Salvaged stuff

We love clever folk. On one of our expeditions, we stumbled across these fantastic bowls welded from sheet metal scrap. One talented welder + scrap metal = beautiful heavy duty objects for everyday use.

Eco Kids Festival

Busy weekend! After riding my trusty steed (read: bike) to Wollongong towing my little cargo trailer of market delights on Friday, it was all social fun on Saturday with my little family & set the alarm for 5am to hike up to Luna Park on Sunday. Big day inside the Big Top, glad to be out of the midday sun! Fantastic entertainment for the kids, although I don't know if everyone knew about the eco Market stalls upstairs on the mezzanine deck. Not the largest crowds I've ever experienced, but I did meet some lovely people. Check out Vikki & Jackie's store The Flying Penguin for sustainable toys and visit Nick at Etiko for fantastic sweatshop free, fairtrade footwear & sportsgear. Great to see we've got more & more informed choices available!

Eco Depot delivery system

My pushie my not look too flash, but I stand by Eco Depot's credo -

If you've already got one, use it 'til it breaks

This one has been in for a service or 2 in it's life, has towed the kids around in their little trailer and helped me clear my head on countless occasions. And it's fun to ride.

Well now I'm doing the homework on turning it into my market vehicle. Tracking down a trailer, which will fit on trains is my first hurdle. Not all markets and expos are within my fitness range, so I think between public transport and human power, I should be right. A little cargo trailer will fit the bulk of the market stock in, it'll just test my tetris skills.

Stock has been rolling in for our adventure to the Eco Kids Fest which should be a great day out. As soon as the rain eases, the camera will be out for show and tell.

Spring Time has sprung

I don't know about you guys, but things seemed to stepped up a notch around here. Sunshine and spring blossoms have motivated me, but oh boy! the list is a long one.

I'm stocking up for The Eco Kids Festival, to be held at Luna Park (Sydney) which should be an awesome day out. Just recently I took myself off to hte movies for Age of Stupid, an eye opener & makes you reassess where you're at & where you'd like to be going.

Plus all the regular family stuff, like trying to get the kids to eat the beautiful organic veg for dinner (uphill battle that one!)

So these photos are just my moments pause looking at the goodies (admittedly selectively) on my desktop and out the studio door.

But there's always the fun stuff of sourcing products for the shop and making sure they live up to their green creditials. Enough to keep me out of trouble for a while....

Multi Use pieces

I'm all for stuff having more than one function. As our world fills up with more and more STUFF, it seems a fair call to make the things we do have work harder instead of getting 1 article/ object/ tool/ product/ thing do do 1 job only. Take this humble muslin wrap. Originally designed just to swadle little ones, it can also hand the Christmas pudding, strain the bits out of your home made jam or cheese, hang up over a window and watch the shadow play or wrap around your neck to keep the chill out. See. Easy peasy. Beautiful certified organic cotton, double layered. The company making these 90 cm squares of wonder make sure all their employees and their families have health and a safe work environment. Lets not forget they get paid a fair wage too! Everyone wins. Who wants the intensive chemically grown stuff (ie- cotton) nect to their little one, in their food or wrapped snuggly around their neck. Keep it in mind.

Hi ho, it's off I go!

Super quick one - I'm off to Melbourne tonight! I've arranged leave from my family & will squish the trip around work to visit Melbourne's State of design festival. Can't wait! Loads of markets and catching up with a long lost friend for dinner.

Why the train? Everyone has been asking. Two words - carbon footprint. Flying is a lot of fun, but if you don't have wings, it's not overly planet friendly.

Back is packed, now it's off to work....

mmm, smells like honey....

How's this for a tidy bit of innovation. Straight from New Zealand to our studio desk is a big fat box of Honey Sticks. No, they're not colourful lollies, they're fantastic stumpy, chunky, colourful beeswax crayons for the arty underagers in the home. Pictured is my daughter's playtime with the newest product for our store. Built for small hands. Stumpy = harder to snap. Nice work. The wax is a by product of the new Zealand honey industry and draws beautifully. (I reckon there's the chance of drawing on fabric and then ironing it in to set - if you try this, make sure to put a piece of paper of the new artwork so you don't have a permanently coloured baseplate.)

Boxed set of 12 available shortly!