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Welcome to 2019

Welcome to 2019

Happy New Year and welcome to the next 12 months of endless possibilities! I have come to realise that making resolutions doesn't seem to work out for me. I've heard people say, 'Don't wait for the new year, start now', which is a great mindset if you're strong enough to commit to something straight away and not wait til tomorrow, or next Monday or the new year. So in order to combat this I've decided to employ a few changes (nothing wild or way out of my comfort zone and these are quite obvious things that a lot of people do anyway) that I can do on a regular basis in order to have a more semi-organised and fulfilled life. 

1. Have a daily schedule
This may sound like an easy feat right? Note down the hours in the day, add the activities you need to accomplish within those hours and stick to it... Ummm nope! Working from home with a 7 month old who is not on a schedule makes every day unpredictable and sometimes very unproductive. So how do I organise my day? I've started making notes of wake-ups, feeds, naps and playtime in order to find a pattern and then figure out the times I have available without a baby wanting all of my attention. Based on that I am creating loose itineraries of what I need to do each day. Along with the workload, there's house chores, dinner prepping and general tidy-up to add to my list. It's highly likely that some of these will be done after hours, within reason and whilst also considering rest time. Having a plan for the day where I can tick off the 'to-do's once they are done really does give a sense of accomplishment and sets me up for the following day. 

2. Declutter your space
I will admit that I am one of those people that lets things pile up over the year (hello laziness) - not anything like a full on hoarder - but instead of getting rid of items when I don't need them, I've held onto things in case there will come a day when I will use them. More often than not this doesn't happen and the box of ribbons or coloured paper or random envelopes that has been kept in the corner of my studio never gets a second look... we are all guilty at some point of doing this but I'm here to tell you, it's really not worth hanging onto. I really believe an open usable workspace make a positive change to your productivity and also your mind. There's no need to add extra frustration to your life over the things that clutter your home or office. If it hasn't been used in the last 6 months do yourself a big favour and get rid of it. Instead of going on a 'lets throw everything out' rampage once a year when it all gets a bit too much to handle, I'm now doing this on a monthly basis to ensure I have an uncluttered breathable space throughout the year.

3. Meal prepping
This doesn't seem that important however I've come to find that it saves so much time and knowing exactly what you need and sticking to your list saves money your grocery bill each week. I hate throwing away food but yes I have been guilty of this unfortunately. Being disorganised with meals sometimes leads to vegetables in the fridge going unnoticed then going off, and ending up in the bin. Shopping smarter eliminates this wastage and having a plan also stops the daily conversation of 'what are we having for dinner?'. It also mean less take out - again since having a baby this has been a common occurrence in our house. I used to love cooking and trying new recipes however lack of time has changed this dramatically and for a while we found ourselves basically eating eggs with whatever veggies we had that week... it's actually not a bad dinner but this year I'm looking forward to re-spark that love of cooking and I know that prepping once a week will allow me to accomplish that.

I could add another 5 or 6 points to this but I'm not going to overload myself this early on in the year. Trying to turn these into habits before committing to other weekly duties.

Whatever your resolutions are remember that doing little things each day is a great start and if you slip a little off schedule that's ok too, it's not a failure unless you completely give up.

Set realistic goals and good luck with it! Wishing you the best year ever, happy 2019!!!

Frankie's Girl xx 

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2018... off to a very good start

2018... off to a very good start

Yes. I know, it's already the end of February and this is my first blog post for the year. It has been a bit of a slow start work wise, but personally there's been lots going on around the Frankie's Girl studio. About a month ago, we announced something very special to our instagram followers... we are having our first child this May and are super duper excited!! It will mean a bit of a break from wedding and custom work however we are continuing to grow our product range organically by being a bit more organised throughout all our processes (well hoping to be anyway). 

In case you missed it here is the little tribute I wrote to our growing babe:

To the little feet that will be filling these shoes... the world might not always meet your expectations but I promise you that you will never go through life alone, you will be nurtured, protected, encouraged, be loved beyond measure, for you will be perfect just as you are. 2017 was a year of major business and personal events for us. After celebrating 10 years of marriage (yay we made it!!), we took a big leap of faith in May by travelling to New York to participate in our first trade show. This May we will be experiencing adventures of a different kind... there will be a new ‘Frankie’s Girl’ in town who will change the course of life as we know it. We are truly blessed and excited to be welcoming our greatest creation to date, a baby girl.

To our tiny principessa, I would say I’m ready to fall in love again but that wouldn’t be true, because I loved you from the first moment I heard your beating heart, before even meeting you. You have already taught me so much about patience and putting complete trust not only in the timing of the universe but also in my body as it alters to accommodate you, you have turned me into an emotional wreck, completely thrown out my work schedule, rendered me breathless and made me believe in hope. If good things take time, you were definitely worth the wait! Counting down the next few months until we can hold you in our arms, guide you and show you all the wonders that life has to offer. 

We will be keeping you updated with new work, new products and any other developments that will make an impact to our wonderful customers. As always, thank you for your support and following along. 2018 is definitely going to be a special one.

xoxo

 

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My Christmas has come early! Trade Show Press from NSS 2017

My Christmas has come early! Trade Show Press from NSS 2017

(Featured image by Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper Blog www.ohsobeautifulpaper.com)

When I sent an invite to Nole from Oh So Beautiful Paper blog to visit me at booth 1464, for the Frankie's Girl debut at the National Stationery Show this year, I did not expect her to visit. Well with something around 800 exhibitors (I don't actually know the real figure, that's possibly incorrect) I thought surely I'd be missed. Saying I was a little over the moon when we met in person (at my booth!!) is a complete understatement.

A couple of months later, she has posted a blog of new exhibitors from NSS 2017. See it here:

http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2017/08/nss-2017-new-exhibitors-part-2/

And guess who's been included... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE with a capital M :) See it here:

http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/trade-shows/frankies-girl-2017/

A couple of snapshots from the site:

I seriously can't contain my excitement and somehow feel like this must have been a mistake. Well I'm taking it!! Huge thanks to Nole for my inclusion, you are an inspiration and because of your blog I have aspired to create beautiful things, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, but the journey is and will always be the best experience.

xoxo

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Welcome! Bienvenue! Benvenuto! In other words, thank you for being here...

Welcome! Bienvenue! Benvenuto! In other words, thank you for being here...

I finally have a website!!! Yay! If you've already read my profile on the about page, you'll know that I am Sarine, the owner, creator, designer of this little world called Frankie's Girl....

 

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