Here are a few of my Flickr favourites at the moment . . .

1. nest of thread III, 2. mães que nos fazem sonhar, 3. Le pingouin, 4. duckling drawstring bag for my etsy shop – detail, 5. A Goodly Hug ACEO, 6. Monstrinho amigo!, 7. Sathiko03_01, 8. What now… mini art quilt, 9. :), 10. 2904, 11. aqua imago, 12. Remember, 13. WAWAYA20070420, 14. Owl, 15. hen and egg, 16. the cardinal, 17. Tea in the garden!, 18. Seahorse Softie, 19. troca do avental bolinhas…avental com bolsos…, 20. caderno whw 11, 21. Iara (03), 22. A birdie in her floral home, 23. Amor de filho, 24. For little one’s room, 25. table 5

Ahhh, so much inspiration. It is so very easy to lose an hour just clicking through all the crafty goodness on Flickr!

And here’s Sugar the Shmerpi and her little scottie dog (a custom order). The request was for bright and colouful, and with a dog softie.

I’ve used mostly Japanese fabrics and a cute Shinzi Katoh trim. I named her “Sugar” because she reminds me of a big, fluffly cupcake!

It’s always challenging and fun to make custom soft toys – working with the customer’s requirements and trying to add my own little touch to it as well :-) However, in an effort to complete a few overdue projects and try out some new things, I am ceasing the option to order a custom-made soft toy from tomorrow (so I’ll be removing the items from my Etsy Shop). I’ll offer the option again in early July but will probably limit the number on the Shmerpi and Baby Chibi dolls just to keep it manageable.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll probably be posting less as well – perhaps just once a week. June is looking like another very busy month for our family with important decisions to be made – including the direction and future of this little blog and One Red Robin :-)

But for now, I think it is definitely time to offer up another GIVEAWAY!

So here it is: on offer is a Baby Chibi Doll which will have the cute, colourful Japanese fabric that you can see on Sugar’s top (above). The Baby Chibi Doll will be holding a sweet little cat in its hands.

To be in the running to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post – in keeping with the “sugar” theme, in your comment please let me know what’s your favourite sweet/chocolate/lolly – I’m always on the look out for new sweet treats so your recommendations would be much appreciated!

Please leave your comment by midnight, Sunday 3rd June (Eastern Aussie Time). One of my sweet real-life chibi girls will draw a name and I’ll announce the winner on June 4th.

Til then, wishing you peace and good health :-)

As mentioned in the previous post, I also included a copy of my Baby Chibi Doll Ana pattern with the BlogMeet swap gifts.

A month or so ago, an online store approached me with a request to make a pattern for one of my soft toys available. I thought it was a good opportunity to exercise my basic pattern-making skills :-) I seem to get a lot of hits to my site from people searching for doll patterns so I thought I would try a pattern for the Baby Chibi doll.

Coming up with the actual layout was a challenge – I finally settled on an A4-sized booklet with instructions on the front and back covers, and template pieces to trace on the inside. This way, you could take your traced pieces and put them inside the booklet, and then slip the booklet into a plastic sleeve in a folder for easy storage and accessibility.

A few patterns are now available in my shop, as are 3 kits – each kit includes a copy of the pattern/instructions plus a selection of fabrics and acrylic felt. A few more copies of the pattern will be available in the online store (I mentioned earlier) very soon.

And speaking of Baby Chibi Dolls, here’s Mabel – a custom order:

And Ava (who was the original inspiration for the Baby Chibi Doll) wearing the vintage-inspired dress I bought from Mikes’ – she was a little camera shy :-)

And finally, my 2 little chibi girls together – I can’t believe Aurora is going to be 1 in just 4 weeks time! Off to do some party-planning!

. . . the Blogmeet was wonderful! Although I did arrive almost an hour late. I’ve never been to Amitie before (or even close to Bentleigh) so I got lost along the way, spending a half-hour or so just trying to get off a very busy Chapel Street :-)

Amitie is a gorgeous shop. I had no plans whatsoever to buy some fabric seeing as I had just purchased some a few weeks ago, but it was just too irresistible and I ended up with this little lot of goodies:

What a treat it was to meet so many bloggers face-to-face! I sat there like a stunned mullet for a while – a little star-struck me thinks :-) It was awesome to listen to the conversations and soak in the creative energy – I even got to chat with a few of the crafty ladies. It was wonderful to actually meet and talk to Melly & Rosie (of Melly & Me) since we’ve communicated via emails over the last few months. The strangest thing was when I was chatting with Melly and feeling like I had known her for ages (rather than it being our first meeting).

It’s funny how a simple blog can provide these opportunities – I was telling my husband that if I didn’t have my blog, it would have been very unlikely that I would have ever met any of the ladies who attended the Blogmeet. Such a treat. Really.

Of course, another highlight of the night was the exchanging of gifts! We all agreed that it was like Christmas! Each package was just delightful – handmade with love and care. I feel so blessed to have something handmade from each of the ladies. Here’s a shot of all of the goodies:

I was going to post up photos of each but you can find individual photos over at Nichola’s Flickr. Thank you to Nichola & Justine for organising the get-together! And thank you to Jennifer of Amitie for keeping the shop open so late and even giving us a discount!

My little swap packages contained the scarves with patchwork that I have mentioned previously:

It also contained a pattern for a Baby Chibi doll, which I’ll blog about soon :-) It was a fantastic end to the week – here’s hoping that there are many more Blogmeets to come!

Kirsten, Leslie, Joanne, Melly, Rosie, Dana, Michelle, Tatiana, Tina & Nichola – it was truly a pleasure to meet you all in person. Thank you for your gifts and your inspiring blogs.

Another Friday is upon us! Thank you to everyone who left a suggestion and/or feedback on the last round of patterns. It has been a crazy week so I haven’t had the chance to respond to emails just yet. My little family has been recovering from the flu. I’ve also been on a training course for work all week (I usually only work 3 days a week) with each day being quite long – so our routine has been completely messed up this week. Thankfully, there is only one more day of training tomorrow and that will be it for a while.

All orders and WIPs were put aside this week in order to complete these:

Twelve little packages for twelve crafty ladies who I have the opportunity to meet and get to know in person tomorrow night at the BlogMeet. It will be a wonderful end to an exhausting week. I am excited but extremely nervous at the same time – I am very much the type of person who suddenly becomes unable to carry on a decent conversation in new social situations :-) Oh, but it will be such a buzz to be in the presence of so many creative women!

I’m sure I’ll have much to post about on the weekend, after the BlogMeet – including the contents of my swap packages above :-)

Wishing you a happy Friday for tomorrow!

The 2 little dumplings are still sick (as is hubby), so I haven’t had a chance to sew anything. I have to admit that it’s been a nice break from the sewing machine – instead, I’ve been able to work on some more patterns while sitting with the girls and trying to keep them entertained :-)

My goal is to visit the fabric-printing place by the end of June and actually get at least one of my designs printed. Due to cost considerations, I need to keep the designs down to one colour. Here are 3 that I’ve printed out onto plain paper just to test the colour and the size of the repeats. I’d like to print them all onto a natural-coloured cotton rather than a bright-white cotton.

I like the elephants in red (the words at the bottom read “mon grand ami“, which is “my big friend” in French :-)). I’m undecided as to the colours for the pear pattern and the clothesline pattern – any thoughts?

I’ve also been sketching things in my notebook – mostly new motifs for patterns and new softie patterns. Below are my sketches for Mr Cheery Chimp. On the right are the original sketches. On the left is what I hope the new Mr Cheery Chimp will look like after I make a few adjustments – such as a narrower head, rounder body, and arms that are attached after the body has been completed.

Hopefully, I can work on the new Mr Cheery Chimp in the next few weeks as I’d like to write up a pattern for him and make it available in my shop.

But now I should really take some time to reply to emails (apologies if you’re waiting on a response from me!) and try to keep the flu bug away as I’ll be joining some very crafty and talented ladies at BlogMeet #2 next Friday! Wishing you a relaxing weekend :-)

My studio is currently a scarf factory with the above waiting for backing and 4 more to patch up. Both girls are quite sick at the moment so crafting time has been minimal – thankfully these scarves are an easy project and very satisfying when you’re able to whip a few up during very short nap times :-)

And how about these fabulous Ruby Dolls?!

They are made by Desiree. I love the fact that she made the first Ruby using the pattern and then tried another with her own modifications. I adore their outfits, hairstyles and how it looks as if they are wearing little berets. And check out those cute little shoes! Sweet, sweet!

By the way, if you have made a Ruby doll and would like to include it into the Ruby Dolls Group on Flickr, but don’t want to join Flickr just to do so, please send me a picture with a few words about the doll and I can upload it for you, with a link to your website (if you have one).

Before I go, I also wanted to remind you that today is Compassion Day in Australia - a chance to reach out and sponsor a child in need. As a family, we sponsor children. We love receiving their letters every month and reading how they are. It is so wonderful to know that by just sharing some of the financial blessings we have received, that a child in another part of the world is receiving education, health care, food and a spiritual education – giving them a better chance of rising out of poverty and leading the kind of life that many of us may take for granted.

When I started selling items through One Red Robin, one of my goals was to get to a stage where it could start to sponsor children on its own. Thanks to the support my little business has received, it has been able to to sponsor its first child today – a four-year-old girl from Nicaragua. Sadly, she lost her mother to land mines, her father is no longer present in her life, and she is being cared for by her grandmother (who is unable to work).

Thanks so much from the bottom of my heart for helping One Red Robin reach this goal!

If you are interested in helping a child in need, you can visit Compassion, World Vision, International Needs or CARE.

EDITED: Thanks to The Shopping Sherpa for reminding me to include two other wonderful organisations: PLAN International (a non-religious, non-political sponsorship organisation), and closer to home, The Smith Family Learning for Life Program, which provides sponsorship of disadvantaged students in Australia. Thanks Shopping Sherpa!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mums and Mums-to-be! Hope you’ve been spoiled rotten today!

I have been tagged by the delightful Pip of Meet Me At Mikes with the 7 Random Facts/Habits meme that has been making the blog rounds lately.

Rules:
>> List seven random facts/habits about yourself
>> Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
>> Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

1. I now work for the same company that my Mum did when she and my dad first arrived in Australia 30 years ago.

2. I have one sibling (a younger brother). When I was in primary school, I hated being the eldest and wished I had more siblings and was a middle child instead. Whenever the teachers asked us to draw a picture of our families, I always drew my Mum, Dad, my brother and I – plus an additional 6 older siblings! I wonder if any of my teachers ever found out the truth :-)

3. My first love is creative writing. When I was 16, I set a goal to have a published novel by age 30. Didn’t happen :-(

4. Following from point 3, I am a HUGE fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. My favourite book is “The Silmarillion“, which is the history of Middle Earth and tells of its creation. I am excited to be picking up a copy of the recently completed and released “The Children of Hurin“.

5. I am not the kind of person who can work well in silence – I need to have music playing in the background. Even when I was studying for exams in Uni, I always had the radio on.

6. My first name was originally spelt “Djhoanna“. Fortunately, my Mum dropped the “D” right after I was born. Of course, my dad claims that he just made up the spelling while filling out the paper work at the hospital :-)

7. Bitter melon makes me gag – not so much because of its bitterness but because I was force-fed it as a kid. It’s a Filipino delicacy. YUCK.

As for tagging, if you are reading this right now then I tag YOU!

Random Photos above:
1) Baby Chibi Doll with owl in front pocket – pattern will be available very soon!
2) Mr Cheery Chimp – pattern is in the works and will be available soon
3) Patchwork scarf I made for myself, using shantung linen and fabrics from Japan and Moda (with slate-grey cotton on the other side).
4) More patchwork scarves – a few piles cut and ready to be sewn. I need to make 12 in total by the end of the month :-)

Happy Chibi Girl Lara is finally ready for her new home – all rugged up for the (wonderfully) cooler weather we’ve been having. (Only downside to cloudy days are lack of light for decent picture taking.)

She wears pink gingham stockings, a long-sleeved repro-vintage print top, and a pretty aqua/subtle green dress (which is removable). She also sports a soft mint-green fleece scarf. The request was for very girly and in pink and green :-)

This much-anticipated little package of fabric yum arrived today from here. My fingers are just itching to cut into them – I’m thinking of making a tote or two from this pile as most are quite heavyweight.

And finally, more Ruby Dolls are popping up around the net, like this and this. I am loving all the different interpretations and embellishments!

Just quickly dropping in to say that the following prints are now available in my shop:

“Owl in Rain”

“‘Twas a Cupcake Tree”

“Red Bird Blue Apple”

The last print is of a mixed-media collage I did a few months ago (and is still available here :-)). The prints are available unframed – I did put them up in frames just to give an idea of what they would look like up on a wall. All are limited edition prints (50 of each).

The paper is Torchon 285 g/m2 fine art paper, which has a wonderful texture much like watercolour paper.

More prints to come soon, but first I must really get some sleep! Back to work tomorrow in a few hours time . . .

The little one above is a custom order. She’s patiently waiting for me to make her shoes and other accessories, and undertake some dress adjustments, while I quickly share some wonderful (and new to me) blogs:

>> Allyson Hill

>> Ismoyo

>> Red Instead

>> Olive Juice & Co

>> Optimist

Here are some equally wonderful online shops:

>> Pyglet Whispers @ Cafepress: Delightful designs by Dani on shirts, mugs, and more!

>> Kara Smith: Colorful and unique handmade bags by Kara Smith

>> Duckcloth: A new online Aussie retailer of fabrics for print & pattern lovers!

And finally, an online directory for independent Aussie designers:

>> Made It

Enjoy!