Just to let you know that today is the last day for orders for Father’s Day to go in the regular post. If you want to buy any Pint or Half Pint T Shirts or any other gifts for dads after today you will need to send me an email and I will send you a Paypal invoice for the cost of your gift plus express delivery charge! Many thanks and have a wonderful Father’s Day all you fabulous dads out there!

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I just wanted to let you know that I’ve created a news App, Mimimyne Eco News, to help people interested in Mimimyne to keep track of Mimimyne’s news, Youtube videos, tweets and photos when they are out and about. It is available for free in the Android Market so will work on any Android phone such as the HTC Desire. You can download Mimimyne Eco News from the Android Market from your phone or on your computer or you can scan the QR code below with any bar code scanning app like Barcode Scanner or Google Shopper to install it straight to your phone. Please rate it if you do download it, it is very new in the Android Market and needs some reviews and ratings!

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In honour of Wimbledon and Test Cricket, Turner Pocock Cazalet have offered a very tempting discount on their beautiful vintage-style wallpapers featuring a cricket bat and a ball and a racquet and tennis ball, which are made in the UK and printed on FSC approved paper. The cricket bat and ball pattern for Cricket was the very first design made by artist Catherine Cazalet for Bunny Turner and Emma Pocock, and was inspired by a trip to India where cricket is a national obsession. The Tennis wallpaper followed soon after and similarly combines an artistic design and a retro style with a great eye for vivid colour. The wallpapers work beautifully in both modern and traditional interiors and can be used in children’s playrooms, nurseries or bedrooms, or in adult spaces – their best-selling Zebra design was recently used in a private bar on the King’s Road!

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I wanted to tell you about a great little place I discovered recently, one of those hidden gems which make you glad to live in the neighbourhood. There is so much to see and do in East London but a lot of it is more grown-up than kiddie fun and it’s always exciting to come across something new for children in the area. I was browsing some websites when I came across a mention of a shop in Hoxton which was part of a social enterprise encouraging kids and young people to write, the Ministry of Stories. The Ministry is partly funded by sales from the Hoxton Monster Supplies shop. Intrigued, I set off with the kids and Other Half. We had lunch at Viet Hoa, a great local Vietnamese restaurant (this was a triumph as we finally discovered a menu item that Felix will eat apart from plain noodles – thank you, spare ribs!). And then went to look for the shop. It’s tucked away on Hoxton Road behind Hackney community college and has an old fashioned wood and glass front. ‘Angry mobs please douse your torches’ said one sign. ‘Nocturnal visits by appointment for vampire customers only’ says another.

Inside the shop has lots of beautifully designed products including tins labelled ‘A vague sense of unease’ or ‘Utter terror’. After a while trying to work out what was inside we found out that they contained short stories – a brilliant idea. We also checked out the invisible cat in the basket in the corner (don’t pet it too hard) and bought a book of children’s stories for the boys. It’s such a great concept and I will certainly be back. The Ministry is currently looking for volunteers and there is also a Book Club.

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I just wanted to share with you the exciting news that Mimimyne has just been chosen along with five other companies to be retweeted by Theo Paphitis as part of his “Small Business Sunday” competition. Theo Paphitis the legendary retail Dragon needs, I’m sure, no introduction but “Small Business Sunday” may not be known to everyone. To support small business in the UK, Theo asks small businesses to tweet @TheoPaphitis every Sunday between 5pm and 7.30[, with the special #SBS hashtag somewhere in the tweet. Although this sounds as though it should be easy, it's actually trickier than you'd think to remember to send a tweet at a certain time once a week, and on several occasions I'd actually tweeted too early and missed the slot, or left it too late, and ended up kicking myself on Monday. Anyway, last Sunday night I sent a Small Business Sunday tweet, but as I had an old friend coming round for dinner I turned my mobile off and didn't look at my computer (I've learned my lesson now! Never turn off Twitter!). Anyway, to cut a long story short I woke up to lots of wonderful messages on my Twitter page from other people who'd seen his #SBS tweet and I am absolutely thrilled to have won and would like to thank Theo Paphitis for doing so much to support small businesses like mine and those of the five other winners. I've already seen some amazing results - doubling of visits to my home page and a five-fold increase in visits to my blog! So thanks again to Theo Paphitis and Small Business Sunday.

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Our next meeting date is finally confirmed! We will be meeting at the fabulous, purpose built space at the Women’s Business Centre in East Ham on Tuesday the 17th of May 2011 between 10am and 12noon for informal presentations, networking and tea and coffee with likeminded entrepreneurs and business women. The Women’s Business Centre is a venue designed specifically to help women in business and we are very grateful for their support. Our first Confirmed Speaker is Alex Tham of the fabulous Green Eyed Monster who will tell us about setting up a shop in East London: this will be of interest to everyone thinking of opening a shop and anyone who is thinking of designing childrenswear, as Alex also runs a clothing company. Tabitha Potts of Mimimyne (that’s me!) will also be giving an introductory talk on using social media to promote your business. Other speakers to be confirmed.

You will be able to learn about how to set up a small business, work from home and be your own boss AND have a family life: not an easy thing to do and best learned from people like you who’ve been there and done it! We’re happy for men and women without children to come along too, of course – all are welcome. The Women’s Business Centre has arranged a private area where you can feed or change your baby if necessary. We will have a comfortable conference room to relax in. Older children are welcome but are parents’ responsibility!

ADDRESS
Women’s Business Centre
Newham College of Further Education
High Street South
East Ham
London E6 6ER

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We will be charging £4 entry fee per visitor to cover admin costs and there will free tea and coffee while the networking meeting and expert speaker sessions go on. You can pay online through Eventbrite or pay on the door.

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For quite some time there’s been a demand for a Pint and Half Pint T Shirt set that was a bit more fitted and suited for the ladies – yes, that’s right, a ladies’ pint – so the fantastic Suzi Warren has served it up! Available in an oh-so-now neon pink against a tasteful grey background, this Pint t shirt will make you the envy of all your fellow pub-goers. Single ladies might want to snap up the Ladies Pint on its own, for DINKYs you can just get the matching his and hers set (his comes in an equally fetching fluorescent yellow and grey) while the whole family can enjoy the full set with a co-ordinating baby Half Pint featuring orange lettering against a grey background. Family outings will never be the same again!

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Mimimyne is lucky enough to have added a new supplier just in time for Easter with some beautiful Easter bunny and Easter egg original, eco friendly art works to brighten up your little one’s nursery or playroom. These adorable, original images which are limited edition and very reasonably priced would be a perfect Easter gift for a new baby, grandchild, niece or nephew.

The little picture company offers a magical world of art for children filled with lasting treasures to inspire your child’s natural imagination. Their limited edition giclee prints are made using archival vegetable based inks and printed on a range of environmentally friendly papers, including sustainable bamboo. The prints are archival quality. They are printed on a range of environmental papers including 100% archival bamboo paper using the highest quality Epson ultrachrome archival inks, which do not discolour or fade over time. Each print is delivered numbered, signed, and cellophane or tissue wrapped, ready to insert into a frame of your choice. The Little Picture Company believe in respecting animals and the environment they inhabit. Their papers and inks are free from any animal derivatives and they use recycled and biodegradable packaging wherever possible.

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Mimimyne is very happy to announce we’ve added Rapanui Eco-Fashion to our eco boutique! Their designs have got a cool, laid back, breezy style but are classic enough to suit men and women of any age. We will be adding a lot of their designs to our website but right now just want to alert you to their fabulous Japan Relief Fundraiser t-shirt for women and Japan Relief Fundraiser t-shirt for men – 100% of profits will go towards helping the people of Japan. We’re very happy to be supporting them and to be supporting the people of Japan who have suffered so appallingly. The design takes its inspiration from Japan’s iconic National flag, and the Kanji reads tsunami, in memory of the thousands of people who lost their lives.

Rapanui is about making cool eco-fashion for young people; that means clothing that is eco-friendly, ethical and sustainable.

They make clothing from natural organic fabrics in a Fair Wear Foundation audited, wind powered factory, but really what they’re about is communication – It’s not that people don’t care about child labour, the environment, our climate, it’s just they don’t know. At Rapanui they make it easier for people to see where clothing comes from and how it is made so they can make informed choices. It’s called Traceability.

Rapanui was set up by brothers Mart and Rob Drake-Knight in early 2008 now aged 23 and 25 respectively. Through surfing they saw and experienced the changing environment and climate at their local beach and as inspired, unemployed graduates in a recession, they took a different path; if you can’t find a job, make one. The aim still is to inform through the brand and mix eco with trend – to make it fashionable for people to go green.

Degrees in Business Administration and Renewable Energy plus an obsession with excellent customer service helped the Drake-Knight brothers establish Rapanui amongst the Top 100 Startups of 2008.

Rapanui won the 2010 Sustainable Business Awards and now employs 12 full time staff in its office in Bembridge. This achievement is even more remarkable considering the brand was founded with only £200 of savings in University halls; recognised when Rapanui won a runners-up place at the 2010 Enterprising Young Brits Awards. Later in 2010, the Brothers’ ethos of ‘doing business the right way’ was recognised when the brand was Highly Commended by the RSPCA at the Good Business Awards.

The brand’s forte is its radical approach to Sustainability: Rapanui take a total life cycle approach to their product’s human, environmental and climatic impact, and address each aspect. This is not a clothing company ticking the green box. This is a company aiming to change the entire fashion industry. Rapanui uses Certified Organic fabrics, Fair-Trade labour and Renewable Energy.

Rapanui has held Seminars and Lectures at UK and EU universities and multinational companies such as Centrica PLC on Sustainable Business and sit on the Panel at Plymouth University’s All our Futures Conference. These events have helped Rapanui share their Eco-Labelling idea, a way of packaging textiles products to communicate the effects caused by their buying action, essentially a way of forcing and regulating transparent business ethics in textiles. Rapanui also hosts the national petition for Textiles Eco-Labelling at 10 Downing Street.

This year, the range of products and styles has expanded along with the business. With a more edgy, youthful twist on its own-label collection, and a range of bespoke and wholesale organic clothing to offer, Rapanui is a company that has found confidence in achievement.

Rob and Martin Drake-Knight are listed on the Future 100 List of Top young Ethical Entrepreneurs.

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Some exciting new designs have come to Mimimyne, courtesy of Oromono, the London-based soft furnishings designers! Kirsty Anne Powell is the Founder and Director of Oromono, she launched her own label in 2004 at the Maison et Objet Exhibition in Paris.

Her collection immediately sprung into the limelight when Oromono was awarded ‘Best Newcomer in Textiles’ and the company then went onto to win a competition from the European Union to exhibit at the Interiors Lifestyle Show in Tokyo.

Since then Oromono has had continued success within the industry, designing exclusive collections for world-renowned companies such as The Conran Shop, Liberty, Selfridges and Barneys.

Oromono is also proud to be stocked in selected design stores, fashion boutiques and interior design showrooms throughout Europe, the USA and the Middle East. Like us, Oromono is very proud to work with the environment in mind and has gained recognition for the use of eco-friendly fabrics. They believe it’s essential to ensure that every measure is taken to utilise the world’s natural resources, recycle, re-use and reduce their carbon footprint whenever possible.

The Nursery Collection is only available at a few select stockists in the UK and I’m proud to be one of the stores they’ve selected. What’s wonderful about the Nursery Collection, which is all hand-made in Britain, is that it offers a coordinating selection of cushions, play mats and large floor cushions, in a selection of sizes, so that you can create a theme for your child’s room or bedroom very quickly and easily based on their themes, Garden, Transport, Jungle or Farmyard. A boy might love the Transport collection, featuring a tractor, boat, car or plane while a girl might love the beautiful Garden Collection featuring creatures you would find in an English garden. Best of all, each collection has a matching set of children’s slippers, which you’ll find in our Toys and Gifts for Babies section! I especially recommend the immensely cute dog slippers for babies and toddlers.

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