Mid Month More about Me - March - Fashion Shows

Each month i'm going to write a short post which is a little bit more about me. I might write about hobbies, favourite things, things I hate, places I love. But each month it will be a post where my readers can find out a little more about the person behind the blog.

This month I thought I would talk a little about something I used to do before I had Lily. That was my fashion shows in the streets that I organised and then photographed. As well as my photography I have always had a love for organisation and I ended up falling into a job of working back stage at a night club Fashion event that was held each month. After working this job and also having some other experience working back stage of fashion shows, helping with choreography and organising the models, I decided that I wanted to put on fashion shows but with a little bit of a difference. 

I then organised my first Fashion show in the streets for London Fashion week. I had 12 models all walk in outfits from a designer called Carlotta Actis Barone and I choreographed a 10 minute walk from Somerset House to Free Masons Hall. The show was really successful and a huge crowd of photographers greeted us at the entrance of somerset house. The event also got published on the ITV website as well as other websites and magazines and newspapers. It really has to be my best achievement and I always feel so good looking back at what I made happen. 

Here is a video of the fashion show. Its worth watching until the end just to be able to watch a very cringe worthy interview with me at the end. I HATE INTERVIEWS and you can totally tell that the camera was making me nervous haha. 

From this event I then went on to do a charity hair show in the streets for the Princes Royal Trust. We only raised £100 but better than nothing and it was a really fun day. The idea was that the people in the streets had to vote for their favourite hair style by placing a donation in the bucket of the one they liked the best. 

Here is the video for that event. 

I did quite a few street shows over the year. One was for some designers that had come all the way from New york and one we did in the pouring rain. But the next big one was a fashion show in Paris. I worked again with Carlotta Actis Barone and we showcased her collection in the streets of Paris. Having not been to Paris before this was an amazing day for me. Running around like a crazy person that weekend and little did I know that I had Lily growing inside me. It was 2 days after this fashion show that I found out I was pregnant. So this fashion show will always create special memories for me. 

Hope you enjoy watching my videos. Unfortunately fashion shows in the streets are something I haven't done for over 2 years now. Not easy being a full time mum and trying to organise a show. I have now also moved away from London. But who knows, I think the north may need a little shaking up and I may hit the streets of Manchester or Liverpool one day. 

So keep your eyes out for a crazy line of walking models in a town near you! 

Keep Em Quiet Travel Pack Review and Giveaway

When I spotted Keep Em Quiet on Twitter I just had to get in contact with them. I knew that Lily would be having a upcoming long journey when moving and lots of time where she would be needing entertaining and so I thought that the Keep Em Quiet packs would be perfect for our move. 

Let me tell you all about Keep Em Quiet. 

Keep Em Quiet is the place to go to get your ULTIMATE travel pack. It is packed with super fun items that are bound to keep your children entertained on journeys, holidays or even round at grandparents house. The best bit about them is that the packs are all made up by a team of parents, and who knows what kids love better than people who have kids them selves. 

Keep Em Quiet sent us one of their travel packs for girls aged 2+. When it arrived I was really impressed with what was inside. I just knew Lily was going to love it all. 

Inside it had - 

• Snacks
• A Butterfly Teddy
• A Pony Toy
• Some play Dough
• A Sticker book
• A Sticker Story Book
• A Peppa Pig Colouring Velvet Set
• A Snow White Story Book
• An Aqua Colour Pack
• A Fairy Glider Toy

The pack all came in a really nicely designed drawstring bag that children would just love to carry around with them. I felt that Lily was to little to carry it around on her back yet as with all the amazing things inside it would be to heavy for her, but she was really impressed to have her own bag of goodies. 

The pack really did come in handy for the move and we ended up using everything in it. Though not all at once. The first thing we used was the Fairy Glider Toy. It was the night before moving and we had so much to do. Lily was bored and wanting us to play with her and as much as we wanted to play we had to get the last bits packed up. So I pulled the glider out of the bag. Before I knew it Lily was running around the house with it going "meooooowwwwnnnn" (her plane noise). It really kept her entertained while we did the last few jobs. 

The next morning we had to get everything loaded into a van, as furniture was being moved around the place we had to try and keep Lily sat on the couch, and as most parents will know, that can be tricky for a 2 year old. So out came the sticker book. Lily loves stickers and its definetly one activity that will keep her nice and quiet. She happily sat with her Nan and did her stickers while we got most of the things out of the room. 

The next part was the journey. This was mainly where I was hoping to use the travel pack. We had a 5 hour long car journey to do and I knew Lily would get bored. I had the pack ready in the back of the car for her but actually we didn't end up getting to use it much. Firstly she slept for the first half of the journey. Which was great as a sleeping child is a happy child. But by the time she did wake up it had gotten dark and so she couldn't see anything to really be able to play with it. The only things she did get to use was the little pony that she happily walked along the side of her car seat and butterfly teddy that she cuddled. I would love to maybe see a special travel pack done by Keep Em Quiet for car journeys. Maybe put something in like a clipboard so they have something to rest on and draw and colour, and then maybe something that glows in the dark or a book with a little torch. 

But the travel pack was not lost. The next few days Lily would be spending days and nights at her Nans house and also spending some time at her Grandma's and Grandad's house. The travel pack was perfect for this as when heading out to their house we just grabbed the bag knowing that there were things perfect inside to keep her entertained. 

The snacks all got eaten up and one of the days we got the Peppa colouring velvet pictures out for her. Lily loved these as it was one of her favourite characters. Unfortunately the little felt tips that came inside barely worked and had seemed to have all dried up. Luckily we weren't on a journey and Nan had felt tips and so we could do the colouring. If we were on the journey then I may of had one very disappointed 2 year old if we couldn't of done any colouring in. I think a great way around this could be maybe to add a small back up pack of felt tips or crayons. 

Lily then had 2 days of being at her Grandparents for around 3 hours. The pack got its most use here. The story book got read, the teddy got played with, and Lily really loved doing the sticker story book with Grandma. We also got the paint with water set out here. But unfortunately the end of the little water paintbrush that you get with it broke and we couldn't use it. Again maybe something that can be popped into the bag along with this set is a little backup paintbrush that she could of dipped into water and painted with. 

Overall we loved the pack and I would definetly consider getting one to use again on future trips. A few things Lily would love to see in her pack would be puzzles, games, and even more colouring. Even simple paper and pens would keep Lily happy as she loves to draw. 

The packs come in 3 sizes and you can choose boys or girls. There is a short trip pack for £9.99, a Medium Trip for £12.99 and a Long Trip for £15.99. You can also choose an age range to the packs so the goodies are perfect for your little ones. 

If you would like to take a closer look at the packs then head over the the Keep Em Quiet Website to see more. 

I now have a competition to give one lucky winner a chance to win their child a Long Trip travel Pack. You will be able to choose the age and wether you want a boys or girls pack so items will vary to the image below. For your chance to win, Enter on the Gleam app. Good luck! 

  

Win a Long Trip Pack from KeepEmQuiet

My Sunday Photo 12/03/17

Una Trunki Review and Giveaway

I've known about Trunki suitcases for quite sometime now, even before having Lily I knew about them having spotting them in stores and sneakily wanting one for myself. 

So far with not going on many big holidays we have never needed a suitcase for Lily and she has only really just got to the age where she could use her own suitcase. But we were planning to move house and so I thought it was the perfect time to introduce her to having her own one. With knowing how amazing Trunki suitcases are, I got in touch with them to see if they would like to be included in a blog post all about moving. Which you can read here. 

I think that Trunki Suitcases are great for children who are moving house as knowing they have their own special suitcase that they can pack their own special items in can definetly help make the move a less scary thing. Trunki agreed and they sent Lily her very own Una Trunki for us to use for the move and review. 

The good thing about Una the Unicorn is that you can personalise it with stickers which make it even more their own special little suitcase. 

I just love how colourful the Una Trunki is. Its nice that its a lovely pale blue colour instead of pink which would make it very girly. It also has pretty stars and has yellow wheels and handles and a colourful rainbow tail made of super soft hair. Lily loved the rainbow tail and kept brushing it with her hands. So did I actually haha. 

The case is shut toggether with a fastening on the front and the back. It took me a few moments to figure out how to get it open and then I realised it was a button you pressed and then you flip the fastening open. Quite easy when you know how. 

Inside the case are your own special glitter stickers and a Trunki Passport that you can fill in all about yourself. There are also straps that you can fasten toggether to keep all the luggage safely kept tucked neatly inside. 

First thing Lily did before we even started to place things on it was hop on for a ride. I didn't even have to show her that you could ride on it. She just knew and climbed on easily without my help. She looked so pleased with it and started to push herself around the room saying WEEEEEEE. The Trunki also comes with a lead you can attach so you can pull the suitcase along while your child rides on top. This wasn't an aspect of it we would be using during the move but its going to be perfect when we next take a trip to the train station or an airport. 

Next thing to do was personalise the Trunki with stickers. Lily is mad on stickers so she was really excited to get to do this. The stickers are so colourful and they all sparkle with glitter. There are thunderbolts, stars, diamonds, rainbows and hearts. Also a special horn that you can stick to the front. Lily did really well with sticking the stickers on. There are plenty of them and plenty of room on the Trunki to fill. I think she made her Trunki look very pretty, though there was a little help from me where I helped encourage her to stick them in different places. Lily has taken to enjoying sticking stickers all in one place at the moment. 

The last thing to do with the Trunki is pack it. I encouraged Lily to choose her favourite items that she wanted to move to the new house with. She chose her Cat Teddy, A DVD, a Hat, a Book, her Dummy and we also placed in lots of clothing for Nan's house as that is where she will be staying for a few days. We really could have placed a lot more in our Trunki as there was so much room in there. 

It really is going to be used so much, from visits to family's house to our weekends away and holidays. 

The Trunki is £39.99 and well worth the money. It really does make the perfect suitcase for your little ones. 

You can view the Una Trunki here and see what other Trunki's are available. You will be delighted to see that they have such a great range of designs. 

If you love the look of the Una Trunki then why not enter on the Gleam app below for your chance to Win one of your very own. 

Win a Una the Unicorn Trunki

The Stickle Bricks Big Red Bucket Review

I got a huge blast from the past when Lily and I was sent the Big Red Bucket of Stickle Bricks from flair. I used to love Stickle Bricks when I was a child so when I got offered to review them I could not pass up the opportunity. 

I was really excited to be introducing Stickle Bricks to Lily. I knew she would love them because she is really creative and loves to build. 

I just love that they come in a big red bucket. It makes them so easy to store and also so handy for Lily to be able to carry around with her. (Its not heavy at all!) The bucket is also so colourful that as soon as I got it out Lily was really eager to see what was inside. As I opened the lid she was so excited and wanted to grab them out of the box before I could even get a chance to take a photograph. She loved that they were all different colours and started to tell me what colours they were. The bricks also come in a variety of shapes so the list of things you can make from them are endless. 

Lily didn't quite know what to do with them at first and so I had to show her that they stuck toggether and she could then build with them. I asked her "What shall we build" and she straight away said Robot. She has been really interested in building them lately since daddy has been building them with her. Talking of Daddy, he was just as excited to see Stickle Bricks and started to help her build the robot straight away, then he got carried away and started making all sorts. For a second I think he forgot that he is an adult now and totally went back to his childhood. 

Lily soon got the hang of making things with the Stickle Bricks and started to push them toggether quite easily. The things she made didn't really have much design to them but in her mind I'm sure she knew what she was making. In this picture I'm pretty sure she has made a person. 

One thing I have to say about stickle bricks is that they are hard wearing. In other words they last a long time and don't break. I think they are one toy your child can really hold on to and play with for years. 

The Stickle Bricks are aimed at children aged 18months plus and are great first building toy. They are great for encouraging children to use their hands more which in turn helps develop hand and eye co-ordination and fine motor skills and dexterity. It also really helps build a child's imagination which you will see grow as they start to create more and more things out of the bricks. 

You can buy a tub of Stickle Bricks for just £19.99, take a look at Flairplc.co.uk to see more. 

Keep an eye on our Twitter Page on the 16th of March to see what creations we have been making. 

What would you build out of Stickle Bricks?

My Photography Post - March

As well as working hard being a mummy to Lily, one of the other things I do is photography. I shoot lots of different things, fashion, weddings, photo journalism, though at the moment not getting much time to shoot. 

To keep my head in photography I have decided to do a blog post a month all about my photography, you can see February's post here. 

So here is my Photography post for March. As you know I have been moving house so I've definitely not had any time to do any photography. I will be planning to get some nice photographs done soon ready for next month. I'm really determined to get shooting more.  

So for this months post I'm going to show my published work. I have been really lucky in my fashion photography career to get published in printed and online magazines. My best would be the work I got published in Vogue online and Glamour Magazine online. You can see the Vogue screen shot below. 
I also used to shoot a lot of London Fashion Week catwalks, these got me published quite a lot. 

So below is a selection of some of my published work, Hope you enjoy looking at it. 

Vogue Online

London Fashion Week

Julian Hakes Shoes

LookBook Shoots and Editorials

All moved in!

So it took 4 trips in total, but we have finally moved all of our things from the one house in London to the new house up North in Lancashire. We then looked around our new house to find we could not move. Boxes everywhere, furniture in the wrong rooms and a big job ahead. We are now one week into the moving in and although there are still some boxes around that need unpacking, we can actually walk around our house and cook, sleep and Ive finally found a place for my computer. 

So I do apologise about the lack of posting for a few days, as you can imagine its been very hectic. 

Our new home is great, Im feeling the chill of the north but I think that the house just needs a good warm up. Its been empty for a long while and so its cold. On the plus side I did want to make more use of my snuggly blankets. Its definitely bigger than our old flat, kitchen is huge compared. Which is going to be great for my baking. Lily's room is a little smaller but I think its actually makes it cosier. The carpets make it nice and snug and we have tried to make it as similar to her old room as possible. We have put some lovely new curtains up for her though and a nice addition of a new princess wardrobe which she has her dresses and dress up items in. 

Lily has really settled in fast. She only started staying here on Friday and stayed with my mum for the other nights. I thought she would not be happy about the new house and bedroom and be asking to go home, or maybe even just saying no when I told her that this was her new home. But she is really happy and keeps saying Lily's new house. She has been sleeping the same as usual which is some nights great and some nights not, and during the day she has been happily playing with her toys while we get on with more unpacking. 

I really do think we will be happy here and its going to make a nice happy home. My partner is off work for the next week or so and then he is only going to be working part time at home for now which is great as it means I can work more and he can spend more time with Lily. We also plan to have a great day out to Eureka kids Science Museum tomorrow which we look forward to. 

I plan to be back on the blogging front as much as I can now, I have the itch to get writing and I have lots of exciting things to write about that really helped us with this move. 

So that's enough of my week of moving in. How has every one else's weeks been?