Raisie Bay

My Word of the Week #33 2019 – Holiday

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is holiday and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase but please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK.

Holiday

a big sun in a blue sky
Holiday

I’m away this week, hopefully enjoying some sunshine in Cornwall. I’ll write up all about it when I get home, but in the meantime, do link up your posts and I’ll read and share them when I can.

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Shop the Unique, My Pick from the Etsy Design Awards.

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Etsy Design Awards

The Etsy Design Awards are Etsy’s first-ever global award program. Honoring the work of creatives from around the world, #TheEtsies will highlight the best of Etsy and celebrate the talented people behind the winning products.

Selected from thousands of entries received from around the world, 160 global finalists are in the running for the $15,000 USD Grand Prize or the top prize in one of five categories: Inventive Decor, Signature Style, Festive Celebrations, Earth-Friendly, and Creative Collaborations. 

A selection of items that have been selected for the Etsy awards, personalised pictures at the top, in the middle, a girl with a handmade frock, a smiley colourful armchair, a miniature painting of three houses, on the bottom a swall decor with plants, a wedding and engagement ring and some glass straws.
Some Etsy Design Award Entries

My Picks from the Awards

Where do I start? There are 160 items to choose from and I don’t envy the judges one bit!

I’m going to pick one from each category and then a few more (Because I’m not a judge and I can.)

Inventive Decor

This was the most difficult to choose from. I loved so many items but I guess the one that stands out the most for me is the Smiley Armchair, Scarlet Love

You have to admit it really does stand out with it’s vibrant colours and patterns. It’s lovingly made with vintage fabrics and red velvet. It would definitely be a talking point in any home. But most of all, it makes me smile and it’s so inviting, I’d just have to sit on it.

Signature Style

Again, such wonderful pieces to choose from but this one caught my eye. It would be perfect for any pasta lover or chef. Farfalle Pasta Necklace Sterling Silver by Delicacies Jewelry 

silver piece of farfalle necklace

It’s so pretty and unique, I’d definitely wear it even though I’m not a big pasta lover. Other pasta pieces of jewellery are available from the seller.

Festive Celebrations

From printable wedding invitations to backdrops and dresses. This selection celebrates weddings. There are some lovely items but I fell in love with this unusual ring set. UNGLEICH & Rosé – Engagement ring wedding ring

Now, if only I was not already married!

Earth Friendly

I’m all for sustainability and we were only talking the other day while eating out, that it was good the straws were paper, but what a shame the coffee cups had plastic lids. It’s something we need to think about so I loved this section of sustainability made finds that look great and help the planet.

My choice has to be this lovely Bee Hotel

Not only is it pretty, it offers a lovely safe place for the bees visiting your garden.

Collaborative Creations

These are a selection of personalised hand crafted goods, made to order. Again there is so much to choose from but the one that I have chosen is this lovely family portrait made from paper cuts. Personalised family portraits.

I love the detail that’s put into each one, and they can be made for any family with details and photographs provided. You can tell a lot of care has gone into making them special.

Bonus Choices.

Personalised Love Stories illustrated Maps Imagine having your story lovingly presented in a map form with adorable illustrations. Magical!

2020 & 2019 DIY Printable Typewriter Desk Calendar How cute are these! And you can print them off and make them yourself. I’m so, so tempted.

Kids Doodle Design Dress Oh my, how adorable. This lady takes your kids drawing and reproduces them as decorations on a pretty little dress.



Do you Etsy?

I could spend hours (and I do) browsing the Etsy stores. There is so much to choose from and so many things that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else. I love shopping for those difficult to buy presents, those relatives that have everything already. But most of all, I love shopping for me, in particular the jewellery stores.

The girls are Etsy fans too as it’s a great place to buy the most unusual and fabulous slime creations. I don’t think they will ever grow out of slime. I have a ‘slime’ shelf in the fridge which is probably not like any slime shelf you would think of. (Yes, they all have their own little containers, they are not just dripping all over the food 🙂 )

I am working on some products myself so I can stock my own Etsy shop. I’ll let you know when it’s open and maybe you can take a peek. I can’t wait to join all the other creative Etsy shop owners.

In the meantime, please do take a look at this years entries for the Etsy Design Awards and let me know in the comments which you would vote for. (n.b. sorry but our votes don’t count.)

Disclosure: I am an Etsy affiliate and the links in the post have my affiliate codes.

See my previous Etsy Posts here: Gift for Mums from Etsy and Christmas Shopping with a Difference from Etsy

My Sunday Photo – Dragon

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Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon with it's forked tongue sticking out

All Credit goes to Boo for this photo of a Komodo Dragon. She took it through glass on my mobile phone. She took quite a few photos of this beast but I love this one because he has his tongue out!

The Komodo dragon was an impressive beast, he was so huge. We saw him at the Birmingham Conservation Centre and at first he was inside, but them he decided to come outside and great us. I’m just thankful there was a huge glass frame between us. He was a fair bit scarier than the bearded dragon we’d held the day before.

Largest Rodent!

a patagonian mara looking straight at the camera while lying on a dry dirt ground

The Patagonian Mara had us confused last time we visited The Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Centre. We couldn’t make out whether it was a huge rabbit, a kind of deer or even a type of wallaby. It happens to be one of the world’s largest rodents!

Can You See Me?

Finally, I’ve chosen this photo of a cute white faced monkey, hiding in the grass.

a little monkey hiding in the grass

We had a fabulous day at the Wildlife conservation centre. We’ve been there many times before but it never gets tiring looking at the animals. They have a lovely cafe and great kids play area too. If you want a picnic there are plenty of benches. We arrived early, as soon as it opened and got home around 3pm. The weather had been fine but it changed about 4pm and we had heavy rain. Lucky we chose to leave when we did.

linking up to Rachel Swirl for My Sunday Snapshot

Word of the Week #32 2019 – Birthday

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is birthday and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase but please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK.

Birthday

a bunch of colourful balloons with the word birthday

With three of my children having their birthdays within four weeks of each other I thought I’d stick with birthday this week.

Today is the Little Man’s 9th Birthday. We are celebrating by having his friend around for a couple of hours and a party tea. And there will be cake of course! I was going to take him out somewhere but we had a rather expensive week last week eating out twice. And I’m trying to be frugal so we have more money to spend on our holiday in Cornwall coming up very soon.

The Little Man doesn’t mind, he’s had some big parties in the past which have been fun. We hired a bouncy castle for his 5th birthday, and he had a Minecraft themed party for his 6th birthday

But the past couple of years he’s just had friends around to play…and cake.

I haven’t done much this week, I’ve been working on some blog posts, trying to build up my new Avon business and making the little Man’s birthday cake. I’ve also been resting a lot as I’m not doing too well at the moment. I’m hoping the change of scenery will make me feel better next week. Although I’m really worried about the long car journey. I’m also worried about getting all the packing done and everything sorted before we go. I can write a million lists and still be worried I’ve forgotten something.

Now it’s your turn, what have you been up to this week?

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Sock Shop – Tips on Looking after Your Feet.

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Now that the summer is here we love to show off our feet, but we should still be thinking of taking care of them. The socks we wear are most important and in a moment I’m going to tell you about the lovely socks you can get at The Sock Shop and give you a discount code.

Tips for Foot Care.

These tips I have adapted from the NHS site.

  • Wash your feet often, but don’t leave them to soak for too long
  • Dry your feet well as this prevent fungus from developing.
  • Moisturise your feet to prevent dry skin
  • Keep your toenails cut short and straight
  • Limit time wearing high heels
  • Change socks daily to avoid foot odour
  • Wear socks that fit
  • Visit a podiatrist if you develop foot problems

Socks

My children rarely go without socks, they don’t like the feel of shoes on barefeet and the only time socks come off is when they are wearing sandles. I choose their socks carefully. I make sure that they fit well and wash well. So many socks shrink after washing. Boo, my 12 year old, likes pretty socks like these from The Sock Shop. They are a pack of three super soft and super pretty socks for just £4.99. Click through to see the different designs available.

3 pairs of Elle natural cotton socks from the Sock Shop
Elle, girls Sea shell socks.

School socks

I’m already stocking up on my school socks. Star and The Little Man are so fussy with their socks. They do not like toe seams at all and the socks have to be really soft. I have been buying them on Ebay but then I found these at the Sock Shop and I think we will be changing over.

black bamboo school socks from the sock shop
bamboo seamless toe school socks

These socks come in sizes from age 1 to 14 years (or baby to size 5.5) and in 8 different colours. They are made from pure natural bamboo which is soft, silky and very kind to sensitive young skins. It is antibacterial and anti-fungal, so feet stay fresher and healthier. They are £1.99 a pair but if you buy more than 5 pairs they are reduced to £1 a pair.

The Smelly Feet issue

Keeping your feet clean and making sure you dry them properly should be enough to stop them from smelling. But occasionally you need a little extra help.

Here are some facts about bamboo socks;

  • bamboo socks are purely and naturally better for your feet
  • they have 3 times the absorbency of cotton
  • breathable bamboo keeps our feet fresh, dry and comfortable
  • for sensitive skin bamboo is unbeatable it has soft, gently rounded fibres that don’t irritate and give fabric it’s soft, silk-like touch
  • Bamboo is kind to the environment, the plat is sustainable, needs very little water, uses no pesitcides and gives out more oxygen than it’s equivalent in trees.
men's bamboo socks in grey
Men’s bamboo socks in grey

These colourburst socks come in 18 different colours and cost £3.99 or you can buy 3 pairs for £9.99. I’ve been buying another branded bamboo sock for £9.99 a pair, so this is a no brainer swap for me!

Discount Code

Just for my readers I have a 10% discount code for you to use at the Sock Shop. Just use the code RAISIEBAY10 to claim your discount.

What sort of socks do you like? Are your kids as fussy as mine? Do you know someone with stinky feet?