At Baby Luno, we have searched high and low to find THE best possible baby book on the market and we are so excited that we have finally found The Monochrome Baby Book from Blueberry + Co! We wanted to a stock a unisex baby book that is a bit more modern than the fluffy animals, where you can personalise it to fit each baby's personality. I have two baby boys who are 2.5 years old and 6 months old. The first year is amazing and they seem to have incredible milestones each week that I love to record (especially now to compare the two). However, I also absolutely love all the funny things my 2.5 year old is starting to say and how his little personality is developing so that is why I LOVE The Monochrome Baby Book as it records up to 5 years! It also has lots of space for photos, which is the best way to keep track of how your little bubs are changing in appearance and the photos take you back to re-live those beautiful moments. What parents do not love taking photos of their offspring? I am guilty of probably taking too many, therefore a lot of photo space in a baby book is crucial for me!
Chloe from Blueberry + Co has designed The Monochrome Baby Book to be a perfect baby book to record memories and milestones, add lots of photos and more! Together with her husband Dave, they make up the perfect husband and wife team working two jobs each and raising their beautiful baby girl. They work hard during their daughter's nap-times and after she is in bed to bring you the best baby book on the market. Read more about their story below.
How did Blueberry + Co start?
Chloe: I started Blueberry + Co when I was on maternity leave from my job as a Landscape Architect. I started out hand screen printing tee-shirts for babies and toddlers, and designed the Monochrome Baby Book for my daughter as a way to get creative and do a bit of doodling. As the book got closer and closer to completion I realised I’d designed something that really met a gap in the market, so I dropped the shirts (by that point I was getting sick of getting covered in paint as well as baby vomit), and focused on the book!
Do you work full time with it or do you do anything on the side?
Chloe: I also work as a Landscape Architect alongside my husband, who is a Consulting Arborist, in our own consultancy in the Southern Highlands, NSW. We work 50/50 between the two businesses, and being able to do both has given us both a chance to be at home with our daughter for the last 6 months. We’re loving every minute, and while we’re growing both businesses, we feel very lucky to be able to spend this time with her.
What is your inspiration behind the Monochrome Baby Book?
Chloe: I designed myself a baby memory book after I had my daughter in Feb 2015 and I struggled to find a unisex baby book I could personalise. As a Landscape Architect, my love for hand drawing and the mix of soft natural textures and modern clean aesthetic definitely influenced the final design for the book. I also wanted a place to record my daughter’s personality as she grows and to be able to record her development in a book that wasn’t too cutesy or gender specific - so my book was born.
I have designed a unisex, monochrome memory book with a focus on hand-drawn patterns and motifs. I have hand drawn all the graphics and designed a 90-page book that covers pregnancy, birth, family tree, coming home, the first 12 months, years 1-5, all the milestones and firsts, as well as heaps of room for photos etc. It is printed on nice thick 100% recycled paper and is designed, printed and bound here in Australia (I am based in Mittagong, and my printer is in Wollongong). I feel its really important to support small Australian businesses, just like me.
I want this book to be a tiny place children can express themselves and can look back and watch their own style develop. The book can be left as it is or coloured and styled to suit the child (or parent).
What makes the Monochrome Baby Book stand out from other baby books?
Chloe: The Monochrome Baby Book has more content than any other baby book. It is 90 pages of all the good stuff (teething, sleeping, eating, milestones etc) and I’ve even designed in a bunch of photo pages at the back that you can customise with your own photos. We travel a lot, so in my daughter’s book this section is full of holiday snaps! Look out for some funny little tid-bits, like “Dad’s pregnancy symptoms” and “the crazy things we did to get you to sleep”… that’s the stuff of memories (or extreme sleep deprivation).
What is the best part about working with Blueberry+Co?
Chloe: The best part is how creative I can be on a day-to-day basis. I’ve managed to tie in the best parts of my job as a designer with mum life, and that’s pretty bloody awesome! I also love seeing how my customers use their book! It is such a thrill seeing them fill it in, I have to pinch myself a bit each time.
What is the most difficult part?
Chloe: The combination of a business and mum life!! I would love one whole day to work on the business but at the moment it’s a few hours snatched here and there, usually after my daughter has gone to bed. That can be hard. The house is almost always a mess, but I’ve decided that something has to give, and I don’t like housework much anyway.
What challenges have you come across?
Chloe: Moving from a service based industry like Landscape Architecture to a product-based business has been a massive learning curve. I have learned so much about photography, web design, automated emails, publishing, insurance, bookkeeping… pretty much everything!! It has been crazy, but I know that I’m building this business for my family so we can spend this precious time of life together.
Where would you like to see Blueberry + Co in 5 years time?
Chloe: I’d love to see Blueberry + Co products stocked throughout Europe, the UK and North America as well as all over Australia and NZ. We’re on our way, and we’re developing more products to add to the range to make it easier for you to record all of those precious memories in style.
Anything else you would like to tell our readers?
Chloe: We are so chuffed to be stocked by Baby Luno! It’s a massive win for us as a brand, and we really think we can give new parents an amazing product that will help them cherish, and laugh at, all the crazy things you do with a new baby!
The Monochrome Baby Book is definitely a must-have product and THE best baby book on the market, in our opinion. We are so excited to be stocking it at BabyLuno.com. Get your book here.