Filmaholics Anonymous - Guilt Trip Trailer

This post is sponsored by Paramount but I have seen this trailer a few times recently so am more than happy to promote it. Being a massive musicals fan, I am also a massive Barbra fan, so any film with the amazing Miss Streisand in is good in my books. So I am super excited to see Guilt Trip, especially after seeing this trailer. Please watch, enjoy and let me know what you think of it!  

So what you think? Will you be seeing it too?
It's out St Davids's Day 1st March!!!!

Filmaholics Anonymous - My February Films

It's nearly the end of the month so I thought I should quickly sneak in my Filmaholic Review for the month. We were lucky enough to get to the cinema a few times and I rented a few films as well. This isn't all the films we watched this month, as I watch lots, but it is a good selection of them, and my little reviews of what I thought of each of them.

Les Misérables

 Well I finally got to see Les Miserables! I am a fan of anything musical wise, and although I haven't had the chance to see this on the stage yet I do already know a lot of the music, so I was pretty excited to see it. Jon isn't keen on musicals but agreed to see it after he chose the last film choice! 

I loved it! Seriously, it is absolutely brilliant. I was very surprised that some of the actors could actually sing. Russell Crowe, Huge Jackman and Anna Hathaway all surprised me, they all have pretty good voices, especially Anna Hathaway who really does justice to the role of Fantine. What I didn't realise is that it is literally all sung, yes it is a musical but there is usually sections of scripting, but in this there is none, everything is sung - that's the bit Jon wasn't so keen on.

I would advise everyone to see this, even if you don't like musicals, the story and acting is so powerful and emotional (I spent a large proportion teary eyed and full on blubbing at points, so take tissues ladies!) It's a total 5 out 5 stars!

Zero Dark Thirty

I didn't really know much about the story of this before hand, other than it was about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. It is all based on the real story line and is actually really interesting. It's like a war film without the actual war part, just behind the war really. Zero Dark Thirty is the time they raided the home of bin Laden and eventually killed him. It is all about how they eventually found him. It does get a little confusing and complicated in parts but is such a great film. There is scenes of torture in it though that are hard to watch at times, but I suppose they make the film more real and true to fact at the time. Jessica Chastain is superb in the role of Maya and deserves an award for her acting in this film. This is another 5 star film for me as I think it was so well done and is a film most will enjoy. 

Total Recall

I'm a fan of the original (even if it is cheesy as hell) so looked forward to seeing the more high tech, special effect filled new version of Total Recall. Well although the story is based on the original one it is very different. The special effects are great though, as are the fight scenes, chase scenes and the future technology. I'm not a big Colin Farrell fan, but I am a big Kate Beckinsale fan (or at least Jon is a massive Kate fan!!) But I was pleasantly surprised with how good the acting was. The classic funny parts from the original are still included though, which is nice, but Farrell is no Schwarzenegger. This is a great film if your into Sci-Fi stuff or any man against the machine/government type storyline. I would give it 4 stars, it's good but it didn't deserve the full 5 stars.

You can buy it on amazon.co.uk

Funny People

This was on TV this week, so thought I would watch it as I remembered the trailers but in all honesty I didn't love this film. Sandler is a comedian diagnosed with a life threatening illness who wants to better himself, and get back with an ex as her realises he hasn't become a nice person. Rogen plays an aspiring comedian who is asked to work for Sandler and befriend him, Mann is the ex he wants back. You can kinda guess where the story goes from there but I don't want to give anything much away. I just didn't feel that it had much of anything. Funny People just wasn't very funny so didn't feel like a comedy, but there wasn't enough drama to call it that either. It was just a bit blah! I like all the cast but just think the story and scripting were very weak. It could have been pushed a lot more and made a lot better. So only a 2 star really. If you do want to see it or do like it, you can buy it on amazon.co.uk

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

How Do You Know?

I rented Romy and Michele's High School Reunion after reading about it on a article on Hubpages about great 90's chick flicks. And as a film buff I love to watch all sorts of films, I usually watch or rent girly films when I know I am going to have a whole evening to myself with Jon in work. I love Lisa Kudrow and any 90's chick flick is good in my books. This is silly and cheesy but totally what I expected. Not hilariously funny but still pretty good. They are 2 slightly dumb blondes who try to make themselves more successful to impress people at their High School Reunion but not everything goes to plan. It's cute, girly and totally 90's'tastic! 3 stars from me, I really enjoyed it but it isn't really that strong a film. Buy it on amazon.co.uk 

I rented this film as well for a little girly night in by myself while Jon was working late. Again this was another girly chick flick that I had yet to see, and with rentals like this only being 99p I enjoy trying out slightly random or unknown (to me) films. This one had a pretty decent cast so I had high hopes for it. Sadly it wasn't really that good, it was funny in parts, romantic in parts and thats about it! 2 men after the same women, but she is a little oblivious, but there is a slightly odd second storyline about business fraud that just doesn't seem to fit that well. The acting is all great as you would expect with a cast of veterans like this, so it is purely down to a blah storyline. I only give it a 2 out of 5 stars.

See How Do You Know on IMDB or buy it on amazon.co.uk 

I also started a little personal challenge blog for my fuller film reviews as I am aiming to review my entire DVD collection (and other films I see). Havent had time to make much of a start yet but I am hoping to crack on with it soon. It is called The Filmaholic Review and I would love for you to check it out

Anyone watched any new films this week? Any you think I should see?

Outfit Post - Bird Dress

Just another quick outfit post, this one is from my shopping trip with Jon last week. I think with this unpredictable weather this type of outfit has become my go to; Jeans, tunic (short dress), cardi or long sleeve top and my brogues. Simple and comfy, plus I have lots of pretty tunic style short dresses.

 Dress: Influence via Everything5pounds.com

Jeans: Warehouse

Cardi: Vintage via Charity Shop

Shoes: New Look

Necklace: Swarovski

Anyone done anything fun today?

Shop Local - Bryony Jade Jewellery

Yay it's Tuesday again, which means I get to bring you another amazingly talented Welsh based designer. For this weeks Shop Local feature I am happy to introduce Bryony Jade Jewellery. And in all honesty I am totally in love with her dainty colourful butterfly, flower, heart and bird designs. I hope you love them just as much as I do. So here is the interview with Bryony herself:

Whats your name and where do you come from?
My name is Bryony Carrington and I live near Colwyn Bay in North Wales.

Two Butterfly Necklace £27
How long have you been making your designs?
I've been making the button collection for about 8 years now - the anodised aluminium designs are more recent, I've been developing those designs for about 2 years.

Ceramic Heart and Button Necklace £10
Whats your favourite materials to work with?
My favourite material to work with is anodised aluminium - it gives me so much freedom! I hand print, hand dye and hand cut the metal so the possibilities are endless. It's also very lightweight which gives me the opportunity to make larger, eye-catching pieces that are wearable and affordable.

Bird on a Branch Earrings £14
Of your items which is your favourite?
My favourite piece of jewellery at the moment is a necklace that has the image of five birds on a wire cut out of aluminium and back by a piece of grey aluminium to create the silhouette. It's really light so I don't even notice I'm wearing it. 

Birds on a Wire £27

Where do you get your inspiration for your designs and also their names (if relevant)?
I draw a lot of inspiration from my surroundings – the gorgeous colours seen in the stunning sunsets, and the wildlife I see in the fields and valleys by my home. Most of my designs feature birds and butterflies.

Floral Pattern Bracelet £20
Do you have any formal training or did this start as a hobby?
I started making jewellery in my early teens - my mum taught me how to sew at a young age so I've always enjoyed creating things. I've not had any formal training in jewellery making but I've always enjoyed exploring new materials and techniques so everything has progressed from there.

Single Butterfly Necklace £16
Do you have any favourite etsy shops which you buy from?

I'm quite new to etsy so I'm enjoying looking at what local crafts people are producing. I do like Cariad Gifts - very cute and quirky little presents made from felt.

Colourful Butterfly Necklace £60

What's your dream for the coming year?
I've got big plans for 2013! My first goal is to finish my website and find some more stockists - some more stockists in Wales would be fantastic.

Heart Disc Earrings £10

What's your favourite flower? 
My favourite flowers are gerberas - especially the bright pink ones!

So ladies what do you think of Bryony's beautiful designs? I adore the butterflies in the circle, the little button heart and the bird pieces the most. What's your favourite piece?

Crafting - Deco ATC's and a new blog

I'm still really enjoying Swap-bot and trading ATC cards. So thought I would give you an update of the two I made this week. They have been sent across the world to America, Netherlands, Canada and Switzerland!

These deco cards were for a 'Stamp It' ATC swap and I used supplies I had received in a previous craft swap to make them

These 2 were for a 'Where you Live' ATC swap. I used cut up postcards, a graze box, stickers and my Dynamo printer.

Anyone else into making ATC's or just swapping snail mail? I am always on the hunt for new postcard pen pals, so if anyone is interested in swapping some PC's or snail mail just leave me a comment or drop me an email.

Oh and I have got a new blog, specifically for crafting. It's called Daily Craft Inspiration and it does what it says on the tin. I am always finding great craft projects thanks to all the online hopping I do and the amazing Pintrest, so I decided to put them all in one place on a new quick daily post blog. Please check it out, follow if you like and let me know what you think. I hope I can inspire some people into crafting some more.

Sponsor Daisy Dayz this March

I am now looking for March Sponsors for the blog. So if you fancy advertising on Daisy Dayz, having your button in my side bar and a dedicated post to your blog, store or company why not sign up to be a sponsor for March.

Prices start from as little as £2.50 for the month and include dedicated posts, Twitter and Facebook mentions, pintrest pins if relevant and a featured button in my side bar.

If you want to see all my current stats you can check them out on my Sponsorship Page

I look forward to working with a few of you

Thanks

Outfit Post - New Butterfly Dress

So I thought I would wear my new butterfly dress out this week for dinner with my parents. We went to Bills! It was really yummy and I will have a post up reviewing it this week, with lots of yummy food pictures! But for now here is a quick outfit post.

 I just wore it over jeans as we weren't planning on going anywhere fancy.

Dress: Lili via TKMaxx

Jeans: Warehouse

Boots: gift from my sister 

I'm getting bored of my hair again, so I'm thinking of dying the tips a different colour again, or cutting it. But I can't decide! Any suggestions.

Recipe - We Made Pizza!

Jon really fancied Pizza last week, but we gave up fast food and take aways for lent so he thought it might be a good idea to make our own. As I own a brilliant bread maker we figured we would just make the dough in the machine to make it easier. Then we just had to top it and bake it. It turned out perfectly and was really yummy!

So here is what you will need:

1/2tsp Dried Yeast

300g Strong White Flour

1tbsp Olive Oil

1tsp Salt

170ml Water

Tomato Puree

Your choice of Toppings

Grated Cheese

You just need to place all the top ingredients in the bread maker, set it to dough only. Should take about  45 minutes I think. Then you just roll it out to your desired thickness and bake it for 20 minutes on 40 C to prove the dough and let it expand before topping.

 Add your tomato puree base and some mixed herbs (you can also use BBQ sauce instead)

 Top with what ever you fancy, we had a few sausages and bacon in the fridge so that went on, plus sweetcorn, mushrooms (on my half) and pineapple. 

 Top with plenty of cheese, we just used mature cheddar but you could use mozzarella.

 And bake for 20-30 minutes at 190 C until the edges turn nice golden brown and crispy!

Jon was quite pleased with our efforts! It was probably just as expensive as a shop bought pizza but it was healthier! and fun to make!

Anyone else make their own pizza? I think we will be doing this more often now that I know it is so easy.

Shopping - Just a little haul

Me and Jon went for a little shop last week to get him some new work clothes. As I haven't bought any clothes since Christmas I thought I would have a bit of a look for something for myself too. I've worked a silly amount the last few weeks so I thought I deserved a little treat, and luckily TKMaxx had some great cheap summer dresses in.

 A simple maroon polka dot skater dress for £16 from a brand called Club L

 And this pretty butterfly print dress by Lili which was in the sale down to £12

I also found some cute little things in Paperchase. My main score was this great ring bound scrap book from £10 down to £4.50! Which is now half full with my postcard collection. I have about 100 cards so far I think, they had all been in a big file but were starting to get to heavy, and I liked them all sorted better so I can see them. So I spent an evening this week sorting them all by month they were sent and putting them in the book with photo corners. I also got the nice little Thank You stamp for when I have my etsy shop up and running. The cupcake stickers are for my other scrapbooking, letter writing and ATC making.

We have also finally started sorted all our photos properly. We have always been big on taking pictures, yet like most people they sit on our computer and only make an appearance on Facebook. But I spurred on to finally sort all those pictures after finding the blog Lil Blue Boo and reading all her post on sorting  photos and compiling albums. We aren't quite as organised as her, but we have taken on a few of her tips and are now putting together pages in our new photo album every month. We will also be back tracking the last few years as well but that will take some time. Once we have a few months done I will show you a few pages on here.

Anyone else done any shopping lately?

Or got any tips on sorting photos and compiling albums? Anyone got any special tricks for displaying their photos?

Shop Local - Pengies

It's that time of the week again. My Shop Local Feature this week brings to you Pengies!! These cute little Fimo creatures are made by the crafty Caitlin Cockcroft and would be the perfect gift for any child or for an adult with a sense of humour. At just £4.21 each you could collect a whole set of Pengies and you can even have one custom made if you like. She has ones suitable for hobbies, or celebrations and even a few that would make great fun Wedding Cake toppers. So on with the interview! 

Whats your name and where do you come from?

My name is Caitlin Cockcroft and I was born in Chester, but moved across the border to a small village in Mid-Wales when I was 10 years old.

How long have you been making your designs?
Officially Pengies records began when I was 15 years old, which considering I am now 22 is a good 7 years of Pengie production. However, the earliest records we have of Pengies (I say 'records' lightly, the first ever scrap of paper detailing the sales a church fete...) illustrate that sales began when I was in fact 11 years old. So, it appears that in the process of becoming a Craftsperson, I needed a 4 year 'sabbatical' to find myself, develop my skills and realise the true potential of Pengies!

Is there a story behind your shops name?
I would love to say that there is... but it would be a lie. Pengies was just a 'pet' name for the little critters that was adopted as the official title.

Whats your favourite materials to work with?
I work with Fimo, a polymer clay, that comes in many colours and varieties. I work predominantly with 12 colours and I like to add glitter here there and everywhere. I also like mixing it up and for some of the Limited Edition Pengies I like to do a marble effect.

Of your items which is your favourite?
That's a tough one because customers are constantly inspiring me to make new designs! However, one of the most popular originals is probably the Frog Pengie (a penguin dressed up as a frog, of course) and also the Angel Pengie (purely because it's pink and glittery and what girls doesn't love that?).

Where do you get your inspiration for your designs and also their names? 
As previously mentioned my inspiration is from my customers... with a little extra research (googling). The first ever Customised Pengie I created was from a friend of mine asking for a Siamese twin Pengie, but that the siamese twin needed to be a tiny version as if it hadn't grown. Although this was a particularly odd request, Customised and Tiny Pengies were both born!

The names are usually just produced during a creative flow... or when I'm bored in front of the tele! I use a lot of Welsh names and sometimes even write the messages on the tags in Welsh too (from my limited memory of Welsh I learned in school). When at craft fairs or events I write names for customers that they request, so they can be as unique as possible (along with the messages). I also do this for online customers.

Do you have any formal training or did this start as a hobby?
I began Pengies off the back of my mother's Jewellery business. I grew up in a very creative home and was constantly surrounded by crafting materials and art supplies (as my sister also had a small business for some years and took Art for A-level). I used to play around with the scraps of Fimo left over by my mother and then began making little animals. Pengies were the only thing that looked like the animal I intended, so I stuck with it!

I also took Textiles at A-level so had a good understanding of art and a variety of materials.

Do you have any favourite etsy shops which you buy from?
I do have a particular favourite at the minute (but it changes weekly, or any time I have money and go shopping!) Goozeberry Hill. She is based in Swansea and sells hand stamped vintage cutlery. I recently bought some of her products and they were wonderful, and loved by everyone. She can do original messages too which I think is a lovely idea! And I love the Welsh camaraderie!

What's your dream for the coming year?
Initially, to graduate from Cardiff University with a BSc Psychology degree. I have worked so so hard to get here and to stay here, that it is my first and foremost priority. After that my dream would be to spend some more time on Pengies (as it has been somewhat neglected while I've been in Final Year due to the demands of the course). I would love to develop Pengies further and work on the advertising and promotion that has been so wonderfully initiated by my mother!

What's your favourite flower? 
If I'm honest I'm quite unoriginal when it comes to flowers. I like bouquets of beautiful colours, but specific types I'm not so fussed about. Although I am partial to a red rose, or an orchid. However, if I think about flowers that are meaningful to me it would have to be Daffodils and Forget-me-nots!

You can follow Caitlin on Twitter, Facebook or check out her website for even more designs.

So what do you think ladies, do you like these cute little critters? Aren't they sweet?