JUST TO LET YOU KNOW: We’ve extended the deadline for entries to Friday 24 May – so don’t dilly-dally….enter now!
As a parent of young children I feel the constant pull to keep my children free from the rapid growth of commercial influence and allow my babies time to be young. Children have an amazing ability to see the beauty in everything, if we nurture this natural play then we allow them to slow from the fast pace of the world, giving them vital lessons for life.
We here in our home have a few of Elfin Trails beautiful treasures and my children get lost in play with these. I watch my sweet girls tending to her faerie garden for hours, lost in a wonderful world of small delights. It is so precious to watch.
I spoke with the lovely Ange and this what she had to say about her journey...
1. How
long has it been that you have been making these beautiful treasures for
children? and why did you start this magical range?
I’ve always loved making things
but when my children started attending a Steiner kindergarten a decade ago I
fell in love with the craft. That’s when I began delving into the world of
natural toys, dolls and imaginative playthings, inspired by Mother Nature and
elementals like faeries and gnomes. After years of making things for my
children, my friend’s children and my children’s school, I started my business
Elfin Trail two years ago.
2. I
love how all of your items evoke imagination and keep the child deeply rooted
to the earth, this makes your items so unique and individual. Was this your
intention?
Absolutely! I’m passionate about
childhood, protecting that fleetingly precious time of wonder, imagination and
play. I find it heartbreaking - the current culture of rushing kids through
childhood - educating them faster, filling their time with adult-directed,
scheduled activities, bombarding them with marketing messages and adult concepts
and facilitating hour after hour in front of a growing range of screens. In my
own small way I’m trying to remind people that imaginative play is profoundly
important to children.
3. If
you could encourage something for the children of today what would it be?
If our children have any chance
of saving this planet for our grandchildren, they’ll need to love nature. To
love nature you have to spend time in it: touching, feeling, smelling, watching,
exploring, experiencing it. It’s incumbent on us as adults to give our children
time and space and freedom to experience nature everyday. Let them take risks,
let them climb trees and get dirty and build forts and play with sticks and
rocks. Hang out at beaches, go for bush walks, stroll in parks, go on picnics
and camping trips. Watch sunsets, roll down grassy hills, build dams in creeks.
Have backyards that invite play and pottering and building and gardening (and,
yes! Making faerie gardens!) and have long lazy days at home that allow plenty
of time for children to develop their own play.
To enter the $50 Elfin Trail Voucher giveaway all you need to do is:
2. Leave
a comment on this Mindfully Green blog post.
Plus all Bloggers who share this
competition on their site will receive an extra entry in the draw.
The winner will be selected randomly from the Mindfully Green blog
posts. The competition opens at 9.00am EST on Thursday 2 May and closes at
7.00pm on Thursday 16th May 2013. The voucher is redeemable for
products from Elfin Trail and not transferable for cash. The total value of the
voucher is $50 to include any postage costs. Gift voucher is valid until 16th
August 2013. Winner will be notified via email and posted on www.elfintrail.com and www.mindfullygreen.com.au . Entry
is open to both Australian and overseas residents.
Good Luck!
Gorgeous! I adore how children see the beauty in everything. They do a great job of slowing us down too xx
ReplyDeleteamazing! What a great giveaway
ReplyDeleteyes please! i believe childhood is sacred and the most important gift we can offer our littles is time. I would love to create more magic in our garden!
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you for being another positive influence in the world, to counter...everything else.
ReplyDeleteWhat a awesome giveaway a magical one that my boys would love good luck everyone.
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway! I've signed up. Thanks for letting me know about it x
ReplyDeleteLovely giveaway. I signed up!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute shop! Signed up for the newsletter with real interest (which I never normally do!) because my house is quite the faery discussion post. We have a small rock in the backyard that has a perfect little oval in it, that my daughter has dubbed the 'doorway to Faeryland'. She leaves them notes in there and the faeries write back and leave their notes in the doorway too. We're just redesigning our front yard and, of course, had to include in our design a front yard homage to the faeries so they could see it too. The voucher would work in perfectly for that!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the introduction to the shop, love it.
The magic land of childhood. What a lovely giveaway, would be great for gifts x
ReplyDeleteAWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!! I believe everything she said about how very sad it is that our culture is rushing kids to grow up. That couple with the usage of too many screens makes me sick! Thank you so much for putting this out there! Love it! I just have a question...How do I share this competition on my blog???
ReplyDeletewonderful! I bought a little treasure from your stall at the Glenaeon Fair last year, such lovely things I remember. My 3 year old loves her little gumnut baby in a pouch - would be wonderful to win this giveaway
ReplyDeleteso many lovely things, and a great business philosophy
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful inspiration everywhere here! I love it
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love all those treasuries! Simply magical!
ReplyDeletelovely giveaway! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific giveaway. I only just discovered Elfin Trail but am already in love.
ReplyDeleteWonderful giveaway! Have just popped over and signed up for the newsletter and have taken a peek at the shop - the faerie garden kit would be so perfect for the fairy garden we have just made. xo
ReplyDeleteI already adore Elfin Trail, such beautiful delights!
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ReplyDeleteYesterday my son asked why he didnt have the latest in technological toys (an iPad) ... it really seems that these so-called necessities are fast becoming a way of life for young children and it is so very disheartening.. Treasure toys such as these by Elfin Trail, remind me why to stand my ground on these discussions and are a beautiful and gentle reminder to all of us on why we should keep the beauty of childhood intact and not over run with materialism... Thank you Amber for sharing such simplistic beauty on not only your page, but on pages like Elfin Trail :) xx Bel
DeleteHi, Elfin trail has such lovely treasures, my little pixie will love them too :-) x
ReplyDeletehello lovely, are you still around? i haven't heard from you for a while, or seen any new blog posts. hope all is well. xxx jay
ReplyDeleteI think I might have been underneath a rock too long, because I didn't know about bamboo products like this! Thank you for giving me some awareness. =) I am really enjoying your blog. Your pictures are wonderful and your words are thoughtful. Great space! powder green tea perth
ReplyDelete