MERRY CHRISTMAS: The Post-it Tree

THERE’S STILL plenty of time to make Hommu’s rather ingenious Post-it Christmas tree wall decoration. You will need: 125 various green Post-its, (or of your own chosen colour); five yellows; 13 pinks and 9 blue ones. Arrange as instructed by Hommu here. Remember to write your wishes for the New Year on your Post-its!

*Check out our new products - wall stickers and soft toys - by Hommu in the LittleBig shop. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year….

Posted 20 December 2010 in Decor

FOCUS: Deuz

TAKE TWO Parisian sisters - one a globe-trotter who has spent most of her career to date working for luxury fashion house LVMH, the other a mother and graphic artist who studied at the Les Arts Deco college in Strasbourg. Put them together and Charlotte, 30, and Marie Findeling, 32, are Deuz, a new graphic arts-based design company for children.

“We always used to make things,” says Charlotte, whose prolonged stint at LVMH included working as their financial controller in Mexico, and who only quit the company in January this year. “There were six children in our family and we’d make special presents for my dad on his birthday - that kind of thing - and we always knew we wanted to work together, it just wasn’t the right time until early this year.”

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Posted 24 November 2010 in Toys

KNIT WIT: Sally Nencini

THIS SEASON’S MIDCENTURY.MODERN SHOW on Sunday November 14 promises to be a winner - not least because two of our favourite crafting artists, Fanja Ralison of Le Train Fantome and Sally Nencini (pictured left) will be exhibiting both their own work and the results of a new collaboration.

Fanja is famed for her beautifully made hand-crafted dolls, Sally for her machine knits that reference children’s motifs of the 1950s and  60s, and together they’ve applied Fanja’s most well-known creations, her Lumi doll and Lewis rabbit, to a series of machine-knitted cushions (see above - also available here in Fanja’s shop after the Mid.Mod show). Read the rest of this article

Posted 12 November 2010 in Textiles

TRIED & TESTED: Method Laundry Detergent

IT IS SELDOM THERE’S innovation enough in washing powders / liquids for anyone to get excited, let alone to write about it.

But Method’s new Laundry Detergent has already won a design award. Not just for the liquid’s successful functioning - it doubles as a stain remover, washes equally well at 30 degrees (or even cold) as it does at hotter temperatures, and is made from 95 per cent natural ingredients and is fully biodegradable - but for the design of the bottle itself.

Super-concentrated (x 8 times) so you only need four squirts of the liquid for a complete wash, this compact pump-action bottle is designed to be used single-handedly - so you don’t have to put the baby down to get the housework done. It also eliminates the need for big cupboards to store a mega-huge box of washing powder (nor, as a knock-on effect, large trucks to transport it from the manufacturers to the supermarket, or super-strong arms to carry it from shop to car). Top marks. Read the rest of this article

Posted 10 November 2010 in Products

CLIMATE CHANGE: aden + anais

IT’S ONE OF the things parents worry about most - how many layers to put your baby to bed in.

Raegan Moya-Jones, mother to Anais (7), Lourdes (5), Arin (3) and Amelie Rose (18 weeks), has made a career of knowing. The Australian founder of aden + anais, the baby textiles design company that has based its entire oeuvre around the hitherto rather prosaic muslin - in the form of printed swaddling sheets, comfort blankets, sleeping bags and washclothes - explains what to put your baby in at this tricky, changeable time of year, how muslin is about more than just ’sicky cloths’, and why swaddling really is the best way to ensure a good night’s sleep…

****TO WIN A SLEEPING BAG OF YOUR CHOICE (WE HAVE THREE TO GIVE AWAY) SEE OUR COMPETITION DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE**** Read the rest of this article

Posted 18 October 2010 in Textiles