Lode ...

... a new house, family visiting and a new baby brother is quite a lot to handle for a 3 year old, but he is coping very well and that makes me a very proud mom ... yesterday when I was doing some unpacking and decorating upstairs in the bedrooms I caught him playing with my little crochet project, normally I would get angry but I forgave him, he didn't really touch the work he was just playing with the threads like a little kitten ... seeing him like this made me realize that I want to spend a whole week playing with him and giving him my complete attention, he deserves it! So I won't be posting this week anymore but come back to you next Monday with a fabulous new (Dutch) Open House Tour and a new Win on Wednesday ... which reminds me of reminding you :: do enter for last weeks WOW :: the 2 prices you can win are just the best and have such a high value ... (if not  for yourselves, how about winning a price to give away to another lucky person?)

...some of our new wall decoration in Kiet's baby room, I'm very happy with the result, the beautiful wall-Safari-graphic from Wee Gallery, and the gorgeous jungle mobile from Petit Collage and 2 embroidered linen panels by me ...

#351 made by mosey

Madeleine Sargen from Melbourne sent me an email telling me about her Mosey products. Being a mother of two, Madeleine is an expert in all things soft, cute and cuddly and everything is made by hand with love and care by herself. The bird and butterfly mobiles are so beautiful, I'm considering buying one myself for little Kiet... who by the way is doing fantastic, he is growing, waking me up a lot during the night :) but that's all worth it ... show you some images after the weekend...

..Made by Mosey..
..Mosey's online shop..

2 prices to win today!

What can you win :: A cute apünktchen cab AND a Nutcase streethelmet from Line+Liv
What do you have to do :: just leave a comment telling us about an idea, review or an inspiration for the Line+Liv blog
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday July 1 and notified via email.

I think today's giveaway is a contest you have to take 'serious' ... because winning a Nutcase streethelmet like this is so important for your child's safety! Your child will definitely not mind wearing an awesome helmet like this and you can feel a bit less worried when he or she starts cycling, skateboarding or else ... and I can honestly say that the apünktchen cab  is just awesome, Lode loves to wear it here at home ... Thanks so much Wiebke for offering these prices!

The winner from last week is Jennifer (blueskyjen) and she will win the beautiful prints from haciendo el indio

..Line+Liv..
..Line+Liv online shop..
..Line+Liv blog..

... and this is Lode (my son) with his apünktchen cab which he loves wearing!

#350 Kindling

Kindling is the label from Nina O'Brien from Australia ... Nina loves printing, drawing and sewing ... and her collection includes womens, mens and childrens clothing aswell as papergoods and other bits and bobs ... and of course I like her work very much otherwise I would not have shown it to you ... Nina's focus is encorporating beautiful designs with her original illustrations, and she produces everything as sustainably as possible.

..Kindling..
..Kindling blog..

Mom story :: Ellen, my big sister

It is super fun for me to have my super sweet sister, Ellen here today as a guest ... she lives in Dorking in the UK with her 2 fantastic boys and her husband. Of course I miss her dearly but only a couple of more weeks and we will spend some quality time here in KL together. A little bit about my sister ... she is just the most trustworthy, friendly and humble person you can find on this planet and she knows best how to make me really laugh ... we truly enjoy each others humor ... very important for a good friendship... Love You!
Please click here to read my sister's mom story and see some images of her beautiful home ...

..Ellen's Mom story..
..Other Mom stories..

... i'm signing off for the weekend ... to many things to do in our new home, but I would like to let all of you know who send me an email with a question .... I will get back to you next week, promise! ... enjoy and relax..ps. on Monday a new Mom Story ...

#349 Sublime Stitching

People who know me very well know that I love to embroider and when discovering sublime stitching it brought me to a whole new embroider-world! A huge variety of funky patterns, embroider-stationery, bibs and journals .... everything is possible at Sublime Stitching ... the creative mind behind this cool label is  artist Jenny Hart from Austin, Texas. Jenny founded Sublime Stitching in 2001 after being unable to find alternative designs for embroidery that appealed to her, therefore Jenny decided to make them herself... and she succeeded very well ...

..Sublime Stitching website..
..Sublime Stitching blog..
..Sublime Stitching books..

Win amazing prints today

What can you win :: The beautiful illustrated Small World print and a set of Sweet Home prints from haciendo el indio
What do you have to do :: just leave a comment telling us what you like about like most in haciendo el indi's online shop
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday June 24 and notified via email.

After working for large companies and influenced by her own children, illustrator and designer, Cristina Serrano, one day changed the big city for a spot near the Mediterranean where she remembered the language of kids and invented a new story: haciendo el indio... have a look right here ...

..haciendo el indio..
..haciendo el indio online shop..

The winner from last week is Janna and she will win the soft toy animals bag from Bookhou.

#348

A beautiful package or should I say 3 packages arrived in our mailbox just days after our son Kiet was born (already 3 months ago) ... beautiful cards with envelopes, a garland and a set lovely stickers all personalised with Kiet his name on it ...Robin Schudy made the whole set and if you visit her website you will find all the other nice things she can make for you, busy mom-cards, invitations, thank yous and more ... I think every mom is even more happy when a present with the new name of the new baby shines on a present, it makes the arrival so much more real ... a BIG thank you to you Robin!

..Gaddie and Tood..
..Gaddie and Tood blog..

#347

Hi everyone, I hope you had a lovely weekend. My parents arrived just before the weekend and we are enjoying some quality time together. If you live so far away from each other it's very important to have days like these, so this week only a couple of posts, but some very nice ones, like the delicate work by Suna Rurhen a designer living in New York, but who grew up in the Japanese peninsula of Chiba. When Kiet was born a super sweet little package arrived and in the package there were these super sweet little boottees, the fabric is so soft and I love the pattern. Kiet wears them with pride and gets many compliments! Please have a look at Hummingbaby's website and you will discover a world of beautiful handmade items...

..Hummingbaby..
..Hummingbaby art..

#346

I'm probably the last on earth to discover the amazing blog 'Katie did' ... this mom from Brooklyn with two girls and a boy sews the most gorgeous chlothes for her children which she shows on her blog with fantastic images ... I don't think she sells her creations, because I couldn't find a shop ... but I did find this great tutorial ...

... flower collar tutorial by Katie did right here ...

..Katie did..
..Katie did flower tutorial..

Bookhou giveaway

What can you win :: a fantastic bag of Canadian soft toy animals from Bookhou
What do you have to do :: just leave a comment telling us what you like about Bookhou before Tuesday June 16.
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday June 17 and notified via email.

My dear friend Arounna from the super beautiful shop, studio and art atelier is offering one of her handmade soft toys bag and I wish I could enter my comment too, but of course one of you should be the winner, so please leave your comment after visiting Bookhou's website and let us know what you think...good luck!

..Bookhou kids..
..Arounna's craft projects on B:Kids..

The winner from last week is Elaina and she will win one set of 20 greeting cards from CreativeServices.

#345

Patouche from Toronto ... has a new fan ... and that's me ... I LOVE these pirate hats, probably because my son favorite activity is playing pirates, knights and other imaginative games ... Patouche celebrates exactly this wonder of childhood by giving little hints at big-time fun when imagination takes hold ...the collection of clothes for little ones with focusses on craftsmanship, natural materials and elements of play ... and  they strive to create the clothes your children will remember.

..Patouche..
..Patouche online shop..

ps. last change today to win a fantastic set of cards right here...

Open House with Nina from By Graziela

Hello, how was your weekend? Hope it was fun, relaxing and nice... it was our first in our new home and although so many things still need to be done, we were able to relax and truly enjoy having the doors open to the garden (instead of a balcony) with a swimming pool in it! Yeah with this warm weather here in KL it's simply terrific to be able to cool down in your own pool with the kids ... almost feels like your home-spa. Of course I still have to do some decorating in the kids room and when I'm finished I will show you an Open House Tour of our new home but today we have another geust :: Perhaps you have seen my previous post about ByGraziela letting you know how much I love the fabrics from ByGraziela, so of course it's very nice for me to be able to show you Nina's fantastic loft today ... enjoy!!

..click here for the Open House Tour with Nina..
..by Graziela..

#344

Patricia Zapata from a Little Hut told me about her new Alphabet birthday party invitation sets, gift boxes and flash cards. They are all offered as printable PDF files. The invitations are editable, so no more cramped hands from filling in a dozen invitations! Patricia is a very talented graphic designer, who uses her  patterns for fabrics, wall art and stationery, you can find her fabulous work at her website and would you like to know a little more about Patricia herself then click here for her blog ...

..Patricia Zapata..
..a little Hut..
..zapata design..

Wish you a lovely weekend! We're still not finished unpacking all our boxes, but our new house is simply FANTASTIC! Will tell you all about it next week!! irene xx ps. don't forget the WInOnWednesday

#343

giddy giddy... is Teri's felt accessories label for toddlers and she was one or should I say the first who started designing felt hair clips already 5 years ago ... her great collection has expanded to lot's of lovely things for mostly girls all made of felt, like bags and handcrafted backpacks, and an array of hair accessories... I really like these and sometimes wish i had a baby girl so i could dress her up with all these little pieces ...

..giddy giddy..

..giddygiddy online shop..

..giddy giddy store list..

win a set of greetingcards this Wednesday!

What can you win :: one set of 20 greeting cards of your own choice to mix and match...
What do you have to do :: just leave a comment telling us what you like about CreativeServices before Tuesday June 9.
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday June 10 and notified via email.

CreativeServices is the online design + print shop from graphic designer Lien Baert from Belgium. Lien also offers you a extra set of address labels when you order a set of birth announcements or wedding cards. 

..CreativeServices..
..greeting cards from CreativeServices..

Last weeks winner from the Penguin and Fish giveaway is Cicada Studio!

#342

When a new baby arrives and is spoiled with new presents... the eldest may be standing empty handed with a sad smile on his or her face... not always easy to share attention I am afraid, not to mention presents... but Erika from the lovely miko design made my eldest son extremely happy when together with a package for Kiet, my youngest, she also gave a little bag to Lode containing a long garland of flags, made of hand-printed fabrics, just gorgeous! Lode immediately thought that these flags were meant for his castle, that is what he calls his room sometimes, soon his castle would be wrapped in flags... proudly he was standing in his now finished castle ... fantastic to see how his imagination was running wild when he saw these handmade flags! Thanks Erika!!

..miko design online shop..
..miko design blog..
..miko design Open House Tour..

ps. don't forget to leave a comment for the penguin and fish giveaway..

#341

Everybody in blogland knows that I'm a big fan of Heather Moore aka Skinny Laminx's prints, textiles and fabrics ... and of course she makes me extremely happy when sending me a t-shirt like this (bottom-left corner) for my my little baby boy Kiet ... he will look even more adorable or should I say fab in this monster shirt then he already is ... the shirts are not available via Heather's etsy shop but online over at the fantastic LittleBig shop.

..Skinny Laminx T-shirts online at  LittleBig Shop..
..Skinny laminx blog..
..Skinny Laminx online shop..

#339

Aren't these not the most adorable shorties you have ever seen ... Handmade Charlotte ... is the 'handmade' label from Rachel Faucett, a mom of five children, yes I know we definitely have to invite Rachel for the Mom-stories and tell us how it is to raise five children and create such beautiful clothing and find time to write/update a truly beautiful blog! ps. thank you so much Rachel for sending the gorgeous fortune cookie shorties in the right corner!

..Handmade Charlotte online shop..
..Handmade Charlotte blog..

giveaway today from penguin and fish

What can you win :: 2 fantastic embroidery patterns of your choice (pdf files will be emailed to the winner)
What do you have to do :: leave a comment and any ideas on what animals Alyssa should do for any of the remaining letters are very welcome ...
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday June 3 and notified via email

Today you can win 2 super gorgeous embroidery patterns made by Alyssa Thomas from penguin and fish ... Alyssa almost finished the whole alphabet with original animal illustrations that you can embroider on sleepig bags, t-shirts, wall canvasses etc. I think they are awesome ... and love Lode's Lion and can't wait for Kiet's perhaps kangaroo ...

Alyssa also offers a 'buy any pattern' and 'get one pattern for free' for all you B:Kids readers until Tuesday June second next week...just type in "BloesemKids" and write down the second pattern you would like to receive into the "Message to Seller" box in the checkout ... such a nice offer, thanks Alyssa!

..penguin and fish..
..penguin and fish blog..

Last weeks winner from the SHirin Kids giveaway is Cheryl White!

Important message: as of tomorrow I will only have sporadic access to the internet ... therefore responding to your emails will start on Wednesday June 3 again ...thanks for your patience ...of course the posting will keep continuing, so hope to see you back this week.

#338

Since Kiet's birth we are often listening to the very nice piano music by Lori Henriques, a musician (and teacher) from L.A. who recently launched her first printed album "Lullaby Piano" ... and Kiet loves it, it makes him sleepy and I strongly believe that this kind of music is very good for babies. Together with her brother, the artist and painter Joel Henriques, Lori designed the beautiful cover of the cd ... they used one of her grandmother's paintings for the patterns behind the shapes ... the cd is available via I-tunes or visit Lori's website for more order information... enjoy the music and thank you Lori!

..Lori Henriques..
..Lullaby Piano..

#337

Today I'm posting about two family members from the US, Joel and Lori Henriques (see post above) ... both very artistic and talented. I have written about Joel's artwork before on Bloesem and I was again amazed by his new creative adventure ... beautiful wooden toys ... Joel doesn't have enough supply yet o start up an online shop but you can most certainly email him for more information if you are interested in buying something from this beautiful collection ...

..joel little website..

..contact Joel Henriques..

http://homepage.mac.com/jch200/joellittle/index.html

New Column :: Mom stories ::

Yes, today is the launch of my new column, which I'm very passionate about, because I believe the most brilliant thing about the internet and blogging is that we can make our world so much smaller by share our stories easily online and it gives us all so much more insight how moms and woman live in different places in the world ... so please meet my dear friend Rosalie ... who also lives in Kuala Lumpur ...
 

below are just some of the questions I asked her, would you like to read the whole story then click here ...
..Can you name some specialties from the country where you live now and you and your family really started to love or still don’t like?
To be honest, we don’t eat a lot of local food. There are a lot of choices if you want to eat out. Malay, Indian or Chinese. Indian would be our favorite I think. From the Malay kitchen it would be satay from a wellknown restaurant in Subang.
..What do you think is very different in raising your children in the country where you live now and where you were raised?
I think the difference is that she can spend much more time with me as I don’t have to work here. Back home I would have had at least a part-time job and spend less time with her. It’s really nice for her to live in a country where the weather is nice 365 days a year. She hardly gets sick or needs to wear four layers of clothing which can be so uncomfortable.

Click here for the whole story ...

..i'm in bed with a terrible cold, so I'm going to leave you with the posts below and wish you a wonderful and slow weekend ... Monday I will bring you my first Mom-Story so I hope to see you back after the weekend ... ps. don't forget to leave a comment for this weeks giveaway ... I'm very excited with the Win on Wednesday feature, becasue it's always nice to give .... irene xx

#336

Mae ... these definitely are the most original wall stickers for a girls room I have ever seen or could these also be great fun in your own bedroom ... what shall I wear today, a thought that often appears in my head :) ... Brittni from PaperNstitch told me about the lovely work by Mae from Australia ... Mae has designed a very nice collection of wall decalls and I believe there will be some new designs real soon ... very important difference with many other wall stickers is that these are made from fabric instead of vinyl!! They are even washable, which is important when it comes to those precious yet impossibly grubby little ones!

..Mae website..
..Mae at PaperNStitch..

New Column :: Giveaways every Wednesday

What can you win :: your choice of any item from the 'organic kids line'...
What do you have to do :: leave a comment below before Tuesday May 26 and tell us what you like about SHirin Kids
Winner will be announced :: Wednesday May 27 and notified via email.

Every Wednesday from now on I try to organize a great giveaway for you and today on my husbands birthday SHirin Kids is offering one of you a free shirt their from fabulous organic collection ... Shirin  Roubeni is passionate about designing her own prints. Every one of her pieces is individually hand silkscreened with water based inks which create a soft transparent look. SHirin Kids is an eco-friendly line ...

The lovely people from SHirin Kids also would like to offer all the B:Kids readers a special discount of 20% off from any purchase on SHirin store until the end of June. Just enter :: BLOESEM20 at checkout. But please note that the online store can only process US orders, for international orders, you can simply email the order to orders@shirinnyc.com incl. BLOESEM20 code and SHirin Kids will also be offering you international free shipping ... super!

..SHirin Kids website..

#335

It has only been a a little while since my last visit to petit collage and suddenly the whole shop is full with wonderful new items...Lorena you have done such a fantastic job expanding your already beautiful collection ... I like everything you have added ... the alphabet posters, the very sweet and educational board books, the fairytale height-chart and the new place mats, bibs and bottles ... wow ... Congratulations and on top of it all, people could see you on the Martha Stewart show , wish I would have been able too ...

..petit collage..
..petit collage shop..
..petit collage blog..

it's Wiebke from Line+Liv

Finally a new Open House Tour ... with the birth of Kiet and re-designing BloesemKids I simply hadn't had time to make them, but things are getting back to normal here and the re-design is almost done (hope you like it) so last week I managed to finish this first one out of new series of Open Houses to come ... Wiebke from Germany is the owner and founder of the beautiful online shop Line+Liv and she also runs a fantastic Gallery at home with her husband and today she gives us some insight in her home and family life ... enjoy the inspiration!

..click here for the Open House Tour with Wiebke..

..Line+Liv..

{ps. please come back tomorrow I have a new feature to show you which I'm sure you will love!}

hiep hiep hoera!

Welcome back ... hope you had a nice weekend? We were in the party-mood because Lode turned 3 yesterday ... yes my little boy is no baby anymore (luckily I have another one:)) ... we celebrated just with the four of us, because last weekend when his grandparents were here he already had a 'small' party with them ... but we did do some nice preparations together for the big 'treat' at school ... No I didn't makes these super fun cupcakes myself, all my friends know that my talents are not with baking and being creative in the kitchen, so we bought these funanimals at my favorite place here in Kuala Lumpur, called Wondermilk!

My husband and I both came to school with Lode this morning to watch him having this very special moment, do you see the exciting and very serious look on his face ... he was so excited and terrified at the same time ...

 

...Lode and I had much fun together making the party bags ... a big thing here at Lode's school, I'm totally new to this and although I remember from my own childhood how important it was to bring a treat to school I didn't know you also give actual party- or goody bags ... of course my son loves them and sometimes even likes to play 'party-bags' at home ... pretending it's somebodies birthday, like his sheep or panda bear ... I'm not a big fan of giving to much candy, so I decided to fill the bag with some miniature animals, growing insects and these fantastic paper-planes, do you remember them?? Luckily the 'happy' tape from famille Summerbelle arrived last Saturday, so I could use it for the name tags. I wanted to keep it all very simple and fun.

{ps. of course I asked Lode this morning what he wanted to wear on this special day and without any doubt he shouted his cowboy shirt ... and I understand why, it's a really nice t-shirt made by Karen and Joe from the fantastic Misha Lulu brand}

#334

Just before the weekend starts I want to show you some of the fantastic items you can buy over at the Pajama Squid ... to be honest I spend more than one hour in the shop, there are so many things I truly like, here a small selection ::Animal Soft Rattles Details :: Organic Wooden teething hippo toy :: Green Hippo Organic Hooded Towel Details :: the Create-it robots kit :: Stitch-it Dolly Kit ... Have Fun!

..The Pajama Squid ..
..About Tiffany, the owner ..
..The Pajama Squid Blog..

#333

I love these plush animals from Belgium based design studio Plush:) ... inspired by children an them being so spontaneous at heart the people form Plush:) wanted to start a sparkling new children’s clothing and accessories brand ... and they say: "it’s huggable. It’s cute. It’s raw and somewhat rock’n'roll!"... so I would check-out their in my opinion fantastic website!

..Plush:)..

Welcome papier mache

Congratulations to Beck, Alice and Paul for launching their first issue of their incredible online 'free' magazine for anyone who wants to read it ... and I surely want to ... it's called 'papier mache' and twice a year we will all be treated on some incredible eye candy ...

... above are just some snap-shots from issue one ... I love the colors, illustrations and graphic design of papier-mache ... the magazine focuses on DIY for kids, art, photography, beautiful editorials... and you can subscribe for free by visiting their site right here ... I'm so honored and thrilled to be part of this new magazine and hope you will all help spread the word about papier-mache and of course subscribe!

..papier mache..
..subscribe here..
..read more here.

#332

wee gallery ... the first thing I noticed when reading more information about this wonderful creative studio was how carefully founders Surya and Dave (also husband and wife) are focussed on the learning capability and having fun together when creating their beautiful products for babies and toddlers. Being parent them selfes gives them all the information they need to make and design the gorgeous colection including art cards for babies, wall-graphics, mobiles and more... I ordered the Safari Wall Graphic set for our new home ... my son imedeatly loved this one whenI showed them to him.

I also love these animal prints, which are printed on beautiful paper and will look so nice when framed. I would even hang them somewhere downstairs so the children would have some artwork they liked too in our livingroom.

..wee gallery..

..about wee gallery..

Happy Mother's Day!

I saved this fantastic guest post written by the very lovely Surya Pinto from wee gallery about an Ayurvedic Traditional recipe for New Moms ... because it's so appropriated for me right now being a new mom myself and I just love the story Surya has written about how this recipe came into her live ... you can find the whole story, recipe and more images right here ... and please enjoy this special day! Tomorrow I will show you more about Surya and her wonderful collection products she makes for her own wee gallery ...

..click here to read the whole story and recipe..

..Thank you Surya Pinto from wee gallery for giving us this recipe..

#331

ivy designs ... a children's clothing and accessories label, which was founded in 2008 by the two sisters, Wynona and Anna from Sydney, Australia... their love for simple silhouettes, creative styling and high quality designer fabrics resulted in a lovely handmade collection characterized by delightful buttons, gorgeous trims, appliqués and embroidery, which gives each piece a personal touch...and surely that is what every mom likes!

..Ivy designs website..
..Ivy designs online shop..
..Ivy designs blog..

#330

Le coeur en poche ... these are absolutely the cutest and most lovely little chrichet shoes I have ever seen, I love the color with the yellow button (and so very affordable!) ... Nathasja, a Dutch girl living in Belgium made them and she says she is totally addicted to crochet and spinning and dreams of having a little shop of her own some day ... well with beautiful handmade products like these I think she should open her doors tomorrow ... but luckily her online shop is already here ...

..Le coeur en poche online shop..

..via KaartjesHuis..

Competition

Good morning, sorry for not posting for a couple of days ... my parents in law are visiting form the Netherlands, so we spend some quality time together. This morning an email popped up in my inbox from Morgan Levine, she is one of the fabulous editors from Martha Stewart's craft department ... and she told me about a fantastic competition that I know many of you would like and really should enter ... design a new
header for their blog ... the prize :: is the bragging rights and the new Craft Encyclopedia from Martha Stewart ... it will be a great honor and publicity if you win of course!

..the crafts department at Martha Stewart..
..competition details..

#329

Nobody likes to be in the hospital and it's even more awful when your child has to be there ... I know from experience, luckily some minor things ... but I'm sure a stay in the hospital would be less horrible if it was designed like this hospital in Sweden by the Swedish designers from Wis Design ... I have often written about the women from Wis Design on Bloesem and always love what they do, including this interior design of the every day rooms at the Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital in Stockholm.

..wis design..
..wis design for the Children's Hospital..

#328

I found this bed via the Fawn&Forest notes a little while ago and was really pleased to find the company, kalon studios, who makes and designs these wonderful childrens beds and baby cribs ...the bed is set low to the ground in a clean and modern shape which allows growing children to climb in and out of bed with ease, it's really worth visiting their site, because the childrens rooms are truly eye-candy...

..kalon studios at Fawn&Forest..
..kalon studios..