I just came across this absolutely Divine fairy tale jewellery for children from Italy and had to share!
Once Upon a Time is the brainchild of Brazilian jeweler Juliana Conde who now resides in Italy after much travel and has a healthy portfolio of graphic design under her belt. The Once Upon a Time collection includes pendents, earrings, necklaces and bracelets and an assortment of trinkets inspired by Cinderella, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Hansel and Gretel and the Ant and the Grasshopper.
Each piece comes in a beautiful storybook box with a booklet containing the fairy tale. Hmmm Abby's birthday's coming up, but maybe 5 is a little young for diamonds for everyday ware, but I'm definitely not too young!!
Just in case you may have missed an ABC Kids news blast, or possibly been living under a rock, Justine Clarke the darling of children's TV and music in Australia is embarking on a national tour kicking off in July with dates so far for Qld, SA and WA (unfortunately she's not making it up this far north though as yet which is a shame) and more dates for the rest of the country to be posted soon (find dates here http://www.justineclarke.com.au/tours).
We would dearly love to see you up here in Qld's biggest baby boom town HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE!!!!
On another note, some very cool little people are making a stir in Melbourne. Small Aussie kindie rockers The Mudcakes also have dates booked throughout June and if you are one lucky Melbournite you could even book them for your own personal performance. That would definitely make you the coolest kid in town!!
I asked Sherry and Rick (aka Mr and Mrs Mudcake) for a comment on the kids music industry in Australia, where big labels and brands seem to dominate our children's music and entertainment. They were so flat out booking shows and rockin the house that their multi talented and mega sock monkey manager 'Socrates Monk' came back with this statement...
"We are proudly independent and like to think we are part of the international movement towards more organic adult friendly children's music. We actually still get more interest and kudos paid to the Mudcakes from the US and Canada where the 'kindie rock/family music' scene is a viable part of the music industry and one of the fastest growing genres with great sales. In Australia people are just now starting to give children's music and the artists who are involved more respect. We hope that continues to be the case and that more folks will see that it is possible to be independent and forge your own path without relying on corporate record companies. "
Check out The Mudcakes website here for show dates, booking and more! Being fellow sock monkey aficionados I can't recommend them more :o) And to wet your appetite, here is a video of the Mudcakes song HUG - I love it for it's simplicity
So what are you waiting for? Get behind some great Aussie indie music talent and let the little peoples voices sing out loud!
If you know of any other indie kids bands out there in Australia trying to find a voice, send them this way
I've been writing this post for about a week, trying to find time with all the real life issue that keep popping up. I was trying the save the best for last for music month and I think I have.
Recess Monkey are about to release their fifth album titled The Final Funktier on June 15th and I think it is one of the more anticipated music releases of this year in the Children's music genre. Stephen at Zooglobble calls them the "heart of kids music today" and they have accolades coming out the wazoo. But I think the true testament to why they are so loved it that they live and breath kids in their real life jobs as school teachers. Jack Forman (on bass, vocals and keyboards) teaches the 1st and 2nd grades; Daron Henry (on drums and percussion) is a the helm of the 2nd and 3rd grades; and Andrew Holloway wrangles the Pre-K and Kindergarten years. that just about covers the entire age group the kindy rock genre is reaching out to give or take a few years. This may be giving them an unfair disadvantage over their contemporaries as they have inspiration on tap from a classroom filled with different experiences and imaginations. Makes me wonder if there is any junior groupy hysteria happening in those class rooms.
Their latest offering The Final Funktier is a solute to space exploration performed in funky funky style as the name would suggest. The guys have played around with a bit of electronica on this album which is a step away from thier usual sound, and they have been joined by special guests from the Seattle Kindy scene Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants), The Not-Its!, and Morgan Taylor and Rachel Loshak (Gustafer Yellowgold), as well as featuring kids in the chorus on 5 tracks.
Here is the first video from The Final Funktier - Moon Boots
Here is the video for Jet Pack
The Final Funktier is set for a June 15th release with a launch happening at Kindiependent in Seattle on the 13th.
