Product Review - Bubbalooba Cloth Nappy

So I have always made it clear that I am a big ambassador for reusable, modern cloth nappies. And therefore this particular review is close to my heart. It is quite scary to see the amount of disposable nappies that go into landfill each day. Don’t get me wrong, I do use disposables but 80% of the week you will see my little man in adorable, well fitted, reliable nappies just like the beautiful one we received to review last week from Bubbalooba.


Kyra, the name and genius behind the Bubbalooba brand states “Using cloth nappies has never been easier! Reusable nappies are trendy, easy to use, hygienic, and a lot cheaper than disposable nappies.” I wholeheartly agree – The cost of a box of Huggies usually sends my husband into a silent fit at Woolies! With reusable nappies we would be lucky to purchase a box every three months!
 Our nappy arrived beautifully wrapped and with detailed instructions on how to wash and care for our nappy to ensure we get the best and most use out of it. I have to say…this nappy is the SOFTEST I have ever felt and makes you just want to grab and cuddle that little tush wearing it!


 After a quick pre wash (as per the insructions) Kayden was quite excited - checking himself out in the mirror and caressing the beautiful fabric that now snuggly fitted his chubby buttox!


And the result? – no leaks…none…nada..zip…I thought I would really test the little nappies out and let him have his afternoon nap in them…and the result? He was dry…no sticky, damn skin..dry..these nappies are absorbant as well as good looking!

Our nappy also came with a night time or “heavy wetter” booster to ensure they have a comfortable and dry night sleep.


The great thing about Bubbalooba nappies is they are often one of a kind…so Kyra always has a gorgeous range of fabrics to choose from!


So the verdict….I have always stuck to the big name reusable nappy brands but am so pleasantly surprised to find a smaller designer with high quality and much more afforable nappies to offer. Well done Kyra on not only fantastic service but adorable nappies to match!


Go and visit Bubbalooba today!

My Friend Matilda - Moving in Another Direction

Well it's with some sadness that I write this blog but this is balanced with the same amount of excitement.

After a lot of conversation with my husband, some contemplative walks on the coast, a bit of market research and recent sales...My Friend Matilda will be moving its focus to our Wall Decals.

I felt it was important to explain what was going on to you guys,  the customers/fans otherwise it may seem quite sudden. Good news is...your bound to grab yourself a bargain in the near future!

There are quite a few factors behind this move but mostly it is based around what is best for my family.

Our Wall Decals are by far our biggest sellers these days, we are continually amazed by our expanding global customer base and our relationships with the designers mean that the level of physical hands on work and stock levels for us in our little house is significantly less than the remainder of our stores products!

As most of you know My Friend Matilda began its journey back in mid May. And wow did it take off! We have watched our sales sky rocket, our customer base grow and our Facebook page explode!

At this same time I was still adjusting to being a new mum to my beautiful, patient and chilled out little bub Kayden (8 months at the time). I was also working two jobs and planning a wedding. I was trying very hard to keep my head above water and was gaining confidence in not only My Friend Matilda but myself - I was starting to be proud of the business I was creating from my home and office (also known as the spare room!).

I began to see some of my regular customers as friends and loved hearing what they thought of my product as well as how excited they were to pass My Friend Matilda's details onto their friends and family.

Towards the end of the year I was notified by one of my employers that they would not be needing me this year in 2011, I therefore needed to find another job to help support my family (Kayden was a surprise baby and a half to say the least.. and we are still recovering from the lack of savings and non existent maternity leave when he was born!). Darn mortgage!! 

I have now found a new job working with Weight Watchers. I lead and manage four meetings a week in Perth and am enjoying the challenge! With this job comes a lot of stock...this stock on top of the My Friend Matilda stock means we are starting to get very crammed in our tiny home!

Mike and I will shortly be starting to try and have a second baby and we will need to reclaim the office/stock room back in order to make room for another baby. More importantly once a second baby comes along I will struggle to find time to focus on two children, two jobs and all that comes with selling our vast array of products on My Friend Matilda. This is where the dilemma with space reared its head!

It is also starting to get harder to find time to wrap, pack and post out all of the orders that come flooding in each day. With a baby famous for wonderful night sleeping yet also as famous for his 40 minute power naps - I am struggling to spread my time fairly for young Kayden who seems to be going everywhere and getting into everything (and he isn't even walking yet!!)  - not long ago I could just plop him down in the playpen and he would be happy as Larry! The workload is impacting on how I feel as a mother I am spreading myself too thin and running out of steam fast!

I guess some people will say why don't you take My Friend Matilda on full time - and the answer really is -  I didn't want to work full time with a baby and that was actually the reason I started MFM, I thought it could be a hobby that brought in pocket money that I could grow over the years! I just had no idea how well the business would do! We will endeavour to go full time at some stage in the future!

Someone brought it to my attention that I was working a 36 hour week...this is when it hit home that I needed to make changes to lead a happier life. Anyone else with an at home business will understand how hard it is to "Switch off". The changes we are implementing will mean that I should be able to work less, relax more and prepare for a growing family and future.

So as I said - with great regret, I have decided to pull back on majority of my stock and products sold on the website. We have plenty of stock to keep us going a couple of months but if there was something you were after! Order now before it sells out!

I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for the AMAZING support and friendship you all have provided me so far! We hope you keep us in mind for future wall decals for yourselves, your friends and your family!! With that we ask that you please join our Facebook Page dedicated to our decals to increase the awareness! Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wall-Decals-by-My-Friend-Matilda/144639338915925

I hope to one day expand the business back again when Kayden and Kayden Junior are older and at school. It has been a ball! It has been successful and that is thanks to a wonderful customer and fan base!

With all my love and Happy New Year,

Bek, Mike and Kayden
My Friend Matilda - Wall Decals 

Photoshoots, Hens Nights and Cows Disease

Well it has been a LONG time since the last blog. I apologise....I have had a couple of reminders from the Facebook fans but have been snowed under with day to day running of the business, planning the wedding and removing my son from doggy doors..yes he has gotten himself stuck in Tillie's dog door twice in one day!



What has been happening? Well the weeks are flying these days. I got told a long time ago that the years speed up as you get older then go twice as fast with children..I concur x 2.


Last week we had our pre-wedding shoot with our photographer http://www.laurenwellington.com.au/ . I was quite nervous and to be honest, Mike could not see the point in us "dragging Kayden out into the countryside". Kayden had only had a short 30 minute sleep (don't you hate when you have to wake them)..so we were worried how he would "perform" for Lauren....but boy did he perform. It was like he had be doing it for years...smiling, posing, looking straight down the lens...his mumma was proud! As I mentioned Mike was not convinced it was needed but WOW both of us were blown away with how good the photos turned out. I am now struggling to choose which ones we want printed. I need more wall space!!!


We walked away so relaxed and confident that on the day Lauren will capture the "feeling/mood" of the wedding. Special thanks of course to Lauren Wellington Photography for the use of the photos and a special thanks to my beautiful cousin (and bridesmaid), Renee for suggesting her!


Here are just some of the beautiful moments Lauren captured (if I don't say so myself!). The ones that touch my heart the most are of Kayden sitting in front of the fence..this is what I see when I close my eyes..and what choke me up when I think about how lucky we are to have him. I also love the ones of Mike and I on the fence..can't wait to marry my best friend..finally!

Photos courtesy of Lauren Wellington Photography - http://www.laurenwellington.com.au/

We also had a massive sale a couple of weeks ago. The response was AMAZING! We had more sales in an hour (50) than we normally get in a month. Thank you so much to all of the customers who took part in the sale, I hope you enjoy your purchases!


I have my hens night on Saturday! WOOOHOOOOOO. Very excited to be letting my hair down with the girls. My beautiful bridesmaids gave me the best gift of all...their time..they have planned everything and told me just to rock up on the night. It means a lot! Thank you girls. I will try to remember to load up some photos of the night (the G rated ones!) Oh and my mums group is coming! Not quite the setting we normally meet in so that should be a laugh!


My diet? Well it is going well. 4.5kg so far..almost at pre baby weight! I am a huge fan of Lite N Easy and have no complaints about the food. There is plenty of it and it is delicious. I am doing coastal walks with girlfriends around 3 times a week and enjoying getting some fresh air.


Kayden had a bout of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease about a month ago...he still has some scars from it but they will disappear in the next couple of weeks. It was quite scary and we were sent up to the local children's hospital as his rash was very bad and nobody seemed to want to diagnose him. It managed to spread across the mums group and onto some other children..sounds horrible though. Random nosy, old lady at Woolies:...."awww what is wrong with your son..." Me: He had hand, foot and mouth disease". Random nosy, old lady steps back..."oh....like the cow disease?". I pause..."yes exactly what the cows get" (Note: no...nothing like the cows..its quite common - Kayden just had a very bad case of it and no before you judge...i didn't take him in public while contagious).


Anyway better get back to work, I have some wrapping to do! 5 lovely Earth Lust drink bottles are going to new homes!


Lots of love and speak soon.


Bek


My Friend Matilda

Post Baby Weight and Burnt Apples!

Baby food, baby food, baby food...I live it, I eat it, I smell like it and I'm always wiping it down off some strange surface! I now feel like I am some kind of guru on baby food. And that is why I have two hot tips! Firstly….an episode of The Hills is not worth watching if it means that the two kilos of apples that I lovingly washed, peeled and chopped is burning on the stove…or caramelising if we want to use a nicer word. The house smelt for two days and Kayden had to resort to jarred apples…and then no apples as I am yet to get to the food shopping! Bad, Bad Mummy!!

Speaking of Kayden! Look who is sporting the latest delivery for My Friend Matilda! I chose the print for Kaydens nappy covers myself! I was quite impressed with how they turned out, what do you think? If you would like one for your tot, you can order them here

 Speaking of food shopping, it will be a little different today when Kayden and I hit up Woolies as I will be only shopping for the boys! As most of you know, our wedding is coming up in a couple of months and its time to get down to business…I am jumping on the Lite ‘N Easy bandwagon and am going to give their food plan a try. I would feel more comfortable a couple of kilos lighter and at this very busy time in my life..I don’t feel that I could cope with counting points (which worked wonders for me in the past) or weighing out portion sizes.

I did lose quite a bit of my baby weight as soon as Kayden was born but I will also be honest, I didn’t panic too much as I had the excuse of “oh I’ve just had a baby people will understand” but the fact these days is my baby is no longer tiny..he is massive and I still feel slightly massive myself.

I actually felt the most comfortable in my body when I was pregnant. I didn’t have to suck my tummy in and I could comfortably wear tight tops. Although, there was this one incident in the shower towards the end of the pregnancy when I cried my eyes out because I was so fat I couldn’t shave my own legs. Mike suggested I sit on the shower floor to do it and I remember howling at him “But how do you suggest I get off the floor again!!!”

I can’t blame the weight on Kayden though, when I finally figured out I was pregnant..I went for gold. Didn’t hold back. I wanted everything sweet and salty. I heard Chrissy on channel Ten’s “The Circle” the other day speaking about when she was pregnant she was finally comfortable in her own body and ate guilt free. My theory was that your already fat so extra weight will go unnoticed. I’m not stupid, I knew that I would have to deal with the weight once Kayden was born but I had visions of the weight dropping off after each time Kayden would breastfeed….BA BOW!!!
 So tomorrow my package will be delivered and we will see how I go! I will keep you posted on my little journey!


Things have been busy at My Friend Matilda the last couple of weeks. Customers are snapping up all the bargains we are currently offering in July and I am having a ball sitting in my office each evening once Kayden has gone to bed and wrapping or placing more stock orders.
  
We have just been approved to sell personalised dog and cat collars which is exciting. Young Matilda..is known for her escape attempts so we will be sure to be ordering her a collar tonight! Check them out here! So cute!!

 Don’t forget we have a sale on the tutus at the moment. Now only $32. We have five left so get them while they last.

This morning we got our shipment of bib and place mat sets. You can buy these for $25 here. Available in a variety of designs.
 That is all for now. Off to do the food shopping then meeting my girlfriend Lauren (and maid of honour) for coffee and a catch up

If you like anything you have seen above, you can find out more information on our website: http://www.myfriendmatilda.com.au/


Xox Bek


My Friend Matilda.

Meatballs, Wedding Planning and Pink Laundry

I’m half way through the weekend and am actually quite relaxed ( a big feat since the My Friend Matilda adventure began). Kayden is tucked up in bed and Mike and I enjoyed some Japanese takeaway and some world cup soccer (well Mike enjoyed the soccer) while I had a chat to a girlfriend on the phone. Mike then made me an old time favourite dessert…a Spider (scoop of ice-cream floating on a glass of coke) and he enjoyed some Milo on top of ice-cream! Geeze what a wild night!

This week we have been super busy organizing orders and working on the My Friend Matilda Facebook fan page. We now have 270 members..not a bad effort . Any fans reading this for the first time this week? Say hello in the comment box below!!

We have also had over 3000 visitors to the website this month which I am really happy with. I hope to double that over the next couple of months so I will keep you updated.

We have had new stock and orders arriving every morning this week! I think the courier is used to me opening the door in my night gown each morning juggling a crazy puppy and a dribbling bub with wild bed hair (that’s me with the wild bed hair…Kayden…he has none!)

My favourite packages this week have been the reusable sandwich and snack bags by LunchSkin.They range in price from 12.95 – 14.95 and with shipping at the flat rate of $2 they are great value and super cute! Not to mention good for the environment. Buy them here: http://www.myfriendmatilda.bigcartel.com/category/eco-friendly-organic-products

Kayden has also been sporting his new Earth Lust water bottle in the Owl design! He is quickly perfecting the drink cap attachment which is a surprise since he doesn’t normally take to sippie cups etc. I also have the Sparrow design in the Earthlust 600ml range which has a handy clip that I use to attach the bottle to my pram with when walking on the coast.

See yourself with one of these funky bottles? Find them here: http://www.myfriendmatilda.bigcartel.com/category/eco-friendly-organic-products

On the home front I had the neighbours drooling as the smell of my delicious Tuscan meatballs cooking permeated the street (if I do say so myself)…What makes them Tuscan? The packet mix says they are and who am I to argue :)

The 1st of October is closing on us (our wedding date) and things are starting to get a bit scary. I feel quite unorganized and need to get into “wedding mode” a bit more.

This week I made two rules which I WILL FOLLOW:

The first one is less time on the business and more time on me (as per Mikes instructions).
I have decided to shut shop each night at an acceptable hour and either go to bed or read my book…the Oprah Biography.

I was starting to lose the plot earlier in the week when I found the T.V remote in my handbag whilst in the chemist and I also managed to make an entire load of white laundry pink when I stupidly put a red dressing gown in the machine without thinking about what was already in there! Thanks to some helpful Facebook fans we now have the situation covered and Kaydens pink nappies are now white again!

The second rule is at least 30 minutes a day on wedding planning. I think before I had Kayden it would have been a whole different scenario with me needing to take a step back from the wedding and reminding myself not to let it rule my life. Thank goodness I have a super organized Mum and helpful bridesmaids who I know are there for me if I need a hand!

Anyway, as I just mentioned above I am going to shut up shop and head off to bed.

Don’t forget this week we have 15% off Earth Lust water bottles! - http://www.myfriendmatilda.bigcartel.com/category/eco-friendly-organic-products

Please leave a comment…as I have a feeling I am the only one reading these blogs (besides my ever loyal parents)


Xoxo Bek, My Friend Matilda

Back to Basics

I was told by my father that my last blog was crap (he did not use those exact words..he is not that cruel) …he wanted more of the “Bek” stuff and less of the “Matilda” stuff. I told him the idea was to promote the store but he reminded me that people also liked to see what my little clan and I had been up to.


So here goes..


Well the week started with a trip to Northam to see an old friend..Who is now married to my cousin! Small world hey! She lives in a place called Northam which is a country town 1.5 hours from Perth. So I packed up Kayden and we hit the road. It was a rather relaxing journey thanks to my old friend TomTom. Kayden slept quite well (until I had to stop the car for roadwork’s…bloody roadwork’s!!). My girlfriend Kylie and I enjoyed a relaxing day with our three children and got to have a good catch up. So that was Monday!

The rest of the week was the usual with a day of house/My Friend Matilda work and an evening staying with my parents. We do this every Tuesday night as my Mum looks after Kayden when I go to work on Wednesdays…Wednesday mornings we get him up and dressed then handball him to Mum as we run out the door with toast in hand!

Kayden came down with a cold (As did Kylies kids!) on Thursday and so Friday we had a nice quiet day at home. Kayden had a wonderful sleep thanks the assistance of Panadol and I had a lovely morning wrapping up and preparing my first lot of orders. That’s right, My Friend Matilda has officially opened! We got off to a flying start with lots of orders from both friends and new fans! Thank you to all those who made an order.

Anyway where was I? Oh yes! While Kayden was sleeping I played some tunes from one of my favourite bands on the IPod, Mumford and Sons. It’s funny, while in my last couple of weeks of pregnancy when I was having a whale of a time (get it?) waiting for Mr. K to arrive, I played this album over and over. It is now one of the only albums that can stop him mid tears and listen…thank goodness it was not ABBA or even worse…KESHA!

While bubs was asleep and I was busy playing Santa Clause with all the wrapping of the orders I had, the usual smell of cooking lingered through the house. Now this is the part where you say “Pffttt..Who does this girl think she is..Martha Stewart?” Rest assured the usual stench is of Kayden’s slop cooking. I call it slop because it looks the same going in as it does coming out! Brown…sometimes orange..And VERY unappetizing. Some days I feel like that is all I do…chop, slow cook, process, fill ice cube trays, freeze, empty ice cube trays, label it all and then jam them in the freezer and pray that there will not be an avalanche the next time someone opens it.

Although, I must say that a couple of my girlfriends have shown me in the last couple of weeks that they can be creative in the kitchen as well as mums (Kylie and her egg and bacon pie, Jo and her chocolate cake and Raegan and her…I cant remember what Raegan made but every time I talk to her she is making something delicious for her hubby!) This was putting my tofu burgers and salad to shame It’s our flavour of the week at the moment and actually tastes better than it sounds.

So I decided to get back to basics, which is part of my resolution this year. That is, to provide Kayden with the kind of upbringing I will later be proud of. I got out my free range chicken (I strongly believe in spending the extra money on free range and organic meat, especially for Kayden…even if it means we don’t spend as much on delicious junk food full of MSG's for ourselves…hey..I didn’t say I was perfect!) Where was I? Yes…the chicken. I defrosted the chicken and made good use of the lemons my mother in law gave me from her tree (which she enjoys reminding me are bigger and better lemons than the ones from my tree!) I then combined it will some herbs and garlic oil that we purchased down south on a weekend away earlier in the year. Oil is something else I will never scrimp on…bad oil can ruin a good dish.

Here is my dish…not bad hey?

If you want the recipe..Don’t ask me…I don’t really follow recipes anymore as it seems too hard when you have a dog or a child (or both) waiting to trip you up around the kitchen as pictured below!

 

As I mentioned above, I am taking things back to basics and Mike and I recently purchased an above ground garden bed…I raided my parents bookshelf and borrowed a Yates 1975 garden guide which I laid in bed reading and studying (much to Mikes amusement!) I then took Kayden to Bunning’s (garden store) for an outing where we picked out veggies.

 I am very proud of how well it is going and each afternoon I take Kayden outside to water and check for any developments!

Here is a picture of the patch at the moment. I will be posting you some more updates as the produce starts to grow! By next week...we will be self sufficient..oh I am so funny!

Most afternoons just before Mike gets home from work we will spend some time enjoying the warm sunshine. We have quite a small outdoor area but Mike has laid some lawn and we have a pretty lemon tree in the corner which for some reasons reminds me of Tuscany. I enjoy looking out into the garden while washing the dishes in the kitchen and picture the day when I see Kayden playing out on the lawn with Tillie nearby.

We have a wooden bench under the little lemon tree. Mike and I sat on this bench many a evenings in summer when Kayden was tiny and we would discuss how much ours lives had changed with a newborn..I won’t lie…most of the time it was counseling each other that it would get better (and it did)

I also sit here some afternoons and read a chapter of a book and maybe even treat myself to a cheeky glass of wine while Kayden lays on a blanket looking up at the clouds..


This is pure bliss for me and the times when I really love my life and realize how fortunate I am to have those little moments with Kayden on my own (here I go getting teary again!).

Oh this is also a popular sight you will see in our back yard, nappies on the line. I am a very proud ambassador for reusable nappies. That is also part of my taking things back a notch. I strangely enough get joy and a sense of satisfaction out hanging them on the line and using them over and over again. There is lots of debate over whether or not they really save you money. I will argue that they do and this is a major reason why we decided we were going to use these but the biggest factor was the effect disposables have on the environment. So I guess I see this as doing my bit for the globe. However I must add, we do still use disposables when going on outings as nobody wants to carry around a stinky nappy in their handbag!

Anyway…that was a longish blog so I apologise if I have bored you all to tears! I couldn’t leave without promoting some more of the goodies that have just arrived in our store….

Like what you see? Visit us at www.myfriendmatilda.com.au and see what else we have to offer!

That’s enough for now, speak soon and please leave a comment and say hello.


Love Bek, My Friend Matilda.

Neutral Tones Don't = Boring

My Friend Matilda has been busy ordering so much stock to fill the online store lately that it is always fun to return home to find a new brown paper package tied up with string (have I told you I love the Sound of Music?) waiting for me to up wrap and drool over.

Today arrived the beautiful owls and whales that travelled all the way from Tuscany! The entire family gathered around (Yes Grandma and Grandad too!) to inspect and discuss these little gems. Consensus= yes they are as good as they look and yes Matilda would love to get her grubby paws on them! Please Note: No dog or children will chew, eat or lick any My Friend Matilda items!


I also had such a nice surprise this morning as I sat down at my desk ready to start the day and found that I had my first order! One lucky customer will be the proud recipient of the Princess Tea Party Cake (good taste I say!). Please go ahead and visit the website and let me know what you like the looks of asI would to hear your feedback!


Here are just a few more of the delicious products we have "in store" for you this week! This weeks theme:

Neutral Tones Don't = Boring

I found these cosy and warm Barkingham cardigans when hunting for something to keep Tillie (Matilda) warm on those cold nights. Young Matilda seems to be working her way further and further up the bed as the nights get colder. I guess this is a poor attempt to justify why Tillie needs this adorable 100% woolen, hand knitted cardigan by Miyow and Barkley. These things are so adorable they were picked up by CLEO magazine as the perfect gift for pooch lovers!

And we can't forget those tiny tootsies, these handmade loafers are the nicest gifts to give to to a tiny babe in your life.

Have you had that little voice inside your head lately daring you to re-decorate the house? DON'T ignore it! Start with one room at a time and explore the possibilities with our modern family decals by Designed Designer. If only I knew these were around when we decorated Kayden's nursery!

Fool the man in your life and give him a "doughnut". These fun soaps will be a treat they will not forget and they also make great stocking fillers at Christmas time!

There is something so sweet about a young child in these simple tones. Once again I wonder if I could get away with Kayden wearing one of these beautiful couture hair accessories. If only he had hair..oh and the fact that his father would kill me!

And don't worry ladies, we did not forget your accessories! Take a look at this unique piece made by the very talented Karlee of Shea Baby.

 

So let me know what you think (visit www.myfriendmatilda.bigcartel.com) or just drop a line to say hi! This weeks challenge is for me to get a Facebook page up and running! Wish me luck and take care.

Rebekah, My Friend Matilda