Fab, Must-Read Blogs.

I have a blogroll full of luscious reads that I love to check in on regularly. One of the first things I do each morning, after getting Ella her drink & getting her comfy on the couch & brewing my morning coffee....is: log onto my Blogger Dashbaord & catch up on all the new posts for the day! I gain so much inspiration & joy from reading other people's work, viewing their photos, being apart of their art & hearing about their lives! I follow some well-known blogs & enjoy their daily confidence as they fit perfectly into the 'bloggy' world, but I also enjoy cruising for new blogs to be a follower of. In fact, some of the 'newer', 'smaller', 'growing' blogs are some of my favourite reads!!

The lovely Sarah from Special Moments has a gorgeous blog. She only lives 20minutes from me & has bought some of my prints. She has the most balanced & calm outlook on life and this comes through strong in her writing & photos. She strives to be good.....she strives to be better....and that inspires me. She lives, she laughs & she loves! And she wrote this AMAZING post this morning {which featured me...thank you Sarah} and it left me in tears! Happy tears!

Another passion of mine {which I'm sure you've picked up by now if you're a regular visitor} is PHOTOGRAPHY! I've always loved it. In fact, I won a photography competition in 2002 for a photo of our cat. But it's really been since Ella was born {and even more so in the past 2 years} that I've really REALLY loved to be behind the lens...and also looking at, and appreciating other people's photos. I don't consider myself a photographer.....I'm just simply a Mum who has a bad addiction to snapping away at my little treasure! I still have so much to learn about taking photos & how to use my camera....and my new favourite website for this, is: Mama-razzi! If you too have a love for taking photos, this is the blog for you! Carly includes tips, lessons, tutorials & examples to help YOU take better photos!!! {And I had the pleasure of meeting Carly today....and she is one super talented & super lovely lady....a new friendship blooming which I always greet with open arms!}

Another lovely blog which always make me smile & makes me feel inspired is by Sonja Bouw; Tied with a Bouw. I've been following her blog for over a year now, and she always delivers trendy, beautiful posts. Sonja & I communicate regularly over email & she truly is a lovely Soul. And.... to add to her fairy tale....12 weeks ago, her & her Husband, welcomed the most amazing little girl into their world! Baby Allegra is so gorgeous....talk about making a girl clucky :)

Cathie from the blog: m.e is another must read! Cathie blogs about life, cooking & photography. Her photos are AMAZING! I ALWAYS leave her blog feeling uplifted & refreshed! Her photos always inspire me to want to get my camera out & start snapping! She is always honest, but does everything in her power to seep the goodness out of life & be a great Mum!

Oh, how I could keep listing my favourite reads at the moment.....but I think this post would end up going on FOREVER...and I need to get a certain little someone off to bed. I am loving so many blogs right now, especially some great US based photography ones I stumbled across lately. But, there is one more blog I HAD to mention tonight :) One of my best friend's, Kirsty, has started a blog....as in, it's like 1 week old :) And I was so excited when she told me about her new baby; Turquoise & Peach! Her & her husband are in the process of renovating/building a stunning large family home for them & their 2 little boys. The transformation is going to be stunning, and her blog is where she is keeping a record of it all {along with lots of other fashion, lifestyle, food, designer & family goodness} :)

What are some of your favourite blogs at the moment?

Happy Reading Friends!

15% off for my BLOG readers.......at SPR ETSY

Hello Lovelies!! How's your Sunday?

Maybe it's because my world is full of rainbows & kid's birthday parties at the moment.....but I'm feeling the LOVE....and want to share it :)

For the next week.....you can get 15% off any purchase from my ETSY store :)

Simply use the code: SPRBLOG111 at checkout to get the 15% off :) EASY!!!

Spread the word....FB it, Tweet it, however!! Thanks :) Get shopping! And Enjoy!

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A very quick, last minute GIVEAWAY to celebrate the Festive Season!

Hi my Lovelies,

So, my regular readers would know....I am a little obsessed and OTT with the Christmas Season! I love it! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! So, to spread the love, share the joy & participate in the notion of giving ~ I have a last minute, very quick {as in drawn TOMORROW quick} GIVEAWAY for YOU!!!

The lovely Maxabella organised a mammoth giveaway for her readers & the prize was so damn good, if I do say so myself....hey, I wanted to win it....BADLY :) The giveaway prize pack was huge....full of heaps of lovelies from a handful of talented ladies :) {including some Scissors Paper Rock prints & paper goodies!}. A decision was made last night that the prize would not be randomly allocated but purposely given to Jane from My Pear Tree House, as she is going through a really rough {healthwise} time at the moment! I was so supportive of this notion, and will be sending those goodies her way :) But, I also want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my lovely supporters, followers & blog readers.

So.....I have a PRINT giveaway on offer today!!!! Before I get to the details.....I have a few on-stage photos from my Saturday Night concert. One of my lovely readers left a comment saying she'd love to see some video footage :) Sorry Em, I don't have any video as of yet....but here's a few action shots:

{excuse the guy's head in the way of the camera LOL}

{and my 2 Loves, sititng in the audience ready to watch the show!}

Ok, now for the GIVEAWAY details :)

Simply leave a comment below telling me what you love most about this time of year!!! You don't have to be a blogger, anyone can enter! I will enter all the comments into a random draw at midday tomorrow. The winner will receive a LOVE IS THE NEW BLACK print designed & printed by me! It measures 30cm by 40cm and is printed on silk finished print paper. ENJOY! And thanks again for being apart of my blog & business!!

Happy Monday All!

It's a funny old world...this blogging world....

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It's nearly been a month since my hospital stay & pregnancy loss. During that month, I received lots of emails & flowers & cards & presents! I had friends dropping in with cuddles & gifts & cooked meals! I was receiving well wishes & love from all corners of the Earth! For all of this I am so very grateful! I am very appreciative of the blessings in my life....my daughter Ella, my husband Chris, my amazing family & family-in-law and my fabulous, supportive friends! I'm also so grateful for the lovely new friendships I've made via this amazing online blogging community!

For about 3 weeks after me blogging about my ectopic pregnancy news, my email & facebook inbox was LOADED every single morning with messages, poems, photos & links from people all over the world. Some I knew....many were strangers! But the one similarity within all of these emails was the praise I got for speaking up....for sharing my story....for being so honest....for opening my heart & soul to everyone's opinions & judgements! I had women thanking me for saying out loud in a public platform the things they have wanted to say but were too shy.....experiences they had had too but were too embarrassed to share......feelings of loss that they were too sad to admit to......and thanking me for being another person they can relate to! A lot of this took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting all of those kind words or support! I was simply sharing my story.... venting....expressing.....crying....writing.....and opening up my heart to anyone who was willing to read! This got me thinking about why so many women feel so voice-less when it comes to their life experiences....I feel for them, I really do! I think it's so important that us women TALK out loud or on paper....let it all out....be honest with yourself & others! Because something I have learnt recently is....it's the unsaid words & the bottled up feelings that end up causing the most damage..to yourself...or to others!

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Since then, I've been thinking about this lovely world of blogging! We all have different reasons why we blog, why we write, why we share! For me it's a mixture of writing to express, writing to analyse, writing to show-off or gloat about the good things going on in my life, writing to vent about the not so great things going on, sharing my latest design creations, discussing big things like lost lives...to minor things like my favourite kid's store! I have a 'public' blog because I don't mind the world reading my posts, seeing my photos, joining me on this crazy journey of life! I've always liked to write...whether it's a story, a list, a diary {blog}, a letter or a poem. As teenagers {& young adults}, my best friend & I would always use writing to truly express ourselves & communicate together....during the good times & bad times where support was most needed...and I think this is why our friendship is still so strong...because we have never let a spoken word of negativity or impulsiveness effect us!

Somehow my chain of thoughts then brought me to this: I love coming across an established blog that is swamped with followers & readers....yet the blogger still finds the time...makes the time to reply to their comments & questions & show an interest in their blogs too! I know my blog is fairly young & small, and blogging is definitely NOT about impressing, but I don't understand why some people put their world, their writing, their thoughts, their lives out into the blogging world and then never show appreciation or acknowledgement of the commitment their readers are showing! They may as well write in a journal or set their blogs to 'private' if they don't want to stimulate & respond to conversations happening in their comment boxes.

Just my thoughts!! What do you think? Maybe I've got it all wrong? And..if I become one of those bloggers who is all take take take, and never any GIVE.... please give me a little nudge! I'm here to blog for enjoyment & fun.....and I've done it publicly because I want to share my life with you and I want to see inside your world too....and I want to build positive online relationships. I find so much inspiration & enjoyment in the online world! And to all those creative, passionate & REAL bloggers....I say THANK YOU!