The Icing on the Cake Spain!

My daughter's birthday is coming up soon and so I was excited to find out about a company called The Icing on the Cake Spain ... which just like indybel was created by a mum in Spain who saw a gap in the market.

The Icing on the Cake Spain specialise in personalised, customised cakes and cake toppers for all occassions. Customers can choose any cake topper and message and The Icing on the Cake will create it for you. They have a large selection of cake toppers already on their site, including all the favourites such as Dora and Hello Kitty, or you can request your own idea and they will find a topper for you! You can even send a photograph to make a personalised cake featuring a picture of yourself or your little one! The Icing on the Cake will then send your cake topper to you in the post and deliver free from Gibrater to Malaga and with a tiny charge throughout the rest of Spain.

And ... if you're worried about a topper being sent in the post then don't be. Last year for Bella's birthday I ordered an In the Night Garden topper from the UK ( sadly didn't know about The Icing on the Cake then ... ) and it turned up in perfect condition despite it's long journey, so I can personally promise that cake toppers do travel well!

The Icing on the Cake website is well worth a browse for anyone considering throwing a party. As well as cake toppers and such delights as edible glitter ( how cool is that! ) they also have sections on party ideas, a cakey blog ( with yummy recipies ) and lots of useful links and recommendations for everything from venues to entertainers to food and drink ...

The Icing on the Cake is run by Ashleigh who is very friendly and helpful and the ideal person to take all your cake stress away!

The Icing on the Cake is not just about birthday cake toppers, the company also supply toppers and cake messages to say Marry Me, Happy Anniversary, Enjoy your retirement, Fancy a .... (!) or whatever you want!

Recently at indybel we've had baby shower clients request cakes and now happily we are delighted to have found The Icing on the Cake as they can also make Baby Shower toppers.

Mum to be's friends can simply email a picture of glowing mum to be and her bump and Ashleigh will make a gorgeous cake or cupcakes featuring the pics.

Now ...what better excuse is there to eat for two?! To find out more about baby shower cakes contact The Icing on the Cake or info@indybel.com ... and of course we can also help plan your

baby shower too!

To find out more about The Icing on the Cake Spain visit

http://www.theicingonthecakespain.com/

Cake and Chocolate Creations

.... and on the subject of cakes ... more cakey news .....

It seems to be toddler birthday party season at the moment. Every week we seem to have another party to attend ( not complaining, all invitations gratefully received thank you! ) and amongst other things I am very impressed by the sheer inventiveness, creativity and levels of bakery that are on display at each party when it comes to the bringing out of the birthday cake!!

Luckily Bella's birthday is not until the end of November so I'm not going to worry about it yet, but I was pleased to see that one of the other mums at the nursery ( and a friend! ) has started her own cake business ...

Vanessa offers such cakey wonders as a princess castle, teddy bear, butterfly, trains, numbers, favourite characters and a selection of cupcakes. You can choose chocolate, lemon or cream sponge and there are even special chocolate only creations on offer such as giant chocolate buttons ( ok, I know this is what Bella would pick! ) and chocolate animals and insects.

Bella was recently invited to Vanessa's daughters birthday, so I have had the pleasure of tasting most of the above first hand and can honestly say it was all delicious and looked fantastic!

To find out more about Vanessa's cakes call

677493280 or 951103407

or email Vanessa@oliverbar.es

Coming soon to Spain ... Bebe au Lait

No more worrying about breastfeeding in public ... www.indybel.com will shortly be selling the gorgeous Bebe au Lait ( previously known as Hooter Hiders! ) nursing covers ...

Made with gorgeous and stylish fabrics and with lots of clever features, Bebe au Lait also includes a handy pop out top so you can monitor your baby while breastfeeding but still feed with total privacy.

My sister recently bought one in the UK where they are now one of the top selling baby items and says she couldn't live without!

Baby au Lait will be avaliable from http://www.indybel.com/ in Spain in the next few weeks in 3 different designs.

They make great gifts too!

Last Chance Summer Sale!

Don't forget our fab summer sale ends this Thursday Oct 1st as we officially enter autumn here in Spain!!

Which means this week is your last chance to take advantage of some great special offers ... 25% off everything in our summer range including ...

Baby Banz sunglasses and hats
Shade-a-babe
Buggy Brolly
Cuddledry toddler beach and bath towels
JoJo Maman Bebe maternity swimwear and sun protection tent
Imse Vimse resuable swim nappies

all avaliable in Spain at http://www.indybel.com/ ... delivery throughout Spain and the Islands ...

Take advantage of our great savings to stock up for the winter sun and next summer too ...

Capture the moment ....

Ever since my daughter was born we've been meaning to get some professional photo's done of all of us, ideally to capture her in all her toddler glory before the awkward years set in and she's turned into a stroppy teenager!

So, last week I decided to take advantage of a special offer for mums in Spain put together by Curran Photography in Mijas Pueblo. The offer co-incided with my sister being on holiday here with her newborn, so we decided this was def a good opportunity to get some great pics of all the cousins together.

Curran Photography is a very friendly business run by husband and wife team Justin and Julie. They had lots of toys for Bella to play with which helped her to relax and really she was photographed without even knowing it! There were also a few baby accessories on hand for the baby photos.

As a perk, Susan and Jessica Chruchill from Lavish Artists were also on hand to do hair and make up on the day. This was great fun and a nice pampering experience for us busy mums! Bella also enjoyed having her hair done and her insect bites covered with make up!!
We went back yesterday to see a slide show of our photos and were very happy with the results, which certainly do 'capture' the moment! Subsequently we all spent a lot more than planned on the gorgeous pictures, but hey they are only young once!! As a gift for my parents, my sister and I also bought a lovely picture of the four of us on a wall canvas.

Curran photography also specialise in weddings and commercial photography as well as family pics and will be holding another mums and babies session soon. Lavish artists also work independently doing hair and make up for weddings, celebrations, pampering parties and commercial events such as fashion shows.

Indybel happily recommend contacting either company .... details below!!

Curran Photography ( based in Mijas Pueblo )
653 448 470
info@curranphotos.com
http://www.curranphotos.com/

Lavish Artist
655 277 180
http://www.lavishartist.com/
http://www.hairandmake-upartist4u.com/

Have fun!

Wheely Good Idea!

I remember when my daughter was born and I used to spend endless days pushing her around in her pram, how surprised I was to find that the streets in Spain are just not wheel friendly! It wasn't just the cobbly streets and high pavements that were really hard work to negociate but also I couldn't believe just how many shops and offices were up huge flights of stairs, could only be accessed with teeny tiny lifts or had narrow doors and jaggedy paving outside. This included quite modern institutions like banks, supermarkets and carparks ... so all in all getting around with a pram in Spain is not that easy!

So it was with pleasure that I read last week that Fuengirola Town Hall is aiming to make life easier for people using wheels ... and that's not just parents of course, but trolley and wheelchair users too, by putting into action a plan to eliminate architectural barriers! Apparently 164 trouble spots will be removed and replaced with ramp access ...

Good news for all us mums and wheel users in Spain! Hopefully other towns and cities will follow suit soon.

Time to start thinking togs!

Last night for the first time in weeks I put socks on my toddler when she went to bed and covered her with a sheet ... my husband wanted to get the duvet out but I don't think winters here quite yet!! The evenings have got noticably cooler though ... a welcome relief after months of sweating at night ... and little one's do feel the changes, so it's important to monitor the temperature in their bedrooms and adjust their sleeping outfits accordingly.

All this reminded me that our indybel delivery of new JoJo Maman Bebe sleeping bags should be here any day now! Like everything else, baby sleeping bags are not always easy to find in Spain. We are really excited about our latest products ... these gorgeous sleeping bags come in three different designs and two different togs ( 1.5 for warmer temperatures of 22 - 24 degrees and 2.5 for the cooler months when the temperatures even in Spain do drop below 21 degrees at night! ) We are also going to be selling them in two sizes, 0-6 months and 6-18 months ... all the details will be on our site in the next week or so, so if you are thinking of buying a sleeping bag for your little one this winter don't forget to check ours out. They are a lot cheaper than Grobag, but of the very same high quality!

Here are the 3 designs we're expecting ... all three are perfect for either girls or boys. nb the colour of Carousel is beige/cream.

Noah's Ark Sleeping Bag, coming soon to http://www.indybel.com/ in 2.5 tog size 0-6 months

Carousel Sleeping Bag, coming soon to http://www.indybel.com/ in 2.5 tog, sizes 0-6 months and 6-18 months

Rainbow Sleeping Bag, coming soon to http://www.indybel.com/ in 1.5 tog, sizes 0-6 and 6-18 months

All designs gorgeous for girls or boys!!!

Our First Fashion Show Rehearsal!

Last night we had our first fashion show rehearsal. As many of you know Indybel are putting on a Maternity Fashion Show at the Mother, Baby and Toddler show in October. This is quite a big thing for us as we've never done anything like it before, but happily we have found 6 fantastic real women pregnant models whose enthusiasm and commitment last night was amazing and we can't thank them enough.

We've also had the good fortune to have found a team of 'professionals' who are willing to help us make our show look and feel as professional as possible. Thanks to our team ( including the models )we are confident the show is going to look fantastic and can't thank them all enough. Lousia our choreographer has so many great ideas and last night taught our girls to walk like models in a matter of minutes, we also have a professional hair salon doing hair on the day, David our make up artist is renouned for his fantastic work and will be making up all our girls on the day, plus we've just found out that Tickled Pink will be accessorising and styling our girls with their fab costume jewellery and knowledge ... we can't thank you all enough ... next rehearsal is next Friday and we can't wait!!

Louisa puts our girls through their paces!

Perfect potz take the worry out of weaning!!

When I weaned my baby here in Spain the biggest headache was finding little pots to store the food. When you are weaning it is more practical both time wise and financially to make large amounts of puree's up at once than to cook everyday. So you need lots of little different sized pots which are also freezable and easily washable. I couldn' t find anything much in the shops here, you either got 4 or 5 pots which cost a fortune or a few plastic pots which were cheaper but less safe.

In the end I got my mum to send stuff over from the UK where there was an assortment of stuff avaliable. So she sent me little ice cube pots with lids, a set of 8 or so pots which were far cheaper than here and so on ... but to this day as far as I am aware, weaning pots or those for taking food out and about are still not easily avaliable in Spain. The best pots for taking food out I could find were mini tupplewares which again were both expensive and too big, so impractical!

So it is with huge delight and excitment that Indybel have discovered Babypotz ( pictured above and below ) ... these fantastic baby weaning pots are currently taking the UK and Ireland by storm. The brainchild of mum Lesley O'Mahony, Babypotz are everything you need them to be! Which includes BPA free and microwave, dishwasher, freezer and sterilizer safe... More than that they come in a boxes of 50 pots ( divided into 5 different handy sizes ) so you'll never run out. And believe me, as a mum who has weaned, you need a lot more pots about than you think! Each pot has it's own lid too so you can seal them securely in the freezer and take them out with you as they are.

Babypotz in our opinion are one of the best baby products we've seen for a while. They are practical, safe, look great and are also fantastic value for money. http://www.indybel.com/ will shortly be selling Babypotz on our site for 22.99€ for a box of 50 pots, that means each pot will only cost you 46 cents!!!

Check out http://www.indybel.com/ soon to find out more about Babypotz, or to reserve a box simply email info@indybel.com telling us how many boxes you'd like to reserve!

Gearing up for the first ever Indybel Maternity Fashion Show!

Next month see's the first ever Mother, Baby and Toddler Show in Estepona and as well as taking a stand, Indybel are putting on a maternity fashion show!!

This is a very exciting event for us, but has certainly been complex to mastermind!
I used to work in TV and for years my job was choosing contestants for entertainment shows, finding our models reminds me a little bit of my former career, although it's actually more difficult!

When we conceived the idea of the fashion show we decided that we wanted to use pregnant models on the catwalk. We feel that our maternity ranges are unique in that they are gorgeous, high quality, stylish, trendy, affordable and comfortable clothes. In addition the great thing about maternity clothes is that they really grow up and down with you ... they'll accelerate your bump if you are feeling loud and proud and they'll hide it if you are feeling a bit shapeless or having what we call a 'bad bump day'! Knowing all this we truely felt that 'real' pregnant models were the only ones who could really wear the clothes well .. using models with pillows stuck up their clothing just didn't seem to be right!

So last month we posted our plea for 'real women pregnant models' on a number of websites and forums including our own and are delighted to say that we have had a huge response! Thanks to all the lovely girls who have responded, some are in their first pregnancy, some on their second or third ... some are nervous and others very confident, but all are 'real' and we are so excited to see the clothing on them.

The bumpband at www.indybel.com

This week we have been busy confirming our 6 models and arranging our first model get together next week. The aim of this meeting will be for our models to meet our choreographer Lousia who is fab and for her to teach them a few catwalk moves. Hopefully we'll also be able to try some of the outfits on the models and work out who will be wearing what and which looks will look better on which girls! There is so much to do! Plus as we are fully aware that our models aren't professionals, we are very keen to make them feel as positive, comfortable and happy about the experience as possible.

Seraphine awardwinning bootleg jeans, available in Spain from www.indybel.com ... so comfy you can wear them right up until the birth!

We have also been busy ordering in clothing for the show. Our aim is to show that you don't need to spend a fortune on hundreds of maternity peices, but can achieve a great look throughout your 9 months with just a few staple high quality maternity peices which can then be mixed and matched with other items. Our key peices include our gorgeous Seraphine boot leg maternity jeans, the Seraphine denim skirt and Seraphine Leggings. In addition we'll be showcasing a fab ethnic print dress from JoJo Maman Bebe which can be worn with leggings, jeans or as a dress in it's own right as well as some great adaptable tops from JJMB and of course our own Indybel lounge pants. Plus there's our nighttime range which is also great for looking glam during hospital visits!!
Of course all the peices are avaliable on our site too ( http://www.indybel.com/ ) and not just at the show.

So as the date draws nearer we are really getting very excited. Hopefully after next weeks meeting we'll be able to start to see it really coming together .. we'll keep you updated and maybe see you there!!

Our First Competition Winner!

Congratulations to Gaby from Jimena de la Frontera who has won our August 1st Birthday competition. All Gaby had to do to enter was purchase something from our store during the month of August ... now she's the proud owner of one of our gorgeous pampering Natalia Gift Boxes ...

We had lots of interest in our competition, so thanks to everyone who entered themselves! As it's proved so popular we'll certainly think about running another competition later this year ...