Sunday 29 December 2013

Fabulous festive offer! 20% discount on all shoes & accessories!


FANTABULOUS OFFER!!! TREAT YOUR LITTLE CHERUBS THIS CHRISTMAS TO OUR SUPER CUTE RANGE OF SHOES!
UN SCONTO DI 20% SU TUTTO DELLA CATEGORIA Scarpine & Accessori QUESTO NATALE!!! Inserisce il codice SCARPINE13 alla cassa nello spazio Codice Coupon
http://cherubinibabywear.com/index.php?route=product%2Fcategory&path=62

Saturday 28 December 2013

Christmas shopping 2013 review

Well the dust has settled from what turned out to be a wonderful Christmas and once New Year's Eve is done we're back to normal... as normal as we ever were.

As I ended up doing all the Christmas shopping and the subsequent returns and exchanges for my very large family, I thought it may be useful to share my experience.

The good guys... we'll be back next year:

Fenwick of Newcastle were really helpful when we were purchasing gifts and equally helpful and very quick (a bonus in their packed store) to sort out refunds and exchanges.
Swarovski (also the Newcastle store) have been marvellous, only one exchange with them but the staff were great in assisting the purchase of various well received gifts. Great customer service!
I did a lot of shopping from Not On The High Street, all personalised items yet they all arrived really quickly, beautifully packaged and exactly what we wanted, we'll definitely be back.
Not for Christmas shopping but Pepperberry have solved my New Year's Eve wardrobe dilemma with quick, fantastic customer service.  They didn't have my size in stock in the store yesterday so they ordered it to be delivered... it had arrived by 10am this morning, very impressed. I'm a regular customer because Pepperberry never lets you down.
Next, various stores.  Lovely staff, great service and well wrapped up breakables!
Amazon, quick, efficient, great prices.
Hugo Boss store, lovely friendly staff who are always helpful and efficient.
Marks and Spencer, various stores, well it wouldn't be Christmas without M&S Christmas pyjamas and all the goodies from the foodhall. The staff were consistently lovely in various stores at various points throughout November and December. 10/10 for good old M&S!

And now for the not so good:

John Lewis in Newcastle is hit and miss, particularly in the beauty department.  Some brands such as Clarins give great customer service, as do the beauty electricals staff. Unfortunately getting help in the perfume department is a task on par with finding a cure for cancer/ the holy grail/ a well wrapped up girl in the big market. It would appear most of the beauty counter staff find the season challenging and miserable as this was the message conveyed, a sort of 'come dancing' smile with thinly veiled pleas to buy something immediately or stop hovering around irritating them.
Selfridges.com, horrendous customer service, failed on every aspect.  For the special presents I usually order from Harrods and Liberty, this year unfortunately I succumbed to the temptation of 20% off and ordered with Selfridges.  In short, the packaging consisted of a shabby carboard box with 1 sheet of transparent yellow and white tissue paper - not particularly great at protecting the contents from the elements/ our postman's shotput style of handling parcels. The wrong size had been sent for a sweater (unfortunately the one item that was needed before Christmas but hey this was the 28th November I ordered, surely they would have this sorted out well before Christmas?) so I had to pay to send it back recorded delivery then ring a number to get a refund of my postage.  Well the number was permanently engaged, so I emailed... still awaiting a reply.  Not until the 20th December did they tell me they weren't going to send out the correct item because they didn't have anymore in stock! Then they gave me a 'partial refund' so it has cost me not only the £9 postage both ways but an extra £21 in getting the sweater elsewhere as there was no 20% off.  Won't be back and will be telling all my friends and family to steer clear of this one.

So that's my round up for 2013's Christmas shopping... would love to hear your experiences of the good, the bad and the ugly!



Wednesday 13 November 2013

I Miei Cherubini are returning to the fabulously festive Durham Christmas Fair on 23rd and 24th November!

 Durhams Biggest Christmas Fair is back - Don't miss it - NOVEMBER 23RD & 24TH (10am - 4pm).
at Poplartree Garden Centre, Hall lane, Shincliffe Village, Durham, DH1 2NG.

Over 70 businesses selling unique Christmas Gifts, with extra festivities including mulled wine for those adults wishing to get into the Christmas Spirit, a visiting Santa for an added sparkle to the Childrens day, Live Carol Singers, a brass band playing along to festive tines, and an exclusive Gift Wrapping Service for those purchasing Christmas Gifts.
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th November. See also http://www.durhamchristmasfair.co.uk/


Road Directions
Sat Nav: DH1 2NG - Nearest major road is A1(M). From south turn left & take 2nd exit left through Bowburn A177. Continue straight past Seven Stars & take left turn at Traffic Lights into Shincliffe Village. Follow Hall Lane to end to see sign for Garden Centre.
Public Transport Directions

From the bus station in Durham, take the bus to The Rose Tree Pub, Shincliffe. Cross the road into Shincliffe village & Poplar Tree Garden Centre is situated 250m on the right.






 See our facebook event page for more details!

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Monday 9 September 2013

Monday morning... back to school blues!

Well it's the second week back at school for most of us in the UK... and I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling like the summer is already a distant memory! Most traumatically, this new academic year brings two milestones, both signifying our cherubini are growing up! The eldest is doing work experience at her old primary school, seeing our baby dressed up like she was going to work made Grandad feel truly ancient. Then 'baby' Sam is starting nursery next week... our baby is not a baby anymore, he has a full school uniform (albeit a rather small one).  In all seriousness, it's a joy to see what lovely people they are growing into. They are all polite, considerate generally lovely people... and at least when Gabs hits her next milestone of learning to drive mammy and grandad's taxi service will get a bit of a break!


 

Thursday 1 August 2013

Finding the perfect present for a new baby or Christening

No matter how much experience you have with kids it can be really tricky knowing what to buy to celebrate the birth or Christening of a baby, especially if it's a baby haven't spent much time with.  Babies often end up with an abundance of clothes aged 3-6 months and nothing from birth to 3 months as everyone seems to share the thought, best not buy the first size as that's what everyone else will be doing! Traditional keepsakes such as silver piggy banks or first curl boxes are a lovely idea... until the little angel reaches the terrible twos and said items need to be kept out of reach to avoid them being launched across the room (a skill my niece honed to perfection earning her the nickname Olga Shotput, and earning the rest of us our fair share of bruises!).

We have come up with a few solutions to this problem, first of all, for those who are unsure what size to buy for a new baby:
The I Miei Cherubini Accessories Gift Set is a great set of essentials baby can use throughout their first year!

The personalised Personalised 'on the day you were born' artwork makes a fantastic keepsake, it can be mounted on the wall or kept as a beautiful scroll.

And consistently one of our best selling baby gifts is the 'Be Brave' canvas which can be done in the colour (and of course name!) of your choice.



As for the big brothers and sisters, we like this rule for older childrens gifts:
Love this idea!

Wednesday 31 July 2013

Ever fancied learning a new language?

If you're based in or around Newcastle these Italian lessons could be just what you're looking for Cherubini Italian lessons  fun, friendly and catered to your goals and level, a bargain at only £20 per hour! Give it a go, buona fortuna!


The inifinite cuteness of twin boys!

Being from a family full of twins and having a partner who is sandwiched between two sets of twins as his older and younger brothers I am a sucker for cute twin baby pictures.  Finding this one of my father and his (obviously non identical!) twin made my day!

The debate about whether to dress twins in matching or co-ordinating outfits can get quite heated and awfully serious, I found this article by Pamela Prindle Fiero on this subject interesting http://multiples.about.com/cs/familyissues/a/twindressalike.htm ...Ultimately though, the debate for me is only the cut off point age wise. While twins are babies not only do little co-ordinating outifts look absolutely adorable and celebrate the fact that they are twins.  I can't see how this affects their identity as individuals and most of the twins in my family end up dressing in a similar way all their lives due to shared tastes rather than any lack of individual identity!

You can find beautiful co-ordinating gift sets for twins at I Miei Cherubini, with most styles available in blue and cream colourways you can give a gift of matching but not identical outfits.  All made in the UK from organic cotton and lovingly presented in organza bags or beautiful gift boxes.

 see our website www.cherubinibabywear.com for the full range!

Don't forget to like our FACEBOOK page, follow us on TWITTER and PINTEREST

Thursday 25 July 2013

Enough with all things pink and sparkly... lets switch the focus to beautiful things for the little prince in your life...

I Miei Cherubini is focused on beautiful clothes and gifts for baby boys. I was inspired by how difficult I found it to buy gifts for my nephews (i miei cherubini!). We didn't want them dressed in miniature versions of menswear, they have all their lives to wear jeans, while they are babies we wanted them dressed as babies. After hearing friends and relatives making the same complaint, I decided to create a range to solve this problem, the look is traditional with a twist. I intend to expand the boyswear range in the near future, but for now I Miei Cherubini is mainly about perfect outfits and gifts for those first few precious months. So many brands cater beautifully for the needs of little princesses, we thought it was time for little princes to be the focus!


I Miei Cherubini è la collezione di vestiti e regali per neonati. Le difficoltà nell'acquisto di doni davvero interessanti per i miei nipoti (i miei cherubini!) è stata la fonte di ispirazione.
Stanca di vederli vestiti come adulti in miniatura, quando hanno tutta una vita per mettere un jeans, mi sono convinta che i bambini devono vestire come bambini.
Parlando con amici e parenti che condividono problema e filosofia, ho deciso di creare la collezione, abbinando un look tradizionale ad un elemento di originalità.
A breve ci sarà una linea piu grande di vestiti per bambini, per adesso I Miei Cherubini vuole essere la collezione perfetta di abbigliamento e regali per i tenerissimi primi mesi.
Se la scelta è già ampia per le piccole principesse, I Miei Cherubini promette di pensare ai nostri piccoli principi!

Linked In Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/company/2556629
Twitter: @IMieiCherubini
Blog: http://imieicherubini.blogspot.co.uk/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/imieicherubini/
Tumblr: http://i-miei-cherubini.tumblr.com/

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Welcome to the world little Prince! Royal baby's arrival is putting a smile on our faces...

Well I am fairly sure I'm not alone in thinking all this Royal baby business is just lovely.  It's a feel good news story in a sea of depressing issues.  Though we don't know the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge we get the impression they're a lovely young couple, a fairytale prince and princess, the arrival of the little prince is another heartwarming chapter to the already captivating story.

The first images of the royal baby with his parents are picture perfect, you would never believe Kate had just given birth as not a hair was out of place (and I'm not making that as a bitchy comment, more as a poor girl, leave her to recover from it all in peace!)... to quote my pregnant cousin "I just wish this had been Kate's statement: The baby is happy and healthy. I will not be standing outside having my pictures taken and smiling politely as I have just been in labour for 11 hours and my he was a big 'un. I can't be arsed to have my hair and makeup done so will be going home in my jim jams"

Here are a selection of my favourites from yesterday's Royal baby pictures:

 
 

 

 

Find beautiful things for your own little princes at I Miei Cherubini

Thursday 11 July 2013

Do the bookmakers know something we don't about the Royal baby?

Alexandra is still at the top the list of bookies favourites for the royal baby name (quite pleasing as my name is Alexandra and the only things the name is currently associated with in my area are a few unglamorous roads, bridges and pubs). More intriguing is that currently the top 5 names are all female with George coming in as the 6th favourite followed by Alice and with James at number 8 only 2 of the top ten names predicted for the Royal baby are masculine. Did all this really come about because of Kate apparently saying 'Thank you I'll take this for my d...'?! She could have been about to say I'll take it for my dog for all we know then thought better of it!



Coming in at 40/1 is the name Maud... really Princess Maud?! Perhaps equally if not more unlikely are Camilla at 100/1 and Fergie at 500/1. And should William and Kate follow Coleen Rooney's example and name the baby Kai there will be some happy gamblers and very unhappy bookies as the odds are a whopping 1000/1!

Looking at the list of names predicted for Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall's baby, I was quite surprised to see the list significantly less traditional... the sort of names that would disgust the very *ahem* opinionated Katie Hopkins! My favourite of the list being at 500/1, Toytown, I don't know very much about gambling, but I'm fairly sure the bookmakers' money would have been safe to offer 50,000/1 on Toytown Tindall being the moniker chosen for Zara and Mike's firstborn.



No sign of drab maternity wear throughtout the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy, many online blogs and magazines all over the world have been following and document her style throughout.  This page on the Daily Mail's website give a nice concise overview http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2357086/Kate-Middleton-The-worlds-best-dressed-baby-bump-Week-week-Kates-pregnancy-fashion-diary.html ...very elegant, however I'm not sure I could be bothered with high heels when heavily pregnant!


Find all you need for your little princes at www.cherubinibabywear.com , made in the UK to the highest standards of quality and design. Tweet us @IMieiCherubini like us on facebook.com/IMieiCherubini and follow our Pinterest boards /IMieiCherubini

Sunday 7 July 2013

'Royal Baby Watch' fast becoming a worldwide craze!

It was reported this week that camera crews have already started lining up outside the Duchess of Cambridge's chosen hospital (it would make me giggle if it was a bluff and she sneaks off to another hospital!) despite the Royal baby not being due for another 10 days or so!

Marie Claire magazine have done a great feature on the 1st pictures of Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Charles chose the same hospital for his arrival in 1982 http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/543461/royal-baby-watch-the-amazing-1982-tv-report-on-prince-william-s-birth.html#index=1

Princess Diana and baby Prince William outside the Lindo Wing

With excitement building all over the world for the arrival of the new Royal baby, I Miei Cherubini has a range of gorgeous gifts for your little princes!
Find these and more on www.cherubinibabywear.com
 
 #katemiddleton #princewilliam #royalbaby #prince #duchessofcambridge

Monday 1 July 2013





With the arrival of the Royal baby imminent, why not treat your piccoli principi [little princes] to some of these regal delights?!
Find these and more on www.cherubinibabywear.com


Hype is building around the royal arrival, as The Telegraph put it in their recent article

"Duchess of Cambridge: The world is going wild for the royal baby"

"It is, the Washington Post declared, “the world’s most famous baby”. When the Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to her son or daughter in the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s hospital, Paddington, next month, millions will be watching events – not just in Britain but around the globe. The first heir to the throne born in 31 years; grandchild of Diana, Princess of Wales; and the latest in a generation of young royals who are idolised like celebrities – it’s no wonder the royal birth is expected to generate £260 million worldwide.
In Britain, excitement remains muted, with royal-watchers waiting until the baby is born before planning celebrations. But around the world – in America, India and the former colonies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada – royal baby fever has reached a peak" source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ 27/06/2013

 

 



Friday 5 April 2013

Sunday 10 February 2013

Shopping Our Way To Prosperity?

Shopping Our Way To Prosperity?

http://newcastleparents.co.uk/shopping-our-way-to-prosperity/

It seems like these days we spend more money on dressing the children than we do on ourselves! I mean, how many pairs of shoes can one 4 year old need? Well of course they need 7; wellies, school shoes, snow boots, pretty dress shows, trainers, sandals and of course the good old everyday nice but not too posh shoe......

Thursday 10 January 2013

Keeping up with social media trends...

Ok so I have my e-commerce site, www.cherubinibabywear.com not a problem (thanks to lessons from a very patient webdesigner Paul at Pulse - http://www.pulsecreativemarketing.co.uk/)  The next step is a facebook page which I managed easily www.facebook.com/IMieiCherubini …though 86 likes is a bit rubbish after all this time! But it seems the trends in social media are constantly changing, I’ve now had to get to grips with twitter @IMieiCherubini - which involved more lessons from Paul on tweet etiquette - twittiquette? And just as I’m getting my head round all this tweeting people business my niece tells me it’s not cool anymore… Dougie from McFly has tumblr and he has a kidswear brand therefore I should have tumblr… grazie a Dio for teenage logic! Now I’ve done as I’m told, the delightful child has even deigned to follow me, http://i-miei-cherubini.tumblr.com/ I don’t have a scooby doo how these gifs are made… but am highly amused by them.

I’ve also discovered pinterest (yes I know I’m probably quite late to catch on to this) www.pinterest.com/imieicherubini/ I like it, it’s easy to use and full of inspiration… though I’ve been reliably informed from the resident ‘cool’ expert that it’s a bit mumsy… indeed I saw one account where someone has pins of every last detail of the life they don’t yet have - how they’re going to dress their not yet conceived children, decorate their bedrooms, what the wedding to the not yet found father of their not yet conceived children will be like etc etc... all in worryingly minute detail. Thing is I think this woman was at least in her mid 20s but most likely older. Hey ho each to their own, and I still like pinterest.

Last but not least I also have this blog http://imieicherubini.blogspot.co.uk . I quite like the blog, it doesn’t demand constant attention and updates the way I feel other forms of social media do, and I’m generally quite pleased with the way it looks. However I’m unsure as to whether anyone reads it other than when I post links to twitter or facebook!

All in all I think we’re doing quite well keeping up with all this….. and I’m sincerley hoping Gabriellina doesn’t come in any time soon telling me there’s a new cool thing I need to be doing or I may never get away from my laptop!

Thursday 3 January 2013

Kidswear Trends 2013

So before the next Pitti Bimbo gets us looking ahead to next Christmas here's a quick round up of what we've got to look forward to this summer...

One of the key trends that really jumped out at Pitti Bimbo was the use of neon for accessories and over outfits, not just because of the colour but also the ubiquity of it within the audience as well. Italy is already really taking to the neon trend... or at least the attendees of Pitti Bimbo seemed to be big fans!




Colours in general are still vivid and bold for boyswear. The greens, electric blues, red, pink and bold yellow from last year are still around and going strong. 


Sorbet pastels are looking refreshed against this backdrop and were shown in all the main catwalk shows. White is also incredibly strong, especially for more classic continental styles.


Gingham was also seen on most of the catwalks, in colour combinations of green and white, black and white, yellow and white and pink and white, usually in big bold checks... though we love the classic blue and white macro gingham styles!
Vintage has also inspired so many looks, but has become such a mainstream inspiration in childrenswear it seems unnecessary to point that out. Still, there are beautiful, timeless styles that we don't want to lose but continue to re-invent.
Another influence was hawaian prints, a bit of a 1950s feel to them - certainly quirky and fun but not particularly tasteful in the examples I've seen!

 
I Miei Cherubini is the ONLY childrenswear brand EXCLUSIVELY for BOYS! All our own range is produced in the UK, mainly using organic cotton. Tired of seeing baby boys dressed in uninspiring miniature versions of menswear, the design philosophy is about celebrating all that is special and adorable about the early years of every little boys life using the softest fabrics and angelic colours for little cherubs with celestial influence on the designs. So many brands cater beautifully for the needs of little princesses, we thought it was time for little princes to be the focus!

The brand was created in early 2012 and the range is growing steadily, bright colours and quirky, fun designs are on their way for the boyswear collection and more beautiful baby blues, pure white and the addition of fresh mint green will keep the babywear collection looking heavenly! For t-shirt prints the colour palette is inspired by a traditional gelateria with vivid hues and sorbet pastels mixed together in delicious combinations. Quirky slogans and super cute prints will make this summer's collections a must have for any little cherub's wardrobe.

www.cherubinibabywear.com

twitter @IMieiCherubini

www.facebook.com/IMieiCherubini