We often say that one of the greatest pleasures of what we do is that we are able to involve (and occasionally even impress!) our kids in our day to day "work". We regularly bring home designs for them to critique and they have no trouble telling us like it is. In many ways, they make ideal critics: they are totally unconstrained by the "rules", are driven by gut feel and are unmoved by what anyone else is doing. They also have totally fresh, colourful and hilarious ideas.

Terra recently shared our process with her son's grade one class. In the simplest terms: consider who you are designing for, come up with some some general ideas / concepts for the designs & go for it. 

But they had so much more to teach us. Who knew that we had missed aliens as a major category of end-users (as distinct from regular adults, of course)?

The sheer joy, whimsy and fun these grade ones took in brainstorming and creating their own bags is palpable ... and contagious.

p.s. Are you an alien? We are working on a line of lunch bags specifically for you, coming soon. Do you require additional insulation as you travel thorough space? Please advise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time in our short (but growing) wholesale existence, Fluf was two places at once. Literally. Terra and Nathalie bolted down to New York to hawk Fluf at the New York International Gift Fair. Meanwhile, back in Toronto, our new and fabulous Canadian sales rep team, Group One and Associates, was holding down the fort at the CGTA. 

Look how much fun Terra is having in New York.

More Fluf at the NYIGF:

Oh, the trade-show-beach-fantasy shot again .... never mind.

We were saved by this amazing show survival kit, delivered to our booth by REstyleSOURCE (http://www.restylesource.com/home.php) a super cool new website delivering ideas for inspiring things to do, eat and see in cities throughout the US.

The beauty of the show-cation is that there is always a chance to sneak in a little culture-vulturing at the MoMa and grab some rich and savoury Greek yogurt from our favourite yogurt bar, Chobani, in Soho (try with pistachios, dark chocolate, honey, oranges and mint leaves ... imagine).

 

And ... back in Toronto, at the CGTA:

We're honoured to be working with the killer sales team at Group One and are in great company, alongside these fun & funky brands:

  

 

Whew. Good times!! The shows are now over. Ho hum.

Oh … January. The month of fresh starts, empty promises and random predictions. Here are a few of ours:

1.       Make better resolutions for 2014. Also, do them on January 1 for a more resolution-ey feel.

2.       Change our name to “fluff” to catch more Google hits. Better yet, change our name to “Facebook”, “Whitney Houston”, “free” or “you” (seriously).

3.       Don’t peak in 2013. More importantly, pray that we didn’t peak in 2012.

4.       Way over-budget and then act pleasantly surprised when we come in under-budget.

5.       Be nicer to the office mouse.

6.       Try to solve the mystery, “Why did mom’s have to be invented??!?”, as geniusly posed by Nathalie’s six-year old in the early days of 2013.

7.       Support the tiny Michigan state university, Lake Superior, in banishing these useless, overused and lame words of 2012: trending, spoiler alert, bucket list, superfood, guru, job creators and yolo (“you only live once”).  Others that came close: “I know, right?”, wheelhouse, epic and splitsville. All should go.

8.       Start responding innocently, “No, do tell …” when asked if we know what “fluffers” are.

9.       Finally clear out our mystery “trade show” box, or at least hide it in Terra’s basement when she’s not looking.

10.    Bring healthier lunches, and then run down to the corner store for chips because we are starving.

11.    Ride or roller-blade to work every day all summer, and not just for the first two weeks and then brag about it all summer.

12.    Wager a bet that Kate & William will have a baby, and that it will be either a boy or a girl and that it will not be named Apple or Maddox or Blanket.

13.    There is no #13.

14.    Pretend that we don’t know that this is really #13, like the 14^th floor of a hotel.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! Wishing you a happy, healthy, prosperous and fun 2013.

 

You can now broadcast your love for CBC / Radio-Canada with a CBC lunch bag.

Pick one up at a CBC store in Toronto (250 Front Street West), Vancouver (700 Hamilton Street) or online at www.cbcshop.ca. 

The best part? All proceeds from sales at the CBC Shop are reinvested into making high-quality, distinctive Canadian programming.

Interested in custom lunch bags? Check out our custom link for more information.  

 

 

We are happy to announce that Fluf reusable Snack Packs and Lunch Bags are now available at selected Whole Foods stores throughout Canada and the US (and coming to many more later in the summer and in time for back-to-school!).

Our reusable and organic lunch collection is now available at Whole Foods Market stores throughout the North Atlantic region (Central Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine) and will soon be available throughout the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington and British Columbia) and Midwest (Ontario (yahoo!), Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin) regions. 

Fluf Lunch Bags and Snack Packs are made with 100% certified organic cotton and a tested food-safe lining, and are free of BPA, phthalates and lead ... a perfect addition to Whole Foods' roster of high-quality natural and organic products.