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

This beautiful packaging from Marks & Spencers

Mummy Monday!

It's time for the next installment of Mummy Monday! Today I'm introducing Belinda Fireman- a very talented artist who I met online on an e-course. As you'll read Belinda has a son and twin girls- she's certainly got her hands full and I was amazed with what she achieves in one day. Her work is such a breath of fresh air, I love how her pieces seem to radiate joy & happiness. Please read on :)

A day in the life of Belinda Fireman

I'll choose Wednesday, because I do something for myself that day:

5:42 Wake up and change into exercise clothes.

5:45 Meditate for 10 minutes.

6:10 Drive to the gym .

6:25 Exercise.

8:00 Pick up kids (twin girls and a boy) at home and drive them to

school.

8:30 Back at home with my son. Take shower.

9:00 Play with my son or bake. Some days I go to the chiropractor at

this time.

11:00 Lunch.

11:30 More play or some errand.

12:15 Gather paints and my son's school things.

12:30 Drive to school.

12:45 My son goes to preschool.

1:00 Paint at school. There is a parent room where I can do this,

which is great for the winter days when I don't feel like

driving back home!

Once every 3 weeks I have a session with my life coach at this

time.

3:00 Pack up paints.

3:15 Pick up my son. Hang out outside while the kids play on school

yard.

4:00 Drive home.

4:15 Make supper.

5:00 Eat supper.

6:00 Drive to karate lessons (for my daughters).

6:30 Girls start karate lesson while I play games with my son.

6:45 Hubby arrives to take over with the kids. I drive to my

weekly dance.

7:15 Help set up for dance.

7:30 Greet people (and take money) as they arrive for dancing.

7:45 DANCE!

10:00 Drive home.

10:15 Eat snack. Talk with hubby.

10:45 Get ready for bed.

10:50 Read until falling asleep.

11:00 Lights out!

You can find out more about Belinda and her work here:

http://belindafireman.wordpress.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/firemanbell

http://twitter.com/#!/belindafireman

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 :)

Evie's Dream

It was my Evie's first Birthday today! "Happy Birthday Peanut!" I seriously can't believe she is 1 already- I have no idea where the year went! I remember her being born like it was yesterday. We've had an amazing year & it almost feels like I've been on a rollercoaster for the majority of it- not kidding you- its been a whirlwind of highs & lows, stops & starts, laughter & tears but WOW what an experience & I wouldn't change anything (apart from the birth!). Sometimes I still have to pinch myself that she's mine :)

I've been wanting to paint her a picture ever since she was born & last night I finished one- just in the nick of time for her Birthday. I've called it Evie's dream & I'm so pleased with how it turned out, it makes me smile when I look it so I hope it will make Evie smile too.

And I've not forgotten that its also Mummy Monday and I thought why not start with me? So here is a typical day where I am juggling work alongside being a Mummy:

7-7.30am Evie wakes up so I give her some milk and then we play with her toys in bed for a bit

8.00-9.00 Make & give Evie her breakfast & get her ready for the day.

9.00-9.40 Evie is playing whilst I take a shower & answer emails or make/finish any orders I have from Not On The High Street or Etsy that I want to post that day.

9.45-10.45 Take Evie to Hartbeeps - a fun, sound play class.

10.45-11.00 Bring Evie home, give her, her milk & put her down for a nap.

11-12.30/1.00 Whilst Evie is asleep I either work on any outstanding freelance briefs/finish orders/create new ideas.

1-1.30 Give Evie her lunch.

2.00-3.30 Either run some errands in town/take Evie for a walk stopping at the playground/meet up with a friend.

3.30-5.00 Come back home, give Evie her milk then we play, juggled with housework

5.00-5.30 Make & give Evie her tea

5.30-6.30 Either go out for another short walk/play in the garden or play indoors/watch some of the baby bedtime hour on CBeebies.

6.30-7.00 Daddy comes home and gives Evie a bath whilst I get on with any day to day housework/tidying up Evies toys etc

7.00-7.15 Give Evie her milk, read her a story & put her to bed

7.15-8.30 Carry on with some design work or house work.

8.30-9.30 Eat & relax in front of the TV

9.30-11.30 Carry on with my design work. If possible I try & make 11.30 the cut off point because personally I struggle to function on less sleep!

So there you have it- a day in the life of me :) I think seeing your day laid out like that really helps to put into perspective what is actually physically achievable in one day. Mummy Monday will be back next week!

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 :)

Pretty Things

I've got a wedding to go to next weekend & I have nothing to wear......until now. This normally never happens to me but the second shop I went into I found a dress (that fits!) & then miraculously found shoes (in the sale!!) & a gorgeous bag to match in the next shop after that! Not bad for half an hours shopping me thinks :)

Dress is from Oasis

Shoes are from John Lewis

Bag is from Coast

Gorgeous!

This arrived in the post today and I just had to share it with you- is it possible to be in love with a sketch book?! I stumbled across it whilst searching on the internet. You can find it here.

A Summers Walk

It's been a while hasn't it :( & I can only apologise for the promise I made not so long ago that I would blog at least once a week! Tut, tut! It would appear that looking after an 11 month old, planning a wedding and freelancing is leaving me with no free time at all. And it feels like the only time I get to relax is out on my walks with Evie where I really make an effort to come out of my head so to speak, forget about work/wedding business, breath deeply & pay attention to the beautiful surroundings.

I've also been doing quite a bit of soul searching lately as I've been feeling disappointed with myself for not accomplishing the amount I want to during the day. I've been comparing myself to other mum bloggers, those in a similar position to me and I find myself reading their posts & thinking how on earth do they get so much work done in a day when I can't? I physically can't get any more squeezed into my day unless I get some more help or I don't sleep- so how on earth are these other people doing it? Then I realised I had already answered my question. Sleep less or get help- its that simple! I regularly end up going to bed at 12 or 1am just to keep on top of things so surely other people must be facing the same issues? I think they are but they are just not blogging about it. So I've decided that I will blog about it. After a little researching I found that there are Mummys out there struggling to maintain a balance between being a mother & running a business. I have also just finished a business e-course with Creative Thursday & I got to read about other mum's experiences on this topic & it confirmed my suspicions that I was being too hard on myself. This in turn has inspired me to do a series of "day in the life of" posts whenever I can on a Monday- Mummy Monday :). I have found these sort of posts comforting and inspiring in the past where I get to glimpse into other people's daily lives and see what a typical day looks like for them. The first post will be this Monday & if anyone would like to participate it would be great to hear from you!

I also have some new work to show you- a new card range I've been working on so I'll be posting again soon. Hope everyone's having a good week & thank you so much for bearing with me, I appreciate it :)

Rabbit Awareness Week

"If you locked a cat or a dog in wooden box in the garden, it wouldn’t be long before your neighbours complained to the RSPCA, and rightly so – but why should it be any different for rabbits?" RWAF

All this week its Rabbit Awareness Week and this subject is so important to me that I couldn't not blog about it because quite frankly rabbits get a raw deal! When I decided to get my two bunnies- Millie & George, I did do my research and read books and boy did I do the right thing as I had no idea of how much work it would involve. Here are some of the things I learnt:

A rabbit needs a hutch at least 6x2x2ft and an 8ft run.

A rabbit must be able to stand on its hind legs whenever it wants to avoid spinal problems.

Rabbits are physically incapable of being sick so when they moult they are unable to throw up the fur balls like cats which can lead to stomach problems.

They are as difficult to take care of as a dog or cat so they are NOT ideal pets for children.

Most rabbits actually hate being picked up because they are prey animals- being picked up is what happens if a predator catches them.

Rabbits shouldn't live on their own, they should at least live in pairs as they are social animals.

Rabbits are very territorial so if you don't have your rabbit spade or neutered they can get aggressive and will spray urine to mark their territory.

Vets bills are very expensive. Rabbits need regular check ups for their teeth, weight and need various injections every year, so just like cats & dogs you would need to get insurance which you would have to pay monthly.

Unfortunately it's a sad fact that most people just don't have the correct information on how to look after their rabbit/s correctly. The image of a rabbit down the bottom of the garden in a small hutch with a small run (if they're lucky) still sadly exists today in many households. Rabbit Awareness Week was started with the aim to re-educate the general public so that they can take care of their bunnies correctly. I so wish this information & research had been around when my parents bought me my first pet rabbit when I was a child, it makes me shudder now when I think of it living alone in a hutch far too small for it. Thank goodness we can do something about it now!

Please, please, please watch this video and spread the word

To find out whether your bunnies are happy bunnies please click here

And finally, a final plea (as I could passionately talk about this subject forever!) If you know of anyone who is thinking about buying a bunny for themselves or for their children please show them the video above and if they still want to go ahead please encourage them to get a pair of bunnies from a rescue centre as there are so many unwanted bunnies that desperately need good homes (plus the centres are far more likely to give them correct advice on how bunnies should be looked after). Just like cats and dogs bunnies should not be sold in pet shops anymore. Spread the word so that bunnies are given the chance to lead happy & healthy lives which every living animal deserves.

All this week I will be giving 10% of all my sales to the RWAF.