The Christmas Fairy

Its fast approaching the big day, and we are starting to get pretty excited at Herbert and Stella. The shop is all trimmed up with hundreds of twinkling lights outside, and garlands, baubles and feathers inside.

At home I haven't yet started - it usually takes 3 - 4 days to get it all done, we like Christmas! However, for the avoidance of doubt, there shall be no giant inflateables, humongous Santas on the roof, and no 'lights - lookers' drive to our place to gawp! No, in fact you would struggle to find any tinsel, or horreur - lametta. However I am not ruling it out as it could be fab in an ironic kind of way one year, or on a 'kids tree' that can be as kitsh as can be!

When I had my daughter, I started to think of the traditions we did as a family at Christmas, and the kind of traditions that I wanted to start, for my little family. One of my favourites has to be 'The Christmas Fairy'
Every year, on Christmas Eve, just before bath time, the door bell mysteriously rings - everyone rushes to look who is there but there is only a big box with a huge ribbon on top. The Christmas Fairy usually delivers a new pair of pyjamas for everyone, a Christmas story, a movie and a few little treats. Very exciting, and everyone has super new PJ's for the photos on Christmas morning :)

Here are my favourite PJ's for the family this year

Christmas Babygrow - frugi
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/babygrow-christmas-print.html

Maximilian Moose Romper - Olive & Moss
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/maximilian-the-moose-playsuit.html

Mushroom Forest Nightie - Helen Gordon
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/nightie-mushroom-forest.html

Birdhouse PJ's - Old Rectory
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/pyjamas-birdhouse.html

Patchwork Monster PJ's - Frugi
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/patchwork-monster-pyjamas.html

T Rex PJ's Ava & Luc
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/pyjamas-t-rex.html

Horses PJ's Ava & Luc
http://herbertandstella.co.uk/pjyamas-horses.html

And for me, these..

 Or maybe these, both from Fatface.

 

And for Tom, maybe a onesie, just to see his face! Onesie from Jack Wills

Monster Mash

Are you feeling spooky? We certainly are here! Boo! Ahem.... Anyway, as its that time of year we have decided to embrace everything ghostly and spellbinding and get into the 'spirit' of Hallowe'en.

One of our suppliers, the fabulous Frugi is running a Hallowe'en window dressing competition. They have had some amazing entries, so we aren't expecting a win, but we thought it would be fun to enter anyway. So, here is our attempt!

We are now stockists of Oskar & Ellen toys. You can see the crocodile dressing up set in the photo above, and in our competition window version #2 the 'ghost ship' Jolly Roger Pirate Galleon is floating around. (We sold the Mini Grand Piano, so had to adapt the display). The Fairytale castle is also in shot, with the witch on one of the castle turrets!

Other spooky items in stock include:

Frugi Spider Detail Rugby Top

mini rodini kitten dress

monster top - frugi

To every season turn, turn...

The sky is clear and blue, the sun blindingly low and there is a definite chill in the air - Autumn is certainly here! With that in mind I thought I would do a round up of our favourite items to keep your children cosy.

Frugi Cord Dress with Elephant Applique

boys reversible padded pram suit

mini rodini biker onesie

parka by mini rodini

Frugi Snuggle Fleeces

Belle & Boo. First Meet Day Dress

She Doesn't 'Do' Pink

Victoria Beckham famously said regarding her daughters wardrobe, "Harper doesn't do pink". It is clear that Mrs Beckham is not alone in wanting to choose beautiful garments which are not any of the typically sickening shades of pink the mass market clothing retailers bombard us with! I know I personally tried to avoid a lot of pink for my daughter when she was a baby, and when there are so many fabulous alternatives out there it isn't too difficult. So with that in mind I have compiled a little list of our current favourite non pink items, for baby girls, toddlers and preschoolers. All of these are available from www.herbertandstella.co.uk

mini rodini glitter sweater

Mayoral White Polo Neck

mini rodini doves dress

Mayoral Jacquard Shorts

mayoral cookie spot dress and pants

mayoral scalloped trim dress

mini rodini kitten dress

        

If money was no object : Hobbit Holes

One of my dear friends is called Klara. She is lovely and super talented and creative. I spotted this on one of her pinterest boards and thought I would share it with you - its amazing! A whole new take on a wendy house, it would look so fab secreted away in even a modest sized garden as the grass and flowers can grow up onto the living roof and blend it in beautifully to the surroundings. (Having said that, if you can afford one of these bad boys I'm sure you couldn't describe your back garden as 'modest'!)

Bilbo Baggins would be jealous of such a cool pad!

They are made by http://www.highlifetreehouses.co.uk/ who also have a amazing range of treehouses, as you would expect!

Seeing the wooden toadstools has reminded my of the fairy ring artwork we saw in August at Harlow Carr, in Harrogate. So ethereal and magical, I would love to have one in my very modest garden! The name of the artist has escaped me, but the lovely people at Harlow Carr are going to try and find out, and i will update this post with images and details as soon as I know.

While I am on a mushroom and toadstool theme, have you seen the night lightswe sell? The are so fab, we have a table lamp pictured above £29.99, or if you prefer, a floor lamp at £49.99. We will be getting more colours with our next delivery in a couple of weeks. Red, silver, pink, blue, purple - lots to choose from! All available from www.herbertandstella.co.uk/lamps.html

Winners Tree

Well, after an enthusiastic start to my blog, life overtook and I have been swapped in the chaos of AW12 deliveries. I am sure that being a beginner in this business can't have helped, and I have already found a few techniques, tricks and systems to hopefully make the processes a lot smoother in the future.

I was so wrapped up in the admin side of things I have had next to no time to do anything fun or creative really, so I am determined to sort it out and redress the balance.

I even neglected to follow up the yarn bomb pictures with the tree, complete with all of the pompoms representing all of the Team GB medals! So here it is...

Didn't they all do so well!

Yarn Bomb in Ilkley

Can you imagine the time taken to do something like this? All the planning and designing, and hours spent crafting- then how exciting when it is all ready, and on the eve of the Olympics coming and creating an installation full of colour, hopes, and dreams of glory. All anonymously.

That is what is so great about hosting the olympics. The motto of London 2012 is 'inspire a generation' And whilst not everyone (in fact very few people) are capable of the sacrifice and commitment required to turn sporting talent into Olympic standard ability, it is clear that the games have captured our imagination. People are getting out on their bikes, watching different sports to usual, and travelling hundreds of miles down London to spectate. Or knitting replicas of their favourite Olympians, and secretly stitching huge woolen patriotic socks around three trees near the fishmongers.

Here we go then...

A lot can happen in three months. And if anyone would have suggested to me in April that I would completely change my life, and start a business I would have been rather skeptical. However ideas can come from nowhere and before you know it you are standing in a little shop, surrounded by the most gorgeous collection of clothes, accessories and gifts for children, and wondering where to start with a blog.

I guess my inspiration for my shop has come from my daughter. Spending two years at home with her was such a precious time, and I wanted to be able to create an environment for her full of wonderful games, toys, experiences - by putting a lot of thought into the objects that surround us and opting for quality and ingenuity rather than quantity, and handmade or homemade rather than mass produced and disposable. I'm not saying that the odd bit of plastic isn't in the toy box - (far from it she adores Happy Land) but that the general aim was to find or create beautiful, exciting, out of the ordinary garments, gifts and toys. I have applied this principle to my little shop, Herbert and Stella. I wanted to be able to bring the brands and I love for children together, and provide an alternative choice for babies and toddler apparel.

I'm guessing this blog will be about all sorts really. Ups and downs, good ideas and bad. I have never had a shop before and have so much to learn - it is all very exciting. From the fun stuff like window displays (both the triumphs and disasters!) and buying stock, to the tiresome and dull (meta tags, SEO bleurgh) and generally whatever is happening in my little corner of the world!

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