Live By The Lake - Singin' in The Rain Giveaway

So, have you guys heard about Live By The Lake?

I have an extra special giveaway for all you UK residents!!

I have 2 tickets for the outdoor screening of Singin' in The Rain.  This is extra special as The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra will be performing a live score whilst the original dialogue is played on screen.

To enter simply leave a comment stating your favourite musical. (This is only open to UK residents who can attend the performance on the 30th August 2013) The winner will be picked on the 24th August.  Go tell all your friends to enter!!

To see what else is happening over the weekend read the press release below.  It promises to be such a fantastic weekend!

LIVE BY THE LAKE, the hotly anticipated series of outdoor summer concerts at Kenwood House, marks the welcome return of the English Heritage concert season.  Produced by the young dynamic agency, Rouge Events, Live By The Lake’s outstanding lineup of world class music is scheduled over six days – August 23^rd-25^th and August 30^th-September 1^st; each show promises to attract up to 10,000 music and film lovers to enjoy the music and share a picnic with friends and family in more than 100 acres of Kenwood House’s beautifully landscaped gardens.

Boasting the perfect mix of pop, rock, soul, classical, musical theatre and film, LIVE BY THE LAKE promises something special for every music lover in the land.  Tickets are now on sale at www.kenwood.seetickets.com and there are a limited number of discounts for residents in many of London’s northwest postal districts.

Ticket holders will be able to choose a variety of reasonably priced tickets for each concert and to decide whether or not to bring their own picnic and all-weather paraphernalia!  For those who want to rock up unhampered, the best of Carluccio’s Italian picnics can be ordered in advance and picked up on the day of each orchestral concert.   (NB: Suede and Keane concerts will be standing room only, so picnics and chairs should be left at home and a range of drinks and delicious food will be available from the on-site concession stands.

PROGRAMME at a glance:

August 23^rd:        SUEDE and special guests BRITISH SEA POWER

August 24^th:        ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY and the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT                                 ORCHESTRA

August 25^th:        KEANE and special guest LAURA MVULA

August 30th:      ‘SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN’ – film screening, score performed by the ROYAL                              PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

August 31^st:         ANA MARIA MARTINEZ and the ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA

September 1^st:     MICHAEL BALL and friends sing GERSHWIN

Nathan Homan of Rouge Events says:  “We are absolutely delighted to be producing the first LIVE BY THE LAKE at Kenwood House in association with English Heritage.  We’ve got a wonderful lineup of world class performers and I think Kenwood’s beautiful grounds are the perfect setting for what promises to be a seriously great series of summer concerts.  Even in this digital age, the appetite for live performance is greater than ever – the calibre of artists who are appearing at Live By The Lake is a testament to their own enjoyment of playing outdoor concerts and I think audiences across the six nights will love every minute of it.”

Publicity:               judy.lipsey@premiercomms.com and  david.littlewood@premiercomms.com

           020 7292 8330                    www.livebythelake.co.uk

Social Channels:

                                Facebook: facebook.com/LiveByTheLake

                                Twitter: @LiveByTheLake

THE PROGRAMME in detail:

Kicking off proceedings on Friday August 23^rd are the multi-platinum selling, mighty SUEDE (left), Britpop progenitors, one of the world’s most exciting rock bands and whose sixth studio album ‘Bloodsports’ was released in March, after a ten year gap, to much critical acclaim.  Suede’s special guests are the splendid Brighton-based indie rockers BRITISH SEA POWER, the title of whose current album, ‘Machineries of Joy’, was inspired by a collection of short stories by the great sci-fi author, Ray Bradbury.  The band recently performed their soundtrack for the documentary film ‘From the Land to the Sea’, directed by Penny Woolcock, at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival at the 02 and at the Sheffield Documentary Festival.

On Saturday August 24^th it’s a feast for classical music lovers with the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk, performing a wonderful selection of arias from, among others, Carmina Burana, Madame Butterfly, Verdi’s Requiem and many more.  The night will end with a spectacular firework display. Roderick Dunk will be well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as the BBC Concert Orchestra’s regular guest conductor for the long running Friday Night is Music Night.

To complete the perfect first weekend on August 25^th the Brit Award winning, Grammy nominated, 10 million selling KEANE will take to the stage; fronted by the charismatic Tom Chaplin, the band’s fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012 and immediately topped the UK charts.  KEANE are delighted to have as their special guest the uniquely gifted soul singer/songwriter LAURA MVULA, whose debut album, ‘Sing To The Moon’, was released this year and instantly catapulted her into the musical stratosphere and a headlining slot at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival.

Friday August 30^th offers a truly rare opportunity to film fans: the screening of the 1952 musical romantic comedy ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ to a LIVE score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.  Starring the legendary Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly, the film offers an entertaining depiction of a 1927 Hollywood caught up in the transition from silent films to talkies.  The RPO, conducted by Neil Thomson, will bring the film’s iconic soundtrack to life while the re-mastered film is shown on the big screen.

Saturday August 31^st is Opera Alfresco night with the English National Opera Orchestra and a special appearance by the incomparable Grammy Award winning American soprano, Ana Maria Martinez whose lyrical, elegant style has seen her grace all the grand opera houses around the world.  The ENO together with principal soloists Wynne Evans, Fiona Murphy, Kai Ruutel and David Webster will perform some of the world’s greatest and most popular arias from the works of Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and more.

On Sunday September 1^st MICHAEL BALL, double Olivier Award winner (‘Hairspray’, ‘Sweeney Todd’), multi-platinum recording artist, and radio and TV presenter will close Live By The Lake’s programme of events with a special evening of music by George and Ira Gershwin.  Britain’s top musical theatre star will be inviting friends from the West End stage such as Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck, and David Shannon to join him in performing some of the Gershwin’s best loved songs including Summertime, I Got Rhythm, S’Wonderful, Shall We Dance, and many more.

La Roux Vintage Giveaway

Hey, do you remember at the beginning of the week I featured Erika from La Roux Vintage?  Well she's only gone and organised a giveaway for you to enter.  She also has a discount code for all readers for 15% use OWLS15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are a few examples of the lovely items you could be ordering.

1  2  3

4  5  6

Thank you so much Erika

Featuring....Tramp Vintage Boutique

I have the great pleasure in partnering up with Michelle from Tramp Vintage, to bring you a wonderful giveaway prize and interview.  She owns a gorgeous vintage boutique situated in Brighton's famous North Laine.  

The prize consists of 

70s chain mail bag

Mary Quant stockings

60s powder puff

80s Chain necklace

80s White sunglasses
plus 20% discount (in store only -  so this part of the prize is only open to UK residents)

To be in with a chance of winning this little goodie bag enter at the end of the interview.

And now, please meet Michelle, thank you so much for doing this interview.

My passion and love of vintage clothing spurred me to open Tramp, a vintage boutique in July 2010. Ever since I can remember I have loved fashion. When I was 9 years old I became obsessed by the movie Grease and begged my father to produce me an outfit, like the one Sandy wore, and customised it to my own liking. That was the start of a collaboration with my father and my passion for fashion grew and grew. I was also prone to rummaging around my glamorous grans wardrobes to see what I could find, and hopefully own with a little gentle persuasion.

When I left school I embarked on a modelling career which took me from Manchester to London, then Los Angeles and it was whilst I was living in Manchester that I became interested in 60s and 70s clothing and would tirelessly search for the best fitting pair of 501's or retro ski wear including tight fitting polyester alpine shirts, to wear with my denim. I'm still addicted to anything 70s, being my favourite era, and love floaty angle wing dresses and denim flares with clogs or platforms. 

Currently my stock ranges from the 40s to the 80s and one of my favourite pieces would have to be a stunning 80s Lycra hareem pants jumpsuit which looks nothing on the hanger but once on looks totally amazing. Very Debbie Harry! My guilty pleasure has to be the 80s, and most of my personal favourite pieces are from this era.

For anyone looking to start out with a vintage clothing business my advice would be to be to take extra care when buying vintage clothes. Many are damaged or marked and the smaller sizes often survive the test of time. Great if you have an 18inch waist but for modern women this can be frustrating.

If I were to learn something new it would be how to remove stains effectively from antique clothing, sometimes washing and dry cleaning can damage fabric. Its a gamble to clean a very old piece and that's the chance you have to take. 

My favourite place on earth has to be my shop, that's were I can let my imagination run riot. Finding a vintage piece that's completely unique and ageless and then watch as its sold and gets passed on to other generations, that's such a buzz. 

Pizza topping....it has to be pineapple and ham.

Pirate name.....no idea...I'm not much into pirates I'm afraid.

And the question I'd most like you to ask...is who's my favourite designer. Well that must be Mary Quant, of course!

Enter the giveaway here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Baking Mad Giveaway!!

I'm really excited to announce this giveaway from Baking Mad.  Their website is really fun and full to the rafters of recipes and baking ideas,  recipe videos, things to make with the kids, a community forum and there's even an inspiration page where there are some wild and wacky recipes like Butternut Squash and Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate and Wasabi Cupcakes and for those tea lovers Earl Grey Cupcakes.....and many many more fabulous ideas.

The Competition

I have got one copy of  Tart it Up! by Eric Lanlard.  A truly magnificent recipe book full of savoury and sweet tarts and pies. Oh my goodness, there are some scrumptious looking recipes in this book.

I also have one Baking Mad Apron.

So to be in with a chance of winning these lovely goodies all you have to do is go to the all of following links and come back and tell me which one is your favourite and why.

How To Make Pancakes     

How To Make Cupcakes     

How To Make Pizza Dough  

There's only one entry per person and the competition ends on Friday 14th September 2012 5pm GMT when one lucky reader will win these.

Good luck and enjoy exploring the Baking Mad website........I certainly did......not sure my waistline is going to be happy with me though :)

Chantal x

And the winner is.........

..........I'll get to that in a minute

I know, mean right?

Mwhahahahaha

Firstly my lovely daughter made the numbers for me, cutting and folding them all up properly.

Then my wonderful assistant picked a number out of the bowl (my newest find from our local dump)

Congratulations to Oddsox, please contact me with your details

Happy Saturday

Chantal x

My First Giveaway

OK chums, I've been thinking about doing this for awhile and now seems as good a time as any.

My very first giveaway.

I don't know if you know that I have dabbled with selling homemade items on Folksy and Etsy before.  My alter ego's have included Hotdog and Me, Betty's Place and Here Pretty Kitty.

As you can probably tell I'm quite fickle.....but let's ignore that for now and shove it under the carpet.

My first giveaway is an amalgamation (isn't that a cool word?) of my past handmade loves.

Included are:

 A packet of material flowers and heart button what not's for cards, scrap booking, art.

A packet of vintage paper clouds with rain beads for cards, scrap booking, art

A Christmas scrap kit

An original Hotdog and Me sock dog

An original Hotdog and Me yeahbut

An original ACEO

2 sets of handmade buttons

An ipod/phone case handmade from felt

A scrap kit in an handmade drawstring bag (included in this is a mix of papers, card,yarns,buttons,beads and lots more)

All this could be yours.....I know  you are desperate to find out how......well here we go.

You can get an entry for all of the following....just remember to leave a separate comment for each thing you do.  On Friday 13th....spooooooooky.....I will get my 3 year old to pick 1 lucky number out of the hat, the number will correspond to the comment number here.....hence why it's important to leave a comment for each entry.

1, Follow my blog (if you are already a follower leave a comment saying you are)

2 .Follow me on Twitter

3. Follow me on Bloglovin'

4. Follow me on Pinterest

5. Follow me on Facebook

6. Go to my shop and leave me a comment saying which item you like the best.

7.Follow my wonderful mother's blog

Couldn't be easier, right?  This giveaway is open to everyone.

Good luck 

Chantal x

PS If anyone wants to host a giveaway and feature on my blog please contact me.