The Cheeky Chickies Story

We LOVE Found:: The Store

2011-09-17T20:35:00.010+10:00

For a while now i have been drooling over photos on their facebook page, and today I had the absolute pleasure of visiting this gorgeous store!

Located at 1011 Old Princes Highway ENGADINE NSW 2233, FOUND:: The Store, is an eclectic mix of gifts and home wares, beautifully presented, a scrumptious feast for the eyes.

I had the privelege of working alongside sisters Toni and Shelli at boutique markets in the past years, and was a tad green eyed when I read about their new endeavour, and watched as they fitted the shop and celebrated the opening a few months back.

In store, you can purchase great products such as Elk accessories, beautiful handmade ceramics from Bison, Red Revival brooches, and a favourite with my two little chickies, the retro spinning tops!

If you are based in Sydney - my tip is to set aside a Saturday to venture in to the Royal National Park for a picnic, and DEFINATELY make it a priority to stop by the Found shop in Engadine on your way through!

Check out their Facebook page for more details and to keep up to date with new products!

A visit to Finders Keepers

2011-05-22T09:48:00.002+10:00

launching our new collection.....

2011-05-03T20:26:00.002+10:00

When we launched our Cheeky Chickies label going back two years ago now, we added a very basic Rosette Brooch as an accessory to our Sunny Side Up Sleeveless Dress. Next we decided to play around with some print fabrics, as a way of showing through accessorising, how different looks could be created with the same piece.

We have continued to develop this accessories collection, and towards the end of last year, we introduced the Rosette Pendant Necklace, and incorporated fabric covered buttons in to the Rosettes.

We are now excited to be officially launching our collection of "eggcessories", with the upgrade of our Rosettes Brooches now incorporating a hair clip so it has a dual purpose, continuing to bring out a fantastic combination of fabric prints and beads in our jewellery, Rosette Headbands, and our new fabric covered button brooch pins, in two sizes, with prints to appeal to both women and children, plus matching fabric covered button hair ties.

Our "eggcessories" range will be available for purchase from select boutique retail stores, and at Cheeky Chickies Pop-Up Stores at some exclusive events that we are excited to be involved with this year!!

Zumba!

2011-04-03T20:15:00.004+10:00

My little lady is turning 5 this week.

We celebrated today with a Zumba Disco Party!

I made Amalia's dress from Michael Miller Fabric, and

layered over a pair of Cheeky Chickies Cropped Slim Fit Pants

and Frill Sleeve Top in Twilight Purple.

She was very chuffed to receive a little gift

from the Zumba Instructor, and it was amazing

how perfectly the head band matched her outfit!

Zumba was not just for the girls,

Boys both Big and Little were having a boogie!

My little man Tae had a ball (below)

Everyone enjoyed the cake and Sweet Station!

And even the mummies got up for a go at the Penguin Dance!

Big thanks to all who helped to celebrate,

for all the lovely gifts that Mali recieve,

thanks to my family and hubby for helping out,

and BIG thank you to my friend Emma

for running the entire Zumba Party Show!!

Our New Accessories!

2010-12-17T12:47:00.005+11:00

Market wrap up - Allie's Attic November 2010

2010-12-17T12:07:00.004+11:00

1. our Cheeky Chickies stand - its great when we can get our tree out :)
2. La Petite Chambre
3. Mou Giddy - purchased a gorgeous pram liner for the little man
4. Bloss Dolls and Summer Blossom
5. La Maison D'Isabelle
6. Found - absolutely love how gorgeous their displays look - very talented :)

7. My favourite for the day - Cutie Patootie - and a nice pic of me and the girls with my purchases, hand croched necklace in mustard and earrings in red - I get so many compliments whenever I wear them !!
8. Angel Bug - yummy hand made and all natural body products - a great selection for babies and children
9. Laikonik - absolutely LOVE the polish folk inspired designs - gorgeous hand printed paper, cards and the stunningly gorgeous once a year keepsake albums. I grabbed some of the little gift tag packs - fantastic :)

SPECIAL EVENT!

2010-12-04T09:47:00.002+11:00

Back in October when we exhibited at The Baby and Toddler Show, a customer rolled up with a gorgeous little dress with ladybirds printed on it. The colours in the dress were a perfect match for our Hibiscus Red and Twilight Purple, so we matched a pair of Cropped Slim Fit Pants with a Cropped Cardigan over the top. The customer informed me that she had purchased the dress from another exhibitor called Danish Treasures.

Later that afternoon, just before closing, I rushed around to find this stand and here I met the gorgeous ownder Vibi Mitchell. I told her about the customer, and she later visited our stand. We were both excited about the combination of the stunning scandinavian prints, with our great range of bold colour basics, and generated ideas about the possibility of joining forces again in the future.

Well, I am now thrilled to tell you, that time has come! For two days only, across two venues in Sydney!!

So please come by and check out all the fantastic clothing - and some great specials too! I will be hosting the stall at Caringbah on 12th, whilst Vibi is at EQ, and then on the 19th you can find me at EQ Christmas Village Markets!! Check out Danish Treasures to wet your appetite!

Clearance Sale - Two Days Only!

2010-11-17T08:23:00.002+11:00

Our Clearance Sale is on now for two days only.

Closing midnight (Aust EST) Thursday 18th November

Below are items that are available in the sale

follow this link to read more and download the order form!

Better a little late....my trip to Hide and Seek!

2010-11-15T16:55:00.006+11:00

Last month I ventured over to Kellyville to take part in their Hide and Seek Market. It was a pretty miserable day with rain, but a lovely venue and as usual, lots of gorgeous stall holders. I had the pleasure of working alongside the lovely Kath from Rattamatatt with her fantastic women's dresses! It was also nice to catch up with my other market friend, Mel from Skye Rocket Sews.

The outcome of the event for me was lots of Christmas shopping, and admiring that which I could not purchased due to spending all my money!

A few of my happy snaps from the event, clockwise from left top:

Pollini Design Accessories - the gorgeous Polly Kwok was such a delight, and shared her scrumptious home made macaroons!
Stunning artwork for children by Lisa Flanagan of Imaginart
SO CUTE these Frilly Tushies from Butterfly Garden whom I purchased some gorgeous little hair clips for Amalia.
Was very fond of these fisherman pants from Piccolo Baby So much so that I purchased the spotty pair for Tae

Old time friend Andrea from Karimu Have always loved her bonnets, and now she is doing these ultra adorable ruffle butt bub pants - definately grabbing some of these if my sister delivers a girl :)
Totally fell in LOVE with these dolls from Sew Sunshine, so much so that I purchased one for Amalia and a little boy one for Tae (these are going in the santa sacks). They have extra clothes that you can purchase to change the outfits, so I got an extra dress, a pair of shorts, and even a set of fairy wings for the dolly!
Red Dress!! How much do I love Red! This is the Mamacita dress from Little Thing Unfortunately they didn't have the red in our size, but I purchased the natural one, with the gorgeous bright coloured embroidery, in a size for Amalia, and also one in my size!! This will be a special outfit at Christmas, so stay tuned for those pics :)

Now, this is when I ran out of money, but captured a few snaps of some other great stuff:

Both the first pic, and the bottom left, are from Kaboodle, I was really impressed by their products, nappy wallets made from stunning fabrics, kids jewellery, but most of all i loved their craft and activity kits. How cute is the "Create your own doll's tutu"!
A designer after my own heart - COLOUR!! This little purple polka dot dress is from Cloudberri Kids.

Lastly, it was nice to catch up with Lou from Smallprint, I also purchased some starry nappy pants from Cute as a Button, and wished i still had money left to purchase these quirky tees and hoodies from Toby and Nic

So, if you need to get your fix of handmade, and would love to purchase some fantastic, unique products for Christmas for your friends and family, come and say hi to me this weekend at Allie's Attic Cronulla Sharks Leagues Club 10.30-3.30 on Saturday 20th November, or Lily Pad Boutique Markets at Little Fish Play Cafe, Caringbah South on Sunday 21st November.

Love an Ugly Bug Ball!

2010-11-07T13:54:00.002+11:00

We were all very excited when we received our invitation to our little friend Beth's 2nd Birthday - it was to be "an ugly bug ball" We already had a little LadyBug hat in the dress ups box - courtesy of Ikea and to make the rest of the outfit for Amalia, we have a Cheeky Chickies Rib Crew Neck Long Sleeve Tee and Slim Fit Pants both in Squid Ink Black, a red pettiskirt from Tu Tu Delightful, and the finishing touches made my mummy, aka Mrs Chicken, a Rosette Brooch finished with a ladybug button, and hand made ladybub wings.

Little Mr Taelan did not miss out, he was mummy's contemporary version of a bumble bee, wearing Cheeky Chickies Rib Crew Neck Long Sleeve Top, Bubble Pants, both in squid ink black, a Rib Tank in Frangipani with special applique strips, and a hand made beanie, also made by mummy (up-cycled from a spare top from the samples bucket)

The party decorations were absolutely gorgeous - styled by local Sutherland Shire party decorations business Divine Eventions, and it was a laugh to see that almost all the kids at the party were either dressed as ladybugs or bumble bees - with the exception of two spidermen.

Both my kids had an absolute ball, and Mali loved the addition of some feature face painting!

A BIG Happy 2nd Birthday to our little friend Beth - she had lots of fun, and big congrats to her talented mummy Emma on another fantastic home made birthday cake - it was very yummy!

My Sister's Baby Shower - Twins!

2010-10-31T18:38:00.009+11:00

We recently held my sister's Baby Shower. This is her first pregnancy and we look forward to welcoming two babies to the family in the coming months.

Her official due date is New Year's Eve, however we are pretty certain that the babies will be arriving by early December, if not sooner. Both bubs have been tracking along ahead of the average size, and the poor dear is suffering quite a lot.

Loren is an interior designer and has really enjoyed styling the nursery. The Baby Shower theme reflected the features of the room - and was a great joint effort between my sister, mother, Coby (Loz's best friend) and myself.

Rather than add commentary along the way, I thought i would just run the series of pics from the event - hope you enjoy!

Wallpaper and artwork from Bholu and Porter's Paints.

I purchased the Bholu Monkeys from The Infant Boutique and the beautiful, bright, unisex cotton basics are from Cheeky Chickies, of course!

Loren has chosen Stokke nursery furniture from Baby Things Kensington, Ikea storage unit and vintage Eames molded fibreglass rocker.

The Baby and Toddler Show

2010-10-27T18:17:00.006+11:00

On the October long weekend, we exhibited at The Baby and Toddler Show in Darling Harbour, Sydney. We attended the innaugural event last year, but were excited to be invlolved this year in a bigger venue. I was also very excited to be working alongside my gorgeous pal Anne, from Czarque baby shoes. They are the most stunning shoes, created and manufactured here in Sydney, so we have a bit in common!

I really enjoyed designing the stand this year, and had some help from Mr Chicken, who built our fantastic tree display. The event also saw the launch of our new Just Hatched Collection for babies sized 000-1, including our new Rib Knit Nappy Pants!

We also had our new Rib Knit Frill Sleeve Top, which features press stud opening on the shoulder, and is accompanied by a limited edition Rosette Brooch, our little Cropped Slim Fit Pants, and our ever popular Rise'n'Shine Set, all of which is available to purchase with our new retail stockists!

Also a hit was the Cushy Monsters, that is the picture on the bottom left, although I wouldn't blame you if your were confused, as Mrs Chicken is looking a little cushy at the moment too! A BIG thanks to my photographer Carissa Little from Bella Piccolo as I had forgotten my camera, and she captured these shots on her visit!

A Sunny Sunday

2010-09-26T14:58:00.004+10:00

Its a gorgeous sunny sunday here in Sydney. We made it outdoors this morning to enjoy the Cronulla Markets, where Amalia had her face painted, and i got a really cute pair of handmade nappy pants for Tae.

The kids, and Jaz, our staffy, have been enjoying the beautiful weather, and I have been capturing glimpses of it on breaks from all my Rosette making in prep for The Baby and Toddler Show at the end of the week.

Have put Mr Chicken hard to work - which I secretly think he is enjoying, as its the first chance he has had to get out in the his "man" shed in months! He is working on a custom display for the Show. So exciting!!

Our New Poster!

2010-09-25T14:14:00.005+10:00

Just in time for The Baby and Toddler Show next week at Darling Harbour, we have this fantastic new Curl Free Polypropylene Poster that will be part of our display. It spans 2m wide and 0.85m high. The boxes that are shown above will actually be blank on the real poster, so that this way, we can print individual images to suit the focus of the exhibition.

For example, at next week's Show, we are launching our Just Hatched Collection for 000-1, so this age group will be our main target market, and we will mainly have photographs of the bubbas. Then at other events we can replace these pics with new styles etc, without having to have a new poster made up each time.

We very much love our Graphic Designer Lucinda!! She's done a fabulous job. Very excited about the rest of our stand, of which I have hubby working on this weekend, after a little trip to Bunnings ..... looking forward to showing you the end result :)

Allie's Attic This Saturday!

2010-09-14T12:30:00.002+10:00

Yay! It's finally here! This Saturday is Allie's Attic Designer Handmade Spring Market!

This event is not to be missed - with a gorgeous selection of indie designers and artisans, producing a variety or fashion, accessories, gifts and homewares for women and children of all ages, live entertainment by blues singer Emma Watts, with accompanying guitarist, kids craft corner, supervised by the adorable Shire Nannies, plus facepainting and now with food and beverages on sale at the market!

Make a day of it, come with your mother's group, or be it a family gathering, and soak up the indie festival atmosphere!

I am also very excited to be launching something new myself! Seperate to Cheeky Chickies, I will have another stall with my new range of women's wear and jewellery! It's been a project in the pipeline for a while, and I can't wait to share it with you on Saturday!

Here's a taste of what you will find at Allie's Attic this Saturday (and stay tuned for my market wrap up after the event itself)

Facebook Give Away!

2010-09-07T19:38:00.005+10:00

It took us a little while longer than initially expected but we are so thrilled to have reached 500 {Likers} on our Facebook Page

To celebrate this achievement, and thank those who have helped us to get there, we have been running a little GIVE AWAY over the past weekend.

There were three parts to this Give Away, three Prize Packs valued at over $100 each, so everyone had an opportunity to get three entries in to the prize draw!

The three questions were as follows:

1. What is your favourite piece from our Free Range Clothing collection (style and colour). If you were to choose any piece from our entire range, what would it be? There was such a fantastic variety of responses here! So nice to see that our range appeals to so many fashion styles!

2. If your were on the Cheeky Chickies design team, what would you add to the Free Range Clothing collection? A new style, a new colour, or perhaps you would just like one of our current styles in a different colour? Some fantastic ideas here! And what is really exciting is that a number of suggestions are actually things we have recently photographed for our 2011 Autumn Winter collection! One thing we will slip is that our newest addition to the colour palette for AW2011 is Barrier Reef Blue - a gorgeous bright turquoise blue!

3. We are currently in the process of marketing our Autumn Winter 2011 range to prospective retailers around Australia. If you were on the Cheeky Chickies sales team, what would your sales pitch be to the retailers to get them to stock the Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing - and is there are particular... store you would be pitching to - online or a boutique near you? Thanks so much for all your sales pitches too! It would be really fantastic to see our range in a store near you!

Thank you to everyone who got involved, these questions have generated some fantastic feedback, creative ideas and have shown wonderful support for our little Aussie made organic fashion label!

Right, now down to the nitty gritty!

Following is a list of every entry, and a number is allocated to each person. We have listed names in order of response, from Part 1, to Part 2 and then Part 3. Each person is entitled to one entry per question, with a total of three entries throughout the entire draw.

Christina Matthewson
Tanya Klerkz
Suzy Draffin
Helen Psaltis
Juliet Van Der Heijden-Robb
Laura Ruhmann
Marissa McArthur
Katie Alpen
Claire 'Peeled' Ryder
Allison Goodall
Norelle Ward
Melissa Smith
Priscilla Fitzgerald
Caprice Burrows
Teresa Van Der Horst
Amanda White
Jennifer Glendinning
Samantha Cairns
Janice Smith Gisler
Sabina Griffiths
Alexis Stocks
Rebekah Taylor
Tina Grace
Christina Matthewson
Juliet Van Der Heijden-Robb
Norell Ward
Melissa Smith
Tanya Klerkz
Gisela Abate
Caprice Burros
Juliet Ranieri
Katie Alpen
Janice Smith Gisler
Teresa van der horst
Amanda White
Jennifer Glendinning
Suzy Draffin
Sabina Griffits
Rebeka Taylor
Tina Grace
Alexis Stocks
Christina Matthewson
Juliet Van Der Heijden-Robb
Melissa Smith
Juliet Ranieri
Caprice Burrows
Amanda White
Teresa van der Horst
Jennifer Glendinning
Suzy Draffin
Norelle Ward
Sabina Griffits
Tanya Klerkx
Rebekah taylor
Tina Grace

Using Random.org with interger values 1 to 55 the following numbers have been selected at random!

Prize Pack Number 1 Goes to:

Number 43

Prize Pack Number 2 Goes to:

Number 50

and lastly

Prize Pack Number 3 Goes to:

Number 22

Thank you to everyone who was involved! If the numbers above correspond with your name, please email info@cheekychickies.com.au

Little One Design and Style

2010-09-01T08:39:00.005+10:00

The very special Little One: Design & Style was released in August.

I felt very priveleged to have been profiled in the magazine,

alongside some fantastically talented designers.

However, I have pondered for some time as to whether I should post the pics.

Being a little bashful, I didn't want it to appear that I was "up" myself.

But then another little voice inside my head said,

"Deni, be proud of yourself, celebrate what you are achieving,

and don't hesitate to share your passion and inspiration with others!"

So, here it is

Go out and grab yourself a copy!

Some of the other designer profiles in the magazine include

my gorgeous friend Elizar, from Huggalugs

Candice from Princess Ratbag whom I met in Melbourne last year

Haidee Lindall, from Miss Haidee who i worked with at Allies Attic Hunters Hill

The beautiful ladies Alison and Susan from Agoo

and the gorgeous Corrie from Retro Mummy whom I have

also had the pleasure of working alongside at Allies Attic markets!

And a BIG SHOUT OUT to Chantelle Bliss from

Forever Bliss Photography for our fun family portrait!

just a bit of blog babble

2010-08-28T18:31:00.002+10:00

So, just felt like using my blog for a bit of babble. I do a lot of posts with big photographs, capturing different markets, designers and handmade products etc. Which I LOVE! And watch this space, as there are a few more to come soon :) But this evening, I just felt like a little release of information from my brain in the form of a blog post.

I have so much going on at the moment. Ha Ha, laugh those who know me, as this is a constant state of Deni being. I am very tired, and haven't slept well the last few nights, so feel a little more overwhelmed with my life than usual.

Today. For example.

I won a one month membership to Platinum Fitness First, so I decided to take it up. I haven't been regulalry exercising for some time, and have put on a few kgs over winter. I joined up yesterday and started this morning at 7.30am I came away on such a high! The gym I have joined is on Wanda beach at Cronulla, so the views are stunning. I really felt that I achied high quality ME time! I grabbed my free newspaper on the way out the door, and a couple of caps before heading home.

Just after 9am Riley-Sue arrived. She is a Year 11 student who helps me produce a 32page mini magazine for our local community. We work on it all day of the last Saturday of each month (except December) - we have submissions from members of the community, regarding what has been happening over the last month, there are local businesses who advertise, and then we also have our own articles that we write. Riley-Sue does a "Top 5" each month and then we also have feature article with colour photographs. Last month Riley-Sue wrote about a local Youth Service that held an activity day in the village through the school holidays, with a visit from Cronulla Sharks players, and this month I am doing up wrap up of the election day BBQ and Market that was held at our local public school.

9.30am I hop in the shower, then put the kids in the bath and clean the bathroom.

10am Eat cereal for breakfast.

11am popped down the road with my daughter Amalia, so she could attend her friend's 5th birthday party. I stayed for 40minutes, before apologising, and heading back home to the Riley-Sue and the Village News.

12.30 Hubby leaves to head up to Bunnings whilst Rile-Sue and I continue working, and as the car pulls out of the driveway, little man Tae wakes up crying, and very clingy. Stop for lunch.

1.15pm Mum pops by and takes Tae with her to visit Great Nan, so that work can be achieved. Riley-Sue continues working on the computer, an I start tracing stars on the fusible paper {can't think of the name of it off the top of my head} I have a few hundred or so to trace, iron on to fabric and cut out, for all our Cheeky Chickies spring summer Rise'n'Shine shorts and tanks.

1.45 Amalia is delivered home from the party - full of sugar - and starts whinging for more food and a new barbie dvd from the video store. Continue tracing stars and hubby feeds Mali more sugar to keep her quiet, after mummy has told her the only option for food is banana.

3.45pm Mum arrives back with Tae. Put him to bed, then head out to drop Riley-Sue off to meet the minister's wife and set up for Sunday School tomorrow, then continue on with Amalia in the car to pick up a dvd.

4.45 heading back home. Stop off at shopping centre for fruit, beer, and to enquire with the Pizza guys as to why they haven't paid their advdrtising bills for the Village News, as we had to pull their ad last month. Mali fallen asleep in the car.

5.00 Home. Leave Amalia in the car asleep. Hop on the computer and bring up Facebook, as have been invited to guest {spam} the FB page for the gorgeous Handmade Kids Tae awake , so feed him some dinner and then a little bike ride outside as daddy cooks the chicken on the BBQ.

Head out to the car to wake up Mali, and head inside for dinner

5.45pm early dinner. Mali having a meltdown. Settle her and manage to get a small amount of food in to her.

6.15pm another Mali meltdown. Suggest that she head to bed early tonight. teeth brushed, pj's on, which are removed shortly after lights go out, so that she can dress up in all manner of bizarre coordinates. Taeland having a meltdown now.

6.45pm Writing this post.

Still need to finish tracing stars, as they all need to be finished by Monday morning to take over the manufacturing team. Still need to finish the Village News, and get it to the printer by tomorrow night, Monday at the latest.

So. A day in the life of Deni.

Hope you have had a chance to enjoy the day ! Happy to chat, leave comments, or questions as you like :)

Thanks for reading my babble !

a few new pics

2010-08-21T20:31:00.002+10:00

Our Rise'n'Shine Sets with Button Up Booties

The classic Sunny Side Up Party Skirt and Tank with Button Up Booties

New accessories!

Our Double Trouble Rosette Brooch

Available in limited edition printed fabrics

and ribbons!

Our Spring Summer Brochure

2010-08-20T18:47:00.005+10:00

Southern Sydney's Designer Handmade Market!

2010-08-18T21:41:00.003+10:00

I am so excited to tell you about some of the changes to Allies Attic!

Many of you know that I have been exhibiting Cheeky Chickies at a

boutique baby and kids market called Allies Attic.

The market started up last November and earlier this year, settled in to

its home location in the Sutherland Shire. Nice for me, being only 5 minutes

down the road! The market has been running bi-monthly and has received

a fantastic response from Shire locals - loving the quality of designers

and commenting that there is nothing like it in southern Sydney.

Well, I am totally over the moon to spread the word now,

that with our upcomming Spring market on Satruday 18th September,

Allies Attic will now showcase an exquisite range of designers of products

for women and children of all ages!

One designer that I am very excited to work alongside is my friend

Natasha Dwyer, of the label Arthur Avenue.

Tash and I go way back, and I used to stock some of her kids pieces when

I was retailing - even managed to get one of her skirts in Shop 4 Kids.

Natasha's designs are beautiful and sophisticated, and she has won numerous

awards for her designs and her use of vintage and recycled fabrics and trims.

Natasha has received celebrity status in recent weeks, being interviewed

by the media and appearing on the Kerrie-Anne Show,

as she is the brainchild behind the inspirational "National Costume"

that is to be worn by Australia's Jesinta Campbell, in the upcomming

Miss Universe Pageant over in the US.

Such a privilege to be working alongside such talent.

For more information on the upcomming market, visit

www.alliesattic.com.au

Its going to be a fantastic event, with over 50 market stalls both

indoors and outside in the garden area.

Plus live music and a supervised kids activity area!

Young Blood Designer's Market 2010

2010-08-18T10:46:00.007+10:00

Recently we had a great little adventure as we travelled in to the

big smoke to visit the Young Blood Designer Markets

at The Powerhouse Museum.

These were my snaps from the day of bits and pieces

that captured my attention!

So cute are these little hair accessories from Chi Chi

email chichiginjaka@gmail.com

Contemporary jewellery from In Sync design www.insyncdesign.com.au

Inseperable Companion (part of the collection from the students from

Enmore Design Centre) www.jewelleryandobjects.org

So cute were these Thread Pets - softies and funky bandana style bibs www.etsy.com/shop/Threadpets

OK, so if I could add another project to my planner, it would have to

be screen printing. Alas, I just don't have the time or space at the moment,

so get my fixes from textile and print designers whenever i can!

Loved the polish designs from Laikonik www.laikonik.com.au

Gorgeous designs from Swoon and Blues www.swoonandblues.wordpress.com

they also had these fantastic wall art clocks!

Bright and Bold, just to my liking,

Materlialistic www.materialistic.com.au

all so stunning. I purchased a singlet top from Materialistic, and the designer

gave Mali a few free badges too :)

Funky brooches from Cherish Vintage Treasures

www.CherishTreasures.etsy.com

Mali wearing her badges that were a gift from Materialistic.

Unfortunately I can't locate the designer of the cute necklaces :(

Okt-ober Dee Stunning collection of accessories and bags,

totally gorgeous and talented!

I have a bit of a thing for brooches - love making them myself, and love buying!

purchased one from the designer Notions

www.notionshandmade.blogspot.com

also, not Pictured but very cool - and I purchased a pair of their silver dove earrings!

www.pigeonhole.com.au

Ok, quite possibly my pic of the day.

Delilah Devine makes these gorgeous brooches, cards and LOVE

the flying ducks :) My sister is pregnant with twins, due end of the year.

If she ends up having both a boy and a girl, I am definately

re-visiting this store to purchase the brooch in the first pic!

The last pic is of me with my bird brooch.

We finished off the day with a play in the kids activity rooms.

Amalia did a special drawing and we hung it on the wall.

I had to capture this, as I am a very proud mummy.

It has taken her a while (as she takes after me with losing patience quickly at times)

but she has finally (somewhat) mastered writing her name :)

A bit of a birthday theme?

2010-08-10T20:30:00.003+10:00

So I celebrated my birthday yesterday.

It wasn't a major milestone celebration, but nice to celebrate in some form all the same.

I went out to lunch with my mother and two good friends,

to a fancy shmancy restaurant on Cronulla Beach - Summer Salt.

Enjoyed a glass of bubbles and great food.

I had recently purchased a new outfit from Country Road {love}

a simple olive cotton tee and linen pants.

I wore one of my own beaded necklace and earring sets,

and decided the night before, to make myself the Rosette Brooch.

Hubby bought be the gorgeous bunch of orchids {my favourite flower},

the silver heart key ring (which opens to hold a photo),

and my friend gave me the Mor body butter.

When I put everything together, I noticed a bit of a colour theme,

and thought i would take a couple of snaps for enjoyment

Shop 4 Kids Spring2010

2010-08-09T21:13:00.003+10:00

Our Little Man's Birthday!

2010-08-08T12:19:00.004+10:00

Last weekend we celebrated our little man's 2nd Birthday!

I had decided some time ago, that it would be in the theme of Teddy Bear's Picnic.

The main problem that i encountered though, was finding decorations to suit.

There were plenty of boys's jungle, spaceship and magic show party decorations,

but I couldn't find anything that suited a 2 year old with a teddy for a best friend.

Then my gorgeous friend Carissa Little (of Bella Piccolo Photography)

came to the rescue, and specially designed all the templates for all

the teddy themed party decorations I would dream of!

Check out her blog, as she did a fantastic job with her own daughter's 2nd birthday

and this may be a specialty business that you will see more of in the future!

Pictured above we have custom made "soda pop" labels attached to

apple/blackcurrent pop tops juices, personalised party favour boxes, cupcake toppers,

party hats, gift tags and bunting. There were also popcorn boxes, but i ran out of time!

I purchased special paper from the Scrapbook Shop, it was red with white dots on

one side, and red and white stripes on the other, and another friend created the

colour coordinated balloon topiary displays to match.

The treat table consisted of tiny teddies, sour bears, gummi bears,

and arnott's chocolate covered teddy biscuits.

So, I also had fun coming up with the little coordinated outfits for the kids.

It started on a recent trip to Kids Central at Entertaintment Quarter,

where i came across the Freshbaked Faux Fur Vest for Amalia.

I thought it looked just like a cuddly bear vest.

I also grabbed the blue cord vest for Tae. He also wears Cheeky Chickies

Rib Knit Rollover Top in Hibiscus Red, Pants from Krickets and the most

divine red leather loafers from Czarque! These baby shoes are made in

Australia too - we can't wait to work side-by-side with Czarque

a The Baby and Toddler Show, Darling Harbour 1st, 2nd, 3rd October!

So Mali also wears Cheeky Chickies Rib Knit Rollover Top in White Sand,

Frill Sleeve Top in Ocean Blue, Twirlie Whirlie Skirt in Hibiscus Red (new style)

and Rib Knit Slim Fit Pants in Ocean Blue, and her red leather Lelli Kellis.

We were so lucky to have such stunning weather for the middle of winter, so decided

to move the party outdoors, where we spread out a picnic rug, played duck duck goose

and got a great photo of the kids with their favourite furry friends.

A BIG thank you to my beautiful friend Emma, for making Tae's

Teddy Bear's Picnic themed Birthday Cake.

As you can see, it was enjoyed greatly by our little man!

Tae had a wonderful day, he was very happy with his new Radio Flyer bike,

and loved the pressies and new toys he received.

I am especially taken by wooden toys at the moment, so

a special shout out to Rudy and The Dodo, As I really love the little space ship,

it comes apart and magnetically fits back together. And Modern Little Munchkins

for the gorgeous wooden food. These are made in halves, secured by velcro.

You use the knife to practice cutting them in half, and the velcro makes a realistic

cutting sound as you move the knife through it.

Just fantastic, educational toys!

A BIG thank you to all my friends for helping me pull this party together,

Jodi, Emma, Mandy, Dayna, Fiona, Loz, Cheri, Carissa, Mum and of course, Nate.

And thank you all for putting up with my crazy mummy status when you arrived

and still didn't have everything ready - yes, I take full responsibility for my

temporary insanity :)

Winterland

2010-07-18T19:26:00.005+10:00

So, you know how much I love boutique markets,

and The Finders Keepers has been earning itself a brilliant reputation,

I myself checked it out last November and was thrilled, but so bummed to miss

out on getting to the last one that ran in May.

So when I heard that The Finders Keepers were curating the markets at

Winterland - a festival being held at Carriageworks through July,

I was so excited to arrange an afternoon with Mr Chicken,

and without the little chickies, to venture in towards the city and check it out!

To say the least, i was a little surprise, and unfortunately, a little disappointed.

I suppose I was expecting the buzz and excitement that i found at Finders Keepers Market, however there were literally only ten market stalls. They were all very talented artisans of course, but was hungry for more. There will be different designers in the coming weeks, so I may just have to pop back to see some more variety to fulfill my needs!

An ice rink had been set up to one end of the grand warehouse, surely a school holiday favourite, and down the other end a gypsy style band played in front of the cafe.

We enjoyed the live music, and had a bite to eat. Mr Chicken was very well behaved too, considering I caught up with my good friend Allie, and spend a while chatting with my dear friend Natasha Dwyer, from Arthur Ave (bottom two pics in the following collage) My old time followers will remember that Cheeky Chickies used to stock Arthur Ave and we even got one of their skirts in to Shop 4 Kids a few years back :)

Tash is a very talented designer, having won numerous awards, dressed all the contestents in the Miss Universe 2009 contest, and has been commissioned to design the national costume for Australia's Jesinta Campbell, to wear in the Miss Universe Finals for 2010! The project is top secret and will be revealed on 29 July!\

Go Tash you are a totally top chick!

So I couldn't leave empty handed.

Below is a little self portrait with my purchase from the event.

Mr Chicken and I then ventured over to Entertainment Quarter for a bit more shopping, a yummy quiet, romantic dinner and a movie - Knight and Day - good fun and a laugh.

Overall a most enjoyable date arvo/night!

Winter Markets Part 1

2010-07-14T20:45:00.002+10:00

So we have recently been involved with a couple fantastic events.

The first one in June was the Northies Designer Markets

Launch of Winter Fashion.

This was opened by the Minister for Small Business

and there were fashion parades throughout the day.

Above:

The Cheeky Chickies display, lots of layers of lovely yummy colours.

Mrs Chicken with a purchase from Summerblossom (you will see more of them at Allies Attic)

Stevie and Me - the most frou frou gorgeous girlie gear you can get

and they also joined us at the recent Allies Attic market!

It was also lovely to meet Christina from Billy Mac kids' clothing

and one of our all time fav's from Northies, Fabz shoes !

The fashion parade was photographed by Six Degrees Photography.

Big thanks to all our models, they looked gorgeous!

There is also a great little video by Rob Cook Videography on our Facebook Page :)

Next we move on to Allies Attic - held on Saturday 10th July.

As always, a most deeeeeelightful day.

Love working alongside of such gorgeous and talented designers

(thanks for being great company Andrea - Karimu)

There is always a buzz in the atmosphere, and with our special

BOGOF sale, we had a great shopping day.

Little Talia above loved her new gear and modelled it for us!

Her mummy Marissa found Cheeky Chickies after the lovely

Bub&Moo from WA did a blog on us a few months back :)

Gotta luv the internet!

Selkie Smith ....

Bloss Dolls and Summerblossom

Jaluki Designs................. Moosey Fresh Baby Foods

The Australian Baby Nursery................... Blucy Funky Kids Designs

Winter Markets Part 2

2010-07-14T19:49:00.008+10:00

Clockwise from top left:

Kids Blitz..... Wonderlandia......Owly Molly........

Butterfly Garden....... Taylored 4 Baby....... Essential Habitat

La Petite Chambre and Mou Giddy

Jazy Jae's and L'il Cherubs

Charli Bee Designs....... L'il Cherubs

The Kid's Kraft Korner hosted by Shire Nannies

Small Print

Karimu......... Archie and Moo

my apologies to the stalls that i didn't get to capture, but if you

like what you see and want it in the flesh!

You must come by our next Allies Attic market:

Saturday 18th September

Cronulla Sharks Leagues Club

We will be welcoming some exciting changes as the market doubles in size

and we start our spring and Christmas shopping!

I have caught the craft bug!

2010-07-07T08:43:00.006+10:00

Yes, well some might think that i would have already been infected, and to an extent yes, spending the amount of time that i do amongst such talented people at our Allies Attic market, and with my visits to other handmade and designer markets. However, when you run your own business, you find after time, that you no longer have that spare bit of time to engage in the follies of crafts for your own pleasure - you know, it is always about the business.

Well , I am taking a stand and making a change!

Recently I participated in a craft mini market in my local community. It was very small, there were only ten of us, and held in the church hall. I didn't take Cheeky Chickies things, instead, I decided that my jewellery would make an appearance. This is jewellery i had made BC (before children) over 5 years ago, and has been sitting in a box every since. I thought it would be nice to do something different for a change.

Although we didn't pull massive crowds, the buzz in the little hall was infectious, and the devonshire tees were just so yummy!! The community spirit was beautiful and I really enjoyed being amongst it. There was a great variety of hand made treasures, and I will first say, that the market rules were that stall holders had to be residents of our village, so it was so nice to meet other locals, and see their talents.

As a result of this little event, I have now joined the local crafter's club, and attended my first meeting last night at the church hall. It was a fantastic pleasure, and so nice to be there for me, just for me, not my business, not the kids, nice chatter, tea and biscuits, admiring the works of others, and playing around with different ideas of things I would like to try a hand at.

Top pics are of some of my jewellery. Glass Beaded Charm Style Bracelet and then a new little one that I was playing around with, mixing a rosette, with plaited leather, beads and buttons. Wasn't sure about this one, but it was my first piece sold :)

Amalia wears a gorgeous hand knitted jumper that i purchased from the market, just love the colour! Think that will be the next colour in the Cheeky Chickies range :)

Mali also wears one of my kids beaded necklaces, as shown on the mannequin below (I had a cute little green one too and look forward to making more of these). Also shown in this pic is a little applique top by Tu Tu Delightful, who make applique tops, hair accessories and also sell great little tu tu - I have one on hold from their next batch due in August!

Now, my top pic for the day were the bags. These were hand made from recycled clothing. There were a few different styles, and also some wheat bags (which sold out).

What impressed me most, was that the girl who was selling them had only just taught herself to sew, and had never done anything like this before. She demostrated some fantastic talent and can't wait to see more of her creations!

Lasty, how gorgeous are these colours! These beautiful chunky knitted scarves really caught my eye and had i sold a couple more pieces of jewellery, i was going to nab the orangie red one!

A Boy and His Bear

2010-07-03T14:27:00.003+10:00

Little man loves his teddy!

Typical of big sis - always has to get in on the action.

They are best of mates though, and really love each other's company.

Makes for a very happy mummy.

Thank You ABC Classical FM!

2010-06-30T10:50:00.004+10:00

On our recent trip down to Canberra, my sister and I laughed at mum when we started out on the journey, and she was play ABC Classical FM. It was soon shifted to a more up beat radio station, and a few CD's were alternated.

On the way home though, we were about half way in to the trip when the little man decided he was oh so not happy about being in the car anymore. No manner of treats, toys, songs would keep him from crying. We stopped at one point, so I could get him out, give him a cuddle, and try to settle him, as he has a habit of getting himself so worked up that he vomits, and that was the last thing we wanted when there was still an hour of the journey remaining. Alas, as I made the move to secure him back in the seat, he started up with his screaming and crying again.

We started on the road again, and the suggestion was put forward to try the classic music to soothe and calm the soul - and boy, you would not believe it, in a matter of seconds, after an hour or so of crying and screaming, the little man was quiet. He was not asleep, no, he was placidly listening to the music.

A week later, I had to take the little man in to hospital for day surgery. We were required to leave the house at 6am, and Tae was to be fasted. So I decided to pull him straight from slumber, in to the car. Naturally, he was not a happy chappy with this swift move. I put on the radio, but it was news time, damn! So Tae continued to cry, as the report cam to completion, and the classical music commenced, it was like a wave of a magic wand! Quiet....

And this pattern has continued, so ABC Classical FM is my savour and permanently holds the position of channel 1 on my car radio. So Thank You! ABC Classical FM :)

some random tomfoolery

2010-06-25T18:31:00.003+10:00

The Handmade Market Part 2

2010-06-21T13:38:00.005+10:00

Above: One of my top pics from the market Six in a Row, gorgeous chunky resing and wood

beaded necklaces, plus the gorgeous brooch in the pic below.

You can see why this stall caught my eye immediately - just love the colours!

Plus, this little piece just went so perfectly with Amalia's outfit.

More on COLOUR - couldn't help but snap the gorgeous tea cosy,

and below, more yummy hand printed textiles from Amanda Rae

Lastly, a purchase for Tae, this gorgeous little tee from Tinker by Printink Studio.

These gorgeous textile designers travelled from Melbourne to attend the market.

Was excited to see them in the latest issue of Bambini Directory too!

So, you may ask, "what are your little chickies wearing Mrs Chicken?"

Amalia wears Cheeky Chickies Rollover Neck Top in Orchid Pink, Slim Fit Pants in Ocean Blue

and Cropped Cardigan also in Ocean Blue. Each of these pieces gorgeously frame the

beautiful babushka skirt from Skye Rocket Sews.

Taelan wears Cheeky Chickies Rollover Neck Top in White Sand, Spudbaby Pants

and a really cutie patootie sausage dog applique tee from Urchin (Mali has the cat - just love'em)

The Handmade Market Part 1

2010-06-20T22:20:00.004+10:00

1. Gorgeous soft toys and mobiles by Sarah Saliba from Gifts Created

2. Alicia Gabriel's beautiful wall art - hand crafted by this very talented young lady,

come and check out her stuff at the next Allies Attic boutique kids market!

3. Another of my favourites, Madi and Me, stunningly created clothing for babies and toddlers,

many items that are reversible - purchased a skirt a little while back, need to photograph!

1. One of the first stalls we stopped at, and loved the name, Cheeky Textiles. Really gorgeous

selection of fabric designes, wrapped wall art. Love the orange and red owl, and the pink and

yellow at the back - think they will go great in Amalia's new room!

2. Yum Yum, loved these lamps from Honi and Lemon, little elephants will be a running theme

in the little man's new room I think, so these could be a goer!

They also had some gorgeous bags and funky fabric covered furniture.

3 and 4. I am falling, falling, falling in love with hand printed textiles.

Have been wishing I could do a class with Prints Charming, but never have the time.

Just loved Third Bird, and then when i was checking out Deidre's blog,

and found that she had a staffy, then I knew she was a girl after my own heart!

Plus, the chickens!

Going to have to get one of these for the newly renovated house

(whenever it finally eventuates)

Simple Sibling Pleasures

2010-06-15T21:12:00.005+10:00

Gorgeous sunny Canberra last weekend.

The kids had so much fun playing outside in the garden,

how could they not!

Such simple pleasures,

creating such warm fuzzies in their mummy :)

The pictures speak for themselves

Early Morning Rising

2010-06-14T09:22:00.002+10:00

I woke up early the following morning (thanks to my darling daughter)

and just had to capture the scene :)

A little trip to Canberra Pt 1

2010-06-13T09:15:00.004+10:00

Last weekend we took a little trip to Canberra. I suppose you could call it a bit of a girl's weekend away, seeing as it was myself, my mum, my sister, and my daughter, but lets just throw my little man Tae in for good measure :)

We were looking forward to spending time with our great family friend {Aunty} Sherry on her property on the outskirts of town, soaking up the fresh country air and all the gorgeous scenery. We were so lucky to be leaving the coast - Sydney had been suffering from heavy rains for a good couple of weeks, yet the sun was shining and the skies were a crisp blue in Canberra!

The property on which we were staying was a good 4500 acres. Much of that was bushland, with sheep and kangaroos, an orchard and gorgeous cottage gardens surrounded the house, but along the drive to the east of the property, a special plantation had occurred and we were visiting on the opening weekend of a very special hunt..... for truffles!

Yes, we were at the home of the prestigious French Black Truffles of Canberra. Snuffle the truffle dog, had a successful first day, along with the very well trained labbies (trained by specialist police) and we were treated to a very special serving of truffled scrambled eggs on toast on our last day.

I must say, I was not a fan of the smell.... the truffles were placed in a bowl of eggs, and left to permeate for 48 hours), but they tasted scrumptious, to me, a kind of syrupy flavour.

Mum, Sis, Sherry and Dog Trainer (we can't show you his face, but he was a cutie:)

Off on the hunt....

Good Girl Snuffle!

hhhmmmm, not the most pleasant sight or smell, but boy were they yummy!

Stay posted..... more snippets from our little trip to come :)

Fun Fridays!

2010-05-28T18:57:00.005+10:00

Fridays is mummy day.

I work at the Hospital on Tuesdays and Thursdays,

Amalia is in kindy Monday to Thursday, and Daddy is home on the weekends.

So on Friday, I plan for fun and games.

I generally don't get work done, unless i get both kids down for a sleep late in the arvo.

We start with swimming lessons in the morning, and then usually morning tea at

Ally Break and a play at North Cronulla Park.

Due to the rain this week though, we decided to head up to Miranda Fair,

and have a good work out at the Soft Play centre.

To allow my kids to really be kids, our Free Range Clothing is designed for

rough and tumble play. Mali gives it a great work out here.

Today she is wearing our Rib Knit Rollover Neck Top in Squid Ink Black,

with our Rib Knit Leggings in Agave Green,

and we are featuring this gorgeous cord pinafore by designer Amanda Coffey

from Wonderlandia www.etsy.com/shop/wonderlandia

I purchased it at Allies Attic Boutique Kids Market. Its fantastic, because it is reversible, so we have two different looks. Plus it has been so well made, and nice and thick for winter.

yummmmmm mega choc chip muffin!

Taelan enjoyed moving the furniture around,
as he has started to learn how to walk along behind chairs and his push along toy.

He is such a funny little fella, his first theeth, the two front teeth, finally appeared
when he was 16 months of age, and now all of a sudden,
he has about 5 teeth coming through at once!

But he is always such a happy little chappy.

Later in the afternoon, we travelled to Balmain and met up with my gorgeous

friend Shea and her little man Koby (on a short trip home from NZ),

and her sister Perdy, with her little boy Eli.

Don't the colours in this dress just look stunning!

We had so many compliments throughout the day.

Mali and Koby always enjoy each other's company,

its a shame we have an ocean between us!

Happy Mummy Day!

2010-05-09T10:33:00.004+10:00

Happy Mummy's Day to all the mummy's celebrating their wondrous achievement today!

Hope you are all being treated to something special.

For our family, it was breakfast at Ally Break by North Cronulla Beach.

The little man enjoyed the froth off daddy's cappucino.

Mali enjoyed her hot chocolate with Poppy and Great Nan.

My sister Loren, Mum and Me

And finished with a walk along the Esplanade and taking in the gorgeous views.

What a spectacular day!

Mali did a bit of modelling for me.

We love our Agave Green, on this occasion we have layered the Frill Sleeve Top over

a Hibiscus Red Rib Knit Rollover Neck Top. Paired with the leggings and a really

cute apple print skirt we picked up from designer Ally-Lou at the last Allies Attic

plus a pair of Red Lelli Kelly boots that we also picked up at Allies Attic!

Designed to Compliment.

2010-05-02T16:46:00.006+10:00

So, we now have most of our new styles up on the web site for autumn/winter.

You may notice that we have taken a new direction. We will still offer our applique designs in limited styles, such as our Rise'n'Shine Rib Tanks and Long Shorts, and the Hearts'r'Hatching Sleeveless Tunic or Jersey Tee. However, we are now also offering a fantastic range of core basics.

I have always loved a bold printed fabric, and have picked up some gorgeous skirts and dresses from different designers, and at boutiques and markets. The problem I continued to encounter was finding a suitable top to match, something that was stylish, so didn't dull down the beauty of the printed piece, yet held a gorgeous colour to compliment it.

So, this is the motivation behind our new direction. We want to offer a one stop shop for boutique quality, super stylish basics, and have these styles available in a gorgeous variety of bright bold colours.

You will start to see a number of blog posts where we feature a

mix and match of Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing

complimenting some other great designer and indie labels.

The first two shots above feature Amalia wearing Cheeky Chickies Rib Knit Frill Sleeve Top and Rib Knit Leggings, both in Agave Green,

framing the gorgeous print skirt from Three Little Trees.

Little man Tae wears Cheeky Chickies Rib Knit Leggings in Ocean Blue,

with a pin tuck collared shirt from Eternal Creation.

And today we headed out to a local festival. Tae wears Cheeky Chickies Bubble Pants in Sunburnt Orange, and Mali wears the Agave Frill Sleeve Top again,

layered with another gorgeous piece from Three Little Trees.

A fun day was had all round!

Hand Made Kids

2010-05-02T09:50:00.003+10:00

In our last blog post, we announced the winner of our Australia Day Give Away, jeez, how time flies!

Recently, we received some feedback from Carolyn by way of a review on the gorgeous website Handmade Kids!

Thanks Carolyn, its great to hear that your little chickie is loving his Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing, and thanks for sharing it with your Handmade Kids community :) Check the website here

This is the little photo spread of Carolyn's little man Hamish

wearing his Rise'n'Shine Rocker Set

Give Away Time Winner

2010-03-14T21:43:00.002+11:00

Thank you to all who made some great suggestion of your favourite little retail stores.

We had 14 entries all together (one entry per person) between our facebook and blog page.

We assigned a number to each entry as follows:

Leesa Cb
Toni Hill
Jen Muir
Simone Wise
Elizar Claire
Norelle Ward
Teresa van der Horst
Kalynda Madge
Carolyn Correll
Amanda White
Candice Ecclestone
Melissa White
Michelle Thompson
tartankiwi

and using a random number generator on www.random.org, our winning entry tonight was number 9!!

Congratulations Carolyn Correll :)

Shoot us an email to info@cheekychickies.com.au

Give Away Time!!

2010-03-10T19:35:00.002+11:00

Do you have an absolutley stunning, style savvy kids boutique in your local area?

Have you visited a gorgeous town in Australia or New Zealand,

and discovered a beautiful gem of a kid's store?

If so, We want to hear from you!

Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing is designed to coordinate and

compliment other printed styles that one might already have in their wardrobe,

or in the case of retailers, might stock in their retail store.

We would like to hear your suggestions, leave a comment below, with the details of a retail store that you believe Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing would look totally fabby in!

We are also hosting this Give Away on our Facebook page, and all comments will go in to a random draw, whereby one lucky entry will receive a Cheeky Chickies "Choose Your Own Adventure Voucher" - which entitles the recipient to one top an one bottom from our range!

Tell your friends about this little Give Away, we would love to hear from you all!

A nice Sunday drive

2010-03-08T18:40:00.007+11:00

To visit the Cushy Monsters website, click here!

Drum Roll..... and the new colours are.......

2010-02-18T07:20:00.004+11:00

Agave (Green), Twilight (Purple) and Orchid (Fuschia)

Will be available at the beginning of April

in our Rib Leggings, Rib Long Sleeve Top and Rib Frill Sleeve Top

Another Snapshot!

2010-02-15T18:48:00.005+11:00

A stylish collared shirt, worn with our full length bubble pants

Our Sleeveless Dress with Rollover Neck Rib Knit Top and Rib Leggings

Customer Feedback!!

2010-02-13T17:36:00.002+11:00

This cheeky little chickie, Jayde was the lucky recipient of our Australia Day Long Weekend comp! You may recognise Jayde, as she was the winner of the Mother and Baby Coverstar Comp last year!!

Jayde's mummy, Caprice, sent us these pics and said that Jayde has "had a great time dancing around in her (Rise'n'Shine) outfit, and that it was "perfect for Gymbaroo, as it was nice and easy to jump around in"!

Most Stylish and Practical!

2010-01-28T07:57:00.008+11:00

I had always cursed when Amalia would always be dressed up in a gorgeous outfit,

but when it came to throwing a little light weight cardi on her when the weather

cooled down a bit in the evening, the only things we seemed to have were heavy

chunky knits or a hoodie, that just didn't seem to have the style to match the outfit.

So, as we are working with gorgeous light weight organic cotton, and jersey knits,

we decided to create the most stylish and practical cropped cardigan!!

We love it!!

The first sneak peek!

2010-01-20T08:20:00.013+11:00

Last year i found that I was constantly popping sleeveless vests on my little man.

It just added that extra layer over his chest, without being too restrictive.

As such, I was inspired to create our Sleeveless Hoodie!

(Hoodie will also feature a waist band - not shown in pic)

Perfect for the cooler months, we have our Rib Rollover Neck Long Sleeve Top

(also available as a standard crew neck)

and our Bubble Pants will now come in a full length unisex version

a very comfy, easy to move and play fit!

Oh! What a laugh!

2010-01-17T14:12:00.004+11:00

My two little chickies on Christmas Day.

Lots of fun and laughter was had by all!

Hope you all had a fantastic festive season.

Out and About: Allie's Attic Hunter's Hill

2009-12-07T17:48:00.004+11:00

We are totally stoked to be involved with this fantastic new boutique children's market!

Each month (except Jan) Allie's Attic pops up in a different location in Sydney.

In November we headed to Hunter's Hill and had a gorgeous day for the event in the grounds of the Hunter's Hill Community Church. We were surrounded by gorgeous designers including The Red Thread (who was one of our pics at MM), Paperklip, Lelli Kelly, Miss Haidee, Bambooty and Karimu (can't wait to see the bonnet they are making for my Amalia)!!

This is the absolute BEST place to get all your Christmas shopping done!

Sick of seeing the same old same old in the shopping centres?

Then come to Allie's Attic this Saturday 12th December

at Paddington Town Hall!!

New Stockist: Green Habits

2009-12-07T17:42:00.002+11:00

We are thrilled to introduce you to this gorgeous eco boutique!

Situated in the gorgeous Stanwell Park on Illawarra Coast - only 40minutes drive from the Sutherland Shire - a fantastic place to venture to on your Sunday outing - stop at the shops and check out Green Habits - gorgeous eco friendly and fair trade gifts, children's clothing and accessories - then take a swim at the beach, a play at the park, and my pic for lunch is the absolutely fabulous Scarbarough Pub - through the summer months, they often have entertainment and free face painting for the kids!

Out and About: Mathilda's Markets

2009-12-07T17:34:00.003+11:00

Had the great pleasure of visiting Mathilda's Markets at the beginning of November - it was great to get in the spirit of things the week before our first Allie's Attic market!

My top pics from the day are from top left Blinking Flights, The Red Thread, Crazy Ape Bananas, Alfie and Nina, and Loz and Dinny !!

The Baby Show September 2009

2009-10-14T10:51:00.007+11:00

We recently exhibited at The Baby Show in Sydney.

The event was held at The Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park, next to Fox Studios.

It was very exciting to be involved in this event - being the first one in Australia,

and my daughter delighted in meeting Dorothy the Dinosaur and her friends

Waggs, Henry and Captain Feathersword at the opening.

The event was superbly set up, with a gorgeous variety of exhibitors of products,

ranging from your most exquisite prams, to stunning photography, and we were

thrilled to stand alongside established children's designers and upcomming boutique

children's wear designers. Everything from Oobi and Pumpkin Patch, to

Natures Baby, L'il Ludy swimwear, and gorgeous Jock and Tilly.

In the pictures above - our exhibitor's stand

Pics of the models in the fashion parade with our clothing -

we were honoured to be asked to supply four outfits for the fashion parade.

My beautiful sister Loren was a fantastic help over the weekend, and also

a big Thank You to Anne from Czarque (gorgeous baby shoes) we loved being neighbours,

and she was fantastic company. Also to Susan from Agoo who also helped out on Sunday.

Abby from Global Style was also so much fun to hang out with - and some wonderful

words of wisdom from this funky chick who has been operating now for 10years!

Kelly from Little Bubble and Tree is an absolute delight, she made the trip up from

Melbourne and we just love her styling and displays - so clever!

And lastly, our gorgeous friend Elizar from Huggalugs was a real crowd favourite -

speaking on stage at the mumpreneurs seminar, and looked a sight walking around

the show in her hot pink leg ruffles and stilettos!

You can grab Huggalugs in our store - check out the gorgeous leg ruffles!

Out and About: Kids In Style Melbourne

2009-10-10T07:38:00.007+11:00

At the end of July, you may remember that we took a trip down to Melbourne as we were invited to showcase

Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing at the Kids Fashion Review VIP Party.

It was perfect timing, as we were also able to visit the Kids In Style trade show that was on at The Royal Exhibition Hall in Melbourne. This is an absolutley gorgeous venue as you can see, and it is very exciting that come March 2010, we will also be exhibiting here as we will be heading to Melbourne with The Baby Show!!

We have a little round up of things that took our fancy at the Melbourne KIS:

Ramalama produce a gorgeous range of maternity and baby wear from gorgeous organic cotton fabrics. Their gear is oh so funky, and their wrap dress is particularly devine - perfect even when you are not preggers - just an easy comfy stylish dress! We first met Deena when she dropped by and introduced herself to us at the KFR VIP Party, and caught up with her the following day at the KIS show. Ramalama were also a highlight at the recent Baby Show in Sydney, and will be exhibiting at Allie's Attic in November and December (more on those in later posts) http://www.ramalama.com.au/

Eco Peko have the most gorgeous little eco-friendly slogan tees and we were really impressed with Justine's totally cool eco cubby house at the KIS show. http://www.ecopeko.com/

This season's must have! Princess Ratbag have the most gorgeous and pettiskirts - total girly glamour! http://www.princessratbag.com/

We were so stoked to meet our gorgeous Lisa from Cheeky Little Soles in person. You may remember that we featured a few of these funky little shoes in our first spring/summer photo shoot, and we will have a few more in our second shoot that we are doing on Monday - featuring our Party Skirts and new Mini Bubble Shorts - so look out for them! http://www.cheekylittlesoles.com.au/

Lastly, we just absolutley fell in love with this super stylish vintage inspired Aussie label! Olive's Friend Pop is a collection of vintage-inspired, original clothing for little girls, but as that's a bit long, we call it 'nostalgic playwear'. Their creations are inspired by proper little-girls' clothes of our grandmothers' generation, Post WWII, and from a time when little girls looked like little girls. A bit like modern-day heirlooms. Due to launch in Februay 2010, you can check them out at http://www.olivesfriendpop.com/

Spring Summer now LIVE!

2009-08-17T21:54:00.001+10:00

The Googy News out Monday!

2009-08-15T21:13:00.004+10:00

Make sure you are a member of Club Chickie to receive our special offer on our new season looks!

Funky little Rock Star - Daniel wears Rise'n'Shine set in Hibiscus Red and Squid Ink Black - thanks to Yunginz for the punkiest little shoes to match!

Sunny Side Up Rib Tank, Party Skirt and Sleeveless Dress in Hibiscus Red - shoes by Cheeky Little Soles :)

The Sunny Side Up Party Skirt

2009-08-12T14:39:00.003+10:00

Kids Fashion Review VIP Designer Showcase and Party

2009-08-10T09:23:00.008+10:00

Last weekend we travelled to Melbourne, having been invited to showcase the Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing Spring Summer Collection at the Kids Fashion Review VIP Party!

We were privileged to stand alongside some of Australia and New Zealand's top designers: Eternal Creation, YMamaY, Agoo, Pipi Child, Czarque, Tea Princess, Nanny Pickle, Ouch, Old Skool, Pink Chicken NY, Chilli Kids, Pram Rock and Oopsi Daisy Baby.

It was fantastic to put faces to some of the retailers and designers that we have been talking with over the forums on KFR, and had a super response to our new collections.

Pics as numbered above (1) View of the room at the Mars Gallery, Melbourne, (2) Mrs Chicken speaking with Antonia from Little Pearls for Little Girls, (3) Czarque Baby Shoes, (4) Tea Princess, (5) Eternal Creation, (6) YMamaY, (7) View of the room, (8) Mrs Chicken with a pair of our Baloon Pants

Additions to our standard colour palette

2009-08-09T16:38:00.004+10:00

Sunburnt Orange and Squid Ink Black

New Colours! Sunburnt Orange and Sky Blue

2009-08-07T22:02:00.007+10:00

Max wears Rise'n'Shine Rib Tank in Sky Blue + 3/4 Length Pants in Sunburnt Orange

Amalia wears Sunny Side Up Rib Tank and Party Skirt in Sunburnt Orange/White Sand

Our funky Rise'n'Shine Rib Tank with Star Applique

a brother and sister duo

2009-07-29T07:29:00.005+10:00

These guys are just so adorable!
Fletcher wears our Rise'n'Shine Tee and 3/4 Length Pants in Hibiscus Red/White Sand

and Miah wears our Sunny Side Up Rib Tank in Sky Blue and our new 3/4 Length Bubble Pants in Hibiscus Red

A nautical theme

2009-07-25T09:14:00.016+10:00

Daniel wears Ocean Blue Rise'n'Shine Tank with Hibiscus Red coordinating 3/4 Length Pants and Amalia wears the Ocean Blue Sunny Side Up Dress. A big thanks to Cheeky Little Soles for supplying their gorgeous shoes for this shoot :)

Max wears Preppy Pocket in Ocean Blue with White Sand Rise'n'Shine 3/4 Length Pants

Fletcher wears Rise'n'Shine Tank in Sky Blue with Ocean Blue 3/4 Length Pants

a little sneak peek.....

2009-07-18T19:16:00.006+10:00

We recently had a fantastic photo shoot with the very talented Carissa Little.

We are very excited about the new colours and styles that we are adding to our Free Range Clothing collections this spring/summer, so thought we would start to add a few pics to our blog to give you a sneak peek of what's coming soon :)

We love Babyjo!

2009-07-12T19:29:00.003+10:00

Being on the Internet gives us a wealth of opportunities to discover new designer kids products, so from time to time we will let you know about some of the stuff that we just LOVE!

As much as we think Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing is tops - we know that our kids' wardrobes are not solely made up of the one label :)

This week we are letting you know about Babyjo Bamboo Wear.

Babyjo's new "Aiko" range has just been released and features a gorgeous japanese kimono styling. Made from bamboo, an eco friendly and environmentally sustainable material, Babyjo Bamboo clothing is stylish, affordable and oh-so-cute! They offer a gorgeous range of clothing essentials for newborns to size 3, gift sets for new arrivals, personalised handmade gifts and a beautiful range of 2 layer bamboo/organic cotton blankets for summer or winter. Bamboo Fibre has the most luxurious feel to it - almost like a cross between cashmere and silk and it "wicks" moisture away from the body to keep baby's skin clean and comfortable.

How cute is this little chickie! Another great feature, is that their pyjamas come in both a single layer or a double layer for the colder climates!

visit www.babyjo.com.au to purchase online and tell Jo we sent you :)

We love our fans :)

2009-07-06T21:59:00.002+10:00

We love getting feedback, and the BEST form of feedback is pics of our cheeky little chickies fans!

A big thanks to Sarah for sending us these pics from NZ! How dappa does her little man look in our EllieFunk Tee and little missy below definately has a very cheeky streak!

Here we have Miss Abby showing off her modelling walk in her Sunny Side Up Winter Outfit, and below with her little friend in our HeartsRHatching Winter Set

Out and About: Oyster Bay Art & Craft Festival

2009-07-06T20:35:00.012+10:00

A few weeks ago, we ventured out to hold a little stall at the Oyster Bay Art and Craft Festival.

Here's a couple of pics of our little stall - we had hoped to win the competition for the best dressed stall, but that went to our friends from Plantet Yum! Check out their scrumptious cupcake soaps!

Below is our friend Ellie from MaybeBaby - we first worked together back in the early days of 2006 and it was great to catch up again and see how far our businesses have come - I just loved Ellie's little tees and bought the "Greenie to Be" for my little man :)

More Let your light shine LOUD pics!

2009-06-15T18:00:00.004+10:00

Nicole's little girl Hannah is wee sweetie! Love this gorgeous floral coat, and of course, the red dress! But when she dresses up in her biker/rocker girl outfit - she certainly shows some attitude!

Caitlin, Lucy and Ella make just the most beautiful set of siblings! Thanks to their mum Kim for sending us this pic! You know how much I just loooooooooove Red!

Let Your Light Shine Loud Blog Give Away!

2009-05-29T09:13:00.006+10:00

Ok, so we thought we could paste photos into the comments section, but alas, this is not to be. So for this month's Blog Give Away, email us about that piece in your little chickies wardrobe - the Loudest, boldest outfit you have, that you can trust will always help your little chickie to stand out in the crowd! add your comments below or email your photos to our info@cheekychickies.com.au and one of our lucky entries will score a Cheeky Chickies Long Sleeve Tee!

Our first entry is from Chantelle - oh, shucks, how cute is this little chickie - recognise his tee! Chantelle was the winner of our Easter Blog Give Away!

Now check out this little dude! Kingston's mum Teresa first send us a pic of his super LOUD nike shoes - how hot are they! We were stoked to here that Kingston's Cheeky Chickies package had arrived safely, and LOVE these pics of the cute little man in his new Free Range Cheeky Tee!

How Fab is this pic - Isla certainly does stand out from the crowd in this loud hot pink and black outfit! What a cheeky little chickie she is! Thanks to her mum Amanda for sending this through :)

Standing out in the Crowd

2009-05-23T22:30:00.004+10:00

At Cheeky Chickies, our motto is "Let your light shine LOUD and stand out in the crowd"!

Our colour palette is bright and bold, and I have always said that the true test is how quickly you can find your little chickie when out at a public gathering.

We ventured out a few weeks ago to see the Wiggles. I have to say, I had as much fun as Mali did. They were FABULOUS! At one stage, I encouraged Mali to head down the front to join in the "mosh pit" - I was very happy with the choice of clothing I had made - one of our Fig Kids sets - as I could easily keep an eye on her from where we were seated. Our friends Logan and Charli also had a great time :)

We also headed out to our local Festival of the Sails with Mali's great friend Gracie - I love red (in case you hadn't noticed), and our Hearts'r'Hatching set was as Loud as you could get! The girls really enjoyed themselves, and it was great bumping in to their dancing friend Mia.

Out and About: Fashion of Sydney

2009-05-23T22:17:00.003+10:00

Last weekend I ventured in to The Fashion of Sydney at the Hall of Industries, Moore Park.

The event was organised by the same lovely people who are organising The Baby Show that we will be exhibiting at in September, so they sent me free tickets and I took my sister and my cheeky little man along for the ride!

We spent a fair wack, my sister scoring a pair of Fendi sunglasses for half price, and I got myself a gorgeous oversized shirt from Ollie and Max, a bargain dress from Natasha ($20!) and then my splurge was on what would have to be my newest favourite label - Bird! I bought the most gorgeous pinafore dress in one of they beautiful designs - in red of course! When I get a good pic, i will post it for you :) There is so much more I want to buy and can't wait to find a spare moment to make it into their Emporium on Cleveland Street.

2009-05-01T20:49:00.003+10:00

This has been SO much fun! all your suggestions for the name of our new design have been absolutely fabulous - so much so that we have decided to award TWO Winners!

That's right - firstly we have decided to award Caprice for her suggestion of "Hearts r Hatching" - thank you so much Caprice - we loved that you have considered our theme in your name, you are right! It fits perfectly :)

Secondly, when Lauravnoble's suggestion came through for "Rise and Shine" we also thought this fitted well with our current Funky Star Range - and our motto being, "Let your light shine LOUD and stand out from the crowd"! So we are also awarding Laura and re-naming this range :)

AND!!!!

we have done a re-draw for our Easter Blog Giveaway, and have a new winner! CHont :)

If all our winners could send us an email to info@cheekychickies.com.au so we can discuss your size requirements!

Keep an eye on KFR over the next week (if you are not already a member, go to http://www.kidsfashionreview.com/ and sign up) as we have a hot new offer coming your way very soon :)

We would love to hear any feedback or suggestions, so please don't hesitate to email us, post here on our blog or at Kids Fashion Review!!

Lest we forget

2009-04-25T05:19:00.003+10:00

On a personal note.

On December 24th 2008 we lost my gorgeous grandfather, affectionately known as "Gah", as this was my first word when i was a wee little chicken, as I sat on his grand knee.

As I sit here at 5.20am, watching the television broadcast of the ANZAC dawn service, I shed a tear for the loss of our Gah, Major Thomas Edward Hincksman. I will not forget the beautiful, gentle man who provided so much for our family, nor the challenges he faced when he served in the Army for our country. It's hard to imagine an ANZAC day without my grandfather attending the service in the city, and even at the ripe age of 90 years, we ventured in with him one very wet day, and stood proud with our daughter, cheering on the diggers!

At this time, my heart also goes out to all our young army families. We are priveleged to have friends who serve in our armed forces, some home, some still overseas. Our thoughts are with you, and we remember those who we have so tragically lost this year.

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them, or the years condemn, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we shal remember them".

We need your help!

2009-04-24T15:57:00.004+10:00

We have come up with this cute new design, but we need your help! We have had trouble coming up with a name so it is currently labelled as "Heart" design on our website - but we are hoping you will come up with a really great name.

Post your suggestions here in Comments and if your name is chosen, you will win one of Free Range outfit. Either one of these long sleeve tee and skirt sets in our new design, or a long sleeve tee and shorts set in our Funky Star design.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas :)

running a little late....

2009-04-19T08:28:00.002+10:00

With our April Googy News - it will be going out a little later this week. The newsletter will include info on the winner of our Easter Blog Give Away, some new designs and member's only specials, info about the Great Australasian Kids Fashion Hunt and a feature on another great blogsite :)

So if you are not a member yet, click on the link to the left and join up to Club Chickie :)

Speak to you soon,

Mrs Chicken

PS We are working on samples of our Spring/Summer range today - perfect for this wet and windy day in Sydney - if you have any ideas of styles you would love to see added to our range - then add them to the comments for this post :)

A very busy week and Cheeky Give Aways!

2009-04-09T21:28:00.004+10:00

This week has been so busy for Mrs Chicken and her cheeky chickies - we had the official re-opening of our new look web store, a trip to hospital with our little chicka boo boo, a joint Christening and 3rd Birthday Party, and the first public presentation of our Free Range Clothing at the Northies Mums and Bubs Day Out!

We welcome all our new Club Chickie members from the Northies Mums and Bubs Day Out and are very excited to announce that the winner of our Northies Give Away was Rebecca Wise! Rebecca has won a complete winter outfit from Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing for her little bub!

Our next blog Give Away is our Easter gift to you - over this weekend, we want you to check out the most fabulous Kids Fashion Review. To be in with a chance to win, come back to our blog, and tell us about something you came across and enjoyed, whether it be one of the discussions in the forum, or a new designer that took your fancy. Add your thoughts to the comments section on this post and you will go in to the draw to win one of our Farm Fresh Free Range Gift Carton, containing one of our Long Sleeve Funky Star Tees (White Sand with Hibiscus Red Star.)

Look forward to hearing back from you and seeing you around KFR!

Cheeky Chickies Goes Live !!

2009-04-01T10:37:00.002+11:00

Yes, we are officially open for business :)

Check out our range and other great itms at

http://www.cheekychickies.com.au/

While your there, check out the Clearance Stuff

with gorgeous Eternal Creation for boys at 70% off,

that also perfectly match with our organic cotton range,

and Fig Kids organic designer label from Canada at 50% off

The Googy News is out...

2009-03-27T19:42:00.007+11:00

So if you are not a member of Club Chickie,

join now to get involved in all our shananagans :)

If you are a member, but it hasn't appeared in your inbox,

make sure you check your junk mail and save it in your safe list :)

So, have you seen our Cheeky Buddies yet?

These guys are the most adorable company for any little chickie,

made exclusively for Cheeky Chickies by the beautiful Stella R,

and co-ordinate fantastically with our Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing!

Farm Fresh To You!

2009-03-23T19:41:00.005+11:00

We are just so excited to show you our newest addition!!

Our Cheeky Chickies farm fresh carton contains one of our Free Range Cheeky Tees - this makes the perfect gift any time of the year, with your personal message on the back of the card, BUT we think it makes for the BESTEST Easter present - full of organic goodness - the healthy alternative!!

Club Chickie Members, this is what you could win with our first member's only blog Give Away :)

Coming soon..... don't throw our egg carton gift box away, we will be posting some kids craft activities to make good use of our carton :)

Want Access to Specials and Giveaways!!

2009-03-19T22:24:00.002+11:00

Join Club Chickie NOW!

We are about to send out our first E-Newsletter "The Googy News" with details about the launch of our range and our official Web Store Re-Opening!

The Newsletter will give you details on how you can score a sneak peak at the store before it is open to the general public PLUS you can pre-order our gorgeous Free Range - 100% Australian Made certified organic cotton clothing and accessories, at an extra special price - only available to Club Chickie Members!

PLUS!!!!! If that's not enough, you will also be given details on how to enter our first blog giveaway!!

So, click on the link to the left of the page under our Club Chickie logo!!

Passing time at The Taste of Sydney

2009-03-13T17:14:00.005+11:00

We have big plans for Cheeky Chickies this year and we are especially looking forward to our adding more gorgeous styles and colours to the range in time for Spring/Summer 09. In September, we will be exhibiting at the Sydney Baby Show. The Baby Show is designed and created by Single Market Events, the organisers of Sydney Fashion Weekend, Top Gear Live and The Taste Festivals and launched in association with ACP Parenting Magazines (Mother & Baby, Practical Parenting and Wonder Time), the market leaders in parenting media. The Baby Show is a major new 3 day event taking place in Sydney on the 18-20 September 2009, at the Royal Hall of Industries. The show is designed especially for pregnant women, mums with newborns and young families with babies and toddlers.

The Baby Show will provide parents with a fresh, fun and invaluable day out with the chance to try and buy all the essentials to give their baby the best start in life. With hundreds of stands to shop from and special features such as our dedicated 'Baby Porters', The 'Romp and Stomp' play area for toddlers and our 'Main Stage' featuring catwalk shows and live presentations from leading experts, The Baby Show is the ideal place to find all the essentials and the little luxuries for your pregnancy, baby or toddler. http://www.thebabyshow.com.au/

As an exhibitor, we were invited to attend The Taste of Sydney, being held at Centennial Park over this weekend. The rain only just held off, but we had a great day out, sampling gorgeous fine foods from Sydney's best chefs, and checking out the yummiest produce from their farmers market. Highlights were our Moussaka of Eggplant, Sea Scallop and Taramasalata from Civic Dining, the Etli Borek - crisp home made filo rolls filled with braised veal shank, currants and pinenuts, served with pomegranate and yogurt sauce from Ottoman Cuisine, the finest Bolivian Dark Chocolate from Zokoko, soft and scrumptious mozzarella from The Loaded Larder, the most divinely presented cupakes from Sparkle Cupcakery, Mali's pick of the Day - Belgium Chocolate Gelato from Sublime Gelato, and Nate's pick of the day, a nice cold Amber from James Squires Brewery. http://www.tastefestivals.com.au/

Top Marks to Single Market Events and a big thanks to Stacey for inviting us along!

We are going to production!

2009-02-25T15:05:00.002+11:00

Yes, that's right - how exciting! We have placed our bulk fabric order and it will arrive at our Sydney based manufacturer on Friday- they will be making up our tees and tops.

I am also waiting on a delivery of fabric too - as I will be making all the pants, skirts and accessories!

So, all going to plan, we will re-open our Web Store within the next four weeks!

Until then, sign up to Club Chickie to receive our monthly e-newsletter, and access to exclusive member specials and give aways!

Presenting to the industry

2009-02-22T09:30:00.002+11:00

So, after no less than 5, or was it 6? photo shoots, I have finally come to a place of contemtment. Yes, I am happy with the launch range for autumn/winter 2009!!

I have fixed up the webstore, with all the new pics and individual product descriptions, and have started working on some marketing/advertising material.

And most exciting of all..... I am getting interest from retailers! Yes, I am on this online community for baby/kids stuff designers and retailers and magazine editors, agents etc etc. I have only just posted all the pics and already have two requests for a price list! I won't count my chickens before they hatch, but it is a massive compliment that they like the look of my range enough to ask for a price list! And, I won't give away the name yet, but one of the requests came from a well know aussie kids clothing label, who said they would love to stock my clothing in their new retail store!! How fantastic would that be!!

Anyway, just waiting for delivery of our fabric, and production will get underway. I expect to have the first lot ready mid-late March! If you haven't already, sign up with Club Chickie (to the left of this post) and you will receive our e-newsletter "The Googy News" which will let you know when product is in store, and will also give you exclusive access to members only specials, competitions and give aways!!

Our Launch Collections

2009-02-22T08:43:00.007+11:00

Our Funky Star range is a collection of co-ordinates with an edgy street wear appeal. Featuring a star applique in contrasting fabric colour - the range is designed to mix and match with a variety of choices from our bright bold colour palette, and looks very funky when styles are layered when there is a bit of a chill in the air.

Many of the pieces are of a unisex nature, though we have added the skirt and a-line sleeveless top to provide some additional options for our little chickie babes.
Watch this collection grow as new colours and styles are added and your little chickes wardrobe will be complete!

We originally started working on Funky Star with our colleagues from Barefoot Kids. For those of you new to Cheeky Chickies, Barefoot Kids was one of our first labels when we commenced operating as an online retail store in August 2006. Their distinctive designs naturally captured attention, using cotton chenille fabric and bright bold prints. When we decided last year that we wanted to develop our own clothing range, we spoke at length with the gals from BFK about basic cotton coordinates that they could also use. The girls had always matched their chenille bottoms with a coordinating Bonds chesty singlet. The problem with Bonds was that their minimum orders were enormous, and their colour range was not spread over the sizes. You were able to get a great variety of colours in sizes 000-2 but then very few in the large sizes. We also had numerous discussions about how there were no good quality and stylish aussie made blank tee shirts in the size range that they covered (being 000-6).

So with this in mind, I started to gather samples for tees from all over the world, looking at the varieties in cotton fabric (jersey, interloc, cotton lycra), and the differences in style, from loose to slim fit, round neck, envelope neck etc etc. I am very happy with the styles and fabrics of our range, and the kids seem to find them very comfortable too!

Alas, at the end of last year, the gals at Barefoot Kids decided to call it a day. Due to different family circumstances, they felt they were unable to continue with the label in the direction it needed to head, and have been in search of a new mumpreneur to take over and continue to grow the business. We have been very fortunate to have developed such a warm and friendly working relationship with BFK, and are thankful for the mentoring and support they continue to provide. As such, we dedicate our Funky Star collection to them, as a thank you for all the inspiration they have provided Cheeky Chickies!

Our Sunny Side Up collection is a simple yet stylish range of co-ordinating girly pieces. I have a lot of fun with this collection - it was such a buzz to learn how to make the little rosette brooches - thank you to the wonderful mums on the internet who post tutorials on "how to"!

Consisting of relaxed, easy breezy dresses and tops, ruffle pants and skirts, and featuring our little rosette brooches, that have been loving hand made by Mrs Chicken, and are finished with vintage and recycled buttons.

This is the range that keeps me awake for countless hours during the night, as I dream up more and more styles to add - can't wait to get on to the next spring/summer collection with ruffle bloomers and matching sleeveless top with brooch, and how about some little 3/4 length leggings with little rosettes!!

and I am sure there will be more collections to come - just got to find the time between looking after two children under 3, and not to mention the job I am returning to two days a week (yes, have to pay the mortgage).....

Our Organic Cotton Fabric

2009-02-11T14:02:00.005+11:00

We have chosen to use 100% certified organic cotton fabric produced by Cerrton. The range and quality of the fabric is superb and it is Made in Australia! We have received permission by Cerrton to post the following information regarding the manufacture of their fabric.

Growing
The cotton in our ‘Certton’ range of fabrics is certified organic. We source raw certified organic cotton and certified organic cotton yarns from Australia, India & Turkey. All our fabrics are made in Australia. Certified organic cotton is farmed without the use of pesticides, genetically modified seed or synthetic fertilizers. The soil is built up over the years to retain moisture and fungus enabling in our case the organic cotton to prosper on a dry land (non-irrigated) farm.

Ginning
Once the cotton is picked, the cotton is passed through a gin where the seeds and leaves from the plants are separated from the cotton fibre. The gin is cleaned out of conventional cotton fibre prior to our organic cotton being processed. The ginned organic cotton is then packed into bales and each bale is tested by an independent body for its quality. Our Australian organic cotton is tested and classed by Australian Classing Services based in Narrabri, NSW, Australia.

Spinning
The organic cotton lint is then transported to a spinning mill in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The spinning mill is cleaned out of conventional cotton and our organic cotton is spun into yarn. Our imported ring spun and combed cotton certified organic cotton yarns are shipped directly to our Australian fabric factory partner.

Opening, Blending and Cleaning
Opening, blending and cleaning are the first operations at the spinning mill. A row of bales is opened and blended to ensure a consistent and homogeneous blend. The fibres are also cleaned to remove contaminants/ extraneous matter, such as leaf and bark.

Carding
Carding individualises and aligns the fibres, and then condenses the fibres into a single continuous strand of overlapping fibres called “sliver”. Short fibres and fibre entanglements (referred to as neps) are removed during carding.

Drawing
Drawing is the process where the fibres are blended and straightened. The drawing process also improves the uniformity of the sliver. The number of drawing passages utilized depends on the spinning system used and the end product.

Roving
In preparation for ring spinning, the sliver needs to be condensed into a finer strand, known as a roving, before it can be spun into a yarn. The roving frame draws out the sliver to a thickness of a few millimetres and inserts a small amount of twist to keep the fibres together

Spinning
Open end spinning technology was introduced in the mid 1960 ‘s and there are currently 8 million spindles installed world wide and together with ring spinning account for over 95 % of short staple yarn produced world wide. Sliver is fed into the machine and combed and individualized by the opening roller. The fibres are then deposited into the rotor where air current and centrifugal force deposits them along the groove of the rotor where they are evenly distributed. The fibres are twisted together by the spinning action of the rotor, and the yarn is continuously drawn from the centre of the rotor. The resultant yarn is cleared of any defects and wound onto packages. Rotor yarns are used in numerous products such as denim, towels, blankets socks, t-shirts and pants.

The certified organic cotton yarn we import has been ring spun. Ring spinning technology is not available in Australia.

Knitting
Our single jersey fabric is knitted on a cylinder machine in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The cylinder machine is a single latch machine with a higher running speed and is capable of knitting a wider range of structures.

Bleaching
We bleach our fabric through an oxidization process to remove impurities from the fabric. We use the J-Box continuous bleaching system which uses sodium chlorite applied to the fabric at 3.9PH and temperature of 95-98%. This system of bleaching is the most environmentally friendly bleaching method available and provides a stronger, softer and whiter fabric.

Dyeing
We use the Jet & wash exhaust dyeing method whereby the fabric is treated with a diluted solution of dye, gradually transferred to the material. This creates a colourfast fabric that lasts. It is necessary to control the rate of dyeing by progressively adding dye to the dyebath. By circulating the fabric through the dyebath, the fabric can be evenly penetrated. Our Natural fabric is not penetrated with any dyes. The dyes in our fabric's all conform to the environmental standards of the Oeko - Tex standard. www.oeko-tex.com

Finishing
Our organic cotton fabric is finished in open width form, sut open on a fabric sutting machine and then passed through a stenter. The stenter dries and heats the fabric at 185 degrees C in a series of heating chambers. The overfeed action of the stenter removes the processing tensions and produces a non shrink fabric.

This information has been provided by Cerrton - Australian Made certified organic cotton fabric.

Our Free Range Clothing

2009-02-02T13:53:00.008+11:00

Cheeky Chickies Free Range ClothingTM has been designed to transcend the seasons, to accommodate the changing climate we seem to experience on a daily basis. The styles are breezy in the summer heat whilst still providing protection against the sun, and when the southerly hits and the temperature cools, pieces can be layered, for additional warmth.

Cheeky Chickies uses colour to make a statement. Mrs Chicken says, “the true test is how quickly you can find your little chickies when out at a busy gathering. At Cheeky Chickies, we don’t do subtle – we do loud, so that they stand out from the crowd!”. The range is designed to be versatile, to mix and match, so the colours compliment each other when worn as a coordinated outfit. The designs stand out by themselves, or mixed with some of Cheeky Chickies special limited edition print pieces, the range is simple, yet sophisticated, as at home on the beach as they are at the yacht club.

Of all the decisions Mrs Chicken has had to make through the process of designing her own range of children’s clothing, the decision to use organic cotton was by far the most simple. Certified organic cotton is farmed without the use of pesticides, genetically modified seed or synthetic fertilisers. The soil is built up over the years to retain moisture and fungus enabling in our case the organic cotton to prosper on a dry land (non-irrigated) farm. With new research investigating the effects of chemicals and pesticides on our babies physiological and neurological development, buying organic means you are helping to sustain eco-friendly farming practices, whilst promoting the health and wellbeing of our environment and all of our cheeky chickies.

But aside from being super friendly to the earth and lifestyle we strive to maintain for our precious little chickies, the organic cotton fabric that Mrs Chicken has selected, is by far the most superior quality, luxuriously soft to touch, breathable and VERY comfortable to wear. To read more about our Australian Made certified organic cotton fabric, see our post “Our Organic Cotton Fabric” (with thanks to our suppliers Cerrton).

Being 100% cotton, the clothing is easy care, fully machine washable. Mrs Chicken has chosen to have all her clothes and accessories made in Australia, this way, she can ensure that her garments are produced in fair and equitable conditions, and that only the most superior quality garments are produced under the Cheeky Chickies label. Cheeky Chickies clothing stands up to the rigorous conditions of rough and tumble play, whilst maintaining its funky and stylish design appeal.

Mrs Chicken has lovingly created this range of eco-friendly children’s garments, and her imagination spends countless nights conjuring up new designs to coordinate and compliment the collection. Proud to promote her motto “Let your light shine LOUD”, Mrs Chicken’s Free Range Clothing empowers all Australia’s cheeky chickies to stand out from the crowd!

Our Story

2009-01-26T16:30:00.005+11:00

Cheeky Chickies was first hatched in August 2006. Looking for an alternative income whilst on maternity leave, Mrs Chicken ventured in to online retail industry after receiving compliments and enquiries on the bright and bold wardrobe that adorned her little chickie. Mrs Chicken set about making bright, bold, colour choices in her children’s clothing and accessories ranges, and delighted in working closely with fantastic Australian made labels Huggalugs, Feef and Barefoot Kids.

The following year, Mrs Chicken discovered the natural beauty of organic cotton, and in her pursuits of colour, came across the Canadian organic kids clothing label Fig. Mrs Chicken was excited to exclusively launch their range in Australia.

In 2008, Mrs Chicken welcomed the arrival of little chickie number two. Amidst many a sleepless night, Mrs Chicken’s mind wandered and imagination took hold. Mrs Chicken had always admired the organic clothing ranges produced by overseas labels in the US and UK, as they made such fantastic use of colour, compared to the small Australian contingent, that only seemed to look after the babies. As such, the concept of Cheeky Chickies Free Range Clothing was hatched, and Mrs Chicken set about designing her first range of 100% organic cotton clothing and accessories.

Cheeky Chickies' motto is “Let your light shine LOUD and stand out from the crowd!”. We aim to empower our children, encourage them to be brave and bold, to embrace life and to inspire others. We have created a range of eco-friendly clothing that reflects these bright and beautiful personalities and harmonises with our Australian lifestyle.