Little Blue Zebra

Zebra spotted in town centre!

2012-02-29T08:05:00.004-08:00

For the last 4 years our town has come alight with a lantern parade to mark the start of the Chinese new year. This year's parade has only just taken place because of the freezing temperatures over the actual new year. But with spring-like temperatures this weekend the crowds were out in force. We were particularly excited to see a glowing zebra galloping down the road... not something you see every day!!

Putting a spring in your step...

2012-02-26T10:21:00.013-08:00

We might be a bit early (it is still February), but this weekend it really began to look and feel like spring. Winter is great and all (the excitement of Christmas, sledging in the snow...we're big kids really!) but it just seems to last that bit too long and the dark evenings begin to get a bit gloomy. So there's nothing quite like the arrival of spring and the flowers popping out from their bulbs all bright and cheery! It's even enough to convince you to put on your running shoes and go for an early morning jog round the park...they were unlocking the pedalos and rowing boats so it must be spring!

Friday's fun fact - Gentle giants...

2012-02-24T01:25:00.004-08:00

Although literally thick skinned, elephants are in fact sensitive and caring animals. Did you know that elephants demonstrate concern for other family members? They take care of the weak or injured, appear to grieve and adopt other calves within the family if they are left orphaned.

This is a very cute song and video for children all about elephants (well sort of!) - The Elephant Song by Eric Herman.

Spike Milligan's 'Jumbo Jet' poem is also good fun...

I saw a little elephant standing in my garden,

I said 'You don't belong in here', he said 'I beg you pardon?',

I said 'This place is England, what are you doing here?',

He said 'Ah, then I must be lost' and then 'Oh dear, oh dear'.

'I should be back in Africa, on Saranghetti's Plain',

'Pray, where is the nearest station where I can catch a train?'.

He caught the bus to Finchley and then to Mincing Lane,

And over the Embankment, where he got lost, again.

The police they put him in a cell, but it was far too small.

So they tied him to a lampost and he slept against the wall.

But as the policemen lay sleeping by the twinkling light of dawn,

The lampost and the wall were these, but the elephant was gone!

So if you see an elephant, in a Jumbo Jet,

You can be sure that Africa's the place he's trying to get!

Happy Friday all!

Friday's Fun Fact - Three eyed iguanas

2012-02-17T05:58:00.008-08:00

Did you know that Iguanas have a 'third eye'? Their parietal eye, a pale scale on top of their head, isn't actually used for vision though, instead it's used to regulate hormone production.

And while we're on the subject of lovely lizards... we couldn't resist mentioning this teeny weeny one which has just been discovered in Madagascar. The miniature chameleon reaches a maximum of just 29mm in length!

Happy Friday all!

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T00:57:00.001-08:00

While baking some cakes at the weekend, we had a quick play with the hundreds and thousands and mini smarties...! Happy Valentine's Day. With love from the Little Blue Zebra team. xxx

Love love love...

2012-02-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's day, instead of just telling your loved ones how much you care, why not bake your way into their hearts too?

We love these quick and easy ideas...

Or for the more adventurous bakers, we 'heart' these...

Fun at the Festival...

2012-02-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

If you live in or near London and are stuck for something to do with your little ones this half term when it's freezing outside, the Imagine Children's Festival at the Southbank Centre looks like lots of fun for children and adults alike! As well as musicians, storytellers, comedians, puppeteers, dancers, workshops and screenings, there's even a funfair with a traditional carousel and vintage fairground activities. The festival is on until 26 February... go and let imaginations fly!

Friday's fun fact - Zebra stripes... mystery solved!

2012-02-10T05:16:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered why zebras have black and white stripes? Well, it seems the mystery has now been solved. Researchers from Hungary and Sweden say the stripes came about to keep away pesky flies. So, if you're off on holiday this year to somewhere where you might encounter some of those pesky flies why not pack something like this in your suitcase... well if it works for zebras!

Happy Friday all!

Let it snow

2012-02-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

The temperatures plummeted last weekend and having waited all winter to use our new sledges the day finally came. Now, I'm not sure who was more excited about the snow, the children or a certain adult member of the Little Blue Zebra family, naming no names...Joanna!!

Getting everybody wrapped up for the cold seemed to take half the morning, but when everyone was suitably dressed we hit the slopes for an afternoon of fun.

Friday's fun fact - beautiful butterfly

2012-02-03T03:28:00.000-08:00

Did you know that this beautiful butterfly (known as the Ulysses) is used as an emblem for Queensland tourism? We thought this picture of its tropical rainforest habitat might brighten up your Friday! Why not metamorphosise your little one into a stunning butterfly this weekend...?

Puppy's Farmyard Friends

2012-02-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

Following on from Time to Go Home Little Bunny and Rainy Day Duckling, the next in the series of Templar's changing-picture books illustrated by John Butler has just been published. Puppy's Farmyard Friends features Patch the puppy who is always on the lookout for fun. Your little ones can join Patch on Ivy Farm as they lift the flaps to change the pictures and meet a whole host of his farmyard friends.

Birthday boy

2012-01-31T01:35:00.000-08:00

We have just celebrated William's first birthday with a birthday tea with his little friends. It was such a lovely day and a real reminder of how quickly they change in their first year.

Here is a picture of Oliver meeting his new brother a year ago...

And here is the birthday boy all grown up...

Friday's fun fact - polar bears aren't white?!

2012-01-27T06:54:00.000-08:00

Did you know that a polar bear's fur isn't actually white... they have clear hollow hairs that reflect the light and make them look white!

Happy Friday all!

Happy Chinese New Year - Year of the dragon

2012-01-23T02:48:00.000-08:00

How about making this fun handprint dragon with your little ones...

Here are Oliver and William getting crafty...

Cute kitten for language therapy

2012-01-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

Lovely to see on this blog that one of John's books featuring some of the animals that appear in our prints is considered a favourite book for pre-school speech therapy.

Friday's fun fact - Wise owl

2012-01-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

Did you know the reason owls are often perceived as being wise is because Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, was often depicted holding an owl.

Happy Friday all.

Sleeping babies

2012-01-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

At the same time as working on new Little Blue Zebra projects, John is busy illustrating his new book "If your dreams take off and fly", which will be coming out early next year. The little boy sleeping soundly in this sketch is based on the eldest of the Little Blue Zebra offspring.

And here are the other two Little Blue Zebra babies enjoying their nap time!

Friday's fun fact

2012-01-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

To take your mind off the fact that it's Friday the 13th, we thought we would share the first of our 'Fun Friday Facts' about our A-Z animals. Kicking off with the jolly giraffe...Did you know that a giraffe can go longer without water than a camel?

Happy Friday all.

Happy 2012

2012-01-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We had great fun with lots of little ones running around, ripping open their presents and playing with their toys (as well as the boxes and wrapping paper). Wishing you all a very...

We are looking forward to a busy and productive 2012...

Deck the halls...

2011-12-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

We can't believe that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away now. If like us you haven't quite finished (or started) your Christmas shopping yet, why not avoid the crowds and do some hassle free shopping online...

And just in case the snow doesn't fall where you are, you can always create your own snowflakes here...

We have two new members of the Little Blue Zebra family who will be enjoying their first Christmas - and here's a photo of little Lara opening her cute calendar, with a little bit of help from her Mummy!

Super cute duckling

2011-12-05T06:40:00.000-08:00

We were really pleased to come across this lovely review of our illustrator (and father) John Butler's recently published book, Rainy Day Duckling, in the current edition of Baby London magazine. We definitely agree with them that his illustrations fall into the 'super cute' category.

More cute customers

2011-11-22T02:45:00.000-08:00

Our prints are gracing the walls of even more homes - here's a gorgeous photo of little Kimberly in Austria. We just love her outfit, she clearly has good taste in art and shoes! The photo was sent in by Kimberly's mummy, who is a fab photographer - check out her website here. This amusing shot caught our eye!

Cute customers

2011-11-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

Today we are very happy to share some adorable customer photos of our prints in their new homes. A big thank you to Georgina's mummy and daddy in Kent and to Dean and Isabel's mummy and daddy in Houston, Texas who sent in these gorgeous photos. We love seeing our cute customers and look forward to receiving more photos from around the world.

Website wizardry

2011-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

We're very grateful for all the lovely feedback we have received about our new website. Many thanks to our brilliant website developer, Iskander Mellakh, for all his hard work in building it. It's all gobbledygook code to us but makes perfect sense to him thank goodness. He's now busy working on another exciting project, the animation for a wonderful new programme for children called The Adventures of Abney and Teal, which is on CBeebies.

Little Blue Zebra Towers

2011-11-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today is our first full day working together at Little Blue Zebra HQ without any little ones running around. As much as we have missed them, it's not surprising that without the distraction of 3 children under 3, we have managed to have a very productive day.

The day has finally come

2011-10-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

We are extremely pleased to announce that our website has now been launched! It has been a long journey but we have made it. A very exciting day indeed. Like anything, it didn't all go to plan, but we are all really pleased with the results and feel it has been worth all the effort to make sure everything was just right before we hit the go button. We hope you enjoy browsing!

Back to the Cotswolds

2011-08-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Little Blue Zebra gang headed to the Cotswolds for a family holiday. My favourite day was spent walking through the fields to Daylesford farmshop. They have such lovely produce and a gorgeous courtyard where we sampled their delicious cakes. I liked it so much we went back a couple of times and both times spotted Kate Winslet there stocking up on local produce and taking part in a cookery class. Well if it's good enough for Kate, it's good enough for me!

Photoshoot

2011-08-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Never work with children or animals... Well our first experience of doing so went surprisingly well. Our little models (in the form of our children) took their art direction well. It may also have been because we did it at lightning speed, as 2 year olds are not known for staying still for long. Little Lara was more relaxed about the whole thing as she slept through her starring role.

Raspberry picking

2011-07-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

We were too late for the strawberries, but there were plenty of raspberries - which with a little help of this very easy recipe turned into delicious jam.

Whitstable

2011-05-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

After having some food at the Whitstable Oyster Co. for a birthday treat we discovered this lovely little shop as we pottered down the high street. There was also a nice little children's barbers opposite in another children's shop which was brilliant as they were all geared up to entertain the little ones as they snip away.

October sunshine

2010-10-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

We took full advantage of some glorious October sunshine to take the staging shots for some of the prints. Again it was a family event with everyone lending a hand...

It was a bit of a production line but we managed to get them all shot before the light went.

Baby daydreams

2010-10-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

I know all to well that a baby's sleep time is precious for both mother and child - it can offer a few moments to yourself to get a few jobs done. This mother has adorably used this time to imagine and create her baby's daydreams...

Sail away

2010-08-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Some of the Little Blue Zebra family took to the high seas off Rye this weekend. Even though August has felt more like autumn at times it was another beautiful day at the English seaside.

The house with two front doors...

Banksy in St Leonards...

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

2010-07-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

It was full steam ahead with a trip to the printers to finalise colours. It was a family day out in Hastings with lovely seafood, fresh air and a trip up the funicular.

Hastings old town is great for poking around little junk shops as you never know what you might find. There is also a lovely shop: Made in Hastings, which sells a mixture of arts and crafts and items for the home which are all hand made.

Happy elephant ending

2010-06-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

I saw this article on the bbc website about an elephant calf at Howletts zoo in Kent that was initially rejected by its mother. After being fed round the clock by keepers for a couple of weeks the mother responded to the newborn and went on to show maternal behaviour and they developed a bond which allowed the calf to be cared for entirely by its mother. The picture of the calf following its mother reminded me of our little calf...

Wedding weekend

2010-04-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

The family took a weekend off from Little Blue Zebra planning and headed to the Cotswolds for Joanna's wedding. It was a fabulous day and a fantastic venue. The reception was held at a lovely local pub which we took over for the day and well into the evening!! The food was brilliant and I would highly recommend a visit there - as it seems would others...

"The kitchen is a serious restaurant workplace. The bar menu is as fine as any I've seen...anyone thinking of opening a local pub restaurant should come here and see the gold standard." (AA Gill writing in the Sunday Times)

Nuffin' like a Puffin

2010-04-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

The other day John went along to the Puffin party which they have every year - but this year they were celebrating their 70th birthday and to mark the occasion they made this animated video - which I think is fab and very catchy!!

The invite...

Tweet tweet

2010-04-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

As all the illustrations for the prints have now been finished - John was able to work on our twitter bird, and doesn't he look fab. Follow our tweets here. We have also been selecting the final colours for the prints - here is a sneak preview of the selection...

1 year

2010-03-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy few weeks since returning from Hong Kong. We celebrated Oliver's 1st birthday a few days after our return - and the jet lag meant we were up early to start baking! It was a lovely day with friends and family and he received some lovely gifts.

Shop til you drop...

2010-03-19T02:28:00.000-07:00

During our stay in Hong Kong Adam's sister pamela moved apartments from Kowloon side onto Hong Kong island. Although she had done most of the moving before we arrived - there was still the inevitable last few items to transfer across. So we filled 2 taxis and headed off to her new neighbourhood. She had been telling us how it was very central and surrounded by shops and bars and she wasn't wrong. She had some amazing shops right on her doorstep, so needless to say as soon as the last box was emptied we hit the shops for a bit of retail therapy after a stressful days moving!

Hong Kong

2010-03-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

13 hours, 9648km and one taxi ride later we arrived at Adam's sister's apartment. The anticipation of being trapped on a plane for such a long time with a very active 11 month old meant that I was a little apprehensive as to how we were all going to survive the journey. I was however pleasantly surprised. As it was a night flight, it meant Oliver slept most of the journey which allowed us to watch a couple of films and even have enough sleep to render us capable on arrival in Hong Kong.

We had a fantastic 2 weeks and the time difference even worked in our favour as it meant Oliver went to sleep later and then slept till mid morning, which was heaven! After we adjusted to the humidity (unusual for that time of year apparently!) and bought a few more suitable items of clothing we were ready to explore.

We took a rather precarious trip on a cable car in strong winds to visit the Giant Buddha. After being blown about and clinging on for dear life we climbed the steps to reach the Buddha which was atmospherically shrouded in mist. On our descent I spotted Alexa Chung, who, after a bit of research was in HK to launch her Mulberry handbag. So after a bit of celeb spotting we went to perhaps my favourite place of the entire trip - Tao.

Alexa the day before in Kowloon...

The bag...

I am not sure if Alexa took the coach trip down the mountain to Tao, but if she didnt, she missed a treat. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the Starbucks and other global brands that line the streets of many cities lay Tao. Only a short journey from central Hong Kong it felt like a million miles away with its houses on stilts and local market. It was also the first time the sun had made an appearance and so after a stroll around the back streets we found the most perfect spot - a little cafe/bar on stilts above the estuary. It was exactly what I had been craving - some Dim sum, a beer and a very friendly bar owner who bought out a book on the history of the fishing village. Reluctantly we thought it best to get Oliver back so we went to get the bus only to find we had missed it by 5 mins and it would be another 55 until the next one. It was not the type of place where this type of thing caused stress and so we sat patiently and waited for a bus while Adam helped a local Chinese man translate a letter he was writing to a factory. My favourite day of the hols!

The very wet wetlands...

The animals went in two by two hurrah, hurrah...

More out of curiousity than anything else, we visited Noah's Ark on a small island. It was a rather appropriately rainy day on which to visit. A lifesize replica of the ark - with model animals, it was well designed and the exhibition inside was very interactive but I think Oliver was a bit too young to appreciate a lot of what was on show and slept most of the way round!

Mosiac zebra.. not so little or blue but nice all the same!

Some art that adorned the walk ways...

As a result I presume of so many people living in high rise buildings without any outside space, the parks and play areas for children were fantastic. Oliver wasted no time in getting stuck in...

DIY card

2010-02-09T02:44:00.000-08:00

I saw this card and thought it would be fun way to send someone a special message.

RE found

2010-02-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to visit this shop in Corbridge, Northumberland for a while now, as it's near my inlaws. Their online shop is great but I would like to browse through all their re found objects in the shop itself - so next time we are visiting the inlaws I will pop along to Corbridge.

3 weeks and counting

2010-02-05T03:35:00.001-08:00

This time in 3 weeks Adam, Oliver and I are off to visit Adam's sister in Hong Kong. She has been living and working there for a couple of years and we promised to go out at some point. I am not sure how the 13 hour flight with an 11 month old that is too big for a flight cot will go, but I am sure we will be fine, it's the others on the plane that might not be. I am really looking forward to exploring and as Pamela has lived there for a while we will be able to get an insiders guide. Can't wait...

Modern art

2010-02-03T07:37:00.001-08:00

This made me laugh...

Please pass the blue pencil!

2010-01-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

With this many colours to choose from (500 to be precise) - budding artists will be spoilt for choice. They are available by monthly subscription of 25 a month for 20 months from Social Designer and I think they look great displayed by themselves for those who prefer to buy their art rather than create it!

Meet the family

2010-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Every year we try to go away on a big extended family getaway. It tends to be over the Easter weekend and therefore is a choc lovers delight. Last years holiday was a little different to previous years as Oliver was only 3 weeks old. Needless to say we were a little tired but it was lovely to introduce Oliver to a lot of the family.

The accommodation was fantastic as it was made up of 3 cottages which meant that only my sister and Liam had to hear Oliver's cries at night as they drew the short straw to share one of the cottages with us.

There were 18 of us in total from 4 generations with ages ranging from 3 weeks to 88 years.

The week was spent catching up, going on walks and generally relaxing... for those without a 3 week old baby that is!

Since I mentioned chocolate - I was a little sad to see the British institution Cadbury has been sold today. I just hope the chocolate still tastes as good on the next Easter holiday.

The Christmas Angels

2009-12-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Oliver's Granny and Grandpa bought him this beautiful book for Christmas. It captures the magic of Christmas with its row of cutout angel heads across the top of each page. I am a great believer that books should be enjoyed and interacted with from a very early age, but I have to say it was a case of look but don't touch with this book to try and preserve the angel's heads for next Christmas at least. It was first published in 1933 and I am sure it will be loved by children for years to come.

Oli in oils

2009-12-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

In a break from illustrating the animals for the alphabet print, my father painted a portrait of Oliver as surprise. It is so special to us as it has captured him so well. It takes pride of place in his new playroom and makes us smile everyday.

Tis the season to get sewing

2009-12-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

My skills at sewing leave at lot to be desired and so when I decided to make Oliver a Christmas stocking I knew I needed help. My lovely friend Imogen was kindly on hand with her skills and sewing machine.

It's been a busy year

2009-11-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

While we are getting things up and running I thought I would share some of the events of the last year. It has been a busy year for all within the business. But, firstly I should introduce everyone properly... The Little Blue Zebra family consists of myself, Lucy, my husband Adam, my father John (the fab illustrator) and my mother Catherine and not forgetting my sister Joanna who will be joining the business soon. My father has been illustrating children's books for over 30 years and my sister and I loved growing up surrounded by his amazing pictures. This year I had my first child, a lovely little boy, Oliver. I had no problem decorating his nursery as I was able to climb into my parents loft to get some of my father's illustrations to hang on the wall. But I thought it was such a shame that others couldn't do the same... (although not very practical- everyone climbing into my parents loft!)

Oliver loves looking at the wide mouth frog that hangs in his room and although children have been enjoying my father's books for years, he has never produced work to be hung and enjoyed everyday. This is how Little Blue Zebra was born.

Just getting started

2009-11-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

Today marks the start of a new venture. Please follow Little Blue Zebra and his friends on their new journey. Here are a few of his friends...

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

We spent this years Halloween in Nottingham with a group of uni friends. The highlight was the pumpkin carving which was done to entertain the children, but really it amused the adults the most!

Retro camping

2009-09-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

For our summer holiday this year the plan was to borrow my parents camper and go to France for a week or two. After getting Oliver's passport sorted it transpired that the car seat didn't fit so that plan had to change. I had my heart set on going on a ferry and that is how we decided on the Isle of Wight. Ok, the ferry journey was only 40 mins but it felt like we were abroad as we were so lucky with the weather. I was also really keen to camp although the thought of being in a tent with a 6 month old wasn't so appealing. I found a great company where you could hire old airstream caravans. Ours was infact a 1951 Spartanette. It meant we had the experience of camping - waking up in a farmer's field, but with the added bonus of an oven, shower and most importantly space. We visited some great spots on the Isle and hope to go back one day - I quite fancy staying in the shack next time as the views look amazing.

Local & Live

2009-08-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

I know the British can talk a lot about the weather, but sometimes there is nothing better than a sunbathed August bank holiday. This year we went to a free local music festival on the Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells. It takes place every year and aims to raise awareness of the songwriting talent in the local area.

Room envy

2009-08-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some lovely examples of children's nurseries - I especially like the seating area with bookcase behind - it looks like a cosy place to curl up and share a book.

Chickenstock

2009-08-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours held their annual version of Woodstock in their field this summer. It was a great day - they even had a baby tent with lots of toys, painting equipment and sandpit. Oliver enjoyed his first festival and was even on hand to help man the entrance!