Shopping

The English Charm Company

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Gifts, Guest Posts, Handmade, Local Mum Businesses, Parents, Pregnancy 2 Comments

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The English Charm Company make bespoke handmade silver keepsake jewellery and gifts for you to cherish.

What could be more precious than a baby’s or child’s fingerprint, handprint, footprint or even a special drawing or handwriting, on your very own piece of handcrafted 99.9% pure solid silver charm. These baby/child keepsakes are something to treasure forever.

I can also create an ever lasting memory of your much loved pet with their miniaturised paw prints.  Why not give your husband or wife something personal from you, your fingerprints on a charm and a special message.

I have a range of necklaces and bracelets to finish off your perfect gift including men’s gifts and Pandora style jewellery.

All of my products are handmade in my workshop. I take time over every ittle detail from taking prints and capturing drawings, to crafting the silver and polishing them to perfection.

Important to the finishing touch is the packaging of your gift, which comes in a beautiful magnetic clasp gift box with a certificate showing the original artwork used, care instructions and a polishing cloth.

Multiple prints can be included at no extra charge. Different combinations of designs can be accommodated including adding gem stones for an extra bit of sparkle. Many different shapes and style of charms are available to choose from

Don’t worry if you are not able to make an appointment. You can request a  fingerprint, handprint or footprint kit to do in the comfort of your home. It is very easy to do, safe and not at all messy.

For children’s doodles, you simply need to email a scanned copy of your child’s picture they have drawn.

I am located in the North Hampshire Downs’ covering Basingstoke, Winchester, Newbury, Alresford and surrounding villages for appointments.

Finished jewellery is usually ready within 2 weeks.

I am trained by the Craft Ecademy and a member of The Keepsake Guild.

I will be taking prints at :

  • Upton Grey Village Hall Toddler Group Christmas Fayre on Wed 3rd Dec, at 10am -11.30 am
  • The Overton Primary School Christmas Fayre on Thurs 4th Dec 6-8pm
  • North Waltham Primary School Christmas Fayre Fri 5th Dec 3.15 – 5.30pm
  • Whitchurch Primary School Christmas Fayre Sat 6th Dec 2pm – 5pm

Contact me via email at hello@theenglishcharmco.co.uk

Facebook: theenglishcharmcompany

Twitter:  #englishcharmco

Mob. 07792 503411 to discuss your requirements

Thank you,

Natasha

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New Shop Opening Oct 2014: “All Our Own Crafts”

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Festival Place, Shopping 0 Comment

I am so excited about the new All our Own Crafts shop opening!!!!

Most of the crafters displaying are women running their own business from home, so this is your chance to support your peers.

It will also be a great chance to get some unique Christmas presents sorted!

Several of the local crafts-people in the shop have featured on a Guest Post at  NHM over the years.

It’s so great to see that they are finally getting the recognition they deserve!

All Our Own Crafts

A new POP-UP craft shop in Festival Place, Basingstoke will launch with a grand opening on Saturday 11th October.

All Our Own Crafts, a project devised by Basingstoke residents Tracy Braybrook and Kate Donohoe after seeing the success of the All Our Own Work art gallery, gives local residents a unique chance to retail their crafts within the busy shopping centre.

The All Our Own Crafts Pop-Up Shop is situated opposite T K Maxx in the unit that was previously Millets.

Featuring the handmade work of over 20 local crafts-people, we will be displaying work from crochet to candles, children’s clothing, prints, glass, ceramics and much more.

We hope to be running workshops at our demo table so people can learn how to make their own crafts.

We will also have crayons and paper so Mums can browse whilst their little ones do some drawing. People are also welcome to pop in to do some knitting/ stitching  etc and have a chat.

We are having a preview week from Monday 6th where people can come in and browse and buy.

We’ll be adding more stock over the week leading to our grand opening on Saturday 11th with lots of fun activities for all the family.

This will run from midday-5pm.

We have this unit for a three month period only but it will be perfect for people looking for handmade, unique gifts for Christmas.

Most of our crafters accept bespoke orders and are happy to create custom items.

Normal opening hours will be Monday to Saturdays 9am – 5pm and on Sundays 11am – 5 pm.

For more information, visit All Our Own Crafts or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllOurOwnCrafts/

Sew the Seams

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Gifts, Guest Posts, Handmade, Shopping 0 Comment

Sew the Seams

Sew the seams is made up of three crafty mums who all have different areas of design.

Between us we create handmade felt and fabric items for your children.

This includes cushions, blankets, playmats, mobiles, dribble bibs and sensory tag blankets.

All of the items are made to order and can be personalised to suit your individual needs, you can choose fabrics, colours and themes.

I am Chloe and have a 12 week old son. I learnt to sew at school and have always been very creative.

I made lots of items for my son’s nursery whilst pregnant and friends and family commented I should sell similar items.

I started Sew the seams whilst on maternity leave to sell individual handmade items to offer a bespoke feel to your children’s nurseries and bedrooms.

Rhi learnt to sew from her mum and creates items such as dummy clips personalised with your childs name aswell as dribble bibs.

Rhi has a 6 month old daughter and has filled her nursery with beautiful handmade items.

Bunting, cot pockets and blankets all made by Rhi surround her daughter and now you too can buy these amazing products.

Charlene is mum to an eleven year old daughter and has always enjoyed making items for their home.

Charlene makes handmade rugs, fairylight garlands and personalised Christmas decorations.

With the items being made to order you can request even the most unusual names to be created into a bespoke decoration for your tree.

Pop over to our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/sewtheseams to take a look at the full range of items avaliable.

We are always happy to help and create the items you wish to see in your home so please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you!

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Hope & Rainbows

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Gifts, Guest Posts, Local Mum Businesses 0 Comment

Kate sent me a very lovely email asking me to let you know about her gorgeous designs:

Hope & Rainbows

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My shop is called Hope & Rainbows.  I launched the site in July, initially through a Facebook campaign to spread the word via my friends and family, who were very enthusiastic and supportive.

More recently, I have been receiving orders from unrelated, genuine Customers (not that my friends and family weren’t…!) and I’ve been so happy to find that my illustrations and products are being well received by the world at large too!

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Each of my designs is digitally hand designed by me, Kate, at home (with ‘helpful’ input from my husband and daughters!!).   I am able to produce the images as a mounted or fully framed print, to brighten up a nursery or playroom.

There is already a wide selection of pictures to choose from, including almost all initials, but I also offer a bespoke service to create a totally new illustration when necessary to fulfill a customers’ exact requirements.

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The popularity of the prints led me to also sell packs of 25 postcards with the same range of images on.  These make a wonderful standalone present for a little one (for those all-important thank you letters…), but are even more special when paired with a framed print to gift for a Christening or Birth.

In August, my husband had the brilliant idea of transferring images onto child-sized tote bags, to gift to our daughter’s friends at her fourth birthday party.  These reusable, adorable bags went down an absolute storm and I have received many orders for them since – they are a lovely keepsake and a great alternative to a plastic bag that tends to go straight in the bin.

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I chose to fill ours with a few sweeties and the obligatory piece of cake; a friend of mine recently shared that she has put a blank greetings card, sheet of stickers and a pencil in each bag – the children loved having a craft to do after the party.

Following the success of the party bags, I am also rolling out some new larger drawstring bags in the near future.  The party bags are great for a pair of ballet shoes or football boots; the drawstring bags are for the full kit and caboodle and a really lovely Christmas present (a bargain too, at £7!).

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So I would love to invite your readers to visit my website to get to know my work better and to visit my shop  or Etsy store  if they would like to place an order or get in touch to chat about a custom design.

You can also find out more about Kate’s designs at her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hopeandrainbows

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Usborne Books in North Hampshire

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Books, Gifts, Guest Posts 0 Comment

I LOVE Usborne books. I was bought up on them and still have my first cookery book and gardening book, both of which are Usborne.

If you’ve never seen an Usborne book, I totally recommend looking out for them. I love that they have books for each age range and I love the baby books, especially the bath books.

I’m probably going to shoot myself in the foot with this, but we always scour every baby and children market or nearly new sale for cheap Usborne books. We picked up a bargain with the Apple Tree Farm books for £5 and the Phonic’s Reader books for £10.

I’ve been reading both to my little one since she was 10 months old. She could spot the duck on most pages by the time she was 14 months.

I also love the children’s story books. For older children there are a huge variety of subjects. We bought the first dictionary for my little one and she’s loved it since she was tiny. I really hadn’t expected her to pick if up, but she loves sitting there and pointing to the pictures and saying the words.

When she was tiny I would point to the words and she would try to say them. I’ve recently acquired the Spanish version of the first dictionary, so I can practice my Spanish whilst my little one practices her English!

The Usborne team don’t advertise publicise what they do, it’s all done via word of mouth. There are several Usborne “lady’s” in the area. Each month there is a deal on the books.

One of the best ways to get access to the books is to ask one of the lady’s to come and do an Usborne party for you. I loved these as a child as it meant my Mum got the yummy chocolate biscuits in for the other Mums!

I really recommend having a look at the Usborne books. Once we’ve moved house and have some more space, I’m really looking forward to having an Usborne Party. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with my friends and have a good nose through the books and get some birthday and Christmas presents sorted.

You can’t go wrong with an Usborne book, I can vouch that they last for years 😀

www.Usborne.com

Princess Parties (Pirates welcome too…!)

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Birthday Parties, Gifts, Guest Posts 0 Comment

I met Sarah through NHM over a year ago and I’ve had several family photo shoots with her since. She takes fantastic photo’s that are very reasonably priced. The parties sound like great fun, and I love the idea of having photo’s to document the whole experience. If you would like more details about Sarah’s studio over at Viables, please see the related posts below.

Princess Parties (Pirates welcome too…!)

Princess Parties are aimed for little ones aged 3 – 7.  At the party, your child can dress up and be made up to feel like a fairytale princess or swashbuckling pirate.  Don’t worry if you don’t have party dresses – we can supply those too!

Hair and Nails will be done at the party.  The thing that makes this party unique is that the whole event has a professional photographer there to record every moment.  The mobile studio will be set up and once the princess or pirate has been made up, professional portraits will be taken. All your party guests will have a mounted photograph to take away with them and, within a few days, the party princess or pirate will be given a memory book and 10 x 8 image of the day

Prices can vary depending on your specific requirements – please contact me for further information!

Modelling Party

The Modelling party is a fun two hours.

Come and be treated like a model with five guests – party invites are included in the price and sent to you with the party booking information. You will be greeted with drinks (mocktails for under 18’s) and party nibbles.

The Shoot is held in a party atmosphere and, if the weather is nice, we go out in the local grounds and do some on-location shots. Bring along your favourite outfits and change as much as you like to work those Top Model poses!

Once the party is over and we have some amazing photographs, I will edit the photos (which is normally a ten-day turn-around) and place them on a CD. There will be a minimum of 5 photos per person, and a letter giving you permission to print will be supplied with each CD – meaning that the images can then be printed anywhere at your convenience.

Parties are normally held at the studio – but if another location is required, this can be discussed.

Please contact Sarah Dutton Photography for more information on the above two parties!

You can also find Sarah’s Facebook page HERE.

Pick Your Own Farms in North Hampshire and Berkshire

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Berkshire, Food, Hampshire, Outings, Shopping, Summer 1 Comment
Mr NHM's 2015 Pumpkin!!
Mr NHM’s 2015 Pumpkin!!

Carly sent me a very sweet email, prompting me to get my butt in gear and post up this Pick Your Own Farm post! This was a really hard post to research, so if you know of any other local pick your own farms, please let me know at northhantsmum@gmail.com. Thanks for the reminder Carly and I hope you find it useful!

Hampshire

Bourne Valley Pick Your Own, Near Whitchurch/Andover: strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, black, red and white currants and broad beans

West Green Fruits, Hartley Wintney, Hook: West Green Fruits was established in 1997, and is a family run business of 15 acres set in farmland near Hartley Wintney. We offer an extensive range of fruit including; Strawberries, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Gooseberries, Tayberries, Tummelberries, Black & Redcurrants, Blackberries and Summer vegetables.

Durleighmarsh Farm, nr Petersfield: Set in beautiful countryside on the Hampshire/Sussex border, a stone’s throw from Petersfield, Durleighmarsh Farm with its family-run Farm Shop and Pick-Your-Own offers a huge range of top quality fruit and vegetables throughout the season.

Portland Farm, North Waltham (no website that I could see for this farm)

Berkshire

Grays Farm, Wokingham: The Farm is now closed for the winter. We will open as usual in mid April for Rhubarb & hope to open fully on May 18th 2013 with Strawberries, New Potatoes etc.

Copas Farms, Cookham: Copas Farms is a modern, diverse, family-run business with a landholding of just under 3,000 acres in and around the Chilterns and Thames Valley.  From this approximately 2,400 acres is under arable rotation and 81 acres is allocated to two Pick Your Own Farms providing seasonal fruit and vegetables – one at Cookham in Berkshire and the other at Iver in Buckinghamshire.  The centre of operations is based at Hedsor Park Farm, Hedsor in Buckinghamshire.

I also stumbled across this Local Organic Box Delivery in Basingstoke: Northdown Orchard. I currently use Able and Cole but am considering switching to this local supplier. I will let you know if I do manage to get this sorted!

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there! 

14 Things you don’t want to forget for Christmas

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Shopping 1 Comment

I’ve been thinking of all those things you don’t want to run out of at Christmas. You might want to double up on these items beforehand so you don’t have to make a special trip to the shops during Christmas with little ones in tow.

This is what I’ve come up with so far:

  1. Tin Foil
  2. Batteries for all of those new Toys
  3. Greaseproof paper
  4. Toilet Rolls
  5. Dishwasher Tablets (if you are blessed to have a dishwasher) or washing up liquid
  6. Bin liners
  7. Lightbulbs
  8. Nappies (if your children are using them still)
  9. Wetwipes and Nappy Sacks (If your children are using them still)
  10. Pet Food
  11. Matches (you never know when you will need them!)
  12. Formula (if using)
  13. Washing powder
  14. Alcohol 😀

PS: Have I missed anything?

Farm Shops in Basingstoke/North Hampshire

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Basingstoke, Food, Health, North Hampshire, Shopping 0 Comment

Farm Shops are great places to look for organic/local produce for your children to eat. Several shops sell weaning boxes at reasonable prices. April 2013 Post: Pick Your Own Farm’s in North Hampshire and Berkshire September 2013 Post: Review: NorthDown Orchard Deliveries

Local Farm Shops

Manydown Farm Shop – Worting Road, Basingstoke Family run award winning butcher, pie and sausage maker and farm shop.

  • Scrapps Hill Farm, 550 Worting Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire
  • Tel: 01256 460 068

Newlyns Farm Shop – North Warnborough, Hook Newlyns Farm is an award winning farm shop located in North Warnborough and Andover, both in North Hampshire.

  • Lodge Farm, Hook Road, North Warnborough, Hook
  • Tel: 01256 704 128

Portland Farm Shop (no website) – North Waltham Farm shop selling free range eggs, seasonal local vegetables,fruit, honey and preserves. Some PYO when fruit is ready.

  • Portland Farm, Popham Lane, North Waltham, Basingstoke, Hampshire
  • 01256 398593
  • The Wellington Farm Shop – Hook Offering the highest quality locally sourced fresh meat, cheese and produce, Wellington Farm Shop provides discerning rural residents a shopping experience synonymous with the fine food stores of London.
  • Park Corner Farm, Welsh Lane, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 0LJ
  • Tel: 0118 932 6132

Mill Farm Organic Shop – Alton We are a small traditional family run farm, farming to Soil Association Organic Standards. We have had our full organic status for 6 years now. We have two farm trails/walks open throughout the year on and around the farm.

  • Mill Farm, Isington, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 4PN
  • Tel: 01420 22331