Mummascribbles meets…Tales and Tea – Mummascribbles

This week we meet the lovely Faye from Tales and Tea. Thanks so much for taking part Faye

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family.
Hi, I’m Faye! Mama to baby Twink and Lizzie the dog. Married to hubster since 2011 (and have been together ten years!) We live in a lovely little idyllic location in Surrey, tucked out of the way from the hustle bustle but still close enough to join the craziness if we so wish! I am a lover of wellington boots, dog walking, picnics, strawberries and cream, and tea…and cream teas…and all other cake in the land. Yes. Cake. Nom….

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
Ah wow, you know it is pretty difficult to remember what I used to like and do before baba! Does anyone else feel like that? Well…I have many, many interests actually….too many in fact which means I rarely get to do them all! I love socialising over a bottle of sweet rose wine with good conversation, or a spanking cup of English tea if the circumstances do not happen to lend themselves to alcohol. I like to read books but not really fussed about magazines. I love to sew and get creative. I love taking pictures (Instagram is my absolute fave app and social platform!) and do like a bit of home DIY and upcycling – I am a real stig of the dump and can be found most weekends trawling through other people’s unwanted treasures at boot sales.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
Besides having my baby?? Ummm… nah, you know what? That is my greatest achievement.

Mostly it is the strength and belief in myself that came from the birth of my baby. As soon as Twink popped (I wish) out into this world, out popped with her a new me. I found an ‘I don’t give a flying flamingo’ attitude that helps me live true to what I believe is best for my family and I. Learning to politely thank people for their opinions or ‘advice’ and then swiftly ignore it all to follow my heart and mama instincts. That is what I am proud of.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest, I find, is the worry and guilt that comes with every decision I make. That internal dialogue that questions whether you are doing the right thing, and if it is best for your baby. In a world of conflicting ideas of what is best from varying ‘professionals’, to other parents or just random strangers in fact, it is hard to know what is right sometimes!

Most rewarding…seeing how we are nourishing this tiny human, watching her flourish and change every day. And this is only the beginning….sigh…

Parenting in itself is no mean feat; how do you juggle everything you need to in order to get everything done on a daily basis?
I am currently on maternity leave so am home a lot. I have learned that some days, the housework has to wait. I will never get that day back and if it was my last day on earth? What would I rather be doing? Cuddling or cleaning?

I am currently trying to complete a leadership and management diploma which I started when pregnant and then had to put on hold….catching up has proven to be verryyy difficult as baba doesn’t like to nap which was part of the plan to catch up in time! This change of game plan means that I have 10 days to catch up on 10months worth of work. Eek! The hubster is off work this week thankfully, so sadly I have had to hand over all parenting duties to him for the time being so that I can lock myself away and get this beast of a diploma nailed before the deadline.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I started blogging some years ago as I simply love to write, but was never committed to the cause really as I was out drinking rose a lot of the time. Ha!

When Twink was born, I had the urge to get back into a bit of writing as a way of venting some ‘brain stuff’ and share our goings on with family and friends. I soon decided that I wanted to share with more people, especially other parents and so got chatting to other mummy and daddy bloggers on the Twittersphere. I am so glad I made that choice. What a flipping amazing community it is!

Tell me a bit about your blog?
I share a bit of this, that and everything else on my blog. It took me a while to work out what kind of blog Tales and Tea is, and am still not too sure really besides from it being parenting and lifestyle.

I love to share tips for new mamas as I work my way through motherhood, review fab products, brands and places that we discover and of course write about our little adventures as a family too. I enjoy taking photographs – my posts almost always feature a nice shot or two, as that is what attracts me to others’ blogs. I mostly enjoy sharing my monthly collection of photos that don’t make the cut to my Instagram account called ‘The Outtakes’. Most of these pictures are my faves as some are pretty funny to me and show the ‘truths’ of my journey through motherhood.

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
I have never really given this lots of thought you know….I write and share because I enjoy it. I suppose it would be wonderful for my writing and photography to become known by lots of people. Who knows where that could lead?! I would love to work with amazing and inspiring people, and perhaps in time be given some amazing opportunities that will make my family’s lives richer and even MORE fun!

I suppose, ultimately, I would love for my blog to enable me to go it alone and work for myself in one way or another. Perhaps through blogging, but perhaps through other avenues off the back of it…I haven’t decided yet. Either way, being able to work for myself would be the ultimate goal, enabling me to have more freedom and be as present as possible in seeing my family grow whilst still providing for them.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Enjoy it. Be you. Think about what you want to share and who you want to share it with. And then go for it! It doesn’t have to cost a penny if you don’t want it to, so why the hell not give it a bash?

My top tip would be: Think about what your blog will look like. For me, a good looking blog that is easy on the eye can be super important as many people are very visual and may click away if they are not enticed by what they see before they start reading. This is me in a nutshell, I like pretty things. Hence my advice to you.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

1. Amy Winehouse, I loved her music and her style (apart from the whole drugs thing!) Her life ended so prematurely, I would love to ask her so many questions that she was never able to answer.

2. My friends in Oz, that would be cool. It’s a long way for tea but it would be totally worth it!

3. My great aunt Rene. She died when I was a child but I have so many fond memories of her. I would love to show her my family and get to know her as a grown woman.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I have a fashion design degree, which I do not use out of choice. I would never change the decision I made.

2. I have quite a few tattoos and would LOVE to be covered in them, but don’t have the courage. My nan would never forgive me.

3. I used to have a bulldog. She was called Stella Artois.

You can find Faye over at www.talesandtea.co.uk and also on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.