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Raisie Bay

Competitions and Reviews

Lights on Earth – Photowall Review and Discount Code

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The lovely people at Photowall offered me a gift in return for my honest review along with a special discount code for my readers.

Lights on Earth

As my son’s room is in dire need of something to brighten the walls I thought I’d give him the choice of what to have. A photowall would have been fantastic, but I wouldn’t be able to get one up anytime soon so we decided on a nice poster.

At Photowall the choice is amazing, you can have wallpapers. designer murals, posters, canvas’ or framed prints. You can even choose a photo or picture of your own.

The designs are amazing and there is so much choice, animals, food and drink, maps, sports, astronomy and so much more.

I had a feeling that my son would go for Astronomy, he has a real fascination with space.

This is the picture he chose, Lights on Earth by David C. Miller and I love that you can see the Northern Lights.

Lights on Earth

Our Review

The Little Man was very please with his picture which came on a canvas print and with a smoked ash hanger. You can also choose to have a print without a white border.

In the bedroom

I thought The Little Man would have chosen to have the poster above his bed, but he thought it would be better on the opposite wall so he could see it when he woke up as he lies facing this way.

photowall

I think he made the right decision and it looks great.

The quality of the poster is really good and it looks fabulous in the frame. The Little Man is very happy and so am I.

Discount from Photowall

I’d definitely be happy to buy from Photowall again and when it comes around to decorating my bedroom after the work has been done, I’d really consider a mural. I’d love a bookshelf wall, especially as I’m having to get rid of two of my bookshelves to make way for my lift. It would be nice to have a city skyline, or a beach view though. I think it would probably take a day or two to choose.

What do you think? Would you choose a mural or a poster, a print or a canvas? If there is anything you’d fancy from the website Photowall have offered a special discount code ‘raisiebay2021’ which will give you 25% off for as many time as you use it for a month.

Beanbag Bazaar Review and Give Away

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I was gifted a Beanbag Bazaar Oslo Bean Bag for the purpose of this review and I am also offering the same as a prize to one of my readers using the widget below.

Review of Beanbag

We are big fans of bean bags and have had a few in the past, but this one is by far our favourite. It looks fabulous and is so comfortable while providing support. The Icon Oslo Armchair Bean Bag is the perfect extra seating you need for your home.

We are a big family of seven and even with two big settees we are always in the need of extra seating. If we have visitors then it’s always handy to have somewhere else to sit. We have had a bean bag before for the kids to lounge about it and use for when they are playing video games. This seat, however, is a lot more sophisticated, it’s almost having an extra armchair but it’s easy to move and put aside when not in use.

The Icon Armchair BeanBag.

The Bean bag arrives in a big box and half of it is already filled with polystyrene balls and you get a big bag of extra balls to fill it up. There is a bag within the chair that zips up and the outer fabric is separate. It’s quite easy to fill but be wary there may be a little spillage.

The outer fabric is a soft herringbone woven material that looks really fabulous. It will fit in with any decor and comes in three colours, grey, charcoal grey and ochre yellow. I went for the charcoal grey, simply because I thought that with a large family it would look cleaner for longer. The ochre yellow would have been a great statement piece though.

Our Verdict

The chair has been a big hit in our home. Not only does it look good it’s really comfortable and I find the kids are fighting over who sits on it rather than sitting on the regular settees.

We have it generally pushed back against the sideboard until it is is needed. When we move the furniture around to make room for the lift it will fit perfectly next to our largest settee. However, when it’s needed, its usually pushed up next to the coffee table where it’s perfect to join in with coffee and conversation, or board games.

chair next to coffee table
chair at coffee table
chair stored by sideboard

Gaming Chair

We love our gaming consoles in our house and this chair is perfect for playing games in. Before the kids would sit on the floor but now they can sit supported and comfortable while they play.

used as a gaming chair

As you can see The Little Man Looks really cosy while playing here. But it’s not just for kids, the adults find it just as comfortable. My husband said it is great for his posture as well, as before he was using a bean bag and just slouching around.

Oslo armchair been bag
The other two colour options

Win a Beanbag for Your Home

Beanbag Bazaar has kindly offered an Oslo Armchair Bean Bag in the colour of your choice to one of my lucky readers who enter using the following widget.

Rules and Conditions.

  • The competition prize is one Oslo Armchair Bean Bag in the colour of your choice
  • The winner must be over 18 years old
  • The winner must be living in the UK
  • No information is collected other than for contacting the winner
  • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash
  • The prize will be provided direct from Beenbag Bazaar
  • The competition starts on 24th February 2020 and ends 23rd March 2020
  • Prize winner will be selected from the widget.
  • Not all parts of the competition need to be completed, but you need to have completed the part you have been selected for if you win.
  • Winners will be contacted by e-mail
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The Red Shoes – Matthew Bourne

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The Red Shoes

I am a big fan of ballet and an even bigger fan of Matthew Bourne. The Red Shoes is the third of his performances that I’ve seen. I paid for my own tickets although being in a wheelchair it does mean I get to sit in a specific box for disabled users and I also get to take a carer with me for free.

You are not allowed to take pictures of the performance but you can see them for a while on the Birmingham Hippodrome site This post may contain spoilers, but nothing compares to watching the dancers perform.

the red shoes
Photo courtesy of Birmingham Hippodrome website

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes originates from a fairy tale from Hans Christian Anderson in 1845. It’s a dark story based on vanity of the main character.

In 1948 a film was directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger with the same name. During the film was a fifteen minute ballet based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. The film was widely acclaimed and won many awards.

Of the three Matthew Bourne perfomances I’ve seen so far, I think The Red Shoes stays closer to the original plot of the film. The main character, Vicky, is chosen to play the main part in the ballet and we see the the ballet as envisioned by the director, Lermontov who has feelings for her. He has a box in which he shows how he would like the performance to be done, and when we see the actual ballet, it has the same box like stage setting.

Vicky is in love with composer Julian Craster, who is passionate about his music and gets upset that he is not getting the credit he deserves from the jealous Lermontov.

The Red Shoe’s ballet is performed beautifully and Vicky gets her taste of the fame that could be hers. But in the end she is forced to choose a life with the man she loves instead and they move away to london to be together. Here we see her performing in some less classier shows and her relationship with Julian is falling apart. At the same time we see Lermontov longing for the girl he has lost.

Eventually, torn between the chance of dancing fame and being with her lover Vicky leaves to be with Lermontov. But she is not happy and her choice leads her to a very similar demise as the dancer in The Red Shoes.

Matthew Bourne

Romeo + Juliet was set in an asylum, Cinderella was set in the blitz of WWII, but the Red Shoes is most closely related to the original story. We do still see a fair bit of the novelty you come to expect of Matthew. The bathers in San Francisco were a lot of fun, as were the acts in the less classier London shows. You certainly get a bit off a shock when the Egyptian dancers appear. There are also some strange goings on during the upper class parties. It was certainly a little confusing at times. When the ballet within the ballet had finished I was almost convinced that the story was over, despite knowing there was more to come.

The scene changes were both elaborate, fantastic and at times confusing. There was a huge curtain on stage which showed the different circumstances of both Vicky and Julian and the lamenting Lermontov. During the final scenes we see the screen twirl around and around which I believe represented the many performances Vicky performed after leaving Julian and achieving her fame.

The ending is shocking and sad, and I guess a lesson is learnt, just as Hans Christian Anderson would predict in his somewhat gruesome fairy tales. And of course, the red shoes were finally removed.

I would encourage anyone to see a Matthew Bourne Ballet, if not for the stirring music, the stunning dancing or the original storytelling, you will be left with a feeling of being a part of something very special.

Twin Mummy and Daddy

New Competition – Hidden Wonders Book and Jigsaw puzzle

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Recently I reviewed a fabulous book from Lonely Planet Kids. Hidden Wonders, which is aimed at 9-12 year olds. Now, I’m running a competition to give away a copy of the book and a 260 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Hidden wonders
Hidden Wonders
For readers age 9-12
November 2019 | £14.99 | 1st Edition
240mm x 185mm | 240 pages | full colour
Hardback | ISBN: 9781788683258

Our Review

A lovely hardback book with quality paper and gorgeous illustrations. This book would make a lovely gift for any chid aged 9 or over. It’s recommended up to 12 years but it’s one of those books that will interest anyone of any age.

With loads of photographs and short stories, it’s easy to dip into and find something interesting to read. A lot of these places you will have probably never heard of. And there is a whole 240 pages to digest. It will be a book that’s treasured for a long time.

book open

Hidden Wonders Competition

I have a copy of this book, (normally £14.99 but currently on sale for £11.99) to give away to one lucky reader. I also have a 260 piece jigsaw puzzle which features the beautiful front cover of the book. Please read the terms and conditions and enter using the widget below. Good luck!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  • competition UK only
  • competition starts on 9th January 2020 and ends 7th February 2020
  • winners will be contacted by e-mail
  • I will collect no personal information except to contact winner
  • competition details will also be posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
  • The competition Prize is one Hidden Wonders Book and a 260 piece jigsaw puzzle
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Please consider nominating me in the MAD blog award 2020 in the Tween and Teen Influencer Category. Thanks xx

MADS 2020

Friendship Friday with Elmer and Sockshop

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I was reminded about Friendship Friday, which this year is 8th November, by Sockshop my favourite place to buy socks. They sent me a pair of Elmer Socks to celebrate.

brightly coloured Elmer socks from the sock shop celebrating Friendship Friday
Elmer Socks from the Sock Shop

Elmer and Friendship Friday.

This year Kidscape are using Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, from Anderson Press to highlight Friendship Friday and the start of Anti-Bullying Week.

Friendship Friday with Elmer from Kidscape
Image from Kidscape for Friendship Friday

Elmer is an elephant close to my heart because he was a big favourite of Star’s when she was little. She loved all the books and had (Still has) the soft toys of the loveable, colourful elephant. Elmer is different to all the other elephants because he’s not grey, he’s a patchwork of bright colours. At first he tries to be like the others, but eventually he discovers that being different doesn’t mean that you can’t have friends and fit in.

Star was always different and found it difficult to fit in, so Elmer was a great help to her in her younger years.

The Sock Shop sent me a pair of Elmer Socks which I’m giving to star. They are soft bamboo socks that are skin kind. Star suffers from skin problems so we have to be careful what she wears. We’ve had lots of pairs of bamboo socks from The Sock Shop now, both gifted and bought. As a family we all love them. The Elmer socks come in all sizes from kids to adults and they are all £4.99 a pair. The Sock Shop are offering 10% from the price of every pair of socks sold to Kidscape and their anti-bullying work. Please consider going along an buying a pair or two. You won’t be dissapointed with the socks and you’ll be helping a good cause.

Anti- Bullying Week

My children will be taking part in events at school for anti bullying week. Kidscape offer a school resource pack to help with this.

All three of my children are really happy at school right now, but they have all had problems with bullying in the past. Star was bullied because she is autistic and different from the other children. The school stepped in and helped and now she has a lovely circle of friends, both on the Autistic spectrum and not. She is in her last two years at school and works hard and attends every day, unless she really is sick.

Boo was bullied at school in year 4 by some girls that just took a dislike to her. Her teacher stepped in and helped and by the end of the year Boo was friends with one of the girls, and the others tolerated her. Moving to Secondary School, Boo also has a lovely group of friends and is very happy.

The Little Man’s problem’s were a little more serious. Being autistic himself he found it difficult to deal with his bullies. He was only seven years old and although we’d brought the problem to his teacher her efforts to solve it didn’t work. Cutting a long story short we took him out of the school after his bullies had found him hiding from them under a school table and kicked him repeatedly, injuring his back and head. He was taken to A&E after another incident, which we were told was his own fault as he fell back off his chair resulting in a fractured arm. When the doctor at the hospital examined him he told us of the injuries to his back and we spotted the bruise on his head. It was then we discovered what he was going through at school.

We took him out of the school instantly as they claimed it was The Little Man’s fault for hiding instead of going to the teacher. He is now at a new school and is doing fine. They are more understanding of his special needs and he hasn’t been bullied since he moved there.

Friends

We surround ourselves with people who think similarly to ourselves and that understand us and are there for us when we need them. Our friends also expect the same from us and that’s how friendship works.

I always say that I don’t have many friends. But the ones I do have, we can go for ages without seeing each other, then when we do it’s like we’ve never been apart. Over the years, friends come and go, but we always remember the ones who had the biggest impacts on our lives. Friend’s may not always have the same views and opinions as us, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t be our friends.

Do you have lots of friends? Is there someone you’ve not had contact with lately, why not reach out to them today and say “hello, how are you?” Celebrate friendship day by letting those that you care about know that you care. And have a lovely day my friends, those I’ve known for years and those I’ve only just met x

Disclosure: I was sent a pair of Elmer socks but all views and opinions are my own. I was not paid to write this post and it’s written from the heart about something that is really important to me.