We're Back!

Whew! After two weeks of reading manuals and emailing Help (I could think of other words) Desks, Miss Gracie is finally trading online again.

Simple & Practical

Customers talk about our hair bows and often what they have to say is about the clips and the quality; how well they stay in and how beautifully they are made. We have taken the suggestion of creating sturdy, simple clips for school. A variation on the Chloe clip, a two prong pinch clip covered in simple saddle stitch ribbon. More colours plus mini dot ribbon will be arriving soon and best of all they are made in the UK!

Back to school...

A week ago we snapped this year's "First Day of School" photo and each day I plan to add it to the blog. Uniform ironed, hair tidy and in lovely Miss Gracie hair bows but what to write? Could I be a bit clever or funny? What made our first day back something someone, besides our family, would want to see or read about? So I left it. No photo, no "story" until this morning when I stepped over the Lego again. 

I have been stepping over this little Lego Mermaid and all the "bits" that accompany her for a week. Perched on her rock, gazing at a starfish while Merman gently rocks the Merbaby in the back ground (the dogs seem to be just "dogs", not "Merdogs"; no fishtails) and for some unknown reason the chosen play space is inconveniently, a doorway we all pass through regularly. This is my "back to school" photo. It is easy to remember the uniform, the hair bows, the smiles and the anticipation but I want to remember everything else. Long afternoons when we had time to "play", the round rock from Devon and the flat stone from Scotland, the Mer-Lego from her fourth birthday, the Pirate ship from the charity shop, the little starfish from California, Playmobil dogs and their tiny dog treats, the blue fleece blanket and the un-hoovered floor. 

Term time now and the toys are hardly touched as school, homework and activities fill our days. I will leave Mermaid and her family until the weekend but then it is back to the playroom. Mermaid will have to consider her playroom options; she can either borrow the Playmobil's camper van or move into the Regency Hotel with the Sylvanians.

"Do you make these?"

As the proprietor of Miss Gracie Hair Bows, the question I am asked the most is, "do you make these?". The times I have been tempted to say "yes" and take the credit for the beautifully crafted hair bows is too many count; oh how I would love to be that talented! 

I consider myself "crafty". I am a dab hand at play date art or buying up half of an art shop in anticipation of a school project but I know by the end results that it is best I remain the retailer, not the maker. So who makes the beautiful Miss Gracie hair bows? "Mums", "Moms" and "Mamans" with artistic flair, an eye for detail and a great deal of patience. Some of them have hair bow making businesses while others are talented crafters and when asked if they would  consider making hair bows, they agreed to the task. Thanks to email, Twitter and Facebook, we can communicate across time zones, in three currencies and between nap times and school runs.

You don't have to be a mother to be a hair bow maker for Miss Gracie, it just seems to have worked out that way.

Summer is upon us!

School term nearly over and as always, June and July fly by! Assemblies, Sports Days, visiting relatives and this year we have thrown new jobs for Mr Gracie and I into the mix! Roll on slower summer days, camping, Cornwall and sand between our toes. We'll be back after a much needed relaxing break. 

Please email your requests for September school hair bows to info@missgracie.co.uk to ensure we save them for you.

Happy Summer!

http://www.stives-cornwall.co.uk/about-stives.html

May Half Term

Four relaxing days in Scotland as guests in our friend's beautiful home. The only decision we had to make all weekend was which "pebble" to bring home. After much deliberating we chose "Haggis" pictured on the right.

High on my list of favourite local places is the Bekonscot Model Village . Each time we visit the children spot new additions to the small world: another boat on the lake, more animals in the zoo or another building. The "real fire" in the thatched cottage and the responding fire truck is a favourite as is remembering to look for Noddy at the door of Enid Blyton's home. We will be headed there again this Tuesday to introduce this little world to our young friends visiting from the USA. They may have Disneyland, unlimited sunshine & Hollywood but they don't have "Model Village".

Birdy Birdy

Peering at me through the clear plastic boxes in my office are these gorgeous birdy clip holders and tooth keepers meticulously created for Miss Gracie by the talented Marie at HeartFelt Handmade. Each time I pack one up to post I automatically say Shel Silverstien's poem in my mind:

Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early early bird-
But if you're a worm, sleep late.

What to write about the school holidays, Easter weekend and another Bank holiday to come? This photo sums up all that needs to be said. Sunshine, hammock, bunting, blossoms, rubber duck and friends.

Made in Scotland

Introducing the latest additon to the Miss Gracie range, the Lucy polka dot hair bow. A crafty mummy in Scotland is creating these hair bows for us. We like her colour choices, red or navy to match school uniform, lime, hot pink or orchid for Easter but our favourite is sea mist. A great match to the Spring collection from Joules.

Party Time

Our household is having one of those months when there is a playmate's birthday party every week. Time for gift buying. I used the stack of invites as an excuse for some online retail therapy so we are wrapped and ready. Of course the pretty parcels include Miss Gracie clips.  Blossom & the Simone bow this time plus a charm bracelet from Daisy & Mouse with a cupcake charm. All wrapped up with "lots of curly whirly ribbon" and  finished with a beautiful personalised gift tag from Fraser & Parsley. Easy, peasy thanks to online shopping!

A sneaky peak of what is to come. Bottlecap clips with her initial. My 9 year old and her pals have flipped for them.

Samples

Glancing back at some old Miss Gracie photos and I spotted this. 
Wow! Let's party!

I do need to mention that it was a sample and lil' mg never actually wore it out in public. 

A Good Week

Sketching Chinese Dragons at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Lively music at the Royal Albert Hall

Spotting celebs at the Burberry show, London Fashion Week

Cycle ride in the sunshine

A morning of baking and product testing the new "Lauren" hair bow. 

 All in all, a good week.

Half Term

Half Term. Some mums dread it some mums love it. I am one of those in the love it group. I love the time. Time to do lots or time to do nothing. The week always flies by much too quick, a couple of days out, a pajama day in. I always end up tired as I then work at night to allow me kid time in the day but it is the kid time I just don't like to miss. Yes, I am one of those annoying mums who enjoys the kid activities as much as the kids. Ask me how many times I have seen the Bubble Show at the Science Museum? I may be to embarrassed to answer.

This half term we are doing our usual "find a fantastic and free activity in London" day and we have chosen the Ignite Family Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Always exciting to visit such a beautiful venue. Weather permitting we will picnic in Kensington Gardens otherwise we will be slurping noodles at Wagamama's on High St. Ken.

We never have a winter half term without a visit to feed the lambs. We cycle to Odds Farm Park, and join the crowd to feed the over excited lambs and play with the "kids". Love those goats!

If I do need to squeeze in some work in the daylight hours then the kids will be off to Mop End a lesser know option for fantastic school holiday activities. Mop End is the South Bucks venue for the Field Studies Council. We have enjoyed fantastic days in the woods with enthusiastic guides building dens, open fires and solving Harry Potter mysteries.

Must go get some work done if I am going to play next week! Happy half term!

Happy Valentines Day

I know it is just a coincidence but I think it rather fun that three of today's orders were made up entirely of pink or red, the colours of the Valentine. I presume the red hair bows are for school but I know the box of pink are on their way to three ballet loving sisters. Enjoy your hair bows girls and Happy Valentines Day!

Isabel

Just a sneak peak at what is to come. Little Isabel hair bows in yummy colours. Like little scoops of gelato on a warm sunny day.

Girl Guiding

Each year on 22 February, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the world celebrate World Thinking Day. World Thinking Day theme for 2011 is MDG 3: girls worldwide say “empowering girls will change our world” and the aim is to raise awareness of the situation for many girls and young women and empower them to take a stand against inequality. Gender equality and empowering women is the third of the eight areas of focus made by 189 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. You may think this is a big topic for little girls but in true Guiding fashion even the youngest members of Guiding can begin to understand this topic and the role they can play in promoting gender equality.

Lil mg always looks forward to Thinking Day and this year the activities look to once again be thought provoking, exciting and most important to a 9 year old, Fun! For more information on UK Girl Guides or how your daughter can get involved in Girl Guides,visit www.girlguiding.org.uk

Each week our local Brownies and Rainbows take part in crafts, games, songs, friendship, sports, drama, cooking... the list seems endless. To the girls, it is all friendship and fun but as a mother of a daughter I love that she is learning about the wider world and the part she can play.

Young Talent

Isn't this beautiful? I had the pleasure of being introduced to a friend of a friend recently. She and her family are in London for a few months and they were given my email by a mutual friend. I often play host to friends of friends who are passing through London and this recent meeting was an absolute pleasure! Not only did I get to lunch at the Natural Kitchen (always delicious and in my favourite neighbourhood) and make a new friend but I also met her daughter, Tasha Bock. I am sharing her full name as it is one to remember. I am sure we will be hearing her name in the fashion world one day.

This beautiful headband is one of Tasha's creations. You can view more on her website www.macallisterdesigns.com but what is even more impressive than this gorgeous collection of headbands? Tasha does not have years of design experience, she has only just finished high school! Spending a few months in London, inspired by her favourite things; Liberty, Downtown Abbey, historic interiors, then she is off to university. We wish Tasha the best of luck and we look forward to her future creations.

Unsatisfactory

It had to happen sometime, more than three years into my little hair bow business and I have had my first quality issue. I am a bit of a stickler for quality. If I order a style of hair bow then I expect each hair bow to be exactly the same as the other, the colours to match the sample and for them to "withstand little fingers and playground play". So far so good... until now. Blame it on the big freeze, temperatures high in the atmosphere (some bows do travel by air) or overnights in the postman's truck but a selection of the hair bows just do not like the cold. Unfortunately when some glue freezes it becomes brittle and no longer does the job. I have had feedback this week that the ribbon on both the Simone and the Charlotte styles was lifting from the clip. Please if you have purchased these styles and you have had a problem, do not hesitate to contact me.

Both these styles will continue to be offered but the faulty product is being replaced. The maker is one of my best when it comes to detail and styling and she quickly rectified the problem when it was brought to our attention.

Feedback is always helpful. Thank you to both Miss Gracie customers who high lighted this problem. The fact that you took the time to email me is greatly appreciated. 

"Hi!"

Miss Gracie's little friend Maddie popped by to say "hi" and brightened up my misty grey morning!

It only takes one...

One little hair bow on top of a birthday gift to a little friend who would never let her mother put anything in her hair. Now the little friend won't dress without it! Her mum has just rung to ask for one more of the same just in case it should get lost. Happy mummy, she is a bit of a Joules fan and "the bow matches everything!" and another happy little Miss Gracie friend.

Twitter

Well that's us! Lil Miss Gracie, myself and Mr M. Lil MG often features in our photos as she is our resident hair bow tester. Thanks to the wonders of Twitter I decided to share a photo of me. This does not mean that my followers on Twitter were begging to see a photo. It is because in my new found joy that is Twitter I have discovered that  my followers and followees actually live in my little world. We coffee, shop and school run in the same places but we wouldn't know each other if we passed on the footpath.

Before I joined Twitter I didn't get the point of it. I only joined, as like the blog, it is considered a marketing tool. Well... let me tell you, it is more that that! As someone who lives for the weekend papers, it is heaven. Little snippets of news constantly streaming in, a network of supportive career and home based mums, recommendations of new books to read, where the best sales are, recipes, who is watching what on TV, traffic updates, weather, celebrity gossip, fashion, parenting tips, craft ideas - It is all there! Yes, it has done what it was meant to regarding marketing Miss Gracie but for me, it is like stopping for a coffee with a large and eclectic group of friends. Someone always has something to say and I can pop into whatever conversation suits my mood and when I am in front of my laptop at 1am it is nice to know their are other crazy mums out there doing the same.

Twitter followers in Sydney, New York or Edinburgh you probably won't bump into me but if you are in South Bucks, say "hi". 

Priorities

A new year and so much to do! First thing on my list is to purchase new bunting for the climbing frame. Yes, my life must be rather blessed if this is top of my "to do" list. Actually it should be action item number 1,726 on the list but... a little break from admin and a visit to Charlotte Macey's moved the action item forward. At the moment when I glance out of the window at cloudy skies and bare trees I see this:

Our once vibrant and much loved gingham bunting has seen too many years. Charlotte's gorgeous bunting should spruce things up a bit and I think the neighbours will appreciate it as well. They did mention, "how long have you had that bunting?" I guess I should take the hint!

Happy 2011!

The first day of the New Year and Miss Gracie is looking ahead. Office tidied today, bows counted and replenishment orders placed. Glad I checked on things because already my new favourite is running low on stock. Blossom is not a bow but the cutest flower. Hand knit then carefully attached to a pinch clip. This gorgeous flower is already a best seller.