Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has voted for my Babushka Doll in the 2nd Annual Softies Awards! You ROCK! Thank you :-)

On my desk are some Peg Bear WIPs and two sweet plush creatures just received in the mail: Robin softie by BirdNerd (for me) and Otis Le Oobee by Onegirl (for Aurora):

Soon after the photo was taken above, the Robin softie went in to my bag ready to brighten my desk at work tomorrow, and Otis flew straight into Aurora’s waiting arms. As you can see below, she ADORES him :-)

Well . . . it seems that at some point today, I turned 32 years old. Thankfully, being 32 feels no different to being 25 (heehee!) I spent the day at work and afterwards enjoyed a delicious and wonderful dinner with family at a local restaurant. It has really been a wonderful day. My most favourite gift is this calendar given to me by a very thoughtful friend, featuring the 2 most important little people in my life:

Hope your Wednesday was wonderful too!

(P.S. Assuming all goes well, I will be having a mini-shop update this Sunday with my last batch (for the next few months) of Peg Bears :-))

Just found out this morning that my Babushka Soft Doll is a finalist in the 2nd Annual Softie Awards, in the Cutest Face category!

I’m feeling really humbled by the other finalists in the category - they are all SO cute! Please check out all the finalists in each category - they are amazing.

I think the “campaigning” has officially begun so if you think my Babushka doll has the Cutest Face, please cast your vote her way :-)

Go here for details on voting - voting closes May 6th.

Thanks so much for all your kind words on my softies for the Crammed Organisms show :-) I just hope they will make it to their destination on time!

I thought I would be able to get back straight into softie-making but the long weekend brought with it a desire to just chill out and relax with the family. So there was much relaxing and eating done! I’m refreshed and re-energised now and am looking forward to a productive week. I did have a bit of time to work on my next craft magazine submission. The brief was for a simple softie that is easy and quick to sew up and is particularly suited for a baby.

A lamb immediately came to mind. After a few quick sketches and less than an hour up in my craft room, this little one emerged:

He’s almost done - just need to find some velveteen ribbon. Ava is in the background ballet-dancing :-) While everyone else in the house was having an afternoon siesta, Ava was happily helping me stuff the lamb with polyfill - and asking me every five minutes at what age I would be buying her a sewing machine :-)

Also keeping me company in my craft room of late is Taotao #44 from the brilliant Wawaya:

Isn’t she just adorable - just couldn’t resist her happy face!

By the way, have you heard about Spoonflower? I’m REALLY excited about this soon-to-launch service. Basically, it will allow you to upload patterns that you have designed and then get it digitally printed onto fabric!!! Yipee! I’ve been wanting to print some of my patterns for a long time but haven’t had the time (nor the resources) to go to a professional printer and figure out all the details. I am keen to know how much Spoonflower will be pricing their service. You can visit their blog for news on when the service will be available (can’t wait!).

Now onto the “This Is” theme for this week by Dees, which is “This is my unconditional, passionately loved, favourite book“. It’s so hard to pick just one book so I picked my favourite craft book, which would be Nuigurumi Style - probably considered a classic by Japanese-style softie-lovers :-)

Gorgeous photography and endearing softies with so much character. Plus I love looking at the images of the designers in their studios - I always spot something inspiring on their shelves or on their desks that I hadn’t noticed before.

Hope to be back later on in the week with some progress on the final shop update :-)

Hey there! I wasn’t anticipating being away for a week but preparing for the Crammed Organisms show has taken up most of my time (in addition to visiting schools for Ava who will be starting Prep next year. And yay, we found one we love and she was offered a place!). These last few days have brought back memories of cramming for assessments at Uni, trying to get everything in on time :-)

I struggled a little bit with the theme of the show, which is Fable, Folk, Fairy, not because I couldn’t think of anything - the problem was there were too many ideas in my head! What I did know is that I wanted to make something different from my usual style of softie.

I finally decided to go down the path of “Fable” for two pieces. I have always loved Aesop’s Fables and have been wanting for the longest time to have an excuse to do a conjoined softie, so these came to be:

The Lion and the Mouse front and back:

The Tortoise and the Hare front and back:

I used some thick, textured, scamp sherpa fleece for the front of the bodies and re-claimed vintage barkcloth (which used to be curtains I believe) from Jen for their backs. I’ve made tags for them which include the fable on which they are based. They involved a lot more hand-sewing than what my wimpy hands are accustomed too but I am happy with the way they have turned out.

For the next two pieces I went with the folklore of the man-beast that exists in many places around the world (e.g. Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, Yeren, Yowie, etc.). So for the remaining two pieces I think I leant towards the directions of “creepy-cute” and came up with these:

Hungry Li’l Boy-beast:

Hungry Li’l Girl-beast:

They are both made from fake-fur, wool felt, and wool flannel, plus assorted fabric for their reversible bibs and soft cutlery - because despite being half-beast, they do insist on maintaining some decorum when enjoying their meals (heehee!).

I’m relieved and very happy that they are done although after weighing them all, I’ve just realised that postage to the USA is going to be a killer! Though I shouldn’t be surprised given that these 4 pieces easily consumed over 1kg of stuffing :-) I’m looking forward to seeing what all the other participants have come up with - just look at the amazingness of the submissions by Heidi and Robyn - WOW!!!

Okey-dokey, back to sewing the rest of the April shop update and a few side projects. By the way, if you live in the USA and would like a chance to win Peg Bear Pop, enter the competition here on Indie-Pendence before April 30th!

Happy weekend! (And happy ANZAC Day to all the Aussies!)

. . . is the headline found next to a photo of Peg Bunny #2 on the cover of today’s The Age M Magazine:

What a complete and utter surprise!!! I would not have known if it weren’t for the email I received from Pip this morning (thanks Pip!). I think I squealed like a little piggy when I finally had a copy in my hands this afternoon :-)

The article inside is a great one about the resurgence of ‘cute’ in modern design and how it could be a response to the minimalist aesthetic that has dominated design over the last few decades and also a manifestation of wanting to reach back in to our childhood. You can read the article here.

There’s also a great photo of Pip in front of Mike’s growing Inspiration Wall and one of Leah’s sweet dolls:

And how cool is this? There was also an article on 10 young designers to watch and Lara Cameron was included in the list!

On to the “This is” meme this week, picked by the lovely Rhelynn: “This is my latest discovery“. Angela actually beat me to it! I was also going to mention the USB Owl that I came across while reading the latest Frankie. I asked hubby to hunt one down for me as my birthday is around the corner and after a few hours of calling around, he told me that they were sold out! Oh, well - perhaps Christmas then . . . :-)

I’m busily trying to complete 4 softies for the Crammed Organisms show after finding out that they need to be mailed at the end of this week in order to make the deadline. A bunny and lion are in progress with more to come:

Happy week all!

. . . are a few critter faces for softies I am making for the Crammed Organisms show in the USA in June; “Tell the Time with Miffy” by Dick Bruna, which my almost-2-year-old asks me to read to her everyday; and a sweet Babushka doll and her 7 tiny kids, handmade in Russia and found in this gorgeous shop in Melbourne.

And in my head, on repeat, is this song by Yael Naim:

Hope you are having a lovely week and thank you for the kind words on the feature in the Homespun Magazine and to all of you generous folk who recently adopted a softie from my shop :-)

Just a quick one to let you know that you can now find the pattern and instructions for Little Miss Mushroom in April’s issue of Australian Homespun Magazine (9.4.). It was a nice surprise to see her on the cover too :-)

And there’s also a little profile on me and One Red Robin - just look at that goofy face! Thanks so much to Catherine, the Managing Editor, for her support and interest in what I make :-)

Also, the shop has been updated with 2 Baby Chibi Dolls and the 5 Peg Bunnies mentioned in the previous post - earlier than expected due to the inability to update the shop tonight.

And, please take some time to check out all the wonderful artists/crafters participating in this month’s Poppytalk Handmade market - now open! I’ve got a little virtual stall there for the next 4 weeks.

To coincide with One Red Robin’s participation in this month’s Poppytalk Virtual Handmade Market, my shop will be updated this Tuesday (15th April AEST) evening with the following:

Baby Chibi Doll Naomi:

Made from a delicious vintage folksy fabric which Kristy generously sent my way.

Baby Chibi Doll Carys:

Made from a gorgeous vintage (1960’s) print from Retro Vintage Fabrics.

And 5 Peg Bunnies, featuring limited edition screen-prints from 5 very talented independent Aussie Designers:

(Left to right: Shannon Lamden, Kristen Doran, Danielle Smeets, Lara Cameron, and Bianca Van Meeuwen). These Peg Bunnies have either terry fleece or minky fleece tummies and ears, and are backed with a cream wool flannel or a grey wool flannel. More solo pics of each Peg Bunny will be over at my flickr and in my shop on Tuesday.

I hope to have Part 2 of the update ready by the end of this month and it will include some Peg Bears, a Doddi Bear or 2, and 2 Happy Chibi Girls. Please note that this will be my last major shop-update until October this year, so that I can focus on a few other projects. I will only be updating the shop between now and October to restock patterns and prints as required.

Thanks to Lily and Agathe, this week’s “This Is” theme is “This Is . . . My Perfect Dinner Party Guest List“. The deal is to choose 6 people and explain why they would be invited. Here’s my list:

I would love the pick the brains of these inspirational people to know more about what motivates,inspires and informs their creativity:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien
2. C.S. Lewis
3. Shinzi Katoh
4. Mary Blair

And I would also invite my Grandma Betty, who at 94, is still the life of any party. Being a Seamstress, she was the first to introduce me to a love of fabric and design and I wish I could spend time with her more often (she lives in California). I would also love to invite my cousin Genelle, who also lives in California. She’s a kindred spirit and we just can’t seem to stop laughing when we’re together :-)

Wishing you all a happy week ahead!

Happily working on my next shop-update. As you can see on my desk above, there’s gonna be a whole lotta stuffin’ over the next few days - most of it will probably be done while catching up on some DVDs.

Also, on a corner of my study desk is the most recent addition to the kokeshi clan:

He’s the one towering over all the others. A lovely vintage kokeshi sent to me from the wonderful Kristy just because :-) Thanks so much Kristy! Kristy also sent me a delightful vintage folksy fabric which I will show you when I post up some pics of the next batch of dolls.

It’s almost midnight here, so I won’t damage your eyes with more poorly-lit photography. Instead here are a few of my recent flickr faves:

Credits:
1. Saco para bébé/ baby bag, 2. WAWAYAtaotao#47#48, 3. Lilacs, 4. in passing…, 5. Cute.Cumber, 6. Love sickness, 7. Jenny Big Foot, 8. Cyril, the Chocolate Cat, 9. Hoshi 1, 10. baby quilt no. 2, 11. Tamar Mogendorff, 12. paper mache boats, 13. lottielulu smock, 14. owl cushion cover, 15. Plush Horse with Patches, 16. Red Lacy Legs

And I just wanted to share with you something my little 21-month old is currently saying. My most favourite saying of Aurora’s at the moment is , “Oooooh, nice” because she says it in such a gentle, high-pitched voice, sounding very much like a friendly old nanna who speaks very little English :-)

She has recently started saying it about everything from the rubbish bin (which she will poke with her finger a few times and then say “Oooooh, nice“), to food, to things I make in my craft room. She’ll waddle over in her toddler walk, pull herself up on the edge of the table to a tippy-toe, peer across the table to see what I’ve been making, reach out and poke it, nod in agreement and say, “Ooooooh, nice.” It’s a real buzz for me to hear her verbal agreement with what I create even though she does think it’s just as nice as our rubbish bin! :-)

Hope to be back on the weekend with a few finished softies!

Thank you to all of you that left a comment on the last post and shared your thoughts. It has been enlightening and helpful to understand your thoughts on the issue. I did want to clarify (which I should have done in the previous post) that I am not accusing the makers of the doll of outright copying or infringing of any law. A reader of this blog had raised a question about its similarity to some of my dolls and as I wasn’t so sure myself, I opened it up to you all to get some perspective and to understand your definition of “copying” and whether it was in terms of being identical or a degree of similarity, in the light of recent events in crafty blogland. (Phew, that was a long sentence!)

It is certainly a clear-cut case where two objects are exactly identical but how similar does an object have to be to another in order for it to be classified as a rip-off and for it to infringe on copyright? How much can one push the degree of similarity before it is deemed copying? A very tricky subject indeed! Definitely not a fun topic to address so your honest and open feedback was much appreciated!

Now, moving onto a much lighter and frivolous subject! I’ve finally completed a few softies - Baby Chibi Dolls and a Peg Bear. The printed details on these dolls have been blurred out as they are gifts and I don’t want to spoil the surprise :-)

I’ve used a very colourful and cute Japanese fabric and scamp sherpa fleece for this Peg Bear:

Aptly named Peg Bear Pop :-) He’s ready to jump on a plane (hence the cap!) and go off to another website for a giveaway they are hosting (more details soon!).

In progress is this little gal to be donated to a great cause:

It’s been a while since I’ve made a Happy Chibi Doll so it has been fun putting her together. I’m still trying to pick out the fabrics for her 2 outfits. She’s a little different from previous Happy Chibi Dolls as I’ve added some ears and a nose. I like the ears but am not so sure about keeping the nose - I’ll wait until she’s all done before I make the decision to keep it.

Next on the list are a few more Peg Bears, and then I need to get started on the April shop-update, which will be the last major shop-update until October :-)

I’m sitting out the “This Is” meme this week - the theme being “This is my jewellery/knick-knack box“. Such a great theme but I have to admit that I don’t actually own a jewellery or knick-knack box! In fact, I have very little jewellery (I tend to borrow from my Mum!) and wear very little daily (earring studs, watch, engagement ring and that’s it!). But I am looking forward to what all the other participants will be showing-and-telling today!

Hope you’re all having a relaxing weekend - I’m off to end the weekend on a high note and catch up with my best friend :-)