Product review: Lenor Unstoppables

Recently I was lucky enough to be chosen to take part in a product trial for Lenor. Their new product, Unstoppables, are little beads of scent that fragrance your laundry. I received this box in the post, very exciting!

While I'd love to be able to confirm or deny the claim that the scent lasts up to 12 weeks, I simply haven't been testing them out long enough, but here are my thoughts so far.

Firstly, the scent.

My bottles are labelled "fresh". While the smell is fresh, I associate fresh with something less floral and synthetic than this smell. It's nice, but overwhelming. The instructions recommend 1 - 3 capfuls of scent beads, I use less than half a cap and my clothes smell nice but not like they've come out of a soap shop! The smell is a lot less overwhelming and synthetic post-washing and is quite pleasant.

Ease of use.

You just bung the beads into the drum with your clothes, couldn't be easier! I've never had problems with them not fully dissolving in a 40 degree wash and they don't stain clothes.

Overall.

I have to say I don't really feel like I would buy these because the scent in fabric conditioner is strong enough for me. If they conditioned clothes too, then maybe I would. The packaging design is really attractive and they do make washing smell really nice. I'd give them a good 7/10.

Summer Storm

Together we lie, in bed. I can hear the dog's faint snoring, the rain outside falling in heavy droplets. I am warm, I am content. I try to sync my breathing to yours but it only makes me start to panic, so I stop. The rain has slowed. So has our breathing. We are one. Thunder, one roll, quiet. The second roll is louder. By the third, we are asleep.

Long time, no post

It's been a while! A year and a half! In that time I've made things, had good times with friends and lost nearly 40lbs. It's springtime now, edging into summer; my cats adore the sunny days when they occur! At the moment we're getting very mixed weather, blazing sunshine and then pouring rain and back again, but when it's sunny it's lovely here.

My little old lady cat, Fleur, adores the sun. If it's sunny you can always find her in the garden, charging her solar panels.

Two weekends ago, my boyfriend and I celebrated 6 years of our relationship. I can't believe it's been so long! We had a lovely day at an event at his university, listening to live music and drinking cider.

Craft-wise, I'm currently crocheting a long-term project, a hexagon blanket using the Hexagon How-to from Attic24 for my bed. I'm knitting the Still Light Tunic by Veera Välimäki. That's also a long-term project, being in sport weight and being so big! But I'm really enjoying it and it grows surprisingly fast at times. And it goes nicely with my Converse hi-tops.

Well, that's about all for now but I'm resolving to blog more from now on. Adios amigos!

Yule (b)Log

I love crafting around Christmas but my favourite part is putting the stuff up when it's done! My pudding is on the tree and Liam's car is on their tree!

This year I made snowflakes, both as presents for others and for our own window. I used Attic24's crochet snowflake tutorial but as I wasn't using wool, blocking wasn't an option. I got around this and managed to add some glitter by experimentation. I ironed the snowflakes til they stretched out and went floppy (you have to be careful doing this with acrylic, it works brilliantly but if you leave it too long you will end up with a melted mess) but then I needed to make them stiff again.

Cue hairspray.

I opted to do it outside because the glitter and hairspray were messy. I didn't just use a bit of hairspray, I saturated those snowflakes. I looked and smelt like an Essex girl by the end but it was worth it. 

It was pretty cold out there... That's solid ice.

Throw some glitter on, squirt a lot of hairspray, flip it, do it again, mop up any extra glitter and hairspray from the plastic bag and lay them out to dry (preferably not inside, the hairspray smell will kill you).

Et voila!

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Feltmas

...in my bedroom. Seriously. I have gone insane for felt and hand-sewing and embroidery. I love how fast I can go from drawing out a template (I draw my own) to putting on the finishing touches. This was whipped up in about an hour and a half, including time spent ferreting through my craft drawers looking for brown thread.

This one's for me and my tree. All mine.

Totally addicted

It's strange how my crafting goes in obsessions and bursts of activity. I hadn't touched felt since I made my boyfriend some Domo-kun mittens 2 Christmases ago and now I can't stop thinking about it. Since I finished the car I have churned out another ornament. It was fun to make things pretty instead of masculine. I meant to do the two lines of writing in the same colour; I guess my eyesight was on the blink.

And now I must get dressed and go out: to the post office to post this to its new home!

In which I have completed a Thing

With help from a felt-endowing friend and a bit of motivation, I completed the Christmas decoration for Liam last night. This was apparently the push I needed to get my camera out for the first time since Christmas - my ipod camera was not cutting the mustard! So here's a photo.

It's a bit wonky in places and I can see all its faults but I think it's wonky in a cute, homemade-looking way. I'm so pleased with how it turned out and now want to make more (all of the...!) things with felt.