Book Review :: Sharpie Art Workshop

Sharpies at the ready...

Sharpie Art Workshop 

by Timothy Goodman 

£14.99

published by Rockport


Did you know that Sharpie markers were first invented in 1964 (as a refinement of the earlier Magic Marker felt tip pen) and were the first permanent marker pens?

'Boost your stash' Giveaway Winner!!

Wow! I was a little overwhelmed by the number of entrants to my little giveaway!  I think one or two lovely people may have shared it on MSE as a lot of traffic came from there over the weekend! Whoever you are, thank you!

It took me best part of an hour to collate all the entries from here, facebook and twitter, writing all the names on slips of paper, folding them up ready for the drawer...

Let me introduce my special, utterly non-biased but very cute assistant - Roo

**Congratulations**

Mia Fergusson

Mia left this comment on the blog post and also entered via facebook and twitter

"i would love to win , there is so many things i could make but id love to give making teddy bears a try."

I would love to see what you do make with your new bundle, Mia!

Thanks to everyone who took part and if you would still love some of that beautiful fabric I have the fat quarter bundle for sale here at the special price of £9.99. I'll even refund the postage charge if you message me when ordering mentioning that you entered the 'Boost your Stash' giveaway.

Giveaway - Boost your crafty stash!!

I promised you a little giveaway earlier in the month, just as a thank you for your continued support and as a little celebration of the fact that I have been writing in this little corner of the internet for four years now!

This one is for all you crafty people out there - or perhaps those of you who want to have a go at sewing some cute little things but don't know where to start. Or those of you who's main purpose in life is simply to build a stash... (or is that just me?)

I have put together a little bundle of goodies from my own stash just for you...

What's in the bundle?

 

A set of six fat quarters of lovely Tilda fabrics - perfect for patchwork, doll making and any number of small projects.

Ten 1 metre lengths of assorted ribbons, ric rac and some lovely vintage lace trim from my stash.

50 assorted buttons in pastel shades - mostly vintage/reclaimed but with a few new buttons too. There's hearts, flowers, shiny, matt and even one that looks just like a sweetie...

All together a pretty collection of items I think you'll agree!  

 

Want to know how you can be in with a chance of winning this beautiful bundle of crafty goodness?

How to Enter

• Leave a comment below - why not tell me what you would do with all this crafty loveliness!
• Tweet 'I'd love to boost my craft stash with @forestflower23's giveaway' with a link to this blog post
• If you are on facebook, visit my Forest Flower facebook page, hit 'Like' and leave a comment on the 'Boost your stash Giveaway' post pinned to the top of the page. 
• Share the facebook post with your friends for an extra entry too!

That's a total of four chances to win!

This competition will run until midnight on June 30th. I will announce the winner on Monday 1st of July so make sure you keep an eye on the blog, facebook page or my twitter feed to see if it's you!

Good Luck!

Luxury Handmade Chocolates giveaway!

 For most of us there are only two weeks of Summer Holidays left *listens for collective sigh of relief*

Lets be honest it's not been a brilliant summer - opportunities to let the kiddies run riot outside have been few and far between which means there has been lots of running riot *inside*. I don't know about you but some much needed 'mummy pampering' is needed, and what better way to do this but with some luxury handmade chocolates?

Chocolate by Genevie is a brand new website selling exquisitely packaged handmade chocolates delivered free (within the UK) to your door. A family run business, Chocolate by Genevie pride themselves in using only the finest ingredients to produce their gorgeous range of luxury chocolates. You won't find these chocolates anywhere else either - they are only available exclusively through their website.

Genevie sent me a small selection of her lovely chocs to try and I can confirm that they are, indeed, delicious. I particularly enjoyed the dark chocolate orange praline with it's little candied orange slice decoration.

Genevie has also, very generously offered to send one of my readers a lovely box of chocolates to try too!  This tasty selection of handmade chocolates retails at £36.99 and comes beautifully presented in a red silk covered, heart shaped box finished off with a luxury bow.

 This box would make a lovely gift but don't feel guilty about treating yourself. It's been a long six weeks. You deserve it ;-)



Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget to enter. You must leave a comment on the blog (that is mandatory) All the other options give you an extra entry each but are entirely optional.

The competition ends on Wednesday 29th August - winner will be announced on Twitter and Facebook and notified by email on Friday 31st August. 


Good Luck! xx

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ps. Have you left a comment on this post? Your entry will not be valid without a comment left below!

#CreativeBudget Giveaway - winner

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions for my next #CreativeBudget post.

Something for Father's Day was a popular idea but I figured by the time I had received the next bundle of goodies from Abakhan, planned the tutorial, made the item and posted it on the blog Father's Day would be long gone so I'm afraid that idea went out the window - never fear though, I have a couple of ideas for 'man' gifts which I hope to do later in the year in preparation for your Handmade Christmas ;-)

The other popular suggestion was something for outside - it is summer after all (no, really, it is!). I had a browse through the Abakhan website and came across some exceptionally well priced 'shower proof' fabric (the kind of stuff used for sport clothing) and came up with an idea. If all goes well there will be a tutorial too. . .

As a thank you for all the comments and suggestions I wrote the names of everyone who commented into the post on little bits of paper, put them in the Union Jack Handbag and asked the Little Man to pick out the lucky winner of the Union Jack shopper and strawberry scented Jubilee Crown bag charm.

And the winner is. . .

Louise @CraftyGuider

Congratulations Louise -get in touch and I will get your prizes in the post as soon as possible :-)

A challenge from Abakhan - Creative Budget

Home crafting has seen a boom in popularity over the past couple of years as we are all watching the pennies. I spend a lot of my time making a little money go a long way - whether it's food shopping, clothes for the LM (and sometimes even some for me!), items for my home or gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

Abakhan, the home of cheap fabrics, haberdashery and general crafty loveliness have issued a monthly challenge to the craft blogging community. 'Creative Budget' is all about showing just how far a small budget can stretch.

I was given £15 of credit to spend on the website on items of my choice and make those items go as far as I could. I spent a very enjoyable evening browsing their excellent website, getting ideas. When I spotted these lovely bag handles at a great price I knew exactly what I wanted to make!  Taking inspiration from the Great Britain section, celebrating all that is red,white and blue, I picked the following items...

Doesn't that look lovely?

1m Union Jack printed cotton lawn
1m medium weight interfacing
1pr light wood effect plastic bag handles
1 each red, white and blue felt squares
1m 'Jubilee' Braid
5m assorted ribbons
2 Union Jack heart buttons

I am a big fan of spots and stripes and red, white and blue AND hearts...

I couldn't wait to get started with those bag handles. I wanted to create a vintage look and came up with this lovely curvy little number...

I just love the shape of this bag. The side seams are left open part the way down, so you have room to reach in and get at your things and it is room enough to carry all the usuals, (phone, purse, keys, camera, baby wipes, cuddly toy... )  Although you can't really see from the photo, the lovely cotton lawn fabric has a very pale blue stripe and lots of jolly UJ motifs printed across it. I added body to the fabric with some medium-weight interfacing - it strengthens the fine cotton and helps the bag keep it's shape. I could have lined the bag with more UJ fabric (there was more than enough in a metre!) but instead I picked a piece from my stash - a lovely vintage floral print my mother-in-law picked up from a charity shop for me. The red, white and blue flowers were a perfect match for the UJ's and it means my bag is reversible. Two for the price of one!

But every bag needs some extra eye candy so I made this lovely red, white and blue ribbon brooch. I think the UJ love heart button in the centre finishes it off perfectly.

It could just as easily be a corsage. I even considered attaching to a clip for the cutest hair piece ever.

With the felt I wanted to create something utilising the UJ print on the cotton fabric and a technique I use a lot in my designs (usually with gingham and felt, like these scented heart decorations) Reverse applique means that instead of adding a fabric panel on top of the main fabric, you add it behind and cut out a window in the main fabric, to frame it It works particularly well with felt as your 'window' doesn't fray. . .




I am using it to take care of my sunglasses but it could just as easily hold a phone or a pocket camera. These cosies are soooooo easy to make with felt. All hand sewn so you don't even need a sewing machine. They would make a great gift for older kids to make for Daddy for Father's Day!

Next up, following a suggestion from the lovely Kerry Lou from Lou Lou's Luxuries is a gorgeous Jubilee Crown made from felt, Jubilee braid and the other UJ heart button. Padded with a tiny bit of toy stuffing, I added some Strawberry scented aromabeads I had for a proper British summer fragrance! A ribbon loop and a key fob from my stash finished it off. Clip it to your bag for a bit of Jubilee charm. (Like the ribbon flower, I could have attached it to a hair comb for my very own cute Jubilee Crown hair piece).

 And finally with the rest of the UJ cotton lawn fabric I made a handy shopping bag using the method in the fabulous 'Liberty Book of Home Sewing' It's light enough to fold up really small and pop in your handbag (I might make a little pouch to store it in using the left over felt) yet large enough to carry your groceries home with style - beautifully modelled by the Little Man here. . .

(yes, he IS wearing wellies. . . Don't ask!)








So there you have it, five fabulous items for less than £15 - and I still have some ribbon, braid, felt, fabric and interfacing left to play with! The bags are both machine sewn (but could be sewn by hand if you have the patience), all other items are hand stitched so you don't even need any special equipment. Any one of these items would make a lovely gift for someone special. It's amazing what you can do with a limited budget and a little imagination!

As Abakhan very generously let me have these items for nothing, I would like to pay it forward and offer you, my lovely readers, the chance to win the special Jubilee Crown bag charm and the super useful Union Jack shopper (complete with storage pouch that I will make. Promise).  Just leave a comment below, letting me know how you would like me to use my Creative Budget next month? Something for the home? Garden? Something for the kids to play with? Or how about something stylish for yourself? Just let me know!

The winner will be selected at random on Sunday 10th June and announced on the blog after 8pm that day.  I will announce on Twitter and Facebook too so you may want to follow/like using the buttons in the column to the right -->

Disclosure - Abakhan gave me £15 of credit to spend on items of my choice from their website. No other payment has been recieved for this post. All items (apart from the shopper) are made to my own designs and patterns and I am happy for you to take inspiration from them to make your own for personal use or to give as gifts but not to sell for profit. Thank you x

Hotel Chocolat - Christmas Chocolate Giveaway

Recently Hotel Chocolat put a call out for bloggers to review chocolates from their Christmas Gifts and Stocking Fillers ranges. Naturally, I replied. I mean, who wouldn't?
When I got an email saying I had been picked I may have danced around the room a little bit....

As a former Chocolate Tasting Club member, I have already experienced their extremely special, artisan created chocolates first hand. Beautiful to look at, almost orgasmic to eat (yes, they are that good!) I eagerly looked forward to my monthly selection box. These days I have to settle for the 'Best of the Best' yearly selection. But it's a little treat well worth waiting for....

I was sent the fab Christmas H box selection to munch...*cough* review and wasted no time getting to work!

Thirteen individual chocolates, bringing together the flavours of Christmas - cinnamon and spice, gingerbread, and mulled wine all get a nod (Happily there was no sign of brussel sprouts anywhere! ) . Creamy truffles, smooth pralines and silky caramel all feature.
A handy 'menu' is included to tell you a little about each chocolate and help you decide which one to go for first...

House Praline

First up for me was the House Praline - a lovely thick milk chocolate shell with the HC logo stamped on the top filled with super smooth, mellow praline. Would go down a treat a cup of proper coffee...

That was followed swiftly by the Gingerbread Truffle (scrummy smooth truffle centre with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Quite intense flavour - smokey, almost bitter... I LOVED it!),  Star Anise (white truffle with the consistency of soft caramel. Distinctive liquorice flavour with just a hint of alcohol) and one of my all time favourites - Salted Soft Caramel (I would, quite honestly, be happy with just a box full of those...)

Sea Salt & Caramel Bauble

There are several chocolates in the selection containing alcohol (which gives you a really good excuse to keep this selection well away from the kiddiwinks!) You can almost taste the bubbles in the Champagne Truffle (which, incidentally, is definitely my preferred way of ingesting the bubbly stuff!) but for a real kick the Rum Truffle - generously laced with premium Saint Lucian golden rum - will blow your socks off. Or make you sit back and smile for a bit at the very least...

My favourite? One chocolate in the box that really encapsulated the whole flavour of Christmas for me is named, simply,  Mulled Wine. All those traditional Christmas flavours - cinnamon, orange and clove with a generous measure of ruby red port all wrapped up in a milk chocolate shell.... mmmmmmm Christmas Chocolate Heaven.

There really is something for everyone in this selection.

But, trust me, you won't want to share!

Now I bet you are all drooling... so here's the best bit. Hotel Chocolat are giving away a Christmas H Box to one of you lucky readers!

To enter all you have to do is tell me what your ultimate Christmas chocolate would be. Do you go nuts for praline? Or crazy for caramel? Love a bit of alcohol or just a simple truffle?   Just leave me a comment below, along with a means of getting in touch (Twitter ID or register your email address when commenting).

For an extra chance at winning you can do one (or all) of the following:

• Follow this blog using GFC and comment to say you have done so
• Like the Tales from Mount Pleasant Facebook page and comment to say you have done so
• Tweet 'I want to WINscrummy Christmas chocolate from @HotelChocolat and @ForestFlower23 http://bit.ly/tKusZo  '

This giveaway runs until midnight on Saturday 19th November. Any entries received after that will not be counted. Winner will be drawn at random and announced on this blog, Twitter and Facebook. If the winner has not got in touch with their details within 7 days the prize will be redrawn.
Competition open to UK residents only.

Don't forget, if you want to keep up to date with news and offers, you can follow @HotelChocolat on Twitter and like their Facebook page


Good Luck x

Update 22/11/11 This competition is now closed! 

Congratulations to the winner.....

Lorraine Cooper (aka @meedja)

Thanks to everyone for taking part and revealing your ultimate Christmas chocolate!

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom DVD Review & Giveaway

"Somewhere hidden amongst thorny brambles is a Little Kingdom of elves and fairies. Everyone who lives here is very, very small..."


The Little Man loves Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom (although he insists on calling Holly, 'Horny' which was funny at first...) and watches this BAFTA award winning show regularly on Milkshake (Channel 5) and Nick Jr, so he was pretty excited to get stuck into this DVD when it arrived.

Ben Elf and Princess Holly get up to all sorts of adventures in the ten episodes featured here - including a trip to Santa's workshop (The Elf Factory), a search underground as everything goes missing (The Ant Hill) and on a treasure hunt with a real pirate (Redbeard the Elf Pirate)!

If your child regularly watches Ben & Holly then, sadly, there is nothing here they haven't already seen. There are no extras on the DVD although you can use the 'Magic Shuffle' option that plays the episodes in a different order (keeps 'em on their toes!) However it does run to nearly 2 hours which represents pretty good value and I find these DVD's are particularly good to take away on holiday where regular TV may not be available.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom : The Tooth Fairy was released to buy on October 3rd 2011 (cert U, Entertainment One RRP £12.99) but Entertainment One have very kindly supplied one copy for me to give away to one of my lucky readers!

All you have to do is tell me the name of the Pirate that features in the 'Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom: The Tooth Fairy' DVD.

For an extra entry 'Like' the Tales from Mount Pleasant Facebook page and leave a comment to tell me so!

Or if you are a tweeter tweet "I'd like to win a little magic! Ben & Holly DVD giveaway from @forestflower23" with a link to this post.

This competition is open to UK residents only and finishes at 9pm on Monday 17th October.

Good Luck everyone!

**This giveaway is now closed**

There are more Ben & Holly activites over on the Nick Jr website and they even have their own website LittleKingdom.co.uk with games, stories, clips to watch and things for your little ones to do.

Day of the Diesels giveaway - Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the Thomas the Tank Engne 'Day of the Diesels' giveaway. It was lovely to read about all your favourite engines!
So the lucky winner is...

Helen & Callum Faulkner

Congratulations Callum - here's another to add to your collection. I hope you enjoy it as much as my Little Man did :)

Who won a little luxury?

First of all let me thank everyone who entered the giveaway to win this gorgeous ring from LouLou's Luxuries and to all of you who tweeted, retweeted and shared on facebook many thanks. I hope you all popped along and had a peek at Kerry's lovely jewellery - don't forget many of her items are very limited (ones or twos) so if there is anything you love grab it while you can!





And now, the important bit.....

The winner of the Lou Lou's Luxuries giveaway is....

Erica Hughes

Congratulations honey - I have tweeted you!

To everyone else commiserations - but all is not lost. Kerry has very kindly set up a special offer code for my blog readers so the rest of you can treat yourself to a little luxury of your choice. Simply use the code BLOGF15 for a 15% discount off your order. Offer code is valid til the end of the month so why not use it for a little early Christmas pressie shopping?


www.loulousluxuries.co.uk

Introducing... Lou Lou's Luxuries

One of the best things about being a part of the fabulous online crafting community is some of the lovely friendships with other designer/makers I have formed over the past 18 months or so. Some are old hands with plenty of experience, on hand to offer help and advice. Then there are others who were relative newbies, setting up around the same time as me and we have watched (and encouraged) each other as we grow and develop our businesses.

One of the first people I started talking to on Twitter was Kerry 'Lou Lou' Milne. She was selling her fabulous range of vintage inspired pieces on Folksy at the time but has since gone independent and set up her own website Lou Lou's Luxuries. To celebrate the launch Kerry agreed to spill the beans a little on her inspiration and aspirations...

So, Kerry, how long have you been making jewellery? Why did you start?

I've always loved making things, my mum has countless cross stitches, pillow covers, plaster casts and bracelets that I've made since I could tie a knot but I never thought I'd do anything remotely crafty in the future.  It wasn't until last year when I had some time off from the day job and started playing around with beads and vintage bits and bobs.  Low and behold...a couple of months later Lou Lou's Luxuries was born!  And she's here to stay (I hope!).

Where do you find inspiration?

My Jewellery is definitely inspired by history, nature and fashions of the past.  I've always been a bit of a history geek and funnily enough one of the first ever books I borrowed from a library was a fashion through the ages book.  I love the style and sophistication of the Victorian era - especially their love of pearls!  I'd love to think that my style encapsulates the feminine style of a by-gone era.

Can you describe a typical Lou Lou's Luxuries customer?

Oooh let's have a think!  The typical Lou Lou's Luxuries customer is someone with a love of vintage fashion, someone who loves to feel feminine and beautiful with simplistic but beautiful accessories.  Probably someone with a lot of shoes too!

Any plans in the pipeline you can tell us about? What does the future hold for Lou Lou's Luxuries?

That's a secret ;)

Describe your style in 6 words

Vintage, feminine, sophisticated, luxurious, beautiful, wearable

Apart from making jewellery are there any other arts/crafts you practice or any you would like to learn?

I have tried my hand at lots of different things over the years!  I've tried card making (nope...not very good at it!) I've made soaps, I've done some wood work, cross stitching and I'm also not too bad at knitting :)  Although I only seem to knit in the winter and every year I have to buy new needles because I loose them during the rest of the year!  But watch out...I may add a line of knitted luxuries to the website in about November hehehe.

What would be your perfect day?

Hmm...my perfect day would probably happen on a Sunday :) And a perfect Sunday doesn't start until about 11:30am.  That's about the time to move from bed onto the sofa and await a delicious bacon sandwich from the other half, followed by a gallon of coffee and and film snuggled up in front of the telly.  Squeeze in a bit of crafting and then a Sunday roast and that's the day sorted!  Oooh and if there could be some sunshine and the scent of fresh cut grass coming in through the window then that's a bonus.

Many thanks to Kerry for taking the time to answer my questions, your website looks lovely!

Now, lovely readers, here's your chance to get hold of your very own Luxury from Lou Lou.

Kerry is giving away a fabulous and bang-on-trend flower ring! 

Measuring an impressive 45mm across, this stunning deep red cabbage rose ring will certainly get noticed and would look gorgeous with this seasons rich, autumnal colours.

Set on an Art Nouveax inspired, gold coloured filigree base that can be adjusted to fit any size. Supplied in it's own little pouch so it would make a lovely gift for someone special, if you can bare to part with it!

So how can you get your hands on this little luxury?

First of all visit loulousluxuries.co.uk and have mooch around. What's your favourite item? Perhaps you like the cute Bouquet Dreams earrings? Or the stunning peacock freshwater pearls of Depths of Beauty necklace.

Next, leave a comment here, tell us which Luxury you would love to treat yourself to. (don't forget to include a way I can get hold of you if you are the lucky winner - email or twitter name is fine)

And that's it!

For extra bonus entry you can like this blog with GFC in the column to the right - and leave a comment to say that you have done so.

If you are on twitter tweet the following for another bonus entry "I want to win a little #luxury from @loulousluxuries and #TalesfromMountPleasant http://bit.ly/ommMkl "

The giveaway ends at 10pm on Monday 12th September and is open to UK residents only. The winner will be drawn by a random generator (ie - my other half ;) )

Good Luck everyone!!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced at 9pm Tuesday 13th Septempber.

Win a Nick Jr Goody Bag!

This giveaway is now closed.

Congratulations to 

Lorraine Cooper

hope your little one enjoys her special prize :)

Helena Dowling talks about the NickJr 'Help Dora Help' Campaign'

If you have kids of a certain age you may be familiar with the Help Dora Help campaign that has been running on Nick Jr for the past month or so.
Nick Jr have teamed up with The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts to offer a special £20,000 award to one lucky pre-school, nursery or playgroup to enable them to improve their facilities and give their kids the best possible start.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with Helena Dowling - presenter of Nick Jr's 'Wake up World' slot every morning and the face of the 'Help Dora Help' campaign - and she told me a little about the initiative.

"Dora is a fantastic role model for kids... We have worked with educational specialists to create a great educational pack that encourages creative learning through exploration and developing their sense of adventure."

She is really excited about the campaign and the opportunity it provide for the winners to do something really special for the children in their care.

"The first prize is £20,000 which could provide a great outdoor play area or an amazing trip out. There are fabulous prize packages for the runners up too!"

Helena has visited some pre-school groups to see the the activity packs in use and said the kids really enjoyed working with characters they are familiar with.

Helena, who has taught kids dance classes for years absolutely loves her job as the 'face' of Nick Jr

"I get to go into work and play with soft toys and be silly all day. Of course I enjoy it!"

You can also see her in some episodes of the new series of 'The Bopps' singing and dancing with Keith and Stan Bopp, which she enjoyed immensely.

"Keith and Stan a couple of great guys to work with. We had a lot of fun filming the show."

 Thanks so much to Helena for talking to us - it really made the Little Man's day and he couldn't wait to tell Daddy later that he had spoken to 'He-ena' on mummy's phone!

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances I am little late with this post and the closing date for entries for the 'Help Dora Help' competition has now passed. However you can still download the activity pack which contains six curriculum linked session plans based around different themes such as pirates, nature and space. Why not have a look? You may be inspired to begin a project to keep the whole family occupied during the summer holidays.

Still looking for something to occupy the littlies during the summer break? Nick Jr have kindly sent me a fabulous activity pack to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. Giveaway post to follow in the next couple of days...

The Garnier Ultralift 14 Day Challenge

Let me start by saying that I am a girl who has NO beauty regime. I rarely wear make up. Cleansing is usually little more than soap and water. I will occasionally slap on a bit of Johnson's Baby moisturising cream if I am having a dry day! And that's about it...

But I am not getting any younger and the youthful complexion I have been blessed with is going to need a helping hand sooner or later! So when I was offered a chance to join in the Garnier Ultralift 14 day challenge, I thought 'Why not?' and agreed to put Garnier's Ultralift day cream to the test for two weeks to see if it had the promised wrinkle reducing effect!

The pack I received contained 14 sachets of Ultralift Day cream - a total of 21mls which is nearly half a jar!
First I had to grade my crows feet with the unique 'Wrinkle reader' included in the pack.
I was quite pleased to note that I measured somewhere between a 1 and 2 - not bad for a busy mum in her late 30's! - then apply one sachet of cream around my eyes and the rest of my face for the next 14 days, before comparing results. The sachets were generous with enough cream to apply to my face and neck. I would recommend you go easy around the eye area though, as I found my eyes watered a little if I used too much!

So does it do what it says on the tin (pot/sachet)?

Well I will let you see for yourselves...

Well I must say I don't think the pictures do it justice (do you have any idea how difficult it is to take pictures of your own eyes by the way?) and the difference IS noticeable - a couple of people have commented on how much less tired I look, which is always a bonus!

Garnier launched the Ultralift 14 day challenge a few weeks back, were inundated with requests for challenge packs and have no more left. However, if you really want to give the 14 day challenge a go, I have one extra pack to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment on this post and a way of contacting you if you win (Twitter id/email address).
Open to UK readers only. Competition closes at 9pm Tuesday 19th July. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator.

Join me 'Living Barefoot' Giveaway

My first batch of gorgeous Barefoot Books have arrived and I am like a kid in a sweet shop! This takes me right back to my bookshop days when a delivery of new titles was like Christmas. I absolutely adore the smell when you open the box - new print, unopened books full of delights just waiting to be enjoyed...  The there is the 'oooo'-ing and  'aahhh'-ing as each treasure is lifted out and examined. It doesn't matter how thorough the reps are seeing an image of a book in a catalogue is never as good as actually holding it in your hands....

So, yeah, I LOVE books!  I especially love beautifully illustrated kids books!! And when it comes to illustrations Barefoot Books are definitely amongst the best - from the distinctive (and lovely) oils of Niamh Sharkey  and the stained-glass inspired illustrative style of Olwyn Whelan to the dreamlike quality of Italian artist Nicoletta Ceccoli and the gorgeously bold and colourful work of Debbie Harter plus many, many more.

There are also a large number of story books available with accompanying CD's and Barefoot Books have enlisted the vocal talents of Niamh Cusack (Tales from Celtic Lands, The Faery's Gift), Jim Broadbent (Storytime, The Prince's Bedtime), Miranda Richardson (The Princess and the White Bear King, The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera) and Juliet Stevenson (The Tear Thief, The Real Princess)

Amongst their new titles for this year are a series of gorgeous 'Sing along' books complete with 'enhanced' cd's that bring the book's illustrations to life in a little animation with  the words scrolling across the bottom of the screen! Brilliant fun for little ones (and not-so-little ones) and a great way to learn a new favourite.

Check out the fabulous 'Over in the Meadow' below



To celebrate my becoming a Barefoot Books ambassador, I have one copy of this gorgeous book and enhanced CD to give away to one lucky reader!

To enter this competition please do at least one (if not all) of the following:

• Firstly - pop along to Barefoot Books and have a look around at their gorgeous selection of books for children of all ages, then come back and leave a comment telling me which one (or more) you would love to give to the special little person in your life. You MUST do this to be entered into the draw.

For extra entries you can - 

• 'Like' the Tales from Mount Pleasant Facebook page - this will keep you up to date with future competitions, giveaways and new Barefoot Book releases. Comment to let me know.
• Follow this blog with 'Google Friend Connect' or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking on the tab at the top of the column to the right. Again, please comment to let me know you have done so.
• Post the tweet ' I want to #livebarefoot with @forestflower23 and Barefoot Books' with a link to this blog post.

The competition runs until 9pm Sunday 24th July. The winner will be chosen by a Random Number Generator and the winner will be announced on Twitter and Facebook and emailed if address provided. If the winner does not get in touch within 7 days the prize will be re-drawn.

Please note this competition is open to UK residents only. 

Good Luck x

*please note the prize has been paid for by myself and not provided for free by Barefoot Books. This post is not sponsored by them in anyway. As a Barefoot Books Ambassador I earn a commission on any books sold through my link to their website.

Competiton wins!

Do you ever enter competitions on blogs or posted on Twitter or Facebook and then forget all about them? I know I do! Most of them require no more than a click to follow and a retweet or a comment left and then, as I never win anything, most of them get forgotten about!

One I had completely forgotten about was run by Yorkshire Lavender (you can follow them on Twitter @yorkslavender ) to win a kilo of their fabulous dried lavender. So as you can imagine I was thrilled when the congratulations tweet popped up in my mentions column on Tuesday :) My box of lavender arrived on Friday morning. Do you have any idea what a kilo of dried lavender looks like?

...yes that is a carrier bag full!!!

...and it smells divine :)



I use dried lavender a lot in my designs, usually homegrown and dried so I have limited stocks, so this prize was much appreciated!

We will be holidaying in Yorkshire later this year and we may even fit in a trip to the award winning Yorkshire Lavender farm and gardens and buy a few plants to add to my own garden.

As if that win wasn't enough on Saturday night I was notified that I had won another!  This one run by one of my favourite online fabric suppliers SeamStar . Their competitions are always popular and as this as a bumper giveaway open for a month I knew they would have A LOT of entries and my chance of winning would be minimal. But it didn't stop me hoping...

When Courtney at Seamstar tweeted that I had won one of the three amazing hampers I was over the moon!!!

It arrived yesterday. I hope you don't mind if I share...

Beautifully packaged!

It was my birthday last week - this was like an extra special birthday present :)

I mean - just look at all these lovelies. Who could not be inspired by this selection?

There are even a couple of lovely owl prints by one of my favourite designers Saffron Craig. This one might become the netbook sleeve I have been meaning to make...

Riley picked out this funky bright print 'Lollipop Dreams' by Patty Young as his favourite.

...and just look at this selection of gorgeous cotton voiles by Anna Maria Horner I really don't know what I am going to make with them yet, but whatever it is, it will be special!

There was also a big bag of grosgrain ribbons in just about every colour you could ever need!

Not to mention some habdash extras - pins, buttons and zips.

As competition prizes go this was pretty darn amazing so thank you once again Courtney and SeamStar for making my birthday week one to remember :) I can heartily recommend that you visit the wonderful 'Seamzine' blog for all the latest products, projects, competitions and giveaways.

And good luck...next time it could be you!

**HANDMADE CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY** And the winner is...

Firstly can I say I am overwhelmed by the response to my giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part and a big "HELLO!!" to all new followers of the blog, Forest Flower facebook page and Twitter.

So now for the result you have all been waiting for........ Drum roll please......

Gosh this is nearly as exciting as X-factor!!!

And the winner is....

Kerry LouLou Milne

(better known to many of us on Twitter and Folksy as LouLou'sLuxeries)

Kerry chose the Vintage Patchwork design as her favourite and her bespoke set of Scented Tree Ornaments will be winging their way to her shortly. :)

Congratulations Kerry and thanks again everyone else for taking part.

**Handmade Christmas Giveaway**

Well, approximately 24 hours ago I had 196 'likers' of my Forest Flower Facebook page so I suggested that if I could get 4 more I would do a little giveaway...

I have been truly overwhelmed by the response - I seem to have attracted over 100 more likers overnight!! In fact the current number is now 330, well over the 200 I was aiming for!

So as a big thank you to all you gorgeous peeps I am giving you the chance to win some of my handmade lovelies for your very own Handmade Christmas - in fact I am giving you several chances!! (more about that later...)

Here is what is up for grabs

First up we have a pair of felt birds in traditional festive red and green. Made from quality wool mix felt and stuffed with soft high grade polyester toy stuffing and a generous scoop of 'Christmas Spice' scented aroma beads for a warm, welcoming festive fragrance wherever you hang them. The cute gingham wings are blanket stitched in place by hand and decorated with matching buttons. Each bird has a little metal hoop so you can hang them from decorative tree ornament hooks or tie pretty ribbon through them - however you choose.

As if that wasn't enough I am also offering a custom made complete set of my 'Christmas Spice' scented plush tree decorations. The set of four - a heart, bird,stocking and star- will be handmade to your specifications from a choice of fabrics. You can have ribbon hanging loops as shown in the pictures or you could opt for simple metal hoops as seen on the felt birds above and hang them from decorative tree ornament hangers. Each decoration measures approx. 10cm and includes a generous helping of the wonderfully festive 'Christmas Spice' scented aroma beads.  For more information and pictures please visit my Folksy shop

So how can you win these gorgeous handmade lovelies?

I am offering each of you not one but FOUR chances to win this great prize

First you need to pick which one (or more!) of these fabrics you'd like your decorations made with.

(1) Modern 'Dark Green with Gold Swirls'

 (2) 'Vintage Patchwork'

(3) Pretty 'Holly and Berries'

(4) Fun and Contemporary 'Modern Patchwork'

(5) Country Chic Red and/or Green Gingham or

(6) Pure and Simple 'White on White Stars'

Next leave a comment below stating your choice (that's one chance to win)

You could also become a blog follower (that's two chances...)

You can also 'like' my facebook page if you haven't already and leave a comment on the discussion board post *Handmade Christmas Giveaway* (that's three chances...)

and finally if you are on Twitter you can follow me here and tweet the message 'I have entered Forest Flower's #handmadechristmas giveaway. Have you? http://anthea-talesfrommountpleasant.blogspot.com '  just so I know and that's your fourth entry.

So there you have it. Simples :)

You have until midnight on October 31st to enter and the winner will be announced on November 1st at around 8pm (ish)

GOOD LUCK!!