Y0omii Gear Arrives!

Hey there! I'm sorry about the lull in conversation.

Y0omii's long awaited creations arrived about a week ago - and they're absoloutely adorable! The 19 month old in my life refused to let go of them!! When I'm more organised I'll post an image of my four new friends.

Thank you so much Sherry for all the special effort you went to to research organic fibres etc and all the care you went to in making my organic toys. I really, really appreciate it!

All the best for your trip to South Korea! I hope you really enjoy your adventure and visiting your friend. From the sounds of it you really deserve a decent break!

Thanks again, and take care,

R

Up and Coming Creations

I have recently been in contact with a couple of different Etsy sellers who make gorgeous organic soft toys. Fortunately for me, they've both agreed to make me some for my shop!

Amanda from Lindsay based Django Mango is going to make me some Organic Octopus Baby Rattles

And Emily Ivey from Alabama based Yarn Miracle is kindly making me . . .

an Organic Vanilla Chicken . . .

an Organic Toffee Monkey . . .

an Organic Latte Bunny . . .

and an Organic Toffee Rooster!

Aren't they fantastic? I can't wait for them all to arrive!

PLAIN BLOCK COLOURED organic fabric

Whilst printed organic fabrics are becoming easier and easier to come by, plain block coloured organic fabrics seem to still be as rare as hen's teeth!

However, after much searching I've finally managed to find some. If you've been struggling with the same problem, I'd recommend taking a look at the Organic Cotton Canvas section of Duckcloth's website. There you'll find 13 different shades of soft, medium-weight 100% certified organic cotton canvas coloured with eco friendly dyes. Hooray!

baby bird design

Emily Burger of babybirddesign contacted me a few days ago to let me know of her range of 100% organic cotton fabrics.

Each print is designed by Emily and all of her fabrics labelled as 'organic' are certified by Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS).

Playful and fun, they're well worth taking a look at.

Here is my favourite babybirddesign print:

Tweet Stack

Isn't it gorgeous?

The Wood Garden

Alright, so I'll admit that Canadian based company The Wood Garden might not exactly fall into the 'organic fabric' category, but what about the 'organic timber' category?

I love their work and think it's well worth taking the time to have a look. Here are a few of my favourites:

Jumping Jasper, a Grasshopper Pull Toy in Maple and Walnut

Sturdy Hardwood Stacking Rings in Maple and Walnut

Natural Baby Teething Ring in Rock Maple

The Wood Garden emphasise the aesthetic and health benefits of unique, hand-made toys over their more mass produced, toxic counterparts. The Wood Garden make teethers, rattles, and toys (including pull-along grasshoppers; farmyard and woodland animal trios; stacking rings; and a range of vehicles). To create their toys The Wood Garden pride themselves in using only 'sustainably harvested' or 'reclaimed' timbers. To complete their creations they finish them with an organic flaxseed oil.

What more could anyone want?

Modern Organic Fabrics

I've made an exciting discovery: a new Etsy shop specialising in 'cute, modern, eco-friendly fabrics' has recently opened for business (02 Sept). So far Modern Organic Fabrics stock Michelle Engel Bencsko's (Cloud 9 Organic Fabrics), Monaluna's (Birch Fabrics), and Harmony Susalla's (Harmony Art's) organic fabrics.

I can't wait to see what else Modern Organic Fabrics come up with!

It's an Owl. Who? Whoooo? IT'S AN OWL!!!

I've been interstate for a while (hence no recent blog entries), but my fabrics from showpony have arrived! I'm very impressed: they're beautiful!

Since I've been back I've been trying to design an owl. I know there's been a bit of saturation of owls of late, but for good reason: they're interesting looking (and by all accounts wise) birds.

One of my best friends is obsessed with birds. She and her husband live with two (budgies - not owls!). And I grew up with a daggy (but lovable) dad that used to bring up the topic of owls, wait for me to start rabbiting on about them and then start interjecting my excited owl narrative with "who?", "whoooo?". I'd say "owl" over and over again (thinking he was pretty dense not to catch my drift), and he'd keep repeating "who?" with his owl-like intonation. He thought he was hilarious (and still does!). Now whenever I hear mention of owls I think of dad's "who?" (and his inevitable sniggers). It has been an ongoing family joke which I'm yet to live down.

I used Google Images to find an image of an owl I liked, then sketched it. Tomorrow I'm going to get my husband to photocopy a few copies of my sketch for me, and then once that's done, I'll have a few copies with which to sort a pattern out. I'll try it out with some left-over non-organic fabrics to see whether (or not) it's a worthwhile endeavour. Wish me luck!!