Featured Business

 Peekaboo Magazine is a Brisbane based mgazine that is fast becong sought after in other areas too.  Simpy stunning is this magazine, Bianca has done a brilliant job. Everyone is talking about it… everyone wants a copy. 

WHO is Peekaboo? 

development and running of several publications. After having

her first child last year she saw an opening in Brisbane for a

magazine to celebrate families and related services. Bianca

wanted to demonstrate that Brisbane has a wealth of

experienced and educated people with a great array of places to

make your families’ memories. A crucial part of the idea was to

create an easy to use map/directory of all of our Brisbane

based boutique children’s stores, activities, mother/parent

groups, family friendly cafes/restaurants, playgrounds,

education facilities and so on. So with that in mind Peekaboo

Magazine was conceived and launched on November 1 2009

  I am so in love with this publication,  Its fresh, and very stylish.  The articles are extremely well written and captivating. I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Urban Harmony” pg 20.  I think having my own daughter who takes an interest in my business helped make the article so meaningful.  I really look forward to visiting when I come up next.   Also great to see the article about food allergies (pg42) especially as Easter approaches.  Must be so hard at times for the whole family. Thanks… I have a better appreciation now.

The middle spread (pg 26) was AMAZING.  I now have a map where heaps of places to visit when we come up for our next holiday  (July).  The parks are great stopping places as we love picnics and riding our bikes… but it was the shops that had my interest.  Wow so many gorgeous ones… was great to be able to look up all the websites of these places and know which ones to pop into along my travels.  THANKS!  La Toriana was featured in the online section (pg 32) … THANK YOU so much for including us!!!

Tiana loved the map… she was lying on the mat looking at all the pages and then was using it as a PIRATE game with her leggo…. 

“ I have never heard of a pirate jumping ship and then riding a horse”,  I said,

she quickly spun around, looked at me and replied… “well how else are they to get their supplies from town? ” 

“ahh yes… youre so right.. OF COURSE“  I  quickly replied… to a satisfied smile

 Ed.1    Ed.2

 I am sure you will agree the photography is more than stunning and help bring alive the gorgeous images it portrays. ”Crisp, Fresh, Inspiring” are words that come to mind each time I turn the page. She is able to capture gorgeous images with “wow” factor.   Naomi Vasingtonis the official photographer for this magazine, and she is extremely talented! Just have a look at her website to see for yourself. Check out her great offer for Peekaboo Magazine readers on pg (10).

 La Toriana has been honoured too in having Naomi take photo’s for our website, and they are stunning. We hope to see more of Naomi’s work at La Toriana very soon… so keep an eye out.  I am ever so honoured to be working with such a gorgeous person and photographer.  Give her a call and book in your family portraits too… cant wait til she does ours!!!

Honestly, Peekaboo Magazine is a great magazine.  I sat there and read it for hours and drooled our the photo’s, the many gorgeous products for babies, kids and mums, and have a whole new appreciation for shops, people and places in the Brisbane area.  There are great recipes, amazing product features, inspirational stories, competitions and more

 If you haven’t got a copy… make sure you subscribe… I HAVE!   Peekaboo Magazine is going into its 3rd edition, and  just know its going to keep getting better and better.  Well done Bianca.  Its a great publication and love reading about whats in the area….  hhhmmm… need to branch out now and do a Victorian edition! !

Peekaboo magazine has a face book fan page… so join in and see all the latest happenings.  Tell them we sent you!

 some items featured in the 2nd issue of Peekaboo magazine

 warmly   Elizabeth xx

 La Toriana’s FACEBOOK  Profile       

| The Beauty and Lace Box|

Warmly Elizabeth xx

 La Toriana’s FACEBOOK  Profile       

FEATURED BUSINESS

“Arrr me hearties by i dream of cupcakes

Spread the word – it’s a pirate party send a message in the bottle invitation.  You’ll need either tea stained paper or buy a vintage cream colored paper from your local newsagency.  Print invites and then burn the edges of the paper for the authentic feel, roll the invite tightly, write your guests name on the outside and pop inside a test tube/small bottle.  You could also start a treasure hunt with a map to the birthday boy/girls party with X- marks the spot  as the party house/treasure. We stock Paper Eskimo stationery which has a very cute pirate invite.

To decorate – we love …

Ball and chain garland – the kids will love to help out with this.  Purchase about 30 sheets of black paper from local newsagency.  Cut each sheet into approx 5 equal sheets and staple together to make the chains. Attached black balloons for the ball,  if you want the ball to drag add a handful of sand to the balloon.  Treasure map table runner look divine – you’ll need butchers paper and a bit of creative flair – use rub on tattoos for extra effect and use a think black marking pen to “dot” or mark the map – at each end a large “X” and some chocolate gold coins (can be purchased from local supermarkets).

Accessories – black of course.  Black plates and cups.  You could add skull and crossbones stickers to the paper cups.  Or mix it up with white cups and black skull and crossbones.

Games –

The treasure hunt or all treasure hunt.  You’ll need 2 teams.  Spread plastic gold coins through the house and garden.  Give each team a tin bucket and whichever team comes back with the most $$ they get to hoist the flag.  BUT the will also have to complete the obstacle course through very fierce waters filled with crocodiles and Parana’s! Flags can be purchased from most variety stores.

Party bags – treasure chests.  You can purchase small black boxes from spotlight.  Use strips of bronze card to make rusty gold bags and if you really want to go all out tie and piece of chain and padlock with a lock and key – use small link chain from a hardware store and a travel lock is approx $3.50 also from hardware stores.  Fill with candy bracelets, choc money and natural confectionery company make great themed party lollies

A feast that will shiver your timbers!

Cannonball meatballs

Walk the plan toasted sandwiches ( I use lavish bread)

Seafood baskets

Peg legs (chicken legs)

And of course pirate and skull and crossbones cupcakes from i dream of cupcakes.

And there you have a spectacular pirate party”

Cheers

Nikki (owner I dream of cupcakes)

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Thanks so much Nikki for sharing with us your business and this inspirational PIRATE themed birthday party!.  I love all the suggestions and food ideas, and your cupcakes look DELISH!!!.

  The boys look like they are having a ball at this party too.  Will ceratinly be a party they talk about and remember well! Anyone who loves cupcakes, great kids party inspiration and more… check out Nikki’s website i dream of cupcakes

 I just love this theme and its great for any age kids birthday, and great for girls just as much as the boys!

At La Toriana we have some great party dressups for kids you can start planning your next kids party!.

La Toriana isnt just about beautiful kids designer clothing, or great baby gifts online or even just about the amazing Australian and New Zealand designers in kids and baby fashion.  Its so much more!!!

We have great kids costumes, party wear for girls and boys and baby fashions. We  also have some great invitations, cupcake wrappers and more… check out the party time section of La Toriana online.

some suggestions at La Toriana to get you started!

 La Toriana’s FACEBOOK  Profile       

Our labels include, Alimrose, annieB, Lambykins, Princess Allure, FairyFloss Creations, Eternal Creation, Vanchi, TikiBoo Kids, Little Pearls for Little Girls, Tea Princess, Three Little trees, Tummbear, Dolly Up, babyjo bamboo baby wear, nest organics, early birds premature baby clothes, teeny weeny premmie baby wear, Oopsidaisi, boxy design, anamalz, Briit design, Bump buddy, cheeky little soles, Sounds for silence, Deshabille, eco peko, fINNIGAN fINN, gertie and me, Hey baby, huggalugs, i candy, lazybones, Knuffle Kid, Ogilvies Designs, Bethany’s Child,  locolili, miniwhisk, mon tresor, nana huchy, nanny pickle, OOBI baby, penny scallan, Tabitha Emma, Tippie Toes, Robert Gordon Australia, Sweetie Pie, Princess Ratbag, Alannah Rose stationary, Mulberry Muse, Vintage Kid, Wild Things of Noosa, YmamaY, Xanna,  and so many more!

FEATURED DESIGNER

We asked a few children what Christmas means to them.  We asked the questions early - mid December aged 2-6yrs.  We just asked the simple question

“What is Christmas all about?”

Miss Jayne: 4 yrs       “Santa flies in the sky and brings presents if you are good.

Miss Tammy: 4 yrs      ” If you have been good God and Santa know and you get treats.”

Master Jinton 6 yrs     ” You put a tree up as a sign of respect to Santa”

Miss Jaimee 2.5 yrs     “um… Santa comes in the back door and leaves present and gets to eat biscuits”

Master Reece 6 yrs      ” God gave his Son to us and we celebrate his birth by giving gifts to friends and family.”

Miss Annleise  3 yrs     ” I don’t want to sit on Santa’s knee!!!”

Miss Laura 5 yrs        ” Santa, presents, food, presents and stuff!”

Lol… its always so fun watching and listening to kids around Christmas.  They are all trying to be good, writing out Christmas lists and posting them to the North Pole, though I hear Santa has email now and many kids are emailing him too.  See Santa in his workshops at the North Pole. 

I know This Christmas will be great to spend with family and friends. I am guessing, like me, you will be taking lots of happy snaps and great photo’s to look back on years later, or to proudly display in an album or frame.   The kids will be sparkling with excitement, wearing their best designer kids clothing, eating the best cooked Christmas lunch and dinner.  So what can we do to take some great lasting memories with our camera this year?

Rachel Richter photographer who took the above photo helps all us with great suggestions when taking our happy snaps this festive season:

Words by Rachel….

As the person in charge of the camera in my house, I’ve experienced many Christmas mornings and I’ve picked up a few tips along the way.

I believe the most difficult part of the day to photograph is the Christmas morning present-opening-frenzy!

My advice for successful shots at this time….

- Have each family member wear plain clothing. There are usually enough distracting elements with the wrapping paper, presents, tree and general chaos. Our family tradition is for each person to wear new (plain) pyjamas to bed on Christmas Eve.

- Make use of the Zoom function on your camera. Frame the expression on your child’s face as they discover what lies beneath the wrapping paper for the first time.

- Position your subject directly in front on the Christmas tree –

the foliage makes a great background.- If you’re lucky enough to own an external flash, then definitely use it. You’ll avoid harsh shadows and glare. If you want to avoid flash altogether, open all window coverings/blinds etc and turn on all room lights.

-          Vary your camera angle and keep shots interesting.

 __________________________

 Christmas Light Photography

There is something magical about a Christmas tree lit up at night and there is no better time of year to capture photographs of light.

You’ll need a steady surface for this technique, so dust off your tripod. (Otherwise an ironing board will suffice)

Mount the camera on the tripod

Turn off any distracting light (ie, fluorescent tubes, room lights etc)

Set your camera to Manual and choose a long exposure (the shutter speed of the image here was 2.5 seconds. Typically anything over ½ second will work –  

remember the longer the shutter is left open, the more the “glow”) Choose a high ISO (ie, 800 if possible)

Turn your Flash OFF (unless you want to photograph a subject in front of the tree or show how the tree has been decorated)

If possible, to avoid camera shake, set the timer on your camera.

Line the tree up, press the button, sit back and wait.

To get the best result, I recommend taking a series of photographs, varying the settings each time. Compare the differences between each and choose your favourite (don’t forget to write the settings down for next year!)

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don’t forget too to join our face book page… we have heaps happening

 La Toriana’s FACEBOOK  Profile       

At La Toriana we have a passion for kids fashion.

Our labels include, Alimrose, annieB, Lambykins, Princess Allure, FairyFloss Creations, Eternal Creation, Vanchi, TikiBoo Kids, Little Pearls for Little Girls, Tea Princess, Three Little trees, Tummbear, Dolly Up, babyjo bamboo baby wear, nest organics, early birds premature baby clothes, teeny weeny premmie baby wear, Oopsidaisi, boxy design, anamalz, Briit design, Bump buddy, cheeky little soles, Sounds for silence, Deshabille, eco peko, fINNIGAN fINN, gertie and me, Hey baby, huggalugs, i candy, lazybones, Knuffle Kid, Ogilvies Designs, Bethany Child,  locolili, miniwhisk, mon tresor, nana huchy, nanny pickle, OOBI baby, penny scallan, Tabitha Emma, Tippie Toes, Robert Gordon Australia, Sweetie Pie, Princess Ratbag, Alannah Rose stationary, Mulberry Muse, Vintage Kid, Wild Things of Noosa, YmamaY, Xanna,  and so many more!

We have one of the largest and most stylish, affordable collection of premmie baby clothing, premature baby gifts and newborn baby keepsakes available to buy online. If you have a baby born early, or are a friend/family looking to give a premmie baby gift… contact me and I can help you to choose the right baby gift for them.