fishnoodles

It's been quite a year!

2010-12-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Fishnoodles story has been all about change. I surely didn't start a cloth diaper business with everything figured out in advance! In fact, my intent was never to carry out a predetermined business plan. Instead I tried to listen to what mamas were asking for, and to move in those directions, learning from my customers how to best meet their needs. It seems this has worked out pretty well.

We're getting close to the end of 2010, and so much has happened this past year. When I think back to the start of the year, I was still sewing everything myself, just little ol' me!

The major firsts of 2010 -

talented seamstresses began sewing our diapers
we had our first custom diaper fabrics, binding, and snaps made for us
we branched out from Hyena Cart to open our own online store

Now we're moving on in even more new directions for 2011, growing from one online store to two!
These are:
Bright Star Baby - blog - facebook - for trim fitting bamboo cloth diapers and diaper covers
and
Diaper Sewing Supplie s - blog - facebook - for all sorts of cloth diaper fabrics and specialty notions

I hope that you find these developments exciting and will continue to journey along with me at the place that best meets your needs, whether for diapers or for sewing supplies.

If you want to know why...

2010-12-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

...Fishnoodles is now Bright Star Baby, the story is here: http://brightstarbaby.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-did-we-choose-bright-star-name.html

Please join us at Bright Star if you haven't already. Even though the only thing that has changed is the name, spam prevention rules do not permit me to move email subscribers to the new list. You have to add yourself and we sure hope you will!

We are also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BrightStarBaby We are having a giveaway - each time we hit 100 additional "Likes" everyone is automatically entered into a drawing for a gift certificate. And the amounts keep going up!

So come on over, and you'll be first to know when the new diapers are released!

Fishnoodles on TV

2010-12-04T07:59:00.000-08:00

One of our customers, Juliane Wylie, wrote into her local news station and got cloth diapers featured as a news story! Rock on Juliane! If you know her, be sure and give her some cyber kudos.

http://www.wfmj.com/global/category.asp?c=179433&clipId=5351058&topVideoCatNo=127724&autoStart=true

We were thrilled to see our Fishnoodles diapers on TV! In the first shot Juliane's baby is wearing a Nantucket plaid, and in the last shot a Turtle Friends Solo Flyer.

Now, the pediatrican in the story didn't think there are any health benefits to cloth, but over all it was a positive story, or at least "balanced." Unfortunately there is no place to leave comments, but maybe some parents will see the story and give cloth diapers a try.

Fishnoodles is now Bright Star Baby

2010-11-29T08:07:00.000-08:00

Fishnoodles online store is getting a name change! Fishnoodles diapers and covers will be sold at our new store, Bright Star Baby. In addition, we will be introducing a wonderful new diaper in 2011 under the Bright Star label.

Why the name change?
When we opened "Fishnoodles" in 2008, the idea behind the name was fun and playful - a leaping, laughing fish made out of bowtie and rotini noodles. It made for a cute logo and our customers loved it. We wanted to stand out from the cloth diaper crowd of bums, bugs, and bees...and that we did.

There were some unintended consequences though. Pretty soon we started getting restaurant supply catalogs - clearly someone was data mining the business registrations - and it was amusing to imagine the hot dog roaster or neon "open" sign in our home kitchen. Then came the calls. Calls about health insurance for our wait staff and credit card processing services for our restaurant. Calls about our menu and specials. And then finally -- the shipment of fabric that was coded as a shipment of noodles and shipped to us on a special truck certified for food handling. It was time for serious consideration of a new name.

Want to hear how we came up with the new name, and what it means to us? Please click on this link to subscribe to Bright Star Baby and hear the rest of the story...note that you will have to activate the subscription. We'd simply switch everyone on the Fishnoodles mailing list over to Bright Star Baby but spam prevention does not allow us to add subscribers, you have to add yourself and verify that you meant to join. Thanks!

Subscribe to Bright Star by Email

Black Friday at Fishnoodles

2010-11-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving in the US, "Black Friday" is a day of shopping discounts. In keeping with this tradition, Fishnoodles will be offering some specials on Friday, November 26th.

At Fishnoodles on Hyena Cart:
At 11:45 eastern time, over 60 items will become available, on a first come basis. These are seconds offered at a great discount. As usual, when I pull items out of my seconds bin, I often can no longer find the flaw...but since I saw something off at some point, a second it is! To keep people from immediately reselling these as first quality, the tag is marked with an orange dot.

At Fishnoodles Online Store:
Starting at 9:00 am eastern time and continuing throughout the day, use code BLKFRD for free shipping on diaper covers and all in one diapers.

On December 1st we will be announcing exciting new developments for our store...

Ready to Play?

2010-10-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Fishnoodles is a sponsor of the November 2010 Great Cloth Diaper Hunt!

The hunt starts on the 1st (yes, that's this Monday) so get ready!! Win prizes for finding hidden icons.

If you've never played before, it's a lot of fun. It works like this: you visit a list of natural parenting online stores. Each store has a diaper icon hidden somewhere in the store. When you find each icon and click it, you are automatically entered to win a variety of prizes. Plus, over at the Diaper Decisions FB fan page there will be daily giveaways throughout November.

If you need help, there is a forum where you can chat with other Hunters and the store owners can give hints.

We will offer a storewide discount for Hunters but you have to be registered for the Hunt to get the discount code. (Note: you don't actually have to find any icons to use the discount). Register here: http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/gcdhreg.php

Happy Hunting!

Our #1 Winner

2010-10-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

The winner of last spring's new prints poll is in! The moms on our mailing list far and away chose this as their favorite print. So here we go - a sweet pink diaper with lots of little multi-color hearts. It's called "Love Me" and we sure hope you love it too.

Did I just say "last spring"? Yup, it takes about 6 months to go from idea to fabric to diaper. And that's with doing it all here in the USA. This super cute bamboo all in one is now in stock at www.fishnoodles.com, link: Solo Flyer AIO.

It's the last day

2010-10-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

...for 1 cent shipping on diaper covers. Ends midnight, October 15th.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part!

I invite and encourage you to leave a review of your purchase(s) at www.fishnoodles.com - if you go to the relevant product listing and scroll to the bottom, there is a place to add your opinion.

While I don't think it's ethical to offer discounts or prizes for reviews, I do read every review and consider any suggestions carefully. It is my goal and passion to make the best products possible.

Next week (or so): a new print!

Printapalooza

2010-10-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Last chance: 1 cent shipping sale on diaper covers. Just one week left on this promo! A lot of folks have been taking advantage and it's an excellent deal especially for our overseas friends. I'd like to give a shout out to our Croatian families!

And now without further ado, let me introduce our new prints.

First up, we have Teal Ooga Booga. These are quite limited, so if they oversell you might be getting a refund instead of a diaper. But no fear, more Oogas to come in the weeks and months ahead.

Turning on the girly charm, we have pretty Pink Batik

and lively Jazz Garden.

And finally, no matter if your boy is rugged or refined, he'll look sharp in Nantucket Plaid.

Wondering if maybe you've seen these prints somewhere before? If you were on the fishnoodles blog/mailing list a few months back, you probably have. These are the prints selected by YOU, dear fans! And wasn't there one more? Yes. It's coming...we'll leave you in suspense!

New soft, natural colors

2010-09-30T19:42:00.001-07:00

As promised, new colors are in store at fishnoodles or our hyena cart, whichever is your shopping preference. We have this week:

Mint Chocolate,

Ivy Leaf,

and Lemon Balm.

1 cent cover shipping continues, with new additions of Snappers in Ivy Leaf and Lemon Balm. Hope you enjoy these!

New colorways and 1 cent shipping

2010-09-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

Here's what we have ready this week: diaper covers in three colors and one print. These are: Ivy Leaf, Mint Chocolate, Lemon Balm and Teal Ooga Booga.

To kick it off, we are running a 1 cent shipping promo for diaper covers. Now through October 15, all* diaper covers ship for a penny! Yes, this includes you international folks too, so this is a really great deal. This will apply to all the orders in the queue waiting to be filled and shipped, too. Oh, and you don't need a coupon code.

*This pesky little asterisk means the seconds sale is not included on the 1 cent shipping for covers.

Looking for new Solo Flyers? If you're guessing that maybe, just maybe, we'll be stocking some in the same colorways as these covers, you would be right. Look for these starting next Friday. The three lovely individuals who sew for Fishnoodles will see how much they can get ready for you by the end of the week.

Super humongous seconds sale

2010-09-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Calling all bargain hunters!

It's time for fishnoodles' first annual seconds sale. There is lots and lots stocked in the Hyena Cart store. These will go live Monday Sept 20 at 2pm eastern. What you see is what there is, and when it's gone that's all there is.

Some of the seconds were due to the stitchers getting used to sewing the product line. Some of it is just tiny little flaws because the sewing machine was naughty. And in some cases I can't see why it's a second but it's in the seconds box so I must have seen something off at some point. I'm pretty picky.

Everything is majorly discounted. I wasn't going to go this crazy, and then I thought, what the heck --there's a lot of people who could use a break these days. Hope you find something you need. Or maybe share this with someone you know who could use a bargain.

It's been a while

2010-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm excited that we'll have some new diapers and covers ready around September 24! And then we'll be rolling after that with more prints and more colors...
Why the month-long dry spell? Well, the talented people who sew for fishnoodles also have some other projects. They warned me about this way in advance...they sew certain specialty items that have to be ready television deadlines. No one ever thinks things will take as long as they do, and there are complications and fabric delays and so on. Part and parcel of getting products made, which many Americans aren't really in touch with anymore. I know I wasn't before starting this business. Anyhow, these folks are excellent at what they do and we are now back to diapers.

Lucky 13?

2010-08-12T19:33:00.001-07:00

Friday the 13th could be a lucky day -- if you are looking for a few new fishnoodles, that is. As promised [though a bit later, due to an out of town funeral] we have both Solo Flyers and side snap Wrapper covers in girly goodness: bubblegum giraffe and 'happy talk' floral prints, as well as blossom pink.

For the boys, there are also a fresh batch of Solo Flyers in the landing zone print. And last but not least, cheerful, gender-neutral cardinal red Solo Flyers have arrived too.

Visit fishnoodles.com or our hyena cart store to snap up yours. Continuing our mission to bring you new and exciting fluff...Once these prints and colors are sold out, they are gone!

Thanks for reading and best wishes for a lucky day!

New girly goodness

2010-07-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've got some new diaper covers in for the girls...mamas of boys, stay tuned for August, fun new stuff coming in a few weeks.

The Snapper covers you see here will be up on Sunday, noon, 7/25 at fishnoodles.com and hyena cart. There's only 2 of each per size (except 6 medium) so they may go quick.

If you were more in the mood for Solo Flyer AIOs or side snap covers, they will be ready in these colors and prints very soon (like next week, I'm thinking).

Prints poll and more about diaper fabrics

2010-07-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to help with decision making on some potential fall 2010 prints. [Edited: Polls are now closed] The comments were helpful too, and some of them really cracked me up!

If you are interested in learning more about diaper fabrics, read on.

The prints I pulled for the poll were from general purpose sources -- meant for adults, kids, pets, home dec. and so on. Now why didn't I just have all juvenile prints?

Think to the last time you looked at kids clothes in a store. Mostly cotton knits, right? So if you are a diaper maker who uses cotton knits, like for fitted diapers, you have hundreds of cute juvenile prints from which to choose.

Back to the store, how many of those kids clothes are made of lightweight 100% polyester knit? None! If you make diaper covers or AI2s, and you want to have a laminated diaper fabric that will not wick moisture out, how many juvenile prints are on the market? Almost none. There is no broader market for this type of fabric.

So, being clever diaper mamas that we are, we have found a couple ways around this situation. One is to use general purpose prints that can be obtained on poly knit (as with the prints I asked you to help choose).

Another is to find a company willing to license their prints and have the design custom printed on to the right type of fabric (for example, all the ooga booga prints, the chickadees, the retro owls, giraffes) -- there aren't many of these, so it tends to be the same few prints in different colorways. I get all of these that become available.

A third way to get diaper print fabric is to do it yourself. The Turtle Friends print was my own artwork. First I created the line art.

Then added colors.

And arranged the motifs into a print.

The print was based on my childhood memories of going to a summer cottage on the lake, where my sister and I would catch (and release!) turtles and frogs. I had this fabric custom printed, and then laminated, for use in my diapers. Custom printing is time consuming, expensive, and involves huge quantities. It's more fabric than I could use up in years, so I shared the Turtle Friends fabric with other diaper makers. In turn, sometimes I obtain fabric from other diaper makers who get their own artwork printed.

Right now I am working on some new diaper prints. I'll also be getting some fabric from another artisan - a hedgehog print, a safari print, and more. The whole process of printing and laminating takes months and months, but it is worth the effort. The more cute prints we can bring to little bums, the better!

Please help choose prints

2010-07-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've found some prints that might make good diapers, and I want to know what you think! Sure, I know what I like, but there's no guarantee anyone else would agree with me.

There are two collections - boy prints and girl prints.
[Edited: polls now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated]

Now, in case you were wondering why there are no pictures of robots and ooga boogas and other kid-type prints: there is no retail source for suitable children's prints. Sure, there are loads of little prints on cotton. But for diapers that will not wick, prints have to either be custom printed (which takes a while and which I already have on order elsewhere) or selected from general purpose sources (as are the ones here). It's these not-so-obviously children's prints that I need help choosing. Many of them make awesome diapers - tell me which ones!

Newborn covers

2010-06-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tiny little covers stocking this Friday the 2nd, noon at Bitty Fluff congo. Prints are retro owls, turtle friends, sea life, and watercolor splash. Also pool blue solid.

With these stocked, once again, I find myself waiting on fabric... I have 5 prints and 9 solid colors coming to me in the next several weeks. As soon as I have the new fabric in hand, we'll get it made into new goodies. I actually have over a dozen prints on order but I know some of them will take a good while longer before they are ready.

For instance, the sea life print that has been so popular - according to my records, I ordered the fabric last November. From ordering to printing, laminating, and finally shipping to me it took 6 months! This is why I can't simply re-order a print that sells out. The only thing I can do is keep offering new prints as soon as I get them in.

The upshot: if you see something you like, better snatch it up quick ;-)

The new fluff of summer

2010-06-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Fresh in the store, we have three new prints and one solid, in all styles.

As I was photographing all the new diapers and covers I realized they all have one thing in common - water! Seems like every year around this time I start thinking about pools, beaches, seashores... I didn't do it consciously, I swear, but here we have:

a watercolor splash print in a rainbow of hues;

turtle friends, with turtles, frogs and laughing fishies;

sea life, a print of all sorts of fish and sea turtles;

and finally,

pool!

As it so happens, this summer I got to go on the trip of a lifetime to a small town in the French Alps, nestled against a turquoise blue mountain lake. The water was brisk but I did swim in it--for a few seconds!

Hoping your summer is turning out to be relaxed and fun.

Print covers are in

2010-06-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

New print covers are up in the store! I wasn't sure I could get all the pics ready, including inside views, but I wanted you to have them available before I leave. There are pink giraffes and retro owls in both front and side snap, as well as pure white (solid color) in both styles.

As with the solid color covers, the prints have the front facings with the print in toward the baby. Some people prefer it that way for softness -- plus with the side snap cover it gives you a handy prefold holder.

Other mamas would rather have the entire inside with the laminate in toward the baby.

What you do think for the next round of covers? Please post over on the facebook page and let me know your views.

Prints on Friday

2010-06-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Print Solo Flyer AI2s should be ready to go this Friday! The prints are the popular orange, brown, and turquoise retro owls ~

And the equally popular retro giraffes, here in a pink, plum and lime colorway ~

(I don't have a pretty picture of the giraffes yet).

In addition, we will have some Solo Flyer diapers in pure white with white snaps in size Medium only.

The new Solo Flyers will be live in-store at 3pm Friday June 4th only at www.fishnoodles.com -- not at the Hyena Cart store. There is no "preview" feature, so these prints will not show up in the store until I make them visible at 3pm eastern. Since you know about it, you can be there first.

Why not Hyena Cart? Well, as it so happens, next week my sis, aunt, and I are heading off on a girls-only trip that we started planning 3 years ago! The last time we did this was about 15 years ago...ooh, feels old to say that! My dear husband will be at home to mind the kids and the store. Isn't he nice? To make things easier for him, I will be closing the Hyena Cart store for much of June and putting everything on the .com store only. That way DH only has one cart and one set of inventory to manage.

We are now working on diaper covers in the above owls and giraffe prints, as well as pure white (good for special occasions, religious celebrations, and when you want something that won't show under light summer clothes). I hope to get them stocked toward the end of next week. I really want to bring these to you as soon as I can...but I can't miss my flight! If we don't make it timing-wise, we will have these and other print covers and diapers stocked in late June.

Big Cover Promo

2010-05-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Ever thought about trying a fishnoodles diaper cover? Starting Sunday May 23, we'll give you $3 toward trying a cover with code tryone. This is only at www.fishnoodles.com (not Hyena Cart).

If you already have the love, then use code coverluv to buy 3 and get 1 FREE.

This is limited to current stock, so don't wait too long. Get your orders in and tell your friends - ends Saturday May 29th. We probably won't have another promo this year. If we do, it will be in August.

The fabric situation

2010-05-15T06:04:00.000-07:00

This is just a post to update and inform everyone, since mamas are wondering when will I ever have some other prints and colors stocked. You are right - there has been a real backlog in new fishnoodles due to fabric supply issues that are out of my control. I've mentioned this before but you might find it interesting to hear a bit more detail.

The main diaper fabric company that supplied most diaper businesses, Fabrite, went out of business last January. They made an excellent quality waterproof outer fabric, known as PUL. Many diaper businesses, mine included, relied on their fabric even though they kept raising prices pretty dramatically, because the quality was so good.

Unfortunately they kept their business situation quiet until March, at which point orders had already been delayed several months. At that point the cloth diapering business community found out that Fabrite was no longer in business - and that our orders had not been processed. A pretty lousy way to treat your loyal customers, to say the least. This is the reason that for months now I've been saying I'm waiting on new fabrics. If I had any idea that orders weren't actually being filled, I would have made other arrangements a long time ago.

We spent several weeks in late March and early April diligently identifying new fabric suppliers, requesting samples, testing samples, and finally placing orders with the best. Naturally, these fabric suppliers have been swamped with new orders in the last few weeks and existing customers are being served first.

We have hundreds of yards of PUL ordered, and waterproof diaper fabric is generally custom-made with a 4-6 week lead time. The first few prints are just now ready to ship, and then there will be time cutting and sewing.

We will be stocking many more solid colors and prints - I just can't say exactly when. I think within the next month the situation will be resolved. This whole thing has been very frustrating to me, and frustrating to you too, I'm sure. I thank you for your patience and for staying on the fishnoodles mailing list. I can't wait to bring you new diaper and cover choices!

Front snap covers in 5 colorways

2010-05-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Front snaps are here! Front snap covers now stocked at fishnoodles.com and at fishnoodles Hyena Cart (Friday 5/7 noon).

Here are the Snapper colorways...
Violet & Teal

Soft Poppy Sky

Nautical

Misty Mountain

Caribbean

In other news, I've joined the Revolution...Congo, that is, and am stocking there starting tonight!

Covers Update 3

2010-04-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry to post so many times this week! We've been finishing side snap covers throughout the week, and I want to bring you the newest colorways just as soon as they are available.

Stocking 4/30 at 2pm eastern at fishnoodles Hyena Cart we have two new colorways:

For those who like soft neutral tones, Butter & Slate is a pale yellow with slate blue binding and light blue snaps.

For pretty girls and fashionistas among us, Preppy Green & Pink just looks so right with spring tees and dresses.

These are also available at fishnoodles.com. Next week: front snapping Snapper covers.