Interest areas > Art & Culture

Advantages: CDs, DVDs, books, videos and games for free!
Disadvantages: none

As I mentioned in my last review on bookhopper.com, I have recently got really hooked on (or addicted to) a selection of online free swapping sites. Now it's the turn of www.eswapnow.com to take the stage. This was the last of the 3 swapping sites that I use (the other being www.readitswapit.co.uk) to grab my attention, but although it doesn't have the large amount of members yet that readitswapit does, or the advantage of being able to request ...
...other distinct plus … it isn't just for books, but also for games, CDs, videos and DVDs! Once again, let me make this clear - the site is completely FREE to use. You pay only for second class postage. I find this site fantastic. It works on a very simple credits system. This means someone has to have requested an item of you before you can ask for one, but as with bookhopper.com it doesn't have to be a direct swap with one person i.e. you don't ... Read review

Advantages: Some good poems to read
Disadvantages: Looks awful, hard to navigate, probably a con.

Poetry.com I don't usually review this sort of thing, but since i had a look, I figured I'd have a go. The first thing I noticed when I looked at this site was the incredibly poor layout, it looks like the idea behind designing the site was to ram as much in as possible. the home page definately didn't make me want to stay there. This very poor design made navigation a very tedious job with lots of miniature font, crammed in hyperlinks that ...
...the day'. The website itself is huge, with hundreds of poems that have been submitted as well as extra features, it is an average site if you are in to poetry and are looking for something to read. However, I wouldn't recommed submitting any poems to anybody who stumbles upon this site, they are asking for quite a few details from anybody who does and I would be very surprised if these are not being sold on. Moreover, this falls under the category ... Read review

Advantages: easy to use safe for kids and makes cheap card toppers
Disadvantages: weight but not totally impractical for going places

I have owned this machine for two years, I cannot bein to say how simple it is to use You mply layer you card or choice of material with the die ontop of te cutting board and push under the weighted part of the machine, lowe the handle to the cushion pad repeating this til you have covered the whole die then you lift off the die and there is you shape, with some different materials and colours you can build a whole father christmas head and you can ...
...raised effect. I have used many different brands of dies on it which are often cheaper than the original brand and just as good. With a little imagination you can use this cutter to create a huge variety of card toppers and cards Iparticularly like the Ellison dies as they are cheap( BEWARE though you can only use the thin cuts ) and they have a good range for male orientated cards I bought my sissix from ebay as a shop soiled product ( albeit ... Read review

Advantages: Paid for a few family holidays
Disadvantages: Flog It featured it a year too early

TROIKA POTTERY. If you watch programs such as FLOG IT you can not have failed to have seen TROIKA POTTERY featured. The pity is that when it started to be featured my days as a collector were numbered , as the prices climbed faster than a Gecko up a hot Mediterrainian Wall. The TROIKA POTTERY was founded in St Ives Cornwall in 1963. It was named TROIKA as it was founded by three people who each put £1000 in. Leslie Illsley, Benny Sirota and Jan ...
...was to be useful with Troika Pottery as many Pieces would later be produced using Moulds. Sirota had had approx 80 jobs, one of which happened to be a Potter, again would be useful. Jan Thompson had been an Architect. Thompson was a bit of a sleeping partner and it was Illsley and Sirota who decided to concentrate on the distinctive moulded shapes, and developed the Rough Textured wares and also smooth white surfaces. It was the White pieces ... Read review

Advantages: A fun way to read second hand books
Disadvantages: A bit time consuming

Today, I went to my first Bookcrossing 'meet'. I signed up for Bookcrossing about two years ago, but to be honest, it all seemed a bit of a kafuffle to do, so I never got around to setting any books free. Bookcrossing.com A quick synopsis as I see it. Bookcrossing is an American idea, and it involves you signing up as a member (with a user name) on their website, then, when you have a book that you have read, and feel that others may also enjoy, ...
...to pass on. You add some information onto the front, and inside the front cover of the book, including an id code and website for Bookcrossing, then leave it at your chosen place, ie, GP surgery; park bench (ensuring that it is water tight); pub; sports club - infact, anywhere you feel it may be picked up by someone interested enough to read it! Then, the person who has picked it up, will read the blurb that you put inside, and log onto the website ... Read review