PROJECT JELLY

So as promised a follow on from the teaser yesterday here is the lovely Mama, Natalie behind Project Jelly to tell you a little more about the company, why she set it up, why Mencap is close to her heart, and also where you can get a pair of these limited edition beautiful jellies!

Natalie and Darcy (left) and her sister in law, Helen with Jude (right)

Can you tell us a little how 'Project Jelly' became set up.
Aha well i guess you could say it was my ultimate 'breastfeeding' fundraising brainwave!! I must admit to a few little tomes of crazy ideas that somehow whittled down into something tangible and daring and doable. I had my little Jude in sept 12 and after receiving lots of lovely baby gift realised none of the gifting or gorgeous products had a charitble element. I had wanted to fundraise more for mencap and a marathon was out of the question ;).  I knew that if I was going to start a project My little toddler Darcy kept clip clopping around in all my shoes including my JuJu jellies and so I just cold called the MD - told him I wanted to design a kids shoe for mencap as a summer market stall project really... I pitched it back to mencap and they loved it! So blood sweat and baby tears later I found myself up in Northampton at the factory in darkest December designing my limited edition jellies! I realise my timing was lucky as the brand are on the up and so I have this fantastic partnership with them. It was really quite bizzare and fun in Jan pitching my little ol idea and shoes to independent retailers and finding myself with an accidental brand and business. Hey presto! Project jelly was born...but on a serious note fundraising for mencap is the core. We will always pledge to give as much as we can to charity and that starts with a big fat 25% of all our profits from this launch direct to mencap charity.

Why specifically did you decide to support Mencap? 

Mencap charity is really close to my heart and that of my collier family... my gorgeous sparkly sister in law Helen and her mummy Jackie the (MIL) x has received help and support all of her life.  Helen rocks and is my age 33 with a shoe fetish! I also wanted her to have her little moment in the spotlight. She deserves it as she lights up the room for many people in her carehome and community in Burgess Hill, Sussex.

What advice would you give a first time Mum?
Even after 2 gorgeous babies I always just wish someone told me to train as a comedian beforehand ;) I lost my sense of humour momentarily in those first few months... now I wish I could stop the clocks as they are growing too fast. Finally, embrace those curves and plumpcious boobies! Flaunt it while they last.

Aside from coffee what can you not live without?!

I should say living etc....fat glass of red and a jumbo croissant. BUT it's really bedtime with any of my collier crew and lots of wet kisses!

What is next for Project Jelly?

The Jellywagon is on a roll so were designing our next years limited editions and planning to Launch Super Cool Wellies again in aid of mencap this AW! Brand wise we are showing at Bubble London our first trade show in June. Linking up with Olive Loves Alfie for some Sumemr events hopefully squeeze a festival in too...

So there you have it. What a great story, and lovely product. I think the jelly shoes would make amazing presents, knowing that you are also donating 25% to a wonderful charity, you can feel super great about giving! Buy them here. I know what is on Stanley's christmas list this year too now - SUPER COOL WELLIES! Cannot wait to see them.

#20

Stanley Style has been away too long I think. This special no20 edition is brought to you with the amazing 'Project Jelly' shoes as the main event. A lovely lady called Natalie contacted me and wanted to know if Stanley would like a pair. Very much I thought, and then I heard the story behind them, and I really want to share that with you and spread the word about these amazing shoes and the reason behind it as best I can. So today the style, tomorrow the story behind it.....

WHAT I WORE//DRAW

I've been meaning to jump on the 'what I wore' bandwagon for ages now. But as much as I love looking at everyone else's, I just couldn't face getting in front of the camera. I'm not a particularly a shy person - but you stick a lens in my face and I become awkward unless I'm drunk and then I become a crazy lady.

I am great value at a wedding though....

Now doing 'what I wore' posts drunk in the day with Stanley in tow does not seem like the most ideal way to get something done. Although it would make for a much more interesting slant on the whole thing. Then I thought of a much more *sober* solution and a way to bring this all back round to illustration. Nothing original here I know, I'm sure you are all very familiar with Gemma Corrells great 'What I wore today' blog, but it is good practice for me to draw more people, (mainly myself of course...) as I normally stick to animals and monsters in my children's books, as well as test out ideas and new ways of working. I am drawing on cheap recycled photocopy paper or bits or paper I find lying about my studio. I don't want this to become precious, or take time away from my real *paid* work! As you can see I look a bit like my 12 year old self in the drawing, but that is the joy of artistic license! I'm not drawing in any of my four thousand and fifty nine grey hairs. Although you may get drawings of me in my pjs when I haven't left the house in days, now that is something you really wouldn't want a photo of. I feel this going down my 'Honest' route. Honest Fashion anyone?!

DIY // A MONSTER OF AN IDEA...

So after my ok success with the first round of t-shirt painting I decided to give it another go. Mainly becasue a) I enjoy it, b) this time Stan could join in, and c) I'm desperately trying to stop myself buying all the kiddo clothes I'd really like which is far too expensive for a girl on a freelance budget.

So here is what I did. I bought a very cheap (but organic, oh yes, a girl still gotta have some principles!) t-shirt I liked from H&M for approx a fiver. I already had the paint left over form my last attempt and so the project was definitely a winner in the budget area. While Stan napped I started the main bit of the design. I am such a control freak there was no way I was going to let him totally freestyle. I didn't plan it out, which maybe was a mistake but I had a rough idea in my head of what it might look like, and hey I just rolled with it.

I washed and ironed the t-shirt to get any residue of the manufacturing process off it and to make sure it wasn't going to shrink. I cut an old piece of cardboard the shape of the t-shirt and popped it inside so any paint wouldn't seep through onto the back. Then I painted on eyes and legs of the monster. I then waited for these to dry and then ironed them to 'set' them. I didn't want Stan to paint over the eyes so I cut out masking tape to protect them as well as a simple template for him to go crazy within. (I used newsprint, but any paper would do the trick.) Then I let him loose. Well, in the sense he's a control freak like his mother, so loose isn't that loose at all. In fact it was joyful controlled jabbing of paint brush in the selected area. That's my boy!

He did pretty well filling in the shape. I helped out on a few bits to tidy up any missed bits at the end, but really he did most of it. I waited for the paint to fully dry, which did take an hour or so and then ironed again over newsprint to set the paint. The good thing is if you were to get any paint elsewhere you just don't iron that bit and it should come out in the wash. I peeled off the eyes and template and was fairly happy with the result except I thought he looked odd without any facial features, or arms. Hmmmm, maybe planning my design would have been better! I decided to add some arms, and a nose in the green paint I already had and felt much better about it. In hindsight now I think I would have cut out a template in the masking tape for a simple nose and mouth, I reckon that would be great. The simple strong black and white works well for me, It would be easy to do lots of these and just use different coloured t-shirts, or baby bodies etc.

It washed up pretty well as you can see from the pic above and below. Although it is supposed to be a cheap option it is REALLY addictive! I already want to do another to see if I can improve on it as a character, which would totally defeat the idea of me saving money!
Oh well....

UPDATE: a chance to win one of five copies of 'The Girl with the Bird's Nest Hair' here.....go on, enter! You never know your luck!

#19

jumper - H&M // top {gift} - JOJO MAMAN BEBE // trousers - NEXT // tights - c/o LITTLE TITANS // teatowel - vintage

These posts on Stanley's clothes are set to turn a little different. From now on I hope to show a more thrifty style of fashion following on from my cutting back on toddler related crap for the year inspired by Hattie. I am a nightmare when it comes to buying things for Stanley. The bottom line is, I love buying him clothes, he looks good in it, there is some amazing stuff out there, it's expensive.
So from now on I"m going to be cutting back. In. A. Major. Way. In fact I noticed when dressing him up this morning (hello mumsnet, it's ok I know he's not a doll, it's just a turn of phrase) in a million layers to keep him warm in our freezing house, how much old stuff still fits him. He's not particularly small for his age, I'd say average really. Yet this morning I managed to get on the jumper and the jeans both saying age 9-12 months over a reusable nappy, tights, a vest and a long sleeved top. Plus he looks ok in the whole ensemble! So really I can eek out a lot more wear in the things he already has or look for bargains in charity shops and freecycle. I was very tempted yesterday to buy a few tops I've seen that I love, but seeing the price tag of about £20 a t-shirt I feel maybe that is too much for me. Being bombarded by all this cool stuff on blogs and IG makes me feel I need to own it. I don't. I am going to make more of my own designs though. The last project was an ok end result, and I have another idea up my sleeve to share with you soon...

#18

Jumper, H&M (for Unicef) // tights, c/o Little Titans // white long sleeved t-shirt, M&S // corduroy trousers, Mini Boden

Seriously LOVE these tights. Without a doubt good enough to show off!

BOYS IN TIGHTS!

Did that get your attention? Who doesn't like tights though? I am also thinking why should the girls have all the fun (and warmth?!) I had already bought a couple of pairs from Slugs and Snails and was very happy when the lovely people at Little Titans sent me a pair for Stanley to test out. First up cut and fit are perfect. Stanley is wearing the size 1-2 years and they fit him great, with I'd say plenty of room for growth. They are made of gorgeous non itchy material and have excellent non slippy feet. As Stanley likes to say when pointing at the soles of his tights "Stanley no fall over", so they have his seal of approval.... And as if to prove it he's a running shot of him on our wooden floors!

They come in a cute box too so they'd made a lovely Christmas gift. Please go check out their website, it's beautifully designed and as you know I like to support these small companies making a mark competing against all the big guns out there. We have the Stripe Grey, but I'm thinking the Superhero tights are pretty spectacular!

There will be a Stanley Style post tomorrow to show off the Little Titans tights in all their glory!

tights from slugs and snails

I would highly recommend checking out both companies for your little boys that need to be kept warm and snug as well as still look as manly as is possible in tights. Plus you know me and my quest for all things unisex, I reckon that girls would be more than happy in any of these beauties too.

Robin hood, robin hood, riding through his glen...

#17

This Stanley Style has a Summer and Autumn section to it. I want to get as much wear as possible out of these amazing dungerees. I always get lovely compliments whenever Stanley is in them and it makes me so happy to say they are sent by a friend all the way from the States!

AUTUMN: white body, M&S // Vintage Dungarees, Frecklewonder // socks, H&M // wellies, hand me downs from Jojo Maman Bebe

SUMMER: T-Shirt, from H&M // Vintage Dungarees, as before  // socks, H&M // Shoes, by Clarks

I HEAR SLEIGH BELLS...

Ok, well I don't really I'm not completely bonkers. Nor have I bought any/made any Christmas cards yet or played my Christmas CD... But what I have done is bought Stanley two excellent Christmassy knitwear numbers. Oh yes. Not at all pricey, and a little fun for this time of year. Unisex too, wouldn't you say for the potential of hand-me-downs and the like. IF those trousers came any bigger I would want a pair. Bring on snow, the Gruffalo's child on tv and hot chocolate by the fire whilst snuggled up to Stan in those beauts. (But maybe not worn together - too much?) See, I've got you feeling all Christmassy now too...

the jumper is from m&s and the trousers are next.

find a traditional delft birth plate here or here and the marc boutavant wall stickers here. 

the chair was found dumped on the road outside my old flat in london and loving restored...

GARDNER AND THE GANG

So, on my quest to find fun unisex clothes for Stanley I have come across this brand on many blogs and websites. I love it! Particularly the bits they have with skulls on, seriously cute...I am thinking Stanley would love a pair of skull wellies they look so great and will go with everything. Bring on the rain! Check out Gardner and the Gang's website and facebook page for more info.

footnote: I realise that Stanley is not my doll. I am not a crazy lady.

T SHIRT PAINTING {part two}

Ok so I finally got round to posting up round two of my t-shirt painting. Part one is here. This time I used the black fabric paint and just some paint brushes. I had washed and then ironed the t-shirt to give a smooth surface to paint on, and also so it would not shrink any further and distort the final image. The paint went on pretty well and I wanted to be able to see the brush marks a bit so I was happy enough with the mark making it produced. I opted for a fairly simple image to begin with - I think the more graphic black and white images stand out and look less 'home made'!

I just drew it on freehand rather than try and trace anything. I learned from my previous mistake with the green paint and made sure there were more layers of newsprint underneath so the ink did not seep through. All in all I was quite happy with the end result. This one washed up much better and Stanley seemed happy to wear it, declaring "Meeow!" when he saw it!

If you do any t-shirt printing I'd love to see the end result. Please link back in the comments section so we can all see. Fun things to do on rainy and cold afternoons!

T-SHIRT PAINTING {part one}

Ok so really I would love to buy pretty much everything from Bobo choses, Mini Rodini, Gardener and the Gang and Nununu to name but a few!! But, I simply do not have the funds to do so at the moment. So instead, I thought I'd use my creative skills and make Stanley some more interesting t-shirts myself...

First up is the grey t-shirt and some bright green ink. I followed the very good instructions on my clever friends youtube channel here to create a Rorschach type image. (If you have time, watch his other clips, they are brilliant, inspiring and funny!)

Step one, iron the t-shirt with a firm crease down the middle and cut the newsprint to fit inside snuggly with a crease that matches up with the one on the t-shirt.

Then pour on the green fabric paint on one side only.

Fold the t-shirt in half and press down firmly.

Peel back to reveal your design!

It's quite addictive as you never know what exactly you are going to get. If I hadn't got other plans for the white one then I'd have ended up doing that one too! I think in trying to take pictures at the same time the ink seeped a bit too much into the paper and made taking it out tricky. I got some ink in a few places I didn't want, however nothing that I'm too worried about for a first attempt!

Then iron over the top of more newsprint to set the ink and then wash. Voila!

I'm a leeeeeeeeeetle bit disappointed that the ink has faded from the wash. Perhaps I didn't set it properly with the iron. I still like the effect, but I did love it more when it was super bright. Still it was a good experiment and one I intend on repeating. All together it cost me about £5 which is a bargain for a one off design! I think it looks like a set of lungs now, at first I thought butterfly, but now I look at it on him I'm thinking lungs....what do you see?!

I think this would be a really fun thing to do with kids a bit older as they would be able to pour the paint on themselves. Maybe next year with Stanley....

{part two with the white t-shirt and a different design is later this week...}

#16

#15