G is for George

Congratulations to Wills and Kate. Little Prince George is a week old today.

x

G is for George!

It makes us think back to our first weeks with our little ones...

Friday's Fabulous Finds - Children's outdoor toys

The sun is shining and the schools are breaking up for the summer holidays! We (just about) recall that feeling you have as a child at the start of the holidays - the excitement of weeks of seemingly endless freedom stretching out in front of you. What we didn't appreciate then, but are quickly coming to realise now, is that the holidays can send parents into a bit of a panic...what will keep the little ones occupied and happy instead? Thank goodness for Google - something our parents weren't able to rely upon. Since the sun looks set to stick around for a little while (and we hope we're not jinxing it by typing these words), we thought we would share ten fun looking outdoor toys that we've come across. These look like they would keep little ones entertained in the garden for a few hours at least...

1. Children's camper van tent - The Letter Room, £54.99

2. Roller Wheel - The Science Museum, £45

3. Gypsy caravan playhouse - £3,750

4. Animal croquet set - Lula Sapphire, £20

5. Giraffe spray pool - Letterbox, £20

6. GB Cozy coupe - Little Tikes, £54.99

7. Pour and play water run - ELC, £6

8. Table tennis kit - All things Brighton beautiful, £12.95

9. Paddleball - Toyella, £11.99

10. Spirobouncer - TP Toys, £49.95

Happy holidays everyone x

Let the sun shine

We are busy getting ready for The Wealden Times Midsummer Fair this week. Everyone is helping out, and that includes the youngest members of our team! Whilst waiting outside our printers today in their lovely rural setting, Oliver made a new friend!

Bubble London goes pop!

Arriving at the Business Design Centre in Islington on a beautifully sunny day at the end of last month we were both a little nervous as well as incredibly excited about doing our first ever trade show. Not having done a show on this scale before, we didn't know what to expect at Bubble London. But we needn't have worried as we had a fantastic three days in London! 

We had of course done a little planning beforehand as to how we wanted our stand to look (take a peek back at our earlier blog to see John acting as a human shelf!), but until you arrive and see your space it is tricky to visualise exactly how it's going to end up looking. Forgetting how much of a pair of perfectionists we both are, we rather foolishly thought it wouldn't take us too long to set up. We even thought we might have a bit of time to squeeze in some child-free shopping on Upper Street! That of course wasn't to be. It was worth the effort though as after trying out various arrangements and combinations of prints and cards we were pretty pleased with the end result...

We were thrilled to feature in the Bubble Homegrown display as well. The installation in the entrance area to the Business Design Centre showcased labels that are designed and manufactured in the UK. 

We met so many lovely people on the stand as well as other fellow stand holders and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We are absolutely thrilled that our prints and cards are now going to be stocked in shops in the UK, from Scotland to Dorset, as well as abroad! A big thank you to everyone who came to visit us. It was a pleasure to meet you all and lovely to hear so much positive feedback about our product range. 

Bursting with excitement for Bubble!

It's only a week to go until the doors open to Bubble London 2013! If you are visiting please do pop by and say hello. We will be on stand A13.

We are busy getting ready... printing catalogues, packaging up and getting everything together for the stand. We are very excited about having some brand, shiny, new prints and cards at the show - hot off the press!

But it's not all work and no play...we've also found a little time to get out and have some fun in the snow...

As much as we love it, we hope it clears by next weekend! Hope you are keeping warm wherever you are.

Bubble London 2013!

We have had a busy end to the year with lots of lovely festive fairs and orders to send off to customers in the run up to Christmas, and it doesn't look like the start of 2013 is going to be any less busy. We are very excited to announce that we are going to be exhibiting at Bubble London, the U.K.'s only standalone children's trade event, which is taking place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London on the 28th and 29th of January. This will be our first ever trade show so we are very excited, albeit a little nervous too! So alongside finishing off our Christmas shopping and putting up the tree we are busy preparing how our stand is going to look and finalising the products we are planning to take. With lots to do we'll be keeping ourselves well fuelled with a mince pie or two!

We thought this photo of our initial planning stage might make you smile - this is John Butler being a very good 'shelf'!

Friday's Fabulous Finds - Children's stocking fillers

With Christmas fast approaching, we thought we would share with you some of our favourite stocking fillers for little ones...

1. Wooden Pull Back Racing Car - £2.50 each

2. Ladybird Necklace and Bracelet - £2

3. Mini Rabbit Light - £5.95

4. Animal Crayons - £6.50

5. Make Your Own Pom Pom Reindeer and Santa Kit - £6

6. Alice Bands - £8

7. Wooden Ladybird Spinning Top - £1.65

8. Bike Airplane - £4.99

9. Assorted Cookie Cutters - £4.95

10. Duck Family - £14.50

Happy Friday everyone! x

Friday's fabulous finds - Children's rugs

Not only can you decorate your baby's nursery or child's bedroom by painting or wallpapering with beautiful colours and designs, and then adding Little Blue Zebra prints (of course!). You can also decorate the floors with stunning rugs. They are a lovely way to inject more colour and fun into your  little one's room. Here are a few of our favourites...

1. Fish, Amy Kent - Made to order

2. Pink dotty rug - Dotty Hippo - £130

3. Kids Ines rug, Urbane Living - £228

4. Cute Animals, Arte Espina rugs - £157.50

5. Barnslig Ringsdan, Ikea - £27

6. Big Star Blue, Urbane Living - £250

7. Rabbit Rug, Nursery Window - £86.95

8. Colourful children's rug, The Fairground - £20

9. Rug, Vertbaudet - £59

10. Around the World rug, Designer's Guild - £195

Happy Friday everyone x

Baby London and Families magazine features

We are thrilled to be getting some pre-Christmas exposure courtesy of Baby London magazine and Families Hereford and Worcester magazine. A big thank you to both publications for featuring us...

Friday's fabulous finds - Children's Wallpaper & Paint

For today's 'Friday's fabulous finds' we bring you.... children's wallpaper and paint ideas! Decorating a baby's nursery or a child's bedroom or playroom is great fun, but it can be difficult to know which colours and patterns to go for - bold, pastels, modern, vintage... so many options! Here are a few ideas which we hope will provide a little inspiration if you're thinking of getting handy with a paintbrush or some wallpaper paste. Luckily our children's animal wall art prints will go perfectly with any chosen scheme!

Original image above by The Nursery Paint Company, adapted by Little Blue Zebra.

1. Purdy's Pink - Nursery Paint Company £33 for 2.5l

2. Wood Wall Mural - Mr Perswall  £27/m2

3. Distant Shores Wallpaper - Harlequin £29

4. Designers Guild - Daisy Patch £30

5. Family Tree Wallpaper €67.50

6. Dotty Wallpaper, Yellow £59.95

7. Earthborn Paints 

8. White planks wallpaper - £70

9. Funfair stripe, Blossom -  £30

10. Crayon striped wallpaper - £30

Happy Friday everyone! x

Friday's Fabulous Finds - Bonfire Night Food Ideas

Hope you had a great Halloween with more treats than tricks! From one fun night to another - Bonfire Night is nearly upon us. We love wrapping everyone up warm for a crisp autumn evening filled with colourful fireworks and a crackling bonfire. Great food is also important, so for this week's 'Friday's Fabulous Finds' we thought we'd share some fun food ideas...

Little ones will love these rocket sausages...

And it wouldn't be Bonfire Night without a warm and hearty jacket potato by the fire...

We love the idea of using twigs for the sticks of toffee apples...

And how about some flaming cupcakes...

Or some edible sparklers...

 Happy Friday everyone  x

Where have all the leaves gone?

It is fascinating to see the world through the eyes of children. This is the first year that my eldest son Oliver, who is 3 and a half has really noticed and commented on the seasons changing. We have a small tree in our garden that much to Oliver's horror has lost all its leaves. He was so concerned by its bare appearance that he called me over exclaiming "Mummy I don't want the leaves to fall off". After I explained that the leaves will return in spring he quickly saw the benefits of the fallen leaves. Not only were they fun to play in with his younger brother, they also provided a nice soft landing while learning to ride a bike without stabilisers on a recent trip to Bedgebury Pinetum. 

Friday's Fabulous Finds - Children's Chairs

Back in January this year we began our quest to bring you interesting and sometimes bizarre facts about our A-Z of animals in the form of our 'Friday's fun facts'.  I am pleased to announce that we have completed the list of animals. We know that your Fridays will never be the same again but don't despair, we will attempt to fill the void with our 'Friday's fabulous finds'! 'Hurrah' we hear you say!

We often come across lovely things for little ones so we thought we would share with you some of our favourite finds. Every Friday (give or take a few!!) we will bring you a selection of stylish, fun and inspiring ideas, including nursery decor, children's parties, clothes, toys and fun food ideas.

Every now and then children like to take a break from all the running around that they do, so we thought we would begin with some of our favourite children's chairs...

1. Beach Hut Tub Chair £160
2. Dog/Duck/Dinosaur/Rabbit Chair £79.99
3. Tissington, Poppy £625
4. Fred Fisher Chair £158
5. Retro Heart Chair £30
6. Rocking Chair £60
7. Pied Piper Stacking Toddler Chair £28
8. Folding Chair Bed £85
9. Child's Animal Chair £29
10. Charles Eames Style Child's Elephant Chair £49.95

We think the Charles Eames elephant chair would make a great addition to a safari themed nursery alongside some of our safari themed animals prints...

We love this cute video below of the Charles Eames elephant chair on safari...

Happy Friday all x

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012

The winners of the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012 were announced today. As ever, a collection of truly amazing photographs, from bubble-jetting emperors to leaping lemurs and squabbling jays. The photographs are being exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London from tomorrow. They will then be going on tour around the country and the world from November. 

The overall winner was this stunning image...

And this impressive photo won the overall young wildlife photographer of the year...

Here are a few other amazing photographs which caught our eye...

 This last one was taken by Liina Heikkinen in the '10 years and under' category - pretty impressive! 

Falling into Autumn...

Hooray hooray we're 1 today!!!

How time flies! This time last year we had just put the finishing touches to our website and, with the click of a mouse, our website went live and Little Blue Zebra was launched! It's been a fantastic fun-filled year. We have particularly enjoyed meeting lots of lovely customers at the many fairs we have been to. 

We'd love you to join us in our celebrations so we are offering all UK customers free postage and packaging from today until midnight this Sunday 14th October. If you like to get your Christmas shopping done nice and early it's a perfect opportunity to buy some of our ABC, 123, letter and animal prints as unique and special gifts.

As well as looking back to all we have achieved over the past year, we are looking forward to what the next year brings. We are very excited about some new print designs and product launches in the new year. We will be sure to share some sneak peeks with you very soon. Watch this space...!

Happy Birthday Little Blue Zebra and happy Friday everyone!