Have a Cosy Christmas!

What a month its been! Little Maldod opened its virtual doors 4 weeks ago this week and the support I've had has been absolutely amazing. The messages of support and kind words that I've had from people have been amazing and i've been kept a lot busier with orders that I thought I would be. I am so grateful for ALL the support and want to say a massive thank you to you all!

I posted my final orders off at the start of this week so the last of the little maldod stockings and gifts should now have landed on doorsteps ready for the big day. I was involved in a lovely Giveaway last Saturday and was delighted that my final sew of the year was to make a personalised stocking for the winner. The winning lady is going to give it to her 8 month old son, this is what she told me: "Iv been looking for a stocking for ages one that he can have forever like I did when I was a kid, still have mine. These are gorgeous, still can't believe I've won. Thank you!"
What a perfect way to the end the year.

As well as being busy in the work room, as a family we've had a fun filled couple of weeks with lots of lovely festive activities. The house has gradually become more and more Christmassy, Wilf has sported some very cute festive outfits, the chocolate basket (Quality Streets of course!) has been restocked twice, and I've hoovered more pine needles than I care to think of (we've got a dropper this year). Its really been a great December and the special part is yet to come!

So, before I sign off for Christmas here's a round up of one of my favourite months of the year.

 

No time for making new decorations this year but this is an old favourite.

 

I didn't get to make a fresh wreath either but this fruity one has served us nicely. 

 

A trip to the local farmshop and their nativity barn was a huge hit!

 

The nativity story is very important to us as a family so I was very happy when I found this set. 

It'll be treasured for years. A rhino has since been added although i'm not sure one was actually present at the birth of Jesus!

 

Thankfully most baubles have been safe so far.....

 

Christmas knit overload

 

Final present deliveries to friends last night

 

The giveaway stocking. So delighted that this will be used for years.

 

Nearly there....

I opened this card whilst Wilf and I were cuddled up under a blanket on the sofa yesterday afternoon. Its one of my favourite cards we've received this year. So I'm sharing it with you all and wish you the most wonderful Christmas, may it be filled with fun, laughs, plenty of cosiness and lots of love.

Thank you so much for reading and joining me on the little maldod adventure this past month. I'm so looking forward to sharing my plans for the shop with you in the new year.

With lots of love,
Lowri x

A tree and a pin cushion

Yesterday was one of those days. We all get them from time to time so I'm sure you know what I mean. The sort of day where your patience gets tested.

My morning was fairly peaceful and I enjoyed a quiet few hours working though some orders on the sewing machine. My time management didn't quite go to plan though which meant that my afternoon plans fell by the wayside. Luckily Wilf doesn't quite understand days of the week yet (well, not in the slightest) so he was oblivious to the fact we'd missed our mum and toddler group, but I was most disappointed. I decided to write it off as a shame and to just get on with the rest of the afternoon.

However by tea time, my resolve to "keep calm and carry on" was slipping. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Christmas bauble fatality of the week, an entire plate of food moving quickly from high chair to the floor and a kicked dog bowl of water over the floor didn't really help matters.

Pre crunch

However, it was amidst all of this (whilst trecking to the green house head torch in place in search of an onion for our dinner) that I caught a glimpse of this....

Our jolly little Christmas tree twinkling away in the lounge window. It's amazing what some fairy lights can do to lift the spirits! In a moment I went from grumpy Mumma to a (still frazzled) much chirpier person.

It also made me stop and think about the nicer parts of my day. In particular when a friend popped by to give me the sweetest, most thoughtful gift to celebrate me launching little maldod. This little pin cushion chair.

I know they're just simple things but they really did brighten up my day and for that, I'm very thankful.

I hope you find pleasure in the simple things today.

Lowri xx

Welcoming December

Afternoon!

I've just spent a delicious weekend relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Cotswolds with three of my dearest friends. After a very busy couple of weeks working on little maldod and an ever growing baby bump, my body was in need of some R&R and this weekend was just the ticket.  It was my first weekend away from my son  Wilf and he was left in Daddy's hands from Friday afternoon. From the text updates and 'de-brief' I had it sounds like they had a blast. Manure collecting from the local farm appears to be the biggest hit with them both and now stepping out into our garden actually smells like the local farm too (at least the flowers will be happy come spring!)

Back to the girls....
Myself and a friend travelling from London were greeted at the quaint station by our two other friends who stood like girls from the Railway Children on the platform waiting for us. As is the norm our weekend started in high spirits and excitement at being all together again.

The beautiful Old School

Our hosts at the Bed and Breakfast (The Old School in Little Compton) warmly welcomed us with tea and cake in the beautiful sitting room- a Victoria sponge Mary Berry would have been proud of and Beatrix Potter napkins, what better way to finish a busy week and start a girl's weekend?!

A very warm welcome

Whilst I've been surrounded by stockings this week, our Friday evening spent late night shopping in the beautiful village of Broadway truly heralded the start of the festive season for me. The Christmas lights, wafts of mulled wine and choir singing carols got us all in the festive spirit.

Pub dinners, meandering around the picturesque villages and a trip to the spa more or less summed up the rest of the weekend's activities. Oh, not to forget the scrabble, cups of tea and chocolate in our pyjamas back at the old school in the evenings. We had such a brilliant time and I'm glad it's only a
few weeks until I get to see them all again, you can't beat great friends!

Two hours well spent 

I returned to a lovely welcome home from the boys and a special treat waiting for me in my lounge.... A Christmas tree! I may not have mentioned yet that my husband is a hero and him popping to our village stores to pick up tree ready for my return is just one of the reasons why he is!

It didn't take me long after Wilf's bath and bedtime fun to start decorating, although I think it'll take me most of the week to get the whole house fully kitted out.

Will any of our baubles survive Wilf this year?!

A lovely friend (who I'm so glad also lives opposite us) left this treat for me to welcome in the new month. What a beautiful gift and now my countdown can REALLY begin in style!

A December treat left on my doorstep!

I absolutely love December and the build up to the celebration of Christmas. We have some lovely things planned over the next few weeks with friends and family and Wilf has some VERY exciting activities ahead (can you tell that he has no idea and that I'm more excited at the moment?!) I'm sure I'll share some snippets of these with you over the coming weeks.

This week in the little maldod work room I will be making some large stockings that have been ordered. Amazingly I've now starting receiving orders from people I don't actually  know and I can't tell you how lovely it is that I get to make stockings which will be excitedly opened by boys and girls on Christmas Day - what a privilege! I was thrilled to see via Instagram that a little maldod stocking is already hanging from a fireplace waiting to be filled.

A little maldod stocking in its new home

So a busy week lies ahead here but with the help of a little elf I know and some Christmas music to help us on our way I shall be sure to sew some festive cheer into each and every order.

Wishing you all a wonderful December and great start to the week.

Lowri x

A week to remember.

What a fun and exciting week it's been in the home of little maldod! I thought I'd post a little round up of how this week has gone and what we've been up to.

I was overwhelmed with lovely messages of support and encouragement when the shop was launched on Monday so a huge thank you to all of you who dropped me a line. 'Launch day' was a funny old day because after opening the shop (ceremoniously clicking a button to take the site off maintenance mode) I headed out to work for the day! It wasn't until the evening that I could really give the shop my attention and start to work on the orders that had arrived in my mailbox during the day.

A lovely card from a wonderful friend.

I'm thrilled that people have been stopping by the shop and even more so that orders are actually being placed! The mini Christmas stockings have been a great hit and I've had great pleasure in making up some large stockings for some special little people - I wonder what treats they'll be filled with! The personalised vests have been popular too and I'm working on some new designs for these so watch this space.

A selection of the vest orders placed this week.

I've also had quite a few enquiries about bespoke items which is great and has kept my creative brain on the ball this week! Packaging the orders has been great fun and it's been nice to be able to hand deliver some to local customers too. I love getting parcels in the post and always pay attention to the way that something has been wrapped, so I wanted little maldod gifts to looks special even before they've been unwrapped. It's been lovely to have messages of thanks when orders have been received during the week.

I've been working on some new Christmas gifts this weekend (yes, I'm afraid the festive theme is set to continue) which I look forward to sharing with you this week. I've also been planning an exciting giveaway so keep your eyes open for more news on that later this week.

A sneek peak at some lovely new things being added this week.

Amidst all the shop excitement I've had some fun and laughs with Wilf on my days off, some lovely catch ups with friends who I've not seen enough of recently and, to finish off the week, a quick trip   to Pembrokeshire to celebrate my Dad's 60th (again)! We celebrated at the fantastic Ultra Comida in my parents' local town where we enjoyed the most amazing tapas, great company, countless toasts and not just a few anthems and singalongs (thankfully it was booked as a private party!)

Sieve hat!

Its been a week that I'll remember for a long long time and will look back on it with a smile on my face. I have lots to learn about running a small business and I'm thoroughly enjoying the journey and adventure with little maldod.

Thank you for reading and sharing in that journey with me.

Here's to another good week ahead.

Love,
Lowri x

Now Open!!

The counting down is over and the day is finally here! I'm very pleased to be able to say that the little maldod shop is now OPEN! Head on over to:

http://www.littlemaldod.com/ 

I've so enjoyed getting everything designed, made and ready to launch and do hope you enjoy browsing and shopping now that the doors are open. The beauty of being a small business is that I will be able to respond easily to requests for bespoke orders, so feel free to drop me a line if you want to discuss something in particular.

I have lots of ideas for new stock so the creating will continue. Keep an eye out for new items, giveaways and special offers coming your way in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime you can also follow little maldod on Instagram and Facebook where I post regular updates.

Thank you so much for your support over the last few weeks!

Have a great week.

Love Lowri x

www.littlemaldod.com/ now open!

Nearly there.

Time goes quickly when you're counting down each Monday morning! I can't believe that the shop will be opening just one week from now. Maybe its because I've been having fun setting everything up or because I've been so busy.

Final products for the launch have now been made and photographed. Christmas came early at little maldod HQ over the weekend when the Christmas stock was styled and photographed for the site - think stockings hanging from the fireplace and you've got the idea. Its safe to say that I'm embracing all things festive at the moment so I hope you're ready for some Christmas shopping.

I've decided to take things slowly when I first open the doors so will gradually add more items to the range each week. I've got lots of ideas up my sleeve which I look forward to sharing with you.

There's a few last little things to do but we're nearly there now. I look forward to opening the doors to you next Monday!

Until then we've got some quality family time planned, my Dad's 60th birthday to celebrate, and some West Wales countryside to explore! I'll tell you all about it next time.....

Have a great week and thanks for reading.

Lowri x

We're off for some welly walks....

Two weeks and counting...

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks it's been since introducing little maldod to the world! I've been overwhelmed by the messages of support from friends, family and followers on Facebook and the shop isn't even open yet. Thank you so much!

With two weeks to go until the opening of little maldod's virtual doors I've been busy finalising the product range, ordering supplies, visiting some local fabric shops and building my online home. I've always been a creative person but when life is busy, especially with an active toddler, time at the craft table (read dining room table) turns into a special treat. So I'm thoroughly enjoying the creative thought processes, designing, writing and making that I'm doing at time at the moment.

There's still LOTS to do though so I've taken a day off from work (my part time job) and, with Wilf at nursery, am spending some time at the sewing machine finalising some lovely Christmas pieces. It's amazing how much you can get done with a quiet house and the radio for company.

Later this week I'll be photographing the final products for the shop, I can't wait to style my festive shots! I'll also be planning some great giveaways and special offers to celebrate the opening so make sure you keep your eyes peeled on Instagram (link in sidebar) and the Facebook page.
The blog will also be getting a makeover so you may notice some changes every so often when you pop back to visit.

I'll leave you with a few behind the scenes snaps of what my last week with little maldod has looked like, I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading,
Lowri x

Stamps and inks have been arriving in the post.

Including some lovely hand carved stamps from the very talented Emily at Skull and Cross Buns.

Lots of fabric to cut.

Our baby vests arrived in the post today, looking forward to showing you what's planned for these.

Is that a Christmas stocking....?! Surely not......

What's in a name?

One of the questions I've been asked most when telling people about little maldod, is "what is maldod?" So I thought this lovely word needed a bit of explanation.

Having spent a LOT of time thinking, talking and playing about with words for a name for my small business, 'little maldod' unexpectedly popped into my head one afternoon whilst giving my son Wilf his tea.

Maldod is a Welsh word, and being Welsh myself it's a word that I remember hearing from a very young age. An official translation will tell you this:

Maldod, n. Levity, dalliance, fondness, delight.

But, to me, words don't always have to mean what the dictionary tells us. To me, maldod means comfort, love, looking after and a bit of TLC.  

I can remember when I was a little girl my Dad sat on the sofa, opening his arm up, inviting me to cuddle up next to him , saying affectionately "come and have a bit of maldod."

So when I remembered the word that weekday teatime I knew I'd finally found the right name.

I will be selling lovingly made, personalised gifts designed to give to friends and family so I wanted a name which celebrates the special things in life - family, home, comfort and love. The words 'little maldod' represent of all these things,

.....Who doesn't need a little maldod in their life?!

Having a bit of maldod with Dad.

Introducing...

So here I am! Finally writing my first blog post and introducing little maldod. 

I have talked for a loooong time about setting up a small business, born out of my love for creating and making. Thankfully after a good talking to by my sister (now self titled little maldod "Business Manager") I've decided to stop talking and start doing. 

So, the aim is to set up a little corner of the internet with a shop selling handmade and bespoke gifts. Initially I'll be starting off with personalised gifts for babies and children but will expand my range of stock as inspiration dictates.

I'm new to blogging (as you may find out!) but look forward to sharing my journey and adventures as the shop opens, giving you some behind the scenes snippets and sharing tales from the home of little maldod. 

You'll also find @littlemaldod over on Instagram and Facebook.

Next time on the blog: 'Whats in a name?' - The story behind little maldod. 

I hope you enjoy reading and visiting the little maldod shop very soon.

Love from, Lowri x