Nixplay Seed Wi-Fi Cloud Frame Review - Perfect Mother's Day gift idea

The future of the humble photo frame is changing. With the advancements in internet technology, no longer are photo frames limited to displaying a single hard copy of a favourite photograph. Instead we can enjoy a digital Cloud frame that displays a continuous slide show of images accessed from any device or platform with instant sharing capabilities. Photographs can be shared with family and friends around the world and displayed in high resolution with clear and vivid colour reproduction. A perfect way of sharing precious memories with loved ones, bringing new life to your photographs.

Nixplay is the leading brand in Digital Photo Frames globally with seven years experience in the field. They offer a complete photo management and display solution, allowing you to access images and create playlists of photos that can instantly be viewed on a frame anywhere in the world. We were sent a 10" Nixplay Seed frame in black to try out.

The frame has a simple set up process. Simply connect to the wi-fi, create a Nixplay account and follow the instructions to activate the frame. You can access pictures wirelessly from social media platforms and create playlists of  favourite shots. The frame comes with 10GB of free Cloud storage, keeping all your images safely and securely in one place.

Using the Nixplay Seed frame is incredibly easy and user friendly. The online Nixplay app is a really great way of accessing all your photos and managing them. You can make 1000 image playlists and these can be edited easily to get them just right. You can add other frames to your account, which can then be used to also show your images. Friends can send pictures to you via the frame too. It is a very social way of sharing photographs within the home.

The Seed comes with a remote control to navigate and control the frame, pausing or skipping images. It also comes with Hu-Motion sensors to turn the frame on and off when you enter or leave the room for power saving. The Nixplay smartphone app allows you to snap, manage and share pictures directly and instantly to any frame. It's a great way to stay connected in real time.

         


The frames come in a variety of colours and designs and can be displayed in portrait or landscape, with the power cable doubling up as a stand. It looks stylish and will be a real talking point in any home.

I think that a Nixplay Cloud frame would make a wonderful gift for grandparents, giving them an ever changing and continuously updated display of pictures of the grandchildren. This can keep loved ones connected even if they are miles away. They would be a lovely choice for a Mother's Day present for the children's Nana. I showed my mum the Nixplay Seed and she absolutely loved it and thought it was an incredible way of viewing photos and said it was "better than watching the TV!"

We are very impressed with the Cloud frame from Nixplay. It is user friendly, it looks good and it displays images in high resolution with great clarity. It unleashes photographs from your social media  and other devices directly into the home to be enjoyed by all.

For a limited time, Nixplay are offering a 20% discount with an exclusive voucher code to use at the checkout. Perfect timing for a special Mother's Day gift your your mum!

Find out more and order your own Nixplay Seed frame with an exclusive 20% discount here.

Mother's Day Crafting with Baker Ross

Whatever the occasion, Baker Ross has a great range of craft products, which will inspire the kids into making some brilliant creations.  With Mother's Day fast approaching, we received some lovely items from Baker Ross, perfect for making homemade gifts for mums, aunties or grandmas on their special day.  

There were wooden trinket boxes, wooden jewellery trees and flower pots ready to be decorated using the range of stick on gems, rose stickers, bows and pearls. We also received pre-printed cards that were ready to decorate with felt tips and other embellishments plus the items needed to try our hand at Decopatch.  Such lovely ideas for treating mum on Mother's Day!

The children enjoyed the craft activities, working together to create some really lovely, quality craft items that would make really acceptable gifts.  The complexity of the activities can be suited to the age and ability of the child.  At 4, Freddy was able to stick stickers and colour in with felt tips independently and he was very proud to show off his finished pieces!

11 year old Kizzy was able to do more intricate designs, adding embellishments and personalising items to her own taste.  17 year old Ella tackled the slightly more fiddly and much more messy Decopatch and did a great job making a floral jewellery tree.

I love the wooden keepsake trinket boxes.  They have a hinged magnetic lid and are made really well out of quality wood.  They can be painted, varnished or decorated with stickers to create a personalised design.  At just £4.98 for six boxes, this is great value.  Kizzy chose to decorate hers using acrylic flower jewels (£3.99 for 180), satin bows (£2.99 for 72) and pearls (£2.99 for 120).  Freddy used the felt rose stickers (£2.99 for 90).  Decorating keepsake boxes is a great idea for an activity at a children's birthday party and would give guests a lovely gift to take home with them.

The wooden jewellery trees are just £2.75 for a pack of two.  They are free standing and have branches so you can hang your jewellery on them to keep it safe and tangle free. They are ideal for decorating using Decopatch, choosing from the varied designs of paper available from Baker Ross and sticking pieces on the tree using special glue with a stiff brush.   The Decopatch paper is £3.49 for 3 sheets and the varnish glue is £5.99 for a 150ml pot.  The finished effect gives a colourful, shiny and water resistant finish.

                               

Kizzy liked the au naturel wooden look of her jewellery tree and simply added self-adhesive pearls to decorate it.  Maybe she was being a bit lazy, but the end result looks lovely covered in her necklaces and rings!

The Design Your Own Flowerpot Kit consists of 4 pots, each with a paper insert which can be decorated to make a pretty end result.  Planting the pot up with a houseplant would make a very nice gift for Gran. The Flowerpots are £4.96 for 4. 

The pre-printed Mother's Day cards are such an excellent idea.  They can be decorated with paints, felt tips or crayons and lend themselves brilliantly to the addition of googly eyes and hair accessories.  At £1.99 for 8 they are an excellent price.  there are also some pop-out heart cards at £2.56 for 8.  Both sets include envelopes so the handmade cards will be ready to send to a loved one.

As ever, I have been really impressed by the quality, range and value of the Baker Ross products.  The children all loved creating some lovely craft pieces and did a great job learning new skills and using their creativity.  

You can find all the products mentioned above and hundreds more at the Baker Ross website, where you can order online and see some inspiring ideas for art projects. Check out the Baker Ross blog for arty inspiration!

Follow Baker Ross on Twitter @bakerrossltd for special offers, craft tips and giveaways!

The East India Company For Mother's Day

This Mothering Sunday why not treat your mum to something indulgent from The East India Company?  They produce some delectable and charming gifts that are really quite special and will delight anyone lucky enough to receive them.

I was sent a box of Salted Almonds Enrobed in Chocolate to sample.  Specially selected almonds are carefully roasted and gently salted then enrobed in milk chocolate with a touch of cinnamon.  The packaging is gorgeous and speaks of the quality of this fine food.  It is a real touch of luxury.

The thick, smooth, cinnamon flavoured chocolate gives way to a crunchy nut in each moreish mouthful.  The sweetness combined with the subtle saltiness of the nut is nothing short of delicious!

They are priced at £7.95 for the 200g box and can be found on Amazon and at The East India Company flagship store in London's Mayfair.

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The East India Company Fine Foods has developed a range of fine luxury foods of over 350 products such as Tea, Chocolate, Coffee, Jams, Mustard and Biscuits, as well as a range of occasion based gift boxes, hampers and trunks. To receive a luxury food gift from The East India Company is to feel truly indulged, valued and wanted.

The products use only the highest quality ingredients and all have a “remarkable connection” to the history of The East India Company, created in the 1600's by the Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I. These products breathe life into the history of The Company. 

To see its range of products online visit www.theeastindiacompanyfinefood.com/

#WIN Personalised Chocolate from Joyville Made

I loved my personalised bar of Joyville Made chocolate soooo much, that I wanted to share the joy with two of my readers by giving away a code for you to make your very own personalised bar of Joyville Made Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate designed by you!  The code enables you to make your own bar online and have it delivered for free.

Seeing your own name on the iconic packaging is such a thrill!  My "Wendy Bar" really made me smile when it arrived in the post.  So whether you want to treat yourself or surprise a loved one, you can be assured that there will be joy aplenty in your special bar of chocolate!

To win, all you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below and leave me a comment telling me whose name would you put on your bar of Joyville Made chocolate if you won a code!  Closes at 11.59pm on the 2nd March 2013.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Photo Books from Vistaprint

Vistaprint is Europe's largest online personalised gifting company, selling a huge range of products for both home and business use.  I was given the opportunity to make a photo book for myself, so I could try out their service and review the end result.  

I love photo books.  They are such a creative way to organise favourite images into a beautifully bound book which will last forever.  They are also an ideal gift for loved ones.  Whether you are using old family photos or your latest digital captures,Vistaprint allows you to preserve your pictures using different backgrounds, layouts and added text.  

Vistaprint photo books are available in small, medium, large and extra large formats and come with leather, canvas or photographic hard covers.  Pages come as standard or can be upgraded to glossy finish.  Prices start at just £11.99.

The website is really easy to use.  I used the online editor version where you can work online, selecting photos from your computer to edit and create photo books of up to 70 pages.  There is also a download editor with advanced editing options giving more freedom, with special effects, masks and filters which creates books of up to 120 pages.

It is easy to place images on the page and make the book look how you want it to.  You can rearrange them and add text and change the backgrounds until you are happy to save your creation.  Alternatively you can auto-fill and let the editor make your book in a single click.  Ordering is easy.  You can upgrade to glossy paper, different cover finishes and a lay flat option.

Your finished photo book is a completely bespoke, personalised and individual creation that makes such a thoughtful gift.  With Mother's Day approaching, why not make your mum a book filled with her favourite family photos.  It would be a treasured gift that would last forever.

There are various postage and delivery options and the book arrives well packaged to your door.  I was delighted with the end result.  The A4 size, photo covered, glossy paged book is gorgeous.  The Chic Black background that I chose as a theme looks really effective against the photos.  I was very impressed with the whole experience.  Everyone who has seen the book has commented on how nice it is and how lovely the thick and glossy paper is - well worth the upgrade!

The total cost of my 21 x 28 cm photo book with the glossy paper and a photographic cover was £23.73, which is a very competitive price for such a lovely , bespoke photo book.

For more information and to order your own personalised photo books or other gifts visit  www.vistaprint.co.uk

Wall Art for Mother's Day

We've all got digital photos stored on our hard drives and memory cards but Bonusprint is urging us all to "print them to preserve them."  With Mother's Day fast approaching there has never been a better time to get favourite shots turned into works of art to delight mums and grans.

Bonusprint have a great range of wall art to transform a much adored digital photograph into a really special gift that will be loved for years to come. Canvases, acrylic prints, aluminium prints and poster prints are available in a multitude of sizes to suit any wall.

I was given the opportunity to create a piece of wall art and I was so impressed with how many options there were.  Different sizes,effects and finishes gave loads of choices of how I wanted to present my photo.

I decided to opt for a framed print.  They are available from a 14 x 10 cm print to a huge A2 size framed poster.  There are over 200 frame types available in a variety of thicknesses and finishes.  There are also seven mount options with colour choices.  You can create a completely bespoke piece of wall art which is delivered direct to your door.

Choice of Frames and Mounts

The parcel arrived really well packaged and was delivered by courier.  The quality of the framed print is exceptional and I love it.  It is a perfect piece of art.  Prices vary depending on your choices, but the pricing is clear and informative as you go along, allowing you make something to your specifications and within your budget.

I was given the opportunity to order a piece of wall art but no compensation was received.