Lily Pads are ''coming up like Roses....''

I’ve big news this post. Today I'm announcing that I’m stepping back from making the Lily Pad Pram Liner range and have bought in a wonderful new business partner to take over the reins.
Lisa from Estella Rose Designs has a stunning range of handmade products for mums and kids in gorgeous fabrics that match my signature lily pad style – vintage, damask, floral, spots… you name it, it’s all about pattern and style for mums.

In fact we’ve already collaborated before, on a range of matching nappy bags and lily pad pram liners – check out the photos above. I first met Lisa at Crafternoon Tea and the Devonport Craft Market a year ago, and we instantly hit it off. Since then we’ve bounced ideas, potential designs, pattern choices and colour ranges off each other and supported each other along the way.
So why the change? Well recently I went back to work after my husband was made redundant and he stayed at home while looking for a new role. You do what you have to do for your family at the time. Then since he returned to work I've discovered I'm liking the balance, and we've been able on two (or one and a half) incomes to move into a much larger, gorgeous, renovated bungalow on a big section, close to the beach– it’s a dream come true for us as our family grows.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m still passionate about sewing, painting, crafting and designing – and I have every intention of continuing this blog, continuing my craft projects, still writing for babybites online magazine – and I have at least two more design ideas in my head that DEFINITELY need to come out before Christmas.

But I simply don’t have the energy to work three quarter full time, and fulfil weekly/monthly retail orders for Lily Pad Pram Liners, let alone grow the business further, as well as snatch some time to play with my kids. For me the choice was obvious, in the weekends and my days off, I want to play with my kids. My five year old is learning to read and I’m loving every second of being part of that experience.
Cue the wonderful Lisa, who is passionate about growing her business into a fully-fledged, full time career, and she intends to build the business from home around her children. Her nappy bags, handbags, nappy wallets and textile jewellery range has gone from strength to strength and she has dozens of retailers around New Zealand (find out more about her here ).

Lisa has it in her blood, with her Mum a professional tailor-ess who’s owned her own design businesses all her adult life. She has a wonderful support network, retail experience, and the fire in her belly!! Watch this space as Lisa continues to grow the Lily Pad Pram Liners and their market niche – firstly at:

The Auckland Gift Fair – 21-23 August

The Auckland Parent and Child Show, 30 Sept – 2 October

I’m absolutely delighted and wish Lisa all the best - and here’s hoping for world domination for Lily Pad Pram Liners!!!
I’d be grateful if you could hop over and like her facebook page here to show your support.

Meanwhile, for future news on my crazy crafty projects and ramblings, keep reading my blog. I’d just like to thank everyone for their support over the past year as Lily Pad Pram Liners has taken off, especially Keri S; Greta; Nat Fox; Bex L and Rachel; Rae and Jo; Jodi M - and my lovely family. Especially my Mum and Gav. I’ll always love and respect you for all those nights you’ve helped me with cutting out patterns and helping me prepare for markets and retail orders.
Mphww!!! xx

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As luck would have it...

I literally can't believe my luck. For the second time in my life, I have driven off with precious lily pad designs stock on the roof of my car. And didn't realise, for three hours.

As one lady said when I went back to retrace my steps: I'm lucky I didn't forget to put my baby in the car.

My head is so full of all the hundreds of things I want to do both at work in my day job and through lily pad for Christchurch, and as I settle into a new routine with someone to help me with childcare, and school starting for my nearly five year old, I feel a little woolly headed at the moment.

And so it was that the other day I drove off from a fabric shop with 6 metres of designer fabric on the roof of my car.

When I finally realised, and took both my children back to retrace my steps, I really didn't think I'd find it. But I had hope, because last year I lost my baby's sling in the same way - and found it the next day, in a gutter. When Miss nearly five suggested we walk around the check the grass areas next to the fabric shop, I pretty much said ok because it was sunny and otherwise without some exercise and sunshine the day seemed so futile.

But there it was! Some lovely honest person had popped it up on the fence line of the business next door.

So now I can make and sell my lovely frenchy, vintage-y, new line of "Modern Paisley" black and white lily pads. Here's a sneak peak of this lovely, lucky fabric.

PS: this is my last post for March, as I am going on a much needed overseas holiday for a couple of weeks with my hubbie and girls. Greta will continue to post while I'm away and I'm back in April. Will miss you all!! xx

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Lil Magoolie roadtests the lilypad - and giveaway!

Today was a super highlight for me professionally - Maddie at L'il Magoolie reviewed my lily pads and it was a super brillant review with lots. Of. Exclamations! I was thrilled as we think L'il Magoolie is THE coolest design blog for parents in New Zealand.

Here's a snippet of what Maddie said:

Oh. My. God. I have fallen in
love with this thing. Instead of having to regularly wrestle the carseat out and
shake out food/toys/miscellaneous items that seem to always find their way down
the side of her seat, I just remove the liner and shake it out and/or wash it.
So easy! It’s great that the fabric is a breathable cotton instead of the
polyester on Aspen’s seat so she’s not Little Miss Sweaty-Neck at the end of
every trip. Plus it looks great (we’re sporting a lovely grey and yellow fabric)
and is very robust.

Also? It’s sometimes hard to see how well an item is
made when you view it online and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that
the attention to detail in its construction was top notch.

To celebrate, Maddie asked if I would consider doing a giveaway...to which of course the answer was yes! So, if you don't have a lily pad yet, or would like another please enter (I use one for the shopping trolley, two in my car seats, and another one in my baby's pram - that's the bonus of being the inventor I suppose!).

To enter the giveaway, hop over to Maddie's blog, and leave a comment on the blog post on my lily pads. You get extra points for facebooking it or tweeting it. Don't forget to follow her blog - it's a fantastic discovery point for new designs, new Kiwi products, and international trends!

Good luck!!!

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Baby Bites: flash up your old pram

When I was away on holidays this year, Baby Bites online magazine wrote a really neat story on my new lily pad collection. I was absolutely rapt when I came back! Ok, ok, so I DO write for Baby Bites...but the review was by the editor Jodi and I didn't write it so it totally counts :)

I really like the angle that Jodi took on the lily pads. Which is that - the lily pad is perfect for flashing up an old pram that's seen better days. Just because we all need to reuse our prams for babies no 2, 3 or 4....we don't need to sit our precious siblings in the mess or mold or broken bits left behind by no 1. They are just as important, and deserve a comfy spot too...and we deserve an easy way to still look fresh, clean and fashionable!

You can check out Baby Bites review of my collection here.

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Some Unique Christmas shopping!

You have probably heard all about Unique Boutique by now, it is such a great concept that creator Tam de Haan has had her products featured in some of Australasia's top magazines and blogs. If you haven't browsed through the gorgeous www.uniqueboutique.co.nz yet, get cracking because there is still time to get some amazing things for Christmas.

Everything is exclusive in New Zealand, and many things have been designed especially for the site. Aimee and I are very proud to have worked on two very different projects that have co-incidently released at Unique Boutique at the same time (we are spooky like that sometimes...)

I have made these Christmas stockings, similar to my Topography Mini Stockings but approx 40cm from top corner to toe. They are lovely and soft with some padding to hold their shape, and feature fabric from some of our favourite designers like Michael Miller. There is very limited stock so if you would like to start a new family tradition, order now!

And if you are looking to really spoil someone at Christmas, now there are even more lily pads to choose from - how divine are they?

Aimee has designed the 'Vintage Boutique' collection exclusively for Unique Boutique, with four new lily pad looks in pinks, blues and a classy grey backing. What an amazing present for a mum who needs a burst of colour in her day (and yes, those beautiful fabrics are from top designer Amy Butler!)

Make sure too that you are following Unique Boutique on Facebook for all the news on new products and giveaways. 

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New lily pad Summer 2011 Collection: it's real!!

In the weekend we had an awesome day shooting the new imagery for the Summer 2011 Lily Pad pram liner collection. Natalie from Fox Fotography was amazing, she totally understand my 'vision' and style dream for the shots: REAL mums out and about with their kids, perhaps rushing, perhaps lazy-ing around, but tidy, clean, easy going, in trend and fashionable. And she has such a great warmth that the two little kiddie models didn't even cry or grumble for FIVE whole hours!!! (If you are a crafter or sewer, and are interested in getting some magazine style shots, or clean studio shots for your websites or Felt, I highly recommend her).

The lovely pregnant model is my bestie, doesn't she look gorgeous. The little boy is her darling Cooper, the baby is my little Loren, I'm the dark haired mum, and the spunky husband is my own hubby. We had an absolute BALL.

My clever hubbie has created a slideshow of the best shots, what do you think?

The new range of colours will be available from my retailers from early next week.

Slide website - slideshow dvd

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Auckland Parent and Child Show!!!

I've just got back from setting up at the Auckland Parent and Child Show with my friend Lisa of Estella Rose Designs bags - we overlap our fabric styles deliberately so people can buy a 'combo' of a matching lily pad and baby mama bag. I think the concept looks AMAZING set up in real life together, check it out:


(Cool matching maternity skirt exclusive to Things for Baby!)

We're on our retailer Things for Baby's stand at no 447, if you are going to the show this weekend, come check us out for some very special show prices!!!!

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Feedback on lily pad colours?

This week I've finished a new navy-based pad for my lily pad pram liner range in a gorgeous Amy Butler 'wildflower' pattern from the Daisy Chain collection. However now that I've made it - I'm not sure about it. I think perhaps the flower picture gets a bit lost in the shape of the liner, which is a shame, and also the pattern is very bold - the turquoise very bright. I'm not sure that it fits my more traditional, damask-based, vintage-inspired range of patterns for the rest of the pads. Can I seek your feedback please?

Here's a picture of it beside one of my other new creations - a lily pad in a gorgeous pale pink and vintage grey - also from the Amy Butler Daisy Chain collection. This is a sneak peak at one of a new range of four colours exclusively designed for one of New Zealand's most divine and gorgeous baby stores - stay tuned to find out who!

Check out the other Amy Butler patterns in the international competition happening this weekend on amylouwho!

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We love collaborating! Check out Estella Rose baby bags

This OTLP blog is all about Greta and I working on joint projects and collaborations. Two minds are better than one, and all that. So obviously, we love the idea of working with other designers on new ideas too. I already work closely with Keri at Holly Chic Baby, who I really admire (and is my sister-in-law!). Today I want to share with you my next collaboration with another creative gal.

I think I've explained before to you all that my key focus for designing the lily pad pram liner was two fold. One, there had to be a practical, easy answer to keeping our kiddies dry and clean on the move. Dry-cleaning, shrmi-cleaning. Spot-cleaning - gross. Two, as a Mum, I was missing being surrounded by stylish fabrics. There's too many mass-produced, synthetic material baby products out there. Babies deserve quality too!

So you can imagine my absolute delight making a lovely new friend in Lisa, the creative force and owner behind Estella Rose Bags. Lisa and I first met when we were fellow stall holders at Craftnoon Tea market and the Devonport Craft Market. I was so in love with her bags that I immediately ordered one for myself. (I got the Amy Butler blue/slate spots). Not only were they a) a practical, easy to use answer for Mums, being roomy shoulder bags, but b) they were in the most divine 100% cotton designer materials.

Over time as Lisa and I got to know each other we discovered our tastes in fabric were incredibly similar and we began to bounce ideas. A few months later Lisa has designed and launched her beautiful new range of Baby Mama Bags. Among their many features such as built-in change mats, special pockets so milk/water bottles won't spill, key hooks, and straps that fit across the back of prams, is a key feature in my book: the Baby Mama Bags have pockets large enough to fit your lily pad inside! And we've deliberately decided to use two of the same fabrics, so now you can co-ordinate your pram's look!

Why not match your black and white 'modern damask' lily pad with Lisa's bag in either messenger or pleated style? (With fabric by Studio E.)

Or complement your pink 'lily love' lily pad with Lisa's bag again available in both styles, in fabric by Australian designer Emily Bloom (see the top pink pictures).

Or - mix and match! Above here you can see Lisa's black and white messenger bag used on a green Phil & Ted's, which is accessorised with my green 'Moss Martini' lily pad.

You'll be in love with your bag, I am with mine!

See Lisa's new Estella Rose Bags website to find her stockists or buy direct.

Watch this space too for some more upcoming NEW PRODUCT collaborations from lily pad designs and Topography - aka OTLP: just in time for Christmas!!!

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lily pad liners - new black pattern launch!

Today we're launching our new season black and white lily pad pram liner! Made from "Fans in White" fabric by US-based Studio E Design, the new fabric is a modern take on a traditional damask shape, moving it forward into a stylised, funky all over pattern. It's a fresh take on a timeless, vintage classic shape and this trend is very 'in' for the coming seasons - see my Karen Walker post below!!!

The fabric comes from a hugely successful 'black and white essentials' range from Studio E, for which they release new patterns every year and are up to Series IV. The theme is 'more than basics' and hip design blogs in the US such as Fabric Flair create home furnishings and furniture as well as clothing from them.

In my excitement of finding this fabric I also bought a small quantity of a complementary design from the same essentials collection - "Baroque Scroll in White". Seen here made into one of my lily pinboards for a friend, I think it's a sophisticated, vintage pattern for a pinboard to be used in an 'adult' space. In my friend's house it adorns her living room and computer area. (More of these can be made to order).

DARING DAMASK SELL OUT!

So: the flipside to introducing this new season pattern in the lily pads is that it means I have nearly sold out of all the previous pattern called "Daring Damask". If you loved this pattern, but were holding off buying - you'd better hurry! I have one left on my Felt Store and Daisy Baby, Holly Chic and Bay Bee Cino each have 1 or 2 left.

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You won't catch my baby Mr Flu Bug!

Yesterday my lily pad really proved its weight in gold. After seeing on the TV news in the weekend that the hospitals are overflowing with flu patients, I got nervous looking at the shopping trolleys at the supermarket. I am not one for worrying too much about this normally (my children seem to always have food on their faces, especially in photo situations!) But suddenly the trolleys all seemed like creepy crawly germ homes - not helped by the fact that the first four trolleys I pulled out each had a used tissue left inside them. I mean seriously, who does that? From one mum to another - please don't, it's gross!

So anyway I whiped out my trusty lily pad to line the seat with, and relaxed. All I had to do once I got to the car was use my pocket hand steriliser and I could assume my nine month old was in the clear from this rampant bug on the North Shore. I hope! Plus it was lovely to get so many nice comments from people going around the supermarket...I hadn't intentionally colour matched her top to the lily pad but it looked like it! I had to take a picture on my phone to show her Daddy..what a big girl she looks sitting up. Check out how much she has grown since my last 'shopping' photo when she was still in the plastic baby seat - I think she's around 6 months in this one.

PS: in the weekend I finally put my lily products on Felt - now you can buy from me direct, as well as from my retailers :)

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Baby Bites writes an article on the lily pad!

This afternoon I was rapt to discover that the awesome Baby Bites team have written an article on my lily pads. Calling them"handmade heaven", we're also on the front page of their very cool website/e-newsletter page under the "what's hot right now" section! You can read their positive, supportive review by clicking the picture beside this post. Thanks so much Jodi and team, we're so proud!

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Retail ready...busy, busy.

This week has been crazy busy for me here at lily pad designs. I've been stockpiling a whole raft of goodies for my first 'offline' retailer - (we used to call them 'brick and mortar' retailers - is that term still used?). As of next week the gorgeous boutique Newmarket retailer Bay Bee Cino will be stocking my 'lily pad' harness liners and my 'lily pinboard' range. I'm working on a colourful display area in conjunction with the lovely baby manchester company Holly Chic - the pinboard fabrics have been chosen to match the Holly Chic bedding. They are sublime! Let me know what you think. And you can still buy online from Holly Chic.

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The lily pad

As busy mums we’re always out and about and our babies always come with us, often leaving crumbs and spills on the way and sometimes having to sit in places we can imagine crawling with germs, like the supermarket shopping trolley. The lily pad solves this by being designed to fit any standard five point harness. Its ‘petals’ simply fold around the straps without you having to undo anything. Try it on your pram, stroller, bouncinette, café high chair, supermarket trolley, playground swing.

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