Hester's Little Sister...

Holiday essentials!

It's the half term holiday here in the UK next week and the days are really starting to warm up so we've put together the perfect toddler outfit to see you through the summer months!

Anais Vest £29.95

Betty Cotton Cardigan £32.95

Maggie Bloomers £12.95 or two pairs £21.95

These gorgeous sandals are from Humble Hilo.

They produce their beautiful collection of shoes & bags in Guatemala, working directly with families and communities there to help break the cycle of poverty and help keep traditional textile products  and techniques alive.

When you buy a pair of shoes from them you can choose to support one of three great projects, Infant and Child Nutrition, Education, and Microfinance for Women, and a portion of your purchase will go to support one of them.

They also have a collection for adults!!
Find out more at http://humblehilo.com/ 

To help get your holiday wardrobe sorted we have free shipping on all UK orders until May 30th.

Shop online now at www.poppyandhester.co.uk

Hester Loves...

You Are Small socks and tights

Hannah started You Are Small in 2013 after the birth of her daughter Maud. Her love of colour, textiles and pattern lead her to create this beautiful baby brand and she makes and dyes all the pieces by hand at her home in south east London.

Poppy & Hester especially love her collections of hand dyed tights and socks, each pair lovingly dyed to the most beautiful colours. It's often hard to find pretty plain coloured tights but look no further. And we are so pleased to be able to get our hands on socks in tasteful colours and hide the pink Hello Kitty socks away!

You can find the You Are Small collection online at Etsy and at lots of fairs in London over the festive period...
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/YouAreSmall?section_id=17122158&ref=shopsection_leftnav_3

Hester Loves...

Hunter Wellingtons

This one is self explanatory! Especially on a rainy day like today. Poppy & Hester love Hunter wellies. We featured them in our winter photoshoot in bright watermelon & raspberry, and always get excited to see the new colours each season. For autumn winter we adore the new contrast sole boots and the bubble umbrellas look very cool too.

The perfect excuse to get out and jump in some muddy puddles!

http://www.hunterboots.com/

Hester Loves...

Marcus Walters alphabet posters

This one needs very little explanation, this product speaks for itself. These alphabet posters are just lovely, bright colours, pretty pictures and a space to personalise with your child's name.

We have stocked up on these lovely posters to sell at our Autumn Pop-Up Shop in Tunbridge Wells, and they may well be on offer at some of our Christmas fairs too...

Hester Loves...

Izzi Rainey

With September here and all the children going back to school it feels like time to get organised in the Poppy & Hester studio. This time of year makes us want to spring-clean more than we than the spring when our first thoughts are to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. It's time for new pencil cases, notebooks and lots of lists... That's why we were so pleased to meet Izzi Rainey!

Over the summer we spent quite a lot of time in Norfolk, selling at summer fairs, and had the pleasure of being alongside Izzi Rainey more than once. They have been touring around with their amazing turquoise caravan & prints!

Izzi Rainey was founded in 2014 in Norfolk by Izzi & Lara and they have a fantastic range of original, printed home-wares, purses and stationery to brighten up our lives as the days get shorter. Izzi studied at Glasgow School of Art but has returned to her childhood home on a farm in Norfolk, and as Izzi says, her designs work just as well in a cool country house as they do in contemporary urban setting.

We have selected a fantastic range of Izzi Rainey products to sell at our Autumn Pop-Up Shop in Tunbridge Wells in October and they are also exhibiting at the Wealden Times Midwinter fair, perfect timing for Christmas presents! Frind out more on their website:
www.izzirainey.com

Hester Loves...

Pick Your Own Fruit Farms

We love summer here at Poppy & Hester and we love being outdoors. We also love food and eating, so what better way to spend a sunny day than picking a mountain of fruit at one of Britain's many PYO fruit farms.

First come the strawberries, cherries, gooseberries and rhubarb, closely followed by raspberries, blackberries and currants, our local farm even has apricots later in the summer, and as the autumn approaches apples, pears and plums.

We always end up with too much to eat but most summer fruits freeze really well and this year we have whizzed up loads of strawberries and made ice lollies. Cherries & blackberries bake into delicious clafoutis or crumbles and who can resist an almond frangipane tart!

It's a great activity for the kids so why not find a farm nearby and fill up a day of the summer holidays picking, baking and eating!

Hester Loves...

Claire Hannah Kids.

We came across Claire Hannah Kids when Claire liked one of our posts on Facebook after seeing our shop on the Babyccino website. We were so excited when we saw her cute range of fabric crowns and couldn’t wait to get our hands on one.

Each crown (and everything else in the collection) is lovingly made by hand in Ireland with the prettiest fabrics & trims. Check out Claire’s Instagram for more inspiration and beautiful pics.

Our model is also a big fan, although it hasn’t been easy to get a good snap as every time the crown goes onto her head she goes straight into party mode! Which got us thinking… How lovely would these be in place of a party bag at a children’s birthday party or at Christmas instead of flimsy cracker hats.

They have an adjustable ribbon at the back so will fit pretty much everybody, we confess we have been wearing this one quite a lot around the studio!

http://www.clairehannahkids.com/

Hester Loves...

Flower Markets.

Perhaps it is because summer has finally arrived here in England but we are seeing flowers everywhere at the moment. They are always a great source of inspiration in the Poppy & Hester studio, we have some lovely floral prints that we are working on for spring/summer 2016 at the moment. But even when we are not using them directly in our designs a lot of our colour choices come from flowers and nature and it's easy to see why!

One of our favourite pastimes is visiting markets, of any kind really, but we are especially happy when we visit or stumble upon a flower market. There is a great Sunday flower market in London at Columbia Road in the East End but go early to avoid the crowds. Unsurprisingly, one of the best places to find a flower market is The Netherlands, some of our pictures below were taken in Utrecht. Why not have a look and see if there are any exciting markets on wherever you are taking your summer holidays this year? Let us know if you find a good one!

Hester Loves...

ZARA Organic Fruit Tees

We are big believers in organic cotton here at Poppy & Hester for three main reasons:

It's better for the environment.
It's better for the farmers & workers.
Its supersoft, perfect for our little ones!

They have a great and growing range of organic products at ZARA and Hester just can't get enough of these cute fruit t-shirts.

We think they would look great styles with our Magda skirt and colourful wooden bead necklaces.

Skirt £24.95

Necklace £12.95

Both of these P&H products are available exclusively at the Bust Craftacular next weekend, but if there are any left we will add them to the website afterwards.

www.poppyandhester.co.uk

Hester's Little Sister

Until the end of April we are giving away a free pair of bloomers with every baby order (sizes 6-12 and 12-24 months), so we thought we would share a few styling ideas for Hester's little sister!

This offer is also valid at the Selvedge Spring Fair this Saturday in London.

Hester Loves...

Portuguese tiles.

At first glance the buildings in Porto look like they are painted in mauve and ochre hues but on closer inspection you will find all the walls are totally covered in decorative tiles.
 

 

The blue and white tiles create the loveliest purple effect from a distance and up close beautiful graphic and floral patterns emerge.

Perfect inspiration for one of our autumn/winter prints, and a sneak preview of some of our colour trials below!

Hester Loves...

Old London underground posters.

The first artist's posters were commissioned in 1908, and over 1000 artworks were created in the 1930s! There is still a tradition for art on the underground today, and it can certainly brighten up a dull tube journey.

 For the Zoo book to Regent's Park - Charles Paine (1921)

Lovely watercolours of gardens and parks, adverts for great events like the boat race & Wimbledon, cartoons, abstract and graphic posters, there are so many to choose from, we just can't pick our favourites! But anything advertising London Zoo or shopping is popular with us! Most of our favourite designs are from the 1920s.

Summer sales quickly reached - Mary Koop (1925)

A fantastic and ever-changing selection of posters is on show at the London Transport Museum, the current display of prints are all designed by women artists. Don't forget to check out some of the amazing fabric designs for the seating as well. It's a great place to visit with children and an annual pass costs £16 for adults, we think it's a bargain!

Keep warm - travel Underground - Kathleen Stenning (1925)

© TfL from the London Transport Museum collection

Hester Loves...

In our news series on the blog, Hester Loves..., we will be exploring the things that inspire and delight Poppy & Hester. In our first post today we look at the lovely book Arthur's Dream Boat. Written and beautifully illustrated by Polly Dunbar, we love this magical children's book and the sunset pictures provided great inspiration for our colour story this season!