Personalised Father’s Day Cupcake Kits from Just Bake…

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The online baking supplies company, Just Bake are excited to announce that they have launched their own Personalised Father’s Day Cupcake Kits.

The new Personalised Father’s Day Cupcake Kits are a unique way to tell your dad how much you love him with a special, personalised message. Each kit contains 24 cupcake cases, a pack of sprinkles and 6 cupcake toppers. For that personal touch, you can choose the message to go on the toppers.

There are three different colours to choose from: blue, red or green.

Here’s a handy direct link to the page: Father’s Day Cupcake Kit

Just Bake are also pleased to announce:

*To celebrate the launch of this new product, these new cupcake kits are currently reduced to only £8.00 each.

*Just Bake are also running a competition to win a Personalised Father’s Day Cupcake Kit. Full details can be found on their website.

Just Bake offer a fabulous range of baking supplies for the home baker and smaller bakeries – cupcake decorations, cupcake cases, wrappers, sprinkles, cutters, cake pop supplies and packaging. The Just Bake Team pride themselves on providing first class customer service coupled with an ever increasing range of baking products. Their website is easy to navigate around and a pleasure to shop from. What’s more, free delivery is available for any order over £75. Just Bake currently deliver to the whole of the UK and EU.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/justbakeonline/
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Just_Bake/
Pinterest:. http://pinterest.com/justbake/

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Interview with Laura Rene…

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Can you tell readers a little about “the” Laura Rene?

As a young woman working in boutique stores and reading and observing the latest fashion trends, I started creating designs in high school and throughout my adult life. The same excitement I felt styling women as a teen in the boutique is still radiated today as I work to innovate the world of fashion and portray the woman that every woman desires to be. Designing for the curvaceous form is not just a job for me, it is a passion to construct what women want and incorporate their needs into my brand.

When did you start designing for curvy women?

I started designing for women with curves over two years ago as a response to not finding well-made clothes that fit my curvy body at an attainable price point. Strong women of character, grace and sensuality, such as Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren, have played a role in my mind and in my life since a teen. As a woman today, I look upon those who are the modern day role models for the confident, curvy woman; Jennifer Hudson, Jessica Simpson, Ally Sheedy, Beyoncé, Salma Hayek, Adele, Sophia Vergara, Robin Lawley, and Meryl Streep, all these women who say it is ok to be a real woman and love who you are. The curvaceous woman is not defined as a size on a label. It is my desire to bring forefront of what has been neglected and to revolutionise the industry.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Everything I do is a matter of heart, body and soul. For me designing is an expression of who I am as a woman, with all the complications, feelings and emotions. I credit my feminine instincts for each and every design. I am a woman that nurtures others,fulfils  needs and solves problems. At the same time the artist within me strives for beauty, both sensually and visually. How I design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable. Whatever form the design takes, it begins and ends with the body – its sensual expression, sense of security and freedom of movement. For me, it’s never been just about the clothes; it’s a lifestyle. I visualise the picture from head to toe, from function to aesthetic.

What advice can you offer other aspiring businesswomen when it comes to starting out?

Business is always a risk but you look deep within yourself to realise your dreams; Surround yourself with an amazing, experienced team that sees your vision; have confidence that even through the hard times that YOU CAN make it happen; dot your I’s and cross your T’s; balance your dreams and family; do not listen to those who discount your dream, always use discernment and network, it truly pays off.

Where do your designs come to life?

I have an amazing team in LA that creates my vision to perfection. My pattern makers are French and Latin and understand the curves and sensuality of a woman. My team in NY and LA are truly the backbone of expertise.

Where can ladies get there hands on your gorgeous accessories and wears?

I am in the planning of selecting boutiques on the East Coast and West Coast to carry my creations. Stay tuned as we will be introducing Laura René to major retailers in the U.S. and Europe.

Laura Rene Private Label, Ltd 860 South Los Angeles St. Suite 721 Los Angeles, CA 90014 336.703.8332 / laurarene.us@gmail.com

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Vintage-inspired Cake Stands from Just Bake… Special Offer

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The online baking supplies company, Just Bake are excited to announce that they now stock a new range of vintage inspired cake stands with a difference…
Elegant & stylish, they also have a unique difference in that the cake tier can be removed from the stand to provide an extra shelf in a cake tin.
The vintage inspired cake stands are wonderfully easy to assemble in a matter of minutes. The cake tier is separate from the stand so it easily slots into your cake tin to provide a much-needed extra shelf – your beautifully decorated cakes and muffins will never be flattened again. Simply lift the shelf straight out of the tin, slot the pedestals into the tier notches and hey presto…a delightful cake stand, ready to go!
These beautiful cake stands are available in pink, blue and green.
To celebrate the launch of this new range, Just Bake are offering a 20% discount on these cake stands until Friday 10th May 2013. Go to
http://www.justbake.co.uk/categories/sal
e-items-65.
Just Bake offer a fabulous range of baking supplies for the home baker and smaller bakeries – cupcake decorations, cupcake cases, wrappers, sprinkles, cutters, cake pop supplies and packaging. Just Bake prides itself on providing first class customer service coupled with an ever increasing range of baking products. Their website is easy to navigate around and a pleasure to shop from. What’s more, free delivery is available for any order over £75. Just Bake currently delivers to the whole of the UK and EU.

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Miss Kinsman SWIM made available at the prestigious Fred Segal

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Miss Kinsman SWIM shop’s luxurious line is now available to buy. Yay! Its growing popularity is sky-rocketing and now its first summer is fast approaching, its been made available at the prestigious Fred Segal in Santa Monica, CA.

Fred Segal has been quoted as being synonymous with what’s essential and ultimately trending in fashion, and Miss Kinsman seems a must-have for pretty-much everyone who craves a timeless, chic look, whether it be poolside or exclusively resort-based.

Miss Kinsman, consisting of a signature collection of mix and match lingerie-inspired bikinis, is a must-browse.

Designer swimwear fanatics can find the unique collection at the Bettina Duncan shop inside Fred Segal located at 500 Broadway in Santa Monica, as well as Bettina Duncan’s new Brentwood location at 11677 San Vicente Blvd. in Los Angeles 90049.

When asked about Miss Kinsman being sold at these high-end locations, the company’s founder Joanna commented, “It’s an honor to feature my 2013 swimwear collection among such established designers as Bettina Duncan. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the Fred Segal community.”

Miss Kinsman SWIM is designed with close attention to minute detail, including flattering Brazilian as well as its new, more modest low-rise bottoms. The line boasts stylish silhouettes adorned with ruffles and lace covered strings for a very new take on swimwear.

Be sure to visit Bettina Duncan at Fred Segal Santa Monica or Brentwood to shop the latest 2103 Miss Kinsman looks for the perfect blend of poolside sophistication and luxury. To view the entire collection visit MissKinsman.com where you’ll find the most fitting and memorable looks for your tropical or beach getaway. Join the newsletter to learn about upcoming runway shows.

Los Angeles swimwear fashion designer Joanna Kinsman moved to the LA area from Maine to follow her passion for designing the most glamorous bikinis around – and she’s only just starting out. The line is handmade in Santa Barbara and downtown Los Angeles, with exquisite attention to detail including lace covered strings.

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Max Studio “Style Around the Clock Contest”

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This fantastic competition caught Lief Gloss’ interest and we thought readers might be interested in being made aware of it, so fellow bloggers can enter and be in with a chance of winning!

At the same time it may well be a pretty fun exercise to complete a post based on Lief Gloss Owner & Editor’s personal favourite time of the day and her favourite spots around Edinburgh and why she loves her family and friends…

Read it below:

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Style Around the Clock Contest

Everyone loves a treat, so why not enter our competition to win a night for you and your friends in your city? We style ourselves around the clock, so show us your unique style from the Leon Max/Max Studio collection and be in with a chance of winning £200 (or equivalent currency) towards your dream night, as well as the perfect outfit to wear.

Choose from the following times:

12:00 – 3:00 – Lunch with a friend

3:00 – 6:00 – Shopping

6:00 – 9:00 – Dinner

9:00 – 12:00 – Cocktails with friends

And style your post accordingly! We want to know about the secret little spots in your city that you love, why your friends / partner / family are so fantastic and what you would wear to set heads turning.

The Prize

One lucky winner will receive their dream night out, plus the outfit that they chose, but we won’t stop there; two runners up will win a £100 (or equivalent currency) gift card to spend at Max Studio.

To Enter:

To enter the competition, simply write a blog post on your dream day or night, choosing a slot “Around the Clock”. Tell us about the location, who would go and what you would do, and then style your ideal outfit from Max Studio, linking to the items.

Once the post is live, tweet us @MaxStudioUSA with the hashtag #aroundtheclock to let us know you have entered. After 3 weeks, we will announce a short list of 10 blogs, and then the race is on. The blogger that receives the most votes after a week will win the prize; the night out that they have selected, on us!!

Terms and Conditions
———————-

Around The Clock

“My personal choice would be 9.00 to 12.00 (midnight) as its very rare these days for me to have the opportunity to let my hair down, so to speak, with my favourite gal pals and like so many women out there I adore the idea of my very own Cinderella moment with a “Sex in the City” twist!

I adore my gorgeous children and my husband and would never replace the thrill of spending a day out shopping with my 2 girls followed by a lovely family lunch in one of our favourite restaurants or just spending quality time at home making paper-dollies etc.! But… all mummies “deserve a Pavlova moment” (according to a quote in the v popular series, Mr. Selfridge) and to recharge their youth and “batteries” to be the happy, light-hearted person they can be!

My girls make my heart smile and remind me of all the things that make the world an exciting, intriguing place! I love seeing it with fresh eyes through their beautiful words and giggles!

I couldn’t be more thrilled when I get to share adorable anecdotes with my closest friends as well as unwinding together after the trials and tribulations that come with being working women, wives, mothers, girlfriends and the like…

Dressing up, wearing something that not only makes one look good but actually feel good is something indescribable! It’s the magic and fairy tale of playing princesses or business women (a game my best friend in junior school and I spent years playing together… beautiful memories that partly shaped the woman I am today!)

Max Studio have some exquisite and imagination-stimulating pieces that I would delight in wearing on that star-filled occasion out on the mesmerising streets of Edinburgh… Cocktails at Hotel Missoni followed by more drinks and nibbles at the Balmoral Hotel and perhaps a well-heeled strut together in our finery to TigerLily on George Street to finish a sparkling and care-free night together before the strike of midnight and the pumpkin moment of needing a taxi home as the coach has vanished and its time for some Sleeping Beauty time followed by the usual chores.

This is the outfit I would absolutely love to wear:

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Satin Organza Evening Dress – Style no. 3101G50 – £499

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Gossamer Weight Cashmere Shawl – Style No. 9608542 – £65

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High-heeled Strappy Sandal – Style no. XPOSEA – £199

Choose your favourite items from the Max Studio collection at: http://www.maxstudio.co.uk/

Wishing you luck with your entries!

Warmest wishes
Alethea xx
Lief Gloss Owner & Editor”

Stella & Dot… New adventure & Style!

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This last month I’ve discovered a new lease on life despite its exhausting, difficult bumps and I’m so proud of myself for making a start on a new adventure that leads to good feelings for me and so many others!

I am now an official Stella & Dot Independent Stylist and I’m loving it!

Always one for fashion & accessories & makeup, my mum even used to be a make-up artist for a while, and I loved giving her make-overs as a young girl… This couldn’t be more my thing!!!

It’s a business in a box that’s so easy for me to manage around my working life, family life, blogging life and as an incredible bonus it’s fun and rewarding to my psyche and me personally as well as my family… That’s perfection in my mind!

The brand is incredible and growing at an astounding pace but takes the time to support and care for its Stylists and promotes women entrepreneurs across the US and UK and its going Global!

I’ve hosted my first few trunk shows and felt pretty well-prepared and thrilled to share the products with other amazing women and, believe it or not, men!

I’m really excited to hopefully share some of the journey alongside the usual Lief Gloss blog-mag style as its certainly a part of me but is already all over the glossy magazines UK wide and should totally be in Lief Gloss!

Here are a few pics of my recent displays at my Trunk Shows and the fab venues:

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Many more ahead and would be delighted to share the fun with you if you’d invite me to yours and be a Stella & Dot Hostess with the chance of fab rewards and free gift – further info re: being a Hostess on the website… Doesn’t matter where you are! If I can’t fit you in I’ll put you in touch with a stylist near you… We’re a team and help each other out!
http://www.stelladot.co.uk/sites/aletheadawson/

Have an exciting Easter break!

Warm wishes
Alethea xx
Lief Gloss Owner & Editor
Stella & Dot Independent Stylist

and so much more too…

http://animoto.com/play/x6F2fyaAzM0ng9BK8WFQNw (Here’s a little video I made…)

How do you fill a hole in your heart?

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Received such shocking news today that I’m still reeling from it! One of my cousins was killed in a car crash last night!

I haven’t seen him in years and never met his wife and two tiny children before as they live what seems millions of miles across the seas… But the sadness on hearing that news has been overwhelming!

I’ve been flooded with memories of us playing as children in my Uncle and Aunt’s garden… Spending time together at family get-togethers… His cute, cheeky face! His warm eyes! His Dad’s love and pride in him and his brother! Special, happy memories that will stay with me forever…

But in the passing of a heartbeat to be robbed of ever seeing him again or reuniting at family occasions etc has left a feeling of there being a hole in my heart!

Sending flowers, making phone calls just doesn’t feel enough to be able to comfort or provide solace to my family at this devastating time…

How does one truly begin to heal a hole in your very being?

Love and sharing seems to be the obvious answer along with time, patience, reflection and planning but when one doesn’t feel the energy to get up and face that, it can be crippling and soul-destroying!

I know this will get easier and the family will pull together and do what they can to hold each other up and face a future together making sure his children are loved and embraced but it will never replace that special person who represented so much to us all of youth and wellbeing and a big heart!

Goodbye Loshi! You’re still so alive in us all and you’ll be desperately missed daily!!

A time to grieve and process such a blow to our very souls…

Take care of you and each other because life is precious and we only get to live it once!

Alethea (Lief) :( xx
Lief Gloss Owner & Editor

Must March into March with Spring in my step!

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This weekend has seen some gorgeous and much welcomed sunshine but also some “rain”…

Loving the mood enhancing rays shining down and warming everyone’s hearts and minds as we all thrill at the prospect of changing days and evenings ahead filled with delight at the very idea that Spring/Summer 2013 has started!

However this weekend has also been clouded with events and exhaustion following a nasty bump in my car which has left me a little shaken and stirred! :(
A great haircut that I love not entirely adored by my husband has also put a dampened feeling in the air…

So altogether an incredibly mixed and turbulent start to March but one I hope which will fade quickly as fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things almighty and beyond…

I’ve made the decision to March forward into March with a Spring in my step and a smile in my heart for many days of living life to its every emotion and experience that lays ahead and enjoy it! Life’s too short to get bogged down in the cold, soggy quagmire of winter and heartache when you’re young, well, alive and have so much to give to those around you and your loved ones!

So wish me much luck and success in the journey ahead and remember to take each day as it comes… Things are always easier to digest and deal with in small bites and tough chews all come to an end eventually…

Chin up, smiles on and be proud of yourself this Month ahead!

Warmest Wishes
Alethea xx
Lief Gloss Owner & Editor

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