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Baby Keepsakes – recommended by Aylesbury newborn photographer – Kelly Bond Photography

There are a million different baby items you can purchase when a new baby is born; whether that is for your own baby, for a baby born into the family, or the baby of a friend. Those items are special; how many parents have photos of their baby with their treasured comforters? I know I do. The online world is full of baby shops; Etsy, eBay, Amazon, but I want to draw your attention to the local independent shops. These are the businesses that need your support right now, and I can recommend one that is very local to me, based in Aylesbury, Bucks. It is such a lovely business, with the products offered as well as the lady who creates them all.

Spotlight on: In Craft Corner from newborn photographer – Kelly Bond Photography

 

I have known about In Craft Corner ever since I started my journey to being a newborn baby photographer. I was looking for a taggy blanket for my first baby who is now 10 😮  (How fast the years have flown!) Nic was only doing the business part time at that point, moving to full time in 2014, and now running a successful baby product business with over 6 thousand followers on Facebook and many more who find her direct through her website.

In Craft Corner sells a range of baby keepsakes which are perfect for gifts for new babies, or purchasing for your own baby. In Craft Corner is safety tested with the CE marking for that extra peace of mind, and each item has been made with babies real needs in mind. Being a specialist baby photographer, baby safety is absolutely key to me. I personally love the dummy bibs and teether bibs – perfect for that dribbly stage! They are 3 for £14 at the moment – you can find them by clicking here.

The huge range of fabrics available to choose from are also a big benefit; something for everyone! I think Nic has a similar obsession with fabric buying the way I do with newborn props, hats and accessories for my baby photography! Its a sign of how much we absolutely love what we do!

Headshot photography session with In Craft Corner

 

My studio business had to close twice last year, as it was classified as non-essential during the UK 2020 lockdown periods of March and November. Doorstep photography kept me busy for part of it though – check out my blog here. However, inbetween these lockdowns, I could re-open (yay!), and Nic got in touch with me to get some headshots done for her business. I was happy to help out and invited her to my studio. We scheduled a morning session once we had both done the school drop dash, and armed with some of her products and a few different clothing items, we got to work. Nic also makes her own clothing, very handy for showcasing her business branding. I think I need some clothing for when I’m in photo sessions! I personally love anything rainbow related, and her brand including clouds is a perfect mix of both.

I already had something in mind from the moment we started chatting about headshots, and as she embroiders a lot of her products, I really wanted to showcase the endless threads she uses. This was my favourite from the session, and you will also see it in use on her website:

So many threads – all needed to complete each baby product

In Craft Corner specialises in baby keepsakes, and each one is lovingly made with personal items saved from baby’s first weeks, and formed into a blanket or keepsake teddy. They are such lovely items. I have yet to order one from my baby’s early day clothing as I just can’t decide  which animal I like best! I have a huge box of keepsakes for each of my children. Their early days are so precious, which is part of why I specialise in newborn photography. Your baby will never again be that small, and through photos, tiny curled up poses, and the diddy clothing they wore, these are all some of the special ways to remember how little they really were!

These are some of the beautiful items Nic brought along to the studio to photograph on their own, and being held to help show the size, especially useful for the keepsake animals. You can see more of the images from our headshot session on her website.

Baby teether rings
Keepsake memory animals
Business owner, Nic, wearing handmade brand clothing

I recommend the gorgeous teether rings – perfect for when those teeth start to make an appearance. Babies can start to feel movement of teeth behind their gums from 3 months, even if the actual teeth don’t break through until the more typical age of around 6 months. Time passes quickly, and its worth being ready.

In the meantime, I hope you take lots of and lots of photos of your little ones – they change so quickly! I would love to capture beautiful memories of your baby with a newborn photosession, or milestone session when they may be sitting and capturing more expressive moments. Feel free to head over to my newborn gallery to see my style of work, and if you would like images of your baby like this – pop me an email!

It has been a joy to see In Craft Corner grow in business, and I’m sure Nic and I will continue to cross paths, as I recommend her to all my local and wider location based clients with her lovely baby items! Get in touch with her if you would like a memory bear, animal or blanket, or any baby products ready for those teething days.

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Tips for a sleepy baby – baby photographer – Kelly Bond Photography

Does your baby struggle to settle for sleep?

Hopefully this blog post can help! Some babies manage to fall asleep quite easily, while others need a little bit of help. When I have babies in the studio with me for a newborn photography session, I can encourage a baby into a comfortable sleep using methods developed over my years of experience. As a specialist newborn photographer it is an essential role to be known as a ‘baby whisperer’ as babies need to be asleep to be able to pose them in certain positions, to achieve those baby photos you all love and adore! I hope that by sharing some some of these methods, and those of other local specialists, you will be able to help your baby sleep, because as we all know, happy baby = happy Mummy!

Why is sleep so essential?

Psychologically, sleep is absolutely paramount to our bodies ability to function, physically and mentally, and also how it handles long term health issues . It is really important that your little ones have sufficient sleep, so that you, as an adult, are able to achieve the necessary amount of resulting sleep. Julia Fensom is a baby consultant based in Aylesbury, Bucks, who specialises in sleep education and makes references to her research from Matthew Walker’s book “Why we sleep”. Julia is a lovely lady who I have the pleasure of knowing personally, so my first tip is to get in touch with her if you would like some practical help with sleep training. Julia told me in conversation with her earlier this week that ‘newborns can’t stay awake longer than 45-60mins in the first month so if they’re getting grizzly, put them down for a nap. Newborns have to be actively put to sleep, they won’t just sleep when they’re tired’. All her contact information can be found on her website: https://www.juliafensomthebabyconsultant.com

Quick tips for helping babies to sleep

 

  • gently touch their faces, rubbing down their noses and across their foreheads. You can see a video of me using this technique in this behind the scenes newborn photography video
  • have a warm room, or add a layer to help them feel cosy. I start all my newborn sessions with wrapping the baby using trained techniques. This usually helps the baby feel safe and secure, without getting distracted or startled by their involuntary limb movements. It also helps their body temperature stay warm, as newborns are unable to regulate their body temperatures very easily.
  • take a baby massage course. I can highly recommend  Becky who runs Blossom in Aylesbury, Quainton and local surrounding areas. Baby massage helps with circadian rhythms, so your baby will have better awake times in the day, and deeper sleep rhythms at night. Contact Becky – click here.

  • have something near that smells of Mum to help with familiarity when Mum leaves the room.  Nic at In Craft Corner can help with these type of items. She offers all sorts of lovely baby items and I personally ordered taggie blankets from her for all 3 of my babies when they were tiny. Her work is beautiful. Some babies really benefit from having something tactile that they connect to sleeptime, and it can be quite useful to have something to begin that connection early on.
  • rocking and swaying with your baby can help remind them of the movement they had regularly when in the womb. I gently rock babies and keep my hands on them while wrapping them up ready for newborn photos. Babies benefit so much from physical touch as having close contact is all they have ever known.

If you have any tried and tested methods of your own that you think would be helpful to other parents out there, leave it in the comments. I would love to hear from you!
Sending you good sleep vibes for you and your little ones!

#sleeptraining #naptime #bestsleeper #mamaneedssleep #sleepingbaby #aylesburymum #parent #babyphotographer #babywhisperer #babyphoto #aylesbury #bucks

 

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Newborn baby girl photo session

I love love love all the tiny babies that I get to meet in my work. I am really living my best life, with my dream job., based in the beautiful surroundings of Buckinghamshire.

I met this little gorgeous love shortly before Covid-19 came along and presented various troubles with businesses being able to continue work in a normal way.

I am very sad to have to temporarily close and postpone baby sessions. However, I have regularly photographed older babies, who can still be happy to be posed, and we achieve beautiful images regardless of age.  See my newborn work on my Facebook or Instagram, and I bet you can’t tell which ones were older.
So if you have a new arrival in your family, please don’t worry that you will be missing this period of opportunity for newborn photos. I recently put up a video offering tips on how to take some newborn photos of your own, and when I can open up again – we can get you booked in for some professional styled images including your whole family.  You can watch the video here.

Miss H was such a sensational little model. I wrapped her for the first half of the session while we had some gorgeous awake time. I love her deep sparkly eyes.

She enjoyed being wrapped up and was super content, while interacting and watching me move around her; she was listening all the time.

After the snuggly wrapped up time sending her off to the land of dreams, I could then pose her in one of my bowls; the little foot holding makes my heart melt. When babies are under 2 weeks, their bones are still very soft and they curl up with ease. Miss H was only 6 days old for her newborn photo session, so this was a naturally content pose for her.

Unfortunately, due to the social distancing measures in place after this session took place, I was unable to see her again for another cuddle during the presentation viewing of the gallery for her parents, and this had to be done online instead.

I will be officially opening my studio when lockdown has relaxed – so I am extremely excited to be getting back to work when it is possible.  You can see what I brought for the studio in this video! 

Lots more tips will be shared to help you make the most of documenting the early days of your little one. I can’t wait for cuddles when I’m back to work! Until then, stay safe everyone.

xx