A Very Merry Mama Christmas!

Wishing everyone a wonderfully happy and safe Christmas - thank you to all who stopped in, left a comment and visited mama's stores - it's been a great and exciting year and mama is looking forward to a huge 2011.

And for those of you who can't resist purchasing some more of mama's wares over the next few weeks.....I will be here and shipping out orders but just dressed in a bikini.

Merry Christmas!

Love Mama x

Christmas Caramels

Instead of the usual store bought chocolates to give to the neighbours this year, I have decided to make my mum's caramels......yum. Never done it before but mum reckons 'they're easy'. Every recipe she has in her collection has a little history - whether it's Mrs Dorn's chocolate cake or Aunty Norma's Anzacs, they have been lovingly shared along the way. Except for the caramels....written in my oldest sister's handwriting, the origin of the recipe has been lost to history so I was bold enough to re-name them Mum's Caramels and hopefully they will look like these.....

image from here



MUM'S CARAMELS

• 125g butter
• 250g brown sugar
• 1 can of condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons of golden syrup

Melt butter in a saucepan and then add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil.

Keep boiling and stirring for 15 minutes or until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan.

Pour the mixture into a greased slab/slice tin. Set aside to cool.

When cooled, cut and wrap in baking paper. Try to leave some for gifts !!

Christmas Shipping Deadlines !!!

Well, today is probably the last day of regular Australia Post shipping for your goodies to arrive in time for the Big Red man. If you would kindly like to upgrade to Express Post (and you live on the Express Post network), then we can probably stretch it to Tuesday.......and if you live in Sydney and care for a drive to the beautiful Northern Beaches - you can pick up right until Chrissy Eve. And that concludes my Christmas Shipping announcement. Normal programming will now resume.

happy shopping !!



Christmas Market - Thursday 16th Dec - Come and say hi to mama !!

Yes, that's right - come and see mama in person at the gorgeous Mosman Night Christmas Market between 4.30 and 9pm this Thursday night. And yes, I will  let you touch my gorgeous cushions.....and other wares. There'll even be some Christmas 'Specials'. Hope to see you there.

Cushions galore.....

Just letting you know that I have been sewing up a storm in my little caravan studio and there are even more cushions for sale in my blue caravan store or my made it store.

Some of my favourites are there like these beauties...

have a happy weekend

FREE Fruit and Vegie PDF Pattern - yay!

I know - I am a day late.......plus I was trying to figure out the best way to distribute this pattern. And I figure the easiest is for me to email it out to you, dear reader. So if you would LOVE a FREE PDF pattern from the super talented designer of Daisy Janie Fabrics, Jan DiCintio, then email me at: mel@theorganicmamas.com and I'll send it to you....Merry Christmas !!!

Free fruit and vegie bag pattern coming today !!!

Thanks to the amazing Jan from Daisy Janie, super designer extraordinaire, I'll be posting a super-easy pattern for DIY fruit and vegie bags...haven't got time right now - got to make the school lunches.....................

New Fabric Line - introducing Daisy Janie !!

So excited to announce a new fabric line in The Mamas family, the gorgeous and supremely hip Daisy Janie. 100% GOTS certfied organic mid-weight cotton and fantastic to sew with. Well, within minutes of arriving, I ripped open the packaging and started whipping up some of The Mamas super eco-pillows that you can purchase here (shameless advertising plug). GOTS certification requires that the producer/manufacturer must maintain organic standards as well as a minimum social criteria including that:
* employment is Freely Chosen
* freedom of association and right to collective bargaining
* working conditions are safe and hygienic
* child labor is not used
* living wages are paid
* working hours are not excessive
* no discrimination is practiced
* regular employment provided
* no harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed
So without further ado, let me introduce the newest four members of The Mamas family.....

ogee

fruit bowl

hip squares

bundles

 

All of the new line of fabrics (and all of the other ones too!) are available now, ready for shipping at The Mamas textile shop - where its free shipping always (Australia-wide).

The greenest cushion of them all....

Want a handmade, eco-friendly, sustainable, low-allergenic, 45cm x 45cm (generous and plump for eco-cuddling) cushion ?? Then head over to here and purchase some !! Hurry, hurry !!

Here are the cushions having a break between photoshoots....

I've been busy......

busy creating what has to be the greenest pillows ever..............organic cotton covers and biodegradable corn inserts on the inside. these are my very amateurish photos (complete with smudge on lens) but was so excited by my super duper eco pillow that I couldn't wait for my super professional photographer to take some snaps. so i took some this morning........

and many more....soon to be featured and for sale in my shops.

More news........too much excitement around here!!

In the next week I should have even more exciting news to share. Another hint......

that's all I am saying...........

Exciting news from The Mamas.......

But you will just have to wait.......

Just a hint.....



Worldwide Fabric Shortage Alert !!!

A quick post to inform you of a world wide shortage of Bloom (no !!! my favourite is going), Grand Jubilee Chocolate and Aspire. So if you were considering purcasing any of these fine fabrics, make haste because once they are gone, they are gone..................sob.



Super Saturday Sale Time - Textiles !!!!

It's super Saturday sale time again and have I got a deal for you !!

A massively huge discount off our 3 favourite children's textiles. Let me introduce to you:

Miss Tickled Pink

Mr Cloud 9

And the enchanted forest

super super soft certified organic cotton twill - unbelieveably soft - perfect for anything 'children' - quilts, cushions, chairs - and printed with water-based, heavy-metal-free pigments to GOTS standards.

usually $49 per metre, super saturday price.......$33 per metre. And no minimum order requirements. Order by the 0.1m....yay!

buy it now from here

oh - and free shipping. have i gone mad?.....YES I HAVE !!!

Handmade by Mama......

I started this year (or was it last year ???) promising myself to buy as many handmade gifts as possible. I have sort of stuck to this pledge - well, kind of, well a few here and there............mainly for family.......at least I tried. I bought a few things from here and here. They were very well received. And then I stepped it up to a whole new level..............I actually made a gift MYSELF. I have been a long time reader of Maya*made and recently purchased her reinvention skirt PDF pattern - or in short, how to make a gorgeous skirt out of an old T-shirt.......recycling at its best!!! And here's the result - apologies for my photography.

ps this used to be a $3 T-shirt from my local Salvation Army shop.

pps this skirt isn't actually crooked - just really really bad styling !!!



Organic tomatoes.......did you know ???

Did you know that conventional tomatoes are sprayed with pesticides and insecticides and all the other "-cides" up to 30 times during their life cycle ?? I found out this astounding fact during the recent Organic Expo in Sydney.

photo from here

Buy organic....................PLEASE ???



One big warm mama hug to ORGANIC FEAST.....

Organic Feast is the newest member of The Organic Mamas family - they are stocking our Big Mama and Small Mama shopping bags. On Friday I had the absolute utmost pleasure of visitng Julia of Organic Feast and what a feast !!

The Organic Feast is both a brick and mortar shop in East Maitland, NSW as well as an online store featuring everything organic. It really is my kind of shop - fruit and vege, all kinds of food products, books (oh, how i love books!!), clothing, toys and absolutely fantastic certified organic shopping bags (nudge, nudge, wink, wink !!) - I could have spent hours in there browsing the aisles. And not to mention the wonderfully friendly and happy staff.

see their online store here

It really makes me proud that my little old home town has such a wonderful organic store - and that it is thriving and is really the envy of this now-city gal. I really can keep going on and on ........but go and check it out yourself!

Organic Feast

cnr Lawes and William Streets,

East Maitland NSW 2323

Ph: 02 4934 7351

Fax: 02 4934 7070

Mon-Fri: 9am-5.30pm

Sat: 9am-2pm

http://www.organicfeast.com.au/

So if you are passing by drop in and say hi from The Mamas!!

It's SUPER SATURDAY sale time - hurry, hurry !!!!!!

Just because I am SO nice and to celebrate the start of October - there's a super sale happening over at The Organic Mamas shop. Check out the one-of-a-kind pants, muslin wraps, and I can't believe I am saying this, the most coveted product of all - the world famous mamas sherpa blankets............at a super sale price. Get in quick.....oh and one more thing - FREE SHIPPING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now for the fine print...free shipping for Australian addresses only. ps. Have a great weekend!

Mama Mel x

The Mamas Super Sale !!



The Greenpeace mama - protest in aisle 4!

Yesterday I received an email from Greenpeace outlining the actions an awesome group of mama's were taking in supermarkets around Sydney and Melbourne. They were protesting against the 'lax' labelling of S-26 baby formula (and Karicare Food Thickener) and in particular their right to know what's in the food that they feed their babies. It has been found that both of these products were contaminated with GM organisms but the manufacturers failed to label the products stating this.

image from here

Yes - there are arguments for and against GM food but the real issue here is the right to choose and Wyeth (the manufacturer of S-26) has taken this right away from us mamas and papas. So what to do ????? Here's what Greenpeace suggests and it sounds good to me:

1. Send the Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, an email demanding that all GM products be labelled - click here to do that

2. If you have purchased these items, take your unused formula back to the supermarket where you bought it and demand a refund. Because the formula had no label, there was no way for you to know that it was contaminated with GM when you bought it. Let the retailer know they have a responsibility not to stock products contaminated with GM, especially when these products aren't properly labelled.

3. Spread the word.

Another warm mama welcome to............

Maple Street Co-op in the beautiful town of Maleny on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The Maple Street Co-operative aims to promote healthy lifestyles by providing high-quality foods and products, created according to the principles of organic production, social ethics and environmental sensitivity, and making them available at a reasonable price to Co-op members and the community. When can I move to Maleny???????

The Maple Street Co-Op is open

Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm

Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm.

So if you are passing through.....drop in and say hi from The Mamas!

Maple Street Co-op

37 Maple St, Maleny QLD 4552

Ph: 07 5494 2088

www.maplestreetco-op.com

Mother Nature's Cup of Tea............

Anyone that really truly knows me knows that I love my coffee. In fact, scientific research proves that if I don't have my cup of coffee before I leave the house for the day, my day will be ruined...............and I will be grumpy. Anyway, a few months ago I bought some lemon balm to plant in our vegie garden and it has since quadrupled in size so I thought it was time to 'harvest' and make a cup of tea.

image from here

So according to the label on the plant - I know, a dubious reference for tea making - all you need is a handful of leaves and some boiling water and 8 minutes to steep............and it was great.

Lemon balm is an anti-depressant and a stress reliever - its going to be part of my daily ritual. I love the fact that I can go and grab a handful of leaves that I GREW and whack in some boiling water and presto......a cup of tea. I love it !!! Today I added some mint and that was yum too........and my herbal tea guru just informed me that a nice combination is mint and a big whack of ginger, stay tuned for that review.

A Big Mama Welcome To.........

The Green Room Gallery !!! Welcome to The Mamas family !!

The Green Room Gallery is an awesome shop/gallery on the beautiful north coast of NSW at Coffs Harbour.

Charlotte and Wayne are passionate about ethical and ecological clothing and are stocking The Organic Mamas baby range as well as our shopping bags......but with some customising! I'll share some photos with you soon!

So if you are passing through.....drop in and say hi from The Mamas and check out Wayne's art too!!

The Green Room Gallery

Shop D3 The Promenade

321Harbour Drive

Coffs Harbour 2450 NSW

Ph 0266524207

Sustainable House Day 2010

The Mamas household is very excited - this Sunday is sustainable house day - yipee !!!! We are heading over to one house in particular to check out everything the owners have done. Reading through their list of environmentally friendly design inclusions sounds just like the wish list for our new house:
photo voltaic energy system - check
greywater recycling system - check
rainwater tank supply - check
low or zero VOC products and materials - check
strong passive solar design - check
I could go on but you get the message. What makes my heart sing is that these design principles are fast becoming the 'norm' - not mainstream yet, but not 'out there' either..............

photo from here

Organic Expo and Green Show 2010

What a great 3 days !! It was SO fabulous to meet so many enthusiastic people. And we had such an amazing response to our products - our textiles, wallpapers, baby clothing and shopping bags - WOW! And a massive thank you to everyone that stopped by to say hi - it was fantastic. oh, and an even bigger thank you to my extremely highly paid staff (ha!) - you know who you are !!! Here's some photos of the enormous Stand 88 !!!

yes !! - I did make the most of my 4 square metres!!

organic beef by the sea (or is that surf & turf?)

4 long months have passed since my last post........how did that happen? nothing to say, not enough time, spinning my wheels ??? probably all of the above. So I am back - refreshed, inspired and ready to blog 'n roll.
We've just spent 2 weeks in beautiful Vanuatu. Gorgeous country and gorgeous people and amazing Santo beef. I confess, I had never heard of Santo beef until we booked this trip. Espiritu Santo is Vanuatu's biggest island lying to the north of Port Vila. and it has an amazing beef industry. Free range, organic, pesticide-free - the way farming should be. It was the tastiest beef we have ever had. Cattle drinking the sea water. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen and here's the proof.

The island is full of fresh water streams that seep out through the sand and into the ocean. We watched this cow for a few minutes while she stood and scoped, waiting for the fresh water to appear and then started to drink. Holy cow.

I am a femivore, hear me roar!

Thanks to Bonnie over at going home to roost, I have stumbled across an article from the New York Times about the emergence of a new species of homo sapien - the FEMIVORE! Finally I know what to put down in the occupation section of the tax return! Well, the NY Times is actually reporting about the dilemma facing the femivore.......  "The wages of housewifery had not changed — an increased risk of depression, a niggling purposelessness, economic dependence on your husband — only now, bearing them was considered a “choice”: if you felt stuck, it was your own fault. What’s more that caretaking is undervalued in a society that measures success by a paycheck, their role is made possible by the size of their husband’s." But it seems the saviour of the femivore is the humble chicken coop. According to the NY Times, "Femivorism is grounded in the very principles of self-sufficiency, autonomy and personal fulfillment that drove women into the work force in the first place." But now, the femivores are concerned with  "feeding their families clean, flavorful food; reducing their carbon footprints; producing sustainably instead of consuming rampantly." This article really reached out to me and I felt it was almost written for me!

(this is not me....but its from here)

The femivore "may never do more than dabble in backyard farming — keeping a couple of chickens, some rabbits, maybe a beehive or two — but they’re still transforming the definition of homemaker to one that’s more about soil than dirt, fresh air than air freshener".

I love it! Go and have a look over at the NY Times Online.

The femivore.......does she sound like anyone you might know?

Welcome to Mama's family

A big warm mama hug to Manly Health Foods who are stocking our Big Mama and Little Mama organic cotton shopping bags / totes. The owner-manager of Manly Health Foods, Emeli, has worked in the Naturopathic field since 1998 and has an Advanced Diploma in Naturopathy and a Diploma of Nutrition - so she really knows her stuff - and she is really lovely to boot! Manly Health Foods has a huge range of products and the staff are always friendly and helpful. Go and say Hi from the Mamas!

Shop 8/11 Wentworth St, Manly NSW 2095 Australia

Phone: 02 9977 6972

Our lovely ladies.

I thought this week that I would slowly (to create a sense of intrigue!) start introducing to you our 3 lovely ladies - our gorgeous, prolific egg laying chickens. We have had them for about 7 months - and we love them. Besides supplying us with 3 gorgeous eggs every day - and the occasional double yoker (woo hoo) - they make the sweetest pets.
They are our own recycling system eating all of our food scraps and other bits we find at the back of the fridge. Since they came to live with us, and together with our 2 compost bins, our garbage bin is often half full (or maybe that should read half-empty). The reduction in our kitchen waste is really amazing. And whenever we are away on holidays, our chicken-loving neighbour is only happy to look after them - with the added bonus of fresh eggs.
We bought our 3 ladies off the most passionate chook man ever known to man - he's Dave Ingham from over at Rent-A-Chook. He is so knowledgeable and helpful - and incredibly funny to boot. He started his business out as a hobby but his enthusiasm has helped in to grow. He also showed us how to make some simple water and feed containers out of the humble old milk cartons.
So lets start this week off with the end product and work our way back................

Yum!

Hello beautiful butterflies!!

Its great to see another mention of our gorgeous Mod Green Pod fabrics on the superfab Design*Sponge blog. This time its Butterfly Jubliee in Raspberry/Honey together with a tutorial on how to make an ottoman cover. And here's the end result..........

Photo from Design*Sponge

I love a lady called Elsie...............

Well, let me explain. Elsie is a gorgeous, full figured woman. She is simply stunning to look at and makes my heart flutter. And she has a wonderful personality to boot - she lifts my mood every time I lay eyes on her. My dear friends, Elsie is an armchair, lovingly restored by the gorgeous girls over at Armchair, Pip and Kirsty, using The Organic Mamas' Mod Green Pod Bloom fabric (my personal fave).

And the best part is, she's for sale.

But you better be quick.

Rush over to Armchair's brick and mortar shop at:

401-405 Pacific Highway,

Crows Nest here in Sydney

or online.

Blog Lovin'

My friends know I am an addict - an addict of design blogs, crafty blogs, textile blogs and maybe just a couple of those other blogs where you find out who is married to who, who is seeing who - you know what I mean - I know I shouldn't admit it by I will.......
But I digress. My love of design blogs knows no bounds and then yesterday I stumbled on a laugh-out-loud blog that combines my love of laughter with design......I am not sure how I found it, you know how it is but unhappy hipsters parodies great design photos from Dwell magazine. I can't explain it, you have to have a look, and a laugh.
By the way, there is nothing to do with sustainability or the environment in this post..................I need to get back on track.......

There. He felt it again. The whole house had unmistakeably slid toward the retaining wall, as if inching toward edificial suicide.
(Photo: Jason Schmidt, Dwell, February 2010)

photo and text from unhappy hipsters

Our new food mantra too.....

image from auburn&ivory

I love butterflies

It's great to see The Mamas Mod Green Pod fabrics featured on any blog but even more exciting when its on two of my favourites! Ohdeedoh (the first favourite) is featuring a nursery tour of Kenzie's nursery from her mama's Kenzie Poo blog (the other first favourite - am I making sense.....mmm.....probably not). And to round off the confusion, Mod Green Pod's Butterfly Jubliee print in Raspberry/Honey is featured as a quilt in Kenzie's nursery. Its always nice to see the fabrics in an 'every day' situation rather than just a swatch and see how gorgeous it looks. And it really confirms my suspicion that Rachelle has exquisite taste and an absolutely beautiful home - and she's a really cool mama too!

image from kenzie poo via ohdeedoh

Where have all the caterpillars gone?

I am standing at my sink chopping vegetables for dinner - and it comes to me................where have all the caterpillars gone? We generally buy organic fruit and vegetables (and meat and chicken too) except when the organic grocer is closed and I have to go to the supermarket. So today at lunchtime I was cutting up some strawberries and there was a little green caterpillar making its home on the side of one of the fruits. Wow, I thought, hello little fella. I picked him off and put him into the compost bin and continued on without a thought. Fast forward to the next meal time and I am washing the dirt off the potatoes and it dawns on me. I don't see those little green caterpillars on the conventionally grown fruit and vegies I buy at the supermarket. I wonder why ???? (these are ironic question marks by the way). Buy organic, save the caterpillar.