Meet the Maker

Meet the Maker – KnitSquid

This month we have a wonderful creator and shaker for our ‘Meet the Maker’! Ha I love a good rhyme. But seriously, this month we shine a spotlight on to a gorgeous handmade toy industry that I have long admired and even asked my mum to make one for my eldest when he was born. This month it is all about knitted and crochet toys and a Japanese art form called Amigurumi from US based maker Eliza Ryan from KnitSquid. I am super excited to be showcasing it on the blog as these handmade toys are just super creative and utterly gorgeous.

I first discovered crochet toys when I found the brand Anne-Claire Petit and I bought my eldest an awesome rainbow plane in London, we still have it and it is what started my appreciation for crochet and knitted toys. I know making them certainly isn’t easy, I think you need a whole heap of patience, skill and time! I wanted to find out more and when Eliza approached me about her fab brand, I was all ears.

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Meet the Maker – Things by Bean

I am a massive fan of birthdays as you can imagine being a toy blog and gift guide site, so when I was introduced to Jo Power aka “Happy Birthday Girl” extraordinaire I had to find out more about her.

Jo is the head honcho over at Things By Bean and has been since she started the company in 2011. Things by Bean is an awesome stationery brand based in Melbourne that now stocks in over 50 retailers in Australia! A phenomenal effort in such a short space of time, oh and did I mention Jo became a Mum during that time as well.

Jo has even had the honour of travelling to New York City for the National Stationery Show which I think is pretty awesome as basically stationery stores are like my FAVE stores after toy stores. There is just something about cards, gift wrapping and all that paper. I have been known to be lost in stationery stores in NYC, Paris and even Tokyo!

This year, Jo expanded Things by Bean introducing an awesome blog and podcast. The blog has heaps of cool DIY party ideas as well as some pretty crazy kind of cake recipes.

The podcast is next level, hosted by Jo Power and Jeremy Gay, Happy Birthday the Podcast is about all things birthday and celebrations. Introducing some fab ideas I had never known, like Ancient Egyptians were the first to give birthday cards! Given my major at University was Archaeology, that is one of the coolest things I have heard all year.

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Meet the Maker – Dinoraw

Following on from my post last month about the fabulous new Australian brand Dinoraw, I wanted to get to know the maker behind the brand, Sarah Kermode.

I love that this Sarah, mother of 2 sons, Jack and Ted is now producing gorgeous dinosaur prints and I will be honest, I think they are THE best out there for any Dino loving child. With a retro vibe, classically playful yet educational for kids, these prints are just ahhmazing!

So let’s find out more about her inspirations, aspirations and how she goes about perfecting her dino drawings.

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Meet the Maker – Maja Säfström

Art as we all know is very subjective, what one person sees in a drawing, the next person may not. However, my experience in looking at art, whether it be drawings, paintings, sculptures or installations, is that the viewer will usually know straight away if they like the piece of art or not. It will stir in them a passion, a raw emotion, a reminder of the past or a feeling in the present, but a sensation nonetheless.

Swedish based Maja Säfström is one of those artists. Her approach to illustrating is full of wit and humour, it makes you smile even if you are having a long, frantic, horrible day.

Each drawing is quirky, usually of animals, mainly monochromatic but always so stunningly simple and funny. You can spend hours lost in her world of drawings and not to mention laugh deeply to the little quotes that sometimes go with it. I can imagine to have a coffee with Maja or even better a glass of wine, would entail a sore tummy from all the laughter she would provide you with.

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Meet the Maker- Fabels out of Vintage

One of my favourite things about blogging is finding beautiful new products that I can then let you, my readers, know about, whether it be toys, decor, or clothing.

I get super excited with little butterflies in my stomach when I find a product or piece that I fall in love with and is wonderfully unique and stunning too! Such was the case when I discovered the gorgeous new dutch label Fabels out of Vintage, earlier this year.

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Meet the maker – Two Little Ducklings

As I look to embark on setting up a new business this year, I thought for my blog, I would seek inspiration from other mums and woman who have already done this and most importantly, succeeded!

Hopefully hearing their story can not only inspire my procrastinating little body to be given a kick up the behind, but perhaps motivate my readers to also step outside your comfort zone and take that leap of faith!

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Pay it Forward – Schooza

Wow, I cannot believe we are almost in November, where has the year gone? I am super excited about this “Pay It Forward” as we were extremely lucky to attend an “Under the Sea” themed birthday party way back in February ( it seems many moons ago) and much to our surprise, we received a Shark tail outfit from Schooza as Jasper’s party favour. I nearly fell over myself after seeing the label, realising I was going to be writing a blog feature on this brand later in the year.  

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Inkibabinki

Grids, monochrome, stripes and geometric design, all of this gorgeousness encapsulates the work of  Inkibabinki. A fellow mama and lover of all things handmade, Indri is a beautiful mama based in Melbourne, who I discovered through our mutual love of monochrome.

Indri produces stunning cushions, softies, onesies and t-shirts. All created with this utterly perfect geometric design. They are timeless, classic design pieces that won’t fade with trends. You can mix things up a bit like I do and add some pops of colour to your kids room to soften the look.  With a quality to match, I have been blown away every time we buy a product from Indri.

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Misha & Puff

Well after a glorious Summer like week of weather last week, this week we have had gale force winds, rain and a big drop in temperatures. It feels like Winter again and I am wanting to keep all warm and cosy. I am blaming myself of course as the day I put away all our winter heaters, winter came back with a vengeance! But I digress as always, as all we want to hear about are these super gorgeous timeless knits by the fabulous Misha and Puff.  They are oh so perfect for this colder change in temps.

Designed by Anna Wallack in the US, each knit is ethically hand made in Peru. Here the women are given opportunities to support their families through working from home or at a knitting centre that provides meals and childcare.

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The Smallest Tribe

 

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If you are a regular reader here, then you will know I am a HUGE supporter of Kickstarter and helping people realise their dreams. I get emails almost weekly from FAB upstarts and wish I had the time to blog about all of them, as ALL of them have done such a brilliant job in getting themselves a campaign going and fingers crossed success!

It was with serious excitement the other week that I find out via email that “The Smallest Tribe”, an inspiring Australian kids fashion label which I discovered at Finders Keepers last year in Sydney, had a Kickstarter campaign starting.

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Little Wild Things

It has been way too long between fashion posts on this blog and for that I apologise profusely!!! But this little label we love and I wanted to let you know about them as the kids have been rocking their tees of late.

Little Wild Things T (LWT) is a gorgeous new kids label based in Melbourne focusing on t-shirts which are made from high quality 100% organic bamboo cotton fabric. Producing a limited run of 30 tees for each collection, which means none of this fast fashion that is so prevalent today. This label is all about creating super soft clothing with designs that won’t date.   They launched in December last year and they have already designed 2 collections for ages 1-6 years.

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Pay It Forward – Jack and Evelyn

I am rather excited about another fabulous chapter in my “Pay It Forward” series for 2015; this month I discover the wonderful world of “Jack and Evelyn”.

Jack and Evelyn was created last year due to a gap in the Australian market for classically designed baby and kids products.

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Pay It Forward 2015 – Chykaboo

I love this time of the month as it when I get to be inspired by wonderful handmade fabulousness through my “Pay it Forward” initiative. This month is the utterly gorgeous Chykaboo. A stunning baby and kids decor brand based in the UK.  Since I first saw the name “Chykaboo” I have been intrigued by it and I have wanted to discover more about its maker, Louise, her story and divine products.

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The Offbits

As you know from reading this blog, I adore Kickstarter and crowd funding sites that help to provide financial support as well as a strong community to help people realise their dreams.

I am also always intrigued and fascinated by new toys and new concepts, one such company doing just that are “The Offbits”, a super cool open source toy in the form of robots! Based out of Tel Aviv, this is their second Kickstarter campaign aimed at making their little robot creations more accessible to all.

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Mister. I

I have to say when I opened up the package from Mister.I, I gasped, quite literally, at how beautiful the 2 pieces of clothing were that I was looking at. The prints were utterly divine and the fabric super soft. They took my breath away. I had not seen kids clothing so stunning before.

As such I was in a bit of a fix, as I knew that my photos couldn’t do this beautiful clothing line the justice it deserved. I am still learning with my photography but these clothes needed a master! So I enlisted a photographer friend of mine to take over and weave her magic. I have to say my darling Sina from Petite Etoile certainly did that!

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Pay It Forward 2015- Cream Empire

Today I am so excited and honoured to bring you the first in my “Pay it Forward” 2015 initiative and to let you know more about the divine kids linen and decor range from Cream Empire!

I have been following Cream Empire for quite a while now on my Instagram account and I adored Carolina’s monochrome bedding as soon as I laid eyes on it. It is so refreshing, so modern yet utterly classic. I would love to buy each and every piece as each design is so appealing and it is easy to mix and match with other kids linen and decor.

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Born and raised in Melbourne, arguably Australia’s fashion capital, you can see that the city and its style has certainly influenced Carolina’s designs. I read recently that Melbourne woman only wear black, I am not sure that is exactly true, but black and white at least is definitely Carolina’s colour of choice.

Having only been in business less than a year, with a science degree already under her belt and fluent in Spanish, Carolina is one clever, talented and brainy mama with an eye for design and a head for business. Cream Empire has gone from strength to strength in such a short space of time and Carolina has branched out to designing and making cushions, pillowcases and cot/stroller blankets on top of  her cot sheets & duvet/quilt covers. All of which are made from 100% cotton.

You can choose from custom designs like batman, clouds, hot air balloons, grid, icecreams and stripes for cot bedding or even bassinets and then mix and match it with fun pillowcases that Carolina has designed herself like Wonderwoman and Batman. She has created so many gorgeous designs in a timeless style that they can go with more Cream Empire decor, or other children’s bed linen you may already own. It is fantastically versatile and it won’t date especially if you need it for baby no 2 or 3!

With her signature style in monochrome, Carolina has recently added pops of colour, but her heart lies with black and white and in particular designing and creating cushions.

I am so thrilled to have been able to get to know a little more about Carolina, her brand, and her motivation to start this business.

Meet the Maker: Carolina Leyton and baby Javier

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1. You design and create some seriously gorgeous nursery linen which all began because you couldn’t find linen for your own son’s nursery. How did you go about sourcing your own fabric in Australia and creating your own designs from scratch? Is your background in design or textiles? Have you always loved to sew?

When I first started my brand cream empire, I used fabrics from fabrics stores but I found this to be very limiting as I could never find exactly what I was looking for. I decided after much research and many bumps in the road that I had to start designing my own fabrics. I’ve always had a passion for designing and graphic design. Before cream empire was made I wanted to start a prints and wedding invitation brand as I had so much fun designing and making our wedding invites. This idea didn’t flourish as I was too busy in my ‘real’ job at that time as a research scientist and finishing my masters in science. When my little man was born and I was home, I thought this was the time to start off my dream of a small business. 

To help me designing, I have completed an art and graphic design short course and will continue to take up new courses in this area as I love learning new things. I’m even considering going back to uni… Ahhh!! 

Since a little girl I loved making things, my grandma taught me how to sew and knit. I never thought that this skill would help be in the future.

It was such a challenge finding fabrics to print on in Australia that I had to source fabric overseas. After endless emails with fabric wholesalers I found a printing company that could do what I was looking for. In June 2014 I launched my own designed products and launched my new and improved range.  

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2. What is the process around the design for your fabrics? Where do you find inspiration for the each new design?

My inspiration for each design comes from my love of fashion, beautiful things and my everyday life. Of course my little man is a huge part of my inspiration as well.

 

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3. As a mother of a young baby, it seems a crazy idea to start up a new business whilst looking after a new born but so many mothers do it and make a huge success out of it, like yourself. How do you find the work/life balance of taking care of your son and starting up a new business? And all those sleepless nights? Would you have ever imagined doing this before having kids?

It’s hard, it’s very challenging but I would not have it any other way. When my son was younger it was easier to sew in between his naps but now it harder as he is a toddler and sleeps less. Due to this, I had to hire a helping hand as I was finding it very difficult to balance the workload. Now it’s perfect and feeling like this is what I am meant to be doing. 

4. Being a handmade local business based in Melbourne and a one woman show, how hard did you find it to ask for help recently? Do you think as woman and mother’s we don’t ask for enough help?

We definitely do not ask for help. This is such a terrible thing. So many mothers out there including myself always think we can do it all, but really we can’t. It’s such a hard thing to ask for that extra helping hand, I don’t know why but it must be in our genes. To able to recognize that we need help is such a big step.

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5. As a new business you started out creating monochrome designs and you have now added colourful prints like your cloud and gelato linen, what are your customer’s favourite?  What are yours?

I  think I will always be a monochrome style type of brand. I love black and white in home decor. My customer’s favs are definitely the grid. This would have to be my favourite as well.

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6. You have created some gorgeous new designs recently including my beloved grid design, what plans are afoot for 2015 for Cream Empire? Where do you see the baby/kids linen industry heading as there are new players start up?

There are definitely many more competitors out there now than when I started. I find this to be very motivating for me.  It’s fantastic that there are so any creative talented mummas out there!

For my brand, we have many more new things on the cards, I can’t wait to share what we have coming. We have our new A/W15 collection that will be launched soon. I’m so excited!

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With new designs and plans to add single bed linen to her range soon (yes!), Cream Empire is an exciting, refreshing and modern brand that oozes quality and just the right amount of style for your children’s room. I am loving all her designs and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for this gorgeous kids linen company this year! Check them out here.

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Pay It Forward 2015

One of the things that I love to do in life is to give; I love giving little presents and cards, the joy that it brings the receiver, lights up my world. It is just something I have always loved doing and one reason I started this blog as I adore researching and buying gifts and making cards for friends and family.

This year I was touched by the “Pay it Forward” initiative that has taken off on social media over the start of the new year, a movement to encourage and inspire acts of kindness. There is so much bad news in the world, every day, even more so of late, that it is nice to see the real spirit of humanity, and that is essentially one of kindness and hope.

It inspired me and made me think, how can I help someone else, to brighten their day, or to give them something that might help them out in their life.

Now I am not a maker, nor am I creator, so I couldn’t make something to give to people, well apart from a hand written card. So I thought hard about what it is that I do, (my husband questions this most days with me!) and I thought that I could write up a feature on a new shop, kids designer, crafter or artist and get their brand and designs out there through my blog. Give them exposure across my blog and media channels that will help them to boost their brand.  I thought that could be my way to “Pay it forward” in 2015.

I then posted this idea up on my Instagram account in January after being inspired by the fabulous Captain & Co and others I had seen on Instagram and Facebook. I thought about how many features I could write this year on top of my current work schedule and felt that I could manage 5 brands, writing about them twice over the course of the year. I felt bad only picking 5 once I had responses back, so I added in a 6th brand who had also been quick to respond to my post.

The 6 kids brands that I am so excited to write about this year are:

1. Cream Empire – stylish nursery and kids bedding and soft furnishings. Designed and made in Australia.

2.  Canterbury Kids – a fab bricks and mortar children’s clothing boutique stocking Minti, Scotch & Soda, Bebe, Wilson and Frenchy and more. Based in Victoria, Australia.

3. Bowe Baby – produces practical and thoughtfully designed baby items like car seat shades with nappy holder,  stroller covers as well as nursing covers and blankets that will “make parenting simple”. All designed and made in the USA.

4. Schooza –  hugely fun kids dress up and costumes for all occasions.  Designed and made in Australia.

5. Chykaboo – gorgeous baby blankets organic teething rings, softies and prints. Designed and made in the UK.

6. Jack and Evelyn – produces classically designed kids products such as toy boxes, poncho towels and baby bibs. Designed in Australia.

The first feature on Cream Empire will be featured later this week, so stay tuned!

Image courtesy of Captain and Co.

Zilvi – Kid’s Interior Decor Designer

I am always in awe of the makers that I “meet” on Instagram. Each day I am continually blown away by these creative talents; their divine handiwork and unique handmade gorgeousness.

One lady I have been utterly blown away with over the past 8 months has been Nicole from Zilvi, a kid’s interior decor design company based in Queensland, Australia. Her business acumen, creative talent and sheer and utter determination and motivation to make her business a success, is stuff many people only dream about.

Nicole is a rare breed, she is so completely beautiful (both inside and out) and not only creates gorgeous interior products but she gives back as well; starting her “Help Mama out” campaign, where money raised from the individual product goes to the family in question she is helping.

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Nicole designs and creates using wood, acrylic and fabric making unique, individual and never seen before designs. Zilvi quite literally blew Instagram out of the water. She only uses Instagram as her marketing tool and she is one of those Instagram success stories you hear about.

In 8 months she has gone from 0 to 30k+ followers and 10 weeks into starting Zilvi, she quit her daytime job as a Manager of an wedding and corporate events venue to concentrate on Zilvi, full time. That is a phenomenal achievement in this day and age and shows the power of social media. However, given the millions of accounts on Instagram selling their wares each and every day, it shows that her designs have found a niche and truly speak to her target audience, which are other design led parents.

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In the past, I have looked at these amazing successful Instagram businesses and thought, “wow”, how lucky are they to be so successful and for it all to happen so quickly! However, many of these talented mothers have had high flying corporate roles pre-baby in design, styling or events and have found that after giving birth, that their former life and career no longer suits their new life as a mama. Motherhood gives them the push they need to pursue the creative talent in new found ventures.

I have to say I think Nicole might be one of the hardest working creative talents I have ever “met”. Constantly creating new designs, working until the wee hours of the morning and so professional in both presentation and delivery. Nicole is continually evolving and adapting to ensure she is at the forefront of the designs she has created.  Launching a product range directed solely toward children, Nicole is expanding her brand in March and releasing three new collections, Nursery, Kids & Home. I am sure they will all be a huge success and I cannot wait to see them as whatever she touches turns to gold!

We have been building up an arsenal of Zilvi products in our household as I adore Nicole’s products and cannot get enough of her creations. Our first Zilvi design was a gift to the boys papa for Father’s Day last year which he adored.  I have also sent her wooden name plaques as gifts for children’s birthdays and they make the perfect unique gift idea.

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 Above: Zilvi Dad flag “My Dad is a Superhero”.

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Above: Zilvi “Fringe Dreamer “

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 Above: Boys room with feather garland and dad flag

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Above: Zilvi “large feather garland”

In the meantime I have been lucky enough to track down Nicole who survives off only 5 hours of sleep each day to ask her more about her new life as a fabulous mumpreneur:

Meet the Maker : Nicole from Zilvi

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  1. You have had such phenomenal support from the IG community to the extent that you have taken the courageous step of quitting your day job and making Zilvi a full time job! How does that feel? Are you pinching yourself each day?

To be honest I haven’t had time to really take a moment and reflect on what I have achieved so far and to soak in the fact that I am finally living my dream of working for myself while being a Mum at home with Felix, it’s been increasingly busy from day one, which I am absolutely grateful for.

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  1. For most people it can take years to run a successful business but you have hit the ground running in a matter of weeks, why do you think people have taken to Zilvi so much?

When I first launched Zilvi, my products were unique within the small community of Instagram (as this is the only place I market my brand) as there wasn’t yet my style of work available. I shared with them my goal of one day making Zilvi my full time job, this resonated with so many Mums as they too shared this dream. I think while my followers not only enjoyed my products, they enjoyed sharing in my journey to reach my goal and within 10 weeks of launching, I was able to take a risk leaving a well-paying job to work on my brand full time. My journey has given many others hope that they too can achieve it, that it is possible, and that for me is just so rewarding in itself.

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  1. One of the things that struck me early on following you on Instagram, is that although you have become hugely successful, you also want to give back to the community and help make a difference to another family’s life. What inspired you to start “Help a Mama out with Zilvi”? Where do you see this going in the future?   

After two incidents within 12 months of each other, one where I almost lost my life giving birth to Felix and another where I watched my employee almost lose his life through an accident involving fire; I quickly began appreciating just how precious life is. I felt incredibly grateful to be in good health and have all of the basic requirements to get by in life. Many don’t have their health or the basics, and so I wanted to give back while I am fully capable to do so and have no reason not to. And so came #helpamamaoutwithzilvi with my first project raising around $5500 for a young Father with brain cancer (#afeatherforbrad). I hope to launch my second project in the coming months and continue this regularly as an important part of Zilvi.

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  1. As a mother of a small baby, how do you manage taking care of Felix and balancing life as a mum alongside life as a “mumpreneur”?

We have a strict routine which has a healthy balance of work time and Mum time. My studio is baby proof so it is as much his space as my own. I never put my work before him. He is my priority, so if he is having an off day, we are out of the studio and my work simply has to wait. I do a lot of my work when he is in bed of a night time.

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  1. I am a big believer in dreams and it has taken me 19 years to realise my dream of becoming a writer (ahem ok well a blogger), did you ever imagine Zilvi would be your big dream, and how would you inspire others to take the plunge to realise their own dreams? Any tips from a talented mumpreneur on how to run a successful business?

I am still in disbelief. Every day seems surreal. I’m not sure it will ever sink in. I have received countless emails from Mums wanting to take the plunge or from those who have, and would like to grow their business, and each asks me to share what I have done. I can never really put into simple words what I have done. I haven’t followed a ‘plan’; however I do have experience in business and marketing so this may have been of benefit.

In regards to taking the plunge in the first place, the absolute most important point is to first have the support of your partner. So many of my friends who run insta businesses don’t have this as their partners work full time and don’t take the Mama’s idea seriously. This then adds pressure and stress to you as someone starting a new business and follows through to your relationship. So discuss this first with him and both have a solid understanding of the risk you are going to take. Tell him exactly what you want to do, where you see it heading and how you will fit it into your current life as a Mum, partner and now business owner.

The best advice I can give to anyone jumping into the world of Instagram with a small business is to be original. And be yourself. Create your own profile, don’t see someone who is successful and attempt to put their personality into your brand, you can’t maintain something that isn’t you. Provide your followers with unique products. Gain inspiration from others for current trends etc and be inspired to create your own original work.

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Wise words from a Mama in the know and who is on a meteoric rapid rise in the kids interiors world! With this Mama’s work ethic, passion and dedication, I predict world domination soon…watch this space.

To see more of Zilvi’s beautiful creations and her three new collections, Nursery, Kids & Home, coming this month, check out her website here. Be warned, you will fall truly and utterly in love with each piece!

Disclosure: I have not received any gift or payment for this feature.

All photos have been reproduced with permission from Zilvi.

 

Australian kids labels – ones to watch 2015

I have to say 2015 is looking like a hugely successful year for so many young Australian kids brands. It was so hard picking just a handful so here is my selection of 12 to watch this year. Some are already established and some just starting out but I predict HUGE things for all of them in 2015! Watch this space…

Australian kids labels – ones to watch 2015

Clockwise L-R:

One Two Nine “Quilt 1”

Paul and Paula “Go Bananas” tee

Inkibabinki  “Grid bloomers”

Mint Rhapsody “Milky Attic House”

Mum life project – soon to be released project supporting mums

Miss Pigeon Productions – crochet sweets

Maven Dolls “Maven Elsie”

The Hook Co “Wall hooks”

Captain + Co “Gone Batty Bunting”

Smallest Tribe “Spearminty dance party girls skirt”

Little Red Elk “Bunny wall hook”

Babee and Me “Handpainted memory game backyard animals”

Australian kids labels – ones to watch!

My very first kids fashion and design feature for this blog was about upcoming Australian talent that I had discovered. I wrote the post for Australia Day 2014 which is celebrated on 26th January every year.

I needed to have this post on my new blog as I love and adore these brands and so excited about how far they have all come in the last year. Luckily for me, this was one of the only post I ever had saved in MS Word. After losing my blog last September, now ALL my posts are backed up in Word.

I feel so proud to be Australian when I see how brilliantly these companies are doing, designing, creating and making on the shores of this country. It just goes to show that if we support small business, it can and will go far.

Read on to be blown away by 4 labels which were definitely my Australian “Kids labels to watch” out for in 2014.  They have diversified, grown, developed and become even bigger a year on. They are truly blitzing the kids world at this time!! Huge CONGRATS and well done you inspiring Mumpreneurs!

 

Kapow Kids labelHaving been established for less than a year, KaPow Kids has found itself a loyal  following amongst Australian parents looking for “kool threads for little people”.

KaPow Kids produces a range of clothing and accessories for 0-2 years which includes: gorgeous  dribs (dribble bibs), headbands, onesies, tees, harems, leggings & the cutest little shorts. Focusing on bright  graphic prints & bold designs like super hero masks, ice creams, bats, clouds, lightning, unicorns and more; this is one label for parents who don’t want their child looking like all the others in the playground! With an emphasis on FUN, these designs look amazing but with the added comfort and functionality required for babies and toddlers.

Kapow Kids labelThe label started in 2013 as hobby by comic book lover and architect, Andrea Goulding. Having loved fashion since she was a child, but following her childhood dream of becoming an architect, all that changed when she became a mum to one little superhero boy! Now her focus is on kids fashion and having received well deserved press from around Australia, this fabulous gem of a kids label is certainly one to watch this year.

Kapow Kids products are all unique, handmade & produced in limited editions in her Melbourne studio.

NB: – the onesies are not made in Australia but are customised in Australia.Hidden tiger harems “Meet the Maker” session with Andrea Goulding aka “KaPow Kids”:

What is your favourite “KaPow Kids” product you love seeing being worn on little ones? When I see a photo of someone’s little one wearing a KaPow piece I get so excited!  I love that mums and dads like to share their KaPow photos, makes it a lot of fun. My favourite KaPow design that I like seeing on kids would have to be the appliqued onesies and tees. These were the first things I made so they mean a lot to me.

icecreamsWhere do you see your company in 5 years’ time? My tiny business is growing every week. I get many emails about collaborations and requests from stockists to stock my range.  At the moment I am making wholesale orders for several little Australian boutiques but in 5 years’ time I hope to be able to have stockists worldwide and have a few more people helping me with the business and production side so that I can focus more on designing.

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How are you celebrating Australia day today? At the beach with my family

What was your favourite toy as a child? I hated dolls when I was a little girl. I was a bit of a tomboy. My favourite toy as a child would have to be a yellow singing teddy that my mum bought me. I still have it.

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Beau Hudson header-cloudyEver since she was a little girl selling freshly picked flowers,  baked cookies and self-designed & created magazines in her  street, Sasha Deacon has always had a business head on her.

With 2 boys to style as her inspiration, this kids label started in 2013 and was developed to provide accessories that are stylish & fashion oriented yet super comfortable.

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With the name of her company coming from the middle names of her two young boys, Sasha takes her inspiration to design from the adult fashion world alongside the kid’s street style so prevalent on social media networks like Instagram. However, not wanting to spend huge sums of cash on kitting out her gorgeous kids, Sasha looked to create her own label of cool and on trend accessories and the kids fashion world love it!

Garnering a large social media following, this is one label to look out for and snap it up fast before all those other savvy parents get in!

Beau Hudson is your “go to” place for beanies, bandini’s, bow ties, suspenders, cardigans and bando’s.

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“Meet the Maker” session with Sasha Deacon aka “Beau Hudson”:

What is your favourite “Beau Hudson” product you love seeing being worn on little ones?

I would say our Bandit Beanies! They have been so popular, and when I see a customer post a photo of their child wearing our Beanies, I still have to pinch myself that it’s actually our product! In saying that, anytime I see any of our products on kids, I love it!

Where do you see your company in 5 years’ time?

We have massive plans for the future of Beau Hudson…the sky is the limit in our eyes! There will always be kids being born and parents who love fashion! We’d like to continue to expand our range with cool new products, and be recognised around the world. Our vision is to grow Beau Hudson to a level that we can one day pass down to our boys.

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What do you enjoy most about living in Australia with a family?

I love the weather! In Queensland specifically our winters are mostly sunny and fresh so you can still be out enjoying the parks and even beaches in the winter! We have great theme parks and have year passes so can take the kids anytime! I still feel like a big kid going to them and love that they never get old for my boys!

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What was your favourite toy as a child?

I so badly wanted a Baby Alive doll and finally got one on my 7th birthday!! I thought it was SO cool that you could give it a bottle and it would pee, and give it solid food and it would poop! I loved changing its nappy and making my dad be “grandpa” and babysit it! haha! It was the most like a real baby you could get when you were 7! If only the love for changing nappies carried on until now!

www.beauhudson.co

LLEGS_CMYK_GREYbkgdThis Sydney based label was started in 2013 by Danielle Bailey after the birth of her son Ledger and her inability to find any cool and hip clothes for him that were affordable and most importantly “Made in Australia”.

Specialising in baby and toddler leggings, it was with a little help from her sister who lent her a sewing machine, some inspirational vintage fabrics and positive encouragement from her loving husband, that has enabled her business to grow and gain a loyal customer base.

Leopard-ShortsIn bold, bright patterns, stripes and animal print teamed with basics on top, she has certainly created a go to label for hip & wallet conscious parents. A far cry from her childhood dream of being an archaeologist!

Leggings are $18.00, shorts are $15.00, beanies are $12.00, Pockerchief tees and singlets are $10.00. NB:- the tees and singlets are not handmade “We don’t make the singlets, we just make them cool”.

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“Meet the Maker” session with Danielle Bailey aka “Ledger’s Legs”:

What is your favourite “Ledger’s Legs” product you love seeing being worn on little ones?

I absolutely love seeing little girls in their Ledger’s legs because I found it really hard to find fabrics that I liked but weren’t overly “girly”, and also, I have a little boy, so girls are a little foreign to me! I also just introduced a new range of matching T-shirts and singlets and I love seeing little LL lovers in them!

Where do you see your company in 5 years’ time?

I see 1000’s of smiling Ledger’s Legs customers, a sewing room, designing my own prints, a couple part time mumma’s working with me to help get my hundreds of orders out (a week), and a little sibling chasing Ledger around the house… that is the dream.

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What do you enjoy most about living in Australia with a family?

The weather here is amazing, the people are nice (most of the time), you can buy fresh produce straight from the grower and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I love that we are surrounded by water and I can walk down to the beach with my family and go for a swim on a hot summer’s day. I consider myself very lucky to live in such a beautiful and safe place, I wouldn’t live anywhere else 😉

What was your favourite toy as a child?

Humphrey B Bear went with me everywhere!

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2 little ducklingsAfter deciding not to return to the corporate craziness of the design world with the birth of her first daughter, Jacinta Weir created this AHH-mazing stationery and educational toy company in 2012.  which has

As is the case with many mums, Jacinta refocused her design aspirations and her passion for branding and illustrative logos after the birth of her beautiful daughter and created “Two Little Ducklings”.

“Two Little Ducklings” produces stunningly gorgeous personalised birthday invites, greetings card & birth announcement cards. She also creates custom orders for other events you may require. You can also buy custom name charts, ABC, 123 & colour wall charts.

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The products which caught my eye amongst Two Little Ducklings fabulous range were the ABC flash cards. Starting at $8.00 these cards are a great way to start teaching your children all about animals, counting, colours, shapes & their ABC’s.  However, my personal favourite is Jacinta’s new “Australian Animals” flash cards which launches today! Get in fast as these will surely fly off the shelves.

Two Little Ducklings Australian Flash Cards DSC_0040All handmade in Melbourne using FSC certified silk layered premium paper for all products. This is one kids company that is producing some visually beautiful pieces that are must for any nursery or play room!

Two Little Ducklings Range Photo DSC_0249“Meet the Maker” session with Jacinta Weir aka “Two Little Ducklings”:

As you have so many fabulous products, what is your favourite to work on?

By far my favourite things to work on are my Custom Name Charts. I developed these at the beginning of 2013, my cousin had a little girl and I wanted to make her something. There are so many lovely things for children’s rooms that display their name, but I wanted to go further than that, I wanted to educate along with having something beautiful to look at. I haven’t seen anyone else do anything similar to this, so I feel quite proud of these and they seem to get a great response when someone gives one as a present or orders one for their loved one.

Where do you see your company in 5 years’ time?

At the moment my focus for this year is to get some stockists. At the end of last year, I met the lovely Lisa from Room 99 and she stocked some of my Christmas tag range, I had great feedback that they flew out the door, so I’m really hoping other shops take a chance with me and my little business. As for five years, I would love to have my own little shop, where I can stock my own products along with other work at home mums with beautiful handmade products. Doing everything by hand, can be very time consuming, but you can see the love that goes into the products.

Two Little Ducklings Range Photo DSC_0239How are you celebrating Australia day this year?

This year we are celebrating with friends down by the Yarra River. It is one of our friends little boys first birthday, they asked me to design a dinosaur themed invite, with a matching bunting and t-shirt for the little man to where on his big day. Triple J Hottest 100 will be the backdrop to what I can imagine will be a fantastic day. What more could you want: sunshine; great friends; and great music.

What was your favourite toy as a child?

My favourite toy by far was my two Cabbage Patch Dolls (Paul and Fabian), I have just handed them down to Lexi, they were my first babies, I would strap them into the car and pretend to take them for a drive. I absolutely loved them (and still do) although they are in desperate need of some new clothes.

www.twolittleducklings.com.au

The creative genius that is Laura Blythman

Having already bought a gorgeous pineapple print by talented creative genius Laura Blythman as a gift for a friend and a “Throw glitter in today’s face” for myself, I have completely fallen in love with all of her stunning designs.

Each piece of art is an absolute wonder filled with beauty, colour and light. Each piece has so many intricate details yet they are presented in such whimsical, fun and irreverent fashion that you can’t but smile at each piece. Any of her pieces, would look amazing in any kids room or indeed anywhere in your house!

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Laura is a Melbourne based designer and illustrator whose works have featured across numerous well known Australian brands like Cotton on Kids, La De Dah kids and Lark.

I was very privileged to get to know a little more about the downright amazingly talented artist more about her life and work.

 Meet the Maker series with Laura Blythman:

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Tell us a little about yourself and your amazing career thus far?

After completing a BA in Graphic Design at The Australian Academy of Design, I cut my teeth working in-house at Hallmark Cards Australia, Cristina Re and Typo (Cotton On) before branching out into the freelance world.

Over the years I feel like I’ve designed and illustrated for a pretty diverse range of things: greeting cards, gift packaging, stationery, home office, decor, textiles, apparel, wedding and event stationery, brand identity, blogs, advertising, print collateral and web bits.

There are still A LOT of things on my wish list though. The dream is to create them under my own brand or through awesome collaborations with ace labels that I admire.Bedding, ceramics, soft furnishings, books… dreams.

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What inspires your designs?

This is always a hard question, because it’s actually a pretty unconscious thing. It’s just what I do, images get in my head and stay there for a while until I get them out on paper. Sometimes inspiration comes from colour, nature, music, friends, daydreaming or even just getting out my boxes and trays full of painted paper scraps and making things up as I go!

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All your pieces are filled with such vibrant intense colour, how do you go about creating each piece?

I’m drawn to colour because it just makes me so happy, it never fails to lift my mood. When I’m creating new work I decide on a colour palette first. Always. At present, I can’t get away from neon pink and peach.

Lately my process involves… covering loads of big sheets of beautiful watercolour paper in a variety of delicious colours and copper or gold leaf. Then I cut the sheets up into a million pieces and put them back together again as new artworks. I often add my signature hand drawn and painted detail too.

BLUE-BUNNYWhat was your favourite thing to draw or create as a child?

When I was young I always loved to cut, paste and layer paper and as a teen I would spend days drawing detailed illustrations of my teen idols (think – Eddie Vedder / Kurt Cobain. ha! )… Some of my happiest childhood memories revolve around the art and craft supplies I received as presents every birthday and christmas.

In my early 20′s while studying, I worked in Art supplies stores which really opened my eyes to other ways to be creative other than draw with a pencil. So I guess in some form or another I’ve always been doing exactly what I still do now. Drawing, cutting + pasting, creating, making things.

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What aspirations do you have for the future and what would be your dream project?

I’m secretly working on a job that has been on my list of dream opportunities and I can’t wait to be able to talk about that!  Another big dream of mine is to work on a collaborative range for an awesome local or international fashion or home ware’s label!  I also have so, so many very clever and creative friends who I’m hoping to collaborate with soon too.

Other than that I’m really focused on creating more art, exhibiting more and releasing more products.  I love what I do and I feel like I am on a good path, I just have to keep going, keep saying yes to amazing opportunities and trust my instincts.

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I love what you do as well Laura and so do so many others around the world. I cannot wait to see more from Laura in 2015.  This interview was from last year but excerpts were recovered from drafts on my old blog. 

If you love any of Laura’ prints, you can also find them on t-shirts, totes, pillowcases and vests at Club of Odd Volumes.

To check out more of her prints

All photos have been reproduced with the written permission of Laura Blythman.

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Giddy Up Gertrude – “Revez en Grand” doll collection

As a child and as an adult, I love and adore dolls, so I am so very excited and truly honoured to present a gorgeous new handmade doll collection by GiddyUpGertrude, which is launching this Wednesday, 3rd of December. These dolls are seriously so sweet and beautiful. You will want to collect them all!

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All dolls are designed and handmade on the Australian Gold Coast, by Jaimi Lee Pennell. With a childhood love of creating and drawing, not to mention building fairy houses in her garden, it seems that Jaimi was destined to turn this passion into a creative talent as an adult.

Each doll is hand stitched and takes 4-5 hours to complete with hundreds of hand stitches going in to make each doll’s face.  All the materials are sourced from local shops or from fellow WAHM ( work at home mothers) running online shops.

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The first collection from GiddyUpGertrude is aptly titled “Revez en Grand” or “Dream Big” and there will be 10 -15 dolls each individually made, with their own character, name and styling.  Gorgeous names like Stella, Valerie, Suki, Mabel and Eden.  Every doll has been designed with removable clothing and there will soon be a range of Giddy Up Gertrude dresses, kimonos and gorgeous faux fur vests which will launch in the next 12 months. Oh my, I cannot wait to see the sweetest of doll’s clothing for these divine dolls!

Not only has Jaimi turned her hand to dolls but she has also made 2 limited edition stunning pink flamingos for Wednesday and some seriously cute Watermelon bags. This gorgeous mama is beyond talented!

I wanted to find out more about the inspiration, design and background of this new fabulous mumpreneur enterprise and I took the opportunity to ask Jaimi a few questions about “GiddyUpGertrude”:

Meet the Maker: Jaimi Lee Pennell

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Your dolls are truly stunning fashionista style pieces, what inspired your first doll collection, “Revez en Grand”, what is your background and how long has GiddyUpGertrude been in the making?

As a mother of 2 boys I don’t get to indulge in the gorgeous little girls fashion available at present, so this doll range has allowed me to get my fix of sequins, divinely soft tulles & all things pretty & pastel.

I taught myself how to sew almost 3 years ago, it was a way for me to cope and manage my Post Natal Depression. From this, my ability & confidence grew & creating really became a passion. Like a lot of people I started to make dolls using some great simple doll patterns that are easily available. However as my confidence grew I found myself really wanting to create a doll that reflected my soul & creativity, and the concept of GiddyUpGertrude was born. It has been a long road to create a pattern that I am 100% happy with, about 40 hrs of pattern testing in total, but I am so proud of how this first collection has come together.

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Given that you have children of your own, are they the first testers of your dolls? 

Haha, yes my toddler is known as the “destructor” tester! It is his job to make sure my dolls can stand up to the over affectionate cuddles & oddles of kisses they will receive in their life time.

As a child yourself, growing up, what was your favourite doll to play with and do you think it has helped to inspire you to create GiddyUpGertrude?

As a child my favourite doll was an old handmade ragdoll made by my great grandma’s sister. I loved her until her felt face had almost worn off & I actually rescued her from the bin a few times, as my mum thought she needed to be thrown away. Needless to say my love of dolls started very early, & has continued through to adulthood.

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As your collection is aptly named “Dream Big” which is one of my favourite sayings, what made you take the HUGE plunge and finally realise your dream of making dolls and creating such beauty? To be 100% honest, like many young families our budget is tight & the thought of leaving my two beautiful boys to go back out into the work force broke my heart. Which is why I am fully committed to making GiddyUpGertrude a successful brand.

The response so far on Instagram for your dolls has been so exciting, there is a real buzz and anticipation for the release of your collection. I can and will predict that it will sell out within minutes, where do you see the future of GiddyUpGertrude?

I am so amazed at the response my dolls have had so far. After starting a little under a month ago, I never dreamed of them getting so much attention and praise! Its pretty overwhelming.

My dream for GiddyUpGertrude is to walk into fabulous boutiques and see my dolls proudly displayed. That would be an amazing accomplishment.

Finally, I am sure there is a little story behind the brilliant name, do tell, what is the story behind Giddy Up Gertrude?

Well, remember my favourite rag doll I spoke about? She was made by my great grandma’s sister, Gertrude. So I thought it was only fitting that the woman that ignited my love of handmade dolls, to get a special mention.

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What a beautiful story filled with courage and bravery, overcoming post natal depression to create this beyond perfect doll collection by the sweetest of doll makers,  Jaimi, all whilst having a new born baby strapped to her and her toddler using her photography props as car jumps! I can see that this first collection of dolls, is but the start of amazing things to come for GiddyUpGertrude.

RRP: GiddyUpGertrude dolls will be A$120.00 and will be released for sale at 11am QLD time on Wednesday 3rd December.

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Disclosure: I have not received any gift or payment for this feature.