Keeping Mum

Our sterling silver ballerina necklace, by our lovely jewellery producing mummy, Vicky

Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent. Historically Mother’s Day in the UK was a day when children who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mothers and other family members. Some were even allowed to make a cake to bring to their family, this is where the tradition of cake making for Mother’s Day comes from. Everyone we know has different traditions for Mothers’ Day. I remember picking Daffodils in the cold March air….

With Mothering Sunday this month we have decided to tell you about some of our lovely producers who mix creating beautiful things for us with bringing up the children.

Home of Juniper Mother’s Day Bracelet, the lovely heart bracelet has been made for us by a mummy.

Sometimes it is the children who have come first, sometimes the creating. Originally a teacher, our lovely jewellery producer Vicky says that she turned her jewellery making hobby into a job while looking after her first child. Vicky then grew her business, ‘To be able to stay at home with my children/work from home! However that is not possible anymore but I am getting better at getting the balance right.’  Vicky’s family and business size have both now grown, but she is still amazing to work with, supplying Home of Juniper with her beautiful jewellery including our bestselling bee bracelets (with at least 10% of our bee bracelet sales going to BBCT bumblebee charity-Registered Charity No 1115634 Scottish Charity No SC042830) and our new hare earrings and necklace.

Another of our wonderful, creative mums is the talented Lindsey. From a buying back-ground Lindsey used her keen design eye to

Children’s Teepee by the lovely Wildfire, new to La Juniper

make the first teepee for her son’s first birthday. Since then she has continued to design teepees, children’s bean bags and more, all of her designs have a elegant monochrome design with a splash of colour. Her designs came from a desire to have children’s toys that she didn’t mind sharing her house with. A wonderful example of a mum making something with love for her own child, then being asked by other parents if they  could have one for their children. This slowly developed until she started her own business.

Our Bathing Beauty mum, Georgina, started her business after having problems finding creams suitable for her children’s delicate skin, ‘When we weaned our youngest Titus, his skin just broke down. I have never seen anything so sore.
Everything the GP gave us just made him scream, we were beside ourselves.
A diagnosis of eczema was given.
As a qualified osteopath I have a detailed knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Skin is our interface, we see a lot of it!
I also have a lifelong interest in medical herbalism and homeopathy. I have used both to help my family through illness with great success.

Bathing Beauty Sweet Feet Gift Set by Georgina

I decided to set out to create something to wash Titus with and something to soothe his skin.
I picked up a book from our library and got started, on my kitchen table.’

I have created all my products in this way. Our aim is to deliver affordable effective solutions to skin and well being issues.
I must be on to something as we have won 15 national awards!
All products are registered with The Vegan, or Vegetarian Society and are Cruelty Free.’ 

We also asked Georgina how hard is it to start a business while looking after children. She gave an insightful answer into running a small business;
Make no mistake setting up and keeping a business going is punishing.
I went from making on my kitchen table to selling at street markets all the freezing winters on 2011 and 2012.
But I made some amazing friends, and I learnt a lot. We now supply the National Trust, Royal Horticultural Society and have started to Export.
If you want  to do this, be prepared to pay the hefty toll that it takes, physically, emotionally and financially.
 
That said, It is totally worth it.

From Wales we go further afield to Hanh Dung and her family in Vietnam. Hanh’s basket weaving skills have been passed down from her parents. These amazing tal

Beautiful woven basket made in a family run business in Vietnam, including Hanh who looks after her two sons when not working

ents have been part of her life since before she had children, skills that she probably thinks are everyday, but that we think are quite wonderful. Outside of work she looks after her children and likes to spend time with her family.

Drift to another continent and we find Pushpa who, along with colleagues and other members of her family, makes our linen napkins . These beautiful quality linens are made by Pushpa and her family in Bashka, near Jaipur. Pushpa learnt her craft when she married into a family of fabric makers. A skill that helps her, with the rest of her family, provide for her two children. When she isn’t at work, like many of our British mother’s she spends her time cooking, playing with her children and seeing her friends.

We at Home of Juniper are proud to be supporting our creative mums. These are just a few, our key-rings and many more of our products are made by some very talented women. We know lots of mums; stay at home mums, office mums, factory mum, creative mums, the list goes on…. All of them hard-working and wonderful.

So this is our little appreciation piece for all the lovely mums out there. Whether you are a new mum, an old mum, a working mum, a stay at home mum, a creative mum, a biscuit baking mum… Thank you! And remember to let yourself get a little spoilt on Mothering Sunday.

NB…Dad’s can be pretty amazing too, and we have just introduced the lovely Lumilights to our product list, the first one of which was made by the lovely Chris for his daughter.