Casa De Kooky

To Blog or Not to Blog?

2012-12-31T13:58:00.000Z

Hello there. Remember me? Crafty chick, curly hair, talks too much about nothing in particular?
How you doing?

So I have neglected this little blog of mine, again. Very badly.
To be honest, part of me was thinking maybe I should just leave it altogether, let the cyber-dust gather and just get on with other things. See, as well as a lack of time, I've had a complete lack of motivation for blogging - partly because I've been having a bit of a blog identity crisis. I don't really know where I 'fit' in the blog universe, if there is such a thing. I'm really not a 'mummy blogger', although I do have a little dude, I don't think I count as a craft blogger just because I like making things, I'm not so deluded as to class myself as any sort of 'writer' and I definitely don't have the domestic goddess skills to keep up with all the 'home/cooking/lifestyle' blogesses I love so much.

But then it hit me, the whole 'point' of my blog, is that there isn't really a point. It's just me. Babbling about life. Things i'm making, things I'm doing, things I'm thinking just... things. And that's fine. Actually, that's perfect. I've never been the sort of girl that really 'fits in', so why start now?

I like that my blog doesn't fit neatly into a category. I like that it's just a bit of a jumble - of memories, photos, thoughts and things. It's why there's no way I could ever just 'leave' this little chunk of internet to gather dust. It's like my favourite pair of boots - bit beaten up, not always in style, but so comfy, so me, and I just love them - couldn't ever bear to throw them away.

So in short, I'm going to give it another whirl. I'll do my best to post more often, may even spruce the place up a little, but I'm not making any promises. My blog will remain what it's always been. A place for me to put things, and if anyone else feels like taking a look, well that's lovely too.

With that in mind, and for posterity & my own neurotic craziness, here is the end of 2012 in photo mosaic form. Because y'know, the world might go pop if I don't do it. And also, it was a lot of fun.

September:

October:

November:

December:

It's been a great year, but I have every confidence that 2013 will be even better.

Hope yours is fantastic too.

Au-revoir August, you were awesome.

2012-09-01T13:24:00.000+01:00

I liked August, a lot.

I found that elusive Summer Holiday balance between busy days of planned adventures and lazy days with spontaneous ones.

We met Timmy the sheep (possibly pipped Mike the Knight for the short one's moment of the holiday) at Brighton Sealife Centre - which is looking gorgeous after it's refurb - the reclaimed Victorian arches are just stunning.

We spent a LOT of time at the beach (every Summer I am reminded of just how lucky we are living where we do, sand or no sand.)

We had barbequeues a plenty on our new patio (the garden as a whole, is still a big unfinished mess, and I successfully grew NOTHING this year, which continues to taunt me a bit, but hey ho, always next year.)

We loved The Olympics. A whole lot more than I expected to if I'm honest.

And of course, we had our first proper family holiday. Caravan style. It was brilliant. Exhausting, but brilliant. It was a four night chunk of merriment that merits it's own post really, so I won't say anymore for now, I'll just leave you with the usual gratuitous helping of pictures saying it better than words:

Thank you August, you rocked.

Puddle Splashing, Fire Engines & Sunshine

2012-08-08T11:44:00.000+01:00

It's the 8th of August, so it must be time for a July review, right? (Well, who actually expects me to be on time with these anymore anyway?)

I was a bit mad with July at the start, mainly because it was making no effort to be Summer whatsoever. So. Much. Rain. The sort of rain that feels a bit biblical, like it might never stop. Not that The Short One minded - have wellies, will splash, became his motto. Gotta love the 3 year old ability to find the silver lining even in the biggest rain cloud.

It did get better though, the sunshine finally fought it's way through and there was time for picnics, and strolling, and gardening (sore point - everything is dead or dying on account of the topsy turvy weather), barbequeues and blowing bubbles on the beach.

And of course there was Butlins, The Tall One's band had another gig (I may have had a few too many fizzy pops that night, but it was a lot of fun.), the seafront fayre came to town, there were fireworks, and Shortie had a ball at the Fire Station open day. (The plastic helmet has left his head only occassionaly since.)

So what looked like being a complete wash out of a month actually pulled it's socks up & turned it around in the end. Phew.

It all looked a bit like this:

The Elevated Envelope

2012-08-01T21:00:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time, I used to have a lot of penpals. I LOVE getting post, and getting it from all over the world made me smile loads. From there, I heard about the world of mail art - deco books, ATCs, mail art objects, travelling journals... I was hooked.

Then I had a baby, and although I still chat to most people I used to write to online, free time to frivolously mess about with paper & glue became a distant memory.

Now that Dylan's a little older, able to amuse himself for at least a small chunk of each day (plus go to nursery two afternoons a week), I find myself with a little time to play again. (Yes, yes, maybe I should be sorting out my neglected etsy shop, or catching up on Mount Laundry, but a girl's gotta have SOME fun, right?).

So, imagine my excitement when I found The Elevated Envelope on a friend's facebook page.

Essentially, it's a one off mail art project. You sign up, get assigned a swap group, make some beautiful envelopes, send them off out into the world, and wait for some to come your way too. I couldn't resist, and I'm glad I didn't.

I've had so much fun with this project. It's got me drawing again for a start, which I really need to make more time for - I forget how much I love it.

Anyway, the prompt for the design was 'Sweet' - totally open to interpretation. My thought process went 'Sweet... cake... biscuit... tea... tea party... Mad Hatter!'. I also had it in my head that I wanted each of my 9 envelopes to be part of a bigger picture when all grouped together.

So I started sketching, then inking, and eventually, addressing & embellishing. I even got it all done before the deadline, happy face! Here they are, before getting dropped in the post box:

And here, are all nine, together in order, making up my own version of The Mad Hatter's Tea Party. (Click to view bigger) Drawn & coloured by hand, embellished with rubberstamps & collage, topped off with stamps featuring her Madge for true quintessential Brittish-ness.

What do you think?

I've already received a few beauties from other participants, but they deserve a post of their own once they're all here.

Thank you, Tara, for a super fun project, I'll definitely be playing again :)

Happy Anniversary to My Man & Me

2012-07-31T10:00:00.000+01:00

On this day, fifteen years ago, I met a random bloke, in a terrible night club and I fancied the pants off him.
Little did I know he'd actually turn out to be the love of my life, my baby daddy & my best friend.
Happy Anniversary Gorgeous, love you a whole lot.

< / end shameless slushiness >

Butlins was BRILLIANT!

2012-07-27T11:00:00.000+01:00

Yep, there, I said it.
And it's true! Team Barclay-Church's first Butlins adventure, was fantastic.

If you read my Summer Holiday post, you'll know I had a few reservations, and was really only going because I knew Short Stuff would love it, but honestly? The Tall One & Me had just as much fun as he did. What that says about our 'mature grown-up' status, I do not know, but really, who cares when there's so much fun to be had?!

We were up with the birds on Tuesday morning, the sun was shining & we had a train to Bognor to catch. (This in itself, was a treat for Dylan - the boy *loves* to travel by train.) He spent the entire journey telling anyone who would listen that he was going to see Mike the Knight. We'd told him there would be lots of other fun stuff to do too, but he didn't care. He was all about that brave young hero. Until we got inside the park.

On entering the big white dome, the hub of Butlins action, his little face lit up. He was in awe trying to take everything in. 'Mummy LOOK! AEROPLANES!' (mini ride for kids), 'DADDY! We climb up there??!' (Giant soft play area), 'Mummy - that the claw! I love the claw!' (Oodles of teddy pickers), 'DADDYLOOKCAAAARS! Dyl drive one, pleeease?' (another kids ride, on a dinky little track, very cute.) Safe to say, he was impressed. And we hadn't even gone outside yet. Or met Mike the Knight.

So we dutifully followed as he zipped from one ride to the next on a never-ending thrill seeking adventure (all the kids rides were free, so why hold back?). After two hours of mayhem, we reminded him that Mike the Knight was due any minute. Excitement overload. Right on time, he showed up, taller than you'd expect, but pretty cool. He gave Dylan a high 5, posed for photos, left one little boy, thoroughly chuffed.

After all that excitement, lunch was in order, so we set off to explore the outside world. Which of course sent The Short One off again. 'Horsies!' (Carousel), 'My wanna jump!' (trampolines), 'We play gof daddy?' (Mini Golf), and so on. It was brilliant, like someone had taken all of his favourite things and stuck them in one big park. We ust about managed to get som lunch down him before the rest of the afternoon was lost in a blur of running through water fountains, hooking ducks, playing in the sand and being utterly in awe of Titan the Robot.

We had So. Much. Fun. The park is gorgeous - well laid out, clean, and packed with things to do. (We didn't even make it to the pool, which by all accounts, is amazing.) The staff are fantastic, full of smiles, and all great with kids. By 8pm, when our day passes ran out, we were all happily exhausted, but still gutted we had to leave. We'll definitely look at going back for a 'proper' holiday sometime soon. (The accomodation looked lovely too - especially the fancypants new hotel.)

When we got home, I asked Dylan if he liked Butlins, his answer was 'No Mummy, My LOVE Butlins!'. And then he crashed out, clutching Billy Bear. Think that says it all really. Definitely won't be the last time we go.

Our fun packed day of old fashioned holiday resort style good times looked a little like this:

We're All Going On A Summer Holiday...

2012-07-18T23:12:00.000+01:00

So today was Dylan's last day of term - sniff!

Seems crazy that we're here already. Crazier still that in September, he'll be going two and a half days, rather than just two afternoons. (What will I do with myself & all that free time?!). And I'm trying to not even think about the fact that this time next year we'll be planning his last Summer before s-c-h-o-o-l. Gulp.

Anyway, Summer Holidays are here!
Of course, being three, Dylan already has a few Summers under his belt, but this one feels different. It's the first where he's been at pre-school, so now it's 'Summer Holidays', not just 'Summer'.

As such, I feel obliged to be one of those uber organised mums with oodles of plans and fun things to do to make sure the next 6 weeks are amazing. Of course I'm also on a budget, and we have no passports, so jetting off to foreign lands is out.

We are headed to Dorset at the end of August though - A Haven Caravan Holiday no less. I know, the glamorous life I lead, huh?! Honestly though, I'm excited. Partly because it'll be our first proper family holiday, partly because the change of scenery will be great, and mostly, because I can't wait to re-live the Summers of my childhood in true cheesey holiday park style!

And as a bit of a warm-up, we've decided to take Dylan to Butlins in Bognor Regis for a day trip too! Well, it's just down the road from us, not too expensive to get in, and we've booked a day where Dylan's current favourite & best, Mike the Knight is doing a personal appearance. Ahem. I don't mind admitting, I'm a bit of a snob, and the thought of being trapped in a paerk with a million other families and their kids does make me question my sanity a tiny bit, but mostly, I'm actually quite excited, and I know Dylan will have an absolute ball, which is of course the main thing. I'll let you know how we get on!

Other than that, Summer (weather permitting) will mostly be about picnics, the beach, the park, the garden, playdates, plus as many free/very cheap activities & days out as I can invent/find on Pinterest. Oh, and The Olympics. We'll definitely be watching a lot of Olympics.

How about you? What have you got planned for Summer 2012?

Catchy McCatch Up

2012-06-30T00:46:00.002+01:00

Oh you poor little neglected blog.
Where did it all go wrong? Well, really & truly, life just plain got in the way. I could bore you with all the crazy and the busy and occassionaly just a bit rubbish (including but not limited to: far too much rain, a cold that wouldn't quit for me & chicken pox for the short one) of the last couple of months, OR, I could just move on & show you some pictures of the good stuff that's been keeping me busy instead. Deal? Super, let's do that.

First, cast your minds back to April.
April was brilliant at Casa de Kooky. There was Easter, a trip to the farm to see the baby lambs, the short one had a birthday (three now - where'd my baby go please?! *sniff*)(oh, and see that fimo Gruffalo? Yeah, I totally made that, bit proud of self.), we went to the zoo, stuffed ourselves silly with chocolate and cake, and the tall one & me had un utterly brilliant date night watching Graham Coxon live at a little low key gig in Brighton (resulting in *major* teenage crush revival. He's amazing.) Yes, it was all good. Really good. Well done April, you rocked.

May had a lot to live up to, but it did pretty well. There were a smattering of super sunshiney days (glad we made the most of those), there was festival goodness to check out, trips to the beach, the tall one's band played their first official gig (my boyfriend's a rock star, hello realisation of teenage dreams!), and there was another amazing date night involving a ridiculous amount of shameless fan-girling on account of being about a metre away from Paul Smith. I'm really not even sorry. He's delicious. Anyway, photos:

And so to June. Which has been an odd chunk of a month. It started well, full of sunshine, takeaway dinner on the beach, bank holidays and Jubilee flavoured jubilations, but then the weather went all wonky, Dylan got chicken pox, I got poorly, we were stuck at home all quarantined and sniffly for what felt like forever (it was 10 days, I do have a tendancy to overdramatise), then... FREEDOM! ...but more rain. And epic doom in the garden (all my poor little seedlings - gone! Munched by slugs. Boo.), so a distinct lack of Summery fun. There was Daddy's day though, which was lovely. Made a massive roast, felt all smug & domesticated. And there was Sports Day. Which was adorable, I may have got a tiny bit emotional. (And Dylan would have had the pre-school race in the bag if he hadn't decided to stop a foot in front of the finish line. Hey Ho.) It all looked a bit like this:

And July? well, I have big plans for July. My to do list is frighteningly long, but I'm ready for battle. Sunshine would be nice too, but that's out of my hands really.

So anyway, how have you been?

Review: Neon Green Micro Scooter!

2012-05-01T20:03:00.001+01:00

Since he started nursery earlier this year, Dylan has been scooter mad. Every time I pick him up & ask what he’s been doing, ‘Ride Scooter Mummy!’ is top of the list. So as you can imagine, when the lovely people at Micro-Scooters sent him a fabulous limited edition neon green scooter of his very own to review, his big blue eyes very nearly popped out of his head.

Within ten minutes of opening the box, he had his helmet on & was by the front door, raring to take his new favourite thing in the world on its first lap around the block. And the second, and the third. Since then, the scooter has come basically everywhere, safe to say, he loves it. I can’t say he’s an absolute whizz just yet, the micro-scooter steering is ‘intuitive’, in that the rider just has to lean whichever way they want to turn, rather than actually turn the handlebars (Which is what Dylan is used to – the scooters at nursery aren’t quite so modern!), but he’s definitely getting the hang of it, and I expect by summer, he’ll be joining the kids we always see whizzing along the seafront having a ball.

And I must say, the Tall One & I have been pretty impressed too. Setting the scooter up is a doddle – it arrives in two pieces, which can really only go together one way – it took a couple of minutes to ‘clunk’ the handle bars into place & check that everything was secure – any parent will tell you that a toy that can be used more or less straight out of the box scores huge brownie points, especially when an excited toddler with no patience is waiting.

It’s nice & light, (handy for when a parent up inevitably ends up carrying it home at some point – usually after toddler has exhausted himself with extreme scooting), but still very sturdy and extremely well made. Plus it looks great, and micro-scooter also sell all sorts of accessories to customise your wheels, several of which ~~Daddy~~ Dylan already has his eye on. The micro version is suitable from 3-5years old, and then there's the maxi version for bigger kids, and even an adult-size option too. (Must admit, I'm tempted!)

All in all, it’s been a massive hit, and I’d definitely recommend micro-scooters as a great long lasting toy, which also encourages your little one to get active, and I’m sure will (eventually) make the walk to & from nursery a whole lot quicker!

If you’re feeling patriotic, what with it being Jubilee year, and the Olympics coming up too, be sure to check out the new range of Union Jack design scooters just launched – they are super cool with a brilliant retro vibe to them.

Thank you so much to micro-scooters for the opportunity to do this review – I can see Dylan’s new scooter being his preferred way to travel for a very long time to come!

For Posterity & Neurotic Fulfillment...

2012-04-17T23:00:00.000+01:00

...on the 17th April, I'll post a quick update about the month that was March. Okeydokey? Good.

It was pretty great actually - definitely a pinch of Spring in the air, plenty of sunshine, Mother's Day, daffodils, hanging with chums, planting seeds, lots of fun stuff, and lots of busy.*

As is usually the case with Spring - it's got my brain all busy too - so many ideas, projects, possibilities... if I could just come up with a way of squeezing an extra hour or two into the day, I'd be sweet. Until then, I'll do my best to work out which ideas are the best and work on them in between nursery runs & domestic goddessness. (And watching Hollyoaks & catching up with texts from dog.)

Anyway, I know you're waiting with baited breath** for a belated March Mosaic, so I won't keep you hanging any longer, enjoy:

[*hence the blog neglect - again - sorry - again. (deja vous anyone?)]

[** not really. obviously I'm not completely deluded.]

Happy Mother's Day

2012-03-18T19:05:00.000Z

Mine was made of breakfast in bed, tea & cake in large quantities, daffodils, sunshine & cuddles.
Doesn't get much better than that.

Operation Sunflowers 2012 is Go!

2012-03-16T17:03:00.000Z

Last year's Sunflower efforts.

Planting sunflower seeds with a toddler is one of those simple pleasures of being a parent. Dylan & I had a go last year for the first time, and the geek in me has been looking forward to March since New Year. Because March = Sunflower Seed Planting Time! (Technically, it can be anytime from now to the end of April depending on how you do things, we're starting early.)

I've always loved sunflowers - their big yellow heads just make me smile, but until last year, I'd never even considered trying to grow one of my own. Turns out, it's really easy, a bit addicitive, and perhaps a little competitive. (There's a house at the bottom of our street who grow MAMMOTH sunflowers every year - seriously, huge, the flower heads are bigger than my head let alone Dylan's. They are the competition. They don't know it, but they are.)

Taller than D - success!

We had reasonable success last year, we wound up with about half a dozen pretty blooms & they all got taller than Dylan, which I thought was pretty good for newbies. Especially as I was totally winging it & The Short One was more interested in digging holes in the dirt than actually tending to seedlings. This year, I want monsters. Great big yellow headed sunshiney monsters. Dare I say it, I want them taller than me. That would make me happy.

So at the weekend, we went to work, and now we have 35 little pots of potential sunflowery goodness

Do you plant sunflowers every year? Or have we inspired you to try this year? Fancy a blogging Sunflower championship? Leave a comment - if there's enough interest, I might make a badge and maybe just maybe I'll even try to think up a prize - wooo!

I expect I'll be doing lunch with Jamie oliver any day now...*

2012-03-10T22:32:00.000Z

*Well, probably not really. Might be getting a little carried away. BUT, if you were to ask me 'Hey Leslieanne, was that your blog I saw featured on Sainsbury's list of favourite Inspirational Familypreneur Blogs?' I'd say YES! Yes, indeed it was! (Incidentaly, if that's where you've come from today - hello! please make yourself at home & have a look around - most posts aren't as gushy as this one, honest! :D)

That's right, they deemed me, and my little bubble of arty rambling and mummy muddling and floraley vintage styling, 'Inspirational', and I'm just a bit chuffed about it.

Y'see, I'm not one of those bloggers who really does a whole lot to promote themselves. I'm not one of those 'famous' bloggers who everyone knows, who has thousands of followers and an inbox stuffed daily with exciting PR pitches and what not. I'm not a big name in the rankings and league tables - frankly all that stuff makes my head spin, I can use google stats to see how many visitors I've had & giggle at the comical search terms that have led people here, and that's about it. Truth be told, I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to all the various circles and communities - I know a few people on twitter & am generally found chattering about tea & biscuits and/or silly pictures that make me smile. The dramas and controversies of the blogging world pass me by. I don't do politics, or bitching.

I'm just me.
I've had this little blog for as long as I can remember. It started as somewhere to pimp my online shop, but has grown into a little chronicle of the loves of my life - my little chunk of internet to make all pretty & tell anyone who fancies listening what's happening in leslieanne land.

To a lot of bloggers, being linked to by a big company like Sainsbury's, probably wouldn't be a big deal. To me, it's amazing, and has put a big fat smile on my face.

So thank you Sainsbury's, thank you lots!
(And y'know, if Jamie does want to do lunch - just have his people call my people & we'll hook up soon. Smoochies!)

Full of the joys of Spring at Casa de Kooky.

2012-03-09T22:47:00.000Z

Soooooo. Long time no update. Bad Leslieanne! I even had an extra day to play with thanks to the leap year, still nothing. Would you believe me if I said I was on purpose? A dramatic blogging pause to get you longing for the next post? No? Thought not.

It is of course, as always, the same old story. Been busy, distracted, working, faffing on Pinterest, all the usual suspects. Which is a good thing really, because if I wasn't flitting around being all little miss multi-task and what not, I wouldn't have anything interesting to tell you about here. Or any pretty photos to show you.

Did I mention it's looking a lot like Spring out there? That's another contributor to the lack of blogging.

I love Spring. Oh so very much.

Waking up to a spot of sunshine and birds singing never fails to put me in a chirpy mood & fill me with motivation to go stomping along the seafront or to the park, or to just walk the dog wherever the mood takes us.

Dylan's newest phrase is 'Look Mummy! Lovely Sunny Day!' - we're still feeling the need for hats and scarves of course, but I love that he's caught my enthusiasm for the season.

Especially now that two days out of seven he's all about Nursery (and still loving it, lots.), so I feel like we need to squeeze the rest of the week for all it's worth.

Every week since the beginning of February, I've spent a pound on a bunch of daffodils (and scolded myself for never getting round to planting the bulbs I bought last Autumn to grow my own, grr.), and they take pride of place in the lounge, sitting in a milk jug, all yellow and cheerful and daffodily. If you're feeling a bit gloomy - go get yourself a bunch of daffs. They're right up there with tea & biscuits for a cheap & easy mood lifter.

It feels a little like we've joined the hedgehogs in coming out of hibernation. The sunshine is inspiring all our chums to get out and about too.

There's been playdates, and lunch dates, and coffee, and chatter.

There was Valentines day (which was a bit of a non event thanks to short stuff being poorly, but The Tall One & I did manage a Chinese takeaway & a bottle of wine in front of a movie, which was basically perfect.)We've been picking out seeds ready for this year's pre-Summer plant-a-thon.

There's been baking, and crafting, and a re-found love of stickers. (From The Short One, I never stopped loving them.)

It's not all been pretty flowers & sunshiney strolls though, oh no - I've been working too - finally making some head way on getting the shop re-stocked - exciting! Stay tuned for a rainbow of felted birdies, beaded arm candy and lots more ideas in the making. And for all you fellow craft bugs, there's another tutorial coming right here on the poor neglected blog too. (Yes, it's of a floral nature - tis the season & all!)

So yes, lots going on, and lots coming. Thank you for sticking around through the white noise - I promise it'll be worth the wait!

Oh, and incase you were wondering, February as a whole looked a little like this:

Hope you're all enjoying the bounties of Spring too?

Seven newborn Photos You Mustn't Miss!

2012-03-02T19:15:00.000Z

Preparing for a baby can feel like a mammoth task, and by the time he or she arrives, mum can often feel like she’s been pregnant forever!

However, once the bump becomes a baby, time starts to move considerably quicker, and before you know it, the tiny newborn you brought home is a few months old and on a mission to explore the world!

The first few weeks as new parents can pass in a blur of nappy changes and sleepless nights, so here’s a quick guide from professional photographerManchester, James Broome, to seven photos you should remember to take to keep those precious early memories & treasure forever:

1. I’m here mummy! ~The Obligatory first shot of Mum & Baby. Don’t worry if your hair’s a mess and you’ve got no makeup – even if nobody else ever sees this photo, you’ll be glad you’ve got it in years to come.

2. Hi Daddy! ~The same shot, but with daddy, most likely looking a bit frazzled and all over the place, but ultimately happy & proud.

3. Time to Go Home. ~The perfect opportunity for your first family portrait – when you’re all set to leave hospital, ask someone to take a photo of Mum, Dad & Baby together as a family.

4. Look how tiny I am! ~Take a shot as soon as possible of baby, either lying next to a cuddly toy, in their cot, or some other scenario you can easily recreate as the weeks go by, to give a visual record of how quickly they’re growing.

5. Sleeping like a Baby. ~At some points, you’ll be forgiven for thinking your baby never sleeps, ever. So take a snap of them when they do, because there’s nothing more beautiful than a snugly sleeping baby. Plus it’ll remind you that it does happen occasionally at least!

6. Au Naturel. ~As a parent, it is your right to take at least one shot of your baby in the buff, if for no other reason than to embarrass them in the future when they bring love interests home for tea! Be as creative as you like with cuddly toys/fake flowers, or just let them rest on a soft blanket in a warm room for a beautiful photo.

7. An Official Member of Society. ~Don’t forget to take a photo of your new arrival on the day you officially register their birth. Think proud parent, baby in one arm, birth certificate in the other. Its baby’s first big milestone – it deserves to be captured!

And as wonderful as digital cameras are these days, don’t dismiss the idea of having some professional photos taken too. It’s never too early for a family portrait, in fact James, a professional photographer Manchester, suggests the ideal time is around 7-10 days after baby is born, as by then, their post-birth wrinkles will have smoothed out a little, and they’ll be more at ease with the world around them.

Great photographers will work with you to produce the sort of photos you want, and that you’ll cherish forever. Even when your little darling is drawing on the walls and squishing play dough into the carpet a few months down the line!

A Belated January Round Up.

2012-02-07T22:09:00.000Z

I know, it's 7th February. Safe to say I've been rubbish at blogging again. No fancy excuses - Just January. Just cold. Just busy. (Read procrastinating, eating leftover Christmas treats, losing the odd hour or two on pinterest, drinking coffee, that sort of thing.) (NOT however, playing in the snow - because I live in apparently the only town in England that didn't get any. Unimpressed.)

There's been other stuff too though, so for posterity and my own good old neurotic obsessiveness, January, prepare to be blogged...

Dear January,

You were a long old chunk of a month. I remember getting to the 20th and feeling like Christmas was about 6 months ago. That's not to say you were boring, or bad, far from it, but you did feel long.

The short one, is loving nursery. It's only been a few weeks, but it's like he's been going forever. Getting any sort of details about he's been up to while he's there, is like getting blood out of a stone though. He 'rides scooter, plays cars, plays trains, plays dinosaurs in sand. RAAAWR!'. Oh, and he learned that Pirates say Aaaarrr! Other than that, I have no idea. But he seems to be enjoying himself, so that's good. And the way his face lights up when I get there to pick him up? Well, I don't see myself getting bored of that anytime soon.

My new found 'free time' is still a bit of a novelty. I haven't really achieved much with it as yet - other than managing to drink a whole cup of coffee while it's still hot. I think I need to re-train myself in the art of time management. Or at least stop faffing about on Pinterest and eating biscuits just because I can. You can probably guess where I'm going with this - there's still nothing happening on the making front - well, nothing finished anyway, which is a bit rubbish really. If you'd like to form an orderly queue to kick me up the bottom, please feel free.

The tall one & I had a cracking date night, full of drinking & dancing to the musical stylings of The Iron Bootscrapers - Lady Gaga played on a Sousaphone? Shouldn't work, totally does.

And there were bright, crisp, chilly days. Perfect for wrapping up warm, stomping round the park & going for hot chocolate to warm up afterwards. No snow though. Did I mention that? No snow. Not one single flake.

Want to see photos? Course you do:

And now? I'm really ready for to Spring to spring. If winter won't give me snow, it can go away and come back to try again in December. Not bitter, honest ;)

Easing in gently.

2012-01-10T23:50:00.000Z

So, 2012. Ten days in, and to be honest, I'm still in a bit of a fog.
My little burst of new year energy and excitement has sort of fizzled like a dodgy cheap firework.
Not in a bad, sad, or gloomy way - just in a stalled car sort of a way.

I think it's partly because we started the year in limbo after the Tall One was made redundant on the 30th December (company he was working for went bust, uh-huh, lovely start to the year), plus I was inwardly freaking about The Short One starting nursery, while keeping busy with work stuff, so it all combined into a bit of a mushy blur, and I don't really feel like the year has actually started.

I haven't done anything remotely creative or Kooky Boutique related, my massive declutter is yet to start, and I've not even filled all the birthdays in on my new Charlie & Lola calendar - and that's one of my favourite jobs of the whole entire year!

Don't worry, the purpose of this post isn't to bore you all into submission so I can play catch-up while you sleep, it's to give myself a little metaphorical kick up the bottom.

This week, (all two days of it), has been pretty great. The Tall One went back to his old job yesterday (less money, but stable, and with chance of promotion, so millions of times better than nada) & had a great first day. The Short One had his first nursery settling in session and loved it. (So much so, that tomorrow, I'm going to try leaving him on his own for an hour tomorrow - that'll be the real test, think good thoughts.) I still haven't done anything crafty, but I'm planning - and plotting, which is a good start. And as soon as I finish this post, I'm going to put he birthdays in the calendar.

So that's where I'm at. Not exactly grabbing hold of 2012 just yet, but getting ready to.

I'll leave you with this photo of short stuff - is there anything more exciting when you're two and a half than having the whole park to yourself?

Hello Twenty-Twelve!

2012-01-01T21:53:00.001Z

Happy New Year Peeps!

Hope you all had fun welcoming in 2012? My boys & me had a super night of miniature food, watching a dozen different fireworks displays from the comfort (& dryness) of our own living room window, & Jools Holland on the tellybox. Perfect.

And of course there was a little reminiscing on the year gone by.

Can you guess what's coming next? Yes of course, it's the obligatory 2011 review...

2011 was a busy old year - a bit of a rollercoaster, but with more ups than downs, so yay.

Highlights included Paul Weller & Kings of Leon at Hyde Park, Bill Bailey at The Brighton Centre, and of course, partying with Postman Pat on his birthday (and mine!)

Short-stuff and I tried our hand at gardening - with reasonable success - definitely enough to convince us to keep it up this year anyway.

Kooky Boutique had a pretty great year - I finally have a site design I love, and the feedback I've had from happy customers makes me allsorts of smiley.

Music-wise, I continued my love affairs with The Arctic Monkeys & Elbow - both of their new albums were amazing. I fell for Eliza Doolittle, and even learned to love Lady Gaga.

On the tellybox, I continued to be shamelessly hooked on Hollyoaks & Glee, and added American Horror Story to my sky+ box. (Which frankly, scares the bejeesus out of me - it was Darren's pick, and I hate him for it because now I'm gripped & must see how it ends, despite the fact it gives me nightmares.)

At the cinema, my favourite was The Inbetweeners movie. I know, I know, I'm not a 16 year old boy, I shouldn't find it funny. But I do, really a lot.

I've crushed on Noel Fielding and Neil Patrick Harris (yes, I know I'm far too female for him, but he's still delicious), and I'm still holding out for Jamie Carragher, especially since having seen him in real life at my very first football match in September.

We haven't been on holiday, but have had oodles of fun days out here and there. Time spent with my boys is pretty much perfect regardless of where we go - keeping a toddler entertained certainly makes you appreciate the joy of the simple things in life. Stomping round the park, paddling in the sea, feeding the ducks... all good stuff.

This year's been a massive learning curve for me as a mummy - toddlers are way harder work than tiny little babies, but they're a whole lot of fun too. I had a mini meltdown yesterday at the fact we're just 4 months away from having a t-h-r-e-e year old, but deep down, I can't wait. I'm loving watching him grow up. He's a little monster, but he's amazing. So clever, and funny, and caring. Such a curious little dude - always into something, always smiling, always making me & the tall one smile too.

All in all, life is pretty great, and I can't wait to start another year full of memories like these:

So as far as 2012 goes, I'm excited! I love that feeling that comes with a new year - all full of posibilities and ideas.

As always, I have a whole lot of ideas buzzing round in my head, but we'll get to those in due course.

For now, I'll just wish you all a very happy new year - remember, 2012 can be pretty much anything you want it to be if you put in the leg work - so grab hold of it & make it an amazing year! ♥

December Round-up & Christmassy Goodness

2011-12-31T20:49:00.001Z

Hope you all had a spectacular Christmas? Ours was dreamy - I won't bore you with a blow-by blow festive blog post - I'm sure we've all seen enough of those, and I'm a little late for one anyway. Safe to say we must have all been on the nice list because Santa left a whopping chunk of lovely presents, I cemented my domestic goddess status by pulling off a pretty fabulous feast for 7, and the Doctor Who special was so good, it actually made me do a little tear. (I know, how very humany-wumaney.)

Anyway, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand words about Christmas at Casa de Kooky:

Yep, fun times all round.

December as a whole was pretty great really - manically busy, so a bit of a blur, but yes, good.

As much fun as we had though, I must admit I'm pretty ready for everything to go back to normal - I miss knowing what day of the week it is without stopping to ponder. And having a to-do list that's not in double figures. Well, not often. And a diet made of things other than pringles, chocolates and lots and lots of cheese. And wine.

For now though, I'll continue to indulge - tis New Years Eve after all, and I have a hot date with my two favourite boys & abottle of Pinot.

Have fun whatever you're up to - say hello to 2012 in style! ♥

November catch up...

2011-12-11T01:58:00.000Z

It occured to me today that in amongst all the busy of the last couple of weeks, I forgot to do a photo mosaic for November.
So in case there's anyone out there who looks forward to my monthly round up & is feeling incomplete somehow due to the lack of November-ness, or more likely, for my own neurotic sense of continuity, here are the best bits of my November:

There were fireworks (complete with duck-hooking, teacup rides and a chippie dinner).
The tall boy in my life had a birthday - there were drinks, laughs & good times with friends. Plus cake, presents, and cuddles with the short one.
And there was a date night to Brighton to watch Bill Bailey live - in the front row. (Safe to say I won giver of bestest birthday present this year.)
There were several surprisingly mild days for this time of year - the sort of days that need to be filled with stomping around the park, spotting squirrels, and getting muddy.

It was a pretty great month actually.
This one is shaping up nicely too - if a little busy. So I should really go cross something off the ever-increasing to-do list. It'll get shorter eventually. Right?

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-03T00:38:00.000Z

Okay so not really - it's only the 3rd December, I know, but when you've been up to your eyes in a felted winter wonderland for weeks, you can be forgiven for feeling festive already.

On the upside, I am more or less caught up with custom Christmas orders, so if anyone is still interested in snapping up a little bit of kooky festive-ness, now is your chance!

I have five sets of Christmas Chum Tree ornaments in stock at Folksy, plus can take orders for custom-collections directly. You can pick any 5 designs you like (choose from Rudolph, Robin, Gingerbread Man & Tree) - they can be all the same, or a selection of your choice, for £15 including P&P.

Plus, there's still time to order a Personalised Surprise Bauble too - these can feature the character & initial of your choice, and can be made in your own colour scheme too - just get in touch & we can discuss what you'd like. Surprise Baubles are £7 each including P&P, or two for £12.

And, since I do love you dearly for reading this blog, I'm offering a special bundle offer too - five regular Christmas Chum ornaments, plus one Surprise Bauble, for £20 all inclusive.

To order any of these, please email hello@kookyboutique.com with details of what you'd like - but do it quickly, I'm going to stop taking custom orders no later then Friday 16th December - possibly earlier if I get swamped again!

Also, please remember that all my decorations are hand made to order, so do allow up to 7 days for delivery, though I'll try to be quicker!

The Gallery: 11.11.11

2011-11-11T22:38:00.001Z

I haven't done anything for The Gallery in *ages* but this week, Tara is all about celebrating how cool today's date is, and the geek in me couldn't resist.

Sadly though, we haven't done a whole lot that merits photo-taking today. It's been very much a moochy one, partly because it's been allsorts of grey and yeuch out there, and partly because Mummy is still in the recovery position from two busy days and two late nights out in a row.

I suppose I could have taken a photo of our Nutella croissants this morning (breakfast of champions), or clicked a snap when we were colouring up a storm earlier, but instead, I decided to capture the essence of the day, 11.11.11, by spending some quality time with little legs, mooching & being silly for the camera.

Voila:

(Brought to you in glorious monochrome to save your eyes from my walking-dead-sleep-deprived chic. You're welcome.)
How about you? How have you spent 11.11.11?

How to pick the perfect Nursery?

2011-11-10T08:59:00.000Z

I'm in the midst of my biggest parenting decision to date.
We (The Tall one & I) have decided that it's time for the short one to go to nursery. It'll only be two sessions a week until September next year, but we agree that it'll do him the world of good.
He needs the time with other small people, and much as I hate to admit it, he needs to learn that he can get along without mummy always being around.

So after much deliberation, we picked our top three choices, and today, we went to check them out.
I was assured by my sage, more experienced mummy friends that we'd 'just know' when we found the right one. It'd feel 'right' and it'd be great.

Well, they were right, except that I got that 'this is the one' feeling, for two of our choices. (Technically, I loved all three, but one has been eliminated purely because it's out of our budget.)
Dylan was absolutely no help, as he happily went off playing & exploring at both - basically so long as there are toys and snacks, I think he's happy. He's quite easily pleased really. Much like his mummy.

Both have slight downsides I can deal with, both have a whole load of positives that I love.
So how on earth do I choose?!

I shall do what I do best - mull it some more. And hopefully make a decision before my head goes pop.

How To Make a Personalised Felt Christmas Bauble

2011-11-06T08:00:00.004Z

Well, people said nice things about my first attempt at a tutorial, so here is another...

It's my own design, inspired by and adapted from others I've seen here and there, so may I present to you... the Felt Surprise Christmas Bauble! (If anyone can think of a catchier name, do let me know.)

Cute, right?

To make one, you will need:

~Two squares of felt - one red, one green, plus scraps of brown, preferably in 2 different shades. (You can of course use whatever colours you like, but for the sake of the tutorial, I'll refer to the colours I've used here.)

~Ribbons/Buttons/Sequins & whatever other embellishment you fancy.

~A small piece of contrasting ribbon to make a loop for hanging.

~Sharp needle.

~Embroidery floss in coordinating colours.

~Card/paper.

~Pencil.

~Scissors.

Got everything? Okay, let's go!

First up, make yourself a circle template as big as you want your finished ornament to be (for mine, I drew around a roll of sellotape - it's about 7cm diameter).

Use your template to cut three felt circles - 2 red and 1 green.

Cut a small portion off the top of the green one as shown above.

Next, cut another couple of card or paper circles the same size as the first. Use these to draw your bauble design on - I use two so that I can gauge how the pieces will overlap. I've done a reindeer & a D for Dylan, but again - you can put whatever you like on yours, just make sure you leave at least half a centimetre gap all the way around for sewing the pieces up.

Cut them all out & use them as templates to cut the same shapes out of your felt pieces like so...

Next, take one of your red circles & arrange your pieces however you like, and pin them down:

Now, you're ready to stitch them all down - I use very basic tiny little running stitches, and I do it by hand because I'm hopeless at machine sewing - if you're a whizz, by all means fire up your machine and do it that way! When you're done, it'll look a bit like this:

(I decided not to sew the antlers down because a. it's way fiddly, and b. I like the 3D effect it gives.)

Once you've stitched everything down, add any other embellishments you like - I gave rudolph a red nose & tiny button eyes, plus a little sparkle. Voila:

Next, it's time to start putting the bauble together. Take your embellished red circle, place it on top of the plain one, and add the green one to the back of the pile. Make sure all the edges line up nice & neatly & pin the three pieces together as shown below:

Now, start sewing around the edges - making sure to go through all three layers when you get to the green part. Again, use any stitch you like, but I think blanket stitch works well & gives a nice edge.

I'd reccommend starting just left of the top middle point, because then you can do a few stitches and then sandwich in your ribbon loop for hanging as central as possible as shown below:

Keep stitching all the way around, but stop about an inch or two from where you started so you can add some stuffing (you can use felt scraps, proper toy stuffing, or like me, good old cotton wool. You can lightly pad it, or pack it tight for a firmer bauble (?!) - your choice. Once it's stuffed, keep stitching till you're back to where you started. Put the needle back through your first stitch, then all the way through the bauble, snip off the end & let the excess get hidden inside.

And you're done!!

The green piece at the back has cleverly become a little pocket/pouch deelie that Santa can leave an extra little treat in for a special boy or girl to find hanging on the tree on Christmas morning - how great is that?

(In the picture, you can see a gift tag too - I'm hoping that Santa might also leave Dylan a little note to say thanks for his mince pie ;)

So What do you think?

If you make one of your own, I'd love to see it!

(And if it all looks like too much effort - I am taking custom orders for these, they'll be £7 each including p&p in the UK, email hello@kookyboutique.com to discuss your needs - but do it asap - these will be made to order, so you'll need to allow up to 10 days for delivery - and feel free to tell your friends too - thanks! :D)

Operation Christmas 2011

2011-11-05T16:50:00.000Z

There are 50 sleeps left before Christmas.

Sorry, but it's true.

If, like me, that figure makes you catch your breath while your heart races a little, panic sets in and you start mentally writing a list of the eleventy million things you need to do before D-day, then take a deep breath, and relax. I have a plan.

I have decided that this year, there will be no last minute panic, no festive themed meltdowns, and definitely no rage enducing pounding of the hight street in the middle of December.

Because actually, 50 sleeps is loads, so long as I take note now & don't let myself fall into the trap of thinking 'oh it's still ages away, no need to worry just yet.' (Also known as exactly what I did last year.)

Better still, technically, I've only got 5 jobs to do, look:

Job one = Presents. This year, my present shopping is going to be done by the end of November. Yes, really. This weekend's job, is to write a list of what we're getting for who, then there are three weekends to do 'real life' shopping - and I figure so long as anything I need to get online is ordered by around the 21st, it'll be here before December & completely iliminate the terror of 'what if it doesn't get here in time?!'. Oh I hate that game.

Job two = Food & Booze. My cunning plan here, is to book myself a supermarket home delivery slot for the Thursday before Christmas - you can usually 'reserve' a spot about 3 weeks in advance by just adding the minimum order value to your trolley (I reccommend doing so with appropriate quantities of wine and chocolate) - it won't be charged to your card until the day of delivery - then you just need to remember to edit said order before it's due to be delivered to make sure you get more than just a few bottles of Pinot.

Job three = Calendar. By which I mean a. get treats for the drawers in Dylan's advent calendar so he doesn't end up with a boring, ill fitting chocolate coin wedged into each one, and b. social calendar - weekends & daddy days off fill up quick this time of year, so I *must* keep track of putting events ONTO THE CALENDAR rather than relying on saved texts/emails/scraps of paper tucked in my diary. (also, also known as exactly what I did last year.)

Job four = Special Deliveries. I can't remember a Christmas where I haven't made at least one trip to the post office to stand in an all too long queue of grumbling people to pay a fortune for special delivery because I've left it too late to send cards & gifts to far off friends & relatives by regualr post. NOT THIS YEAR!! My plan, is that anything that needs to be posted, will be on it's way in the 1st week of December - better early than me making the papers after a self adhesive postage stamp related rage incident. Definitely.

Job five = Be Merry. By which I mean, spend December feeling smug about my military style organisation skills and being able to enjoy just being Christmassy. Decorating the house, wrapping prezzies, baking Christmas cookies, doing Christmas crafts, going to see Santa, having friends round for mulled wine - all safe in the knowledge that everything else is taken care of.

That, friends, is The Plan. Now I just need to pull it off. Easy, right?