While she sleeps (but stirs!) a few photos of baby Fern’s room. The scheme I chose was for bright colours and pattern, dark wood and eco friendly white painted walls. I sourced a vintage Ercol rocking chair and chalk painted a vintage ladder and Ikea herb racks. The vintage ceramic lion I found a couple of years ago and wooden blue birds block from a local vintage shop. Â I made the “Let’s Cwtsh” banner using a mix of new and vintage cotton, pom pom trim and a broken wooden hanger.
gNappies Gentle Giants gPants
As a soon-to-be Mummy, I’ve loved preparing for the arrival of my little one. My thrifty eco-conscious nature has been looking at ways to make sure my baby not only has the best, most natural start but that money is saved. Making less impact on the environment and saving money long-term by using reusable/washable nappies are two huge positives for me. It’s been nice to discover the brand gNappies, Co-Founded by Kim Graham-Nye, not only offering these positives, but also proactively doing social good collaborating with Every Mother Counts charity Founder Christy Turlington Burns to launch Gentle Giants gPants.
“Every Mother Counts was born out of a need to improve maternal health and reduce preventable maternal deaths. We know we can’t do this work on our own, so we welcome partners like gNappies with visionaries like Kim and Jason who are committed, as we are to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother,” said Christy Turlington Burns
gNappies pairs both patterned and coloured soft cotton covers with disposable inserts that are compostable (wet ones only). They are Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Silver — a mark trusted around the world for ecologically intelligent design, and also certified B Corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
The gNappies Gentle Giants gPants features a sweet bold unisex print of mama and baby elephants, inspired by the beauty of Tanzania and the mothers and babies there.
“Both teams share a love of Africa, and elephants are close to my heart, so the design direction took shape immediately,” said Kim-Graham-Nye. “We then layered in the Every Mother Counts colour palette and worked on keeping it both gender neutral and appropriate for newborns through toddlers,” she said.
Gentle Giants gPants are sold through websites and retailers worldwide at £17.95, and with every Gentle Giants gPants sold, gNappies will donate 50% of profits to Every Mother Counts’ portfolio of programs, which address three critical barriers to maternal health care around the world: lack of education, transportation and supplies. It won’t be long before my little one will be wearing the Gentle Giants GPants – completely oblivious to the benefits!
Print featured in photo by Ben Javens.
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Bilston’s Happy Housing Exhibition
Just before it closed this weekend, I caught this exhibition at Bilston Craft Gallery – ‘Bilston’s Happy Housing: Otto Neurath’s vision for post-war modern living’. As a fan of all things mid-century and home related, this was good for both these reasons, but also, with thoughts of the upcoming election, encouraging to learn of one man’s passion to improve the lives and happiness of a community. I wonder what the party leaders would make of this idealism?
‘In the mid-1940s eminent Viennese sociologist and urban planner Otto Neurath set out an ambitious plan for creating happiness in Bilston. His vision was to create modern homes based on state-of-the-art social housing of 1920s Red Vienna. The end result was Stowlawn estate. This exhibition presents Neurath’s ideas, examples of his famous Isotypes (forerunners of today’s infographics), and memories of people who have lived on Stowlawn Estate over the past 60 years. There will also be furniture, textiles, ceramics and domestic items reflecting the ‘new look’ style of the mid-century era.’
*Cushions, wallpapers and lampshades fabrics by St Jude’s and Mini Moderns
Red Plum Fine Food Branding
Over the past few months I’ve worked with Red Plum Fine Food on a re-brand to carry across business cards and printed catalogues. The vibrant teal and red Pantone colours compliment each other and demonstrate the unique artisan food and drink produce Red Plum distributes.
Thrifty Finds
It’s been a long time since I posted about my thrifty finds. I now tend to take a quick snap of something and upload it onto Instagram which has become a less time consuming type of blogging to me. I thought the other day though, that it would be nice to do a little post about some recent charity shop and Ebay finds. So here we are…
The spotted cotton shirt I found in my local St Giles Hospice shop for £3. It seems to have been hand sewn from scratch as there are no labels. I just love the bow at the front. Will come in handy as a nursing shirt too! The oversized vintage M&S blouse was from also from St Giles, and should make a nice light maternity blouse for the Summer and beach cover-up post-pregnancy. It was £5 and isn’t the type of pattern I usually go for, but I was drawn to it for some reason – probably the symmetrical nature of the pattern! Finally, my £2.50 Ebay find – a Gordon Stowell illustrated children’s book filled with inspiring bright images and simple wording. I can’t wait to show and read this to the little one in the future!
Made By… Poster Designs
A series of poster designs and branding designed for the Made By… fairs and market with illustrations by Ruth Radcliffe.
North Birmingham Vineyard Business Card and Event Publicity
New business cards and event publicity design for North Birmingham Vineyard Church and their Living Well Centre, reinforcing the complete re-brand created last year.
Giving Tuesday Quotes
UK charity Stewardship asked me to design a series of social media typographic images for global day of generosity, #givingtuesday. I wanted the images to be simple, yet colourful and visually engaging so that people may be inspired by not only the words, but the design. Find the other generosity quotes on Stewardship’s Instagram page.
The Good Life Experience
Thanks to Pedlars, I won tickets to go to a unique new festival over the weekend, created by Cerys Matthews and Charlie and Caroline Gladstone called ‘The Good Life Experience‘. It was one day of culture, music, good food and the great outdoors held on the Gladstone estate in Hawarden in Flintshire. On the Friday evening, we were on the guest list at The Glynne Arms to be sung to and have poetry read to us by Cerys, then for a deliciously fresh last-of-the-summer sharing meal put together by Aussie chef Bill Granger. Cerys’ Welsh songs made me very emotional, as it reminded me of my grandma and I was inspired by the Granny Smith apple incorporated into the crushed chive potatoes! After camping overnight, in the morning I did some archery and yoga, met Charlie Gladstone, discovered nice products by Best Made Co. and drank craft beer for lunch with Beer Bods. In the afternoon, we had a coffee brewing masterclass by London coffee roasters AllPress, bread making with Tom Herbert from The Fabulous Baker Bros and shared in the joy of baking vegetable cakes with Harry Eastwood. Around the site were craft tents for learning how to tie knots, stitch tote bags, screen print and even a vintage fairground. The atmosphere in the music tent was lively and this echoed across the festival with lots of families and dogs wandering around, with kids especially enjoying camp fires and activities. Sorry my photos aren’t fantastic but hopefully they show a little taste of the good life.
Le 35 bis
Fika Print Design 