Q & A with Allison from Lark

Allison and her family live in Daylesford, Victoria and have had an interesting Summer, given the weather conditions there. Today we hear from her:

1. How long have you been running your business?
Since 2004, after my second son was born, although it was a twinkle in my eye for many years before that!

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture?
I was a publishing executive.

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why?
The knitted play food is Lark's best-know product and I still love it. Besides being cute, tactile, and totally practical, every piece is made by women living in poverty in Bangladesh and helps us to give them support and Fair Trade working conditions.

4. What do you do to relax?
I'm lucky enough to have a job that is also my hobby, so the distinction between work and relaxation is quite blurred for me. I spend lots of time making things, reading blogs and magazines, and playing with my kids.

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be?
I'd pop back home to the UK for the weekend, so see my mum and my friends and do lots of shopping!

6. What was the last thing that you purchased?
Some rolls of vintage wallpaper at a fleamarket this morning.

7. Who lives at your place?
Me, my husband Paul, our two sons, two cats and a puppy. The Lark office is joined to our home so there are always staff and delivery people coming and going too, it's a pretty crazy place!

Q & A with Carly from Milkwrap

Meet Carly - she is a mum of 2 and the designer of Milkwrap -

1. How long have you been running your business? 2 years

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture? Stockbroking

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why? Thats easy, only have one product at the moment (more coming soon i hope) :) "The Milkwrap"- it's my favourite because it's my essential breastfeeding accessory, wherever my baby and breast go so does my Milkwrap!

4. What do you do to relax? Walk along the beach, swim or read.

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be? North West Island

6. What was the last thing that you purchased? Fruit and Vege

7. Who lives at your place? Glenn, my Husband, Isabella and Ruby my Daughters and our pet Daisy Boo the rabbit!

No ordinary cupcakes ...

I have discovered over the last few years that I wasn't the only child who spent hours pouring over the AWW Birthday Cake recipe book. Mum kept her copy in a little bookshelf near the kitchen table and it was my favourite book to read over breakfast (only grown ups read whilst having breakfast?!)

It is Thomas' 6th birthday on the 8th of April (10 days after mine - he was due on my birthday) & he is LOVING going through my AWW cake book. He must have changed his mind at least 10 times - but that is all part of the fun, isn't it!

I daren't show him these cakes that I found created by Hello Naomi via Nathalie's blog from Imprintables!

FLATout charity

I thought you might be interested in some of the work that FLATout are involved with...

FLATOUTaustralia is committed to helping the kids of Cambodia. Why Cambodian kids you ask? Well I, Prue, spent a year living in Cambodia as a volunteer in 2000 - 2001. I fell in love with the country and its people. The money we donate will go directly (that means every cent) to CEDAC, a Cambodian run non-government organisation I volunteered with. CEDAC is a great organisation and will ensure that every cent goes to the kids of Cambodia.

Sarah visited me when I lived there and knows that these kids need help. We know that the money we send to Cambodia will be put to good use - fresh water, fresh food, shelter and school books. We hope to make a small difference.Sadly, some children in Cambodia aren't as lucky as the children we know here in Australia, for example in rural areas 20% of children do not attend primary school and 44% of children under 5yrs are stunted due to lack of proper and sufficient nutrition, clean water and sanitation.

So to help out FLATOUTaustralia is donating money to CEDAC so they can run a small education programme to ensure improved health conditions and primary school attendance through general awareness raising and educational programmes among children and parents. We are also sponsoring a village based childcare centre where pre-school children can play, learn, borrow books and mothers can meet and discuss local issues etc. The centre will be run by local staff.We hope to expose around 200 families to the education programme and the child care centre will support around 80 children. We are really excited about this and look forward to sharing photos and progress reports as the programme continues.

For more information on CEDAC see http://www.cedac.org.kh/We are so excited to show you these photos of the work FLATOUTaustralia is funding in Cambodia.Kids learning about hygiene, nutrition, basic health and education skills. Check out the little building we funded too.How exciting is that? We love the following saying and we hope to continue this work for a long time to come."When you get, give.When you learn, teach."

Q & A with Prue from FLATout

Today's company in profile is Flatout. Here we meet Prue, one half of the talented FLATout duo.
1. How long have you been running your business?
6 years

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture?
Marketing

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why?
FLATOUTbears - all colours!!

4. What do you do to relax?
Hang out with my husband and 2 children Mia and Dominic

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be?
South Coast of NSW

6. What was the last thing that you purchased?
A massage..lucky me!

7. Who lives at your place?
Me, my husband Danny, Mia (6) and Dominic (4)

Home

I love our home. It is no show home, but it is home, with sprinkles of personal touches everywhere. It has taken a long time for us to work out what is our style (poor Kirk has painted three times!) and has all started coming together over the last little while. We did major renovations just before Milly was born 3 years ago after doing some initial ones before we moved in in 2001. I am verycontent because although not large it is a happy and organised home :)

I enjoy Anita Kaushal's books because the homes featured in them are friendly & happy - just on a larger scale to mine, with a slighter greater budget!!

BTW - we have some cute teepees instore in pink, red & navy stripes - great for indoor and outdoor play!

oh... and why are we organised? click here for the storage boxes that mean that every toy, puzzle, texta has a home!

Q & A with Ingrid from Cocoon Couture

Meet Ingrid from Cocoon Couture :)

1. How long have you been running your business?
Cocoon couture started about 4 years ago ...

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture?
I was the head designer for Roxy (by Quiksilver) for 5 years prior to having my twin boys Flynn and Archer. After having the boys I took some time to enjoy being a first time mum; then when they were about 2 years old slowly started getting cocoon couture off the ground.

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why?
Mmmmmm so many to choose from; but I think it would have to be the green or red tiny toucan bean bag...just a personal fav and always makes me happy when they are set up in the boys play room..I love colour! Oh I also love the Early Bird and Gorgeous Giraffe new Wall Art...something I would have loved to have as a little girl...I have them up in my studio.... (note by Jen - instore May)

4. What do you do to relax?
Yoga.

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be?
I think I would love to be spirited to Micks Place in Bingen (Bali) ...lots of sleep, massage and breakfast lunch and dinner all prepared! With a nice fun afternoon surf on a high tide.....and wouldn’t it be nice if there was a private yoga class first thing in the morning...that would do it!

6. What was the last thing that you purchased?
a beautiful hand embroidered skirt for a wedding I am off to this afternoon...lots of colour and texture and orange sheering at the top...I love it.

7. Who lives at your place?
My husband Clif and my twin boys Flynn and Archer...our dog Indy and two guinea pigs (Sophie and Rocky) oh and myself.

Q & A with Sam Sample from Be Genki

What I didn't mention in yesterdays post was bath oil that was in the bath below the windowsill- it was the Be Genki Tranquility oil .... my very favourite ...

Today we meet Sam Sample, the girl behind Be Genki. Be Genki is found in boutiques across Australia and now has a strong following o/s.

1. How long have you been running your business? Just over 3 years.

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture?Running a graphic design business.

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why?Be Genki Serenity Bath and Shower Oil, because that was the product that helped change a girlfriend of mine’s life for the better, and then inspired me to develop the rest of the brand.

4. What do you do to relax?I go for a swim in the surf or book in for a deep tissue massage.

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be?Bangalow. It’s like stepping inside a fairytale book. I dream of moving there in a few years so I can have chooks and horses running around out the back.

6. What was the last thing that you purchased?A bikini.

7. Who lives at your place?I have two lovely housemates: Johnny and Tiff. Oh and our cat “Moosh”.

Happy Sunday night!

I have been enjoying the latest Glasshouse candles fragrance, Sistern Chapel (Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh). Love, love, love it! Uploading it to the site over the next couple of days along with some new diffusers. It is my birthday next weekend and it will be a busy weekend with kids parties etc so am going to take lots of little me time bits between now and then as my gift to myself :)

Hope you have a great week! x

(Roses are Souvenir de la maison - deliciously sweet and prolific Autumn flush -)

Q & A with Fiona from Fiona Kate

For the next few weeks, we will be running a series of Q & A's with our fabulous (and talented!)Australian designers. I am looking forward to hearing their responses! I hope you enjoy it and get a glimpse into how lucky I am to have a business relationship with these gorgeous people! Today we meet Fiona, the girl behind Fiona Kate Storage Boxes - which we are loving!

1. How long have you been running your business? 2 years

2. What were you doing prior to your current venture? Art director

3. If you had to choose your favourite product from your range, what would it be & why? The Crate with removable spots because it’s functional and gorgeous. AND took longer to create & deliver than oliver

4. What do you do to relax? swim

5. If you were able to go wherever you wanted to this weekend, where would it be? MOMA NY

6. What was the last thing that you purchased? Milk tonight at 6.10pm for the 6.30 bottle....4 kids 3 bikes and a pram

7. Who lives at your place? Nick (husband), Noah, Holly, Owen , Oliver and Chilli the cat