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How to grow your Instagram following

April 15, 2015

It’s Wednesday and after a short break last week, I am back to my photography series. In the past few weeks I’ve shared some great tips and tricks on how to photograph your kids, which apps will make your photos shine and so much more. Today we are talking Instagram – the photo sharing app that seems to be all our addictions! When done right, Instagram is the online place to build a community by sharing snippets of your everyday life so we’ve got some great tips on exactly how to do this and how to do it better. Whether you’re a blogger, a small business owner or just someone who wants to share your photo’s for fun, these tips by super talented photographer and blogger Lucy of Capture by Lucy will be very helpful to you. Lucy’s tips will not only show you how to grow your Instagram following but also how exactly to use Instagram to get the most out of it for you and for your followers.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lucy once but have also been a long time follower of her happy and incredibly engaging photography. Lucy has a way of putting the ‘extra’ in to ordinary every single time she takes a photo. By her own admission she loves her Instagram space and it shows. Her instagram feed is the story of her everyday life which is bursting with inspiration, colour, cheer and joy. You can’t help but want to be a part of it and I know I can’t wait to see more from her each day. I’m so delighted to have her here today to share exactly how she does this and how you can do it too so over to Lucy now!

Thank you so much for having me Nomita; it’s such a pleasure to share how I have grown my following on Instagram since I joined just over a year ago. I am a total Instagram addict! I love the community spirit, the inspiration and the fact that it’s so easy to join in. Everyday I can’t believe so many people follow my ‘mini blog’. It’s my fastest growing social media channel by a clear mile and I see my gallery as a way to share everyday moments that help my followers get to know me better, where I can let my creative side go wild and where I enjoy practicing my styling and composition. So I am really excited to be here today and to share my top 8 tips on how to grow your Instagram following:

1. Be yourself
Being authentic is key. If you aren’t a fan of staged or styled photography, no problem! Share the photo’s of what you love to photograph because it’s hard to keep up something you aren’t passionate about. I’m all about colour and although I sometimes try a more minimalist style, it’s really not me. I love sharing a mix of everyday life, our home and vignettes. A vignette is a styled photo so I am often found with a sheet of scrap paper or wallpaper, arranging a few flowers and props to create a still life image. I find it so therapeutic to share lovely photos and even if it’s pouring with rain and my boys are arguing, I can take two minutes out to create something beautiful.

2. Embrace the community
Instagram is a wonderfully positive platform. I have experienced nothing but great community spirit and encouragement. I love the interaction, the way replying to comments is so easy and the engagement between my followers just amazes me. It’s a way to be part of a community and to create a community. Do join in with collaborative hashtags – it’s a great way to find other accounts with similar interests. I host the hashtag #capturingcolour where each Monday morning I announce a new theme for the week and then I share my favourite picks on my blog. I love to take part in various themes including “competition” themes just for the fun of it and also to be involved in the Instagram community.

My favourites are:
Monday – #mymondaymoodboard
Tuesday – #gatheredstyle
Wednesday – #itsamoodywednesday
Thursday – #byarrangement
Friday – #floralfridaycompetition and #fridayfaffingcompetition
Weekend – #frommykitchencompetition
Weekly and monthly themes – #natureinthehome, #stylingtheseasons, #lovelysquares, #nothingisordinary, #at_diff, #its_my_week
Family themes – #jj_its_kids, #mom_hub, #kids_of_our_world

3. Be consistent
I like sharing lots of photos but I know it can easily overwhelm my followers and I begin to see people unfollow if I blast them with too many photos. You don’t have to share a photo everyday but being consistent and having a regular presence is key to growing any social media platform. Some people check their Instagram feed throughout the day while others may only check it once a day or less – so either way if you post a number of photos in quick succession, you are likely to take over someones news feed!

4. Be selective
Instagram is all about sharing snippets. While on facebook you may well share 100 photo’s of your recent holiday, Instagram is more about moments that tell a story. Give people a reason to follow your account on Instagram – keep it interesting! I often follow the same bloggers on every platform, but find it frustrating when they share the same photo across all their accounts and then a few days later it appears on their blog too. By that point I might have seen the same photo 4 or 5 times, and I am less likely to engage with it.

This doesn’t mean putting pressure on yourself to think of different images for each social media platform, it’s more about what you choose to share. So for example – if we are at a play park I might share a photo of my boys to Facebook (where people are more interested and respond to family photos) and a picture of the trees or a close up shot of a little detail to my Instagram account. Twitter on the other hand is a very fast moving medium so I often share my Instagram photos on there too.

When you are being selective about the photos you share, you want to share your best. I recently wrote this post on Real life vs. Insta life to show that even in the midst of a normal chaotic family life you can still create beautiful photos.

5. It is not cheating to edit your photos
There is nothing wrong at all with editing your phone photos for your Instagram account. 99% of the photos I share are from my iPhone and occasionally I will share a photo from my Canon DSLR. But I always tweak my phone photos so they are the best quality they can be. People often comment on how bright and light our house is but in fact we live in a 300 year old cottage farmhouse with low ceilings and small windows! So in comes one of my absolute favourite apps – PicTapGo. I often use their ‘lights on’ filter to help brighten my images but I steer clear of the heavy traditional Instagram filters which distort the colours and saturate the image because it’s just not in keeping with my style. But Instagram does have a sharpening tool which can really improve those evening shots that look a little grainy and the tilt shift tool is wonderful for giving you a sharp focus point and a lovely blurry background emulating the Aperture settings on a DSLR. So do experiment with those editing tools to improve your photos and make them the best they can be.

Remember that Instagram is a square configuration so use the square setting on your phone camera to compose your images. I prefer to fill the whole frame instead of posting landscape or portrait images. Taking a little extra time to compose your images, thinking of things like what’s in the background that might distract from the subject can make a big difference.

6. Make it easy to find your account
It’s no good sharing lots of lovely photos if people can’t find you. Make sure your account name or handle is consistent with your other account names on your site, blog or twitter for example. Do share a link to your Instagram account on your blog and consider displaying your latest IG posts in your blog sidebar. You can use a plug-in in your sidebar as I do, so it automatically displays your most recent IG posts. Let your followers know you are on Instagram too – why not create a collage of your most recent images and share to your Facebook page or write a blog post about the accounts you like to follow.

7. Connect and engage with like minded people
Instagram is a place to connect with like minded people. You don’t have to follow everyone back and you can choose whether to make your account private or public. If you go for a private account followers have to request your permission to view your photos so you have complete control over who sees your content if you choose to. I have a public account because I want people to be able to quickly scroll through my gallery to see if it’s something they’d like to follow or not.

I follow a whole range of accounts that appeal to me for various reasons. Some for their lovely family snaps, some who I have followed since before they were pregnant through to their second and third children, some for styling inspiration, some for food photos, some for travel. They all engage me in different ways and no matter what the time of day is, whenever I check my newsfeed there are always lots of new photos to admire. And I tell them so. If you like something, if something makes you smile or if someone needs some words of support, don’t be shy – leave a comment and engage with people. It’s a wonderful community to be part of and I have actually made some real life friendships with people I have met through following each others accounts.

8. Have fun!
Remember the most important thing is to have fun. If you don’t feel like posting, don’t post. The worst thing with any social media is when it feels like hard work. And also when it’s forced, it shows to your followers as well. Find what you love photographing and share that.

Thank you Lucy for these fabulous tips on how to grow your Instagram following and also for sharing in such detail exactly how you do it. I have recently gotten more in to Instagram but I definitely needed some help and these tips couldn’t be more useful. I love how Lucy depicts everyday life but in such an inspirational and uplifting way. Its inspired me to do better now that I know how and I am sure it has inspired you too. Do make sure you check out Lucy’s Instagram and also her beautiful blog. Also Lucy has kindly offered to help any of my readers with questions you may have – just find her here.

There is still more to come from my photo series but in the meantime why not check out the previous articles:

How to take great iphone photos of your kids
The best phone photo filter apps
How to photograph kids on the move
A mini photobook you can make in minutes

A mini photo book + a giveaway (win 5 of these books)

April 1, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for the next installment of my photography series. Over the last three weeks I’ve shared some useful and actionable tips on photographing kids as well as some of the best photo filter apps to help turn those ordinary photos in to something special. I’ve had some fantastic feedback on the series so far – so thank you all for that. Today I want to talk about a really quick, easy and inexpensive way to do something with all those beautiful photo’s you’ve learned to take! And there’s even a giveaway in today’s post so keep reading to find out more.

I’m not the most organised person when it comes to printing the photos I take especially the thousands (yes thousands) of photo’s I’ve collected on my iphone. While I love the idea of creating amazingly big and beautiful photo books, I don’t always have the time to spend compiling these. So when I recently found out about a brand new app called Pop book, I had to try it out especially for this series. Pop book is an app that allows you to create little mini photo books in minutes, using pics from your iphone or ipad. I’ve made a couple of books and it literally took me a few minutes. You can do some basic editing in the app (like cropping, adding text or borders) and then you’re good to go, all for just £4.99 delivered to your door. The books are square, small and very cute coming in two sizes of 10×10 or 13×13 cms, each consisting of 21 photos.

I can think of so many reasons for making Pop Books. Firstly, that ever growing instagram feed. You can turn your entire feed in to a series of mini photo books. The square format of the books is perfect for this. The other thing that sprung to mind was my mum-in-law and other family members (especially the older generation who aren’t on facebook) that constantly ask me for photos of Anya. Instead of emailing one photo here and there, I’m going to start sending them these cute little books every few months. Also, because these books are small, I like the idea of having two or three perched on my desk instead of a static frame or even in my kitchen where I might put up a string and hang a load of these mini photo books. Yet another thought I had was to have these printed after your child’s birthday party and give to the parents of the kids who came – what a great party gift and lasting memory that would make. So many ways to use this book.

You can do whatever you wish with these books but the absolute best part for me is the convenience of creating a book in minutes so that you have actual copies of your photos. You never have to worry about photos being lost or deleted or wiped from your phone because you will have at least a small little hard copy. And I also love the easiness of gifting these to family or friends. All you need to do is download the free Pop Book app and you can start creating little photo books now.

THE GIVEAWAY: Now the best bit – I’ve joined with Pop Book to give 5 lucky ebabee readers the chance to win one of these books. To enter leave a comment on this post and follow my facebook page to stay in the loop. Five lucky winners will be chosen at random. Giveaway closes on Wednesday 8th April at midnight (UK time). Any entries after this time will not be counted. Sorry, this giveaway is only open to UK readers.

This is my new, go to quick, easy and inexpensive solution to printing your phone or instagram photos but there will be more ideas coming on what you can do with all those beautiful photos you take. Lots more to still come from my photo series but in the meantime why not check out the previous articles:

How to take great iphone photos of your kids
The best phone photo filter apps
How to photograph kids on the move

This post is brought to you in partnership with Pop Book. All ideas, words and images are my own. Thank you for supporting my work with carefully selected partners that support this blog.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. Congrats to Sarah, Stephanie, Natalie, Sam and Alice – our winners. If you want to find out about more giveaways, follow our facebook page.

Best tips on how to take photos of moving kids

March 25, 2015

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another photography tips post. Last Wednesday I shared the best photo filter apps and before that it was tips on taking better iphone photos of your kids. This week it’s about taking photo’s of your kids who cannot sit still! I know from my own experience that Anya is constantly moving and the more I ask her to stay still, the more she jumps around while I’m trying to snap pictures. I also know I’m not alone because since starting my photography series, many of you have said the same and quite a few have asked for tips on how to take photos of moving kids. So today I share top 10 tips on photographing those fidgety kids by super talented photographer and mum of four – Abigail Fahey.

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Abigail for a while – both on and offline. I was first drawn to her through her absolutely amazing family photography. Abigail’s style is distinctive and beautiful. All her pictures tell a story and really draw you in. I know my words are not doing justice to her photography but from the pictures below you’ll see exactly what I mean. I am so excited to have her here today sharing her photography secrets and handy tips to capture those kids that never sit still! Abigail’s tips are geared towards DSLR users however there are lots of tips in here which can be applied to any kind of camera you use including phone cameras. Now over to Abigail!

It wasn’t until my babies became toddlers that I truly realised how much ground they covered each day. My two sons in particular rarely sit still and are generally on the go from morning until night and sometimes even throughout the night! I tried hard at first to get them to pose and found it so frustrating when they would not sit still whilst I tried in vain to recreate some gorgeous shots I had seen online. I quickly realised that posing and fidgety children are not a happy match, so I decided that if I was to get any decent shots of my children I needed to embrace the action and just learn how to photograph them on the move. So here are my 10 tips for photographing fast moving children!

1. Don’t be a poser.
Kids don’t always cooperate so it’s best not to try too hard. Instead go for natural shots of them moving or interacting. If you want them to slow down, a great way of doing this is to give them an activity that focuses their attention in one place. Something like a board game, a toy, sitting them on a swing or simply asking them to find worms outside will do the trick.

2. Lets go outside.
The best way to maximise the amount of available light is to shoot outdoors. More light means faster shutter speed which means less blur.

3. Change your camera mode.
If you shoot in Auto then turn your settings to Sports mode and your camera will automatically increase it’s shutter speed in anticipation of an action shot. If you shoot in Semi Auto then turn the dial to Tv (shutter priority mode also marked as S on some cameras) and set your shutter speed at 1/500 or above. You may need to compensate by raising your ISO to get the correct exposure.

4. Be ready.
Keep your finger on the button and if possible use a continuous shooting mode. If you want an action shot then short bursts of the shutter will increase the chances of getting the shot you are after.

5. Anticipate the moment.
Look at the scene before you and get yourself into a position where you can concentrate on getting one good shot rather than chasing children around taking hundreds of pot luck ones.

6. Steady yourself.
Use a wall or something to lean on to steady your hands whilst holding your camera. The more you can reduce camera shake, the less blur you will create.

7. Talk to the hand!
Not all photographs have to show a childs face. Often I will take shots of busy little hands or quick little feet. Or even photos showing the back of the child. These can be equally cute and take the pressure off having to get a shot with the right facial expression.

8. Use a zoom.
This will allow you to sit further away and take shots without interrupting their games or encroaching on their space. Children will quickly get fed up of a constant camera in their face and will start to react. If you can sit quietly some distance away and snap without them being too aware, you will achieve far more natural results.

9. Get creative.
Don’t panic if you get some blur. Occasionally blur in the photos emphasises the movement and makes for a more interesting shot. If you get some unwanted blur turn your photos to black and white; it’s amazing how much better they look.

10. Don’t miss out.
Remember to put the camera down occasionally and get involved. So often I have waited for the perfect shot only to miss the moment. Pick your time to take a worthwhile shot. For e.g. when you go to sports day as great as it is taking shots of your children running, the best ones are of their faces when they have completed their race and are full of pride. And better yet you were there cheering them on from the sidelines not squinting through the viewfinder.

Thank you Abigail for these great tips on how to take photos of moving kids. I look forward to experimenting with these tips and hopefully capturing some great motion shots. I especially found the tips of using a zoom and turning blurry photos to black and white very useful. Abigail has recently started photography workshops in Surrey for beginners, bloggers and intermediate photographers so if you’re interested in learning more check them out at A Happy Capture.

And don’t forget to check out my previous posts in this photography series. There’s a load of practical and useful information in them – how to photograph your kids using an iphone and the best photo filter apps out there.

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s brilliant blog posts.

Inspiring stories: Allison from Asolon baby clothing

March 24, 2015

I’ve been thinking about doing some interviews for a while. But I didn’t want to just chat about products or brands, I wanted it to be something more than that. I wanted get to know the person behind any venture and to talk to people who were truly inspiring and could teach us all something. Then it came to me – I would interview people who have overcome something to get to where they are. Simple as this may sound – it’s not. Once you read the the interview below you will know what I mean.

If you have ever found yourself wallowing in self pity over the smallest or even big things (I know I do) then this interview will really inspire you. If you find yourself making excuses not to do something because of your circumstances, then just keep reading because anything can be overcome – it’s all about the attitude. It’s about accepting the situation and making the best of it no matter how bad. And in this instance, out of sheer determination despite such a massive struggle, was born a gorgeous baby clothing brand. More about that below.

Meet Allison Tovey who is the founder and designer at Asolon – a beautiful baby clothing and baby gift brand.

Tell us a few words about you?
I’m Allison, a one-handed New Zealand designer whose mind never sleeps!

What has been your biggest struggle so far?
When I was 25, thinking about quitting my full time job and working full time on my own womenswear brand, I had a major stroke. After surgery and four weeks in a coma I woke up to find my speech missing and my right side paralyzed. I spent another six months in hospital learning to speak, learning to walk and learning to function without the use of my dominant arm. After five years of countless physio, OT and speech sessions and all the rehab tools in the world – I’m back running my own business, doing what I love but in a different way to what I expected six years ago. Now I still walk with a stick, my right arm and hand are not functional but I’m still working on my rehab. I have a quote on my desk to keep me on track – ‘anyone can be cool, but awesome takes practice’.

Where and how did you find the strength and determination to carry on?
People ask me this all the time and I have yet to come up with a strong answer! Before my stroke I was a very independent, determined person. Then when I had my stroke and came out of my coma I wanted to know how I could get back to my old self. I couldn’t hold on to the ‘what if’s’ and ‘poor me’ – I just had to get on with life and deal with whatever came my way. I was determined not to let my stroke define me and I just accepted it as part of my journey.

A lot of people in your situation would have given up. Did you ever feel like giving up? And how did you pull yourself out of those dark moments?
As most people do, in the beginning I had my pity parties especially when I wasn’t able to do the normal things that other people don’t realise they do all the time (e.g. communicate) – it was a real emotional roller coaster. I would cry with frustration but luckily I had my extremely understanding father and boyfriend (now husband) at my side to bring me back to reality and help guide me back on my path.

Tell us about Asolon, your baby and kids clothing label?
Asolon is a baby clothing and baby gift brand selling mainly baby bodysuits, sleepwear, tops and baby gift sets. I design and create the entire range which is all about classic styling with a strong focus on quality. Every piece is individually hand-crafted using natural fabrics – NZ Merino wool, organic cotton and cotton. Perhaps most importantly, a great deal of love and care has gone in to making my garments so I hope that you will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.

So many kids clothes designers say their inspiration came from their kids. I know you don’t have any kids (yet) so how come you chose to design a baby and kids clothing range?
My stroke affected every part of my physical body but my creative brain was still intact. I’m not good at having nothing to do, so when I finally got home from hospital my dad got me a shiny new Mac with all the design software and I spent all my time learning to draw and design again without using my right arm. This became my rehab tool!

Soon after I was invited to a baby shower. I was still very much a shell of my old self and finding it extremely hard to communicate but I wanted to show my friends that deep down I was still the same creative person I had always been. This led to me creating my first handmade gift set ‘The Hare and The Tortoise’ and with that Asolon was re-born. As my recovery has progressed and my skills have developed my range has expanded more and more in to what you see today.

As creatives we are always looking for new ideas and ways to make them a reality. Tell us us how you look for inspiration and how do you turn that in to a piece of clothing?
So many inspirations, but I guess my main inspiration for Asolon is fabric. The feel, handling it, colour and the limitless items these fabric could become! My mum was a seamstress and ever since I can remember we were always found in material shops dreaming of what we could make that weekend. As you have probably guessed now I’m a fabric hoarder! Merino is my favourite fabric to work with – simple and natural but it’s a super fabric. I can’t understand why everybody doesn’t dress their baby in merino!

What’s the best part of running a small business?
In my case, the best part of running a small business is that I can have a life of flexibility. My business can fit around my life, especially my rehab.

The world of kids clothing is incredible. There is so much beautiful choice out there for any budget and taste. Apart from your own, who are your favourite kids clothing designers? High-end and high-street?
There’s so many great brands that I love – Gray Label, Moi, Mini Rodini, Oeuf… the list goes on!

What’s your best piece of advice to anyone who has suffered a really big setback in life?
A cliché I know but ‘your past cannot be changed, forgotten, edited or erased; it can only be accepted’ – you have to move on and make the best of what you have today!

Would you change your past if you could?
Normally people would say ‘I would change nothing’ but I would say if I was to go back in time I would STRESS LESS!

What’s next for you – both professionally and personally?
All though my recovery I had to learn to do everything in a different way than I had always known so I have started a blog of my creative adventures from a one handed person’s point of view. It’s called one handed crafter. Hopefully I can inspire other young people who may be in the same or similar position and show them that you can have a creative life even if you are one handed (or indeed have any other struggles). And as for Asolon the opportunities are endless, watch this space!

Thank you Allison for sharing your incredible and truly inspiring story with us. It really puts things in perspective, at least for me. They often say ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ and Allison has shown us just how true that is. What I loved most about getting to know Allison was the incredible lack of self pity – there was not a hint of it. As she explains, you have to get that out of the way quickly and look forward to making the most of what you do have. So she has completely accepted her fate and despite her big setbacks has achieved her goals. Do take a look at the gorgeous baby clothes that Allison makes – very classic, very practical and very stylish. There are lots of stripes in the collection but also some brighter pieces that perfectly compliment the stripes. Some of my favourites include the deer print leggings and the orange poppy print ones.

P.S. If you have a story of overcoming a set-back (of any kind) and would like to share it, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you (only requirements are that you are a parent with or without a business but if not you have a baby/kids related business). You can get in touch privately through the contact page or send me a private facebook message and we can chat more to see if it’s something you would like to share.

*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s brilliant blog posts.

The best photo filter apps

March 18, 2015

Last Wednesday I started a new photography series on my blog and today it’s time for the next feature. Last week I shared lots of great tips on how to take better iphone photos of your kids. This week it’s all about the best apps for adding filters and effects to your photos. With so many photo filter and editing apps out there it can be really confusing to know which ones to use. So here I’ve picked the ones that I would say are easiest to use and are great to tweak and enhance your everyday photos. I have focused more on getting quick effects with a range of filters than on editing functions as I’m not a pro photographer and this series really is about enhancing our everyday photos, not about turning pro! With the right app and the right filter an ordinary photo can look extraordinary and a good photo can look awesome. Here are my recommendations for the best photo filter apps around:

1. VSCOcam
This is my favourite app for adding filters to photos. VSCO has the largest range of filters that I have come across and they are fantastic. The filters are the most natural looking of any app and are all quite beautiful as you can see from the range above. With VSCO you can also take photos within the app and then experiment with the filters. It also has loads of other editing functions like adjusting brightness, adding a grainy effect, sharpening or fading and lots more. This is definitely the photo editing app I use the most but one word of caution – it’s addictive! I can spend ages playing around and trying out different filters as there are so many. The basic filters are free but to get all of them it’s paid but most definitely worth it.

2. Retrica
If you are into your selfies, you’ll love Retrica. It’s a simple app that allows you to choose from a range of filters and effects to keep your selfies interesting and different. What I especially like about Retrica is that any filters and effects are done before taking the selfie. So you get a live preview of exactly what your photo will look like before you click. Once you click you can instantly share or send wherever you want including Instagram of course. The free version is more than good enough unless you hate seeing ads on your apps, then you’ll have to go premium.

3. Dash of Colour
This simple app does what it says on the tin and it’s free. Strictly speaking this isn’t an app for adding filters – there are some basic editing functions and filters but the main purpose of this app is to add a colour effect. Or what I most love it for is that I never manage clean, crisp white backgrounds to my photo’s and this app helps me get much closer to that. You simply convert your picture to black and white and then add the colour bits back in by using your finger as a paintbrush. This allows you to make a certain part of the picture pop like the example with Anya wearing those blue glasses. And also as you can see from the leggings photo – my original picture was quite yellow so I turned the photo to black and white and added back in the bit of pink tape. So much better!

4. Simply B&W
I’m a big fan of black and white photo’s and this is an easy to use app to apply black and white filters to your photos and again it’s free. While there are many apps that will convert photo’s to black and white, there are normally only one or two pre-sets to choose from. With this app, you can not only play around with a bigger range of black & white filters but also within each filter you can adjust the effects like the strength of the filter and more. So the same black and white photo can look completely different as you can see in the pictures above – from giving it a really old, dated feel to a much sharper looking photo.

5. Afterlight
Afterlight is a filter lovers dream. It offers an in app camera too but I don’t really use this – my iphone camera seems just as good. What I do like about Afterlight is the big range of filters and that they can be layered on top of each other to create even more effects. Too much of this and your photo will end up looking very unnatural but if you did want to create quite distinct effects you can. My favourite bit of this app is the fun shapes which can be filled with your photos like the examples above which I love. From bold capital letters to script letters to shapes like hearts, stars, sun and more. You can be so creative with these without needing to learn how to do it from scratch. Afterlight isn’t free but costs just £0.79 or $0.99 so it’s definitely worth it for what you’re getting.

These are my most useful phone photo apps for being easy to use, for creating a range of effects and adding lots of different filters. And the best part is that most of them are free. They help easily take an average photo to a fab one without getting in to the technical side. The best way to use these apps is to experiment with them and try out different filters and effects – you’ll soon learn which are your favourites and you’ll also discover all sorts of tricks to make your photo’s really stand out.

Do you have a photo filter app you love ? Do share in the comments so we can all try it out.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out last weeks article on taking beautiful iphone photos of your kids.

11 of the most thoughtful gifts for new mums

March 16, 2015

If you had walked in to my home in the days after I gave birth to Anya, you would have been forgiven for asking if I had suddenly turned in to a florist. You could not move for the beautiful flowers I had. While I adore giving and receiving flowers, I think there are many more useful things that you can give new mums. I often get asked for ideas and so I thought why not share a few of my favourite new mum gifts on here.

Sometimes it’s hard to think beyond the obvious gifts like flowers, baby clothes, toys or anything for the baby. But chances are the baby will already have everything it could possibly need and much more so I think with a little thought you can give the new mum something that she really needs and something that may just help make those first few weeks and months a little bit easier. Here are some of my favourite ideas for some unusual and thoughtful gifts for new mums:

1. One of the biggest things new parents lack is time. Time to look after themselves and that includes not being able to eat well-balanced meals. So instead of a gift for the baby, you could give them a week’s worth of fresh meals cooked by you. But if that’s not possible, you can still give fresh meals from somewhere like the Food Stork who have ready made boxes of lots of different meals that you can have delivered.

2. Another lovely and personal gift for a new mum is a pamper treatment – a facial or a massage would both be a much appreciated gift especially at a time when you’re not feeling your best. This would have been top of my list of gifts to receive. Think of how you felt in those days and weeks after a birth and then imagine escaping for a couple of hours to be pampered in a quiet, tranquil environment. Pure bliss!

3. Thinking on from pampering gifts for the new mum, you could even gift the new mum a baby massage session. It’s a thoughtful gift that gives both the mother and baby some special bonding time that’s just for the two of them. And the new mum will also get to meet other new mums around her. There are many places that offer these but if you’re in London, The Portland Hospital has weekly sessions open to everybody.

4. If you really do want to give something for the baby, then think about clothes in bigger sizes like 6-9 months or even 9-12 months. The baby probably has more newborn clothes than she could ever wear so bigger sizes are much more likely to come in good use. An alternative to clothes is a baby journal which is more of a gift to the parents but it’s something that will be kept and eventually be given to the baby. I remember my mum giving me my baby journal and it was so great to look through and read.

5. New mums want advice, especially first time mums. So I love the idea of all her friends and family (who already have kids) each writing down their best piece of advice in a beautiful journal. It will be something fun and meaningful to read especially during those endless night feeds and it may just turn out to be the most useful parenting book ever. This is what a friend of mine received and even though her son is now 5, that journal is something she will keep forever.

6. If the new mum in question has an older child or children you can buy little gifts for them to keep them occupied. Things like reading books, colouring or puzzle books, board games and small toys will distract the siblings for a little while at least.

7. Another thoughtful gift for a new mum with older kids is to offer to look after them or take them out for an afternoon so that the new mum can spend some one on one time with her baby.

8. One of the things I regret not having done properly is taking enough photos in the newborn days. At the time I felt too camera conscious but I regret it now and I’m sure I’m not alone. Newborn photography is very popular and it’s a wonderful thing because those fleeting moments will never come back. So the gift of a photo session with a photographer who visits the new mums home is a wonderful thing to give as the memories will last forever.

9. This may sound a bit impersonal at first but a voucher for the mum to buy something for herself is a thoughtful gift. It could be a voucher for her favourite clothes store or an amazon voucher if she loves reading or a voucher for her favourite beauty brand. As a new mum it’s a treat to take a few minutes out and browse the internet looking for something you want that’s not baby related at all.

10. One of the best gifts I received as a new mum was a 1kg box of the most divine chocolates ever. That box of chocolates became my reason for being. Every night, I looked forward to the time when my baby was asleep in between feeds and I could open that box and get my daily fix. So the gift of a box chocolates or sweets or cookies, depending on what the new mama likes will be a sweet little gift and from experience I say the bigger the box the better!

11. Last but not least, becoming a mum, especially for the first time, is a huge mix of experiences – some good and others not so good. Loneliness is definitely one of the not so good things so instead of spending money on your friend, why not commit to visiting her once a week or more often if you can. Once the dad has gone back to work, any new mum will cherish a bit of adult company over coffee and some conversation to help pass those long days. This gesture will go far beyond any gift can.

Whats the most thoughtful gift you received as a new mum? I’d love to hear in the comments.

This post is brought to you in partnership with The Portland Hospital – UK’s leading private paediatric and maternity hospital. All content, words and ideas are my own. Thank you for supporting my work with partners that support this blog.

How to take great photos of your kids with an iphone

March 11, 2015

Want to improve your iphone photography? This post has so many handy tips for anybody who wants to improve their iphone photography. This is part of a whole series of photography posts so do check them out – there are some links at the end of the post. But for now, if you want to improve your iphone photography skills, read on.

I am so excited to have the super talented photographer Julia Arif sharing her tips on how to take better photos with your iphone of your kids. Many of us want to learn to take better everyday photos of our kids and this is exactly what Julia is showing us how to do. All of Julia’s tips are easy to action and you can start trying them out today. Julia is a professional portrait and lifestyle photographer who is also mum to one adorable little girl. It was when I discovered Julia’s beautiful instagram feed that I knew I had to ask her how she does it. All the photo’s on her instagram are taken with her iphone only which is quite unbelievable when you see the stunning photo’s. Julia has agreed to share her top tips with my readers so if you want to learn to take better photos on your iphone get reading these tips. After reading we can all get more creative with our iphones! Now over to Julia.

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The super quick face cleansing Konjac sponge

January 21, 2015

I promise you, I don’t normally take pictures of sponges! But today there’s a good reason. As I’ve mentioned before, if I come across any quick, effective and useful beauty buys I would share them on here. Especially ones for mums on the run who don’t have hours each morning for an involved skin or make-up routine, like me. I recently came across this Japanese face sponge which sounded really quick and easy to use for cleansing your face so I ordered it without much thought as it was really reasonable too.

Ever since the first time I used it I loved it. It made my skin feel clean, soft and fresh. These Konjac Sponges come with different ingredients to suit different skin types but all are 100% natural. I bought the green clay one for normal to oily skin. All you do is wet the sponge and massage your face with it – really easy and fast – and the sponge cleanses, gently exfoliates and even removes water based make-up. I now use it every morning before the school run and it doesn’t eat in to my limited time at all. With the best will in the world, I always plan to exfoliate my face every weekend but it never happens. But now using this konjac sponge morning and evening I don’t really have to worry about exfoliating. Natural beauty products like this that make your life easier without much effort are always winners for me.

P.S. This is not a sponsored post. I bought the product because I liked the sound of it and I’m really happy with it so I thought I would share it with you.

{all photo’s by ebabee}

The best maternity jumpsuits

September 18, 2014

When I was pregnant, I didn’t come across a single maternity jumpsuit. I so wish I had. Jumpsuits are the perfect thing to wear when you’re pregnant because they’re comfy, flattering and stylish. They’re great for everyday casual and office wear but also for dressing up too. Some of the more formal ones would be such a great choice for an occasion especially in the later months of pregnancy when comfort matters most. But even the more casual ones can easily be dressed up with heels and accessories for an evening look. Versatile and easy to wear, for me the maternity jumpsuit is a pregnancy must have. I think if I had found a jumpsuit at the time, I would have worn it throughout my pregnancy and beyond!

I went looking for some of the cutest maternity jumpsuits and selected 7 of the best ones that I could find. I chose a mix of casual and formal so there’s a jumpsuit for every occasion:

1. black maternity jumpsuit with elastic waist | 2. nile blue wrap-top maternity jumpsuit | 3. grey cashmere onesie style jumpsuit | 4. grey lounging maternity legging jumpsuit | 5. high-waisted black pregnancy jumpsuit | 6. black wrap jumpsuit with leather belt | 7. low-waisted black jumpsuit with sheer chest and sleeves

Collected for mama & baby: Bold Autumn florals

September 4, 2014

When I think of floral prints, Summer immediately comes to mind. But recently I’ve seen a lot of bold florals that are perfect for Autumn. Think big, bold, stand-out prints in dark tones like deep pinks, rusty reds and midnight blues. This Autumn floral trend has me hooked for Anya and myself.

Statement pieces like these would look great paired with a solid colour or if you’re brave enough, you could try mixing them with another simple print like polka dots or stripes. For the more adventurous amongst us you could even try mixing two floral prints – I will admit I’m not brave enough to do that! I’ve picked out a few of my favourite pieces for mama and baby and while they’re all striking, I’m quite in love with those floral print girls wellies and the floral tights for women. Both would create quite a stunning Autumn look when worn with solid muted colours and that’s the kind of look that appeals most to me; one statement piece that really shines. Here’s where you’ll find these pieces:

This post is brought to you in partnership with Joules. All content, words and ideas are my own. Thank you for supporting my work with carefully selected partners that support this blog.