Archive for the ‘Random-ness’ Category
I’m coming to Bourke – hopefully!
September 6, 2010And the Winner is……..
August 3, 2010**Drum roll please**
TEILAH
Congratulations!!
Your gorgeous Tea Pony dress is in the post. Esa and I found it very difficult to choose a winner but your entry stood out from the start.
“I love the gorgeous colours used in the garments, they remind me of something from the “Secret Garden”.
Each piece creates a fantastic imagery that relates to yester year for me.
I can imagine my daughter playing out side in the garden with ease and freedom!”
Thank you to everyone who entered sadly there can only be one winner but stay tuned to the Newsletter there’s going to be plenty more competitions and other goodies to come.
~S
~An Interview with Cushie Tushies~
July 21, 2010WOW! I’m a blown away by Cushie Tushies! I first found them through a friend on Facebook. She liked them and I was having a slow day (read as doing everything except what I was supposed to be doing) so I followed the link and was hooked. My siblings and I were all cloth babies and my father has always been very vocal about babies wearing cloth nappies to the point where he actually bought my sisters packs of the traditional cloth nappies & nappy buckets. Needless to say I found it quite entertaining when my sister came home one afternoon to find her daughter in a nappy secured with insulation tape because Dad, Pop & Nan couldn’t find the nappy pins.
*excuse the bad phone photo*
Now in all fairness I can’t profess to be a nappy expert. I have to ask my 4yr old nephew what way to put the nappy on his sisters (mind you are they are disposables with pictures and everything) and quite often I have been laughed at by said nephew because when my niece has stood up her nappy has completely fallen down – this may or may not be why I am now known as “Silly Sami”. So given the history I think everyone will be able to understand why I think Cushie Tushies are GENIUS besides the fact that they really are genius!
So a couple of weeks ago I approached Cath & Shell from Cushie Tushies about possibly doing an interview with them and a photoshoot. They were as excited by the idea as I was (if that was possible) and we quickly decided on a mass gathering of bub’s in Cushie Tushie nappies running around New Farm Park in Brisbane. It was a great morning with lots of gorgeous bubs. It was also very inspiring to meet with the creator, Shell. To have achieved what she has in such a short space of time is amazing but her modesty and just all round cheerfulness made the morning even more special.
I hope you enjoy the interview and some of the photographs from the shoot! Be sure to check out Cushie Tushies Jeans for Genes Day fundraiser. They are donating 25% of every Denim Couture Nappy sold in July & August – it’s a great cause and a great excuse to buy another Cushie Tushie 
Why did you start Cushie Tushies and how did it become what it is today?
When we were planning to have our first baby I spent some time on some internet forums chatting to other expectant Mums and it was there that I was introduced to the idea of not only using Cloth Nappies but sewing my own as well! It didn’t take much motivation for me to start buying materials, borrowing Mums sewing machine and putting my creative side to good use to make my Son some nappies! When he was born I was able to start using them and over the following 4 months made some enhancements as well as researching what was already on the market to come up with a Modern Cloth Nappy that could be as easy to use as a disposables (for Dads and Grandparents too!) and be as absorbent as possible.
It wasn’t long before my friends started asking me to make some for them, then their friends wanted some as well so within 6 months of my Son being born it got to a stage of needing to get them onto eBay for the world to able to see and purchase. eBay was incredibly popular and within 3 months of having a store on eBay there was a need to get a designated website.
My Son has just turned 5 and Cushie Tushies is still continuing to grow in leaps and bounds just like it started.
How important was it to you for your kids to be in cloth nappies?
At the time I didn’t really give much thought to Cloth vs. Disposables. I was really just doing something that I enjoyed. It wasn’t until things started to really take off that I was introduced to the facts that surrounded disposables with their links to increased scrotal temperature resulting in infertility (a link for you - http://www.live-in-green.com/health_info/problematic_products/nappy.html).
My Husband was also quite concerned with rash in disposables. We found that those first 2 weeks that our Son was in disposables in the hospital he had quite a spotted bum at all times that seemed to be just assumed as normal. It wasn’t until we started using our Cloth Nappies from 2 weeks onwards that we found that redness completely disappeared. That was more than enough for my Husband to be convince to use Cloth over anything else.
It wasn’t until we had our second Son that we had become aware of the horrible nature of Disposables in Landfill and the fact that it is still unknown how long a disposable nappy will take to breakdown as the disposables that have been used for the last 30 years are still sitting in landfill! It is quite disturbing to see just how much 1 child in 1 family can fill the Wheelie Bin in a week let along to think about every baby in your street, suburb, state, country all adding to landfill.
Thankfully the use of cloth nappies has been very popular in the UK for quite a while and they have done all the studies to compare cloth to disposables so whenever someone approaches us with the theory that washing cloth nappies causes more environmental impacts then using disposables we have the facts and figures on hand to very quickly shut that theory down.
The cost saving in using cloth nappies is also quite extraordinary! So much so that we spent quite a lot of time mathing it out so that we would have the exact figures on hand when comparing disposables to Cushie Tushies – https://www.cushietushies.com.au/store/pc/Cost-Cushie-Tushies-vs-Disposables-d32.htm
Where do you get your inspiration for the designs?
Design inspiration can come from anywhere. We usually ask our fans what they would like to see as well as thinking about what we would like to use. We then do some research and either make the design ourselves or purchase it from a design website. Getting new designs is a very fun part of our job! Especially after spending 2 years with the same designs to then receive something like our new Ladybird print is very motivating and uplifting.
~The new Ladybird print was very popular with our models~
What was the most challenging thing about starting Cushe Tushies?
I spent the first 2 years of Cushe Tushies life doing all the manufacturing myself from my dining room table. It was an experience I have very easily managed to remove from my memory! Finding the right factory to produce our goods, as well as the finances to be able to produce the quantities was very challenging and daunting however it resulted in some soul searching and decision making that in turn led to the splitting of Cushie Tushies into a partnership with my good friend (and past Cushie Tushie customer!) Catherine Langman. It is over the last 3 years that we have both pooled our experience and time into something we are really proud of and enjoy working in so very much.
What is your dream for Cushie Tushies?
The world feels like our oyster at the moment. Our product continues to be recognised by some amazing retail outlets and the media so we aim to keep that going. Ultimately to be able to make a modern cloth nappy choice as mainstream as disposables would be fantastic and we feel it is very achievable.
You’ve just recently been picked up in Harrison’s Pharmacies and National Pharmacies that’s a pretty big deal. Was this something you’d been trying to do for awhile or did they seek you out?
We have been very focused on securing some large retail outlets to stock the Cushie Tushies brand. Most of our retailers to date have actually found us but we did attend the REED gift fair earlier this year in Sydney which was great for showing our wares to a range of baby & gift stores. We would love to see the day of Cushie Tushies being stocked in Babies Galore and Bubs Baby Shops but this is a process of convincing these stores that the need for this type of cloth nappy is there so getting our customer to demand to see these products on the shelves of their local baby store certainly helps!
What sets Cushie Tushies apart from your competitors?
Cushie Tushies are a one size fits all design so you don’t need to buy different sizes when your baby grows. This saves our customers so much money and also makes our brand stand out amongst our competitors. We are also an all-in-one cloth nappy meaning that you don’t need any covers, pilchers or pins (and why would you want to cover up our amazing prints!) and they are super easy to use, even the Dad’s can do it!
Where does Cushie Tushies sit in the marketplace?
There are quite a few great Australian brands of modern cloth nappies although we are all different in our own individual design. We were voted by the Sunday Telegraph as “Three of the Best” in their best nappy segment and I would have to agree with that!
What are some of your most memorable accomplishments?
There are quite a few actually. Getting to go over to China and visit our factory was an amazing experience. It far exceeded my expectations and it was very inspiring to walk into a room and see such lovely ladies working on my design! I even find such a sense of achievement when our customers continue to make repeat purchases…we must be doing something right
And finally have you got anything in the pipeline that you can give us a hint about?
Well just this week I am once again getting out the sewing machines to start working on some new products! We have a swimming nappy that is about to conclude its testing so that will be ready to go through to production and hit our shelves in time for Summer! We are also working on some products for the Mums like breast and sanitary pads as well as a one size fits all training pant. Exciting times ahead!
Hope you enjoyed this feature on Cushie Tushies! If you know of another awesome brand that you think I should feature let me know about them – sam@samibphotographer.com.au
~S
Competition Time – Tea Pony
July 13, 2010Just because it’s July (my birthday month) and I feel like being generous I’ve teamed up with the gorgeous Esa from Tea Pony to give my newsletter readers the chance to win a Madame Butterfly Folk Dress.
The rules are simple -
* You must be a newsletter subscriber (if you are not sign up here)
* Entries must be received by 12 midnight EST on July 30th
* Details on how to enter will be in the July Newsletter
The winner will be chosen at random and notified by August 6th.
GOOD LUCK