Getting To Know: La Fede

GETTING TO KNOW: La Fede

Chantelle is a wife, mother and maker. She is an indie designer and maker based in Centurion. She handcrafts a collection of character bears and soft toy animals. Creativity runs in her family, so she always had a dream of being in a creative field. Chantelles’ career path, however, followed another road, which found her in finance and management for a decade. Her career in finance ended when she was retrenched in 2014. She spent a daunting period of time on the job-seekers scene but was challenged in Faith to follow her distant dream and start La Fede. La Fede has evolved from an all round kids brand (clothing, accessories, toys) to a specialised heirloom toy range.

Chantelle mentions that she feels so blessed to be a stay-at-home mom. Her party of 4 went through a trying two years financially, but they are blessed, closer than ever and stronger for it. La Fede truly is what the name means, “Faith’. She says that it may sound strange, but this testimony is what motivates her, knowing that the success story of La Fede will impact other lives and businesses.
Her entire business was built on Trust and Faith, Chantelle started La Fede with nothing, out of nothing except a dream, a small sewing machine, a ton of faith, and a husband who supported her dream even in the toughest of times.

Chantelle’s passion is radiant in every single one of her products. She handmakes the with all of the love in the world. The quality of her character bears are phenomenal, and each has their own personality. Chantelle is mommy to two gorgeous kids. I love seeing her Instagram posts of their own designs for her business. Just too precious! La Fede is going to stand out in Olly’s big boy bedroom phenomenally, and I cannot wait to share more photos with you soon!

Order your La Fede Character Bears now, or have a look at some of their other stunning products, such as wooden moneyboxes, Wall hooks and Quirky Media Hooks!

Website: http://www.lafede.co.za
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lafedeclothing/
Instagram: @lafede_designs

Photo: josie photography

Big Boy Bedroom

For those of you who don’t yet know, the past few months have been spent sourcing local companies to collaborate with for my toddlers ‘big boy’ bedroom. Olly turned two this past month, and we have decided that now is a perfect time to change up his nautical baby nursery into a Monochrome with an undertone of cowboy & Indian toddler bedroom.

I have been totally blessed beyond belief to have the wonderful Lauren from Lauren McCreath Interiors working alongside me on this project. She has helped bring me back to reality at times, and has also taught me so much about designing and bringing your dream room to life.

I have collaborated with 23 local, mostly Mommy owned businesses. I am absolutely blown away by the amount of talent we have floating around South Africa.

To name the companies:

Interior: Lauren McCreath Interior Design
Photographer: Melissa Van Riel
Decor:

Scandi Home Decor
Simply Child
Clever Little Monkey
Little Love Kids
Little Lofts
H&M SA
Poppy Divine
La Fede
Timber Touch
NaNook
Illumina Lighting
Work of Heart
Fenn & Ivy
Homie
Lily & Grace
Earthlings – Kids
Annapatat
Kideroo
Squiggle & Squeak
Sprouts Kids Co.
Fox & Moon
Coral & Hive
Moskito Kids

This has been a long process, but working with such wonderful entrepreneurs has been such a treat! Every single company has made sure that their products have arrived on my doorstep in advance to avoid any last minute stress, and each product was wrapped beautifully; many with a personalized note! You are all so wonderful, and you have been such gems in my life.

The bedroom will be photographed on the 19th September, and we will be revealing the space shortly after.

WATCH THIS SPACE!!! I PROMISE YOU, YOU WON’T REGRET IT!

A Walk Down Memory Lane.

The Wood Story is a modern take on the toys we had as children. I grew up zooming wooden vehicles around houses, roads and structures my brother and I had spent hours building. School days were spent dreaming of the story we would bring to life the moment we got home, and we would leap out of bed to finish off the last chapter of that story we had been ‘living’ in the night before.

My parents didn’t spend much money on plastic store bought toys. I had a great Uncle who was a carpenter. He made the best toys for us. Rocking horses, cars, wooden doll prams. These are all things that were used and played with on a daily basis. They were toys that couldn’t be broken. They had meaning, and a purpose in the land of toys.

You can imagine my joy when I stumbled upon ‘The Wood Story’. The name was captivating in itself. Every piece of wood has traveled a journey. You work that out. I clicked back and forth between the Facebook page and their website. I wanted to know more, see more, and I wanted to have it! For my child has to retrace these steps that I walked every single day in in my childhood. My dream is to relive these moments so close to my heart by spending rainy days playing with these very toys with him.

I am all for supporting companies who promote families to live an environmentally free lifestyle. The Wood Story of course, is one of them! They are durable, recyclable, and have no toxins! What more could a modern day mom possibly wish for? Being finished off with a splash of a gentle and relaxing pastel shade, they are easy on every Childs eye. All of their products which include wooden toys, puzzles, play dough and even wooden storage crates (to keep it all in order) are perfect for quiet play, and noisy play. They can be marched outdoors on a sunny day or used indoors on a day like today where the raindrops chase each other around the windows.

Handmade & designed by the very talented and creative Jason Selby in Cape Town. As he says himself, “These products  are made with an aim for sustainability by offering quality products that can be handed down from generation to generation.”  Now, how’s that for a walk down memory lane? A good opportunity to get a ‘when I was your age’ story brewing!

Now is your chance to educate your child from home through play. You can pop onto http://www.thewoodstory.co.za/ for a visit where you can browse and place your order. A cool idea is to order the products individually if you can’t afford a set, or you can buy a set and give them as gifts each birthday and Christmas. This gives them something worth collecting and looking forward to!

You can also follow their journey as a new company on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewoodstorytoys/?fref=ts or on Instagram @thewoodstory

Support local talent and shop small!

Read more about them in my upcoming Q&A with Jason Selby – the mastermind behind The Wood Story.