intro

B:Kids Book Review #3 by Wendi Gratz

Wendi is reviewing  a book today that is completely new to me...but Wendi is so enthousiastic about it that I'm definetly going to order this one for our small library...*Halibut Jackson*...is the name of the book and it's written by David Lucas...please enjoy Wendi her review and please let us know what you think of this book!

..click here to read this weeks review..

..Halibut Jackson is available here..
..other book reviews..

..Wendi Gratz..                                     {and of course we wish you a happy weekend}

Congratulations

Welcome little Otis and congratulations Janet and Stu with the birth of your baby son! I just read the news on their blog and am so happy for them..t was not an easy pregnancy for Janet, but she cooped marvellously and together with Stu they managed to keep stocking their great shop, ThreePotatoFour, with amazing items like these ones above...

..ThreePotatoFour..
..Blog..

Project #29 Puppet

Arounna told me this is one of her favorite projects!! Making puppets...for me it looks a bit difficult, but if you read her clear instructions carefully I'm sure you can do it too...and children will love working with the water and paper, thanks Arounna for another beautiful project!

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou Baby Collection..

#198

Two best friends have a lovely business called Olliekate...together they design and make appliquéd shirts for baby and kids with fun, quirky designs...just recently they branched out into doing bibs and totes as well and are always dreaming up what else they could add to our site! Liz told me they both live in the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and the inspiration of the nature that surrounds us and their 6 kids (!)  keep their work exciting and their friendship strong...well I like all their pieces very much and I think the appliqués are so beautifully done...would you like to see more click here...

..online shop OllieKate..
..blog..

#197

french touche...I think I found this super cute French online shop via Lorainne and when I saw all the great products I didn't know which one to choose, but here is my little selection. The nice thing about French Touche is that you can submit your own products online by sending some images and maybe they will add your pieces to their wonderful collection as well. But if you just want to do some fun shopping this is a very nice place to be.

..French Touche..

#196

La Maison de Lena ... these beautiful rattan furniture pieces are made by some French artisans and I think it's absolutely gorgeous, how different, airy and fresh ... the big chair in the corner almost feels like a little house for your child to hide away and read a little book... the great French online shop LFG sells the collection right here...

..La Maison de Lena underconstuction..
..available at Little Fashion Gallery..

#195

More beautiful things from Toronto today ...  Petit Flaneur, a company recently started by Sandra Ciganic-McKinney. Petit Flanuer's first toy product is a take off of traditional wooden blocks. A multi-functional- 3D puzzle, made from reclaimed scrap hardwood, hand printed with non toxic inks, and finished with a food safe oil. Petit Flaneur also has a line of wall art (collaged canvases and wall decals) and some other children’s products which can all be viewed on their very lovely website.

..Petit Flaneur..
..the shop..

Project #28 Texture collage

This week, there will be no excuse to not start doing this fun project with your children, it's really not difficult and the result will be so much different than the regular crayon collage or drawing...have a look here if you would like to learn more ... {thanks Arounna, you're the best!}

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou Baby Collection..

#194

Dear all, I'm in bed with a migraine ...hope to be back real soon, but for now please enjoy these cute illustrations and the lovely work  by Sarah Jane...

..webshop..
..blog..

Open House with Buisjes En Beugels+++

I'm so happy to show you a new Open House Tour with Kellie Smits from Dutch children's fashion label Buisjes En Beugels+++ today. My interview with Kellie will give you some great insight on how Kellie runs her business, how she started and what her background is. The images are brilliant ... and give you a perfect peak behind the scenes of her latest photography shoot for the Summer 2009 collection ...and of ocurse some great inspiration from this stylish women on how to decorate your own house ... so head over to this page and you will find the interview!

..Open House with Kellie..
..Buisjes En Beugels+++..

..Open House..

#193

Just before the weekend I got an email from Kristine Baerlin from Figment Studio, who is a portrait painter in New York City... her hand-painted portraits of children and families are a contemporary approach to the pop art tradition, she says and each portairt is carefully planned with her client to best reflect their individual style and taste ... I think it's a very beautiful and funky way of showing an image of your child ... and would love to see Lode like this on our wall, maybe in only black and white tones..

..Figment Studio..
..contact Kristine..

{and tomorrow there will be an incredible inspiring new Open House tour}

B:Kids Book Review #2 by Wendi Gratz

After posting the first book review on B:Kids a little while ago, many nice responses and comments came... so I guess you all enjoy this as much as I do...so I decided to try and give you a review every Friday from now on... but it is impossible for me to write them all myself (if only a day had more than 24 hours) ... but luckily for me two wonderful women are going to help me write them ... one of these women is Wendi Gratz ... Wendi studied children's literature for a year in Germany, spent 15 years as a children's bookseller and five years as a sales rep for children's books and most important she loves children's books and almost all the art in her home is from children's book artists...Wendi herself is also a very talented crafter, she has her own online shop and has contributed to a number of projects for craft books...

But today she is giving us her first book review: *Henry Hikes to Fitchburg* written and illustrated by D.B. Johnson...

..click here to read this weeks review..

..the book is available here..
..other book reviews..
..Review written by Wendi Gratz..

#192

 
Dear Jan send me an email this morning to show me these supercute hammers from 'fede' and thought it might be something for B:Kids ...and Yes...she is absolutely right, i love them! Fiona is the face behind fede. A mom from Adelaide, Australia, who has been managing a busy household for the last couple of years since stepping out of the commercial Interior Design world in June 2005, she once was employed in London by Harrods where her love of textiles began and subsequently grew into a substantial collection of new & vintage fabrics. and she began creating cushions & children’s toys using these materials.

..fede..
..Fiona's blog..
Thanks Jan!

#191

Lovely Christine from Wonting invited me for a "Five Whats" series on her blog, so if you would like to know a little bit more about me, click here...Chrisitne herself is a very great artisit who makes gorgeous illsutrations and paintings, but I also enjoy her blog very much, always full with new incredible finds like the ladies from  Atsuyo et Akiko ... wow... how gorgeous are their products!! Definitely a Japanese influence is spotted here...i had so much fun scrolling through their website and got very inspired in creating myself, but more important I would love to have one of their pillows in our house...

..website.. 
..shop is under construction.. 
..stockist's list..

Project #27 Animal Portrait

Arounna has done it again...a very creative and easy project with a stunning result...let your child choose is his favorite animal and tunr them into 'one' ... I'm sure they will love to hang their own portrait on their wall... click here to see how it's done...

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou Baby Collection..

#190

Lindsay Brackeen...is a 28 year old self-taught artist and mom living in Michigan and she has been creating since she was a little girl, her first real dream was to draw for Disney, but somewhere along the way Ishe became distracted, studied psychology, but luckily for us she eventually got back to what she does very very well, painting, illustrating and creating...I think her wall art is just so lovely, delicate and perfect for any girls room, I particularly love the  paintings on the wooden hangers.

..online shop..
..Lindsay's blog..

Open House

Already a long time ago I received an email from Emma Cassi asking me whether I would be interested featuring her beautiful house in the Open House tour on B:Kids ... and YES of course... how can anybody resist showing this beautiful house ... but being a bit to busy with preparing for our trip to the Netherlands, I couldn't show it to you imedeately, but I'm very happy that this week Emma and I finally prepared a little interview for you in which Emma will tell and show you more about her amazing styling work, her  jewelry collection and the gorgeous bedroom of her child! ... please click here to read the full story...

..read more..................
..Open House..

#189

Helicopterstudios..is a lovely shop on etsy with great handmade children's toys from Shannon Duffy. Especially the 'Discovery Totes' are very nice! Bags with little themes and surprises inside...like the Fish or Car tote ... when you open the fish tote a water motif and three hand stitched fish with glass bead eyes that are magnetic appear...all the fish can be picked up by the fishing pole that is made of wood with a satin string and magnet, just like a game..there are many different totes to find in Shannon's shop.

..Helicopterstudios shop..
..Blog..

Project #26 Frame art

I would be so proud if my son had made this colorful and fun art frame! Arounna amazes me every week with her projects and it's really a treat for me to open my inbox and to find her images and instructions ... right here ..

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou Baby Collection..

#188

Okay...i haven't seen the movie yet and don't think it will be shown here in Malaysia, but i do have all the dvd boxes at home and when I was living in NY I had the pleasure of sometimes, purely by accident though, witness recording a scene with Sarah J. (carrie) and the other lovely girls...and YES I'm a fan, not only because i like the dialoques, the trendsetting atmosphere, but very much the whole styling for clothing, fashion and products, so I can imagine that Esther from Esthex is incredibley proud that her cat, Sam, is in the movie trailor!! Esther is way to modest about this so i thought let''s give Sam the treatment he deserves and be the famous movie 'star' on B:Kids today! I also like his little friend Naomi...maybe she can go and live with Samantha, Charlotte or Miranda ...

..Esthex website..
..Sam the famous Cat..
..you can buy Naomi here..

#187

Taia...sells the cutest, loveliest and sweetest hair clips you can think off...although I'm not an experienced mom when it comes to little girls and their hair, I did hear from insiders that these clips not match perfectly with many girls clothes, they actually fit because of a tiny small strip of velcro that makes sure the clip won't even fall out of the finest baby hair...Jen Pezzolla is the founder and still makes all the clips herself with much care and attention. Jen also contributes every Friday to the great blog Tutus and Turtles.

..website Taia..
..webshop..

#186

Dear Jennifer from Swallofield wrote me an email about her good friend, who also lives in Portland, Betsy Thompson, because she just opened an Etsy shop, where she sells great wall decoration pieces. Betsy is a talented mixed media collage artist and illustrator (she did all the illustrations for Amanda Soule's book The Creative Family) and has dreams of becoming a childrens book illustrator....so if you are an children's book author send Betsy an email, because I'm sure she will do oa great job illustrating your book! {ps. i just read on her shop that she offers a great discount on her beautiful prints until the end of July, but hurry!}

..Betsy Thompson online shop..

#185

I received an email from Clare last week asking wheter I would like to meet Beatrice the butterfly and yes I did and thought you might be interested in meeting her as well...so click here to have a look at Beatrice and her soft animal friends...

..webshop..
..Lulu Carter blog..

#184

Half-Werk... means 'half-job', meaning the product is almost finished, but you have to do some crafting yourself as well ... and I like to start this new week with exactly a product like this, because I did so much crafting myself during the weekend...(made some pillows, if you would like to see them you have to go to Bloesem were I will be showing them later on today)...the Half Werk product is a skirt/apron for little girls and it comes in a DIY kit, consisting of printed materials which invite you to make or decorate the skirt yourself...this fantastic product is developed and designed by a Dutch women, Margot Westermann and I truly love what she is showing us on her website and hope there will be more half-werk products in the future!

..Half Werk website..
..stockists list..
..or contact Margot for order information..

Project #25 Stencil shapes on wood veneer

...i know many of you have been waiting for Arounna's new project, sorry it's a bit later than usual..but showing this new project on Friday gives you a whole lot of time during the weekend to create a beautiful wood veneer placemat with colored stencil as well...or you can turn it in to some great wall decoration...click here to read how it's done and have fun of course!

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou Baby Collection..

#183

KidsonRoof...you probably know this Dutch label from these carton homes or mobile homes...but did you already see their latest products called TOTEM for boys and for girls...create your own spaceship, airplane, witch house, lizard, reindeer or any other construction from your imagination with the more then 120 building cards, with secret codes and symbols, with imagery of metal, wood, fire, air, space and more...I LOVE love love them and I could easily display them in our livingroom!  Peter Henkes and Romy Boesveldt are the creative couple behind KidsonRoof and here you can read how they are big supporters of Unicef.

..KidsonRoof..
..order here..
..other salespoints..

B:Kids Book Reviews

...Yep, a new feature here on B:Kids...children book reviews by me...since my little boy was born my fascination for children books have grown even more...I really enjoy reading a book for him and especially watching the beautiful illustrations together...and I would like to share my ideas with you about the books he and I read, but I will also try to review books about art, decorating, crafts and books for older ages all for children of course...and by 'a review' I mean...i only give you my thoughts about the book, no harsh critism or theories, because I'm totally not an expert only a mom and booklover...I'll try to have a review every two weeks on a Friday, today I'm changing B:Kids schedule for this week a bit...you probably have missed Arounna's craft project yesterday, well due to some computer problems Arounna couldn't get the images to me...so a new craft project will be up tomorrow and today I give you my first review:
The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business By Werner Holzwarth, Wolf Erlbruch

..click here for this review..
..the book is available here..
..other book reviews..

#182

{ps. this weeks craft project from Arounna will be here on Friday...!}

After seeing these gorgeous AA (animal alphabet) illustrations on Flora Douville's blog I sent Flora an email and asked her when we could buy prints of them in her shop ... so this morning I found another email in my inbox telling me that the prints are up ... so what are we waiting for... I love them! Of course, I picked our family initials, Lode, Irene and Rik Muilwijk...

..Flora Douville shop..
..Blog..

#181

Nonchalant Mom...you probably know about this beautiful on line shop and blog run by Carina Scott, but did already know about the Nonchalant Mom Flea Market? At this new online flea market you can find some lovely stuff for your little ones, and although it's summer in most part of the world now I just adore these alpaca hats! And I would love to give this Charlie Brown View master to my little son....Carina says she will try and keep the shop limited to all things special and unusual and I believe she will! {ps. did you see the incredible house tour in Domino Magazine about Carina and her families gorgeous home?}

..Nonchalant Mom Flea Market..
..Nonchalant Mom the shop..

#180

Hikje...(witch means little hiccup in Dutch) is the other lovely Dutch company...founded only a short while ago by 28 year old Janneke Zantinge, who recently graduated from Utrecht School of the Arts...Hikje opened her online Etsy and Dawanda doors and here you can buy Janneke's handmade onesies, t-shirts and gorgeous wallhangings...original textile collages, janneke calls them, wall-softies, are made from soft cotton and are stretched onto a wooden frame...i also love the neutral colored ones very much.

..Hikje..
..online shop..
..Dawanda shop..
..more about Janneke..

#179

Hope you had a good weekend? It's amazing how fast it always goes...so it's already time to start a new week at B:Kids...and this week I have some great new posts to show you and at the end of the week I'm going to start a new weekly feature that I'm preparing as we speak...so I hope to see you back this week...I'm going to start today with two Dutch companies who both sell and make very colorful and I think typical Dutch accessories for children...first is Hydi's company called Stofenzo (=fabricandso)...Hydi makes beautiful bedding, pillows and bags for the nursery and bedroom's, but you can also buy some great ribbons and laces to create your own special baby blanket.

..StofenZo..
..english version..
..for more information, contact Hydi..

#178

                                ..wish you a lovely weekend and hope to see you back on Monday!..

       

Wow...these dolls are truly little pieces of art...made by 'le train fantôme' = 'the ghost train'...a mother to two children from France, but currently living in Hertfordshire, England...the dolls are made by hand of antique buttons, corduroy, cotton, felted wool and linen and only offered at enfant terrible and some selected boutiques in Europe...

..Enfant Terrible..
..Le Train Fantôme..

#177

boodalee...I really like the new collection of eco-friendly throw pillows from boodalee...this great company was founded in 2005 by Jeanice Skvaril, who also happens to be the creative director and a mom herself...boodalee's slogan "big designs for little dreams" is certainly true!

..boodalee..
..available here..

#176

Emma&Avery...inspired by her own daughter, Catherine Keller wanted to open an online shop dedicated to offering  lines of young girls' clothing of both style and craftmanship...and so she did...nowadays you can find  wellknown designers like BuzzBuzzTweetTweet, Enchanted Enfant, Gold Belgium and Mor Mor Rita and Neige at this lovely shop...the whole presentation and images are wonderfully done and I don't think you can find a brick and morter store anywhere that offers such a huge variety of beautiful pieces...so just down, relax and enjoy some shopping for your girl...

..Emma&Avery..
..online shop..

Project #24 Paint Textures

...This week's craft project from Arounna is definitely going to be one of my favorites...it's so beautiful! The project is about creating textures by different paint strokes and create a collage with lot's of interesting tones and surfaces...Arounna got inspiration for this artwork from Eric Carle, which also happens to be her son, Lliam's favorite author...click here to see how it's done...

..Special page where all Arounna’s craft projects are posted..
..Bookhou..

#175

Eric Carle...today's craft project from Arounna is inspired by the famous artist, author, illustrator and more...Eric Carle...I think everybody has seen, read and enjoyed one of his books...while we were in the Netherlands I saw this great wooden game from Eric Carle and bought it for Lode...well actually I think I bought it for myself, because I love his illustrations and these blocks are so much fun to look at...I try to find them somewhere online for you, but unfortunately not much luck...but here is Eric Carle's website...full of interesting information about himself, his books and the museum...and here you can also buy some great Eric Carle fabrics!

..Eric Carle..

I just received an email from Brenda letting me know that Mudpuppy sells some great Eric Carle puzzles online right here...i love the big floor puzzle, like walking on art!

#174

Quail by Mail...I received an email from Shauna Chapman, who started her own fashion label about 18 months ago...Shauna specialises in organic Fairtrade cotton which has been handloomed and all the clothing is designed exclusively for the label and manufactured within 30 miles of her seaside studio in  the traditional fishing port of Brixham, south Devon, UK ... I particularly liked these lovely 'animal Brooches'...very cute to pin them on a jacket or use them as a handbag charm

..website..
..shop..
..blog..

#173

My little boy can play with his animal friends all day long...so I think he would love to have one of these framed photographs hanging in his room...both the little deer and the rabbit image are from "The Little Zoo" series by the talented photographer Elizabeth Soule from Portland...she mounted the prints on a 6"x6" wooden frame...if you visit her shop you will find so many more beautiful images...

..website..
..online shop..
..also available here..
..blog..

#172

Bonjour Mon Coussin...I received a very nice email from Paul Moreau, informing me about the launch of their fabulous range graphic designed cushion covers...Paul and Claire Eglizeaud are designers from the Bordeaux in France...and they have created a great collection of covers that are inspired by old and found objects, vintage cards, food, travel and more...the backings are beautifully finished and carefully matched...and these unique objects are still handmade in France...these are some of the covers from the kids range, but there are also some great ones for grown-ups...you can order online!

..Bonjour Mon Coussin..
..contact..

#171

                                                                                                    ..hope you had a nice weekend..

'Rock and Roll' bedding by one of my favorite pattern designers Julia Rothman for the Land of Nod...Julia is part of a design team called Also and they were asked by the Land of Nod to create the perfect bedding for  young boys...and the moms must like it too...so Julia came up with funky, hand-drawn illustrations... very nice! and the colors are great too...

..Land of Nod..
..Julia Rothman..
..order the bedding right here..