#SilentSunday

Win your own Personal Planner Family Wall Planner!

Last year I discovered Personal Planner - the company that make diaries exactly how you want them. You can customise every part, from the covers to the page layout and even add extras like weekly 'To Do' lists, or colouring book pages. 

As a stationery fiend I was sold but after using one for a year I'd also say it has been invaluable. I like to see everything laid out before me, and it really helped me keep on top of all my engagements and appointments especially during pregnancy.

The time came to reorder my diary, and other than updating the covers with new photos I've kept everything the same. It was just perfect! I have entered in as many birthdays as I could so now these are printed in each time and even tell me how old the person will be that year!

In an effort to get totally organised, as well as a new diary I also ordered one of the Personal Planner Wall Planners. Our family has recently just grown, Wiss has started school and I'm off on maternity leave this year, so there's lots of changes to keep track of. You are able to customise the Wall Planners too, so you can have a calendar suited just to you.

I am aiming to plan our meals better this year, so we waste less, eat better & get more experimental with our menus. The first column on our Wall Planner then, is for 'Meals'. We then have a column each so I can keep track of all our social engagements (Wiss has way more parties than us!), school holidays & other appointments. I particularly like the fact that you can make the calendar very simple, or more decorative depending on your choice. I can't wait to start using my diary and planner - this year is going to be organised if nothing else!!

Competition Time!! The lovely people at Personal Planner are giving away a fully customisable personal Family Wall Planner to one lucky reader. You can enter by using the RaffleCopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Disclaimer: I received the Wall Planner for free in order to review it. All opinions are my own.

Cute as a Button Mobile Tutorial

Way back in July I got a very exciting email informing me that I had been chosen as a blogger to work with Fantastic Ribbons, a great online supplier of ribbons and buttons (and washi tape!) I will be trying out and reviewing their products and of course, showing you what I've made.

For my first project I chose a packet of the 'Candy' button selections because I couldn't resist the gorgeous colours. Wiss and I wanted to make a decoration for the new addition to our family so I devised the 'Cute as a Button' Mobile!

You will need:

Buttons

Origami Paper in squares of various sizes 

Scalpel or Craft Knife

Ruler

Glue or Double-Sided Tape

Thread or String

Large Stick (not shown)

As our baby would be looking up at this mobile I wanted it to look best from that view. Many mobiles you can buy look great from our perspective but can be dull from underneath. I love origami, especially folded birds but I thought windmills would move beautifully in the breeze and catch baby's attention. Plus they are easier to make with a 4 year old!

To make the windmills you need to cut from each corner diagonally in towards the centre, but not all the way. I cut approximately 2/3 of the way, leaving the centre uncut.

We used small squares of double-sided tape (but you could also use glue) to stick all the left-hand corners into the middle of the square. This will create your windmills. I made some by sticking all the right corners as well (this will cause the windmills to turn in different directions.)

Using glue we stuck a button into the centre of each windmill. Not only does this give them a nice finishing touch but the button helps to weigh the windmills down and hang straight.

Next you need something to hang your windmills from. We went looking for a large stick on a walk in the woods but you could use bamboo canes, dowelling or even coat hangers if you prefer. We scrubbed our stick and let it dry before giving it a coat of white acrylic paint.

Now to hang your windmills! Make sure you hang them at various heights and spacing so they can spin freely in the breeze. I drilled holes in the stick so I could thread the windmills on cotton through them and then secured them all by finishing off with another button at the top. This looks cool but will also prevents the windmill from falling.

I hung the mobile using more thread and some invisible hooks. It looks lovely in our bay window but from underneath, the baby's perspective, it looks fantastic!

Baby Ferne is captivated by it!

I hope you have been inspired and if you do make a 'Cute as a Button' mobile then please share a photo with me, either on here or on twitter @thisiswiss. And don't forget to check out the Fantastic Ribbons website for your supplies. Happy making!

I Need to Remember This!

I came across this quotation the other day on Twitter (posted by Fritha @tigerlillyquinn) I'm not normally one for motivational messages but every now and then one really strikes a chord.

I gave birth 8 days ago and Wiss starts primary school on Wednesday. These two huge events in our life mean that there's not much time for anything else at the moment. We are juggling the babymoon period with making the most of having our little man around; getting used to caring for a newborn (and just staring in wonder at her) while keeping an energetic & inquisitive 4 year old occupied and amused.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm terrible at doing nothing. I relax by doing things or making stuff! I have a 'To Do or Make' list that grows daily (especially now there's cute baby clothes to make too!), I have tons of unwritten blog posts in my head, I'm behind on responding to emails and I desperately need to get my website up and running. But all these things can and will have to wait.

I keep forgetting that being on Maternity Leave means that I am lucky enough to be taking a break from work to focus on being a mum. It's early days yet and I have to admit, I can't do everything!

#BlogBumpClub - 39 1/2 weeks

May I please introduce our beautiful daughter, Ferne. She surprised us all (especially the midwives!) by her very speedy arrival on Saturday night/Sunday morning, just 46 minutes after we got to hospital!

Wiss was 6 days late and although I hoped this baby wouldn't be too late, I hadn't really contemplated that she'd be early. We had a lovely Saturday evening - family film and fajitas with Wiss. I'd even had Padron Peppers, my favourite! And unusually most of them were really spicy. I'd been experiencing a slight tightening feeling every now and then from about 5pm but didn't think much of it and I didn't mention it to anyone. By about 9pm the pains were getting stronger & my husband noticed something was up, but neither of us thought it was 'it' until about 10pm - when the pains were about 5 minutes apart!

We called my parents in law to come over and look after Wiss, and I put on my TENS machine. My hospital bag was packed and ready, my husband packed snacks and I wrote a note for Wiss. My father in law dropped us at the hospital and we arrived at 11.15pm, still sort of convinced that we'd be getting a cab home as it was probably a false alarm.

My waters broke as I was being booked in. There was a lot of it and unfortunately it looked like pond water - there was merconium present. I tried not to panic at this stage and the midwives reassured me that although this can be a sign that the baby is in distress, it can also happen when things are happening fast.

It did mean however, that I needed to be put on constant monitoring so I was taken to a delivery room and asked to lie back while they put the straps around my stomach. I hadn't written a birth plan this time around but I knew that I wanted to be active if possible. The midwives said they could put a clip on baby's head to monitor it and allow me freedom to move around, but they would examine me first to see how far along I was.

The next thing I knew I needed to push (I still had my knickers on!) I got up and turned around and my body just took over. 3 more pushes and we were told that we had a daughter, born at 00.01am, weighing 8lb 7oz. Even though it was super quick, of course it wasn't a total walk in the park but I can't really complain.

I was stunned, in total shock about what had just happened. I'd been told that subsequent labours are often speedier than the first but this had been totally unexpected. And it was a girl! I'd really had no idea whether I was carrying a boy or a girl but everybody else had seemed convinced it was another boy, 'because of the shape of the bump'!

Because of the amount of merconium present in my waters, Ferne needed to be regularly checked for 8 hours afterwards so we made ourselves comfortable. The cup of tea & a Penguin I had afterwards tasted amazing! My husband had also packed 4 bananas (good for energy but not what I fancied eating) and a packet of Scampi & Lemon flavour Nik Naks. I know he meant well but I honestly cannot think of anything less appealing to eat at 3am in a delivery room!

I stayed awake all night, in shock and in awe at our new daughter, as she fed and dozed. I thought about Wiss and couldn't wait for him to meet his little sister. I was so proud and happy, and full of adrenaline! Fortunately there were no side effects of the merconium in my waters and Ferne was given the all clear to be discharged that afternoon.

We've had a couple of days at home together now and we're all finding our way. Wiss has been so gentle and attentive but of course it's been a little hard for him to understand why he's not the centre of attention at the moment. Ferne has been feeding well, and sleeping a lot ...during the day at least! And we're all adjusting to being a family of four :)

Thank you all for your kind messages and best wishes on here, twitter and Facebook, we really appreciate them. And thanks for all the support, laughs and information I've got from the #BlogBumpClub, I can't wait to see everyone else's arrivals in the coming weeks and months and will still love reading the weekly posts.

Click on the link to check out what's been happening this week:

#SilentSunday

The Cornershop - a felt project by Lucy Sparrow

I have been following Lucy Sparrow on twitter (@sewyoursoul) for a while now and have watched with interest as she posted photos of items she had been busy sewing, finding vacant premises and sourcing shop fittings. The Cornershop is an installation in Hoxton, where all the produce (and the till!) within the store has been painstakingly stitched from felt. I love working with felt myself so I knew this shop was going to be right up my street!

I took the overground to Hoxton last week to check it out for myself and I wasn't disappointed. The attention to detail is fantastic and the wide range of products made brought a smile to face - tinned sardines, oven chips and even KY Jelly! I spent ages circling the shop as I kept finding more and more to look at.

Lucy was behind the counter, happily chatting to all the customers and visitors. It's been very busy since it opened on August 1 and while I was there some German tourists came in because they'd seen the shop on German TV!

All the items in the Cornershop are for sale (in the shop and online), and many products have already sold out. Lucy said that although she knew that some would be very popular (Marmite for instance) she was also surprised at which other items were selling (Digestives, and Lucky Strike cigarettes) She is getting a very interesting insight into which brands we hold dear to our hearts.

I was particularly taken with many of the more unexpected everyday products such as the Domestos bleach bottles, the Bodyform sanitary towels, and the cat litter! Because they are less iconic than some of the other items I found them much more endearing and humorous. Lucy's work obviously has huge references to Andy Warhol, Claus Oldenberg and other Pop artists, but because it is an installation where people come and visit, and meet and chat just like a real shop, there is another layer to it. The friendly accessibility of both the shop, and the art itself means there is a lovely community feel, as well as it being quite absurd too!

I bought a couple of items myself - a box of Nurofen and a pack of Johnson's Baby Wipes - but there really was almost too much to choose from. See the photos below...

Better still, get yourself down to Hoxton to visit the shop in person if you can. It is open every day from 10am - 7pm until 31 August. There is talk of it travelling down to Brighton after this month so keep your eyes peeled. It's well worth a trip!