This Week ::

A round up of some of my favourite moments from my Instagram this week ::

Finding Inspiration :: Baby Sewing ::

Since finding out that baby number 2 is going to be a girl, I won't lie, I have been getting a little excited about all the new clothing possibilities.  However on actually going out to investigate shopping options I found myself incredibly disappointed by the choices available to girls.

Throughout Milo's childhood I have complained endlessly about how girls have so much more choice than boys when it comes to the clothing departments and they certainly do, the girls departments are generally about two thirds bigger than the boys.  However since actually attempting to shop these departments I've found them so uninspiring, so full of frills and lace and pink.

After meeting Tilly of Tilly and Buttons last weekend and since then purchasing her book, I feel I may actually be able to sew some pieces for the little one myself.  Which has of course sent me into a pinterest binge-discovering the most wonderfully adorable patterns for little ones.  I've also found Plush Addict (via Tilly's blog) which is so full of beautiful fabrics.

Now to dust off my sewing machine and stock up on supplies :)

Here are a few of my favourites ::

Baby Sewing by vickibrown on Polyvore

Click the little pics at the bottom to see the source of the pics above and the big pic to see more of my sewing pins over on pinterest.

I would love to hear any recommendations you may have or any sewing for baby experiences you have.

22 Weeks ::

Now I'm getting back into regular blogging, I thought it would be nice (for me as much as anyone else!) to keep a little pregnancy diary here on the blog.
So I start today at 22 weeks.

(I really wanted to include a bump picture, but to be honest, could not get one I would be willing to share publicly!  I really need an assistant! Will see if I can get Milo to have a go for me next week.  So instead here's some shots of the baby knitting I've been indulging in. More on these next week.)

I'm really beginning to feel so much better now, I'm no where near as exhausted as I was back in those first few months.  All nausea has passed too.  Though there are new ailments to contend with, namely, dreadful, indigestion.  I suffered from this with Milo but to be honest had forgotten all about it.  Fortunately Joanne gave me a lifesaving tip at the weekend - chew gum.  Your saliva has natural neutralising qualities, which really does work incredibly well.

The only other problem I'm really enduring at the moment is what to wear.  I seem to be growing in a variety of places, not just my bump!  I'm sure this wasn't such an issue in my first pregnancy.
Almost all of my regular clothes are now much too much on the snug side.  I'm finding leggings, bump bands and maternity vests my best friends, but definitely feel the need to invest in some more appealing maternity wear.  If you have any suggestions of where to find such things I'd love to hear them.
Joy of Oh Joy has started a great video series on her blog this week, which tackles the whole issue of maternity wear fabulously.

Otherwise all is well.  She's moving about so much more now, it feels so strange compared to Milo, because I have an anterior placenta (at the front) meaning the movement feels so much more internal.  Johnny still has yet to feel any kicks as external movement is so rare.  Although Milo just felt her hiccupping, which was wonderful.

Crochet Granny Bunting :: A Pattern ::

Many moons ago I wrote my first ever crochet pattern, a series of simple crochet triangles strung together to create some bunting.  The original bunting still hangs in my garden, looking much more 'antique' than it did back then, in all it's faded glory, but I still love it and admire it everytime I head outside.  We're currently having a bit of shuffle about in our house, swapping rooms around, freshening things up and doing a little redecorating.  As I headed out the door to Craft Night on Wednesday with literally nothing on my knitting needles to take along, I grabbed a handful of blue yarns and decided to whip up a string of bunting for Milo's new bedroom makeover. At that moment he was adamant he wanted a blue bedroom, though this has since changed, of course.

This pattern is so quick and simple, I made the entire length of bunting here over the space of 2.5 hours whilst chatting with friends and consuming cake.

If you fancy having a go at making your own version you can head on over to the original post to see the pattern.  For this version I made each triangle in a single colour, but I was so undecided! I really love the original with lots of different colours, maybe I could make some more for the baby, before she can dictate colour choices for me!

Win :: Issues 50, 51, 52 and 53 of Inside Crochet Magazine ::

I'm excited to have 4 copies of Inside Crochet Magazine to giveaway!
Each and everyone of these issues is full of wonderful patterns, created by truly fabulous designers.
I've picked out a few of my favourites from each issue below (including a cheeky couple of my own!), but if you click on the images you can see the full collections over on ravelry.

Competition is open worldwide and closes next wednesday.  Simply enter via the rafflecopter form below.

All the beautiful photography in Inside Crochet is shot by Britt Spring

Good luck :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blogtacular 2014 ::

This past weekend was finally time for the event I've been so anxiously looking forward to it since it was announced last year-Blogtacular.
I've admired both Kat and Kat's blogs and work in general for a long time and it seemed so apparent from the beginning that this was going to be a truly great event.  I certainly wasn't wrong!

I roomed with the lovely Joanne of NotSoGranny, we headed down to London early on Friday to meet up at the Victoria and Albert Museum for lunch and browsing.  After that we checked ourselves into out hotel and after a few small errors in map reading on my part, arrived at the Blogtacular venue (the beautiful Royal Insititute) just a few minutes late, for registration, goodie bag collecting, drinks, and chatting before the opening keynote speaker. The venue itself was so beautiful and absolutely perfect for this event.

Joy Cho of Oh Joy opened the event with an incredibly inspiring talk on how she made her way to where she is today.  She was so personable, positive and knowledgeable in her field.  Her talk really left me with a head full of ideas and goals for the future of my blog and business.

Joanne and I headed off for some dinner, after a little more exploring on foot, before attempting to get some sleep.  My mind was so preoccupied with ideas and I was so excited about what the following day would entail that I managed very little!

Saturday kicked off with a video interview with Will Taylor of Bright Bizarre.  One of the things I most enjoyed about all the talks was hearing how these wonderfully successful bloggers had come to find themselves doing what they do.  Something that really struck a chord with me from Will's interview were his points on doing what's right for you as a blogger and retaining your own voice and the original feeling of your blog, ignoring what everyone else doing and sticking to what feels right for you.

Anne Ditmeyer of Pret a Voyager followed with a really great talk on values and the importance of getting paid.  Something that is often so underdone in the creative industries.  Her blog is fabulous and her skillshare courses and vayable tours also look really interesting.

After a short break for coffee and a chance to browse the workshops and market place and sample some super delicious meringues from the meringue girls (gin and tonic meringues are basically everything I love in one amazing mouthful!),  Joanne and I headed to Tilly Walnes and Vicky Orchard's talk on turning your blog into a book.
Joanne and I had met Tilly the evening before, where Joanne showed off the beautiful Coco dress she had expertly made from Tilly's pattern and purchased her new book.  So inspired by Joanne's success at sewing I ordered a copy of said book from amazon as soon as I got home!

As writing a book of some kind or other has been on my mind forever, I found these ladies opinions on the matter super interesting.  I imagine impending baby will probably put any plans of book writing on hold for a while but I cannot wait to attempt to put some of this advice into practice in the future.

Next was Hands on Styling with Ellie Tennant.  I'm so useless at this kind of thing, so it was really great to hear some of Ellie's tips and have a go at styling ourselves with the wonderful array of props that had been provided.

After lunch it was the Blog Business Panel with Courtney Adamo, Annabel Beeforth, Joy Cho and Allison Sadler.  I think this was one of my favourite talks of the day.  Hearing how these women have made incredibly successful careers for themselves through blogging was just so inspiring.

Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire of Mini Moderns did a really interesting talk on branding, I was really torn between this and the Social Media with Intention with Cathy James that clashed, but I'm so pleased I choose as I did.  Keith and Mark were great, so funny and interesting on a topic I generally find a bit daunting.

The last part of the day was, Secrets of the Editors wtih Kate Carter, Caroline Rowland, Lara Watson and Heather Young.  It was so interesting to hear from magazine editors about the way in which they choose content, structure articles and build reader loyalty and definitely some key points to keep in mind when blogging.

The closing keynote speaker was Natalie Lue of Baggage Reclaim and Bambino Goodies.  Her talk was so wonderfully empowering and full of great advice for life in general as well as blogging!  So many of her words are still ringing in my head as I go through my day, but something that I'm sure will stick with me for a very long time to come was 'you will always have more ideas than time and that is OK'.

The whole weekend was just so wonderful, despite being incredibly exhausted I'm so full of ideas and inspiration I just cannot wait to put into practice.  I'm so thankful to all the speakers who attended and especially to Kat and Kat for putting it on.  I cannot wait for next year!

If you missed the event, fear not, the whole weekend was filmed by CTV and you will be able to purchase access to the talks at some point in the future, sign up to the Blogtacular mailing list to be the first to know when this service becomes available.

Some of the photos used in this post are the official Blogtacular photos taken by Will Ireland and are provided courtesy of Mollie Makes

Absence ::

Oh my, it's been a while, I'm sorry to have disappeared so suddenly and without any explantation.
The beginning of the year did not exactly go as hoped, there were losses and upsets and dramas, that put a stop to all my well planned New Year resolutions and then I got very ill, super tired and to our great surprise we discovered we were expecting another baby!  Milo is beyond thrilled especially since we discovered it will be the little sister he has been so keen to have.

Those first 3 months were super tough, I was so unwell and so unbelievably exhausted, all the time. I got way behind on work and am really only just managing to catch up.

However I'm now safely in my second trimester, the nausea has long gone and I don't nod off every time I dare to sit down for more than a minute.  I'm finally feeling like I can get back to work and after an incredibly inspiring weekend in London for Blogtacular, I'm hoping to find the time to get properly back into blogging.