jellycat swap

Sadly, the Jellycats Giraffe, which accompanied our Billie range, has been discontinued. Good news is, we’ve found a very worthy replacement; this beautiful ‘Cordy Roy’ Lion…

This sand colored lion takes ‘pride’ of place next to the immensely popular burnt orange aardvark and chocolate brown hound, to complete our lineup of Billie range Jellycats.

All three are available from our shop, priced at $24.99 each. We also sell Jellycats in variations of green and pink, to match our George and Logan ranges respectively :-)

twinkle twinkle

Meet our newest retail partner, Twinkle Twinkle Little One, “Chicago’s premiere, upscale baby and child boutique, committed to furnishing Windy City nurseries with unique, special and custom creations”. Soon, our own creations will be appearing in their store.

Initially, Twinkle Twinkle Little One will be stocking our new Logan bedding, plus other selected items from our George and Billie ranges. If you live in the Chicago area, you can find them in North Center’s Roscoe Village…a neighborhood we visited a while ago :-)

olli and lime and rypken

Another customer post now, making three already this year…that’s record-setting pace! Anyhow, this one comes courtesy of Jessica McLain, who sent pics from Bonne Terre, MO.

Her beautiful baby, Rypken, was born on November 16. Jessica says “I wanted something he could keep growing in and found the perfect match with the George collection!” She found us “through searching baby boy rooms online that weren’t so ‘themed’ and ‘cutesy’”.

Doesn’t Rypken look adorable, not to mention stylish, all in white, against our lime green George crib sheet?! And here he is again, pictured with his proud mom, in the nursery.

Jessica says, “my favorite item is the frame I received from my photographer friend Casey [at KC Photography]. She had it made locally at Brown Eyed Girls Boutique! It matches the room perfectly and gives it something no other ‘George’ nursery would have!”

She adds, “thank you Olli and Lime for making Rypken’s nursery so trendy, clean cut, and fun!”. Thank you Jessica, for sharing these amazing pics of your nursery and new addition!

Since posting, Jessica sent me another pic (above) which I couldn’t resist adding. Little ‘Ryp’ as he’s affectionately known, is (a very happy) nine-and-a-half weeks old here :-)

spot the difference

Two reasons for sharing these almost identical images. First, because we’ve taken our lifestyle photography in a new direction, by using a modern loft setting for the first time.

And second, to test your eyesight. Just kidding, but you’ve probably already noticed the difference between these two images. That’s right, no bumper in the second shot, below.

It’s my not-so-subtle way of reminding you that our Logan crib bedding set comes as either a 4-piece or 3-piece version. Both sets are available right now from our shop :-)

olli and lime and anne

Time to share our first ever Logan customer nursery! These pictures were kindly emailed in by Anne Mader, who lives with her husband in the Michigan suburbs, north of Detroit.

The couple are expecting their first baby in March but Anne finished the room in plenty of time. She says, “I’m a planner, hence our nursery being done two months in advance”.

Anne knew what she was looking for: “I was on a hunt for girl bedding that wasn’t too fussy and non-themed. There really is a lot of JUNK out there and cheap rough materials.”

“I’m an avid design blog reader and had seen the george bedding and liked it! I did a bit more ‘googling’ ’til one day I landed on the site and fell in love with the Logan line!”

Anne used a mix of sources to complete the nursery. The cool zig-zag rug in the center of the room came from Urban Outfitters and the mirror, above the crib, is from HomeGoods.

The alphabet wall art was a shower gift, from Etsy, the crib, dresser, lamp and basket are from Target and the rocker, curtains, side table and wall shelves were bought from IKEA.

“I love the bedding first off, and second place would be the rug. I really enjoyed bringing in many patterns for our baby girl to look at once she’s here. I’m not a super girly-girl so bringing in another color like green was key to tone down the super soft fem vibe.”

“I also love the fact that this can grow with our baby girl into toddler bedding, Nothing about it screams BABY which was also a big deciding factor.” Happy to oblige Anne!

“We don’t have a name yet, but she sure will have a nice room to come home to. We’ve been calling her ‘baby girl mader’ for now”. We’d like an update once she arrives please!

Big thanks to Anne for for sharing these fantastic Logan nursery pics. To get links for any products shown here, or to share your own Olli & Lime-themed images, please email :-)

cool mom picks logan

A couple of days ago, top parents blog Cool Mom Picks reviewed our Logan range. And post-writer Melissa, more at home with gender-neutral, became our newest pink convert.

Big thanks to Melissa, and the rest of the guys at Cool Mom Picks, for the kind words. To check out the review on-site, click here or above. Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day! :-)

clean design

Back in September, O&L customer Tim Johnson tweeted a photo of some Billie (orange) wallpaper he’d hung. Nothing unusual there…but for the fact it was in his laundry room.

We loved the look of the room and were intrigued by the decision to include our wallpaper, so I contacted Tim. Turns out his wife gets the credit for picking the paper. Thanks Leslie!

We haven’t seen our wallpaper used in a laundry room before, and may not again, but it works well here. The orange contrasts beautifully with the white, gray and stainless steel.

As coincidence would have it, this couple live in Boston. And, after some back-and-forth emailing, Tim invited us to see the laundry room in person. We didn’t need asking twice.

And that was just the start. We also toured the rest of the remodel; a stunning penthouse duplex in Boston’s South End neighborhood, with wraparound roof deck and skyline views.

It’s a visually stunning home. The design is slick and the attention to detail is staggering. I love this bespoke bathroom sink, which is shaped to match the couple’s relative height.

The place is packed with a rich blend of materials and well-conceived design solutions. This concealed door hides the office and the home’s substantial electronic nerve centre.

Tim began designing the remodel three years ago and isn’t finished yet; major projects, like the kitchen, still remain. He admits that the process has been a long and painful one.

But ultimately very rewarding. Not least as he’s worked with an architect dream team, Carlow A+D and Ruhl Walker, who’ve collaborated to achieve something very special.

Amidst all this, Tim started his own business, Furnetcha. The couple are also expecting their first child, in May. Happily, they’ve chosen to extend the O&L theme into the nursery.

Thanks to Tim and Leslie (now our friends) for letting us inside their beautiful home and hopefully, in due course, their nursery. Want to share your O&L pics? Just email me :-)

happy third birthday

My niece, Martha, is three years old today! Can’t believe how quickly time flies. I’ve posted about her a few times here. She’s pictured with a Jellycats toy, from our Logan range.

Her mum (my sister, Karen) tells me that Martha’s new friend rarely leaves her side, and that the long tail comes in very handy for transportation purposes. Happy birthday Martha!

the year ahead

It’s been an incredibly busy start to the year, but I couldn’t let the first week pass without saying Happy New Year! Hope you enjoyed the holidays and are ready for the year ahead.

2011 was an incredible year for us, as we ‘hopped’ across the Atlantic, taking us closer to our US customers, and helping us to massively improve day-to-day running of Olli & Lime.

Following this complex but, ultimately, very rewarding relocation from the UK to Boston, we are hugely optimistic about our first full year in the US…and we’ll share it right here.

Thanks to regulars and newcomers alike for your support of Olli & Lime. Do stay in touch and follow our news as the year unfolds. We wish you a happy and prosperous 2012 :-)

olli and lime…2011

As per tradition, here’s a review of our 2011 customer posts. After a quiet start, 8-week-old Joshua arrived here in February, courtesy of UK parents Stephanie and Matthew.

Then, in March, we met Cavell and her George nursery. This beautiful baby girl was born just before Christmas 2010, to parents Sarah and Sean Woroniak, from Winnipeg, Canada.

And in April, Ryland showed-up, proudly modeling his turquoise, Egg range nursery, and sporting a unique “comedy facial expression”, as mum Di, from Nottingham, UK calls it.

Next, in June we featured a beautifully coordinated George-themed nursery, creatively composed for baby Ryleigh, born just a few days later, to her Louisiana mom, Lindy.

Then one of numerous posts arriving via O&L’s Canadian friend, Nikki, who shared an Instagram snap of her son Epic, looking super-cool against a George design backdrop.

This July post came courtesy of mom-to-be Stacey, from St Louis, who nominated worthy stand-in Tallulah, the photogenic family dog, who expertly modeled our Billie collection.

Our second July post featured a submission from another Canadian friend, JoLyn, who shared pics of son Marek, wearing a George hooded blanket, and looking happy about it.

The last July post (a busy month!) was shared on Australian blog metromum by Alyce, and featured her beautiful baby, Isabelle, sleeping peacefully on our George crib bedding.

Calgary mom, Morgan, shared this cool pic of 21-month-old son Hunter during August, on our Facebook page. Our popular George 123 wall art appears in the top-left of the shot.

The next August post featured Lukas (and sidekick, ‘Goober the Bear’) in a coordinated George design nursery, courtesy of mom Deanna, from San Jose, CA, who kindly shared.

In September’s only post, Deanna made a second appearance here, thanks to her major role in creating a very impressive Olli & Lime-themed baby shower for her sister Jenna.

I found the next nursery on the HGTV site, submitted by mom Wendy. She chose “white and aqua with an accent of orange” (where our Billie design came in) and did a great job.

Next, we shared photos of our new hooded blankets, taken by Nikki, from EpicDanger Photography. This one shows Warren, looking super-cute in our updated Billie design…

And this is Nikki’s own son Epic (again) wearing our George hooded blanket…

And lastly, Lola, who looks super-sweet, modeling our new Logan design…

The star of this serene-looking November post was Raeya, shown sleeping against a dreamy George design backdrop. Thanks to mom Nav, from BC, Canada for sharing this.

Then we met the real resident of the Billie nursery we posted earlier; beautiful baby boy Grant, pictured here with mom Stacey, who says that people love his orange nursery.

That brings us up to date, with the post we’ve just featured, of twins Jake and Cassidy’s nursery, complete with matching Billie cribs. As mentioned, a follow-up is on the way.

And that’s it. Thanks to all who submitted photos during 2011. Have a very happy New Year celebration and we look forward to seeing more O&L-inspired nurseries in 2012 :-)