35/52 (and a throwback)

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Noah, Isabelle and Pipi: I decided it was high time for a group photo.  Here Isabelle and Noah are both saying “CHEESE” as loudly as possible, while Pipi, confused by all the cheesing is intently sucking her thumb.

I don’t think I’ve featured a photo of all three together on here since that first meeting – and I have to confess that I have ulterior motives, I wanted to re-enact a photo from my childhood…

Christchurch circa 1988/9…Left to right: Jenny (me), Holly, Tom. (Also featuring Love-a-lot and Sharebear the Carebears, rainbow rabbit and Mickey Mouse. )

…and here’s the two side by side:

P.S. Did you notice how Mickey made into both photos, old and new?

And just ‘cos I felt like it, here’s an out-take from my photoshoot … gotta love the double thumb suckers!

Jen x

Joining in over here

 

To see more of my weekly portraits go here.

Father’s Day Craft & Gift Ideas

This Father’s day has extra special significance to us because last Father's day was the day that we found out I was pregnant with Pipi. (Looking back at that post from last year I can see how much the kids have grown, and then comparing to year before even more so – having a blog comes in useful for that kind of thing.)

Noah had already made a pretty awesome Father’s day present for Andrew at his preschool – (see end of this post); so yesterday Isabelle and I decided to make Andrew something from her – a popsicle stick photo frame.

… And here are a couple of other gift ideas for Dad that I’ve rounded up off the web:

Cool cards from idear. I got my Dad the 'Raising me' card this year (although it’ll be a little late, sorry Dad) and Andrew got the 'You are my Father' card last year.

Or how about this train play mat back massage T-shirt from Not socks gifts. Who knew playtime could be so relaxing?…Or these Pac Man cuff links also from Not socks gifts?

And finally what about magnetic letters from Tinch? Perfect for attaching photos of the kids and Dad to the fridge or other magnetic surface.

So my gift guide is a little last minute, but if your Dad/husband is anything like mine they don’t mind a last minute/ late gift – or failing that a foot massage/ pancakes in bed/ box of scorched almonds always seems to hit the spot.

And here’s Noah’s gift to Andrew – so sweet, I love the mixture of nuts and bolts and foam flowers…

Happy Father’s day weekend all

Jen x

NZ Kid’s Clothing Review Series {Rabbit} + A GIVEAWAY

Today I’m very excited to bring you another review in the NZ Kids' Clothing Review Series.

This time I’m writing about the uber stylish kid’s clothing brand, Rabbit, the brain child of talented designer and sewer, Katherine Christianson. You can find Rabbit Clothing in the following places on the net: Felt, Etsy and Facebook.

There is a lot to love about this delightful brand but if I was to sum it up for me it’s the beautiful simplicity, the use of quality fabric and the little details (such as the pleats on the back of the Jordana Pleat Back Tee); that really make these garments. I also love how each piece looks like a lot of thought and care has gone into designing and making it. (I don’t think the same could be said for most mass produced kids’ clothes!)

Isabelle has one of the gorgeous Jean Ruffle Skirts coming (which I’m sure you will see more of on this blog), but for now here’s something a bit different – a ‘Q & A’ from Rabbit’s very talent owner/designer/ maker, Katherine:

How/ When did you first get into sewing?

I've always loved clothes (my mother says I used to crawl around in her high heels). I sewed a little bit growing up and then worked in fashion retail (Starfish and Zambesi) as well as doing design, pattern making and construction at Massey in Wellington. I love pattern making, for me its been the key to being able to turn the idea in my head into an actual garment

What are the origins of your kid's clothing brand, Rabbit? / What made you decide get into making kid's clothing?

My daughter is now three and a half years old. From about the time she was one I really struggled to find clothes for her that were good quality and there was next to nothing that wasn't made using what is essentially slave labour. My daughter and her little best friend had nearly exactly the same wardrobe! As we were living in small town Wairarapa with not many job opportunities for a mama, I thought I should try and do my own thing.

How would you describe your brand, your design aesthetic/ sewing style?

I'm very influenced by Zambesi and NomD, their garments are always made out of quality fabrics and are made to last. I try to achieve the same thing with my range. I try to have a mix of basics (sometimes the plain things are the hardest to find!) and interesting pieces in my range that are practical and comfortable. I want my clothes to have beautiful cuts and prints that appeal to both parents and kids whilst not conforming to the mainstream ideas of what appeals to boys and girls.

What kinds of fabric do you prefer to work with?

Knits! Knit garments don't have to be boring and knit fabrics are so comfortable for little ones and more accommodating of growth. Merino and cotton from Levana in Levin. My hope is that in the future my cotton will be certified organic and fair-trade.

What is Rabbit's target market/ the key age range you make for?

My target market is parents/grandparents that are looking for quality, unique, beautiful, practical garments that are ethically manufactured. Rabbit is for children aged 2 to 7 years.

When your not sewing what do you like to do?

Hang out with my husband and daughter, by far the coolest people I know (we all say that about our own!)!

What else can we expect from Rabbit? (eg: New designs/ trends, future plans etc)

More prints and merino for next winter! And more pieces in each collection : )

…

I don’t know about you but there is so many of those answers that I totally identify with -  quality basics that are made to last? Yes please! Knits – I love them, especially merino! “…Quality, unique, beautiful, practical garments that are ethically manufactured.” Totally!

To see some more gorgeous clothes in the Rabbit range then check out the Rabbit Felt Shop. (Or if you are outside of NZ check out the Etsy shop.) I’m particularly fond of the Keith Kool Sweater and the James Dress.

By now your practically shouting …. “WHAT ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY ?! I NEED ME SOME OF THIS GORGEOUS CLOTHING ON MY KIDS ASAP”, right?

I thought so – so here is how YOU could win a $30 voucher for some of this gorgeous Rabbit children’s clothing …

For your first (and mandatory) entry you just need to visit the Rabbit Felt Shop , and comment back here with your favourite item.

You can also earn bonus entries as follows (please leave a separate comment for each):

Bonus entry 1# Follow this blog (GFC/ Bloglovin'/ Facebook)

Bonus entry 2# Like Rabbit on Facebook (This will help you keep up to date with new designs/ sales / news etc anyway)

Bonus entry 3#  Share this giveaway on your choice of social media (FB/ twitter/ blog)

That’s a total of 4 possible entries each!

[The T’s & C’s: Please leave separate comments per entry and include your email address if it’s not linked in your profile. The winner will be drawn on 10 September 2013 at 8pm (NZ time). This giveaway is open to NZ residents only (sorry) and the winner will receive a $30 voucher/credit to be spent at the  Rabbit Felt Shop. If the winner cannot be contacted after 2 weeks, a new winner will be drawn.]

Goodluck!

Read more:

• What's this NZ kid's clothing review series about anyway?
• Read other reviews in the NZ Kids clothing review series (so far)

Other giveaways currently running on the blog:

• Little Kiwi's doll carrier PDF Pattern giveaway
• Little Kiwi's kid's clothing PDF Pattern giveaway

Stills

Little snippets from the week that’s been…

1. Photo booth fun (taken at a Philippines mission trip fundraiser)

2. More '”otography” from Noah

3. More thumb sucking

4. Baking with the kidlets

5 & 6. Extreme sharing

7. Making pumpkin soup. (Any one else find it super hard to cut pumpkins? After making a couple of initial cuts I ended up taking this one outside and throwing it on the concrete – sure enough it split in half and was easier to work with. Apparently my Nana used to cut hers with the axe she used for chopping firewood!)

Joining in with the lovely Em over at the Beetleshack

x

34/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Noah: Loving his new camera from Elephant + Bird, which we won in this giveaway from Heartfelt. Noah really enjoys “otography” and has hardly taken this camera off his neck (even when in bed!)

Isabelle: Has been feeling a bit off as she’s been getting some nasty molars. Nothing that a snuggly blanket and Mr thummy wont fix though.

Pipi: Such a sweetie! I seriously can’t get over the cruisiness of this kid. And she loves her bath too (can you tell?)

Jen x

Joining in over here

To see more of my weekly portraits go here.

Bunks and handmade bedding

Noah and Isabelle have been in their bunk beds for a wee while now (maybe a couple of months?) We ended up switching their sleep and playroom around because we realised part way into putting up the bunks that they did not fit the bedroom! Oh no! (You can see how their rooms were originally set up here, if you’re interested.)

Although they have been sharing a room for almost a year now, this transition to the bunks also moved Isabelle’s move out of the cot to her ‘big girl bed.’ Noah had made that change a lot earlier before he turned 2, but the gap between Isabelle and Pipi is a little longer and she is coming up 3 in November. I decided this time I’d keep her in the cot as long as possible and it has worked pretty well.

One thing I noticed when sorting out Isabelle’s bedding is just how much of it is handmade, for instance:

Isabelle:

• Floral quilt at end of the bed (from her cot) – made by me while pregnant with her (pre blogging days)
• Embellished op shop duvet (Two things: That blog post is from so long ago – I’ve been collecting bits and pieces for ages, and those before and after shots are pretty bad! *cringe*)
• Patchwork Pillowcase
• Belle & Boo trimmed sheets
• She also has this blanket which I haven’t needed to put on her bed yet (thanks to a mild winter).

Noah:

• ABC quilt made by me some time ago (pre-blogging)

Both:

• Freezer paper stencilled cushions with their face/cameo on them. These previously had been residing on our couch but I really like them on their beds and it kind of ties them together.

Noah also has a blanket and sheets on his bed that are thrifted. Isabelle also has this set of drawers that I restyled ages ago – not in view in any of these shots but are in keeping with the handmade theme.

Looking at this room makes me feel proud that using mainly handmade and second hand items they have a nice and original bedroom with minimal expense. Isabelle also has this set of drawers that I restyled ages ago – not in view in any of these shots (oops) but in keeping with the handmade theme so worth a mention.

There are few other shots of their room (not a complete tour though)…

'Love is free' print from Sweet William,  Tree hanger from Mocka as reviewed here.

The room isn’t quite complete. I still haven’t transferred a few things from the old room to the new one yet – a few pictures still remain on the walls and we haven’t dissembled the cot (it’s a bit of a mission and Pipi will need it soon enough.) So expect to see some more photos in the future.

In case you’re interested the bunks are from D'zine furniture, not identical to the ones listed there at the moment but pretty similar. We are really happy with the quality and the price was very reasonable.

Do your kids share a room/ have bunks? How do you find it?

Jenny x

I’ll be popping back soon with my 52 project photos