Cream Empire – a beautiful new direction

Oh I have to say the baby products these days are epic. Seven and a half years on from when I had my first newborn, there are so many beautiful products out there that make you clucky!!

A fave lady and past Pay it forward feature, Carolina from Cream Empire has released some truly stunning baby blankets and knitwear as she takes the next step in her business.

Cream Empire is based in Melbourne and has become synonymous with beautiful, handmade kids decor products. With a love of monochrome, grid and marble Carolina designs and makes cot bedding, kids bedding, swaddles, pillowcases and so much more.

paper-planes-duvet-coverbamboo-swaddles messy-spotsBut she has taken it to the next level with the most beautiful, ethically produced Alpaca wool baby blankets. Designed in Melbourne and produced by local artisans in South America, Carolina has shifted her brand to focus on using only sustainable fibres such as Bamboo, Alpaca and organic cotton.

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Carolina prior to the birth of her second baby, handmade most of her pieces, with the help of local Melbourne sewers. This was great but very time consuming due to the large items she was producing and with the birth of her new baby, she needed to re assess this part of her business.  Possibly the hardest thing about owning a handmade business and having a family is trying to find a balance between both.

As Carolina was finding less and less time being spent with her family, she looked for a change however, it wasn’t until the birth of new baby and with her still making and printing items that she knew she had to implement a new direction.

Given her South American background, she looked to local artisans in this region to help outsource her designs. With only Fair Trade ethics, natural fibres and an attention to high quality workmanship as her prerequisites, it took Carolina time to find the exact artisans to help her brand.

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Once she did find the right makers, she has been able to watch her brand grow. By doing everything herself and the length of time it took to make her products herself, she was very limited with the amount of orders she could make for customers.

She has now added a Basics range to her growing brand with woolen socks and cardigans.

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Now Carolina can see her “Cream Empire” grow, be happy that she can spend quality time again with her family, see profits from the baby blankets go to the local artisans she is supporting and enjoy what made her start her brand in the first place, design!

grid-baby-blanket-cream-empireIt can be so hard to run a handmade business and support a family as already mentioned, I have seen many people start handmade businesses and then consumer demand means they just cannot keep up with maintaining the business as solely handmade.

Many businesses then wanting to expand their brand, look to offshore or outsource their products. It makes business sense naturally, but what I love seeing these days is that when brands do this, they are doing it with a conscious. They are thinking about their footprint on the earth as well as being socially aware that there are artisans elsewhere in the globe who need to make a living and should be paid a decent wage.

I hope more and more small brands who make it big, think like Cream Empire and think with their heart. By giving back in the way Carolina has she has given local artisans a livelihood as well as provided herself and her family quality time together.

For more on these gorgeous baby blankets check out Cream Empire or give her a follow over on her Instagram page.

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Disclosure : I received no payment, nor product in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.