Soph4Soph

round up: Sophie4Sophie sales!

2011-08-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

I held a flash sale on Facebook today of all the random stock i found floating about Sophie4Sophie HQ and most of it went in the first 10 mins.. wow!

It got me thinking too, what about my stockists, they all have sales going on at the moment as well.

here is a round up of all the stockists currently having a Sophie4Sophie sale.. see anything you like? grab it quickly before its all gone!

Juicytots:
wow, Juicytots have lots of great Sophie4Sophie on sale right now, lots of skirts and a few dresses too!

my favorite skirt has to be this one

currently on sale for £17.99 and only age 5-6 left in stock!

LoveitLoveitLoveit:
they only have ONE dress left in stock! its a gorgeous one too, one of my favorite fabric combos! although this one is at full price, its well worth snapping up! age 9-36 months

£28.00 with free delivery in UK! yay!

Child of Funk:
Child of Funk have a HUGE Sophie4Sophie sale going on right now, everything is reduced from £13.00

they were the 1st stockist to take on the Sophie4Sophie appliqued hoodies too. Perfect for our upcoming autumn and winter, they have them in age 1-2 all the way through to age 7-8!

grab them quick before they sell out, especially with these crazy low prices!!!!

Monkey & Bo:
Monkey & Bo have one dress currently on sale with two available at full price!

the butterfly dress was very popular this year!

on sale for £20.00!

Baby Not Included:

whilst they have dresses at full price in their new fabric selections, they do still have some of the Sophie4Sophie Kinky Bibs on sale for only £5 each! Woo!

this is my favorite bib right now! so cute!

check out their full range and different options

Baby at Sones UK:

Baby at Sones have one dress on sale right now, which i must say is absolutely gorgeous! I love the owls fabric and the cute ditsy spots are too cute!

on sale at £20.99

so there you go! see anything you like?!

did someone call for a superhero?

2011-08-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

fully lined in cotton stars fabric

big enough to fit from age 3 - 99

awesome enough to run into the wind with..

striking enough so everyone notices you...

Captain America

the capes are a new venture, after a friend asked if I could possibly make some for her son and a friends son's 4th birthday.

theyre awesome huh!

available in one size fits all

available in

- captain america

-superman

- personalised initial of child (superman style logo)

(sample idea of the superman logo)

or any other superhero you can think of!

choose from a wide selection of colours (including pinks!)

available as reversible capes too, just in case your little ones have a split personalities!!!

if interested, please get in touch

CyberMummy meet and greet

2011-06-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

with only 4 sleeps left till CyberMummy11 I thought it might be time I did my meet and greet!

so many of you probably know who I am, but for those who don't.. here you go:

this is me.. a gosh awful picture, but my most recent!
I normally look a lot more "put together" but it was just for the school run! #Excuse!

Name: Natalie

age: 31

From: Brighton

I am a: CyberMummy virgin

Business: Sophie4Sophie (clothes brand for 0-7s)
and new business launching 2012 RubiBella - Tailored and Couture clothing for 2-8s

my wonderful ticket Sponsor: Bras4mums

blog: (your on it right now!) Soph4Soph, blogging since 2009 (without much success so far) I try to blog about work related info, family life, issues, and random things...one day though, I will get into the gallery! its brilliant.. (must buy decent camera 1st tho!)

Eye colour: blue, yellow and bronze. theyre speckled and most say "they're the nicest thing about you"

Hair colour: black/brown with crazy ginger/blonde layers... kinda looks like tiger stripes & it rocks!

Height: 5"7 (but almost 6" with some Irregular Choice shoes on!)

likes: colour, fabric, spicy food, being a vegan, molo clothing, big earrings, reading twilight (over & over!) and being a single mum to 4 wonderfully fabulous children (oh and not in this order, haha)

Dislikes: not being able to eat cake, people touching my face, rude and ignorant people, being looked down on as a single parent.

Outfit: an Exclusive one-off dress designed by me and created by my wonderful sister SophieRubinetta (see her recent London Graduate Fashion Runway show pics here) and Hopefully some gorgeous Irregular Choice shoes

Most excited about meeting: seeing Sian To again, she's the most kindest woman I know and her hugs are awesome. Meeting many of my twitter friends again, as we hardly get to see each other and most importantly, EVERYONE... I really feel like i've got to know so many people over the last year or so and i've never got the opportunity to meet them, until now! yay!

Most hoping to learn from the experience: how to blog properly, how to make posts exciting and enticing to readers.. and also to make more of a business from it. I know I run my own business but I really want to expand and use the wonderful world wide web of mummies & daddies to grow and expand... (is this even possible??)

Most worried about the day: Being left on my own and getting lost... i've been given a free pass for the night from my mum & it will be the 1st EVER night away from my babies.. esp from Sophie, we've never spent a night away from each other and she's so poorly right now I feel guiltier than ever. If you see me on the day, please come by and say "hi" i'm normally a very shy person unless i'm surrounded by people I really know! so will probably feel nervous as heck!

so there is my little meet and greet!

please come say hello if you see me & if your interested in buying any sophie4Sophie goodies from me, i'll be offering a 40% discount to anyone who places an order that uses a special "on the day" password when they get in touch after the event!!!!

Irregular (but only) Choice for CyberMummy

2011-06-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

today I took a trip into Brighton to Schuh store to try on the Irregular Choice shoes i've been lusting after FOREVER!

I really have my heart set 2 pairs of their shoes and I really really need to get a pair to wear to CyberMummy

the Miaow boots are just GORGEOUS, they're lined in pink velvet.. YES velvet & you feel like your walking on pillows (I did only walk about the store, but I could have walked a marathon in these without my feet hurting at all.. EVER)
These would be my safe option, as I could see me wearing these every day on the school run, out for the night, in bed, in fact anywhere!!

the OZ cant touch this shoes are totally amazing tho... they are the PERFECT match to my dress which my wonderful sister & fashion designer is making for the occasion!
these too have to be the most comfortable shoes ever... they have super padded soles and even with the sky high heel of 9cms (i've only worn flip flops for the last 4 years!) I feel totally comfortable wearing them! theyre amazing... like so amazing I just wanted to keep looking at myself in the mirror wearing them!

I spoke to the most wonderful sales assistance in the Brighton Schuh store too.
Megan was the nicest person I think i've ever spoken to in a shoe store.. I told her all about my plea to schuh and why I was asking and she thought it was a brilliant idea.. she couldnt see why schuh wouldnt want to help out!!

I've emailed Schuh again today and i'm really hoping that they can get back to me in time and help me fulfil my dream of wearing Irregular Choice to the biggest UK mummy blogger conference to date.

which shoes do you guys like more??? (if I had the money.. i would buy both NOW!)

Breast-feeding, babies and Bras!

2011-06-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was pregnant with my1st son 10 years ago, I was adamant that I would breastfeed.

I hadn’t ever been aroundanyone who had breastfed & none of my friends had had babies at thispoint, but for some reason I just KNEW I wanted to breastfeed.

The midwives I saw where allreally supportive, but I honestly had no clue...

When my son was born, helatched on straight away at birth and it was a magical experience, I was helpedto feed him and he was a natural!

We went home after 3 days andhe breastfed perfectly, we slept together in my bed (following all theguidelines of course) and feeding him whilst laying down was the best thingever... sometimes I didnt even wake up, he would just latch himself on and i'dwake up to him chomping away happily!

One of the biggest problems Ihad with breastfeeding though was finding the right nursing bra. During mypregnancy I wore t-shirt bras, and crop top type bras, but as soon as my milkstarted to come in, my boobs GREW... like really grew... I went from a DD cupright upto a JJ cup overnight....

back then, the internet wasn’tthe 1st port of call & even mothercare back then didnt go upto such alarge cup size (not even sure they do now tbh!) so I scoured the phone booksfor local bra shops & found one quite local, so off on the bus Itrotted with my baby to hopefully find a bra that would fit me!

I did manage to get a bra, justone, as they were £30 each! YIKES!

It was the most horrid, rigid,boulder holder bra you'd ever seen, I hated it, but I needed it, so what could Ido?

we continued to breastfeeduntil he was about 6 months old, which he naturally wanted to drink water moreoften & was more interested in playing that being in my arms all thetime, so we progressed onto cup feeds with follow on formula, which is whereall the problems started. He developed a severe intolerance to powdered milk,had exorcist projective vomiting which sometime would reach 10 feet away, I kidyou not...

He was failing to thrive,developed intolerance to every food I gave him and deteriorated rapidly.

the docs were called out somany times and we spent hours upon days at the surgeries and hosp trying to getto the bottom of this quick deterioration and after months of trying oodles ofdifferent drugs and removals of foods from his diet, he eventually started togain weight and get healthy. He was put on a soya based formula, which workedreally well.

He lead a dairy free diet uptill he was about 4 years old, which sorted out his poorly tummy and he can nowthankfully eat dairy. He does suffer with eczema tho and if he eats too muchdairy it flares up really bad, so we have to watch what he eats...

when my 2nd son was born in2003, I was all up for breastfeeding again and was determined to feed him foras long as possible as I was worried he might have the same intolerances as hisbrother, which indeed he did, he had much worse eczema.

But, once again, my boobs grewovernight, after having my first son, they did go back down after I gave upfeeding him and they stayed about an E/F cup. This time though, they grew uptoan LL cup and I was a monster. My boobs were bigger than my head (each boobthat is) they were so heavy. Again I trotted off to the local bra shop andtried to buy a bra, but they didnt have any in my size and only ONE bra companymade them in the size I needed, so the shop lady ordered me one in and afterabout a week I got my new nursing bra, it was SO UGLY, I hated this one evenmore than my 1st one and I could even fit my son in one of the cups...

He was a breeze to breastfeed,was perfect at it, but the only thing he wouldn’t do was sleep in my bed andfeed, he LOVED to have his feeds with a cuddle then was desperate for me to puthim down after. I found this extremely exhausting and was desperate for him tojust have one night feed in my bed, so I could doze through it with him, but hewouldn’t have any of it!!

I did however have one of thosecots which "butted" right up against my bed, so it was easier to puthim back into bed!

I continued to feed him untilhe was about 10 months, after which time he, like his brother, wanted to feedfrom a cup and play than be stuck in my arms feeding! I naturally put him onto soyabased milk like his brother had had, as I was petrified that he would go thesame way, but he was brilliant! He never once had the problems his olderbrother did and he eventually went onto cow’s milk at 12 mths & eatingdairy from 16 months!

His eczema was quite bad tho,but the dairy didnt make a jot of difference to it, he still now 8 years onsuffers with the eczema but is under control and you hardly remember how bad itused to be with him when he was little.

When I found out I was pregnantwith my 3rd son in 2004, I was overjoyed to be able to breastfeed again andvery much looked forward to it, but sadly he was born at 27 weeks and wasextremely poorly.

I was encouraged to express mymilk for him, as they said with premature babies that are born, their mothermake an even more unique tailor-made milk that can dramatically help themthrive and survive.

So off me went, hand expressingmy milk in the early days trying to get every ml of milk I could... it wasreally hard too, as i'd never tried to express milk before...

I was told to keep a photo ofmy son close to me and to look at it whilst expressing as it would help merelax, but it was such an intense and pressured feeling I felt like everything Itried didnt work, I was only producing small quantities and was getting reallyfrustrated.

I had some help from themidwives at the hospital and they got me using one of the expressing machines,it was extremely bizarre and a huge machine, I also had to express both breastat the same time. I didnt like this at all, but for the sake of my son& his health, I persevered and got into a routine, after the 10 days ofstaying at the hospital in the neonatal unit with him, I was discharged fromHospital (on my birthday too) and sent home with one of the gigantic expressingmachines and told to express milk every 2 hours from my boobs, even throughoutthe night and to store it in the freezer to bring in daily to the hospital forhim to have. to start with as he was so small, he didnt actually get to haveany of my milk as he was on a special formula for his gestation but the storesof my frozen milk was soon starting to mount up for preparation for when hecould start to have it.

Im hazy with the dates, but Ithink around 30 weeks my milk was introduced into his diet, through a tubedirectly into his stomach; he began to gain weight brilliantly from it and wastolerating it brilliantly.

The better he got, the morethey upped his amounts and soon he was taking in more milk than I wasproducing! His stores of frozen breast milk were getting thin! I was diligentlyexpressing all the time I could, as I was desperate to help him grow, but afterabout 3 months of doing so, I began to get really resentful of the expressingmachines... I hated them... I felt all I was doing was milking a cow &never spending enough time with my son in the SCBU as expressing was takinglonger and longer to get decent amounts and my son was taking in such higheramounts, I wasn’t keeping up.

I told the doctors and nursesabout it and they suggested that I tried taking a medicine called motilium(domperidone) which is an anti reflux drug, but one of its side affects islactation, which helps you produce breast milk... I took the drugs and after ashort time, I noticed my milk production was gaining and gaining, I was getting"litres" of milk from each time I expressed and it really gave me themotivation to keep on trying.

Eventually the doctors askedme, that once my son was able to learnt to breastfeed would I like to try and Ijumped at the chance, he was using a special dummy to encourage him to suck andafter a few weeks, we became natural at breastfeeding! He was doing sobrilliantly!

I was so glad that I stuck withthe expressing for such a prolonged period of time, without it I feel my son wouldn’thave got the best possible milk for him and he wouldn’t have grown so strongand fought to stay with us.

Eventually he came home.

All this time tho, I hadn’tbeen wearing nursing bras, as he wasn’t with me and I only expressed milk itdidnt seem right to wear a nursing bra. It felt wrong, so I’d never thoughtabout buying one. thankfully though, my boobs didnt grow as much as they didwith my other 2 sons, im not sure if this had anything to do with the fact I wasn’tactually feeding him and only expressing, but they didnt grow in size at all, Iwas still wearing my pre pregnancy bras. Even when I was pregnant with my 3rdson, not once did I put on a maternity bra. (I had such saggy skin from wherethey had grown so HUGE and shrunk after the first two) so I only feltcomfortable wearing padded moulded bras (still do now!)

So I thought, what will I wearnow he's home? I was so used to not wearing a nursing bra, that I didnt bother,it was difficult when I was out and about feeing him, but I didnt go out thatmuch. At home I don’t like wearing bras so just had on vest top (with support!)and fed like that.

I continued to feed him untilhe reached about 12 months. At this point, he was spending lots of time withhis dad and it became more convenient to bottle feed him. He was bottle feduntil he was nearly two; he had very delayed development and was still the ageof a one year old at this time.

so fast forward a couple years,I fall pregnant with Sophie and again, want to breastfeed, but this time, shewould be my last ever baby and I wanted to make sure I made the most ofbreastfeeding.

When she was born (by emergencysection) she weighed a whopping 10lb 6oz!

They thought I might have hadgestational diabetes and wanted to take her away for checks, but thankfully shedidnt.

I tried breastfeeding her assoon as I was able, but I had a really bad reaction after the section and wason super heavy pain killers and found doing anything other than sleeping agony.Sophie was a really hungry baby too and she was demand feeding every hour orless... it was a constant.

In hospital, I was able to feedher lying on my side, which was easier on my tummy, but hard to pick her backup and wind...

we had to stay in hospital for10 days as I was so poorly, but I persevered with feeding her and she wasn’tbottle fed once, even though I was getting to a point of thinking, I'vebreastfed 3 babies already, I don’t "HAVE" to feed her to proveanything, but really I did. I had to give her the best start in life, as thiswas given to her brothers, why should she not have the same start.

I found doing anything with herdifficult, so we ended up just staying in bed all day whilst shipping the kidsto and fro from school in taxis. We just fed and fed and fed and fed and didnothing else, she was such a hungry baby.

my boobs started growing again,which im sure is down to her never getting off them and they grew all the wayback up to a LL cup *sigh*

BUT thankfully this timearound, the internet was awash with websites selling millions of bras, but onlya couple went up big enough for my huge bazookas!

The only website at the timethat had a bra that fit me was bravissimo and it was again, a very boring bra. Butthat’s all I could wear.

Sophie continued to be a superfeeder and was constantly on my boobs. We couldn’t go anywhere without herneeding a feed and I was always finding myself in a random place trying to convenientlyfeed her!

Up until she was about a yearold, I did this, but I soon got fed up, I had fed her for as long as I thinkpossible, but she didn’t want me to give up. I planned all along that if Icontinued to feed, I would want to give up at a year, like I had with the otherboys.

I stopped wearing nursing brasand went back to wearing my moulded cup bras and thought that this would deter Sophiefrom getting a hold of them (she knew how to undo the clips on my nursing braand used to GRAB hold of them if she was hungry!)

I delayed weaning sophie too,It wasn’t until she was about 9/10 months before I introduced her completely tofoods, we used the baby led weaning way of feeding which suited her completely,I didnt forbid her any food that we ate and I never pureed or squishedanything, I just gave her what we had and she ate it!

BUT, she still wanted my milk...I managed to get her down to a couple feeds during the day, by making itextremely hard for her to get to them! But also, I did love the bond offeeding, so at night-time she had as much as she liked.

With not wearing a nursing bratho, it became super awkward to feed her (see this post on what I found to help me!)

Eventually just before afterher 2nd birthday I managed to get her to stop feeding from me, I found thebigger she got (at 2 years old she looked like a 3/4 year old) the more staresand "looks" I got from people if I fed her. I had done above andbeyond my best for her; the bond we did share though was amazing and im so gladthat with my last baby I managed to give her the super duper best start inlife! Even if slightly begrudgingly!!!!

I wish when I had started to breast feed by boobs had been super smaller, as it would have made buying bras a lot more interesting and easier and also, If the internet & wealth of information had been readily about I might have had an easier time with my 1st son's problems..

But thankfully for all you guys who are pregnant or are feeding already, there are so many support networks, websites and online stores willing and ready to help you out.

My sponsor for CyberMummy this year is a wonderful lady, T-J. she runs a few websites, a blog and has a wealth of information for all you wonderful mums & mums to be!

have a look at some of them & i'm sure you'll find some support, advice or even a gorgeous BIG busty bra!! LOL

www.bras4mums.co.uk (maternity & nursing bras & underwear + other supportive goodies!)

www.bras4all.co.uk (which specialises in mastectomy and post-surgery bras)

and her blog

Support4Women.net

UPDATED: will I look like "me" at CyberMummy? a polite begging post to Schuh for sponsorship!

2011-06-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

now that CyberMummy is swiftly approaching, I'm beginning to get worried that i wont be ready in time and one of the biggest worries i have it WHAT TO WEAR???

this will be the 1st time ever since my 4 children have been born that i will without them for the whole day, surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of amazing mums (a few dads i think too) and feeling very vulnerable and cautious.

normally I hide behind the children, under the guise that if anyone even notices me, they'll just think I'm a frumpy mum and not really care, but at CyberMummy, i'll be an independent women, who's successfully started up and is running a brilliant business and i need to look the part!

years ago, I would have been a trend setter, wearing the most outrageous and crazy clothing and I never gave a damn to what anyone thought.. I was ballsy and i loved it..

but the woman I am today though is very different, my body has changed shapes more times than I care to think about and I cant get away with what i'd like to anymore.

BUT, hopefully this is all about to change! I've been working on a dress to wear to CyberMummy, its subtle, but very cool and I'm hoping that I will rock in it! :-)
Its also got a slight hint of my sisters recent Catwalk collection for London Graduate Fashion Week!

The only thing I am missing to my outfit though is shoes..... I NEED some shoes...
I've been hunting and hunting online for shoes that will compliment my dress and also that make a statement that reflects "me" and the ONLY brand that will do is Irregular Choice

Irregular choice have the MOST AMAZING shoes, boots, flats EVER! they have so much depth and creativity they just make any woman who wears them melt or just dance with giddiness as they're just SO DARN AMAZING! (this is figuratively speaking as i've never had a chance to wear a pair)

I really really need a pair for CyberMummy and i've found ~~many~~ a few pairs which will really really go with my dress..

any of these would complete my outfit

So, now I know what shoes I would like, the real problems begin.. I have no spare money... I've been begging my mum for the last few weeks and it's not looking in my favour.

I NEED SOME IRREGULAR CHOICE SHOES! or else I'm wearing my worn out flipflops

I would drop at my knees if Irregular Choice or maybe one of their stockists could become my fairy godmother and could sponsor this "fallen" princess to get to the ball in ultimate style....

I would be the most ever grateful and enthusiastic sponsor ever.. I would spend the entire day tweeting and blogging about how the shoes are doing with me on the long journey from Brighton to London (on public transport) and for the whole time I am at the conference. I would post pictures of how fab they look and how perfect they complete my outfit!

I would even go on the hunt and search out other Irregular Choice shoe wearers at CyberMummy and If i had permission, would snap away at their stylish feet!

now I've said all this, I would like to say, I have never ever ever thought of seeking sponsorship like this ever... and I've never ever asked someone to help me, but I seriously need any of these shoes!

If Irregular Choice could help me with my quest, I would be indebted to them Forever and would do anything, anything, anything in return!

I'm emailing the PR for the company now... everyone... Cross you fingers & toes for me!
keep tweeting #IrregularChoiceNeedToSponsorSoph4SophforCyberMummy
and hopefully I will have the best dressed feet in London on the 25th!

UPDATE:
the wonderful people at Irregular Choice have been in touch, but unfortunately they're unable to help on this occasion as all their press release shoes are off to a Charity Gala in London and wont be back in Brighton on time for CyberMummy...

But Fear not.... I've now contacted the wonderful people at Schuh to see if they can help...
Schuh are the biggest online & highstreet shoe seller EVER!

they have the best shoes too and even exclusive Irregular Choice shoes... they're all so mega lush!

Today I went into their Brighton store and *metaphorically* drooled all over them...

I'm keeping all my fingers & toes crossed that maybe they can help me....

and in return, I will and would do ANYTHING In return!

Review: B Record Plus: a new energy drink for (not just) mums!

2011-06-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

about a week ago, I saw a post on the british mummy blogging network by Karin from @cafebebe asking for people who might be interested in a new energy drink/food supplement that came onto the UK market on the 8th June this year

I turned vegan almost a year ago now after reading the book Skinny Bitch, as someone who suffers from major food phobias, this was a real eye opener & I'm so grateful I found it!
but the one thing the book did turn me against as well as meat/dairy was caffeine, I had been a heavy diet coke/coffee drinker for years and heavily relied on it to keep me going throughout the day & to keep pace with the kids! but since giving it up, i've never had that feeling of "added" energy!
I've felt amazing for giving up the "junk" tho and my headaches have become more tolerable, I noticed I was sleeping so much better too, but without my boost of caffeine every day I felt like something was missing. I looked at lots of the "energy" drinks on the market, but all of them contained some crazy ingredients or lots of sugar & I wasn't about to start drinking them, another thing was that they would give me HUGE energy spikes & rushes that would make me feel even worse once they'd worn off, so I didn't drink anything..

but seeing this new drink advertised on the BMB network, I read the ingredients, re-read the ingredients and was impressed to see that none of the nasty ingredients that the other energy drinks contained were present! an added bonus to the drinks were the added vitamin B12. as a vegan, getting enough B12 into your diet can be tricky (especially if your not always very good at eating all the right GOOD foods!!!) so was thinking YAY! an easier ~~more lazy~~ way to get my intake!

here is the jargon from the company about the drinks/supplements:

BRecord Plus is a liquid food supplement that’s been developed by internationalpharmaceutical company sigma-tau to provide sustained intellectual and physicalenergy for run down people.

Ithas been developed using established data; has a sustained effect (unlike othertemporary boost energy drinks), has no caffeine and is made from naturallyoccurring substances including:

· Vitamin B12

· Four aminoacids - L-Glutamine, L-Serine, L-Theorine and L-Arginine

· L-Carnitine

BRecord Plus reaches its full potential within 2-3 days and it’s recommendedthat you take it for ten days, though you can take it for as long as you like.

It’srecommended for people who need an extra energy boost and is ideal for:

· Busy mums

· Mothers recovering fromhaving a baby

· People moving house

· People sitting exams

· People recovering from aninjury

· Business people workingunder intense pressure

It’salso suitable for people over 12 years of age.

Itcan be bought from our website at www.brecordplus.comwith ten days of the supplement being sold for £12.99 - still cheaper thenhaving a Red Bull or a latte a day!

HowB Record Plus works

B Record Plusaids your body’s metabolism. Metabolism is a set of chemical reactions thatoccur in our cells needed to maintain life.

Metabolicprocesses are important for the release and storage of energy and for thereproduction and repair of cells.

The rate ofrecovery and the ability of a body to repair itself is related to the speed andefficiency of the body’s metabolic processes. For metabolic processes to be atthe best, a body needs the right amount of micronutrients.

B Record Plusis a specific balance of micronutrients developed using more than 60 years ofknowledge of how the body works and what affects it.

Metabolicprocesses can be slowed down by not having enough micronutrients by thefollowing factors:

· Reducedintake of nutrients due to poor diet

· Ageing– which reduces the efficiency of your metabolism and the absorbtion ofmicronutrients

· Disease– which results in oxidative stress caused by the body’s response to diseaseconditions

· Increaseddemand due to periods of high energy need, i.e. exercise, convalescence andperiods of stress

As a resultour bodies during these periods crave more micronutrients than they can getthrough a normal balanced diet. B Record Plus helps to top them up.

Here’s howeach ingredient in each bottle of B Record Plus helps to give you sustainableenergy.

Ingredients	Amount in each bottle	Properties
L-Carnitine	200mg	Optimises metabolic activity to increase energy supply. Plays a fundamental role transporting long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria where they can be used to make energy.
L-Arginine HCL	100mg	Participates in the synthesis of creatine, an important energy substrate for muscle contraction.
L-glutamine	60mg	Plays an important role in energy production and protein metabolism. Essential for cellular metabolism in central nervous system.
L-Serine	40mg	Especially important to proper functioning of the brain and central nervous system by serving at substrates for the formation of neurotransmitters L-Serine is an amino acid required for fat metabolism , neuronal membrane function and cell to cell communication.
L-Threonine	10mg	Essential amino acid especially important to proper functioning of the brain and central nervous system. Precursor for neurotransmitter glycine
Hydroxicobalmin (vit B12)	2.5mg	Favours fats, carbohydrates and amino-acid metabolism . Itsupports blood formation. Protects nerves.

B Record Pluscomes in packs of ten bottles that you take one a day. You just twist off thecap, shake it and drink it.

The best timeto use it is before breakfast on an empty stomach and the minimum timeto take it is about ten days, though it will start working after two or threedays. There’s nothing to stop you continuing to take it.

BRecord Plus, which is currently on sale across Europe and the US, was launchedon June 8^th in the UK with Nell McAndrew, who was also the firstperson here to try it.

i'm currently on day 3 of the supplements and although i haven't noticed a huge difference in myself, I do feel slightly perkier, and less stressy (if thats even possible!)

the drinks are so easy to take, a reverse twist to open the magic (the powdery ingredients!) give a good shake, then twist off and drink!

I was wondering what they would taste like, the leaflet said a blackcurrent flavour and it certainly is! not a strong flavour or a powdery one, but an almost " I could drink more of you" taste!

and as they're a small drink, you can drink it down in one without worrying and carry on with your breakfast routine! I have been leaving it 20-30mins after taking the supplement before I eat my breakfast, as I want it to get working straight away! but i'm sure you can eat straight after if you wish!

I'm hoping that after the 10 days is up, I will notice a bigger and more subtle change to myself, my energy levels & my moods!

I'll be reporting back on the 10th day with my final verdict.. which im sure will be a great one!

(all info provided is the words & property of B Record Plus)

I haven't been paid for this review, other than the 10 days trial of the supplement energy drinks

Silent Sunday

2011-04-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

say "hello" to.... RubiBella

2011-04-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

the other day I mentioned that my sister Sophie & I were working on a new clothing label which we will launch in 2012.. RubiBella

its a mix of my sister's & my daughter Sophie's name again, but this time its their middle names we've played with!!

my sister Sophie's middle name is "Rubinetta" after our dad's sister, and my daughter Sophie's middle name is "Isabella"* named after Big Sophie's twin "Isabel"

(*at home we call little Sophie "bella")

we've been working on the 1st collection which will be available for AW12 and its really starting to look good.

but one thing we didn't have was a logo, so today playing about with some ideas, I came up with this:

I haven't shown my sister yet, but I'm sure she'll like it! but if not, we will rework it! but it will be something similar to this, and will be vertical!

I've also set up a facebook page, bought the domain names rubibella.com & rubibella.co.uk

Hopefully we can get a website made up soon, with some information on!

I'm also going to be sending off for some sample labels, tags & things soon too.. its so exciting!

so watch out for more updates, as i'll be showing exclusive snippets of the line here before anywhere else! :-)

Hope everyone's enjoying their Easter break..

Natalie

Labour Of Love

2011-04-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

yesterday I spoke about the new Booty Bow knickers that I made, and that I was planning on making some Ruffle ones too!

Well today, after I had finished work, I started on the design for them (I do all my pattern making in my head!)

they took me over 4 hours to complete, but i'm so glad that I finished them, I LOVE them! even as I was cutting the fabrics out I was excited about them as I knew they'd be amazing... and GUESS WHAT... they are!

LOOK

back View

side View

front view

what do you all think???

Big Bow Beauties

2011-04-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy this weekend with wholesale orders and trying to play catch up, but i've also been thinking of new things to make Sophie4Sophie bigger & better!

I have a few new dress designs i'm working on for AW12 and one for this summer, but also, I wanted to make some super funky pants (like nappy covers) for Soph to wear with the new summer dress i've designed and as i'm a super impatient person, I had to try making the pants straight away!

I asked *big* Sophie to come up and help me out, as she's been working on her final collection for London Graduate Fashion Week (she was one of the *chosen* 12 out of her entire Uni! go Sophie!!)

Soph's collection heavily features Bows and oversized details

here's a couple of pics of from her recent photoshoot session

back shot of her 3D embossed Bow Jacket

line up of some of her collection

i'm loving it so much! The jacket in the top picture will hopefully be available next AW for kids under our new Label* (*watch this space!)

So the funky pants... big Soph helped with the bow design and I got them sewn up!

in no time at all they were created! and here they are.....

what do you all think?

this is the back view

they are ONE SIZE which fits from 6-9 months upto 3 years (Soph is 3 but wears age 4/5 clothing and they were a bit tight on her *sigh*)

they'll be available early next month on Etsy & Facebook, or Drop me an email! custom Requests super welcome!

also, I will be working on a Ruffle bum version soon too, so keep an eye out for them too!

Puzzle Pants

2011-04-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

Newly added to the Sophie4Sophie Etsy store! Puzzle pants!

gorgeous and brightly coloured pants made using the best fabric, it was a one off find in a local haberhashery shop and I had to buy it!

the fabric is super stretchy and has an almost terry backing to the jersey, so perfect for this spring weather.

what do you all think of this fabric??!

Stockist Showcase - Juicytots

2011-04-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

one of my new years resolutions was to make sure I highlighted and showcased all my wonderful stockists.

They really are the most wonderful people who have taken their money and invested in me! without their support and enthusiasm for Sophie4Sophie I dont think the brand would still be around!

anyways, Today I would like to show off .......................

back when Sophie4Sophie was brand new & I had only just worked out how to Use facebook, Abby (the owner of juicytots) found me and was instantly in love with the dresses I was making. She asked me about wholesale and I didnt have a clue!!! So with her help, we worked out some terms and conditions, (which still to this day I use for everyone) and I started to supply her with her own custom chosen dresses!

Abby had such interest for the dresses that they soon sold out, and also, she had a swarm of questions asking for larger sizes, so together we worked out the larger sized 4-7 years dress, with her own daughter being the tester! it only took a couple of samples to get it perfect!!!

Fast Forward a year or so.... and we're still working together! we've put together a couple of exclusive lines (which include the gorgeous minky blankets) she's been the best stockist I've ever had, selling out of nearly everything within weeks of putting it online!

the newest addition to the Sophie4Sophie line were the Circle Skirts and once again, it was conversations with Abby which brought me to making them.. and as a huge thank you, Juicytots became the Exclusive stockist for the skirts!!

The skirts are amazing, they're Full Circles and makes any little girl who wears them to twirl and swirl around with delight!

Juicytots currently have 4 designs on offer, but with background chatter going on, you'll soon have many more to choose from!

I really admire Abby, she's a hard working mum of 3 and from the ground up, she has built herself a wonderful online store selling amazing and wonderful delights for everyone.

I can honestly say, I spend WAY too much money on things from her store and I'm never lost for a gift idea when browsing online. Delivery has always been quick and everything packaged with the upmost care.

if you're new to Juicytots, why not head on over and check out the delights on offer.. and if you place your 1st order use the discount code "WELCOME" to get 10% off!

but even better, If you place an order for anything from the Sophie4Sophie collection, you can use the discount code "SOPHIE15" and you'll receive 15% off! but this only applies to Sophie4Sophie goodies!

I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to Abby, i've never really told her how much she means to me, without her support and enthusiasm in the early days I never would have started Sophie4Sophie wholesale and I would definitely wouldn't be where I am today. So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ABBY! you are truly a wonderful friend. I owe you many drinks when we finally meet up!!!!!!

Next Stockist showcase coming up - LoveitLoveitLoveit

Competition Winner Revealed!

2011-03-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

hey everyone,

thanks so much for taking the time to enter the competition and guess what the new product was and who was the exclusive stockist!!

as you all know by now, the answer is Juicytots & Circle Skirt!

*picture courtesy of kat @ bambinogoodies.co.uk

There are 4 designs available right now in ages 3-4 and 5-6 and a few have already been snapped up!!

Juicytots is the only stockist for these skirts for this season (and possibly next!) so if your interested in them, please get in touch with Abby or myself

more sizes and options will be available very soon!

now, for the winner...

20 of you guessed correctly (or almost!) and through the magic of random.org

the winner is....

which in the list of comments, the 10th correct comment is

'cross the pond Congratulations!!!

please could you email me or tweet me your email address and i'll be in touch about your £25 voucher to use in my Etsy store!

(dont worry, more stock will be added very soon!!)

thank you everyone else for taking part and trying!

look out for more competitions soon and lots more exciting news!!!

New Year, New Products and New Competitions

2011-02-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

this week I have been trying really hard to get back into the swing of things, I've found the last few months difficult due to a few reasons, but now i'm out of my "funk" and i'm ready to get Funky!!

I've been working on some new products too, one of which I mentioned yesterday, The hoodies.. they're so super cool!

Look out for them in my Etsy Shop soon!

another product i've been working on is about to released soon too, Take a look at the picture to the side.. its a sneak peek!

now, this new product is only going to be available from one of my Stockists!

exciting huh!

to enter the competiton, please have a look through the stockist list and pick who you think it is, have a guess as to what the new product is and put your answers to both Questions in the comments below.

the competition is open from now till next saturday (26th - 6pm UK TIME)

everyone who guesses correctly will be given a number starting with 1, and so on, and when the competition closes these numbers will be put into random.org to create a winner.

the winner will win a £25 gift voucher to be used against anything in my new Esty shop which should hopefully be open on the 28th February!

random.org

who's going to Cybermummy11......

2011-02-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Me!

I so desperately wanted to go last year, but lack of funds and not thinking I warranted going stopped me.

But this year I really wanted to go, I thought about how hard blogging is for me, I never seem to get it "right" so I want to learn how I can get it right, how to make it interesting and to stand out in the crowd.

One afternoon on Twitter I was approached by a lovely lady who was interested in sponsoring someone to go and they thought i'd be a fabulous choice! (yay me!)

my sponsor is TJ from Bras4Mums

Bras4mums is a wonderful website offering a vast range of pregnancy, post birth underwear, clothing and accessories for any mum.
here's a bit of blurb about TJ and the website:

bras4mums offer a personal bra fitting service via our home bra fitting service & telephone or email advice with our trained and experienced bra fitters.

bras4mums was set up by Tracey-Jane Hughes when she was sold a nursing bra that fitted one week, but not the next, despite being fitted by a 'qualified' bra fitter. After researching bra fitting for pregnancy and for breastfeeding, T-J trained at De Montfort University, and was also a volunteer NCT bra fitter and trainer, before having to resign in 2010.

Now having over 6 years specialist bra fitting experience, and as a qualified trainer, bras4mums offer a Royal College of Midwives accredited Bra Fitting Awareness Courses for health professionals.

I wish I had know about TJ whilst I was still breast-feeding Sophie, I had a terrible time trying to find bras to fit my gigantic boobs!

I suffered for over 2 years will ill-fitting bras and it really made me suffer and resent feeding, but that being said, I successfully fed Sophie until she was just over 2 years old!!

I cant wait to go to Cybermummy11 i'm certainly hoping I can learn a lot from the experience!

I'm also very much looking forward to meeting the many friends I have met on twitter and in the blogging world.

also, as part of my sponsorship i'm going to be blogging about post birth/breastfeeding troubles and body images I had and with help from TJ will be showcasing the help and support you can experience from using her service and website.

hot new product from Sophie4Sophie

2011-02-19T09:36:00.001-08:00

cowboy hoodie, originally uploaded by sophie4sophie.

check out our latest product!

We will be offering Hoodies with all sorts of appliqued goodness!

ready mades will be on offer in our Etsy Store soon

and of course we will be offering completely customizable hoodies too! :-)

if you are interested in one, please get in touch on hello(at)Sophie4Sophie.com

oops, a year just passed by...

2010-12-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

I have no one to blame but myself..

I have let my blog fail, get lonely and left to gather "virtual" Dust..

i've been so busy this year with Sophie4Sophie, kids, life, ~~housework~~, plucking out grey hairs! (i have WAY too many for a very super nearly 31 year old!) that i've not had any time to blog, I always mean to write a blog post, but never do :-(

I made a promise to myself that once I had succumbed to starting this blog, i would keep it going.. but I haven't & for this I am sorry :-(

my last post was in july... Yikes!! thats just terrible! So much has happened since then.. so much I could have written about.

I won't bore you with it all now in one HUGE post of drivel.. instead, i would like to show you some pictures of things that have happened with Sophie4Sophie, Myself & the kids!

I bought an iPad & Sophie stole it.... i'm still waiting to get it back!

I took 5 kids to London's Hyde Park *on my own*

I gave my son a SuperHero Bed makeover *thank you Molo-Kids & Little Sunflowers*

I got a new haircut!

I designed a new Sophie4Sophie product... just for boys! Hurrah!

Discovered my son had alopecia

Sophie turned 3 years old.. my how time flies.....

took the kids out at 7am in the snow so we could be the first people to play in it!

Sophie made her 1st snow angel!

I got myself a new Twilight inspired Tattoo

Sophie and her daddy shared their FIRST EVER story together (better late than never!)

witnessed the craziest cloud EVER... friend's son literally thought the world was ending...

Designed a pettiskirt for just dresses pettiskirt range & got one for Sophie

I also turned vegan a few months ago, have lost just over 2 stone and have discovered im addicted to buying dresses from Allsaints* which is a very good/bad thing... *thank you allsaints mastercard for helping me

in the new year, I have a lot of new things happening with Sophie4Sophie and hopefully I will have myself all prepared to blog about it all! :-)

new stockists, new products, exclusive range, innovative dresses.. and much, much more...

if you don't already, please follow me on facebook & twitter as i'm likely to be found on these daily....

I hope everyone is all set for the festive season..

take care, and look forward to actually getting my blog up and running as it should be!

CHILDREN OF THE WORLD & AROUND THE WORLD

2010-07-23T07:43:00.001-07:00

CHILDREN OF THE WORLD & AROUND THE WORLD, originally uploaded by sophie4sophie.

here is a dress i made for a customer, but accidently used the wrong colour way of the "around the world" fabric!
So now this dress is up for grabs!!!
if you'd like to buy it, please get in touch with me on hello (at) Sophie4Sophie.com
its in age 9 months - 3 years and costs £28.00 with FREE P&P!

also, have a look at the other dresses i have available in the "buy me, buy me!" section on my flickr page!

I Adore this fabric, im currently in the middle of making Sophie a bed set out of the "around the World" fabric. its amazing & has such wonderful details and famous monuments detailed on it!

The REVEAL! (of my 1st Gallery Post!)

2010-07-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, thank you all so much for the guesses!!
here it is! (in non macro!)

it is my favorite gift from my mum! she was on holiday in Devon & bought it as she said it reminded her of me! (dunno what she meant by this, but i'm happy with that!!)
whenever she does go on a holiday, either in the UK or abroad, i always ask her to bring me a tacky gift!
the one of the leaning tower of Pisa, she found in a tourist shop in Italy when she was touring the monuments!!
I love it! she even bought me the postcard with the "real thing" pictured on the front!!!

I really enjoyed this 1st attempt of the Gallery! and thank you all so much for stopping by my entry!
here's to next weeks!! i hope its a Goodie again!
:-)

The Gallery: my macro attempt!

2010-07-14T01:31:00.000-07:00

this is my 1st attempt at joining in on "The Gallery!" im not sure if i have met the brief, but this was about the ONLY interesting (to me!) thing i could think of to "macro in on!"

what do you all think?!

The Marlets Lottery!

2010-07-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

last week I had a door to door salesman stop by, it was about 6:30pm and i was VERY Stressed with kids.

He'd asked me if i would like to support the Martlets Hospice by joining their lottery?!
I didn't know what this meant, and i wasn't in the mood to find out, so politely told the guy that i would take some information about it and have a read. he said he would call back next week.

I glanced at the leaflet, then put it into the box of "stuff" (on the stairs, where all important things go like School letters, free newspapers, takeaway menus.. etc... the stuff you "really" want, but don't ever chuck out! ahem, i mean recycle!)

I never thought the guy would come back, but today he did!

again, it was about 6:30pm and again... i was VERY Stressed! he said, did i remember him, to which i said "oh yes.. of course" (which i didnt!)
he asked if i had had a chance to read the leaflet he left (I lied and said Oh yes!!) and he asked if i would like to take part.
(I hate on the spot "needs an answer" questions, esp. from door to door salesmen)
so i said, "yes, i would love to help, how much will it cost me?!"

£4.34 a month..

thats not bad, so I was happy saying yes! I spend more than that a week on Diet coke!!

as i was filling out the form, he asked me if i knew what the martlets was all about.
I didn't?!

he then said, "oh WOW, you do not know what we are and you are still willing to help?"

me - "why yes, its only a small donation?"

guy at door - "WOW... you are the kindest person i have met! (i am????) i am actually blown away right now!"

me- (in thought) HUH????????

guy at door - "today, i have walked about the whole day, and not one person has offered to take part in the lottery/donation scheme, and here you are, not knowing who we are, willing to give up some of your money to help"

me - (Again in thought) WOW.. he is really passionate about this Martlets Lottery??

"Ok, so what is the Martlets Hospice? and what do you do?"

he then told me all about the Hospice. OMG. I had no Idea.....

they are a Wonderful charity, who look after people coming to the end of their lives, their Slogan being - "life is precious... right to the end"

this is the 1st line on their website - "We provide end of life care services to adults with life limiting illness including cancer."

I was so glad i had now said yes, as this is a service very much in need & ALL of the donations to the lottery go directly to the care of these patients.
in fact the guy doing the door to door sales, was in fact a worker/carer for the charity. he said they get NO NHS funding and they simply rely on the generosity of the community.

the guy gave me a receipt for the direct debit info i had just given him & said
"I am still in shock, you are really really kind. I have had such an awful day, but you have given me hope, given me some gusto to try getting more people to join in"

he left with a smile on his face, but he left me with a lot more.

I'm very ignorant to the services our community provide. I've "touchwood" not had to utilise any of them though.
but that doesn't mean i shouldn't know. I should know. and i should "help" and am so glad he did come back.
Cancer has been on the forethought of my mind recently, My Elder sister has (HAD.. touchwood is in remission) Pseudomyxoma Peritonei and here is her story. its a very rare form of cancer.
my younger sister Izi did the race for life in name of her last weekend, SO PROUD OF HER! (she's a complete couch potato, so was amazing she ran it!!!)
my granddad died of bowel cancer when i was a teenager, and i never said goodbye, something I won't ever forget.
also i have been talking to a wonderful friend on twitter who has just lost her mum to cancer.
Cancer affects everyone i think, either you know about someone who has it, someone close to you has it, or you yourself may have it & a lot of people don't/can't recover.

the service the Martlets Hospice provide, is the last port of call to a lot of these people in the Brighton & Hove community and to the people involved it must be such a relief (i don't think thats the right word??) great support for all involved! to have these resources available to them.

I'm so glad this guy came back. I'm so glad i make him happy by making such a small but generous token of help and im so glad I now know what they do, as i am definitely going to be making more of an effort to help.

in the leaflet it says the TOP prize (weekly) is £1000. if i ever win.. (2nd prize £150, 3rd prize £100, 4th prize £50 and 40x £5 prizes) any of these. the money will go RIGHT back to them.
they deserve it/need it more than i ever will.

THE JOKER

2010-07-10T12:40:00.001-07:00

THE JOKER (LEGS ROLLED UP!), originally uploaded by sophie4sophie.

I've been neglecting my Blog for a LONG time!
I'm hoping to fix this! as im missing out on sharing a whole load of Life with you all!

hope everyone is ok?

this weekend I have been trying to revamp my Flickr (Sophie4Sophie) account!

my workload is up to date which is Amazing & i've had some free time to get working on my "ready to wear" one off pieces.

and here are some: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophie4sophie/collections/72157624111394554/
this is the "buy me, Buy me" section where i will be putting them once they're made!

today i finished a couple of pairs of "the Pants" which i've been wanting to make for AGES.
this pair which are pictured are made using a T-shirt which "The Joker" from Batman!!
*this is the view of the back of the pants*
the front are plain.
made to fit babies aged 6 months - 18 months (possibly up to 2 years!!)

if you like these and would like to buy them, please contact me through my blog, Facebook (search Sophie4Sophie) or on twitter (@Soph4Soph)

they cost £20.00 and P&P is £2.95 (recorded delivery)

thanks so much for reading my Blogpost today!
(which im doing through Flickr!! how cool is that!!!!!!!!!)

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT "THE PANTS" PLEASE READ ABOUT THEM HERE!

"Memory Monday" (sorry for stealing your title Sian!)

2010-01-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

Taken in November 2007. this is my favourite photo of the boys, it was probably the BEST day we've all had together and we had so much fun together! we rarely have days like this and it really brings happiness to me, when i think about how happy we can all be. This year i'm promising myself and them, we WILL have more days like this.

This photo is of me in 2006. It was just before i started bodybuilding and I thought i was FAT! (god if only i had known what being "fat" really was!) I am desperate to be this thin again, i felt so much more comfortable in my body. I looked amazing! (after havng the 3 boys!) please mind the mess of my bathroom!! as you can see, i've never been good with housework! hahaha!

My memory monday wouldn't be complete without a picture of Sophie. So here's one no has has seen before. this was the 1st time i saw Sophie when she was born! i was So shocked with how chunky she was! then we found out how heavy she was.. a whopping 10lb 6oz!! I loved her instantly.. but that expression she's pulling.. Classic sophie face!!!

and this last one is of me (Again!!) its my favourite photo of myself. Don't ask me why.. but it is. I think it sums me up completely. if someone asked me how I felt, this photo would be my answer!
(I just wish I still had that face.. its lost under a few layers of CHIN now!!)

Thank you to everyone for nominating me to do this post. It was fun looking through old photos. I have so many though!!!

I would love to pass this on to other's to blog about, but I think i'm probably the last to do it!! (i'm so slack when it comes to blogging, emailing, replying...... Sorry guys!!!!!

WINNER!

2009-12-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

thank you all so much for entering the Competition!!

We have counted all the comments and emails, but sadly not the twitter reTweets, as for some stupid reason Twitter decided it can't go back further than a few days when doing a search now, So a HUGE apology if you retweeted the comp for extra entries.

anyways.. using Random.Org.. we have a WINNER!!

lucky number 17

who according to our emails, from 1st upwards... the winner is

Amy (twitter ID @and1moremeans4)

Well done!

For all of you who entered to become a product tester/reviewer, We will be in touch soon after Christmas with details!!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year

Look out for the relaunch of Sophie4Sophie on the 25th January!!!!

lots of love,

Natalie, Big Sophie and Little Sophie!

Its competition time.....

2009-11-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

November has been a very busy month for the Sophie4Sophie family!

we've had birthdays, Meet ups, and lots of spending money! LOL

As December is going to be an even busier month for us all, we've decided to close the S4S doors from the 29th November - 25th January! (a 2 month break! Whoohooo!!!) so please, if you want to order anything for the festive season, don't wait till the last minute to order!!! as we might not be able to guarantee delivery!

but throughout this break, we will be ~~sitting on our butts~~ working on new ideas! we already have a few but we're after some more! we thought the best way to find out some new ideas would be to ask... YOU GUYS!!!!

so we've come up with a plan.. which we think will work super duper!

A BLOG COMP!!

so here's what you gotta do...

1 - become a follower/reader of our blog. (if you already are, YAY - Thanks!)

2 - become a Twitter Follower (if your signed up already! if you're not.. why aren't you?!!!!!)

3 - leave a comment on this post, saying "hi..."

4 - included in comment, give us your ideas for future Sophie4Sophie products!

5 - let us know if you'd like to become an exclusive Sophie4Sophie Reviewer/tester for our new products! (by contacting us here!)

6 - for extra entries, you can ReTweet this blog post mentioning " Sophie4Sophie " in the tweet.

7 - write a short blogpost and link back to this!

8 - if you're a facebook user, please become a fan here and leave a comment on our wall (every entry counts!!!)

thats it!! ~~(thats it... thats effort!)~~

Right... for the prize.... for entering this competition, you will be in the chance of winning:

A super cool, Sophie4Sophie Dress of your choice! (if your a mumma to a boy.. you can have some funky Sophie4Sophie pants instead!!) RRP £23-32

2 x Sophie4Sophie kinky bibs (one normal and one Kinky Katcher!) RRP £16.50

and also... a super cool 20% discount to send to 3 friends who you think might like to order from us!

does this sound like a cool competition or what??!!!

all entries will be counted up after the closing date, allocated a number starting with "1" and so on.. depending on the number of entrants! we will then put this into a random number generator. the winner will be the Chosen number!

We will display the image of this generated winning number and will inform the winner by email (if you provide us with your email address!!!) & by posting it on here!

CLOSING DATE IS: 15th December

(we will not be providing the prizes in time for Christmas! sorry!!)

please please enter, We really want to know what kind of things you'd like to see from Sophie4Sophie, even the most crazy random ideas (these are normally the best ones!!!)

thanks so much!

the shocks of being a sneak

2009-11-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

I've been working really hard the last few days, I had such a back log of work which needed to be done. The kids have suffered quite badly, I've been stuck upstairs sewing and they've been down stairs making chaos and going slightly insane from cabin fever!
So when they asked if they could play at a friends house (friend was at the front door) i said ok, I was just about to go into town to post some things and said, I would call the friends mum when i got back. (The friend lives literally opposite my house, i can see his front door from my front room window!)

I spent a good 30 mins in the Post office, there was a cue as long as my street! took ages to sort out which postage options i wanted to use.. scared of overseas packages going missing and not sure if i should trust the normal 1st class recorded! I did send the secret sale things by recorded delivery, so please if your waiting for your clothes, let me know when they arrive & so sorry for any delays!

After the post office, I went into Boots to collect Sophie's newly ordered toothpaste! guess what flavour???
yup, that's right! In The Blooming Night Garden flavour!! (mildly minty)

after Boots, Soph, 4yo and I decided to stroll around the corner to the Supermarket!.. i was concentrating on Soph, wanting to stop at every shop window and have a peek.. when 4yo said "Hello.. R.... (6yo's name)" I thought.... huh???? "R...." what is he doing in town?? i looked up and saw BOTH of my children, and their friend hanging about outside the supermarket by the benches where all the teenagers hang about.

Well you can imagine what happened next.. I SHOUTED so loudly, the teenagers started leering and mocking me! I was fuming.... What the heck where my 2 kids.. (6yo & 8yo boys) doing in the town????
i said, "where is your mum 'T'??" he said, "Not Here" in a fooking sarcastic voice... *Grrr my blood is boiling* I told 'T' to GO HOME NOW.. and ordered my children to follow me into the supermarket.

8yo's wailing commenced, "I'm sorry mummy..... I'm so sorry mummy" (Guilt is a tough thing) I punished them both by making them carry my shopping baskets and purposefully picking heavy items! (hehe)
also at the same time, ramming into them how disappointed i was, how dangerous it was to be out on their own, kidnapper shock stories, etc... the crying was getting louder!

I told anyone who looked at me about what had just happened, just to make 6yo & 8yo feel even more ashamed. they got a telling off from them all. Good I thought.

Walking home, we stopped at the newsagents and bought some sweets, and lollies! (god knows why Soph & 4yo wanted an Ice Lolly??! crazy kids!) 6yo & 8yo DIDN'T get anything, I told them to wait by the door of the shop. here came some even more LOUD cries and faces of guilt.

as we got in the door 8yo said to me, "I guess I've got to go to my room now, as my punishment?"
umm... "NOPE.... i think you can tidy up the whole of the living room!!" (BTW.. you couldn't see the carpet before we went out! so not an easy task!)
all through tidying up though, 8yo was bawling his heart out. but also, complaining of a really really bad foot?
"its hurting so much mummy, i cant stand up... I cant walk... mummy...."
it might sound harsh, but i told him to 'shut up' and just get on with it. he got so bad, he even started chocking on his own breathe (you know those kind of cries that worry you when your baby does it!) but i was adamant, "No.. 8yo, just get on with it"
after about 15 mins of mummy Sargent major laying on the biggest guilt trip and punishment known by my kids, the living room was spotless (almost makes me wonder why they aren't more naughty more often!)

8yo calmed down, I told him, the only reason why his foot hurt was because of his guilt, manifesting as a physical pain.
I know exactly when 8yo is lying, (been taking lessons from sky1's 'Lie To Me' programme! I'm now officially a PRO!!)
his foot no longer hurt and was quite relaxed! (OMGosh, he really is an over the top drama queen!) hew asked for a cuddle and i gave him a great big huge one. i hate being so cruel to him, but i needed him to understand what he'd done was appalling and despicable behaviour. he is NEVER going to play with his friend over the road again.

6yo all through out took it on the chin.. (God.. he's just like his dad!!) he did the cleaning, the tidying, the sorting out, all without a peep! he didn't cry once! I was just as hard on him as I was on 8yo, but Nothing, no emotion or forgiveness. this drove me crazy, I wanted him to show that he knew what he'd done as wrong, but NO... argh... nothing phased him. how could i get it through to him what he'd done was wrong??? without resorting to corporal punishment or extraction of his fave toy of the week?? (which is a stuffed elephant! he even made it a Halloween outfit!!)

so now... the question on my mind is:
"was i too hard on my boys??? and is it ok for them to be outside the house on their own?"

i have let 8yo pop to the local newsagents or at some desperate times, Boots & the supermarket. but all on express terms and he always takes a mobile phone with him, so i can call him constantly!
did 8yo think that he could go? because I'd given him permission to on these occasions? or was he just being naughty?
I asked him why didn't he say to his friend "I'm not allowed to go down town on my own?" and he said, he didn't tell him, as he wanted to go. he wanted to be 'cool' with his mate!
6yo said he only went because the other 2 were going and didn't want to be left alone at friends house?

I then thought about calling the friends mum? should i ring her up and accuse her son of leading my boys astray? (she allows her son free reign, literally.. he's always wondering around the streets till 9/10pm)
I didn't ring her, as I'm a scaredy cat! she's a ~~common pikey gypsy lady~~ brash woman!

but then, I allowed them to go to the friends house, I was aware of the dangers of them getting up to mischief, but in the friends house!! not on the fooking streets of the town!

what would you do?

My Wordless Wednesday on a Thursday with Well... words!

2009-10-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

A lot of you who follow me on twitter know I've been working my ~~not so little~~ ass off decorating my bedroom in preparation for my new IKEA office which was delivered on Tuesday!

Well here it is... its not completely finished, as the white walls still need a 2nd coat, and the organising of "stuff" will hopefully fall into place as i start to use all the things i've stcked on top!

It was amazing to see how much fabric i'd collected over the months, I kept thinking I hadnt got that much, but when you see it now... OMGosh.... I have LOADS! even under the desk I have another 3 bags, a bedside table and 4 of the holes, FULL of more fabric!

the net curtains i have tied to the curtain pole are the cut offs from my IKEA cheap £3 nets! which im going to layer and tun into some curtains! can't wait to see how they turn out!!

well anyways.. here are the pics!

dont you just LOVE the little plaque natalie from www.preciousparcels.co.uk made me!!

wordless wednesday: My week in pics!

2009-09-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

wordless Wednesday: Reason #4 - why I love my Stokke Xplory!

2009-09-09T12:15:00.001-07:00

the Price is Right...... or is it??

2009-08-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've been messing about with new dress ideas for a while now, so today, instead of doing my work (shh... don't tell anyone!!) I thought I'd have a go at trying to make some up!

I 1st had a go at a circle dress I've been promising @mummytips, but the fabric I'd bought was pants, it kept sewing really badly! So... until I can buy some more fabric, that dress, is going to be shelved! at least I did get the pattern drawn up and saved for another day!

then I started on another dress! This is a personal favourite of mine.. its a simple style and a great shape for showing off a large printed fabric (which I've got tons of!) I've even bought some fabric especially for making into a dress this shape and I cannot wait to make it now!!

I 1st wanted to do a mock up dress, just to make sure it worked out OK.. it did! (i knew it would!!) so I've decided to run another competition.. using the mock dress!! (don't worry.. its in perfect condition!!)

NOW as per the title of this post.. its inspired me to run a kind of not so free competition! (stay with me on this.. I will explain!!)

I've decided to make this competition a bit differently!

Will the Price be right?? I want you to think of a price.. any price.. (but one your willing to pay!) for this dress!! i can be anything from £0.0001 pennies... to... £11.11 or beyond... the limit is yours?!?!!

The winner will be the person with the most unique *£* price they would like to pay! and are willing to pay this amount! So in fact.. your not actually *winning* the dress.. your winning the dress at a price you'd like to pay! in the most unique amount!

made in Alexander Henry 'Tattoo' fabric, the dress is age 18-24 months.. but it should fit up to age 3-4 *NOT age 5 as stated before, Sorry!!*

OK.. you say.. I'm interested in this competition, but where's the dress?? well here... (below!! LOL)

To enter the competition, Please send an email to play@sophie4sophie.com with your 'Price is Right' price!!
you can enter via twitter too, all you need to do is add @soph4soph in a tweet along with your 'Price is Right' price!!

the competition will run for one week! closing date will be the 6th of September @12am!

there are NO LIMITS to the number of times you enter! so enter as many times as you like!!

GOOD LUCK! and have fun!!

dress measurements are:
Chest - 12.5 inches or 32cms
Waist - 14.5 inches or 37cms
Length - 20.5 inches or 52cms

Norway Rock Sophie4Sophie

2009-08-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

The owner of Tamo (our 1st EU stockist!) had told me a while ago that a top Norwegian magazine had wanted to do a feature on her shop and she'd like to use the Sophie4Sophie dresses!!

Whooohoooo!!

yesterday, Bárbara Reite (Tamo owner!) Emailed me with the fabulous news that it was published!!! she included a couple of photos for me but said she would send on a copy of the magazine to me in the post! how cool!!

our 1st published feature in a magazine!! so exciting huh!!

Here are the pics..

I wish i could read it! but i'm sure whatever it says is funk da funk cool!!!

a wordle Quickie!!

2009-08-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

I just read this on twitter: "@enhance_me: http://www.wordle.net/ - Word Clouds are Beautiful!"

Word clouds??? what are word clouds?? so off over i went to the website to take a look..

OMGosh... what are word clouds... they are THIS:

i love it!! i've just spent about 30 mins messing about with colours, fonts, layouts.. I could spend hours playing with the words & things... I think i might actually!! LOL

anyways, I just wanted to share this with you all!! Thanks @enhance_me!!

(on the wordle website it states: If you use a screen-capture or other image representation of the Wordle on this page, you must attribute the image to http://www.wordle.net/. Images of Wordles are licensed . So here I have!!!)

Mamascarf.... The Toddler Review!

2009-08-19T09:23:00.001-07:00

A while ago.. I stopped wearing nursing bras.

I am still breastfeeding, but I was FED up of wearing the awful HUGE uncomfortable nursing bras available (FYI.. I wear a 34LL cup!)

I've never been shy of feeding, but now that I have stopped wearing nursing bras, feeding Sophie has become a tad more difficult! especially whilst out and about..

I've bought myself some moulded cup shape bras and when I want to feed I have to Yank my boob out, over my top/dress and have a FULL on naked 'boob' view!

I've tried wearing cardigans/shrugs to keep my modesty, but with the super unpredictable weather.. I was often forgetting to take one out wth me! also, I have tried using blankets, but Sophie wasn't too keen on these as she preferred to be snuggled up with them.. not having them over her head!

Then I noticed @mamascarf on twitter, I had a look at the website and was Super impressed!!! It was the answer to my needs!!

normally people who buy mamascarf buy at birth or within the first 3 months, Sophie is 21 months old! Would the mamascarf work on a toddler? as most babies being fed using a mamascarf, at the age of 21 months would be used to being fed this way!

I contacted Keira at Mamascarf and asked if i could try out the mamascarf on Sophie!
the scarf arrived the next day.. wow! instantly I had to try it out! the fabric is amazing, I love the tactile texture of the nobbles!!! Sophie loves twiddling it in her fingers!

the design is so simple, by following the instant & super easy instructions, I was adorning the mamascarf and offering Sophie a feed!!She loved it! normally Sophie's a right wiggler when feeding, she loves being nosey and it drives me crazy! but inside the mamascarf she was great, she focused on feeding and became very settled and calm!

another fabulous thing about the mamascarf is the size.. a newborn baby can fit completely inside the scarf! Sophie is HUGE for 21 months, but even so, her head and whole upper body fit inside the mamascarf, which took a lot of her weight off my arms! YAY! (but please note.. mamascarf is NOT designed to carry a baby)

We've been using the scarf at home, especially when my sister's new boyfriend has come round (i think he'd run away crying if he saw my huge boobs!!) and we've taken it out with us everywhere we've been!

On Tuesday this week, we took a trip up to London and Sophie was hungry on the train going up! within seconds I was wearing the mamascarf and feeding Sophie with no one around me any the wiser!! it was fab! Also whilst eating our dinner in Ikea I fed Sophie and no one knew what i was doing! it was fabulous!

the fabric is very lightweight and doesn't take up any space in your bag! but also... if you want to, you can wear the mamascarf as a scarf! it looks very stylish, I can see me using it way after I've stopped feeding!!

it washes at 30 degrees in the washing machine, and as its such a lightweight fabric, it dries super quickly!! less than 2 hours in the South-east sunshine.. amazing!

I would definitely recommend the mamascarf to all breastfeeding mummies! had I known about it when Sophie was born, it would have been my 1st purchase, but even now at 21 months old.. its still a wise investment!

The mamascarf comes in 3 different colours, Blue chambray, Black & White! (I received the black one!)it also features a cute little corner pocket in the centre bottom point, which is fab for keeping a spare breast pad in OR as Sophie prefers, a toy!!

You can order the mamascarf directly from their website, its priced at an amazingly reasonable £15.99 (+ £1.95 for P&P in UK!)

(I received my mamascarf for free, in return for a unbiased, toddler/mother feeding view to using the mamascarf)

I'm so glad I had this opportunity as its probably the best breastfeeding aid I've ever used!!

Thank you for letting me review for you mamascarf! Here a few pics of us using the mamascarf!!!

a 'meme' from meme!

2009-08-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by 2 wonderful bloggers last week yummymummytips and Sandy Calico , with this thing called a meme? I love reading things about people, it really makes you feel like you know them better (or even just a fab excuse to be nosey!!)

Now if you know me, I'm not the kind of person who hides things... ask me a question no matter how personal and I'll answer! I think knowledge is power.. i ask Questions ALL the time, like a kid.. "but why...." and "if you......" and so on... My bosses always used to find it incredibly annoying, but I was always the 1st to excel and get promoted.. I love learning.. and NEED to learn.. my needs nurture.. especially as I'm not studying anymore.. Roll on next year when i go back to Uni!! WooHoo

Anyway.. I'm digressing... here are my answers to the 'meme' on Well 'me' lol

1. Who is the hottest movie star?
Movie stars don't really do it for me... but if i had to choose, it wold be Vin Diesel.. for 2 reasons only.. His Voice.. OMGosh.. he could talk me to sleep any day! Its so deep and powerful, I love it!! and secondly, his muscles!! I am a HUGE muscle fan! I used to do bodybuilding (before soph was conceived!) my fave muscles are the shoulders.. Oooh.. i love those bumps and dips... I HAD those... one day i hope to have them back... (or a man with some of his own, so i can ogle his!!)

2. Apart from your house and your car, what's the most expensive item you've ever bought?
My stroller... the wonderful and amazing Stokke® Xplory® I've never bought a house.. or a car (can't drive at nearly 30 years old!) but the Xplory is the BEST vehicle I've ever driven! it was and is the best investment I've ever made.. I wanted the Yellow Xplory Sooo Badly, i saved for Months to afford it! I know people will think I'm crazy for spending over £1000 on a stroller, but really.. it has been the best ever EVER item I've ever bought.. it brings so much Joy to mine and my daughters life.. We love the attention it brings, but MOST importantly, it bring my daughter and I closer together! we talk, play, chat ALL the time and she's the most content child you'll ever meet.. and I 100% put that down to her 'ride' if ever i could endorse a product.. the Stokke® Xplory® would be 'it' LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! you can see my blog post on it here!

3. What's your most treasured memory?
I would have to say.. that through all of my treasured memories, the one which will live with me for the rest of my life sticking out the most, would be the moment my 4yo son was born. HE wasn't due till March, but was born on the 12th of December 13.5 weeks early. I was all alone in the theatre, I even did the LONG walk to the operating room All alone, just with my thoughts and the fear of what might happen. to be honest, i didn't want anyone there.. this was MY MOMENT and i needed to deal with the situation alone. I won't go into the whole process of his birth, as I haven't ever written it down, or gone through it with anyone yet, still too painful and sore, but I will never forget it. After the operation, he was whisked away, and i was left in recovery at 3am. Another couple had hard their baby before I had gone in, (as i was rushed in, they didn't move this other couple out of recovery before i was put in there.. and I'll never ever forget.. Laying there in the Dark, NUMB from the agony of not knowing anything about my son & hearing this other couples baby cry.... just crying... and I had a sense of calmness come over me, I kept thinking... his baby could be my baby.. the crying soothed me, It helped me concentrate on my own son.. I hoped he'd be crying.. up in his tiny incubator.. I needed Hope! (but as you all know, my son is still here! He did survive the fight and is my constant reminder.. that HE IS my most treasured memory!)

4. What was the best gift you ever received as a child?
As a child i was spoilt.. we came from a very wealthy middle class family and I always got what I wanted.. (spoilt brat syndrome!!) the best gift i ever remember receiving was a my little pony castle for Easter! we always got given at least 10 eggs and 2 presents, I hadn't even asked for this castle, So i was SOOO pleased when i had got it! I loved it, I was never into barbie.. my friend had the house, with the moving lift.. and sun terrace on the roof.. but I LOVED my castle.. and the dragon 'spike' that came with it, He was my best friend!!! i still have him somewhere!

5. What's the biggest mistake you've made?
I don' think I've ever made any mistakes I've regretted... but probably the biggest one was letting my mum catch me with some (shh...) illegal smoking thingymabobs!!
she got me kicked out of school at 13 years old and I went down hill after that.. (again, i wont go into details, but it was the slippery slope that helped me lose 10+ years of my life!)

6. 4 words to describe yourself: a 'mum' Trustworthy, Honest, & Bad-with-money

7. What was your highlight or low light of 2008?
the highlight of 2008 was starting Sophie4Sophie with my sister, we were so bored one day, we bought a Skirt & vest top from a shop in the sale and took it home to create something new for (little) Sophie to wear! the outcome... the Sophie4Sophie pants!

8. Favourite film?
I don't have a favourite film, but was saying to my friend the other day, my only tom cruise film I like is 'war of the worlds' and i think... this film is in my top 5.. as is 'I am Legend' and 'Hancock' I love will smith..

9. Tell me one thing I don't know about you.
um.. one thing that you may all not know.... I could tell you that i was Married... before i had any of my babies... i got married at 18, to the Guy i was with for 3 years... I'd cheated on him, dumped him twice, but got back with him as it was the easiest choice!.. we got married as it was the natural progression of our relationship! he proposed to me at 4am in the morning.. he'd just got in from work and slid the ring on my finger saying.. "we're getting married.." I didn't even notice it till the morning (thought i was dreaming! but not in a GOOD way believe me!!)
I split up with him about 1.5 years later.. I kicked him out of my mum's (we were living there at the time!) and I sold the rings the next day! Harsh cow aren't i!!

10. If you were a comic book/strip or cartoon character, who would you be?
If i could be a super hero I would have to be..... Peter Pettrelli, he's just like Sylar but in a good way, he can absorb powers to use for good... I would love to help and save people.. and how Kick ass would it be to be able to fly, be invisible and Read minds!!!

now, I know i am meant to be passing/tagging some wonderful blogger friends, BUT i think.. most of you have already done this 'meme'
I'm the last to partake i think!! hahaha!!

Anyways, I hope you've all enjoyed reading a bit about me!... I really should be working... LOTS of exciting news to BLOG about next week...

Caption comp Winner Revealed!!

2009-08-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

so... after giving the entries to my sister and 8yo son, they couldn'd decide on 1 winner... they chose 2 and these are the winning entries.. BIG Sophie chose 'allgrownup' for her fab one liner!...

its such a great Caption it had us all in stitches... it is exactly how Soph jumps onto my arms!!!

and my 8yo son loved this Caption entered by 'pramrock' he's really into angels and things, he always calls Soph an angel.. so he thought this was a good Caption for the picture!

Well done to everyone who entered, i'm so sorry you all couldn't win, as I loved all the entries..

So... the Winners... allgrownup & Pramrock... Congratulations, you have both won a 'Kinky bib' in your chosen fabric, please could you both email me at hello@sophie4sophie.com with your details, and I will also include your special discount code, so you can have 25% Discount on anything else you wish to buy from us at Sophie4Sophie!

thanks again to everyone who entered, Please keep looking out for future competitions! in the mean time, we'd like to offer everyone a special offer of 10% off any order placed between the 24th and the 31st of August! Just Quote "caption" when getting in touch!

Don't forget you can find all our latest fabrics on the Flickr photostream and keep upto date with all our latest info on Facebook and Twitter

The apparition of a Geisha in the Bathroom

2009-08-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

I've had this piece of paper sat in my bathroom for ages... every time i go into the bathroom i think.. this is interesting.. I can't remember what was spilt on it.. but i think it spilt into a very cool shape... What do you think it looks like... To me it looks very much like a Geisha

I don't know why It appears as a Geisha, is it meant to mean anything?? I always think that things appear for a reason, and this has sat on my mind for ages... why a Geisha and why is it on a piece of paper which gives advice on parenting techniques?

am I reading too much into this apparition of a Geisha?? I've Googled the phrase and in fact there is a painting called "the apparition of a Geisha suite" .. not sure its connected but......

Soph4Soph's 1st blog comp.. Thanks to @juicytots!!

2009-08-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry my blog has been super ignored for ages.. I never realised how much time it takes to think/write and publish posts.. Especially when all 4 kids are hovering around me like flies 24/7!

I have promised to do a few new posts, so whilst i'm working away from my computer today (blitzing the Kicthen and trying to fit in a marathon sewing session!) I thought I would post the photo my 8yo took last night of Sophie! She launches herself onto my arms when i'm trying to type (ok chat on twitter!!)

I published it on Twitter and it had everyone in Hysterics!! My good friend and Sophie4Sophie Stockist @juicytots said "@Soph4Soph stop it! It looks like it should be in the humorous cards section, you could do a comp on your blog for the caption!"

I thought about it and Yes.. it would be fab for a Competition.... here is the photo:

please forgive what im wearing.. its my old trusty Bavado nursing bra!! not a good look (especially without a Tee on!) but super comfy!!

So Competition:

think of a "caption" for the photo

choose a favourite fabric from my Flickr photos

leave your Caption & choice of fabric in the comments

ENTER.. as many times as you like!!!!

The winner will win a 'Kinky bib' in their choice of fabric! and a 25% discount off a Sophie4Sophie dress or a pair of Sophie4Sophie pants!!

The winner will be chosen by my 8yo son & business partner BIG Sophie!

The Competition will close on Friday 7th August at MIDNIGHT!!

Good Luck....

UPDATED: this is Sophie's 2nd fav position of trying to scupper my Twitter/type in peace!!

If you like, you can think of a caption for this one too... All entries COUNT.. so enter as many times as you like!
the funnier the Better!!......

Loving the comment's so far too... So funny.. I can't stop laughing!!..... Keep it up!

craving cupcakes!

2009-07-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

On twitter, I follow a fair few cake bakers... I'm so in awe of how amazing they are!!

meet... @amylane, @fashioncake and @mumswhobake

I'm so jealous of their skills! and over the last couple of days, I've been reading their blogs, Surfing mumswhobake's website and desperately wanting to eat cupcakes!!

now, I do bake cakes... but the one's I've seen are amazing, The Birthday cakes that @fashioncake made, are so so so cute! it was her son's 2nd birthday and she made him the most wonderful Iggle Piggle cake! Look...

amazing isn't it! So talented... I wish I lived closer to her, I would be buying cakes for all my kids birthdays!... I can't wait for her to find out if she can mail order cakes... I'm going to be her 1st customer if she can!!!

@amylane was twittering yesterday about her cakes... and her classes she's been going to, She'd blogged about it all too, So off i went to be nosey.. and OMGosh.. what did i find.... amazingly crafted flowers, cupcakes and fabulous cake toppers.. Oh.... how jealous am i! Then, also on twitter, she added a picture through twitpic of a birthday cake she'd made for a friend's son!..

Here i was sat in front of my laptop.. wanting to lick my screen.... I so needed to eat that cake... its amazing... Look.....

then she put another picture on twitter... this was torture... look.....

I am desperately in need of a sugar/cupcake fix now... how amazing are all these cakes...

Then only a few moments later, @Mumswhobake put up a tweet about her Xmas stock shopping and a new cutter/puncher she'd been using to make snowflakes for her Christmas cakes... and Look.....

how super are these!!!! I have to buy this cutter to make my own springy Christmas snowflake cake!!! I'm in love!

But... all this cake loving and wanting made me soooo hungry for some of my own and I didn't have any ingredients in the house... so couldn't satisfy my want... I had nothing sugary in the house... so had crackers & butter! bummer huh!

So.. today's plan of action was, whilst taking boys to their Samurai class, I would buy the ingredients to make my own cupcakes.. Not on a scale like these wonderful lady bakers.. but hopefully something special enough to satisfy my cake needs!!

I'm also suffering from major PMT this week! I'm so stressed! so I thought I might incorporate some chocolate into the cakes, normally I use bournville cocoa powder, but I wanted something a bit more solid.. so looking along the candy aisle in the supermarket, I saw buy 2 for £2.50 big bars of cadbury bars.. (the big ones!!!) and thought.. ooh.... Crunchie & Caramel... how yummy would it be to put a chunk of each in the middle of the cakes... So i did!!!

Also, I only have a red food dye, but didn't want bright pink butter icing on the top! the boys have an aversion to pink! so.. i made half of it pink and left half white.. and put it in the piping bag to make it mix up!!!!

Here's my results... Now be warned.. they are no where near as fab as the wonderful twitter bakers... but they tasted yummy.. and the choc chunks worked out great!! they sank.. but still worked out well!

the buttercream did turn out a bit too pink so, I thought i'd better put some of our left over black holographic edible glitter on them!.. they look fab don't they!! Wish i had more colours of the glitter though.. maybe some red, gold, pink, purple, green, orange... Oh heck.. i wish i had ALL edible glitter available!

Proud Mummy moments!!

2009-07-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well.. so much for my blogging every night... How useless am I!?!

My 1st proud mummy moment happened over 7 days ago now, I really shouldn't have taken so long getting this up for you all to read!

my 8yo son had his 1st Samurai seminar at Falmer university, Brighton and it was amazing, He loved it! I was so proud seeing my son take part in the demonstrations and prove to his sensei that he deserved his next belt (white with a yellow stripe!)

here is a picture of him doing a Demo:

the demonstrations and training went on for about 2 hours...it was amazing to watch and 8yo really tried hard to do everything right!

He was one of the youngest & smallest there! (apart from the kid they partnered him with, he was a titch.. Poor boy didn't know what hit him when 8yo threw him over his shoulder/back!!

and when the boy had to do the same move on 8yo... No chance!! poor kid!

he loved every minute of the morning, and was so excited to see his mum & dad (rare that dad ever does anything/go anywhere with mum!!) sitting in the viewing area upstairs! he kept looking up & waving!!!

after the demonstration, all of the sensei put together an assault course and split the kids up to compete! (they even let 6yo join in! which he loved!!!! here's a video of them all!!

*6yo is the one in the Bright blue top!*

after the assault course, the head sensei took them through their grading, then sat them down and gave them all their certificates and new belts... they were told to take off their white belts and to put their new one on, but 8yo was given an adult size belt and it was so funny.. watching him trying to put it on!!! it was HUGE! it took 3 sensei to help him.. Poor boy

here is 8yo with his certificate... I'm so so proud of my eldest son.. he's amazing!

Now.....my 2nd proud mummy moment was going to see 6yo in his school performance.

it was called "Stella the Starfish" and was all about a starfish who'd lost her family and had to travel through the mgical ocean to find her family.

6yo was a Turtle.. not just any Turtle, but a depressed, grumpy Turtle!! He'd been singing the songs for weeks... so i'd learn't ALL the words! but was excited to see how a turtle this grumpy could be played into the performance...

Well.. here's the video of him singing his song.. He's the one in the middle of the screen.. (bopping!)

the words to the song are:

"snap, snap, snap, i'm Terry the Turtle,

grump, grump, grump, keep outta my way,

My flippers are tough & i'm feeling rough,

So just - leave me alone Today"

"Snap, snap, snap, I'm Terry the Turtle,

grump, grump, grump, keep outta my way,

My blood is all cold & i'm feeling old,

So just - will you please Go away"

"snap, snap, snap,

Grump, grump, grump,

Read MY beak

NOT AT HOME TODAY"

*this was just the verse.. I could remember the whole thing!!*

(but loved the bit about turtle soup!! lol)

here's a picture of him in his costume, He's looking a tad shy.. awwwww!!!

this is what I love.....

2009-07-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

ok.. so this is an unplanned blog entry, but I have to share this with you all...

I've just recieved an Email from a lady who asked me to make her daughter a Sophie4Sophie dress!

she'd been waiting for me to finish the sample sizes of the 4-7 year old dress! and as soon as i had, she sent me some gorgeous fabric!!

I was so excited about making this dress.. as the fabrics were divine and I couldnt wait to see them come together!

( I haven't got any pics of the dress as i forgot to take any. i was super rushing to get it posted on saturday!!)

but anyway... here's the email!

Dear Natalie

I'm been meaning to write this all day - whenever I've sat down at the PC some mini drama or so has unfolded (usually involving poo or wee as my son is potty training)!!

I received the dress this morning and it is AMAZING!!! Even better than I could have imagined X 100!! I'm not someone who is easily impressed these days (too old and cynical!), so please consider it a real achievement!! My little girl F***** really loved it too...so bonus!!

I'll send some pics onto your fan page on Facebook soon.

Thanks again
K** xx

Doesn't get better than that Huh??

Today was Tuesday.....

2009-07-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

today was Tuesday..

I woke up early, Knowing I had to be at 6yo's school to watch him in a play called "Stella the starfish" which was amazing... 6yo was so funny and did the best grumpy turtle dance ever!
(he played a depressed Turtle!!)

I'm planning a blog on this V.soon!! haven't uploaded pics & video yet, but promise to do so soon.. as its super cool!

After Watching 6yo in play, I took all my newly made dress orders to the post office, one package went to Oslo, Norway! (Look out for the big news on this one!!! website to follow too!) one went to http://www.weepunk.co.uk/ (@weepunk on twitter! and now my 3rd stockist!! YAY) and one with a sample dress that went to a hopeful new stockist.. which if successful, will be named here at a later date!

4yo had an appointment with Speech and language today too.. so after the post office trip, We got on the bus to the next town, along the coast road to the clinic..
4yo was fab! not one stammer.. typical.. but the speech & language lady was concerned about his behaviour.. and his 'need' to shout.. EVERYTHING!! so has referred him to audiology!
6yo had surgery in Jan to fix his hearing, he was 80% deaf!!! but perfect(ish) now.. no more shouting! so hopefully.. if 4yo has same.. he can be 'fixed' too! i'd love a quiet home... LOL

well... after spending about 1.5hours with the S&L lady, we decided to pop into Brighton again (we'd been Monday!) to buy some things... I'd seen some Lego reduced and wanted to buy it! God knows why.. i think i spend half my income on Lego for the boys.. but they do love it!
I also went into a high street shop... to look for 'fat tops' I've never ever had to buy a size 20 until now.. and I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that.. "you can't wear a size 10 anymore Nat.. You look ridiculous!!" (thanks mum!!)
So.. I searched for some tops and found a couple.. one of them was reduced to £14 from £22 and one was reduced to £5 from £18, not bad!! so went to pay... at the checkout though.. they guy rang them through and said "that'll be £10 please.." huh... nice one!.. best not tell him he rang through the £5 top twice!! I chip & pinned and walked out! hehe (i love a bargain!!)

not thinking and the Stokke Xplory being full of things & no handbag, I put my purse, phone and other bits into the bag with tops and put this bag into the Lego bag.
left the shop and got the bus home!... and just in time.... The heavens opened a Thunder and lightning storm had just started!!!
why is it that lightning isn't as cool when its daytime.. I love lightning... but not when you can't see it properly! So glad we had 4 episodes of it today.. Kids got super scared of it this evening... really freaked them out! wimps!! (OK. maybe it was the sound of the thunder that scared them.. or even the fat that the Sky+ didn't work due to the storm.. amazing how NOT being able to watch TV can traumatise a child!!!) I love thunder & lightning.. amazing it is!
Anyway.. i digress... I got onto the bus and it was PACKED... so many people got on & i had to stand.. so put the shopping bags into the cargo part at front of the bus.. and stood next to 4yo & Soph in the Xplory.
My knees have been giving me a lot of pain these last few days (I've been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in my knees) and i was struggling to stand up, so when the bus died down.. a space came up next to the kids on the other side.. (the seats where the sticker says "priority to the elderly, disabled or those less able to stand") I think I pass for this category?! Well anyway.. I sat my ass down!!
Because the bus had been so busy.. it had had to stop sooo many times and time was running out.. it was 2:45 and i had 15 mins to get into my town, take shopping home & meet 8yo on the hill so we could quickly whizz round and collect 6yo from his school..
just coming into the town centre, I Was distracted.. someone started to talk to me about the Xplory... now i LOVE talking about the Xplory and how uber cool it is, but i was tired, stressed and almost LATE.. I said to the lady, "oh i am sorry, this is my stop.. thanks for your comments, Yes, She DOES look like a princess!" (haha! i love it when they say that! she's the Official #1 Stokke Queen!!)
Pushing the bell for the stop, the bus driver nearly missed stopping and I quickly got off the bus... thinking.. oh I'd better check the time... and ...................

NO.... NO... NO... NO... NOOOOOOO
I'VE LEFT MY F**KING SHOPPING BAGS IN THE CARGO BIT..... MY FREAKING PURSE... PHONE... EVERYTHING..... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......

shouting at 4yo.... i said... "RUN.... run after that bus..." now, this is the road and its a STEEP hill

It may not look like a long way... but when you have a 4yo & an Xplory and Stoopid freaking Knees.... it can feel like Everest...
I RAN... ran so hard and so fast... I started crying... my knees were giving way... BUT i had to catch the Bus... What if someone saw me put the shopping on the bus.. Knew i'd got off and then took my shopping knowing I couldn't do anything about it... Noooo...

Shouting at 4yo to hurry up.. I almost ran into oncoming traffic... I was hysterical... I couldn't stop, because i'd miss catching up with the bus.. BUT OMGOD... I'm so FAT.. and SO freaking unable to run... I'm never going to catch it.. 4yo is crying too... "mummy... my heart is hurting me..."
"KEEP RUNNING..... we have to catch up with the bus..."

NOPE.. it was gone.... I'd ran all the way to the next stop.. and it had gone... the next bus stop was too far away...

I started Blubbering.... All my money...My phone.... kids Lego... irreplaceable thing in my purse, like photos of kids and the Tracking info for the packages I'd sent this morning... Noooo... all GONE..

Then.. it hit me.... Taxi... get in a taxi and "CHASE THAT BUS, DRIVER"
I went into the taxi office and through my out of breathe, blubbering fat red face.. i tried saying that i needed a taxi NOW....

the lady in the office said.. "Nah.. darlin... ain't got nothing for at least 5 mins..."

FIVE F**KING MINUTES..... No... i need one NOW... she saw i was hysterical and asked what had happened, I tried telling her... but started having a panic attack... I've never had one before (in public that is.. but now... in a taxi office.. with 4yo crying.. Sophie flabbergasted to what was going on with her mummy...) I was going crazy...

Thankfully.. the blackberry was in the pocket of the Xplory.. what a god send that pocket is... I got out my phone and tried ringing my sister (business partner - BIG Sophie!!) I couldn't talk to her... i just stammered down the blackberry... saying
"I..i...i... taxi.... now.. kids... school...bus... Lego.... running.. knees....money... now... help... please... centre... help... come...."

what i was trying to say through hyperventilating was.....
"I'm waiting for a taxi.... the kids are coming out of school NOW.. and i'm not there..... i left a Lego bag on the bus with my shopping & purse, phone in.. and I ran after it.. I'm now in the town with NO money... and i need your help.. come to the town centre and help me..."

She didn't understand a thing... "Nat.. what the F**K s wrong with you... where are you??"

passing the blackberry to the lady in the taxi office, she told her where i was...

I was so upset.. all I could think about was the kids... they were coming out of school NOW and for the life of me.. could i remember the phone numbers of their schools? nope! could i even ring them and make sense down the phone.. NOPE... I was a mess....

My knees were hurting so much... was pumped full of adrenaline.. but my knees couldn't cope.. i collapsed on the floor of the taxi office... crying in shame now more than my loss of shopping and things... how embarrassing... I've never been so unfit.. and/or so unable to run... this is such a wake up call...

after what seemed like an eternity.. BIG Sophie arrived and i was able to cryptically tell her that I wanted her to take 4yo & Soph with her to find 8yo who'd be scared out his wits that mummy wasn't home or had met him from school.. (he walks down the hill to our hosue everyday after school and i meet him outside the house) and to then ring 6yo's school and tell them to keep him there in after-school club...

and still NO TAXI... this bus would be miles away by now... I started crying again... where is the taxi...
"I've got a taxi near the bus..." taxi lady says... "I'm going to send him after the bus without you.. as it'd be quicker than coming back here to get you"
"O..o...kay"... i said... picking myself up off the floor...
BIG Sophie went with kids and i sat down on a bench and continued to cry into my hands...
GOD... what a complete state i must have looked.. now in all my life.. I have never shown this kind of public breakdown... but i couldn't help myself... I was out of control and showing the world my soul... OK.. maybe not my soul... but, i was so upset! I'm such a closed book in person.. I never let my emotions show... Not ever to strangers anyway!.. and come on Nat.. it was only Lego, clothes and a purse & phone.. you CAN replace most of this... OK.. not the photos, tracking info & other few bits.. but most of it... WHY are you getting so upset??!

I think.. i was more upset that I'd been so Stupid.. i never ever normally leave things on the cargo part.. for fear of someone snatching them whilst I'm sat down and distracted... but here I was.. being THAT stupid and leaving my things there... and also.. i think i was ashamed... ashamed that in an emergency.. i couldn't perform.. i couldnt catch the bus up.. I nearly got myself, the xplory and 4yo ran over by running into the main road.. GOD.. what kind of a mother am i!?!

the taxi lady's phone rang... " are you there... is it there... what did your bag look like love??"

Umm... I've told you a million blubbering times.... "it was a LEGO BAG... yellow... with a purse and phone in it.."

"did you hear that... its a Lego bag... have you got it??"

god the suspense was killing me.... Was my shopping there.. had the taxi driver caught the bus?

i was starting to calm down now... hopeful that the Taxi driver had stopped the bus.. and was collecting my bag... Please please please....

her phone rang again

"whats your name lovey??? (Grr.. i hate being called "lovey")
"Natalie"

whats your surname....
"L***man" i said... " has he got it??? I was shaking again.... please... please let him have my bag...

"ok.. " she put down the phone..
ok.. OK what.....

"he has your bags... he's on the way to the office!"

YES.... omgosh.. I've never been so relieved in all my life.. i started crying AGAIN...
(geez... am i hormonal or something???)

looking out the window... i waited for the driver... here he was....
YAY... he had my things!!!

I thanked him SO much and threw all the money I had in my purse at him.. i think it was about £15..(wish i could have given him more...) but I had my purse! I had my phone and I had the kids Lego! YAY!

I hobbled home, wishing i still had my Xplory to hold onto.. I could barely walk... and was still so upset and red faced from crying (or was that shame...)
got in the house and callasped... on the floor.. literally and cried again... but this time in happiness... I was so thankful... i had my things back and the kids were home safe

my obsession with Stokke

2009-07-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

I think everyone who knows me, Or who follows me on Twitter will know how much of a Stokke fan I am!

At the present time, I am the Proud owner of 6 Tripp Trapps, 2 Xplorys, a Table top, A Hippo rocker & soon to own Care unit!

the only things left on my list are the Keep unit & and the junior extension for the Sleepi, but Sophie would have to actually sleep in her cot before i made it bigger for her!!!

on twitter @mummytips is my new best friend! she runs the Global PR for Stokke and she's amazing!! I wouldn't be where I am today without her! (be sure to check out her blog too... full of amazing products and exclusives!)

I met her on twitter after she set up an account for Stokke fans called @StokkeLovers and ran a competition.. I Won!! (I knew I would!!) it was a cup holder for the Xplory! YAY!

I have a Yellow Xplory, which was released in limited amounts, I think only 100 were available for sale in the UK.. I feel super fab knowing I won't bump into another!! and its gorgeous! It came with the Forest Olive kit too.. which is So beautiful

but me being me, I get bored quickly... I wanted more colour for my Xplory!... never content me!

Mummytips kindly sent me come Orange textiles for the Xplory... but when the parcel arrived, inside where Turquoise ones!! WOW i thought.. these are amazing.. and SO BRIGHT... how cool would they look against the Yellow!

But because they weren't the ones i ordered, I didn't use them! i put them in the box and pondered...

Now Yesterday.. I received my Orange Textiles... Oooohh... they are Lush! love them... they match my forest olive kit perfectly!

I couldn't wait to get the new orange bits on the xplory, So today we had a play! Before I did though, I saw this post on Twitter

"Wonder what colour Soph4Soph's Stokke Xplory will be today?" from @mummytips

Well... this is what colour it was....

I know I'm not keeping the Turquoise Textiles, but I had to ask @mummytips If i could Use them just to see what it would look like.. and OMGOSH... I think I might just have to beg her to let me buy them!! They look amazing with the Yellow... SO vibrant!!!

What do you all think? which combo do you think looks the best??

I'm sure when we go out tomorrow morning, we are going to get a lot of notice and Stares!! but that's what its all about!! ;-)

I, and even Sophie love getting stopped by passers by! she waves at them like she's a queen... and she is THE queen, the Queen of Stokke!

Spider Web Spinning!

2009-07-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

well after the mammoth post last night, I though tonight's could be somewhat shorter & lighter!

I hope you all enjoyed reading about the Story behind Sophie4Sophie and the showcase of my new product, which shall now be referred to as the "kinky bib" thanks Claire!!

So...
Today I've not really got much work done, with my lack of enthusiasm to do anything & it being so blooming hot... I've not moved far from the sofa since i got home this afternoon.

I did however take photos of all my most recently bought fabrics! I've been meaning to do this for a while! I've bought so many wonderful fabrics and have been secretly keeping them all to myself!

but have decided, this is not fair!! Why shouldn't the World enjoy them too... Especially on a Super funky Sophie4Sophie dress! (or bib!!)

I've put them all on Flickr!!! I'm so excited about my flickr!! I'd been locked out of it for nearly a month! I'd forgotten the password & couldn't reset it.. but today.. out of sheer luck, I tried to reset it again..and it WORKED!! yay!

I had been worrying that I'd have to start a whole new account and re upload the hundreds of photos that I'd already got on my original account! So, Phew... that's a job not in need of doing!

The photos have all been put here have a look!!

I do only have limited availability of some of the fabrics, maybe even only enough to make 1 dress.. or even 1 bib! (I've added my big scraps!!) If your interested in any... act quickly... as someone else might beat you to them!!

Also today... (skipping onto a completely different subject!)

spider web spinning!!! the title of today's post has been inspired by my sons.. They've been having so much fun today, much to my annoyance.. with balls of string...

We took a load of clothes to the charity shop a few weeks ago, and walked a round the back of the shop to leave them in their porch, seagulls tend to eat any bags left out in the high street and I didn't want any of the clothes getting ruined. The back of the shop is in a large communal car-park and beside the back door were wheelie bins.. now i don't normally take much notice of wheelie bins, but these ones were Full.. so full of things... not rubbish... I thought.. OMGosh..whats that??.... I have that baby gym at home, it cost me £50!! and its still in its packaging! WHAT.. I took it out the bin and investigated further... What else could be in here if they're throwing away good toys.

So many things were in there.. but most importantly these balls of string! there were hundreds!!! glittery ones, black ones, Red ones, pink ones! I thought how cool... we could have so much fun making things with these.. so We took them home! (shh.. don't tell anyone we bin borrow!!)

this is what the balls of string were made into today: They spent HOURS... tying this string to every available surface in their bedroom...the hall...the bathroom and even the landing!.. it looked amazing!!! I'm not sure if I'm happy about it, but for the peace and quiet it gave me this afternoon, I'm not going to grumble! they had so much fun and the creativity of them is amazing... Roni my 6yo (pictured in the Ubang Elephant top!) had taken on the role of a giant spider.. here he is scaring me out of his room...

He's so funny!... i love how imaginative he is!! the spider web is still there, He wouldn't let me cut it down, I don't know how I'm getting into my bedroom tonight...Its a bit like the crystal maze... but what will I win if i manage to get through it!

Maybe I'll just take up come scissors and say another bigger spider came along and was jealous!! If not he can just make a new one... we still have 99 balls of string left!!!