Monthly Archives

October 2017

Me & Mine – October

by Clare Mansell October 31, 2017June 23, 2018

I’ve been rather looking forward to this month’s family portrait. My first with short hair and our first with a two year-old in the family! This photo was actually taken on Alice’s birthday, which like the year she was born (and last year I think) was a day of bright sunshine and autumnal colours, though typically the sun had decided to disappear by the time the camera came out!

We had family over for lunch and cooked Kleftico in our new brick outdoor oven (a post on that soon!) together with a Mary Berry cheesecake that didn’t set properly but tasted delicious (and that’s what counts right!) A family lunch is somewhat traditional on October 28th now, after we had champagne and sandwiches in our bedroom upstairs on the day Alice was born!

October 31, 2017June 23, 2018 2 comments

fashion

Getting a Pixie Cut

by Clare Mansell October 27, 2017October 31, 2017

written by Clare Mansell

A couple of weeks ago I finally did something I have been toying with for ages, I chopped my hair off and went for a Pixie Cut! The last time I had short hair was 9 years ago and I started considering going short again about two years ago when Laura at Side Street Style did hers.

It took a while to get used to the idea and then another five weeks to get an appointment with my stylist (ahhh!) so by the time I stepped into the salon I was really really ready for the chop!

October 27, 2017October 31, 2017 0 comment

content creation

Collaborating with Huxter kids clothes

by Clare Mansell October 19, 2017October 19, 2017

written by Clare Mansell

Earlier this year I was introduced (via Instagram) to the colorful children’s clothing brand Huxter, at the same time they happened to be seeking their first ambassadors. I took an instant like not just to the brand, but to the creative mind behind it Sophie Bell-Carr and so applied (successfully) to work with them.

What makes Huxter unique is that their items combine a main fabric which the customer chooses with a trim fabric which is chosen for you. My favourite Huxter top of Theo’s is a bold clash of dinosaur print and stripes, something I never would have put together but which just works brilliantly and Theo wears it all the time. In fact he has a “Sophie drawer” just for his Huxter things.

Over the last few months I’ve watched in admiration as Sophie’s business has grown, taking on a seamstress and a premises as the orders have gone from strength to strength. I wanted to find out a little more about the business and how Sophie has used social media to fuel its growth, so I decided to ask her a few questions and also to share some of the images of my kids in her clothing.

October 19, 2017October 19, 2017 1 comment

me and mine

Me & Mine – September

by Clare Mansell October 16, 2017June 23, 2018

written by Clare Mansell

Ok lets cut straight to the chase, September’s Me & Mine photo is a full two weeks late being shared (even though it wasn’t quite that late being taken) but late though we are, I’m determined to try and keep on course until the end of the year…

I’ll be honest this isn’t my favourite photo of us, but that could be a whole lot to do with me being very overdue a haircut… more on that next month!

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In September we were loving…

October 16, 2017June 23, 2018 0 comment

photography

Home Life Project – October

by Clare Mansell October 9, 2017October 9, 2017

written by Clare Mansell

Our weekends over the last month seem to have been chock-a-block full of events and commitments of one kind or another and so I was really relieved to open the diary for this month’s Home Life Project and discover we had an empty day yesterday. We spent half of it at East Wittering Beach. You’ll see East and West Wittering mentioned a lot on this blog, they both form the same long stretch of sand and shingle and depending on how we feel, we park at various places along the coast to take a walk on a stretch of it.

Our walk today was to mark my mum’s birthday which was earlier in the week. We intended to walk to one of our favourite breakfast places and grab a hot chocolate, but when we got there the whole experience was a bit of a let down, but that’s another story entirely…

Back home in the afternoon we planted some of our huge collection of daffodil bulbs and Skyped Jim’s sister in the Middle East. My photographing ended rather abruptly when my camera stopped focusing (ahhh) so I’m now desperately googling in search of an answer to that problem, at least it didn’t happen earlier in the day!

October 9, 2017October 9, 2017 0 comment