Have a look at Moose Matte when he sings the Swedish Frog Song – Sma Grodorna! Too goood to miss!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiQu25ddAD4

It is the classic and popular Swedish song “Sma Grodorna” that we sing when we dance around the Christmas tree and Midsummer tree ever year.

Traditional lyrics in Swedish:

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.^[1]

English translation:

The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe.

The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe.

No ears, no ears no tails do they possess.

No ears, no ears no tails do they possess.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa

When someone says retro design, many people might think of old and dull looking design. Is that true?

I would argue no. Retro design is more of a nostalgic design. Retro can look cool and has become a new trend, specially within kids clothing.

We base our retro design on strong colours, many colours originate from the seventies like orange, brown, green and purple.

Some of our inspirataion comes from the seventies when I grew up and a lot of our prints and design are based on what my mother got me to wear when I was a kid and my Swedish friends were dressed the same.

Multiprint is another way for us to create a retro feeling. We use a lot of multiprint like here for example with our Nisse car print. Nisse is a seventies convertible, he is not the fastest car but he is a plush, chunky and comfy car you’d want to go for a ride in.

We mix the typical girl colour pink with typical boy colours and print and create a unisex look. My daugther runs around in the Nisse car tee and yells bil which means car in Swedish. Of course she has an older brother, so she is very into cars, tractors and trucks!

Buy Swedish Kids Princess Tee for only $13.14 (RRP $24.99)

This short sleeve tee has a princess fit with puff arms. It is a lovely deep purple with simplistic short sleeve cut. Made from a specially blended 95% cotton for softness and durability with an added 5% elastane to make a more comfortable fit. The Princess Tee can be worn to a pair of jeans, a skirt or a pair of leggings.

For the next 48 hours you can buy it for only $13.14 (RRP $24.99) – This special is only valid for 48 hours (until midnight 11th November 2009)

Go to http://www.swedishkids.com/specials/princess-puff-arm-purple-tee.html and have a look at the lovely tee there.

Best regards,

Cecilia Lambie and the Swedish Kids Team

Over Halloween weekend we are having an Orange Special!

Get 20% discount on the Orange Moose Älgen Tee, only $19.74!http://www.swedishkids.com/specials/moose-algen-orange-tee.html

The moose is the biggest animal in the Swedish forest. We have appropriately named our moose Älgen which when translated means moose in Swedish.

Have a look here

Get 20% discount on the Orange Helicopter Albin Tee – only $19.74!http://www.swedishkids.com/specials/albin-orange-helicopter-tee.html

Albin the helicopter flies all around Sweden making noises and playing with kids. If you listen carefully you can hear Albin’s spinning propeller. Can you hear him?

Have a look here

Go into www.swedishkids.com to have a look!

Have a great Halloween!

Kind regards,

Cecilia and the Swedish Kids Team

Stripes can never be boring or wrong. Ränder is the Swedish word for stripes, and you’ll see them everywhere in Sweden.

Look at the photo to see the Ränder Special - $38.99 is the October special price for both tee and shorts (usually $51.98)

Buy a matching Ränder tee and three-quarter shorts together and save 25%!
Simply select your preferred size of Ränder Turquoise Stripe and Ränder Turquoise Stripe Tee and the Ränder Turquoise Stripe Shorts by going to http://www.swedishkids.com/specials/turquoise-bundle.html If you want the 3/4 shorts to be longer than just choose a size bigger as they have a string band for the waist.
Blue and white stripes have always been very popular in Sweden and those colors bring us back to those old black and white photos of people from days long since passed looking happy and relaxed while wearing striped bathing suits near the water. The goal of this design is to create that same happy and relaxed feeling our grandparents felt and share it with today’s kids.

Albin is a helicopter who loves flying around Sweden making noises and playing with kids. If you listen carefully you can hear Albin’s spinning propeller. Can you hear him? Albin is fast and naughty so in Sweden we call him Busige Albin which means Naughty Albin in Swedish. Although Albin is a bit naughty he loves playing with kids. Albin pretends to fly in and pick up the children to take them on adventures in the jungle to visit the lions and elephants and the moose Älgen.
Do you want to come for a ride today, Albin is flying over the forest in southern part of Sweden, it is a lovely day, and the sun is shining through the forest? Suddenly Albin sees the moose Älgen.

Albin flies down and asks the Moose Älgen what’s up?

-          I want to sing says the moose Älgen.

-          You can’t sing says Helicopter Albin. You are a moose, you go “Moo” and that’s it. You are not a singer.

-          Why not, the frogs can sing says the moose Älgen

-          Well they are a bit different, the frogs are wild. You are mellower than they are.

-          I can sing listen to me:

“Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane”

While the moose is singing all the animals in the forest is coming as they are concerned he is injured.
- Has anything bad happened asks Små  Grodorna the frogs?

-          No, not at all says the moose Älgen. I am just singing, perhaps I was a bit loud, sorry about that.

-          Ha ha says Albin, that’s so funny Älgen. Perhaps you need to practice a bit more. See you later says Albin and flies off. You can only hear the propeller for a second and then the forest is quiet again. And Älgen has stopped singing so the peace is back again in the forest.

Have a look at helicopter Albin here: http://www.swedishkids.com/boys/albin-orange-helicopter-tee.html

Have a look at Små Grodorna the frogs here: http://www.swedishkids.com/boys/sma-grodorna-white-brown-frog-jumpsuit.html

Have a look at the moose Älgen here: http://www.swedishkids.com/boys/moose-algen-orange-tee.html

When you think of Sweden you often think about snow and cold weather, combined with it being dark most of the time in the winter. What is easy to forget is that in the summer it is opposite. It is almost light around the clock.  The light in the summer is worldwide renowned and specially in southern part of Sweden. Österlen, an area in southern part of Sweden, is known for its amazing light, and the whole area is full of painters who live there due to the light and beautiful natural surroundings.  

Southern part of Sweden also goes under the nickname “the Swedish Riviera”, the county of Skåne is known for its beaches like no other region in Sweden. It’s the southernmost county in Sweden and offers long, warm beaches.

Åhus -Yngsjö has a forty kilometre long coast called the Åla coast. It is the autumnal eel fishing and the many eel huts that have made the beach famous, but during the summers it’s the beaches that matter. The sand is fine, white even though the water can sometimes be a bit cold. The constant topic of summer is . “Have you been for a swim yet?” and “Was it cold?”

When we were in Sweden this year, we went to Åhus -Yngsjö (where I grew up in the summers as a child). Here are a few photos from the Åla coast, where the white beaches are mixed up with eel huts along the beach.

Isabella playing on the beach with her bike

The kids playing on the beach

Åhus is a little seaside town filled with famous Swedish design. The most famous is Absolut Vodka that originates from Åhus, with the famous design bottle that they concurred the world with, Swedish design at its best. 

BLÅ STATION is another successful design from Åhus. BLÅ STATION makes furniture with an innovative frame of mind, or like they like to say themselves – with a child’s curiosity – and a heart that refuses to take the easy way out.

So it felt close to my heart when I had my first child William and I started dreaming about making sought-after Swedish designed children’s clothes, to start from my own Swedish inheritage, growing up in Åhus -Yngsjö during the summers.

I started with having a painter from Åhus, Malin Bolte to make a few characters for me, one being our character the Moose Älgen. The characters are fun and their personalities are vivacious. The Moose Älgen is funny, he loves running around the Swedish forests exploring. He is the  biggest animal in the Swedish forest but he is still loving and kind and the kids love him.

So from some of the characters I then designed clothing that was inspired from my Swedish upbringing. You can see some of the clothes being worn by the kids on the photos from the beach. They are actually all available in my Swedish Kids online store, very retro-vogue!

Designing and making my clothing range has been the most fascinating journey and I hope you will enjoy them as much as our little customers do.