My New Favourite Twitter Image Account, Brutal House

I adore retro futurism, and Brutal House provides me a daily fix of it. Follow them if it's your kind of thing too. All images from their feed.

Dr. Martens Want YOU To Busk At Their New Belfast Store

Iconic footwear and clothing brand Dr. Martens is calling for local musicians to ‘Busk for Belfast’ to celebrate the launch of its first standalone store in Northern Ireland.

Belfast in the 1970s and 80s saw Ulster punks adopt the Dr. Martens boot and its association with various subcultures from all generations continues today, showcased in the current #STANDFORSOMETHING campaign that champions real Docs wearers.

The newly opened Corn Market store is playing host to a week of celebrations of Belfast punk and alternative music, and buskers are being invited to perform outside of Dr. Martens from Monday 22 to Saturday 27 September.

Boot prints will mark the spot on Corn Market for musicians and artists to take it turns to play to the passing public, and a window display will encourage the audience to share photos and clips of their favourite busker using the hashtag #STANDFORSOMETHINGBELFAST.

People of Belfast are encouraged to stop and listen to the buskers outside the store, and share their favourite using #STANDFORSOMETHINGBELFAST on social media, to be in with a chance to WIN a pair of Docs.

Musicians can busk outside the store all day every day from Monday 22 to Saturday 27 September.

Happy Birthday Bear Nibbles!

Bear are five! The natural nibble brand are celebrating by partnering with WWF in the Save Our Paws campaign.

My son loves Bear, he's a big Subway fan and loves getting the Bear snacks in the kids' pack. He also enjoys their alphabet cereal.

24 Watches That Are Way Cooler than the new iWatch

Back to Basics on The World of Kitsch

I've noticed my blog posts being more sparse this year, and definitely more product orientated, so I've decided to start throwing in the sort of blog post I started The World of Kitsch with. Proper kitsch products, collated by me, on my own without partnership with a brand. Perhaps it'll kick start my love of blogging again, as it's started to feel like a chore, especially as my health is poor right now and I'm tired as it is.

So, I'll start with the most well know kitsch artist, Tretchikoff. He of Green Lady fame, his print was sold widely through the western world in the sixties and seventies. Bizarrely I don't own a Tretchikoff myself. I have works of Louis Shabner and J H Lynch, but I've never found a real life Tretchikoff in a charity shop, and can't spare the £100 or so I would need to call one my own from eBay.  

Maybe I should go the whole hog like Red or Read's Wayne Hemmingway and just have a Tretchikoff wall! 

Here is the late Amy Winehouse showing her love of the artist.

And the beautiful Lauren Laveren had the chance to be painted in Tretchikoff style. Very jealous.

For now I will have to stick to little soft furnishing touches of Tretch' round the house.

Or maybe I can be the Green Lady this Halloween?

Until I can afford my own picture mural wall anyway.

Yankee Candle Halloween Exclusives Available in UK This Year. Snap Them Up.

I wrote last month about how much of a Yankee fanatic I am. I would trawl the US site enviously every September, admiring their Halloween themed special releases. They celebrate Halloween as more of a big deal in the States, but we are catching up with the house decoration, trick or treating and going all out for October. Yankee Candle have answered our pleas and brought the Halloween exclusives to the UK site this autumn.

I managed to get hold of some Witches' Brew votives from the US on eBay the past couple of Halloween seasons, for silly money, so I'm thrilled I can now fill my boots for £16.99 per medium jar candle, with votives and tartlets being a lot less.

Witches' Brew is our 'September smell', which is why I always returned to search for it on eBay each August previously. It smells like bonfires, crisp leaves, spices and sparklers. We love it.

The other two scents are Candy Corn, a sweet, trick or treat candy scented candle, and Ghostly Treats which I'm going to order for myself as it sounds amazing, with sticky, melting marshmallow scents. 

Which would you like to try? And if you're as big a Yankee fan (nerd) as me, please feel free to chat rare and retired scents with me on Twitter @rudedoodle.

My Stellar Magic Wand, Breakfast Smoothies for Picky Back to School Kids

I have a very picky eater. Last year school day breakfasts consisted of two or three cereal bars, loaded with sugar. It was better than the alternative, an untouched bowl of soggy cereal. No matter what brand or type of cereal, Michael would be fed up of it after two days, and it would get thrown away. Cereal bars worked because at least he was getting some carbs in, which experts say are vital to helping kids concentrate in school, but I was aware the other health benefits are non-existent.

A quick way of getting some healthy fruit into him, as an accompaniment to his array of cereal snack bars, is to make a smoothie. My old stick blender, literally bought in a Woolworths, had given up, so I was delighted to test out the new, powerful Stellar Stainless Steel Stick Blender.

It's quite large, but it does screw apart in two pieces for dishwashing the lower half, and storage. There is a dial on the top which varies the speed and power, and even on the lowest setting it packs a punch.

My previous stick blender had nowhere near the power the Stellar does. There is also a button for a pulse of extra power, which could help with making soups. It's definitely a space saving alternative to a large, clunky juicer. It requires less clean up and with a two year guarantee you can be confident to give it a try.

My smoothie recipe was pretty simple, raspberries, plain yoghurt, skimmed milk & honey for sweetness. Now I've seen the power in the Stellar Stick I'd be keen to try a more dense fruit or vegetable to see how it blends that. Maybe banana and try an unpeeled apple next week.

You can buy the Stellar Stick Blender for half it's RRP at £36 here.

My Best Blogging Buddy

Over the five years I've now been blogging, I've made lots of online friends. As the Belfast blogging scene grew I've met lots of wonderful ladies, and guys, who share my interests in lifestyle, interiors, style and travel. 

However one of the earlier bloggers like me in Northern Ireland, and one I count as my best blogging pal, is someone I have never met, despite only living an hour's drive away. This is perhaps because of our personal health problems we share, which ironically makes our friendship a stronger one.

Sera blogs at The Agoraphobic Fashionista and has a vibrant Twitter account, running frequent competitions and engaging in debate about everything and anything. She always has the latest beauty releases and is the woman to follow for tip offs of great bargains & sales.

Chisholm Hunter Diamond Merchants kindly sent Sera & I matching friendship boxes, which really brightened up my weekend with a bath bomb, seeds, cute pegs and even matching friendship bracelets like all proper pals have. 

They are running a Rafflecopter competition to win £250 to spend on their sparkly website, so it's worth a visit. 

Thank you for choosing me as your best blogging buddy, Sera! And don't you think we even look alike? She's my BFAM : Blogger From Another Mother.