Whilst we don't know exactly what's going to happen, it's likely that some of us could end up having to self isolate and that could end up being a large part of the population so if no one is going out, and no events are taking place, it's a good idea to get your ducks in order right now.

1. Remote broadcasting apps like Zoom - http://bit.ly/2Q4fOTc are going to be essential if you want to keep in touch with clients, hold meetings with suppliers and contacts or just generally get yourself out there in the world, the plans for Zoom start with a basic option which is free but it's not an expensive platform.  Also, think about how you can capitalise with things like Skype or Facetime.
2. If you don't have a postal subscription service, why not start to think about one now, whether it's cake by post or just generally something to brighten the day of people who are self-isolating, keeping cheery is going to be a priority for a lot of people.
3. Whilst we are looking at maximum disruption in the short term, all of those markets that have cancelled will want to recoup their costs as soon as they can so it's a great time to prepare stock for later.
4. Do an audit of your own company, what is your online presence like currently, what do you need to do. I can provide a full digital online audit for you for a small fee of just £95 which would lead to a report about how you can maximise your potential. I'm also going to be offering crisis coaching sessions online to try and help as much as I can.
5. Diversifying what you do is going to become so important, we all need to make income and whilst I hate profiteering, we all need to do our best to survive, especially as self-employed people who may not have a fallback. It's usually recommended to have 3 months of savings to get through things like this, but let's get realistic, who here is in such a privileged position currently?
6. If you do have an online business, one which is particularly product-based, it's even more imperative that you have attractive lifestyle images which command attention now is the time to really amp up your photography skills, I can teach you "Everyday Photography" with your smartphone in around 2 hours for product-based with another 2 hours for people-based. If you would like to take advantage of that please email me and get in touch.
7. If we do experience an economic downturn it will probably be temporary and I know that's scary but remember, it doesn't have to mean business disaster, Hershey's launched their business during the great depression and it was successful because even in the hardest times we all seek to make life just a little bit better.
8. Please do not slash your prices, this may seem like a great idea at the time but once you've gone down the bargain route, it's hard to rebound at a later date and believe me when I say that this is something I've learnt the hard way.

To book a discovery call over Zoom to see if I can help you and your business please email me

Finally, please try and stay positive, I know that it's hard when there are so many uncertainties but positivity makes things a lot easier to deal with, be sensible, be realistic and don't worry if you aren't panic buying, in fact, try not to panic buy. I can't promise but I have to believe that everything is going to be alright.

National Feet Week {Ad-Gifted Products}

It's National Feet week, and until a few weeks ago when I was asked to take part in a Twitter party for it, I hadn't even heard of it!

Does anyone actually like their own feet, feet are weird things, they work hard, really hard and they're prone to hard skin, dodgy nails and all kinds of things but these overlooked parts of our body really do require extra care to keep us in good health.

I was lucky enough to be sent a box of goodies which are all about foot care from an assortment of wonderful brands like Footner who make those exfoliating socks that give you baby soft feet (after all of your old skin falls off) and I can't wait to use those, my feet definitely need to be exfoliated.

We all know that we should get regular eye tests, 6 monthly dental checks but we also need to go see a podiatrist to help care for our feet, you can search for your local podiatrist at Pods Fix Feet I shall hold my hand up now and say I've never been to a podiatrist but would I go to one?  Yes, if I thought I needed it, self-care is everything after all.

I do try and keep my feet happy, I have Reynauds Phenomenon so have really bad circulation and I'm happy to say that since I found some wonderful sheepskin slippers it's one less thing to worry about.  In our package of goodies was included some orthotic soles from formthotics, I don't have a need for those but have gifted them straight to Harriet, she has plantar fasciitis so they're going to be essential for her in her foot recovery.

I think feet are a funny thing, we rarely talk about them and we're almost embarrassed to admit when we have feet, toe or nail problems but really, when you consider just how much walking around on them, it's no surprise that you might have issues from time to time and it's really nothing to be embarrassed about.  One thing is for sure, be kind to your feet and your feet will thank you for it.

Mother's Day Gift Guide for the Modern Insta-Mum {AD-Gift Guide}

Mother's Day is fast approaching and given that I spend half my life on Instagram I thought I would profile the modern Insta-Mum, mums like me, we're juggling, life, work, business, we love technology, we are renovating our houses and we love memories above all other things.  You don't have to look too far on Instagram to find thousands like me.  So here without further ado is my ultimate gift guide for the modern Insta-mum.

Ember, the world's first temperature-controlled mug, the internet of things has come along way since it's first inception and I for one could not be happier, I honestly never thought I would need a wifi enabled mug which keeps your drinks at the perfect temperature but since I've received this one I use it every day, long cups of tea in bed, coffee that doesn't go cold whilst I'm running around in the mornings, it's an actual miracle in a coffee cup!

If you, like me, love a good hot chocolate, then Cadbury's has the perfect gift for that hot chocolate loving mum with it's amazing hot chocolate gift hamper, just don't put it in the cupboard and expect the box of flakes to last when your teenage children get to them before you 😉

Gtech Myo Touch - an adjustable automated massaging bed isn't something I would ever have thought I couldn't live without but after having one now for the last couple of months I can tell you that this is the most amazing thing since sliced bread!  You lie on top of the bed and the massaging mechanism runs up and down a track massaging you in your chosen zones, you can go from a whole-body massage to adjusting on concentrated parts of your body.  Put on a candle, dim the lights and download a meditation and I promise you will never need a masseuse ever again.

Posterhaste Dual Star Map, I absolutely love this, when I renovated my kitchen it was the first thing that went on my walls, my star map has the constellations at the time of both Iain and Looby's birth and so every time I look at it, I'm taken back to a happy place, and isn't that what wall art is about, no matter how stressed or anxious you might be, one glance at something lovely and you feel a little better.

Beautify quilted storage stool, it's just not okay to be messy in today's aesthetically beautiful Instagram world and that's where clever storage solutions like this quilted storage stool come in really handy, it's comfy to sit on, it makes a great little poufee and it's roomy inside so you can store all of the clutter!

Mermaid Pink Gin, you may have seen my Christmas gift guide with the original Mermaid Gin direct from its home, the Isle of White distillery, well now it's younger sister, the Mermaid Pink Gin has been released and isn't she glorious, I quote "Fresh Island strawberries, grown in the rich and fertile microclimate of the Arreton Valley, are steeped in our signature smooth gin for four days, before being redistilled to create Mermaid Pink Gin, with its intensely aromatic, fresh flavour. Infusing fresh sun-kissed strawberries with our smooth yet complex gin creates a refreshingly layered serve, with a hint of sea air from fragrant rock samphire."  Now I know you're going to want to try that!

Every mum wants Tom Ford perfume, if you've ever been to their perfume counter and drooled like me then you'll wish for this to be gifted this Mother's Day, Tom Ford Noir Femme is a divine evening smell which lends it's self to high-end nights out as well as the Insta-Mums next most fabulous dinner party and unlike some perfumes, it does not fade, I absolutely love this. Available from Perfume Direct.

For the mum who has everything, why not print a year of memories with just a couple of clicks, printable from social media, I received a whole year of my Instagram in a book from My Social Book and what a delight to have it as a coffee table book, as a photographer, I enthuse often that we should be printing as many of our photographs as we possibly can so for me this is just perfect.

Exercising is one of the things the Insta-mum wants to do but never seems to find the time so this little gadget, the Active 5 is like having the gym in your pocket, it's a portable strength training and coaching app and it fits in the palm of your hand, it contains all you need to exercise at any time from anywhere and that to me is amazing.

Thanks to all of the companies who helped with the making of this year's Mother's Day guide, a lot of time, research and communication goes into compiling each gift guide and I'm so grateful to the amazing PR's and companies who make everything run so smoothly.

{Ad-Press Tickets} Hollywood Heroes, Sage Gateshead - Review

I've been a long time fangirl of the Royal Northern Symphonia having been to just about every one of their "Nights Out" concerts for the last four or five years as well as enjoying some of their classical concerts too.

I'll be honest, they could play a scale in a bin bag and they'd still sound amazing so, with much anticipation, my friend Ron and I were looking forward to Hollywood Heroes, a tribute to those who rescue others, those who's strength and compassion save the day every single time, the heroes and heroines of Hollywood movies.

Of course, it's also testament to the work of composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer, many years ago before I knew that John Williams had composed both the music to Star Wars, A New Hope and Superman, I did always think that they sounded strangely similar, both pieces were played on Saturday night and you can certainly tell that he composed them at around the same time with Star Wars being released just a year before Superman, they remain two of my favourite pieces of movie music to this day.

I also had noted just how much I loved hearing Alan Silvestri's "The Avengers" piece,  what I think this particular concert did for me was to put the orchestra that I love, playing the music of the movies that I love, we all know, I love a good sci-fi blockbuster or the latest Marvel movie, I'm a huge fan of superheroes.

Of the many other pieces played during the (approximately) 90-minute concert, we enjoyed excerpts from Robin Hood, Batman, Gladiator and also the haunting Williams piece from Schindlers List with the solo being played by the head of the orchestra Kyra Humphreys.  The only piece I'd not heard from the evening of music was the theme to The Incredibles composed by Michael Giacchino and arranged by Mcewan, it's a noisy piece of music which has the whole of the orchestra playing uptempo beats with even the bongos making their appearance, you can't feel sad when you listen to music containing the bongos.

I've seen Stephen Bell conduct the orchestra on several occasions and I love his style, it's passionate and contains much movement, something you don't see with all conductors, I did say I'm a long time music fan as well as being a failed musician who can read music but only play a lot of instruments badly!

A highlight of the evening for me was during the interval when I got to chat to violinist Alanna Tonetti-Tieppo,  believe me when I say that I fangirled all over her, I'm sure meeting a pop star would not have the same effect.  I'm also sure that everyone knows now that if I could play any instrument I want right now, I would love to play the Timpani, I absolutely love the Timpani but it's not really something you can learn at home, unless you have a castle with a wing built especially to hold the huge set of Timpani drums.

Next up for the RNS Nights Out series is an evening of the music of Elton John and you can bet I will be there, quite simply, I'd listen to anything played by our wonderful northeast Orchestra, they are to be cherished and never let go of!

14 years of blogging, what's next?

My blog is 14 years old this week and I feel like I'm at a great crossroads.  I have blogged about anything and everything for more than a quarter of my life, there's so much history, so many memories, the good, the great and the super sparkly.

I blog less now that I ever have but just because it's hard, I Instagram almost every day and that's really taken over as a daily document of my life online, it's just so much easier to post in the moment and since I was diagnosed with Hyperparathyroidism my memory fails me more often than not, nothing like an (currently) inoperable tumour on your parathyroid to interfere with your life.  It could be a lot worse though and it's totally workable.  I have found the greatest therapy is to work on my home day and night.  This week the transformation of my livingroom is well underway and I spend every spare second when I am not out working either planning or doing.  I have taken a week off currently though as painting the ceiling grey when you have fibromyalgia hurts a lot!!

Other than the transformation of my home, there's really not a lot to write about, I lead the most sedate life and live like a hermit, anyone wondering if I've been on a date lately, I haven't, not for at least 5 years but the single life is the happy life and the stable life when you're me, I've an inability to deal with conflict and when I think about relationships I immediately worry about what would happen the first time we have an argument so suffice to say, it's easier and less anxious to remain as I am.

I don't want to give up on blogging and it still makes me a few pounds every year in the form of sponsored ads/products/articles and indeed it's not like my traffic has slowed down, the last couple of months I've been getting over 30,000 hits a month, maybe it's even better when I blog sporadically than when I do it every day.

I still think about writing but most of the time, I'll have a thought and by the time I sit down to write about it, I'll have completely forgotten what it was.

I have this great plan to throw Harriet a fabulous party for her upcoming special birthday when she's 20 for the second time, I was just thinking today how I could recreate her favourite nightclub by having the rock room upstairs, the pop room downstairs and who knows what we could do in the garden on a sunny May evening, chillout room in the bedroom obviously 😉

I have also just launched my mentoring services today if you have need for photography mentoring, the time just feels right and now I have the perfect home to do it from, and I'm also teaching "Everyday Photography Masterclass" for business owners next month at my home through my other company The Inspire Network, if you're a maker this is the masterclass for you and you don't even have to be a member to join us.

So that's you and me, dear reader, we are caught up, we are reconnected and I would assume that the best is always just around the corner so onwards to our next adventures together and thank you always for reading.

In renovating my home, I found myself {ad-affiliate}

*This article contains affiliate links

Identity is everything, authenticity is everything and learning about who you are can come from so many places, I did not expect to find myself whilst renovating my home but that's exactly what happened.

Flashback to February 2019, I'd had a fully assembled wooden arbour in my Amazon basket for over 12 months and finally, I managed to buy it through a lot of hard work and some affiliate marketing, I only wanted a fully assembled one because DIY and building furniture in 2983 parts, it's just not my strong point.  I can visualise creatively (and I'm bloody good at that) but spacially and logically, my brain does not excel at.  Over the next few weeks, I furiously worked on my garden every day, every bit of money I earned went into building this vision for my dream garden that I had in my head, finally at the beginning of May it was complete.

I spent the rest of the spring and summer spending as much time outdoors as I possibly could and I found it improved my mental health to the best it had been for years,  I had BBQ's, I sat in the evenings amongst the twinkly lights with the chiminea lit and the tiki torches burning. I finally had a garden I didn't want to run away from.

Fast forward to November and I randomly came across a guy who transformed kitchens by wrapping them in vinyl and though I didn't have the money at the time, he was so kind that once I did have it, I went straight back to him and booked him in, there was absolutely no going back, especially as the mural had also been ordered and my friend Steve had been booked for a day to help me put it up, the transformation was instant although for a while there, it actually looked worse as the bright colours of the new colour scheme clashed badly with the old, grubby flooring and I knew I had no way of replacing them until some income in and in the winter as a wedding photographer, well it's not the easiest.  

Whilst I was waiting for the income to replace the flooring I started painting the hall and the design there happened organically, I realised there was enough room for a small sofa and off I went to look for bargains in the Wayfair sale and found a pink sofa, I initially wanted ochre to match the retro yellow and cosy grey walls but my knowledge of colours from many years as a photographer told me I'd be safe with a fuchsia colour and lo and behold, it looks fantastic.

Finally, just a couple of days ago, the flooring went down and I realised that in completing the whole of the ground floor I'd finally found myself.  No one would question who lives in my house but me because it's got all of my personality stamped all over it.

I'm so happy with all that I've done, I've realised that I am to finding bargains on Amazon what Mrs Hinch is to eBay and I'm okay with that, it's perfect for someone who doesn't go out very often, click a button and a man turns up with your order the next day.

In finishing the hall, the stairs to the first floor, the kitchen and the garden I've given myself the confidence to go on further through the house and you can bet every wedding or portrait session I shoot this year will help me to complete the work and then, well, my grand plans include teaching makers the art of using a smartphone to create visually engaging images to use in their business and also a course to help future wedding photographers learn the business of weddings.  The weather may be dark and gloomy right now but this Saturday is my first wedding of the year and I can't wait to get back out there because I know I'm building my dreams with each and every assignment I take on this year.

The costs of renovating your kitchen on a budget

[Ad, the mural in this article was gifted to me] Over the last few weeks, I've been furiously renovating my kitchen, decluttering the hall, decorating, wallpapering, pretty much my goal for this year is to extend on the garden that I created last year and have a house I truly love.

Being a self-employed single mum supporting all of us, it was always going to be done on a really tight budget but at the same time I want it to be lovely, I want it to have my personality stamped all over and it and I don't want to have to go so cheap that it looks cheap if you know what I mean.

The Kitchen Units

3 weeks on from when I started and it's a wholly different kitchen, I have had the kitchen units and the fridge wrapped by an awesome local company, it took about a day and a half, cost £350 and I can't recommend them highly enough, they're called FMS Wraps and based not far from me in Newcastle.  Aaron was so lovely to deal with and there are a couple of other projects I have in mind which I'd like to get him back for in the future.

The Mural

Just before Christmas when I didn't have any plans at all, Photowall got in touch and asked if I wanted to collaborate, I'd just put the Christmas decorations up at that point so it wasn't really doable but then they contacted me in January and I decided to go for it as I really wanted colour, pattern and impact in my kitchen and I knew I could do it with them, I found the perfect mural, ordered it and it arrived just a couple of days later along with instructions and a kit to put it all up with.  Now at this point, I must insert a large caveat, I didn't put it up myself, my handy friend Steve did it for me, I was too worried that I'd make a mess of it and didn't want to ruin something which will be on my walls for at least the next 10 years.  It took around 5 hours to put it up, Steve tackled the installation like the Jedi he is but when I come to install a mural in my living room I'd probably give it a go myself as it's a much smaller space.

Once it was up though, we felt the immediate impact, it's just the loveliest, brightest, happiest pattern in the world and an instant mood lifter, I smile whenever I'm in the kitchen.  Photowall has given me a code which is "mandyphotography2020" and that's going to give you a massive 25% off so you can get yourself something transformative.

The Paint

Jedi Steve put me onto Wilkinsons Durable paint, you can paint your wood and walls with the same paint so I went for Cosy Grey for the walls and wood and then Crushed Almond for the ceiling as I hate white ceilings, it cost £26 in total for the paint and around another £10 for brushes, rollers and trays.  I'm not using gloss paint at all, I don't like its impact on the environment and I don't enjoy the finish or actually trying to paint with it.  I loved the finish on my walls and doors and I'm extending into the hall with both colours plus adding one other colour I haven't decided on yet.

The Cooker

When I went to clean my 40-year-old secondhand cooker I found it disintegrated before my eyes and that was before we even found out that flames were coming out of the top of it from the grill, I went on AO, ordered this Zanussi 55cm cooker and paid £599 for the cooker and another £100 for the delivery, gas fitting and recycling service which I can't recommend highly enough. 

The Accessories

I've tried to keep spending to a minimum but I did splurge on the cocktail chair below which cost £40 from B&M and I also bought a few little things from Homesense which remains my favourite homewares store.

The Flooring

And here we reach the end of the project so far, I've chosen the flooring options I love, I saw some amazing tongue and groove flooring and some vinyl which there were a multiple options, the cheapest works out at around £260 and the one I love (and my Instagram love) is about £370 so I'm going to have to work like hell to actually get the work done, I would have loved to get it all done at once but I ran out of cash and we still have to pay our bills as normal.  It's chosen though and I know I'm coming into a popular time for couples booking their wedding photography packages so it's just a case of waiting and then paying to have it done at the first moment I get some income.

Next up, decorating the hall, the downstairs loo, the stair and then my bedroom and the living room, I cannot wait, I'm so excited to have the home I've always wanted, a house full of colour with a personality as big as the family who lives within it.