This week I was invited to a really fun crafting event with former Great British Sewing Bee finalist Tamara Melvin. She has been working with DryNites to create a series of craft projects to bring some grown-up touches to kids’ bedrooms. She is aiming to help parents through the bedwetting stage of their child’s development by highlighting the importance of age-appropriate influences at night time. Created on behalf of DryNites, and with support from child psychologist Emma Kenny, Tamara wants to provide a fun way to normalise this phase, which affects almost 600,000 children every year. We met at Tea…
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The Summer holidays are rattling by and it’s time for Week 4 of our Summer holiday round up. Last week Big Brother and I ventured into London to walk the Riverside Book Bench trail. We spent a lovely morning finding the decorated sculptures, painted to celebrate London’s literary heritage and reading for enjoyment. You can find pictures of all the benches we found on my other blog. We enjoyed a family day out at Odds Park Farm as well as another trip to London for the launch of a new augmented reality game at the British Museum. Big Brother and…
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This time of year (distinctly Autumnal!) makes me think of the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally. I’ve been every year since 2007 and I started blogging about my purchases from the Show. As there are just so many lovely to things to buy I have to be strict with myself so I blog my purchases and what I make to justify my purchases. In 2010 I bought a Clothkits doll cushion, Advent calendar printed panel, gingerbread man cross stitch and Union flag quilt pattern. I made everything except the Union flag quilt as I couldn’t find the jelly…
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Storm! Shipwreck! Adventure! Lost on an island in the very north of the world, a brave little girl meets a shy, curious creature… Not only does he look very odd, he sounds different too! Meet the Skitterbang. In his cave full of old metal and junk washed up from the sea, he shows her his newest treasure which sounds so beautiful. But who does it really belong to? Last week we returned to the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon for a performance of Skitterbang Island, an exciting tale of discovery and friendship and a magical world of music, song, rhythm and…
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I can’t believe I’ve survived the first week of the Summer holidays. I thought it might be fun to blog about what we’ve been up to. The first week started with afternoon tea with Kirstie Allsopp and a paper cutting masterclass with the lovely Poppy Chancellor. I also snuck in a visit to see the Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition at the V&A. Big Brother and I attended the Hobbycraft Christmas preview, followed by a trip to the Disney store where I treated him to some of the new Planes 2 toys (he’s obsessed after our recent trip to see the…
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Sometimes blogging has some major perks. Today was one of those days as we were invited to a gala screening of Planes 2: Fire and Rescue. As the mother of two pre-schoolers who love Disney I knew this was an offer we couldn’t turn down. So we were all pretty excited when we got to The Odeon in Leicester Square for the gala screening of Planes 2: Fire and Rescue. There was a special fire engine outside along with some firemen, we had our photograph taken with Dusty Crophopper, and enjoyed some colouring and games before the film started. Planes:…
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Last night I attended a really fun London blogger meet up at the National Portrait Gallery in the West End. I love visiting museums and galleries, I’ve worked in museums since University and always spent my weekends (pre-children) catching up on the latest exhibitions. I’ve been fortunate to see some great exhibitions lately, including The Vikings at the British Museum, Dennis Hopper at the Royal Academy and British Folk Art at Tate Britain. We met up at the NPG to look round the BP Portrait Award 2014. BP Portrait Award at the NPG The BP Portrait Award showcases fifty-five of…
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Last weekend I attended a workshop at Tate Britain. It was one of a series of workshops run in conjunction with their latest exhibition – British Folk Art. British Folk Art at Tate Britain This is the first major exhibition of British folk art. What is British folk art? I’m not sure I’m any clearer after visiting the exhibition, but I would still recommend it to anyone with an interest in British history! image source The exhibition guide states that: Folk art has often been neglected in the story of British art: by uncovering this treasure trove of folk art objects, this…
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I love the way my 4 year old tells me what they’ve been learning at nursery. I know they do some amazing topics. The other day I noticed they’d been block printing colourful houses in the style of a Brazilian artist. He’s also been telling me about mixing colours to make new colours. I love that he is learning so much about art and colour because one of my favourite past times is visiting museums and galleries. Fortunately for us we were sent a copy of The Usborne Art Book about Colour, produced in association with The National Gallery. The…