*Contest Time* Winners!

It's time to announce the winners of my contest. Thank you all so much for entering, I hope to hold more contests in the future!

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So just a recap, there were originally three categories but I made a slight change due to the ratio of the entries so we now have only two entries but still three winners: one from the art category and two from the writing category...
1: Art (This includes all kinds of art; photography, makeup, tshirt design)
2: Writing
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Winners...

For the art category:

Sarah Nicholson from Re-ravelling!

Thanks for your entry Sarah, I loved this photograph! It makes me wish there was more snow where I live... Haha

For the writing category:

Sarah Barry from Relishing Writing

I loved this piece from the moment I first read it, this is the sort of writing I really love to read. I love to see small moments...

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He picked again at layers of ice forming on a thin, blue, nylon sleeping bag, still pungent from its previous owner. His recent acquisition offered his only protection from the beautifully, cruel whiteness of this Christmas Eve. Snowflakes clustered around him. He made his Christmas Wish: a new home.

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Daniel Swensen

This piece is fantastic for completely different reasons to Sarah's, I loved this because of the wonderful imagery and how you somehow managed to create an entire novel in just 50 words! 

And it makes me think of the Silurians...

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Beneath the water, rows of ragged sentinels watch the rippled sky. They bare glaucous teeth in the murky dark, hands like cordwood knots gripping spears ending in razor icicles.

They wait unblinking. Civilization unfolds. The human herds propagate.

At last, time.

Damnation creeps from behind a cloud. The future melts.

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Please could the three of you email me at bekahshambrook@gmail.com with your home address and choice of tshirt (Incuding colour and size) from http://99xs.co.uk/ 

Thank you again to all who entered, I loved every entry! :D

Contest Entry: Jules Roberts

Here's a great entry from Jules Roberts entered with three minutes to spare!

"I'm going to jump!"
"Don't be daft. Grandpa's just arrived he'll be upset if you miss him."
"And besides, we don't want you dripping wet through the house. I've just hoovered!"
"I'm not listening, I'm doing it!" And he did,
Crashing through the frozen water.
"That boy never listens."

Contest Entry: Julia Mark

Here are Julia Mark's entries. She's done a great piece of writing and a t-shirt design that I'd love to wear. 

Writing Entry: 

She walks alone.
Back straight, walking tall.
But still alone.
There is no heat outside her or in.
She turns, briefly. Fixes you with a stare that pierces you to your very core.
Her eyes are made of splintered ice.
And so is her heart.

T-shirt Design:

Credit for Photoshop brushes: Suztv on DeviantArt

Contest Entry: Judith Patrick

Here's a great writing entry from Judith Patrick

(With apologies to Dorothy Parker)

"You have a heart of ice" she said.
My heart was heavy.
"Made of lead. You care only
for yourself" she said.
Her heart bled
 ..................
After a heated exchange
and as her hot tears fell
My heart slowly melted.
"Heartless" was her icy response
as she slid from my arms.

Contest Entry: Lilyssia Azel Nightbreeze

As you all know, I had a few ways to receive entries for this contest and one of those was by email so this is just my way of linking the entries up to the linky thing.

This is a great entry from Lilyssia Azel Nightbreeze.

Poetry entry:

Winter Kiss
A sweet winter's afternoon, sweet because light cannot change anymore.
There's no dawn, no dusk, my dreams are dying like a butterfly.
In my garden full of roses a robin sing my winter kiss.

Art entries:

*Contest Time* Win a t-shirt from 99XS Store

After my review on 99XS Store which you can find here, Anca from 99XS Store offered me the opportunity to host a contest for you with the three winners to win a t-shirt of your choice from their store!

The Contest:
I wanted something that all of you could take part in so I decided we would have an arts competition with three categories so there will be a winner from each category.

1: T-shirt design
2: A Piece of Art (This can be anything from photography, makeup to traditional art)
3: A piece of creative writing (50 words)

The theme of the contest is 'Ice' so your piece must tie in with that theme in some way.

Source: The Last Krystallos on Flickr

The Rules:
1: You can enter once in each category, so you can enter three times in total but only once per category.
2: The contest is open internationally.
3: You must be 18+ or have your parents' permission.
4: Your entry must tie in with the theme of 'Ice' in some way.
5: Creative writing can be up to 50 words and can be either a fiction, a piece of descriptive writing... or whatever you like really.
6: Make up looks can be done on yourself or a model.
7: T-shirt designs can be done in any way you like, you could use a computer program like Photoshop, you could draw it and either scan it or take a photo, or you could even paint it onto your own t-shirt!
8: The contest opens on 18th November 2012 and ENDS: 31st December 2012, 23:59 GMT.
9: To enter you have a choice:
If you have a blog you can post your entry on your blog and link it with the linky below
OR
If you don't have a blog or website you can email the entry to me: bekahcat93@gmail.com
10: All entries must be your own work.


The Prizes:
As mentioned before there will be three winners, one from each category. These three winners will win a t-shirt of their choice from 99XS Store.

The entries will be judged by myself, Anca from 99XS Store and Kim from Kimberley Collins Photography (Kim has won a t-shirt design contest in January 2012: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/401269_287366447992979_823111378_n.jpg.

If you win, I will contact you to let you know and you can choose any t-shirt from the store in any size and colour. You'll then email me with what you want and your address so I can let the store know and they will send your prize to you directly.

See the t-shirts here!

To see what these t-shirts are like, check out my blog review on them: http://bekahcat.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/review-99xs-store-great-quality-t-shirts.html

Review: 99XS Store, Great Quality T-Shirts

So here we have something a little different, it's a clothing review.
I was contacted by Anca from a small t-shirt design store in the UK called 99XS, she asked if I could review their t-shirts and store so I agreed!
Let me put this out there right now, my review will be completely honest. I see no reason to lie to my readers and to be honest I'd rather not do anything that would stop you trusting what I say.

99XS have a great online store: www.99xs.co.uk it's clean, modern and easy to navigate; which is more than can be said about a whole bunch of larger clothing stores. You can see the enthusiasm in the designs and in the dynamic layout of the website, it has heart.

On their home page the first thing you see is a great bar showing you their latest designs and offers and below that you can see their featured products.

At the bottom of the page are a bunch of well laid out links for Facebook and Twitter along with a list of links to information, this is my only gripe about the website. Out of the list of ten links only six work, the size charts and 'Printing Technologies Explained' don't seem to link to anything which is a bit of the pain and needs to be fixed; however it's such a trivial thing, don't let it put you off shopping here. And finally there's a section of contact details which are really useful since there are some websites in which you have to hunt in order to find any way of contacting the company!

99XS have a fantastic variety of t-shirt styles ranging in colours and sizes, for both women and men. The designs are really wonderful and I don't think I've seen another t-shirt store with as much design quality.

Prices range from £9.90 to £18.99 which sound pretty good to me for a t-shirt with such fantastic quality.

I chose the 'Feel Alive Women's T-Shirt' in Charcoal and size XL (The size was an bit of an issue because I really wasn't sure what to get without a size guide, but I played it safe and it turned out to be a great fit!)

I'm a size 14 in Next t-shirts and this XL fits me comfortably, just so you can have a reference for sizes.

The t-shirt is 100% Cotton but preshrunk so it can be tumble dried. Trust me, I've tried it and I can assure you that it is perfectly fine in the tumble drier.

One of the things I was worried about that I've experienced with other design t-shirts is cracking on the design but I've worn it lots over the past two weeks, it's been through the tumble drier twice and there isn't even the slightest crack (and I certainly haven't been careful with it).

The t-shirt has the 99XS Store logo on the back of the neck and on the bottom right hand side, but it's small and doesn't ruin the design.

The design itself it great, I struggled to choose which t-shirt I wanted out of their range of designs but finally landed on this one because of the pop of red and the words... I love words... I'll put a list of links to my favourite designs at the bottom of this post.

This t-shirt is also available in four other colours: White, Heather Grey, Light Pink and Sky Blue. I chose the charcoal because I'm dark like that...
No, it's because I'm a little self conscious about my body and the dark colour makes me look slimmer. ^_^




What they say:
"Brand: GILDAN SoftStyle
T-Shirt Fabric: 100% cotton preshrunk jersey knit
Weight: Colour t-shirt - 160 g/m | White t-shirt- 150 g/m

Deluxe 30's soft style yarns; Seamless twin needle 1/2" rib knit collar; Taped neck and shoulders
Side seam construction with stylish tapered fit; Slightly adjusted specs!
Twin needle sleeve and bottom hems;
Quarter-turned to eliminate centre crease"

What I say: 
Fantastic quality, well-fitting t-shirt, nice and comfy and easy to wash and dry. I know nothing about the fancy terms so I'll take their word for it!


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On a side note I just want to point out, all the close up photos were actually taken on my iPhone... I had no idea the camera on it was so good!

99XS have an offer on at the moment, if you sign up to their newsletter, you can have 10% off your first order and you're entered into a draw to win a free t-shirt every month! It can't hurt right?

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So there we are, that's my first ever clothing review. What did you think?

I promised a list of my favourite designs from the store so here we are, these are all links to the women's versions, but they are all available in men's too:

- Feel Alive T-Shirt - £15.99
- Proud to be a Geek T-Shirt - £10.99
- Pow Wow T-Shirt - £11.99
- Hide from Stupid T-Shirt - £10.90
- Nillionaire T-Shirt - £10.99
- Dare to be Different T-Shirt - £15.99
- More Interesting T-Shirt - £14.99
- Who Needs Mask T-Shirt - £13.90
- Snow Village T-Shirt - £9.90 (Just for Christmas)

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*Disclaimer*
My t-shirt was provided for review, this does not affect the review and I will always be totally honest when reviewing products.