It's Christmas Eve People!

Seasons Greetings Everyone!

Thank you so much for all your support this year I cannot put into words how

much it means to me

Wishing you all an amazing 2012!

Folk Pattern

Here's a design that I've been meaning to show for a while & now seems like a good time as I think it looks quite festive. It looked scrummy in lots of different colourways & I couldn't decide which one I liked best so I left it to the client to pick.

So who's sorted with their Christmas pressie buying? I've been really organised this year & started early as Christmas shopping with a toddler is just a recipe for disaster! But now I need to wrap it all & I'm struggling to summon up the energy- perhaps if I have a coffee & a piece cake first that will help............hmmmmmmm

I spy with my little eye........

Bobble the little cat

Bobble is made from an old woolly hat. He always wants to help, but because he has cloth ears, sometimes he doesn't quite get it right!

Isn't he gorgeous! I'm thinking he should perhaps be mine after all & not Evie's! Bad Mummy!

Photo was taken using my Instagram App

Our Wedding Day

I'm now a Mrs as some of you already know! And I did promise to show at least one pic of me in a wedding dress so here we go.....

Phil & I really wanted the atmosphere to feel like an English tea party (vintage in style) & I'd like to think we pulled it off, it was a fun, happy & very relaxed affair. Our venue was a beautiful old Tudor farmhouse set in the most pretty gardens complete with free range ducks, peacocks, chickens, goats & pigs :) The day went too fast though- I wish I could do it all again in slow motion!!!

Flown By...

Where has this week gone? I wasn't very well at the beginning of the week & now I have a backlog of work & orders, but I'm slowly getting back on top of things. Here's a sneak peek of one of the projects I've been working on- more photos coming soon!

Have a great weekend everyone- anyone Christmas shopping? :)

Limited Edition Christmas Card

I have a new limited edition Christmas card now available in my shop :) Titled Blitzen.Each card is personalised on the front & back & embellished with a wooden reindeer, add on name panel & glitter for a little bit of sparkle! There are 3 colourways for you to pick from. Grab yours quick as there are only 8 cards available!

Please note- no two reindeer are the same so expect a variation of pattern.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

I spy with my little eye........

The most beautiful bags & purses from Fossil. These made my heart flutter when they caught my eye!

Mummy Monday with Cupcakes For Clara

Hello all! Did you have a good weekend? I had a great weekend but the little one is currently teething which = a lot less sleep so I am really feeling pretty sleepy this afternoon. But one must push on because its Mummy Monday! Hooray! I met this lovely & super talented Mummy in the land of the Tweets. Her name is Laura and she is the creator of Cupcakes For Clara. Laura is (as you'll read) a very busy mother of two & is seriously dedicated to her work- sometimes working the whole night if she has too- yes you read correctly! No sleep whatsoever!!! As you'll see in the photos she has many strings to her bow- not only is she a talented illustrator but she also designs in felt, makes softies & paper craft & has had a book published. Take a look at her Christmas goodies here! This is a great read & really made me giggle as I could relate to so much of what she wrote. (Laura, even as I write this I've had to stop Evie from trying to climb into the bin several times!) Read on & enjoy........

A Day In The Life Of Cupcakes For Clara

At Some point in the early hours of the morning..........

My 14 month old wakes up for cuddles & sometimes milk (he was 10 weeks early so is really like a 12 month old), he usually wakes his 3 year old sister up as they share a room, which is just great!

6.30-7.30am- My husband gets up with the kids whilst I sleep in (yeay!)

7.30-8.30am- We’re all up & getting ready for work/nursery/toddler group/music class. If it’s a Weds or a Fri, both kids are in nursery until 5.30pm so I get to work all day – luxury!! If not, it goes something like this…8.30-9.30am- Tom has gone to work, and I scramble around getting second breakfasts, re-putting shoes on wriggly feet, changing nappies, bundling one into the pram whilst the other probably takes her coat off again, more snacks, and checking my emails.

9.30-12.00pm- Toddler group or music classes. I always optimistically think that I might be able to reply to emails whilst I’m there, but it usually ends up with me getting play dough on my top, or trying to stop Theo from crawling into the bin!

12.00-1.30pm- Heading home & having lunch. Whilst they eat lunch & watch cbeebies (naughty me), I attempt those emails or maybe writing a blog post.

1.30-3.00pm ish- Theo goes for a nap. This has recently changed from two naps a day to one, so we’re still all over the place. Matilda loves to draw & paint so I try and set something creative up for her to do whilst he sleeps. We both sit at the dining table or get a great big messy mat out on the floor. If she’s happy to get on with it, I’ll work for a while. Packing orders, preparing products or drawing. Usually, just as I get started Theo wakes up.

3.00-5.00pm- Milk for the boy, snacks for the girl. Depending on the weather we’ll head out to the park, or catch up with some friends. Unless it’s been a particularly calm day, we’ll go to someone else’s house as ours is usually in too much of a crazy mess to have them come to us!!

5.00-6.00pm- Dinner for the little ones. Tom arrives home at some point during this, and I hand them over to him for at least a few minutes. Even if it’s only so that I can have a cup of tea whilst it’s still hot!

6.00-7.30pm ish- Getting the kids to bed. Tom takes Matilda up for stories & snuggles, and I give Theo his milk downstairs. He usually snuggles to sleep on my knee. Because they share a room, if they both go to bed at the same time it is impossible – they keep each other awake. One day we will have a big enough house for them to have a room each. Wishful thinking!

7.30-10.30pm- Once they are asleep, Tom cooks dinner, whilst I wash bottles & tidy up. And then settle down to each do our own work. Tom usually writes, whilst I pack products, draw, prepare products for my shop, or write blog posts. I usually try to cram too much in and disappoint myself when I don’t finish my list. We cosy up on the sofa whilst we work, with wine or hot drinks, sometimes with a fire going, and usually a film or an episode of House on the TV. It’s pretty nice.

10.30-11.30pm- At some point around now we’ll decide that we’re too tired to work any more, and head to bed. If I’ve got deadlines, I’ll keep working. Sometimes until 3-4am if it’s crazy busy. And often the minute my head hits the pillow - Theo wakes up. Sigh! I’ll get sleep when they’re older right?!

And then it starts all over again!!

Website – http://cupcakesforclara.com

Shop – http://cupcakesforclara.etsy.com

Twitter – http://twitter.com/cupcakes4clara

Facebook – http://facebook.com/cupcakesforclara

For more information as to why I started Mummy Monday please click here. And if you would like to take part send me a message :)

Cara

Good day people! As mentioned in a an earlier post I'd like you to meet little Cara.

Cara is a Thingamajig.
Thingamajigs are born into this world for a wonderful reason- to bring friendship, happiness, smiles and laughter. They are created through someone’s imagination, but not very easily............................ you have to wish for one! And if you are lucky enough to bring a Thingamajig to life you will have a friend forever as they are such loyal and happy creatures and the best thing is if you try really hard you can wish them up for your friends too!

Cara was born on 20th September 2010. She's drawn to anything pretty and her favourite food is bread and jam. Her favourite pastime is going for walks outside and she loves looking out of windows & watching the world go by.

Cara comes with her own name card showing the details above. If you would like to buy her as a gift for someone let me know the name of the person you are buying her for and I'll add it to the card with a little message.

Although Cara was made with great care she is NOT a toy for children- she loves gentle cuddles but can't take too much of the rough stuff!

Cara's height is 250mm or approx. 9.5" (inc. her ears)
Her width is 115mm or approx. 4.5" (not inc. arms)

Thanks so much for reading :)

Click here to purchase

Our Trip To Brighton

We had such a lovely trip to Brighton a few weeks before the wedding, I thought I would share some pics. with you. We just really needed a break- to get away from the ever mounting To-Do-Lists & just to relax, have some fun & catch up on some sleep! I don't know what it is about Brighton but I love it there & always want to go back. Evie had just started to crawl so she loved playing on the pebble beaches whilst we enjoyed a coffee....or two :)

Christmas Catch Up & Special Offer!!

Hope everyones having a splendid weekend!

I have a special Christmas offer for you & it'll only be for my followers & subscribers:

Buy a painting & get 2 prints for free or buy a print & get 1 print free!!

Just leave a message for me at checkout saying "I follow!" and state which prints/print you would like. This offer is only on until the 30th of November.

Want to see my shop updates? Read on :)

New personalised Christmas cards are now available along with the original favourites:

New Art Prints are now available:

All are available to buy. Click here for my Not On The Highstreet Shop

and here for my Etsy Shop:

Lastly I wanted to introduce you to a little Thingamajig called Elliott

find out more about him by clicking here

I'll be adding another Thingamajig to the shop soon, her name's Cara!

Thank you for visiting! I loved creating all these new pieces so I really hope you found something you liked. See you again soon :)

Mummy Monday with Danita Art

Hello all! I'm back & have so much to share in the next few weeks! A trip to Brighton, our wedding (!!) & honeymoon & LOTS of new design work to show you also.

The past few months have been ridiculously busy juggling wedding & honeymoon plans, my freelance work & looking after a toddler. I'm only now starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel! And its a Monday which means.................yes its Mummy Monday! I'm super excited to be dedicating this post to a lovely & very talented lady- Danita from Danita Art. A very busy mother of two & seriously I am blown away by her commitment to her art & her passion for it. She's a very inspiring lady who frequently works long into the night in order to create her beautiful paintings, jewellery & dolls. Enjoy!

A Day In The Life Of Danita

My typical day starts around 7:00 when I dress up the kindergarden kid to go to school.

We have a quick breakfast and leave for school at 8:00.

I manage to squeeze some exercise in walking in the park with my baby and go back home around 10:00 shower and look after the kid and prepare meals.

At 1:00 I pick up the kiddo from school and run errands, get back to eat lunch and let the baby nap. In the meantime I use that time to check emails, sketch and do office work at the shop. Afternoon comes, we have dinner and I let the kids out to the park.

Around 7:00 we start getting ready to sleep and if I am lucky I can get started with real work around 8:30 or 9:00...

Then it's burning the midnight oil until I am sleepy... And the day starts again the next day!

You can find out more about Danita here:

Her Blog

Her Etsy Shop
Her Twitter Page
Her Facebook Page

For more information as to why I started Mummy Monday please click here. And if you would like to take part send me a message :)

Mummy Monday with Melissa Moss

Hello! It's time for another Mummy Monday. Today I'm really excited to be introducing you to one of my favourite artists Melissa Moss. She is a full time Mum & very successful artist whose paintings have been bought by Susan Sarandon no less! I've followed her blog for a while now and she really is an inspiring lady who followed a dream.

Enjoy! :)

A day in the life of Melissa Moss

7:00 Sam (who turned 4 in July) wakes up. I can hear him on the monitor. He looks at his Star Wars books and tells very animated stories to himself.

8:00 I usually get up around this time. For the past 6-9 months Sam is able to entertain himself in the mornings for about an hour. To get this extra hour of sleep has been amazing. I have much more energy throughout the day.

8:30 - 9:00 I fix breakfast for me and Sam. Sometimes we tell a story over breakfast or read a book but then sometimes we just sit in silence while I am still waking up.

9:00 - 10:00 I check emails and try to get a little work done while Sam plays. My husband usually gets up around this time and plays with Sam so this gives me some time.

10:00 I try to get out of the house by 10:00 with Sam. There are several things we do during this time...run errands, go to botanical gardens, the library, the park, the pool or visit with friends. We're usually out of the house for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

12:00 We get home and make lunch. If the mosquitoes aren't too bad we'll sit on the porch and eat our lunch.

1:00 - We'll read some books if Sam wants to. If he wants to play I can check email and work a little.

2:00 - Sam doesn't nap anymore but he does have "quiet time" which is about an hour (longer if I'm lucky). He'll play by himself in his room but after an hour starts to open his door and say "Hello?" This means he is finished with quiet time. I try to get some work done during this time but sometimes I'm too tired and have to take a cat nap.

3:00 - Sam usually has an after quiet-time snack.

3:30 - This is the time that's the hardest for me. If I don't take a nap I get really tired and coming up with stuff to do in the afternoon is difficult. Sometimes we'll run errands or take a walk before dinner. And sometimes (though I don't like to admit it) I'll let Sam watch an episode (or 2) of one of his favorite shows. This gives me more time to get some work done.

5:30 - We start thinking about and cooking dinner.

6:00 - We are usually eating dinner around now.

7:00 - We give Sam baths every other night so on the off nights we try to go for an after dinner walk around the neighborhood.

7:30 - Sam cleans his room and we read books until Sam's bedtime.

8:30 - Sam is in bed.

9:00 - 9:30 - Sam is asleep.

9:00 - 11:00 - If I'm not completely exhausted this is when I will paint. Having a deadline helps me get motivated. But a lot of the time I will just sketch in front of the TV. It's very difficult for me to just watch TV and not feel guilty about it.

11:30 - I'm in bed reading my book.

12:00 - Lights out. My brain is usually spinning so it takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep.

You can find out more about Melissa here:

Her Website

Her Blog

Her Etsy Shop

An Interview With Creative Thursday

For more information as to why I started Mummy Monday please click here. And if you would like to take part send me a message :)