K Elizabeth

Friday 28 February 2014

My Wedding Scrapbook

I have loved planning my wedding. It has been the most stressful thing I have ever done, with quite a few tears along the way. Today I realised I need to let go. The day will be perfect, I get to marry my best friend, father of my child and love of my life.

I have been planning this day before we even got engaged, being together seven years before he popped the question, its inevitable that I had already created a wedding board on Pinterest.

From there my dreams grew. Not one wedding magazine was purchased, I fell into the world of blogging and looking at other "real life" weddings that people had shared on the wonderful world of the internet.

I then began to create my own computerised scrapbook.

Pinning away at dream dresses and hairstyles that could be straight from a fairy tale.

Screen shooting beautiful flowers on my Ipad, ready to share with my florist to make sure she knew all that I wanted. Emailing colour schemes, bouncing ideas.

Being able to share all my ideas with my wonderful readers on here, my blog, my own online scrapbook.

My wedding posts on this blog has not only helped sort out my many, many ideas that were racing around my head, but it gave me the opportunity to talk to other brides-to-be, sharing ideas letting each other know where and how they have saved money or could find exactly what they are looking for.

It may not be a traditional scrapbook but, for me, its the best scrapbook I could of ever created.

Mummy B xoxox

If you would like to share your wedding scrapbook and be in with a chance of winning a fantastic weekend break for two, just follow the instructions below:

My Wedding Scrapbook – How To Enter

Create your own ‘Wedding Scrapbook’ post and you could win a 2 Night Luxury Break for Two in a Suite at the stunning Ox Pasture Hall Hotel in North Yorkshire, including Dinner, Bed & Breakfast, Cream Tea on arrival & other little treats - worth up to £800!

Excludes Christmas & New Year - available any other time, subject to availability

All you have to do to enter is write a post entitled ‘My Wedding Scrapbook’. Your post should include all the aspects you believe make a dream wedding and can feature words, images, photos and sketches - in fact anything you would put in a real life scrap book.

Once you’ve written your post, make sure you add these ‘how to enter’ instructions as they appear here at the foot of your post and then tweet a link to it from your Twitter profile including the hashtag #myweddingscrapbook.

Two runners up prizes of a £100 and a £50 Love2shop gift vouchers will also be given to the 2^nd place & 3^rd place post respectively. The winner will be the most inspirational post, as chosen by the judges. Competition closes midnight 31 March 2014. Winners will be chosen and notified by email using the contact details on their blog within 10 working days of the competition closing.

Canvas Design Review & Competition

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to review a beautiful canvas from Canvas Design. I have never had a canvas made despite having thousands and thousands of photos stored away on my computer, so was really intrigued by how good the quality would be.

I found it really hard to choose a picture, so I put my design hat on and put together a collage of my favorite pictures, did a bit of editing and had the perfect image to be created into a canvas.

The delivery was super quick, two days! They also had a brilliant text service informing you of when the canvas would be delivered, even giving options on whether you wanted it delivered to a neighbor or arrange another date! I love little things like this, it makes great customer service.

When the canvas arrived it was packaged carefully and another surprise- it was huge! But absolutely perfect! I was blown away by the quality. Whats more this canvas would of cost us £34.99, a fantastic price.

I was really pleased I decided to create a collage, the gorgeous quality and large size means that I can enjoy all the photos without having to squint or get up close!

This has made the perfect addition to our country style kitchen.

If you would like to have your own canvas made head over to Canvas Design and enter the code BLOG15 for 15% off!

Or if you are feeling really lucky you can enter my competition to win your own fantastic canvas. Just follow the instructions below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck

Mummy B xoxox

miamoo Review

I was recently sent a lovely little travel set from miamoo to try out some of their skin care range for babies and toddlers. miamoo was created after the founder, Saira, suffered with years of extremely poor dry skin and wanted to find something to soothe all her problems away. After doing a lot of research Saira worked very closely with manufactures, chemists, approved all the formulations and tested them out on her own troubled skin and created the brand miamoo.

I was very excited to try these out on Darcie. She suffers with dry skin and often gets patches of eczema, we have tried lots of different products and brands to try get that "baby soft" skin back.

When I received the items I couldn't help but fall in love with the logo design!

Inside the travel bag it includes;

splashy wash 30ml – refreshing citrus shower/body wash

fresh locks 30ml – soothing shampoo for shiny bouncy locks

baba oil 30ml – heavenly oil, great for hair, body and baby massage.

huggy lotion 30ml – a non greasy daily moisturiser

spritz and wipe 30ml – a refreshing citrus spritz packed with minerals that has multi uses

cheeky cream 30ml – a natural barrier cream great for adults and babies

All priced at £15.

This set is great if you want to try out all the products before buying the full size options.

I had high hopes for these products and tested them out as soon as we received them! Saira recommends a 3 step routine to help prevent and heal dry skins

1) Exfoliating wash

-fresh locks shampoo

-splashy wash for body & bath

-spritz and wipe

2) Moisturise

- huggy lotion

- cheeky cream

3) Massage

- baba oil

We followed the steps and we fell in love with some of the products instantly.

We found the splashy wash, had such a gorgeous and relaxing scent (ingredients include lemon oil, soya bean, aloe vera, jojoba, chamomile and Vitamin E) but still managed to get all toddler messes off with ease.

We also found the spritz & wipe such a handy product. It can be used as a detangler on hair, a cleanser, a toner and a spritz. I quite liked spritzing on my face, I instantly felt refreshed and relaxed. This would be amazing in the summer!

Lastly I really enjoyed the baba oil, Darcie loved a little massage after the bath even now at almost two. It was really moisturising and had a calming effect on the skin.

I would recommend any mummy's/ mummy's to be give this a whirl. This kit would be a great addition to any hospital bag or would make a lovely baby shower gift. If you want to give this a try for yourselves or have someone in mind you think would appreciate this, miamoo have given me the opportunity to offer my lovely readers 10% off full priced items. At the checkout just enter the code BLOG13 for 10% off!

Mummy B xoxox

Products sent were for the purpose of the review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mummy B & Little d George at Asda Haul

Today we visited my Gran and Grandad and I needed to pop into Asda on the way home as we had run out of dog food. The Asda's near my Grans is mahoosive and naturally me and my Mum had to take a looky at the clothes. I fell in love with two little items for me, a gorgeous statement necklace, in a beautiful mint colour - perfect for spring. Also I found this simple yet gorgeous crochet jumper perfect for both casual and smart wear.

My mum also found some lovely little buys too, but we soon moved on to the little girls section!

Darcie has now growing out of her 1 1/2-2 years clothes and so I am now buying 2-3 years (Yes I know she is only 21 months, well almost, but she is TALL!) to make sure she is all stocked up. I love looking around the supermarkets for some basics, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how lovely their range was. Take a little look at our finds...

These clothes make me so very excited for spring, there is something about them that just put a smile on my face!

Oh and last but certainly not least we did get one last thing...

This rather cute Mickey Mouse and friends "I Love Holidays" jumper that she was rather insistent that she wore straight away!

So on that note, I really do love the holidays, it has been a crazy one but I have loved spending time with some very special people.

What is your favourite thing about the holidays?

Mummy B xoxox

My week

This week has been half term, what should of been time spent recuperating ready for another half term at work was actually one extremely busy, and sometimes stressful week. My main plan for this week was to update our main bedroom and we have almost finished! Just need to hang a few pictures up, if you follow me on Instagram you would of seen a few sneak peaks! I will be doing an "official" post about it soon.

This week was also spent in A&E. Whilst dancing with daddy (her new favourite thing) she pulled her elbow out of joint. She was so so very brave when they popped it back in. I think I may do another post on this, as it is something that is very common in under 5's due to the way their elbows form. She soon got treated to Toy Story 1,2 AND 3 all on DVD for her bravery!

I have also spent some time with friends and family, not as much as I would've liked, but hey that's life.

So finally, please please please except my apologies for no posts during this working week. DIY is knackering work! I have quite a few posts lined up including a new skin care routine for Darcie, clothes haul for little d, the main room reveal, a wedding update and finally a giveaway!

Mummy B xoxox

Saturday Kitchen

Even though the weather outside is very chilly and very windy there has definitely been a more spring like feel in the air. Today I even picked up some daffodils for the kitchen,

There is something about daffodils that just cheer up any room, I can't wait till they bloom. With Darcie having a little more energy and asking for her favorite thing, cake, I decided what the hell lets make a cake.

Whilst I gathered ingredients Darcie helped herself to the flour...

But she soon got in to her role of chief mixer...

I just did a basic cake mix 200g self raising flour, 200g caster sugar, 200g butter. Then I added a bit of Nutella.

Once cooked and cooled I made a butter icing with Nutella and added raspberries to finish. Very naughty but very nice!

I like to just through ingredients together and see how they come out. The butter icing was a bit runny but hey ho tastes good all the same! I definiatly need to do more baking, its been a while! I want to be more adventurous too with evening meals, I always find we have the same thing every week! So if you have any recipes or posts you would like to share, please leave them bellow.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.

Mummy B xoxox

Happy Valentines Day My Lovely

Eight years of happiness

Love you xxx

A Fighting Virus Lolly

If you follow me on Twitter, my Facebook page or Instagram, you will know that Darcie hasn't been very well. She has a virus that seems to be going around that seems to really have knocked it out of her. She has had a raised temperature since Monday, a croup like cough, sore throat and most scarily (as anyone who knows her personally will get this) she has completely gone off her food.

The Doctor couldn't give her anything other than an inhaler and the advise to use calpol to control her temperature and told us it usually lasts two weeks. I truly am sick of winter. Darcie has been really unfortunate this year and has been getting everything that has been going around. As a full time working mummy this really does put a strain on things. You really feel pulled in both directions, not wanting to let your employers down but also wanting to unsure your child is happy and recovering. Jamie had her Monday, my Mum Tuesday and I have had to have her yesterday and today. Jamie's Mum is desperately trying to swap her shift so she can help us out. So difficult, but what else can I do?

Anyway, back to the point. On my personal Facebook page I asked my fellow Mummies & Daddies what they suggested to encourage her to eat whilst giving her some good old vitamins to fight this bug. One of the suggestions were smoothie ice lollies!

Feeling inspired, I blended up some frozen raspberries and strawberries and other summer fruit and added two oranges, a splash of water and there you have it the perfect ice lolly!

Darcie got very excited when she saw these and managed to eat half of it before she started to use it as a paint brush - probably not the best idea in the world to give it to her on the sofa.

Anyway, I am hoping she will soon be on the mend. I hate seeing her like this, she doesn't want to play, just Toy Story & Doc McStuffins and of course some mummy and daddy cuddles.

Get well soon Darcie B

Mummy B xoxox

I was recently asked to take a look at Paper Themes wedding stationary, being a fan of the company as it is, it was hard not to turn this opportunity down. My Save the Date cards were from this company and I was so happy with them.

First of all, the choice, there were so many lovely ones to choose from to cater for all budgets! I really like how they have decorated some of the boxes in their images, it can help give you some ideas as to how you can go about customising them to make them truly special. They also have some accessories and materials that you can also purchase from them too. I ended up choosing the 'Kraft Favour Box' prices at £5.99 for a box of 10, very reasonable.

They arrived next day, in beautiful packaging so luxurious - just what every bride to be wants!

They all come flat packed ready to be assembled. When I first saw them I thought, "how on earth am I going to put them together?", but once I started to fold them they where very very simple.

Closer to our date I plan on getting the girls round for an evening of crafting. I want to make them look beautiful and rustic. I'm thinking lace, garden twine and vintage name tags making the favour boxes also place names - I do like to try and save money!

Here are a couple of ideas I have put together that have inspired me for our favour boxes.

I am very pleased with these gorgeously simple boxes. Be sure to check out the rest of their range.

Mummy B xoxox

A PR collaboration, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tanya Burr Lips & Nails First Look

So my little order from Feel Unique finally arrived! I ordered on launch day but for some reason my order got delayed. In a way I'm glad it was. It gave me the opportunity to have a look at a few reviews, I had ordered the lip gloss, Just Peachy but after seeing it I knew it wouldn't suit me. So I managed to get my lip gloss swapped to Aurora and I got the colour Midnight Sparkles in the nail varnish.

The Lip Gloss 'Aurora' is a really lovely pinky shade with a hint of sparkle. This is the perfect shade for lightly sweeping over the lips for a day time look or you can build to get a more intense colour. I am also looking forward to layering it with some of my favorite lipsticks.

Midnight Sparkles, a beautiful deep purple that is super glossy and shimmers in the light. I have nothing like this in my collection which is why I went for this shade. The formulation of this product it fantastic, goes on smoothly, I did two coats but would of been ok with just one and it dries pretty darn quick too! What more could you want? I will definitely be buying more of these, I have my eye on the minty shade at the moment *cough* Jamie *cough*.

What do you think of Tanya Burr's new range?

Mummy B xoxox

P.S Sorry for the poor picture quality but I just had to share!

Ordinary Moments #2

Wow this week went quickly but it's been a good one. In fact it's been a fantastic one. On Wednesday it was mine and Jamie's 8th anniversary, I can not believe it's been 8 years since we became a couple. We celebrated by going on a little date, a meal out at La Tascas in Norwich and then we did plan to go to the cinema but there was nothing that took our fancy and on at a reasonable time! 9pm on a school night.... No thank you! So instead we popped to Tesco and got dessert and a film.

On Friday, after work, I played a little dodgeball. It's something that we having been doing at work and I'm really enjoying it. I'm no good at it mind but it's good fun and a lovely little workout! On Saturday we walked into town, Darcie took her balance bike and scooted around. We fed the ducks and then came back for a lazy afternoon. I then had a very very exciting tweet from Kerry of 'Oh So Amelia' to let me know I won her competition in partnership with Lloyd's Bank for my post 'Moments that Mattered 2013', amazing to get some recognition but also an amazing prize of an Ipad Mini!! In the evening my friend came round for a catch up, we talked wedding, relationships and consumed a lot of junk food - well I did anyway!

Today has been pretty much a perfect Sunday. Jamie woke with Darcie this morning to allow me to have lay in, we then lounged and watched the Winter Olympics till 11.30am before we all got dressed, I haven't been that lazy in a long time- so needed! This afternoon we decided to let Darcie have a good old run around at our local soft play centre, even though it was manic we had so much fun.

Here are a few pics of our week