Stylish Kids: Little Bird, Little Bird

When I arrived home from the Sunshine Coast on Monday I was greeted with the most gorgeous lookbook in the mail for a brand new organic childrenswear label - Little Bird, Little Bird. As I flipped through to the fabric samples, I knew immediately that this was the work of Rachel Bending from sustainable design brand Bird Textiles in Byron Bay.

You'll notice the quality of the fabric straight away. The organic textiles are hand printed using water-based dyes in a range of Rachel's recognisable surface designs.

The first collection will focus on little girls to 3 years and includes a smock dress, pinafore and playsuit in olive green, inky blue and claret red on a natural base cloth. These are classy pieces in durable fabric with sweet ruffled finishes. Gosh, it's going to be hard to choose.

Little Bird, Little Bird designs will be released in small, limited edition collections and will be available exclusively on the website from 20th September 2011. But you'll have to be quick! Head over to the Little Bird, Little Bird Facebook page to get ordering information before the launch date.

Oh, and if you love the designs but want another fabric from the Bird Textiles range? Rachel will be offering a bespoke service. How great.

If you love children's fashion, head over to Bondville Kids were all the stylish kids articles are compiled. You can also read more about Bird Textiles here on Bondville.

Images: Little Bird, Little Bird

Roses = Love

Well, my sister's wedding was wonderful. It rained, it blew a gale - it was a damp miserable day on the Sunshine Coast. But my sister was radiant and glamorous and the wedding was beautiful.

The Bride's bouquet, two Bridesmaid bouquets and 11 flower arrangements were a huge success(what was I worried about!). Mum did a beautiful job on 7 boutonnière (button holes). The flowergirls were so beautifully behaved (I take no credit for that!). And the guest book tree was perfect. I have lots of amazing photos to share with you soon, and some lovely wedding ideas.

In the meantime, the happy couple are off to Fiji and I wish them all the best, much love, happiness and good health together.

Steph
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Image: Steph Bond Hutkin

Time For A Wedding

Yesterday we visited a rose farm! Then we proceeded to fill the back of Pops' van with 350 roses, all for my sister's wedding on Saturday, here on the Sunshine Coast.

It was fun to visit the farm and meet the rose farmers in person. I keep sneaking into my room to see all the roses sitting in buckets, waiting. Such a glorious sight!

The aspiring florist in me is a little giddy. Today I get to try my hand at bouquet-making. We had a practice during the week, so I'm feeling mildly confident. I think.

See you after the big event!

Steph
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Party Ideas: Jonty's 2nd Little Man Birthday Party

Two-year-old Jonty had the time of his life at his Little Man-themed birthday party, complete with multi-layered cake, mustache chocolates, popcorn, and best of all.... mud!!!! These great photos come to you from Joyess Images.

Birthday: Jonty's 2nd Birthday Party.

Organised by: Mum Jess of Joyess Images and Joyess Designs (with the help of hubby Chad, of course).

Location: Padstow Heights, NSW.

Theme: Little Man - from birth this has been a nickname we've had for Jonty so it seemed very fitting that he have a party with that theme!

Invitations: Designed by Jess (Joyess Designs) as part of the Little Man Party printable pack.

Cake: Made by Jess - layer cake of choc and vanilla cakes iced with vanilla frosting. The word TWO on top is made from fondant icing left to set overnight. Jess made the mini bunting too.

Party Food:

• Donna Hay macarons
• Cheese and vegemite moustache sandwiches
• Ham, mayonnaise and rocket moustache sandwiches
• Moustache cookies on sticks made by me with fondant icing
• Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting
• Popcorn (of course!!)
• Puffy Dogs (cocktail frankfurts in puff pastry)
• Chicken and mushroom and beef mince pies
• Banana lollies, Malteasers and pineapple chunks

Decorations: Little Man Party printable pack by Jess Walsham (Joyess Designs). The pack includes:

1. Editable invitation (4 per A4 page)

2. Blank thank you cards (4 per A4 page)

3. Bunting banner (3 designs)

4. Blank tented placecards (4 per A4 page)
5. Popcorn Labels

6. Drink labels (water and juice)

7. Blank tie-shape gift tags

8. Five round 2-inch topper designs (15 per A4 page)

9. Mini bunting/food flags (6 designs)
10. Photo booth sign
11. Photo booth props (3 moustaches and 1 bowler hat)

Pin The Tie On The Jonty Game designed by Jess. Jess used a mix of vintage and quilting fabrics for the bunting at the party but you can create this look using paper bunting flags from the printable pack. Black and white striped cupcake wrappers. Yellow striped paper straws.

Favors:

Jess made moustache-shaped chocolates on sticks using a chocolate mould and melts. Some were milk chocolate and some were peanut butter-flavoured mmmmmm yum! The boys all received a Business Time Tee with the ties appliqued on the front and the girls received a Vestie Tee in girly colours from Joyess Designs.

Tips: Make sure that you can move your table inside if rain is threatening! Be organised in the lead-up so that you can actually enjoy the party as it happens. Don't over-cater! (something I have to remind myself of ALL the time) Especially for little kids - having a smaller selection of things is fine. Seriously, if the only food at the party had been popcorn they still would have loved it.

Something Special: The best part of the party was the mud! It was totally unplanned and could have 'ruined' the whole day, but for Jonty and his friends it was THE BEST! Everyone kept telling me they couldn't believe how relaxed I was with the rain and the mud, but really when you saw how much fun the kids were having in those puddles you were too busy laughing to stress about the decorations!

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Thank you so much Jess for sharing such a gorgeous party with us. You might remember Jonty's bedroom that Jess also shared with us recently - what a clever, creative lady.

For more images from Jonty's birthday party, head over to Jess' blog. And for more great kids party ideas from real Australian parties, check out the Party Ideas category on Bondville.

Images: Joyess Images

Spun Mud ceramics

The ceramics of Spun Mud artist Bec Lindemann caught my eye at the Eumundi Markets this morning. Dinnerware, vases and jewellery sat side-by-side embellished with Bec's own retro flower, tattoo and paisley designs.

It turns out that Bec and I have lots of shared friends in the QLD ceramics world. We chatted about the local handmade scene while I tried on adorable coral pink patterned rings.

Bec is based at Mothar Moutain on the Sunshine Coast where she throws each pot on the wheel (powered by solar energy) and decorates with original screenprinted transfers. Each piece is hand painted to finish and stamp bowls are pressed with hand-carved clay stamps. Pots are bisque fired and then gloss fired with a clear glaze to around 1240 degrees in Bec's gas kiln.

I'll be back to pick up some of Bec's lovely rings and I'm really tempted by the milk and sugar set. Love the Eumundi Markets - yet another great find.

You can find Spun Mud in the Etsy store and at the Eumundi Markets, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Keep up-to-date on Bec's designs through the Spun Mud Facebook page.

Images: Spun Mud

Twice Designs handmade brooches and greeting cards

I met Sarah Bartnett from Twice Designs at an ABCD Meetup in Sydney this year and loved the typewriter greeting card that she contributed to the goodie bag. And then last week, one of Sarah's cards was featured in a Bondville kids bedroom tour. I had to find out more...

So on top of her fun old-world greeting cards, Sarah also manages to find time to make lovely brooches, cufflinks and scarves. Even better, many of her one-off pieces are made from recycled and repurposed materials.

I'm dying for the laser-etched eye chart wooden brooch. So fun and a great conversation-starter. Know any budding photographers that would love the camera brooch? I think I've now got birthday presents sorted for a bunch of my girlfriends.

You can find Twice Designs in the Etsy and MadeIt (Australia) stores. If you head over the online stores now, there are sales on, including brooches from $2 and buy-four-cards-and-get-one-free. For more information on the latest designs, head over to the Twice Designs blog.

Images: Twice Designs

Brand New Tutu du Monde August 2011 - world exclusive

GUESS WHAT!!! The ever-so-clever Andrea Rembeck from Tutu du Monde has shared with us her new collection of heavenly party frocks and tutus for little girls. First look here!

This new collection from Tutu du Monde continues the theme of beautiful vintage-style pieces to make girls feel like princesses. As well as the ever-gorgeous tutus with stretch jersey singlet tops, there are sweet capelets, cloches, bows and bazillions of sequins.

These dresses and outfits even look great as time goes by. Yes they are special occasion dresses - flower girls, parties, birthdays - but wear well for everyday too. Our purple tutu has been dragged through the proverbial mud for over a year and still looks fantastic - a little boho chic now. (throw away those itchy polyester Sleeping Beauty things!)

You can find Tutu du Monde in the online store as well as stockists in Australia, the US, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Read more about Tutu du Monde here on Bondville. And head over to Bondville Kids for more great Australian-designed clothes for kids.

Images: Tutu du Monde