Optimist

Beautiful fabrics from Australia

I found Duckcloth from Australia via their advertisement on Bloesem. Lisa is the owner of this online store which offers a wide variety of amazing fabrics from all over the world. I especially like the gorgeous prints from Pamela Walker (giraffe and skipping boy) from the 1970's which are reproduced by Sprout Design. Wish I could sew myself and could make a wall decoration for my son's room... Duckcloth offers free delivery in Australia and also ships internationally.

Unpack this Lilbird egg!

Via the weekly Daily Candy Kids email newsletter I found about Lilbird Clothing from Los Angeles / San Fransisco. Lilbird Clothing was founded in 2006 by 2 sisters whose father nicknamed them Lil and Bird. The unique part is the way their shirts and onesies are packaged.

Who does not want to unpack this beautifully wrapped egg? A perfect and eye-catching gift! You can order online and they will also ship outside the USA if you send them an email.

Etsy's Friday

Mikodesign: Erika from Rotterdam is the designer of these lovely range of textiles. Also take a look at her blog and the post at Bloesem blog.

Melly and Me: Two sisters from Melbourne are the creative people behind these adorable creatures.

Dressme: These fun t-shirts from recycled t-shirts also come from Holland

Germany's oldest doll company

Käthe Kruse is the oldest German doll company, in business for more than 100 years. Their classic dolls are famous around the world and some of them are real collector items.

I personally like the Käthe Kruse baby range very much: simple shapes and beautiful fabrics. You can check out their retailer page to find out if you live in one of the 14 countries they sell…

New products at Twig

I have posted about Twig before. Today I want to let you know that you will find new products from some of my favorites: Esthex from Holland and Noonoo  from the UK. Do not forget to take a look at the clothing section: many designer items are for sale now. Just simply shop online at Twig.

Felt in office and kids' room

Ylva-Theresa from IdeeSalon in Germany wants to give daily products a new face by using felt out of 100% sheep wool. Her funny motto: wellness for your Apple Powerbook™; bringing nature in office and kids’ room. You can buy her products in her online shop, though I am not sure if she ships worldwide.

Barefoot Berlin

I bought my first German parents’ magazine ‘Eltern’ and found some great German products. Barefoot Berlin is the first one to be featured. The funny thing is that I bought one of the mice (bottom right picture) years ago as a small present for my parents. I do not know the occasion anymore but I do know it is still sitting in my parents’ kitchen.

Barefoot was founded in 1958 by Barbara Sansoni and is a company of rural hand-weavers from Sri Lanka. All yarn has been dyed and woven by hand and one person makes a piece from start to finish. Barefoot ships around the world but you need to understand some German…though I am sure that a comment in English via the 'Kontakt' button will work as well.

Giesswein from Austria

Giesswein is a Austrian family company founded in 1954. They are famous for their indoor slippers, so-called "house shoes". The kids' slippers look very comfortable with nice decorations.

Their clothing line is traditional with modern touches. Some clothes seem to come directly from the famous movie 'the sound of music'. You can buy their clothes and shoes in 11 countries like Spain, Japan, Taiwan and Scandanivia.

The beauty of the Dutch beaches

After the hick-ups during our start in Germany, I would almost forget that we spent some lovely days in Holland and enjoyed the Dutch islands with our family. Just a glimpse of the beauty of the Dutch seaside: the color patterns of the clouds, the emptiness and extensiveness of the beach, a lonely beach club and of course a happy family.

Anyway, I am back online and full with ideas for new posts. No more posts about frustrations but back to positive life and beautiful items... Hope to see you soon!

Another update

What a nightmare! Today finally somebody came for our telephone and internet connection and guess what? Yes, we do not have internet connection yet. We are missing some information which was supposed to be sent by post and of course has not arrived at our place. Instead we got a double set of modems, routers, splitters. How difficult can it be? According to the installation guy we should receive it within 1-2 days after ordering it... Let's hope so!