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 

Christmas has landed!

Morning all!

Hope you had a great weekend and that your week is off to a good start.

I'm delighted to share little maldod's Christmas 2014 range of vests and tees with you all today! Christmas vests were really popular last year so I wanted to make them available to you as early as possible. I've added no less than 8 new designs and really hope you like them.

I've featured a few of my favourites below, but you can see the full range here. 

Rudolph and Penguin Vests and Tees, from £9.95

A couple of cheeky little chaps have joined us this year - Rudolph (his mates) and a Penguin can now be found on both our vests and toddler tees.

Christmas Tree Vest/Tee, from £9.95

I'm a big fan of this Christmas tree design. Perfect for those that prefer things a bit more understated.

Candy Cane Vest/Tee, from £9.95

This design is a festive take on our bestselling polka dot buttons vest/tee. I ended up eating too many candy canes (ahem, props!) while photographing this, I'd forgotten how good they are. Must remember to buy more for our tree.

Limited Edition Stocking, £14.95

I have also added some Christmas stockings to the shop today. Last time I blogged I shared my plans for some limited edition designs. This 'children at play' stocking is the first in this range and is now available to buy. There's only TWO of these though so be quick if you don't want to miss out!

Large Personalised Stocking, £24.95

Large Personalised Stockings were very popular last year and are also now available. Here's a picture a customer sent in of theirs hanging at home last December. We love customer photos!

For anyone interested in ordering one of these, please note that the dispatch times for these are slightly longer than for other products. Instead of the usual 7 working days, these stockings will take 14 working days to be made up and dispatched. I hope, seeing as they won't be put to use until the 24th December, that this doesn't cause any problems! If you need an order urgently though then drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

Trust me when I say that I have PLENTY more planned in the way of Christmas so do keep your eyes open for the launch of more products. However, I thought I'd offer those of you who like to be organised, a special early bird discount! *** To receive 10% off all Christmas Vests and large stockings until midnight on the 31st October, just enter code: littleearlybird at the checkout.***

I thoroughly appreciate that its still only October and with spooky Halloween around the corner (we're bypassing that altogether thanks!) that some of you may not even be thinking about Christmas just yet. I'm even beginning to wonder if I have enough festive cheer to keep me going for the long haul (will resort to eating more candy canes if not). However every year December 24th comes round more quickly than the last so I don't think it can hurt to get organised and start planning for this extra special time of year. I hope you agree!

I'll keep you updated on the launch of new products over the next couple of weeks. But for now, thanks so much for reading and happy shopping.

Lowri x

My Stocking Bicycle

Morning,

Happy Friday friends.

Just a quick post today, I don't normally write my posts when the children are awake and I've just remembered why...... The tune of Bob the Builder doesn't exactly help the thought and writing process.

But I wanted to pop by and tell you about some plans I have for some lovely stockings.

I opened up my fabric stash the other day and had a good look through at the huge range that I've accumulated over the last year or two. I'm terrible for buying fabrics and taking ages to actually use them for something. However I'll often place a couple along side each other and match up patterns and colours that I think 'work' together.

The other night I hopped back on my stocking making bicycle (took me a while to remember how to make them but appears its like riding a bike!) I made the stocking you can see in the picture below. Its a lovely size, lined with a mint green polka dot and has this gorgeous 'children at play' fabric.

She reminds me of me as a girl!

I loved the process of choosing the colours and making up something with fabric I've been saving for something special. So, I've decided to make up some other stockings like this for the little maldod shop. I'll make up one or two more of the stocking you can see above but as I have a limited amount of the fabric there'll only be a couple available. I'll then make up some more in other fabrics I like together.

Unlike the other products in the shop which are made to order, these stockings will be made up and then added to the shop. This means they won't be available for personalising but can be popped in the post to you pretty promptly.

Below is a small selection of fabrics that I like, not necessarily that Christmassy but I think they'd look great as stockings! Which are your favourite?

The designs of each of these stockings will be limited and I'll pop photos on the little maldod social media pages as and when new stockings are added. So if you see one you like be quick as they might not be around for long. 

Large personalised stockings will be available again this year as well as mini stockings which will be great for hanging on the tree and popping a chocolate or two in.

I'm hoping to have the Christmas stock photographed and added to the shop at some point in the next week or so. I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you. 

Right, off to turn off Bob and get ourselves out of pyjamas......

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Much love,

Lowri x

Buttons for Beti

Morning All,

A friend recently placed an order for a baby called Beti. When she told me the reason for giving the gift my heart broke.

Beti is a beautiful 8 month old little girl who, during this last summer, has had to undergo 5 operations to remove a brain tumour. Thankfully most of the tumour has been removed but Beti now has to undergo a year long run of chemotherapy after which her family have been told to expect to need to travel to America for a period of focused radiotherapy.

I met Beti's lovely parents, Natalie and Stuart, on Friday evening at a local event we both happened to be at. They live locally to me and, with exactly two months between their daughter and mine, I couldn't help but be deeply moved by their story. The friends and family of Natalie and Stuart have set up a dedicated facebook and fundraising page and, as their words are far better than mine, I'd urge you to click on these links if you'd like to read more.

Various events have been planned to help raise funds for any necessary treatment Beti may require in her fight against Cancer. I've thought about this family a lot since hearing their story and after reading their fundraising page decided that I also wanted to make a contribution. I've therefore decided to  make 'Buttons for Beti.'

Since reopening the shop in the summer the Buttons vest has been a best seller and its this design that my friend ordered for Beti. With that in mind I have decided to donate 10% of all sales from the Buttons vest to this hugely worthwhile cause.

If you've already ordered a buttons vest since the reopening then a percentage of your order will also be going towards this.

I am thankful every single day for the health of my two children and I can't even begin to imagine what this family have been through, let alone the journey they still have to take. I can only pray that the treatment Beti receives will enable her to grow up to enjoy a happy, fun filled childhood and future.

If  you live in Cardiff then do follow the Facebook page to hear about some lovely fundraising events coming up.

Thank you so much for reading.

With love,
Lowri x