A letter from Emma about: Canvases

Dear Reader, 

Throughout my years of charity shopping I have learnt that you can find all sorts of things in charity shops (and they often come with the reasonable price tag too) which is what I discovered this week when I paid a visit to the Geranium charity shop for the Blind. 

As some of you may know I really enjoy art, but a well known difficulty that all art enthusiasts encounter is the high price tags of art materials. Which is why I was over the moon when I came across a selection of brand new art canvases... yep, they were still in their packaging and still with their original price tags: 

Originally £13.95 for three 20x60 canvas's , I paid £3. 

Originally £5.99 for one 30x40 canvas, I paid £2.

In total I brought five canvases, it wasn't until I got home that I found the original price tag on each canvas. I totalled it up and worked out that I got £25.93 worth of canvases for £7. Amaaaaaazing, and all of the £7 that I did spend went to a lovely charity. I'm so happy with my purchases and I'm really looking forward to doing some painting, I think that these could make great Christmas presents. 

Yours, 

Emma Dilemma 

P.S. Quote of the day- "A picture is worth a thousand words".

- Napoleon Bonaparte 

A letter from Emma about: TOMS

Dear Reader, 

Today's post is all about a wonderful company called TOMS. I discovered TOMS just over a year ago, whilst on the look out for ethical products I wanted to buy some comfy shoes (but not trainers) to keep my feet cool in the summer. And TOMS ticked all the boxes. I recently have started a new job where I am on my feet all day and I needed to invest in some shoes that are comfy but also pretty, so I looked no further than TOMS. 

You may already be familiar with their ethos, but just in case you are not. When you buy a pair of shoes from this lovely company they match every pair of shoes brought with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. This created the slogan One for One. So every time you buy a pair of shoes a child in need is given a new pair too, I don't know about you but I think that's absolutely brilliant.

Here are my lovely TOMS: 

 

 

  

The shoes also come with a handy shoe bag, which is great for when you're travelling. 

 I think the ethos behind TOMS shoes are brilliant, but also they are just so fantastically comfy! This particular pair is very summer but they have a wide range of different styles to choose from. I already have my eye one a  pair of TOMS ankle boots for Christmas. TOMS can be found online and in many high street stores including Office and Schuh. These Toms were £41.99 but with my 10% student discount I brought them for £37.79 from Office. A pretty reasonable when you take into account that this purchase paid for my shoes and also enabled a new pair of shoes to be given to a child in need. 

TOMS also sell other products including eyewear, whereby every pair of sunglasses you purchase will help give sight to an individual in need. It's that One for One again.

Yours, 

Emma Dilemma

Quote of the day- "If you organise your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger- something that matters."
- Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS

A letter from Emma about: Bunting

Dear Reader, 

Today's post is all about bunting, in particular some pretty bunting which I received from Paper Themes. This party or wedding bunting is perfect for decorating any event. The bunting was self assemble but it was no problem at all (I actually found the assembling quiet therapeutic) and 4 metres of bunting later I had some lovely hanging bunting. 

Here are a few pictures of the product: 

The lovely bunting. I do love the ribbon and the design. 

There were lots of different bunting designs to choose from depending on your event, I purposely picked a union jack design as I think that it can be reused for other upcoming events. It will be great in the summer for a summer garden party. Oh, any event looks great with bunting. 

Although Paper Themes primarily specialise in wedding invitations they also have a wide range of gifts, greeting cards and invites ranging from christenings to Hen Do & Stag invitations. They are worth a visit if you want to add a touch of prettiness to any event. 

Yours, 

Emma Dilemma

P.S. Quote of the day- "Never be the first to arrive at a party or the last to go home and never, never be both."

- David Brown.

A letter from Emma about: 21

Dear Reader,

It's been just over a week since I last posted, so I wanted to keep you updated. This week I celebrated my 21st Birthday, I've posted a few pictures from the day and wanted to let you know that some charity shopping finds will be coming very soon (from some birthday money which I received)!  

I had such a nice birthday, my lovely flatmates woke me up with a birthday confetti trail, and then I had  an amazing lunch with my lovely boyfriend (champagne included)! When I came back to the flat my friends from home had sent me a surprise delivery of flowers and then later that evening me and a group of friends hit some London clubs. I am not really  a 'birthday' person, but I had the nicest day ever, and feel very blessed. Next week I shall be travelling back to worcestershire to visit my family, which I am really looking forward too!

How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?

Yours, 

Emma Dilemma 

P.S. Quote of the day- "At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement."

- Benjamin Franklin 

A letter from Emma about: The National Wedding Show

Dear Reader,

On Sunday I was lucky enough to me given a VIP ticket to The National Wedding Show. Although I am no blushing bride I had a lovely day exploring the show which full was of so many lovely ideas not just for weddings but for events too. So, todays blog post is a collection of pictures from the day:

It may seem a little strange that someone with no intent of getting married any time soon spent the day at a wedding show... but it was so much fun! I guess that itself shows how good it was. Also, with my ticket orignianlly costing £40 I thought I should make the most of it. Part of the VIP ticket which I received includes champagne on arrival and make-up goodies (shown in the picture above), and also front row seats to the wedding catwalk show.
One wedding dress theme which I really wanted to mention was the Art Deco,  1920's Great Gatsby like wedding gowns designed by  Ellie Sanderson, they were just beautiful. I loved the loose fitting dresses I thought they were so timeless and made the brides look very elegant and sophisticated. Unfortunately I did not manage to get a clear picture of the dresses on the catwalk,  however I would highly recommend them if you are a bride-to-be looking for something a bit different but also elegant for your big day.
The National Wedding Show really is a fantastic place to get ideas and tips about weddings. One of my personal favourites was the picture booth with props! I defiantly want one of those at my wedding reception, so much fun!

It was also a wedding show like this that my sisters wedding dress would have been originally worn at. I wrote about the dress in  my Wedding Dress blog post, which is also another great place to find your dream dress if you are getting married. 

Yours, 

Emma Dilemma

P.S. Quote of the day- "If I get married, I want to be very married."
- Audrey Hepburn