For a limited time, the handmade and vintage marketplace, Etsy.com is offering £5 off your first order. To sign up and claim your discount (we suggest you shop wisely and treat a little person in your life to a Mimi & Will t-shirt), simply follow this link.
We had a visit to Smile Acorns, the first retail outlet where you can buy a small selection of t-shirts from our range! Located on lovely farmland in the North West of England, Smile Acorns is run by Emma, a fellow mum and maker of lovely childrenswear.
The shop is part of a larger farm complex, called Inglenook Farm. Other shops on site include a guitar shop, traditional farm shop showcasing the best of the region’s local produce, including Lytham Coffee, and the main product of the farm itself – essential oils and soaps from the fields of lavender growing outside! The stars of the show at the moment have to be the newly-arrived twin baby goats.
There’s also a traditional team rooms and a barn for hire. Last week was an Easter fun day for children, but chickens were also welcome, and keen to get stuck in!
You can find Smile Acorns just off what my dad calls ‘the Southport Road’, or the A570 as the rest of us know it. It’s close to Haydock, but even with race meet traffic on a busy Saturday, we drove there in about half an hour from the outskirts of Manchester. A good time was had by all (I went with my daughter, niece, nephew, dad and sister – a real family day out!)
Image by Clean Mama Printables
After a blogging hiatus at the start of 2014, we’re back with some Mimi and Will news. Behind the scenes we’ve been beavering away with new plans for the rest of this year. We’ve been talking to a handful of very nice shops about stocking our t-shirts so that more people can discover the tops that you and your children love.
We’ve been working on our branding, and making plans for an updated website and a photoshoot now that the light is starting to last past tea time and the weather is brightening up, too.
We also have some new designs on the slate, and have been collaborating with some really exciting people from the worlds of illustration, art and design. We can’t wait to show you our new samples later in the year once our new micro collection is ready.
We’ll be back again soon with more news, thoughts and musings – we have plenty to tell you. But don’t forget in the meantime, you can always find us on Facebook and Twitter for more frequent updates – see you there!
So we’ve been a little bit quiet around these parts for a couple of weeks, but here’s what we’ve been up to:
We can’t wait for the next step – to send you your packages and hear your feedback, too.
Did anyone else have to scrape ice from the car this morning? It’s getting chilly out there. Our thoughts have turned to getting cosy, and we’ve found some very nice things out there to warm up your day.
We want to snuggle with Mabel the Hedgehog, available from Sara Carr on Folksy
As t-shirt makers, we are also big fans of the winter layer. This basic but stylish pattern for a cover up is available from The Velvet Acorn on Etsy – crochet versions are also available, and patterns for all kinds of winter woolies come in styles which work for boys or girls.
One for the mums and dads, here. Cashmere socks are a staple of my winter evenings. This oatmeal textured pair are from Toast, which is a fine purveyor of all things toasty-making.
Although Brora.co.uk is new to me, the brand has been making fine cashmere products in the Scottish Borders for more than 200 years. They also have a very generous sale right now, with this traditional blanket for children reduced from £72 to £45.
Be warm out there!
No, it’s not just another Thursday night in at M&WHQ, we’re talking about an event taking place this Saturday at The Arches, in Glasgow. Next door to Central Station, just under the Heilanmans Umbrella, you’ll find The Arches – a great little space that’s host to every kind of entertainment, including live music, performance, art and even aliens.
This Saturday we’ll be there with our Mimi and Will samples for you to see in person, as well as assorted goodies from our alter egos with StellaMyStar and GirlIndustries. Gin in Teacups is a well-established Scottish vintage and crafts market and we’ve been assured that their events at the Arches are always a good time.
So come and join us from 12-5, check out what’s on, and maybe treat yourself to a bite to eat or stick with the theme and go for some gin in the bar. Hope to see you there!
Can’t make it along to see us? Remember you can always place your order online – but only for the next 6 days – at Indiegogo.
There are only a few days left to pre-order to guarantee that your Mimi and Will t-shirt will arrive in time for Christmas. To help you make your mind up, here is a guide to sizing on the t-shirts:
And because we can’t resist another look at the whole of our collection so far, here’s a little reminder of the designs we’ve released for pre-order.
Don’t forget to get yours here: www.tinyurl.com/mw-preorders
With ten days left to place your pre-orders in time for worldwide Christmas delivery, we thought we’d give you ten solid reasons for shopping with us.
There’s something here for everyone, boys, girls, siblings, cousins and friends. Whether dinosaurs, animals, nature, the great outdoors or gentler pursuits (ice cream, anyone?) are your thing, we offer a range of designs and colours to suit everyone from 2 to 12.
We’re so excited to be working with some of the UK’s leading illustrators, and designers from a range of disciplines, including ceramics, comics and other creative things not beginning with c!
It’s not just about t-shirts – treat yourself to a badge or colouring book. With the colouring books you get an exclusive sneak peek at forthcoming designs which won’t be released as t-shirts for a little while yet.
All our pre-orders include a 10% discount which is valid for a year on your future purchases from us – the gift that keeps on giving!
While children grow so quickly, the quality and finish of our garments mean that they make a great investment for handmedowns and passing on. Because they’re gender neutral, they’re twice as useful for sharing and giving.
With your purchase, you’re supporting not one but FOUR independent businesses – the t-shirt manufacturers who’ve signed up to fair labour principles in Africa and India, the British designer/maker who has provided the image on the front of the t-shirt, our lovely printers who run a traditional workshop in Wales and of course, us here in Scotland at Mimi & Will.
We’re at a critical point in our business development – every penny we receive in pre-orders goes towards making the t-shirts, spreading the word about Mimi & Will and commissioning more designs from wonderful craftspeople, artists and designers whose work we know would look fantastic on a t-shirt.
The more orders we receive, the better we can make our business – by improving our website, our photography and our branding – you could be a part of our success story by investing in us at this early stage. If we exceed £500 of pre-orders this week, our campaign has a chance of making it back onto the front page of Indiegogo’s website – giving us more exposure to potential customers.
Be ahead of the fashion pack – while we’re very new, we’re also confident in the quality, value and look of our t-shirts. Your kids could be amongst the first to wear and share Mimi & Will clothing, how cool would that be?
We’re making it as easy as possible for you to buy – pay with PayPal or credit/debit card via Indiegogo, or email us for an invoice at mimiandwill.uk@gmail.com – let us know how many t-shirts, badges or colouring books you’d like to order and we’ll take it from there – you don’t even have to make up your mind which sizes and designs you’d like, we’ll follow up with you once pre-orders close to get your preferences.
Go on, make someone smile on Christmas morning – or in our case, today! Order now at: http://igg.me/at/mimiandwill/x/3097542 – and as many of you have been doing (thank you thank you!) please continue to spread the word and share our link with friends, family and colleagues.
With only a few days to go for pre-orders, here’s a friendly reminder to count up all the children on your Christmas shopping list, to have your favourite designs in mind and your order placed here: www.tinyurl.com/mw-preorders. Previously, supporters in the UK have only been able to check out from Indiegogo (who is hosting our pre-order campaign) via PayPal, but now we are delighted to announce that you can also pay directly with your credit card – we never see your details during the transaction, but you don’t have to go through the extra step of PayPal to pay up.
If you’ve decided that Indiegogo isn’t for you, or you’ve experienced problems with the checkout process (we’ve heard it can be tricky on some phones), but you’d still like to pre-order t-shirts, colouring books or badges, drop us a line through the contact us form or via our facebook page and we can send you an invoice to pay direct via PayPal, cheque or bank transfer.
Mimi and Will 