Expressions #2

Birthdays. Another year, another milestone. Two beautiful little boys growing up far too fast.

Our eldest turned 7 at the end of February. The boy with the big chocolate button eyes and gap-toothed grin will be off to junior school in September. A maths whizz (not sure where that came from!), a big bundle of energy, not always confident but happy and popular. His best friend is a girl..a female version of himself!

 Our youngest turned 3 at the beginning of June. Such a cheeky, head-strong little chap, totally independent already..'I can do it myself' Very smart and sharp as a tack. Wants to be like his big brother..much more daring though and has no fear!

I look at them both with an overwhelming feeling of love and pride.

 Best friends forever x

A Walk In The Park...My Race For Life

Back in the winter months at the beginning of the year, I decided I really needed something to focus on in terms of getting my fitness back. I had still been experiencing some pretty dark days and I don't just mean the lack of sunlight. I've been to lots of exercise and dance classes over the years but lately I had gained weight again and was so lacking in confidence, the thought of putting on any kind of exercise gear filled me with dread. I had to find something else...without an audience.

I'd enjoyed the wii fit but was also struggling to stick with any form of exercise particularly in sitting distance of a sofa, so my Mum suggested I start on the treadmill. She bought one some years ago and it had been used sporadically..it wasn't in the house (no telly or sofa for distraction) but it also wasn't at the gym, no audience..bingo!

Then it struck me that if I was going to really stick at this new fitness regime, I needed an extra incentive. For some years I've been wanting to raise money for charity, particularly cancer charities as I have lost so many wonderful friends and family members. I saw an advert for Race For Life and it seemed the obvious choice. My mum was going to sign up too but we realised she was away that weekend so I was on my own, It didn't deter me though as I'd set up a fundraising page and seeing the donations come in, spurred me on.

On Saturday 21st June, I travelled to the beautiful Clumber Park with my family (they were my cheering party for the day) and joined thousands of other women and children in the Cancer UK Race For Life. I was quite nervous when we arrived but the atmosphere was brilliant. Knowing everyone there was raising money for such a worthwhile cause was amazing. I cried during the minute silence, it was a very emotional day, but lining up to start the race I was more determined than ever.

I must admit, I didn't run the course, more of a quick pace with a sprint at the end, but it was an achievement nonetheless. I'd like to take on the challenge again and run next time. I hadn't realised that being in the middle of the 'walkers' section would be a little too slow for me (my Mum thinks I walk at a ridiculous pace!) Next time I'd like to be just behind the joggers so I at least have a choice whether to run or not. My fitness levels have improved dramatically over the last few months with the added bonus of losing 11lbs in weight so far (without a diet!)

The very best thing though is that I have so far raised £340.00 and still have some donations to come in. I am thrilled to have reached this amount as my initial target was only £100.00...I wasn't sure anyone would sponsor me!

I would like to say an enormous thank you to all those that have donated and hope that the money raised will go some way to funding research to end this vile disease once and for all.

Down To Business...one from the heart

I wasn't sure how to start this post. The last few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions but I needed to write all this down for my own sanity if nothing else.

Quote by Mandy Hale

Since Christmas, I've not been at all happy with the business. The stress of running a small business has really been taking it's toll on me physically and emotionally. My health has suffered as a result and I've been struggling with the fact that most of my waking hours are taken up by work.

I've wrestled with the guilt of not spending enough time with the kids and I've felt angry at putting so many hours in with so little to show for it. This year financially has been a shocker and I'm not ashamed to say it. With the pressure of keeping sales up to a certain level in these recession-hit days, has been no mean feat. Take the mortgage, endless bills and household outgoings, add rent for premises, staff, VAT, massive commission charges on a certain marketplace website, tax, insurance (for everything!), huge amounts for supplies, even bills to listen to your own goddamn radio while you work...you get the picture.
This is our job, we don't have any other income.True, it was our choice to start the business (out of necessity at the time) but we've worked our arses off over the years.

Nobody can say we haven't tried.

Painting til 4am with tonsillitis takes dedication. Crawling out of bed with the norovirus to deliver the post takes dedication...something me and Steve have no doubt about it!
But there comes a point when all that dedication and hard work should pay off.

Don't get me wrong, we've achieved so much and I'm proud of us. Proud that we've won awards and our products have been featured in virtually EVERY national home magazine, wedding magazine, newspapers, blogs and even on the TV...we did all that. When we started the business sitting on craft markets at 5am earning peanuts, we never imagined we'd get this far!

 

 

We've bought a house and had two beautiful kids and we try our best to have a nice family life but I've had enough.

The amount of hours we work far outweighs what we earn. To be honest, I desperately need a change.

We've tried every outlet to sell our work but making everything from scratch to order, hand painting and hand finishing each item takes time. These days it seems far important to 'some' that orders are delivered within a couple of days, nobody wants to wait, everything has to be instant, there is no alternative.

Well, actually there is. It's our business and we're making some changes. We can't compete with mass produced imports taken straight out of a box. We have no problem with imports but we can't sell on the same terms. What we can do is try to appeal to those who appreciate the time it sometimes takes for a handmade product.

We're taking control back and going our own way. This means cutting back in different areas but so be it...this is where we have no choice.

Last week, we said goodbye to our office manager Charlotte. It was a heart-breaking decision for us but sadly necessary while we decide on our next step. We will miss her more than I can say.

Quotespictures

We're not giving up, just giving in to the intolerable pressures and changing things for the good of our family.
We have a little something up our sleeve for the Summer and we're taking on new ventures. For now, we're going to see what happens.

We know for a fact that it's tough out there for small businesses. The ones that speak to us privately prove that. Publicly, most business owners will put on that brave face and say that everything is fine. Nobody wants to be seen as a failure. Some days I've felt exactly that but then it dawned on me, that actually it's ok.

It's not failing, it's changing and change is good.

Expressions #1

I love reading other people's blogs..family life, vintage finds, home decor and weddings are among my favourites but I struggle for time to read them all!

I recently came across Actually Mummy's Expressions linky. Photography is another big love of mine and the portraits in the Expressions series are fabulous. So this week, now I seem to have my blogging mojo back, I decided to join in.

I've just had a very much needed week off with my youngest little boy and was also able to fetch my eldest from school everyday. This has been a treat for me as I'm usually working full time. We were lucky with the weather too and headed off to the park as much as possible...their smiley faces make all the hard work worthwhile.

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This and That.

My last proper family post was back in September (really??!) and now it's May again, almost June!
I've missed a whole two seasons and I've really missed writing on here.

So what have we been doing??

September to December were the usual mental months in the run-up to Christmas with the added joys of colds and tonsillitis but the Christmas holiday was brilliant. Time off to enjoy with the kids and my Mum and Dad came for Christmas day.

Fast forward to February and there was a worrying few weeks of illness - my Mum for 3 weeks and Alfie for a week. Both of them were hit pretty hard and stayed in bed to recover.

Thankfully, just before the bugs hit, we celebrated Alfie's birthday and took him out for a birthday treat with his best friend Keziah to Cadbury World.

We had lots of other 'doing' days and trips out and about...

We're lucky to have the beautiful Belton House on our doorstep and our National Trust membership is well used! It means we can even pop along for an afternoon for a walk around the gardens or a run around in the adventure playground and not have far to go home.