sep, 30th - une belle époque....

day 1328 / 427:

 a big sorry about the tumbleweed around this blog lately......i have been concentrating on the third baby for awhile and struggling to balance it all.....

the third baby, is a small, online shop for kids clothes. i started working on the idea with my sister when Limi was less that two and many of the clothes that her and Claya wear are samples from the collection. i wanted to create a range that was heavily influenced by French simplicity and English detail but still accessibly priced. mainly, this came about from struggling to find simple, clothes for the girls made from good quality fabrics but also a stronger need to find a good balance between career and motherhood.....

my sister and I grew up in a small town in South Africa. our mother is a brilliant seamstress and we loved designing our own outfits (there wasn't much variety in our local shops) which she would then sew up for us. i have always loved the process of sketching a design, selecting fabric, watching that fabric be folded and cut and then going through the various fittings until you have a finished piece. this love of creating our own designs hasn't faded over the years and when my sister moved to Hong Kong, we had the perfect environment to continue creating bespoke pieces with access to amazing, natural fabric, trimmings and wonderful seamstresses.

after having Limi, I struggled to find pieces that weren't branded or pink....so, we decided to try some samples and  from there une belle époque grew and i slowly cemented what i wanted to focus my energy on. we created the first range using our trusted seamstress in China but since then, we have decided to move most of the production to the UK and I am working with small manufacturing workshops in East London to expand the range. 

I am loving every aspect of creating this small company from designing and creating the  products through to the development of the website and fun of packaging. i have a strong idea of where i want this brand to go.....it's now, just about figuring out the path to get there.....

if you would like to take a look, the site is une belle époque

p.s. for the month of October, we are offering free shipping worldwide. if you are based in the UK use 'freeukshipping' and for everyone outside of the UK, use 'freeworldwide', at checkout.

aug, 5th - claya turns one - part II....

day 1303 / 402:

so, after the grand total of four kids' birthday parties so far, i've found that i only manage to take pics for the first fifteen minutes. after that, i'm scrambling around trying to do all the things that i should have done before the party started. next year, i'm definitely creating a photo booth!

so, here are some pics of mainly the first fifteen minutes.......

i love Claya's face in the one above. she can't quite believe that her 'lion tamer' won't pose next to her.

happy birthday Claya Clam! your first birthday was a blast to organise. {see part I here}

aug, 3rd - claya turns one - part I....

day 1301 / 400:

okay....i have to caveat this post by saying that these pics are a bit staged.....i actually reset the table the day after Claya's party (minus most of the food) to get these images......on the day of her party, i was too busy manically tidying, doing a last minute, panic, food shop (which always happens as i suddenly think that we've under catered) and sorting out party bags......there was hardly any time to dust on some make-up never mind take pics of the decor..........

Claya's first birthday party was a Carnival theme......we had planned to have it under a tree in the park around the corner......but with the weatherman predicting a showery afternoon, we made a hasty plan B and set up at home.......

i went with a vintage carnival idea....using silver, gold and grey as my main colours and i tried to use as many props from what we already had in the house. i did make a tissue paper garland (inspired by the confetti system) to use in the girls' bedroom afterwards.

we served sausages in baps, stripey bags of french fries, popcorn, toffee apples and much to my own excitement, candy floss from our own machine. for drinks, the kids had watered down apple juice/ water, while the adults had a berry crush prosecco cocktail in jam jars......it was so much fun to put together.

in part II, i'll post some pics of the actual day....