Croissants & more ...

here are two illustrations by the wonderful Blanca Gomez, I love dwindling a free moment away on this site and today want to share these fabulous illustrations that have me in the holiday mood.....

transformer tuesday #3

Foraging around our big recycle box for this weeks Transformer Tuesday we discovered an adundance of cardboard tubes, so on cloud cuckoo's 'Transformer Tuesday' this week we have "once six tubes, now...a skittle family"
The theme for our skittles came from mini1 wanting to do a 3d version of Grandpa! well you can see; here he is  along with a few other family folk too and our collection of recycled goodies...

We used...

- 6 cardboard tubes (toilet rolls) or 3 bigger ones cut in half

- fabric, we used left over snips from other projects

- masking tape cut out for faces, paper can be used as a substitute and glued down

- pens for decoration

- gluppy glue

- newspaper rolled into a tight ball and covered with some more fabric

Once you have your recycled bits and bobs you can decorate your tube skittles into an assortment of creations. We went for 'family members' but we have also done animals, houses, birds and there is lots more. 

If you'd like to have a transformer tuesday be great to hear from you, enjoy transforming and recycling

NOW LETS ROLL!

take a seat

I'm on the chair topic again, ooh i just love them and feel in the mini size i can have more, here are some recent favourites; perfect for little ones to park themselves and perfect for bigger ones too to look on...

Jessie Dirk's Etsy shopfront has this super cute modern set of chairs and table, I love the mixed palette too. table and 4 chairs  $270 USD

Over at Edmond I come across this little treasure, a seat to keep the little one in and know where (s)he can 'stay put' for awhile.

Biscuit furniture for kids is great; British, modern, practical, fun and functional. I love this piece called Jammy Dodger. Consists of two stepped units that nest inside each other. I know my little ones would love these for sitting on, imaginative play and for storing, the little one especially would sit for ages pulling various softies in and out of the holes, great fun and price too! £140, your also get to pick the colour of the sides, woohoo we like that.

I also especailly like it because it is at a lower level which most chair of this style are 'high'. 95€

The Acapulco chair, Mexican design classic from the fifties, named after the famous resort. This is a wondeful re-edition which blends beautifully into the modern home and can be used both inside and outside. Available from molly-meg in various colours £140.

bags for the little ones...that mum can hold too!

With nursery and holiday planning of course the one accessory that is a must is 'the bag'.
Well this got me looking, and what treasures I found, ok most I have been longing to buy for quite awhile now, mostly those from fabulously beautiful French labels; 'Lale' and 'Bakker Made with Love'. Then there are the ones that kids love from a great kiddie brand 'SkipHop' and what is exciting is that they have new season additions including the fellows below.

Bakker Made with Love have these adorable satchels so when the little one says 'mum can you hold my bag please?' I'll say YES
They also have the stylish cases with simple aeroplane motif, fab colours.
SkipHop have elephant and fox new to join the animal pack! The kids love these, backpacks are always a sure winner with a little one and an animal on your back, cool.
Lale collection available from Smallable is just simply gorgeous, i needn't say more the fabrics speak for themselves along with the simplistic pleasing shapes, get me to France quick so I can be surrounded by beautiful things and oooohhh the purchases I have in mind.....

todays colour is......

A house of girls plus dad you could be mistaken for thinking it's quite pink.
Well not at all, and then today I seem to be drawn to all things pink, and I'm quite enjoying it, mini1 is too, but minimini1 continues her long nap.

So we pegged the washing out and in fear of the weather turning like everywhere else seems to be i thought I'd capture the moment, also that was when I started feeling the love for the pink!

Glorious gladioli flowers from a special bud that fill me with cheer since the weekend and still looking great in beautiful bloom

Goggle eye cat named Pia by mini1 from Molly-Meg

Flower shots from the garden

Bright pink feathers that we seem to be getting through at a tremendous rate with all our cutting, making, gluing, sticking, tying...... 

So what is your colour of the day.....

transformer tuesday #2

Staying with our cardboard box transformations this week we have created our travelling cloud cuckoo puppet theatre, during the making and since it has become something of a hidey-hole / peek-a -boo for the mini-mini1, she just loves sneaking in and popping her head through the front.
We really have enjoyed putting this one together and using our cloud cuckoo crochet animal characters as the 'actors', and our prints for covering the box. We love the mix and match fun look.

We used:
-2 boxes! 1 large for the main part and smaller one cut and shaped for the 'lid'
-glue (favourite gluppy glue)
-patterned printed fabric, in our case cloud cuckoo printed organic cotton (for covering/decorating)
-extra card (cut out for wheels)
-characters; toys or puppets
-imagination...lots....children....fun.....

Hope to see you again, 'next show at 2pm!'

new finds at ikea...

I love an afternoon around ikea but my plan went a little wrong today so I had an online prep trip instead and here are some of my happy finds with a doodle, sketchy grow your own and have a cuppa theme. Prices have a happy start off; just £1.99, squeaky carrot toy and upto my favourite the duvet set £70.99 (kingsize) and lots of jolly prices inbetween...

Gorgeous duvet set
Set of teatowels
black and white doodle fabric
veg patch fabric
squeaky carrot toy
wind up torch; which the kids will love
and more for the little ones with these fun stickers

Happy shopping

a prize for one fab friend, follower, liker or tweeter...

We have been having a fantastic August catching up with friends, our new abode has been bustling with stay overs and catch ups. It has been great so how better than to celebrate and share friendship by giving away one of our most recent card&paper ranges. In keeping with the theme it is to be our 'Round-Friends' range.
The lucky winner will have posted to them 1 of each of the 12 repeat design Round Friend cards, all blank inside to suit and send for any occasion and not only that but we'll also include 4 sheets of the co-ordinating giftwrap, which this month has been our best selling wrap.
So what do you need to do......

Simply join us and lets be friends; follow us here on our blog or like our facebook page (if you do already just post a comment so to be included). We will then pop all new friends into a tombola-esque box and let mini1 pull the name out of the box next Sunday 28th August.
Friends can come from far and wide and the winners name will be posted on our wall/blog/twitter, all you then have to do is get in touch via email with your full postal address.
Prize will be posted via Royal Mail with proof of postage, we sadly cannot insure or track but simply trust our postal service.
See you soon friends xx
DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES MIDNIGHT 26 AUGUST 2011....Good Luck x

Sunday afternoon with Noodle & Peehee

After a sunny walk along the river and some tree climbing we took to the garden armed with gluppy glue and googly eyes. Down by the ferns and the log pile mini1 selected the logs to make into her afternoon play creatures and here are her two googlie stick pets; 'Noodle and Peehee'

little wooden dolls

Oh soooo cute...

Charming simplistic dolls by Joel Little has a shop coming soon... how stylish is mama there is her single print dress
Having fun with peg dolls (previous cloud cuckoo post)
Girard wooden dolls are some of the best, a great collection to keep in the family, design classic, skandium have lots of different sets to pick from £79

I love these "The Mothers" at The Curiosity Shoppe are fabulous $170 each

At The Pretty PIxie, you'll find doll pendants, cake toppers and playsets too, something for ever one, here we have The Hula family I think is my favourite of Kath's creations and most expensive $100 this Semi Custom cake topper $40 a personalised cake topper pair are $50, bargain!
Beautiful white measuring dolls Anthropologie (past season)
More fun on a cloud cuckoo blog post

Transformer Tuesday... once a box, now...

After such lovely feedback on our posts; "the fun of a cardboard box" and then our "finger fun & another cardboard house" it is clear we have a lot of people out there who like recycling and crafting, transforming and making, using then re-using, so we thought what better than to make it a Tuesday feature, so may we present the opening of "Transformer Tuesday" brought to you by the Creative Corner at Cloud CuckOO; me and the mini1 and the mini-mini1.

We used:
-a box! (the body)
-patterned papers and fabrics (the decoration)
-glue (favourite gluppy glue)
-cardboard tube (the trunk)
-mini wooden rod/dowelling (twizzling twirling ears)
-extra card (for ears)
-paper, rolled and snipped (tail)

mini1 announced this is an elephant which is fab, I think with a little tweaking he could be a bird too, fantastic.

We've added to the recycle cardboard box theme this week and going forward we'll do more too, but we will also be transforming other has been things into new things.
Feel free to comment, send suggestions, even pics of your own transformations, would be lovely to hear from you

robot monkey & friends

Viewing one of my favourite blogs Bambino Goodies last week, I came across their feature on a 'Robots themed room'. Although I have girls I had to look because there in front of me was a robot wallpaper in pink colourway, fantastic! Not sure how I have managed to miss the designer behind these designs as she has a great range of wallpapers, Aimee Wilder is certainly worth a viewing and if you can stretch a purchase too, worry not because if the wallpaper is a little out of budget then you can go for a sheet/poster instead and this is a bargain -less than $50.
The colourways are great and I'm slightly biased on this because i couldn't help thinking of our own current organic bedding collection and what a great match they make.
Our very own 'Robot Monkey' print is in a blue colourway and partners pretty well I feel to Aimee's wallpaper, and why not do some mix and match with Aimee's wallpaper in pinks and our cats, or wallpaper in multi alongside our owls.

 

robot monkey organic cotton reversible bumper and flat sheet set £52

organic cotton reversible playmat/quilts; shopping kitty, owl, robot monkey £42.50

organic cotton double layered jersey swaddling shawl/blanket in all 3 designs £22.40 (at this price till MIDNIGHT tonight)

bib sets 

wallpapers by Aimee Wilder as details above

print focus

all cloud cuckoo designs products available at NOTHS or email

what makes a perfect sunday...

Many things can make a good Sunday, and then there are those things that make a perfect Sunday...

piggy back rides, sisterly pull and tug, trampoline tumbles, lego building, nanna & grandpa, garden play and a cuddle with your sis!

finger fun and another cardboard house

Busy week hence no postings but good on the cloud cuckoo work front, friends staying over and lots of crafty fun.
A family of finger puppets were put together last Sunday by mini-1 and they have been busy playing in and out however they really did need a home of their own.
So today we created a little finger puppet town, and here we have it, well 3 houses, a tree and lots of windows...

Lion mostly liked to peek, monkey appeared to be doing most of the neightbourhood watching and bear, well i think he is the nosey one!
Fabulous, the joys of imagination and again a spare cardboard box!

get set.....baby

It's such a happy time, your baby or your sisters baby or friends baby (you get the idea) is soon to be here, or maybe is already here and there are things to get ready, to send, to have in, all the nesting and prepping.
Well here we have put together a few things that we think would be great, some (almost all) tried and tested and happy to say recommended :)

These super cute unisex 'New baby' announcement postcards are lovely, yes we text and email but there is something about having the news followed up in the post, a note to keep and cherish, 6 per pack £3.60 by Cloud Cucko Designs
Lie baby on this cosy reversible quilt/playmat, at sleepy time, play time, baby yoga and even picnic time! £42.50 at notonthehighstreet
A super purchase for new baby is a welcome blanket/shawl (all 3 designs bottom right corner) here you can see baby cosily swaddled and in matching hat and vest notonthehighstreet LIMITED TIME 20% OFF
Giftwraps that are perfect for babies and little ones, 2 sheets per pack printed onto high quality 'non-flimsy' paper, eco friendly and a snip at £3.25
Well we had to put in a stylish childs chair from the bestest ever chair stop for little people!  'Molly-Meg' this particular chair is a Casalino child's Chair, Junior size I edition, c 1970 Original £100, new editions are available too £88. Molly Megs new website is a treasure trove of delights with chairs, vintage and modern furniture, home and deco, toys, pictures and cards, it' s a must visit which I'm sure will result in a much needed purchase and a wish list!
On the chair are the ever useful hooded towels with modern graphic animal silouette prints, these are fabulous from birth at bath-time, beach-time, super-hero time! by Cloud CuckOO  Designs £26
Bibs sets, an item forever useful and these with their stylish prints look good too, come as a pair so never without a spare!
(gift wrap and blankets as mentioned)

busy little bee

For those of you that know of our little apiary then the update is that the 2 declining hives were  joined yesterday morning, along with all their food (and lots of it too). This morning at 7am we took in about 10,000 bees plus a queen (which we were missing) and added these too. All is crossed for a happy integration and a big happy colony.
This inspired a bee find so here is what we are sharing today...

Gorgeous artwork from the talented Teagan White
'ee' print from All Posters
bee amazing print from Olive Kids lots of choice and you can pick and choose back ground colour
As always Etsy never fail to present beautiful works; artwork and magnet by Constant Dreamer and cute 'bee-gurumi' at Luvly Gurumi who has many delightful creatures.
Along with other great artwork ArtFlakes had this fabulously detailed print by Joanne Hawker, I love the detail and soft calming tones of this print (tempted can you tell...)
Repeat bee pattern 'Betty Bee' greeting card from Round-Friends range at Cloud Cuckoo Designs

My watch is off to the repairers, whilst away thought I could 'arm' myself with some summer colour fun with one of these ...

Alessi bring these fun and quirky watches in a range of colours , the blue and white are my favourites but there is a green, pink and black option too, how cute is the face :) - £52


Tic Watches offer all brands and colours but here are the ones I liked most, especially the Breo Two colour, £35 (my mini-one is admiring the stackable 'bouncy watch!)

Fullspot O Clock a colour for everyone here, with these cool stylish Italian watches with pop out faces and changeable straps to create you own colour combos, now available in the UK £34.95

Nooka watches have a great range too these picks are from the 'yogurt' range and 'zub-40'

Peg Dolly Girls

Yesterdays we shared some wonderful wooden finds
Today we've been creative with our own bits of wood with these peg dolly creations .....

Faces on and lined up ready for more
Peggy and Dolly dress up in their floral attire and take a walk, stopping for a natter along the way
Before they know it 'Mini one' tells them it's time for bed, dress making put on hold for another day....'get in girls, onto your birdie pillow'
We make the dolly girls a bedtime story book
Tuck them in bed, and read them a tale . . . . . . . .

A little birdie told me...

and an owl too that you've been loving our characters that tweet and hoot.
Here are a few of our favourites, all available and created by us at the cloud cuckoo designs studio.

All the above are available as greeting cards (some also with co-ordinating gift wrap)
Any of our images can also be created into wall prints 300 x 400 mm (Paper size 320 x 450 mm)
If you'd like to know more contact us