Review: Jamie's Italian

Last week we had the chance to test the new menu of Jamie's Italian in George Square, the occasion being not one, but two family birthdays. I'd been in the past but not in a long while so it was an ideal opportunity to enjoy some good food in town.



There's lots to like about Jamie's Italian. It's a large restaurant yet manages a really cosy atmosphere. The decoration is a feast to the eye too, simple yet appealing, with lots of wood and food items as well as cooking utensils on display.

As we sat down, the kids were given an activity bag which was a real bag of surprises. Not your usual colouring in/wordsearch with a couple of rubbish crayons that break as soon as you look at them. No, this was a pack that kept the 4 children entertained while waiting for and during the meal. A Chinese fortune teller with a food theme (that actually is still being played with, because this week the girls had a Chinese fortune teller phase, the timing couldn't have been better) came out top for sure.



The menu had so much to choose from, and it's so much more than one would expect from an Italian restaurant. With one family member who doesn't eat cheese, we more often than not opt against Italian food, but this was not an issue here at all. The kids menu is great too, and it was really useful that it can be checked out online because a few in our party were running late and it sped up the ordering process.

The kids' menu was refreshingly different with simple but good food and a tub of vegetables to go with it. Yes, there was some humming and hoing, what with this being different to the food they are  used to, but one of the four got really upset when one of her carrot slices disappeared into the mouth of another, because it was the longest and thinnest strip out of the pot. It was so refreshing to see that kids didn't get a deep fried carbs meal but a grilled, balanced meal with more vegetables than I've ever seen on a kids menu.



Best of all, the kids meal was actually free, because kids eat free with an adult meal. Wowser. That makes such a difference. The adults had a wide range of different foods and my goodness, it was tasty. Just the right portion too, i.e. enough to leave space for a pudding, but not too little to leave one hungy if pudding is not required.



We spent much longer than expected, which is rare with the kids, usually after about an hour we are keen to leave and give the relevant restaurant a break, but not so here. The kids were having great fun playing together (!) with the activity bag items, and we never felt the urge to leave.

I asked my two a few questions about the experience, they were a bit tired when answering so it's slightly monosyllabic.

• What does Jamie's Italian smell like? Can't remember. Like honey!
• What did you do until your food arrived? Played games, talked. We played with the play bag, there was stuff you can make and colour in.
• What was your first thought about your meal when the waiter brought it to you? - Oh no, there's salad with it! Mummy's garlic bread looked and tasted extremely yummy and it was freshly baked bread.
• What did you eat and how was it? Chicken lollipops and it was good. I liked the way the carrots were cut.
• What do you think your meal was made out of ? Chicken, salad, vegetables, potatoes. 
• Did you finish your whole plate? Almost. I didn't eat my salad. I didn't eat my potatoes (i.e. one didn't eat the salad, one didn't eat the potatoes)
• What was the best thing about your meal? The yoghurt dip, the potatoes
• What did your parents have? I don't know. A pasta dish? (yeah, kind of)
• Do you think eating vegetables is very important? Yes (said with a frown)
• Where do you think Italian food comes from? Italy
• What was the best thing about Jamie's Italian? Eating with my cousin. And my whole family. I liked the toilets because you could easily flush them (this may make you laugh but honestly, most toilets are really rather hard to flush for a small 5 year old, and these ones, well, wow. She could flush them herself, and it looked like a cool flush too. Not having to ask for help from mum is huge)
• Would you like to come back in the future? Yes/maybe

Disney on Ice

The girls are both big Disney fans. Each has their own favourites, and if I'm sick of reading one book, it must be the Disney story collection which gets pulled out as the bedtime story choice rather a lot. Last year we were lucky to see Disney on Ice and it was a great success, we all really enjoyed the show so we were more than glad to be offered review tickets this year.

This autumn's show started off in Braehead Arena, near Glasgow, and will be touring for a good while through major cities in the U.K. As usual, there are 4 Disney films featured and this time it's Toy Story, The little Mermaid, Cars and, of course, Frozen.

The venue was a bit smaller than last year, and so was the production. This was not a bad thing, we were so much closer to the ice, so much better able to see the amazing skating performance and the girls didn't in the slightest realise that there were slightly less people on the ice. It was still spectacular, colourful, with amazingly original constumes (I'm still not sure how Ken and Barbie managed to look so like Ken and Barbie as they did!). It was easier to focus on the story, and the characters, although for the adults, there was some compromise in the spectacle. But really, last year's show was a hard act to follow, with all of our kids' favourite films covered.

Cars was the one bit that didn't convince, there was no skating invovled, rather a few cars moving rather aimlessly across the ice. Fortunately this was also the shortest chapter of the show. A minor quibble of mine would be that the reduced version of Frozen left my girls wondering where Sven was, and also the story was told in a different way that left some loose ends for the 5 year old. However, as far as I was able to tell, the girls enjoyed it as much as last year's show, and even the initially reluctant and less excited 8 year old ended up enjoying it immensely. The 5 year old was full of praise what a great show it was, so it's definitely a great night out for the whole family.

*****************
Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets in exchange for a review.

For the technophiles: Kinivo wid380 USB Wifi adapter review

Guest review by the one and only Mr Cartside, who, as you will be impressed to see, knows a fair bit of all things techy (unlike me) which is why he got the job to review this USB Wifi adapter.

The first thing you notice about the Kinivo wid380 USB Wifi adapter is its distinctive physical form. Two slim arms, initially flush with the side of the device, can be rotated, and positioned independently. Presumably these each contain an antenna, and the idea that by a deliberate separation of the two arms, I may reduce the chances of poorly intersecting the electromagnetic wavefronts, is compelling. Physically, I should also mention a rather nice docking unit attached to an extension cable, which frees the device from the need to stick out the front or back of your machine; and instead sit on the top of it, say.

Regarding software, I tried first on Windows and that ran fine. I did also try Ubuntu, and was initially stuck with the previous version (14.10). Here, I needed to compile the driver supplied on the CD; also available at http://downloads.kinivo.com/product/driver/wid380/2011_0719_RT3070_RT3370_RT5370_RT5372_Linux_STA_V2.5.0.3_DPO.bz2. A first error regarding the "__DATE__" macro was resolved by adding:

WFLAGS += -Wno-error=date-time

to ./os/linux/config.mk. Two further errors regarding an assignment between incompatible types at lines 1126 & 1127 in ./os/linux/rt_linux.c were resolved by changing:

pOSFSInfo->fsuid = current_fsuid();
pOSFSInfo->fsgid = current_fsgid();

to

pOSFSInfo->fsuid = current_fsuid().val;
pOSFSInfo->fsgid = current_fsgid().val;

Eventually, this compiled, installed, and worked; though I must say with fairly poor quality, and frequent connection drops.

Happily though I can say that, on 2 separate machines, the device works automatically with current Ubuntu 15.04. I also now get one more bar of connection strength than I did with my previous USB dongle, so I'm chuffed. Then again, it's recently been dropping the connection again...

So, that's it. It works fine on Windows and passably on Ubuntu. It even looks good - something I never thought I'd say about a USB Wifi Dongle.

***********
Full disclosure: We received the product for review.

Review: Hawkins Bazaar

Of course we had a birthday coming up and so soon after Christmas, I always struggle to find a decent present. So it was great to try out a new toy shop, which like all shops these days, has not just a high street, but also an online presence. Hawkins Bazaar has branches in Scotland and I tested out their range and service in their online incarnation. Hawkins Bazaar has stores in Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen which is a tad for to travel for me.

The website is rather intuitive and it's easy to browse and find what one is looking for. I also found it easy to browse if one doesn't know what one is looking for (i.e. me). I got lots of ideas and particularly like the section for party bag items which to me seemed a bit more of the unusual and useful type, rather than the usual plastic tat that doesn't last the day. Particularly there were some small toys that in multiple (party bag) quantities were a very good deal.

I'm not quite sure what made the website so user friendly, but my experience was that I found what I was looking for much quicker than in other store websites. For the birthday child, we got a model mini, because she's just really into minis. The idea seemed perfect, and the mini also comes in yellow, however, it wasn't possible to choose the colour (and the one that came was black, but she didn't seem to mind). For Snowflake we got a mermaid tank with swimming life like mermaid which she totally adores, and plays with hours on end. It's perfect for the garden and has been popular amongst the neighbour's girl as well.

The delivery was quick and all went rather well. I stocked up on party bag items and presents for upcoming friends' birthdays too which was rather convenient. The range and selection was good - I'm not sure how it compares to other shops but I definitely didn't feel in any way limited by the range. Postage is reasonable and free for orders over £40. Special deals and multibuy offers are also easy to find, so all in all a good shopping experience that can be recommended. I'm actually quite curious now what the physical Hawkins Bazaar shops look like...

------------------------
Disclosure: I received vouchers to buy products for this review (in part payment of my order)

Reviews: Sugru & new CBeebies show: Kate and Mim-Mim

I have to laugh typing the title above, because if ever there could be two things more different to review in one go, these are the ones.

As usual, I only review items that I'm genuinely interested in and Sugru caught my attention somehow and when I checked the product out on the website, and listened to the pitch by its inventor and CEO Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh, I was hooked. It was meant to be promoted as a father's day gift idea (oops, this review IS late), but honest, this is such a clever little invention that it shouldn't be gendered in any way. I even suspected that I'd get more excitement out of it than my better half, but was proven wrong because he was as  intrigued as me (and neither of us is a DIY enthusiast). Sugru is a nifty substance, a bit like plasticine, that can be shaped in any form and will attach to most surfaces, then dry out and presto, stay put.

The world's your oyster how you want to use it. I've seen it used to waterproof those leaky holes in shoes, while simultaneously adding a bit of bling to them (Sugru comes in different colours, see). It can be used to attach all those things that have become detached, without the danger of superglue sticking forever joining the tips of your index finger and thumb. My 7 year old went straight into exploration and design mode and had the wackiest of ideas, and we settled for now to create fun hooks for all those loose bits that can be hung up. Because you can shape it, it fits better and you can create just the perfect hook for the item wanting to be hung up. It can be used to mend, fix, insulate, seal, to craft, to decorate and much more. Ideal for any small fixing job. It comes in primary colours which can be mixed to create your own custom colour. The website comes with great ideas too, for a bit of inspiration. Definitely a thumbs up for Sugru! You can get Sugru in most usual DIY outlets, and Maplins.
*******Disclosure: I received samples in return for this review. ****************

Kate and Mim-Mim is a new show about to be aired on CBeebies and we were given an advance copy of the first episode to review. It's aimed at preschool to 6 years of age, but my 7year old actually likes programmes for younger children and was keen to give it a test view while the actual target audience was asleep. Cubling thinks it's good to watch. That's as much as she'll say, she was a bit disappointed that it was short (but psst, that's a good thing, we don't want too much screen time do we now). Kate and her toy rabbit go on lots of adventures, and her cuddly toy becomes massive as they enter their imaginary world. Together they have adventures, explore and work out solutions in team work. All good stuff and role models (tick). The animation is cute and simple enough not to overwhelm the younger viewers (tick), with educational messages and easy to follow storyline (tick), so it's a good addition to the programmes on CBeeBies. I'm still hoping for my target audience to get an opportunity for a test viewing, but it's sunny and the paddling pool is a bit more attractive right now and I was meant to review it before the screening of the first episode, which incidentally is coming to a screen in your house very soon indeed: Kate and Mim-Mim will screen daily as of Monday 4th August at 5:30pm, so you can check it out yourself!
*******Disclosure: I received a copy of the first episode and a set of Mim-Mim ears in return for this review (but my little monkeys are in agreement (a rare occurrence) that I'm absolutely not allowed to wear the ears.at.all (sob)). I was allowed to eat half of the sweets though, because little sister was asleep at the time (yes!)*********

Review: Plymouth Touch Control Lamp

When asked if I'd be interested in reviewing the Plymouth Touch Control Lamp, my first thought was, probably not. But I was curious and had a look. And how glad was I that I did! I instantly liked the design of the lamp. I may not be a design expert but I usually know more or less instantly what I like and the Plymouth Touch Control Lamp definitely ticked my like box.

It's a classic design with unusual light turquoise colour and the cable has a woven texture which is a

welcome change from the usual boring black plastic.It gives the lamp a warm and cosy appearance, it's stylish without showing off in any way. It would look equally well as a bedside lamp or a desk lamp, we've opted for the latter simply because the colour didn't quite go with our bedroom colour scheme, and I quite like the combination of our second hand find of a solid wood desk and the aqua colour of the lamp, they're clearly made for one another.

Moving to the practical aspects of the lamp - it is just the perfect size for a desk. It's operated by touch sensors which cover the whole of the lamp - so no looking for a switch or trying to touch it in the right place, it's incredibly easy to operate. There are three levels of brightness which have a great range, from a very soft and warm light that still gives enough brightness to read, to an astonishingly bright setting, considering the bulb range is only 20-28W.

The lamp head can be adjusted through a simple and solid key which allows movement of the angle in two directions, and provides good flexibility.

It's also not easy to knock the lamp over as it's sturdy enough to resist minor knocks.

All in all it's a beautiful and functional lamp that adds a special tough to any room. At £65 I'm pretty sure it provides good value for money, and it's certainly made me have a closer look at the lighting range that John Lewis offers, there's no doubt that our lamps and lights could do with a bit of upgrading.


---------------------
Disclosure: I received the lamp to review plus some John Lewis vouchers and the views expressed in the post are from the Mummy do that! household.

Review: Snapfish

It was June when we went on a loooong train journey to the other end of the world the UK and spend a week in beautiful Devon. Or rather, I'm sure it was beautiful, just that for all the rain we didn't see much beyond the hedgerows. We went with the extended family, and the kids had an absolute whale of a time.

Having just taken part in two of the Capturing Childhood e-courses, I took a ton of photos, always with the intention of creating a photo book to remember this first holiday with the whole family, something to look back on and to remember the special moments and the fun had.

Ahem, and now it's November and Devon seems to be even further than a 7 hour train journey away.
It took a bit of a kick in the backside to get this photobook off the ground, or rather an invitation to try out Snapfish for a photo product. Not having used Snapfish before, I was game.

There are quite a few photobook designs to choose from starting from approximately £20. I opted for the customised A4 book, which is special enough without taking up a lot of space. After uploading my favourite photos, I managed to create the full book in just a couple of hours through the interface on the Snapfish website. The book is very customisable, from the background down to the different designs for arranging the photos on the page. Even within the page layout, photos can still be moved and the sizes changed, or even photos added.

The book will print as is displayed, and there was only one minor worry when a warning came up that some of the spaces for photos were vacant, when in fact there was a photo there which hadn't been locked - however the actual print was perfect, so the software appears to be erring on the side of caution.

The print quality was great and the kids love the book. It's already brought back so many memories and anecdotes. In fact, Cubling had a right old laugh remembering the adventures had and I'm sure the book will be picked up a lot. It just shows that for those special occasions, making your digital photos special with a photo book is definitely the right move. Let's face it, we don't often look at photos on the computer, but photo books are definitely getting picked up a lot in our home.
-----------------
Disclaimer: I received a photo product credits to try out a Snapfish photo product and review it.

And onwards and upwards - Review

Well, what can I say. After feeling rather at the edge yesterday, today was a whole new day. Which makes me wonder if the tensions are created by factors outside of the home which just had to come out on this first day of a bank holiday weekend. Today, in contrast, emotions were much more in control and I found out a few things that indicate tensions at school - nothing major or surprising but it may have caused or contributed to yesterday's fraught day. Of course, if I say nothing major it's nothing major in my eyes, but it may be serious enough for Cubling. I may be getting on a bit but if there's something I vividly remember from my childhood, it's how I felt when time outs and the like were imposed by figures of authority.

So with a head a bit clearer I can finally catch up on a couple of review posts that have been waiting to be written. First up today is Vertbaudet, the online/mail order childrens clothes/maternity wear and children's nursery company.

I've always been a big fan of Vertbaudet's collection, which is why I am more than happy to take up the opportunity of a review. Vertbaudet offers beautiful and practical clothes ranges for baby and children, as well as maternity wear, nursery outfit and storage solutions. Previously I'd reviewed some of their children's/baby clothes so this time I opted for bed linen as we're soon facing the move into the big bed (or let's say, the plan is soon but a certain Missus seems to have different ideas).

What I like about Vertbaudet in general is that the designs are just that bit different from what you tend to get on the high street, and this applies to both clothing and nursery design. The range for bed linen is large so that there's bound to be something for anyone. My first choice had sold out so I settled for my second choice, which was just fine as there are so many nice bedlinen sets that identifying a first choice took me all evening. Basically, I like them all. So the chicken was replaced by a butterfly design because Snowflake is not just keen on zebras but also on Butterflies (in fact, it was one of her first words).

Once the parcel was delivered, big sister got rather excited and had a look too. Now I have to mention at this point that Cubling has very definite opinions and it's either a total thumbs up or a total thumbs down. To be honest, I hadn't picked the design with her in mind and didn't expect her to like it, as she's all into princesses, pink and gold. However, there was a pleasant surprise in that she too loved this design, so it's passed the Cubling test!

The duvet cover didn't disappoint and we are now at least set for the big bed day should it ever arrive. It's an interesting design actually in that it has a flap rather than button to close the cover, which I hadn't seen before. It makes changing bedlinen a bit quicker and is more durable as buttons tend to wear and disappear with time. So no qualms about the product, it was as beautiful as the picture promised and delivery was quick.

I have had a slight issue with out of stock items not coming up as out of stock on the website so I guess there's a bit of room for improvement, not that it has ever bothered me. In fact my own purchasing experience has shown that credit will be applied in such cases or money returned, if you don't mind the minor inconvenience. As to value for money Vertbaudet often has special offers on and if you subscribe to the newsletter by email, you'll always be able to grab a bargain even if full priced items are a bit above average. Also, Vertbaudet appears to have a constant sale on and some of the sale item are actually some of the loveliest products. The quality of clothing is good, and I like particularly like the organic range.

One thing to be slightly aware of is that Vertbaudet being a French company uses a slightly different sizing system and I've found that I had to add a size to ensure they fitted, i.e. if a garment is for size 5 years, I had to buy size 6 or even 7 years for my 5-year old (who is a tallish child but in UK sizes still within the size for her age). However, Vertbaudet has clear measuring guidelines so that you can ensure to get the correct size in your first order.

I can also recommend to check out some of the bedroom decoration items, the wall stickers are really made from the kingdom of cute.

Disclosure: I received goods from Vertbaudet for the purpose of this review.

Review: Hello Canvas

I tried to make the most of my last months of relative freedom, before my work hours are increased and I'll have less time to spend on my hobbies. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I signed up for two Capturing Childhood photography e-courses, which were great in so many ways. I now have an idea of what makes a good photo rather than leaving it to chance and hoping for the best. In the second course I took charge of my camera with the result that I'm now mostly shooting in full manual. Now I only need a course on how to get my 5 year old to let me take her photo...(this topic was covered, but my technique isn't refined enough yet).

Amongst other things, the Collect the Moments course inspired me to look into how to display my best shots, having played around with photo calendars and photo books already. Enter Hello Canvas with an offer to get me a photo onto canvas for review. There couldn't have been a better timing!

So off I sent my photo and within less than a week (the turnaround time is 3 working days), the canvas arrived in it's full glory. The colours came out exactly as I'd hoped for, and there's real sharpness in the image. Unlike another canvas I'd reviewed before, this one had the photo continue at the sides, which I prefer. We've found a perfect space for it and it was also easy to hang up because it's actually quite light and easy to handle in spite of the size.

I had a look at the prices for canvas print and they are very competitive and only beaten by other companies with special offers. The pricing structure is clear and there are optional extras and effects available too, shipping is free and there's a choice of full colour, black and white and sepia prints free of charge.

Here's a quick rundown of what I thought:
Quality: 10/10
Speed of delivery: 10/10
Communication: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10

I'm trying hard to find something that could be better, but I have to say I can't. It's a great way to display your favourite shots in a special way.

You can follow HelloCanvas on Facebook and Twitter.

Disclosure: I received a canvas print for this review.

'tis the season...

...for making photo presents.
Every year around about this time, I'm found more in front of the laptop editing photos in the evenings than anything else. My eyes are box shaped as I wade through the thousands of images of two beautiful girls and the occasional rare shot of their parents, grandparents, auntie and cousins. In this digital age, if it weren't for presents around this time of the year or the simple discipline of wanting to have a baby's first year book not just for Cubling but also for Snowflake, the photos would probably just rot away on some hard drive.

Thankfully, there's the wonderful world of sponsored blog posts and they hardly ever come as welcomed as when it's about photo products (because, you know, I'd be buying them anyway so to get them for free and then blog about them, which I would have done anyway, well, that's pretty cool).

Time is short though and what with being more than busy at the start of the festive season, there are two products I'd like to review in this post - and bear with me, there's even a special offer code at the end for anyone who wants to give this a go too.

So first up is the tried and tested Photobox. We have a sort of tradition of making A3 photo calendars for the grandparents. I love doing this because I can bring together the best photos of the past year and share them with my father in Germany, as well as my in-laws who are not so far away but always love getting some photos of their grandchildren. I use A3 calendars because they are perfect for celebrating photos. It's the biggest format, with least space spent on the actual calendar bit (which is just the way I like it, but of course, if you're more into having a calendar that actually gives space to make notes etc - there's other calendar products on that will work better, I just like big photos on black background). This year I also made up a baby first year book and thanks to the credits I was given, I splashed out on the biggest bestest beautifullest product: an A3 photobook with best paper and finishing. I added a good few pages so that the full whammy would have cost £61 including postage. Sounds a lot? Well, to be honest, we still regularly look into Cubling's first year book and I still look into my own! So for something that's made to last and such a special item, I'm quite happy to go for the best possible option. And if that's not your cuppa, you can get photobooks and calendars at Photobox for as little as £11.99 (or for free if you sign up).

As to the process - you're best to edit and select your photos first, if you have a good digital camera with large files, you're best to ftp the photos you may want to use overnight. In my case (with lots of large photos) the upload took a good few hours. Next day, you can design your book. There are preset designs such as Baby's First Year. I don't like to be boxed in by such presets, but they still work for me: they template gave me ideas that I didn't think of myself (e.g. to compile a page on bathtime, one on eating, one on the first holiday etc), and if I didn't like the design of the page, it's easy peasy to customise it. So working with a template gives you a head start but there's no stopping you changing every little thing about the template, which means you are in full control. There's a nifty little tick on each photo to indicate if you've already used it or not. And if you need more than one sitting to design your book (as I always do), don't worry, it's all saved and you can access it the following day. In fact, all of my old creations are still on my account - it's great to know I could print them off again or even share them with my family.

Effectively, you can go from letting Photobox compile your book in a few minutes to spending weeks on the perfect design (the latter would be me). And, a few days later, the masterpiece arrived much to the delight of the whole family. It looks good. I'm very proud of it. One thing I can't tell is whether the premium paper and finishing options actually make much of a difference - but they're not that pricey so I would probably do it again. In the past I've also made the cheaper version of photobooks, for less special occasions. For instance, I made a spiral bound small photobook at £13.99 about our two holidays which is great for sharing with the children and talking about what they did, who they saw and keeping in touch with the German side of our family through pictures.

Next up I was approaced by Minted.com which is an American based company specialising in customised holiday cards. Initially I had reservations, what with distance and how long the postal way would take. But surprisingly, within 4 days of submitting the proof, the cards arrived. That's quicker than some mail I get from Europe! On the site, you can create your own special occasion cards using your own pictures. I'd always wanted to send Christmas cards with a photos of our family, so this was an ideal opportunity to try it out. As we send rather a lot of cards, I opted for the high quantity flat card version - which come at $100 per 50. I think that's a comparable price to what you'd pay for a similar provider in the UK. Minted ships internationally and has competitive rates.

The design of my card was reasonably quick - there are endless designs to choose from but because of the cultural differences maybe, I didn't find too many of them suitable. I'm old fashioned and if it's a Christmas card, I want it to say happy Christmas rather than Happy Holidays. There was still a great choice even amongst the traditional (or British?) worded cards but it was nice not to have to browse through absolutely all of the designs because it would have taken me hours.

I ended up choosing a simple, charming design, with just one photo and a simple message. A day later the proof arrived by email link and once accepted, the cards arrived really quickly and came beautifully packaged and presented. Although I went for the cheapest card stock, the paper feels great and I'm really pleased with the cards (and relieved that it is now definitely possible to make the remaining cards we need ourselves). The back of them is blank, which leaves enough space for personal messages. Folded cards are twice the price, so you get 25 for $100.

If you want to give Minted a go as well, you can get 15% off your order by using this code at checkout: READERS10 (orders must be placed by 28/11/2011).

~~~full disclaimer: this is a sponsored post and I received £50 worth of Photobox credits to create and review a photo gift and $100 plus postage to review customised holiday cards from Minted~~~

Giveaway: Kids Cook the World

The other day, ok, it may have been the other month, I was delighted to be asked to review "Kids Cook the World" - a cook book for kids, with recipes from across the world. I was delighted because I'm always on the lookout for a few additions to my limited list of recipes (I'm not very creative when it comes to cooking) and while I have enough cook books that are sitting unused in my cupboard, this one is a bit different.

For one, the recipes are simple so that kids can cook. That's a nice thought, even nicer because it also makes it easier for me (I don't have much patience for overly complicated recipes with ingredients lists the length of a page). Lots of pictures make the book attractive and easy to follow.

With each recipe comes some information on the country it comes from - not too much, just enough to be an introduction and to captivate a child's imagination.
 

The cook book is published by Solidarity Sports and raises money for their community work in projects that give young people living in disadvantaged communities in London key life skills. It's a great and positive way to raise funds for this work. The countries where the recipes come from reflect the countries the young people involved in Solidarity Sports come from, and the book encourages curiosity for these countries among the children using the book.

If there's one thing I don't like so much it's the format - A4 is a bit big for my small kitchen, and I generally prefer spiral bound cook books because they just work better in the kitchen. But other than that, it's a colourful celebration of cultures and food and will encourage healthy and varied eating habits.

Kids Cook the World (£9.99) is just published by New Internationalist and Solidarity Sports. Order online at http://shop.newint.org. You can also buy it through the Amnesty International online shop.

And to celebrate the launch, I have a copy available for one lucky reader! Simply leave a comment to enter and tweet this post for an additional entry (please include @cartside so I can keep track). And for another chance to win a copy, why not head over to my other blog, Nature Kids where I'll be giving away a second copy on Sunday. Competition is open to UK residents only and will close on Sunday at midnight. Good luck!

Giveaway: Raindrops All-in-One Rainsuit and Wellies for Children

I first came across Raindrops, a company that sells children's outdoor clothing made in Scandinavia, at the Scottish Baby and Toddler Show. Having had to look far and wide for good quality waterproof outdoor clothing for my children, I was very pleased to see them exhibit. I took the details for future reference, having seen and felt the outdoor clothing they have in stock, because good quality waterproofs are still a rare seed in the UK.

I'm therefore extremely pleased to be able to test some of their waterproofs and even run a giveaway for an All-in-One Rainsuit in pink or blue, together with a pair of checked wellies in either red or blue! Now, because this is the kind of thing that really and truly fits on my new site Nature Kids, the actual giveaway will be run there, so please head over and leave a comment to enter (1 extra entry for subscribing to Nature Kids and 1 extra entry for tweeting the giveaway from Nature Kids - please add @cartside so I can keep track. Sorry to be using this to plug the new site ;) )

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Nature Kids to find out more and enter the competition!

Review and Giveaway: Bright Star All in One Nappy

As you may know, my babies are mostly cloth nappied and I've used a variety of different real nappy types. So I was only too happy to try out a new real nappy give my verdict on it. Amanda from Baby Bum Boutique sent me a Bright Star Baby All in One Nappy to try out and to give away to one lucky reader.

The Bright Star Baby Nappy is the first All in One (AIO) I've used. AIO are basically the closest to disposable nappies in relation to ease of putting on baby - it's just  like a disposable, just that you can wash it. While I don't have any comparison to other AIOs, the Bright Star Baby worked really well for Snowflake. It comes with the usual adjustable poppers and thanks to soft elastics, a perfect fit is quickly achieved. It closes with side poppers which are great for adjusting for the perfect fit around your baby. And because it's not velcro - chances are it'll stay on baby once he/she has figured out how to undo velcro!

Its insert is bamboo and folded three times which translates to really good absorbency even without a booster. The insert can be popped out for washing, or, in my case, for drying. Being bamboo, it's very absorbent but also takes that bit extra long to dry (which is logical, the more a fabric absorbs, the longer it'll take to dry). As I don't use a tumble dryer, it works well that the insert can be popped out and dried separately. The nappy is slim fitting, so it will fit under all those clothes designed for disposables wearing babas.

The nappy is super flexible, and fits tight yet gentle on baby. It's super soft thanks to being bamboo. It comes in a range of funky designs - so it also has something to show off. In fact, it caught the eye of many people who don't use cloth, which is right up my street because you can start an chat about real nappies and how good they are these days!

I've used the nappy a good few times now - it's still as soft and its absorbency is comparable to a disposable. I've had no leaks, and ended up wondering why I didn't get AIOs from the outset. I mean, really, what could be better than softest bamboo on your baby's bum and striking designs for your eyes? Save money and the planet as well, it's all good.
 
Oh and did I mention that one lucky reader has the chance to win a Bright Star All in One Nappy? How good is that? How you wonder? Well, you know the spiel:

-Leave a comment below for one entry,
- and share this post on facebook or twitter for an additional entry each (for twitter, please add @cartside to your tweet so I can see you shared it, and let me know in the comment box you've done so!)
Done. Draw will be on Friday, 13th May at 8pm.

Do check out Baby Bum Boutique for some special offers to celebrate Real Nappy Week, you may find a great bargain.

Review: Photobox

Photobox asked me if I'd be willing to review some of their products and as a long standing customer, I was more than happy to agree (I was given product credits for this sponsored post, however all views expressed are mine).

When I first started using Photobox, there were only a few competitors out there and it was definitely one of the online photo printing services with the largest range of products. I've since lost touch a bit so can no longer compare - I've simply been happy enough to stick with Photobox for all my non-digital photo needs.

For example, each year I create a photo calendar for both sets of grandparents. Photobox offers a fabulous A3 calendar option which I go back to again and again. The actual date section is kept to a minimum, giving maximum exposure to the photos, with a stunning black background option and a decent set of layouts for variety from month to month - not too many though so that it's still easy to use. The quality of the printed images is great, and as you create your photo product, there is helpful advise as to whether the quality of the chosen image is good enough. To create your photo product, you need to upload photos first and then add them to the online tool. This is easy enough - and the good thing is that your project couples as an online storage tool. So I can still go back and have a look at the calendars I created a few years back, and could print them again if I wanted to. As you work on your calendar, Photobox remembers what you were doing so it won't get lost if you get interrupted or you lose your connection to the internet. It's also very easy to edit and make changes to get it just right. I usually get a fabulous calendar done in just one evening, and then it's easy to customise them a bit for the relevant grandparents, i.e. making two similar but different calendars.

You can also share your photos with friends and families through Photobox which is useful.

Recently I also tried out Photobox' canvas prints. I ordered one in colour and one in black and white, and both look stunning in our home. The only suggestion for improvement I have is that the side of the canvas is white, and I'd probably prefer this to be printed (though this may mean losing part of the image which then wouldn't be so good - so maybe there's a point to having it so).

Photobox has a great introductory offer of 40 free prints if you sign up, so you can safely try and see for yourself. With normal prints, you have the option of adding a border, which I quite like, and I don't think many other online photo printing companies have this option. When you sign up to the Photobox updates by emails, you'll always be in the loop with special offers. The special offers really are great - usually at some point in November there's the 2 for the price of 1 offer for calendars, which means I get it done well in time for Christmas.

Delivery is reliable and thanks to the great communication, you always know where your order is.
Photobox offers a fabulous range of photo products, have a look for yourselves and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Hooked part 2

One of my resolutions, well, plans for 2011 was to learn how to crochet. Since the fabulous introduction to crocheting at Glasgow's sewing Cafe, thanks to tutor Carol Meldrum, I've managed to crochet exactly one flower. Life kind of took over. I'm quite pleased with this flower though, because it almost looks as it should, with just one minor mistake.

I did this ages ago and since then nothing. My pledge to make everything this year is still going, just that it has led in part to not making anything. This is not due to my slacking commitment, rather to a baby WHOWILLNOTSLEEPBYHERSELF syndrome. I'm not talking night time sleep, that one is pretty much on the worst case scenario side anyway, but that's ok. The thing that bugs me is the 9-11pm window. I spend hours each evening trying to settle her in bed, rocking, feeding to sleep to then sneak away. She usually lasts 10-30 minutes before procedure is repeated, with one of the following outcomes:
a) I repeat procedure and fall asleep
b) I repeat procedure, fail and take her downstairs
c) I repeat procedure, fail and dump her on hubby for 15 minutes to get the most superficial tidy of the house done
d) I repeat and succeed, which happens about once a week and gives me just enough time to get one step closer to having a birthday present for my big girl (a puppet theatre that I'm sewing, and though it's easy and I still have over 2 weeks to go, I worry I may not get the time to finish it off).

So not much making getting done, twins have been born and didn't even get one card made, nevermind two.

I also have a certain number of tabs constantly open on my computer, just in case I get around to pursuing lovely stuff that I found a bit further. To no avail so far. Going 3 days without even  blogging? Unheard of yet still happening. My mantra: this too shall pass and I know it will. Just sometimes exhasperation strikes.Can I spell big words? Not momentarily.

One of these tabs is Red Ted Art's guide to teaching yourself how to crochet and I do do do want to follow it up. Written by Vonnie from the Life Craft, and featuring the lovely blanket squares from Attic24, it's a gem and surely will get you all enthused about crocheting.

And thanks to Maggie of Red Ted Art, I was sent a lovely crochet book for review (disclaimer: received for free for this review): love crochet. I was rather pleased that when it arrived it turned out it was written by the very person who taught me how to crochet! She's a really good tutor, and what's better, her projects are easy - she maintains that after her class we all should be able to complete all the easy projects. About two thirds of the book are classed as easy, so it's ideal for the stage I'm at and I'm more than happy to review it.

Because of the babywhowillnotsleeponherown syndrom, I haven't actually managed to make any of the projects in the book. I know, what a rubbish start for a review. However, I've done a few of the patterns in the class, so I know that I could do it. What I like about it are the clear instructions, really great images showing you all the basics for crochet, a great reminder to get me started on any of the projects.

The range of projects is quite wide, so there's bound to be something of interest for most people. You could see that as an advantage or disadvantage, but for the beginner, it's definitely nice - a scarf here, a bag there, a belt or maybe something for the house, or how about a crochet project bag? The finished pieces are all photographed beautifully and really entice you to get going.

The vast majority of the book is taken up by easy projects, which is perfect for someone like me. Yet it also has the scope for moving on to intermediate and even difficult realms for good measure. Plenty to keep me busy for a while, to practice the basics I know and move on when I feel more comfortable and less like I'm holding one needle too few and the yarn in the wrong hand.

So a definite thumbs up for Carol Meldrum's love crochet.

PS if you buy the book through the link provided, I'll get a percentage of the sales price to no cost to yourself which allows me to feed my book habit.