I've talented pals... Too Cute Couture is one of them!

I've a lovely lot of talented friends.

Helen at Too Cute Couture is one of them..

Helen lives 3 minutes away from me (if you walk the 'long' way).  But technically we can open our back gates and be clinking a wine glass on a Friday evening within 30 seconds from opening the Pinot bottle!

I first got to know Helen as a fellow Mum on the school run.  Her 2 girls are in the same school years as my middle and youngest offspring.  I'm ashamed to say though, I only found out about her amazing talent for dressmaking long after we first met.   The pieces she produces for babies and young girls are simply stunning.  And you need to take a look.  Based in Wallasey on the Wirral, Helen works away with the great skill on gorgeous custom orders for her clients and also stocks a shop on Etsy.  Here are her links so you can check her out - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TooCuteCoutureBoutique and Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TooCuteCoutureKids.

Now we come to the afternoon when I got to photograph her latest stock.  The weather had been a bit ropey in the run up to this day, but thankfully any rain held off and her girls were in great spirits; modelling their Mum's newest pieces like pros!  We took a walk to our local park and let the girls do their thing with minimal direction needed from Helen or I.  Naturals these two...

So I'll stop blabbering on now and let the images of Helen's dresses speak for themselves.  I'm thrilled that Helen is in love with this session and I'll look forward to working with her and her girls again in the future.

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x 

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

What the Davies' do: 'Mummy and Daddy shared Ludlow!'

Here we go with the second instalment of my 'What the Davies' do' feature.

Today's episode comes as a shock.  It's a documented day that I never thought would happen.  Here's why...

Ludlow, the very beautiful market town found in Shropshire, has been, for the last 3 years, the choice location for my Husband and I to celebrate our wedding anniversaries - kid free!  I first discovered this lovely town on a different trip with girlfriends and I knew I'd want to go back with Carl.  So we did, in August 2014, 2015 and 2016.

When we visit we take full advantage of our wonderful children being almost 100 miles away with grandparents and spend our time eating, drinking and sleeping.  With the odd walk thrown in for token exercise.  We purposely book into a cheerful travelodge for a few nights so we have more in our cider and ale budget.  Oh, and I'll just point out that the travelodge is a 20 minute walk from the town (pubs) so we're not complete unhealthy louts.  And sometimes that 20 minute walk, after a few ciders can be nearer an hour - plenty of fresh air!

Ok, I am joking - a little bit...  But ultimately, our time in Ludlow has been adult orientated.  It is a great place and so relaxing it's untrue.  We love the castle, and the long walks by the river.  On our last trip we found The Ludlow Kitchen too - amazing smoked salmon brunch and my husband speaks very highly of the granola dish.  Yum.

So on our past trips we had decided that probably, we would never take the kids.  

Skip forward to January 2017.  We'd just got back from a great family holiday and time was fast forwarding towards the school half term.  What days out would we plan?  We also had made the decision that this year may be the first that we don't get to Ludlow for our anniversary (boo!).  However, with good reason - we've a ton of house and work developments planned, so the lovely travelodge, pies, cider and ale budget is most probably going on bathroom furnishing.

Now I don't want to brag here, but I am pretty good with planning family days out.  I google the shizzle out of it and plan our time well.  I must've had an epiphany on the day I decided we would do Ludlow - all together - just for a day.  Because it was ace!  The kids (and me and Hubs) loved it.

We left early and arrived at the Ludlow Kitchen around 10am - a hearty brunch all round.  Then on into town for a walk along the cobbles up to the castle.  Well, once the lady at the gate mentioned to my youngest that he needed to "Keep a watch out for the dragons." he was hooked.  The girls loved exploring too.  Afterwards we took a walk down to the river and along the Bread Walk - one that Carl and I have done so many times in the summer, so it was funny seeing the place in it's winter clothing. Still beautiful though.

We spent a good 5 or 6 hours exploring Ludlow as a family.  Ultimately - the kids loved it.  And what do you know, Carl and I loved showing them everything too.  Even if it did mean, instead of walking in, we walked past The Feathers and The Church Inn and The Rose & Crown....  But you know, on the flip side - bathroom furnishings!

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

The new 'Fleur Davies Photography' website.

Well, hello!

I have been squirrelling away at tog HQ for a little while now.  I have designed a new logo, decided on a working name change, captured a new headshot and tweaked and twiddled with my website to get it to a standard I am very happy with.   I've poured my heart into getting everything just right for you and for me, and I think I've managed it.

There are pages with tailored information to specific sessions I offer - along with a new pricing structure which I hope reflects value for money for an artistic service; letting me produce a collection of images for you that you will treasure for a long time.

On the pricing page you will find links to example sessions.  I thought this was an important addition to my website.  It gives you a lovely look at what you can expect to receive when you hire me.

So pop over and take a look around - here's a direct link:

Fleur Davies Photography: Website

Thanks for reading peeps ~ Fleur x

What the Davies' do: 'It was a big day for this little guy!'

I'm trying something new.

I've just began running my business with a new name - Fleur Davies Photography instead of Fleur Louise Photography.  Nothing major.  My work remains the same, but it does come at a time where some new and exciting ventures are in the pipeline...

I'll get to that at another time.  For now though, I want to introduce what I hope will become a new, regular feature.

I love working for my clients, capturing the images they envisage, whether it's portraits, candid lifestyle shoots, their products or some of my own landscape, street or still life photography for them to admire on their walls.  However I do photograph a lot just for me.  I document as much of my family's life as possible.  I always have.  They are our memories frozen and I've always believed that the everyday - mundane even, images, they matter just as much a the big life events.

So the "What the Davies' do" idea was born.  My journey to a photographic artist is as much to my family's credit as it is mine.  They let me spend time capturing them.  They put up with me dragging behind on days out so that I can get the shot I want of something that has caught my eye.  They are used to my camera being whipped out at any moment.  Whether they like it or not!  Ha!!

Therefore I'm making a feature of it.  Fleur Davies Photography is so much more than me pressing some buttons on a camera - it's my life and the life of my family.  I don't want to forget where I started and where I go to grow.  Without further ado - here we go.  The first "What the Davies' do" blog...

It was a BIG day for this little guy!

He had been waiting so long.  I remember thinking that actually he was fairly late to the game with this teeth malarky; both of his sisters losing their first teeth in their foundation year of primary school.  We had thought his first tooth loss would be extremely premature after the 'smashing his face on a gate' incident in nursery.  His top front tooth is still a bit wonky, but stayed put - thankfully.

Anyway, he'd been wibbling and wobbling this bottom one for a while.  Daydreaming about the bedtime he could tuck in under his pillow inside an envelope for the tooth fairy to come and exchange it for some dosh.  And he knew that the first tooth in the Davies household is a fiver - he was already mentally spending it.  Each day he would push it one way as far as it would go, then back the other way.  Determined.

Then one afternoon at my Mum-in-law's, while he was chatting away to his Nanny - it just came out. Plop.  Right out of his mouth.  Considering it fell out of it's own accord there was a decent amount of blood.  And as I had guessed the next adult tooth was very visible underneath too.

Proud as punch would be an accurate description to his little face.  And the Tooth Fairy did come that night and he did get his fiver.  He still hasn't spent it either!  He must have big plans.

Thanks for reading - here are the visuals.  (There's some blood - sorry.)

x Fleur x 

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

Challenging a comfort zone with a comfort zone...

Ok.  This blog has been on my mind for a while.  So much so that it's been sat in 'draft' format for a number of weeks...  Some of the images here, posted along with my ramblings, I have held onto.  I don't know why really.  I like them.  But I have been nervous to share.

I enjoy a good ol' selfie, but these somehow feel different.  I felt more exposed and vulnerable.  That's crazy really because they portray a part of me that has become a norm in my life.  A part that I'm actually very proud of.  That's my personal health and fitness journey.

I go the gym fairly often now.  I'm there at least 3 or 4 times a week - I'm a class bunny.  I hop around various classes - and like many aspects of my life and me,  I don't fit into one exercise box.  I love Zumba and Clubbercise, really enjoy Yoga, I have recently discovered that I quite like a Spin class, Free Weights and Kettlebells are fun and (as you can see from the pics) I throw myself into a bit of Boxercise too.  

This journey began almost 5 years ago.  My youngest was coming up to his first birthday and I wasn't quite the heaviest I'd ever been, but I wasn't too far off.  I'm not going to include 'the number', that's irrelevant, all that matters is that I wasn't happy with how I felt.  My family matter and I wanted to be the best version of me that I could be for them.  I wanted to be a healthy parent.  In body and mind.

I'd suffered earlier in my life with a lot of anxiety and depression. I continued to suffer after the birth of my eldest and medicated my way through my second pregnancy too.  By the time I had my youngest I was pill free, but finding it difficult to maintain a good hormone balance to keep me on the straight and narrow.  I had, between baby 2 and baby 3 focussed a huge amount on eating healthily and making time for me - that had been working, slowly, but was working.

So in spring 2012 I signed my brood up for a family membership at the gym, got the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and basically haven't looked back!  As time went by I found myself again.  The gym was (and still very much is) my 'me' time.  I love it.  It's funny because my younger self would NEVER have imagined that I would fall for the gym as much as I have.  It's now my lifesaver.  My husband and I were even having a conversation last night about how I can tell when my mood is dropping or I'm going through an anxious 'moment' - it usually coincides with a drop in my exercise, for whatever reason.  I do still get anxious over stuff - I feel that's normal, just a part of me and I cope now.  But when I first signed on the gym dotted line, little did I know just how much this would mean for me mentally.

The images that follow mean a lot to me I guess - they're now just 'a woman in gym gear'.  They're a representation of my growth.  My journey to health and the continual path I try to follow to keep myself the best version of myself I can be - for myself and everyone who means anything to me.

EDIT: I really should say a huge thank you to the instructors and friends from both the gyms I have been a member of and my running pals too.  So (and I hope I don't miss anyone out!) Village leisure and running: June, Sarah, Mark, Antny, Steph, Kirsty, Helen and Faith.  Invigor8 gyms: Kirsty, Andi, Helen, Barb, Dave, Kirsten, Sophie, Su, Jules, Lisa, Toni...  I think that's everyone!  You guys push me when I don't want to be pushed and have grown to become friends of mine.  I couldn't thank you enough.  And also my husband - your support is the most incredible gift I could wish for.  I love you!


I'll stop babbling now though and post the pics.  Thanks for reading this far peeps.

Best wishes,

x Fleur x

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)