Meet Free Monday #36

29 September: A Day at HQ

 *I'm sorry this post is so late, but I had trouble publishing it - a bit of fiddling and finally here it is.
Its been absolute ages since I've written a traditional MFM post, so I hope you'll enjoy this catch up and outlook on my week.

The past weekend was a quiet one spent at home. We relaxed and worked and headed out on Sunday for a late lunch and some frozen yogurt. In the morning I joined a few friends for breakfast. We shared delicious food and sat chatting until past lunchtime. (You can see some snaps on my personal Instagram.)

Let's dive straight into the new week... I browsed the Coloursnme blog to get inspired and organised. The beautiful photos and pretty pages in Malini's planner did the trick.


The Working Week in Review / Last Week:
Last week was a really good work week. I'm not sure why, but it felt as if I got my 'groove back', corny as that may sound. It was great to get back to blogging too. Have you spotted a few changes around here? Claire and I are still working on a one or two updates, but watch this space!

The Working Week Ahead:
This week is fully booked as far as consulting sessions go. I have several in person and a few online ones too. The sessions are one of my favourite aspects of my work. I'm also catching up with Sabrina from Fashion Nanny, who is back from London and Rome. I can't wait to hear what she saw and experienced. We'll be planning a few updates for her business and chatting through next week's Fashion Camp, where I will be speaking about blogging and social media.

Things I'm excited about this week:
I'm excited to add the finishing touches to the blog. There are also loads of social things on the go, after work I'll be heading out for good meals and catch-ups. I'm looking forward to dinner at Lupa Osteria and Lauren from Glossary's birthday party on Saturday. 

What will challenge me this week?
Staying focused! I've been steadily setting into a new and improved routine and I would like to keep up the momentum.

Personal Thoughts or Goals:
I currently feel as if I'm consolidating life, both work wise and on a personal note. I want to get things done and find balance as always. I'm feeling positive and happy - ready to face the last few months  of the year. Yikes... it's a bit scary how fast we are heading towards Christmas! 

Wishing you luck for your week! Let me know what you're up to or looking forward to this week?

Be sure to check in for other posts this week as well as next week's MFM planning edition post.

Brand Spotlight: ZANA

I'm sure Zana needs no introduction. This awesome brand first caught my eye in 2012 when I bought one of their beautiful cushions via We Heart This (read post here). While I was in Cape Town I popped past their amazing office and shop space - it was pretty damn inspiring! I snapped a few little details while there and loved seeing their products in person. Think... cheerful, happy, colourful and on trend!
When inspecting branding, blogging and business done right - Zana are A+ students who make building a successful brand look easy. Their clever DIY features, beautifully photographed images and all round coolness are just a few of the things that make them stand out. Building a successful creative business is a labour of love and it takes exceptional dedication. The Zana team have applied said dedication to build an impressive brand - I can't wait to see what they do next!

Be sure to visit Zana online to see their work and great social media updates. I hope you're inspired by Zana to work harder at building your own business and brand! 

Find Zana Online / Site / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

CNA Giveaway & Craft Competition / Giveaway Closed


CNA recently spoiled me with a box full of crafty goodies and supplies. I was so excited to dive in and discover the delightful array of colourful and useful items within. The box design was beautiful and the selection was just perfect and particularly well thought out. 

In celebration of CNA's newly launched social media profiles (Facebook & Instagram) they are hosting a fun competition with a focus on 'Rhinose Day'. I love the fact that a good cause is getting support in a new and interesting way.

You're invited to submit a rhino-inspired craft to stand a chance of winning more than R20 000 in prizes. The prizes include a R5000 gift voucher and a Samsung Tablet (amongst other things). WOW! The deadline is the 15th October so be sure to get crafty soon. You can share your lovely creations via Facebook and on Instagram using the hash tag #CNACraftComp. But... don't forget to upload your entry here too. I need to do some brainstorming on my submission... I wonder what I can create?

To get you inspired and to stock up your craft kit - CNA have very kindly offered a R500 voucher to one lucky reader. Hooray! Wishing you the best of luck and happy crafting!
(This is a local - South African giveaway)
GIVEAWAY CLOSED
*Note: 
Sometimes Rafflecopter experiences technical difficulties like all modern technology. If you can’t enter for some reason, try again later and it should work.

Meet Free Monday #35

My Week in Review: 15 - 21 September

It's great to finally be back to blogging. As I mentioned a while ago, things have been so insanely busy, both work wise and on a personal note. Step one... get back to MFM posts. Last week, I briefly checked in with the giveaway - thanks for all the entries! What a lovely prize - I will be drawing the winners soon. Today's MFM post is my week in review, which focuses on what I worked on and did last week. 

The past week was a busy one - I know I always say that, right? Well... it really was, but it was a good week too. I had a shoot booked with Ideas Magazine and my focus was on being organised and as prepared as possible. 

Monday...
The morning kicked off with a bit of work, but I spent most of the day out the office collecting and sourcing items for the shoot. One of my stops was Settings Function Hire - they have a huge variety of crockery and decor items for events. I particularly liked the pastel jars they had on display. I also fitted in lunch with my mom at St Clements in Musgrave Road. Their Prawn and Lime Cakes are my new favourite meal (highly recommended). One of my close friends had a baby on Monday, which meant a very over excited me visiting her in hospital. I was so overjoyed - I almost clapped and shrieked when I got to see her little baby boy (enthusiastic much?).

Tuesday...
A day for meetings and many an errand. I started the day early... way earlier than usual. My first meeting or shall I say coffee catch-up was with Jane. I needed to collect a gift I bought from her shop (It's a Bling Thing). My other meetings were great too, but these had a strong work focus. The rest of the day was consumed with errands for the shoot - going to the party shop (they have loads of useful things) and taking a look at Mr Price Home (bright and beautiful). A full day ended perfectly with dinner at my parent's house.
Wednesday...
Serious crunch time for Thursday's shoot! The first stop was Fresh Flowers in Florida Road (their prices are really good) to shop for pretty blooms. One or two other errands where on the list and then it was time to focus on 'real work' followed by crafting and packing everything I needed for the next day. A good nights rest was needed, so I decided to enjoy my new satin pillowslips from Dear Deer. What a decadent treat (and the cute packaging made it even better). Zzzzzzzzz...

Thursday...
SHOOT DAY! The day began before the crack of dawn and the shoot was kindly hosted by my parents at their home. It was so lovely to meet the Ideas team who flew to Durban especially for the shoot. Dala Watts (the creative director) and Terena le Roux (the editor) were just lovely, relaxed and so easy to work with. Derryn Semple did all the photo snapping and my mom played hostess. I  can't share much about the theme of the shoot or the details, but it will be in the December Ideas Magazine. Hooray - I can't wait! The rest of the afternoon was full of normal work - although I was truly exhausted. We celebrated a busy, but successful day with a delicious braai (and wine - of course).

Friday...
Secretly all I wanted to do was take the day off. The reality was quite the opposite. It pretty much looked like a craft bomb exploded in my office (stuff yanked out of storage, nothing in its place). I had to leave the mess to get on with other tasks. One of the fun 'to do's' was planning several blog posts and I got to use my brand new unopened Elephantshoe 'my weekly planner'. It's always so nice to use new stationery to feel motivated again. While out and about I spotted 'Make it Home', a creative magazine at CNA - it isn't cheap, but is full of inspiration. I'm thinking of getting it. Last on the list was some wrapping and gift decorating - I'm behind on so much snail mail but I'm trying to catch-up.

Saturday...
Sleeping in was on my agenda and I successfully did that! Bliss! My aim was to get started on tidying up my office, but let's be honest, I didn't do that. I did, however, get around to a few other tasks which also included some relaxing and spending time with Daniel. Earlier in the day Daniel kindly collected my order from Mr Price Sport - who sent me a voucher for the launch of their online shop. I was so happy to find that they stocked 'packing cubes' which I had seen via overseas blogs, but not locally. I can't wait to give these a try on my next trip (organising nerd alert!). We finished our night off with one of our favourite meals (Butter Chicken) from Palki. I also fitted in a little bit of work after dinner, which will hopefully ease the load during the week ahead.

Sunday...
I managed to have a lovely balanced day. Time to relax and time to dedicate to work. I've started reading The Fault is in our Stars and I'm enjoying it, but I'm sure there will be tears ahead. Ideas mag  was also on my reading list as it was a gift from the team along with some of their stationery. We did our usual relaxed lunch at home followed by cupcakes from Woolies. A bit more work, relaxing and reading finished off a chilled day at home.

Meet Free Monday #34

15th September: MFM GIVEAWAY CLOSED

I'm back! Hello Monday and hello to you. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. To spoil you today's MFM is a giveaway and an organising one at that! Hooray! MFM is my time to get organised and ready for the week and it's just perfect that the giveaway is all about planning.


GIVEAWAY Details:
Love Letters Stationery is giving away two personalised diaries to two local readers, in celebration of their recently launched online shop and updated site. Bridgett Richardson, the creative mind behind the shop, personally selects each item with love and attention to detail. The selection is inspired, colourful and perfect as gifts or even as a personal spoil. Visit the beautiful site here.

The gloss hard-cover ensures the diary (valued at R275) will look as good in December as it did in January. Page per day layout gives you plenty of space for all your notes, appointments and doodles. Getting organised is one of my absolute favourite things and I couldn't think of a better way to share my passion for all things pretty with you. 

To Enter: Giveaway Closed
I'll be testing out Rafflecopter for giveaways. It's an easy system and it makes the entry process very fair. Give it a go... *GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Life of Late...

Hello...
Things have been quiet around here. Life and work have been particularly intense. I envisioned my time away in Cape Town to be ideal for catching up, but instead it was two of the busiest weeks of my life. It's as if things got super sized! 

I'm going to take some time off from blogging in order to do what needs doing. In the meantime take a look at these two posts about last week's Creative Business Workshop in Cape Town. It went really well and I'm so grateful to all those who attended. 

The first photos are from Hello Pretty and the second batch are from Lanalou Style.


I'll be back soon with lovely posts and also a giveaway!
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