Growing up so quickly!

Here is little Louis in his nursery with some of Grandpa's books. 

Time seems to be flying by as he is 9 months already! It feels like it was only a few weeks ago that he was this little...

A Kaleidoscope of Colours...

I have always been interested in colour. I have a very vivid memory of visiting an art exhibition in France as a child. Part of the exhibition saw an area of the gallery floor covered in a deep blue pigment. It was incredibly tempting to jump right in and see the colour explode across the white walls, but (thankfully for my parents!) I managed to refrain from turning the exhibition into an interactive one!

Research has shown that colours affect your mood, behaviour and stress levels. It suggests that we should set our desktop colours to green as this is the most restful colour for our eyes and produces the least amount of eye strain.

And, who knew that colour can also help in the reduction of crime? In 2000, Glasgow installed blue street lighting in certain neighbourhoods and found a reduction in crime in these areas. Powerful stuff!

A while back I read this book all about the history of colour and how paints came to be invented, traded and used.

It seems that we have been fascinated in creating and mixing colours for hundreds of years.

I came across this article about a Dutch artist who in 1692 wrote and painted a comprehensive guide about the use of colour and how to create certain hues. I love the colour combinations and may have to use them as inspiration for our next set of prints - watch this space...!

Halloween fun with friends (and cake!)

We have just returned from a fantastic weekend away with some lovely friends. Aside from the great company, we were particularly lucky as one of our clever friends makes the most amazing cakes. Here is the gorgeous seasonal one she made for us all...

A little while back she turned our very own little cheeky monkey into a cake...

And because they're so impressive (and because we just love cake), here are a few more of her amazing creations. They put our efforts at making birthday cakes to shame!

@lauraroseandjam

Hello again!

I feel I should start with an apology for the serious lack of blogging! I don't like to make excuses but these two are the main culprits...

They are the newest additions to our gang - little Louis arrived 6 weeks ago and Jo's George arrived back in February. Along with their older siblings, they're keeping us pretty busy! We're still all systems go at Little Blue Zebra of course, there's just been a little less time for blogging since their arrival. Going forward, we still want to share with you all that we get up to here at LBZ HQ, so we will try to keep you updated on all our news - in between all the feeding, burping and weaning!

Here is little Louis settling into his new nursery. More pics of his nursery to follow soon... I promise! x

Giveaway Terms and Conditions

1. Eligibility
This promotion is open worldwide to entrants 13 and over. 

2. Timing
Competition begins at 18:00 on 12th July and ends at 18:00 on 19th July 2014.

3. How to Enter
During the competition period, enter by first liking Little Blue Zebra on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/littlebluezebra, then like Little Blue Zebra's competition image. No purchase necessary to enter or win. 

4. Winner Selection
A competition winner will be selected at random by Little Blue Zebra. The winner will be contacted by email within 10 days of the competition closing. 

5. Competition Prize
The winner will win the following five prints:
1 x Illustrated Animal Alphabet Block Print (30x40cm) 
1 x Illustrated Animal Number Block Print (30x40cm)
1 x Elephant Print (30x30cm)
1 x Zebra Print (30x30cm)
1 x Giraffe (30x30cm)

5. Facebook Disclaimer
This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By entering, you release Facebook from all responsibility and liability for this competition. Any information that you provide is provided to Little Blue Zebra and not to Facebook.

GOOD LUCK!

Halloween party food

It's very nearly that spooky time of year so we thought we would put together some of our favourite Halloween party food ideas (all treats, no tricks here!)...

Monster cake

Strawberry ghosts

Banana ghosts and satsuma pumpkins

Bright pumpkin cookies

Sweet little pumpkin treat packages

Pumpkin dip

Vegetable skeleton and dip

Boo-Nilla Shakes

Spiderweb cupcakes

Halloween cookies

Rolo chocolate monsters

For more halloween food and craft ideas, pop over to our Little Festive Things Pinterest page.

Happy Halloween everyone x

Fun on the photoshoot

As we have some new and exciting products to add to our website that needed photographing, we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to hire a studio and get some new shots taken of all our products. With the help of fab photographer Susie Fisher we were able to get some great photos. It was brilliant working with Susie - she was very patient, professional and fun to work with. We would highly recommend her to anyone looking for beautiful photos.

Here are a few behind the scenes pics of our afternoon at the studio...

A few props...!

The lovely Susie Fisher...

It was a slightly different experience to our photoshoot 3 years ago, which was at home in the conservatory! 

Keep your eyes peeled for the new products - we hope to have them up on www.littlebluezebra.com/shop soon...!

Little Blue Zebra turns 2!

It's hard to believe that another whole year has gone by and that Little Blue Zebra is TWO TODAY!

To celebrate our 2nd year we are offering 20% OFF ALL OUR PRINTS AND CARDS until next Saturday 19th October - please use the special discount code 2LBZ20 at the checkout.

Reaching this milestone we can't resist a quick review of some of the things we've been up to over the past 365 days...

It's been another fun filled year with our first appearances at two trade shows - Bubble London in January and Top Drawer in September. Following the success of these, we are delighted that our prints now feature in lovely shops around the U.K. and overseas!

We've also enjoyed meeting lots more fabulous customers at a number of great fairs, including the 2012 Penshurst Christmas Market, Appleduck's Handmade With Love event, the Weald of Kent Craft & Design Show, and the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair.

Seeing our designs brought out as jigsaw puzzles by Ravensburger in the USA and France has definitely been a big highlight of the year.

 

And we've been really pleased with the response to our new birthday and new baby card range.

But enough reflection,  here's to what the coming year has in store! We're really looking forward to bringing out new ranges of prints and cards - what else will be reviewing at our 3rd year mark..? 

A big thank you to all our customers - it continues to be a huge pleasure! xx