Thank you all for your emails and comments on the article!

After weeks of feeling under the weather, my energy levels have finally returned to normal and I am happily getting through my list of things to do. I’m hoping to knock out 2 remaining wholesale orders this week. To that end, some Shmerpi creatures are patiently waiting for their little softies:

. . . and some Baby Chibi dolls are in progress . . .

. . . which inevitably means that the floor in my studio looks like this:

I also wanted to share with you a lovely package I received yesterday:

It’s from A Little Goodness (thanks for the recommendation Jade!), who’s shop should really be called A Whole Lotta Goodness! I couldn’t resist buying some fabric, including a super cute Shinzi Katoh print on canvas. She also threw in some lollies plus some extra fabric (the white one with pink and red fishes) and an ecobag, because I had won a competition she was running (which I had no idea about :-)). I am currently resisting the urge to drop in on her shop again because I know that if I do, my Paypal balance will be substantially depleted.

I also bought this book from her shop: “Girl’s Clothing” ISBN 978-4-529-04437-0

I know I have said this many, many times before but I am seriously going to try to make clothes for my girls - after the wholesale orders and custom orders are done, this is on the top of my list. Really, it is. And I just adore this book - I can honestly say that I will be trying to make every single piece of clothing in this book. Just look at all that loveliness!

Dawn tagged me a few weeks ago with the 8 things meme that’s been doing the rounds lately. So here are 8 completely random (and most likely useless) facts about me:

1. I literally married the boy next door. His family lived in the house right next to my family’s house, as in just over the fence.

2. By choice, for the first 2 years of our marriage, hubby and I lived without a TV in the house. Instead, we had people over all the time for lunch or dinner, and we went out and travelled a lot.

3. I used to play the violin and the guitar. I’d love to take them up again but there really aren’t enough hours in a day!

4. We’ve had 4 pets: a white Labrador named Indi, a yellow Budgie named Kai, a blue Budgie named R2, and a German Shepherd named Cisco (named after the company, not the musician - can you tell hubby and I work in IT???). At the moment we have no pets.

5. Apparently my ancestry is a mix of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, Portugese, Indian and French.

6. I used to be addicted to Writing.com. I met so many talented writers through that site and it was also a wonderfully creative community!

7. Silence makes me very uneasy - I need to have the radio on or a CD playing. Back in Uni, I used to study for exams in front of the TV.

8. My closest friend and I have been best friends for 19 years (since Year 7)! BFF indeed!

To keep the ball rolling, I’m tagging all the people who kindly left a comment on my previous post!!!

Okay, back to the sewing machine I go :-)

My sincere thanks to Jo and Chris from Melbourne’s Herald Sun for the article on One Red Robin in today’s Home Magazine insert!

One of the Baby Chibi Dolls makes an appearance on the cover of the magazine . . .

And here is the full-page article by Jo, accompanied by photos taken by Chris. You can click on the picture to read the article.

When Jo contacted me in early July, it was a huge surprise. In late July, Jo and Chris came over to my home for the interview and little photo shoot with some of the toys. They were so lovely and kind, and it was a real thrill to experience their reaction and feel their enthusiasm for some of the things I had made as you don’t really have the opportunity to experience that personal reaction when you sell things online :-)

And if you have dropped in due to the article- welcome! Please feel free to look around :-) If you are interested in some of my toys, please check my “Where to Buy” page for details and stockists. New toys will be available in my shop in Mid-September.

It is still kind of surreal for me to see the article - to hold it in my hands and see the toys looking back at me. Thank you muchly Jo and Chris!

P.S. Also very happy to find that Happy Chibi Girl Isidore has been won by the very talented Bianca of Hollabee through the Made It competition!

Thank you to all who left a comment on my previous post :-) Hubby and I are already trying to figure out when we can take the family back to Adelaide! The girls are feeling much better. I’m making the most of the recent slightly warmer weather here in Melbourne, taking them out often for some quality mama-daughters time outdoors.

I’ve also been busy trying to close off some outstanding wholesale orders and custom orders. So please accept my apologies if the next few posts are mostly pictures with very little commentary (and if I’m a little slow replying to emails). And if you have tagged me for something - thank you! I haven’t forgotten and hope to pass it on once I finish up these orders :-)

Here are a few elephant pillows and patchwork-belly owls that are finally on their way to Aspects of Kings Park, Perth.

Sisko (wool suiting, wool felt & vintage and new prints):

Riku (wool herringbone, wool felt & vintage reproduction prints):

Juhani (wool houndstooth, wool felt & vintage and new prints):

Olwen the Owl (wool flannel, wool felt & designer and Japanese prints):

Otto the Owl (wool flannel, wool felt & designer, vintage and Japanese prints):

We’re back from our short break. We went to Adelaide - a city we have never been to before - and we just loved it! The people we met were so friendly and helpful. Plus the weather was just WONDERFUL so we spent a lot of time outdoors, exploring. Adelaide is only a 1 hour flight from Melbourne so the girls did very well - Ava is a seasoned traveler as we traveled a lot before she turned 2 years old, but it was Aurora’s first plane trip.

Here’s a few snaps I thought I’d share:

1) The girls and I by the Torrens River banks

2) Hubby and the girls resting at an enclosure in the Monarto Zoo. The girls love animals and it was Aurora’s first trip to a Zoo.

3) At a playground in Glenelg - Aurora playing peek-a-boo

4) Also at Glenelg - Ava enjoying the playground equipment

5) Back at the Apartment - the girls hanging out on the balcony

Although it was a short holiday, we have many fond memories. It was certainly a time of reconnection and refuelling, and we enjoyed just being a family without any of the constant distractions we usually face when we’re at home :-) Hubby and I are feeling refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of things. Unfortunately, the return to chilly Melbourne has meant another round of colds for the girls.

I’m way behind on emails so if you are expecting a reply from me, thanks for your patience! I hope to work through them tonight after the little ones are happily snoring away. And maybe I’ll even get a tiny bit of crafting done!

Hi there!

Just wanted to quickly pop in and say thank you to all of you who have left comments and sent emails of support and encouragement. I know I say this many times - but it’s so true - the online craft community is AMAZING. Thank you for sharing your experiences, as well as words of wisdom - there is great comfort in knowing that my situation is well understood by many :-)

We’re undertaking the last-minute preparations before we head off on our short holiday. Not much to show craft-wise so here is a picture of Rori (i.e. Aurora) looking how we are all feeling at the moment.

I’ll be back online next week.

P.S. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this book - some of our favourite bloggers and softie-makers are sharing their softie patterns. Yipee!!!

P.P.S. Just picked up my copy of the latest Shop 4 Kids (Issue 3 Spring 2007). Lots of gorgeous stuff as usual and adding to the gorgeousness in this issue is a little bit of Mikes, Posie & Lark!

* “Salamat” is Tagalog for “Thank You.“

I wasn’t sure how to start this post so I might as well just get to the point - I’ve been sick almost every month this year. Not just sniffly-sick but have-to-stay-in-bed-due-to-dizziness-and-throbbing-migraine sick. I was sick last week and just as the weekend arrived and I was feeling much better, I suddenly got worse. And of course, when I am ill, it is pretty miserable for my whole family too and unfair for my little ones, who end up falling ill in due time.

I’m not sure how it happened or why it happened but when I turned 30 last year, I started feeling . . . well, invincible. Like I really could do it all - be a Mum, a wife, have a career outside of the home, have a social life, be active in my church, and pursue my creative dreams. Ah, but not so says my doctor. Something has had to give and that unfortunately has been my health.

I certainly haven’t done any crafting in the last few days - just lots of thinking about my priorities, my family, my commitments and One Red Robin. I’ve decided to cut back on a few things in other areas of my life. And the hardest decision was to cut back on various aspects of One Red Robin.

So . . . I will no longer be offering any of my items for wholesale - I have a few in-train wholesale orders that I will complete but will not be accepting any more after they are done. And, I will no longer be accepting custom orders. All current custom-orders will be completed and, again, I will not be working on custom orders after this batch is complete.

Instead, I will be making an update to my etsy shop with a small batch of items once a month from end of September. And I will still be supplying Mikes with a few items on an infrequent basis. And that’s about it. For now at least. For the remainder of this year.

I really do love making things - I could never give it up completely! And I love the opportunities to work on custom orders and wholesale orders - I have met many wonderful and lovely people through these opportunities. I am very grateful to these folks who, basically, enjoy what I make - enjoy it enough to part with some hard-earned cash :-) But I think cutting back on the time I spend in my little studio is what is needed at this moment. And of course, my girls deserve to have a well-balanced and healthy Mum :-)

So thank you for listening to my ramblings. I just wanted to share with you where I am at and why I might not be online often over the next few weeks. And I apologise if I haven’t yet been able to answer your email or reply to your comments - I hope to get to it this week. For now, I will be kicking back with this and this:

And preparing for our quickly-organised, short interstate holiday later this week - we haven’t been away on a holiday since January 2006!

Hope you are all well and wishing you a lovely (and healthy!) week ahead.

Just popping in quickly to say that I am now accepting custom orders for Shmerpi and Baby Chibi Dolls (sorry all Baby Chibis are sold now!). There are a limited number of each and if you happen to miss out this time around, I will also be accepting custom orders again in October for the Christmas period. To order, please go to my etsy shop.

Also wanted to say thanks to Bec of Beckon Design Store for ordering a few items for her wonderful shop in Wellington, New Zealand. These items are now travelling across the Tasman Sea and should be available in her shop towards mid-August. For any queries on these items, please contact Beckon Design Store.

>> A few fabric scarves all backed with a charcoal-grey anti-pill polar fleece and each incorporating some cute Japanese fabric called “1950s Boy Girl” :-)

>> Baby Chibi Matea:

>> Baby Chibi Sophie:

>> Baby Chibi Zara (the large floral print is vintage from Mikes):

And finally, I just wanted to share my favourite photo from this past week - my youngest (Aurora, 1) sitting by the kitchen window, watching the world go by :-)

Have a wonderful weekend all!

First, let me say sincere thanks for all the comments received on my last post about Sian’s new clothes. Not sure what I was thinking when I was writing that up (blame the flu meds I’m taking at the moment), but so glad that you enjoyed reading it :-) I wanted to take a break from writing my usual “This is so-and-so and she is made from yada-yada.”

But since some of you did ask - Sian is made from Terry Fleece which has the texture of Terry Cloth but is so soft and stretchy like fleece. I love it! And yes, she is larger than the normal Shmerpi I make. She’s roughly 48cm (19 inches) tall. Here’s an idea of the difference in size - Sugar is the smaller Shmerpi and is the normal size:

By the way, Sugar the Shmerpi (the purple one above) is now available if anyone would like to adopt her! (As the original customer who requested her no longer wants her). For details, go here.

And yay!!! My doll quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap II has finally arrived:

Isn’t it just gorgeous!! It is made by the multi-talented Jennifer (Mama Urchin) and she has used fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Chestnut Hill line (better photo here). I love the colours, the mix of patterns, and the wonderful details like the buttons and the french knots. It’s just perfect and now hangs in my little studio (you can even see it as the backdrop for the photo with the Shmerpi creatures above). Thanks so much Jennifer - I really love it!

Another lovely surprise this past week is that the delightful Ellia nominated me for a Rockin’ Girl Blogger award. The word “rockin‘” has certainly never been associated with me so thank you Ellia! :-)

Apparently the rules are:

-place the badge on your blog
-give credit to Roberta (She started the rockin’ blogger awards)
-check out the latest list she has on her site
-pick 5 rockin’ girls of your choice and tag em’

Okay, that last bit was REALLY hard as there are 100+ blog feeds in my Bloglines :-) Narrowing down to just 5 took me a long while, but here they are:

1) Abby Jane from While She Naps: Abby and I have share a few things in common - besides making softies, we both like to make collages too, and we both have 2 daughters (almost the same ages). So I have certainly enjoyed reading her blog over the last 18 months (ever since I started mine) and to see her work develop from softie-making to soft sculptures. And recently she has combined her soft-sculptures WITH collage! Brilliant! I am always inspired when I see her work and I always go to her blog during those rare moments when I feel like I just don’t want to make another soft toy :-)

2) Dawn from Look What I Can Do: I have long admired Dawn’s creations. I just love the way she can transform fabric into endearing creatures. And she has a great eye for fabric. In fact, she has a great eye for colour and form and photography too! And her blog shines with her love for her daughter. And she links to so many great things everytime she posts. And . . . well, I could on and on. Yeah, I think she rocks :-)

3) Kristy from Vintage Pleasure: Kristy was one of the first people who encouraged me when I started out and was one of the first people to buy one of my creations. Her encouragement has been invaluable. I love her blog for many reasons - there’s so much honesty and sincerity when she writes. Her love of all things vintage is infectious! She has a love of life. And I love reading about her daughters and all their creative endeavours. Plus, Kristy’s creations are just gorgeous!

4) Tiel from Tsk Tsk: I just love Tiel’s creativity. Her artwork is so inspiring to me and always brings a smile to my face. Tiel’s mixed media pieces are amazing. Her love of babushka dolls has grown from 2D into 3D, resulting in wonderful babushka softies. If you love birds and babushka dolls, you will love her unique art - check it out here.

5) Pip from Meet Me At Mikes: If you have met Pip in person then I really don’t need to explain :-) Pip is one-of-a-kind. A genuinely kind and generous person with an infectious smile, and a genuine love for vintage and handmade (just check out her shop!). I love popping into her blog as I never know what I’ll find but I’m sure it will be inspiring, cheery, and bright! Just go over there right now and you’ll see exactly what I mean!

So there we are. Please do pop over to their blogs and say hi :-) Meanwhile, I need to get back to some orders - particularly these ones that are patiently waiting for me on my craft table: