Hide & Seek in the Rose Garden

Auckland is blessed with the most gorgeous rose garden open year-round to the public. I know there are people out there who are blessed with a green thumb & can grow these beautiful blooms, my mother-in-law is one of 'those' people, but I have to make do visiting the Parnell Rose Gardens to get my fix of the delicious smelling flower in all their glory.

Saturday afternoon was our first trip of the year to the gardens. We had to time our visit just right to ensure the gardens were empty of all visitors there to appreciate the flowers in a meditative, quiet state. There is nothing quiet or demur about our visit to the gardens! The flowers tower over my two girls (4yrs & 2yrs) & they love nothing more than to race around the winding paths, squealing at the tops of their lungs, getting completely & utterly lost.

Hide & seek with littlies is funny at the best of times (you know, they bury their faces on the couch, bums in air & think you can't see them because they can't see you!) - but hide & seek in a rose garden is especially trying when you have a princess of a daughter! Our dear Tia would be all excited to seek the 'hiders' ... she'd take a couple of fast strides & stop short to smell another glorious flower that happened to be at nose height. And try as we might to tell her that the petals on the ground aren't really a 'clue' that someone has left like in the storybooks, she insisted on collecting each & every one!

So much fun!

Can you guess what my theme of this post will be? Yep, handmade creations for kids incorporating flowers, flowers & more flowers!

Clockwise from top left:

1. Karric - Flower wall hanging http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1232

2. Natural Star - Pink merino beanie http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=630

3. Creative Aertz- Best Friend Rose Bunny (add personalised name & date of birth!) http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1351

4. Gidyy Giraffe - Whimiscal Rose Draw Knob http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1269

5. Made it Baby - tunic top http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1255

6. Imba Designs - Cherry Blossom Dress http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1161

7. Yours, Naturally - Pure Rosehip Oil http://littlekiwisnest.co.nz/product.php?VP=1290

Behind the Scenes - OhBaby photo shoot!

The week has arrived for the spring edition of OhBaby magazine (NZ ) to hit the newstands ... which means we can finally share our behind the scene view of our photo shoot!

Firstly we should back up a touch to give you the background. Amy & I were two months into selling our handcrafted kidswear when we received an email from the stylist of OhBaby asking if we'd allow them to include our spring range in their next issue. OF COURSE WE WOULD!!! I think we both nearly fell off our perches in excitment!

We didn't let on that we didn't actually HAVE a spring range apart from two garments in pretty pink rose fabrics. So a rushed trip to the local fabric store saw us buy armloads of co-ordinating rose-print fabrics. Next came a meeting where were drew up our ideas, delegated designs & parted ways with a stash of materials each.

The next few weeks are a somewhat blur of activity. Late nights in our respective sewing holes (Amy has a nook in her loungeroom & I have taken over our hallway) & days spent juggling kids & sewing. MAYHEM. Just to drum home the mayhem statement ... Check these photos out!

The first if of my daughter & her friend hiding in the spare room with my pin cushion. They thought it was the best game to cover the floor in these tiny, shiny things! Believe me, it took weeks to find all the pins after this little adventure!

The second photo is what was my loungeroom! Fabric strewn over every inch of

floor space - & the rest! (Anyone wanna volunteer to clean up after me?!?)

With sample pieces hot of the sewing machine we braved the cold winds & took our girls out to the park for a photo session. The day was COLD! The bigger girls seemed not to notice too much & had a great time flying their ribbon sticks & watching their skirts & dresses twirl. The little kids weren't as sure!

So that's where I'll leave this blog! Next post we'll share behind the scenes photos of the actual magazine shoot. There are some CLASSIC shots so be sure to come back to read more!

In the meantime, here's where you can buy our range of clothes, accessories, room decor & more... http://madeitbaby.co.nz