There are some days when it feels like everything is against you and you need a light at the end of the tunnel. The opening day of The Handmade Fair was one of those days for me. Manic school drop off, deadlines and a tortuous journey along the A303 that took 90 minutes longer than it should have. 

But it was so worth it. I actually squealed, yes squealed at the entrance marque, filled with brightly coloured bunting, the most enormous ruffled paper flowers and marbled balloons (I need to get me some of those babies!) and greeted the friendly ticket collector with the hugest grin. At first she seemed perplexed that I was just arriving with a mere hour and a half to go but quickly realised I was bursting with excitement and directed me to the two ginormous bunting adorned tents filled with row upon row of B.E.A.U.tiful makers, designer and crafters peddling their wares. 

There is everything you could dream of if you appreciate all that is handmade and vintage. I was overwhelmed with the talent under the canopy walls, stunning ceramics, lovely lampshades, divine home decor and super stationery! 

I whizzed around as fast as my legs could carry me trying to take it all in, seeing and saying hello to as many stall holders as possible and snapping as much as I could to share with you, because you almost need to see it to believe it.

There was no, dare I say it, tat. Just row upon row of independent British artists and designers, craft enthusiastic and a few big name brands pepper potted in between. I felt like I had stumbled into the wind down hour a little, everyone had worked hard, had travelled, set up their stands and been on their feet all day as the first day crowds poured through. But by 4.30pm they were relaxed, tired but happy. All chatting with one another, laughing, telling stories about their day. It had a wonderful community feel, like I had stepped into to the brightest coloured exclusive club. 

I raced on round to the press tent to say hello at last to Louise from B.Loved Blog who I follow on Instagram and couldn't resist her #Instapretty table where you got to help yourself to a variety of gorgeous, sparkly fabrics, stripy straws and fabric samples and create your own vignette for Instagram. I loved looking at all the comments from happy snappers who had filed in and out of the floral wallpapered tent all day. 

My eyes darted widely for those last couple of hours of the show. The auditorium in the big red circus tent was full of eager attendees listening to Kirstie herself so I took the opportunity to potter around the fair site, taking in all the different food stalls, you've got to love a vintage vehicle or two, and sashaying to the jazz music rippling out of the Airstream pop up cocktail lounge.

I spent my precious time at The Handmade Fair wishing I could come back the next day! There was too much to squeeze into a mere 2 hours, I could have spent the weekend there with all the different workshops, tutorials and master classes. If you are planning to go to the next fair check out the schedule beforehand and plan what you might want to see. Some sessions are free like the Janome Sewing Masterclasses but there are some sessions you pay a little extra for, so look through the schedule for the Super Theatre, Grand Makes and Skills Workshop. I would definitely upgrade to a VIP package to be spoilt with afternoon tea in the VIP marquee, with gorgeous posies on the tables and bottomless tea. 

So here's just a peek at what you missed out on... 

There were experts I was dying to listen to, my favourite British brands including Annie Sloan, and favourite Instagrammers including Will Taylor from Bright Bazaar! I will absolutely be back next year, there's too much I missed out on.

Check out the amazing line up of speakers who would you like to see back next year? It was wonderful to meet fellow bloggers Bespoke Bride and see their super colourful stand with Cricut. There was so much creativity in the canvas tents you couldn't help but leave bursting with inspiration, laden down with shopping bags (it's amazing how much I can buy in 45 minutes I tell you!) and desperate to write down all your new ideas. I have a notebooks scribbled with pages after my trip to The Handmade Fair and over the next few months I am going to start blogging them. Sometimes to feel truly yourself, to let yourself run free with ideas, you need to surround yourself with like minded people. And everywhere I went there were new friends. A couple who recognised me from following my Instagram account and made me blush, I met a wonderful exhibitor from a local shop Gathered with her stunning range of gift wrap and exquisite stationery, stumbled across some eye poppingly talented artists including The Paper Hare and I now have one of her beautiful seahorse prints to admire every day!

If you can't wait to visit next year's fair then you are in luck! If you can get to Manchester keep the 20th-22nd November free. Kirstie is hosting The Handmade Christmas Fair at Manchester Central. Book your tickets here. There's so much to learn, to indulge in. I loved seeing best friends, mothers and daughters husbands and wives and everything in between walk around the fair arm in arm, giggly all the way to car park, rooting through goody bags, admiring their creations. Trundling past food stalls that made your mouth water as you walked by, so many fantastic independent artisans, foodies, people passionate about the food they bake and create and serve with love to you. 

Here are just some of those talented people:

Landy Girls • Cake Bar Limited • Ernest Wright & Son Scissors • Flossy Teacake ceramics

If you spot your work in any of these photos please let me know and I will make sure I link to you. 

What a treat to experience just a hint of what this magical fair has to offer! Thank you so much for inviting me. 

I was packing on Monday evening for my trip away with Graham and Brown (which I cannot wait to tell you all about!), rooting through my wardrobe and the baskets full of washing ready to be ironed, that haven't quite found their way to the ironing board yet. And I realised just what a mis match of colour there is in my life. I have one black dress for serious work meetings or evenings out where I want to blend into the background more, but everything else is a rainbow of emotions, print and pattern.

I am at my most confident in colour, which to some must sound quite strange. The brighter the better in my book. Wearing my yellow mac and coloured scarves for the school run gives me an instant smile and a confidence to say hello to anyone as I race up from the car park to the school gates.

It makes me feel sunshiny. Does that sound as ridiculous as it seems to type?! But it's true. 

We've been redecorating our hallway over the last week, the sad walls full of crumbly holes have been filled and skimmed and we have freshly painted brilliant white walls from top to toe. The yellowy tinged skirting and door trim have been refreshed up with a new coat of paint and the nice, but not anything particularly special, wooden doors have also had a ghostly transformation. 

It's like someone has turned the lights on. But as much as I like this new fresh feel it does lack a little soul. So all week I've been playing with our furniture, moving bits from around the house in and out to see what felt like the right fit. I adore my bureau I found in an antique shop for a bargain price and instead of giving it a chalk paint makeover I've decided to leave it in it's varnished wood state. I need to source a lovely lamp once the pictures are all rehung on the new walls and that little corner will be complete.

It needs some colour which at the moment I am bringing in with florals arranged in little vases and some colourful cushions on the window seat. But I feel it still doesn't completely feel like me, like us. Rich's fondness for orange doesn't seem quite right with the grey accessories and I go back and forwards trying to choose the perfect wallpaper for perhaps under the stairs behind the bureau. Maybe we need something lighter behind, softer against the heavy wood rather than the bold floral prints I am drawn to over and over again.

We have greys and blues and a hint of autumn with seasonal blooms but I can't help but want to bring in a tone of pink or green somewhere. Something warm to balance the steely cool colours.

I am in love with these images from my Inspiration for our Forever Home pin board... the mix of vintage and modern, the statement light, the industrial textures mixed with the soft fabrics, rough hardwearing homewards, seagrass matting... ooh I just need to save that big budget to tick off my wish list!

You can follow along and see what I've got in mind for our renovation here... 

Whilst I love the calmness that white brings I need to be surrounded by pops of colour. It helps me think, sparks my creativity and the house changes from splashes of mint and coral in the family dining room to navy, golds and other hues of blue in the lounge.  I look back on the photos I share every day with #capturingcolour and could pin point at any one time how I was feeling. A busy, frantic day full of deadlines has a lonely single image over an 8 hour period, busy, bursting with textures and colour, a day when I'm feeling refreshed and energised will have a palette of greens, trees, leaves in the garden and other days where I am feeling less sure of decisions will have more white, a stillness that shows I need time to reflect. 

I'm sat typing this is in a pair of pillar box red capri trousers, my favourite navy slip on espadrilles which should really be packed away for next summer, and an enormous billowy white and navy neck scarf. I'm in a nautical combination of strong, but serious colours ready for a more rigid day of routine. Manageable deadlines, military timings to get everything done before the school pick up but with a playful (dare I say it rather girlish) hair clip pinning back the right side of my hair. And that's what my mood is today, hectic but under control with a hint of cheekiness. I need to be creative today, I have product photos to take that require humour and whimsy. I am like a pot of paint. The same colour inside and out!

And when I scoured the #capturingcolour gallery the other night ready to share my favourites and then got slightly weigh laid, do forgive me, with chores before I headed for an early train, I could feel I needed to immerse myself in the richness of the season. Energising greens, sumptuous flashes of red and calming blues.

I cannot believe the gallery now has over 20,000 posts linked up - that is amazing thank you so much for joining in!!!!

I loved these beautiful captures this week from the #capturingcolour gallery. 

Each week I share my grid of favourites and link to one account on the blog. I hope that I feature all sorts of accounts, inspiration from all over the world and people who make me want to reach for my camera. Check them out on my Instagram feed. 

I'm thinking of starting a monthly styling challenge as part of the #capturingcolour gallery. For the last week of the month to have a daily prompt, different daily themes to capture and get our creatives sparks flying. What do you think?!

7 days of styling for those who love to capture colour.

In the meantime go and find Candy Pop. I went through the gallery, as I do each week blindly choosing photos that jumped out at me and it was only after they loaded that I realised 4 were by Natasha! I have had the pleasure of meeting her recently and I only wishes we had had longer to chat! Her feed and love of colour is inspiring. Find her. 

So come and join us, tag your colourful images with #capturingcolour. Anything goes! Are you all about the pastels or bright pops of pink or are you a lover of cooler muted tomes, I'd love to see.

#capturingcolour is a monthly theme on Instagram. Tag your colourful photos to be featured next week. I will share a round up next Monday :)

We live in a little village in the countryside. A village full of farming history and the most spectacular viewpoint over the fields of corn and cows and bales of hay. Our house was one of the original dairy farmers homes and his daughter who once slept in the boys' attic bedroom, still lives in the village in the cottage behind us. Every year the village holds an annual Harvest festival lunch to honour all the farmer's hard work and take stock of the year gone by. And that's what I feel September has been in house too. Hard work, reflection and planning for the year ahead.

I feel like I have waited a whole month to share these photos on the blog. And every time I look at them, they make me take a sharp in take of breath. Big boys, in big boy school shoes, with big boy long socks and little boy grazed knees beneath their shorts. 

We said we needed a reboot in September. 

Time to get back into routine, get on top of the rolling to do list that had to be sidelined somewhat during the school summer holidays and make definite decisions about the next 12 months.

When you work from home there are so many distractions especially when the house has it’s own never ending to do list! So we decided to get the lovely team of decorators who made over our offices (which I still need to show you!) back to give the hallway a new lease of life. It connects our lounge and family living space, both of which feel like us. We’ve painted, decorated and changed the way the rooms are used from the previous owners. In fact September was the anniversary of us getting the keys and on the very day, the lady who lived here for the past 30 years came back to the village for the first time. She popped in for a walk around the garden she adored, approved of all our updates and renovations and it was heart warming to see how much she obviously cherishes the memories they made in these four walls. As she left she said “I knew you would make changes and I knew they would be lovely, because you just love the house so much!” 

So we have plans for the next few months, to get the house ready for winter so we don’t spend another 3 months going to bed in hoodies and socks! But we have held off until we felt the boys had started to settle at their new school.

A year ago Sammy started at the village school about 20 minutes away. For the first 3 weeks we tag teamed living in a B&B during the school week a few miles from the school until we completed on the house. Incredibly our confident boy settled into that crazy schedule with ease and within weeks had made firm friends. We knew moving him again for the third time in 3 years was going to be a challenge but we also knew it was the best decision for him long term and quite remarkably our floppy haired 6 year old has sailed through another change. He’s had a party invitation, a play date after school and every morning I chase after them as they run into school. Yes run! Every day is a new adventure, Ollie came home yesterday with tales of tennis, cricket and badminton and Sammy has joined the swimming club and started learning the violin. Eeek. We may need a hip flask to get through the concert at the end of the half term!

They both have found friends, we joke in the playground that they all look the same. Bouncy hair that always looks in need of a brush, shirts untucked great huge school bags that look like tortoise shells on their backs. It feels like they have the world at their feet. So many from the primary school go on to the feeder secondary together and I knew I had made my own firm friend when one of the mums text me in the first week saying I can’t wait to watch our boys grow up together.

It may sound silly but I feel like I have found a best friend. We even wore an identical outfit on the school run the other day and have been blasting each other with messages in the evening even though we will see each other the next morning!

I can be myself, blast in my print leggings and yellow mac like a giant bumble bee, hair off to a photo shoot, development meeting or blog event in a rush and no one bats an eyelid. They’ve all accepted me into their gang just as I am. 

And our boys have made us so proud. There’s so much they do at school that we know nothing about really. I am like the Spanish Inquisition in the car on the way home but sometimes they aren’t very forthcoming! I am desperate to know their day minute by minute! But I guess it’s rather nice that they have this world without us, finding their independence.

Bar a slight incident with Ollie, a pair of pants, and the school toilets begin blocked, we’ve and nothing but encouraging reports. Nice table manners, kindness to classmates, enthusiasm for learning new sports and strong bonds being formed already. 

We take an extra minute some days as they head to the lower school hall to read books before it’s time to head to their classrooms to scan the walls for their artwork (“Mama” said Ollie the other day, “They call painting art! But it’s painting!”) and snap a photo. I know we will get it all in a folder at the end of term but it just makes our hearts burst at their observations. The big front tooth on Sammy’s self portrait and his interpretation of what you love” was a story about him and his little brother, when everyone else drew just themselves.

We had a feeling over the summer that we were letting them down in some way, hoofing them off to kid’s clubs to keep on top of work, battling with them to try and explain why some mummies work and some don’t. But when I see how they are flourishing I know we haven’t done such a bad job. I said to a friend yesterday, “We are all just doing our best and learning as we go.” I’ve never had a 6 year old before and the different type of tantrums and attitude that goes with this new phase. We are all figuring parenting out!

Life feels good. The boys are thriving, soaking up everything their new school has to offer. The tea brand has just popped up on two of the nations best loved and respected websites in their Christmas hampers and everyday I look in wonder at my emails and enquiries for new photography clients and collaborations for the blog.

I am off to Honeybuns today to finish their Christmas photography and next week I am off to Manchester for the night for an exciting stay away. More on that asap! I have realised how much I have been absorbed in work in September and I miss my friends so much. So we have booked up our calendar until Christmas with lovely catch ups, weekends away and on Friday I am off for 2 nights to Southbourne with my lovely girlfriends from Weston. Hooray for sunshine and glasses of bubbly at the beach hut! 

This month I want to send you to one of my fellow mama's of blue ones! Oh tiny blue babies make my heart ache. Pop over to Alex's blog. She writes with such passion, about her family and her boys. She too is married to her sweetheart and they had a terrible scare this weekend. I am just so glad all is ok. 

Come and share your family photos with us, life is so precious and I will treasure all these photos.