Brand in Focus | Nor-Folk.

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I have a natural affinity for Norfolk, with my long, long, long, long, long (etc) lost ancestor’s naming their own land in Norfolk with our very own family surname – Briston. But it was Nor-Folk, the brand, who I fell in love with on Instagram last year (@Nor_Folk). Not only is this a brand that is founded by a Husband-and-Wife design team, but its an effortlessly cool brand to boot. Fiona and Bobby, along with their super-stylish (and super-cute) son Stanley, live in the most incredible of homes;and together they are The Nor-Folk. They’re a design-led lifestyle brand, who design and print their own clothing range, collaborate on Homeware & Gifts and feature local Norfolk contributors on the Journal.

As someone who has a very definite WORK HARD attitude, in all things in life, I thought that the  ‘Work Hard’  Adult Tee was a proper piece of me. Of course, I found the #Twinning combination of ‘Play Hard’ Kids’ Tee completely irresistible and ordered both as soon as we were finally moved in Berlin. (Play Hard, a perfect slogan for my little one who cannot wait for play time!).

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Eli was given the ‘Hello’ Tee as a gift from our lovely friends at Christmas (lucky boy!). Sadly, it wasn’t quite the right size. So I got in touch with Fiona (who I didn’t expect to be working over the festive period) and she replied at lightening speed. As the tee was purchased in the UK, but we’re now in Berlin, it made sense to send the new size of this wicked tee directly to me. After just a few emails all was arranged and a few days later the replacement tee was on my desk in Prenzlauer Berg. A really small team, but a team that fundamentally strives for customer care.

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Both of these Tee’s are available in Black or White options, for the ultimate in minimal monochrome styling. I love that all the designs are unisex too. With my Mama-head on, I might also add that these cotton tee’s wash exceptionally well and are just so wonderfully soft. The three styles we own are all made in the U.K. and are finished with the hand printing in Norfolk itself. Which is just ace of base.

There’s something a little bit special about buying products from a family-run business; whether that be a Husband-and-Wife team or a Mum/Dad-preneur. You’re not funding a corporate machine – you’re supporting real people. A real family. And that feels really good.

Wishing Fiona, Bobby and the Nor-Folk team lots of luck and adventures for the exciting year a head. We look forward to seeing the brand grow from strength to strength!

Check out more from Nor-Folk here.

MM.

 

ABOUT NOR-FOLK:

We are the Nor-Folk

Nor-Folk is a graphic design-led lifestyle brand founded by husband-and-wife graphic designers who reside in Norfolk, UK.

“Together, we design and curate apparel and products for the whole family with a timeless minimalist design aesthetic.

“We create and sell products we love and want in our own lives. We passionately adhere to the sentiment ‘less is more’ and ‘quality over quantity’ in our product creation.

“Our family and adventures are our canvas and muse – we invite you to share in our journey and that of our contributors via our Journal.

“Together, we are the Nor-Folk.”

*NB: This is in no way a sponsored post. I just wanted to big up a brand whom I think is frikkin amazing*.

THANK YOU to John Lewis + iCandy.

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Mr Eli was so happy to be back in his iCandy Strawberry!

As I have previously documented, I’m a huge fan of iCandy. No-less because they’re a British brand with eye-catching, yet hardwaring products. It’s also very well documented that as a family, we’re HUGE fans of John Lewis. Again, another British brand with an amazing ethos for quality products and a company that prides itself in looking after its customers; and it’s partners (general staff!).

So, you can imagine my horror when one day I couldn’t remove the safety bar on my iCandy Strawberry pram. Eli was wearing his Ponseti Boots so it made it awkward to get him out. Eli had only been riding in the stroller/seat unit for about 5 weeks. So it was still pretty much brand new. I can’t say that this travel system was on the cheap side either; all in all it did cost nearly £900. BUT as I walk everywhere, the iCandy Strawberry was a definite investment – and I absolutely LOVE it.

As a Social Media wizard, my first point of call was to message the iCandy Facebook page. I left a comment on their wall and got a lovely response soon after. The iCandy Facebook assistant advised I contact John Lewis. So I did just that.

Unfortunately, you can’t call a store directly. You go through to the John Lewis central customer service centre, even if you have a direct number for the store you wish to contact. This however, is not a bother. The customer service advisors are so astute and just want to help you out. So jolly (but not annoyingly jolly!) and helpful they all are. This also means that all discussions are kept under a reference number so everything is kept organised and each advisor you speak to already know everything there is to know about the nature of your call.

I was advised that someone from the Stratford store would contact me with regards to having the seat unit fixed.

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Our iCandy Peach loan, soon after it arrived!

Someone called me from the Nursery department at Stratford about an hour later. After a few discussions it was decided that someone from the Stratford store would personally come to my home, on the train, with an iCandy Peach loan. Then they would take my iCandy Strawberry seat unit back to the store, where it would be sent away to be fixed. I cannot drive and now I’m working from home it makes it difficult to take a whole day off – plus it would mean paying for the cost of trains to and from Stratford, twice. I thought this was just incredible.

After the weekend sure enough, a lovely chap called Calvin from the Nursery department turned up, bang on time, with my iCandy Peach loan.

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Our replacement iCandy Strawberry seat unit came back in just over a week!

A week later, Calvin came back with my new iCandy Strawberry seat unit and collected the iCandy Peach loan.

Absolutely above and beyond. Just simply wonderful service from start to finish. I can’t think iCandy and especially, John Lewis enough. I’ve never ever heard of a retailer doing that for anyone. Retailers just aren’t like that these days. John Lewis have completely set the standard in retail customer service and they should be extremely proud of all who work for them! That kind of service is just off the scale. Unheard of. Exceptional.

THANK YOU JOHN LEWIS AND iCANDY! Just superb.

MM.

What Eli Wore: Happy 9 month birthday!

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What Eli Wore today >>>

Top: Dinosaur Tee, Next, £6. Click here to purchase online.

Bottoms: Navy Shorts (pack of 2), Next, £11. Click here to purchase online.

Head: Hat (pack of 2 hats), Next, £GIFT.

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Today Mr Eli is 9 months old! He has officially now been out as long as he was in! Incredible. What a 9 months it has been. Completely full of up’s and down’s – and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Mr Eli is just an amazing human being – such a character. Our beautiful darling boy xxx

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To celebrate it being sunny, a bank holiday AND Eli’s 9 month birthday, we headed to Southend for the day. Got to make the most of that sunshine! Eli (with a little encouragement from us….) is a huge dinosaur fan. I’d been looking for some ‘cool’ dinosaur items of clothing for a while. But not really seen anything aside from realistic dinosaur graphics (which just look plain scary!) or overly-cartoonish style dinosaur graphics. But when I saw this tee from Next I practically POUNCED on it! It’s a great looking tee – cool dino print on front and back with a little chest pocket. Lovely stuff. Also have to mention these shorts! Because Eli will probably be wearing them a lot over the summer! They’re a 2-pack from Next, £11. Come in Navy and a Cargo-Brown colourway. They’re extremely hardwaring, wash great, wicked quality and made using a heavy cotton so they can be dressed up (with a shirt) or dressed down, like today.

Next have some really good clothing this season for your little man. I tend to go for mini-Daddy style clothing, rather than cute kids clothing. So if you’re after the same kind of thing, give Next a whirl. So so good. Great prices too!

MM.

 

What Eli Wore: ‘E’ is for Eli.

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What Eli Wore today>>>

‘Ee’ Alphabet t-shirt, American Apparel, £10.

Brown Harem Pants,  Zara Kids – Part of set with cardigan, £GIFT.

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Eli wore his brand new American Apparel Alphabet tee to the park last week; teamed with wicked knitted Harem Pants from Zara.

It was the first time it had been warm enough for short sleeves! And it was also the first time Eli played on swings and slides! He absolutely loved it – as you can tell.

I’d always been meaning to buy myself a ‘Cc’ tee from American Apparel… think I’m probably a little bit too old for it now. I’ll stick to my Carrie Claire necklace I think. But Eli looks wicked in his ‘Ee’ tee; of course all of the alphabet tee’s are unisex too. LOVE it.

 

MM.

 

Like father, like son…

I could not resist this tiny gingham shirt from Baby Gap the other day… OH has a very similar one from Ben Sherman. Albeit, OH, is more into his plain oxford shirts these days – but we won’t tell anyone that ;o

OH and I both wear Converse too – so will definitely be getting our little one into them as soon as he needs them! 😀 He’ll be wearing his with some titchy shirts and dungaree’s however; old school.

Did you dress your little ones in similar clothing to you or your partner?

MM.

 

Happy Mother’s, and Mother’s-to-be, Day!

I got my very first Mothers (to-be) Day card this weekend from my lovely sister!

I’m beyond excited – this time next year, it’ll be a real Mother’s Day card from my little boy! eep!

What have all you wonderful Mother’s and Mama’s-to-be been up to today?

MM.