Welcome to our basement blog. Our blog was developed to keep everyone current on OddiCouture. Subjects consist of our outerwear development, production and running a business while raising a family. Please stay tune and enjoy!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Swuzzy Fun!
Hello Everyone, I wanted to put some video up of my son. In the first video it started to snow in Denver and we were on-the-go. This just shows some functionality of the garment and the ease of use between parent and child.
In the second video my son and I went out to play in the snow, we had a great time. The Swuzzy was really cozy for him, and he starts negotiating for some snowball play. Unfortunately it was time for dinner.
Inside the house it was a snap because all I did was pull it off his head. I avoided that scenario of my hands being to cold to unzip a jacket and him being to cold to hold still.
My wife and I went out on a family event, unfortunately it was a very cold day. And the event did not open on time, so we had to wait outside in the cold! Everybody was standing around trying to get warm except for my son. My son was asleep in my arms bundled up in his Swuzzy. People had huge jackets for their kids trying to keep them warm, but our Swuzzy was our champion!
After a 30 minute wait we finally were received inside the stadium, we did not want to wake him, but the temperature was warming up! No worries! We simply slid the Swuzzy off his head and made a pillow out of it. We rested his head right on the Swuzzy, it was amazing! He slept like a baby and during all of that he was to just to cute! Lots of comments!
I really like a piece of children’s wear that is multidimensional. One of the things I struggle with is children's wear that does not have multiple functions. The Swuzzy, because of the soft fabrics can be used in multiple situations, such as a pillow, a blanket, or even an imaginative super hero cape. My child loves to bring it with him because he can have all these great things that kids adore bundled up in one simple garment.
All right, we just can’t stand it! I know we launched with the princess design but found that we weren’t completely set with the design. A restless perfectionist, my wife won’t stop till she’s completely satisfy with her creative vision. We kept searching for different design ideas.
Starting again a week before print put some pressure on us, but we thrive under pressure. We threw around ideas for about two days, the search was on. In a moment of calm we figured something out during an afternoon snack.
Eating apples, my wife said, “What about apples?”
So we started bouncing ideas back forth, apples and worms, apples and trees, apples and toddlers, the ideas were vague until we came up with raining apples on a pink umbrella and jotted that down. Unfortunately, it only captured the Swuzzy in seasonal form, the Swuzzy was designed to be worn in all seasons due to its sweatshirt fleece material. A definite comfort at the beach or after swim lessons. Clearing our heads, my wife said, “How about falling apples from a tree. That could be cute!”
The right tree!
There are many tree designs out there and picking a tree that represents a child’s imagination can be a challenge. So after a few days of searching, digging, and conceptual drawing, we had many tree designs, but none of them THE tree! Ugh Trees!
Luckily our determination paid off and we came up with the perfect cutest tree. I would like to say that at that moment a gleaming light shone down on our Mac, but it was just plain and simple hard work.
My wife took both an apple and the tree design and this is what she made. OMG TOO CUTE!
The tree is 14 inches tall, a big statement in design for our to cute baby girls!
We are entering into our cold months wind, rain, snow, and ice. These months I believe are some of the toughest months for the on-the-go parents. Car rides that involve toddlers yelling “I’m hot” in their car seats because they were strapped in with their outerwear on. Airplane checks that involve taking off all outerwear and putting it back on as you go through each check point. Sports events involving you dashing back and forth while trying to keep kids warm. And of course the everyday pre-school drop off, just wanting them to put their outerwear on so you won’t be late!
My wife and I are in Colorado and yes we have been through all these scenarios!
Being on-the-go in the colder months, I believe is a tough job for any parent. Your patience is shorter and we take care of our kids before we take care of anything else. We wait in the rain, snow, and some times sleet for them to get in their car seats as we help them in and out of their outerwear. We even go as far as rushing them into the car seats before the outerwear comes off!
My wife invented the Swuzzy exactly for these scenario's.
Taking out the color and graphic and just simply looking at the function, the value is amazing. A sturdy, warm, transitional apparel piece for you and your toddler when you are on-the-go. Simplifying not only the child’s ever day redundant activity but also yours. We really want to help you simplify this processes so for October we are running a special on all our Swuzzy’s, 20% off.
Please order before the month end are inventory is going fast.
One of the things I am really interested in is a solid fabric design. A solid design will speak for itself. When creating the swuzzy we went through several fabric designs to get the right cut. Their are two versions, the V cut and the block cut. When we established both the versions we went for the block. Reasoning was simple, it gave the fabric more of an edge that enhanced the functionality.
Functionality is something we really wanted. The ability to sustain the elements was a must, and knowing the v shape style poncho did not have enough coverage, we used the block cut. Squaring the ends allowed for better overall coverage and set the swuzzy apart in its look, allowing the drape to be worthy in those weather circumstances. However, what we did not realize is that it opened the child’s imagination.
The edge of oddiwear is completely unique allowing the simplicity of the fabric to give into a child’s imagination. Creating that fun spirited poncho design for toddlers and babies really allowed the free flowing fabric to become apart of the child. Quiet honestly they have great time playing in them because of the edge. The poncho gives wings of fun, while keeping the toddler and baby cozy in the midst of the coldest seasons.
Toddler Story Telling: A Babies Imagination Running Wild!
Long before a good portion of the population became literate there was a story teller in the village. Now this story teller did not read from a book or study any ancient sand script, he just told a story that he either made up or was passed down orally by someone else. In my family I am that person to my son and friends. Yes, I am the village story teller. I do not study books or try to memorize any ancient words I simply tell a story.
My toddler will do anything for a story, even skip T.V. <--- Wow! However, I am not trying to toot my own horn here, what I am saying that between picture books, movies, and T.V. the art of imaginative oral storytelling was lost.
So how do you tell an imaginative story?
1.) First off you never tell a story without all chores / eating being done. This is their entertainment and a story needs to be earned. 2.) Never tell too many, once a week small half hour. You can leave them hanging but just remember where you left off, because they sure will. 3.) Keep them short, but not too long, you want them “Just right”. 4.) Figure out a general plot, it doesn’t have to perfect but toddlers sort of know when you went astray. 5.) Toddlers want stories about knights, fairy princess, superheros and anything else they are interested in at that moment. Make sure to mix it up, and don’t always give them what they want or it gets boring for you and eventually them. 6.) Imaginative, expressive and fun, you don’t need to act anything out but some emphasis on words make it come alive. 7.) Lastly find your story voice! There is your voice and there is the “story voice”. Never use the two interchangeably! The story voice will be recognized as something special.
Currently, I am telling a 5 part story to my toddler...Listen whatever you do DO NOT READ THIS TO THEM! I mean you can, but then you really aren’t storytelling. Just take the idea and spin it anyway you want. This is just to get your juices flowing.
Brother Bears
After a long hibernation with his little brother, big brother bear stretched really big only to hear his stomach grumble so loud that the birds outside the cave scattered from the trees. Little bear laughed loudly, “Oh brother, you scared all the tree creatures away. Your belly is louder then your roar!”
Big brother bear, scratched his head, looked up and smacked his lips lazily, “I’m hungry I need fresh salmon.” And began to walk out of his cave and down the high mountain of the canyon.
Little brother bear followed closely, eying every step of the way. Little bear loved his big brother but sometimes his big brother stomach lead the way, instead of his head. So little brother always kept a watchful eye.
Reaching the bottom of the cannon, big brothers nostrils sniffed the fresh spring time forest. Little brother mimicked his big brother until his big brother stopped and said, “Honey!” And jogged into the forest with his tongue dangling to the side.
Little bear was much smaller then his big bear brother so when big brother jogged it was almost a run to little bear, “Brother bear wait for me!” Moving through the forest as only bears would move, they finally stopped near a great big tree. At the top of the tree was an enormous honey comb dripping out delicious honey from the bottom.Both bears eyes grew very big.
Brother bear looked down at his little brother and said, “You better stay here, you might hurt yourself. I am bigger and stronger so I will get that honey for the two of us.”Little bear said nothing because he knew when his big brother was set to do something, he did not listen to his little brothers ideas! But little brother tried anyway, “Big brother do you think...”
Big brother did not let little brother finish his sentence before he said, “I am older, you be a good little brother bear and wait for me.”
Big brother began to climb, higher and higher until the tree branches started to get smaller and smaller and no longer supported big brothers enormous body!
Until the great big bear came tumbling down out of the tree. After little bear saw that his big brother was o.k. he laughed, because his great big belly wiggled like jelly when he hit the ground. But laughing hurt his big brothers feelings.
When little brother realized that his big brother was hurt because of his laughing he apologized, “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings big brother, but I think if we work together we can get that great big hive of honey. Big brother looked at him grumpily, “How so?”Little brother said, “If you climb the big tree stump and I climb the small tree branches we can get that honey comb.”Brother bear smiled real big and said, “That idea is a good one.” And picked his little brother bear up and threw him on his back.
Big brother climbed the first part and little brother climbed the second part, until they captured the honey hive. Bringing the hive down to the moss green woods, they both quickly pounced on it only to have all the honey splatter all over them. They looked at each other covered in honey and laughed great big bears laughs and ate the entire honey hive.
Love to hear what you think and how it worked out. Our toddler poncho line graphics were built off the same imaginative stories you just read...
As I mentioned before there was more to come! We finished the last design and it is amazing. We took your feed back about princess and angels and integrated it into an incredible urban toddler design for our toddler girls poncho. Using the peachy pink elements of the Swuzzy, we then integrated a purple tone to it, the whole idea popped.
One of the reason I built this blog was to receive customer feedback. Because of our awesome fans we were able to hone in what you wanted versus what we thought you wanted. We listened and absorbed and once done we created something that not only embodied us, but embodied our audience.
I believe that the girls toddler poncho is really going to become a signature piece for us. With the new heather gray fleece fabric, the smashing outerwear peachy pink, and the amazing online cultured inspired graphics it shows not only the spirt of our toddlers, but the spirt of our fans! Amazing functionality with incredible warmth and style, we combined two worlds to offer something unique for our tot and parent alike!
Please tell us what you think! And stay tune as we choose new colors for our boys line and create an unique rain and snow wear for our on-the-go toddlers!
Yes! Two months straight of morning sickness, we’re pregnant! We have another little one on the way, have no idea what the sex is, but we are excited either way. My guess is a girl.
Having another little one on the way intensified our house hold. I believe our son can sense it, he is definitely going through separation anxiety.
I can’t give him enough attention!
Whenever our son has anxiety about something we buy a book about that anxiety. It helps. We did this for pre-school and on his first day, no tears. So currently we are reading him big brother books on what to expect. Since we have just started I hope it will help soon, because I am getting a lot more gray hair.
My wife and I, on the other hand, are taking one day at a time, she is eating my cooking! I have already burnt her favorite pan, she has not been interested in meat, and my BBQ has rusted! Gulping down anything edible, while my son and I are trying to figure our way around the kitchen creates an interesting scenario. Spoiled food, burnt pans and allot of protein smoothies that is what are kitchen is currently about.
