When the team at Hello Sunday got in touch to see if I wanted to host a giveaway for them, I was more than happy to agree! In case you aren’t familiar with the brand, here’s some more information on HelloSunday.com

Who Are HelloSunday.com

Hello Sunday is a values driven creator of thoughtful products… Which fuse natural materials, ethical manufacturing and beautiful graphics.

We begin with a purpose driven product concept, which adds value to everyday life. 

Additionally, we make it as naturally as we possibly can. Textile goods from cotton, leather and brass. Our Essensory candle décor from porcelain, glass, paper and soy wax. 

Additionally, we only work with factories where workers are treated with kindness and respect. 

The signature for each product story is our beautiful graphics. We search the world for the freshest artistic talent to imbue each product with a unique presence.

In addition to our own brand, our online store also includes an inspiring collection of: Greeting cards, wrapping paper, stationery and lifestyle accessories, from our friends around the world.

My Favourite HelloSunday.com Pieces

The Hello Sunday brand produces some beautiful products. For me, the bag collection is amazing! There’s tons of funky tote bags to choose from, priced from £13.67 each! I was particularly taken with this tote bag. It’s been reduced in the sale to £24.61, too!

This bag is made from 100% cotton and full grain leather double sided handles. The antique silver brass zips are made by YKK Japan. As well as the full width zipper to close the bag, it has a zipped 160mm long pocket inside. This Tote measures 380mm high x 500mm wide x 120mm deep, so it’s a great size for everyday use.

There’s a large range of super cute coin purses, too – How adorable is the Pug one! These are £9.57 each, and each one is 100% cotton, machine washable and measures around 135x110mm.

There’s far more to this collection than bags and purses though! Whether you want a beautiful scarf, funky cushion or even a new pencil case / make up bag, there’s something for everyone!

The Essensory collection:

The winner of my HelloSunday.com Giveaway can spend their £50 on any of the Hello Sunday collection or the Essensory Collection. This is made up of stunning decorative candle lanterns. These are perfect for your home, and will look great at any time of day. Each of the lanterns consist of a heatproof glass shade, which is wrapped in linen finish FSC paper, and a porcelain base. Additionally, each comes with a fragrance free soy wax candle, with a 25 hour burn time.

The lanterns all measure 170mm high x 100mm wide. Additionally, candle refills are available in five natural fragrances, or fragrance free. The Essensory Lanterns cost £26.69 each.

How To Enter?

So, to be in with a chance of winning £50 to spend on Essensory or Hello Sunday products, all you need to do is fill in the Gleam form below. Don’t forget to comment below, saying what you’d choose to spend your £50 on!

£50 To Spend At Hello Sunday

Finally, why not check out my other giveaways here!

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If you are a self tanner, chances are you’ve ended up with brown stains on your bed sheets at least once. The team behind Tannco have made that a thing of the past, though! Read on to find out more about the Tannco bed sheet, and how you can win one of your own!

How Does The Tannco Bed Sheet Work?

Rather than spending ages explaining how it works, this video shows you exactly how to use the sheet, and why you need one…

FYI: This is a paid giveaway. 

The set is available in Black or Silver, and each is made from 100% Habutai Art Silk. So this luxurious, vegan-friendly bedding protects your sheets while protecting your tan!

“Because unlike your ex, we’re actually good in bed”

Best business strap line ever!

With an RRP of £34.99, these are great value! (No more ruined bedding means it’ll pay for itself in several uses… If your self tanning experiences are as messy as my own). I love that the Tannco bed sheet is washable, and it zips closed, sleeping bag style. This means your bedding is super safe! Each order includes free delivery too, making them even better value!

Tannco comes in a beautiful gift box, as well as a storage pouch. So it’s super easy to store between uses, as well as small enough to pop into your suitcase when you’re travelling. Tannco is reusable, machine washable, fast drying and lightweight too – what’s not to love! The clever design means it fits any size of bed too. So you’re covered whether you’re sleeping in a single, double, king or even super king size – Hurrah!

How To Enter

To be in with winning a Tannco bed sheet, please fill in the Gleam form below. Remember to comment below, with which colour option you’d like, too!

Please Note: This giveaway is only open to UK residents age 18 and over.

Tannco bed sheet

Finally, why not check out my other giveaways here!

It’s no secret that I am a complete bookworm. I regularly read 10 books in a month. When I was asked to review “The Teatime Mystery,” by Faith Martin I was happy to give it a whirl.

The Teatime Mystery by Faith Martin

t’s fair to say I’m a huge fan of Murder Mysteries. I love a good “who done it” story – especially one set in England. Read on to find out what I thought of The Teatime Mystery by Faith Martin.

Blurb For The Teatime Mystery By Faith Martin Review:

Please note this book was first published as “JUST NOT CRICKET” under Faith Martin’s pen name JOYCE CATO.

Jenny Starling is doing the catering for the village cricket match. But she’s not expecting one of the players to turn up dead.

Everyone from the village has turned out to watch the match, and with this being the club’s centenary, Jenny Starling has been hired specially to provide her stunning food for the event.

Then the next man up to bat, Tristan Jones, is nowhere to be found. He is discovered behind the pavilion, murdered by a blow to the back of the head with an old cricket bat.

The handsome twenty-something had a reputation as a Lothario, with an appetite for married women. Did a scorned woman or a cuckolded husband kill him?

However, he’d annoyed other people too. He was a stockbroker who took big risks with other people’s money and lost their lifesavings.

Soon another body turns up and Jenny Starling is going to need all her cunning to crack this complex case.

This is the sixth in a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep you in suspense to the final page.

Perfect for fans of classic whodunits by authors like Agatha Christie, LJ Ross, TE Kinsey, and J.R. Ellis.

My Thoughts:

I didn’t realise until I was around 20% into this book that it’s not the first instalment in the series. Generally speaking, I hate jumping in midway through a series, but this worked very well as a standalone story, too.

The book took a little while to, “Get going”, as Martin took a great deal of care setting the scene. I realised a little later than all of this was necessary, when trying to solve the case. Without giving too much away, I loved all the red herrings, and I am amazed to say I didn’t figure it out before the murderer was revealed! Honestly… I don’t think that has ever happened to me in a book.

If you ever watched the series Jonathan Creek, you’ll understand the type of explanation I’m about to give. This Murder seemed impossible, and you have to really think outside the box to solve it. I loved the story and will definitely be checking out more of Martin’s books! All 6 of the “Mystery” novels are available to read for FREE if you have Kindle Unlimited!

Read It For Free:

Kindle Unlimited users can read this book for free, and you can get a free 30 day trial of Kindle Unlimited using this link! 

About The Book:

The Teatime Mystery by Faith Martin is 194 pages long, and is available now on Kindle, Audiobook and Paperback from Amazon. It’s £1.99 on Kindle if you don’t have unlimited.

Finally, you can find more of my book reviews here.

Today, I’m sharing my Coleman Valdes 4 tent review. If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I enjoy taking the kids camping. One of the biggest issues I face when camping is the fact I take the kids by myself. Hubby isn’t a fan of camping, and pitching a standard 4 man tent alone is borderline impossible. When I was asked to review the Coleman Valdes 4 air tent, I was thrilled to accept!

Coleman Valdes 4 Tent Review

If you aren’t familiar with the air tent concept, the basic idea is that rather than fibreglass or steel poles, the tent is held up by air beams. This makes pitching your tent faster and less stressful to pitch. Additionally, it means one adult can easily do it alone!

Pitching the Coleman Valdes 4 Tent

Last month I made this video of me pitching the tent for the first time. It was a very windy day, so excuse the noise!

The tent comes packed in an oversized tent bag, complete with pump and instructions. It weighs around 21kg, so is not light. I managed to lift it in and out of our SUV easily enough though. With an RRP of £665, this tent is an investment. It is extremely well made though, so feels like it’ll last for many seasons.

We went camping with it last weekend, and I bought a large tarpaulin sheet to go underneath the tent. This serves two purposes… Firstly it keeps the bottom of the tent clean and prevents mould. Secondly, it adds an extra layer of insulation between the ground and the tent, so your tent is a bit warmer.

Camping With The Coleman Valdes 4 Tent

We went camping at Royal Umpire in Preston last weekend. It took me around 40 minutes to get the air tent up, then another hour or so to unpack everything else and sort out the air beds…

Once we were unpacked, I was really impressed at how much space we had inside. The sleeping area has a dividing wall which is removable. We took this down to allow us to block one of the doors with a chair. There was sufficient space for our camping table, two camping chairs and the dog’s large dog bed in the living space. We used the space under the table to store our cooking equipment and food.

Fab Features

There are a few things which make the Coleman Valdes 4 tent stand out in my opinion. Firstly, the hinged front door! If you’re anything like me, the constant zipping open and closed of tent doors is frustrating. Coleman have addressed this with their hinged door. It takes less than 2 minutes to pop the fibreglass poles into the door, thanks to the zip closure. Once they are in place, you can close the door to with the velcro fasteners, or the toggle which holds the door open.

The Sleeping Space

In the bedroom, we had a double camping bed the first night. Unfortunately, the double air bed didn’t fit very well, as the frame pushed out the back of the tent. I read the measurements for the tent, but failed to take the sloping rear wall into account. This wasn’t a problem the first night as we just spun the bed around so it used the space for both bedrooms.

The second and third night, we added a double height, double airbed to our setup for my son. This fit nicely into the space, but the double camp bed was pushing into the tent fabric as we had to push it over as far as we could. There was no footpace at all once it was in situ.

The thing I loved most about the sleep area is that they are Coleman’s Patent Pending Blackout Bedrooms. Once the windows and doors are closed, the sleep area is pitch black – even at noon!

The Weather Test

During our 3 night break, we had a fair amount of wind and 24 hours of rain. The Coleman Valdes 4 tent stayed upright through it all, and didn’t let in any rain. One thing to remember is to pitch your tent so the porch isn’t facing the wind. It was pretty windy when we arrived, so I pitched the tent side on, with my car alongside it. This definitely seemed to help.

The temperature was around 13-16 degrees throughout our stay, and dropped to 8-10 degrees overnight. The tent was toasty warm on all 3 nights. The kids had 3 season sleeping bags, and were both so hot they stripped to their underwear. I had 2x 1 season bags, and was perfectly happy in my PJs.

Packing Up

When the day came to pack up, it was, typically raining. Despite that, it only took 20 minutes to pack up the tent once we’d emptied all the gear. Impressively, I even managed to get it back into the bag!

All told, I highly recommend the Coleman Valdes 4 tent. It’s not cheap, but it is 100% a case of “you get what you pay for.” The tent feels like it’ll last a long time, so it’s a good investment.

Finally, if you’ve found this Coleman Valdes 4 tent review useful, check out more of my camping posts here.

Earlier this month, the team at Beanbagbazaar got in touch to see if I’d like to give away an Oria Bean Bag Armchair, worth £90 to one of my readers. Of course, I said yes!

About The Oria Bean Bag Armchair

The Oria Bean Bag Armchair is made from a high quality, hydro weave fabric. Additionally, this fabric is water resistant and surface washable. This makes the armchair suitable for both indoor and outdoor use! When combined with the durable handle on the back of the beanbag, its also easy to transport too.

The Oria Beanbag is available in a range of colours – including… Slate Grey, Lime Green, Sage Green, Teal, Navy, Terracotta and Mustard.

The beanbag measures 98cm long x 97cm wide. It is double stitched for extra stability and double zipped to prevent any escaping beans! The bag arrives fully assembled – all you have to do is open the box and then relax!

My Thoughts

We have the teal version of this bean bag, and it is super comfortable! I love that you can choose to sit up straight, or angle the beanbag so it’s in a reclined position. This is bliss in the garden on a sunny day! I do usually have to fight my children for the seat though… It’s become known as the throne in our house – Even the dog loves it!

How To Enter The Giveaway

To be in with a chance of winning your own Oria Bean Bag Armchair, fill in the gleam form below! Don’t forget to answer the question in the comments… “Which colour beanbag would you pick, if you won?” You can view them all here.

The giveaway closes on Monday 10th June at 23.59 and is open to UK RESIDENTS ONLY.

Win An Oria Beanbag Armchair Worth £90

Finally, why not check out my other giveaways here…

I am a complete bookworm, and read many books each month. Additionally, it’s fair to say reading is my way of unwinding, and I do a lot of that! When I was sent an advance copy of Cold Waters By Debbie Herbert, I was happy to give it a whirl.

Cold Waters By Debbie Herbert

I am a huge fan of Mysteries. I love to get sucked into the “who done it” storylines. Trying to work out what happened before its revealed is my favourite part of mysteries. Read on to find out what I thought of Cold Waters By Debbie Herbert.

Blurb:

Everyone thinks fourteen-year-old Violet is a murderer. After a summer-night swim with her best friend, Ainsley, Violet is found confused, wandering in the forest—and Ainsley’s never seen again. But without a body, murder charges won’t stick, so Violet is sent away.

After more than a decade in a psychiatric ward, Violet returns to her broken-down hometown of Normal, Alabama, to claim her dead mother’s inheritance and help her overworked sister care for their unstable, alcoholic father. Violet, still haunted by that night eleven years ago, endures horrific flashbacks and twisted hallucinations while townsfolk spit accusations—and for all she knows, they’re right.

As the summer heats up, details of Ainsley’s fate appear like a beast’s wild eyes, watching in the darkness, and grim revelations about Violet’s family threaten to devour her. Already on the edge of madness, Violet must fight to keep her sanity long enough for the terrible truth to burst from the cold, dark waters.

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, if I am honest. Thankfully, I gave it a whirl, and am happy to report I was right to do so! From less than two chapters in, I was hooked! Aside from the very random character names, the entire book was a pleasure to read. It took me less than two days to devour this story, and I emerged completely satisfied with the ending.

I did figure out what had happened… But not as early on in the story as I usually do with these types of books.

Read It For Free:

Kindle Unlimited users can read this book for free, and you can get a free 30 day trial of Kindle Unlimited using this link! 

About The Book:

Cold Waters By Debbie Herbert is 326 pages long, and is available now on Kindle, Audiobook and Paperback from Amazon. It’s 99p on Kindle, or f you’re a fan of paper, it’s currently £4.99 in paperback or £12.99 in hardback. The paperback is published by Thomas & Mercer.

Finally, you can find more of my book reviews here.

Today, I’m sharing why I’m not ashamed of my abortion. I’m 35 now, but when I was 18, I got pregnant. It wasn’t planned and the father didn’t want me to keep the baby. I was still living at home, still in education and definitely not emotionally, or financially ready to become a mum. After much thought and after speaking to a counsellor… I decided to go ahead with the termination when I was 8 weeks pregnant.

Why I’m Not Ashamed Of My Abortion

Until today, my abortion wasn’t something I discussed with many people. I could count on one hand the people who knew about it until 10am this morning. Everything happening in America right now (and Northern Ireland recently) has made me angry. Angry that so many women are being painted as selfish, and even murderers by some people. Yesterday, I saw Jameela Jamil’s tweets. They made me realise it was time to discuss my own experiences, and why I am pro choice. Before I do, please read this…

Why I Did It

I didn’t terminate my pregnancy because the timing was off, or because it was inconvenient… I made this decision because I knew I’d end up stuck in the cycle of relying on benefits to raise my child. A cycle I had grown up in. Where it was common to have no heating most of Winter. I had always been determined to work hard, get a decent job and break the benefits cycle. Essentially, I knew I wouldn’t cope alone with a baby – I was barely an adult myself.

Back then, I was studying and earning £80 a week and living with my parents. It wasn’t enough money to support me, never mind a baby too. Definitely not enough to raise a baby alone. So I made what was probably one of the hardest decisions in my life, and had an abortion.

While I don’t regret my choice, I do sometimes wonder where life would have taken us, had I made a different decision. Despite keeping it from my parents, and keeping it quiet until now, I’m not ashamed of my abortion. No doubt some of my friends and family members will see this and be shocked as they had no idea.

I am sure my parents would have supported me if I’d continued with the pregnancy. But I did what was right for me, not them.

My Body My Choice

I find it horrific that Governors in America are making this decision on behalf of all their citizens. Without even putting it to the public vote like they did in Northern Ireland earlier this year. It is still illegal to have an abortion in any part of Ireland. So many citizens head to England, Scotland or Wales to terminate their pregnancies.

Personally, I feel that it is utterly barbaric to force women to bring a baby into this world, which they can’t take care of. What happens if the mother has mental health issues? Or if she can’t afford to feed, clothe or support the child? The baby will end up, “in the system”. The same system, which is stretched to breaking point in both America AND the UK. Don’t even get me started on the women who are victims of rape, or who are in abusive relationships. America doesn’t seem to care what kind of situation children are born into – as long as they are born.

Surely it makes more sense for a woman to make the difficult choice to end her pregnancy than to force her to go through with it? What will the impact of that be on the woman’s mental health? Each woman should be able to decide what is right for her – and make the call without fear of prosecution or judgement.

Your Thoughts

If you’re reading this and planning on leaving a comment calling me a murderer, or bring God into the conversation… Let me stop you there. Comments are moderated, and yours won’t be published. However, if you want to bring a balanced counter view to this discussion, feel free comment below.

Finally, if you are pregnant and weighing up your options, rest assured that although it was a tough decision to make… I’m not ashamed of my abortion and I don’t regret my choice.

One last thing: Check out more of my lifestyle content here.

Dear Prince Archie, May I begin by saying welcome to the world! Also, while you’re not technically a Prince just yet, you’re definitely a Royal baby. As such, you’ll spend you’re life under the scrutiny of people who don’t know you and will probably never meet you.

Dear Prince Archie

I feel I must be honest before I continue… I’m not a huge fan of the Royal Family. I don’t dislike anyone specifically, I just don’t buy into the hype of Royal weddings and such like. Especially when people are starving to death, and there is such a lack of support to the most vulnerable members of society. That said, your Dad is probably the only one I actually do like. Your Uncle William’s ok too, I guess. I like that they are trying to be more relatable to most people, and opening up about their lives and struggles. I suspect we’ve got your Grandmother, Diana to thank for that.

You are only a week old, and you’ve already been compared to a Monkey. Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the ignorant people you’re likely to encounter in your lifetime. You’re a baby. You’re beautiful – as are all babies. You didn’t ask to be born into the Royal Family, any more than I asked to have an alcoholic Mother. Some people are ugly on the inside, and unfortunately, those people will see your Mum’s skin colour as the most important thing in your life.

Silly Questions

Dear Prince Archie, your parents were asked some pretty silly questions earlier this week. I’ve been a mum for 8 year now, and want to say… There’s no such thing as a “Bad Baby”. Some babies don’t sleep great, others do. They are both still perfect.

Image Credit

Your Mum wore a white dress when she showed you off to the world. She looked great. But she’d have looked great in an NHS gown, so I really don’t understand why that’s news. I’m sure as soon as you got home, she was straight into her “comfies”, like every other new mum! Chances are, she’s been binge watching box sets while trying to settle you to sleep at 3am. And if she hasn’t… LUCKY HER! I hope she doesn’t get lulled into a false sense of security though.

Some Advice

Dear Prince Archie… If I could offer you one piece of advice, it would be this… Be kind to everyone. My only wish is that everyone else would return the gesture. Before you were born, I hoped, more than anything that you are never subjected to any racism. Unfortunately, It was less than a week into your life before a supposed “influencer” was fired from his job at the BBC for doing just that.

Please know that the majority of the people in the country you call home are delighted by your arrival. Even those, like me who aren’t big royalists are happy to see your parents happy. Any baby being born healthy is a cause for celebration in my eyes. So I just want to say, one more time… WELCOME PRINCE ARCHIE!

Finally, if you enjoyed this blog post, feel free to check out more of my random ramblings here.

If you’re anything like us, space is of a premium in your garden. Whether you don’t have space for a shed, or your budget won’t stretch to one… There are solutions out there. With that in mind, today I’m sharing 5 thrifty garden storage hacks – which won’t break the bank!

5 Thrifty Garden Storage Hacks

1). Storage Buckets

Plastic toys are my absolute nemesis. Between the kids and the dogs, out garden is constantly littered with plastic tat. How about upcyclng an old shelving unit and then using buckets to keep the kids (or dogs) garden toys tidied away between use?

Full Instructions Here

Which Of These Thrifty Garden Storage Hacks Is Your Favourite?

When it comes to space saving garden ideas, I could go on forever. Today, we’re focussing on small garden hacks which don’t break the bank though. I love the idea of repurposing old objects like in the next of these garden storage hacks.

2). Storage Under Seating

This bench from B&Q is just one option. This one costs £90. You can easily fit your gardening tools in here, or the cushions from your outdoor seating. We have foldable picnic chairs in ours, so we can literally pack them away when they aren’t needed.

Image Credit

If you cant stretch your budget that far, what about getting the tools out and making your own?

3). Pallet Gardening Table

I remember my Grandad having one of these on the back of his brick shed many years ago. It was his potting bench, and he loved that it could be hidden out of sight when not in use.

My grandad’s had padlocks on the sides, so it stayed shut flush with the wall. This also meant the grandkids couldn’t get hurt by it.

I’m pretty sure my Grandad’s had a door on the front too, so he could store seeds and small tools inside the front pallet. Double whammy of space saving storage!

Full Instructions Here

4). A Vertical Herb Garden

Rather than using valuable space in your garden for your herbs, why not opt for a vertical herb garden? This cute one was made with an old pallet and some paint! It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Full Instructions Here

5). Garden Planter Storage

If you’re handy with a saw, how about whipping up some of these garden planter storage boxes? I love the one pictured below, showing the concealed hose pipe. (The hosepipe is by far the most unsightly thing in our garden, and I hate those wall mounted reels).

Full Instructions Here

Finally, I hope these thrifty garden storage hacks have been useful. Why not check out my lifestyle category for more ideas and suggestions.

It’s no secret that I’m a bookworm and crime thriller junkie. So when I was asked to review Closer Than You Think By Darren O’Sullivan, I was happy to agree! Closer Than You Think is a dark thriller, packed with suspense, mystery and some killer twists.

Closer Than You Think By Darren O’Sullivan

So read on to find out my thoughts!

Blurb:

He’s watching. She’s waiting.

The unmissable new thriller from Darren O’Sullivan, author of Our Little Secret and Close Your Eyes.

Having barely escaped the clutches of a serial killer, Claire Moore has struggled to rebuild her life. After her terrifying encounter with the man the media dubbed The Black-Out Killer, she became an overnight celebrity: a symbol of hope and survival in the face of pure evil. And then the killings stopped.

Now ten years have passed, and Claire remains traumatised by her brush with death. Though she has a loving and supportive family around her, what happened that night continues to haunt her still.

Just when things are starting to improve, there is a power cut; a house fire; another victim found killed in the same way as before.

The Black-Out Killer is back. And he’s coming for Claire…

My Thoughts On Closer Than You Think By Darren O’Sullivan

I read this book in a day – it was impossible to put down! Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was sucked into a book or a plot so fully. I literally HAD to know what happened next! Sleep didn’t matter – only the outcome did!

Generally speaking, I pride myself in figuring out the culprit in thriller / mystery books a good while before the end. That was not the case with Closer Than You Think By Darren O’Sullivan, though! I was taken in by all of the red herrings and the ending left me open mouthed!

As I read the book, I felt the pain and emotional turmoil Claire was experiencing alongside her. It was a true pleasure to read this book, and I’ll definitely be reading more of Darren O’Sullivan’s work moving forward.

About The Book:

Closer Than You Think is 277 pages long, and is available now on Kindle, Audiobook and Paperback from Amazon. It’s 99p on Kindle, or if you’re a fan of paperbacks, it’s currently £12.99 with free delivery. The paperback is published by Harper Collins.

Finally, you can find more of my book reviews here.