Eeep! Another month has flown by and before I let November come and go I thought I’d fill you in with what’s been going on around here. So feel free to pop the kettle on, make yourself a brew and read on if you fancy catching up…

STOPTOBER

I signed up for a month off the good stuff (I must have been shit-faced at the time!) in order to give my liver a break and raise some money for a brilliant cause.

BUT WHY GIVE UP BOOZE?

That’s something I used to ask myself a lot when I saw people doing dryathlons. Raising cash money for charity is ALWAYS worth doing sponsored events for but I guess I didn’t think my relationship with booze was enough to provide a challenge worth sponsorship.

However, I tracked my boozey habits throughout August and scared myself shitless. My relaxing, enjoyable glasses of wine, beer sampling sessions and cheeky G&Ts added up far too quickly, so I decided to try and cut down in September and actually found it REALLY hard 😩

So, determined to give my liver a break and kick a bad habit, I took part in the challenge (which definitely proved challenging!) and raised over £100 for Macmillan - a charity who did amazing things for my Grandad and continue to support so many others dealing with Cancer.

I’m so pleased I managed it and although I found the first couple of week tough, I found that not only did I feel better but I was gobsmacked people chose to donate and help me beat my £100 target!

I might even sign up for another dryathlon after Christmas…

RAINY DAYS WITH FRIENDS

On a rainy Saturday in October I got to spend a fun day with Claire and Zabby, eating burgers, exploring museums, drinking hot chocolate and dodging showers.

It was lovely to take a bit of time out and spend it with two of my fave human beans, especially as we had a bit of time to brainstorm some potential (and rather exciting) In Colourful Company collaborations!

We also had a visit from lovely Daisy (Make Thrift London) who came down for the afternoon towards the end of the month too! Claire and I even managed a cheeky trip up to the top of Great St Mary’s before Daisy arrived and we were greeted with GORGEOUS sunny Autumn views over the rooftops of Cambridge.

RUN, Jo, RUN!

As well as signing up for Stoptober I decided that it was about time I kicked my running mojo up the bum again and signed myself up for two half marathon next year. I’ve really enjoyed getting out two or three times a week and gradually building up my distance again!

I’m still the slowest runner out there, I’m sure but it does my brain the world of good and hoping I can keep at it throughout the mental times Christmas usually brings too!

OH MY GODPARENTS!

The Beard and I were absolutely honoured to be asked to become Godparents to one of my bestie’s little boy, Josh. I’m already Godmother to Josh’s big brother, Billy but for both Will and I to be asked made my heart pop!

It was wonderful to catch up with some of my favourite faces while we were at the Christening and just look at this little face…

BRUNCH CLUB

Ever since Afternoon Tease sadly closed last year, I’ve always wanted to go along to one of the amazing looking Pop Up’s Jo now organises but I’ve either been too slow to bag a ticket or already bored up myself!

However, this time I was a very lucky lady as the wonderful Claireabellemakes invited me as her plus one to the Brunch Club event!

Needless to say I was VERY excited and even though I wasn’t drinking so missed out on the fizz, it meant I could drive us both there and we had a wonderful day eating all the food, making Autumn wreaths and listening to live music in a beautiful old barn.

It was the perfect Autumn day.

MIND THE GAP

After having a small cry, several times, over Buddy being stuck in the garage for a couple of weeks, we got him back and enjoyed a mini adventure up to Curbar Gap.

It was lovely to be pootling about in him again and even nicer to be heading out to one of our favourite places, the Peak District. We parked up next to the beautiful old Citroen Bread Van and I think Buddy had fun chatting up Jolly all day.

The views up on Curbar Edge are stunning and the 6 mile hike around to White Edge is glorious, especially on a crisp Autumn day. I was lucky enough to be joined by the sunshine for all of my solo hike and even got to spend some time with Mummy & daddy Sunshine who also came to visit me!

TEENY TINY V.I.P

OK, so my niece might not be teeny tiny any more but she is very important and it seems we we in for a jam packed few days with our little visitor, especially after she filled in her little ‘activity wish list’!

The little whirlwind came to stay with us for a few days towards the end of the month and we had the best time hanging out, exploring the local parks, colouring in,climbing, watching Disney, eating burgers, going to the cinema and hunting for dinosaurs and animals at the local museums.

INTO THE WILD

Earlier this year, and thanks to lots of our beautiful wedding guests, we purchased a shiny new adventure tent. It’s one The Beard has had his eye on for a while, it packs down pretty small and it’s super light weight, making it perfect for hiking and overnight wild camping!

We finally got to put it to the test properly this month too as we headed to the Lake District to meet our Wedding Twins, Olley and Beth for a mini adventure. We struck gold with the weather and even though it dropped to minus numbers over night, the tent kept us cosy and the view in the morning was worth the climb up and over Crinkle Craggs!

It was glorious and good to know we’ve found the perfect tent! We can’t wait for more wild camping adventures now, hopefully over New Year but most definitely in 2019!

WHOLESALE CATALOGUE

After months of planning but never finding the time to make it happen, I finally pulled my finger out and with the help of the ever talented beans, Cat (Twin Pines Creative) and Holly (Holly Booth Photography) I finished and sent out my updated wholesale catalogue! YAY!

I also managed to pimp some of the listings in my online shops using Holly’s brilliant new shots and thanks to Menekse’s (Lintel Studio) fantastic SEO work and some re-vamped product descriptions she did for me!

I bloody LOVE being able to work with other small businesses to bring more of Hello Sunshine to life, even more so when they totally smash all the things I haven’t a bloody clue about! GO TEAM!

#SPOOKYMOVIECHALLENGE

One of my absolute faves, Jen of Wren & Wilson ran a super fun Instagram challenge throughout October too. It was a single prompt every Wednesday so not too much extra work (my kind of challenge for sure!) and I got to use the prompts as an excuse to watch some of my all time favourite Halloween movies too!

Here are my responses to the prompts… I had SO MUCH fun taking some time out to doodle these! I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I did creating them!

BURGERS GALORE!

There was a snacksident in the shop this month! One year after I designed this treat for the lovely Lucky Dip Club and the ‘Be Good to Yourself Burger’ came BACK 🍔 YAY!

It’s a little different but still packed with lots of good stuff to make you feel all the warm and fuzzies inside! I hope you love it as much as I love eating burgers 🍔 (maybe that’s a little too much though?)

I also released these matching pairs of teeny tiny enamel studs to go with this mega snack, just in case you don’t fancy the big’un!

THE MONSTER MASH

I’m not sure if this is work related or not but I’m throwing it in the mix here because this month also saw my MOST LIKED post on Instagram… EVER! Was it some of my lovely jewellery, an enamel pin or cute costomer photo? Maybe it was one of Buddy or the cats because they are the most liked thing on my feed? NOPE… it was this gem!

THE C-WORD

The naughty jumpers have been in full swing this month and I have been LOVING the requests coming in. There have been some proper belters and I cannot wait to see what others come in over the next few weeks…

CHRISTMAS

Talking of the c-word, it’s been pretty full on with wholesale orders this month too and I’ve been trying my bestest to keep the shops up to date with new festive treats as well as preparing for all my Christmas Markets this Winter too.

It’s been a bit full on and has made me cry at times but I have been managing to balance all the stresses of running this business and still take time to have fun and take time off for adventures along the way, which I am VERY proud of.

Here’s hoping I can maintain the balance and still say the same in next month’s update….

BRING IT ON NOVEMBER!

☀️