Postman Pat!!

Christmas, when you run your own business, means one thing - long post office queues, audible sighs and tutting from the growing line of people waiting behind you and a wasted hour of your day! I have mumbled on about this before!

When you start to get piles of parcels that amount to few bags every day - things have to change - and change they did, when one day I received a phone call from Royal Mail, who noticed we were obviously posting out a lot of parcels.

We received a home visit from our Royal Mail area manager who talked us through our options and signed us up to a new online business postal system. We weigh the parcels we send out in total and divide by the number of parcels we send.

A few calculations and numbers typed into the computer later and we are good to go.....



.....straight to the sorting office in the morning.
No queues, no waiting, no tutting - just a cheery thank you at 8.30 in the morning and the days postal duties done!
I highly recommend it!

It's Christmas!!

Welcome to the Peabody house which is, at last, full on Christmassy!

I have spent the last couple of days cleaning my pigsty of a house in preparation for our festive decorations.


Yehhhhh ..........It's Christmas!


Our Christmas cards to each other this year.

My poor husband always tries so hard to get me a nice card and this year he came up trumps with this fabulous, homemade, driftwood Christmas pudding made by the very talented Kirsty Elson.

The spotty baubles have been dusted off

And ta da this is this years tree - adorned with 600 sparkly white lights.

The dresser has also been treated to a new set of lights.

The dresser will get a lovely festive floral arrangement nearer the time and the pictures will get a sprig of fresh holly.

The family favourite Father Christmas comes out every year as do some of the favourite cards from over the years.

The kitchen dresser this year is also waiting for some fresh greenery but is going to for a pudding theme this year.

Some gorgeous vintage style baubles.

The perfect tree companion.

The sitting room is very small so only the fireplace gets the true festive magic - less is more, as they say. Extra chairs have been squeezed in to prepare for all our guests which will be sharing in our festivities this year - I think last count it was 7 for Christmas lunch and 10 on Boxing day!

So there you have it, a little festive tour - all it leaves for me now, is to wish you all a very

Keep tuning on - still more festive delights to bring you over the coming weeks - as my 8 year old keeps telling me there's still 14 sleeps til Christmas!

Spotty Christmas gifts.... of course!

I LOVE giving gifts during the festive season - more than receiving them!

I LOVE to think about what a person would like and give it a festive and wherever possible, spotty touch!

So I was delighted when I came across the fantastic Jo, who makes the most beautiful and delicious cupcakes. She is very talented and would have probably produced some amazing designs but I wanted red and white and of course some of them had to be spotty!

I put my idea to her a couple of weeks ago and booked in a few collection dates and she even managed to source these fabulous spotty boxes.

With a finishing touch of ribbon and a handmade dots and spots label they are good to go!

The lucky recipients are the fabulous couple who pack all my cards for me - I'm keeping them happy - I have 32,000 cards on their way in the next week or so!




I gave myself the day off today to make a start on cleaning my pigsty of a house. I have cleaned the sitting room and dining room so they are gleaming!! The tree is up and lit but will have to wait until the weekend to get decorated as the children love to do it and we ran out of time - will keep you updated, last year it all looked like this !

It's a little chilly out there!

Compared to a lot of the country, we have had it easy the last couple of weeks but that's not to say we haven't had a small share of the cold freeze. The bunting out in the garden is like cardboard!

The tree has been an icy white for at least a week now as the temperature remains below freezing throughout the day.

The old cobwebs which would otherwise go unnoticed, look beautiful as the frost show off their intricacy.

The old red and white spotty watering can offers a little colour in an otherwise white landscape.




The garden has looked beautiful in it's icy magic. I wonder how long it will last and how long it will be, before I hanker for the green shoots of Spring.

Christmas is for children!

The first weekend in December marks the tradition, in the Peabody house, for the children to 'do' Christmas. They each have a small tree and a box of decorations to delve into and are left to their own devises, to decorate their rooms exactly as they like!

The nativity, bought from the Early Learning Centre to celebrate the arrival of Sophie 11 years ago is always a treasured item - it is now shared and alternately spends Christmas in each of the rooms.

The top landing gets the festive touch and then it all begins - tinsel and paper chains galore!

The tree with it's old and loved decorations.

Handmade Christmas decorations.

Handmade, colourful paper chains in Sophie's room.

A handmade advent calendar welcomes you into Sam's room.

And the tinseliest tinsel Christmas tree you ever did see! He is VERY proud of how much tinsel he managed to fit on!

All the Christmas bits and pieces come out, made or bought over the years that all hold special memories or remember when we.......

And then there are more paper chains and more tinsel!

The main tree won't go up for another week or so - so this is a good compromise to start the festivities off. The main tree is a more co-ordinated affair and I'm afraid not a piece of tinsel in sight!

A lovely feature

The other evening I was on twitter and someone asked if I had I seen our products featured in 'Your Home' Magazine (January edition) - to which I replied a simple NO! I've always thought it odd that magazines don't let you know - or the company you sell with don't inform you either. She went on to say it was a lovely picture on page 8, so I thanked her and added the magazine to my shopping list. So the first thing I did the following morning was rush to get myself a copy and what a lovely picture it was too! It still makes me puff up with pride when I see something I have created in print.

So that moves me nicely on to the proofs I received from the printers. Again, it always feels slightly different seeing them in print format from my original paper copies.

All these designs will be available in the new year - there are 12 new designs in total - something for every occasion! I am really pleased with the whole collection.

We have also received 4 press requests this week, all obviously looking for copy for the New Year/ Season editions. It's all very exciting. I'm already starting to design and think about my 2011 July launch products - I don't want to put myself under so much panic and stress as I have been doing of late - designing as the deadline approaches. It's a little early to start writing New Year's resolutions yet but that will feature when I do! When or really I should write if, I have a spare moment, it will be filled with designing.

Tomorrow is December....

And that can only mean one thing - the start of Advent and officially the start of Christmas in the Peabody house!

The red and white spotty stars have come out of hiding, in preparation to decorate the advent garland and the little enamel buckets have been filled with surprises.

The wreath has been put out on the front door.

The fairy lights which adorn the house all year round are lit earlier and are adding their own sparkle of Christmas magic and excitement.

The Christmas coffee mugs have made their seasonal trip out of the cupboard and onto the dresser.

The advent garland meanders it's way up the stairs, overloaded with daily treats for the children.



And an advent calendar each, to open every morning in the build up to Christmas, lines the kitchen cupboard doors.

Christmas cards will begin to be written.

And the favourite Christmas stories will be shared.

And of course, the Christmas spotty chocolate tin is filled to the brim with yummy treats for any visitors.

I love the build up to Christmas - the excitement and anticipation. The tree won't go up until the middle of the month but it's super to slowly build up the fun and festivities.