Flying Our Leaffy Nest

Since our return to the studio after our little break in January, it has been non stop. And now, at long last, we have begun the enormous task of moving home and studio.

The biggest obstacle this currently causes for Leaff, is the loss of our phone number. We have now unplugged the phones, and we cannot take the number with us, so we are currently only contactable by email. As soon as we have settled and set up a new line, we will let you know, but please bear with us!

It is such an exciting time for us, but absolute chaos all the same, and while at the moment project work is all we can fit into our evenings, I really hope to fill you in on our recent adventures very soon.

For now though, from our make-shift workspace, goodnight!

2014 - Here we come!

A very Happy New Year to you all! We hope that you each had a wonderful Christmas, and are feeling recharged for the new year ahead. How big a year will it be for you?

It has been a very busy start to the New Year for us already, and we have lots of things keeping us
very busy over the next few months in particular. So here is how 2014 is shaping up for Leaff...

Projects, Projects, Projects

At the moment, we are in the process of wrapping up a brand and website development for a very talented wedding videographer, as well as beginning work on some beautiful wedding stationery for
a wedding this Spring. We are also just beginning work on a very exciting brand development for an
up and coming independent professional childcare recruitment agency, which we cannot wait to share
with you all.

Moving On Up

Lurking in the background, is also our impending move in the Spring. Not only will we be moving
home, but studio as well of course, into what we have high hopes of being our dream purpose built studio. To what timescales we will be working to with this, only time will tell, but we will keep you
updated with news on this, and hopefully we won't have to work out of cardboard boxes for too long.

Turning Over a New Leaff

As if this wasn't all enough, we have been spending all spare minutes on our new website, and
refreshing our brand to reflect where we are now. Working on our own stuff is the hardest part of the whole business, because it always comes second to client projects. But excited just doesn't cut it
- this is a huge deal to us - and we are literally bursting to get it all finished! Hopefully this will
coincide with the completion of our new studio.

So this is clearly set to be our busiest year ever, in so many different ways, and it is easy to let the chaos overwhelm you. What a mountain to climb! But as I always say, 'if it is to be, it's up to me'
- I think we can reach any goal that we set our minds to. Don't you?

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to you all - we hope that you have a really peaceful break. The studio is now closed, and will re-open on Thursday 2nd January 2014.

Thank you all for your continued support this year, it's meant so much with all of our little adjustments - here's to a very exciting New Year ahead for Leaff!

It's All About Goodwill

This month has been all about goodwill. The wheels were set in motion by our recent fundraising campaign for baby Joseph, and at any rate, if you can't think of others at Christmas, when can you?

Like a lot of us, we often feel too strapped for cash to give to charity, but at Christmas, we make a
point of it. As much as it is the time of year where we all really take time to appreciate our friends and family, it is just as much the time of year that we take a minute to really think about those less fortunate - and give.

This year feels special because it is our first as a little family of 3, and the first Christmas of traditions
- old and new. We have been excited to purchase certain items that Charlie will grow to love, and to warmly associate with Christmas, but above all of the 'pretty', the most important tradition is deep down inside - the gift of giving. How important that is to people who don't have the things we have, or the lives we have, and what a difference it makes to them. So we felt extra proud this year to be shopping for the local shelters - even though Charlie doesn't understand what we are doing right now, he will in time, and it will be as big a part of Christmas as the fire guard with the flying santa on it.

So long, Autumn...

Incase you hadn't noticed, we have transformed into our Winter glory! I do love our rich and festive winter red, and this season does represent much change for us too...

Croome Court, Worcestershire, Autumn 2013 (taken by us).

I'm a bit sad to see Autumn pass for another year - my very favourite season. I love the colour it brings, the first crisp air of the year, and the low light at dusk casting the most beautiful sunsets and long shadows. It was a great season for us this year, being able to show Charlie all that it offers, as well as celebrating both mine and Jay's 30th Birthdays, which felt really momentous (and frightening at the same time!). But most importantly for Leaff, it was the season that I officially finished my maternity leave.

It has taken me until now to properly announce this, because it doesn't really feel like much has changed. I'm still only in the studio now and then, depending completely on Charlie's ever-changing nap routine, and most of my time in the studio is spread across evenings and weekends. Since we are not putting Charlie into nursery, this is the way it will remain until the Spring - more on that to come in due course - but for now I am really enjoying submerging myself gradually back into more work, and we have just taken on a few new and exciting projects to get our teeth into.

Now the season of cheer is upon us, and as far as traditions go, Christmas is our favourite. We have already begun to enjoy mulled wine by our log fire, soulful evening meals, and the halls have been decked (or 'hall' as the case may be) - the house now suitably resembles a grotto! 

It is an inspiring time of year for good will, and I think we have kicked it off well with our recent fundraising efforts for baby Joseph. Good deeds always enhance my drive in all areas of my life, and I feel a renewed sense of energy - despite the sleep deprivation that we are still under a cloak of! The New Year will mark the beginning of the changes for Leaff - there is so much excitement to come, and I cannot wait to share it with you all.

For Joseph - Money Raised

Above - Recent follow-up article, featured in Worcester News.

I'm sure that you will all remember the recent fundraising effort that we embarked on, to raise money for locally abandoned baby, Joseph (if not, catch up on this here).

Our campaign has recently come to an end, and having totted up the grand total of money raised, we are pleased to say that we are now looking to transfer £58.00 into Joseph's account. Quite a modest sum, but it is £58.00 that he didn't have before, and we are overwhelmingly grateful to all of the public who have helped to raise this money for Joseph - we are thrilled!

We would also like to take a moment to thank Ian of Worcester News, and Popi of Mangojuice Gallery for all of their help in making this campaign possible - we couldn't have done it without you!

This is Halloween

'This is Halloween' - as the soundtrack goes for one of my favourite films, The Nightmare Before Christmas! Finally, after years of salivating over other people's fantastical creations, I have found 

a couple of hours to create my own.

Spooky bunting and frenzied black bats adorn both fire places, while large black pom poms hang mysteriously over the dining room table. Jay's carved pumpkin makes a sinister centre piece, while witches brooms and cobwebbed pumpkin buckets, with treats hidden in, lay scattered about the 

rooms. Even the fruit has turned evil!

Charlie is a little young to appreciate his mum's crazy creative efforts at this stage, but he will grow 

to love them I'm sure! And in the meantime, my thirst for fantasy and magic has been quenched, 

as we spend this halloween in our very own spooky world. Mwah ha ha!