5
Feb
TGIF, this week has been massive … in fact I do not think massive is, well, big enough!
- This week I started back at work (more on that in a minute)
- My little man took one more step towards growing up as he started Prep this week. It is very exciting (and a little sad for his poor mum)
- I have had two nappy consultations this week
- I discovered that Alipants will be at the Sister’s Market market in Brunswick next Saturday
- Alipants was featured twice on Hip Little One’s Ditch the Disposables
- Tess has been booked for her first modelling assignment at the tender age of 7 months
- My other little side project the Sugar & Spice market was officially registered and gained three very lovely sponsors. Also I finally stopped procrastinating and booked in market dates for the next twelve months (but that is another post for another day).
- Lastly but certainly not least, I also found out that I will be at the very beautiful Mathilda’s market in Hawthorn next month, which is very exciting for Alipants!!!
I am exhausted just typing them all!
As mentioned above I have returned to paid work as a part time Science teacher 
I love teaching and my school is just so lovely however, teaching is not a job that you get to leave behind when you clock off. So please be a little forgiving if I take a little longer to reply to your emails than I normally do. Emails sent on a Thursday may be particularly prone to receiving slow replies. It also means that I will be largely restricted to posting your orders on Mondays and Wednesdays, so please take this into consideration when ordering.
I am off to get some beauty sleep, I am in desperate need!
31
Jan
Title: Come and say Hi to us at the Sisters Market Brunswick
Location: Brunswick Town Hall, Sydney Road, Brunswick
Link out: Click here
Description: A lovely market in the heart of Brunswick …. a place to find all things lovely for all members of the family, not just the kidlets!
Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2010-02-13
End Time: 16:00
14
Jan
Hands up if you love a giveaway? Yep I thought you might.
Good news then, scoot on over to Little Sooti to get the chance to win a Mini LaLa AND an Itti Bitti. Little Sooti is the lovely Thetis reviewing children products as well as featuring wonderful childrens and parties. Heaps of inspiration!
Go on, get going …… have fun kids
Ali xx
P.S. Speaking of giveaways you are going to adore Hip Little One’s ‘Ditch the Disposable” event.. or as it has been nicknamed Fluffy February! There will be a give away every day for the entire month …….. it will almost be too much (almost)
7
Jan
Do you still soak your nappies in caustic soaking solutions? Did you realise that you void any warranties that are provided with your nappies if you do? Luckily there is an eco-friendly and inexpensive option to deal with any stains!
Today was an absolutely beautiful day here … not too hot, not too cold and plenty of lovely sunshine. Naturally I popped on a load of nappies and let the washing machine do its thing. When I hung them out I noticed that one of my Bitti D’lish snap in inserts had a stain on it…. was I worried? nope not a bit because not only does the sun dry and sanitise the nappies it is also great at removing stains. I took a few photos to show you all what I mean:
This one was taken at approximately 10.30 this morning and I took the next photo around 5 this afternoon when I fetched the washing back inside.
Ok, so the lighting is not exactly the same in both photos I am not a professional photographer you see (no you couldn’t tell? get away with you!) but trust me, the stain has all but gone … Thanks sun! Also using liners, such as the biodegradable Eenee liners will help prevent any stains the the first place.
Ali xx
6
Jan
I just wanted to share a few pictures I took of my (not so) little boy yesterday in his new school uniform. He is as proud as punch and had so much fun surprising Daddy when he got home from work yesterday …… I spent a lot of time saying how gorgeous he looked in a strangely wobbly voice
He got to have a “silly” photo too; afterall school is not all work and no play!
5
Jan
We got a lovely mention on the My style blog, such a lovely little write up indeed! Hopefully you will also be seeing some beautiful cloth nappies in the autumn issue of My Child magazine supplied by Alipants … to be in print would be most exciting & something that I am working hard on achieving!
In all of my spare time I have managed to jazz up my twitter home page, so pop on over! I have been spending a bit of time over there recently ……..
29
Dec
I just wanted to say a big thank you to Sarah and Therese at cornflowerblue for mentioning Alipants in their latest newsletter (which you can see here). Just a teeny tiny correction though … I do not make any of the nappies that I stock! I leave that up to other beautiful ladies that leave me miles behind in the talent department.
If you are after some lovely organic clothes then I highly recommend a visit to cornflowerblue I just adore their labels, especially La Queue du Chat and Green Eyed Monster …… and as an extra bonus they are having a huge summer sale.
24
Dec
On the eve of Christmas I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to thank you all for your support this year. Establishing Alipants has been more challenging than I antcipated …. but on so many levels it has been richly rewarding as well.
I have been a bit naughty and not posted on my blog for a few weeks, but that is because I have been working very hard behind the scenes on Alipants and trying to get myself organised for Christmas. Thank goodness for online shopping! Next year is shaping up to be VERY exciting (not to mention manically busy). There will be a few new brands joining the Alipants family, expect to see a fair bit of Alipants in the media next year, lots and lots of markets to attend not to mention launching another side project that I have been working on too. A good friend pointed out recently that there is no rest for the wicked, somewhere along the line I must have been very bad … something I am sure my parents would readily agree too (horrid teenage stage).
Owen has been talking about what he will be leaving out for Santa tonight which is what inspired the choice of picture….. it would appear that Mr Alipants has convinced him that Santa would much prefer Coke Zero with salt and vinegar chips rather than milk and cookies!
Wishing you all a wonderful, relaxing and joyous Christmas with your loved ones. And heres cheers to an exciting 2010 for us all.
Ali xx
P.S. The aliphants are still in the making stage, but I have not forgotten about them promise
8
Dec
I love a sneaky peak, so I thought I would share some with you! Tess, Owen and I had a photo shoot last week for the biz and here are a few of my favourites!
Does this say “busy modern mum of two” to you?
A couple of Tess in her pretty nappies, first up her pretty pink Bitti D’lish
And finally tess in her MiniLaLa Coca Kimono
Enjoy
Ali xx
P.S. How gorgeous are my kids????
7
Dec
Have I ever mentioned that I love bamboo?? I think I may have once or twice ……. I especially love the very beautiful bamboo burp cloths that arrived in the mail today. These are made by the very tallented Melbourne mum Cassandra who owns Smallish. I brought a set for myself and the others will be given as baby gifts for two very dear friends. If you are in the market for baby quilts, blankets and other goodies that are gorgeous AND eco-friendly then you are going to love Smallish … I really wish that I had found Cassandra’s beautiful quilts when I was desperately searching for something other than Ben10 or Thomas the Tank Engine doona covers for Owen’s big boy bed.
Anyway back to my bamboo rant ……. It was not until I started researching MCN that I was introduced to this marvellous material and the love affair began. It is used to make MCNs for many reasons
- It loves liquid. Testing has shown that bamboo is 60% percent more absorbent than cotton.
- The production of bamboo is much nicer to the environment than cotton. Growing cotton requires a significant amount of water and if the cotton is not organic than there is a good chance that a lot of pesticides were also used on the crop. Bamboo on the other hand is very fast growing crop, and can tolerate both drought conditions as well as being flooded! Such a versatile plant. Another benefit for the environment is that the bamboo plant produces large volumes of oxygen, more than trees!
- Bamboo is a silky soft material and it stays that way wash after wash after wash.
- Bamboo also has natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties which makes it an ideal material to have against your baby’s delicate little skin. It also means that it contains odours well ….. my husband and I will still occasionally be surprised to find that our daughter has soiled her nappy (though I am not sure how she can be so sneaky, as it is quite an obvious task for her).
But the love affair with bamboo has not stopped merely with nappies; I also have bamboo cot sheet sets and towels for my little girl. I got them from Little Bamboo and they are simply delicious. My mother in law made a beautiful cot quilt for Tess that contains Bamboo wadding ……. I even found some Bonds socks for her that contain bamboo and snapped them up straight away! I still have lots of little outfits for Tess however, there will come a day when I need to stock up on some more body suits and Babyjo will be my first port of call!
Ali xx
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