{ Hair } No Heat Curls tutorial

With two children and naturally wavy hair with a tendency to frizz, hair styling is something that is often too time consuming and I find myself stuck in the 'messy bun' type rut. A couple of nights ago I stumbled across this tutorial on youtube for creating curls without heat. And it works! Having left my hair to curl overnight as per the tutorial and in less time than I normally take to tame my hair into an uninspiring 'do' I now look like I've spent ages on my hair with gorgeous curls. The reality is that I spend about 5 minutes in the morning having curled it overnight.

There's still a little frizz to the back of my hair, but I'm hoping I can remedy this with a leave-in conditioner or something similar. The little frizz aside, I'm amazed at achievable a nice 'do' is when you know how.
Here's to happy hair days!

Feeling the Love

Love Ribbon by BigFish on Etsy

I am certainly feeling the love today and my Valentine Collection is getting some lovely blog love.

I've been featured by Wedding Planning Secrets - a great blog for those planning a wedding with fab finds and great deals.

At the moment Folksy is running a competition to curate a homepage for Valentine's Day with the title 'Handmade Love'. I'm so pleased to have been included one entry already by Pink Amarylis Designs. You can see Pink Amarylism Designs' 'Handmade Love' entry here.

The third blog mention for my Valentine Collection is from my lovely stockists, Sincerity Gifts in their Valentine's Day Gift ideas round up.

As well as love for my Valentine pieces, I also had a lovely mention on the Mission2Mum blog for my Mummy necklaces.

**CLOSED** Could you be the face of Poppy Sparkles' Mummy Necklaces?

Credit: Marie Donn Photography

A picture can say a thousand words. Nothing can capture the meaning and sentiments behind my Family Birthstone Necklaces, more commonly referred to as 'Mummy Necklaces', than seeing the Mummy and family behind the necklace.

Credit: Marie Donn Photography

Last year Marie Donn took some wonderful photographs of my necklaces that helped convey the emotion and meaning behind my Mummy Birthstone necklaces. Having used these images widely over the last year, it's time for a freshen up!

Could you be the face of Poppy Sparkles Mummy necklaces?

Here's what you could win:

• A 1.5hr photoshoot of you with your children with Marie Donn Photography.
• Five images from the photoshoot of your choosing.

Eternity Mummy Necklace - shown here with seven birthstone crystals

As well as the fabulous prize from Marie Donn Photography, you will also receive

• Your own customised Eternity or Cherish Mummy Necklace from Poppy Sparkles

The photoshoot is to take place during the weekend of 11-12th February and to be held near Brentwoood in Essex. Please only enter if you are available on either of those dates and are able and willing to travel to Brentwood, Essex.

The winner will be required to agree for the images to be used in publicity by Marie Donn Photography and Poppy Sparkles (full terms are available on request).

To enter, please leave a comment below and a means to contact you.

That's it - no hoops to jump through, but it would be lovely if you'd support both myself and Marie, who is a great person to follow online - a genuine, caring and inspiring person, you won't regret clicking on these links to connect with Marie Donn Photography.

Marie Donn can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Check out her website too, where she blogs about her photography - it's a good read and there's lots of inspiration to be had.

Poppy Sparkles can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. I'd also love you to sign up to receive my newsletter where I'll be sharing lots of good stuff from Poppy Sparkles. I have yet to send a newsletter, but it's something I intend to cross of my to do list this year having failed in 2011 to get my head round doing a newsletter!

This competition will close at midnight on Friday 28th January. The winner be announced via twitter and this blog.

**Thank you to all that entered. The competition is now closed. Congratulations to Kelly Quinton! **

{Commission} Bespoke Eternity Necklace

Eternity Family Birthstone Necklace - Bespoke Commission

The Eternity Birthstone necklace has been well received since I launched it a little while ago. I love the symbolisim of this design with the sterling silver ring representing eternal love. It's been a lovely edition to the family birthstone necklaces, popular for Mums and Grans, looking great with a few birthstones as well as with many.

Above is a special Eternity Mummy Necklace I made for Ces, who I've worked with creating bespoke jewellery for The Light Direction. Ces is mother to four lovely boys. One of her boys sadly left too soon, so I used a haematite star to represent her little boy in heaven.

I was so pleased with Ces' reaction to her special necklace. It's so special being able to create jewellery for mums to cherish their loved ones and it was extra special to create a necklace that celebrated all of Ces' children and helped her hold them all close, especially her 'angel baby'.

Ces sent me these words about her special mummy necklace;

"I adore the mummy necklace I got for my birthday from Poppy Sparkles. It is so delicate and beautifully made. Thank you so mucyh for makign this beautiful design Viv, I have a huge smile on my face every time I wear it and will be recommneding your 'Mummy necklace' for mums everywhere!"

You can a review by Ces here.

The Eternity Mummy Necklace, as well as other family birthstone necklaces can be purchased from the Poppy Sparkles Handmade Jewellery Website. Bespoke Commissions are also welcome - ideal if you would like to incorporate a special charm or sentimental meaning into your own mummy necklace. Although Mother's Day is a little way off, it's always best to allow plenty of time for bespoke orders - just drop me a line to discuss ideas and begin the process.