Happy birthday to me..!!

On this very day - when dinosaurs walked the earth, we all lived in black and white, and children played with hoops (if they weren't scrubbing the insides of chimneys) - I was born.

Yep, it's my birthday today, so I may well be skiving from work just a teensy bit.

Don't ask me how old I am though, because I'm not actually too sure - it involves calculators, dense maths equations, and bearded men with clipboards to work that one out these days. Ah, remember the days when we knew almost to the day how old we were ("I'm 9 and 7/12ths")? - yes, well it all gets a bit vague the older you get. Which is probably just as well...

Sarah x

New Baby Name Print Gift: 'Preppy' print

I've added some brand new designs to my 'Meaning of Name' personalised print range - including this new 'Preppy' style print.

Available in a choice of colours, I think the print will work equally well in a baby's nursery and an older child's bedroom too. Something that isn't too 'babyish' and will grow with them!

The prints feature the child's name, along with it's meaning and their date of birth.

You can find the new prints on the PhotoFairytales website here. The prints are just £14.50, including 1st class recorded delivery.

Sarah x

What I love this week...

"The OMG Wall"

Objects with faces... OK, this is daft, but it does make me smile!

Just a bit of fluffy nonsense for Friday - enjoy...

www.twistedsifter.com/2013/05/50-faces-in-everyday-places

Sarah x

New personalised Love Print: 'Waves in the Sea'

With summer upon us I think this brand new nautical themed Love Print is a perfect way to say 'I love you' - ideal for a wedding gift, an anniversary present, or just a romantic surprise for the one you love...

Featuring the words "If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves in the sea", and personalised with your choice of names too.

Only £14.50 including 1st class recorded delivery. Find this print with the other personalised Love Prints range here.

Sarah x

Those were the days... I think!

Thank goodness for all these austerity cutbacks!

OK, I admit that’s not something you’ll hear me say every day, but stay with me!

Do you remember your twenties? When being invited round to friends for a “dinner party” meant a mince based dish served with lashings of powerful garlic bread. And it didn’t matter one jot what you brought to drink - it could come in a plastic bottle for all anyone cared (and often did). I distinctly remember having a conversation with a male friend about the options for buying beer: cheap so you can drink a lot - vs - expensive and gets you pissed quick. It was an important debate! A time when red-wine mouth and Walls Vienetta for pudding happened regularly. When we all smoked - even those of us that didn’t.

Then the swanky years hit - when “dinner party” meant visiting a wine shop (note: not an “offy”, a “wine shop”). It seemed perfectly OK to take advice from the man in red cords and a pink rugby shirt about “palettes” and “acidity” and “new world”. Food went up a notch and ingredients had to be organic, and “sourced” rather than bought. It was served in Le Creuset, rather than the foil dish it came in when it was pulled from Asda’s freezer section.

And then the recession hit. Or was it children? Or age? Or did we just grow up a bit? Either way, we don’t go to dinner parties anymore. To be honest, I think I’d be too tired. And luckily it seems that most of us have calmed down and found a middle ground somewhere between the two. We can eat (low fat) mince based dishes served with lashings of powerful garlic (ciabatta) bread. Your wine still shouldn’t come in a plastic bottle, but a plastic cork is OK. And the Vienetta? Well, stick a tub of Haagen Dazs in the middle of the table and we can all have another glass of wine while we wait for it to soften enough to get the spoon in...

Sarah x

New Gift Range: New Baby Birth Prints

One of the latest additions to the PhotoFairytales range of gifts are my new personalised Birth Prints...

Available in a choice of different colours, they're a lovely contemporary style print that I think will look gorgeous in the new nursery.

The perfect gift when a new baby arrives, and a really unique present for a christening or naming ceremony too.

Each print features the child's name and date of birth, along with lots of other information such as time, weight, etc. There's even a space for you to add your own lovely message for the recipient that they'll be able to read and treasure when they're older.

Priced at £16.50, including free 1st class delivery. Find them on the website as part of the 'Gifts for Baby' range here.

Hope you like!
Sarah x

What I love this week...

Even the screen cycles through soothing colours....

When I'm sitting hunched and round shouldered straight-backed and posture-perfect at my desk, one of the things that keeps me company (apart from the dog at my feet) is the radio. I've never been able to work in silence - as a child doing my homework I always had to have Scooby Doo/Blue Peter/Rentaghost on in the background...

Music radio is too intrusive I find - plus I nearly always end up with an unwanted earworm while laying in bed at night. So my background noise of choice is talk radio; something I can mentally tune in and out of without too much effort. And the channel I normally choose is Radio 4 (which is, I think, both slightly farty and cool at the same time).

But... I've discovered something this week which has actually worked just as well (and hasn't involved my listening to The Archers tum-tee-tum-te-tum-te-tum, or Gardener's Question Time discussing plum rot, or Woman's Hour talking about the menopause - all of which are very entertaining of course, but sometimes you need a bit of variety eh?!). No, I'm tuning into www.noisli.com - and I love it!

You can control your own soothing background sounds - the pitter patter of raindrops and the wind rustling in the leaves... or tweety birds and the sound of a nearby stream... or a cosy crackling fire with a rumbling thunderstorm. In fact you could have all of those at the same time if you want - and the sound of waves on the sea, crickets chirping at night, and the ambient sound of a coffee shop thrown in too. If you really want!

You can adjust the levels, sending that thunder into the background or bringing up the noise of the rain - tweaking it to your hearts content. Or you can put it on 'random' and it'll cycle through sounds for you.

I had it set on 'thunder-rain-crackling fire' yesterday afternoon which was lovely and cosy (for the middle of July). And right now I'm listening to a forest filled with birds and a gentle breeze. Ahhhh.....and reeeelax.

There, that's my little gift to you for today - enjoy :)

Sarah x

Gifts for Teachers - what on earth do you get?!

As a mum, I can easily recognise that reports of a massive increase in giving gifts to teachers is certainly true. It seems that many parents now like to give their child’s teacher a gift both at the end of the school year, and at Christmas time too. But the difficulty is, what to give?

Speaking to other parents and teachers, it seems that the most common gift is either a box of chocolates or a plant or bunch of flowers. But, if you want to thank your child’s teacher with a more unusual gift where do you start? Most people work to a budget, and want to give a gift that won’t break the bank. So the search is on for a low cost and unusual gift for your teacher - where to start?!

A great personalised gift can prove to be an ideal solution. Something that raises a smile, or laughter even. Get it right and you could just be finding the perfect gift that ticks all the boxes. Ideally it would be something truly thoughtful that will be treasured, or perhaps something both fun and practical.

Now, if you can do all that you can relax - you’ve done it, you’ve found the perfect gift. Then all you need to worry about is the next gift time…!

Sarah x

Find fun, touching, thoughtful and practical personalised gifts for teachers at www.PhotoFairytales.co.uk/teachergifts.co.uk. Free UK delivery. Bespoke gifts and keepsakes created to order and truly original. Unique gifts for teachers for end of term and Christmas at www.PhotoFairytales.co.uk.

Look - new look!

Look - new look!

OK, so time to breathe a little life back into this neglected corner of the world wide web! 

I'll start by letting you know that the PhotoFairytales website has recently had a huge overhaul (just in case you haven't spotted it yet). It took quite a few weeks to do, but I think the result is a much fresher and brighter look, and it should be easier to move around too.

To go with the new look site there are some new product lines too - and even more in the pipeline. You can see all the new gift ranges on the What's New page - I hope you see something you like.

Oh, and I'm also doing a fab giveaway on the PhotoFairytales Facebook page too - it must end this Sunday, so head on over and take a look. It's super easy to enter, and you get to choose your own prize!

What do you think of the new look - I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to leave a comment below :)

Sarah x

Whoops!

Yeeees.... well, it has been a little while between posts hasn't it?

OK, time for an overhaul I think - the PhotoFairytales website has a lovely fresh new look and now so does it's poor old Blog!

A little bit of action will be coming this way imminently, trust me - erm, does anyone have a duster I could borrow first please?

Sarah x