What's in a name ??

There is always a reason behind the name of someones business and we are just the same!! In fact most people won't have heard the story before but it started way back in the 90's. I was at Uni doing my degree in Fashion at Derby University, in the UK. During my first year I designed and made a small kidswear collection and I needed a brand name for it. I thought long and hard and being one design student in a sea of many, I thought of fish swimming in the huge sea. This collection was also using eco fabrics and I thought of the quote :

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

So this is where me, the little fish, was trying to do my bit in the big fashion industry world. I was aware of how damaging our throw away fashion industry is, but maybe, just maybe I could help in a positive way. Fast forward 10 years...I had left working long hours in a fashion company after travelling the world, was married, two kids, newly emigrated to Canada and looking for some creative outlets because now fashion wasn't my daily job.

I started by designing logos and graphics for friends and small one person businesses like myself. Then I started crafting too and realised to get the word out there and to make this more than a hobby I needed a name that would work for all my little endeavors. I naturally came back to 'Big Ocean Little Fish'....it really never left. Immediately I  knew what I wanted to do for my logo.

The fish is in the @ sign to symbolize a little company in a big corporate world. I wanted more than anything to create things that people would love that were 'made with love' , not mass produced and for me to tread as lightly as I could on the planet. So where possible I use upcycled or recycled fabrics, fabrics that are animal friendly and therefore everybody friendly.

The Fabric 'Made with Love' Advent Calendar is here!!

So I managed to find time to finally make the advent calendar that I have been promising everyone. It has been a labour of love and many many hours!!  Here it is.

Each pocket has hand embroidery on it. It has hanging loops which I used to hang it from a piece of beach wood the kids and I found. I also fully backed it in the same fabric as the front.

I will be creating a basic fabric calendar too. Hoping to get one done by end of September so watch this space.If you want to order a deluxe calendar I am now making to order so drop me an email to
info at bigoceanlittle.com

 

The Family Just Keeps Growing!!

A new arrival for the Big Ocean Little Fish family! Don't get me wrong I love making the wishing owls and then came the Evie dolls, which are keeping me busy but this week we got a bunny too. His name is 'love bunny' and he is here and ready to order. Currently he is in our logo colours but I plan to make some different ones too and of course he will be offered as a custom item as well.

 Made from eco felt and eco stuffing. They even have a little heart tail at the back.

Just like the owls and dolls, each 'Love Bunny' is unique and hand made with love.

She's here! The Evie doll has arrived!

Since my daughter, Evie, was born I became more than a little obsessed with kokeshi dolls. Well, really I think it stems way back as I love a lot of things about Japanese style and culture. So when she left her crib at 15 months old and moved to a 'big girls' bed I had the chance to create a little girls room. Her whole room became a fusion of reds, pinks, butterflies, paper lanterns and you guessed it!! Kokeshi dolls. It seems only fitting then that when I made a kokeshi doll, that she should be named after my little one. So here is the first Evie Doll.

I will be trying different hair colours, styles and accessories with this first batch. Below is the picture I took yesterday. My motivation was I had to pull everything together to send off my craft application form. I even had Evie doll labels made from a great store on Etsy. Hope you like her! Available to buy through Big Ocean Little Fish

Getting Ready for the Crafting Season !!

I am getting pretty excited about all the things that are being created by me right now! I am on a roll for sure!

 Lots of new colours for my knitted cowls for the A/W. Just had some labels made for them as well.

I searched ebay for these vintage cases for my craft table display. I wanted to keep with the theme of my new logos colours grey and yellow.I thought it would look great to have my owls and dolls displayed in them.

I am also working themes in for my owls this year too.The owls in stores will still be a mixture of what the store requests but I wanted to try something new for the craft shows. This is my favourite combo so far with the chocolate brown wool, the vintage plaid and the mustard yellow fleece. 

My labels for my Evie Dolls have also just arrived so will be posting pics of my kokeshi dolls very soon. There are also going to be doll prints, cards and other little items to go with that theme. If only I had a craft room! that is one dream that will have to wait a little longer.

Paper Craft Workbook from Idea to Reality

I am a mum and a yoga teacher and a yoga teacher trainer for Kids. This means having ideas for crafts to do with them in class and sharing ideas with others in my community teaching kids is also a must.

I had this idea a while back to create pdf books of my crafts and illustrations that others could buy and use. For example, you are hosting a fairy party or you are a yoga teacher teaching a yoga party for a huge group of 5 year old girls. You want a fun craft but you don't know what, or perhaps you just need to be budget conscious?! This workbook is super easy to use. You pick the page (we have a fairy one too) and then you either print it out or go to staples and they print it out. It has all the instructions on it and you can use it as many times as you want.

Here are some samples below :

You can email me or buy direct from my site Big Ocean Little Fish. There are 25 crafts in this book. Watch out for Book 2 and my holiday craft book.

Yummy Chocolate Pudding with a Secret Twist !!!!

So of course I had heard of making chocolate pudding with avocados and until yesterday that was all it was....here say. I found myself in a situation where I had too many ripe avocados and I guess that has never happened to me before! I needed to rustle up dessert for the kids and I am always on the look out for ideas to sneak in a few veggies. I looked at a few ideas online and then decided to make my own.

This recipe is good for about 4 decent portions. You could double up and it would keep in the fridge for a few days.

Ingredients :

4 ripe avocados

1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat)

3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup

1/8 to 1/4 cocoa powder

a pinch of salt

a bar of dark choc ( 80g) or mint dark choc

2 tsp vanilla essence

Put all ingredients in a processor and blend. You can add more syrup for sweeter taste and more cocoa for a stronger chocolate flavour.

When blended put in glasses and put in the freezer for 30 mins. The either eat and enjoy or keep chilled in the fridge.