June highlights

We've had a great few weeks of summer fairs and the weather has been fabulous! We started off with the very lovely Wealden Times Midsummer Fair at the beginning of June. Always the quintessential English summer fair, it is one of my favourites. The three day event is host to beautiful craft and food stalls, everything you could possibly need for your garden and all set in the exquisite Hole Park gardens.

Hole Park

 Ready for afternoon tea

The Wealden Bunting all a flutter

Some of our lovely products all squeezed in to a 2m x 2m space

 Our pretty cotton nightwear is always popular at these events especially if the sun is shining!

 Blue skies for most of the 3 day event

Sharron Goodyear Photography

Last September I was invited to have a stall at the Fordcombe Village Fete near Tunbridge Wells in Kent. It is such a beautiful part of the world and this pretty village was the perfect backdrop for the very english tradition of an annual end of summer fete, complete with vintage car display, Punch and Judy, a dog show and some lovely stalls. My kind of event!

The sun was shining and there was a relaxed and happy buzz to the fete. It has been run every year since the 1950's and so there really is something for everyone, including a rather lovely tea tent, with tables groaning under the weight of homemade cakes. Unfortunately for me,it was on the other side of the dog show arena!

It is so exciting when someone comes along and completely falls in love with our vintage style nightwear, which is just what Sharron Goodyear from Lollipops and Little Ones did that afternoon. Lollipops and Little Ones is a family lifestyle blog with all kinds of useful info for Mums and Dads from healthy eating, beauty product reviews, photo, gift and activity ideas for all the family. Sharron is an accomplished, award winning portrait and wedding photographer and she happily offered to take some photos of her three beautiful children in our vintage pyjamas. These are just a few of the images we have used recently on our site. 

This pretty nightdress featuring this sweet little night owl is always one of our best sellers

I love the cheeky expression of her youngest here. He looks so handsome in these transport Pjs. All our Pjs from Powell craft are 100% soft cotton and suitable from age one. I remember being so excited when my boys were old enough to wear a proper pair of big boy pyjamas and left the baby jumpsuit designs behind.

Oh those were the days!

You can see Sharron's wedding photography here http://www.goodyearphotography.co.uk/weddings/

Janne x

A pirate is for life, not just for Christmas

Ahoy there! "Shiver me timbers" and whatever else it is that pirates say, "surrender the booty". Well, with less than 100 sleeps till christmas we are stocking up on our pyjama and gift ranges here at My Heart and Home HQ and pirates are playing a big part this year. 

We have some adorable pirate rag dolls in stock and at 40cm high they make great first dolls for toddlers. With his cheeky little face, there is nothing scary about this cheery little chap. We have him in both large and mini size, with the smaller size just perfect for the christmas stocking.

We have some great pirate jimjams this year in super soft 100% cotton interlock. Cosy and warm, these pyjamas feature a cheeky little pirate appliqué on the front making them great for boys or girls. Seeing as they are red and white striped they make fabulous christmas pjs too! They start from age 2-3 years and go up to 8-9 years.

If you are quick then pop over to our Facebook page and enter our pirate bundle giveaway. There is a great selection of pirate booty being given away to one lucky winner!

And remember....  a pirate is for life, not just for Christmas!

Little pyjama sale

Happy New Year everyone. (I think I can just about get away with wishing everyone that till the end of January) Hope all those new 2014 resolutions are going well!

I've got lots of new plans for My Heart and Home this year, including stocking some brand new baby gift sets, baby blankets and newborn keepsake toys. Already orders have been placed with a lovely new English toy brand. I'm looking forward to Bubble (The kidswear trade show) next week and seeking out some new baby wear and pyjamas to add to the range too.

In the meantime we have a new years pyjama clearance going on, so please take a peek at the nightwear section on the site and see if you can grab a cosy winter bargain for your little one. We have some great skinny fit robot pjs for boys on sale and the prettiest cosy crown print pjs for girls.

These are just some of the winter styles on sale this month with prices starting from as little as £12.95. I'm looking forward to posting up some of our new Spring range very soon.

In the meantime, happy juicing!

Janne x

A good nights sleep

Who's had a good nights sleep this month? We've got the fan on, the duvet off, windows wide open, but each night is a challenge in this weather. We all want to stay cool during these hot summer nights and with little ones feeling uncomfortable and irritable in this heat, it's really important to choose the right nightwear for them to sleep in. All our beautiful nightwear is 100% cotton. We don't do polyester or manmade fabrics which can cause existing skin conditions to flare up. A cool breathable and natural fibre, cotton is probably one of the best options for sleeping in this heatwave. All our nightwear is machine washable and is easy to dry. If you want to skimp on the ironing then a light tumble dry is all that is needed. 

Loose fitting nightwear is best and as all our nightdresses are based on traditional victorian designs so there is plenty of room for movement. This Powell Craft Rosie nightdress is one of our best sellers in summer with it's vintage rose print design.

Loose fitting pyjamas or nighties allow for circulation around the body so slim fitting all- in-ones and tight fitting pjs are not ideal in our hot and sticky July!

We have lots of fun designs for boys too, but these classic lightweight stripe pjs are great for both boys and girls. 

Wishing you all a good nights sleep this summer!

Janne x

£25 February Giveaway

It's February and time to shake away those January blues and definitely high time for the first giveaway of the year. We have so many new products coming in soon that I can't  decide what to give away. So, the lucky winner can select from lots of lovely goodies using a £25 voucher. Anything from pyjamas to teddy bears and with free postage thrown in too. 

To enter you  just need to 'like' us on our Facebook page (unless you are a friend already) Please share the giveaway post with your friends on your profile or page if you would like to. Leave a comment below so that we know who you are and that you have entered.

1.The competition will run for two weeks and end on 15th February 11.59pm 2013. 

2.The winner will be drawn using the random.org number generator once the competition has ended.

3.The winner must purchase from the www.myheartandhome.co.uk using a £25 voucher code that will be sent to their email address. They must use their voucher by March 15th 2013. 

4.The competition is open to everyone , but free postage and packaging only applies to UK residents.

5.To enter, participants must like My Heart and Home on Facebook AND leave a comment below or on our facebook page to say they have done so.

Good luck everyone and thanks for entering!

Janne x

New season photo shoot part 1

I  was very excited when Vicki Knights agreed to shoot my new seasons range for me this summer. It had been a year since our last photo shoot with four gorgeous little models, so this year I wanted to include the boys. Having worked together before, I knew she would be able to make my vision a reality and produce some beautiful images that reflect my brand whilst capturing the innocence of childhood.

Inspired by a friends garden field, I decided on the 'outdoor camping' theme. The location is in an idyllic setting backing on to woods and the vintage tractor was the star attraction for the children. (along with a very friendly Labrador called Alfie who wanted to be in every shot)! 

Kiran, Scarlett, Eloise, Harrison and Ro were all real stars and given a teepee for a den, a bundle of sticks and some naturally crafted bows and arrows, their imaginations took over!

I love this quote by Michael Powell: "There is no land like the land of your childhood" and Vicki captured this perfect vision of children playing naturally together. The sun even made an appearance for a fleeting moment making the scene even more magical.

Because the nightwear we stock is traditional in style I wanted the shoot to have a real feeling of nostalgia reflecting the wonder of childhood. I think Vicki has captured this perfectly.

You can see the updated site here which includes lots of the new photos and you can read Vicki's blog about the shoot here. 

This is only part of the shoot and I look forward to sharing some more very soon.

Janne
xx

Photo Shoot

July and August is the time of year when most of my family are enjoying their summer, but I'm trying to get my head around Christmas, booking fairs and ordering new stock (all with the usual panic of have I ordered too much of one thing and not enough of another or will it be a ridiculously warm winter as I order fleece PJs)! Its also time to update the site with new stock, photos and a new look too.

Last year I met Vicki Knights through twitter, loved her photography style and asked her to take some commercial photos of my nightwear for my site. The shoot was so much fun featuring a friends three gorgeous girls and my daughter Eloise. It was pretty and whimsical in the idyllic setting of the Medicine Garden. You can read about that shoot here and here.

This year I wanted to carry on the theme of 'idyllic childhood freedom' and include boys too as I have gorgeous boys pjs on the site. As one of Surreys leading child and lifestyle photographers, Vicki gets booked up months in advance and so I think I booked the session last February! These are some photos I took of Vicki in action. She is of course used to taking photos of children, but not necessarily lying flat out amongst prickles and rabbit droppings faced with a line of fire! Alfie the golden lab was determined to try and sneak into every shot too!

I prefer to have outdoor lifestyle photos of my range rather than staged studio shots and loved the idea of a teepee sleepover/campout where the children would run around and play naturally with bows and arrows, climb trees, find sticks from the woods and munch on marshmallows afterwards. Pinterest was a great source of inspiration and over the months leading up to the shoot Vicki and I exchanged ideas.

I had already ear marked the venue for the shoot. A friends house set on the edge of a wood complete with cats and a dog as well as a vintage style tractor. It couldn't be a more perfect place in which to bring the shoot to life.

I loved making the teepee from a pattern I bought on ebay. I'd almost forgotten I could sew! And roaming charity shops for props and vintage finds is always satisfying. My husband who secretly loved the idea of whittling sticks produced amazing bows and arrows with twigs from the garden and feathers collected on our dog walks.

He also made the signpost too. Every thing came together and fingers were crossed for some early evening sun.

I am so thrilled with the results of Vicki's shoot and look forward to sharing her photos later in the week.

Janne x

London PJs

When it comes to children's nightwear it seems that bold London images are pretty hard to resist and these iconic Grenadier Guards pyjamas are proving popular with parents and children alike. (And several Hollywood A listers have also been spotted buying them for their kiddies too). With the Jubilee and Olympic fever this year, 2012 is the perfect excuse for celebrating with a little piece of your own London.

Making a bold statement at bedtime, Pixie Dixie PJs are made from the highest quality, softest 100% cotton jersey. At the moment we stock the traditional style button down pyjamas tipped in red at the collar and cuffs and with comfy trousers elasticated at the waist. We can't guarantee bedtime will happen with military precision , but having a favourite pair of pjs at the ready is quite an incentive for snuggling down!

We'll be stocking some more iconic London PJ styles in the Autumn ready for the Christmas PJ rush.

With many overseas customers looking for presents to send back home, we seek out perfect little gifts and keepsakes inspired by our capital. The London bus pencil holder is new into the range and the Rag doll Grenadier Guard and soldier laundry bag are always popular lightweight gifts to send in the post.

This month at www.myheartandhome.co.uk we are offering FREE p&p. Just select free postage option at the checkout.