Made With Love Blog

This Blog Has Moved

2010-05-11T13:42:00.004+01:00

We have moved this blog to here. We will update the new blog as usual with posts as normal. See you there! The New Made With Love Blog (it pretty much looks the same but has some new nifty features)

Barbiefoot.... kitsch

2010-05-06T07:14:00.004+01:00

This is like something I've never seen before! Crazy but so very cool & I really really want one. I could just see the Made With Love logo on the side. Ahhh idea! Found over at the Bodie & Fou Blog

How To Create A Signature For Emails With Your Company Logo or Images

2010-05-02T00:31:00.005+01:00

There just hasn't been the time to learn how to set a fancy signature up for Made With Love. But I'm pleased to say that it's easy peasy. Saturday nights in on your own can prove very productive if not a little lonely!

Instructions from Web Developers Notes on how to set an email signature up with your company logo using Windows Mail here.

Do you like it? If you find this useful let me know & send me your new fancy pants email!

In The News - Wedding Invitation Shop April 2010

2010-04-30T10:22:00.004+01:00

Samantha over at The Wedding Invitation Shop featured our new summer florals ranges in her blog as her design of the day in April - Lucky us!

Her blog features lots of stationery ideas and reviews, featuring the latest designs from UK Companies. And we are proud to also be on board as a designer.

See the full post here

New ETSY Banner

2010-04-30T07:54:00.004+01:00

When I first stumbled across Etsy, I thought it would be the perfect outlet to sell our greetings cards. With little knowledge of it's workings, I opened a little Made With Love Etsy shop on there & prepared myself for orders flooding in... it didn't quite work like that... I lost interest in updating the pages ... and the shop became empty, bare & clearly unloved. Why? I hear you ask...

Partly due to the success of our own website (I've had little time to spare for Etsy) an secondly: Lack of research! I hadn't thought out the site, got a feel for what Etsy was & just expected things to sell. Pretty much in the way that they do on our own website.

So with a extra helper at Made With Love (oo-er!) I am dedicating a little more time in building the shop up from scratch & starting out.

If you haven't heard of Etsy before head over - you won't be disappointed. It's a treasure trove filled with amazing finds for gifts and treats. All either handmade or vintage in style.

The shop is still bare but I re-did the shop banner at 5am this morning. Here it is - do you like it? More Etsy to follow...

Oisin Byrne: Artist

2010-04-28T22:01:00.004+01:00

2 things I love about this artist:
1. He is from Dublin & I love Dublin and
2. His use of colour is mind blowing for me.

I absolutely adore his origami work. So very talented. Check out his website.

Ruffles

2010-04-24T15:57:00.012+01:00

I'm totally loving this weather. Romantic ruffles are definately in order....
Inner Lace Detail Dress by Luphia Loves (a snip at only £34) Beautiful ruffle Bedding from Urban Outfitters $148 (only available from the US website... booo! But they do ship internationally, I checked. I'm buying this bed spread)

Whilst browsing their store & on the ruffle theme. Ruffle Shower Curtain. $68

Stunning ruffle wedding dress Futuro by Pronovias (found via Rock My Wedding- Check out there recent post 'Prettiest Dresses' for to die for dresses!)

And Caspe by Rosa Clara (image from Rock My Wedding)Pretty ruffle cushion by The Home Centric $18.85 (ship to the UK for $7). Check out their huge range of hand made cushions. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful! Too gorgeous... If you know of any ruffle lovelies, please do tell as I am planning an exciting vintage, ruffles & lace post.

Happy Weekend! x

Lilly is Walking!

2010-04-22T23:43:00.004+01:00

Worthy of a blog post indeed. Lilly is walking! She's 19 months but incredibly smart, attentive responsive. She just didn't want to walk! (Lilly & Daddy do Ikea)

Now that she can she's pretty smug about the whole thing.

Cute heart sunglasses from Next (£4.99)

New Website Background

2010-04-20T10:01:00.004+01:00

The whole website is undergoing a huge makeover at the minute to allow the new shopping cart and payment gateway expected to launch from July 2010. This will streamline the ordering process for wedding stationery, Christening stationery & the new Event stationery pages and make it easier to place an order (a little like the ordering process on the greetings card website). Whilst all this technical stuff is going on, we couldn't resist a bit of cosmetic decorating with a beautiful new Brock wallpaper in the background. Do you like it?

LOLA's Cupcakes

2010-04-17T14:57:00.004+01:00

For a delicious lunchtime treat visit LOLA's Bakery, Mayfair, London for a delicious cupcake & coffee. Freshly baked every morning, using natural ingredients - their cupcake's really are divine. Comes highly recommended...Have you been before?

Pantone Rainbow Project

2010-04-16T08:40:00.007+01:00

The other day I saw a rainbow. It was beautiful. It's end seemed to stop at my Lilly flower's nursery. She is my treasure. Check out this man made Pantone Rainbow found over on Christopher Bevan's blog. What patience... but what a result...

A Nice Plaice... Designer Fish Bowl

2010-04-08T23:00:00.005+01:00

Designer fish bowl designed by student Teddy Luong at Carlton University School of Design. These can be pre-ordered from Unica Home for the ultimate fishy home. Pretty cool huh?

Pantone Design Concepts

2010-04-05T09:23:00.007+01:00

I don’t know what it is about Pantone Colours & their branding, but if you slap their label/logo onto practically anything, I am instantly smitten and want/need whatever it is. I love the simplicity & practicality of their design. No guess work involved.
This design concept of a range of Pantone cosmetics (designed by Renata Veiga found at lovely package) seriously needs to be pitched to Pantone. These would work amazingly well as eyeshadow palettes offering colours that compliment each other. Or what about these Pantone paints designed by Samy Halim ....
Beautiful don't you think?

Luxury Collections 2010

2010-04-04T15:14:00.004+01:00

We are extremely excited to introduce our most luxurious wedding stationery collections ever! Featuring specially imported lace, vintage brooches, luxury crystals, diamante clusters, sumptuous satins and pearls... our new collections really are something else. First to be unveiled this week is The Opulence Collection. A timeless vintage lace collection suitable for vintage inspired weddings, luxury themed weddings and available to personalise to suit your wedding colours. Opulence is truly beautiful and is going to be a huge hit for Brides looking for something a little bit special for their big day. Opulence Vintage Lace Wedding Invitations £5.40
Vintage Lace Evening Invitations £5.40
Boxed Vintage Wedding Invitations £5.90

Flower Pot Holes

2010-03-31T22:47:00.009+01:00

I've been driving more than usual this week and my poor little Audi has felt every single one of the damn pot holes on the roads. There are definitely more holes on the roads after the bad weather!

If only every pot hole was like this....

Images from Pretty Lovely Things

Exciting New Ribbons for 2010!

2010-03-31T22:36:00.005+01:00

We're so excited to bring in (some) of our new colours for 2010. And this isn't even the half of it... we have so many more just waiting to arrive in. The new colours will be fully integrated into our wedding stationery collections, greetings cards as well as the new events stationery collection (arriving in August 2010).

Each week we're going to put one of our new colours 'in the spotlight'. In the spotlight next week is our 'Lemon Grass' ribbon - just in last week and we've already received a wedding order in using this stunning colour combi. Hope your loving the new colours as much as we are!
Images to follow...

Kiddy Furniture

2010-03-31T22:17:00.004+01:00

Just had to blog about this amazing find. Australian furniture designers, Little Nest who design children's furniture in modern iconic styles of the 20th century.Beautiful mini versions for kids on the furniture design classics to compliment the modern home.

Recognise this... The Egg Chair Too cute! There isn't a store yet in the UK but I'll be there with bells on as soon as one opens up.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-03-23T19:59:00.004Z

Check out these pretty spring fresh colours for your Spring 2011 wedding. Stationery from the Ooh La La Collection

March Just Keeps Getting Better

2010-03-19T18:04:00.005Z

We've been featured again this month. In the current issue of Wedding Venues & Services Magazine. This time it's favours from the very glitzy Mayfair Collection in a retro Polka dot red (top left). A big thank you to Amanda for the feature & also for letting us know. A while back, Amanda (Deputy Editor) had given me feedback on the quality of my images (they were too dark for print with inadequate lighting). Me, not being from an editorial/photographic background, had absolutely no idea that this was the case. So thank you Amanda for your insight and for taking the time to reply. Constructive criticism is so helpful for a small business. Those extra pair of eye's see things that are blindingly obvious, but yet invisible to me.

My mum always instilled that it was not shameful to ask for help, which as a stubborn little girl was something I struggled to do and still do to some extent. I'm a perfectionist & hate doing things wrong. I always strive to better myself but it's not always possible to improve your technique when you only see the one way of doing things. Don't be afraid to ask. Ask and ye shall receive. And it's what you do with that knowledge that is key.

Mini Cooper Car Wraps

2010-03-19T17:48:00.007Z

We're working on Father's Day card range and have been searching for Mini Cooper images for one on our designs. I nearly fell off my seat when I saw these wraps designed by Cool Hunter for Mini Cooper. a. because I love the mini & b. because I adore colour. I've not seen one of these styled cards driving about but it would definitely put a smile on my face. Brightening up Britain's roads. Cool or what...?and what about these... The Mini goes neon. One word - WOW!

Easter Cards have arrived

2010-03-13T19:31:00.004Z

I know it's only just Mother's Day, but Easter is on the 4th April this year, and so only a few weeks away. This is the first year where we have branched out into Easter cards. We're not entirely sure if there is a huge demand for cards at Easter but it seemed like a natural progression for us. Would you send a special card at Easter...?

Plus, how could we resist using these cute fluffy chickens in the 'Tweet Tweet' Collection & teeny weeny hand made nest eggs in our 'Chicken Licken' design.... I mean come on.... how cute!

DIY Woodland Children's Bedroom

2010-03-11T07:39:00.003Z

I’ve been planning to DIY on my little girl’s bedroom since Christmas but things have been taking far longer than I’d like (boo!) due to a very busy business (yey!) and a happy little girl who gets to see her Mummy every day (weee!) leaving little time for much else.

A little background: I wanted to create something that was virtually all DIY, something which would be visually stimulating for Lilly, encompassing Lilly's love of nature, birds, & the outdoors.

I’ve almost finished her brand new room & will share the images soon in a 3 part blog piece.
To say Lilly is impressed is an understatement. She LOVES her new room!

In the news

2010-03-04T22:49:00.009Z

It's been a busy week. None stop in fact! But imagine our joy, whoops & hoorays when we found out that our Breakfast At Tiffany wedding invites had been featured in this month's issue of Your Wedding Day Magazine (Kent) in their beautifully styled 'Timelessly Vintage' piece. Thank you very much.

Cute Easter Chicken's

2010-02-24T13:29:00.006Z

Things just got seriously cute for Easter. Today we had an arrival of these tiny little fluffy chicks for our 2010 Easter Collection. The designs we have planned are SERIOUSLY cute this year. We will post here as soon as the collection goes live (this weekend).

Pantone's Colour of the Year. Drumroll please...

2010-02-23T06:50:00.007Z

... you heard it here first that turquoise was going to be MASSIVE for 2010. But it's official, turquoise has been named as the colour of the year by Pantone

. (Image above. The Mayfair Collection - shown here in turquoise)

Inspired by water & sky, turquoise is known for it's healing qualities and is a colour of compassion and leans towards ideas of escapism, relaxation & perfect for weddings in tropical shores. It appeals to both men & women making it the perfect hue for weddings this year.

(Image above The Orchid Kiss Collection. Shown here in orange & turquoise)

(Image via Cool Hunter)(Place Card Image above from the Purity Collection)

(Image via Dessy)

(above The Purity Wedding Stationery Collection. Order of service shown here in turquoise)

Try pairing turquoise with neutrals & browns. Liven up other blues & greens & for a striking look pair turquoise with yellow. If you didn't see our post a while back here it is.

(above The True Love Wedding Collection - shown here in turquoise - other colours available)(Image via Dessy)

Cool Packaging - Amy Amos Australia

2010-02-20T22:13:00.007Z

This packaging by Amy Amos is most definitely a feast for the eyes. What a delightful project to be a part of - isn't she talented. Amy was contacted to design 5* upmarket packaging for a pitch for a McDonald's pop up restaurant during fashion week. Along with the fabulous photographer, Marija Ivkovic, I think the results are outstanding. I'm not a huge fan of McDonald's / fast food but with packaging like this you so would wouldn't you...?

Spring is just around the corner...

2010-02-16T17:05:00.005Z

OK, well looking out of the window you could be mistaken that we are still in the depths of winter as the snow falls here in Manchester today.... However, Spring isn't far away & the mornings are getting lighter, the birds are starting to sing & we're soo feeling the spring colours in our new Mother's Day Card Collection in the Made With Love Greetings Card Boutique.

All cards in for this Mother's Day are available in many colours available to personalise with your own wording to tell our mummy dearests just how much we love them.

P.S Mother's Day is early this year: Sunday 14th March 2010

Valentines Weekend New Shoes

2010-02-15T05:59:00.005Z

It's official: I am the proud owner of a pair of Vivienne Westwood Melissa Jelly Shoes! Simon bought me a pair as my Valentine's treat in the blue & red and they are the sweetest thing I have ever owned.

He is so thoughtful & always gets the most thoughtful gifts.

The fit is amazing (definitely go for the smallest size that you are). I'm a 4's / 5's and these shoes are a 4's and fit like a dream. Even better they smell like bubblegum... too cute!

Photo via Lee Jennings

Valentine's Weekend

2010-02-12T11:26:00.007Z

Hope you love the images. I can take no credit for these beautiful images they were all via Design Crush (which is one of my daily reads - Kelly has great style)

Have a romantic weekend! xox

Lovely Packaging

2010-02-11T13:53:00.006Z

It's Valentine's Day on Sunday & I have lot's of lovely heart themed images to blog about over the coming days. Check out this cute packaging by H&M. This is no longer in print but I so wish it was. How charming...

(Images from Twig & Thistle)

Lovely Lettering

2010-02-09T08:24:00.004Z

Isn't this pretty?

Lovely lettering by Alison Carmichael of London.

In The News - Your South Wales Wedding Magazine Jan/Feb 2010

2010-02-05T07:24:00.005Z

Hooray! We're in this months issue of Your Wedding - South Wales by County Wedding Magazines (the lovely people who bring you magazines with all things wedding related for each County across the UK). If you've never read this magazine before, it's definitely one I would recommend as a higher end read filled to the brim with wedding ideas in your county or via mail order. Our bespoke Breakfast At Tiffany's Collection was featured in their 'Readers Letters' section fab fab fab:And the spectacular Mayfair Luxury Wedding Stationery Collection has been featured in their chic modern monochrome wedding style:This issue is still available in the shops or you can buy yours today here.

MWL's Online Ranking

2010-01-30T12:44:00.005Z

Image via Design Crush

A few weeks ago, whilst catching up with one of my favourite blogs, Coulson Macleod's Not For Squares, I was made aware of something I had never heard of before - Alexa Page Rankings

You can put any web address into their search function and it runs stats on that particular websites online presence to assess their traffic ranking. This is very cool if you run your own business & want to monitor your progress in terms of your online presence.

Today www.madewithlovedesigns.co.uk ranks 96,012 in the UK. That's pretty amazing - I'm shocked / over joyed / made up. In the world we rank 1,621,550. A pretty good rank (i'm told by my computer nerd friend) for a small business with the billions of websites out there.

Thank you world for all of your amazing support.

In The News - Perfect Wedding Magazine Feb 2010

2010-01-28T09:04:00.004Z

Did you see us in Decembers issue of ‘Perfect Wedding’ magazine?
Our 'Purity’ collection wedding invitations have been featured. It's so exciting to see our designs in print & is something I don't think we will ever tire of. It's sooo exciting. We'd like to say a big thank you to Katie & everyone at the magazine for featuring us. If you've found us through their mag, we'd like to say a massively huge thank you with a cherry on the top for visiting us.

I Want a Mac Book

2010-01-25T19:16:00.005Z

If only to have one of these...& not because they are utterly cool, & would make my working life so much easier & would look swish in my gorgeous new studio... & beacuse I deserve one (I have been good all year). What I would give just to have one of these Twelve South Mac Book Protectors that I found via Designers Block

Colourful Stairs - Wuppertal, Germany

2010-01-25T19:03:00.003Z

I adore colour. I once lived without colour in my life for a long long time without realising. When I got better, I realised just how much colour was out there just waiting to be absorbed by the soul. I appreciate colour & I never take you for granted. What do you think of these colourful stairs in the town of Wuppertal, Germany? I would love to visit them. Has anyone ever been there?

(via Elle Decoration South Africa) found on Style-files.com

Valentines Cards 2010

2010-01-23T23:36:00.007Z

The all new personalised Valentine's Collection has officially arrived. Order your Valentine's card today and we will print your special message on the front.

Colour Themes - Turquoise Wedding Invitations - Hot trend for 2010

2010-01-23T22:21:00.006Z

Turquoise is always a popular choice with couples as the accent colour for their wedding day. It is visually so striking & it works perfectly for weddings abroad and at home. It is perfectly versatile & compliments all seasons. Turquoise is tipped to be the hottest trend around for 2010 weddings.

We're very fussy when it comes to the colours of our ribbons & it was especially difficult finding the right shade for the turquoise ribbon we use in our design work. It had to be just right. Why is turquoise so hard to get right...? It took many re-dyes of ribbon and much searching of suppliers both here in the UK and overseas until we found 'the one'! And like so many of our wedding stationery clients say you just know when you find the wedding invitation that's 'the one'.

We have recently finished working on Punita & Spencer's Wedding Invitations in turquoise from the 'Purity' Collection using our stunning new turquoise ribbon (below)& this stunning colour combination of turquoise & chocolate brown for Jenny & Paul's wedding in June 2010 from the 'Mayfair' Collection
And have added more turquoise wedding invitation photographs to our website. The popular colour themes page is perfect for Brides who have chosen the colour theme for their big day but cannot decide on which wedding invitations to choose. The colour themes pages have been created to inspire you with wedding stationery photos of our most recent designs in your chosen colour scheme. Below is a selection of inspiring turquoise colour ideas (of course if we don't show exactly what your looking for in the turquoise colour, do get in touch as we have 100's of images just waiting to be added)

Love is in the air...

2010-01-12T22:46:00.011Z

We’re just putting the finishing touches to the last few Valentine’s card ranges on the site and it’s got me feeling all loved up. I’m totally in love with hearts, bows, and things, so thought I’d post a few of my favourite things for valentine’s gift ideas.

These beautiful heart pictures by Brigitte Herrod at Rocket St George £175Alice In Wonderland necklace by LunarraStar at Etsy $32.50 which is about £19!

Heart shaped frying pan to cook heart shaped eggs Cancer Research UK £5

Red lips Telephone by i love retro £23.95

Vivienne Westwood Melissa Shoes from Hervia £78 (I'm dreaming of the blue & red ones...)

More heart shaped lovelies coming soon!

In the news

2010-01-11T07:24:00.004Z

Did you see us in Octobers issue of ‘I’m Pregnant’ magazine?

Our 'Baby Face... you’ve got the cutest little’ birth announcements have been featured. We have just found out that our ‘Baby Face’ announcements will also be featured in the February issue too so if you didn't see us in Octobers issue, look out for us today.

We'd like to say a big thank you to Eilidh & everyone at the magazine for featuring our products. If you've found us through their mag, we'd like to say thank you for visiting us.

Cool Packaging

2010-01-04T17:30:00.005Z

I really appreciate a finely packaged item. Whether it's a gift or commercial packaging. This is quite frankly the best packaging concept I think I've ever seen. Fruit juice packaging by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to imitate the fruits skin. I would love to feel these.

Children's Woodland Bedroom Ideas

2010-01-02T21:30:00.006Z

I love painting & interior design and am currently brainstorming for the re-design of my one and a bit year old Daughters bedroom. Lilly’s never really had a ‘nice’ bedroom & now that she spends more time in her room, I wanted to re-design her room with lovely bright colours that will be visually stimulating for her. She loves the outdoors and nature so my inspiration is taken from her love of that. Here is my mood board with a tiny glimpse of things to come...
‘Secret Woodland Children’s Bedroom’
Do you like the theme?

I have some fantastic creative DIY ideas to achieve the look which I will post in the coming weeks.

I've Been A Very Good Girl!

2010-01-01T20:38:00.011Z

Well I must apologise for my lack of posts but the holidays have been so charming. I’ve literally rested, DIY'd, eat (lots) & spent my time with the 2 most favourite people in my world: Lilly & Si. I forgot to mention that I have been spoilt rotten this year by Si.

I must have been a very very good girl in 2009 as my Christmas pressie’s were the best ever. From my darling Si, I got a Superdry leather jacket (it's amazing. I don't have a picture yet); my favourite author Mitch Albom’s book ‘Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson’;

this pretty polka dot umbrella from Fred Fabulous; some Cath Kidson fabric fridge magnets; this very cool Evian bottle of water design by Paul Smith at Selfridges which I have blogged about a few months ago here (my Si must have read my blog... aww bless him); & these Agent Provocateur ‘Minnie’ Bra & knicker pretties... Take a peek (I was a very very lucky girl). I hope your Christmas wishes came true & you got all that you desired.

Isn't this set sooo pretty...?

Christmas Tree O' Christmas Tree...

2009-12-23T23:42:00.003Z

How lovely are your branches...

Christmas All Wrapped Up

2009-12-23T17:20:00.005Z

My car is completely snowed in so I have been housebound for the last two days. Because of this, I've had a little free time & have gone all out this year with the wrapping.

The look is expensive but the reality was FREE! That's right completely free... well, apart from the cellotape. Do you like? I have actually wrapped most of them in off cuts of wallpaper. The offcuts were from left over rolls from decorating.

For the decoration, I asked a local DIY store whether they had any swatches and I fell lucky when they gave me a swatch book filled with tons of scraps which they were throwing out (some of these were amazing: flocked wallpaper etc). The ribbons were mainly bin ends from my ribbon supplier.

If you go to any haberdashery and ask for bin ends of ribbons, they will normally be able to sell you these at a much cheaper cost. The decoration is mistletoe (I used some spare plastic mistletoe that I had in from a greetings card design). But fresh is best - You can pick up a bunch from your local fruit & veg stall on the market for a few quid.

Merry Christmas!

Colour Co-ordinating Bookshelves

2009-12-11T23:41:00.004Z

I have been the proud owner of a colour co-ordinated book shelf for years & am quite pleased with myself for that too. I started doing it when I was at school (I have always been a bit anal about neatness / colour & having everything in it’s correct place). When people come round to the house they are always drawn to the book shelf and almost always comment on how neat & tidy my books look but don’t quite understand why. Then I proudly tell them it’s because they are colour co-ordinated. The normal reaction is to ask how much free time I actually have. But it’s surprising how quick it is to organise your books in this wonderful array of colour co-ordinated neatness & it will change your life. You will get a certificate smile when people comment on your books (and they will because it looks cool).

I have been overwhelmed with work (Christmas cards are flying out) & my baby girl, Lilly, is learning to walk so tidying tasks really have taken a back seat. Part of Lilly’s morning routine after breakfast is to take each book off one by one and place onto the floor which is where they stay for the rest of the day. I'm quite happy with this as it gives me roughly half an hour to catch up on emails whilst she happily occupies herself with the task. At the end of the day I rush around tidying up, putting the books back on the shelves in a rough colour order. After weeks of doing this, my gorgeous feature of a book shelf (pre-baby) is looking very dishevelled & rather scruffy (post-baby). Re-organising it has been on my to-do list for a few weeks now and moves ever closer to the bottom of an ever expanding list (mummy hood & business running is not easy when done together).

But alas, I have been inspired by Blah Blah Blahg’s recent post to move this little task to the top & get things done once & for all. This weekend I plan to get organised and colour co-ordinate my life. Pictures to follow...

Last Posting Date For Christmas Cards

2009-12-09T19:56:00.007Z

To ensure Christmas cards arrive with you before Christmas, our last order date will be Monday 21st December. Orders must be received before 1pm on this day to enable us to post in the last post before Christmas. That's only 12 days left (eeek!)
Royal Mail's last first class post for the Christmas holidays is Monday 21st December 2009.

Coulson Macleod Prints

2009-12-04T11:43:00.007Z

Pheweee It's been a busy week. But I wanted to post about these beauties before I sign off for the weekend. I first read about these beautiful prints at Design Sponge & noticed that they are also fellow sellers on notonthehighstreet.com. I have wanted to post about their stuff for ages.

I LOVE every single one of these handmade limited edition prints from the Love Collection by Coulson Macleod. Each one is handmade and makes for a beautiful heartfelt & unique gift.

If I absolutely had to choose - this would be my fave & is most definitely on my wish list:

Fabulous news is that they are offering free UK P&P on all orders.

Have a happy weekend!

My Little Toy Town

2009-11-19T19:22:00.003Z

This is my little village 'Mossley' which was taken by whilst walking home from a lovely Thai meal and drinkies with my boyfriend a few Sunday's ago.

I've only just looked at it (so busy with work) but it's so warm and cute i just had to post it. It reminds me of a little toy town. I thought that when I first moved to Mossley but this picture encapsulates it beautifully. Quaint.

Sweet Invitations & Table Numbers

2009-11-19T17:36:00.007Z

We've been gorging on sweeties in the Made With Love office this week. We've had 2 orders on the go using real sweets so there was an excuse for pots of sweeties everywhere. Having just finished on a sweetie wedding table names for our lovely client Charlotte (who got in touch with us 6 weeks ago to see whether we could help with her wedding in 6 weeks time... she's managed to organise her whole wedding in just 6 weeks - it's been madness but she's done it & is getting wed this Sunday 22nd November 2009)
This is the finished result. Charlotte had originally ordered her stationery from the 'Moderno' Collection in a fuchsia pink colour scheme. When she told us that her table names were based on sweets we just couldn't resist having a play around with the design. Such fun to be had... our creative juices were literally flowing. Upon design of her proofs we had a little bit of fun with the sweeteis version above just to see what she thought. Charlotte loved them and these little pretties will be sitting on her tables this Sunday.

And our gorgeous new lollipop birthday party invitations £3.50 have just been photographed and are very sweet indeed. I wanted to photograph these with grass and daisies but since we've been having such appalling weather will have to put this on hold until the summer. Our Lollipop invites are exclusive to notonthehighstreet.com Click to buy here

Made With Love In notonthehighstreet.com Christmas Gift Catalogue 2009

2009-11-13T12:00:00.006Z

Christmas is well & truly on it's way. If your stuck for gift ideas do check out the new notonthehighstreet.com's Christmas Gift Guide catalogue for inspiration. You can get a free copy here. This is their best ever catalogue & is filled to the brim with inspiration, gift ideas and gorgeous styling (all from small businesses that offer some of the most beautiful hard-to-find things that are most definitely not on the high street). I mentioned in a previous post that Made With Love (me) is featured in there with our Christmas Card collection ‘Christmas Holly’ (at the bottom).

Well here we are... & aren't they pretty?

2009-11-10T16:00:00.005Z

As a stationery designer, I very much keep my eye on trends that are big in the US. From fashion to interiors, they eventually filter down to event planning & design to which I like to be on trend with. These have been around for a while in the US and are making an appearance on the UK wedding scene. Candy bars or sweetie bars are a 'sweet' idea to have at your wedding reception for guests to help themselves. I couldn't resist these candy bar images below. All images from Amy Atlas

I am working on some sweetie themed stationery for a client at the moment which I'll get around to posting about soon.

Dazzle Guest Book - Bepoke Design for Adrian & Sean 7/11/2009

2009-11-06T13:20:00.008Z

This is Adrian & Sean’s Guest Book. A custom colour scheme to suit their wedding colours personalised from the ‘Dazzle’ Collection. I had designed their wedding stationery earlier in the year in this fabulous colour scheme & they had later returned to order a guest book. I love designing guest books and they always look so spectacular once they are finished. I received an email the other week from Adrian (which scared me for the first 5 lines but then brought a huge smile to my face) saying: Ahhh isn’t that lovely!

Adrian & Sean are getting wed on the 7th November 2009 (sorry there's a typo in the above) & will be using their guest book during the reception to treasure their memories forever. Just lovely.

We will be thinking of you this weekend. Have the most amazing day!

Dazzle Guest Book & Box £30

Breakfast At Tiffany's Wedding Stationery Theme

2009-11-03T16:29:00.007Z

We have been asked by a client to develop a simple invitation for their 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' wedding theme. What a fabulous wedding theme to have. I was so excited about the possibilities that I couldn't sleep the night before the design!

We have taken the Tiffany blue Colour scheme (which is actually more of an aqua shade) with a stylish black pop art effect image of the leading lady Audrey Hepburn. The design looks timeless in the flesh.

I can't tell you how good this design looks. It's simply stunning & would work perfectly for a movie star wedding theme (with different movie stars); A Breakfast At Tiffany's wedding theme; Hollywood Wedding theme.

If you like this collection please get in touch as it is completely bespoke and so not available on our website.

You could have any colour ribbon which would work well against the monochrome backdrop.

Other items in the collection include:

Breakfast At Tiffany's Wedding Invitations from £2.50

Breakfast at Tiffany's Table Plan

Breakfast at Tiffany's Wedding Place Cards

Breakfast at Tiffany's Thank You Cards

Breakfast at Tiffany's Menus
Breakfast at Tiffany's Table Names / Table Numbers

Blue Tiffany box wedding favour with white ribbon

(which I will get around to posting about soon)

Eye Candy For The Weekend

2009-10-30T19:02:00.005Z

This week we've been working on our new party range of invitations & party stationery. Bright colours, themed invites, children's invites - & it's looking spectacularly good. Tim Walker's photography is breathtakingly magical & matches our party moods beautifully. (Images from from Love. Obsess. Inspire an amazing blog filled with beautiful imagery)

Christmas Cards Boutique NOW OPEN - 20% off

2009-10-23T10:35:00.006+01:00

Our eagerly anticipated Christmas Card Boutique is now open selling the most gorgeous hand made Christmas Cards available to personalise with a special message.

It was this time last year that we designed our first range of Christmas cards and added them to the site. A little bit of an after thought really, as at that point, we didn't do personalised cards.
We only had 3 ranges last year and despite no marketing / no advertising, they where a huge success. So much so that we started work immediately on an all new section of the website 'the greetings card range', which has been growing ever since.

Take a peek at the New Christmas Card Boutique & we would love to know what you think?

Even better, quote 'XmasTreat' to get 20% off Christmas Cards until November 1st 09. (Discount may be used on any greetings card orders - not just Xmas cards)

National Apple Day

2009-10-21T18:24:00.006+01:00

Today is National Apple Day and it has been said that 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'. Feast on these apple pretties and join in with the national fun.(image from its pretty good)

APPLE NECKLACE
£18.00 BY CLUTCH AND CLASP at notonthehighstreet.com

MINIATURE APPLE 'MALUS DOMESTICA' £55 at notonthehighstreet.com
BY TREES DIRECT

Little Darlings Apple Card 'Apple For Teacher' £3.75 Made With Love

Apple A Day by Keep Calm Gallery £18

APPLE BIRD FEEDER £14
BY BOB BY POST at notonthehighstreet.com
Etsy

Flowers Cath Kidson

2009-10-19T18:07:00.008+01:00

Image from Concrete Honey

Im in love with flowers this week. I love being bought flowers but don’t see anything wrong with buying yourself flowers. This week Ive promised to treat myself to some. On a floral theme take a look at these beauties from Cath Kidson. Enjoy....

Cake Stand £20 / Dinner Plate £5.00 / Fabric by the metre £18 / Wallpaper £22 / Small Storage Bag £9 Large £12.

New Collection Barcode

2009-10-12T10:27:00.005+01:00

Did you see the Google header last week? We have been working a new birthday card collection ‘Barcode’ and it seemed fitting to bring the release forward a bit... what a coincidence!

Available to personalise with your own wording in a black bar code print, a rainbow bar code print with various ribbons all with a striking black envelope £3.75

A London Love Affair - London & Union Jack Wedding Theme

2009-10-08T20:03:00.007+01:00

1. 5. 8. & 10. Images from Segerius-Bruce Photography (Amazing photographers based in Surrey, UK. From a client wedding themed on 'A London Love Affair' - do check out their other themed weddings with some beautiful photography)
2. Union Jack Printed Wedding Breakfast Menu by Made With Love
3. Union Jack Thank You Cards by Made With Love £4.95
4. Union Jack Wedding Invitations by Made With Love £5.50
6. Union Jack Bunting by ZigZag Bunting on notonthehighstreet.com
7. Union Jack Luggage Tags £2.95 Dotcomgiftshop
9. LuLu Guiness Union Jack Charm bracelet from House of Fraser £75
11. Union Jack Wedding Place Cards Made With Love £1.95

New Christmas Catalogue

2009-10-08T19:01:00.004+01:00

OOh it's exciting - The New notonthehighstreet.com's Christmas Gift Guide catalogue has arrived at the notonthehighstreet.com office. Here they are unloading it off the truck.

If you’ve not already subscribed to their mailing list—you can do it on their website. To receive their catalogue filled to the brim with inspiration, gift ideas and gorgeous styling. (I have never yet been dissapointed by the images/styling in their catalogue) Plus Made With Loves Christmas Card range ‘Christmas Kisses’ is in there too. The first batch of catalogues go out today. I haven't received a copy yet but when I do I shall most certainly scan it & blog. It's my first ever catalogue entry so it's quite a big deal.

Yippppeeee we're practically famous!

Colourful Tuesday

2009-10-06T11:03:00.007+01:00

On a rainy Tuesday I'm in love with all things colourful.Rainbow Retro Card £4.50 Made With Love

Louis Vuitton Coffee Table Book from Amazon

123 Print Modern Pop

Ahhhh I am so thankful for colour...

Fallen Princesses

2009-10-05T13:09:00.004+01:00

Everyone's got a story. The ‘Fallen Princess’ Collection by Dina Goldstein made a real impact on me when I first saw it.

I have a Psychology degree and have been fascinated by people, the things they do & the reasons behind it.. I love to people watch and work out where the boundaries are between the façade & reality. I’ve got a knack of working people out.

When people get to know me, their usual reaction is ‘your not how I thought you’d be like’, those who really get to know me say they are inspired. But those who don’t really know me think I have lead the perfect & most happy life. I haven’t. It’s had some tough times. But I’m a very balanced, happy and successful person from it.

Here are a selection of my favourites. The title ‘Not so little red riding hood’ made me giggle.

Happy Weekend

2009-10-02T07:03:00.005+01:00

My boyfriend Si has his first set DJing at Sankeys in Manchester this weekend. Sankeys was voted 15th Best Club in the world this year & 5th best club amongst Clubbers magazine so it's quite a honour for him.

It’s not my usual cup of tea but I’ll be there supporting him doing my interpretation of ‘good’ dancing, along with my best friend Sara who has come up with her fella, Dan, all the way from our Nations Capital along with about 30 other friends. Should be a very good night.

I'm so proud of him. Happy Weekend xx

Great Design

2009-10-01T20:33:00.003+01:00

This made me smile. It also made me really want to drink a glass of water. So classicly Paul Smith, this 'Paul Smith for Evian' bottle adds a fantastic injection of style & colour into an everyday object.

Love it!

It's all about the little things...

2009-09-30T20:11:00.005+01:00

Bedazzled Anniversary is by far our best selling personalised card design. Using the gemstone for key milestone anniversaries by the world’s finest crystal makers in the world Swarovski.
We thread the crystal heart pendant onto craft wire. This involves nimble fingers and of course finger prints. So, when each card is finished we use little muslin cloths to polish the crystal to really make it gleam. It’s the little things that really make the difference & when you see our crystals sparkle it really makes the tiny extra effort worth the while.P.S Bedazzled is also available for posh / special birthday cards too

Buy of the Week!

2009-09-30T11:50:00.009+01:00

As a Cancerian I’m a real home girl. I love my shell! It's felt cold this week & when autumn sets in I start nesting getting ready for the cosy nights.

This week I bought this from the dot com gift shop. I can’t wait for it to arrive. I’ve had my eye on a similar one for a while but when I saw the price of this one... just £15.95 it had to be bought there & then. With the rainy days settings in (did they ever leave...?) make wiping feet irresistible. They have this lovely English Rose one -

and this cool multi colour stripey door mat -

and what about this black & white flock door mat -

All from the dotcomgiftshop

Happy Weekend

2009-09-25T16:25:00.006+01:00

I love bed.

The best place in the world for me to be is my bed. It does good things to me & I am at my best in bed.

I haven't seen it a lot this week & I have been seriously sleep deprived. In the war, malnutritioned soldiers would fantasise about food & it would take up most of their daily thoughts. When the war was over and food was no longer scarce, they would gorge on food & showed traits found in people with eating disorders. I have missed you bed. I would like to gorge on sleep this weekend.

I get up at 4am most mornings to organise previous days orders & work before my little girl wakes at 9 - which is when my day really starts. This week She's been poorly so have been up in the night too.

I would love to be here. Have you ever taken your duvet outside to the garden in Winter & wrapped up with a hot coffee...? You should it's a good feeling.

(image from here)

I love bed linen shopping. Mine's a crisp white cotton Julien Macdonald spread with crystals. In fantasy land this is my dream bed. I imagine the person that sleeps in this bed wakes up looking beautiful.

(image from here)

I recently bought some goose/duck feather duvet & pillow cases which has done my desire to sleep no favours. In reality this is my dream bed. This weekend sleep is most definitely on the agenda. Happy Weekend xx

(all other images from here)

Cool Wallpaper - Idea

2009-09-24T11:33:00.006+01:00

WIP: Future Craft Room : 4/27
Originally uploaded by eklektick

I came across this clever use of paint work by eklektick. to display art pieces or drawings in your very own home gallery.

You can buy wallpaper like this but eklektick has saved their pennies and painted these fab frames on their wall. What a clever idea!

This got me thinking... I love this effect but as I can't paint my walls I started thinking about a temporary alternative to achieve a similar look. Then it dawned.... VINYL!

After a search I came across these which are my favourites. From i love retro these black, silver & mirrored vinyl picture frame wall stickers for £14.95 for the set.

And for a little colour and a bargain price at £6.95 for the set these coloured vinyl photo frame wall stickers from the dot com gift shop. For those who aren't arty, can't paint their walls... go vinyl.

Your very own home art gallery for a bargain price.

Wall Art

2009-09-22T20:47:00.005+01:00

I am currently renting and cannot decorate the walls of my home. The palette is neutral at the moment and as I love COLOUR I have been on the look out for some statement art pieces to personalise my bare walls. I bought this map from notonthehighstreet.com a few weeks back from The Future Mapping Company & am just waiting for a free weekend where I can enjoy hanging it. I’m thinking of a white gloss frame.

Not only does this map look ultra cool, with silver metallic seas & colourful continents—but it also uses a very clever formula in it’s layout. It uses a Cylindrical Equal Area Projection—which basically means that the Countries are represented in their correct proportional size and not how most maps portray our world. Most maps lose the true proportions of countries due to the process of transferring a round globe onto a flat surface. On normal maps the Soviet Union became 223% bigger than it actually is amongst other countries. This map gives a really interesting & accurate vision of the world.

Litho printed on a coated silk finish available framed, magnetised or tubed prices from £27.50 now with FREE Shipping!

Website of the Year Awards 09 - ENTRANT

2009-09-19T08:29:00.004+01:00

I don't normally post at the weekend, but I received an email late last night with some great news...

... we are an entrant of The Website of the Year Awards 2009 by The Good Web Guide.

The Good Web Guide is the online guide to the best sites on the internet.They have taken the slog and guesswork out of finding what is best about life online.

As a small business, the recognition of our website for this prestigious award is great news. We don’t have an advertising budget like a big fish, we’re a small fish. In fact we don’t have any advertising budget so I guess we’re officially a really tiny fish in a massive ocean in the online world! But from small things great things grow. You’ve heard of the acorn analogy haven’t you...?

Made With Love was set up by myself (Clare) as a student in some dingy student halls in Liverpool, armed with just £50 & ‘Dreamweaver For Dummies’ (The bible!), so much hard work—I can’t bring myself to type it, gritty determination & self belief with a dream of the impossible.

As an niche online boutique we are naturally hidden away in the vast world of cyber space. It’s not easy to find us, but when you do, you love us. We have a loyal following of customers whom we value very much. This is how we have built our customer base & how we base our business model—we’ve had to. The recognition of winning such an award would blow our minds & would be an amazing platform to get our brand out there.

So, if you like what we do, please tell The Good Web Guide why you think we deserve to win.
The winning website is announced on Friday 6th November 2009. We will post about the results soon after. If we win it may be a few days later... as we will most probably have raging hangovers! It’s not everyday you win one of the most prestigious awards in the online retail world!!

Happy 'Special' Weekend - My Baby's First Birthday

2009-09-18T12:22:00.008+01:00

Saturday 19th September is my little girls first ever birthday & we have a lovely weekend planned. On the Saturday morning we'll eat scrambled eggs on toast then open pressies. Lot's of empty boxes wrapped in tissue paper & bright ribbons for her to explore, followed by a friends party at an activity play centre.

Sunday we're having family over for cupcakes & tea for a little gathering.

I was never really a baby person & during my pregnancy & wondered whether I'd be any good at being a mum and whether we would instantly bond. The first time I saw her I cried. She didn't. She just looked into my eyes with her big black eyes full of wonder... and I fell in love. I fell head over heels and have been ever since.

To my baby girl Lilly, I love you very much & I will always be here for you through good and bad. I'll be here to kiss you goodnight, laugh at silly things & remind you that every spill is cleanup-able.

Have a happy weekend xx

National Cupcake Week 14-19th September

2009-09-15T19:23:00.011+01:00

Who needs an excuse to bake cupcakes...? Be a Nigella this weekend & get baking.

To celebrate National Cupcake Week I have some cupcake sprinkles on their way and will be baking some cupcake treats for the office on Friday & for guests that will be visiting the house over Lilly’s first birthday weekend.

My little girl is 1 on Saturday & she has her first party to go to - not her own, but a little friends who's having a party at an adventure playground with ball pools and slides - it seemed silly to organise a party for Lilly when there was so much fun to be had already. Lilly & me will spend Friday together where we will be enjoying licking spoons whilst baking some yummy vanilla cupcakes with butter cream piping. The theme is pretty & girly with the hand made sugar rose buds (above) from

here, heart / star sprinkles & edible glitter (above) from Love To bake
To go alongside them I will custom print some of our 'Bella' Collection Table Numbers as cute little name cards with the cupcake names so that guests can choose their favourite. Yum yum I am an organised little mummy!

Real Brides - Genine & Kevin 13/06/09

2009-09-14T22:45:00.004+01:00

We work closely with Brides-to-be to create a very special part of their day. Over months of emails, phone calls & conversations, you really get to know your client & Genine was no exception. That's why I wanted to post about her. It was an absolute pleasure to work with her from start to finish.

Genine had the fairytale dream wedding to now husband Kevin McMurray on 13th June 2009 & they had the wedding & reception in the fabulous Drumtochty Castle, Auchenblae. The castle is set in idyllic Scottish country side with views to die for.

Her colour scheme was turquoise and she choose our True Love Collection in the turquoise print & satin ribbon. The end result was fabulous & Genine was over the moon with the results.
The Bride wore My Lady by Haim Bar with Vivienne Westwood 'Boudoir' Perfume. It was really lovely to work with Genine to create her dream stationery. And was an extra special treat for us when she emailed us with the piccies. Thank you! The pictures have been taken by Martin A Leckie (The Award Winning Photographer) and the results are amazing I think you'll agree. So if your in the area, Genine would definitely recommend Martin. Gorgeous people, gorgeous photography, gorgeous venue. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous!
May we wish you lots of happiness Mr. & Mrs. McMurray. May you have lots of babies & happy times ahead xx

Happy Weekend

2009-09-11T12:08:00.006+01:00

Today me & Si got up early to have breakfast together. We had warm toasted Croissants with butter & a hot Lavazza coffee. The sun was shining & it was the perfect stolen morning.

We’ve hardly spent any time together this week due to busy busy work schedules & so many things going on and getting up early was hard. Life gets in the way all the time—it’s impossible for it to not do—but take a step back and grab any spare time you can.

This morning we worked for it & it was well worth fighting for.

Happy weekend! xxx
(I'm not sure where I read these words but if these are yours then let me know so I can credit you)

Lovely Gifts, Interiors & Treats

2009-09-11T09:16:00.009+01:00

Have you ever stopped by the notonthehisghstreet.com website? If yes, you are in good company... & we will get along very well indeed. If no then why not, hurry on over, I promise you will not be disappointed by their wares.

You know those people who always look good? Those who have gorgeous houses filled with the most amazing, unusual things and whose children wear the cutest clothes? & those who arrive at parties bearing the most thoughtful & original gifts? Well notonthhighstreet.com has housed them all in their online boutique and is the home of 1000’s of beautifully stylish interiors, gorgeous hand made gifts, cute organic baby clothes & scrumdiddleyumptious treats.

I have been a fan of theirs for ages, well before I started Made With Love. When I set up Made With Love I tried to get on board and was rejected (boo hoo!) but looking back now that’s not a bad thing. It shows just how difficult it is to get on board with them.

We’re proud to now be able to say "YEY we’re on board". From June 2009, Made With Love became an official partner of notonthehighstreet.com selling our cards and frames alongside some amazing companies and it’s been a great journey so far. As you can see above our union jack cards have been chosen as a featured card on their cards home page.

For a fascinating read check out founder Holly Tucker & Sophie Cornish’s (ladies above) stories... & be inspired! Two very driven & inspiring ladies and stop by their website to treat yourself to something lovely.

Have a great wkend! xxx

In the news

2009-09-08T18:47:00.006+01:00

Did you see us in june's issue of the Close Up Magazine?

The lovely people at Close Up featured our cards in their What's New section with a reader giveaway.

We'd like to say a big thank you to Andrea & the guys at CloseUp. If you did see us & if you've found us through their mag, we'd like to say thank you for visiting us.

Don't you just love the posters featured on the page too from The Keep Calm Gallery. You can have one of the duo's screen prints in your own home for just £16.00.

I absolutely LOVE their use of colour for the photography of their prints below as found via their website.

I have my eye on a certain print by them... I can see a post about a certain purchase coming soon!

Ready For Christmas...?

2009-09-03T23:56:00.015+01:00

In our industry Christmas starts as soon as the last one finishes. We started brainstorming for our Christmas 2009 card collections way back in March with the final designs being ready in August. Before we got to that point, we had to design mock ups, source materials, cost up, do photography, edit & cut, brainstorm names, design the images for web & promo material & send samples off to the shops/stores & catalogue people. PHEW!

Here's a sneaky peaky of the names of our 4 new collections for xmas to give you a glimpse of things to follow...

It sounds ridiculously early, but shops like to have their stock ready to launch around September so for the designers everything has to be ready well before then.

Our Christmas card collection will be launched on our website in October 09. For our first real Christmas... Plus we have some exciting news for one of our collections 'Christmas Kisses' which I will post about soon.

Happy Weekend

2009-09-03T22:14:00.018+01:00

Today I said to my baby girl 'Lilly, You are completely remarkable.'

And she is. Today she learnt about buttons and fish whilst perfecting clapping her hands.

I have plans one day to frame or print a book of our little notes from her first year so that when she's a happy and well rounded young woman, she can inspire her little ones to be the best they can be.

Remember the above because You are completely remarkable.

Happy weekend! xx

Obsessed

2009-09-03T12:37:00.010+01:00

I've always loved the Union Jack. Not only is it the fabulous flag of our lovely nation (with the cross of St. George - red over the cross of St. Andrew - blue), it has huge style value with it's boldness & vibrancy.

It's so popular at the minute in interiors & fashion & I try to use it where possible in my home (pictures to follow). I am obsessing over these gorgeous red Union Jack cushions by Lulu & Nat which go perfectly with our 'God Save The Queen' personalised birthdays cards. The perfect birthday pressie (hint hint...) Cute!

I will be blogging about these girls regularly as I just love their stuff. They will be exhibiting at Top Drawer this September & I really hope I can get out to meet these two lovelies.

Union Jack Cushion Covers £65.00 Machine hand embroidered from Lulu & Nat

Brand New Website Look

2009-09-03T12:06:00.005+01:00

The greetings card side of the website has had a face lift during August. I hope you like it...? The main feature being it's all new shopping cart hosted by Roman Cart
It has sooo many benefits to the customer:

1. It has a more cleaner feel to it and so is more user friendly.

2. It has an integrated shopping cart as opposed to having to be directed away from the cart to PayPal's cart making it seamless & speedier.

3. It also shows whats in the customers basket on the top of every page (I love this) along with their sub-total.

4. It saves the customers checkout info (if they choose it to) name, address etc & billing info so they do not have to fill it in each time they shop with us.

5. It allows the customer to add promotional codes, discounts and offers at the checkout (which is a little treat for the customer). We will be giving out our first ever promo code for 20% off in our next newsletter (for subscribers only) to celebrate the launch of the new website. Subscribe here

So all in all we're in love. Hope you like it too. We've looked at this website too much & no longer see any errors, typo's etc so if you happen to see any, please do let me know. I will be eternally grateful (Thanks Marsha!!! ;-) xx

Bank Holiday Weekend

2009-09-01T12:02:00.000+01:00

I love Bank Holidays. Mine was spent doing housey things: hoovering, polishing, mowing the lawn etc etc. Spending time with Lilly & Si. Then on Sunday we went to Ba55ment where my Si was DJing. I love photography & although i'm not good yet, I'm learning. I took some pictures on a basic Olympus digital camara on auto night settings and the results were surprisingly ok.

I'm not a camera snob but am spoiled by my Nikon D60 which takes the best pictures. It's quite bulky and not suitable for taking out so we use the Olympus. I played with some basic photoshop lighting effects for a edgier look. Next time, I will be taking some pictures on the Nikon at his next outing at Sankeys, Manchester, UK to compare.

He's just starting out, but our Friends have all been brilliant in supporting him & coming to the last few nights he's had (at their expense) which is amazing & more than you could ask from a set of Friends. Thank you Matt, Chadders, Natalie et al. My Mum as always has been brilliant looking after Lilly on the last 3 nights too. Big love xx

First Post... WELCOME

2009-09-01T09:03:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the brand new Made With Love Blog. It's quite exciting to finally have one & I'm looking forward to updating it regularly with news & bits of info that's not all just about work.

I'm fairly new to the blogging world but I have been a lurker of some absolutely AMAZING Blogs (which I will get around to mentioning them all on here soon) which have inspired me to set this one up but about things that inspire me & I love.

Toodaloo for now xx

Cool Union Jack doormat from Rocket St George