Life recently has been really busy. Its the summer holidays so I'm now on full time mama bear duty (hi-five to Holly Webb and her Maisie Hitchins series of books, Baba is obsessed)
Last summer was a bit of a washout-Nicky was very poorly and I was basically just trying to get through each day without becoming totally unraveled. Fast forward a year later and its a much happier scene. Nicky is back to his beardy best and the business Nicky Rockets is thriving.
What a difference a year makes
This week we brought out a new mermaid design and its been incredibly popular. Seeing people get excited about our designs is just the best thing in the world.
We are working hard to make our little indie as eco friendly as we can so have now started printing all our designs on climate neutral, fairwear tees using water based inks. Its taken a lot of time to find the right suppliers for the tees (because we will always cater for up to a 5XL) and printing in water based inks is a bit trickier than plastisol (although Nicky has totally cracked it now-he is a printing ninja) but this is a business we really want to grow and we don't see why our ambition can't also compliment our beliefs regarding being gentler on the planet. I don't think we are unique in wanting to make a living in a creative, independent way that doesn't put profit before people or the planet. Its actually a great business model and far from seeing a downturn since we started incorporating more of our values into our brand, we have actually seen it grow. People are generally good and do give a crap that we don't exploit people for fashion, or destroy the planet to make clothes. Its a no brainer (or maybe we just have incredibly cool customers, I am very much open to that idea)
We also brought out our first vegan tee shirt last month. Bee Vegan Features a cute little honey bee wearing goggles and tattooed wings, we wanted to have one design in our range that gave a nod to our life as vegans. Veganism brings us so much happiness and a real sense of being at peace with the whole cycle of life so its been fun to have a design to celebrate that.
Mister Truffles warming his fawn butt
Summer wouldn't be summer without some campfire singing and toasting marshmallows on the fire so we have just invested in a fire pit which is already a massive hit.
Hubble, bubble
Sitting around it, chilling out and putting the world to right after a busy day has become my new favourite thing. I have some lovely blog posts planned, reviews, recipes and yes (are you sitting down) even a few outfit posts. I'm hoping this will be less of a "cruel summer" and that we can all have a lovely few months with the sun on our faces. Weekly Wish List
Check out my Youtube channel for lots of vlogs, reviews and general chat.
Brand New eco and vegan Designs over at Nicky Rockets Printed on climate neutral, fair trade tees in water based ink.
All content (text, photos and other) are the property of Perelandra Beedles unless otherwise stated. Please refrain from copying any material without recognition of the author and a link to the source on this blog
Social media is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives. Whether you use it to promote your business, stay in touch with family or its an integral part of how you make your living, the chances are that by the time you read this you will have already had a quick glance at your Facebook timeline, maybe looked to see whats trending on Twitter or caught up with some hilarious snaps from your latest snap chat obsession. I was an early adopter of social media and am constantly amazed and grateful at how much it has opened up the world to me. It has helped me connect with so many like minded souls, keeps me up to date on events and gatherings I would simply never hear about otherwise and feeds my head with information, opinions and perspectives which would probably not be open to me otherwise. It can be a double edged sword though. About a year ago I found myself no longer mistress of my social media feeds but more its bitch. I vaguely dreaded opening up my laptop and would feel mild anxiety when logging onto facebook. As someone who not only has their own business to promote, a blog to share and who makes a living as a social media manager this was not a great state of affairs. One day after an hours surfing had left me feeling emotionally depleted I decided I needed to totally overhaul my approach to all things internet. The results have been nothing short of miraculous. Here are my five top tips for how to make social media your bitch. #1 Remove What No Longer Serves You
The hardest thing for me to accept was that my social media was exactly that "mine". You are under no obligation to be friends with people who are of no interest,or more importantly people who are drama llamas or bad vibe merchants. If someone just wants to spam your feed with sales pitches for juices or fibre mascara, or never interact with you except to be a bit snarky just unfriend them. Ask yourself if you were in a crisis and were stranded on the motorway with no petrol in your car, or were running late so needed someone to collect your kids from school would any of these people be on your call list? If the answer is no and they get on your nerves-delete baby. #2 Hit The Mute Button
Twitter and Facebook have two very important options for when someone who you actually quite like is doing your head in. On facebook its the "remove from my feed" option and on twitter its the "mute" function. If for whatever reason you need to create some space between yourself and someone who you genuinely like, just adjust your settings accordingly. Muting people on twitter seems to be associated with being a bit sly but its a really smart move if someones feed is really making your eye twitch but you know that in general they are cool and you definitely want to interact with them again. Instagram is more tricky, its a do or die situation. If you need a rest from someone just unfollow them for a bit-you are allowed to refollow them at a later time. Its only a phone app, not Sophie's choice. Keep it in perspective.
#3 Work out Your Negativity Triggers
If your social media interactions are actually feeling quite toxic you need to acknowledge the part you play in this. Its easy to decide that everyone else is being negative and argumentative and you are just innocently getting dragged under the wheels but is that really the case? Its totally human to occasionally grab the popcorn and watch some social media "drama" unfold (Jeffrey Star and Kat Von D anyone? ) but if you allow yourself to become embroiled in online arguments, bitch fests or twitchforking on a regular basis, even if its just as a rubbernecker ask yourself how healthy is that for your state of mind? Likewise if following someones life often leaves you feeling a bit "meh" about your own, examine why that's the case and if you cant get past it, just stop looking. Scroll past sweetie, see it wasn't that hard.
#4 Curate Your Social Media Feed
So you have identified what you don't like to see, had an honest conversation about what triggers your mood from happy to hideous and exercised the mute button a little. Now for the fun part, creating your very own curated social media feeds that leave you feeling enriched, uplifted and inspired.
The great thing about this exercise is that its all about you. Think about what you like to read about, the people you follow that always inspire you or post intriguing thought provoking content. What do you need to get from your social media that you cant get else where? I like to follow strong smart women who challenge the patriarchy and walk to the beat of their own drum, I also need me a big owd fix of spirituality and of course fashion and art and big doses of news. These now saturate my social media and its a thing of absolute joy.
#5 Create Your Own Social Media Mood Board
Think of your online spaces as a pinterest board. You wouldn't pin pictures of things that didn't inspire you, excite you or which frankly annoyed the shit out of you would you? Its exactly the same thing. You are the architect of your own social media hub, what looks back at you is a direct reflection of what you have chosen. If it doesn't look good, is draining or dull its your fault. The good news is with an hour of so of tweaking you can turn a toxic mind dump into a peonie filled Paradise. Mine is decorated by flower garlands, punk rock lyrics and vegan feasts, it rocks.
Check out my Youtube channel for lots of vlogs, reviews and general loving chat.
Brand New eco and vegan Designs over at Nicky Rockets Printed on climate neutral, fair trade tees in water based ink.
All content (text, photos and other) are the property of Perelandra Beedles unless otherwise stated. Please refrain from copying any material without recognition of the author and a link to the source on this blog
Octer the mobile shopping app approached me recently to try out their website. If you haven't heard of it, Octer is an online hub connected to tons of well known brands. It allows you to find whatever you need without searching through loads of different websites. I agreed to give it a whirl and test out how user friendly it was, and more importantly how good the product selection is. I love sites like this, especially if I'm after a gift as it just cuts down on having hundreds of tabs open. I'm often quite time poor so really don't have the patience to be searching for hours trying to find things. Octer very kindly offered to treat myself, Nicky and Baba to some gifts and so armed with our budget we each picked an item we liked.
Such a great selection
Baba has been after a rug for her room for a while so decided a heart shaped one was in order (naturally) the choice of rugs was really good and I was impressed by how many affordable options they were.
In the end she settled on a cute little sparkle rug by Next. Perfect for putting her little feet on in the morning.
Baba on her little heart shaped rug
Nicky wanted a new jaunty neck tie as his others were looking a little tatty. Yet again there was an amazing selection, everything from designer McQueen ones to more affordable high street ranges.
All the items are clearly presented on each page and you can set whether you want to search by price or just have a good old scroll through.
His favorite ended up being by River island, a navy blue polka dot number to match his felt hat. Here he is in all his beardness.
I decided to see how the search engine would work on themes, I choose Hares and was blown away by the selection of hare themed items, everything from books to cushions to ornaments. Its worth pointing out that the site has a really nice clean feel to it and the product selection is really good. Nothing too cheap and nasty which can be a drawback of other sites like this.
I ended up ordering the cutest set of hare mugs by Next. They arrived the next day and it was all very quick, easy and unfussy.
This site would be an absolute godsend if you are looking for a gift for someone with very a particular tastes or if you need a bit of inspiration. Its also a great way to stick to your budget as you can set the filter to only show you items that are within your price range. Its lovely to get an unexpected treat so thanks Octer its been fab to each get something we really like. I am sipping tea out of my new mug as I type this.
*Octer paid for the items I ordered but my opinions remain my own.
Weekly WishList
Check out my Youtube channel for lots of vlogs, reviews and general loving chat.
Brand New eco and vegan Designs over at Nicky Rockets Printed on climate neutral, fair trade tees in water based ink.
All content (text, photos and other) are the property of Perelandra Beedles unless otherwise stated. Please refrain from copying any material without recognition of the author and a link to the source on this blog
My little girl is a total book worm. Like me she always has about three books on the go, from fairy tales, to Jacqueline Wilson and of course lots of Ladybird books.
So when Historic Newspapers got in touch to ask if she would like a personalised Ladybird book she was absolutely thrilled. She chose "The three Little Pigs" as we often refer to ourselves as a family of three little pigs and also we call Mister Truffles "Piggy" so it seemed apt.
It was such fun discovering where Babas name was within each drawing
When you order one of these personalised Ladybird books you can have any message inscribed on the front page (we chose "To Betty, I wonder if the three little pigs were Vegan?" ) and then best of all your child's name features within the illustrations on every page.
How lovely to have your name contained within the pictures of a book
When it arrived we couldn't believe that her name was featured in plumes of smoke coming out of a chimney or as part of a haystack or the brickwork in a wall. It even says on the front cover "A story for Betty"
A story for Betty
It makes these books so special. having your name personalised on anything always make things feel a little bit magic but to see it included within beautiful Ladybird pictures is absolutely gorgeous. This will definitely be a book Baba treasures.
A book to treasure.
The Personalised Ladybird books cost £12.99 and can be purchased here For details visit their website
And for the grown ups
Check out my Youtube channel for lots of vegan related vlogs, reviews and general animal loving chat. here is my latest family vlog.
I love the occasional spa day. Spending time out of my usual routine, being self indulgent is a rare treat and one that I don't get half as often a I would like. I'm also a total sucker for anything involving yoga, mediation and crystals. So when Kapucia a yoga and well being centre offered a "Spa day for the soul" I was definitely intrigued.
Now that's a gong
The event offered a full day of yoga, meditation, a crystal healing workshop, a seminar on "The secret", a talk on eating "raw" and a gong bath. Yep it was a pretty full schedule of omming and navel gazing. Perfect.
My soul is ready for it spa day
The event started at 10am on a saturday morning and took place at Kapucias studio in Liverpool. This is a really beautiful space and feels more like a spa or beauty treatment room than yoga studio. Soft lighting, fresh flowers and lots of candles.
The whole space felt very zen
The opening session was really lovely. Gentle Hatha yoga
poses to limber us up and make us really relaxed and a Yoga Nidra Meditation. I
definitely felt the outside world melt away as I concentrated on my breathing
and stretched away the tensions of the outside world.
getting my yoga on
Next it was a workshop on "The Secret" which discussed the concept of the laws of attraction and the idea that you can manifest things (both good and bad) by how much you think about them. I'm really interested in this idea and have a copy of the book "The Secret" I definitely think there may be something to it. I'm a bit conflicted about some of the more materialistic aspects encouraged by some practitioners of the secret (the whole asking the universe for a car thang doesn't sit well with me) I kind of feel we need more healers and light bringers than Gordon Geckos. Self advancement seems to get us in a pickle. Definitely food for thought.
the lovely Nicola Powell-Crystal Queen
The next workshop however totally blew me away. A wonderful lady Nicola Powell gave a a workshop on crystal healing. Telling us about the history of wearing and using crystals. We also learnt which crystals work for different needs and also spent sometime putting crystals on our chakras. I felt really energised and could have spent all afternoon listening to Nicola. She is a crystal queen.
Feeling good after a Chakra cleansing-my third eye is wide open baby
We were then served a beautiful raw vegan lunch by the resident chef Jen Kelly. I have never tasted Courgetti like it and had a hard time believing they weren't normal noodles. Jen also gave us a short talk on how to incorporate raw meals into our diets with some great quick recipes including overnight oats (which I have since made and they are delicious)
Wow this food was good.
The rest of the afternoon included a seminar about how to "raise your vibration" (discussing how a combination of physical health, thoughts, emotions and beliefs can impact your energy) a quick talk about Ayurveda and finished with a sound bath. A sound bath involves lying in a darkened room whilst various healing musical instruments are played around you.The idea is that the sounds and vibrations really help you switch off and relax. I actually found it a little intense but think I was maybe a little blissed out after a fairly intense day of treatments and workshops.
Instruments for the sound bath
At £80 it definitely represented great value as you got to try so many things and as an alternative to a normal spa day it was a nice change. Personally I felt there was maybe a little too much going on and I would have liked time after each workshop or treatment to reflect a little and really absorb what I had just learnt about. That said itt was a wonderful escape from the daily grind and as a way to spend a Saturday certainly beat traipsing around a shopping centre or doing the weekly shop. My Crystal Wishlist-Give mama all that healing
Kapucia are holding various events including another Spa day for the soul throughout the summer. For details visit their website
Check out my Youtube channel for lots of vegan related vlogs, reviews and general animal loving chat.
Brand New eco and vegan Designs over at Nicky Rockets Printed on climate neutral, fair trade tees in water based ink.
All content (text, photos and other) are the property of Perelandra Beedles unless otherwise stated. Please refrain from copying any material without recognition of the author and a link to the source on this blog
.JPG)
