Chash Tea – Teatastic

Let’s just open this post with a bold statement shall we?

After love, tea is the best thing in the world.

FACTOID.

Without tea, I honestly don’t know how I would function. I need that cup to comfort me before I head into the pits of hell for work, I need that cup to soothe me when me and Him Indoors have had a row, I love that cup that warms me through after a wet and wild walk. There isn’t a situation where a cup of tea isn’t appropriate or necessary. We Brits have built an entire national identity on it…as we ruddy well should…

As you may have guessed…I am Pro-Tea.

I recently won a competition on Isle of Tea‘s blog, to receive a sample of Chash Tea.As you can imagine…I was over the moon.

Chash Tea is run by a lovely bloke called Dan (who also does their tweets and whatnot) and strives to source the loveliest tasting teas for all of us here in the UK.

Now…another bold statement…Teabags, by in large, do not make the best cuppas. Most teabags are filled with the ‘dust’ from the tea making machines, and are not the perfect best bits, think of it like the meat in a pork pie. Satisfying…but not the best bits at all…

Loose tea (and let me just say that I love a good teabag….Ooooop dirty) is the way to go if you really want to be a tea obsessive like me. It means you get the full hit of the leaf and other snobby statements of that ilk…. and actually in fact, it is often cheaper to buy tea loose (in comparison to weight)  and to make a teapot for 2 is much more kettle efficient! Save money, drink tea!
And you would pay more money for a steak than a pork pie right? Thought so…. Yup…meat comparisons work well for this….

My winnings from Chash Tea arrived pretty promptly, and despite a TEA EMERGENCY where an unlabelled bag had split open inside the cardboard box and spilt everywhere (don’t fret…we funnelled it into the jar wasting none!), I was very excited to hack it open with my keys!

5 samples! And ruddy great samples at that!

The Winter Spice one smells FIT and our mystery tea (Must remember to tweet them to ask what it is!) has made our living smell Uh-MAZING due to the spillage!

Am supping a cup of Snow White at the moment (I thought a Disney related one should be my first cup!) and it is delish! And may I add that these samples are going to actually last me ages. Eons! That is due to the fact that you can use your Chash Tea leaves twice because they aren’t just dust! I KNOW RIGHT!

I love that Chash do a 10 teas for £10 deal, where you get a selection of 10 different loose teas (The whole collection will make you about 50 cups of tea). I am adding it to my wish list for my birthday. I do love a good tea selection.

Have you tried any Chash Teas? Do you have a favourite type of Tea? Any other related Tea comments/anecdotes?

TEA ME!

 

Lasting Till Payday #3 – Buying Gifts in Advance

Ever feel like your bank balance has been totally rinsed due to a month of heavy birthday action?

Dreading November Pay Day because Christmas is going to kick your butt AGAIN this year?

Welcome to what used to be my life.

I took matters into my own hands a few years ago and now I have a running ‘Goodie bag’, where all the presents that I spot through out the year live until the birthdays and christmasses that they were bought for.

Christmas 2011 – There were literally too many things for under the tree…

Let me give you a lovely example shall I?

I logged on to E.L.F the other day to buy myself a few pretty things….and then I spotted a few other pretty things that others may like for Christmas….YES…I know it is only May…. but they will now sit there in the Goodie bag, waiting, using money from April’s payday…until they are ready to be given…meaning that November’s pay day rests a little easier.

I also keep my peepers peeled for sales. I hit up the January sales every year and I am mainly looking for pressies. Also keep your eye on Twitter…I spotted that the lovely Dayner @ Mozzypop had a flash sale last week, so I bought a few pieces for myself but mainly stocked up with people in mind for Christmas and birthdays. So not only supporting a lovely little business, but bagging some goodies too.

If you do it little by little throughout the year, it means that you won’t ever be rinsed again, and you will always have a pressie on hand if you forget somebody!

Fancy hearing a bit more? I vlogged too…listen to me say similar stuff, but also with a bit about handmade pressies tooooo!

 

The Big Craft Swapperoo

A month or so ago, the lovely Fran from Skulls & Ponies organised a craft swap.

I was partnered with the fabulous Rachel of House of Pinheiro…please go visit her she is lahvely!

I decided to vlog what I sent and what I got, so here in VERY quick sucession are two vloggy vloggy vlog vlogs made into one showing off our crafty whatnots…. (Oooo…that sounded rude…)

 

Josy Rose

Hello you gorgeous lot!

Today, I wanted to share with you a little gem that I have discovered. A diamond in the internet craft shopping rough if you will….. and they call her Josy Rose.

(I pronounce it Josy Rosy – but that’s because I like rhyming, and not because I can’t read…honest guv)

As you may have seen on my ‘What I have Been Making in April’ vlog, I spoke about  purchasing some metallic yarn for the toppers of my crocheted christmas baubles….and yes…yes… I cover what a crazy face I am in the vlog about ALREADY thinking about christmas.

Well I searched the internet and this lovely little site pinged back in my face with such wonderous-ness that I just had to purchase from it.

It arrived THE DAY AFTER I ordered it. Super speedy non? Just what you want!  And it was all wrapped up prettily in pink tissue paper and I call that a freebie for my papercraft drawer.

This metallic yarn was exactly what I wanted. It is a little hard to crochet with due to the texture (I was expecting this!) but the results are brilliant. You’ll get to see what I have been using it for later this month in my May ‘What I’ve been Making’ vlog.

I had to make my order for the metallic yarn up to £5, so I bought some of these gorgeous ribbons. Cannot wait to use the reindeer ones for christmas pressies – isn’t it the cutest Scandinavian style ribbon ever? I also chatted about the Tea one in my ‘5 things I am loving in April‘ vlog, so now you can actually see it in detail!

I am so pleased with my order and the quality of the products, I will heading straight back when I need a few more bits and bobs!

Have you bought from Josy Rose or another independent online shop, spending your hard earned spondoolies on pretty things? Isn’t it so MUCH nicer? I think so.

 

 

What I Wore: Slouching About

I love slouchy clothes. This grey slouchy jumper is one of my faves.

Pulled from a charity shop for £3, this jumper has been worn a myriad of different ways. I also like chucking the bottom hem over the back of my neck, whilst keeping my arms in the sleeves and wearing it like a bolero. so cosy.

My fringey boots are a size too big, but I fell in love with a pair that my friend had and I had to buy a pair ASAP from eBay! May look into buying myself a decent pair one day.

This outfit just cries out for curling up with a book…. too bad I wore it to work.

Thrifty Find: Roses Tray

I discovered this little beauty on a charity shop binge last weekend. Only 99p!

I bought it for display use at my upcoming craft fairs, but it is just so pretty that I have put it on top of our bookcase so I can stare at it all the time.

I also found some other bits and I vlogged about them. Have a gander!

Found anything good yourself recently?

Sunday Saviours #42 – Amazing People Edition

Happy Sunday you beautiful creatures!

Today I thought I would focus on some of my favourite people out there on the tin-ternet.

These guys are my daily reads, daily tweets, and give me daily grins on my trog face, some of them without even realising they do it, and I really think if you had a looksie at them all, you would love them as much as I do.

Lulastic

Lulaloo face is bloomin’ fah-bulous. It is so lovely to tweet and chatter with her. She recently has been living below the line…feeding herself, her hubby and her cutie pie daughter for £3 a day…. MENTAL!

Sugar Me Sweet

Lady Sugar Sheen a.k.a the gorgeous Whitney is such a peach. I met her via twitter knowing she knew my IRL fitface Miss Lauren, and Lauren did not exaggerate how bloody lovely she is. Whitney and I have already planned a christmas USA/UK swapperoo of gifties this year. SO EXCITED!

The Beauty Habit

How could I not include Miss Lauren? Well….I couldn’t. She is poorly sick at the time of me typing this, so go and show her some serious love please. She is one of my best friends, she is so supportive, thoughtful and loving, and she deserves lots of love back in her face from the world because she sends so much out.

Sprinkle of Glitter

Louise over at A Sprinkle of Glitter is my blog/vlog girl crush and if you aren’t following her, you really bloody should be. She is so genuine and she makes me chuckle till my seams burst. She recently starting following my teeny tiny youtube channel and that made me squeal like an over-excited teenager at a One Direction concert. FACT

A Thrifty MRS

Another blog girl crush. I LOVE A Thrifty MRS. Her blog is jam packed with so many wonderful things it makes my brain explode and trickle out of my ears. She makes me try new things that make me go ‘ooooooo’,  and that cost me very very little pennies. And we all know I am a fan of such things….

The Story Of A Girl Who Lives Above Her Means

Sophie is great. She is such a fit face that needs a bit of love from you all. I love her frocks and chatting to her on twitter. She is a super super captial letters SUPER fab. Go and say hello to her….go on…go!