The lovely Kirsty has started a new meme for each Wednesday called “On My Desk . . .”. I have three desks up in my craft room so I thought it would be fun to join in :-)

I’m a day late, but here’s what’s currently on my desk. Recently received (and yet unopened) fabric from these fantastic Aussie designers: Danielle, Lara & Bianca; and a boy Doddi Bear waiting to be stuffed.

I’ve been put onto a new project at work - one with a very high profile and a large budget but a crazy (almost impossible) schedule. So I’m completely exhausted when I get home and have a hard time getting any sewing done. But I still want to aim for a shop update in early March, and am part of the way there with these Peg Bear Pirates that are ready for the update:

And this print is finalised and ready for the update too:

I’d like to have one more Woodland Girl softie ready for shop but I’m not sure whether that will happen given that we’re having another Open House this weekend (and therefore more cleaning to be done!)

Thanks so much for all the sweet comments on the bag and babushka doll from the previous post! And thanks to those who played along with the theme even though it took them out of their comfort zone :-) It was lovely to ’see’ the crafty ladies behind their blogs!

I must admit that the theme I picked for “This Is . . .” this week was a challenge for me too. I’m not into posting up pictures of myself on this blog much, but since I told myself that this year was about stepping more and more out of my comfort zone, I decided to go with it - and even managed not to hide behind the camera :-)

So that’s me and my favourite accessory at the moment - a Shinzi Katoh bag with mushrooms and a deer. I tend to wear a lot of dark colours so this bag provides some nice splashes of happy colours.

I don’t get to wear the bag often (e.g. not to work, or times when I need a bigger bag when I’m out with the girls), but I think that’s why it always feels more of a special treat when I do get a chance to bring it with me. I’m looking forward to seeing what all the other participants post up - I hope they had fun with the theme!

In crafty news, this Babushka-style softie was completed this week, and the pattern and instructions will be available in an Aussie craft magazine in a few months time:

She was heaps of fun to work on and the trickiest bit was getting the base right so she could stand on her own.

And I’m sure you will pick up on a little bit of “Kokeshi” in her look since that’s where my inspiration seems to be coming from at the moment :-) Speaking of which, this one is not exactly a Kokeshi but she is a vintage doll from Japan and I just couldn’t help adding her to my collection (from eBay).

I’m currently working on what should be in the next shop update. I seem to receive a lot of requests to make some of the pictures I take of my softies into artsy prints. I’ve been playing with a few images and these three will most likely make it into the update (printed on 285 g/m2 fine art paper):

Larger images of the prints will be in my Flickr soon.

But the little ones have just woken from their naps so must rush off for now! Have a lovely week!

A few peg bears were finally wrapped up last night - all very overdue gifts. I was really hoping to be more organised this year and actually get gifts to their recipients on time for once - but it’s just not happening! So frustrating . . .

Anyhoo, I should probably mention that we are going through the sometimes painful process of selling our home. We’ve had a couple of inspections and probably a few more in the next few weeks. Keeping the house presentable is proving difficult, especially with two very active little girls running around unpacking everything that I just packed away 2 minutes previously. So the constant cleaning and tidying up is getting tiring and is also cutting into my crafting time. But anyway - enough whinging!

(Apologies for the dodgy photos ahead - they were taken late at night.)

This Peg Bear is for my sweet cousin-in-law who’s currently studying a fashion and design course in Seattle (so jealous!):

Here’s a Peg Bear for a newborn baby girl using the cutest flannel print I have seen in a while:

And this is a Peg Bear Pirate for a friend’s baby boy:

I was originally going to make a Shmerpi Pirate and perhaps you have noticed that I haven’t made a Shmerpi in a while. I’ve actually stopped making Shmerpi creatures. I’ve made just over 50 of these little critters and when I started I had this unsaid rule that I would only ever make 50 of any particular kind of softie. So no more Shmerpi creature-making for me - each one was fun to work on but I think 50 of them is plenty :-) Perhaps I should start working on a Shmerpi pattern so you can make your own???

I also wanted spread the word about Retro Age Vintage Fabrics. I bought some gorgeous vintage fabric from them last week and I was blown away by their wonderful customer service, communication and fast delivery. Go on and have a wander in their shop and drop into their blog.

Oh and I just noticed that My Poppet mailorder is offering up a few Itch Design tees - I adore them (especially the lion print) and would snap them up if I hadn’t totally depleted my pocket money balance on, ahem . . . a few more vintage things that start with “K” and end with “eshi” :-)

So this week is my turn to come up with a “This Is . . . ” theme. Angela did say that I could pick anything I wanted so here is it: “This Is . . . Me Taking A Picture of Myself In the Mirror With My Favourite Accessory.” An accessory being a bag, scarf, jewellry, ipod, hubby (haha!), etc. A bit of a self-portrait and a bit show-and-tell. Hope you have lots of fun with this one!

Next on the agenda for me is to finish off the sample and pattern for a project for an Aussie craft magazine. Hope you’re having one of those weeks where things are getting crossed off your To-Do list (and if you’re looking for a newish home 20km from the city in Victoria, just drop me an email!)

Thank you for the sweet comments on Anais, Anouk and the upcoming show :-) The encouragement means so, so much!

And thanks to Poppalina for this week’s excellent theme!

I’m definitely the kind of person who laughs out loud, and especially at ridiculous comedy - which is why you will always find me laughing out loud at:

1) Will Ferrell

2) Jack Black

3) Kath & Kim (and you must see this hilarious clip on Angela’s blog)

4) The Office (US)

and last but not least, my husband - without doubt, the craziest person I have ever met and the girls think he is pretty funny too :-)

No WIPs to share due to busy weekend but here are some of my fave images from Flickr:

Credits:
1. Commission, 2. Manuela and Manuel., 3. Custom love & sandwich beanies, 4. :: Decole Anticca Canisters ::, 5. little bear’s quilt, 6. Esmerelda and Doddi bear, 7. “for you, for me”, 8. Casinha nº 1, 9. Colorful, Colorful Days of Life, detail, 10. QUEEN, 11. “I looooooooooove chocolate fishes !”, 12. Happy Little Portraits, 13. people eaters, 14. new work: Erik Bloodaxe, 15. Colorful, Colorful Days of Life, 16. Screech Owl, 17. garden strole, 18. salsa, 19. ZUNE Valentine’s poster, 20. The Gardener

Now time to see what everyone else who is playing along has posted up!

Wow, this week just flew past! I can’t believe it’s Friday already and that we’ve hit the middle of February! There’s been a little crafting here and there meaning Woodland Girl Anais is finally finished:

Complete with a sweet bird button by Shoko Sugiyama :-)

And the plan was to make a patchwork owl, but somewhere along the way I got completely distracted with the idea of merging bits of some of my softies together (a distraction which happens very often I must admit). In this case, it was merging a Woodland Girl with a Bunny-chi, so Anouk the Woodland Girl-Bunny was born:

Here’s an idea of her size:

I’m happy with the way she has turned out but there are certainly a few pattern improvements to be made on future Woodland Girl Bunnies.

I had a rare child-free-and-day-off-from-work day today (yipee!) so this morning, Anais, Anouk and a few other critters accompanied me to Nikki’s awesome shop, Hudson Clothes, in Balaclava. Nikki wanted to see some of my work up close. It was the first time we met in person and she was really lovely. The other reason for the meeting was to discuss something I am really excited about and have been bursting to tell you since late last year:

I will be having my first little exhibition of softies and artwork, which will be at Hudson Clothes in September!!!

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that this opportunity would come my way but Nikki has been so kind and supportive in making this happen. To say that I am excited would be an understatement. I’m pretty certain of the theme and there will definitely be owls, Woodland Girls (and a Boy or two?), Bunny-chi’s and Bears - and perhaps more merging of various softies :-) Now comes the large task of sketching ideas and making them come to life.

My goal is to make about 4-5 pieces every month for the next 6 months for this show so please excuse the inconsistent blogging and lack of shop updating that will inevitably happen :-) September is certainly many months away but given the amount of artwork/softies I am planning to make, I very much welcome the long lead-time!

After visiting Nikki’s shop, I also popped into Mikes where I picked up a lovely vintage mug from Japan from their “Mug-seum” :-) and then dropped into Zakkaya and Robio for a bit of a look-see.

When I got home, I had a little time to enjoy some goodies received in the mail this week:

The latest issue of MixTape zine - seriously so much good stuff in this issue.

I must admit that the main reason I bought it was to read the profile on Christina Gordon (aka Jamfancy) and I was so happy to receive a postcard of one of her prints with the issue. Here it is right in the middle of my inspiration board:

Some Kokeshi dolls also landed in my mail box for my newly started collection.

The one on the right is an Usaburo kokeshi doll from Japan and was sourced from eBay, and the tiny vintage sister/brother Kokeshi are from here.

It’s been such a lovely and refreshing day and I am inspired to be quite productive this coming week so I hope to be back soon with more softies - and perhaps a Kokeshi or two :-)

It’s just been me and the girls this past week as their dad is overseas. It’s actually been a lot of fun - just the three of us - but by the end of the day I am way too exhausted to do much sewing. Instead my nights have been spent catching up on DVDs that have conveniently arrived in the mail, and knitting.

Now, I am not a very good knitter but one of my goals this year is to at least knit one item each for the girls. I started on a beanie for Ava and at this rate I think it will be finished just in time for Winter :-)

I also need to have a Patchwork Owl and a Woodland Girl completed by this Friday. This little gal has been a week or two in the making and is almost done:

The theme for “This Is” this week is what we had for lunch today. Our current Sunday routine is to go to church in the morning and then the girls pick where we go for lunch after the service. The thing is, they are so stuck on this routine and it is very hard for me to explain to them that “Mama has to take a picture of what we eat today and post it up on her blog” so could they please, please pick someplace a little nicer than where we usually go :-)

So anyway, this is Sunday lunch. No close-ups of the food because I’m pretty sure y’all know what it looks like!

My internet has been really flaky lately so apologies for delays on email responses, and I’m not sure whether I can post again before the end of this week. I wish you all a great week ahead! (And don’t forget to make a heart for Mirabel!).

And speaking of making one’s day (following on from the previous post), have you heard about the “I Heart Mirabel” appeal that Mikes is currently running???

In short, make a heart in any medium; get it to Mikes by Valentine’s Day; they will sell them @ $10 each on March 8th, and ALL proceeds go to the wonderful Mirabel Foundation. Full details are here.

I made these little “Sweethearts” for the appeal.

Want to make one too?? If so, I quickly whipped up a pattern & template which you can download for free right here.

Make one for the appeal or make one for Valentine’s Day - or even better, make one for the appeal AND for a loved one for Valentine’s Day! :-) Everybody wins!

Thank you to Kate and Flora who passed on the “You Make My Day” award to this little blog :-) That’s so sweet of you!

The Purpose of this Award is as follows:
Give the award to 5/10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and makes you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on.

So very, very hard to pick just a few from my bloglines - each one inspires me daily and in different ways. But here’s my 7 (7 because it’s right in between 5 and 10!):

1. Kate of Two Little Banshees

2. Flora of Happy Doodleland

3. Dawn of Plush-a-holic

4. Kristy of Vintage Pleasure

5. Michelle of Greeting Arts

6. Christina of Jam Fancy

7. Jade of My Art is My Outlet

It’s been one of those weeks where a lot of unexpected commitments pop up, so there has been little movement on my crafty to-make list.

At least I completed the cot quilt that I mentioned in the previous post just in time for the baby shower that was held this afternoon. I framed the quilt with a charcoal grey border. For the backing I used a vintage bed sheet in perfect condition from my Grandma’s stash.

I also managed to start and finish this floor/travel quilt for my newest niece, Audrey, who was born only a few days ago. I tried to go with a pink and orange theme but a few other colours snuck in there as well :-) I also framed it with some grey binding. My Grandma is Audrey’s Great-Grandma so I thought it would be a nice touch to use a wonderfully soft vintage pink flannel from her stash for the backing.

One highlight of my week was an afternoon spent with my god-daughter, Jess and her sister, Lani. Jess is a very crafty 10 year old and wanted to know how to make a simple doll. We worked on the pattern together and she chose all the fabric, the facial features and the hairstyle. I sewed it up and Jess and Lani helped with the stuffing. Here is Jess with her new doll:

Then she and Lani happily raided my little stash of fabric scraps and discarded projects :-)

As a a thank you gift, Jess’ mum made us one of my favourite Filipino snacks, Lumpia Sariwa. It’s basically an egg crepe that is filled with raw carrots, bambo shoots, lettuce and sometimes cooked beans, shrimp and pork mince. The sauce is what always gets me though - a mixture of corn starch, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic. A simple recipe here.

And to finish off all my yabbering, here is a pic of what I collect for “This Is . . . My Collection” - pretty obvious don’t you think??? :-)