It's time for my monthly roundup of what's good and great out there in the world and this month was all about refreshing, wether that be your look, your garden or your home, it's only a short roundup this month, Easter and Mother's Day both being in March meant a bumper round up and I found my inbox to be a much quieter and calmer place although I was still sent a handful of gorgeous products.

I always think of April as the opener to the year, we've suffered through winter and now spring is here at last although if you live in the UK like me you're probably still imagining that we're in the throws of the most grim winter we've ever known.  Hopefully these products might make you smile, and some might even make you want to run outdoors, although, I'd take an umbrella with you if I were you.

1. Small Window Box in Hampstead Lead from Bay and Box, Now I should say that I had plans to have these planted up already but oh my the weather, I have 2 of these boxes and yes, we're growing our own funky veg in them, I think you're going to have to stay tuned to see what we do with them.  They're actually planned to go on brackets on the wall but even the gardener dismayed at the weather, once that sunshine comes though, they're going to look fabulous. I'm ordering an Arbour for the garden so it's a big transformation project, we really do need the weather for it though.

2.Cable and Cotton Fairy Lights, I love fairy lights, I have them all over my house and it's only a couple of weeks ago when I decided to take down the icicle lights to replace them with these beautiful rainbow lights from Cable and Cotton, the best thing about this brand is that you can have any colour combination you want, in all honesty, I haven't quite decided if they're going to stay in the lounge, they're USB powered so they have to stay in the house but they could go out doors for short periods when I'm entertaining and I think they'd look amazing.

3. Sweeties and Treats from Haribo, the darlings at Haribo sent these for the March guide but sadly they arrived just after it had been published so I wanted to include them in April, I mean just because it's past Easter doesn't mean you can't get some spring themed games on the go, it is the long Easter holidays currently and anything to entertain the kids is a good thing!

4. Buff Infinity Scarf - Lastly, my good friends over at Buff sent me an infinity scarf and I can't tell you how handy this has been during all of the cold and rainy/snowy weather we've been experiencing, it's snuggly and warm and huge and it's certain to last me for many years to come on my many dog walking adventures with Holly Bobbins, did I mention that Buff do a dog wear section?!

So there you are, short but sweet but wonderful, thanks to all of the companies involved, my monthly roundup could not happen without you.

natural, fun portraits of kids in the outdoors, North East England

Here's the thing, yes you can book a studio shoot with me, I'd be only too happy, in fact I have a studio portrait day coming up on 17th of November with limited availability remaining.  I do love studio photography during winter and in certain circumstances but I love the outdoors with kids, I love lifestyle portraits of little people having fun, you take them to their favourite places, you get better photographs.

Being a North East Photographer I'm blessed that I live in an area surrounded by so many gorgeous places like Jesmond Dene, the beach at Tynemouth, Leazes park, saltwell park, heaton park, Armstrong Park, all those places are pretty much 20 minutes away from me at most and I love spending time outdoors, take Saturday, at one point there was sideways sleet, not great for cameras but the light was wonderful and the sleet looks pretty on the photos.

If you are looking to arrange a 30 minute mini session (£20 inc a 7x5) or a 60 minute session (£40 inc a 12x8) I have some availability, Tomorrow in Jesmond Dene I have availability at 1pm, 1.30pm and 2pm

On Saturday I have availability between 9.30am and noon in Jesmond Dene (the rest of the day is booked)

On Sunday I have availabilty for Tynemouth Longsands, this was only announced late yesterday and a couple of sessions are already booked, I have availability between 11.30am and 1.30pm remaining.

Should you wish to book on one of the sessions you can email me, tweet me, Facebook me or even click through to my website and then you could get lovely photos just like these ones...

Autumnal Mini Photo shoots in Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park

I love being a photographer in Newcastle, this time of year is my favourite time to get outside and photograph, kids, families and couples wearing cosy warm colours and having fun in the great outdoors against a splendid colourful autumn background.

For the last couple of weekends I've been shooting 30 minute mini sessions which for kids at least seems to be the perfect length of time, as well know (especially me being a mum of three) most kids have a somewhat short attention span so keeping the session to 30 minutes means it's fun, fast and furious and the kids go away having had a great time.

Here's just a few highlights from this weekends sessions -

if you would like to book an autumnal mini session I have only 1 slot left on Saturday down on the beach at Tynemouth Longsands and I have only a couple of slots left on Sunday at Leazes Park so do get in touch as soon as you can.  The weekend after next I'll be back in Jesmond Dene on the Saturday and I'm still not sure where to have them on the Sunday so suggestions are always appreciated.

you can get in touch in the following ways, email, website, Twitter or Facebook

Happy Birthday Finlay

Finlay is 1, I can't beleive it, he's grown so much since I first met him last September! Finlay of course is Elizabeths gorgeous little boy and I was delighted to spend the afternoon with them today. Today we didn't take many photos as it was just a social visit to celebrate his birthday but I did get a couple!

First Ever go on the swings, can you beleive that, he absolutely loved it!



This was as close as we got to a photo, he wasn't in the mood for posing today!!


With his mummy, this one is for David, still over in Iraq and I hear he's at the moment in the middle of a desert hiking back to camp! Rather him that me!!