chalk

 

We've been working hard on our range of art supplies. Our aim is to bring our customers the same fantastic quality products they expect from us, but at more affordable prices. Many of our customers home educate, or have children attending independent schools and neither option is cheap - we know! So we want to pass on the savings to our customers, if we can... So little changes have started filtering in, beginning with our beautiful blackboard chalk. 

Traditionally, we've bought and sold this chalk under the Lyra label, but we've managed to track down the manufacturer in Germany to bring it here directly, under another label. For us, this means fewer hands transporting our product, which is great for our Global Footprint. For you, it means big savings. Still the same high-quality product, in the same colours and packaging we're used to, but at a fraction of the price. Great news all round!

Here's some inspiration for using our blackboard chalk:
The Parenting Passageway
Waldorf Chalk Speed Draw
Pinterest

Keeping it Local

The beautiful view at the end of our street

When we started to think about tending Spiral Garden, we were excited to share some of the talents of people local to us here in beautiful Tasmania. Among our friends and extended networks there are so many talented people! The local scenery provides endless inspiration and the cold winter provides lots of time to hone one's craft ;) We've gradually been putting the feelers out for things that might suit...

Mt Arthur Boronia Booties

Heidi from Willywam Whims contacted us one evening with some things she'd been making... Using repurposed woollen jumpers and pure wool felt, motifs showing Tasmanian endemic and endangered species... Is this something we'd be interested in? Umm.... YES!! Oberon's ears pricked up at the endemic threatened species bit... He's an ecologist and botanist at heart and knows the local threatened species well. We want to share our love of this beautiful place with you. We want to do it in a way that is as ethical and environmentally sound as possible. So Heidi's products have ticked pretty much all boxes. They're beautiful too, don't you think?

Waratah Elf Hat detail

 The Waratah elf hat was a special request from us and holds a special place in our hearts. Our toddler's middle name is Waratah. We do love it so! And it is amazingly warm and snuggly.

Wedge-tailed Eagle Elf Hat detail

We've also been blessed with the beginning of a beautiful range from local textile artist Acorn Girl. We're so excited to provide an outlet for her gorgeous little gnomes and other needle felted delights. I'm excited to see what she comes up with next!

Acorn Girl's gnomes

Next month, among other things, we're looking forward to sharing more of our own handmade goodies with you. It's been a little while since we've made things under the owlet label... About as long as we've had our littlest... But we're looking forward to spending some time in the evenings crafting and getting them ready over the coming weeks. We really can't get much more local than our own lounge room! We generally try to shop for local products, especially if they've been locally made or grown. But for the things we can't buy direct from the maker, we're really happy to know that it's been made with as much care for the planet as possible. And if possible, as close to home as we can find.

If you're local to Hobart, make sure to write "Local" for the discount coupon code and shipping will be deducted when you buy from us. You're welcome to drop by and collect your lovely things straight from the garden, or we can arrange for you to collect them in town most days. If you'd like to keep up to date with what's going on at Spiral Garden, make sure to sign up for the newsletter using the form over on the right. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest! All the links are in the right hand column there... Do say hello and let us know if there's anything you'd like to see in the garden. We'd love to have a chat and a cuppa with you. xx

Hello from Hobart!

Hello fellow Garden lovers! We thought we might take a moment to introduce ourselves. We live in beautiful Hobart, a looong way from Spiral Garden's previous home - and a lot colder right about now too! Well we're slowly settling in here as new head gardeners at Spiral Garden... We have been pottering away with Bel for a few months now, working towards this and we are a little nervous and excited to begin! We've tidied and trimmed around the place and have now begun introducing lots of new beautiful things to the garden to complement our old favourites... Like this beautiful little set with two child dolls and a little sled. It even has little sparkles on it! It was handmade in Melbourne and picked up on our holiday there last week... just perfect for your winter nature table.

The dreamy wooden clouds are too... They are handmade in NSW and coloured with all natural, safe paints.

As are these beautiful wooden rainbows and their accompanying range.

While in Melbourne, we also picked up this amazing Pixie House while visiting our supplier there... hand felted and pieced together with such care.  So beautiful. It even has a little hidey-hole under the toadstool lid. The beautiful mushroom family pictured here are sold separately, but wouldn't they have a fab time inside? We'd love one for our home.

So, a little more about us...

We travelled here on our honeymoon over ten years ago and fell in love with the natural beauty of the place and were thrilled to move here when Oberon's conservation work called. Lauren trained and worked as a textile designer for many years before and after our move, going on to make children's clothing and other things to sell at the fantastic local design markets and a few stores, including Spiral Garden! Since moving here with our eldest daughter, we've bought a house near the river, birthed two babies at home and shared our home with a dog, a cat, two kittens, a guinea pig, two chooks and a bunch of gold fish... We home educate our three girls and spend our days following the seasons, exploring nature and treading as lightly on the earth as we can. We've shopped at Spiral Garden for a number of years and have always loved the philosophy and thoughtfulness of the range Bel has stocked. We're so excited to work with such beautiful products and look forward to bringing you more, with an emphasis on ethical products and showcasing local Tasmanian talent... There's so much more to come!

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week and happy new beginnings,

Lauren and Oberon. xx

Last New Stock for 2010

What a busy time of year it is! Summer is here for us in the Southern Hemisphere, and with it comes the busy-ness of the celebration season, a general end-of-year flurry and an increase in activity because of the warmer weather... I know our customers in the Northern Hemisphere are also busy right about now, but I wonder if you feel like buzzing bees too, without the sunshine and warm days?

We've finally received the last of our New Products and restocked items for 2010.

Crayon Rocks Standard $10.00
Crayon Rocks Happy Holidays $5.00
Branch Wood Blocks $30.00
Branch Wood Rattle $16.00
... and don't forget our gorgeous Enamel Tea Set and Cookware range, delightful Beguile products (yum), the three Tree Branch Sets (different to the German Branch Wood products) and of course the popular Coconut Wood tea set items and accessories.

Thanks again for your enthusiastic support of Spiral Garden. We delight in finding perfect gifts and everyday items for you and yours. What a joy to offer items which have an impressive impact on the recipient, but a low impact on our planet...

Gaia's Garden

Re-introducing Gaia's Garden, a co-operative game stocked by Spiral Garden for a few years, and played with by our family for a few more.

This game is now packaged in a bag made from certified organic cotton and screen printed with earth pigments - a completely natural process.

Gaia's Garden was produced on 100% recycled paper and 100% recycled cardboard. The game board is printed with vegetable inks and vegetable based varnish. The paper is mounted to the cardboard using homemade flour paste, made with organic wheat flour.

Living Earth Games are doing their best to improve their products to make them more environmentally friendly and more child friendly.

With team work, we have more possibilities and we can reach more goals. Play and work together to plant the whole garden and to prevent the pest insects from eating the crops.

Gaia's garden invites the gardeners to plant vegetables in their garden to have food to eat. Unfortunately, pest insects enjoy these yummy vegetables too. Luckily, predator insects are chasing and eating the pest insects, helping the gardeners.

Will the gardeners be quick enough to plant the vegetables in a beneficial companionship or will the pest insects have a chance to attack?

For 2 to 6 players, for ages 4 to adult. Playing time: 30 – 60 minutes. A detailed booklet with examples of how to play is included.

From Dr Hilary Whitehouse (Science and environmental education):

"The companion planting game introduces players to the ecological concept of pest and predator insect species. It is dynamic and replicates how a garden can be created. A balance is eventually created through companion planting. The game is non-competitive which is quite a novel concept to children accustomed to playing competitive games. The children seemed to enjoy the co-operative structure of the game.

This is the real success of the game, that it is able to develop knowledge of ecological concepts with young children in an effective and exciting way.

The children wanted to play the game for over an hour straight, which is a very positive recommendation...

I am sure other teachers would be happy to use it with their classes. Teachers and parents are always looking for attractive and useful materials through which to develop learning with children, and I would assess the game as being such..."

Also available from Living Earth Games through Spiral Garden: Living Landscapes Juggling Balls Single Ball

Check these out!

Eco-Clay $30

Eco Clay™ play dough is lovingly hand crafted in Victoria, Australia using only the finest natural ingredients.

The Weather Fairies Collection $22

This hard cover book is from Rainbow Magic's Weather Fairies Collection. It is Volume 1 and includes Books #1-4 by Daisy Meadows.
Crystal the Snow Fairy
Abigail the Breeze Fairy
Pearl the Cloud Fairy
Goldie the Sunshine Fairy



New Products

Clay
Crayons
Necklaces
Books
Felt Items
Craft Kits

... and more coming soon!


Specials

Aprons
Cards
Capes
Books
Crochet Hooks
Felt Items
Games
Dolls
Animals
Bags
Jewellery

... and more - up to half price! Limited Stock.

More New Products!

We're rapt to introduce a range of new products...

Crayon Rocks, only $10.00 for 16 fabulous colours (pictured above).

Felt Balls of varying sizes and shapes from 50c each.

Felt items for your Nature Table, only $7.00 per set.

Craft Kits from $12.50.

... and more! Check out our New Products link today!

Re-stocked!

Have you been waiting for your favourite items to come in stock? We now have Main Lesson Books, Lyra and Stockmar art supplies, Debresk vehicles and dollhouse furniture, skipping ropes, waldorf rainbow window stars, flower presses, a variety of books and more!

Candle Kits are Ready!

At last I've been able to source beeswax sheets from a reputable supplier... Tonight I have busily been creating some Candle Kits and they're now ready for those customers waiting to purchase them. Thank you for your patience!

The Kits comprise of four sheets of quality beeswax and a length of wick to make up to 6 long candles. Included is a basic instruction sheet to make cylindrical, tapered and block candles.

The sheets smell of honey and have a beeswax honeycomb pattern. The wax is provided by hard working Australian Bees. The resulting candles are very clean burning with a natural colour and beautiful glow through the wax at the top of the candle as it burns down.

Wrapped in clear cellophane.

Candles made by request.

Sales and Update

For anyone wanting a Moontime Diary - the last of the 2010 stock is on special for 20% off - only $24.00! While current stocks last.
All Animals are on sale again for the remainder of January - 10% off! For those who love the Anamalz range as much as we do, buy three and get a free calico carry pouch. The Aussie Anamalz set is included in this sale - a gorgeous gift! Also included are fair trade felt elephants (from $6.75 each) and the Itsy Bitsy cats and dogs (only $3.15 each). * Baby Basics lamb and dog not on sale this month.


The popular Rainbow Dyed Bandanas are back in stock, still only $5.00 each.

Keep an eye on the New Products page - plenty of items being added all the time. Some gorgeous felt horses, dragons and crowns coming soon from The Fairy Ring.

All of the school supplies will be fully stocked (only a couple of items are Sold Out) in around a week - blank main lesson books, Lyra graphite and coloured pencils, Lyra erasers and sharpeners, Stockmar crayons and paints and more.

Golden Beetle Books, such as A Steiner Homeschool, also on their way. Prices will be going up to $16 per book from February 1 for all Golden Beetle Books we stock.


All dolls, playcloths and other Rainbow Made products are in stock, with even more stock on its way this week. Orders are open for custom dolls.

Some new style baby wraps and other Earthslings products have been ordered, and will be available early this week.

Our WAHM (work-at-home Mum) suppliers have been very busy!

Don't forget for LETS members whose exchange is part of CES, we offer 50/50 LETS units/$ for orders.

Always looking for photos for this blog, so if you'd like to share, please email me your pics.

Thanks for your continued support. If you have any suggestions for Spiral Garden, don't hestiate to let me know!

Christmas...

New Products!

There are a number of wonderful new products at Spiral Garden. It's always exciting to find new artists and suppliers who fit with Spiral Garden's ideals.


Recently, some fantastic felt and lotka paper products arrived from My Fair Ladybird. They're already proving to be popular gift ideas. The products include felt elephants, faerie garlands, boxes of faeries, jewelery/trinket boxes, and coin purses. The elephants come in three sizes - 15cm, 10cm and 3cm in pink, purple, red, turquoise and snow white! We're rapt to be able to offer affordable, fair trade goodies in time for Christmas. Starting at $4.50, they're affordable as well!


Sam at Earthslings has been busy creating some oh-so-cute animal tails. They're available in faux fur or cotton flannel and are sure to be a favourite dress-up (or wear every day) item for little ones.


Earthslings' Jumbo Wraps are also available through Spiral Garden now, and are sure to become as popular as Sam's fantastic Kidslings in no time - 100% cotton, bright colours, quality and value.


Due to customer feedback in our recent survey, we're sourcing more gifts for Teens. The new hemp bracelets are gorgeous, and only $7.50 each. Another bargain gift item some teens will love are the rainbow dyed bandanas at only $5.00 each.

And finally, from Busy Bee Handcrafts we have some amazingly soft face and body washcloths and gorgeous cotton dishcloths (which seem too beautiful to wash up with, but are a delight to use and use again). We've used crocheted cotton dishcloths for over a year and highly recommend them.


New stock of our much-loved Cradle Dolls will arrive any day, and this is the last batch before Christmas, so order soon!


Shady Grove Soap is also back in stock - in delightfully subtle rose, lavender and sandalwood fragrances using 100% vegetable oils.

Keep an eye on the New Products pages as we're expecting more new items in the coming weeks.

The last of the Specials items have been further marked down. These are strictly limited stock, so hurry!

Happy Shopping!