So, nearly at the end of January! So, apart from 'the rainbow effect' what else do i get up to. Well, live in a wooden house in the Argyll Forest (just watching the snow at the moment!) with two small children, Bobby (5) and Effie (2), pictured, plus husband, daft dog and very lazy cat. Am part of large and extensive family who provide me with much laughter, all of who I love dearly, and most of who my long-suffering husband (Laurie) thinks though not quite bordering on the clinically insane, are indeed, quite mad!!

So, when not dyeing lots of small clothes am generally trying to keep the hoose reasonably clean/tidy-not always and easy task as the kids seem hell bent on making the place a midden and (let's face it) i'm not someone who relishes the challenge of housework. My own mother, fanatically clean house that is pristine, really can't figure out where she went wrong. I do however make a mean pot of soup and bake a tasty loaf, so it can't all be bad.

Right, off to make soup now. Will think up some punchy anicdotes for next post-maybe the one about Bobby and the lollipops.......

As For 2008

And what will 2008 bring? Well, watch this space – we are hoping to expand the product range even more, with more colourful leggings, dungarees and dresses. We have sourced some lovely organic baby wear and are hoping to team these with fair trade and recycled fabric soft toys and organic Scottish goats milk baby soaps to make a truly delightful organic ‘Welcome Baby’ gift basket. Also coming, gorgeous baby blankets and personalized vintage-style bibs. Our website is live, but not doing a lot just yet; however, we will be pulling out all the stops after Hogmanay to get the blessed thing up, running, taking orders and processing payments!!

And Finally

Repackaging. We’ve spruced up our packaging – all gift sets come wrapped in lovely, crisp cellophane, with the trademark rainbow ribbon trim and all labels now bear washing instructions, etc. We hope you like!!?

Bags

Bags and bags and bags…….what can I say. We thought that maybe some matching tie dye gift/presentation bags would provide the ‘wow’ factor for the smaller gift sets, such as the underwear sets. We were not mistaken! They looked superb. So we went looking for more bags (it was all very exciting, but maybe you had to be there to appreciate just how exciting). We are now producing small and larger tote bags in gorgeous rainbow tie dye shades. Not only do they make terrific gift bags, party bags and book bags, but the bigger ones can be stuffed in a handbag or pocket, produced with a flourish and used as shopping bags. Not just gorgeous, but green as well!! So if you are looking for a cheap, cheerful and useful present think ‘bags’.

Arran Aromatics

Some of our gift ranges carry Arran Aromatics products from their ‘Baby Feel’ range. These are hypo-allergenic and very, very kind to new skin. The range is not cheap, but we didn’t want to pad out the gift sets with cheapo rubbish but rather ensure our gift sets were of the highest quality and worth every penny. The range is absolutely delicious, so delicious that we’ve all been using the barrier cream – it makes a brilliant hand and body lotion (but don’t tell the nippers!!)

A Wider Choice In Our Gift Range

Our baby vest and socks/tights and girls/boys undies and socks/tights, are still as fabulous, and even more fabulous is our extensive range of glorious gift baskets some of which include the Arran Aromatics gift range as well as a delightful bundle of rainbow separates and a wee wooden toy such as an elephant jigsaw or mini wooden book. As always, we can bespoke any gift bundle or basket that you order. They look pretty damn special and are a lovely welcoming gift for any new mum and baby to receive – as well as probably being the only gift that doesn’t come in pastel pink, pale blue or cream!!

Outfits

We had all these lovely separates and we wanted to prove how versatile they could be, so we have put together a fledgling collection of dresses, dungarees and the most fabulous rainbow leggings. All outfits come with matching socks and tights as required. All the clothing comes from a wholesaler who only supplies fair trade clothing and this (plus the organic factor) is something we will definitely be looking at more closely this year.

Socks

And look at our rainbow socks!! Hand knitted in Nepal, very cosy, from 6m-18m, how flippin’ funky are they!! Don’t you wish you had a pair? Well, we are trying to source some adult sized ones – perfect for brightening up those lazy winter days around the house – your very own indoor rainbow!

Tie Dye Tights

We already did tights in block colours - so hey, we thought, why not tie dye them. They look absolutely stunning and we are very chuffed with them. At present our age range is up to 12 years, but we are trying to source some adult cotton tights as so many Mums have been saying that they want them too!!

Hats

Well it goes without saying, ‘If you want to get ahead, get a hat’! So, for gift sets and to compliment our baby separates range, we have a range of stylish cotton beanies (0–6 months/6–12 months). In addition, we have some rather colourful and warm woolly hats for 2 year olds to teens as beautifully modelled here. These are hand knitted in Nepal and vary in colour and pattern, but we think this just adds to their appeal!

The Rainbow Effect Newsletter

Blimey, another year done and dusted. Because it was such a busy year for us we thought we might let you know what’s new with the rainbow effect, and what’s coming up for this year.

Well, we’ve been very busy. The most important major change has been the relocation of the company to rural Scotland. This was all achieved in a record 3 months and now we have settled in we know we definitely did the right thing. The company has continued to go from strength to strength and we feel confident that 2008 and will be even busier!!

So, what’s new? Here goes……..