Soundtrack to a book
Posted: August 22, 2011 Filed under: Books, Presents for both | Tags: affordable, creative, for both Leave a comment »My friend just reminded me about a present idea – the soundtrack for a book. Right now I can come up only with two books that you can use this idea with. The first book is The Wrong Boy (Willy Russel) and the second one is Hairstyles of the Damned (Joe Meno). These two books are about teenage years and how difficult, tragic, but at the same time funny they can be. A very important part of these books is that they are both closely connected with music. In The Wrong Boy the whole books is based on the letters that the main character writes to Morrisey and in the second book the heroes constantly exchange tapes with music and music influences their life greatly. In both cases the music that the heroes describe is not fictional, but it is the music of real performers and bands. So the idea is that a CD or online collection of the songs mentioned in these books can be a very good addition to the book itself.
Would you like to be an illustrator?
Posted: August 17, 2011 Filed under: Books, Presents for both | Tags: cheap, creative, for both Leave a comment »I keep talking about books, but it is just because I believe that a book can be a good and at the same time easy-to-get present. I think that people who do not like reading just never came across an interesting book.
Recently, I found out that Penguin publishing is selling several titles with a plain white cover, so that the person who buys the book could paint or draw or do something else with the cover himself. These books cost 5 pounds, and for that money you can try your skill as an illustrator and make a special gift. (Who is better an illustrator, physicist or pilot?) The titles are classics, but at the same time with classics you cannot go wrong: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Crime and Punishment, Dracula, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, etc. It’s even not a horrible boring classic like Jane Eyre
or Oliver Twist. It is a classic book that can give you enough space for imagination and creativity. The Picture of Dorian Gray – can be covered with your picture, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – something Trainspotting like and so on and so forth. (It was a great discovery when I found out that the prase is ‘and so on and so forth’ and not ‘and so on and so on’) I do not know why people who cannot sing, dance or draw (I am talking about myself) are so attracted by creative presents and DYI things, but that’s the way it is and it’s the effort that matters.
Plus Penguin has funny deck chairs to sit in a garden (as we agreed that gardens are our everything) where you can read your hand painted book.
http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/minisites/mypenguin/index.html
Let’s go old fashioned.
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: For a girl 18 plus | Tags: cheap, for her Leave a comment »I think I will write about the bottomless stocking of presents in any Taschen shop later, but today I will focus on one small thing – a diary. With all our computers and social media activities we do not write any more. We do not write such wonderful things as postcards and we do not write diaries, because we all have blogs. Any diary or blog demands self-organisation and a habit, I suppose. We suggest that a diary as a present is a nice mix of old fashioned charm (leather small book) and interaction. In this diary, many pages are filled with funny lines or quizzes or pictures, so the person needs just to fill a couple of words in it. And the main thing is that it is so nice to have a pink (red, orange, black) leather book in your bag and to open it from time to time while drinking coffee in a cosy cafe. Your girlfriend will love it and you do not need any occasion to make a 10 pounds gift. It can be bought from Taschen shop in Chelsea or online from the Taschen website.
12 Duke of York Square
London, SW3 4LY
United Kingdom
To have a look what is inside go here: http://www.simplediary.com/#/Simple_Diary/
Lights, camera, action.
Posted: August 10, 2011 Filed under: Home | Tags: for both, friend, housewarming, pricey Leave a comment »Here we have another cinema-related present. Yes, there will be film-themed presents on our way to full present happiness. I like the idea of having a studio spotlight as a lamp at homem but I have never managed to get one myself. I just like dreaming about how one day I am going to use it. I will use it as a romantic light, as a night lamp (because I do not like to get out of bed, switch the light off and then go back to bed in the dark), I can imagine myself as a Hollywood star and use this lamp to illuminate a mirror while putting on some make up… To put it short – a steel studio spot light is my choice of the day. It is not too big, you can get free UK delivery and it will be a great present for any wedding or Christmas. The only thing is the price, but if you want to give a nice present or you just feel that 300 pounds is a fair sum for a present go ahead.
http://www.artisanti.com/steel-studio-spot-light-9187-p.asp
Stories of successfull presents. Autograph
Posted: July 12, 2011 Filed under: Chatting mood | Tags: for him Leave a comment »From time to time we will be wrtiting true stories about our friends or us, who managed to make a great present. So here is the first one.
I love giving presents. Sometimes it is hard to think up a present, sometimes it is not, sometimes I do not have any inspiration, so I end up buying some rubbish. But still there are several stories in my life of successful present-making and present-getting.
The first one is the most recent one. I have a boyfriend, he is a physicist and he is completely in love with his physics (I am only number two, but hey). He has his hero-physicists, people who are brilliantly smart and contributed a lot to this wonderful field of science. Mostly his heroes are dead (and heroes should be dead, to be honest), but some are still with us. I knew that there was a professor in Oxford, who my boyfriend really liked and who had just published another book. I googled this professor’s name and the second link provided his university e-mail address. So I shamelessly e-mailed him and asked if it was possible for him to sign a book which I could send to his office. To my great surprise he answered “yes”. English people are wonderful in their politeness and responsibility. So I sent him the book, he signed it and left it with the concierge at his office. I made a nice trip to Oxford, collected the book and the wonderful present was ready. My boyfriend was very very happy, but mostly shocked at how I had DARED to e-mail such a great physicist (he is apparently a Sir) and to distract him from his great inventions. So his favourite physicist became even more favourite and I got some points in competing with her serene majesty, the Physics.
Lazy summer days (in the breaks between rain)
Posted: July 10, 2011 Filed under: Parents, Presents for both | Tags: garden, housewarming, mum Leave a comment »The thing that impressed me very much when I moved to the UK, was how all the things that one associates with the country are true. All the things that you hear in jokes and learn in school topics, everything. I mean, Russia is associated with bears on unicycles and everyone constantly drinking vodka. But let’s face it – it is not exactly the case. We do have bears somewhere in the forests and we do drink vodka, but not to the extent as people around the world imagine. While the UK is associated with pubs, beer, tea with milk, the Queen,an obsession with gardening and newspapers to name a few. And all of these associations are based on the real facts.
A lot of people here in the UK do have their backyard gardens. They love them and they love to spend time there whether it be for barbecues, mowing lawns or drinking their morning teas with their newspapers and so on and so forth. So we suggest a hammock as a present. On the weekends hammock can be bought in Camden market or ordered on-line.The price is between 50 to 100 pounds. A very nice present for parents, housewarming or a wedding. Just make sure that the person has a garden.
http://www.hammocks.co.uk/hammocks.htm
Make your woman feel a queen
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: For a girl 18 plus | Tags: affordable, for her, mum Leave a comment »Penthalagons was established in London at the end of 19th century and since then it has produced fine perfume, bath sets, grooming products and some leather goods.
In their shop you can get something for your mum or for your girlfriend. All the products are of a very high quality, so they are worth the price. Plus everything is packed in beautiful boxes and bags and wrapped in rustle paper.
To begin with we would suggest set of their main fragrances. They are small, so she can take them with her when travelling. They are also different so she can decided which one she loves more and that way you’ll get an idea for the next present.
Can be ordered on-line: http://www.penhaligons.com/shop/home.html?currency_code=GBP
One more bizarre thing that can turn out as a useful gift
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: Bizarre | Tags: for both, pricey Leave a comment »This gadget can be a present for either a man or a woman, but more likely for a man. It is a suggestion for someone who likes to keep a track on things, collects receipts, tickets, business cards and keeps all these things. So as not to break your table when all these papers overwhelm it, we suggest you a present that helps to preserve all documents in perfect order – scanner and system for saving documents of all sizes and sorts. This can be quite expensive, but can make someone special happier and, more importantly, keep the house clean.
Can be ordered here http://www.neatco.com/products
Oh those English traditions
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: For a girl 18 plus, Parents | Tags: affordable, for her, mum Leave a comment »Afternoon tea is our way to treat mums, aunts and grannies, and maybe even all of them together. The good thing about it is that you can buy a gift card for afternoon tea and there is absolutely no necessity to participate in it (make a double present to mum and granny, for example). An afternoon tea can be even a good present for a girlfriend, it is just the question of a different place for a treat.
So, for afternoon tea relatives, we would suggest something classy, costing 15-35 pounds per person. The places that serve afternoon tea are given special awards every year, so just pick up some of the nominees on this web site: http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&Itemid=16
For a girlfriend try something more funky and stylish, like mad hat afternoon tea in Sanderson Hotel for 25 pounds per person with champagne, sandwiches and scones and the sea of pleasure.
http://www.sandersonlondon.com/en-us/#/explore/?id=/sanderson-london-mad-hatters-tea/
The thing to remember is that you need to buy a gift voucher for two, unless your beloved one is a very unsociable person.
Diamonds are not always a girl’s best friends
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: For a girl 18 plus | Tags: for her, jewellery, pricey Leave a comment »Jewellery is an excellent present for a girl, but to find something unique, interesting and not too expensive is a challenge.
Here is our choice of today – Alex Monroe and his funny and delicate necklaces. The one with
a mice and a cupcake in a suitcase is amusing and beautiful at the same time. All the jewellery can be bought online or in shops. All jewellery is hand made, so allow about 3 weeks, before you will receive an order. On average a necklace costs 120 pounds.
Good thing to remember – the safest option is to choose a necklace, because you cannot go wrong with the size. As for rings, make sure you know the right size, and if you want to present earrings pick the right metal (gold) as some people are allergic to other materials. Bracelets and brooches could be considered a bit old fashion nowadays, except, of course, ones with diamonds.
Jewellery can be a very good present for occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas.
All this jewellery can be bought on his webpage http://www.alexmonroe.com/index.html and we also recommend to look here http://www.silverado.co.uk/ because there is similar stuff and quicker delivery.
