Friday, April 20, 2012

Friday is my day: Olive and Vince

Jaa
Hello all! Today we are traveling to United Kingdom to meet Nat and Naomi fromOlive and Vince handmade toddler clothing” ! Enjoy the ride :)



Hi, I’m Nat and I make up one half of “Olive and Vince handmade toddler clothing” alongside my good friend, Naomi. We also each own Olive (mine) and Vince (Naomi’s). Today you are joining us on one of our typical Friday adventures, because Friday is our day:

7.06am Today is unusual because I have been able to wake unassisted without Olive telling me it’s breakfast time. It would appear she is having a lie in, and so am I J I rise in my own time, shower and make extra efforts to make myself look pretty in the knowledge that there will be a camera joining us in the workshop today!

8.00am Olive eventually joins me. She does her usual trick of hiding behind a chair in her room to avoid removal of her bed clothes. I note we have run out of nappies, I will have to tell the nursery we have succeeded in potty training.


8.25am I am at the breakfast table alone today, because Olive has insisted Daddy bring her bike in from the garden so she can enjoy breakfast “Al Biko”. We are running seriously late, so I let it be. Whilst running around the house prepping Olive’s nursery bag I return to discover Olive has finished her breakfast and attempted to help herself to another portion! Instead of crying and returning to bed, I swiftly grab the camera and capture the moment before packing Olive into the car and delivering her to nursery.


9.40am I return home, breathe, sigh and reflect how much I needed this morning’s lie in. I switch the radio on (the radio is a big part of our Friday workshops!), check our Etsy store for overnight activity and then set to work on tidying up and prepping the workshop for Naomi’s arrival. As I tidy I keep an eye out for Naomi’s car: I plan to hide behind the door with the camera and catch her unawares, I succeed!


10.30am We only have a couple of Etsy orders to work on today so we have decided to commit some time to having a little spring clean / stock check of our fabrics. It’s a therapeutic task and a relief that there are two of us lugging piles of material about the place. We come across some real gems at the bottom of the pile we’d forgotten all about!

1:00pm After this mission, we stop for lunch and today I am enviously watching Naomi feast on the sushi her husband frequently packs for her! Whilst lunching we shortlist our entries for this month’s free give away to which we like to treat our Facebook followers. We agree and announce our winner. Next we turn our hands to the machines. It’s an extra special day today because we are welcoming “Dorothy” to our team. We hope the addition of our new overlocker machine will make us double efficient (hear that Dorothy!?). With our little coterie of machines, we are indeed nicely productive and manage to fulfil our outstanding orders in good time. Naomi also fits in some pattern work, making the finishing touches to our next new release.


5.00pm It is quite usual for us to squeeze every last minute out of our day before whizzing off back to the world of Mummy! I pack up the car with today’s parcels and secure Olive’s favourite teddy, Umna bear, in the car seat - today Umna is riding up front with me and Olive will be delighted to see he’s been safely transported to fetch her.  I go via the Post Office to send our sold items out into the wide world.


6.00pm Once home, Olive hangs out with Umna bear whilst I make dinner. Since launching our toddler clothing brand life has been so busy I invested a moment to devise a 3 weekly menu cycle. It hangs on my fridge and tells me what I need to do each day without me even having to think. On Fridays I like to keep it really simple, it’s always pasta something. And tonight, because it’s been a long old day and it’s sunny outside, we toast dinner with an ale shandy / apple juice for those under 3 years!




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Thank you Nat & Naomi! As for all of you lovely readers stay tunned for our next week's guest!
Until then, have a great weekend and be creative :)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday is my day: 2SmartCats

Jaa
Hello all! Today we are traveling to Belgium to meet Stephanie from '2SmartCats'! Enjoy the ride :)


Hello, my name is Stephanie.  I am from Australia, but have been living and working in Belgium for the past few years. I am a web developer by day, and I do my crafts in the evenings, the weekends, or whenever I have time really. My day begins when the alarm goes off at 6.30.  I usually stay in bed for another 10 minutes before getting out of bed together with my two darling fur babies. I am definitely not a morning person.


I spend the next hour getting ready for the day, but most importantly getting my cats set up for the day as well, which includes feeding them, cleaning after them and play with them for a little while as they will be alone in the house while I am at work. At this stage, I do not have enough time to have a proper cup of tea, so I just have a glass of warm water.  I’ve read somewhere that a glass of warm water in the morning is very healthy.  It helps to detox your body. Then at 7.30, I take a short walk to the local train station to catch the train to work in Brussels. 




9 AM
I usually get to the office just before 9 o’clock. I begin to go through my emails and reply to any urgent or important business. Then I would make myself a cup of strong black tea with honey and maybe a fruit yogurt. Sometimes I cannot wait this long to get my tea, so I get myself a cup as soon as I get in to the office; especially during the awful and cold winter days.


1-2 PM
I usually go for a walk in the neighbourhood with another colleague to get our lunches. It is a very enjoyable walk when the sun is out. Unfortunately, this is not very often in Belgium. I try to eat healthily as often as I can.  I am a tea junky, and drink many cups of tea each day. I switch from black tea in the mornings to different types of green teas or Pu’er tea in the afternoons.



Hmm, macarons…my favourite.  I bought a packet for desert this evening. Office work finishes at 6PM, and I start my journey home on the metro and another train ride. Very often it is on the train home that I drum up ideas in my head, sketch and note a little.


After arriving home in the evenings, if I feel there is still some energy left, I will continue to work on my designs after dinner. But I do not do this on a Friday evening, as my partner and I usually go out to dinner on Friday evenings. These are some of the items I have made throughout the odd hours.  So far, I have enjoyed every minute of learning and crafting.  The encouragement from friends and family and the support from customers have been just wonderful. I plan to dedicate more time crafting.




I might watch a film before heading off to bed.
Thank you for reading.  I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing my day.



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Thank you Stephanie! As for all of you lovely readers stay tunned for our next week's guest!
Until then, have a great weekend and be creative :)