Closing in 1 week

Pretty much what the heading has stated: We are closing the doors FOREVER in 1 week's time. There are lots of products still available to purchase.
http://beyondpinkandblue.com/

It's time to close our doors :(

It's with a little bit of a heavy heart, but also mixed with excitement for the future, that I formally announce the closure of beyond pink and blue.
It has been an interesting 5 years and I've experienced a lot from running this great store. Obviously a big part is because of you guys!
Thank you for your support, in the many forms it has come in: shopping (big one there!), listening, participating, sharing with others, being excited and open minded, to name just a few.

So the good bit (for you) is we are having a CLOSING DOWN SALE. Obviously, everything must go and all stock is at least at cost price.
There are some terms: no lay by, no returns or exchange, no points. (Click on the picture to go shop.)

You can also share your feelings on twitter, our facebook page, or directly here, under comments.
Once you've shopped for yourself, please share this news with your friends, so we can close the door quickly and let someone else dominate your heart. (A clean break is best.... no point in dragging it out, is there??)

All the best for your colourful life,
Mon x

The SLOW Sale

I'm calling it the SLOW Sale, because it's taking me a very long time to get EVERYTHING on the website reduced! So far products starting with the letters A to M are listed on our Specials area. Eventually I will get up to Z!

So enjoy browsing the goodies on offer while snacking on chocolate bunnies.
Mon x

I got the BLUEs

                                    

• Friendly frogs messenger bag $32.00
• Monster truck tee in size 4 $4.80
• Dark blue denim jeans in size 2 $6.40
• Button crochet scarf in blue, green & purple combo $20.00

 

• Bug felt tote bag $32.00
• Embroidered skirt in size 4 $7.20
• Miss Water Lily jewellery box set $20.00
• Three sailors went to sea water colour nail polish $11.16

Use code MARCHBLUE to get 20% off all of these and more in our blue section.

(All prices listed here are AFTER code has been used.)

Playtime in blue

Lots of blue stuff to play with!
Use code MARCHBLUE at checkout and take 20% off you total of BLUE products.
Here is an idea of how much these guys will cost you this month:

1. Barbarossa's Boat Puzzle $20.80 (normally $26)
2. Astro Blue Space Hopper $18.36 (normally $22.95)
3. Mr. Moody Family Car $23.20 (normally $29)
4. Tommy The Dump Truck $19.16 (normally $23.95)
5. Scrubble Interchangable Bath Toy Scrub Set $15.96 (normally $19.95)
6. Smiley Cow Pull Along $38.40 (normally $48)
7. Build A Robot Puzzle & Spinner Game $29.20 (normally $36.50)
8. City Cubes $32 (normally $40)
9. Pirates Finger Puppet Set $20 (normally $25)

March to the tune of BLUE

Use Coupon Code MARCHBLUE at checkout to get 20% off any BLUE product, for the month of March!

Head over to the BLUE section.

(20% will be deducted from your order total once the code has been entered.)

I'm also looking for any BLUE inspired posts to pop up on this blog, this month.

Please email to: info[at]beyondpinkandblue[dot]com

Can be a picture, photo, story, poem, anything!

Monica x

small people -guest post by Rachel Meszaros

Standing with my back to the warm spring sun, I find a rhythm as I work. Bend, straighten, peg. The basket empties, and the washing snaps softly in the breeze as I stand back and take it in. My mind is still adjusting, a tiny, perfect daughter, after two small precious boys, my cherished little family. The line full of pink, after four years of blue.
My daydreaming slams to a stop, the boys demand my attention. We play, we run, and then I pause, an ear turned towards the open bedroom window, as I hear the cry of our little girl, wanting to join the fun. I lift her from her cot, remove her wrap as her tiny fingers curl round my fingers. Just like her brothers, her tiny perfection takes my breath away. Three beautiful, enchanting small people, who fill my heart and my days. I am blessed.

This post was shared with me, as a lovely moment in the world of PINK. Thanks Rachel.

Checkout Rachel's fabulous blog {explore} for more great photos and thoughts of her life. 

Valentine love for you!

This greeting card personalized with Smilebox

Artist corner: A beautiful butterfly!

Artist: Chai

Age: 5

About the work: Mummy drew me a butterfly to colour in and I used oil pastels.

Would you like to have your art work featured on the rainbow blog?
Just email a scan or photo of it to: info[at]beyondpinkandblue[dot]com
This month we are show casing anything PINK.

Once apon a time, boys wore pink

 Image taken from Sarah Hoffman's website, who has a boy who loves pink.

It seems there are no definite facts that claim who owned pink or blue throughout the ages. I've found for Western culture the following:
Babies and children wore white for a long time, gender was not an important factor before the 1900's.
It wasn't until the 1920's that Western culture started assigning the colour pink (and blue) to an individual gender.
Pink was actually an appropriate boy colour, because it was seen as more masculine, being close to the colour red.
Blue was seen as a more dainty and delicate colour, so was appropriate for girls (also think Virgin Mary).
But rumors are, the two colors were used interchangeably until World War II.
During that time one of the cruder examples of the shift for pink as a more feminine colour was a pink triangle to identify homosexuals in Nazi prison camps.
After the war women stopped working and became housewives, encouraged to wear pink lipstick and own pink cars....a more rosie outlook to life and family after the war.
Barbie was born shortly after and, of course, pink was her colour of choice.
Pink became the colour for girls and blue as a color for boys.

And so here we are today.
Sometimes fashion allows men to wear pink (or salmon), boys have a dash of pink in their t-shirt design and baby boys will get mistakened for girls if they're anywhere near pink.
On the other hand, majority of girls seem to gravitate toward the colour pink and dad's won't allow their sons to don anything in the pink family.
This is all generally speaking, of course, because if you are reading this post, you already know that kids of any gender can like any colour they want... even pink.

February is PINK month!

It's a bit of a girlie colour, but boys love pink too! It may be shamed and in the closet, but it's sweet and lovely to see on rosy cheeks- which can be found on boys after running around, playing shenanigans!
So lets embrace the colour PINK this month, with love.
Pink stuff in the store is discounted this month, just head on over to the specials area.

Would love some pink inspiration this month from our readers!

Please send anything you have to monica[at]beyondpinkandblue[dot]com and I'll post it up for everyone to enjoy. Can be a photo taken, a picture drawn, a poem, a story.... anything!

Yellow food is good

Currently enjoying lots of melted cheese on toast. So is La. Yum!

Mibo paper animals (giveaway)

They're the Yolk Folk! Meet Sophia Le Hen, Eggory Peck and Cluck Gable.
1 of the fabulous range of paper animal packs by mibo (UK) now at our store.
All you need is scissors and glue and you can make these chickies too!
Other packs include: Wise Guys (owls), Forest Friends (woodland creatures) and Carrot Crew (yep, rabbits).
Great activity for ages 6+ (including adults!)
Decorate your room or next party table top with a set of paper animals.

GIVEAWAY!

Who wants a pack? me me me me!
Just follow this blog and then leave me a comment below stating which pack you'd love to win and where they would live in your home once made.
Winner selected randomly (from correctly entered entries) on 1st Feb. 2011.

Fair trade ice creams

They're back! Lark's fabulous knitted ice cream rattles in 3 delicious flavours. Sure to get baby drooling and will cool off pretend playtime with the older kids! (My girls keep them in the pretend kitchen freezer for those really hot days...)

They are hand knitted by a women's fair trade collective in Bangladesh.

This one here is Vanilla and as it's yellow, it's 15% off until the end of January. Yummo!
Also available in Strawberry (pink) and Pistachio / Mint (green), available in the rattles and squeakers section... naturally.

I heart this

 

Today's yellow image is provided by Cathie, who's blog (m.e) I follow.

There is always lots of things to be grateful of, yummy things to cook and lovely creative images to look at.

Got something yellow for me to post? Email me at info[at]beyondpinkandblue[dot]com with a link or image and anything you want me to know! x

Make a Hope Softie!

Can you sew, knit, crochet, felt.....? Make a little softie for a child to cuddle and be-friend, in a time when they most probably have nothing familiar around them.
Lots of families are sheltering now at emergency centres and something little like this would be soooo comforting! Don't you think?
Head on over to Steph's blog and grab all the details.

Sunshine for our Sunshine state

At the moment I'm by myself at home and have had time to reflect on the devastation in Queensland. I think a bit of sunshine from our hearts needs to be sent to that part of our sunny country.
A couple of years ago, you may remember, I was running Rainbow Comfort Packs for the Children effected by the Victorian Bush fires. It was close to home, so became automatic for me to do it.
My questions to you all are:
1. Do you feel you want to help in some way, but don't know how or have the funds?
2. If you remember the Rainbow Comfort Packs, do you think you'd like to contribute to this idea again?

A refresher or to briefly enlighten those who don't know what I'm talking about when I mention Rainbow Comfort Packs, read about them here, when we were doing them for the Vic. Bush fires.
If this begins again, there will be more control as to what goes into the packs and better co-ordination with what we need etc.

Anyway, please leave your thoughts, ideas and links to auctions etc that are raising funds for this cause.
Stay safe. Mon x

Yellow in any language

Yellow Submarine

I loved (and still do actually!) the movie Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. In fact Mr bpab and I collected the figurines when they came out. The girls have not been allowed to 'play' with them and thus reside in a giant cardboard box on top of a cupboard. ONE day we will get them out and re-enact the movie, but for now.....

Look up you tube for Yellow Submarine video clips, actually better still, get a copy of the movie and just sit down with the kiddies and watch it. Blow their little minds.

January means yellow

Let's celebrate how wonderfully sunny the colour YELLOW is this month!
There is 15 % off all YELLOW products at beyond pink and blue for the month of January.
I'll even do some YELLOW themed posts on this here blog.
You can join in by leaving comments about yellow stuff etc. How fun!
Got something you'd love to have appear on the rainbow blog that's YELLOW related? Email me (info [at] beyondpinkandblue [dot] com) all the details with pictures and I'll do my best to get it up here. Even funner!!