Laughter is the Best Medicine

There is something magical and completely infectious about a child’s laugh probably because it is so genuine. So in honour of the feel-good factor, here is a bit of happiness we wanted to share with you. Happy Friday to all our lovely followers!

Festival Fun with the Kids

For those of you who thought your festival days were over once you had kids, think again! There are a number of festivals over the summer that cater for or are specifically for families with little kids. There is 'Glastonbury Festival', 'Off the Tracks', 'Beautiful Days' and 'Solfest' to name a few. Our pick of the bunch is the Just So Festival crowned ‘Best Family Festival 2011' by Green Parent Magazine.

Just So is a weekend-long festival of creativity aimed at children, young people and their families. According to the organisers ‘the festival provides a magical experience where art and literature are embedded and entwined in a beautiful and wonderous landscape.’ Wow... sounds like it’s right up our street!

There are programmes around theatre, art, music, stories, nature and more. Having looked around what’s on offer, I have planned in my head what I would do – we would start off with a bit of family yoga, then learning origami, a bit of time in the paint lab, after which we would be ready for the art assault course, then a bit of quiet time in the happy doodling corner, finishing off in the bedtime tent with hot chocolate, pj’s and stories. And the accommodation... who wouldn’t want to stay in one of their beautiful pre-erected, furnished yurts? It’s like the organisers have been inside my head and arranged my perfect weekend!

I’m not sure I’m one of those brave parents who would take their very young kids there, even though they are perfectly catered for, but when my kiddos are a little bit older, this festival is definitely going on the agenda!

A Big Happy Spaces Welcome to our New Artist!

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our newest artist to join the Happy Spaces family. Elisa Sheehan joins us from the US and we are very excited to share with you her beautiful collection of designs featuring the colourful adventures of the loveable baby owl, Quinn. The 3 new designs make a striking set and are available to purchase now exclusively from Happy Spaces at £29.95 each!

Here Elisa tells us about how she got started in the world of kids’ wall art and the inspiration behind her new series of designs:

“When I was expecting my first child, I was inspired to create some artwork for her nursery. While I pondered what to create for her, one meaning of her name sparked an idea. The name Quinn means "wise" so the idea of creating an owl character was a natural fit. I tapped into my inner child and thought: what do children aspire to do? Join the circus? Fly a plane? Swim with dolphins? You bet! We all want to have adventures in life, but probably none are more vivid and creative than those of a child. I tried to capture that sense of wonder about how the world works and how adventure unfolds in these pieces. I know that as a child I would have wanted to be that ballerina on top of that elephant!”

To view Elisa’s collection at Happy Spaces click here

Happy Spaces at Baby Zilli Launch

A little while back Happy Spaces were invited to attend the launch of Baby Zilli, the new organic baby food range from celebrity chef Aldo Zilli.

The launch was a great success. One of the highlights for me was the balloon maker. By far the best I have honestly ever seen, creating anything from colourful giant octopuses to space men with radar guns! (a great idea for a kid’s party).

Happy Spaces were very proud to be there to represent our beautiful wall art for children. We also provided a unique fine art print for each of the celebrity goodie bags from our new range being released online in June (watch this space for details).

At the end of the event the kiddies looked content and full to the brim and we took home some yummy Baby Zilli food pouches to try out with our little ones.

Thanks for the invite Baby Zilli!

Outside Fun for the Kids

As a mum of a 3 year old boy who wants to spend every waking hour outside, I am always trying to find fun things for him to do outside to teach him about nature and keep him stimulated (and me too!). The other day I stumbled upon a little gem of a website run by The Woodland Trust and aptly named Nature Detectives. It is packed full to the brim of outdoor activities that you can download and print out, from scavenger hunts to snail racing and amazingly enough you get all this for... NOTHING!!! Yes, that’s right all this for not even a penny – truly amazing these days! However, if you would rather not download and print all the activities yourself then you can just join the club for £12 per year and get printed material for 350 activities.

So there you go, summer in the garden with the little ones sorted – enjoy!

Happy Spaces Kids' Wall Art is “A Listed”

Happy Spaces are very proud to have appeared in the Daily Telegraph "A List" this weekend (14th May 2011). Compiled by lifestyle journalist and home expert Alison Cork, the guide features 150 need-to-know names in homes and interiors and serves as an indispensable style reference for your home. For your very own copy and great discounts download the 16 page supplement here.

Win in our 'Happy Spaces Happy Kid of the Month' competition

Upload a photo of your little one in their favourite “HAPPY SPACE” onto our facebook page this month and they could be featured as our HAPPY SPACES HAPPY KID of the month! The chosen photo will also receive a FREE Happy Spaces fine art print from our brand new range of 11 select prints to be released this month.

Here is the first photo to get you started: Jake, 3yrs, loving the sea at his favourite Happy Space, the beach!

How to enter

Step 1: Click ‘Like’ on our facebook page (if you are not a fan already)

Step 2: Upload your photo onto our facebook wall and include the name of your HAPPY KID, their age and the name of their HAPPY SPACE along with your photo.

Step 3: Send your name and e-mail address to us at info@happyspacces.co.uk so we can get hold of you if you are the lucky winner!

The winner will be announced and their photo featured at the end of May 2011 on our Facebook page. Good Luck!

Click Here to Enter