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Roxymandy June 18, 2015

The Popcicle Trend with Graham & Brown

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am now a Graham & Brown Ambassador, so I will talking about different home trends each month and how to incorporate them into your own home.

Starting next month I will be showing you how I use Graham & Brown products in my own home to give you an idea of how I have taken a trend and made it work with my personal décor.

Every year new trends in color, design and style for the home emerge, and when this happens it may make you want to redecorate your whole home, but sometimes instead it can just inspire you to refresh an area of your home.

Have you heard of the popsicle trend?

Think of it as a form of ombre – colours that fade in and out of each other, creating soft and subtle illusions. The trend is all about being playful and having fun, and since it’s the beginning of summer it’s the perfect time to experiment with it!

Graham & Brown has challenged it’s Ambassadors to show how this trend ‘Popsicle’ is echoed through our past, present and future design aspirations.

When I think of the Popsicle Trend, well I can’t help it but think about popsicles! I used love it when I was a kid and my mom would buy popsicles as a treat. Like so much that I would fight to eat the whole box. Even to this day when I am sick, I (politely) order my husband to buy a box of popsicles so I can eat them all! My absolute favourites were creamsicles and grape flavoured ones.

This “Bloom wherever you are planted” photo found here reminds me exactly of this. How pretty are all of these photos in row as well? Talking about the Popsicle Trend not only makes me hungry, but it’s also so pretty to look at when it works!

I’ve mentioned on the blog before about my love for freshening up my home each season buy adding some new pillows to my décor. Sometimes I add seasonal ones for the holidays like at Christmas, and sometimes I just want lighter or darker colours to change with the seasons.

I’ve actually just purchased 4 new pillows for my home for summer, but I really wish I had of seen this Meadow Cushion before I starting swiping my credit card!

The Meadow Cushion would be such a great way to freshen up my home, among some of the other Popsicle Trend pillows.

I have so many plans to revamp my closet, and one idea is to use one of my favourite colours – pink! I’m loving this pink paint in Carnation Street (love the name too!), and this Neon City print has such fun colours as well! I’m totally obsessed with this Polka Flock Pink wallpaper! How cute are these polka dots?

The fun colours merging into eachother to create gradual tones is a fun way to brighten up for spring. Any of these colours used in the Popsicle Trend tend to be radiant and bright, which is perfect for this time of year, and a great way to refresh your home.

For more design inspiration, visit www.grahamandbrown.com!

Roxymandy June 16, 2015

Nautical Striped Sweaters for Summer

As hot as it has been during the last few weeks, we have had some cool nights and rainy afternoon’s where it’s chilly enough to throw a light sweater on.

I’d be embarrassed to show you how many nautical striped sweaters I have in my closet. I’ve been collecting for a few years now. They never seem to go out of style! Nautical seems to have a resurgence every few years, and this year has been a great year for nautical striped sweaters.

This one I am wearing is from Joe Fresh, and it was practically free because I just added it to my grocery cart. Don’t you love how Joe Fresh is sold where you buy your groceries? My husband doesn’t look twice at the grocery bill, so a sweater here and there will fly under the radar. Well, after he reads this post I may need to be a bit more careful!

Joe Fresh Stripe Crochet Sweater {$29}

My collection of these sweaters continues to grow, and it’s really not my fault because there are so many great variations of this staple sweater. Here are more of my favourite summer nautical striped sweaters for cool summer nights and rainy afternoons below.

Zara Sailor Striped Knit

Central Park West High Slit Stripe Sweater

J.Crew Summerweight Cotton Sweater in Stripe

Mango PREMIUM – Ribbed fine-knit sweater

Forever 21 Striped Loose-Knit Sweater

Forever 21 Striped Crew Neck Sweater

Weekend Max Mara ‘Amadeus’ Button Back Crewneck Sweater

Roxymandy June 12, 2015

The Importance of a Thank You Card

The introduction of emailing, texing, and social media in general has made written notes and cards almost forgotten. Now you can send an invitation online, or ask for an RSVP via email and text, but how do you say thank you?

Most people still do it with a Facebook post or text message, but I don’t think that a proper thank you card should be forgotten!

Is’this it lovely to check your mailbox and find a written letter or card? I love receiving mail (as long as it’s not my credit card bill), and I remember that feeling when it’s time to say thank you to someone else.

Is it a bit of a painful process to look up addresses and write everything down by hand? Absolutely! The person receiving the card will know this, and appreciate the effort you went through to give them a proper thank you.

I send out thank you cards after parties where gifts are exchanged, or just in general at times when I think someone needs to be thanked in a special way.

I find the easiest thing to do is already have thank you cards on hand. I always have a stack on my desk just in case I need to send someone a quick note – it’s much easier that way!

My absolute favourites come from Rifle Paper Co! I also loved the selection I would find at Target, but since they have left Canada I tend to buy mine in boutiques, or at Chapters.

Here are a few of my favourites below – I hope it inspires you to say thank you to someone!

Merci Beaucoup Thank You Greeting Card {Rifle Paper Co}

Thank You Hostess Greeting Card {Rifle Paper Co}

Merci Greeting Card {Rifle Paper Co}

Navy Stripe Foil Thank You Cards {Waste Not Paper}

Note Card Set – Thank You {Kate Spade New York}

Thanks and Thanks Again Card {Papyrus}

Metallic Embroidery Thank You Card {Papyrus}

Thx Bae Thank You Card {CVCustomPress}

Thank You For Being Your Awesome Self {Whitsicle}

Roxymandy June 10, 2015

Arnicare Gel Review + Ultimate Boiron Product Giveaway!

When you have your first child, you are pretty much terrified of everything – especially sickness. I remember being so scared of a runny nose, and listening carefully with every cough or sneeze that came out of my son. The biggest thing I was worried about when he was sick was what to give him. I was scared of antibiotics, I and always reading labels to makes sure I was giving him the proper dosages or over the counter medicines for his age and weight.

One of the first things I every gave my son when he was teething was Boiron’s Camilia. I was very nervous to use anything because anytime I thought I had found the perfect thing to try, some mom at a play group or stroller fit class would say not to use whatever I suggested because they had heard all kinds of terrible things about it. A few mother’s had told me about Camilia and said great things, so I gave it a try.

It was a homeopathic medicine so I felt good about giving it to him, but would it work?

It actually did – I used it throughout the first year of his life on and off when he was teething. It really seemed to soothe his teething symptoms.

A couple weeks ago I attended a Boiron Canada event where I learned more about some of the products they have for not only children, but adults as well. We had a great yoga session, a healthy lunch, and learned all about how to life a healthier lifestyle.

The product that stood out the most to me was Arnicare Gel which relieves muscle and joint pain, and eases resorption of bruises and inflammatory edema.

If you have a toddler, you know that they are forever bumping into everything – accidentally and occasionally with intent! – and they end up covered in bruises. We have an ice pack on standby for whenever the tumble is a little harder than usual, and our son is covered in bumps and scrapes.

I am no better – I play soccer and the harder I get knocked around, the more I say to myself that I am probably not going to be wearing a dress that week because the bruises will be so visible. Last week I was bruised so badly on the back of my leg that my son was really concerned about me so I had to put pants on because he was completely distracted by it!

I gave this product a try on myself first to see how it would work. I have to say I was pretty impressed with it. It’s so hard to tell if a bruise would be worse if I didn’t use it, but at least my bruises seemed to hurt a little less when I applied it. It’s a really soothing gel too so I can say that it absolutely eased the pain a little.

I started to let my son try it as well when he banged into tables or fell to the floor playing. First of all it helped to have something to offer him when he fell down and was hurt – it was a great distraction to say that I had something that would help! He was truly mesmerised by what I was doing so it would stop the tears for a moment or two. When I would rub the gel on he would always say that it was making him feel better, so it’s replaced the ice pack.

Boiron has a full arsenal of products for infants to adults for all kinds of different symptoms and afflictions.

Would you like to try out some Boiron products for yourself? I am giving away an amazing prize pack courtesy of Boiron Canada to one lucky sparkleshinylove reader! It has everything you could want and need to have a healthy summer. Everything in the photo below is in the prize pack!

All you need to do is enter below to win! One winner will randomly be chosen via the Rafflecopter App below. The contest begins at 12:00am on Wednesday, June 10th 2015, and ends on Wednesday June 17th at 12:00am. This contest is open to residents of Canada only. Good luck to everyone who enters!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Roxymandy June 9, 2015

Style and Function with Lou Harvey Canada

One my biggest challenges since having a baby has been still dressing stylishly while at the same time being able to function as a parent. For example I love wearing white jeans, but no matter what the situation, I still end up with little footprints all over them by the end of the day. I love wearing a cute bag, but there is always a dirty toy thrown inside or a juice spill that has me scrubbing the bag clean while muttering to myself “It’s just a bag, don’t cry!”.

When I am heading out for a day with my son, I feel like a Sherpa carrying snacks, drinks, and anything else I may possibly need to survive a day away from home. Finding something to carry it all can be a challenge, let alone finding something that looks great as well.

Once I looked through the Lou Harvey Canada website to see their bold and bright patterns matched with the functionality of being wipe able and washable, I did a little summersault and chose something perfect for those long summer days where I need to carry everything.

As a family we spend much of the summer at the beach. We are there almost every weekend to spend time near our families boat. The boat isn’t in the water yet, so until then we have been spending many days nearby enjoying the warmer weather.

This means sand EVERYWHERE, and lots of trucks, shovels and sunscreen.

This Lou Harvey Large Weekender in Arabella Aqua is absolutely gorgeous, and completely functional for a day at the beach! It’s also perfect for traveling overnight, or just a great bag throw everything in and go. I used it over the weekend on one of our beach trips.

The pattern is so bright and pretty for summer. I love bold patterns, and the outer shell of the bag is canvas so it’s easily wipe able. The bag is made of cotton and laminated (PVC free) so it’s very durable, and machine washable. That means it has a force-field against grape juice – mother’s can rejoice!

What else do you need to know about Lou Harvey? They also have everything from clutches, bottle warmers, coolers and passport covers. It’s a great site to shop – they pretty much have everything under the sun with some amazingly fun patterns.

The Lou Harvey brand also has a great background story to it as well. The brand is based out of South Africa, and it’s been launched in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia and in many other countries around the world.

Lou Harvey’s product lines are designed and ethically manufactured in Durban, South Africa. There is really a Lou Harvey – she oversees the design and production of the brand in the factory in Durban.

Over 50 of the women employed in the factory in Durban are called “Grannies”, a name given to the the women who care for children who’s parents have been affected by HIV and AIDS. Lou provides skill improvement courses to all of these women, and has them working in various jobs in her factory.

She even encourages her staff to set up their own business, and she now has five mini-factories selling back to her. How amazing is that? What an great way to give back to a community where jobs are scarce, and HIV and AIDS harshly affect the country.

Ethical fashion with a side of function and serious amount of style? Sounds like the perfect combination.

For more information on Lou Harvey Canada, or to shop the brand, visit them at www.LouHarveyCanada.ca!

Disclosure: I received this product for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own!