Pink To Make The Boys Wink

We weren't sure if we'd shared these fabrics with you all before...They're worth seeing twice :) all images are of Little Swans products made using Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.

The reverse of our bib, showing the waterproof lining and metal popper fastening.

Note also, the hidden seams.  Seamless... ;)

P.S. At our 2011 Craft Fairs, our Liberty of London waterproof bandana bibs will be on special offer at £9. each.  Bargaintastic! 

Love,

Little Swans

Hair Today, Gone...Never!

Trying to find an innovative, individual, gorgeous and stylish stocking filler...that won't be cast aside by Boxing Day?! Then Little Swans may have the answer!

Heavenly hairbands, fully covered with Liberty of London Tana Lawn purple or red and green "Pepper".  Our headband covers are sewn, not glued, and all seams are completely hidden.  The bands are adorned with a mini Gaga-esque bow.

For those of you with longer hair, we also have a range of hair bobbles, covered with Liberty of London fabrics.  The bobbles are displayed on a greetings card, ideal for sending at Christmas, for birthdays or as an innovative Valentine's Card, to show you really care!

Email us for more details and to order.  Headbands are £7 and "Bobble cards" are £5.

Love,

Little Swans

Little Swans Are Busy Bees

Making the most of family time is at the heart of the Little Swans' ethos.  This may mean we have to sacrifice quality time with the sofa, but it does mean we can share with you some of the fun we've enjoyed together this week.

Milo in his JoJoMamanBebe Coat (sleeves rolled up) and hat (gift from Aunty Mel and Uncle Richard)

Stocked up on canvasses from Tiger, Little Swans set about creating a masterpiece.  Using a chubby paint brush, his hands, and elbows to cover cover the canvas.  With a glint in his eye, Milo looked straight at me, dipped his paintbrush in the blue paint and popped it straight in his mouth.  Reminiscent of an 80s Culture Club tribute act, he appeared to enjoy the taste and seemed very pleased with himself.  We have proudly displayed the final product on our hallway wall.  Milo was clearly so encouraged by this, he continued his creation along the walls, sadly minus the canvas...

Creating a masterpiece and eating paint

Making the most of the final days of autumn, we visited Cliveden House for a walk in the grounds and lunch in the Orangery.  In our pre-baby days we enjoyed afternoon tea in the House.  Sadly, bone china tea services and one year old boys do not mix and we had a wonderfully relaxing lunch far from precious antiques!  Our walk in the gardens allowed us the chance to forage for fallen foliage for the christmas Women's Institute wreath making workshop we are looking forward to this coming week. 

Milo and Daddy walking on the autumn carpet at Cliveden House

The week also afforded Milo and I precious time to visit one of our favourite singing groups at the local baptist church.  Hullabaloo takes place each Friday and, whilst the seemingly endless supply of cake and coffee is reason enough to attend, I'm always taken aback by the warmth of the welcome that the volunteers extend; not to mention the warmth of the hall on a cold and blustery day. 

Baby M has been rather poorly this week, so our crafty time has been somewhat limited.  However, we have made the time to continue our preparations for the upcoming Craft Fairs in Norwich and Richmond. 

Special Offer at the Craft Fairs: Waterproof Liberty of London Bibs: £9. each



We've also realise that we've been indulging in the perks of the job a little too freely as we realised, walking up the stairs, that we've been wracking up the Liberty of London scarves!

Now, we must leave you to tend to the family we've enjoyed so many outings and experiences with this week.  We wish you well until the next time!

Love,

Little Swans



Autumn Days Are Almost Over

Milo, today, wearing one of our Liberty of London Tana Lawn "Chive" waterproof bandana bibs.

As we hurtle towards Winter and begin preparations for the festive period (some of us have already begun!) we look back at the autumn that paved the way...
Weather wise, we're all enjoying a particularly mild autumn.  My husband and I were musing this week that the end of November last year saw snow in many parts of England, yet this year we've barely begun glove season! 
Little Swans have enjoyed an autumn that has seen us developing innovative items to add to our 2012 catalogue.  We have enjoyed visits the length and breadth of the country, from Lancashire to Essex, looking for new materials and inspiration for our products.  We have taken great pleasure in the launch of our blog and have made many new friends via Twitter.  (Are you following us yet? @littleswans_)
We have been as busy as the bears stocking up for hibernation, as we build our supplies for the coming Christmas Craft Fairs.  Our Richmond Fair (Christ's School, Richmond, Thursday 15th December 3:30pm -6:30pm), looks to the best yet, with stalls stocking a variety of products from jewellery, to knitware to baked goods, not to mention stunning art work and Christmas Cards.
For the New Year, Little Swans hope to bring you an online catalogue of products, to enable friends of Little Swans to purchase and order bespoke items online.
In the meantime, if you would like further information on any of our products, or would like to order items to be delivered to the lucky recipients in time for Christmas, please email us at:
littleswansoflondon@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you,

Love

Little Swans

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...

Little Swans of London take the greatest care to ensure that all of our packages are beautifully presented, hinting at the luxury beneath...

The package above, wrapped in Cath Kidston red spot wrapping paper, was destined for a yummy mummy-to-be on the day of her Baby Shower.  Enshrined within, was a Little Swans of London 'On The Go' change bag and mat in Cath Kidston red spot and cowboy, with coordinating waterproof bandana bib and toy catcher.  Perfect for a scrummy mummy who never sits still, off to the park to walk the dog, or nipping into town to meet friends for a quick coffee.

We have a limited number of 'On The Go' bags in Laura Ashley duck-egg blue spot and also in Union Jack oil cloth.  Please contact us via email for details of pricing.

Love,

Little Swans

Don't forget...Christmas Fairs, December - Norwich and Richmond, Surrey.

Little Swans in London

Little Swans set off exploring London this weekend, with a whistlestop tour of the Transport Museum in Covent Garden.  We began our tour in the cafe (to make a coffee pitstop) and were so impressed with the fact that, firstly, the cafe was empty, secondly there were high chairs and thirdly, there were baby change facilities.  Perhaps I should give London tourist attractions more credit!
Milo loved exploring the various vehicles in the museum, from old Routemasters to new Routemasters, the Museum was busy with young children all keen for the chance to drive a London Bus (queuing behind the Dads keen for the chance too!).  Even at twelve months old, Milo had a fantastic time watching the trains, the tube and the trams, not to mention crawling from bus to bus.  In honour of the transport theme for the day, Milo was decked out in his Little Swans tractor bib.  Perhaps we need to source some fabric with Routemasters, or the tube map?!

After the Transport Museum, we made our way past Leicester Square to Carnaby Street, enjoying the troop of Mods on Vespas (not a cliche, there were about 50 vespas!) and made a bee-line for the third floor of Liberty of London.  The Haberdashery department is now housed next to the Liberty of London department, which has a fresh selection of items all perfectly displayed for the Christmas shopper in a variety of the most beautiful Liberty of London fabrics.  I loved spotting all of the Little Swans favourites, from Pepper to Eloise.  I was very excited to see a new colour of the Pepper fabric in stock...Sadly for him, Milo missed a browse of the ribbons in Liberty, as he was tucked away in the land of nod behind his Little Swans pram blackout, completely oblivious to the haberdashery heaven on the other side!

We ended our day sitting in St Paul's churchyard, in Covent Garden, sipping on a latte and munching on a red velvet cupcake from Sweet Couture, Covent Garden.  Laden with buttercream icing, with the perfect hint of vanilla and chocolatey loveliness, it was the icing on the cake of a perfect family day out! 

Love,

Little Swans

PS Less than a month until the Norwich Craft Fair at St Andrew's Hall (10/12/11).  See our earlier blogs for more details!

Liberty of London Loveliness

Loving Liberty and Little Swans

Liberty of London has long been a favourite hidey-hole of our's just off London's Carnaby Street.  The trademark tudor black and white beams, bowed staircases and intricately carved wooden lifts welcome you into a world of luxury.  Housing a gluttony of designers, sadly far out of my post-baby pocket, we can waste many an hour in the top floor Haberdashery.  From buttons to ribbons to fat quarters...we fall in love.  Therefore, when it came to designing accessories for Milo, we relished in the opportunity to flaunt the florals! 

Find images below of some of our 2011 fabrics, which are currently in stock.  We will be selling these items at our Craft Fairs, as well as taking orders via email.

Our drawstring bags and bibs are lined with waterproof fabric and our bibs fasten with metal poppers.  Our toy catchers faster with velcro to enable a swift swap from toy to toy.  Having both worked with young people and children throughout our careers, we feel duty-bound to add that babies and young children must not be left unattended at any point with a toy catcher.

We welcome your feedback on all of our products and look forward to receiving your emails requesting more information.

NB We use a 'Vignette Blur' effect on some of our images.  Our fabric is not blurred.

We look hearing from you.

Love,

Little Swans



On The Go Change Bags

'On The Go' Changing Bags in oil cloth Fabric

After Milo was born, we struggled leaving the house with bags sized to take the kitchen sink.  We found that the bigger the bag, the more we took!  Having a trendy changing bag with a variety of compartments and cool bags, not to mention mobile phone holders and cappucino cup holders, is great in theory and ideal for being at someone's home, but a quick walk around the park doesn't usually necessitate a wheely bag with a fortnight's change of clothing! 

From here our 'On The Go' Changing bags were born.  Made in stylish and durable oil cloth fabrics, we also offer a limited edition range in either duckegg blue spot, or Union Jack oil cloth.

We needed bags that were wipe clean, shower proof and sized for a change mat, couple of nappies, wipes and all the bare necessities a carer on the go requires!  Worn across the body, so that access to the bag was much easier and less strenuous on the shoulders, the bags look fashionable and don't scream "Mummy on the Move"!

See our images below for the 'On The Go' bags in Union Jack oilskin, lined with a matching canvas.

On The Go Change Bag, £20.

Please email us at: littleswansoflondon@gmail.com for more information about any of our products, or check out our online shop, follow the link to the Little Swans Little Shop!

Are you following us on twitter yet?  @littleswans_

Love,

Little Swans



Autumn Days...

Yet another wonderfully indulgent craftacular of a weekend afternoon, spent making autumnal wreaths after a supermarket sweep of Lavenders of London, Isleworth, fuelled by mugs of hot tea and flapjack.

Love,

Little Swans

We Made Here!

Look what we made here, at We Make Here in Ealing!

www.wemakehere.com

Hidden away in leafy residential Ealing lies the studio of artist and teacher Claire Palfreyman.  In addition to the locations in Fulham and Open Ealing (Ealing Broadway), Claire's Ealing studio provides the base for both day and afternoon workshops in craft.  Claire also runs 6-week courses in craft, from screen printing to lino printing.  If, like us, you're not able to commit to a long-term course but still have a desire to learn new skills you can choose from paper cutting (think Rob Ryan), fabric printing, cross stitch and much more... Let's cut to the most important part here though...the afternoon courses include the most delicious of afternoon teas! 

Arriving at Claire's studio, we immediately felt comfortable and welcome and after being given a walk-through of how to achieve the fabric printing process, we were given time and inspiration to conceive our own creations. 

Both my friend and I being Mothers to babies, we relished the chance to have some uninterrupted time to indulge in our love of craftiness.  We were greatly relieved by Claire's tongue-in-cheek attitude to craft, banish from your mind any ideas of ladies sitting around making doilies or macrame hats, here we are encouraged to embrace an ironic approach to craft.

Claire's afternoon courses start at £40. which (especially as they include a scrumptious homemade afternoon tea) are an absolute steal.  Classes are a maximum of 6 and are ideal for christmas gifts, mothers' day, fathers' day, birthdays, baby showers and (a pole-free) Hen party!

Find out more details at www.wemakehere.com or tweet Claire @wemake here

Love,

Little Swans



Once upon a yarn of wool...

Limited edition knitted toys are available in time for a homemade, unique and beautifully presented christmas gift.  We're also waiting and willing for commissions to make the knitted toys...
Our knitted fairytale toys come with a copy of the fairytale or story from whence they came! (Whilst stocks last)  Prices on Application.

My favourite story as a child, The Owl and the Pussycat features as our signature piece, followed by our Frog Prince...

We also have a menagerie of knitted animals available for purchase: monkeys, giraffes, lions, hippos, and mooses (or is it mice?)...Mr Moose also comes disguised as one of Santa's reindeers with a shiny bright red nose.

Durable (they have withstood Milo's eleven teeth and eleven months), washable and loveable...a gift for any time of the year...Remember, our knitted animals are for life, not just for Christmas!

Love,

Little Swans

Santa Swan

What a difference a year makes! 

As we look forward to a trawl of the shops, for this year's festive fancy dress, we bring you news of another Little Swans appearance at a Christmas Craft Fair in Richmond, Surrey.  We will be holding a stall at the Christ's School Christmas Craft Fair on Thursday 15th November, 2011, from 4pm 'til 6.30pm.  Entrance to the Fair is 50p for adults and free for children.  There will be a visit from Father Christmas, and the opportunity for young and old to make a last minute plea to Santa for their heart's desire... Stalls will be selling homemade Christmas gifts including baked goods, wooden "Shaker" christmas decorations, lavender hearts, knitwear and items made by the talented students at Christ's School. 

If you would be interested in having a table to sell homemade goods at the Fair, tables are £5. each (proceeds to the school).  Please contact me for more details.

We look forward to meeting you there!

Love

Little Swans

littleswansoflondon@gmail.com

All Saints' Day

In honour of All Saints' Day, I'm including a picture from today of Milo sporting one of our ghoulish bibs, rather suitably playing "Boo!".

So as not to scare you all off, I'm also including one of my favourite recent photos of him in one of our "Digger" bibs...