it's funny what one finds at 3am...

I was fiddling about with a favicon for my new site, which I won't add the link to here since I'm having issues switching domain nameservers... there's always a reason why something is cheap... Anyway I found this nifty site that converts square bitmaps, gifs or jpegs into favicons, which if you don't know are the little pictures that you see on your tabs or bookmarks/favourites list that make it nice and easy to find the site you're after. V handy. I'm off for a browse round their gallery now...

Birth Club boards

Antenatal club boards are popular but often the clash of parenting styles means that those who make less mainstream choices end up feeling marginalised and in lots of cases leaving the group altogether. So I've set up some boards on the forum on BabyArmadillo, hopefully to give people a space to share information and experiences and support each other. Hope you enjoy them :-)

going... going...

Posted out the last sparkling pink 'The Pot' potty today. I have 2 each left of the blue and silver, wow they're nearly all gone! I'll feel very sad when they're gone, I had really high hopes for them as a sellable product and as a concept. Astrid Bartsch, if you're out there and know who has the design rights, please get in touch!!

All systems go!

Woohoo! I've got my VAT number!! And after long hours slaving over margins and mark-ups and net and gross and zero rated and standard rated and pack sizes and minimum quantities (and taken a breath!) I have a new wholesale pricelist.

All I need now is companies interested in the products to send it to, lol. But seriously, if you are interested then drop me a line to info at babyarmadillo dot com There are lots more products there than are currently listed on the shop, including breastfeeding tops, cloth nappies, blankets and soft shoes. All Babyidea products are made with an eye for sustainability and fair working conditions, so if that's your bag, so to speak, do have a look at what we do :-)

Server issues part deux

Server now sorted, though there may be some short periods of downtime over the next few days while things are ironed out. Do let me know if you find any problems, and thanks to our hosts for sorting it promptly in what's been a really tough few days for them.

Server issues

Just a quick note to say that anyone looking for BabyArmadillo at the moment won't find it as the server is broken :-( I can be contacted via tracy.oldfield@ntlworld.com or by phone on 07861 245932

Thanks for your patience.

A couple of new mei tai and Baby Show report

FrontBackandSides

I've added a couple of new FrontBackandSides Mei Tai to the shop today, hope you like them. Kirsty makes really great slings and carriers, with strong attention to detail and a particular care for the safety of the babies and children in the carrier. When our friends at
Big Mama Slings asked me whether they were well-made I said 'I know how picky Kirsty is.' LOL Watch this space for Solarveil Mei Tai...

The Baby Show

Last Sunday I went to The Baby Show at the NEC, Birmingham. The morning was beautifully sunny and I dressed accordingly, but when we arrived it was freezing and wet, oops! The hustle and bustle inside quickly warmed me up though. It was quite sad to find that while there were cloth nappy stands, who were doing really well (like Geobel who distribute Bambineo bamboo nappies, and had to go home on Saturday because they'd sold out!!) the only slings on display were the BabaSling and the BabyTrekker, alongside a few padded front carriers and framed backpacks. Perhaps there's a gap in the market, there were several people walking around with stretchy wraps and MTs on, but there again I know other retailers who've done shows, so maybe they've found it not worthwhile? I don't know...

So what did I look at? Well there were some old friends, like Morrck, and some really bizarre ideas like the Yes! Superbaby nursing shirt, which, as one forum-poster said, really makes you look like a walking activity mat... I bought some Dryer Balls and went to Subway for lunch, I knew they take plastic and the quality's consistent at least, lol. Mostly I accosted people wearing their babies, either to suggest adjustments or just to chat, and marvelled at the unnecessary stuff that people market, the separation-ist stuff and the downright daft. One woman I talked to, who was wearing her dd in a Calin Bleu microfleece wrap, said 'the only things mothers really need for their babies is arms to hold them and breasts to feed them.' For the most part I heartily agree, though there are women incapable of breastfeeding for whatever reason and for mothers of more than one, sometimes somewhere to put your baby down for a few minutes is really useful, and obviously slings do help take the strain off those arms a bit! But yes, getting used to life with new babies is complicated enough without adding in all the gadgets and gizmos that we get bombarded with. Just boobs and arms is enough to start with.

Jobs for today...

• talk to Trading Standards about something...
• talk to my insurance broker...
• see if it's too late to book a stand at Honley Show
• upload a couple of new 'frontbackandsides' in-stock mei tai
• unbung the dishwasher :-

ah the joys...

what a weekend! or oh how the mighty fall, or something...

Ugh! What can I say?

Friday 13th. I guess it's more bad judgement than bad luck that the lights inside the car were left switched on overnight, meaning my battery was flat when I came to set off. And more bad judgement that I took a wrong turn, and instead of just turning round (which I couldn't do to start with as it was a dual carriageway and no way to cross it) I thought 'there will be a way to get across to the other road.' Well, there wasn't. And somehow I ended up going the whole way round Derby ring road again before coming back to the roundabout. So it wasn't bad luck at all that meant I was setting up for a couple of hours after the show opened :-|

It was definitely bad judgement, but not mine, that chose a venue for a show that only had enough parking for the stallholders and not for customers. That was hard to find, badly publicised and badly set up.

I don't know if I'll do any more shows, and if I do I'll have to do a reccie of the venue first. And I just can't help thinking I could do better myself. But do people really want to go to these things? I'd love to know...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope today brings the promise of Springtime new beginnings :-)

I'm up at ridiculous o'clock due to my youngest taking herself up to bed for a nap at 7pm, we hadn't even had tea. And while I have lots of jobs to do, sometimes things take a bit more concentration than listening to Dora the Explorer at 2am will allow. Like comparing types of cloth nappy to decide what a realistic and sufficiently profitable RRP would be on the products one can import. Or writing an email in html to send out to previous customers. Blogging doesn't need quite that level of concentration :-)

The email is a bit of a summing-up of news, I'll put the link here when I can get it finished and uploaded. I hope it doesn't annoy anyone, when I haven't had an opt-in-or-out for a newsletter in the past. The setting of RRPs is so that I can distribute a wholesale price-list, which was the point of registering for VAT. I mean, it's pointless and actually could be expensive if it doesn't increase sales.

Another string to my bow will be setting up some local demonstration sessions. This should have been an integral part of the business from the beginning, and any new sling and natural-baby-care retailer really needs to figure out their niche and local interest, because generally-speaking, people like to see how things work and what they look like, especially when the type of product is unfamiliar. The people who know about slings and are confident with the internet already know what they're looking for and how to find it, but there aren't that many of those, and there are increasing numbers of retailers competing for that relatively small customer-pool.

Anyway, enjoy your day, chocolate-loaded or not *grin*

Happy Easter!