Souvenir shop of National Tourism Organization of Serbia
Within the framework of its souvenir program, the National Tourism Organization of Serbia endeavors to present the best our country has in its offer of “memories to take away”. This time, in our regular column dedicated to carefully chosen souvenirs, edited by Natasa Drulovic, we are presenting a choice of nice little things intended for children and absolutely young people.
Together with his team, Sasenjka Meljnikov, a citizen of Novi Sad, the author of the SASH collection, designed a line of children’s wear and accessories for babies, little girls, little boys and teenagers, with the printed copyrighted illustrations presenting the works of the most famous domestic and foreign kids’ authors.
Enlightening stories on cotton
SASH has decided to breathe life into the characters from fairytales and enlightening stories which preserve the right, verified value system and are retold from one generation to another. The clothes they produce is made of pure cotton, thus protecting children’s gentle skin. The illustrations on the clothes are adapted to high ecological norms – they are exclusively printed with water-based colors. Good fairies, princesses and princes, a little horse-rider, ducklings at school and many other characters from unforgettable songs/poems and stories have moved onto soft cotton of which charming clothes and accessories are made.
The production is completely carried out on “home ground”: from cutting out and sewing, via printing and packing, to, of course, the design itself. The author of the collection firmly sticks to the catchphrase: Produced with pride in Serbia.
Natasa’s woven books
Natasa Jonev, a bachelor with honors in education, engages herself in creating quiet books and small animal figures with a magnet, and in making souvenirs of linen and newsprint. Her main creation is “The Quiet Book”, an educative toy which is not usually seen in our environments. What exactly is “The Quiet Book”? It is a “visual reading matter” from which a child creates his/her own story each time. Every page of the book is focused on the development of different skills in a child and contains special assignments, so in that way a child masters various techniques, such as lacing up, buttoning up and buckling, gluing a Velcro strap, pulling ribbons through, etc. In this way, cognitive, intellectual and fine motor skills in young children are stimulated, their imagination, intelligence and functional thinking are developed.
Range of quiet topics
The books are intended for children of six months to seven years, and the tasks are from diverse fields – colors, shapes, animal life, the clock and time, the seasons of the year, traffic, dressing, fruits and vegetables, the kitchen, hygiene maintenance, memory games, and so much more. The “quiet books” are especially precious since they build an image of the world through the sense of touch and stimulate interactive playing. They are an ideal toy for both children with special needs and all those who consider that knowledge, imagination and motor skills are fastest developed through playing with educative toys. They are made of cotton materials and felt, with an addition of various small buttons, small pearls, small ribbons, a Velcro strap and other small things. They are also made on demand, so parents are given a possibility to participate themselves in their production and work out the content of the book and the tasks for their little children. The books can be personalized, which means that the name of a child can be written on the cover. They are an ideal educative and didactic gift for every child.
Albums of the “Women’s stories” series
The “Women’s Stories” Art Gallery and Workshop has been existent for ten years already. Its founders and preliminary creators are female Belgradians Dragana and Nevena, friends since their schooltime, qualified packaging designers. On their Facebook page, they wrote: “We’re united in our love for art and our wish to make this world beautiful with our creative work.” There are already quite many creations in the archive of the works of the “Women’s Stories”. Currently, the main accent is placed on making personalized photo-albums for weddings, rites of baptism, births, birthdays… The largest number of the ordered albums are exactly those for childbirth, as well as for the rites of baptism, since the memories in them are especially “sweet”. The accent in production is placed on the processing of a material in combination with machine and hand embroidery. There are finished models, but albums can also be made according to the ordering party’s idea. Apart from albums, the Workshop also makes embroidered notebooks and diaries, business agendas, glass boxes, bookmarkers, keyrings, and so many other things…
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