New baby casting kits going online ….Friday – fingers crossed xxx

New Inkless imprint, air drying clay, pregnant belly casting kits going online hopefully Friday – I can’t wait, it’s so exciting!

1st week of school…….tears or cheers?

So the end of the week is here and the second week of what seems to be the rest of Ethans life is soon to begin. Monday was quite traumatic with half an hour at home tears and a very terrified little boy. With lots of cuddles and encouragement we managed to calm him down and get him in the car on his first journey to ‘big’ school. Once there he was fine and quite excited as we waited for the school gates to open and once inside, he found the class castle and was quite happy to wave goodbye to us.

Like giving birth, you can read and talk all you like about what it is like and what to do, but it still doesn’t prepare you fully for the emotions involved. I was fine on the Monday but the Sunday before proved a difficult day for me, with tears (that I had to hide) as I felt that I was losing my son that i’d cared for and brought up for the last four and a half years. As the week went on, those emotions have subsided, he has to go, I can’t do anything about that and I’m now excited that he is so keen to learn and please his teacher. All I can do now is still provide the support and values that I have always given and taught him and hope that he will be content and happy at school.

My love and thoughts go out to all those mummies and daddies whose little ones started school last week – be brave x

Wowo’s really is one big ‘wow’ experience!

The Bank holiday saw us packing up all the camping gear and setting off to Sheffield Park to a fantastic campsite called Wowo on Wapsbourne Farm. ‘The farmer’ Paul is just the friendliest guy, and was chuffed it was are second visit there. We were joined by the Browns and had the best time on rope swings, collecting kindling for the campfire which burned every night with marshmallows poked in it which the kids thought was fantastic! A day on the Bluebell Railway and at Pevensey Bay just made the weekend althought the diet starts here as all we seemed to eat was meat and carbs! I can’t recommend the place too much – you might all want to go!

Impala Impressions at the Designer Baby Show – Nov 15th 2009

<Back to exhibitors

Image to follow

Impala Impressions ~ Visit us on Stand C3

Company Profile:
A baby hand and feet casting specialist offering 3D casting kits, champagne gift baskets and keepsake boxes (new casting kits coming for 2009 – inkless prints & clay imprint kits). We will have exclusive offers for the show so come & see us!
Address:
Impala Impressions
31 Ryarsh Lane
West Malling
Kent
ME19 6QP

Telephone:
+44 01732 521537

Website:
http://www.impala-impressions.co.uk

Email:
justine@impala-impressions.co.uk

Press Releases:
To follow
Product Images:

Copyright © 2009 The Macleod Corporation Limited. All Rights Reserved.

probably the most dangerous chocolate cake in the world!

A Little touch of wicked:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE CAKE-IN-A-MUG !!

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons cooking oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract and your favourite tipple (optional)

1 large mug

Add dry ingredients to your largest mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using), vanilla extract and a drop or two of your favourite tipple, then mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT!

(Serves 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

If you’re feeling very,very naughty cover liberally in Bailey’s Irish Cream or the like. A scoop of ice cream is lovely too.

This is the most dangerous cake recipe in the world because now you are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

FIRST EVER PROMOTION from Impala Impressions…..

Why miss out on this fabulous discount on a baby hand and foot casting kit? Your babys hands and feet grow day by day so why not capture how small they really are as a keepsake that will last forever. The casting kits on offer are the pink, blue or white keepsake boxes which contain all the necessary materials to make 2 casts and include a box frame – RRP £37.50 plus p&p NOW £30.00 plus p&p
see http://www.impala-impressions.co.uk for details and insert
‘impala1’ as your promotion code at the checkout.
Don’t miss out on this fantastic offer.

Success

What a wonderful weekend……… nearly the end of March which has been hugely successful for me from my business point to view – hard work is starting to pay off. Don’t forget Easter gifts (an alternative to chocolate!) for your loved ones, a lasting cast of your baby/children to keep for ever, one that doesn’t pile on the pounds!!!!!!!! or cost to many of them either. Check out….http://www.impala-impressions.co.uk/prices.htm

NCT Bexley visit

Yesterday took me up to Bexleyheath to join the ladies from the Bexley NCT branch at their bump and babies meet. It was a pleasure to meet all of them and many thanks to Louise for agreeing to let me show my lifecasts.
It was a fun couple of hours and everyone was very friendly indeed, many thanks also to Jane who has agreed to distribute my leaflets to her baby groups she attends.
Good luck to the five ladies who have yet to give birth, I hope it all goes well and I hope to see you soon!
If you would like more info on the NCT please go to http://www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com and click on the ‘in your area’ to find your local branch.
Bye for now!

copyright scammers can be found….

Copyright Picture Checker:–

Plagerism and copyright infringement has been a pesky problem among members of the ALI over the last few years. How about you? Last week Ed McCormickdiscovered a South African website using our images and those images of other members. Their defense? Their website designer put them in their site and now the website designer disappeared. The offender agreed to take down his site until he was able to produce images of his own work.

He discovered the offender when he used Tineye.com for the first time. TinEye is a reverse image search engine. It is a simple site in that all you need to do is to upload your image and in a twinkling of an ‘eye’ the site searches the World Wide Web for all duplicate occasions of your image. It doesn’t matter if the original image was cropped; resized or modified it still finds it and directs you to the source.
TinEye is a website that proclaims that it “does for images what Google does for text. Start a search, and Tineye.com will find how many times this picture has been represented on the internet – a feat accomplished by comparing images pixel-by-pixel, and creates a so-called “digital fingerprint” for each image found, determining which pictures are similar to the one you searched for.

TinEye is in its infancy and will not return results for many pictures due to its limited database. But it is worth a start as it found mine. As it becomes more popular its aim is to retain a database of a billion web images. You can ask it to scan your site as we did so it has a record of all your images for future comparisons.

In the meantime we will continue to defend you against misuse of your images or copy if you let us know that it is happening. So far ALI has been successful 100% of the time.
don’t let these people unlawfully use your images!!!!!!!! Pass the word on. Please comment on this and ReTweet @ impalaiimpressio to let everyone know of this scam.

Mumpreneurs – do you work on Mothers Day?..

So what do you think? lets start a discussion going on whether you HAVE to work or if you give yourself the day off?…………..

http://www.impala-impressions.co.uk
http://www.impalaimpressions.wordpress.com
http://www.impalaimpressio.twitter.com

Modern mums chat over the virtual washing line…

Research has revealed that new mums are spending an astonishing FOUR hours looking for advice online every day. Whenever baby naps, mum is logging onto the internet to get find out more about feeding, sleeping, development, health and shopping.
And more often then not, they are consulting other mums for advice on their baby’s well being.
The poll of 3,000 mums, conducted by parenting club Bounty revealed 43 minutes a day are spent talking to like-minded people in forums and chatrooms.
In fact, 36 per cent of those polled rate other mum’s advice more highly than recommendations from health visitors and midwives and 39 per cent would prefer to conduct their own research online rather than asking their own mum for guidance.
Comments please!

Making a 3D Alginate mould of your babys hand or foot

Fill your clean bowl with one bag of the impression powder and when you have your plastic bag to hand and your baby occupied pour in the specified amount of cold water and mix vigorously until you have the smooth paste with a slight sheen to it. As you are doing this, have your helper splash a bit of warm water onto the foot or hand being used as this will make getting the mould off easier later on.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT 1 ½ MINUTES IS REALLY ALL THE TIME YOU HAVE FROM MIXING TO GETTING ONTO THE LIMB, therefore, as quickly as you can, using the bag as a glove, scoop the mixture up and push the child’s hand or foot into it making sure you push and smooth the paste up and around the limb making sure that it come up to the lower ankle or wrist.

The mixture must completely surround the limb, over the top, bottom and sides etc and make sure that no fingers or toes are poking out touching the bag. Your child will most likely wriggle a bit at this stage but don’t panic, just keep them distracted and keep pressing the mixture around the limb until the mould is set as that is the moment the impression is taken. When the mould is set, wiggle the limb gently and remove from the mould. Please be aware that the mould will rip if too much twisting is done. Leave the mould as it is in the bag (rolled down) for casting.

Making the cast

It is easiest to prop the mould up in a container which keeps it level but make sure you don’t squash the mould so it is misshapen. Remove any of the Impression mixture from your bowl and make sure it is completely clean then pour in the specified amount of cold water. Slowly sprinkle 1 bag of casting powder (white powder) over the water and wait until the water absorbs into the powder before stirring. Using a figure of eight motion stir with your second stirrer very carefully and slowly so as not to introduce air into the mixture, the less air bubbles the better! Once it is a smooth paste, pour into the
mould in a steady flow to about half way up. Tap the bottom and sides to get rid of any air bubbles then again with a steady flow fill the mould up to the top, repeat the tapping again. Leave the mould in a warm, dry area such as an airing cupboard for about an hour until the cast is set.

You can now start to remove the pink impression mould, very carefully and in small pieces starting around the ankle/wrist area and over the top and bottom. Leave the toes and fingers until last and be very careful not to snap any of them off as it is easily done!

Cleaning Up

Whilst the mould is set but still damp it is easy to get rid of any bumps, using the cocktail sticks, just flick them off. If you do have any air bubbles they are easily filled with fine filler. Using a sharp knife, or rasp, level the surface of the cast so it stands without toppling over and has a flat enough base in which to stick to your frame. Make sure that it fits behind the glass of the frame, if not scrape off some more until it does. Scoring the bottom with the knife a few times will help adhesion to the frame.
.
Now leave your cast for at least 48 hours, up to a week in your warm place to ensure it is completely dried out, it should have a ‘tinging’ sound when tapped with a ring.

Once dry, choose which paint you would like to use and give it a stir and start with the first thin coat, brushing in the direction of any lines and creases. Once dry apply the second coat. Wash your paint brush out with water to re-use for the framing process.

Sticking your cast to your frame couldn’t be easier – using glue, apply generously making sure you don’t go too near the edge and leave for a moment until the glue becomes tacky. Place your cast in your chosen position and hold it tightly for a while until it feels secure. It may be useful to use a cloth to hold the cast as if the glue gets on the cast from your fingers, it may pull the paint off. Leave to dry for 24 hours, screw on the back of the frame and attach the ring and plate for hanging.
SEE Picture Gallery :

Red Nose Day

I was very humbled last night watching the 9 amazing celebs climbing Kilimanjaro, clips of the children suffering so badly in Africa always gets to me in quite a big way, no-one likes to see anyone suffering like that.  I was so impressed with Fern, I’m not a huge fan of hers but she really fought some real inner battles to do that climb so well done Fern, you really made me feel very proud of you.  They all did so well and Chris Moyles in true fashion kept them all going. 

My son is at nursery today wearing Red and his red nose for a donation, I hope you all give something today to help these poor people get something so simple as a mozzie net to avoid malaria.  See rednoseday.com for info.

follow me on twitter

Kent Super Mum competition…..

Anyone want to nominate their mum for being the best in the world – check this out……….. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/supermum/

The prizes are great so nominate your mummy today!

Blog change – some previous posts

Friday, 27 February 2009

rjmphotographic

Since my good friend Rick has made a shameless plug for Impala Impressions on his blog I feel I should return the favour! check his website out www.rjmphotographic.com and follow him on his blog (ricks news). He really is an unbelievable photographer, totally awesome with the personality to match. Weddings and portraits are his speciality although he has been known to shoot jewellery and game shoots and of course numerous hands and feet for impala impressions!

Posted by Impala Impressions at 07:46 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: rjmphotographic photography

Wowo camping

So I’ve just booked to go camping in May at Wowo’s – they are a fantastic site and allow fires………… check them out http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=6944

Posted by Impala Impressions at 06:05 0 comments Links to this post

Allotmenteering

So as we near the end of Feb I have just yesterday put in my 140 onion sets, 50 odd shallots, 2 rows of broad beans and some peas. Here’s hoping the birds will lay off my onions! It’s going well with 13 patches ready and awaiting March and April for planting – we only have a couple more patches to get ready.

Posted by Impala Impressions at 06:02 0 comments Links to this post

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Ethans birthday!

Hi all – what a fantastic start to the week – E’s birthday (4 years) We had a small party at kidzone near buckmore park race track and then spent the afternoon in the garden with Sarah, Andy, Henry and Georgie and had a ball! – many thanks to all for the amazing gifts!

Busy busy again this week trying to really kickstart Impala, tiring, frustrating but hopefully worth it! I got a booking for 6 babys at a casting party next week so really pleased about that!

I’m now twittering, along with many others – have a look http://twitter.com/impalaimpressio – see you there!

Posted by Impala Impressions at 09:05 0 comments Links to this post

Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Hi all, busy busy day today, did a feet casting this morning over in Gravesend, then shopped for Ethan’s birthday then did a casting of 2 week old twins, both hands and feet of each! Wowser – 8 casts but what a gorgeous pair.

Hot News – Impala will be showing on google as a sponsored link as from Thursday – had a ‘touch’ phone call offering me incredible reduced rates and have gone for it – I’m promised that I will be thanking them in less than 2 weeks………………. watch this space

See you soon……

Posted by Impala Impressions at 08:27 0 comments Links to this post

Monday, 16 February 2009

Wow, after some very good advice on website optimisation Impala has finally sold a kit through the website!!!!!!!!! Here’s hoping………… there’ll be many more!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Impala Impressions at 06:30 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: Impala casting kits

Sunday, 15 February 2009

Bexley NCT – demo of lifecasting

Hi all, I have just booked to do a demonstration of lifecasting (making an impression of a baby’s hand and foot) for the Bexley and Area NCT group on the 20th March 2009. Will keep you posted on where and time of event. Watch this space!

Posted by Impala Impressions at 06:41 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: NCT Bexley

Friday, 13 February 2009

Oliver Fisher Special Care baby Unit

I visited the above on Tuesday – I have decided to make this my named charity for the foreseeable future.

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Hello world!

LOL – I’m finally here………………….. ha ha – enjoy reading peeps or should that be tweets?  See me on www.twitter.com/impalaimpressio – looking forward to honest feedback and comments and hope you’ll keep reading xx