Design Divas Jubilee Special: Lucy from LISH Concepts

This week I am thrilled to welcome a fellow blogger MummyLish aka Lucy from LISH Concepts as a Jubilee Design Divas special. Lucy has very kindly written a guest post for me and shared her passion for crafting and blogging. Enjoy!

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak and loved spending evenings brainstorming potential business ideas. It wasn’t until the arrival of Littlelish (now 2) that I seriously began to explore realistic ways to start up a business. Littlelish was the loveliest of babies, happy and content when with me but very unsettled when I left her side. We’ve since discovered she has a highly sensitive personality which explains a lot. She wouldn’t settle at any nursery (we tried more than 1) and she refused to drink from a bottle. I realized rather quickly that I had no other option but to stay at home. Looking back I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Initially I set up a creative services agency – Lish Concepts which I enjoyed for a while but to give your business your all you really need to LOVE what you are doing. I enjoyed graphic design but I had a bigger passion, art and crafts. I always complained that I didn’t have enough time for it. I wondered if I would make the time for it if I saw it as a business goal. And the answer was yes!

It was back in January 2012 when I decided to start making Art and various handcrafted items to sell. I was inspired by my findings on the internet thanks to my new blog I was writing about my favourite thing in the world, my daughter. I’d been doing lots of research into blogs and I found one I especially admired, a creative lady who blogged about her life and her shop. I remember thinking “I could do that” and more importantly “I would LOVE doing that”.

I started making artwork and small hanging decorations from my beautiful shell collection. What I love about shells is how each one is unique with a beautiful texture and colour all of its own. My shell hanging hearts are a real work of love as they take an incredibly long time to make but I don’t mind because I enjoy the end result so much and love to share this with others. I recently sold a series of shell hearts to a lady who had just bought a new house and wanted 3 to hang in a row on a white painted brick wall. She’d planned it all out in her head and I took great satisfaction in knowing she would be admiring them every day.

I branched out from working with shells to creating a variety of art work from drawing to lino prints as well as my best selling birch tree bark art. More recently I have started to sew little creatures with matching cards that make lovely gifts for young and old alike.

Lish stands for love . inspiration . style . happiness which is my magic recipe for creativity. I make things that are close to my heart inspired very much by my love of life, nature, people and the beauty of the world around us with the sole goal of making people happy.

In the last 5 months I’ve sold my online pieces all over the world. It is mind boggling for me to think about someone in America displaying my work. I’m now beginning to do craft fairs in and around the UK which I adore. I love the face to face contact with people and hearing what they think about my work. It is an excellent source of inspiration and I always take a note pad and jot ideas down. Members of the public often come up with some really great extensions to what you have already made. I take on quite a few personal commissions for people who have an idea but are not creative enough to pull it off. I love helping them to realize their visualization.

The fairs have also been great for building my confidence and for networking. All the fellow crafters I have had the pleasure to meet have been very friendly and helpful sharing tips and advice. It is a real community feel.

I’m working on so many new lines for Lish Concepts that sometimes I need to slow myself down. I’m still a fulltime mum to Littlelish during the day and crafter extraordinaire by night. I have been known to make some very long evening hours which is pretty exhausting.  I normally make the mistake of going at warp speed with my projects because I am so motivated and excited. But this often means I crash and burn after a couple of weeks. I’ve learnt to moderate this over time but still have an occasional blip. The housewife in me stops functioning all together and I am only drawn to crafting and making more mess. I am nowhere near creating a healthy balance yet, hopping between making, networking and blogging!

But the fantastic thing is I have been able to be there every minute of every day with Littlelish and I have really seen her flourish. She is now a bright, confident, strong willed little lady who knows what she wants! And so I am. Having a project to work on gives you a boost of inspiration, something to focus on to make you feel a bit more like ‘you’ again. Now I am not only a good mummy but an inspired one with a business of my own to keep my brain cells fresh and buzzing and it feels great!

My blog, LISH Concepts is also really starting to take shape. Now I write about design, style, eco as well as my life with Littlelish. I absolutely love writing more than I ever would have imagined but as with all creative processes I find myself having weeks I feel really inspired and others where I don’t seem to be able to string a sentence together. If this happens I will just turn my attention to something else, crafting, painting or brainstorming. Boredom is never something I suffer with!

You can find more of Lucy’s lovely creations at her Etsy shop lishconcepts and follow her blog too at www.lishconcepts.com.

Children who are Afraid of the Dark

A little while ago I wrote about how my children are afraid of the dark and don’t seem to have grown out of this just yet. We were lucky enough to review some children’s lamps from White Rabbit England, a gorgeous children’s lifestyle interiors company, that have really helped them cope with this. My eldest daughter, Miss E who is nearly 8 has fallen head over heels with her Rabbit Lamp, and the youngest, Miss R, currently has 2 lamps by her bedside, including the Bunny Cottage lamp.

I’ve been thinking recently about the impact of them being upset and scared by the dark, and how we react to their fears at night can potentially affect them in the longer term. I have a psychology background and so probably tend to analyse, or even over-analyse many things and I’m always interested in reading about how different parenting styles have a supposed effect on our children.

I’m a fan of Dr. Tanya Byron, a clinical psychologist and child therapist and read her column in The Times regularly. Recently she gave advice to a family whose little girl was not sleeping through the night as she was afraid of the dark. Now, I like to think I’m a relatively consistent parent and can usually predict a response from a professional to a problem such as this, but I have to admit to being very surprised at Dr. Tanya’s reply. The parents had tried all kinds of tactics to help the child feel secure such as allowing her to sleep in their bed, having a nightlight, chastising her for waking and so on. It seemed to me that they had pretty much tried everything they could. Dr Tanya however, was quite stern about the way they had approached this and berated them for not having a consistent approach. They needed to be strict, not allowing her to get out of bed, and to follow through every time. This was to be the only approach and reaction to the situation. A child (in this case an 8 year old I think) who didn’t learn that she should feel safe at night could feel insecure in other aspects of her life.

It’s an interesting thought. Children need to feel secure at night, to know that we are still there for them during those long dark hours. This kind of profound security enables them in other areas of their life to be secure in the knowledge that we will be there for them. If they can’t separate themselves from us at night, at the right age of course, then they could feel incredibly insecure and unable to progress confidently and independently.

How can we be sure this is the end result though? If a child is upset and scared at night then our primal instinct is to provide comfort; let them into our bed if necessary, offer physical and emotional love. But doing this time and time again can be detrimental apparently. I’m not totally convinced I have to say. I suppose if it’s a prolongued situation I can see how it wouldn’t help the child, but what’s considered prolongued? I guess we’ll never be sure if by giving this kind of tough love we ensure a positive effect on our child’s security and confidence but it really has made me think again about some of my parenting techniques.

What do you think?

This is a sponsored post.

Any Sharp Pro Knife Sharpener Review

I was recently sent this Knife Sharpener by Any Sharp to use and review at home. I like to cook and we’ve had our set of knives since my husband was given a ’20 years of service’ gift at work. I know, knives as a gift?  But we chose them from the catalogue and it seemed like a good idea at the time. This was probably about 5 years ago, and we cook a lot at home, so the knives have seen good use in our kitchen.

Now I’ve been reviewing a few items on the blog in the last few months, most of them home interiors, even paint which involved redecorating the bathroom. My husband hasn’t been that interested to be honest, but his eyes lit up when the knife sharpener appeared in the kitchen. Why is it men are so exctited by this kind of thing, when for me, I’m happier with a cushion. Stereotypes or what!

So over to the sharpener. What did he think? Well he liked the fact that it’s very much a different take on the usual sharpener. It’s small and compact, very heavy in fact and uses a very strong suction to secure itself to the table or kitchen worktop. Simple to use, you draw the knife backwards, using light pressure and, hey presto, one sharpened knife. Once you’re done you can release the suction and pop it away ready for use another time.

Does it actually sharpen the knives though? Well yes, it really does. I’m very impressed actually as they’ve stayed sharp for a while now, and I’m just ‘topping them up’ every now and again. I’ve popped the sharpener in the drawer next to the knives so it’s always to hand.

Another thing that I like is the packaging. Ok the design is functional and practical but I like the fact that it came in a metal tin that we’ve now reused for craft bits and bobs! Top marks on recycling eh? And included with the sharpener is a food presentation ring – a cute little free extra that I wasn’t expecting.

The Any Sharp Knife Sharpener retails at £29.99 and is available from www.anysharp.com. I have to say it gets a big thumbs up from us.

I was sent the Any Sharp Knife Sharpener in exchange for a review on the blog. The comments and opinions are honest and genuine and reflect those of my family.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Graham and Brown Jubilee Giveaway

So, in keeping with my Jubilee and Britannia inspired posts this week, I’ve got a fabulous couple of wallpapers to show you from Graham and Brown. Both are inspired by the Jubilee and Olympic events taking place this year and I love them!This is called Jubilee and retails for £25 per roll. I love the retro feel with it’s cute 1950′s ladies, polka dots and lovely pencil drawings of Big Ben. Not a Union Jack in sight but we still feel the sense of patriotism through the design.

The second offering from Graham and Brown is called Londinium and again retails for £25 per roll.

I can’t decide if I have a favourite, I think I like them both in different ways. This one is much more contemporary and would look great as a feature wall teamed with ANY colour. I think it looks great in the photo with the white and red, and flashes of Union Jack.

You can see the level of detail in the pencil drawings above which is just fabulous.

Both are available from www.grahambrown.com

Would you like to WIN this Wallpaper?

Now I’m thrilled that Graham and Brown have offered 5 rolls of either Jubilee or Londinium worth £125 as a Giveaway to Love Chic Living readers in celebration of our Jubilee week here on the blog.

In order to enter the prize giveaway you need to leave a comment on the blog and tell me which of the two designs of wallpaper you would like. Tell me why you like it and where you would use it in your home. Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you. The design you choose for your comments will be the design you are given should you win.

Good luck!

Terms and Conditions: Only one entry allowed. UK entries only Leave a comment on the blog as per the instructions. The competition closes on June 15th at Noon. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on the Love Chic Living Facebook page. The winner must respond within 5 days of being notified.

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions

Chic Showcase: Jubilee Themed Home Interiors

Well the time is nearly upon us. Our wonderful Queen Liz will soon celebrate her Diamond Jubilee and I for one would like to commemorate this by showcasing, over the next couple of weeks, lots of wonderful Jubilee and British themed home interiors. I’m not too interested in filling my home with bold union jack statements though as I do think I’ll tire of them very quickly so the items I’m hoping to show you should be just enough; little smatterings of Cool Brittania. So hold on to your hats for some fab accessories and products that you can use in the home to show your support for Great Britain.

To kick us off I’m going to show a few bits that I’ve come across whilst doing some research for these posts. These are items I just love, that I’d have in my own home, that I’d recommend because I love the company, or that I’ve simply swooned over. And I haven’t been sent anything in exchange for the comments.

If you are a regular reader you’ll know how much I love Wall Stickers, particularly those from Spin Collective. Browsing through their website the other day I came across this:

It’s a fantastic Union Jack wall sticker clock, and it comes with it’s own working mechanism. How cool is that! I’ve used the Wall Stickers from Spin and they are so easy to apply, stay stuck on forever, but are easy to remove as well. It retails at £40 so it’s not too bad for price and I could live with this for a long time.

Another fab item I came across a few days ago, which is cool and a little bit kitsch is this retro GPO Union Jack Limited Edition Push Button Phone available at QVC for an introductory price of £49.50. I love my technology but this style of phone takes me back to my childhood (oops that shows my age!) and it would look so cool in a study. I actually quite fancy this in my kitchen of all places.

Or how about a few cushions to just a touch of patriotism in whatever room you choose. (You know how much I love cushions!)

This one is from Asda and costs just £9. Fab for throwing on a chair or a kids bed for a bit of Jubilee fun. Or how about this one from Not on the High Street -

Designed by JoJo Accessories, this one can be personalised with a couple’s initials and would make a great wedding gift this summer. It retails for £26 including the letters, which I think isn’t bad at all.

Now as well as loving cushions I have a bit of a thing for mugs. I do like a lovely sleek, well designed mug and get a very picky about the mug in which my morning coffee is served! I came across these recently, with their take on the very popular slogan Keep Calm and Carry On -

Don’t you just love ‘em! Both available from John Lewis for £8.50.

So, I hope you like my first offerings. Do keep coming back this week and next as I’ve got some fab little projects planned which I’ll be posting about and an amazing Wallpaper Wednesday competition lined up for later this week.

But I want to leave you with this. At the weekend I attended Cybher, the all female blogging conference in London. It was an amazing day full of inspiring and information loaded workshops. At the end of the day I attended one run by the awesome ladies from In the Powder Room (well they were giving away free wine!) and joined in with their hilarious competition – a girly take on Bingo (enough said). Well blow me down if I wasn’t the winner!

And what did I win? Well, here it is, an incredible set of nail varnish from Filthy Gorgeous all wrapped up in a fantastic Union Jack case worth £123! Do I like nail varnish – hell yeah.

Cool Britannia!

Please do pop back this week for some more Jubilee and Britain is Great home interior inspiration.

Jen x

Reasons to be Cheerful

For a regular dose of positivity I often take myself over to Mummy from the Heart and in particular Friday’s post where Michelle encourages us to reflect on those things that are good in our life. The idea is we list out a few things that we are happy about or thankful for this week and then link the post up on her blog, allowing us to read about and share with lots of other like minded bloggers.

So, it’s been a good but busy week as usual both blog wise and family wise but the one thing (outside of the children) that has been foremost in my thoughts is tomorrow’s big blogging event Cybher. And it’s this that dominates my Reasons to be Cheerful post today.

Cybher 2012

  1. Tomorrow I am attending the first all female blogging event, Cybher at  8 Northumberland, the stunning venue just off from Trafalgar Square, slap bang in the middle of London. I’ve picked my workshops to attend throughout the day, and I’ve picked my outfit (finally!). I’m pretty much packed and raring to go.
  2. My blog is very new still in the grand scheme of things and I know there will be big groups of established bloggers who all know each other. I’ll admit to being a little fazed by this, but I’m focusing on the knowledge I’m going to gain and the networking I’m going to do. And I’m looking forward to meeting up with others that I’ve met through……
  3. Twitter. Another reason I’m so cheerful about Cybher. As the blog is new, and like many families we don’t have cash to throw around I was interested in going to Cybher if I could get a sponsor. I tweeted a fair bit about this and was finally rewarded with, not a sponsor, but an ad on the blog which allowed me to buy the ticket. Fantastic. And then of course, I thought it would be nice to stay over but only if I could share a room. Not knowing many bloggers, I hunted twitter and found another blogger, the fab WitWitWoo who was also looking for a roomie. Yay to the power of the Tweet!
  4. I’m really happy that I’m going to grow my knowledge and experience through Cybher and that my blogging, writing and content choice will all be improved. Onwards and upwards! I’ll let you know how it goes :)

And so there we have it. I could mention again about being shortlisted as a Finalist in the MADS but, hey did all that yesterday! Suffice to say it’s been a rather full on blogging week.

Click the link and discover some other fab bloggers sharing their Reasons to be Cheerful.

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart
 

MAD Blog Awards Finalist 2012 – Best Home Blog

Yes that’s right. Have you seen the new badge on my blog home page?! Indeed I am a MAD Blogger, a Finalist in the Best Home Blog Category in the MAD Blog Awards 2012.

Today I awoke to multiple messages from another blogger who shall remain nameless (but you know who you are!) tweeting and calling me from 6am.

“Wake up @lovechicliving”

“Are you up yet, please GET UP @lovechicliving”

“Let’s go dress shopping @lovechicliving”

A few calls and voicemails. Wow she was persistent. And this is how I found out that I am a Finalist. Little old me with my very new blog. Oh yes, my terribly enthusiastic blogger friend is also a Finalist hence the heightened level of excitement.

When I was nominated I never dreamt that my blog would reach the Finals. There were 3,000 different blogs nominated across the categories and over 50,000 nominations. Good grief!! So to say I am proud, excited, overwhelmed, stunned and shocked is a complete and utter understatement. I am all of those things and then some. And I’m in the company of some extremely well established and wonderful home blogs.

There’s Violet Posy, The White Approach, Growing Spaces and Frugal in Cornwall.

If you voted for me in the first round then THANK YOU.

I have now been invited to the Ceremony, to take place in London at a very lovely hotel in September. There will be cocktails, dinner and dancing and, of course, the Awards. I might even get a new frock! The prize? Well it’s £250 of Vertbaudet children’s bedroom furniture and accessories. Very nice indeed.

If you have time and feel inclined you can further my dream and vote for me TO WIN in my category. Here’s the link The MADS Vote Now – scroll down to Best Home Blog and click vote now.

Thank you xxx

 

 

TwigUK Cushion Heaven: Review and Competition Giveaway

I LOVE CUSHIONS.

There, I said it. Although I suspect it comes as no great surprise. So I was thrilled when TwigUK asked me if I would like to review a selection of cushions from their website.

So, over to the gorgeous specimens I’ve received from Twiguk. After spending some time browsing the website, here’s what I chose:

Why these? Well, I’ll take them one at a time.

Lovebirds I thought could look great in the bedroom! I think it’s quirky yet feminine and it’s so plump. They all are in fact. Made of 100% silk and feather filled, the embroidery is exquisite. Sells on the twiguk.co.uk webiste for £35.

Fifi, well I just love the understated minimal look. it’s quite different isn’t it and stands out amongst the others. This one is sitting beautifully on a chair in the dining room at the moment. A gorgeous linen blend material, this one would work well in any modern interior. Again incredibly soft and plump with a cute amount of embroidery, Fifi sells at TwigUK for £35.

And finally there’s Hartley. He is definitely my favourite. Printed on french grey silk, he’s tucked away on my bed. I think he’s quirky and fun, and the quality is just fabulous. Retails at twiguk for £35.

The one thing I will say is that for a family home you probably want to keep these cushions out of the way of sticky little fingers or you will be sending them off to the dry cleaners regularly.

Ok, so now to the giveaway. Drum roll please…..

Competition Prize

As Twiguk were so generous in sending me 3 cushions I’ve decided to let one of them go off to pastures new. Which one I hear you ask?

Well it’s the Lovebirds Cushion worth £35.

If you would like to win it just leave a comment and let me know which room you would put it in should you win.

For an extra entry you can Subscribe to the Blog by entering your email address in the box on the home page. If you have already subscribed let me know in your comment.

The competition closes on Friday 25th May at Noon. UK entries only please. A maximum of 2 entries per person. Good luck!

Disclosure: I was kindly sent the 3 cushions by Twiguk in exchange for the review. As they’d been so generous I decided to offer one up as the competition prize for my readers.

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions
Loquax Competitions

How to make Interior Design Decisions with your Partner (or not)

Many couples fall out over money, amongst other things, but how many of us fall out with our partners over how to decorate, what interiors to buy and how to design our homes? Lots of men just aren’t interested in this sort of thing are they but some of us do have husbands who like to express an opinion when it comes to choosing paint colours and wallpaper. I’m one of them.

Just over 10 years ago my husband and I bought our first home together. We weren’t married then but had been living together in his old flat and were very excited to be finally buying our own, very grown up Victorian semi. As you might imagine, I was very much into how I wanted everything to look and had put together scrapbooks and mood boards for every room in the house. I was in interior design heaven. And actually, to be fair so was he. The time came to choose a new dining room table and chairs. I had this great idea of buying separately and mixing looks; a little bit of old with something very modern. The aim was to reflect the house; Victorian but with some very modern interiors. I ran the idea past John and he liked it. We chose the table finally at a local furniture store, and then we found some chairs on the high street. And this was the final result.

The solid wood table just before selling it on

Behind the Toddler, the modern style chairs

Now some years later, we were having a chat about how we come to decisions about the decor in the house and it transpired that neither he nor I were happy with the table and chairs. You see, we’d both compromised our ideas so much in order to please the other one and/or keep the peace, that neither of us really liked the end result. Ridiculous!

So how can we make decisions with our partners about how we decorate and design our homes? Well it depends on your setup really.

  1. You might be lucky enough to have a partner that doesn’t really care and gives you carte blanche to do whatever you like as long as you leave his precious hi fi system alone.
  2. Maybe your partner is the one who drives the design and style of your interiors and you are happy to let him.
  3. Or, as in our marriage, it is a joint effort. I can accept this (although my teeth are often gritted). It is their home after all, and they need to like the final look.

But, it’s definitely not all plain sailing and there are many huffs and puffs along the way when we decide to decorate a room. (Yes, they are mostly mine). Generally I come up with the ideas; I’m a trend follower so I’ll scour magazines for inspiration and then present them to him for his comments. Then it usually goes something like this:

Me: “Do you like this colour for the living room”

Him: “Not really”

Me: “This one?”

Him: “It’s ok”

Me: *sighs* ” Or this one then?”

Him: “That’s not bad”

Me: *defensively* “Could you live with this one or shall I go and find some others?”

Him: “Yes, what else have you got?”

Oh my goodness!! But, in respect of the relationship, and not wanting to end up with blood on the walls I’ll go and find further inspiration. We’ll finally find something we can both like. After the table and chairs debacle we’ve both promised to be honest about the decor so this is a painful process that we just have to endure. And it kind of works.

But I’m intrigued to find out how other people do it. Maybe I can improve our system, make it less painful, even painless. So please do tell me. How do you and your partner make the decorating decisions for your home? There has to be a better way than this!

I know, I know – today’s usual ‘Wallpaper Wednesday’ post will be back next week. I have something super lined up for next Wednesday as part of Jubilee week.

Design Divas: Sarah Evans from rightbag.co.uk

Ok, so normally our Design Diva profile features a Business Mum who designs or runs a business selling home interior style products. But today, I’m bending the rules slightly! I love my gadgets and I love technology but it can look sooooo dull. Sarah at Rightbag is changing all that and providing gorgeous products for us girls to jazz up our gadgets and give them that wow factor. And Sarah’s a Theo Paphitis #sbs winner from January 2012, so when I found her website I knew I wanted to feature the Rightbag story…..

What’s your name? Sarah Evans

How many children and old are they? I have two boys who are 2 and 5

What is the name of your business? Rightbag – rightbag.co.uk

What is your business and when did you start it? I sell women’s bags & cases for laptops, netbooks, iPads, Kindles and iPhones

What was the inspiration behind your business? There is a major lack of beautiful bags and cases to buy for women’s mobile devices, they are usually bulky, boring and black. I wanted to find a gorgeous sleeve for my mum’s laptop and could not find anything on the high street or on-line that had a hint of style so started investigating bringing a collection together myself and selling it online.

Can you share 3 positive aspects about being a business mum?

After having 4 years off work looking after babies I felt like I needed to start using my brain again, it is all much more complex than I ever thought but I love thinking of new things that can be added or finding new products. As I work from home and my youngest is at nursery part-time I can fit work around the children.  I also hope that I’m a happier person and spend more quality time with my children and husband rather than feeling a bit suffocated by the amount of time we all spend together.

Gorgeous Neoprene Kindle Sleeve

Any downsides?

Trying to juggle the children and work, trying to go on holiday when you work for yourself can be difficult to find someone you trust to come in and take over for a few days. It can be hard to see outside the box when you work on your own plus all the financial responsibility is down to you.

How do you keep motivated?

Networking events are something that I have started attending to share ideas with other people and to get inspired, plus I love it when customers come back to me who love their bag/case and the website.

Orla Keily iPhone case

Would you change anything you’ve done in building and developing your business?

Not really, it’s still early days so maybe in 5 years I might do but I have learnt so much about web design, spreadsheets, products the list just grows and grows so no day is the same.  If I hadn’t done any of these things I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Divine Laptop bag

What tips would you give anyone wanting to start their own business?

Research the products you’re going to sell, find out how you are going to sell them, where, and at what profit. If it’s online then look at Google Analytics and see how many hits your products are getting per month. Get on all the social media sites. Get your friends to shout about it, anything to give you some publicity. It’s tough out there at the moment but if you can find a niche and a good product word will spread.

Check out the Rightbag website: http://www.rightbag.co.uk/

Follow on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/RightBag

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/right_bag,

and of course on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rightbagcouk/

If anyone wishes to contact me please feel free to say hello at Sarah@Rightbag.co.uk

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her business story and her gorgeous products! If you are a Business Mum juggling work and family life and would like to be featured please do get in touch at jen@lovechicliving.co.uk.

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