Organic knitted toy Easter Chick

“Amigurumi” is the Japanese name for small crocheted or knitted toys: the word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll. They are typically cute animals, and I think you’ll agree these are no exception! Kathy from Cosytots’ kids, like mine, are crazy about Japanese style and designs so she has been busily knitting away and produced these wonderful, 100% organic toys in all kinds of colourways. These toys are character toys so NOT suitable for children under 4 years old.

Bright new British fashion brand Animal Tails, with its full organic and ethical status, and focus on protecting endangered species has been specially selected for inclusion in the celebrity gift bags.

Animal Tails, was founded by designer and artist Annette D’Oyly over two years ago. The collection is UK Soil Association certified under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), which assures that the garments are, not only organic, including the dying process and silk screen inks, but also ethically manufactured.

Animal Tails takes a fresh approach to clothes for babies and children, and feature amazing silk screen images, developed from their own original artwork, of endangered species. Each garment has a unique story label telling fun and amazing facts about the endangered animals. Animal Tails gives 1% of its turnover to organisations that seek to protect endangered species.

The collection is available online and stocked in over 50 places across the UK and internationally, including Fenwick and the National Maritime Museum. You can find some of their range of clothes for children and babies here at Mimimyne or visit their site www.animaltails.co.uk for more information! Livia Firth, wife of Colin Firth, who writes about ethical fashion, has also blogged about Animal Tails on Vogue.com – you can read her article about ethical fashion in the Oscars goody bags here.

Animal Tails Cerulean Warbler T shirt

Mum's Bag

Another present I’d suggest considering for a mother with a baby, a Heba changing bag made by a women’s charity in the East End of London. We are currently giving one of these away with the Primary Times Online and they make great gifts, with practical pockets for mobile phones, bottles and other mummy paraphernalia! 85% of the purchase price goes direct to the charity and you know you are helping a good cause, as these low-income women are learning how to use their sewing and design skills to build a great future for themselves and their families. Oh yes, and the bag is on sale this month!

TABITHA POTTS OF MIMIMYNE SHORTLISTED AS A LEADING WOMAN IN HER FIELD

Although women-owned businesses are on the increase there still aren’t enough female role models, is the claim of the leading women’s organisation, Women on Their Way.

Most people still think that the majority of businesses are run by men due to the stereotypical images that we see all around us. That’s why Tabitha Potts is delighted to be short-listed for the prestigious National Women on Their Way Awards 2010 in the Online Business Award category.

Women are equally qualified to run businesses as men but also need more opportunities to connect and do business together.

The competition this year has been particularly tough so it’s a huge honour for Tabitha Potts to be short-listed. Tabitha is a mother of two very interested in the environment and good design. When she started looking online for products for her children and realised that there were not many websites aimed at families which combined a strong design ethos and environmental awareness, she came up with the idea of creating an online shop to do just that. She started her company Mimimyne, showcasing the best in UK and European eco design for kids, in September 2008, and it has been expanding its range and developing a loyal customer base ever since. Tabitha has run the business single-handed while caring full-time for her two sons (aged 7 and 5) and doing a part time job alongside it.

Since her company started trading, Tabitha has been a Runner-up for the Mum-Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 and a Finalist in the Archant Environmental Awards and the Thames Business Gateway Awards. She has been featured in the Daily Express and the Sunday Times Business section as well as in various well-regarded design blogs. She has presented a session on selling online at the Everywoman conference (www.everywoman.com) and also runs a regular ‘Mumpreneurs Meetup’ for fellow entrepreneurs in East London which is sponsored by BT Tradespace. One of the products she helps to promote, the Splat Chair by Spinifex, has been exhibited in the V&A Museum of Childhood!

There are four short-listed candidates for each award and the winner will be announced on Friday 19th March at the Women on Their Way Annual Awards Lunch taking place at Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham from 11.00 to 15.00.

The awards event is in its second year and aims to connect women through the UK, to inspire and to increase their self belief.

The Women on Their Way Awards is the brainchild of former Apprentice Candidate Jo Cameron and her Co-Director Lisa Ibbotson.

Jo Cameron added “we are delighted that Tabitha Potts has been shortlisted. There are so many amazing women in the UK who don’t always recognise the impact they have made and it is my absolute privilege to be inspired by so many incredible women. We are very much looking forward to announcing the winners in a few weeks time”

This year the judges include Gill Fielding and Caroline Marsh of TV’s Secret Millionaire and other esteemed women from both the public and private sectors. They will be judging the shortlisted candidates over the coming weeks.

There are twelve awards this year including Start Up and High Growth Businesses, Online Business, Woman in Finance, Law, Transportation, Construction/Engineering, Woman in The Community, Public office, The outstanding contribution to Women’s Learning and Development, Young Woman in Business, Outstanding New Product and Woman’s Advocate. This year the coveted prize for the overall Woman on her Way is a weekend away for two included flights and accommodation to Milan.

Tickets are priced £65+VAT each or £600 +VAT for a table of ten places. With up to 500 guests it provides opportunities for networking and to meet other leading and aspiring women.

Last year’s winner of the Legal Award, Laura Kearesley added ““I was thrilled to win the Women in Law award last year; it was a real honour. It was a fabulous day, where I made some really good contacts. Since winning the award and the subsequent publicity I have also been approached by other potential business partners, so it has been really positive for me personally and for business!”

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Press Contact for Tabitha Potts/Mimimyne

Tabitha Potts, Director (Me Me Mine Ltd trading as Mimimyne)
Phone 0208 133 0961
Twitter @mimimyne
Skype tabithapotts
Email tabitha@mimimyne.com
Web www.mimimyne.com

For more information on the Women on Their Way Awards please contact Women on Their Way press office + 44 (0) 870 2626 555 or email talkto@womenontheirway.co.uk or call Lisa Ibbotson on Tel: 07968 368630 email lisa@womenontheirway.co.uk

Photo of Tabitha Potts courtesy of Ian Billinghurst

Photo of Tabitha Potts courtesy of Ian Billinghurst

Seating for Kids

V&A Museum of Childhood

6 February – 5 September 2010

Free admission

When is a seat not just for sitting on? When it’s a plaything, for eating, for transport or for a quick snooze. Sit Down: Seating for Kids, the V&A Museum of Childhood’s next big exhibition on design for kids, will explore the vast array of seating used by children in their everyday lives. Taking the children’s classic tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears as a starting point, the exhibition will invite the visitor, as Goldilocks did, to consider what makes a successful seat. Is it comfort? Is it style? Is it ease of use?

Sit Down will delve into the world of children’s seating with classic and more unusual examples. After centuries of traditional seating forms following accepted design conventions, the 20^th century witnessed an explosion of creative solutions to the idea of seating, including those for children. This exploration of new forms, materials, and production methods, as well as technological developments, resulted in more colourful and innovative seating designs for children. Designs by Charles Eames, Vitra and El Ultimo Grito will be on display, as well as the Modernist high chair by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld and Spotty, a 1960s paper chair designed by Peter Murdoch.

The exhibition will use the term ‘seating’ in its broadest sense, encompassing a wide range of functional and playful objects designed to be used primarily for sitting upon. This will include chairs, benches, sofas, bean bags, ride-on toys, potties, highchairs and play equipment.

Sit Down will be set out in three main sections, each asking a question for visitors to consider: What is a seat? Who is the seat for? and How is a seat made? The first room, entered through a large, medium or small doorway, recreates the feel of the Three Bears’ cottage, with an interactive dinner table where visitors can vote for their favourite chair by placing a coloured spoon in different porridge bowls. Different examples of kids’ seating will be on display.

In the next room, the exhibition looks at how seating has been adapted for wellbeing, learning, play, resting and transport, again with the objects on open display. Visitors will see how these objects have developed and modernised over time, in particular developmental furniture such as highchairs and potties, where safety and hygiene have influenced new designs. Here visitors will be able to try out different seat types to work out their function and match the seats to the different room settings that will be illustrated on the exhibition wall. The exhibition closes with a timeline from 1600 to the eco-friendly designs of the present day and the opportunity for visitors to build their own seat.

Changes in the notion of ‘childhood’ have effected design for children throughout history. The exhibition will draw from the Museum of Childhood collection of furniture as well as selected loans to explore the range of seating made for or used by children. Issues including social context, how and why styles have changed and the growing popularity of designer seating specifically created to meet children’s needs are also considered.

The exhibition experience will be engaging and multi-sensory with images and hands-on activities and interpretation for a family audience. In addition, a group of students from Bucks New University’s Furniture Design course will look at how best to reinvent the school chair, which has barely changed from its Robin Day-inspired design. And Ercol’s school chair arch, unveiled for the London Design Fair, will be on display in the Museum’s central hall.

Events

Musical Chairs Marathon – Saturday 6 February

How quick can you sit?  Celebrate the opening of Sit Down with a hilarious musical chair challenge. In the afternoon, design a miniature chair to take home.

Sit on it!  February half-term activities – Monday 15-Friday 19 February

Enjoy stories, trails and crafts about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Plus Three Bears Storytrail

Who’s been sitting in my chair?  Search for clues in a Three Bears Storytrail for a chance to win a goody bag.  Make a bear mask and bear chair in a free, fun, drop-in arts session.

Notes to editors

The exhibition has been designed by architects Wells Mackereth. www.wellsmackereth.com

Sit Down: Seating for Kids opens on Saturday 6 February and closes on Sunday 13 June 2010. Admission to the exhibition is FREE. V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA. Admission to the Museum is free. Nearest tube: Bethnal Green. Open daily: 10.00 – 17.45, last admission 17.30. Switchboard: 020 8983 5200 Website: www.museumofchildhood.org.uk

The V&A Museum of Childhood aims to encourage everyone to explore the themes of childhood past and present and develop an appreciation of creative design through its inspirational collections and programmes. The Museum is part of the V&A, housing the national childhood collection. The galleries are designed to show the collections in a way which is accessible to adults and children of all ages.

For further PRESS information or images please contact Rebecca Ward on 020 7613 3306 or email press@rebeccaward.co.uk.

ENDS

Image below provided by Mimimyne

Splat Eco Friendly Child's Chair by Spinifex available at Mimimyne