Unexpected creations

Last night after putting the kids to bed I headed straight into my work room to crack on with making some bunting for Anwen's first birthday. If you're creative then you'll know what I mean when I say how enjoyable it is to 'go with the creative flow' and make things according to what inspires you at the time.

I have to say though, last night when I was rummaging through my fabric stash I felt thoroughly uninspired by what lay in front of me. Don't get me wrong, I love the fabrics I've collected but at that moment despite the colours, the prints, the patterns, nothing caught my eye and made me want to make with it.

Until I found this.

I bought this fabric last Summer and just love it. I love the playful images and vintage style and it fits in beautifully with the Belle and Boo theme I'm planning for Sunday's tea party.

Feeling tired after a long day I decided I just wanted something that would be quick to make and add a special touch to the celebrations. However I couldn't shake a nagging feeling of wanting to make something that was personal to Anwen and that we could reuse each year. 

The little girl carrying balloons caught my eye, it reminded me of me as a girl and I can just imagine Anwen marching about like that on her birthday in a few years time! So keeping it simple, I cut out the image, printed an 'A' on a balloon and embroidered it to a plain canvas. I keep a stash of white frames so had one to hand to finish it off nicely.

I think I'll put it on the table next to the cake so it can be seen by her party guests, it can then go up in her bedroom as a little momento.

A party isn't complete without bunting in my book though so I cut out some mini flags from the same fabric and added a few extra colours to brighten it up.

Perhaps I'll manage to make some personalised bunting for her next birthday but in the meantime I'm happy with these unexpected creations and am sure they'll be treasured for years to come.

Thanks for reading today. I'll be back next week to share details of some exciting new arrivals coming to the shop!

Before I go, to celebrate Mothers Day this Sunday you can enjoy 20% off everything in the Mama and Baby range from now until Sunday. Just use the code Mama at the checkout.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Lowri x 

Celebrating a Year

Evening friends,

I hope you're having a good start to the week and enjoying the Spring sunshine.

March is a birthday month in this family and next week there's an extra special birthday coming up. My baby girl turns one on Monday (sob!) It sounds so cliched but I really can't believe how quickly the year has gone. In what feels like a flash, my newborn daughter has grown into a cheeky, affectionate little girl who is trying her hardest to walk and talk and copies just about everything her brother does!

For Wilfred's first and second birthdays I decided to make a photo timeline of special moments and milestones taken throughout the year before. With a slight (ahem) fondness for Instagram I had plenty to choose from and they made a lovely display in our sitting room over the weekends that we celebrated. Unbelievably I didn't get a photo of them displayed (shame on me!) but here's the bunting on his first birthday.

I've decided to do the same for Anwen, this time printing them in a larger polaroid style format, using the Polagram app. I was really impressed with the quality and how easy it was to use and its now uploaded on my phone for good (possibly a risky move on my part!)

I'll use mini wooden pegs to hang them to ribbon in chronological order and annotate them with the odd description here and there. I'm also planning to make some personalised birthday bunting which I'll be pulling out every year until I'm told its too embarrassing (although I'm not sure that'll stop me!)

We're having a very small tea party with a Belle and Boo theme and a vintage twist, thanks to some old invitations given to us by my Grandparents - in - law. I was tempted to use them but couldn't face writing on them so may frame them and use them for decoration instead.

Here's my little mood board which is inspiring me this week and reminding me to get organised as the week is flying by too! 

I'd love to know if you have any special ways of marking the passing years on your Children's birthdays.

With love,
Lowri x

Spring at little maldod

Morning!

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the arrival of Spring.

What an exciting few days its been! I've been looking forward to launching the Spring range at little maldod and am delighted to have finally shared it with you all. A massive thanks for all the lovely comments and positive feedback I've had about it.

Those of you that have followed little maldod's journey since the start, may have noticed that this Spring range features a whole host of other wonderful products which are not made by my own fare hands. Whilst I still fully intend to design and create for the shop (I love it too much to stop!) I realised towards the end of last year that I wanted to expand what was available but was limited in my capacity (there's only so much time these hands have to make things!)

So this morning I thought I'd share a bit more about the lovely businesses I've had the pleasure of working with for this new collection.

Last Summer I started following the joy filled company that is The Green Gables on Instagram. I am a lifelong stationery fan and when I discovered this wonderful, joy spreading and eco conscious business, run by a lovely lady called Gabrielle I was hooked!
Back in October I bought a pack of the Mummy-To-Be notes for a friend's baby shower and they were a huge hit, giving us all a chance to write an encouraging note to our friend.

Mummy-To-Be Notes, £8.50

When I was thinking about products that would work well with little maldod I knew that the Happy Notes that Gabrielle has designed would be perfect. The Happy Boy and Happy Girl notes are just the sweetest and make such a nice gift for a new older sibling.

Happy Girl and Happy Boy Notes, £8.50

I've connected with so many other wonderful independent businesses via Instagram. Another talented lady I've had the pleasure of finding is Sarah at Blossom and Bear.  I love Sarah's mini prints, they look great as an addition to a nursery or can be used to send a little note to brighten someone's day.

Mini Prints, £0.95

I was delighted when Sarah agreed to design a 'thank you' print too which is now available to buy as a pack of 6 notes. I could quite easily stash this lot away and spend my days sending little notes to friends!

Thank you notes, £3.50 for pack of 6

Another business I'm so pleased to have come across is Lula Handmade. This time, it was after a fortuitous little potter around my parents local town of Narbeth in Pembrokeshire. Having spotted some beautiful handmade dolls in a shop there I eventually got in touch with Katie who makes them and jumped for joy, when she agreed to work with me. She even agreed to produce an exclusive range just for little maldod.

Tilly, Ivy and Martha the Lula Dolls, £21.95

I'm not exaggerating when I say I deliberated a LOT before finally deciding on the designs of the dolls now in the shop (known as Ivy, Tilly and Martha) and I'm thrilled they're proving so popular.

I'm continuing to stock the fantastically popular Alphabet Flashcards from Hope and Rainbows and very excited about the arrival of some new bows from Poppifleur in the next few days!

Spring Bows, £4.95

I'm also looking forward to introducing some gorgeous handmade crayons from the Crayon Box, with some great Easter Egg shapes, a creative alternative to chocolate this year.

Finally, I'm very excited about the arrival of some lovely baby friendly necklaces! I bought one of these necklaces from My Mama Rocks and when my daughter loved it so much, it was the seal of approval I needed to bring them to little maldod. They're a lovely, alternative gift for a new Mum.  

So there we have it, a whistle stop tour of the fantastic new products in the shop and the businesses behind them. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying working with such talented and lovely people and hope you love the new products as much as I do.

Thanks so much for reading and once again a huge thanks for all your support this week.

Have a cracking weekend!

Lowri xx

Pay it Forward

Hello!

I hope you're all having a good week!

Back in November I blogged about World Kindness Day. Through writing the post I was inspired to find ways of spreading kindness through simple acts.

Recently a friend of mine posted on their Facebook page about a 'Pay it Forward Initiative' and I decided it was something I wanted to do.

If you're reading this then you've either signed up to mine or perhaps are thinking about it. So I thought I'd share a bit more on what its all about....

In a nutshell, by signing up you will be one of five people who will receive a surprise from me at some point in 2015. I will try to pick something to send you that will make you smile and make your day! It may be a card, flowers, note, small gift - whatever takes my fancy on any particular day I choose. There will be no warning, it will just arrive on your doorstep one day. Surely that's something to look forward to!

Here's the catch (kind of).... By signing up you are also committing to 'pay it forward' and must repost a similar pledge yourself. That way, another 5 people get to join in, and so on. I'm sure you're getting it!

Once all five people have signed up you will then need to email me your address details (open Internationally) so I have them at the ready to post something.

Its no secret that I'm a big fan of Instagram and think its a great place to hang out and connect with people which is why I've chosen it as a place to start my 'pay if forward' initiative. I'd love it if you tagged me in to your own 'pay it forward' initiatives as it'd be great to see how far one simple act can spread.

I've no idea how many people will want to take part but if you don't get to be one of my five, then why not start your own initiative?

Who's in?!

With Love,
Lowri x

Gently starts and creative cogs

Good Morning,

Its been a while since I stopped by here. I think I've accepted that whilst I love reading and admire other people's blogs, it seems that my own is subject to little flurries of activity!

But last night I went to bed with a mind whirring with inspiration and ideas for the shop and I wanted to let you know that there's some exciting things planned for little maldod over the next few months.

If I'm honest the craziness of Christmas orders left me exhausted and I was very happy to switch off and have a rest over the Christmas period. Reopening has coincided with a pretty big building project at little maldod HQ too so the new year (for the shop at least) as had a gentle start.

We've escaped the building chaos this weekend and have retreated to Pembrokeshire for some fresh sea air and time with my parents.

Yesterday I managed to grab an hour to potter in their local town Narberth and, while I was there, picked up these gorgeous off cuts of vintage woollen blanklets.

Its finds like these and getting my hands on new materials that really get my creative cogs whiring. I have some lovely things planned for them and am really excited to introduce a new range of gifts to you.

For a while I've also been thinking of dusting off my ink pens and paintbrushes and having a go again at some ink drawings. I've made a lot of these as gifts for friends in the past so fancy exploring whether they'd be right for the shop too. Watch this space.

I love designing new vests and tees and they're definitely the most popular item in the shop. I'll be refreshing things with some new designs for the spring and am looking forward to sharing a few Easter designs with you.

Finally, if you browsed the shop before Christmas you'll have noticed that I introduced some lovely products from other independent businesses.

Pereira Liberty Print Bow, available here

I was delighted to stock some of the beautiful selection of bows from Poppifleur and the very popular Alphabet Flashcards from Hope and Rainbows.

Alphabet Flashards, available here 

Working with Anna and Kate has been brilliant and I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to continue to stock their lovely things. I'm very keen to develop this area of the shop and would love to work with other small businesses. I already have some gorgeous products in the pipeline which I think you're going to love!

So there we are, a little update on my little shop. I hope you like everything that's to come.

I'll try to pop by again soon but if you'd like to follow the day to day you can find me posting daily on instagram @littlemaldod
I'd love to see you over there.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful end to the weekend.

Lowri X

Kindness

Morning All,

I discovered earlier this week that today is World Kindness Day. I like special 'days' and particularly like the idea of a day which celebrates kindness.

Kindness is a wonderful thing, a simple act has the ability to turn someone's whole day around, or can even have a life changing impact. Isn't that incredible! Simple but powerful.

Teaching my children kindness from a young age is something that is hugely important to me. I find myself piling on the praise if Wilf does the smallest kind thing, like giving his sister a toy to play with for example. Sounds small but for him that's a big deal.

To help encourage kindness I've decided that this December we'll be inviting some 'kindness elves' into the house. I'll be taking inspiriation from the amazing Anna over at the Imagination Tree. In a nutshell they're an alternative to the popular (and slightly creepy looking) Elf on the Shelf. Take a look at her blog post which you can find here, if you have children I'm sure you'll love the ideas there. I'm hoping it will become a tradition in our household and help to encourage acts of kindness and thoughtfulness which will go way beyond just one festive month a year.
I'm sure our elves will be popping up on the little maldod instagram page to say hello at some point!

Every so often my husband leads one of the youth groups at our church. Recently he was telling me that the topic they've been looking at is kindness. They were challenging each other to carry out a random act of kindness during the week ahead without making a big fuss about it. One of the ideas that was suggested was, without being asked, emptying the dishwasher for their parents without a big song and dance. I like this idea! Not just because kind children helping at home is something I'd like to see one day but because they're learning about being quietly kind.

The bible has lots to say on kindness. Don't worry I'm not about to write a sermon, but one of the important things I think it teaches is that kindness is quiet. The greatest acts of love and kindness are those which are done humbly, quietly and sometimes almost completely anonymously. I don't know about you but I find that hugely challenging!

Why don't you carry out a quiet act of kindness today? Who knows the impact it could have.

Thanks so much for reading.

With Love,
Lowri x

A big brother and a little sister

Hello!

Prenote, this post was meant to just be a feature about the 'big/little brother, big/little sister' vests and tees. However, I'm afraid in writing it I've realised just how great siblings really are, so this post is more about that now. If you decide to read on you'll just have to excuse the sentimentality!

Watching my son and daughter start to interact and 'play' together is, for my husband and I, the nicest thing ever. Our daughter Anwen is at an age now where she won't sit still for long before she's off and trying to get at her brother's toys, usually causing much fuss in the proceedings. Just yesterday I told Wilf "well let her have just one piece of duplo and she might not try and knock it all down then." But when she's not getting into mischief and he's not grabbing toys (read, anything she picks up) back from her, they genuinely appear to be building up a sweet little friendship.

I have a sister who is just under two years younger than me, exactly the same age gap as there is between my two. Although we're really quite different in character and had our fair share of arguments growing up (oh, I could tell a story or two...) we are now very close. She's one of the reasons little maldod exists and has been a constant supporter/encourager/advisor from day one. She's an amazing, fun and very generous Aunty but most importantly I can without doubt call her one of my best friends.

I have friends who are like sisters and I know my husband definitely has mates who are like brothers too, but I think there's something extra special about the bond that siblings have together. From the memories shared of family parties, holidays, silly things we made each other do and things that used to wind our parents up (yes, a few stories there too!) to just 'getting' each other and being able to talk straight. I'm loving seeing Wilf and Anwen growing up and forming that special bond from a young age.

When Anwen came along our lovely friends and family who visited bought gifts for Wilf and showered him with attention as a new big brother. I've always thought its important to make the older sibling(s) feel really special when a little brother or sister comes along as its such a huge change for them, regardless of their age.

The big/little brother and big/little sister vests and tees are a lovely gift idea, not just for Christmas but also for a little one with a new sibling.

Available in the little maldod shop. 

I'd intended to have big brother/ little sister tops ready and waiting for when Anwen was born but alas that didn't feature in my newborn preparations. However, I'm delighted that they're now available in the shop. I made up samples for my two to model but as you can see from the photos below (the vests being hardly readable) they had other ideas.

Can you tell he's had enough by this point?!

Anyway, you can see them properly above and they're available to buy online now (links above.)

Thank you so much for reading.

Much love,
Lowri