In a desperate attempt to tidy the lounge I’ve been looking at my craft stash. Despite all my posts about parenting I spend a lot of time sewing which I never get a chance to blog about. For a long time my monthly indulgence has been Mollie Makes for the beautiful photography, inspiration and patterns. Who can forget my favourite ever pattern for felt biscuits? The paper copies do take up a lot of room but the cover gifts always tempt me to buy them, rather than the sensible digital copy which takes up no space. Looking through my collection…
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One of my most popular posts is the one about saving money whilst on maternity leave. This surprises me as I’ve always been pretty terrible with money. Despite my Dad being an accountant and trying to teach me the value of money I was pretty hopeless when I left home and had to manage my own finances. It wasn’t until I finished university and moved to London that it all started to fall into place! Fortunately my husband is pretty savvy. We saved like mad whilst we had two wages, managed on my maternity pay and his full-time wage and…
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One of my crafty passions is knitting so I was delighted to be sent a copy of Labour of Love: over 20 knitting patterns for treasured girls. This is the first book by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard who studied fashion design at Kingston University. This book is absolutely beautiful! I would be happy to keep this on my coffee table but it is also full of contemporary patterns I would love to make, in fact I’ve already marked a few for my to-do-list! The photographs are gorgeous and really help illustrate each project. The projects are divided into types: sweaters, cardigans,…
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You know how much we love getting messy with the paints so Easter seemed like a great opportunity to break out the paints for some more fun. I saw a great Easter card on Pinterest based on Ed Emberley’s fingerprint animals. I instantly bought a copy of one of his books (Ed Emberley’s Fingerprint Drawing Book) as I know we’ll have lots of fun with it. Big Brother is a bit young for it as the moment but I love it – lots of crafty inspiration for fingerprint animals, vehicles, seasons and holidays. The fingerprint Easter bunny and chicks were…
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We received a copy of the new book ‘How to Con Your Kid’ by David Borgenicht and James Grace. I was intrigued by the title as, lets be honest, I’m always on the look out for tips to help me ‘negotiate’ with the toddler. I’m still trying to figure out my parenting style but the onslaught of the Terrible Two’s has left me looking for suggestions. Everyone knows that children bring boundless joy into your life. However, they also bring temper tantrums, stubborn moods, sulks, and a level of mis-behaviour that would tax a saint at times – as any…
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The latest celebrity must-have looks like it will be the fabulous limited edition Joolz as chosen by Sienna Miller. Little Sis and I were invited to Soho House for the exciting reveal of two new editions of the Joolz travel system, the award winning Dutch brand (they’ve just been awarded a Gold Mother & Baby award for best travel system). When the email inviting us to see these new travel systems landed in my inbox I couldn’t wait to take a look – it’s not every day a launch is held at the exclusive Soho House. Little Sis and I…
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We hear a lot about mumpreneurs but what about the dad-preneurs (I may have made that word up) – the fathers who have a great business idea, often as a result of the new challenges faced as a parent? Well last week I met one such man, Chris Jones, who runs a brilliant business offering practical solutions for baby-proofing your home. Now, you may wonder why we would need this service as we are old hands with a 24 month old. Well I was interested to see what Chris thought of our own attempt at baby and toddler-proofing, had a…
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My wardrobe has desperately needed sorting out but funnily enough it hasn’t been high on my list of priorities, I’ve been slightly too busy juggling children and boring household chores. However, last weekend I couldn’t take it any more. I realised I was wearing the same few items which were just being washed and put back on and I needed to declutter. My wardrobe and drawers were full, just not with clothes I wore anymore. I grabbed a bin bag and took a closer look – old work clothes (too small!) and lots of maternity clothes. Some items I greeted…
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I really enjoy making my own personalised cards and had been wondering what to make for the toddler’s thank you cards following his 2nd birthday. I wanted something different to our usual paint splattered hand print cards and decided on a cheeky head shot with a jolly party hat. I tried to use some of the techniques I learned last week at a great blogger event using Stampin’ Up products. I hadn’t heard of Stampin’ Up before but they are a crafting brand which makes stamps, paper, ribbon and all things crafty. I bravely took both Big Brother and Little…