve tried them you’ll never go back!!