Little A and his First Bike!

I was one of those parents who were a bit iffy about the idea of balance bikes. I actually thought they looked a little unsafe (there are no breaks after all!) I saw a lot of children who used them going so fast it frightened me! But then I heard about Liska and her little boy who loved his balance bike and thanks to that love and practice he took to his first, proper bike (aka one without stabilisers but with pedals and breaks) like a dream and all of a sudden I could see how great these things could be! We saw a bargain on Sports Direct and well, he loves it!

He loves his bike

'My motorbike!'

A train station break..(obviously)

He likes to pretend it's a motorbike and he makes revving noises- so sweet! We have it on all school runs and I can safely say that the 3 wheeled scooter we purchased was so far a total waste of money! He's getting exercise, he really loves it and it's made school runs a lot quicker! He's not as dangerous on it as I thought he would be. Now to find a more appealing helmet so he doesn't keep taking it off!!

Does your little one have a balance bike or did they have one and has it helped them move up to the 'big' bikes? I'd love to know!

Cupcakw Mumma

Papery Love! #2

Today I am sharing some papery love (inspired by The Reading Residence's #bringbackpaper) I have notebooks, stickers and books to share with you all. Enjoy!

What I've Read:

Very different from my normal book reading, I've gone with a bit of harmless chic lit in the form Fiona Niell's The Secret Life of The Slummy Mummy. I can never identify with these novels although I think you're supposed to in way (at least to make you feel better) but I have laughed out loud a few times and certainly cringed, I managing myself as Lucy in a few of her highly embarrassing situations.

What I'm Reading:

I'm currently reading another nursing book titled 'Catching Babies.' Since reading The New Arrival I have fallen in love with these real life accounts of nursing, health visiting and midwifery in the 70's and onwards. I really recommend this book, as I did the previous title.

Up Next:
Back to the usual stuff for me with more Tudor related reading. I'll be picking up Betrayal in the Tudor Court as my next book to lose myself in.

Now some papery love! I bought some dessert themed stickers to add to my letters from Fox and Star who is a fantastic seller and has lovely items on her Etsy store. I purchased a gorgeous notepad from Waterstones for just under £3 whilst I had a break from a recent blogging event to explore Exeter a little.

 Finally, I ordered a selection of vintage inspired cards to make some cards for swaps and special occasions.

I purchased a pack of vintage cards for a recent gift swap.

Do you like any of my recent buys? Do you have any papery love to share? Leave me your posts below!



Cupcake Mumma

Adding to Collections:

As many of you know I collect postcards and have been for about a year now. I have a little tin under my bed where I keep them all safe. Some of them are picked up when I visit a new place, some are bought from the same shop as I got one before but the occasion is different and some are really, really old. 1930's old, which is amazing. Most of these are dated and have lovely small written notes to friends or loved ones on. I'm a bit of a history lover and I adore the thought of holding something that was in somebody else's hand so many years ago.

Last weekend I went off around the market and I went to my favourite stall hoping to find some good postcards from years ago. Sadly there were only 2 proper postcards. I have been known to pick up very old photos from this stall too as the old fashion, traditional photography just pulls me in along with the fashion of say a young woman or child.
Anyway, I picked up a couple of postcards costing 75p each. As you can see i'm not the hard core collector just yet. To spend nearly a fiver on a postcard it would have to be pretty special to me!

Another collection I enjoy adding to is my stamp collection. A few months ago my Mum brought over a memory box I made when I was 12/13. Inside was a little pocket of stamps I had started collecting and never carried on. Well, going around the market I came across a new stall full of postcards, medals and yes, stamps. At 25p each I thought i'd treat myself!
I'm drawn to stamps for their artwork and fine detail. This is another reason I using Postcrossing as I love seeing the stamps on the back of my newly delivered postcards from all over the world.

These are just wonderful! My favourites by far!

 On leaving the market I came across a lady selling bags of stamps. Most of the stamps have been 'stamped' during mailing which is a shame but i got rid of very little and mostly duplicates to be honest. I can still see a lot if not most of the detail on these stamps.

And what do I do with all these old stamps? Put them in a tin of course! I found the perfect one. A vintage quality street tin bearing Major Quality and Miss Sweetly. This tin doesn't have the Quality Street logo which has puzzled me a bit but I think it's wonderful nonetheless! I gave it a clean up and now it's all ready to be loved again.

Major Quality and Miss Sweetly all cleaned up

Lovely designs of the setting 

'Mackintosh's Quality Street'

 What do you collect? I'd love to know!

CupcakeMumma