Sophie4Sophie dresses go global!

ModelGirl and FunnyGirl's appearance on Planet Awesome Kid has made it to a cool Spanish webmag called Caos, tragically it's not in English - but you can make use of the Google translator. They really are rocking their Sophie4Sophie dresses.

Mummy's letter to Santa....

Dear Santa,

It has been (too) many years since I last wrote to you but this year I live in hope that you will make it to my letter. I understand that the alphabet has always been against me what with my first name starting with S and my surname with T but for some reason - this year feels kind of different.

Before I indulge myself I would like you to consider my fellow bloggers and there are a few of them so - sorry but stick with it.

1. Just today @tara_cain begged to be let loose with the xray equipment in the Playmobil Emergency Vet room, sadly for her she was not willing to take on board the X Ray training that such advanced procedures require. I on the other hand do in fact have many years of training and am willing to pass my techniques on to her as she seems like a game kind of gal.

2. Please do pop by @omgmummy's pad (if she's there that is), there are many things that she wants / needs as a new mum but without going into detail I would settle for her having a new iphone cause she smashed her last one. (Ok so i have done it many times but I have the 02 insure! smug? clearly!)

3. She is my client and I love her (though not 100% sure why) but @easidream (and I) could do with some extra leg work from your product making Elves if you don't mind...

4. @soph4soph needs a new camera so that she can share all of her amazing new creations with us in high res. If it has a video function all the better cause little Soph and ModelGirl have gotten into the habit of video messaging each other before bed.

5. Can you please send round your sewing Elves for a couple of extra shifts post Xmas rush? I don't mind taking on overtime rates but think that a team of sewing Elves would be a welcome gift for @byyanto in the run up to London Fashion Week.

6. Some of my fellow blog buddies are just plain grumpy sods at times as you know,  but a slice of cheer would go down so well with @LivingwithKids, @porridgebrain, @that_Kat, @dotterel @swhittle and @cafebebe. Your wishes would fuel their Xmas spirit no end (well I hope).

7. TotallySonny would love to be elevated to super blogger status but failing that meeting David Tennant and the new Dr should match up to him meeting James Murray (Steve from Primeval) and Sarah Parish (the Empress Racknoss, Dr Who) and them telling him that if they ever had a boy they would call him Sonny. Ok so that is a pretty big ask... but see what you can do.

8. ModelGirl asks that Shane & Mark's pregnant Sphynz cat manages to produce two (yes two) odd eyed white kittens so that they can keep one and we can bring one home. (Technically that is my wish but if I lend it to her I get 2 back right?)

9. FunnyGirl simply asks for copious amounts of sweets, cake and chocolate for the next twelve months...a simple request.
10. And me.... well a couple of extra hours in the day wouldn't go a miss. I would be fine if I didn't have all of these extra personal projects - but well I have.
Thank you.
xx
and 
PS (please Santa) don't forget that I like Chanel handbags.

and one more thing....
pretty pretty please Santa, @porridgebrain would really like a new camera - so if you could fix that for her would be dandy.

Planet Awesome Kid

I came across this blog the other day - so simple but oh so cool. So I submitted a pic of the girlies and look, here they are featured on the home page today rocking their Sophie4Sophie dresses!

Blogging and me......

I've only been blogging for about six months but in that time my life has completely changed and as a result the lives of those close to me have changed too.

Gone are the evenings in front of the TV flaked out and snoring by 9pm. Now my evenings are spent sitting opposite my hubby at the kitchen table, both of us engrossed in our Twitter feeds or blogs.

Funnily enough we have settled into the same 'Twitter Tribe' and are often caught up in the same conversations.

He started a blog too. Inspired by an an amazingly kind act that shook the roots of everything that he believed in.

Then there are the people that I have met on line. People that I've bonded with without visual distractions. People that you know care for you and look out for you - probably more than you 'real' friends do. You find yourself looking out for things that you know they will like and you speak openly without the constraints of everyday life.

Surprise parcels in the post..... when was the last time you got one of those from your everyday friends?

Yesterday with the postman came a box full of lovingly sewn cushions and dresses for my children, made by one very special person who stayed up nearly all night making them for me despite having four demanding children of her own.

How many of you regular friends would do that?

Then there are the people that I have met and formed business relationships with. I have a fab new client who I was following on Twitter. She came to me for advice - not knowing that I was already watching her - and it took a while for us both to realise.

We are a couple of weeks into our business relationship and what a couple of weeks they have been! She is totally inspirational - with six kids in tow. You should stop by her site and have a look at her revolutionary new product. It's called easidream and it is awesome!

Then there is a lady over in LA. She has gone out of her way to help me in a project that I am setting up this weekend for one of my clients.

She didn't have to do that - we have never met. She has not only showed kindness to me - but she also sent @byyanto a stack of the Pearsons Salted Nut Roll that he fell in love with after me gifting him some on my return from Chicago.

She went out, bought them for him, packed them up and sent them to him here in the UK - all the way from sunny LA!

And then there is my boy - Sonny. What I have witnessed over the last few weeks has been nothing short of amazing. I have seen him blossom and grow and this is entirely down to his blog.

On Saturday we went to Drayton Manor Park - with free passes offered to Sonny. When we were back home after a wonderful day out I commented to him that he looks really happy at the moment and his reply totally shocked and surprised me.

He told me that he is happy for the first time in his life - that he feels like he has a purpose, something to look forward.

He is eight years old and I felt like a failure as a parent at that moment. All any mum wants is for her children to be happy.

But he went on to explain that he hadn't been happy at school - that there was someone in his class who was making him very unhappy but he now felt like that didn't matter anymore because he has his blog - he is TotallySonny and people want to listen to what he has to say!

The transformation in him has been nothing short of a miracle. I'm not saying that he went around under an Eeyore cloud before. He is popular, cute, clever and everyone loves him. He is just one of those kids that people take to. But he didn't have the spark that I have seen grow inside him over the last few weeks.

I wonder if he will think back to this summer and remember it as fondly as I will? I'm not sure how long his blog obsession will go on for but while it does I will nurture, encourage and promote the hell out of it. If he takes nothing more than this new found confidence then that's enough for me.

Blogging it seems is turning out to be a family obsession. The girls want a part of it too! Sonny tells FunnyGirl - "You will have to wait until you are seven at least." and to ModelGirl he is offering advice on what people would like to read if and when her time comes.....

So that is what my new life on the internet has brought me. A shared love of reading and writing and an amazing bunch of new buddies who I know will be my true friends forever.

Please do stop by the little fellas blog. He absolutely loves reading the comments that so many of you leave. You can find him at TotallySonny.com

Sophie4Sophie - you rock. xx

Sprmama - you are one of the kindest people I have known xx I hope that you enjoy your lunch at the Ivy on Saturday with annabel Karmel - you deserve it.

BlogHer Update

It's the final day of BlogHer today and I have to say that it has all been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. There are some truly inspirational women here that have amazing stories to tell.

On Thursday evening I chanced across a couple of great women that I clicked with right away. They both blog on the issues surrounding living with pain, an issue that's very close to me. They were hosting a session today that was amazing. The strength and vulnerability in the room was quite something else, the session ran over and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Then on to the community key note speeches. A select group of bloggers took to the stage to share one of their posts with the rest of the conference. Heart rending stuff, one minute you were in tears and the next laughing so hard. Take a look at the featured bloggers and their fabulous posts here.

I had to dive out of there early to move on to the Stokke® party at the Chicago retailer Land of Nod. This is the best nursery store that I have ever been to. So beautifully put together with stuff for older kids too.

I love these Space Invaders wall stickers and the Mojo play table and chairs, 8 stickers are $40 and the furniture from $59 to $479.

The US Stokke team had invited 10 Mommy Bloggers to come along for full product demo's and I was in charge of my favourite product Xplory® (well I'm not sure that it is my fav, that might be Tripp Trapp or Sleepi - hell who cares?).

Sophie4Sophie would have been proud of me as I enlightened them all of the potential mix and match fabric options - even giving her yellow and turquoise a mention!

After an evening of Tapas it was back to the hotel and straight to bed - I was exhausted after such an emotional day. Alas my jet lag woke me up at 3am and I couldn't really get back to sleep.

So final day....

I'm going to try and keep away from the emotional stuff today and hit the Geek Labs, then take a break (shop) this afternoon before the closing speeches and the parties tonight. I'm going to the CheesburgHer party.......

more later...

The big Mummy Tweet Up!

Good evening people. I am chomping at the bit to begin my budget toy feature but as I am going to bubble tomorrow I thought that it would probably better for the old creative flow if I got that out of my system first.

I'm really looking to seeing next years collections from some of my favorite labels including No Added Sugar, Green Baby, Mitty James, Their Nibs, and of course Joules (as FunnyGirl and ModelGirl are two of their in house models)!

Of course they are just the UK based labels - which we do of course like to support. There are lots of people standing for the first time at this show - so hopefully it will be a good one.

After a morning's work I am meeting up with some fellow Twitter / Mummy bloggers for lunch. Our group excitement is at a far higher level than that generally expected of ladies of our age. Non the less we are all left wondering quite how we will know who is who! (not a dissimilar feeling to a blind date... I would imagine).

At least Sophie4Sophie (yes her of the fab dressses) fame will be very easy to spot, thanks to her much loved, infamous limited edition Stokke® Xplory®!

Exclusive Sophie4Sophie meets byyanto and Stokke....

It was a funny old day yesterday. I'm so busy at work that I find it pretty hard to sit back and relax at any point of the day. My 9am to 3.30pm hours seem so short and I try to pack in as much as possible before I hear the familiar screams of the three amigo's disembarking from the school bus and bringing our small village back to life.

Post out here in cow land is slap dash to say the least. It has been known for our postman not even to arrive at the post office to collect the important Special Deliveries that we poor country folk have paid over the odds to get to our important (media) destinations on time.

That for sure is another post entirely - but please feel free to remind me at some point using the key words, This Morning, Nappies, before 9am delivery, no London stockists and in the shit.

Sure you get the gist.... Anyway, I'm trying not to moan and today I had absolutely nothing to moan about (apart from the fact that our BT broadband seems to be on slow time).

I was up to my eye balls in this and that today when a lovely surprise arrived with our smiling postman Terry (to be fair, he was actually smiling today, perhaps because I opened the door for him - but who knows). I was greeted by a beautifully packaged surprise.

I wasn't expecting anything and ripped the package apart with gleeful anticipation. A dress! How fantastic. Not for me, obviously. People don't make dresses and send them to you in beautifully packaged parcels when you're a grown up (they should), but this was for #OriginalXploryGirl (aka FunnyGirl).

She bounded in from school...

"What's that? Is it for me?" She asked as she was already stripped and half way into the said new dress. Which is - as I am sure you will agree, fantastic.

Designed and created by my Twitter friend Sophie4Sophie using the simple #Stokke Circles pink fabric to create a truly one off piece that had #OriginalXploryGirl and #ModelGirl engaged in quite a scuffle.

The dress is styled in the pic with a pair of unique customised jeans from @byyanto - I am sure you will agree that it is a classic one off outfit that takes some beating.

Sophie4Sophie designs are available from Juicy Tots and The Hedgepig. Exclusive customised jeans byyanto available to order. Kids sizes £40, adult sizes £70. Each pair is unique, limited edition, numbered and available to order in skinny or straight style. To order email the man himself on yanto@byyanto.com

All feedback gratefully received - as usual and #OriginalXploryGirl would like it to be known that her fee for this shoot went to pay for watering the potatoes on her potato hill (stay tuned!).

Stylish kids clothes from www.thehedgepig.com

The lovely weather here in the UK has made me start thinking about new summer clothes for the girls as all of a sudden it seems that Biba doesn't have anything that fits. Still on the positive side a growing girls means new clothes - so it isn't all bad if you love to shop like we do!

This dress from www.thehedgepig.co.uk has caught my eye. It is so cute, the only downside is that the sizes don't go big enough for my lot.

Designed by Plastisock it has a bright funky black and white apple field print and is simple but perfect. It's the kind of piece that can be dressed up or down and looks equally as good as a dress or over jeans or leggings.

Made from 100% cotton all Plastisock pieces are made to the strict Oekotex standard which means that they are free from any of the nasty chemicals that seem to surround everything these days.

The dress is available in sizes from baby to 4 years from £22.99

Whilst you are checking out the dress have a good look around the rest of the site. www.thehedgepig.co.uk have a fantastic collection of bright and funky kids clothes that will make your little one stand out from the crowd. They stock a great range of labels including Urban Elk, Smafolk, minymo and my other fav Sophie4Sophie.

Beautiful Limited edition dresses from Sophie 4 Sophie

OK guys back to it today. Little ones are all back at school so I have no excuse not to bring you some cool stuff this week.

Lots of you will know me from Twitter and these dresses are something that I have come across there - so obviously it is a good way of promoting your small business (if you were wondering).

Each Sophie 4 Sophie dress is handmade here in the UK, using limited run fabrics - so the chances are you won't run into another one when you are out at a party - but even if you did it wouldn't matter, as they are reversible! All you have to do is pop somewhere quiet, turn it around and the potential fashion disaster is diverted.

They are a simple one size fits all design that starts out as a dress for babies from around nine months and as your bambino grows the dress becomes a top that looks fab with a pair of jeans or leggings.

Perfect for summer or winter - just pop a long sleeved T underneath. 

So if you are looking for a credit busting designer dress for your little princess then look no further.

Available from www.juicytots.co.uk

Made from 100% cotton £24.99. One size from 9 mths to approx 3 years