A very warm welcome, friends!
Welcome to my corner of the internet. I fill this space with photos of beautiful things, the places I love, the things I notice, the thoughts I have, the books I read, the things I buy and I might even slip in the odd photo of avocado on toast – just for the insta-nostalgia.
I’m an appreciator of simple pleasures, life’s gloriously ordinary days, making things pretty for reasons my family will never be able to fathom (though will hopefully remember fondly in years to come) and the sweet, sleep-deprived years of motherhood.
If you’re partial to reading constantly, baking, gardening clumsily, and having a project – you’re in the right place. Always one for finding beauty in the ordinary being born and raised a country girl, I’m spending my days muddling through English town life until my lovely husband leaves the military. Eventually we will move to a cottage in the countryside, with chickens in the yard and roses around the door – think Beatrix Potter-esque.
Writer, photographer, wife of a bearded soldier and a mother of four wildly different characters.
I find happiness in clean cotton sheets, slow mornings, taking deep breaths in nature, cooking from scratch, a good plot twist and making our house a home.
Grab yourself a blanket, get cosy and take a look around. If you have thoughts to share, leave a comment – I love having conversations with you on here so always get back to you.
Love, Helen
FAQ
How long have you been blogging?
Oh goodness, that’s a tricky one to answer because it was an accident! Growing up with my dad being a photographer, I have always been a bit of a shutterbug, so when Jackson deployed when our son Killian was only a few months old I started sharing shots of him on Instagram. I would pour my heart out in captions at 3am when I was alone with a teething baby because it was a conversation with friends and family… then a few people I didn’t know started following along… then a few more. Soon I had discovered a lovely community, primarily made up of women, most wading through the complicated waters of motherhood with me. Companies then started to approach me and I was able to share products I love – it was a very fortunate accident!
What camera do you use?
I primarily use my Canon R5, though a lot of what I share has just been captured on my iphone 12 pro max. A lot of unexpected family moments can be missed while faffing about with lenses so I use whatever I have to hand! My early blog shots were taken on a Fuji X100V that my husband surprised me with – it captured my softest memories of newborn days perfectly, and was much more affordable than my pro camera… I still take it everywhere.
Why is ‘These Sweet Pages’ your blog name?
It’s an ode to both my love of books and the moments that fill the pages of these chapters of our lives with my children. For years my blog was Momma and the Wildlings, but it just didn’t fit anymore.
Disclaimer: Do you make money from your blog?
I count myself very fortunate that doing something I love turned into a way to support my family. This is through collaborations with companies I love (I would never want my name connected to a brand I didn’t genuinely love and use myself – this is important to me) through affiliate marketing when I share/recommend products (I will never share products I don’t rate myself as I think that trust in quality is important) and through sponsored content, which will always be marked as such. I share other content for the love of what I do and because I enjoy having conversations with you in the comments, but when products are purchased through links I provide it is through no extra expense to you and the support is always very much appreciated. Hopefully it will allow me to grow this space, keep doing what I do and remain home with my family.
Where can I contact you?
I’m contactable through instagram @thesesweetpages and [email protected] – but the easiest way to have a conversation with me is through the comments on blog posts as I always make time to reply to them.