Up to this point we have not offered music at Craftsbury Kids. All that has changed now that we’ve been introduced to Charlie Hope. With her fresh approach to music Charlie has created songs that are relevant to children’s lives; reflecting and respecting their experiences. It’s rare to find children’s music that is equal parts elegant and catchy, and free of fluff, appealing to both kids and adults.
I can honestly say that our entire household - from the 2 1/2 year old, all the way up to the 15 year old enjoys listening to I’m Me!Charlie Hope’s music is melodic, interactive, and sing-able for all!
I’ve decided to try something new on the blog. Every couple of weeks or so, I’ll introduce a Craftsbury Kids artist, along with a giveaway. This first time around I have four– that’s four new artists, and four fantastic giveaways to tell you about. I hope you’re as excited about these great designs as I am. Giveaway offers expire on Saturday June 14, 2009.
Pre-motherhood, Willow Baus designed accessories for a large clothing company. Now she makes little wooden sailboats with cotton sails, and toy wooden rowboats just begging to be filled with seashells, sticks, and other tiny treasures. All of the boats are designed to float on water, whether in the bathtub, or park puddles. It’s hard to choose just one of these incredibly sweet toys. The good news is, if you purchase one or more of the boats this week at craftsburykids.com, and mention this post, you’ll be entered into a random drawing, for a chance to win an additional boat of your choice.
Casie Nipper is an Oregon-based dollmaker who creates these unbelievably cute one of a kind plush animals, called BeBe Pets. I love how their their stitched on bellies, and the way their little faces peek out. If you order one at craftsburykids.com this week, and mention this blog post, you’ll be entered for a chance to win an additionalBeBe Pet of your choice.
Colette Palamar is a painter as well as a seamstress. She sees her Urban Baby Bonnet project as kind of a worldwide collage of moving and changing color and pattern– kind of like a walking painting made up of the folks who wear her hats, all over the country, and the world. Her designs are a real work of art with awesome color and print combinations, and the stitching is top notch. Get one at craftsburykids.com this week, and mention this post. You’ll be entered in a random drawing, for a chance to win an additional bonnet of your choice.
Inshi Khanna’s‘Cupcakes & Pastries’ dresses are inspired by old English, French, and Indian films among other things, including her two year old daughter. I love that she created them with tea parties in mind, where cookies, candies, and other delights are served. With features like gold and silver trims and embellishments, and hand printing on some of the dresses, this is a very special collection. Though the dresses are drop-dead gorgeous they’re 100% cotton (excluding embellishments) so they’re comfortable too. We’re giving one Cupcakes & Pastries dress of choice away this week. Take a look at all the dresses here. Order one or more, and mention this blog post, and you’ll be entered in the drawing.
Liliputians-NYC children’s clothing is created entirely in New York City by seamstress/designer Heather Flottmann. Heather’s unpretentious designs offer up just the right amount of colorful whimsy to appeal to kids, while also being attractive to the adult eye.
With clean and simple lines, the pieces are not fussy or overdone. How refreshing, in a world where frilly poufy apparel for girls parallels with bland, neutral designs that can be way too serious, with not much in-between. Liliputians is a perfect match for that sometime fickle time of childhood, where preconceived ideas of style can be an instant turn-off to developing personalities.
Save 15% on all Liliputians items at Craftsbury Kids, for a limited time. Visit craftsburykids.com and enter code LIL2009 at check out to take advantage of the discount. Offer expires June 24, 2009.
I was interviewed for a piece in the June issue of Reason Magazine regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, along with several members of the Handmade Toy Alliance. Here’s an excerpt:
“Leibovitz’s CraftsburyKids.com is one of many websites featuring carefully curated collections of safe toys, books, and clothes for the wary parent. There are sellers to cater to every anxiety about Chinese toys or other threats from the industrialized world. Some emphasize green practices, reusable materials, and local inputs. Others stress tradition, operating on a toy variant of the “slow food” motto, “If your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, don’t eat it.” Some stand in opposition to big-box stores, striving to offer cheap, communinity-oriented alternatives to Wal-Mart…”
