Arden has arrived!

So my last post was about my fun pregnancy announcement which seems like a lifetime ago because now our little girl has arrived and it feels like she's been here forever already!

Arden Mae Dorothy arrived eventually on the 7th May 2015 after 2 and a half days of being induced!! She wasn't ready to come out but when she finally arrived I have never felt more love, happiness,  shock, fear and wonderment pour out of my very being, all in an instant!

My husband was the upmost pillar of support and my own personal cheerleader through all 70 odd hours of induction/labour. I honestly would have tried to leave and go home if it wasn't for his constant words of encouragement and praise.  We both cried like loons when the doctor held Arden up. She was just so perfect and so unexpected with her head of dark hair and beautiful olive skin. My first words when I saw her head? - "oh my word she's not ginger!" - gas and air does funny things to a girl! At one point I thought the best idea I ever had was to speak french to my incredibly attractive french doctor...thankfully Mark talked me out of that idea!!

The cliche is true that the pain of labour completely disappears once you lay eyes on your little bundle and it really did...until my body decided to keep bleeding and panic everyone in the delivery suite. I didn't even get to hold my baby for more than 2 seconds before I was being attended to by 4 different doctors and midwives, stitching, putting drips in my arms, putting an oxygen mask on and generally trying to pretend that everything was ok. All the while Mark was holding our brand new little baby while I looked on from the bed wondering why I wasn't getting to have my skin to skin contact with my little girl.

At this point my main concerns were 1. Is Arden ok? And 2. When can my family visit?

One of the 'bribes' (for want of a better word) the midwife used to get me to soilder through exhaustion and keep pushing, was that if I had the baby now (11.37am) she would be ready for visiting time (2pm-4pm). Obviously she couldn't predict that thw drugs they were giving me would make my body go into labour amd not stop itself, so she couldn't have known of the trauma that followed Arden's arrival. It meant instead of going to the normal ward I had to go to the recovery ward where visitors aren't allowed. I was upset at not being able to see my family, especially my wee Mum. I really just wanted one of her big squishy hugs because those hugs still cure all (even though I'm 31!).

Next visiting time was 6-8 so I figured we'd be moved by then seeing it was only 2pm. My poor family hung around hoping to be able to nip in and see our little beauty. My Dad even tried to use some sorr of Jedi mind trick to get past the front desk but no such luck.

In the meantime my beautiful little lady had had her first feed and I was so happy I was able to feed her myself. She was like a little baby bird searching for food. I was completely mesmerised by her instinct to look for my boob and start feeding. Seriously, how do they know they have to do that?! She was a matter of hours old and already knew what she wanted. I've never felt so proud, being able to feed my baby just filled me with pure joy.

We finally moved to the normal ward but it was 8.10pm so no visitors allowed. I was devastated.  I didn't want to tell anyone else of her arrival until Mum and Dad got to see her and I definitely didn't want to tell anyone her name before they found out. We phoned my mum, who had been in the waiting room the entire time. She couldn't wait any longer so we had to send some pics to her phone and tell her what her granddaughter would be called. Arden is a Shakespearean name, inspired by the beautiful town my husband originates from.  It's also a real place - the forest of Arden and has magical connotations, perfect for our little fairy!

Mae is a variation of the name Maureen, which is my wee mamabears name. This had a huge effect on why I didn't want to tell her over the phone.  It was so special to us I wanted to tell her as she held Arden in her arms.

Dorothy is my husband's late Nan's name and was a front runner for a forename until we discovered Arden and then every name was discounted. Mark's Nan died 4 years ago on the day of Arden's birth, so it was more fitting than ever.

Finally the next day at 2pm my mum and sister were allowed to visit! It felt like an absolute eternity since I'd seen them because we weren't really allowed visitors during the induction process. Mum had popped up before she went home on the first day and that was it. I must say, without mobile phones we would have been lost. The midwives actually told us to tell family not to phone the ward,  just to phone us for updates. What did they do before mobiles?

My Dad got to visit at 6pm and spent the duration of the visit with tears in his eyes.  Arden is incredibly beautiful (if I do say so myself!) so it's hard not to be overcome with emotion when looking at her. She is the first granddaughter on my side so her arrival is that extra bit special!

It's easy to forget how important your family are, but times like this bring it home with a massive bang. My Mum, Dad and sister were the only people I wanted to see and not being allowed to was infuriating.  I understand rules are there for a reason, but after all the drama, it would have been nice to even have 5 minutes of a rule break just to let them see we were ok.

The most important thing was we were both good and our little family had begun. The days that followed were the most challenging I have ever endured, but at this moment in time we had never been happier.

Player 3 has entered the game!

So excited to finally reveal our big news!!

We had to do this in the ultimate geeky way of course so combined our love of video games with our announcement!

We are so excited about meeting our little Duckie in May next year! It's a bit scary to think its only 6 months away, but gives us a deadline to get the nursery sorted.

The nursery is currently my beloved shoe room. I have mourned the loss of my beautiful room haha!

We're having to have the biggest clearout known to man, getting rid of years of collectables, dvds, games and all manner of other randomness! We're not going to be those parents who change their personalities for their children. ...we just have wayyyy too much stuff!!

So excited to be a Mummy! Eeeeeep!!

Saying goodbye to Squibbs.

This week I had to say a very sorry goodbye to a wonderful lady.

Her name was Doris Flack, but everyone knew her as the ever-lovable Squibbs! She was 102 when she sadly left this world, but what a 102 years they were!

She was born in London in 1911. She loved to dance and joined dance troupes who toured and performed everywhere!

I first met Squibbs when her daughter asked me to make a photo slideshow for her 95th birthday party. Her daughter, Gay, has been a family friend since I can remember so I agreed happily, thinking it would just be some normal family pictures.Then the photo albums arrived.

They were filled with signed pictures of starlets and actors from the past 80 years, old theatre posters and hilarious images of Squibbs in her hay day. I was invited to the birthday party and couldn't wait to meet her, though knowing she was 95 I figured she her spirits might have been dampened as the years went by.

Squibbs did not disappoint. She was wearing a purple suit with matching purple eye shadow and hot pink lipstick.  She giggled at the images, reminiscing and telling stories to go with the pictures. Sipping on her daily Guinness she told me one tale and getting caught out with 2 chaps in a car, in what could have been a dangerous situation for a girl on her own. When they tried to convince her to go astray she simply replied "F*** off" and walked home. I spat my drink everywhere because I wasn't expecting such an elderly lady to be so youthful!!

She had such an impact that I used her photo as one of my table pictures at my wedding. I had images of starlets from the 40s and 50s as table names and thought Squibbs belonged there too. This same picture was used on the funeral order of service.

I was invited to her 100th birthday party and made another slideshow for her. No duplicates were needed because she had so many photos to choose from. She thanked me in a lovely note and said it was like watching a film of her life.

What an absolute legend of a lady. She drank Guinness like it was water and even until the very end wore her hot pink lipstick and purple eye shadow. Instead of flowers my Dad asked me to make the family name cloud frames. Flowers slowly die, whereas these name clouds will last forever.

She was one of the most colourful, hilarious, lively, fascinating women I have ever had the pleasure to meet and this world will be a much emptier place without her presence. If I live to be even close to her age I hope I have the ability to be as fun, interesting and courageous as she was. As her great grand daughter said after her funeral service, the legend will live on, probably another 102 years!

Goodbye Squibbs x

Happy 1st birthday to Lulu Makes Things!

Wowee it's been a whole year since Lulu Makes Things was born!!

Can't believe time has flown in so quickly,  but as the cliché goes, time flies when you're having fun, and I really am!

I could never have dreamed my little handmade goodies would be so loved! :) it's a great feeling when someone buys one of my creations, especially when they're going to give it to someone as a gift!

I also love the fact that I still get to have a creative outlet. Coming from an environment where I used to get to design stuff all day, every day, to one which involves general admin work, was difficult to adjust to at first. I was worried I was going to lose my little creative spark at first, but then Lulu Makes Things was born and I worried no more!

It's funny looking back and seeing our sales from the first day compared to now. That day we sold 2 posters and a magnet and you would have thought we'd struck oil the way we reacted haha! Having someone buy something you made yourself is the most awesome experience, so the fact 3 people bought things was insane (at the time). Nowadays it's a different story. We have the stall laid out so everything can be seen and flicked through for ease, the branding all matches, we have official price signs(not bits of card scrawled on with a sharpie) and if we don't get at least 2 pages of sales in our little sales book, it's been a quiet day!

Looking at pictures of our stall then and now makes us giggle.  We hadn't a clue how to display the bunting so people could pick out their letters and I hadn't dreamt up even half the creations we have on sale now!

Love my little company and love my wonderful family for being so supportive throughout the process. My poor Dad still drives us to st Georges market every Sunday (I have a fiat500 so could fit about one box in the boot haha).

Also have to thank all our wonderful customers, without them we would have been another fading face at the market like we see coming and going every week!
So excited for what is coming next and can't wait to see where we'll be this time next year!!

Wedding guest books are so 2013!

This week I launched a new product with Lulu Makes Things, a finger print guest frame!

It's such a cute alternative to a traditional guest book and relieves the pressure on your guest to try and come up with something witty or meaningful off the cuff!

Each guest pops a finger or thumb print onto the tree as a leaf or the bicycle as a balloon and then writes their name beside it. A really lovely memento to display after the day too!

I was nervous to launch this as it's something I've been playing around with for ages, but was overwhelmed by the postivity of everyone's response!

I sold out of trees within a few hours and everyone loved the concept! I love being able to launch things and get instant feedback.  Sometimes things work right away, other things take a few weeks to get going and other things just never make it. It can be surprising the things that people love, like my little greeting cards! I never thought people would love them so much because most if not all of them are personal to me and my sense of humour.  A french lady bought a whole pile of them on Sunday so it's pretty cool to think I have a French mind twin!!

Going to work my butt off this week to make lots of new designs this week.

I really love my job! :)

Greeting cards for weirdos!

I'm not the biggest fan of greeting cards. This is because most cards I have recieved are clichéd and impersonal.

Occasionally a card arrives usually from a close friend or family member that I love, and this one usually ends of being framed or staying on display on a shelf forever!

I decided I should create my own version of typical greeting cards and trialed a few samples at my Lulu Makes Things stalll at st George's Market last week. The response was insane!!

I had so many people laughing and bringing friends over to see my little creations! I have never felt so flattered! It was such a lovely response but being the socially awkward creature that I am, I pretty much looked like a tomato all day witj a big red face (or beamer to those from good old norn iron!).

This week I made a tonne more! I like making funny cards that are a bit weird haha! There are so many fellow weirdos out there just like me so I know things that amuse me will amuse them too!

Why give an ordinay greeting card when you can give a weird one! The one that's proved most popular so far is the cat in a cupcake hat with my drawing of a cat! Who knew I had such artistic talent Hahahaha

Valentines day craft for free, quick tutorial!

If you're looking for an inexpensive way to give your favourite person a token of your love, then look no further than these super cute bookmarks!

All you need to do is go to your local DIY store, raid their paint sample card supply and you're pretty much set!

I used a little heart cutter to punch out hearts up the side and bottom fpr the ribbon, but a hole punch works just as well! Heart punches are available in most craft stores for around £2-3 or online for a little cheaper!

Perfect craft idea for kids too due to it's simplicity! Hope you enjoy!

Lulu x

Lulu makes things at St George's Market belfast

This is the Lulu Makes Things stall at st George's Market belfast!

Bunting, photos, signs and lots of other lovelies!!

Also finally have the website and facebook up and running now too!! :)

Full steam aheadddd!!!

Www.lulumakesthings.co.uk
Www.facebook.com/lulumakesthings

Go take a peek!

Valentines day crafting!

I cannot believe January is almost over!! Valentine's day is just around the corner so I've been creating some new products for my stall at st George's Market in Belfast!

I don't care if valentines has become a marketing ploy or over commercialised, it's still one of my favourite days!

My husband and I always buy each other little gifts and tell each other we love the other every single day so perhaps we are a soppy pair, but I love the opportunity to tell him how much he means to me!  Jeepers just typing that I see how much of a sop I am haha!

Well anywho, I love valentines but I dislike buying shop tat and always look for something personal. I kept this in mind when coming up with my new ideas.

I created a love jar, filled with little cards to pop a personal message on. Each card has a little heart cut out and the jar also has heart shaped confetti in the bottom.

The other little cutie is a message in a bottle.  It contains a little card to write your own message and contains a little crystal heart.

I made one for a bride too because realistically who wouldn't want a little message in a bottle on any special occasion! 

I loved making these so hopefully my customers love them too!

Too many ideas!

I confess....I am a brainstorming addict!! My handbag is filled with list after list of ideas, designs and to do lists!

During down time at the market it's the first thing I do. Grab a pen and any scrap paper I can put my hand on and start scribbling!  It's probably my most favourite thing to do in the world to write a lovely list!

This week I officially launched Lulu Makes Things! The website is good to go and Facebook is now up too! Very nerve wracking to put your work out there but thankfully I have a lot of lovely people in my life to like the page instantly so made it much less harrowing!

Now all I have to do is narrow down the gazillion ideas I have so they all fit at the stand! A daunting task but definitely high on the to do list for this week!

I love making new things :)

Christmas contemplations!

Christmas is upon us once again! It crept up like a cat on a field mouse this year!! I've been flat out with work and the stall at the market so haven't had as much time for Christmas shopping. Probably no bad thing seeing I usually over-buy everyone haha!

This Christmas has been busy but now t in the same sense as my usual Christmas experience. In my previous job I would have been stressed to the hilt making sure all customers had their orders, brides had their albums, all bills were paid, the offices were tidied and locked up  and staff all got paid in time. this year was pretty much stress free and that in itself is one of the best Christmas gifts I could have wished for.

I haven't been pulling 12 hour shifts, I haven't woken to the feeling of dread at having to face whatever mood my old boss would have been in, I haven't had to deal with the aforementioned boss ordering the wrong frames or not caring if customers orders were right and having to deal with the aftermath.

This year has had so many ups and a hideous amount of downs but has gladly ended on a happy note with my new job being made permanent and my little business becoming an increasingly big business!!

I am so excited for what 2014 will bring and will quite happily say farewell to 2013 as some of the sorrows it brought can never be quashed.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night x

Busy busy bee!!

So things have been a tad chaotic of late!! The good news is that it's in the best way possible, the bad news is I don't get time to blog about it haha!!

My new job is going really well! I'm happy, I work with great girls and am pretty much stress free!! It's only when you move away from a stressful situation that you realise the seripus effect it was having. I don't meam just during work time either. My entire family have noticed a massive change in me since changing job. I'm "back to my old self" as my mum keeps telling me. Hate the fact that I let a job effect every aspect of my life. Never again!

The market stall has been going from strength to strength each week! We're at st George's Market every Sunday now selling bunting, signage and all manner of things that can be made from Hama beads!

I've signed up for a few Christmas craft fairs in December so really looking forward to those! It's such a great feeling when someone buys one of my designs or photographs, especially when they're visiting from a different country. Pretty cool to think something I made will be adorning someone's home, sometimes on the other side of the planet!

My lovely friend got married in Florida in September, so for her home party of course I had to make some special bunting as well as a tonne of mini cupcakes. I also made her a giant cupcake....which sort of collapsed so we'll just pretend that didn't happen haha!

All in all I'm having a pretty good time!! I'm flat out but so grateful to be working and really excited that my little budiness is starting to take off!!

Hopefully after the rough awl ride that was 2013, 2014 will bring only good things!

Work Wear...

I've been working in my new job for a month now. It's been weird adjusting to a "normal" office environment where not everyone wants to watch funny videos of cats on their lunch break haha!

It's pretty straight forward stuff, general admin and I get to make posters/flyers/newsletters so haven't stepped out of the design world completely! It's hard to get used to not being the person who has pretty much sole responsibility for everything running smoothly, but also pretty nice.

I must say though the lack of stress in this new job is a beautiful, beautiful thing! No longer do I come home in a foul mood, complain about work all night and dread the next morning. Nowadays I come home and get stuck into work for my market stall or design work, cook proper dinners and even squeeze in some crafting time!

Another benefit is getting to dress like a grown up every day! Finally get to wear all manner of accessories!! I've accumulated soooo much jewellery and accessories over the years I'm so happy i get to put them to good use! 

Like this little number, i bought on holiday in Westport last year and never got to wear it because in my old job we had the dreaded polo shirts, which don't quite go with necklaces!

All in all it's going well, everyone in the office is friendly and good for a giggle so I really can't complain! Now if I use this stress free time to figure out what my life plan and long term goals are that would be perfect!!

Yayyyyyy!!

At long last, I am now employed once more!! It's only taken 3 and a half months, but can honestly say I have never been so relieved!!

I'm excited too because I think I can really make a difference to this new job and bring my skill set to the table to improve what they already have, so really keen to get started!

This job search has really brought out the worst in me and I have never felt so low and worthless, so I will be doing my upmost to make sure this never happens again.

Main lesson learned is ALWAYS have a plan B no matter how safe you think your job is!

I'm going to carry on with my design business because I don't think this job will call for as much creativity than I'm used to on a daily basis.

Exciing times!!

A new beginning...

It's finally happened. I have kicked myself up the backside and I've started to createy own little design haven!

I've been doing a lot of work on making a logo, sorting my portfolio and creating a very pretty website! In all fairness I've used a web template site to make the site, I have no clue where to begin on the web front so best to leave the foundation for that to the experts!

This is just the beginning. I'm hoping wonderful things will grow and develop from this, afterall this year I feel I've paid my dues!

Scary putting yourself out there, but the only way to do it is to dive in head first, so let's go!!!!

I love craft!

I have loved arts and crafts since I can remember! I would spend hours painting little scenes and drawing cartoons on long car journeys. The problem always was that I can't actually draw! Makes it much harder to become good at something when you don't have the general grasp of how to draw even simple things!

In school I loved art and the only thing I ever drew successfully was the inside of a kiwi fruit! I spent hours on the blessed thing and was so proud I still have the drawing to this day!

After being made redundant I tried to find things I am passionate about and think of ways to earn money using my skill set and interests. My main interest is design and this was a huge part of my job, mainly based around photo editing and wedding album design.

I've made a few things like invitatons and flyers etc for friends and family so figured if they want them some other people might want them too, and more importantly pay for the privilege! 

So I'm embarking on starting to design things for real clients! I even rediscovered my love of trying to draw and made a little card detailing the timeline of my mum and dads life together!  Who knows, maybe one day it will be worth millions! Ha!!

29 Years later...and back to square one!

I've been applying for jobs for a few months now and am at a bit of a loss.

It seems even though i worked for a company for 5 years, turned it around form 2 staff to 13 staff and made us the biggest and most successful independent studio in the country, I'm not qualified enough to do even simple admin work.

It's a hard time for anyone right now in the current economic climate and new jobs really are few and far between, but I'm getting to the stage where i am doubting myself and my capability. 

I think of myself as a pretty well rounded professional, with experience in so many different areas i find it hard to narrow down anything i don;t think i could have a go at. But after months of applying and not even being invited for interviews I really have started to wonder what on earth i have been doing with the past 10 years of my life.

Should i have bothered with university? i studied advertising and marketing, never really felt like i learned anything and excelled in modules that i never though i would, like political lobbying and creative writing. Kind of wish i had studied something practical, like plumbing, or how to be a seamstress. I imagine there's not much call for seamstresses these days, but i could make dresses and really where's the downside in that?

College was really the best time of my life. I had hope that i could do anything i wanted to do and be anyone i wanted to be. i was already pretty settled on who i was, identity wise, but the possibility for self improvement was always there and we were always encouraged to explore and experiment.

Sadly now the big bad world decided if you want to study at Uni you have to choose very narrow subject matters that limit what you can do with your career and i really would have appreciated if someone had told me that and i would have made different/better life choices.

This isn't a rant at the world or schools or anything really, just somewhere to let off some steam and frustration at not finding a job as quickly as i thought i would. I've already started a small side project with my Dad's company and maybe that will turn into something wonderful, who knows! I always thought of myself as a positive person with an optimistic outlook, but gee wizz being jobless drags you down!

Well, as my wonderful friend told me, it takes an awful lot of poop to grow the prettiest flowers, so I'll cling to that logic and hope for the best!

Onwards and upwards!!

Introducing Norma-jean!

It's been a really tough few months trying to cope with losing Betsey.

On top of this we have had a pretty terrible year so far and now the cherry on top of the sundae from hell that is 2013, comes the news that i no longer have a job! Not really what you need to hear after dedicating 5 years of your life to a company, then given 24 hours notice that the company is no more. It's been rough, but finally some good news!

We decided that we needed a new addition. One of the hardest parts of losing Betsey was the lack of affection we get from Elvis. He's a real daddy's boy, so always makes time to give Mark cuddles but will never come to me. The affection he gives Mark is often a technique he uses to get food too, but with Betsey she gave affection without asking for anything in return, apart from your undivided attention of course! So we thought it might make things a little easier if we added a new furry member to our family to re-introduce that affection.

Please let me introduce Miss Norma-Jean Richards!!

She is a dark torti and absolutely beautiful!! We adopted her from Cats Protection Belfast on Sunday. She's settled in really quickly and is very cuddly and loves nothing more than a face bump, which melts my heart every time!!

It's good for us and good for her because she was found abandoned and starving in the snow, so she's getting a second chance and a forever home and we get to give her all the love she deserves.

Now the hard part...getting her and Elvis to become new best friends!!

Bye bye Betsey...

Our little girl was killed by a dog nearly 4 weeks ago. I can't even begin to describe the pain her loss has caused.

Yesterday would have been her 4th birthday :(

Miss my wee woman so much. I don't think many understand how much its affected me because i do a really good brave face impression! Only those who really know me realise i haven't been the same since we found her.

Our house feels empty, even though we have the little man but he's not the same kind of cat. She was so affectionate and loving and he's a lil ball of crazy! A new addition to our little family might make things a bit easier, missing her cuddles at night is by far the toughest thing to deal with, so maybe if we had that again it won't hurt so bad.

Bye bye Betsey Booboo

09-03-09 - 08-02-13

Blogger app?! Universe you read my min!

I have been the same with blogging as i am with diary keeping...awful.

I saw someone tweet about a blogger app and voila!!

I'm hoping this will make me much more active because I've been meaning to post so many stories and pics, just never seem to get the time!!

Fingers crossed this goes the way i plan! :)

X