It’s so nice to be back at home in Auckland. Over the past few weeks I was working on a big design project in Christchurch – as much as I love exploring around that town – there is nothing quite like home.

We are happy to report that our 2014 calendars and diaries are now available for purchase online! For New Zealand buyers head on over to Felt, for international buyers here is the link for Etsy.

Over the next few days we will be adding a couple more items to the shops! Including new greeting cards, prints, and totes!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Here are some fun animal items to liven up the home and office.

1. Hipster Llama Print by Alice Berry available at Endemic World.
2. Critters to help liven your desk from Anthropologie.
3. I have a huge soft spot for anything made by Bob Steiner, click here to find a stockist near you.
4. Every home should have a cute bunny lamp!
5. Why buy a boring USB stick when you can have a cool one.
6. Papier-Mâché Animal Sculptures, subtle yet striking.

This week we’ve been traveling all around New Zealand: Hamilton, Auckland, Christchurch, and tomorrow we’re off to The Mount for our first Little Big Market - four cities in six days, wowee!

As you may have seen, we have sold out of the black and gold ‘stay awesome’ tote. A new batch will be in next week or in the mean time you can purchase yours today from one of these stores.

To continue with the Spring theme from last week we have a few more bits and bobs to help celebrate the turning of the Season.

1. Hand painted Fine herbs poster.
2. A perfect accessory for your back yard – handmade disc chimes.
3. Pretty gardening tools are always a bonus.

4. Green House Fill in the Blank Moving Announcement.

5. Hanging Air Plant planters.

6.  Screen Printed Oversized Garden Herbs tote – Reusable and Washable – Great for everyday use.

This week’s roundup is very close to my heart. I am part of an amazing group through Etsy of talented artists from around the world called Elite16. I was approached to join this Etsy team last November. Now, never being a part of a team before I wasn’t really sure what it meant. The requirements were pretty simple, 12 treasuries featuring at least 6 team members each month. Sounded simple enough, 3 treasuries a week, easy! But little did I know what it really meant to be part of a team.

This group of artists have been an amazing support team for me. You can always count on them to seek support when you find yourself in hard times and they are also there for long a distance high five when celebrating achievements. The forum has provided me with an immeasurable amount of advice, support, and knowledge. Because we are all small business owners, some full-time, some doing their craft on the side, we all benefit from each other.

The latest advice I received from my team is how to deal with stress, workload and saying ‘no’. We all want our businesses to succeed and grow – which usually goes hand and hand with stress. Over the last few weeks there is no denying that the Toodles Noodles workload has increased exponentially and it’s extremely exciting to see this business taking off. But with another full-time graphic design job (yup, for those who didn’t know, I have a full-time job apart from Toodles!), and wanting to look after myself, things can get tricky.

Here are some great words of wisdom from my fellow team members with stress and tackling a growing workload:

• Do you have anyone helping you? That would be the first step ( if it’s feasible) to have someone help out with shipping, etc.
• Price increase is the next step. If people are buying it might be time for a price increase and reward yourself for all your hard work.
• Don’t over commit yourself. It’s exciting to get lots of orders, but if you can’t or don’t have help you will just wear yourself out.
• Extend your lead time with custom orders.
• Take a day off.  It’s probably one of the hardest things to do….but when you work for yourself and/or from home it’s hard to “turn off.” It’s hard to do but that you come back reinvigorated, more organised and with a clear idea of what needs to be done in an orderly fashion.
• Sit down at the end of each work day day and write down everything about the business that you’ve worked on that day & what your next steps are. It’s different from a To-Do list because you write down future tentative plans and try to decide if they are practical or not.

In this week’s roundup I’ve selected some items from some of my amazing teammates.

1. karoArt – home of quirky and creative ceramics handmade in Ireland.
2. A Quiet Curiosity Award Ribbon Brooch, Stamped Polymer Clay Ribbon Brooch handmade in Arkansas.
3. Handmade healing lip balms from LittleFlowerSoapCo in Michigan.
4. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY woven Jute bags great for everyday use by IndependentReign.
5. Made to order linen towel from bonnbonn in Illinois.
6. Hand-hammered silver nailheads adorn this natural linen pillow cover in a sleek polka dot pattern by JillianReneDecor in Virginia.
7. Beautiful art blocks, perfect for any home, by redtilestudio in the big hearted state of Texas.

I hope this post brought you some helpful tips.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring is well and truly on its way and with Spring comes new beautiful, fragrant blossoms!

This past week I was in Christchurch for a few days and seeing daffodils and cherry trees blossomed all around the city was a truly beautiful site.

These past few weeks have been extremely busy around here. Getting all the new summer products printed, shipping out big orders to our lovely stockists, designing a wedding invitation (to be shared soon!), geting the summer market lineup ready, and traveling to Christchurch for a big design job. Needless to say I’m really looking forward to a mini break we’re taking over Labour Day!

To view what markets we will be doing this summer just click here – this list will be updated with a few new ones over the next few days!

I hope you all have a lovely Spring weekend!

1. Hand illustrated gift tags by Australian designer Amelia Herbertson.
2. Superfoods tea towel from New York, each towel is screenprinted by hand with olive & pink water-based inks.
3. Cheerful hand illustrated 2014 wall calendar.
4. Citrus floral recipe tin by Rifle Paper Co – the perfect addition to bring cheer to your kitchen.
5. Limited edition, screen printed canvas tote bag hailing from Spain and illustrated by Depeapa.
6. Beautiful hand illustrated wedding prints and invitations for Maryland.

This weekend Cafe L’affare is teaming up with the City Mission. Locals is a pop-up espresso bar supported by Caffe L’affare, where your love for coffee can be “paid” for with a can of food. Just trade a can for a coffee and they’ll donate all cans to the Auckland City Mission.

WHEN: 9am to 11am this Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of September
WHERE: 13 Rose Road, Ponsonby (just off Williamson Ave)

Have a great weekend everyone and to those fellow coffee lovers out there, cheers!

1. I would be lying if I said I didn’t like a little danish with my coffee.
2. Ice cold coffee by Eighthirty is delicious on a hot day.
3. One can never have too many coffee mugs.
4. A relaxing coffee in a quiet spot can be a perfect mini mental vacation.
5. Need to take that coffee on the go? How about in a trendy Mason Jar!
6. I am seriously contemplating purchasing this sign. Love it!

Happy Friday team!

Well the buildup is over and the Spring NZ Gift Fair has arrived!  We will be at booth 5045 Sunday – Tuesday, if you’re at the show, please come say hi! We’re super excited to be debuting our new summer range along with some of our favourites. If you don’t already, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to keep up with the action while we’re there.

We know we promised you images of more new products but due to the tight timeframe we may not have them up until early next week. Sorry for the delay, but we promise it’s worth the wait!

This Sunday is Father’s Day – so we’ve put a few things together that we think most dad will enjoy!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

1. Essential skin care is always a safe gift – love this look of Gillette.
2. Does you dad need to update his luggage? How about this amazing tote from Coast.
3. Have a dad that loves working with his hands? Then a home brew kit might just be on his wish list.
4. The Al Brown Go Fish book is a winner.
5. Everyman (and woman) can always use more socks!
6. Lastly, don’t forget sometimes a simple card is just enough.

A lot has being happening this week here at TN HQ.

• Our 2014 calendars have arrived from the printers and are looking FAB! This year we’ll be offering our traditional desk calendars and also introducing some new wall calendars (different format from last year) and a daily planner!
• The 2013 Spring catalogue for our wholesalers has been finalised and going out to in the post (just in time for the Gift Fair!)
• New holiday limited edition tea towels are with the printer
• We’ve added 3 new stockists to our amazing list of supporters (otherwise known as the fantastic shops that stock our products)
• and to top it all off we’ve been contacted to be featured in 100 client gifts by a local business!

So all in all, it’s been a very busy, exciting, and encouraging week for this wee business!

This week’s weekly roundup is a bit of a hello to Spring which is just around the corner. I hope you all had a fantastic week and a fun weekend ahead. We’ll be post some great photos of the new products, so make sure to follow the fun!

1. I can never have too many purses, and for me, the bigger the better.
2. Love this handmade lamp, crafted in Barcelona.
3. How great would it be to have your summer herbs in hanging planters right on your kitchen wall?
4. Cranberry-Almond cookie, get in my belly!
5. Another fantastic new design by Quill and Fox.
6. Adorable hand illustrated bookplates.
7. Love how this necklace reminds me of childhood macaroni necklaces but with endless class.
8. Warm weather means iced coffees, yum!

Happy Friday everyone! I would be lying if I said this week hasn’t been exhausting. It all started on Sunday with a fun day trip to Hamilton where I spent the day catching up with the awesome Bron Alexander and met a few of my partners friends. Followed by going back to Hamilton on Tuesday to attend SPARK where I had the pleasure of hearing speakers from both Smith Journal and Ice Breaker. Apart from the two big drives there has been filling orders, designing some limited edition items for the holiday season (yay!), getting more items ready for the gift fair, and the list goes on and on. But no need to bore you all with my busy life, as I’m sure yours has been just as chaotic in it’s own way.

This week’s roundup has been inspired by dorm room decor. The school season in the US is starting back up again, and if there was something exciting at the beginning of each year while at University was choosing new items for your dorm room! It was always such a fun challenge to cram in as much as possible into a tiny room. I still have my clock like the one featured at number 7 – let’s just say my roommate hated when it would go off in the wee hours of the morning. But I loved my vintage clock, and still do, as it’s made its way with me to New Zealand. These days I use my iphone as an alarm clock but love looking at it on my bedside table.

Have a fantastic weekend ya’ll and stay tuned for some new product sneak peeks!

1. With communal laundry rooms, having a functional and stylish laundry hamper is essential.
2. Bedding plays a huge centrepiece in the dorm rooms – so make sure you pick something that will work well with your other decor items and can withstand a lot of use (used as desk, couch, table, etc.).
3. Just because you’re in a dorm room, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fresh flowers!
4. Loved having one of these, great for laptops, writing reports, and eating.
5. Desk lamps are a must.
6. Study in style – fun pencils help the homework go faster.
7. Even with cell phones and computers, it’s quite handy having that old clock around.
8. Carry your assignments in style with this bag and matching purse.

Last week I received a very lovely gift in the post that had so much thought into the wrapping – it reinvigorated me and brought an enormous smile to my face! Receiving a gift is always welcomed, but when the giver puts so much thought and effort into wrapping it – it takes the gift up to a whole other level! It goes to show that the giver put in a lot of thought and time into picking that gift for YOU.

With that in mind and the fact that I’m gearing up for the Holiday Season (yes, can you believe it?!) and my next expo I’ve done some searching for fun gift wrapping ideas. It’s all about creating a smile at the end of the day, and if that can be accomplished by putting a cookie into a little brown bag with some ribbon instead of on a serviette I’m all for it!

Happy Friday everyone and have a fantastic weekend full of smiles!

1. Little Ink based in Auckland have a fantastic array of gift wrap and baking accessories.
2. Knot & Bow, located in New York, are known for their fun stickers and bakers twine.
3. [Shameless plug] Toodles Noodles gift wrap off-set printed in New Zealand on kraft paper.
4. Ink Kit have an amazing collection ranging from glittered pencils to sequinned ribbon!
5. Studio Carta, located in Boston originally from Rome, have the most exquisite ribbon collection.
6. Olive Manna have a great collection of packaging and home-ware products.
7. Anastasia Marie is one clever cookie, make sure to follow her instagram.

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week as we head into the month of August.

This week has been a big one for us behind the scenes. We met with some amazing people, had a sample of an exciting new product arrive, had an stellar Once’it sale, and started to plan our stand for the NZ Gift Fair! With so much planning and the to do lists growing, stress levels have gotten a bit high. And when stress rolls around, the comforts come out.

This week’s round up is influenced by things that represent comfort to me – as you can see, I rely a lot on cooking and wine in times like these!

Have a great weekend everyone – I’m personally super excited to attend the Auckland Food Show on Saturday and eat way too many tasters.

1. Linen Striped Paonia Tablecloth from Portugal.
   
2. Beautiful wine packaging designed by Australian company Picturelab.
3. Comfort and cheese platters go hand and hand.
4. Fun metric ceramic crocks – currently on sale!
5. One can never have too many nesting serving bowls.
6. Roasted beetroot and goat cheese tart – yum!