mini rodini sneak peak - AW13

It's finally getting warm and the heating hasn't been on for, oh what - a fortnight now?! So obviously attentions are turning to the winter collections which will be coming our way before we know it. Waaaaa! However there is lots to look forward to as the prints and colours in the AW13 collection are fantastic! The snow leopard print was really strong, and other highligts include penguins and horses!

Here are a few images to keep us going until the collection gets it's official launch

Babes in the Woods

Yesterday was truly exciting, busy, manic, hilarious, cute, gorgeous and exhausting! We had our first photo shoot for the shop with the amazingly talented Sarah Mason from Sarah Mason Photography; so bright and early in a small clearing in the trees we were pitching our Bell Tent and trimming up with bunting and balloons!

The weather was generally kind to us- lovely sunshine to start then a little cloudy later, but we all stayed dry and generally warm enough. The children could not have been any cuter or more well behaved! They were all such good sports and seemed to have a super time as well!

We will be getting the images once Sarah has worked her magic with editing, but for now here are a few 'behind the scenes' that I snapped in between running around like a loony all day!

The Play House Project

We hadn't given much thought to a birthday gift until about 3 weeks prior to the big day. We Father Christmas bought Bunny a toy kitchen for her first Christmas and she has played with it daily. Like most young children she loves role play and spends hours 'cooking' or 'vacuuming' with her Hetty. So, to expand on the theme we decided to get her a play house for the garden.

There are loads of different ones available, but we decided to go with one by Windmill Crafts. The guys were so helpful, and luckily were delivering another play house in the county 3 days before her birthday, so could drop Bunny's off then too!


They couldn't paint the interior for me, but the exterior came in my choice of colour, so that was settled, Easter weekend I was all set to do a little decorating and get it all looking fabulous.

I really wanted to keep it as a surprise, so my husband could also be there to see her face when we showed it to her, so I 'wallpapered' the kitchen doors with some old off-cuts. Amazingly she only tried to peep once, and seemed quite happy with the explanation that it was a surprise outside! I would NEVER be able to be so restrained!

I managed to get it all painted, and even ran up curtains in time. I really enjoyed the sewing, and plan to make a quilt / cushion for the upstairs area.

To save time and my sanity and stress levels, I bought some bunting from Next, along with the wooden hearts hanging up and some fairy lights. The curtain fabric was some old bits left in my stash from ages ago, I didn't quite have enough, so added the green dot onto the bottom to eek it out a bit. I think that the green makes them look much better, and it has neatened the back up so no hems are visible. I didn't do tie backs yet, but will try to next time I sit down to sew. 

                                  

      the very well loved kitchen! 

                                                                    

 

 

The deckchair is by Egmont toys and we can order them in upon request. The faux (!) flowers are rather loud; we will probably plant the window boxes properly, but until it warms up there seems little point. 

The plan is to have the garden 'tidied up' in the next few weeks (it is hideous atm), and the playhouse will be moved to its permanent position, hopefully with some lovely planting around it to soften the edges and make it a nice feature. But until then it is just outside the kitchen, which has worked well with all of the snow we had to contend with.

Knowing your limits

I love baking, I really do, but there are times in life when you have to realise that circumstances are not favourable to spending a couple of afternoons indulging in sugar and icing and expressing yourself through the medium of cake. And, Easter weekend was one of those times for me.

Rewind 2 years, and I would have been going hell for leather to make sure that I fully achieved every task on my impossible list, along with a pile of arguments, panic attacks, hissy fits and plenty of tears along the way.

But that is why I got so ill.

With everything else I had to do (more on that later) I realised the cake was going to be too much so I decided to ask Anne if she could help me, and if not, I would just buy one. Happily she said yes, and it was AMAZING! Such a talented lady, all the cakes she creates are works of art, I showed her the photos on my previous post and voila!

Isn't she clever? We were all thrilled with them, and they tasted even better than they look!

The birthday girl was truly spoilt, and had such a fabulous time playing with her little friends and cousins, and the guys at the Ice Cream farm could not have been more helpful - they were great.
(To clarify, Anne works in the shop and kindly offered to fit baking and decorating the cake around her other plans over Easter)  

here she is wearing her mini rodini flower blouse, contemplating blowing out the candle!

The deep freeze

Snow, Snow, Snow

Well, it's nearly April and I have never felt so cold! If this continues for much longer I am just going to wholeheartedly embrace it and get myseld an outfit something like this:

Do you think the hat would be a little OTT?

I have been trying to plan my daughter's 3rd birthday party. We have booked the Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream Farm, but I am seriously doubting that the snow will have melted by then. They do have an indoor covered play area, and maybe if the children are so excited and giddy from  ice cream and party food they will run around and play and not feel the cold?

So anyway, positive hat on, I'm sure it will be fine. (That's the spirit!) So, I had better start thinking about the details. As it is an ice cream farm, well, the theme had better be ice cream! I have been having a little search around the internet and found these cute cake pops by Peggy Porschen in her new Boutique Baking Book image via sweet craftiness

and another version:

 daisypinkcupcake.blogspot.co.uk

Balloons, 

these look very easy to do, just brown paper and helium ballons. I think I would use the ballon sticks though as I get huge guilt about using helium during the current shortage. (It's essential for all sorts of medical equipment! Who knew?!)

And for the actual cake, how about this by and everything sweet

or my favourite from one charming party

I have easter Monday to make it all the treats if I am going to, so we shall see if I can get it done in time!

Posh Sellotape!

We are so thrilled with our new branded parcel tape! #easilypleased yes it's true but it's the little things that make all the difference.

Hopefully when our parcels land on the doormat the recipient is as excited opening it as we are packing it!!

this mummy loves: mumprenuer feature

Today we have been the featured business in the mumprenuer series, over on This Mummy Loves. Below is the interview, and you can also enter the competition to win sandwich the cat!

23January 2013

New Business Mum – Christine Asher & Fab Giveaway Too!

posted by SONIA LEAVE A COMMENT

The very lovely Christine owner of Herbert & Stella is my new business Mum on the blog today, she not only comes offering a fantastic discount of 15% code for her fantastic website – please use thismummyloves at the checkout (ends Valentines Day 2013); she is also offering a gorgeous prize which you can find out about at the end of the post!

Thank you so much for your time Christine, I wish you every success in your new venture! Your shop looks absolutely gorgeous and I wish I was close enough to visit you… one day maybe 

Who are you?
 I am Christine Asher, former Doctor of Chinese Medicine, wife to Tom, mother to Romilly. Dizzy blond, recovering crisp addict and magpie for all things fabulous.

What do you do?
I have a small shop in Ilkley, and also online, selling a carefully selected range of clothing, toys, gifts and décor / furniture for babies and children aged from birth to five.

When did you establish your business?
We opened the shop, and the webshop on the 20^th July 2012

What made you start your own business?
I had been very ill with PND and social phobia following the birth of our daughter. As I got better, I realised I wanted to work again but did not want the responsibility and stress of my previous career, using Chinese Medicine to assist fertility treatments. My husband had bought me a sewing machine, and I learnt to sew and make vintage inspired children’s clothes.  I thought about just selling the items I made, but I didn’t think I would ever make much money, or leave my spare bedroom! I spotted a gap in the market in our local town for quality, children’s clothes and toys that you don’t find easily on the high street, and that were priced at a similar point to Boden or Monsoon.

What do you love about working for yourself?
It doesn’t feel like work, in all honesty. Every day brings new challenges and the opportunity to meet new people. I am so glad we have a shop as I have the opportunity to build relationships with many different people in the community; I was worried I may have felt isolated if my business was online only. I thought very hard before I committed myself to the business if it was something that would hold my interest long term, but there is always something fresh to work on and get excited about as the collections change seasonally, and I have lots of opportunity to be creative within the shop – window displays, packaging, visual merchandising etc

Is there anything you do not like about working for yourself?
My husband helped me to realise that I do not need to try and be wonder woman. There are several hugely important skills that I simply do not have, but it is absolutely fine to delegate! I am so lucky to have the most wonderful member of staff who has worked with us from the beginning, and happily, she excels where I fail miserably! I have always worked for myself so the uncertainty of income when working for yourself is normal for me.

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you could? 
I knew setting up the shop would be a lot of work, but I had no idea it would be as much work as it was. On the whole I am very pleased with the decisions I have made, and the look and feel of the shop, however we have had a few problems along the way. One supplier went bust, owing us money, and our promotional material to launch the shop was truly appalling and not what we had asked for, but we had to use it as we had no time left! Oh, I forgot – our dog had a litter of puppies in September that was hard!!!I would definitely change that bit, although they were incredibly cute. It was the most emotionally and physically exhausting night ever, being the dogs birth partner!!!

What advice would you give to a Mum considering starting her own business? 
It is very important to try and think rationally, not emotionally about the business. You may think it is the most wonderful idea, and be so passionate about it, (which is great) but it must stack up financially. We worked out the daily and weekly break-even figures, in the business plan, and then thought hard about whether we felt that realistically, it was manageable. I also thought hard about the initial sacrifices I was prepared to make, and ultimately, what my ideal working week would look like, so I know what I am aiming for.

Christine is offering this gorgeous Sandwich the cat soft toy from Bla Bla Kids worth £29.00 to one of my lucky readers…

All you need to do is enter via the rafflecopter below! Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway