Bub love: unisex newborn gifts

So. I work in a baby store, I design baby bibs and cards, and I have a bunch of friends all popping babies out (or they will be soon!) In this easy 5 gift guide I'll show you how to mix a wonderful Pocket Carnival product with some other faves for a super special unisex baby shower or new baby gift. Enjoy!


1. Rainbow Cloud Mobile by Made by Mosey - love this mobile, love the lady who makes them! Seriously, these mobiles are all handmade in Melbourne, right down to the handpainted twigs the mobile hangs on. And if you've had the pleasure of meeting Mads, the amazing designer/maker, you'll know she's just straight-up lovely.

2. Hello Baby Greeting Card by Pocket Carnival - of course you wanna be grabbing one of these cards for all your pregnant friends? Better yet, grab a discount card pack!

3. Wooden Kite Teether by Organic Toy Co - these guys make all their toys and teethers from scratch in Brisbane. How adorable is this kite teether? Very. I know babies will chew on just about ANYTHING (which can be kind of adorable or extremely gross, depending on what they're chewing on) so I do think it's nice to give them something special to chomp away on. These teethers are made of untreated Australian mahogany. Nice.

4. Alphabet by Alison Jay - these illustrations are just dreamy. Alphabet books are always totes popular for the competitive parent type, plus they're great for a bit of freestyling with your bedtime / babysitting book reading.

5. Dribble Bib - Hot Air Balloon by Pocket Carnival - I have the dribbliest niece ever (seriously, she could pretty much rehydrate the Sahara), and I'm pleased to say that these bibs work for her. The hemp / organic cotton fleece that they are backed with is SO soft and it's really absorbent too which is fantastic. These are definitely not your meal-time bibs, think of them as a handy accessory to stop clothes getting soaking with dribble / milky burps.


Boys and girls newborn gift editions coming soon!

Dribble Bibs!

Hello Baby! Those of you who follow my on Instagram (pennyeager) or Facebook have probably felt a little bombarded with photos of baby bibs and babies - so bear with me. I work in a kids store in Melbourne, and I guess this naturally influences my design ideas. People will always be having babies, and it's nice to be able to find a really unique and lovely gift for between $15 & $20 - especially if you know a bunch of people popping them out at once!

So, baby bibs. I've done all the illustrations/designs, and the fabric is printed in Melbourne on organic cotton. The bibs are backed with super soft hemp/organic cotton fleece. It is really really soft, and as the fleece fabric is actually brushed terry towelling, it is really absorbent too.

I kindly got to borrow my niece Violet for a wee bit of baby modelling, isn't she the cutest? Seriously though, taking photos of babies modelling things is tricky.

Purchase the bibs in the Pocket Carnival store!


Please note, all photos and designs are copyright Pocket Carnival. Do not use them without permission of Penny Eager.

Mini Cards

I've been a wee bit tardy in updating the blog with actual Pocket Carnival products lately, but now I'm turning over a new leaf! So, I've probably shared on Facebook and Twitter, but not here. Mini cards! These are half the size of regular cards, and I'm so chuffed with them (especially given how long it took to source little tiny envelopes!)

Also, there's an entire new collection of cards, but more on that soon!

Shop the mini cards here.

xx Penny

all new pocket carnival cushions!!! (by pocket mum!)

Aren't these the most adorable cushions ever? And I can brag about them because my mum (Pocket Mum?) made them! She's a great quilter, and SUCH a neater sewer than I am, and she's so supportive of Pocket Carnival (she possibly owns more Pocket Carnival fabric than me!)

She's made a few cushions now, and I'm so happy that she's making a few that will be available for the first time for sale at Markit at Fed Square this Sunday (29th May!) We are planning a few more that will be available online sometime very soon (and if you'd like one please also feel free to email me: penny@pocketcarnival.com.au )

This side is meant to be the front, but I personally love the little bow ties Pocket Mum has used instead of a zip, so to me they will always be the front!

They'll be around $70 each (which I think is a steal!) and there are more colours available so bring along your pennies to Markit on Sunday!

Do you like them? If you do, leave a comment, my mum reads my blog (hi Mum!) and she will be so chuffed!

xx

the talking animal cards

Hello! Hope you're all well, and not-too-chilly! I realised I'd forgotten to introduce the new Pocket Carnival card series - talking animals!

To be honest, when I started designing cards I never wanted them to be occassion-specific, because I think it's handy to have a stash of anytime cards. Which is true, but I also really increasingly like giving people cards that SAY SOMETHING!

There are currently 5 cards in the range, however just this morning I've been finishing some new illustrations, so watch out!

My favourite is the Piggie (pictured top), but the cards all were inspired by this cat, which is a part of my kittens coinpurse and pencilcase fabric.

Huzzah for new cards!

Also Huzzah for something completely different I'm working on... it's a work in progress, but feel free to take a look.

kite purses by pocket carnival!

Pink & Green Kite Purse - Organic & Recycled Cotton at the Pocket Carnival store

These kite purses have been in the pipeline for the longest time, so I'm pretty chuffed I can finally show you! I have been wanting to make something fun & functional - something that would look just as pretty hanging on a wall, or on a baby's cot, as it was useful and handy. I can just see these kite purses hanging on a pram with a couple of pacifiers and face wipes inside?

Having learned from previous mistakes I made a mock-up of the design in calico - as you can see it's changed a tiny bit since then... I showed the calico version to a few people who were a bit unsure about it. Sometimes I can see something so very clearly in my head, it's difficult to convey that mental image to other people!

I am super happy with how these purses have turned out... hope you like them!

Kite Purses available
Pocket Carnival store
Pocket Carnival Etsy

kittens!

I had lots of fun drawing all these kittens! I do like cats, even though they make me sneeze. I decided to base them around a fun colour scheme that I don't normally work with - and I wanted also for them all to have little bits of personality on show.

As always, they're made of certified organic cotton and lined with recycled cotton. And they're cute!

Kitten purses are available
Pocket Carnival store
Pocket Carnival etsy

new swing tags!

Chris is a student, with access to the amazing resources of a university library. So, I got him to borrow me some business books. Entrepreneurial ones! Most of them are a load of waffle, but a couple have been very good (more on this soon!)

One of the books (plus an article in an old copy of Frankie!) made me think about packaging, and the purpose of it. Obviously it's there for a reason - to tell people who made the item, what it's made of, how to look after it. It can also make you feel a bit special! It can make you want to buy something even more. It should be nice, don't you think?

So, voila! The brown kraft card one is our old swing tag - sort of cute, and functional. I hope you agree the new one is just that bit more special.

From now on, whenever you buy a Pocket Carnival purse it'll be just a teensy bit more special, we hope!

Now, on to the softie packaging!

thank you!

Hello! Thank you all so much to the lovely people who bought the softies for the QLD Flood Appeal. We sold 7 softies and donated $200 to the Premier's Distaster Relief Appeal (our receipt # is 3115290), which is fantastic! Obviously it's a teensy drop in the ocean compared to the money, effort & time that will be needed to get Queensland back in shape, but there are so many lovely crafty /bloggy types that are doing so much that it's all adding up!

The Little Man Bear softies are now for sale on Etsy and in the Pocket Carnival store too. Yay!
Something else happening is a Flood Appeal Auction on Facebook, organised by Handmade Kids and Rudy & the Dodo. This fabulous team have been accepting donations of goods which will be auctioned tomorrow (Friday 15th).

In case you've never experienced a Facebook auction before, you have to sign in to your Facebook account, 'like' their page, and then once the auction opens tomorrow, leave a comment on each item you'd like to bid for with your $ bid amount. 100% of the winning bids will be donated.

Take a peek! There are 2 more Pocket Carnival softies for auction.

Thanks! Back to regular, non-soggy, scheduled programming soon!

hello, love.

New Valentine's cards! These were so simple, when I finished them I wondered why I hadn't done them a long time ago. My favourite is the houndstooth, in purple... Do you like it?

I know that a heart card for Valentine's is not exactly revolutionary, but I did want to do ones that are really bright & cheerful, and that you'd be happy to give or receive all year around, to anyone. I think the yellow is kind of nice for a new baby! Quick, somebody have a baby and I'll give you one.

I also have an increasing obsession with these really simple patterns - polka dots, stripes and so on. The houndstooth is new though!

These three are my faves. I think I might frame them - I'll show pictures if I do!

Check them out in the shop here! Or on Etsy.

super cute: owl gift tags!

Oh look, it's even more owls! Owls seem to be a permanent fixture on the hot-list, so why not enjoy them? Exactly.

I love these gift tags - I have a ton of birthday gifts to give every December, so these are proving to be a super creation already.

There's 8 tags in each pack, and they're available:
In the Pocket Carnival shop, in $AU
In the Pocket Carnival Etsy store, in $US

the OWLS are here!

I know there are many many owl lovers out there - my affection for owls is growing every day. So, I thought a fun new set of cards might be in order!

So far there are 7 cards, although I'm considering doing the 'I Love You' Owls without the text as well, so people can frame it?

Whilst I hope that I don't know anyone who needs one of these cards anytime soon, and same for all of you, it's still a nice card.

The cards all all available for sale now in the Pocket Carnival store, and on Etsy! Hooray!

And. How delicious is this. Vegan Chocolate Brownies, from Dre on a Tray, at the North Melbourne Market. These brownies were so very extremely pretty AND delicious, and almost made up for the super slow market day!


P.S. - did you see the Able & Game new tea-towels yet?
P.P.S. - check out this market that one of our fave stockists, Nook, is doing in Woolloongabba!
P.P.P.S. - our latest newsletter is out! http://pocketcarnival.com.au/newsletter-2010-7.html

odd one out!

This year I decided I would have finished designing all my new products for the year by October... that didn't actually happen of course. I did design heaps of stuff in October, but I just keep having new ideas!

I have some other new things to share too, but my printer ran out of yellow ink. Hopefully Monday my new yellow ink will arrive! For now, this is my newest (and maybe cutest) Christmas card. (And that is how I take photos of my cards - high tech, huh?)


You can buy the new deer cards:
In the Pocket Carnival store
Or, on Etsy

new! mermaids

Hooray! Finally the mermaids are here! Shannon originally suggested mermaid softies would be cute awhile back, and so I got to it! Merboys are on the way, but probably won't be here until next year.

I think they're pretty cute.

Get them while they're hot here, in the Pocket Carnival online store.

P.S. Thanks to Georgie from Bee Hive for the little feature!

my creative space: so many things

So many things happening at this time of year!

The gift tags have been selling - I always love to imagine big piles of lovely gifts, wrapped up with a Pocket Carnival gift tag. Hooray!

Lots more toys waiting to be stitched up after they've been stuffed with corn & hemp goodness... the toys are still on sale for a little while longer too!

Purses! A big pile.

And something new I'm working on... mmm lemons :)

For more creative spaces, take a little peek at the list of blogs on Kootoyoo!


P.S. Just added a few sample pencilcases to Etsy at a lovely sale price!

hello, froggies!

Hello little frogs! I always like to have lots of matching things, because I like things in a set. So after I'd made my Frog Softies (which are currently on sale!) I felt the need for frog purses.

And so! They are done! My favourite is the little frog in those very 1980s spotty leggings with the cup of tea. The tea cup is very tiny, but it has a cute pink geometric pattern!

You can find them:
Pocket Carnival Store
Pocket Carnival on Etsy

candy cane!

Pretty cute! I mentioned to Chris that I'd like to have some candy cane gift tags, so he designed them! We were going to buy a bunch of candy canes to use as photography props, but then we'd have to eat them...

Available sor sale:
The Pocket Carnival Shop &
Pocket Carnival on Etsy

日本語 love

日本語がだいすき!! I think that Japanese alphabet is super cute, kawaiidesune! And I also love love love the silly nonsensical English that Japanese people are so fond of, so I wanted to do some silly nonsensical 日本語 for Pocket Carnival. Although I think my Japanese does make sense, but that's okay. I got my lovely friend Yuko to help me with the bunny purse!

Flowers love Sunshine Coinpurse
On Etsy - On Pocket Carnival Store

Bunny loves Carrots Coinpurse
On Etsy - On Pocket Carnival Store

another fabric sneak peek

Hello! Have been rather absent lately, apologies to those waiting for emails or parcels, it's been rather a week of unexpected personal things that I'll talk about soon.

I did want to share a little peek at some new fabrics - I'll be listing a few for sale by the end of the week I hope (including the owls on blue polka dots in the first photo), and you can also see a few new designs for sale on Spoonflower.

Back soon, lovelies.

billboard potential

I think I'll get this as a 20 foot billboard somewhere in the city. No? Oh well.

Toys in the shop, here.