KidStyleFile

Today’s post written by Kat

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It goes without saying that the birth of your first child is a precious moment, and recording every single moment is one of the joys of being a new parent.

It also goes without saying that by the time you get to your second or third onwards, despite the best of intentions, the novelty of dutifully recording every event can start to wane, and finding the time is near impossible. My mum for example, as the third of 4 children, can only find one solitary picture of herself as a bub, and definitely no baby book. Which might explain a lot…but I digress!

Here is a rundown on baby books so beautiful that you’ll be clamouring to fill them with gorgeous memories of your growing brood. All your kids will thank you, except perhaps when you show that cute picture of your now-teenage daughter picking her nose to her cool new boyfriend…

The Binth Baby Journal at Tiny People

This is a gorgeous unisex option. Handcrafted with recycled white stock paper, cotton cloth cover and presented in a beautiful keepsake box. It’s not exactly a budget option but remember, even Mastercard can’t buy memories. Just a nice place to put them.

Generation Wonder have created their own Wonder Year Journal

A beautiful combination of scrapbook and journal, the Wonder Year Journal allows you to piece together a year in your little one’s life. Kids will adore looking back on themselves and as it has heaps of space for personalisation, as adults they will truly cherish their story. It comes in matt green with a cloth case cover, 128 pages of text and 12 insert cards for pictures – and it’s only $27.95!

I love the story behind Milestone Press’ A Book About Me:

“Annabel actually gave Fiona a Winnie-the-Pooh baby journal for her first born.  As they marvelled at Annabel’s momentary lapse in taste (because the book was free)  they dreamed up the perfect baby book.”

A Book About Me not only looks modern and sleek, it has been thoughtfully designed so that if you forget to record when your all little one’s teeth came through, you can just take the corresponding pages out, instead of leaving them embarrassingly blank. There’s room to add and subtract names and photos as you need, and possibly most imortantly, there is no branding on the cover, making it truly a book about your family!

I’ve mentioned the Laikonik Once A Year Book, from Mummy’s Favourite, before but I’m going to do it again because it’s such a beautiful idea!

Every year up to your child’s 18th birthday you add in just one photo of your child, and eventually the book unfolds concertina-style to reveal the story of your child growing and changing. Plus the book itself is completely gorgeous and will make a cherished heirloom!

For something a bit more traditional, the Baby Days Memory Book at Urban Baby is bright, colourful and full of nifty bit’n'bobs like stickers, envelopes and journal pages.

The pages are undated so you can record milestones when you want to, and the simple illustrations will delight your little one even beforen they realise the book is about them!

The very cute My Baby’s Journal, available soon at KidsGiftList

This is sweet enough to be age-appropriate but still stylish enough to be admired for years to come.

And finally, my personal favourite (yes, I found one with an elephant! I’m starting to sense a theme here): the Paper Eskimo Baby Journal.

Available at The Baby Shower Shop (a helluva comprehensive online store if there ever was one!) With simple and incredibly beautiful illustrations, it has heaps of room for photos, records birthday celebrations for up to five years, and comes in a gorgeous keepsake box  – despite being way too cute to keep stored away!

From top left in rows:

Binth Baby Journal $160
Generation Wonder The Wonder Year Journal $27.95
Milestone Press A Book About Me $44.95
Laikonik Once A Year Book $74.00
Baby Days Memory Book $24.95
My Baby’s Journal $44.95
Paper Eskimo Baby Journal $64.95

Please check individual sites for shipping details.

Today’s guest really needs no introduction – I’m sure many of you have ‘met’ her through your shopping expeditions – it’s Bronwyn O’Loan, the vivacious personality behind dynamic online boutique ShopHouse.

Bronwyn lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband Greg, their three children Finn , 6 years, Tara, 5 years, and Grace, 2 years, Greg (Husband), and Fred, the 6 year old golden retriever who goes to work with Bronwyn every day. Read on, to find out more! – Angela

PS ShopHouse has some lovely offers happening for KSF readers right now, including FREE postage! Click here to get all the details. There’s also up to 55% off selected Penny Scallan stock today only!!

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Tell us a bit about yourself: what makes you tick?

I live in the beautiful leafy suburb of Wahroonga in Sydney, NSW and I absolutely love running my own business.

I started out as a primary school teacher, moved to marketing and product management in the IT sector, and ended up lecturing at a university.  Sounds a bit dry doesn’t it?  Wait, it gets better!! Three children later I worked on a plan to be able to have more time to be right amongst their lives as well as feeding my own appetite for working and ShopHouse was born.

My friends and family mean a lot to me, they are my world.  So I’m happiest when I’m with them – this means lots of impromptu dinner parties, good red wine and laughter.  (I sound so middle-aged don’t I?!)

Apart from my family and friends, my other great love is coffee.  I’ll meet you in a coffee shop for a chat anytime.

Tell us a little about your business?

ShopHouse was born over a coffee (of course) at our kitchen bench.  Operating for just over 2 years, we have strived (and our customers tell us we have succeeded!) in developing a wonderful shopping experience through our gorgeous products, new and improved website, with a priority on customer service (we ship overnight delivery for just $6.95 Australia-wide).

I have a great team of people working with me: Brenda, our customer service and finance team member, and our two part-time packing fairies, Rachael and Sharon,  without whom we couldn’t get all of those wonderful parcels out the door and on to your doorsteps within 24 hours.

Our customers are very loyal and we love seeing them come back again and again and again.  We have created a business that I am just so proud of.

ShopHouse is a great name. Does it have a meaning?

Our name originates from the wonderful traditional Shophouses found in South East Asia.  The concept of a Shophouse contains a shop with a separate space for living. Especially found in Singapore, the old-fashioned Shophouse has recently been revived with a urbanised edge.  One of the most important features of a shophouse is the open-to-sky spaces that provide lots of natural daylight and fresh air (we designed our website on that brief).  Residents of a traditional Shophouse would use this space for quiet reflection, places to dry laundry, or for cooking, playing and reading.  It’s a space for living, and we see our store as a place for living too.

You stock a lot of beautiful products. Where do you find them, and what do you look for when finding them for your store?

I spend many hours researching the best and most unique brands available.  We have an extensive selection process to ensure that only the finest quality of products are presented. Products have to be useful and/or very very beautiful!

What are your 5 favourite baby and kids designers right now?

I absolutely love Oobi Baby + Kids.  The Summer 09 collection has been extremely popular and is so easy to mix and match.

ShopHouse and Cocoon Couture are right in the middle of a love affair at the moment!  The quality of these products are absolutely amazing.  The beanbags, wall charts, wooden charms and Christmas sacks should be a part of every single home – truly an inspiring decorating dream.

ShopHouse is very loyal to mill&mia, who are the epitome of designer children’s fashion, in my humble opinion.  The cut and fabric of every piece is superb and so wearable for kids. Think ‘the perfect Christmas Day outfit’.  It is a wonderful day when we receive our mill&mia shipment for the season.

One of our all time faves is Penny Scallan.  Renowned for fabulous backpacks, insulated lunchboxes, bags for Mum, swimbags and overnight bags – the designs are scrumptious and so very popular.  My favourites this season have been Navy Star, Blue Stripe and Daisy designs.  What I love most about this brand is that you can give your kids the ‘designer traveler’ look so simply – team a Daisy lunchbox with matching overnight bag and you’re all set for a weekend at Nan’s place. Or how about grabbing your Navy Star swimbag and matching mini backpack and heading down to the beach.  You get the idea.  Sweet.

Our final favourite designer right now is Milestone Press, and my what a buzz they are creating around the place at the moment.   We are so proud to be offering our customers the beautifully bound ‘Master Planner’ diary (perfect Christmas gift for busy Mums) – the diary for right now and up until Jan 2010, ‘About Me’ baby book and ‘My School Days’ record book (document each precious year of school in one brilliant folder – get one for each child).  The girls at Milestone Press know exactly what we need in these essential items – good looks, quality and usability.

What’s your favourite thing about running an online store?

The best thing about owning and running an online store is the limitless boundaries available to the business.  I get a great feeling when we receive orders from faraway countries where buyers are seeking fantastic Aussie designer products.  I have found that an online business can also move quickly with changes and trends which is gratifying – it means we can keep up with our discerning customers, and what they want in an online shopping experience.

Our suppliers are another great part of running an online store.  Developing long term business partnerships is important to us, and this, coupled with working daily with the wonderful ShopHouse team, keeps my days busy and brilliant.

Apart from all of that, my most favourite thing about running an online store is the people I get to meet, the customers, who never fail to impress with beautiful compliments and comments about their experiences at ShopHouse – Cheers!

Visit the ShopHouse blog for news on what’s happening now, and coming soon to ShopHouse.

That old adage “Time flies when you’re having fun” really resonates with me now I have children. The days certainly do fly past!

To help you preserve your precious memories comes Milestone Press’ – www.milestonepress.com.au – fabulous modern take on the baby book, A Book About Me: for memories of pregnancy and birth to age five ($44.95).

Half the battle for me is getting organised. A Book About Me takes the guesswork out of the process, providing clear direction while still being flexible to individual needs.

The book is A4 in size and is robust hardback. The unique design features screws allowing you to easily remove the pages that don’t suit your family, or add additional pages where you need them – no more blank space or empty pages. A zip-lock plastic pocket is included in the back to store items that are too special to glue.

Just a few of the special features of A Book About Me are extra pages to include as many families as possible (simply remove those you don’t need), free pages are available from the Milestone Press website to personalise the book for same sex families or for ‘mom’ instead of ‘mum’, it focuses on the father’s experience as well as the mother’s and it’s very tasteful.

A Book About Me is a winning combination which lets the uniqueness and richness of your family life shine.

If you have moved beyond the early years, and have been looking for a way to keep prized school mementos together, or a simple journal to record childhood experiences and dreams, then My School Days: a Record Book ($34.95) is for you.

It is designed for the Australian school systems from the first year of school (prep, kindergarten or reception) to Year 12, provides an easy way to record and remember the tastes and thoughts of the time (favourite subjects, TV Shows and friends), and the pages form pockets for each year level to store artwork, stories, photos and report cards.

What a good idea!

Keep your eye out also for Milestone Press’ Master Plan Diary, a revolutionary long range diary and planner, available at the end of July.

To celebrate the launch of their online store, Fiona and Annabel at Milestone Press are generously offering KidStyleFile readers free postage until the end of July 2008.

Enter KSF07 at the coupon code section at checkout to redeem this offer.

Looking for backpacks, bags, tags, drink bottles, sleeping gear, lunch bags and snack keepers, smocks and aprons, sun-hats, rain gear, hair accessories, dress-ups, creative play solutions, funky toys and gifts, and the coolest accessories??

Search no longer: it’s all here at Kinder Kaboodle – www.kinderkaboodle.com.au!

A concept store especially for the pre-schooler, school age and creche-going child, whether you need backpacks and bags, drink bottles, sun-wear, rain-wear, art-ware or sleepover supplies, Kinder Kaboodle is the place for you.

With an incredible range across brands including Alex & Charli, Bazoongi Kids, Bestever, Bobble Art, Boys Don’t Wear Bows, Charlie and Lola, Chelona, Chick Pea, Cocoon Couture, Crocodile Creek, Cupcakes Jewellery, Feef , Fruity Faces, Goldfish Gifts, Happy Guru, Hotbods, Jam Industries, Kiddysac, Kids Cold Packs, Little Chipipi, Little Swish, Milestone Press, Mini Rhubarb, Mini Whisk, 4 My Earth, Oscar Blue, Penny Scallan, Rolly Poly Kids, Rush, Smelly Welly, Tatiri, The Bag Tag Studio, Vintage Kid, Western Chief, and Zebra Crossing Club there is something for every taste and need.

No more rushing around different places looking, Kinder Kaboodle is *the* source!

The question here is not what to buy, but what *not* to buy!! Last week I purchased some new Feef smocks, Alex & Charli drink bottles, and extra Starfish Bump Buddy (can’t have too many of these!!), and I just noticed these socks, which I think we maybe can’t live without!!

I must say that Bernice at Kinder K really goes all out with her gift wrapping; it’s gorgeous! Also, she included a very sweet little gift with the order. Make a purchase and you’ll get one too

To get 15% off the purchase price store-wide pick up a copy of My Child or Australian Parents magazine and access the special discount code.

(Not near a newsagent? Leave a comment on this post, or email me, and I’ll send you the code.)

Note 2 Dec 2009: this code is now expired.

As the rain pitter-pats outside my window, my first pick of the day is the Penny Scallan rainwear, just landed at Kinder Kaboodle.

The new Penny Scallan raincoats ($49.95) are so soft to touch (not stiff like as per usual ‘plastic’ raincoats situation) and look so groovy! Match them with the new Penny Scallan Boy Stripe and and Penny Scallan Girl Stripe Gumboots ($29.95 per pair) for wet-weather readiness.

Also, I’m loving the new Penny Scallan Pop-up Umbrellas ($19.95), which fold down to a compact 23cm – ideal for popping in school bags.

Other things on the shopping list today:

(Beautiful, huh? Colours make me feel good!!)

I can’t let today’s post go by without mentioning the Feef smocks ($34.95) which I deem to be the best smocks in existence. I know this from experience; we have literally 10 different kinds, and the Feef smocks are the only ones that don’t soak through. They are a made from a thick, but soft, coated fabric that really protects clothes; no more Napisan-ing after playgroup!

If you’re in the market for a super-cool lunch bag for your little one, consider the Bestever Lunch Bags ($29.95 $23.95) How cool is this Croc? also available in Puppy Dog and Zebra.

For drink bottles, you can’t go past Alex & Charli’s Drink Bottles ($14.95) – goodness knows I didn’t

A beautiful new addition to Kinder Kaboodle’s super range of bags are the Chickpea range of products. How gorgeous are these Chickpea Library Bags ($25.95) with their divine vintage-retro prints?

If you are looking for solid colour bags, I highly commend the Kiddysac bags. We have been using our bags for 4 months now and they still look new!!

To ensure your child’s bag doesn’t get lost, consider attaching a Personalised Bag Tag (only $9.95 including postage!) from The Bag Tag Studio. Bernice at Kinder Kaboodle will take your order, and send it to The Bag Tag Studio, who will create your tags and sends it direct to you on Bernice’s behalf to speed up the delivery process. These tags are great quality and come in a wide range of gorgeous styles.

Other things I’m eyeing off are the new cooking products from Mini Whisk (starting from $15.95), the super-cute Bestever bag accessories, $8.95, (pictured above in Bird and Dog, and also available in Sheep and Lion) and the My School Days Record Book ($34.95) from Milestone Press.

Kinder Kaboodle charge $6.00 for parcels up to 500gms and $9.00 for parcels 501gms-3kg, Australia wide. Orders over 3kg will display the charge at checkout. Orders over $120 are shipped free!

International shipping is available. Contact Bernice at Kinder Kaboodle for a fast and friendly quote.