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Nine months ago today, the very best moment of my life happened at 2.47 in the afternoon. So this week for Folksy Friday it’s all about George:

George and the Dragons from Hole in My Pocket

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King George by Alice Gabb

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George from The Snail Emporium

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George, Hand Embroidered Brooch from Bird & Bridge

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George Bear Plushie from Dotty Daisies

I’m not the most patient person so it’s been quite hard telling myself that building up a business from scratch is not going to happen overnight. The biggest problem being that when I set up as a freelance graphic designer, it did literally happen overnight. There were a few dry spots, but for the most part since the day I left my permanent job I was pretty much set for work. I never really had to do any marketing or self-promotion, pretty much all my clients came through word of mouth, ex-colleagues etc.

But this is something new, something more creative, something more flexible, something that not many people know I can do. Most importantly something that will exist with and around my family. There will still be late nights and short deadlines but these will have to happen around playground visits and the (actually quite loud) pitter patter of little feet. I’ve been doing a few stationery designs here and there when I have time, but everything has been feeling a bit all over the place. So over the past couple of days I’ve been having a good think about what I will create, who would be interested and what it will hopefully mean to them. I’ve had a few good chats with a very good friend who is in pretty much the same place as me and that has left me feeling very inspired. Yesterday my head was buzzing with all the things I want to do, but I was feeling pretty tired. I told myself if it was earlier than 9.30pm then I’d start creating something. It was 9.24pm so two hours later and I’d finished my first little steps:

I dragged out my favourite thing, my sewing machine. As much as I love my Mac and all my pencils and paper, there’s something much more satisfying about my sewing machine. I know I don’t use it how you’re really supposed to. I probably sew more paper than cloth, my lines are never straight, my tension is all over the place, I’m more of a sketch sewer than a fine artist, but the results end up feeling really ‘me’. So the little steps I started last night are the beginning of a new ‘little bulldog’ shop banner. A couple need redoing, in fact I’ll probably redo all of them, but it’s a start and it’s a huge step away from the client-led retail designer I’ve been for the past few years. It feels right, so we’ll see.

So the theme of this week’s Folksy Friday is ‘Festival’ in honour of Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common which is happening this weekend on Clapham Common. We’re going tomorrow for the first time with child.  This is more of a family-friendly festival, or used to be, so the theme is more bunting (I love bunting) and less wellies and throwing bottles. Oh and the bandstand is because the first Ben & Jerry’s Sundae on the Common was thrown to raise money to rebuild the bandstand:

Slide 8 x 8″ Print by Cassia Beck

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Scrap Bag Festival Bunting by Flaming Nora

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The Circus Is In Town – Mini Print by Blackoutwell

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Carousel Rose by Maria Allen

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Bandstand by Lynsey Hunter

n. – The quality or state of cohering, especially a logical, orderly, and aesthetically consistent relationship of parts.

Yes I need some of this. This is what’s missing, it’s so obvious when I look at the collections of designers who have it. Here’s who’s inspiring me to be more coherent:

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Charlotte Macey Textiles:

Beautiful linen homewares with line drawing embroidery. A simple but strong and recognisable style.

oatmeal ‘coffeeee’ cosy

navy beach huts tea towel

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Isak:

I love everything from Isak. I’d deck out the whole house in all their things if I could. Instantly recognisable, bit retro, very Scandinavian. They make me want to move to Sweden.

blue penguin wallpaper

lovebirds tray and mug

123 wall decoration

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The Linen Cat:

Beautifully made, simple, timeless. All created by one of those incredible full-time mums who still manage to create wonderful things and run successful businesses.

Linen Cat in Pink Russian Doll Print Dress

Ellie Floral Bunny Lavendar Bag

I’m hoping to keep up with this every week. This is my second one so that’s a roll for me. This week’s theme is ‘hungry’ because I’m hungry:g

Hungry Bear Plate from James Ward

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Chocolate Cake Coin Purse from Dinky Daisy

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Alice in Wonderland ‘Eat Me’ Cake Toppers by Crafty Pagan Designs

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Apple and Pear Card from Little Bird Too

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Cream Egg Cosy from Charlotte Macey Textiles

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Now I’m even more hungry.

If you’re living in South London with young children, here’s what I’ve found that’s on for free or nearly free in South London this week:

Today, Monday July 12th:

1pm – 2.50pm – playgroup at the Franciscan Children’s Centre for 0-5 years – it’s a pretty small space so you need to get there earlyish to get it. A lovely little children’s centre with loads of toys and activities for all ages 0-5 years. We’ve only been once so far and G was a bit overwhelmed by the older kids crashing around, but I think after a few more visits he’ll be fine

Tuesday July 13th:

addition – 2pm-2.30pm – Traditional Nursery Rhymes at the Fayland Children’s Centre. I forgot to mention this one. It’s the usual songs that you get at most of the local rhymetimes but it’s in the children’s centre so all the toys & instruments are available to make it a bit more interesting for the kids. Also there is a one o’clock club going on at the same time so you can stay on and play until 4. I think there’s also more singing at the end of that too.

3pm – rhymetime at Abbey Children’s Centre. This rhymetime is more fun than the usual library ones as it’s held in a children’s centre so there are playmats and instruments laid out for the children. The instructor is also alot more interactive and looks and sings directly at the children. She also blows loads of bubbles at the end. We’ve only been once, but we’ll definitely be going back.

There are also rhymetimes at the Balham, Tooting and Earlsfield libraries on tuesdays but I’m not sure of the times. We’ve been to the Tooting one a few times. G loved it the first time, but was completely bored the other times and spent most of the time scratching the carpet. It’s not the most exciting experience as the lady leading it sings mostly from library books and focuses more on older children so there’s not much of the bouncing up and down etc that G enjoys. We’ve only been to the one in Balham once as it was absolutely packed and took quite a while to get in and out with all the pushchairs trying to get in the lift.

Wednesday, July 14th:

10am – 11.50 – baby playgroup at the Fayland Children’s Centre. This is one of our firm favourites. It’s one of the few, or maybe the only, dedicated baby playgroup. I think the age range is 0 – 2yrs, so you don’t have older children crashing around into the smaller babies. It’s a lovely group of mums and babies and the staff at Fayland are really welcoming and helpful. There are lots of treasure baskets layed out for the babies and the mums sit around in a circle chatting. The session ends with nursery rhymes. There are also lots of cars, tricycles etc outside when baby wants a break from playing inside.

1 – 4pm – today only there is a free open day at the Franciscan Children’s Centre with food, face painting, fire engines, activities for all ages etc. It will be out in the open courtyard so hopefully the weather will remain good.

Thursday, July 15th:

2.30 – 3pm – Songs & Stories at the Hillbrook Children’s Centre. I haven’t been to this yet, but the Hillbrook Centre is really lovely – clean, intimate with lovely staff. There’s limited space so you need to get there early.

2.15 – 2.35 – Rhymetime at Earlsfield Library. I haven’t been to this, but I’ve heard good things.

There is also Messy Play at the Abbey Children’s Centre on Thursdays, but I’m not sure what time.

Friday, July 16th:

Fridays are a bit sparse, I think the councils figure everyone is a bit exhausted by this point! I don’t know of anything going on this friday I’m afraid, but I’ll update if I hear of anything. We’re in a Treasure Basket & Heuristic Play session (which I’ll blog about soon) on Fridays throughout this month at the Franciscan Children’s Centre, but it’s a booked course and it’s full, although I’d definitely recommend enquiring about other sessions.

There’s always the Tooting Lido if the weather’s good. Or one of the various one o’clock clubs at local children’s centres (Fayland, Triangle, Earlsfield). I’ve been to both the Fayland and Triangle ones. I have enjoyed everything I’ve been to at the Fayland Centre, the staff and other parents/carers are really lovely and down to earth at this centre. I popped into the Triangle one briefly last week to let G have a play in their garden. I didn’t look inside but there are lots of things to do in their lovely little garden. Lots of ride-on toys, a wendy house, sand pit, baby slide, climbing frames etc. There’s also a big sandpit and picnic area just outside and a proper playground with swings etc.

Saturday, July 17th & Sunday, July 18th:

Lambeth County Show - Time Out says “South London goes country with bucolic attractions including farm animals, flower and vegetable competitions, arts and crafts stalls and two stages offering everything from reggae and ska to folk and classical music.”

Lollibop – Okay, it’s not South London, but it looks like loads of fun and worth the journey. Time Out says “A festival aimed at under-tens and their families, offering activities such as a treasure hunt among giant whales, blue trees and the namesake supersized lollipops; bodypopping and drumming workshops; The Miniscule of Sound teenyboppers disco; school sports day-style races; crazy golf; a mother and baby tent; and plenty of food and drink, including child-sized portions.”

Big Lunch – local big lunches should be happening all over town to get people mingling with their neighbours. It’s a great idea, although like many things we’ve yet to take part. Maybe this year…

If you know of anything else, I’d love to know.

Because I have so much spare time (ha ha) I have also started another blog to try to keep track of some of the great children’s books we’re finding to read with George. Funnily enough I haven’t been that great at keeping up with it, but I did manage to write the first part of a post on Russell Ayto last night. He is a really great, versatile illustrator who I hadn’t heard of before, not that my knowledge of children’s illustrators went much past Eric Carle and Richard Scarry! We were going through a stack of library books yesterday when I realised that a good percentage of the ones I pick are illustrated by Russell Ayto. So if you aren’t familiar with his work have  a quick look at my other blog – Reading to George – for the first of a couple of posts on his work.

The fabric in the embroidery hoops is called Red Letter Day by Lizzy House.

I officially back from maternity leave to my freelance business, little bulldog design, a couple of months ago, but you wouldn’t really know it as not much in the way of work has come in. I blamed it on the recession for a little while, but it quickly became apparent that my clients had either understandably found replacement designers while I was off or there’s just not alot of room for a freelancer who is at the beck and call of a little boy during most working hours. So although I will hopefully still get the odd design job, it’s time to finally take the initiative to create on my own and see where that takes me. As it’s the world I’m now becoming apart of I’ve started with a few baby designs so we’ll see where that takes me.

birthday invitation

My website is soon to be revamped but in the meantime I’m starting to post new personalised invitations on Folksy and Etsy, if you haven’t already visited either they’re very addictive and full of amazing stuff you won’t find in any high street shop. I’m also thinking of offering a sort of invitation service for busy yummy mummies – sending out the invites and managing reminders etc. Also on the cards are packs of personalised children’s birthday cards so you can buy them all in one swoop rather than stressing at the last minute.

lace dress wedding invitation

This is my first go at Folksy Friday and in honour of the beautiful day we had today I’ve chosen a few sunshine-themed handmade items:

sunshine corsage from Mud Puppy

complete van-atic greeting card from hello sunshine

vivid green paisley flowered sun dress from Kryshees

happiness earrings- sunshine yellow from Chain of Daisies

'The Summer Sun' print from bubble or squeak

Click on the photos to view their other lovely items. Here’s to more sunshine.