Its been a fun few weeks for our three bebe Handmade to Retail Trade winners as they finalise their creations in preparation for the retail market . The first of our winners are NSW company - i found love. Here at bebe we have fallen in love with their beautiful mobiles, so much so that our resident merchandiser featured them in the window the day they arrived. We can’t wait to see what else this creative pair has up their sleeves.

Meet the founders of i found love:

Sonya:

my personal style-

I try to surround myself with things that I love and have collected over the years.  Our house is full of music, art and books to hopefully inspire. I have tried to create a home that is beautiful yet comfortable ,one which is full of life and has the space for our children to  dream. I love Danish design at the moment with its philosophy of simple abundance and it’s link to nature. I love the consideration of the raw materials that go into a product. I find style inspiration from classic movies and magazines and love to have fun with both interiors and clothing. I like the idea of reinventing oneself with a new outfit and love how clothes can change the way you feel on any day.

things I can’t live without

Family, music, films, and books. Things that I like and that make me feel creative…the ocean, photographs, cookbooks-especially Nigella Lawson, my Skeppshult bicycle, markets, fireworks, colouring pencils, white winters, rainy days and fresh flowers.

in 10 years time I would love

to have a little more time to do the things that I enjoy like cooking, would love to be a much better photographer, be ploughing my way through our recently planted vege patch, and to have taken my children on a wonderful trip to some special locations around the world.

Rachel

My personal style-

I am inspired by the Swedish artist Carl Larsson’s depiction of a lively, creative family set against the exquisite lightness and lustre of his wife Karin’s decorating style. Our home is decorated with a mix of great practicality and great whimsy. The furniture, pictures and ornaments are an eclectic mix of glorious op shop treasures, family antiques and modern pieces. My wish for the children is an understanding and value of their ‘roots’. Living with pieces that were loved and treasured by previous generations of our family is a tangible way of achieving this.

I appreciate clothes that are made of pure materials, without synthetics. I adore my children in clothes that are full of innocence, celebrate childhood and that are label free…that is to say, my children are not providing free advertising on their shirt for a manufacturing company.

Since the age of 14 I have been addicted to the thrill of hunting at op shops and the quickening of the senses when a treasure is un-earthed. I am now sharing the fun with Rory and Araminta who have taken to it like ducks to water!

things I can’t live without

a sense of the eternal, my family, my library of read and re-read favourite books, my child-hood book collection of Milly Molly Mandy, Mumfie, The Bullerby Children, Lotta, The Moominpapas, Noel Streatfield, Little House on the Prairie and Drina series, natural, honest surfaces, my mulberry tree, old friends and the easy understanding of many adventures and heartaches shared with them.

in 10 years time I would love

to have finished renovating our 100 year old home, and to have returned to Nick’s birth place in the UK and mine in Papua New Guinea with our children.

Still intrigued? Read more about how i found love came to be….

We met when Rachel’s husband Nick began teaching Sonya’s son Rory and realised our boys shared a name. Friendships can be founded on such simple premises.

Between us we have eight children. Sonya and her husband Michael have Rory, Millicent, Adelaide, Ewen and Portia. And Rachel and Nick have Rory, Araminta and Calliope.

We both live in Dubbo in the central west of New South Wales and enjoy modern country living based around a fantastic seasonal lifestyle. We both feel incredibly lucky to have amazing regional produce at our fingertips and wide open spaces for the children to adventure in. When we feel in need of a touch of sophistication and a good coffee we move our work meetings to the long table at Pete’s ‘Newtown Providore’s’ deli.

We have only in the last few months set up our company i found love. This was inspired in part by winning the Alimrose design competition with our Eskimo/Mikki dolls. Prior to this we had simply enjoyed the pleasure of dreaming up creations and making them for friends and family.

Sonya has recently finished designing and overseeing the building of their new family home, and is enjoying putting in a series of vegetable plots and  an orchard.

After the birth Of Calliope, Rachel finished her work as CEO of Anglicare Western NSW and is now enjoying the privilege of mentoring a group of fantastic Christian girls with her friend Shobana.

We were drawn to Bebe’s Handmade Challenge by its appreciation of the personal investment in a hand-made Australian product with a modern edge. In addition, the value of winning business mentoring from such a reputable and wonderful company as Bebe was too enticing to ignore! We are most grateful for this opportunity entrusted to us and are enjoying the adventure.

I found love’s iconic newspaper print boats and silhouette mobiles have a nostalgic appeal and their simplicity is enhanced by the use of pure cottons and linens.

The Boats mobile depicts boats bobbing in a harbour and the newspaper print fabric draws on childhood memories of sailing paper boats. We thought it was charming to re-invent an old classic in a modern fresh way. We both feel a love for the magic of childhood and the value of the past. Orders are packaged in traditional brown boxes, with brown string, hand stamped and finished with a photograph.

We envision i found love’s range broadening over the next few years to include a range of cloth dolls and timber products finished in wax.

Check out i found love’s winning creations here online. Further pieces are also available in the Butterfly range in our Melboune store.

Bholu is the work of Australian designer Jodie Fried. Bholu products are designed in Australia and are brought to life by the hands of traditional Indian artisians. The philosphy behind Bholu is about creating products that we all love to live with, while benefiting communities that the company work with along the way. The beautiful Bholu designs are a delicate mix of children’s expression, ancient handwork and contemporary design. Here at bebe we love not only their designs but their ethos and integrity.

Choose from a fabulous duck, giraffe or elephant in natural or red, or the stunning range of cot sheets and baby wraps in neutral tones with colored stitching that will compliment any nursery and bring a special touch of magic to your space. check out the Bholu range here..

One of our favourite brands of 2008, Bloom Baby have consistently impressed us with their product releases this year. Bloom was founded by four dads who wanted to bring contemporary design and intelligent innovation to a range of baby products that had traditionally been funtional but out of sync with parents’ sense of  design.  Bloom strives to design simple, clean and iconic forms that blend seamlessly in contemporary living spaces.

Bloom does not use polycarbonate in places where the product could come into contact with food - instead they use a higher quality food grade plastic.  All Bloom products are free of wood PCP, formaldehyde and other toxic wood preservatives.  The wood originates from certified sustainable beech and birch forests. Bloom also understands environmental responsibility originates by creating quality products that are designed to last for years and years.

Check out Bloom’s full range of contemporary baby products here which include the Fresco high chair, Fresco Loft, Coco Lounger, Nano high chair and Otto table and charis. Stay tuned for some exciting new Bloom launches in 2009. Want to win a Bloom Fresco Loft High chair valued at $799.95? There are just a couple more weeks left to enter bebe and Bloom’s Fresco Loft giveaway. Read about this competition right here.

Dwell Home Furnishings was founded by Christiane Lemieux in 1999 in an effort to bring modern textile design to the world of home. The company quickly established itself as a leader and innovator in the bedding market - and expanded to a fuller offering of home furnishings products, including table, baby, and junior.  In November 2007, Dwell launched DwellStudio, a name that combines all the existing Dwell, Dwellbaby, Dwellkids and Dwelltable lines into a cohesive brand. The name DwellStudio embodies how the company has evolved since inception into a home furnishings brand with roots in modern print and pattern. DwellStudio is the destination for the well designed, decorative minimal home.

We love the DwellBaby and Dwellkids ranges for their modern, yet still fun and playful designs. Its very rare to find contemporary childrens décor pieces and Dwell have intelligently and creatively achieved great things in such a short amount of time.

Check out the latest Dwellbaby and Dwellkids range here…

Nature Baby is a NZ family business specialising in products which nurture both you, your baby and nature, and we’ve thrilled to have just received another shipment of beautiful products to share with you. Established in 1998 and begun as a quest for innovative products for their own family, Nature Baby found that many other parents wanted their children to grow up in a beautiful non-toxic world.  We love their use of neutral and classic tones in their bodysuits, as well as the practical drawstring shorts and pants, making them our pick for comfy baby and toddler wear.

Parenthood is a constant learning curve and the vast array of choices we are offered today is overwhelming. However concerns about toxicity has sparked many parents to consider what their alternatives are. All Nature Baby products are selected for quality, purity, design and are produced in such a way that cares for the earth and its workers.  Whether as a gift or for your own precious bundle, you’ll find that the Nature Baby range has something perfect for your needs. Stylish and practical, you cant go past these classic essentials.

See the full range of Nature Baby products here..

We’re thrilled to have the Oeuf range back in stock! This New York design company has long been known for their modern take on nursery furniture. Long before it was fashionable to do so, Oeuf were leading the way with Fair Trade and Eco Friendly products.  Oeuf’s founders and designers Sophie Demenge and Michael Ryan  created Oeuf when they became first time parents in 2002. As part of a new generation of design conscious and environmentally aware parents , they realised that they had to redesign everything themselves to merge their existing aesthetics with traditional nursery design (sound familiar?!).Oeuf is committed to the recycling of finish material through licensed collecting facilities after all components have been utilized to their fullest. They recycle 100% of wood wastes into briquettes, which are used to fuel the Oeuf manufacturing warehouse. All Oeuf packaging uses the recycling program through Green Points.

The modern and minimal Mini-Library seen above and in one of our current window displays is designed for easy access. With stylish and timeless design this library will be a welcome addition to your childs room, yet is practical enough to move to other rooms throughout your home to ensure a long life with many uses.
We also love the design and longevity of the other pieces of the current Oeuf range. The modern Oeuf Cot  can easily be changed to a toddler bed by purchasing an optional conversion kit when needed. A centrepiece item for a clean modern nursery look.   The Oeuf Dresser with its smooth-rolling and self closing drawers, is sold as a fully assembled item, and can be used with or without the changing station.  You cant go past Oeuf for practical and stylish designs which also rate safety and quality as top priority.
See the full Oeuf collection here.

As a mother and a former nanny, I cant emphasise the critical importance of children’s play. Encouraging our children to play with toys that ‘dont do the work for them’ nurtures social, physical intellectual and most importantly emotional development. In this busy world it is all too easy to forget about the importance of childhood, in which play is an integral means through which the child develops as a human being. Most often, the most important toys to facilitate this are good quality basics. Toys that fascinate the young mind, create joy and laughter, and thus nourish well being across a child’s early years are what memories are made of.

Although electronic toys are a staple in many family homes, many parents find that it is the most basic of toys that their children come back to time and time again. When the batteries have faded on another gadget, a basic train-set will bring endless fun. I can’t remember how many times that my heart has sang with joy watching my boys play in the bath with figurines and animals that have jumped from dangerous cliffs (the taps!), swam in alligator infested waters (the muddy bath water) and had a long family walk around the paths of the remote desert wilderness (the baths edges). Giving children opportunites to role play, to mimic life, and to create magic that only they can envisage nurtures the part of them that nothing that bleeps and blings can in quite the same way. 

Despite claims from many experts that our children need to ‘get ahead and keep up with the times’ and be exposed to many of the gadgets that make up our adult world, there are a growing number of families who are limiting this exposure to gadget and noisy electronic toys, and favouring Brio and other quality brand names that have stood the test of time. Brio  have been nourishing children’s development since 1884 with their philosophies and designs attracting customers in over 35 countries. They have embraced a clearly articulated set of principles and never swayed from the main objective of contributing to child’s development by offering good toys that stimulate the child through play.  

Last year when overseas I was touched to see the joy on my oldest sons face when he was passed a few Brio toys by his granny that his father (my husband!) once cherished.  They have lasted through the play of many children, including my sons cousins who live much closer to Granny than we do. They came back in our hand luggage, and are now proud editions to our family of toys. I imagine that I’ll be packing them up in the years to come to wait for that time when I am a grandmother! Mind you, I have a few years to wait for that…………

Mamas and Papas originated in the UK when its creators David and Luisa were looking for beautiful things to surround their first daughter with. With roots in Italy, a country filled with passion, style, elegance and design, they took inspiration from everyone and everything and created a whole new world of nursery items for their child. No detail was missed, no expense was spared and the result has been a passionate company based on simplicity, creativity and shape. From gorgeous teddies through to beautiful ride on toys, Mamas and Papas products have found a welcome home here at bebe. We’re thrilled to stock their innovative and well loved designs.

We love the neutrality and timelessness of two of our best selling Mamas & Papas items (shown above) - the Famiglia Patchwork Bear and Famiglia Ragdoll.  Presented in beautiful gift boxes, these make the ideal gift for that special new baby in your life. 

Wooden toys are now considered by some experts to be an essential tool in a child’s healthy mental development. Bebe is most discerning in its selection of wooden toy brands ensuring that the brands stocked make their toys to high ethical and environmental standards, that they are non-toxic and made with the child’s best interests and safety as a priority.  

We have just received our latest Bajo Wooden Toy delivery and have over a selection of around 40 different Bajo Toy designs.  Find out more about Bajo below, and click here for our current online collection of Bajo Toys.    

Bajo Company History

An imaginative collection of wooden toys for infants and children, simply designed and solidly made. Bajo was founded in 1993 by Wojciech Bajor, a talented sculptor and architect with an eye for child-friendly designs and forms. Today Bajo wooden toys are still designed by Mr. Bajor, along with his wife Bascha, both of whom are professors of design at the University of Cracow in Poland.

Materials and Safety

Bajo toys are made exclusively from hardwoods, including apple wood, cherry wood, alder, maple, beech, birch and walnut. All woods are harvested from local forests in the region of Cracow, Poland, where the toys are also manufactured and produced. To decorate their toys, Bajo uses only non-toxic hard gloss paints and non-toxic oils which are accepted by the German Safety Standards Authority and which are CE approved. All toys are hand finished by expert craftsmen and women to create the most finely made product possible.

Awards

Bajo is the winner of a number of awards, including;

Gold Medal for Design at the International Fair in Posen
2002 Winner of the German Design Prize for Wooden Toys
2003 Runner up in the German Design Prize for Wooden Toys

Browse our range of bajo toys here..