modeco kids

I was surprised when a couple of people who read my blog told me that they didn’t realize that Sweetbeets is my stationery company! I guess this is a sign I should make it more obvious, and I’ve added links to the top right sidebar listing other places where you can find me online.

How would you like to win a selection of 20 Sweetbeets cards?

You’ll be all stocked up with eco-friendly, letterpress stationery for thank you notes and gift enclosure cards for future baby showers and birthdays. This prize has a retail value of over $75!

I’d love to expand the wholesale side of my business and thought I’d combine this Sweetbeets giveaway with a request for your help.

To be eligible for the giveaway, please leave a comment suggesting a retail shop you know that might be interested in carrying Sweetbeets. I’m looking for brick-n-mortar shops (with a physical location) in Canada, USA or International. Consider baby boutiques, gift shops, eco-chic boutiques and stationery stores, and if they have a focus on indie designed goods all the better! You can click here to see the current list of Sweetbeets retailers.

I’m going to take a bit of a break from blogging while I work on some new Sweetbeets designs that I plan to have available in September. When I return I’ll announce the winner!

:: leave ONE comment on this post with your name
:: suggest a shop you think is a good fit for Sweetbeets
:: the contest closes noon EST on Friday September 5th
:: the winner will be picked via random draw
:: the winner will be announced September 5th
:: the winner must claim prize by September 10th

Thank you in advance for participating. I’m looking forward to your suggestions!

Technorati Tags: letterpress stationery, Sweetbeets, eco-friendly stationery, letterpress cards, giveaway, made in Canada

August 14th, 2008 Lisa posted in giveaways | 13 Comments »

At Nayla Natural Care you’ll find a variety of products for you and your family, but I’d have to say their niche is one-stop shopping for safe, non-toxic, high quality skin and body products. This Canadian online boutique is owned and operated by a family in Ottawa and it launched recently. Their curated selection of natural products is the result of this thoughtful approach:

There are so many products out there that claim to be “all natural” or “organic” but the truth is that you really have to do your homework and read ingredient labels to know what you are really buying…. We have gathered some of the best products that we have used with our family over the years as well as a lot of new ones. We’ve spent countless hours researching these products, their ingredients and talking with their manufacturers.

They even took it a step further by recruiting other families to test products before they decided which lines to carry (and only the very best products made the cut). You can read their product reviews and add your own too!

I thought it would be fun to pull together a selection of goodies as though I were shopping for a baby shower gift. Here are my top picks: Angel Baby diaper rash soap, SwaddleMe wrap, Baby Beaver massage butter, Duide protecting balm.

As much as I love discovering new products, I love browsing a shop and finding products that I’ve featured on this blog! At Nayla Natural Care you’ll also find Canadian RiNGLEY natural teething toy and All Things Jill natural skin care which you may remember from a previous post.

See something that’s caught your eye? Worldwide shipping is available. There’s even free shipping within Canada for orders over $150!

(images via naylanaturalcare.com)

Technorati Tags: natural skin care, organic body care, Canadian online shop, baby gifts

August 14th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, gear, retailer spotlights, skin care | No Comments »

Earlier today I discovered Tiny Décor, a children’s design blog that focuses on natural and modern decor for your baby’s nursery. The author is gearing up to launch her own line of handmade, eco-friendly nursery decor including these really neat felt buckets that are perfect for quick and easy storage.

Via Tiny Décor, I stumbled upon a very cool find:

This collection of organic play food is not only wonderfully designed but it’s also biodegradable! It’s created by Montreal-based looolo, which you’ve probably seen around the design blogs (there’s even a sneak peek of the designer’s home here!).

(images via looolo.ca)

Technorati Tags: play food, organic toys

August 12th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, playtime | No Comments »

A few months ago via Etsy I connected with Tracey and started reading her blog Paper Dolls for Boys about crafting, thrifting and raising two boys. She’s got a fun writing style - very down-to-earth with a good sense of humor! I’m really excited for her now that she’s opened an Etsy shop of her own to sell her thrift store scores. You’ll find lots of vintage goodies for kids for play or display including these vintage wooden blocks, a Simplex puzzle from the early 1950s, a Lindstrom’s toy sewing machine, and some Strombecker mid-century modern doll house furniture. Congrats Tracey!

Technorati Tags: vintage toys, Etsy, doll house furniture, vintage blocks, vintage toy sewing machine, simplex puzzle

August 12th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor, playtime, vintage | 1 Comment »

Little Bodhi is “essentials for the enlightened baby”. Great tag line! This Canadian online baby boutique specializes in organic baby clothing, fair trade accessories and non toxic wooden toys. You’ll even find cool music for babies including lullaby renditions of Bob Marley. This CD caught my eye since my husband and I recently watched a documentary movie about him.

They also offer a pretty unique service: free customized birth announcements that you can email, blog or print to share the news of your baby’s arrival with your family and friends. To be eligible new parents need only sign up for a gift registry.

I love the colors and styling of these toddler shoes by Umi for children up to 24 months. Too bad I didn’t know of this brand when my boys were that young! Apparently this brand was recognized by Consumer Reports® as one of their top recommendations for baby’s first shoe. I don’t know if this brand is exclusive to Little Bodhi, but a quick search of Canadian retailers at Umi’s website suggests it’s hard to find these children’s shoes elsewhere in Canada.

(image via littlebodhi.com)

Technorati Tags: e-boutique, baby boutique, children’s boutique, Canada, organic baby

August 10th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, clothes, gear, playtime, retailer spotlights, shoes | No Comments »

This creative window display is the storefront of Bouton Jaune, a baby boutique in Montreal.

Technorati Tags: storefront, window display, baby boutique, Montreal

July 30th, 2008 Lisa posted in RETAILERS, storefronts | No Comments »

Here are some of the most beautiful, handcrafted mobiles I found on Etsy. I love how this butterfly mobile considers the baby’s perspective, with all the butterflies facing down. This unique fishing line mobile really “caught” my eye! Below is a simply gorgeous and gender neutral pinwheel mobile that can be customized with your choice of color and number of pinwheels.

Handmade Japanese paper is folded to make this peace crane mobile with gemstone beads. This green fish mobile is made from ribbons and I cannot believe it is only $15! The artist’s Etsy shop is brand new, but she’s been making these mobiles for over 25 years. This star mobile is made from 14 hand-folded paper stars that are lightly dusted with glitter for just a touch of sparkle. Different colors are available.

Technorati Tags: handmade, mobiles, baby, nursery, Etsy, children’s spaces

July 27th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor | No Comments »

I love the way artist Sofia Arnold overlaps the colors in her 2-color screenprint to make a third color. This 6×8 inch print is available at her Etsy shop for a mere $15 and would be lovely in a child’s room.

Technorati Tags: Etsy, handmade, screen printed, screenprint, artwork, illustration

July 25th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor, paper goods | 1 Comment »

I love the philosophy behind Hazel Wood Children that’s so eloquently expressed by boutique owner Jennifer:

When you consider it, our choices as parents have a tremendous influence on the way our children will eventually see the world. Again and again I asked myself, isn’t it even more important to surround a child with such beauty? Why not nurture these values in every way possible, rather than settle for the plastic and ordinary?

You can read more here. I had the opportunity to meet Jennifer when I was in NYC and she visited my booth at the National Stationery Show. She’s so down-to-earth! I’ve been meaning to post about her online children’s boutique for such a long time, so the other day I finally did some leisurely browsing and wanted to show you my favorites.

Letterpress prints by Old School Stationers
Serendipity 100% organic cotton baby blouse
One-of-a-kind handmade sailboat by Ann Wood
Alphabet cards by Ida Pearle

(images via hazelwoodchildren.com)

Technorati Tags: children’s boutique, kids, baby, independent artists, indie designers, retailer spotlight

July 23rd, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor, clothes, paper goods, retailer spotlights | No Comments »

The intro to Cici Art Factory’s custom portraits says they will help you “capture the memory of your child’s magical preschool years”. This is so true! This original painting reminds me of my two sons and their birthday parties last year when we had a ’space’ theme complete with a cardboard rocketship.

The artist is Liz Clay and she’s also a mompreneur who lives in Canada. I had the opportunity to connect recently with Liz about something unrelated and she mentioned that she uses eco-conscious painting products such as organic/hemp weave canvas, stretcher bars from BC lumber, low VOC primer and quality artist paints from a family-run Canadian company.

Liz’s whimsical artwork for children’s spaces is available at Cici Art Factory and also at her Etsy shop. She offers 12 different themes and each painting is personalized with your child’s hair, eye and skin tones. You’ll even notice in the image above the initials on each astronaut’s suit!

(images via ciciartfactory.com)

Technorati Tags: art, children’s spaces, personalized, custom, portrait, kids

July 22nd, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor | No Comments »