A photo journal comprised of my thoughts on motherhood and other life happenings, as well as some of professional work as a photographer. Southern California is home.
Today, we have a special giveaway from etsy shop Little Sweet Pea, Inc. Little Sweet Pea is a trendy boutique offering unique and adorable baby items ~ infant car seat canopies, diaper covers/bloomers, nursing covers, diaper and wipe clutches and fabric flower rosette headbands, pins and hair clips. Enter today to win a $25 gift card and help support the handmade community… and what a beautiful community it is. I mean, seriously, there are so many talented mamas out there. Becca, the Mama behind Little Sweet Pea, is no exception.
You can enter any of the following ways. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chance of winning. As usual, the winner will be chosen in two weeks (on 7/25/13) using Random.com and will be announced here on Friday, July 26th. An email will also be sent, so make sure you email address is valid. This giveaway is open to US + Canada residents only.
-Visit Little Sweet Pea‘s etsy shop and an item to your favorites. Tell me what item you chose.
Interested in making a purchase? Becca has been kind enough to offer free shipping with coupon code StorkFreeShip, valid until July 31st. Happy shopping and thank you for supporting my sponsors.
Today we have a lovely guest blogger + a $40 giveaway to her etsy store Moonbeatle (details below):
My full name is Fritha Moonbeatle Tigerlilly Quinn Strickland..but you can call me Fritha. Were my parents hippies you ask?*..
I was really excited when Ashley contacted me to do this questionnaire swap, I love Ashley’s humour, you should go check out her answers here. Before you read on here is a little about me:
I am a 27 year old mumma to Wilfryd Cadno and freelance artist living in Bristol, UK with my boyfriend Tom and our two fat cats (no seriously they are really fat).
I am a great believer that what you are happiest doing at 5 is probably what you are happiest doing your whole life (there are some exceptions, I’m not sure there is a huge amount of call for worm eaters..maybe restaurant critic?…) for me it was and always will be drawing.
Whilst at Uni I wanted to be children’s book illustrator, after leaving uni I realised it was pretty hard to be a children’s book illustrator, I was too lazy and that was the end of that. If you want to see a great Children’s book illustrator you should check out our mutual friend Sarah (she will feel embarrassed I wrote that)
Any parent will tell you the first year of becoming a parent is intense! That being so my artwork has taken a back seat whilst I have settled into this new and amazing/exhausting role but slowly I am getting back into my creative passions also.
Previous to having a kiddo my work had been featured in nationwide magazines such as The Metro and Company, I also designed Paperchase’s 2012 Valentines range (not boasting or nuffin ;))
I am a lover of wildlife and nature,I’m a life long vegetarian (not eating meat once, ever *) I have a thing for foxes, so much that my son’s middle name Cadno is that Welsh for Fox. We did consider Hemulen also as I love the Moomins..
I also love photography, writing and reading beautiful blogs like this one (creep much??)
I love the blogging community, the snapshots into people’s lives and the friendships that can be made.
I hope you enjoy my answers and thanks Ashley for featuring me! xo
1. What time did you get up this morning? Officially – 6am..its probably more like 5.30 though,my darling son has never been one to lie in…
2. How do you like your steak? Still grazing happily in the field, I’m a vegetarian 😉
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I had to really really think about this one which shows how long it has been. Then I realised I saw a film at ‘baby cinema’ about 6 months ago, the idea is it is a showing where you can take your babies but watch grown up films and not get thrown out if your baby cries. ‘God Bless America’ was showing..if you have seen that film you will know why 5 minutes in you realise its not the best film to show new mums! After a few hysterical laughs and hands over our babies eyes it was fairly enjoyable..in that I liked the clothes.
4. What is your favorite TV show? So here’s the thing, we don’t have TV *gasp* but we do watch boxsets and films via good ol’ Netflix. So whilst I don’t have a favourite ongoing series my latest favourite thing to watch is Firefly, the best sci fi/western you ever did see.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Now this answer may just make me a dullard or it may just mean I’m 100% content but honestly? I would still live in Bristol. Bristol is such a alternative and creative city. The area we live in is multicultural and yes a little run down, but our neighbours will drop in for cake and you can get a organic vegan meal in pretty much every cafe you go to.
6. What did you have for breakfast? I gobbled down marmite toast whilst trying to stop my one year old flinging Weetabix on me.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? I am a girl of simple tastes, when I was a child we would be allowed to choose what ever we wanted to eat for our ‘birthday meal’ mine was always always ‘pasta,sauce and cheese’. A second favourite would be peanut butter noodles. I was in heaven as a student, now my boyfriend makes me eat a more varied diet..
8. What foods do you dislike? Apart from meat (although as I have never actually eaten it I guess I cant say I ‘dislike’ but ya) the only thing I cant stand is beetroot, urgh!
9. Favorite Place to Eat? I love Thai food, there is a great place near us that can make all the menu with Tofu instead of what ever meat is that dish. Which is great as usually as a veggie you are limited to about three things on a menu
10. Favorite dressing? I dont’ ever use any..is that more of an American thing or am I an oddity?
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Never learnt, I live in a City and can walk to just about anywhere in 45minutes in any direction (its a small City and I walk fast)
12. What are your favorite clothes? I wear dresses as a staple, I do own one pair of jeans but they just don’t suit my shape, so dresses 🙂
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Cuba without a doubt (I was jealous to read Ashley has been!)
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Half full…of despair 😉
15. Where would you want to retire? …this city (I know I know) but in a house we built ourselves
16. Favorite time of day? 11am, its not too early. You can already have had a great morning or if you haven’t its early enough to turn things around and still have a great day
17. Where were you born? In a one bedroom top floor flat, in a bohemian area of this City i call home
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? ack none, I didn’t even watch the Olympics..I did used to be part of a Synchronised swim team though so maybe I would watch that
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? I don’t like mornings when they look like 5am (is that really the morning or is it the night?) but I am basically a granny in 27 year olds body and I cant ever seem to stay awake past 10.30pm.
21. Pets? Two fat cats, Pedigree British Shorthairs that we got from a rescue centre. They came to use so well tamed they wouldn’t even sit on the sofa, we broke their training so they would snuggle up in bed with us..now one of them pisses in the corner of the living room from time to time *sigh*
22. Any new and exciting news that you’d like to share? I’m trying to get back to my art work so hopefully this year will hold lots of new and exciting things for my shop!
23. What did you want to be when you were little? An artist (I think basically what you are happiest doing at 5 is what you will be happiest doing the rest of your life)
24. What is your best childhood memory? This question has been the hardest so far, mainly because I don’t have a great memory (I blame a reckless youth). I remember being a child and my dad grabbing my hand at the top of a hill and hurtling down, our legs going so fast I could never stop myself but knowing it was ok because my dad was holding my hand, the sound of my mum shrieking ‘careful!’ in the background and then reaching the bottom in super quick time out of breath and laughing.
25. Are you a cat or dog person? See question #21 …also a dog once chased me right up a tree once..true story
26. Are you married? Nope..maybe one day, maybe not
27. Always wear your seat belt? Who doesn’t?! Actually once when I was 15 I was in a head on collision when my friends mum was driving me home, after we had stopped and realised we were both alive I said “wow that was lucky, I almost didn’t put my seat belt on” I will never forget the look she gave me!
28. Been in a car accident? See above..I’ve also been in a bus crash and a coach crash where I had to crawl out the sun roof Jack Bauer style..always wear your seat belt guys.
29. Any pet peeves? People letting their dogs poo on the pavement, wee on the toilet seat, dishes left on the side and not straight in the dishwasher, people emailing me asking me to product test their vacuum cleaner (read on)
32. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? Never taken, maybe one day..maybe not
33. From whom did you get your last email? From a company asking if I would like to product test their vacuum cleaner….clearly they picked the wrong person.
34. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Fever London, Anthropologie, Numph and Ruby Belle
35. Do anything spontaneous lately? I have a baby..sometimes we spontaneously decide to go to IKEA for lunch but thats as far as it goes at the minute..
36. Like your job? Mostly, depends if he’s had his naps
37. Broccoli? …?
38. What was your favorite vacation? We went to Corfu as a family (with Tom, my parents, siblings, and my brother’s wife) my mum isn’t well so this was a big effort to spend some quality time together, I (have two brothers and two sisters). Pre baby so we drank Retsina, sunbathed and ate..it was great although I got eaten alive by mosquitoes..I still have the scars.
39. Last person you went out to dinner with? …I tried so hard to remember this! It was with Tom 7 months ago I think..I think we need a date night again!
40. What are you listening to right now? My son listening to Barefoot Books.
41. What is your favorite color? Blue..No! Yell.. (Is thrown over the edge of the pit and eaten by the killer rabbit)
42. Have you ever been robbed? Of sleep yes for well over a year now.
43. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue..No! Yell.. (Is thrown over the edge of the pit and eaten by the killer rabbit)
44. Do you drink? There not called Champagne Thursdays for nothing (or officially, playgroup)
45. Red bull or coffee? Tea but I do drink Coffee now and again..never Red Bull, ack
What do you know?, we’re both robbed of sleep and both dream of Cuba. I suggested we meet up one day in Cuba, who’s in? Anyway, on to the goods…
Fritha’s etsy shop is full of fantastic goodies. Here are some of my favorites:
You can enter to win a $40 store credit to Fritha’s etsy shop Moonbeatle by any of the five following ways (please leave a separate comment for each entry):
2. Visit Moonbeatle and leaving me a comment as to what item (s) you would chose if you were to win.
3. Follow Tigerlilly Quinn on facebook and leave a comment on this post.
4. Follow Tigerlilly Quinn on Twitter and leave a comment on this post.
5. Follow The Stork & The beanstalk on facebook and leave a comment on this post.
That’s five ways to enter and five separate ways to win. Best of luck and many thanks to Fritha for being so effin’ rad.
This giveaway is open worldwide. I will announce the winner in two weeks. Please make sure your email address is valid, as the winner will be contacted via email. Good luck!
I have a very special giveaway today from etsy seller Little Foot Boutique. Lisa, the needle and thread holdin’ gal behind the scenes of Little Foot Boutique, is a dear friend of mine. Her first son was born just 3 days after Hooper and her second son just two months before Van. I’ve had the privilege of photographing her and her beautiful family and she’s someone I always call before heading to the beach with the boys.
I don’t want to take full credit, but I was one of several who encouraged Lisa to open an Etsy store. She’s unbelievably talented and, like many, trying hard to make stay-at-home-mom-life feasible.
Her products are made with superb quality and modern design. Craving something custom? Don’t be afraid to ask, this girl has mad skills. Here’s some of the products we own and use on a daily basis:
Here’s a little Q + A:
Tell me about how Little Foot Boutique came about.
Little Foot came about after many family members and friends said I should start selling my sewing creations online. I had been making stuff for years but recently got back into sewing regularly. I was attending many baby showers and couldn’t help but think that I could make many of the items I was spending a ton of money getting from a store. I started selling on Etsy in October and am so excited to be part of the handmade community.
What inspires you?
Trial and error. When something matches a vision I had, I am re-inspired and motivated to continue onto the next vision. I get inspired walking down the isles in the fabric store, as my mind races with visions of blankets and bibs in the fabrics I see.
How do you manage the shop with two little boys at home?
We have an organized schedule during the day. My boys are my first priority and any extra time I can squeeze out during the day, you’ll find me behind my sewing machine. There are days when I’m swamped with orders and I will never get dressed or go any where. Fortunately for others, I do take a minute to brush my teeth. My busiest sewing time is around 8 pm when both boys go to sleep and I sew into the early morning hours, sometimes staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning. In fact I have dragged both kids with me many times to the fabric stores. I try to shop for fabric online now due to the hassle of just getting out the door with two small kids.
Can you touch on where you see Little Foot Boutique in five years?
I want Little Foot Boutique to be my full time thriving business. In five years my boys will be in school, at-which-point I plan to take Little Foot Boutique to the next level. I’m constantly changing and striving my product better. Its been tough getting started, but I’m persistent and determined to keep going. I love sewing. I love looking at the finish product. I love babies and making baby things. What I’m trying to say is I’m hooked!
What were you doing before Little Foot Boutique came about?
I was working as a project manager in an Architectural firm for over 12 years. I loved the creativity and design aspects of my job. I was laid off when the economy crashed and couldn’t find another job in the field. I had my babies and am now reinventing myself and investing everything into Little Foot Boutique. I’m a one man army; answering questions from people all day long, sewing my baby items, shipping my baby items and managing my Etsy shop online. If I didn’t have to sleep, I could get so much more done. Isn’t that true for everyone? Thank goodness for technology because I can answer someone’s email on my phone while breastfeeding and eating a sandwich on the couch. No joke, that happens a lot. I have a great work ethic and I want all my customers to be satisfied with everything I make. I am a perfectionist, to say the least.
Lisa is generously giving one winner a bib and burp cloth set from her store as well as 25% any additional purchase. Here are some of my favorite items:
Want to win the bib and burp cloth set, as well as an additional 25% discount, at Little Foot Boutique? Here’s how you can enter:
1. Visit Lisa’s store and tell me what you would get with the $25 credit.
That’s four different ways to enter and four different ways to win. Good Luck!
Lisa is also offering a 15% off discount to everyone from her store with coupon code STORK15.
The winner will be chosen by random and will be announced in two weeks from today. Make sure your email is valid, as this is how we will contact the winner.
Today’s mama style post is a special one because it’s brought to you by the lovely Threading Marigolds. Threading Marigolds is run by three wonderful women, two sisters and one cousin. Gotta love family run small business. Kristi, Lisa, and Jamy have been crafting and sharing styling tips since the good ol’ days.
Their store is comprised of several vintage and handmade items. I asked them to participate in a little Q & A. Here’s what they had to say:
How did the idea to open an etsy shop come about?
First off, our shop is a collective made up of a cousin (kristi) and two sisters (Jamy and myself, Lisa). The idea of our etsy shop started years ago during one of our many craft-food-antiquing get-togethers, but it wasn’t until this past year that we started seriously thinking about it as something new we could do together and a way to take time for ourselves. We’ve always been interested in arts, crafts, and all things vintage, but we’re all very busy with our day-to-day lives. (I’m a PhD student and college instructor, Jamy is a kindergarten teacher, and Kristi is a middle school counselor who is pregnant with her third son!!). We figured if we were going to attempt to launch an Etsy shop, it needed to happen in the summer. So, in July we launched our collective shop, Threading Marigolds, selling both vintage and handcrafted pieces. While everyone contributes to our vintage collection, I am the one primarily in charge of selling vintage. I also make scented soy candles in vintage and new vessels. Jamy, my sister, hand-stitches felt and repurposed fabric owls and makes aluminum flower brooches. My cousin, Kristi, makes fabric pom-poms. It sounds like quite the odd mix, we know, but with our busy lives, we knew that our shop’s success would depend upon our collaborative efforts.
Tell us about your love for all things vintage and handmade.
We all spent most of our youth crafting, playing dress-up with family vintage heirlooms, running around in cornfields, climbing trees and overall just being kids. Today we still get together from our diverse locations—Illinois, Virginia and Florida—for craft-a-thons and antiquing shenanigans. A very vivid memory for me is rummaging through my mom’s amazing closet filled with dresses from the 1960s and 1970s (I still have several that I wear). My grandma also had one of the craziest vintage hat collections (still in the family!) from the 1920s-1940s. These early encounters with old, sometimes fragile objects taught me to appreciate their histories and aesthetic. As Jamy and I became teenagers, we both based our entire fashion sense on mixing new items with thrifted items. In fact, I remember going to Bargain City in the suburbs of Atlanta every single Monday for 50% off! Today, I personally look for vintage pieces that have a cross-over value, meaning I can wear them casually on the weekend or out with friends, but also dress them up for when I teach or have meetings. Most of the vintage pieces I put in the shop have this cross-over value (or whatever you want to call it!). I also love comfortable things!!! My wardrobe is supplemented with new pieces and vintage-inspired dresses–usually from ModCloth or Anthropologie.
Hand-made for all of us is about the process of making something with our own hands. We also fill our homes with handmade objects from others (usually from Etsy!). I think I can say that we all prefer buying these types of items that support artisans, shopping local, and small business owners rather than big-box stores. Of course, that’s not to say that we don’t ever shop there! In fact, I’m trying my hardest to shop only from small businesses and Etsy this holiday season…we’ll see how it goes!!!
Who are your style icons?
This is a really tough question!!!
Without a doubt, the first name that pops into my head is Audrey Hepburn. But, I also love the fashion that comes mostly out of old films–whether it be quirky Woody Allen films (he’s my fav), Godard or Hitchcock–but also of course many contemporary icons and bloggers (to name but a few that I regularly follow: The Dainty Squid, A Beautiful Mess and Meredith from One Sheepish Girl). Oh, I also have to say, because I’ve been slllloooowwwly rewatching the entire series: I LOVE Diane Chambers’ fashion sense from the sitcom, Cheers. Carla Tortelli also knows how to rock some amazing colored high-waisted jeans and printed tops.
If we’re talking about a home style…that’s a whole different list!!
Kristi, Lisa, and Jamy are offering a 20% discount at their shop with coupon code storkandbeanstalk. Here are some of my favorite items:
