Beci Orpin milestone baby cards and homewares

I saw these amazing Milestone Baby Cards illustrated by Melbourne-based artist Beci Orpin in the Lark newsletter the other day, and thought I would check in to see what else Beci has been up to. And it looks like a lot!

Beautifully-designed products with Beci's signature folk look keep coming with these fun cushions, leather coin purses, screenprinted notebooks, shopping bags, jewellery, mobiles and art pieces. The sweet folk face cushion is fast becoming a new Australian design classic for kids' rooms. And the pieces in Beci's shoppe are just the tip of the iceberg. Head over to Beci's blog to keep up with all the amazing design work that she has been creating and collaborating on - third drawer down pillows! Japanese sweets! and... a book! (and don't forget kids' label Tiny Mammoth - I'm not sure this lady sleeps)


Now back to those Milestone Baby Cards - what a great concept. These cards, illustrated by Beci, were developed in the Netherlands by Mum Gemma who stared hand-writing her own notes to include in photos of her son. Fast forward, and now those notes are beautiful cards that you can add personal details to. Put card and child in the same frame and snap! These cards would be lovely displayed in a child's growing-up journal, or sent to friends and family - or framed and displayed on the wall in a glorious Beci Orpin-designed timeline.

You can find the Milestone Baby Cards at stockists around the world (including Lark here in Australia), and Beci's homewares, jewellery and stationery in the Beci Orpin online store (hurry - there are lots of products 50% off at the moment).

Read more about Beci Orpin here on Bondville.

Images: Beci Orpin (top images) and Milestone Baby Cards (bottom images)

Love Mae free printables

Those wall decal, melamine plate, wrapping paper, children's bedding style-makers Love Mae from northern NSW sure have their finger on the button. Their colour palettes, designs and products are so ahead of the curve. Lucky for us, they have a great selection of free printables on their website so we can surround ourselves with their special aesthetic. Straight to you from Studio Mae. Thanks guys!

 

You'll find free desktop calendars, birthday cards, gift tags, tutorials and all sorts of printable goodies. Enjoy!

Read more about Love Mae here on Bondville. 

Images: Love Mae

Australian Artist Spotlight: Miranda Skoczek

One of the artists that is always coming up in my Pinterest feed is Melbourne-based Miranda Skoczek. You can see immediately why - gorgeous colour palettes, animals, geometric shapes, pastels and neon - this lady ticks all the boxes. These pieces would work equally well in a child's space, teenager's rom or a grown up's room too.

Of course I love the cockatoo framed in neon yellow (there's that cockatoo obsession again), but I would love any piece from Miranda's collection for our house - the bigger, the better. 

Miranda's work is very popular and you can read about her on nearly every Australian design blog.
If you'd like to learn more about Miranda in more detail, head over to Natalie's lovely blog Daily Imprint for a full interview from 2009 and a recent Q&A here on the Yellowtrace blog.

You can find Miranda's work in the Iain Dawson gallery in NSW and Edwina Corlette gallery in QLD.

Images: Miranda Skoczek

Odette's vintage 4th Birthday Party high tea

You know the birthday party is going to be special when the invitation is a gorgeous string of vintage paper bunting, tucked into a box and wrapped with ribbon. Lucky Odette was treated to a very special high tea for nine friends at Agape organic restaurant in Sydney, decorated with help from Rosebud Designs stylist Lyn Yu and photographed by her talented Dad Matthew from Milk and Honey Photography.

The kids loved the dessert 'stands' decorated with ribbon fringing and a kewpie doll - a sweet alternative to a dessert table. Odette's Mum Anni out-did herself with the teapot birthday cake and vision for the event. It was a fun morning of excited four-year-olds playing dress-ups, party games and devouring the delicious high tea. Anni shares her tips for this special event:

Party: Odette's Vintage Tea Party for her 4th birthday

Organised by: Anni and Matthew (Milk and Honey Photography) in collaboration with Lyn Yu (Rosebud Designs)

Location: Agape Organic Restaurant and Bar

Theme: Vintage Tea Party

Invitation: Paper bunting invitation by Lyn Yu from Rosebud Designs

Cake: A teapot cake, made my Odette's Mum Anni - lovingly handmade :)

Party food: Agape Restaurant and Bar

Decorations: Rosebud Designs

Games/activities: Pin the teacup on the teapot, musical chairs, pass the parcel, vintage dress-ups, personal portraits

Tips: Put together fast-paced games for 4-year-olds, especially after all the excitement. It was fun to scour some Vinnies stores for old-style costumes for the kids to play with and dress-up in.

Something special: Lyn from Rosebud Designs gave Odette a special vintage bear with handmade clothes and hat as a special present, which Odette just loved.

Thank you Anni! For more images from Odette's high tea, head over to the Milk and Honey Photography blog.

Images: Milk and Honey Photography

Stylish Kids: Wonsie bodysuits for big kids

Have you ever wished that onesies came in bigger sizes? Having worked at Bonds, Wonsie founder Julie had just the right experience to design a great bodysuit for older kids, sizes 3-9. Perfect for large toddlers and keeps tummies warm for older kids too.

 

 As Julie also discovered, her Wonsie designs are also great for kids with special needs, helping to keep nappies in place and pants on. Wonsie bodysuits are tag-less and designed with lower legs than normal onesies, for added comfort. Pretty fantastic if you ask me!

You can find Wonsie bodysuits in the online store.

Image: Wonsie

Kristen Doran textiles and craft update

My latest obsession! This is an amazing iPad cover by Kristen Doran that my friend Lisa gave to me for my birthday last month (thank you Lisa!!!). They are not in Kristen's store yet, but you could make this yourself if you were feeling crafty with Kristen's Winter Nest Panel in fluoro orange on cream. This fabric would also make incredible cushions, and you just have to check out the amazing quilt that Kristen made for her son using this panel. Yardage coming soon too. I thought I would see what else Sydney-based Kristen has been up to recently...

Kristen makes emboidery easy with these stitch panels with pre-punched holes. Use your own embroidery floss and customise to suit your space. They come in wood veneer or red acrylic, and are available in the circle design or the geometric triangle design. Kristen always seems to know what in on-trend - the wood triangle stitch panel embroidered with fluro thread might just blow my mind.

 More embroidery - this time a cute kokeshi doll embroidery kit, including cream organic cotton/hemp fabric with doll outline and face pre-printed with instructions for you to create your own doll, or use as a feature panel for a girls' dress, cushion, quilt etc.

Kisten's new fang monsters craft panel was designed with help from her son Harry, and hand screen-printed here in Australia. The printed area is 36cm x 43cm and would make great cushions for a child's room, feature blocks for a quilt, library bag, etc. Available in three colourways.

While you are in crafting mode, pick up Kristen's cute bunny sewing pattern to use up your fabric scraps. The pattern includes photos, pattern pieces and instructions.

You can find all Kristen's products in the online store and fabrics at stockists around the world. If you're crafty, check out Kristen's sewing retreat in the Blue Mountains in June. Read more about Kristen Doran here on Bondville.

Images: all by Kristen Doran except top image of iPad cover by Steph Bond-Hutkin

Local playground yarn-bombing in Sydney

Looking for something to do with the kids this weekend? How about some yarn-bombing! We found this particularly fun example in our old local playground in Artarmon today. The central tree featured the gorgeous crochet piece above, and both the swings were kitted out in knitted covers. The kids loved it, and it added a welcome dash of colour to the playground. It's so great to see members of our community being proactive about making our shared spaces fun (and beautiful) places to be.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

Minkyaka Design Winter 2012

If you missed the Melbourne launch of the Minyaka Design Winter 2012 collection for little people, then here's your chance to see this lovely, quality clothing up-close at the Mathilda's Market in Sydney this Saturday, 19th May 2012. You'll find winter warmers in organic cotton, classic styles as well as modern organic shapes, and quality gifts for newborns, designed right here in Sydney.

The Winter 2012 collection has me reaching for a steamy mug of hot chocolate with it's milky cream, chestnut brown, rich burgundy and flannel grey colour palette. Delicious pieces, made with care and with the finest eco-friendly materials available.

Head over to the Mathilda's Market early this Saturday 19th May 2012 (Byron Kennedy Hall at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, NSW from 9am to 1pm) to snap up some for yourself. You can also find Minyaka Design's Winter collection in their online store as well as the Little Village Boutique and Blue Caravan online.

Read more about Bondville sponsors Minyaka Design and the Winter 2012 collection here on Bondville.

Images: Minyaka Design