Breakthrough Breast Cancer AW13 Fashion, Accessories and Homewears collections

Next Tuesday, the 1st of October marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month here in the UK so its a great time to show your support for the great work that this and other Breast Cancer charities do to help us have a Future Free from Breast Cancer, a World Free from Breast Cancer.  

You may remember our recent post about our trip to the Breakthrough Breast Cancer HQ and the Great Pink Bake Off? Well, the other reason we were invited up to BtBC HQ was to view their Autumn/Winter Fashion and home accessories lines. Breakthrough are always working hard to get the best brands on board to donate a percentage of the retail price of these products to their charity and this season was no exception. From brands they had worked with before like Ghd and Debenhams to newer homeware lines from Sainsbury's and Laura Ashley, to accessories from Stella and Dot, it was a sea of pink glamour. 

We were treated to lunch of wraps and yummy sandwiches from Tossed, the healthy sandwich company.

After a healthy snack we got to view the vintage/shabby chic homewares from Sainsbury's and Laura Ashley which were some of our favourites, I loved these trio of white baskets from Sainsbury's...

and the floral bird wall paper by Laura Ashley.

These pretty mugs would be perfect for those late night cosy hot chocolates. 

A new addition to the group is the U.S. based Galmglow who have produced a special edition mud mask, which smelled lovely, can't wait to get my hands on some of that and have a pamper day. Long time partners Avon have produced a Viva Pink nail colour and the Avon crusade pink pin.

Ghd have been working with Breakthrough for a few years now and every year they donate money from their sales of their limited edition Pink styling wands to the charity. This years metallic magenta pink paired with a paddle brush may mean that I am purchasing a new pair! There is also £20 off if you use the code 'GHD20' £10 still goes to BtBC.

Another long time partner of Breakthrough is Debenhams who have chosen some of their top designers to design pieces for this years collection, including Preen, Ben De Lisi and Betty Jackson. I also had my eye on this cosy coral jumper by Warehouse.

I am in love with this Rose Gold Stella and Dot rose gold cuff! They are currently one of my favourite brands for accessories, I am saving for one of their purses at the moment, this cuff may have to be added to the shopping basket at the same time...

Stella and Dot have also designed a scarf, earrings, a necklace and a bracelet for this collection, they are all so pretty.

I loved the cute sketchy perfume bottle and bow design on the M&S lingerie line, it is a shame that the bra does't go up to my size, but I found the satin wrap dressing gown in the same fabric does, so that is on my wish list.

H was loving the Ben Di Lisi sequin dress from Debenhams.

There are also pieces from Adidas, Pandora, and My-wardrobe.com . If you want to check out the full collection head over to the Lookbook you can also find out more about the Great Pink Bake Off.

All the companies we saw do such an amazing job at producing a stunning line of products that donate at least 10% of the price to this brilliant charity. It is really nice to see a charity always looking forward with such a modern approach to fundraising.  For instance if you are a fan of the game Candy Crush Saga, during the month of October there is a special candy to purchase that all the money from that goes to Breakthrough Breast cancer, so make sure you have look out for that one in October. 

Thanks again to the team at Breakthrough Breast Cancer for having us to visit. We had such a lovely, informative morning, it is always such a pleasure.

Sammy and H

xxx

Live it: London in the October Sun

So what a lovely weekend we just had!  Just to confuse us all that little bit more, the hot weather comes back to us for October!!!!!

It did however present itself with an opportunity to meet up with a friend for a lazy afternoon and visit a new haberdashery shop at the same time - good times!

So, firstly to the shop.  Its called Ray Stitch and its in Islington, London (which is managing to become a bit of a hub for these places).  It is a haberdashery shop and cafe and they also do classes too.  I popped myself in and had a little nosey around the shelves.  Lots of Print fabrics, including Japanese quirky prints and a few ribbons and buttons.  You can also pick yourself up a coffee and some cake after all those creative juices get the better of you and you feel like you need a sit down!

Its well worth a visit when your next in the area.  Some of the items are a little pricey, but as the website says, you can mix and match with what you already have and that's the beauty of a place like this, its all about picking up little bits to add to your ideas!

Next on the list was to meet up with my friend, handily in a pub garden, and it was an opportunity to give her the scrapbook I had made for her.  She has just been to New York for a few months and I wanted to give her something that she would be able to put her ticket stubs, photographs and other memorabilia in.

It started life as a plain sketchbook from Paperchase and then with a little glue, fabric and ribbon, it became a scrapbook that she could put everything in that was original to her.  Some fabric she liked, a few photographs handily stolen from her Facebook pages and some New York buttons found in a shop called 'All the fun of the fair' off Carnaby Street, London.

Then, there was a chance to relax and unwind on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and let the day descend into night, where I think this post should end!

Live it
H