I'm a Crazy Bird Lady!

I decided 2017 is going to be the year when I cut down on time-draining activities and get out there and do things the make me happy instead. How many hours did I lose to social media, re-runs of Friends and general procrastination in 2016? A half hour of vegging out in my pjs here, 20 minutes of browsing Pinterest for nothing in particular there...it all adds up!

When 2017 hit, I deleted my Facebook app. Instead of sitting through every soap opera my mother insists on putting on the TV in the evening, resisting the urge to gouge out my own eyes, I've started using that time to get into a good book. Time that would have been spent scrolling through websites, building imaginary shopping carts of clothes I know I'll never actually buy is now spent heading out for a walk.

I'm spending my time on the things that make me happy and recently I realised that one of those things is birds.

I May be a Freak, but I'm a Freak with Snazzy Pens: Cult Pens Review

I'm a freak. There are a great many layers to my weirdness and a whole array of kinks and quirks that contribute to my overall uniqueness, but essentially what it all boils down to is that I am a fairly quirky human being. I keep a box of buttons, organised by colour, I have over 150 Disney songs on my Ipod and I have a paralysing fear of cows (they just have such a menacing look about them!).

Another one of my odd traits is my obsession with stationary. I mean, is it really normal to have so many feelings about post-it notes and page dividers? And surely most people wouldn't include a label maker on their list of desert island must-haves, right? But I have a deep-rooted love for anything that can organise, colour-code or sub-divide any aspect of my life and there's simply nothing I can do about it.

So, when I decided to undertake a new project last weekend, I'm sure you'll now understand why said project simply could not go ahead until I'd ordered myself a new packet of fineliners. Fineliners were, after all, the only thing that kept me sane throughout the torturous months spent drafting my dissertation. Actually, Jack Daniels may have played a part too, but mostly it was down to having all of my spider diagrams colour-coded and cute-looking.

And now we finally arrive at the point of this post. On my search for the best value packet of fineliners I could get my hands on, I came across I website called Cult Pens and, if you're a freak like me then you need this website in your life.

They have every type of pen you could possibly need in your life as well as some other stationary-type bits and bobs and they had the best price I could find for those fineliners I so desperately needed. Not only that, but shipping was free and crazy fast (I placed my order Wednesday evening and here we are on Friday and I already have them). And not only that, but my parcel also contained some sneaky surprises. I got some complimentary Staedtler pencils to go with my Staedtler pens and...a packet of Haribo!

As if I wasn't excited enough about the fineliners, they go and throw in some scrumptious sweeties as well!

So I know the vast majority of you will think this post, along with my enthusiasm for colour co-ordination, is very strange and/or unnecessary, but when I find a product or a company that impresses me, I like to share it with you guys. Sometimes that may be a new App or a restaurant and sometimes it's a shop that specialises in pens. That's the beauty of this blog. You really never know what you're going to get...

Also, Cult Pens in no way paid me or offered me a lifetime supply of free pens or anything in exchange for this post (trust me, if I had a lifetime supply of pens coming my way, you'd all know about it). In fact, they have no idea I'm even writing this and, in all probability, will also think I'm a freak for my excessive pen enthusiasm.

But that's fine. Because I am a freak.

100 Subscriber Beauty Goodies Giveaway!

It has been a very exciting week for me. First I found out that Nestle have released a Milky Bar with cookie pieces in it and then, when I thought nothing could possibly top that, I reached 100 subscribers on my Youtube channel.

To celebrate, I'm holding a giveaway for all of my lovely subscribers, which will run from 20.03.15 - 20.04.15 (plenty of time for you to get your entries in) and all of the terms on conditions are in the Rafflecopter widget below.

Best of luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And, for those of you who have no idea what's going on and have just stumbled onto this blog post by accident somehow, this video will explain what the giveaway is all about and what kinds of goodies are up for grabs.

Entrants under 18 must get adult supervision before entering

Giveaway/sweepstake will run 20.03.15 - 20.04.15 

Winner will be announced on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on 20.04.15 as well as receiving a private message 

This is an international giveaway/sweepstake

I will be paying postage, but entrants must check customs regulations/charges in their own country as any additional customs charges will not be covered by postage. Similarly, I am not responsible for the loss/damage of prizes once they have been shipped

Youtube does not sponsor this sweepstake and is not liable 

I retain the right to disqualify entries that do not meet entry criteria or entrants who display 'unsportsman-like' behaviour (as determined by myself)

Things get Artsy: Crafty Creatives Review

I'll admit that I'm not exactly an artistic genius. I'm not much of a drawer, I can't make sense of water colours and, at 23 years of age, I'm still banned from using charcoal in the house because of the amount of damage I've been known to cause with it in the past. But I love arts and crafts. I'll give anything a go. I've knitted a blanket, made birthday cards and scrapbooks, sewn my own Halloween costumes, and let's not even bring up my obsession with the glue gun.

So I was thrilled when Crafty Creatives offered to send me one of their boxes to review. They are a monthly subscription box service and each month they send out different types of creative goodies.

Actually getting my hands on the box was a bit of a drama. I was out when it got delivered so it got returned to the Royal Mail Office, which wouldn't have been a big deal if I could have actually found the Royal Mail Office. Bear in mind I've lived in this town since birth. I've been to collect parcels countless times before. It should not have been as traumatic as I made it. But I an incompetent human being and, as a result, I ended up driving around in circles for twenty minutes, reversing into a wall, getting harassed by a fellow driver with no patience, and getting stuck in a pointless narrow lane. When I eventually found my way to the office the mean driver behind me bullied me and took my parking space and I ended up having to park on the double yellow lines, which I hate doing.

Then, package in hand, I drove home and arrived back in my street at 3:25pm. I live opposite a school. 3:25pm is not a good time to arrive home. Exhausted, frustrated and in desperate need of a packet of crisps, I wedged myself across our drive, aware that the back end of my car was over my neighbour's drive (and boy does he go into a rage about that kind of thing) so I couldn't leave the car. Then there was a very confusing stand-off between me and a woman who, for some reason, refused to move from outside my house for a whole 25 minutes. All in all it was very stressful.

But, thankfully, my cute little box was totally worth it! I imagined the it would be full of poms poms, pipe-cleaners and the like, but it actually contained an Inkodye set from Lumi. At first I was confused. Then I became slightly more confused. Then I read the instructions and suddenly I was very intrigued.

Let me explain this the best way I can. It's a kind of sunlight activated dye for cotton and other natural fabrics. You apply the dye to your fabric and then you cover it with objects or photograph negatives to partially block out the light. Then you leave it in the sunlight and the dye gets activated. 

My set included the dye, the wash to use on it afterwards, a little roller, a photograph negative and some pieces of fabric to practise on.

And it gets cooler! You can download the Lumi app, which has all sorts of ideas for you to try. Plus, you can upload your own photos and they'll send you a negative to print with. So you can print your pictures onto cushions, clothes, pencil cases..

Look! You can even have my strange face on a jumper!

Odds are I would never have tried or even come across Lumi Inkodye if I hadn't got my box from Crafty Creatives. That's got me wondering about how many other fabulous crafty goodies are out there waiting to be discovered! If you're an arty type person and love getting goodies in the post you can take a look at their website and have a little nose for yourself.

Beware friends and family, you will all be getting photo printed goodies for Christmas!

Twenty Oddball Birthday Bonanza Giveaway!

On the 30th July twenty oddball turns one year old. So, at the end of this month I will have officially been entertaining people with my ramblings and tales of shame and poor judgement for an entire 365 days!

Obviously, we must celebrate this momentous occasion. In a perfect world I would teleport you all here so we could party and eat cake together, but, even if there was such a thing as a teleportation machine, I have enough trouble trying to plug the Playstation in so odds are, I'd never get it to work. It's probably for the best anyway. I wouldn't want to have to spend the whole of the next day scraping birthday cake out of the carpet. 

So, I'm opting for the next best thing and hosting a giveaway! 

Choosing a prize was an ordeal. For one, the very day I chose to pop into town to pick something up, there were a whole host of events taking place in the city centre. There was a craft fair, a vintage car show, men dancing with fire, an orchestra, a totally random polar bear statue that seemed to serve no purpose, and crowds of people who seemed to have nothing better to do than stand wherever I wanted to walk. Plus, from nowhere the sun came out and I was forced to dodge the crowds as I melted in my jeans. 

The second issue was trying to decide what to actually give away. My readers are all ages, male and female, and from all sorts of countries (actually, I've really had to brush on my Geography since I started this blog). So it wasn't enough to ask myself what I'd like to win in a giveaway because, odds are, pink, sparkly stilettos aren't everyone's cup of tea. 

Thankfully, what is universal is chocolate. And I have an abundance of it on offer! It's all Thornton's (I'm not sure if people outside of the UK will have heard of it, but trust me when I say, it's delicious). I bought a box of Classics, a box of Gooey Caramel Irresistibles and a really cute and yummy-looking chocolate monkey. 

I also picked up a Knock Knock notebook, which I am in love with and having inner turmoil about giving away. I may have to go and buy another one for myself. The quotes inside are hilarious. 

And you can get all of these goodies (along with a good dose of my genuine love) by entering the Twenty Oddball Birthday Bonanza Giveaway (rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) I'm hosting it on some techy-type internet thingy called Rafflecopter, but even I can work it so trust me when I say it's simple. 

You can enter on twitter, facebook, or right here on the blog and each way you connect gets you another entry. The closing date is July 31st and I'll post the winner on my facebook page, twitter account, instagram, and right here on the blog as well as sending a message to the winner so there's no chance of any funny business. Plus, you can enter from anywhere in the world! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So get to it and good luck!

The reason I pinched these pictures from the internet rather than taking my own is because I am currently on my deathbed (slight exaggeration) and I'm too ill to leave my bed. Or sit up. Or open my eyes for too long. Luckily, I wrote the rest of the post yesterday because even typing this is just too much right now.

Boring Terms and Conditions

This is my first giveaway and I just want it to be a fun way to celebrate and say thanks to my readers with no drama or unexpected disasters. So let's cover the bases.

This giveaway is running worldwide, but remember that there may be customs charges in your country for accepting a package from abroad. Much as I wish I could be, I'm not in charge of the worldwide postal system so there's nothing I can do to help you with that.

I will pack the prizes with love (and bubblewrap), but there's no guarantee that some moody guy in the Post Office won't man-handle the package. No one wants the chocolate monkey to arrive with no head, but, again, it's beyond my control once the package is out of my hands.

Update!

And the winner is Sarah Olson! Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll be posting more giveaways soon so fingers crossed for next time.

Can I Just be a Playboy Witch Every Day?

It's no secret that I'm partial to a good fancy dress costume. I have two big boxes of costumes under my bed with everything from Daphne from Scooby Doo to a sailor, a mobster to Snow White and at least three pirate costumes alone. Whatever the occasion, I will find a way to incorporate a costume.

"Oh, St Patrick's Day? Let's all dress as Leprechauns (despite the fact that we don't have any plans for that night)."

 "It would be a travesty for us to go all the way to Berlin without lederhosen!"

"Pirates of the Caribbean is showing in the cinema. Obviously we need to dress as pirates and go and watch it."

So last week when the lovely people at Joker's Masquerade sent me a costume to review, I was:
a) As excited as a small child on Christmas Eve.
b) Confident that I was enough of a fancy dress connoisseur to write a well-informed review.

What's even more exciting is that they sent me a costume from their Halloween range. Because, in our household, Halloween isn't about merely carving a pumpkin and throwing cheap sweets at small children who knock on the door. We have graveyards, we have coffins, we have smoke machines and strobe lighting. Planning for our parties starts as early as January and, once September hits, my dad, my brother and I will be talking severed hands and skull collections non-stop while my mother keeps clear of the house and pretends she doesn't know any of us.

So try and imagine my pure glee when, the very next day after being in contact with the company, my witch's costume arrived. Devastatingly, the postman arrived just as I was leaving for Exeter so I had to wait a whole weekend before I was able to try it on, but once I tried it, I didn't want to take it off! If only it was acceptable to casually walk around every day dressed as a Playboy witch in the middle of July! 


So, let's get down to the nitty gritty. My first personal rule of fancy dress is to go for the size smaller than you would in normal clothes. This costume was a size six and in real life I'm an eight to ten. That doesn't necessarily mean the same applies for everyone. After all, I'm not exactly blessed in the bust department so that probably has something to do with it. But it's worth considering that fancy dress sizes and highstreet sizes can differ. 

Now on to the costume itself. I love it! The stripy socks and criss-cross affect on the front make it really witchy and it's sexy in a fun, cute way rather than a 'I charge for sex' kind of way. Because, let's be honest, life is not Mean Girls and, no matter what the occasion, I'm never going to willingly go outside looking like a prostitute. That said, it probably won't be the costume I wear to my niece and nephew's Halloween party because the suspenders might be a bit much in a room full of five year olds.

The quality really impressed me. It's no secret that fancy dress costumes can be really cheap-looking and sometimes very naff. But this fell nicely, it didn't feel cheap and tacky, and the fabrics were nicer than some of my other costumes. What I really loved was the lining under the skirt to give it volume because usually I have to wear a petticoat under my costumes or else they just hang there looking very sad and pathetic. There's also a stiff lining in the hat, which is genius because no one wants a floppy witch's hat! Plus, what's really cute is the lining has tiny little Playboy bunnies on. I'm a fan of little details. Also, I'm loving that the cut on the bust is so flattering because usually costumes are made for women much more blessed than I am and the fabric kind of bunches up around my boobs in a really unattractive way. In fact, the whole way it fits it's perfect.

The only thing I didn't like were the suspenders. It's a really cute design, but they're more aesthetic than practical. They kept coming undone and it would have been nice if you could adjust the length on them because I'm quite short so they were too slack to hold the socks up properly.

That said, I am so impressed with this costume. I would never have considered opting for a costume made by Playboy, but in future I will. The quality surpassed my expectations and, seriously, look how cute it is! This whole experience has kick-started Halloween fever in my house. I know most normal people won't start thinking about Halloween until October hits, but remember that if you want a great costume you can't leave it until last minute. Like the guy I saw in Sainsbury's last Halloween who was looking for a costume for a party that was starting in an hour's time. The poor guy couldn't even find any face paint!

So a big thank you to Joker's Masquerade and if anyone sees me wandering around Port Talbot dressed as a witch in the upcoming weeks, you know why.

The South West Blog Social and Nails Barbie would Envy!

Last weekend I travelled back to Exeter for the South West blog social. Never has a train journey seemed so long. There I was, standing in the cramped space near the toilets with half a dozen of my fellow travellers when the train stopped to let yet more people on board. First on was a pregnant woman with her five young children, followed by a somewhat large and very stifled-looking woman with her somewhat large and very stifled-looking daughter and then, after five or so more people had squeezed into their respective little spaces, an older lady with an enormous backpack and a fully assembled crib got on. She insisted on dragging it past everyone to the luggage compartment, injuring a few of the pregnant lady's children as she did so.

There were no windows. Very soon it started to smell like stale sweat and it wasn't long before the pregnant lady wedged the toilet door open and sat down on the loo, with her five young children sprawled around her on what I'm guessing was not a clean floor. After an hour the somewhat large and very stifled-looking woman offered to spray something on my face to cool me down. I assumed it was water. It was not. It smelled like fruit juice and made my skin itch.

So, needless to say, by the time I got to Exeter all I could think was, 'this social had better be worth the three hours I just spent stood inhaling other people's perspiration'. Luckily, it was even better than I could have imagined! Ok, so prepare yourself for some serious, shameless name-dropping because I met so many lovely bloggers and you should go and check out their sites...after you read this, of course.

I'm not a shy person, but when I first turned up at Oddfellows (which, luckily for me, is a three minute walk from my house), I was a little overwhelmed. The room was already filling up with people and photographs were being taken from all angles. That's one of the hazards of a blogging event. Everyone has a camera.

"In amongst the piles of sensible-looking cards..."

I decided my priorities were first to get a drink in my hand and second to make some friends. I sat down at a table with Hannah from Cupcake Mumma and Issy from Life and Times of a Student and they were really sweet. Issy studies English too and Hannah has two children, which amazed me because she looked so amazing. That isn't to say that women with children usually look like swamp creatures or anything like that, but it was one of those, "What? You have children? But you're so young and radiant looking!" type scenarios. I feel that in fifty words or less I've just offended mothers everywhere, but trust me when I say I know what I mean and it's not a bad thing.

Moving swiftly on from that...

I tried one of the signature blog cocktails that were made especially for the event and they were delicious! The till downstairs was broken so I had to venture up a set of creaky wooden stairs to order my drink. As I walked into the upstairs bar the barman was taking a tray of cocktails downstairs.
"He'll make yours up when he comes back." The manager told me.
"Oh great." I said. "Will he bring it down...?"
"No, you'll have to wait."
"Ok, I was just wondering because I'm a little nervous about getting back down the stairs in these shoes."
Maybe he thought this was an attempt at a damsel in distress act rather than a genuine confession about my complete lack of co-ordination or balance, but he was a little patronising when he said, "I'm sure you can manage to walk down the stairs."
Unfortunately, though, he was wrong. At the top of the stairs my heel got caught in a gap in the floor boards, I lost balance and spilled half of my drink over myself and (the horror!) ruined the heel of one of my favourite shoes! People just don't understand the extent of my incompetence. The only plus point is that no one was there to witness my humiliation.

"Even Barbie would envy these nails"

There was so much going on downstairs! I had my nails done by Rachel from Monkey Nail Art. I love them! Even Barbie would envy these nails they're so pink and sparkly. She was so talented and so nice to chat to. Then I dropped off my new business cards at the business card exchange. In amongst the piles of sensible-looking cards, the pictures of me pulling
a ridiculous face really stood out...I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. We had really interesting talks about publishing, advertising and content. There really was a bit of everything going on and something for everyone. Oh, and I had a giant pizza to myself and felt no shame.

Then there was the raffle. Determined that for once in my life I would win at a raffle, I bought 6 strips of tickets. Ultimately it paid off because I won twice. I think the "Yesssss!" when my name was called was perhaps a little too enthusiastic, but I wasn't as loud as I was the time I won £10 in bingo so presumably my social etiquette is improving.

The day really slipped away from me and it seemed like no time at all before I was collecting my goody bag and thanking Albertine from Dippy Writes and Jodie from a la Jode for putting together such a wonderful event. And then I got home and stuffed my face with complimentary Quiz cookiesQuiz cookies and riffled through my freebies. What a fantastic day! I would quite happily stand squashed between a smelly woman and a crib for three hours to attend a day like that again!

And...
If you'd like to see what sort of goodies I got at the event then your curiosity can be satisfied by watching this video. Because I'm kind like that.