As a small business owner, I’ve always been really conscious about the choices I make as a consumer.  If it’s up to me I’ll always choose an independent restaurant, café or coffee shop.  I’ll always buy gifts from Etsy, notonthehighstreet or direct from small makers.  I choose services – cleaner, hairdresser etc – similarly.  Not do I consider it a better choice economically and socially, but generally speaking the food/gift/haircut is going to be better quality too.
 
There are certain chains I’ve boycotted for years – I’ll never go in a McDonalds or a KFC, for example.  And as for Starbucks – well, let’s not even go there.
 
However, until recently I had a longstanding Tesco habit.  It’s not something I’d ever really thought about – I just kept going there, zombie-like, week after week, filling my trolley, handing over my Clubcard and getting on with my life.  I’ve no idea why it’d never struck me as a bad habit, it was more of a necessary but tolerable evil, until a conversation with friends in the pub on New Years’ Eve.  At the time I was pretty defensive – Tesco is so convenient, it’s right by my house, where else would I shop?  Surely it wouldn’t be possible?
 
But the next day I had another – slightly hungover – think.  I’d been contemplating what I’d do as my January Challenge for 2018 – I was toying with Veganuary (but it sounded weird when I tried to say it out loud, and to be fair my diet is pretty close to vegan anyway, so it’s not that much of a challenge).  I’d also considered going plastic-free, but after reading up on it, I’ll be honest, it sounded pretty impossible.  And then it came to me.  I’d go supermarket-free for a whole month.
 
The challenge was pretty simple – to avoid Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.  I would also do my best not to go to Aldi or Lidl either.  I decided that the Co-op was okay, just so that I didn’t end up starving.
 
By chance, I had done a big shop (in Tesco, naturally) on the 30th December, so the first week or so was pretty straightforward – I just grabbed a few bits from the corner shop to keep me going.
 
However, as the month went on I did need to buy some food.  I love cooking, and most of my meals are cooked from scratch – so I was a bit worried I was going to end up eating tinned corner-shop food for a month.  But you know what, I needn’t have worried for a moment.

 
I properly reaquainted myself with my old favourite Matta’s, the award-winning L8 Supermarket, and the corner shop at the top of my street – which I was pleasantly surprised at.  They’re all places I have used in the past, either as a student, before I had a car, or when I had a bit more free time.  Delifonseca and Windmill Wholefoods came in handy for some more random ingredients.  As I started looking out it became obvious that there were loads of little local shops selling great fresh fruit and veg – places I’d simply walked past and overlooked previously.  Some things were trickier to get hold of – particularly fizzy water, my favourite muesli and elderflower cordial.  But I’ve managed by finding alternatives – and by making my own muesli. 

Luckily some things didn't need to change - my weekly trip to see Jess and Emily at The Wild Loaf for my sourdough fits in fine with my new spending ethos.  And their bread is just brilliant, way way better than anything you can get in a supermarket.  Same goes for delicious jalapeno bagels from The Bagelry (there's always a few hidden away in my freezer for a bagel emergency).

Unfortunately berries have been really difficult to find.  I love strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in my smoothies, on my porridge and for pudding.  And some of the fruit I have found in local shops has been a bit, well, past it’s best.  However, it struck me that berries are out of season at the moment anyway – so any that I do find have been flown in from half-way across the world, which isn’t great.  I was so happy when inspiration struck in the form of a pomegranate.  Equally sweet and juicy, much cheaper, and readily available in lots of shops at the moment!  The flip side of this is that I have had more access to lots of more unusual fruit, vegetables and grains than would be available in the supermarket.  I picked up some millet yesterday to try in a new recipe, I bet I would have struggled to find that in Park Road Tesco.

There are other compromises to be made – I struggled to find recycled toilet paper so I ordered it in bulk online from Who Gives a Crap (click on the link to get £5 off your first order).  Sanitary products were also trickier than expected - I felt really uncomfortable having to ask for them from behind the counter in my local chemist – so I invested in a Mooncup, which has been amazing so far, and will be much better for the environment in the long run.  My usual eco-cleaning products are available, but a lot more expensive than in the supermarket.  I think it’s making me be a bit less heavy-handed with the washing up liquid though, which can only be a good thing.
 
As another added bonus, plastic seems a lot easier to avoid outside of supermarkets.  Most fruit and veg is loose, which makes sense, and this also means you can choose how many of each vegetable you want to buy, therefore less waste.
 
I’ve walked a lot more – no big supermarket car-parks to park in – so, as I’m carrying it all home, I’ve been more careful about how much I am buying at a time.  It’s more mindful, and I’ve been planning every meal more carefully.  A lot of people have asked if it’s more expensive – and in all honesty I think I have saved a bit of money.  Much less chance of impulse purchases, and I feel like I’ve wasted a lot less food too.  I won’t mention the £5.50 bottle of elderflower cordial.  Needless to say it wasn’t worth it, and I won’t be making that mistake again.
 
I feel so enthusiastic about my new spending habits.  Knowing that my money is going to independent businesses sits a lot more comfortably with me - I’m still pretty ashamed that I’d not given this a lot more thought before.  Everyone I’ve spoken to about it has been really interested and positive too.  I’ve had a few friends say they are going to try it too; one friend has already joined in and done her own Tesco-free January.  I’ve had friends round for dinner a few times this month – and they’ve mostly been pretty considerate of the challenge too.  One considerate soul even decanted her contribution of mozzarella into a Tupperware so I didn’t see it was from a supermarket!
 
So, now we’re nearing the end of January, I honestly thought I’d be desperate to rush back into Tesco.  But I’m really not.  I’ve not even been to the Co-op once, never mind Aldi or Lidl!  I’m seriously considering extending the challenge to February too – after which I’m not sure if it’ll still be a “challenge” as such, maybe more an actual – dare I say it – way of life?
 
And as for the fizzy water – I think I’m just going to have to treat myself to a Soda Stream.

What do you reckon, could you go supermarket-free?  Would you try it for February to see how you get on?  Let me know if you give it a try!

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge festival goer.  I dabbled when I was a teenager with T in the Park, and V96/97, but it became very apparent that I'm not cut out for the basic level of camping that these things entail.  And I do like a shower.

So, five years ago, when I was invited on a friend's hen do - at Wilderness Festival - it was with some trepidation that I agreed to go.  And you know what, I discovered that posh festivals are completely tolerable.  I can rough it with the rest of the middle classes, while munching on my avocado on toast, waiting in a queue for a hot shower.  I returned the following year, and the year after too - enjoying long sunny days of yoga, swimming, amazing food and a bit of music too.

I was aware of Festival No6, another big player on the posh festival scene, and had always been keen to give it a go.  So when my old studio-mate and good friend VIP Puppets offered me a ticket, in exchange for helping out with some artwork, I jumped at the chance.  What a lovely end to the summer, I thought; envisaging morning yoga, swimming in the estuary, sipping craft beer in the sunshine, eating amazing veggie food, and getting to listen to some good music too.

We arrived on Friday evening, after battling our way through torrential rain across the top of Wales - not a pleasant drive at all.  A gap in the downpour enabled us to get our tents up, and then it pretty much continued raining on and off all weekend!

There were some really fun parts - swimming in a heated outdoor pool during a heavy rainstorm and seeing my beloved Jarvis Cocker DJ; some really interesting parts - listening to Irvine Welsh reading from Porno, looking round the amazing village of Portmeirion, and (literally) bumping into Maxine Peake; and of course some delicious food - I was delighted to discover my favourite ever, Anna Mae, was there with her legendary Mac'n'Cheese.  But mostly we had a muddy, wet old time!  For me, no amount of glitter, gin and good company can make up for having to wear Gore-Tex and wellies all day long!

We kept our spirits up, and managed to take lots of carefully-composed blue sky photos (it's all about IG), but by Sunday lunchtime we were all flagging a bit.  Tents were blowing away, campervans were getting stuck in the mud, and we were all cold, wet and aching!  It became more of a survival mission than fun - everything became such a big effort that I missed a lot of the things I'd wanted to do and see.

The act that we were there with was a set of 12-foot tall Beatles puppets - the Be-Talls - and it was becoming increasingly unlikely they'd be able to take them out due to the weather.  However, a break in the rain at 2pm meant the puppets could take part in the Sgt Peppers Parade, and this was definitely the big highlight of the weekend!  The puppets looked great and the performers were truly amazing.

But by this point we'd made the decision to go home - our dry warm beds were luring us back, and we packed up and left a day early.  I was really sad to miss Public Service Broadcasting and Flaming Lips - who I'd really wanted to see - but the prospect of warm feet and dry knickers was simply too great.  And, well, I can listen to them both on Spotify anyway.

I had a great time in Portmeirion, it's am amazing little village, and somewhere I'd love to return to explore again in the future - and I would definitely go back to Festival No6... I'd just check the weather first.  Turns out that - for me - posh festivals are only tolerable if it's sunny.

This weekend I went to Batfest in Shropshire.  I shared a few photos on social media and had a few questions - "what on earth is Batfest?"!

Well Batfest is no big secret - it's just that it's a private event, so you won't find details about it anywhere!

It all started in 2015 when I'd arranged to go to a fancy industry event in London with a group of my online small business buddies.  The event will remain nameless, but just to say it was the biggest waste of £160 ever.  We were all thoroughly dismayed by the whole thing, and started a jokey conversation about creating our own event... which would be much better, much more fun, and much much better value for money.

From an initial joke, somehow it actually became a reality, when we found a campsite in Shropshire with all the prerequisites; a nearby pub, glamping, B&B accommodation... and as an added bonus a lake with a boathouse!  We hired the whole site, in the grounds of a stately home, arranged a marquee and a fish and chip van, and in July 2016 flung open the gates to over sixty friends and their family members.

It was a total leap of faith - and amazing that people actually got in cars and drove for eight hours to get there, not knowing quite what to expect!  Fortunately (thank goodness) it was such a success we did it all again this year.

Batfest 2017 saw rain, wind and - fortunately - sunshine, rowing, walking, a sports day, SUP action, an epic pub quiz, wild swimming, lots of macrame and an entirely inappropriate game of Cards Against Humanity... among other things!

We're all small creative businesses, which is how we all met each other - but we come from all over the UK (in fact one Batfester this year flew in from Singapore); it's a great chance to get together with kids, dogs, tents, beer and food!  Business is very much on the back burner for the weekend - helped no end by the lack of 3G onsite; it's basically four days of friendship, laughter and fun.  Everyone goes away with a little grin, and a warm feeling inside, thoroughly content with a lovely weekend spend with like-minded folk.

Roll on 2018 - the campsite is already booked and I can't wait until it's Batfest time again!

If you want to put on a similar event then the campsite we use is at Walcot Hall in Lydbury North.  To enquire about the campsite visit www.thepowisarms.com, call 01588 680254 or email enquiries@thepowisarms.com. Say Becka from Batfest sent you!

Pretty much every small business owner I’ve ever met has the propensity to work way too hard, and finds it near-impossible to switch off.  It's one of the reasons we're successful at what we do; it's one of the reasons we can suffer from burnout too.
 
Running a small creative business it can be super-difficult to draw the line between work and leisure, specially when you love drawing/sewing/knitting, or whatever it is you do.  But it is so important to switch off completely every now and then.
 
I’m no exception; and despite choosing to do what I do so that I have the ultimate control over the way I spend my time, it can be all-consuming, especially at busy times of the year.  I make no secret of the fact that I’ve struggled with bouts of stress and anxiety at various points throughout my adult life, but I have worked hard to work out coping strategies for myself.
 
Drawing is genuinely really relaxing for me – which is pretty lucky.  However it is still work – and, to be totally honest, I don’t get that much time to spend drawing in a normal week.  I’m working hard on carving out time each week to draw, but admin and general “stuff” does take so much time it can be difficult.
 
So, here are my six top activities for relaxation.  Handily most of them are super-simple; I can do a lot of them without much preparation, and it’s easy enough to fit one or two in most days:

Swimming
I’ve loved swimming since I was a child.  I used to swim – fairly badly – for a local swimming club.I don’t swim as much as I should these days, but during the summer I try to get down to Liverpool Watersports Centre for a dip in the docks at least once a week.  I first tried open water swimming last summer, and was instantly hooked.  I hate swimming in a wetsuit, and I don’t much like putting my head into the salt water, but I do get a huge amount of enjoyment from tootling round the docks, taking in the gorgeous view of the iconic Liverpool skyline.  45 minutes of no internet access does me a lot of good.

Yoga
I did Pilates for years – first introduced to it by a friend when I lived up in East Lancashire – I though that yoga just wasn’t for me, it was all a bit airy fairy.  Well, Louise at White Wolf put paid to that theory, and I started doing yoga regularly with her about two and a half years ago.  I still go a few times a week, my current regular yoga haunt is Yogacita, for convenience; but I get over to White Wolf when I can – and I’m off to India in November with the White Wolf lot too.  Again it’s a full hour of not checking my phone – it’s so good for the soul.

Cooking
I’ve always loved cooking, but over the past three years it’s become more and more important to me.  After years of health issues I realised that what I eat actually made a real difference to my wellbeing; I mostly eat a plant based diet these days – and I absolutely love experimenting with food and adapting recipes.  I feel so much healthier for it, and I find that I can lose myself in cooking for hours when I have time.  I love preparing food for the whole week on a Sunday afternoon, making sure I am super-organised for the week ahead.  I reckon if I’d not been an illustrator I’d have become a vegetarian chef.  There’s still time…

Walking
I got a Fitbit a few months ago and discovered the pleasure of walking.  It’s great. Spurred on by a little group of small business friends we are all making huge strides in getting fit and meeting our daily step targets.  Walking in the park is a complete pleasure when it’s sunny, and it’s not so bad even when it’s a bit grey too!  I’ve found myself wandering around lots of different places, some really close to my house – that I’d never been before.  It’s ace what you can discover when you go exploring!

TV
Watching TV doesn’t always work as a relaxation strategy for me – my mind can often be really busy and it can wander – before I know what I’m doing something else and the TV is just background noise.  But my guiltiest of pleasures is Coronation Street – I find it so easy to switch off that noisy brain, put my phone in another room, and watch an episode or two of Corrie.  Yep, I know it’s a bit naff, but I blooming love it!

Reading
Again, there are times that I really struggle to keep my concentration on reading, but if I run a bath – ideally with something nice from Lush in it – and get in there with my Kindle I can generally while away half an hour or so.  I really enjoy reading books which aren’t too complicated – my main requirements from a book are that it has to be set in the current day (or at least partially) and there can’t be anything supernatural or magical in it.  Specific, huh?I love a bit of crime or mystery, even a bit of tragedy – my favourite authors include Jonathan Harvey, Emily Barr and Dorothy Koomson.
 
Nearly all of these activities involve me not being able to keep checking my phone – which is pretty telling!  Cutting down on screen time is something I definitely need to work on.
 
How do you find time to relax, and what do you do?

Is there anything more satisfying than a beautiful handmade mug?

Whenever I post a photo of any of my ever-expanding handmade mug collection on social media I get comments about how beautiful they are.  So I thought I'd spill the beans and credit the very talented Etsy potters behind my top four current favourite mugs...

Far left: A gorgeous blue cup by Virginia Balistreri of ViCeramics.  I actually own two of these - they are so pretty, the texture is lovely.  This was £15 on Etsy, and was the most beautifully packaged thing I have ever seen... the box was full of intricate origami made out of of little bits of newspaper.  It was such a lovely surprise!  I love getting these cups out when I have a guest so we can have matching cups!

Centre left: My first handmade mug, bought after watching the first series of The Great Pottery Throwdown in 2015; this beauty is by Somerset potter Kara Leigh Ford.  I love him so much!  He was a very reasonable £16 on Etsy.  He's a lovely size and shape, just perfect to wrap your hands round on a cold day.  Perfect for herbal tea or coffee alike.

Centre right: Oh wow.  Now this is a special mug.  It combines my love of mugs with one of my very favourite things, swimming.  It's made by Inverness-based potter Julia Smith.  My friend Katy told me about Julia's Etsy shop, and I fell in love with the little diver right away!  It cost £20 on Etsy.  It instantly makes me feel cosy and content, this amazing mug.  Other designs are equally covetable...

Right: My most recent mug acquisition is a return to my old friend Kara Leigh Ford (we're not actually friends, but I am sure we would be if we ever met each other, even if it was just so I could get a load of free mugs).  This is possibly even more satisfying than the original chap, but it's a really close call.  What a way to start a morning, with a strong, sugary black coffee out of this beautiful speckled duck-egg mug.  He was worth every penny of the £18 he cost me on Etsy.

So there you go - the lowdown on my expanding handmade mug collection.  Watch out on Instagram as - inevitably - it grows.  And if you have any recommendations for new Etsy potters for me to check out then please do let me know!