transformer tuesday #19

Really our time is getting more and more tight especially as mini1 has all day at her pre-school now and we don't have her help come Tuesdays when we are transforming. End of term madness plus new projects I've taken on on top of the already full day(s).

Today however minimini1 was keen to get out the paints and I had a whole load of boxes and such for the recycle bin so what better than pick one of them and add it to the paints, gluppy glue and make an owl or two!

The fun recycled object we saved from the recycle bin was a egg box and here is what we made of it!

sleeping with which light on...

The minimini1 has started to wake at some awful hour, we keep a lamp on out side of her room and she has the fantastic Thorsten van Elten wall pigeons in her room but I'm on the hunt for a softer light to keep on in her room that is light enough for her to settle herself but not too strong to take away the night time calm feeling. I'm edging toward the fabulous Lapin&me vintage bunny, however there is then the growing range of LED lights they're a great price, good selection and we haven't got to worry about the plug sockets either.

Lapin & Me £62 for the signature Lapin & Me vintage bunny finished by hand in 'vintage granny-green' finish, looking adorable when lit and not.
Little Baby Company superb range of lighting with a good range of prices too, I love the LED bunny and toadstools starting at £7.50
notonthehighstreet ranging from £14 to £69
nubie £65 cat & dachshund (other cols available)

toddler plus bedding

i know i'm biased on the baby bedding front as we have our own organic collection which of course i use and test! and yes as mini1 is 3 and the owl print is not too young and fits her converted cotbed perfectly I can't help but shop around as I'm feeling a little pre christmas change in the air.
So I hear you say, what did we pick, what did we find... well I must admit I've yet to finalise our decision, but here is where we are and some of our finding

Mini1 does not want pink with or without fairies, her natural tug was for bold, clean lines, I'm not sure whether this is because of the clean silouette of her current owls? but she did like the clean silouette of Anoraks red rabbits, I'm not too worried it's in single size rather than toddler because once we make the move we will go from converted cotbed to single and miss the toddler bed out anyway.
I was however thrilled to find Little Auggie 'Rabbit Patch' this was with thanks to coos and ahhs.
Designers Guild had the wonderful Best Friends range and mini1 very much liked the owl rug!
Although not one particular design stood out for us Zara Kids have a good offering.
So mini1 which is it to be?

transformer tuesday #6

hello transformers, hope you are all well, after two weeks away and one week off from transformering I'm feeling a to need to catch up.
This week I have a little transformer project that my little ones love and play with lots, the play games include; nigh-nights, soft bash and i'm a dod-doc doctors hammer play 'lets check if you work'....

we used;
- card to make template
- fabric ends for main body and strips for limbs
- scissors & pins for cutting and holding
- sewing machine
- filler or more recycled fabric for stuffing
- needle, thread for details

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!'

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

What's in the bag?

Gathering the washing, tidying the toys, out for the day, hanging on the hook and looking jolly, and so many more uses for being thankful to our bags.
From the offset of putting together the textile collections at Cloud Cuckoo Designs I knew they must include a 'laundry bag / storage sack" and this was before I was a mum. I've always really liked and found a use for bags, storage sacks, boxes so there we had it they were in the collections.
Currently we have three bag designs; Owl, Robot Monkey & Kitty

and the responses we get are great, both adults and little ones use them for an array of things our personal ones at the moment are mostly occupied with laundry and toys with a recent added use being for our play-mats so they can be easily transported, it was actually a customer that purchased both together and let me know how useful they were 'together' and what a perfect fit the mat was inside the bag, they had found it super useful for their mother baby massage sessions and for home storage - I agree!
We have in-store and on-line stockists throughout the UK and overseas including YellowLolly, PiquantBaby for the complete collection you can visit here at our own cloud cuckoo designs on-line shop

what's the time mr wolf....

Today has been a clock day, firstly i noticed the absence of dongs then remembered it was Sunday and that Grandfather should have been wound up yesterday. Then later (7.45am) we thought our "Cucu clock"

£205 (many colour choices)
had gone mad as the 'cuckoo' 'cuckoo' 'cuckoo' call was going off, but only when we were close to the open window, very happy I was to hear the real cuckoo calling especially this time of year.
Thirdly a book came off the shelf and needed a read (so little one said) and i just love this book; What's the time Mr Wolf?

This book seems a winner with all little ones and you can pick one up at The Book Depository I use them lots though Amazon and their delivery is speedy and customer service excellent.

So with all this time ticking I thought I'd look at some clocks.
Here is what I found at The Design Shop

Elihu the Elephant Clock £80

Fernando the Fish Clock £80

Butterfly Clock £134 (other colours available)

Ball Clock £195.60 designed by George Nelson, capturing the best spirit of post-war design, available in other colours as well as multi shown here

Half Time £180, I love this 'cu-coo clock with the surprise cuckoo popping out the side
From online shop Huntandgather I came across these gorgeous bamboo animal clocks, yesterday I blogged on some bamboo furniture and it really is a great wood to use, eco friendly, tough and I personally like the appearance too, anyhow check out these fab animals designed by decoylab usa and sold at Huntergather

Eco Bamboo Clocks $59 - $79

letter prints, badges and more.......

New designs are done but we decided to hold back for a few more weeks before we sell to trade at PG LIVE show with some of the new card ranges. However with such enthusiasm for our "round - friends" and requests for additional products we've now added, notebooks, badges, wrap and pictures and will be adding these to our NOTHS shopfront for you to buy in the next week or so.
So here is a little preview of the prints and badge pack, planning a little photo shoot of these hopefully over the bank hol so we can share more then.

owl and pussycat

I love owls and have illustrated many, also done a few of 'the owl and the pussycat', today made me think about these past works when the wonderful blog print and pattern by bowie style showed the work of pattern pie
Popping onto the Pattern Pie website I came across this fabulous take on 'the owl and the pussy cat'

well one owl and cat led on to another and here are a few I'd like to share, thanks to Helen Musselwhite for her great collage; Helens website has so many more and are fabulous.
Applique by My Pipsqueak
A beautiful little wooden art sculpture by Gypsy & Twink

designers guild, john lewis & orla for boys....

Yes I know here I go again with the lovely designs from Orla Kiely, but must mention her as she is not just for the girls.....

How gorgeous would the car bedlinen be for a boys room. As would some of the other offerings I came across from Designers Guild & John Lewis
(SORRY DG IMAGES ARE SO SMALL LOG ON AND SEE THEM IN THEIR FULLER, BIGGER GLORY)
Mum of 2 girls and rooms to finish I've been on the hunt for other interior fabrics, we do have some of our own bedding in the rooms cloud cuckOO designs, like the owl cotbed set (here rolled up with the other 2 designs)

but I'm still on the hunt for more fabric as 'project curtain' is due to commence.... well on my search I came across some pieces for a nursery or toddler/kid room girls and boys that I thought were worth sharing....

Nursery and Kid Prints

When we moved before christmas into our grade 2 georgian home I really thought a bit of decorating and we'd be done, well a few months later we're not done but we are slowly getting there....(pics to follow in a future entry)

Girls are at least in their rooms and I'm pleased to be adding the final touched to their rooms including some prints to the walls today, here are 2 of our own prints that will be added; mike monkey and olive owl.

new card range " tweet twoo tales"

The new range for 2009 was our TWEET TWOO TALES and since we've added in 5 notebook design I'm just inspired to keep on going with more products, anything you'd like to see just email us at info@cloudcuckoodesigns.com, we're not just thinking 2-d !!! get ready.

Top Drawer Spring

Tuesday afternoon took me to Top drawer as a visitor rather than exhibitor, strange being the other side of the fence but good too. To keep to timings we were pleased to still launch a new card range just before the show and this has been meet with great enthusiasm.
As our new range features humble home owls 'Tweet & Twoo' I was taken by some other lovely owls on show by Olive and Moss, Petra Boase and new company Owaboo

In addition to the owls other lovely finds were; simplistic clean designs for babies from Fabric of the Universe, a new company based in Edinburgh
Thornback and Peel had gorgeous sketch hand printed textiles used across a range of products including baby tops, might NEED one for my little Maudie!!

Finally an old classic and inspiration to many SCP have the amazing work of Alexander Girard as plywood prints and here is my favourite Madonna
'Blossom & Bob' from ISAK is sure to follow in the success as this too is fab and as always they too had a great stand