Monday 27 January 2014

Balancing the workload

Welcome lovely people! Happy Monday!
Mondays are quite often used as as a day to get things done or start those things we've been procrastinating about such as diets, money saving etc. Ever find yourself writing a 'to do' list but feeling discouraged because it was so long you didn't complete everything? Yeah, me too! although I'm trying hard to break this bad habit!
The most frequently asked question i get is "how do you find time to paint with 3 small children?" (for those of you wondering what on earth I'm talking about i paint jute bags) . ill be honest, I'm no superwoman and i don't like my little business venture to interferer with my time at home with my children so 90% of the time i wait until they're snug in their beds. its hard work and i often get that awful feeling of guilt whilst trying to balance everything.
I like a lot of mums find balancing my housework, time with my children and time spent painting bags difficult. i have tried and tried different things and there is only one thing I've actually managed to make sense of and kind of stick to.
 
 Introducing Flylady!

one day on Facebook i stumbled upon a page called flylady, completely by accident! i had a scan of the page and saw people talking about their 'Morning routine' or 'before bed' routine. it all seemed so organised. so i googled 'flylady and found flylady.net. it was jam packed full with information on how to manage not just your home and cleaning but your whole life! bits of it didn't make sense and i then discovered there was a book so i wasted no time in popping over to amazon and buying myself a copy. now i wouldn't say i was living in CHAOS (cant have anyone over syndrome in flylady terms) but i could certainly do with a little more organisation in my life and better balance.
i read the book once and then got over excited and tried to make too many changes to my everyday routines all at once. i read the book again and finally it all made complete sense! it doesn't work magic and i know from borrowing the book to a few family members that it wont be everyones cup of tea but i LOVE this book! it now looks 'Loved' too. its a bit dog eared.
i would recommend this book to anyone struggling to be organised, anyone who finds themselves running late - a lot, anyone who struggles with clutter or anyone who wants to spend less time trying to keep an immaculate home.
its all about letting go of perfectionism! Perfect is an unrealistic expectation.
 
here is the link to the book on amazon
 
Do you struggle to balance your work and home life?  let me know what you think of the book if you have read it or plan on reading it.
 
i am also half way through the flylady inspired novel. i will post about this when i have finished reading it.
 
until next time
 
keep sparkling
x

Sunday 26 January 2014

Fashion and Fairytales - This Is Me

Welcome to my first blog post! My name is Kirsty, I'm 23, a Wife and a Mother to 3 beautiful little girls aged 5 years, 2 years and 10 months.
 
My life is filled with fashion (I studied fashion at college), laundry, Art, dirty dishes, creativity, cleaning, Disney Princesses, ironing, sparkles and making dreams come true.
 
I seem to spend a lot of my time (when I'm not waist deep in ironing) planning magical birthday parties, creating fancy dress costumes from scratch, customising, painting, drawing, shopping, writing lists and planning adventures. The last 11 months i have been lucky enough to have created a page on facebook to showcase jute bags that i hand paint which has been extremely popular! my art on a bag! how cool is that? i have also recently hand painted canvas shoes! if anyone wants to take a look here is the link www.facebook.com/fairybagmother
 
After weeks of reading other peoples blogs i decided to create my own where i could share all my ideas, tips, advise and experiences of being a stay at home mum who loves fashion, art, beauty, shows and creating memories with my family.
in my blog i hope to include..
 
*fashion on a budget (we know how hard it can be if there are little mouths to feed)
* beauty products
* cosmetics
*Children's fashion
*DIY children's fancy dress
* creative ideas to make and do with your little ones
* Bargain buys
* home decor and care
* book reviews
* toy reviews
* seasonal make and do - including Easter bonnets
* gift ideas
* book reviews
* website reviews
* and general women's chit chat!
 
The name Sparkles and Dreams seemed very suitable for the point of my life where i am now. My daughters represent the sparkles and the dreams represents the dreams i have as my own as well as those for my children and my family as a whole.
i dream of one day owning my own business designing and making unique children's fancy dress outfits and clothing. each and every item no doubt inspired by my girls and their amazing imaginations.
 
I hope you'll enjoy reading my posts and be filled with motivation and inspiration.
 
what are you dreams? leave them in a comment below :)
 
until next time
 
Keep sparkling
x