Flow Hive beehive with honey on tap

What an amazing Australian design by Byron Bay beekeepers (and Father and Son team) Stuart and Cedar Anderson. A few friends had passed on info about the amazing Flow Hive beehive invention that launched this week that allows you to extract honey via a tap on the hive, instead of smoking the bees and removing the frames. Less stress for the bees and incredibly easy for the owner. It's a brilliant way to introduce people to beekeeping, especially for kids.

Best In Show: Kids InStyle Sydney 2015 - Phoenix and the Fox

My favourite stand at Kids InStyle Sydney 2015 was Phoenix and the Fox, a brand new clothing label based in Sydney. Let me start by saying that I only had 4.5 hours to traverse the enormity that is the Kids InStyle and Life InStyle trade shows. Camera in hand, I zoom up and down the aisles, pausing only to catch-up with designers that I have already been following. But I literally stopped in my tracks as I passed Phoenix and Fox. Here's why:

Master and Miss Bugaboo promotion and hip organic clothes for kids

Bondville partner Master and Miss are making quite a stir with their stylish clothes for kids, especially these fun tees for boys (and you know I'm always looking for great designs for boys). They are 100% organic, Australian-made and available in sizes 1-6 years, RRP: $30.

The girls aren't left out with sweet tees, and these cute and comfy a-line organic jersey cotton dresses that make an impact and are super-easy to wear:

Dudley Co amazing toddler ride ons

Hang on - a cool toy for the kids that ticks the boxes of the design-sensitive too?!? Dudley Co.'s Courtney Wall and her carpenter husband create these fantastic toddler ride-on scooters in Brisbane. Each piece is hand-crafted and screen-printed in Brisbane to suit one to four-year-olds. So great.

Dudley Co.'s ride ons are handmade in Brisbane using certified plywood, sealed with a water-based polish, and finished with solid rubber casters and water-based paints. The ride on is available in three designs, but as they are hand screen-printed, each is unique. They are tested by the couple's son and his friends who love them to bits. I can see why!

You can find Dudley Co.'s ride ons in the online store.

Image: Dudley Co.

Pillow Poet organic cotton pillow cases

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to spruce up tired bedding, try a graphic pillow case. These fun, quirky pillow cases are designed and printed in Melbourne by Pillow Poet. The hardest part will be choosing one - learn to type overnight with the qwerty keyboard, go simple with a sweet pink heart, snooze with a parliament of owls or a sunshine-y beehive .... or bring on the Zzzzzzz's with a Z pillow.

Pillow Poet pillow cases are printed using water based inks on 100% organic cotton. You'll also find an A-Z of art print posters printed on 90% Bamboo & 10% Cotton rag paper - hip and educational too.

Choose these pillow cases and more from the online store.

Images: Pillow Poet

Minyaka Design organic babywear - mushroom design

My sweet neighbour asked me last week if I had any stylish gift ideas for a friend having a baby. Um, hello! I immediately thought of Bondville sponsors and Sydney locals Minyaka Design who have just released the cutest-ever collection of 100% organic cotton babywear. Featuring yellow, peach and light blue Woodland-chic mushrooms with grey marle trim, the collection is perfect for both baby boys and girls.

How cute is this little play outfit with matching bib and leggings or Cheeky-Bum patch pant.

The long-sleeved onesie and matching bear hat!...

And the softest of reversible wraps (including a hooded version) or bunny rug that will do double duty as a blanket as the little one gets older...

It's a gorgeous unisex collection that is perfect for a baby shower or gender reveal party. You can find the Minyaka Design organic babywear collection in the online store and at select stockists around Australia, Korea and Kuwait.

Images: Minyaka Design

Danielle Stewart Design geo greeting cards

I'm still in love with triangles and have fallen hard for these geo cards by Fremantle, WA-based surface designer Danielle Stewart. I've followed Danielle's design work for years (from her days as a textile designer with her Of Paper And Thread label) and after a short break I'm excited to see Danielle designing again; this time a range of 100% post-consumer recycled greeting cards.

Danielle's colour combos are fresh and her designs are modern and punchy. I can't wait to see what comes next. You can find Danielle Stewart Designs greeting cards as well as limited edition screen-printed fabric in her etsy store.

Images: Danielle Stewart Designs

Pouch Handmade artwork for kids

One of my favourite finds at the recent The Finders Keepers market in Sydney was Zoe Simpson's beautifully created artworks for kids under the Pouch Handmade label. I immediately loved the bright colours and graphic shapes, but on closer inspection it was the fabric collage and recycled elements that sold me. These are one-of-a-kind heirloom pieces for children to enjoy for generations.

MAKE: a cool house doorstop with fabric scraps

I've been wanting to make a fabric doorstop for a while, with all my fabric scraps and lovely samples that I have picked up in abcd meet-up goodie bags and from textile designer friends. There were lots of pyramid-style doorstop tutorials online, but I wanted something a bit different. So I made my own! Presenting, my house-shaped DIY doorstop:

I love it! Useful, cute and reduces waste. I used some great fabric from Sydney quilter and crafter extraordinaire Siobhan (Beaspoke Quilts), and will make more with some upcycled tea towels and left-over deck chair fabric from my stash. I used bits and pieces that I had around the house - scrap paper, an old nappy box and a recycled ziplock bag.

If you would like to make one too, head over to eBay's Mum's Business website where I have written a tutorial for my house doorstop which includes instructions to make a house-shaped template. I promise, it's not hard at all - and may even make a fun handmade Christmas gift for family and friends.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Treehorn geo-faceted wood jewellery and toys

I was reading State of Green online store newsletter recently and spotted these incredible handmade wood jewellery pieces by Tasmanian artisan Joe Chester of Treehorn. Seriously folks! I'll have one please. Make that one of each...

The Treehorn collection of geo-faceted necklaces, pendants, bangles, kitchen boards and building blocks are handmade by Joe using only reclaimed, recycled or sustainably grown timber (such as Tasmanian Oak and Douglas Fir). In fact, pieces are often made items from wood trimmings on the workshop floor.

The amazing building blocks would make a fantastic gift for a child of design-savvy parents, but I can also imagine them piled up on display in an adult's room, or even a work desk. Much cooler than a stress ball, that's for sure.

You can find Treehorn wood jewellery and products in the online store as well as at stockists across Australia and New Zealand.

Images: Treehorn

Write To Me nostalgic stationery

Melbourne sisters Anna and Nicoletta from stationery brand Write To Me are all about the handwritten letter; and I am too. Do you remember how exciting it was to get an email (you've got mail!) and now that we are overwhelmed with electronic mail, it's such a rush to receive something handwritten in the mail. (We have just to convince Australia Post to re-think postage prices). Let's have a look at some of Write To Me's beautifully illustrated and beautifully styled stationery...

Each product is designed, hand printed and crafted in their Melbourne studio on recycled kraft paper. The range includes cards, tags, wrapping paper, letter-writing sets, postcards, journals, notebooks, party invitations, announcements, treat bags and thank you cards as well as a collection of seasonal products and simply lovely wedding stationery. Oh and a whole new slew of products including a pregnancy journal, pantry labels, book labels and love lunch notes. It's all very nostalgic and I love it all.

I'm especially taken with the bicycle wrapping paper and the robot party pack. You could even let the kids go to town personalising it with their glitter glue stick and colouring in pencils.

You can find Write To Me in the online store and at stockists across Australia.

Images: Write To Me

Cruiser Bicycle Trend

How great is it that the bicycle manufacturers have been releasing gorgeous vintage-style cruiser bicycles for those of us interested in our bike's looks as much as function. I've been seeing these great cruisers everywhere - from Pinterest, to design blogs, to the bike stand in front of The Finders Keepers market. There's even a hip biking magazine, a whole website and at least 2 books (Cycle Chic and Cycle Style) dedicated to cycling fashion out there. Yup, these bikes are cool.

 image: Heather Bailey

Cruiser bike poster girl Zooey Deschanel (of course). image: OK Magazine

image: Sarah Layne Photography

 image via Style Me Pretty. photography: Allyson Magda

Cycling in Surry Hills, NSW. image: Sydney Cycle Chic

 Aussie bikes! Dutch-style vintage bicycle goodness from Papillionaire.

image: From Me To You

I'm all for biking - it increases our fitness, reduces our dependency on fuel, and gets us out and about and off our hineys. We just need the designers (yes, you out there!) to come up with a stylish helmet. Once we can find a helmet to match our cute fifties skirts and neon flats, then I think we'll see biking truly become mainstream (and we need that).


Do you have a cute cruiser bicycle? And have you seen any cool bike helmet designs?

Carbon filter water bottles

I had a post all planned in my head around my obsession with my bobble carbon-filtered-on-the-go water bottle. Feeling very ahead-of-the-curve, I shared my idea with Mr Bondville who kindly informed me that "everyone at work has one of those". OK then.

But I wanted to talk about reusablewater bottles anyway, as they are such a big step forward toward cutting out the enormous waste from disposable plastic water bottles (22 billion are disposed every year!). How great are the new carbon-filter bottles. They filter chlorine and contaminents from your water as you drink, and you can refill your bottle from any safe water source.

 

My favourite is the UK's eau good bottle by Black + Blum. I adore the design of this bottle, with the cork seal, colour tag and exposed Binchotan charcoal. BPA-free of course. Just gorgeous. In Australia you can find them at top 3 by design and until.

US-based bobble (above) has done a fantastic job creating an everyday bottle that also looks great (and sits proudly on my desk all day begging me to drink it - which I most certainly need). Thanks Karim Rashid for your design genius. And thank you bobble for making this product so accessible; you can find it at stockists all over the world and here in Australia at your local grocery store.

Be-gone disposable water bottles!

What do you think of these designs?

Images: top - Black + Blum; bottom - Steph Bond-Hutkin

Stylish Kids: Inklet

I'm a huge fan of the Ink & Spindle eco-friendly textiles and surface art, so when the Melbourne-based girls teamed with childrenswear designer Dana from Twiglet, I knew the resulting collaboration was going to be something pretty special. Behold, Inklet eco-friendly kids clothing!

You'll find a great range of t-shirts and onesies (sizes 0-4), bibs and blankets with fun trams and bikes, ocean faring, and sweet twig motifs. All Inklet products are locally made with certified organic cotton fabrics and screen printed by hand with water-based, environmentally-friendly inks.

It's so great to see a range with a strong focus on designs that appeal to the boys as well as the girls. And if you fancy yourself handy with a sewing machine, Ink & Spindle offer the Pirates and Sea Creatures and Trams and Bicycles design on jersey by the metre (and for textiles too!).

You can find Inklet in the Ink & Spindle online store. Read more about Ink & Spindle here on Bondville. And head over to Bondville Kids Style for more great Australian-designed clothes for kids.

Images: Ink & Spindle

Stylish Kids: Minyaka Design + 10% discount

If you love no-fuss, classic lines for kids using organic cotton, hemp and bamboo, then new Australian childrenswear label Minyaka Design is definitely for you.

You'll find sweet tunics, cheeky bottom pants, jumpsuits, bubble dresses, tank tops and super-cool dandy pants in a range of eco-friendly fabrics with coconut shell buttons. All items are designed and made by friends and design partners Jamie Lee and Michelle Lee in Sydney and presented in hand screen-printed calico bags. I asked Jamie and Michelle a few questions about their fabulous label...

Label: Minyaka Design
Designer: Jamie Lee and Michelle Lee
Location: Sydney, Australia

Can you tell us a little about the history of your label?
We are university buddies (nope, we’re not sisters) and Minyaka Design is our first collaboration. Jamie has a background in interior architecture and Michelle in fashion design. Although we come from different disciplines, we share the same vision so it works!

It was always so difficult to find beautiful, quality gifts for children, so we decided to do something about it. Now one year later and after many all-nighters, we are very excited and proud to finally see the fruits of our hard work with the launch of our first summer collection and the winter one just around the corner!

Both of us are passionate about the well-being of children and the environment and this has inspired the way we do things and our decision to use eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton, bamboo and hemp. We are also supportive of the local industry. All our products are made in Australia and we source locally where possible.

What makes Minyaka Design different?
Children’s clothes need to be functional but they can be so much more! All our clothes make us wish we were children again, just so we can wear them! Take our bubble dress for instance, how we wish we had one when we were little!

Childhood is so short and precious. So we put a lot of love into all our creations and hope that our beautiful and fun things can add something special to the photo albums and memories of mums, dads and families.

What is the inspiration for your collection?
We believe the simplest, most natural creations are often the best. We aim for each creation to reflect Mother Nature’s simple, elegant style with our own playful twist.

If you could pick an ice-cream flavour for Minyaka Design, what would it be?
Vanilla of course! It’s an all time classic favourite. It’s so simple yet it will get along with any toppings…strawberries, chocolate, nuts, sprinkles, you name it!!

What is your favourite thing about Minyaka Design?
We try to make each of our customer’s experience special. Our products even come packaged in a calico bag personally sewn and screen printed by us!

This is just the beginning, there’s a lot more to come!!

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Thank you Jamie and Michelle. I can't even wait to see what is next from Minyaka Design (the bottom image is a sneak peek from the Winter 2012 collection - YUM!).

You can find Minyaka Design in the online store and at various markets (keep an eye on the website for details). And lucky for us, Jamie and Michelle are offering Bondville readers a 10% discount on online sales until the 31st December 2011! Simply enter the code THXBONDVILLE at the checkout. Discount terms: does not apply to items on sale. Only one coupon per customer. One coupon per transaction only. Coupon is not redeemable for cash.


For more great Australian-designed clothes for kids, head over to Bondville Kids Style.

Images: Minyaka Design