20/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Stanley, so excited with your pudding! (Excuse my ridiculous face!)

We were at my little brothers wedding this weekend. Stanley was a page boy although didn't want to do any of his tasks...too scared of people he didn't know and holding hands with bigger girls! He cried a bit when people asked him to be in photos, I think just so overwhelmed by the occasion. He loves his uncle and aunty so much though. I am excited for them to be parents soon - they will make great ones as they give so much love already to all their friend's children and to Stanley, it warms my heart to see them happy together. My little bro did good - the lady he married is an absolute gem.

19/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Stanley, because sometimes you do just want to play harmonica straight after a nap...
From last week, this one, really love that big world laid out in front of those tiny steps....

18/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2013"

Stanley: you are taking bathing to the next level. As we all know us Brits love to get as much outside action when the sun finally comes out, and today was no different. This time it was so lovely we even decided to bath you outside too. Toddler hot tub anyone?

From last week, these 'green themed' ones are lovely.

PROJECT JELLY

So as promised a follow on from the teaser yesterday here is the lovely Mama, Natalie behind Project Jelly to tell you a little more about the company, why she set it up, why Mencap is close to her heart, and also where you can get a pair of these limited edition beautiful jellies!

Natalie and Darcy (left) and her sister in law, Helen with Jude (right)

Can you tell us a little how 'Project Jelly' became set up.
Aha well i guess you could say it was my ultimate 'breastfeeding' fundraising brainwave!! I must admit to a few little tomes of crazy ideas that somehow whittled down into something tangible and daring and doable. I had my little Jude in sept 12 and after receiving lots of lovely baby gift realised none of the gifting or gorgeous products had a charitble element. I had wanted to fundraise more for mencap and a marathon was out of the question ;).  I knew that if I was going to start a project My little toddler Darcy kept clip clopping around in all my shoes including my JuJu jellies and so I just cold called the MD - told him I wanted to design a kids shoe for mencap as a summer market stall project really... I pitched it back to mencap and they loved it! So blood sweat and baby tears later I found myself up in Northampton at the factory in darkest December designing my limited edition jellies! I realise my timing was lucky as the brand are on the up and so I have this fantastic partnership with them. It was really quite bizzare and fun in Jan pitching my little ol idea and shoes to independent retailers and finding myself with an accidental brand and business. Hey presto! Project jelly was born...but on a serious note fundraising for mencap is the core. We will always pledge to give as much as we can to charity and that starts with a big fat 25% of all our profits from this launch direct to mencap charity.

Why specifically did you decide to support Mencap? 

Mencap charity is really close to my heart and that of my collier family... my gorgeous sparkly sister in law Helen and her mummy Jackie the (MIL) x has received help and support all of her life.  Helen rocks and is my age 33 with a shoe fetish! I also wanted her to have her little moment in the spotlight. She deserves it as she lights up the room for many people in her carehome and community in Burgess Hill, Sussex.

What advice would you give a first time Mum?
Even after 2 gorgeous babies I always just wish someone told me to train as a comedian beforehand ;) I lost my sense of humour momentarily in those first few months... now I wish I could stop the clocks as they are growing too fast. Finally, embrace those curves and plumpcious boobies! Flaunt it while they last.

Aside from coffee what can you not live without?!

I should say living etc....fat glass of red and a jumbo croissant. BUT it's really bedtime with any of my collier crew and lots of wet kisses!

What is next for Project Jelly?

The Jellywagon is on a roll so were designing our next years limited editions and planning to Launch Super Cool Wellies again in aid of mencap this AW! Brand wise we are showing at Bubble London our first trade show in June. Linking up with Olive Loves Alfie for some Sumemr events hopefully squeeze a festival in too...

So there you have it. What a great story, and lovely product. I think the jelly shoes would make amazing presents, knowing that you are also donating 25% to a wonderful charity, you can feel super great about giving! Buy them here. I know what is on Stanley's christmas list this year too now - SUPER COOL WELLIES! Cannot wait to see them.

#20

Stanley Style has been away too long I think. This special no20 edition is brought to you with the amazing 'Project Jelly' shoes as the main event. A lovely lady called Natalie contacted me and wanted to know if Stanley would like a pair. Very much I thought, and then I heard the story behind them, and I really want to share that with you and spread the word about these amazing shoes and the reason behind it as best I can. So today the style, tomorrow the story behind it.....

17/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

Stanley, you love to help. In this case to plant seeds. You are quite accurate and like to do a task properly with little tomfoolery. I think it must help with hand to eye co-ordination and dexterity. Your concentration face is adorable and I love you in the garden as it is precious daddy and Stanley moments. After this weekend you are now able to point out 'Red Robin' bushes to add to your daffodil and tulip knowledge. Quite the little Monty Don you are becoming!

From last week, this one is perfect. The superhero pose.

16/52

Not quite as creative as the last two weeks. Much more real life I'm afraid. We've started. I'm regretting it already and it is only day two. I'm not even sure how I'm approaching it other than I'm embracing it cold turkey, pants only no pull ups. And I am using bribery...my preferred method is stickers. We have had a mixture of success and failure in seemly equal measures. I'm thinking this is the toughest yet, maybe even harder than night feeds for however many flipping months, but maybe that is clever old mother nature trying to trick me into having another one. It appears pooping is easier than peeing. That is all I've learnt so far. Tips and tricks gratefully received.

It also appears from the last 3 weeks, this '52' post is all I've managed, and I think without the 'pressure' to fulfil this little project, I probably wouldn't be blogging at all. I don't know about you, but I think that tells me something. My heart is not really in it anymore, and more importantly I have so much fantastic paid illustration work that I have little time for something, that although gives me pleasure, doesn't actually pay a single bill. I'm off to a new space soon in this internet world. I've decided on a new platform and will be there shortly. I'm also closing part of my etsy shop down - again, I have no time for custom portraits and the like any more. It is all exciting over here, two new big projects have come up, that I can't talk about yet, but hopefully will do soon. I'll let you know when my new website and blog are up and running, and hopefully if you still want to join me you will pop on over and stay a while there....