Turning Over a New Leaf

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas and New Year. We spent our time at home in London this year – it was very nice just relaxing at home and it certainly made dealing with my Christmas and New Year orders a lot easier!

Highlights included making Christmas decorations with the help of my mother, the writer Jocasta Innes, who has been doing crafting courses at her home and as a result had a lot of craft equipment we could use. My two boys and my nephew Max spent hours making gift tags and decorations to hang up on the Christmas tree. We had a delicious organic turkey on the day itself and I managed to do a lot of shopping at Spitalfieds market so I felt I was supporting local traders and designers. I hope you are all happy with your Christmas orders – Twisted Twee designs in particular were flying out of the shop!

Like everyone I’ve been making New Year’s Resolutions. For my business, it’s to be a better blogger – I’m aiming to do at least two posts per week here and on my personal blog. I’m also going to work on updating my business plan so that I can start the New Year with firm goals and targets. Finally – soon – I will launch a new website to make it easy for overseas customers to shop at Mimimyne! This will have lots of great new features to make the site easier to use and navigate for everyone. I can’t wait!

For myself personally, I’ve joined New Year New Body, a support group set up by Liz Jarvis to help women stay motivated to lose weight and get fit. I’m reasonably active (well, I walk the dogs every day and cycle and walk everywhere) but never find the time to go to the gym, so I’m going to make more time for that too.

My other resolution is to make my home more organised and clutter free. I’m planning to clear it out by the end of January so I can redecorate a couple of rooms. I found a great article on Decluttering with a Conscience over at Angels and Urchins – have a look!

And finally I’m going to make more time for creative writing. I’ve had one short story published recently but I used to write a lot more – screenplays, poetry and fiction – before I had children. I’m going to work at this as it’s something I find inspiring and challenging.

What are your resolutions for the New Year?

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It’s Recycle Week in the UK and it’s a great time to revisit ways to help the environment and put a bit less strain on it by reducing, reusing and recycling. I wanted to share with you some of the things that I’ve been doing and plan to do this week, and some tips and ideas to help you cut down on waste.

I’ve been recycling batteries at my local Tesco; there are so many more places where you can do this now and it’s only a five minute walk for me to drop them off! The other thing I could do is cut down on the amount of batteries I use in the first place, I am thinking about buying a battery recharger and rechargeable batteries to reduce my impact on the environment.

I’m going to make a final decision about whether to get a wormery or a composter this week and buy one. My local council subsidises both so it’s really a question of whether I can face up to wriggly worms or whether it’s better to have a composter, even though my garden is very small. The council used to pick up my food waste from my previous address, but sadly does not provide this service where I live now.

I am going to recycle some clothes (too knackered for the charity shop) and a broken electric kettle. RecycleNow has a great list of retailers who will recycle old small electrical appliances but none of them are near me so I will be making a trip to my local recycling centre.

I recently recycled two mobile phones and was paid £45 for them – it’s so worthwhile. Mobile phones that go into landfill are toxic and are also a waste of the expensive hi-tech components that are used to make them. Recycle yours, donate them to charity or get money for them – it’s a really good idea! There are plenty of sites out there which will help you get your old mobile phones recycled, try this tool from Money Saving Expert to compare them.

I’m also using a Kindle to read books. This is great for the book club I attend as I don’t have to run around book stores looking for books at the last minute, I’m finding it hard to kick my newspaper habit though, even if I can read a newspaper online it doesn’t feel quite the same. If I do buy a paper, I recycle it (of course!) but cutting down on my newspaper and magazine purchasing is going to be hard. I’m also going to donate some books to a local charity to clear some space.

I’m also looking into ways my company can help out. I’ve been looking at ways of reusing materials when creating products and am about to launch a new line of children’s clothing, made with talented childrenswear designer Sally Hemphill (who I met on the school run!) which uses recycled fabrics (offcuts from interior design projects which would otherwise have gone to landfill). The clothes are hand made in the UK by Heba Women’s Project, a unique training & enterprise project based in Brick Lane providing women from diverse cultural backgrounds with a safe and welcoming place in which to make new friends, learn new skills and engage in enterprise activities to suit their particular needs and family commitments. Heba’s a fantastic place which has helped many women with their sewing, English and IT courses, work spaces for designers and creche, so I’m proud to be working with them.

Mimimyne uses recycled printing paper, envelopes and reuses packaging, so that’s taken care of: in fact I do almost everything electronically and don’t generate much paper. I also recycle all my print cartridges by donating them to charity or getting them refilled. I am interested in finding out more about green packaging however, a designer I met recently at Pulse uses biodegradable plastic to package her products and I think there is more that I could do in terms of sourcing green packaging materials. I currently use recycled paper bags and Mimimyne recyclable and reusable Smartbags for selling goods at shows but am going to research things like bubble wrap to see if there are greener alternatives I could be using.

There is lots more information about how you can help the environment during Recycle Week at their website Recycle Now. You can also use the widget below to find out more tips about recycling in your area!

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I wanted to tell you about a great little place I discovered recently, one of those hidden gems which make you glad to live in the neighbourhood. There is so much to see and do in East London but a lot of it is more grown-up than kiddie fun and it’s always exciting to come across something new for children in the area. I was browsing some websites when I came across a mention of a shop in Hoxton which was part of a social enterprise encouraging kids and young people to write, the Ministry of Stories. The Ministry is partly funded by sales from the Hoxton Monster Supplies shop. Intrigued, I set off with the kids and Other Half. We had lunch at Viet Hoa, a great local Vietnamese restaurant (this was a triumph as we finally discovered a menu item that Felix will eat apart from plain noodles – thank you, spare ribs!). And then went to look for the shop. It’s tucked away on Hoxton Road behind Hackney community college and has an old fashioned wood and glass front. ‘Angry mobs please douse your torches’ said one sign. ‘Nocturnal visits by appointment for vampire customers only’ says another.

Inside the shop has lots of beautifully designed products including tins labelled ‘A vague sense of unease’ or ‘Utter terror’. After a while trying to work out what was inside we found out that they contained short stories – a brilliant idea. We also checked out the invisible cat in the basket in the corner (don’t pet it too hard) and bought a book of children’s stories for the boys. It’s such a great concept and I will certainly be back. The Ministry is currently looking for volunteers and there is also a Book Club.

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Visit the Day

An online daily news service linked to different parts of the curriculum that helps teachers bring the daily news alive, has been launched by national newspaper journalists.

The Day aims to highlight the debates behind current affairs and issues discussed in the media and connect them to different parts of the curriculum. It turns current news stories into lively issues, helping teachers engage pupils during form time and in their subjects through the medium of current events, as well as saving time for the teachers themselves.

It is already being used in more than 250 secondary schools across the country as part of a trial.

Editors at The Day choose three stories for every edition, providing a balance of UK news, international, sport, the environment and the dilemmas and issues of the day. It also includes talking points, less obvious stories and a very popular weekly news quiz. The mix is designed to cater for the whole 11 – 18 age range and to include material for a range of abilities.

Schools receive links to the three stories on an e-mail every evening, taking them to The Day’s website where a pdf of each story can be downloaded. A longer online version ideal for use on classroom whiteboards is also available. Subscribers have access to the archive of stories, sorted by curriculum subjects and key words.

The chosen stories are connected to curriculum subjects and The Day’s own graphics department provides drawings, information-rich graphics and cartoons to accompany the stories. There are suggested related activities, debating options, a Q and A, and video links to further information for each one.

Stephen Adcock, who teaches Politics and History at Burlington Danes Academy, says of The Day: “It’s proving a great way to enable students to access relevant stories about current affairs, which also saves teachers from having to sift through thousands of articles themselves to find interesting ones, appropriately written.

“We want our students, many from a tough inner city environment, to have confidence about the wider world, which they often don’t have. The Day meets that need and is going down very well. It is accessible no matter what the age group or background of students.”

Professor Richard Andrews from the Department of Learning, Curriculum and Communication in the Faculty of Children and Learning at the Institute of Education, has also welcomed The Day.

“Debating is vital, and news is a catalyst for discussion that people can relate to,” he says. “It is important to recognise that at the heart of each school subject is a series of debates. History, for example, is in many ways about the process of digging down to the point of dispute. That is how you open up being critical and thoughtful”

Recent editions have covered the floods in Queensland, the turmoil in Egypt and a campaign by poets to recover St George as an emblem away from the political far right. Each story is distilled and given context to aid discussion and debate. Exceptional unfolding stories, like the protests in Egypt, will be given special live coverage: an Egypt special, free to non-subscribers, is running at the moment.

“Teachers know they can click on an email and reliably get interesting and accessible stories, and that the language will be appropriate for young inquiring minds,” says Philippa Nunn, Headteacher of Waldegrave School for girls.

Waldegrave, which has 1,000 pupils, was last year named top state secondary school without a sixth form in the UK in The Sunday Times Parent Power list of best schools.

“The immediacy of The Day saves busy teachers a lot of research time. It gives kids instant access to news stories to promote discussion about current events, which is very helpful for tutor time. We work hard to broaden the school experience and for that The Day is really appreciated.”

The Day is valuable for promoting the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development of pupils required in all curriculum subjects. It also directly informs the PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education) curriculum which runs though all years of the secondary curriculum.

The Day founder Richard Addis, who has five children, said: “I believe that news makes learning exciting. If you can use your History, Science, Maths and English in conversation it acquires a whole new glamour. You are interesting, informed, opinionated. People listen. And it will help you get into university or get a job”.

The Day also helps schools to encourage pupil interest in English, Maths, Science, History and Geography, as well as offering a topical source for discussion and translation in Modern Foreign Languages, which education Secretary Michael Gove wants to put at the heart of the curriculum. It gives the subjects relevance.

Note to Editors.

The Day costs between £500 to £1,000 a year for a school. Each online edition is sent out in the evening of every school day, ready for teachers and pupils the following morning before classes. There is no advertising.
Partner organisations include Teach First, the English Speaking Union and SSAT
It is edited by Miranda Green, former education correspondent for the Financial Times. Richard Addis is a former newspaper editor (Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Globe and Mail).

For further information, please contact: Richard Addis – Richard@theday.co.uk, (07899 968427 or Miranda Green – Miranda@theday.co.uk

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The term ‛organic’ has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, from food to clothing. But what does it mean and do organic products really live up to the hype? Organic clothing is becoming more and more readily available and many parents are choosing it for their children, but is there actually a benefit?

To be certified organic, neither the growing nor the manufacturing process of clothes can use any harmful chemicals and none of the plants can be genetically modified. Cotton is one of the most common fabrics used to make baby clothes, however cotton production is one of the most chemically intensive processes in modern agriculture; because it is not a foodstuff there is no restriction on the amount and type of pesticides and herbicides used on it. Manufacturing cotton into fabric also uses thousands of tons of chemicals such as bleach, which in some cases can be poured back into the environment.

The result of this is that up to four kilos of chemicals can be used in the manufacture of just one t-shirt. But these chemicals do not just affect the environment – they can also damage the wearer, especially if that wearer is a baby. A newborn baby’s skin is thinner and more porous than an adult’s skin, so absorbs these chemicals more readily. From conception to age three is when babies’ bodies and brains grow the fastest, making them even more vulnerable to environmental toxins, which can stay in the body for years. Moreover, babies’ delicate skin is more susceptible to skin allergies, which can be caused or irritated by the range of herbicides, pesticides, chemicals and dyes used in the manufacture of clothes. Organic clothing is hypoallergenic and does not contain any harmful chemicals or toxins.

The amount of chemicals used to process traditional fabric also mean that it is less durable. Conventionally produced cotton is bleached, softened, dyed and coated in chemicals in production, all of which weaken the fibres and mean that a garment will begin to break down after 10-20 washes. The production of organic fabrics results in a product which is much more resilient, although no less soft and can withstand up to 100 washes before it starts to break down – especially important for messy babies!

Despite all these benefits, organic clothing is still seen by some as unstylish and boring. However, this is no longer the case. Organic clothing can be made from many different materials such as wool, cotton, hemp, soy and bamboo, so it is available in a wide range of styles and designs. And it is not all beige, either : safe dyes made from natural sources in a whole rainbow of colours are used to make organic clothing as colourful as any other clothing you could buy. Pregnant fashion is only one example of this new stylish organic clothing for babies.

To some, organic baby clothing may seem like a fad, but those who choose it can be safe in the knowledge that they are saving money with more durable items and protecting their baby from harmful chemicals and toxins in their clothes. The modern world is full of damaging pollutants, but organic clothing is one way that parents can protect their children.

(This is a Guest Post from Yummy Mummy Fashion)

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This Sunday is 10/10/10, the tenth of October 2010. This is the date that many businesses, including mine, have pledged to achieve a 10% reduction of carbon emissions. My business is home-based, and I’ve done a lot this year to achieve my target:

1. Mimimyne has switched the office energy supply to to 100% green energy with Ovo
2. Mimimyne has moved to a new build home office which has a great energy efficiency rating, insulation and double glazing
3. Mimimyne has been audited and accredited by Carbon Smart 2010 and set up a new energy saving action plan
4. Mimimyne has installed a PowerDown energy plug to turn off all computer peripherals when the PC is turned off
5. Mimimyne now uses only bicycles or Streetcar for personal use and only bicycles or public transport for business use
6. Mimimyne uses reclaimed or vintage office furniture and has low energy lightbulbs throughout.
7. Mimimyne uses recycled and if possible, recyclable packaging whenever possible. All business stationery is printed on recycled paper

Mimimyne has some outstanding items on our energy saving action plan, including installing an energy monitor and composting. However, I hope to work my way through these by the end of 2010 at the latest!

For my low-carbon lunch celebration, I’ll be roasting a Sunday lunch of UK organic beef with UK grown vegetables (I’m afraid my local sourcing didn’t get much further than my local Waitrose, but the Essentials range restricts itself to only UK farmers and producers who are accredited by LEAF and are committed to protecting the environment, which is great). I’ll also make apple crumble with home grown apples from my mother’s apple trees: you can’t get more local than that! I’ll post a picture tomorrow.

10.10.10 is also my tenth wedding anniversary, so it’s be a very memorable date for me!

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I just wanted to report back on the Mumpreneurs Meetup which I organised for the Tower Hamlets Mums Business Club. It was hosted by the excellent Ping Pong Dim Sum in Appold Street, who as usual gave us their lovely Private Dining Room ( I can’t sing their praises enough, they provided lovely flower teas for the mumpreneurs and they really do their best to help groups like ours).

Our first speaker was Leanne dal Santo from Smartbags. Leanne gave up a safe corporate career as an accountant to start her business after being inspired by a visit to Australia where she found out about eco friendly non woven polypropylene bags. These are made using much less toxic processes than normal plastic bags and are reusable and fully recyclable. Leanne approached the company who were importing them in Australia and set up a handshake deal to start up her own site in the UK and import the bags from the manufacturers in China (who work from an independently audited factory and ship rather than using air freight). As she had manufacturers and designs all ready to go, Leanne’s start up costs were low. Leanne works with her husband, who focuses on sales, giving her time to concentrate on PR, strategy and design. She also has two children, and has to juggle a lot! She has lots of tips for mumpreneurs wanting to follow in her footsteps:

• Know your competitors
• Focus on sales and target your audience
• Being green is not always enough, you need to look at cost as well
• Packaging is really important for your products: make sure it’s sustainable
• Communicate with your customers: don’t forget to stay in touch!
• At some point you are going to have to pick up your phone and ring potential customers! Don’t be shy!
• Outsource the things you can’t do well to give you time on the things you do do well
• It makes life easier if you don’t hold stock!

Our second speaker was Hannah McHalick from Oh Baby London. Hannah was a graphic designer for 15 years but was on maternity leave without pay when she had the idea for Oh Baby London. She designed her babygrows (including the fabulous “Inside for 9 Months”) and came up with the company name – and designed the catalogue – while pregnant. Hannah didn’t get start up funding and just went for her idea, getting samples made up and taking them around baby shops to get whole sale orders. Her brother-in-law designed her website and she started taking orders – and getting press – right away. She was offered her shop premises two years later through the workshop where Hannah was based. However, her shop and website weren’t initially Hannah’s main priority, she was focused on wholesale orders. After a near-disaster where an order wasn’t produced in time for a big wholesale customer, Hannah realised it was time to grow the retail side of her business and switched to retailing. Her turnover was the same, but her profit was much larger. It also meant she has more than one route to market.

Hannah’s tips for mumpreneurs:

• Have some money before you start, so you don’t run out in a crisis!
• Constantly monitor everything you are doing
• If something goes wrong, try to see the positive side
• It’s really important to believe in what you are doing, and keep your eye on the prize
• Know where you are going and how to get there
• Wear blinkers: be aware of your own route and don’t spend too much time looking sideways at your competitors
• Don’t ignore scary stuff; learn to love spreadsheets and profit and loss forecasts and be aware of your cashflow
• Remember to relax and look after your health and your mind: yoga and running are both recommended by Hannah
• Switch off when it’s time to pick up the kids

We had some great mumpreneurs attending the talks, including Jennifer Robertson from Scamp Baby Gifts, who makes gorgeous embroidered and personalised pictures for babies (you can follow her on Twitter too ), and Samantha McCulloch from Virtually Optimized, who offers virtual PA services for stressed mumpreneurs like me! We also had several lovely ladies who are thinking over ideas for their new businesses (including one with a nine month old baby, and one with an eight week old baby, our youngest networker yet!) and hope to add their links when they launch. All agreed that it was an inspirational event, and we hope to meet again during Business Mum Week with advice about PR, SEO and social media.

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Calling All Mums! Achieve Ultimate Bliss by Kick-Starting a Career within Baby Massage and Baby Yoga

Mums and business are two elements which should be able to work together in harmony. As intelligent and hardworking women, mums everywhere should be able to provide for, and enjoy time with their children, whilst continuing to build and develop a successful career. Unfortunately, life is not so sympathetic to us multi-taskers, and we often find ourselves struggling to find a career path which will allow us to shine, whilst also fulfilling the important task of motherhood. Luckily, there is now a way for mums to flourish within all areas of their home and working life… By becoming a baby massage or baby yoga instructor.
What is baby yoga, you may ask? Although you may imagine a host of complex and obscure positions, baby yoga is in fact a gentle method of encouraging the neurological, physical and mental development within newly born babies. Through a simple series of carefully developed hip opening, sitting and standing sequences, the yoga techniques will help babies to grow strong and begin to understand essential cognitive processes. And the best thing is, anybody can learn baby yoga – you don’t need to have had any yoga experience to do baby yoga effectively.
Baby massage also offers similar benefits, and can help relieve uncomfortable conditions such as colic, wind and trouble sleeping. Through encouraging hand movements and calming techniques, each baby will be left happy and relaxed. Such one-on-one time with each baby allows the parent to form a special bond, as both parent and child will begin to build up essential positive experiences together, which are crucial to development in these early stages.
So, how can baby massage and baby yoga fit into a career? For many mums, the appeal of teaching may have come into consideration at some point throughout their parenthood, but the set hours and lack of flexibility are often enough to put them off. As a result, Britain is full of a variety of despairing mothers, wanting nothing more than to achieve the success they are capable of, but so frustratingly denied.
With this said, what better career path for mums, than educating other mums on how to gain maximum joy and happiness from parenthood? This is the perfect career for Mums juggling the many responsibilities and commitments they are constantly required to meet throughout their day. Through combining this concept with part-time, flexible hours, but still retaining the potential to earn a full time salary, baby yoga and massage training offers a rewarding and enjoyable career path for all mums.
Training courses give women the opportunity to earn a diploma, and become a fully qualified baby massage and baby yoga instructor. Including practical experience teaching your very own class, as well as workshop sessions and coursework, the courses are a modern day solution to ultimate career satisfaction and bliss.
Teaching others the benefits of baby massage and yoga, entrepreneurial mums everywhere can finally be given the chance they deserve, to lead a fulfilling and rewarding lifestyle.
This is a guest post by MamaBabyBliss -a dedicated company devoted to the wellbeing of mothers and babies, who specialise in baby massage and yoga training courses, as well as soothing gifts for new mums. I am happy to host guest posts from companies or charities in fields that I think would be of interest to my readers!

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http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/2266431-sardinas-en-escabeche-preserved-sardines-pickled-

I decided to try this excellent recipe for sardines escabeche. I adore Spanish food which is much maligned and misunderstood. It’s simple to make and took me about ten minutes. The paprika turns the oil a lovely red colour. I am hoping this is a good way to rescue frozen oily fish like sardines!

We also cooked up a lot of our organic home grown tomatoes in a fresh pasta sauce with a lot of garlic. So am feeling quite virtuous at the end of Zero Waste Week! I still have not sorted out the food composting, but it is on my list.

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I forgot to take a photograph of the beef goulash I made last night with the leftover beef from Sunday, as I was too hungry and wanted to eat it… But it was very good! I added some mushrooms, chili powder, lots of paprika and served it with mashed potato, parsley and sour cream. I made a beetroot leaf salad as well, another tip from Abel and Cole. I still find the leaves a bit chewy but they are tasty, although we did have some left over. I will probably wilt them with butter as a side dish today with our fish pie.

The children are having some left over macaroni cheese that I made for them yesterday, with hot dogs. I tend to cook for them separately as the eldest is so horribly fussy, although it does make extra work for me! I’ll try and post a picture of that as well, although it didn’t come out quite right (I never get the amount of cheese right as I’m too impatient to do all that measuring).

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