Oscar the dog

I was really excited to discover Ragtales earlier this year. I'm always on the lookout for new suppliers and fell in love with the British designed range of characters. All their toys feature lovely detailing such as hand knitted clothing, gorgeous hand picked fabrics and all made in the softest, high quality velour. They all come beautifully packaged too, making adorable gifts for birthdays and christenings.You can read my previous blog about some of our Ragtales toys here and Dollytales here.

Oscar the dog is new in to the range. He measures 35cm from his head down to his paws and comes in a linen bag with his name embroidered on the front. He is machine washable which is good news for all us mummies when soft toys for our little ones are subjected to....well lets just say 'everything'! 

 I love his dark grey hand-knitted woolly sweater and his jersey striped shorts

To celebrate the arrival of the new Ragtales range, Oscar is featured in our latest giveaway over on our Facebook page. Enter to win and he could be snuggled up with you in no time. He's just asking to be loved!

The Ragtales toys are full of charm and originality drawing their inspiration from the heritage of English life which is why they complement our nightwear range so perfectly.

You can buy Oscar from our site for £19.95 along with his buddy Dasher the dog a cute little dachshund that comes with his own kennel.

I think he's pretty irresistible xx

New season photo shoot part 1

I  was very excited when Vicki Knights agreed to shoot my new seasons range for me this summer. It had been a year since our last photo shoot with four gorgeous little models, so this year I wanted to include the boys. Having worked together before, I knew she would be able to make my vision a reality and produce some beautiful images that reflect my brand whilst capturing the innocence of childhood.

Inspired by a friends garden field, I decided on the 'outdoor camping' theme. The location is in an idyllic setting backing on to woods and the vintage tractor was the star attraction for the children. (along with a very friendly Labrador called Alfie who wanted to be in every shot)! 

Kiran, Scarlett, Eloise, Harrison and Ro were all real stars and given a teepee for a den, a bundle of sticks and some naturally crafted bows and arrows, their imaginations took over!

I love this quote by Michael Powell: "There is no land like the land of your childhood" and Vicki captured this perfect vision of children playing naturally together. The sun even made an appearance for a fleeting moment making the scene even more magical.

Because the nightwear we stock is traditional in style I wanted the shoot to have a real feeling of nostalgia reflecting the wonder of childhood. I think Vicki has captured this perfectly.

You can see the updated site here which includes lots of the new photos and you can read Vicki's blog about the shoot here. 

This is only part of the shoot and I look forward to sharing some more very soon.

Janne
xx

Photo Shoot

July and August is the time of year when most of my family are enjoying their summer, but I'm trying to get my head around Christmas, booking fairs and ordering new stock (all with the usual panic of have I ordered too much of one thing and not enough of another or will it be a ridiculously warm winter as I order fleece PJs)! Its also time to update the site with new stock, photos and a new look too.

Last year I met Vicki Knights through twitter, loved her photography style and asked her to take some commercial photos of my nightwear for my site. The shoot was so much fun featuring a friends three gorgeous girls and my daughter Eloise. It was pretty and whimsical in the idyllic setting of the Medicine Garden. You can read about that shoot here and here.

This year I wanted to carry on the theme of 'idyllic childhood freedom' and include boys too as I have gorgeous boys pjs on the site. As one of Surreys leading child and lifestyle photographers, Vicki gets booked up months in advance and so I think I booked the session last February! These are some photos I took of Vicki in action. She is of course used to taking photos of children, but not necessarily lying flat out amongst prickles and rabbit droppings faced with a line of fire! Alfie the golden lab was determined to try and sneak into every shot too!

I prefer to have outdoor lifestyle photos of my range rather than staged studio shots and loved the idea of a teepee sleepover/campout where the children would run around and play naturally with bows and arrows, climb trees, find sticks from the woods and munch on marshmallows afterwards. Pinterest was a great source of inspiration and over the months leading up to the shoot Vicki and I exchanged ideas.

I had already ear marked the venue for the shoot. A friends house set on the edge of a wood complete with cats and a dog as well as a vintage style tractor. It couldn't be a more perfect place in which to bring the shoot to life.

I loved making the teepee from a pattern I bought on ebay. I'd almost forgotten I could sew! And roaming charity shops for props and vintage finds is always satisfying. My husband who secretly loved the idea of whittling sticks produced amazing bows and arrows with twigs from the garden and feathers collected on our dog walks.

He also made the signpost too. Every thing came together and fingers were crossed for some early evening sun.

I am so thrilled with the results of Vicki's shoot and look forward to sharing her photos later in the week.

Janne x