If you are stuck for your last minute Christmas shopping remember that our Christmas opening hours are:

Sunday: 12 noon – 4pm

Mon-Thu: 10am – 6pm

We have lots of beautiful jewellery, some wonderful bags, some beautiful fluffy toys which are great for kids, lovely pretty scarves and all sorts of other gifts.  Do come and have a look!

The competition winners!

When they bought their mother a gift at local shop East to West, Sian and Tim weren’t thinking about their holiday some months later.  Their holiday was supposed to be a chance to unwind but their car dramatically and expensively broke down, miles from home.  They got a replacement hire car.  That broke down too, turning their holiday into a washout.  They were distraught that time meant for relaxing had to be wasted sorting mechanics and paying out money, so returned home to Maidenhead feeling let down.

What they didn’t know was that when they bought their mother a gift and entered the competition at East to West, they had been assigned number 98.  And the computer program had just randomly chosen number 98 as the winner of our gold and amethyst jewellery set, with an RRP of £350.  I sent out the messages, all but one reassuring everyone that they would be automatically entered into our next competition.  Then I sent out a message to the address for number 98.

Sian and Tim emailed back “Wow – didn’t expect that!”

We polished it again on Saturday before they arrived (tip: if you have a wedding ring and haven’t polished it in the last few months, get a polish cloth and do it – you’d be amazed at how brightly gold can shine) and it was lovely to see how happy they were with their prize.

While they were in the shop they let us know about how after they came back from their holiday they needed some good news.  ”It was an amazing surprise, particularly with the week we were having, it was so timely.  We never win anything,” they explained as Sian tried on the pendant and earrings – and they looked amazing on her.

“We always shop here.. we’ve had loads of things from here.  You can just come in and always find anything, it’s like a get out of jail free card!  The great thing is that you can spend as much or as little as you like.”

What was lovely is that a few days later we got an email from Sian - ”I am over the moon with it, and didn’t realise until I looked in the mirror quite how sparkly it is!”

We’ll soon be running another competition at East to West, and if you sign up to our email newsletter you can, now and again, hear about some amazing bargains that we might not even advertise in the shop.  Do come in and see if you can find something different  when you next need a gift, or if you just want to treat yourself.  If you sign up you could be the next winner.

One of our masks

If you are planning a party, having a ‘masked’ theme can make it great fun! We’ve received some beautiful new masks – ornate, feathered, glittered, and masks for men too – so do come and have a look if you haven’t already.

Masks were worn in Venice, not only during the Carnivale but also in the lead up to Christmas.

The simple act of hiding your face behind a mask can do two things. Firstly, it allows you to project an alternate persona – you may express a side of yourself that nobody usually sees. This persona may be very different to how you usually behave. By choosing colours to match an outfit, facial expressions, and patterns you can create a character and play a different role to the one you usually play.

Secondly, if your identity is hidden from others, you may be uninhibited! Free from being judged by social class, appearance and religion, many in Venice persued activities that they would not have dreamed of without a mask – illicit liasons with lovers, gambling… the list goes on.

For most people nowadays, a masquerade ball may not be as serious (or as debauched) but they can be great way to have fun. If you are invited to a masked ball or are running one, come down and try some masks on!  Although we’ve only put a teaser picture of one mask, we’ve got many, many different styles.

Like the look of this?

Since early December we’ve been running a prize draw in the shop and now it’s time to bring it to the site as well. The competition ends on the 29th June and there’s no purchase necessary. If you subscribe to our e-mail newsletter we’ll enter you in the prize draw. We won’t spam you, give your address out to anyone, and you can unsubscribe at anytime.

This pendant sets an amethyst in 9ct gold

The competition winner has now been chosen so the competition is closed – look out for further competitions!

Have you ever had that feeling where you have a hundred options in front of you?  Each option with its own set of good outcomes, bad consequences, and intricate details?  You’ve had to weigh them up – trying to think which one is best for you now – and in the future.  You’ve had to trawl through lots of information.  Finally, you make a decision, and then wonder why it took you so long.

I was sick of seeing this every day

Welcome to my world for the past year.  It’s only now that we’ve taken action and the result is what you see in front of you.

The aim of this site now is to talk to people and have discussions with them.

When we come across news that might be interesting to people who visit us we’ll put something up here to let you know.

When we get new ranges of products, we’ll put information on them here.

If we find any useful tips about fashion, jewellery or gifts, we’ll explain them here.

And, if we are running a promotion whch we think will give people a lot of value or save them a lot of money, this is the rooftop from which we’ll shout!

Feel free to add comments and chat with us here.