Thank you for all your encouraging words on my last post. They were like a great big virtual hug and they definitely made me feel better – thank you!

Something else has happened in the last 48 hours that has given me a good kick up the backside to get things going again – we found our new home! I thought selling the house was a big relief, but knowing that we actually have somewhere to go and live is an even bigger relief :-)

It’s funny because as you may know, the rental market in Melbourne is pretty crazy at the moment and very competitive – lots of demand and not enough supply. We inspected a house just this past Saturday and fell in love with it. On Monday morning, I went to the Agent’s office to submit our application, truly believing we wouldn’t be successful given the current state of the market – in fact, I almost talked myself out of going altogether but needed an excuse to get out of the house for a while.

So I was completely stunned when they called me Monday afternoon to say that our application had been successful! Then it sunk in that we have a little over a month to pack everything up, clean up and move out. And just as suddenly I was motivated to work on all the WIPs :-)

The Peggies are coming along. On my desk are 24 little Peg Bear arms and 24 Peg Bear ears, and the “Divine Discontent” CD by Sixpence None the Richer, which I stumbled across when cleaning up one of my cupboards and has been on repeat ever since:

Walking back from the Agent’s office, Aurora and I came across a sweet little Op Shop. I was looking for some fabric (of course) but it stocked mostly clothes, and I came away with these for the girls:

Two cute little red cardigans (one made of lambswool) and one extremely charming hand-knit sweater, all in excellent/like-new nick. And can you believe, total cost was $3!! Yup, $1 each. I am hoping to add some appliqué to the red cardigans and perhaps a big felt flower brooch for the knit sweater.

There were also amazing wool plaid coats in fantastic condition. They were only $4 each. I grabbed two of them with the intention of cutting into them and using them for softies, but was suddenly overcome with a sense of guilt. What if someone actually needed these coats (especially in this cold weather) and there I was, intending to use them for softies?! So I quickly put them back on the rack and paid for the cardigans and sweater before I could convince myself otherwise.

So if you’re in need of some good quality clothing at unbelievable prices, I highly recommend it! St Paul’s Op Shop, 215 Union Road in Ascot Vale (near the corner with Maribyrnong Road).

P.S. Check out the new blog by Gemma and Pip all about the best crafty spots in Melbourne – Craft City. Very excited about this – now I know the best places to go during my lunch-times!

I must admit that I’ve been feeling very ‘bleh’ lately – not motivated to do any sewing or crafting or blogging. Not motivated to do anything really. Instead, I’ve been moping around at home, feeling like a dark little cloud is following me, and crashing into bed 2 hours than I normally do over the last few nights. I have no idea why I’ve been feeling this way – perhaps I am feeling overwhelmed with life at the moment and have decided to simply retreat and hide?

Anyway, I tried to snap myself out of this slump and spent a few good hours up in my craft room, cutting out 12 Peg Bears that have been promised to three wonderful retailers.

I am hoping that the crafty mojo will return completely by tomorrow so I can actually sew these Peggies up this week.

A little piece of sunshine did come my way last week in the form of a notebook. I wandered into Dymocks in the city on Friday looking for a new notebook and found this one on the shelf all by itself -

Illustrated by the brilliant Junzo Terada (who I have blogged about before) and published by Chronicle Books. Every page features a delightfully cute illustration:

Love, love :-)

Thank you to Flossy-P for this week’s “This is” theme: “This is something I got, but still haven’t used“. I actually have a whole box of stuff I have but don’t use. There is a very sweet person in my family (who shall remain nameless), who insists on giving gifts for every and any occasion. She has such a generous spirit and a giving heart and we know that it gives her joy to give gifts. The problem is that much of what she gives ends up being something we just don’t use – it’s too big, too small, broken/doesn’t work, we already have one, etc. So, much of it goes into this box:

And every few months the contents of this box goes into another box which is taken to a charity store. Does that sound really horrible? We just don’t like the thought of keeping these gifts here while they gather dust and meanwhile, someone elsewhere can actually use them.

Okay, better get back to some crafting while I’m feeling up to it – hope to be back here in a few days with some completed Peg Bears :-)

Hey all, just a quick one to let you know that Lottie the Chicka-chi and Winston the Koa-chi softies are still available from the Kismet Gallery in Troy, New York:

They and Jasper participated in the Plush, Vinyl, Clay show over at Kismet back in January. Jasper found a new home but Lottie and Winston are still patiently waiting for theirs :-) So if you are interested in either of these two little *chis please contact Kismet Gallery directly:

71 4th Street
Troy
New York

Phone: 518-272-1918

Email: Kismet_gallery@yahoo.com

House-hunting has gone into full swing over here, so I’ve been spending most of my internet time searching for homes and booking inspections as we’ve got just over 6 weeks to move out. Apologies if I owe you an email – hope to get to it this week!

I’m trying to work on all outstanding orders before I start packing up my craft room, so a few custom Peg Bears (and one custom Peg Bunny!) were completed and posted off:

And on my desk, I’ve finally got some new thank-you cards done to go with the orders. I’ve been printing these cards out on glossy photo paper using my printer but I think I will need to go back to getting them done professionally as it will certainly turn out cheaper (my printer uses unbelievable amounts of ink):

There are more Peg Bears to be made so they’ll be taking over my blog for the next couple of weeks (and hopefully you aren’t sick of seeing Peg Bears by the end of it all!).

Here are some things I also enjoyed this past week:
> Young Me/Now Me found via Paisley St Claire
> Gorgeous cupcakes that make me want to drop everything and get baking, thanks to Danielle
> All of Elsita’s work just rocks, but this is so delightful
> So much talent and incredible work to marvel at over here
> Couldn’t agree more with how Manda views her fabric collection :-)
> Love, love, love the sneak peek into the gorgeous fabric lines by various designers at the International Quilt Market over in the USA, thanks to Pink Chalk Studio

Be back soon :-)

Not much sewing or softie-making these last few days – we’ve been running around like crazy preparing for a number of house inspections of our home during the week, including being told at 9pm last night that there was going to be an inspection at 9am this morning!

So on my desk tonight is a completed custom softie that needs to be taken apart and re-worked, and some vintage fabric generously sent to me from my cousin who lives overseas just because :-).

Oh, and there’s also a copy of some very important and much awaited paperwork . . . . . . we finally sold our house! YIPEE!!! {Happy dance, happy dance}. Thankfully staying up very late night last night to make sure the house was as perfect as possible for the 9am inspection this morning was all worth it. We signed the papers this evening and boy oh boy, does it feel good! We listed the house for sale way back in early January, just before the housing market went into a slump, so it’s been slow going with trickling interest from potential buyers.

But now we can really, seriously, search for a new home, which is something I am very excited about. It’s the new beginning that we are in desperate need of – the next phase in the life of this little family. We are definite on the suburb and agree on all the things the house will need to have as a minimum (including a craft room for me!) – now to do the hard yards and start inspecting homes. Fun, fun, fun!!!

So given this (and all the packing, cleaning and moving that will inevitably follow) plus the craziness of life in general, I’ve had to cut down on some commitments including downsizing the number of custom-made Peg Bears down to 5 (from 10) and at the moment there are only 2 left – so if you are still interested, go here.

I’m going on a little blog break and hope to be back here early next week. I need to re-work the softie on my desk – this doll was a good challenge for me to work on as it involved making a softie based on a design given to me by the customer. Getting the right curves and proportions has been tricky. I still need to incorporate changes requested by the customer, which will require for it to be pulled apart (and perhaps made again from scratch) but I am hoping to get it right by the weekend. Also on my to-do list are a heap of Peg Bears (which I never grow tired of making!) and of course, visiting a few prospective homes on Saturday :-)

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week!

Wishing all the Mamas & Mamas-to-be a wonderful Mother’s Day!!! I’ve been spoilt with chocolate, kisses, hugs and artwork from the girls :-) It is only fitting that the “This is” theme this week is “This reminds me of my Mum” by Angela.

My Mum is a very generous and giving soul – she’s the kind of person that if you remarked how nice that bracelet was that she was wearing, she would respond with, “Really? You like it? Here, do you want it?“. She and my dad sacrificed so much to give my brother and I a better future here in Australia. She is wise, strong in character, and loves and protects fearlessly. She is a woman of simple tastes but her one indulgence? Jewelry!

She has tried to share that love of jewelry with me but unfortunately, it hasn’t really stuck (sorry Mum!) When I was 8 years old, she gave me a very cute little container to store my jewelry and some pieces from her collection:

This is only a very tiny sample of what she has given me over the years – I have returned much of it to her given that it would get more use with her than with me! I think I mentioned in a previous post that I really don’t wear much jewelry, but I do keep these few pieces close at hand simply because they remind me of my Mum and her unconditional giving and loving spirit – two qualities I strive to develop in myself and in my girls.

In crafty news, Oliver the Owl was completed this week:

As was Happy Chibi Girl Cadence, her two outfits, and her little pouch-bag with mini-Peg Bear ;-)

She initially had a nose on her face but it just bugged me too much so I got rid of it! I decided to keep the ears (couldn’t resist putting button earrings on them!) and I think all Happy Chibi Girls will have ears from now on too :-). Cadence will be auctioned by Craft for China – I’ll post details up here as soon as she’s listed.

And welcome! to all the new readers who have stumbled upon my little blog for the first time, thanks to 3 lovely blogs:

>> One Red Robin was included in a round-up of Aussie design/craft blogs on Decor8 (blink and you’ll miss it :-))

>> A few photos from my studio and a short interview about my studio space were recently posted up on Poppytalk

>> And I talk a about what inspires me creatively on Hip Slope Mama

Off to enjoy more time with the girls (and of course, more chocolate!)

Happy Friday all!

Just a quick post to say that as a response to the number of queries I’ve received about custom-made Peg Bears, as a completely once-off offer, I have posted up this option in my shop:

There are only 10 available (as that is all I think I can handle for now :-)) and I won’t be offering this option again – so please get in quick if you are keen to have a Peg Bear made according to your preferences! Now available here.

All custom-made Peg Bears will come with Aviator Caps and will also include the Peg Bear Tango Art-Print for FREE :-)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Vintage wooden-spooled thread:

Early last week my Aunty, who lives in the U.S., contacted me to let me know that she had sent a few of my Grandma’s old sewing supplies to me. What a wonderful surprise! I was super excited.

It finally arrived yesterday and oh my goodness, I seriously almost fainted. The box was huge! For some reason I was expecting a smallish box given the cost of shipping things overseas from the U.S. When I opened it up, this is what greeted me:

I slowly unpacked the box and found -

A container of new and old elastics:

A whole bag of vintage buttons – my Grandma had patiently made most of them in to button necklaces, organised by colour. This was her ‘system’ for storing her button collection:

A heap ‘o’ decorative scissors:

A container of vintage ribbons:

And when I opened this container I actually let out a “Holy Cow!” followed by a squeal. If my daughter had not been fast asleep in the next room, I would have yelled out “Her collection of lace trims??!!”

After all the containers were removed, I beheld the bottom of the box which was covered with spools of thread. I pulled out some vintage wooden-spooled thread (above). I am sure that this collection will pretty much last me a life time :-) There were also embroidery hoops, an assortment of needles and this gadget I haven’t yet worked out what to do with yet.

How strange that a box of old sewing supplies can make a grown woman all teary :-) I cannot describe how excited I am to have my Grandma’s old supplies in my possession. She was the first to introduce me to the wonderful world of fabric and sewing, and she and her life continue to be an inspiration to me daily. And if my Aunty is reading this, thanks so much Aunty!!! You have made my entire year :-)

I think I may spend a bit more time exploring the stash before I head to the sewing machine. Oh, and I have been recently hooked on reading this (because I simply love fabric), this (great finds!) and this (am so inspired by the photography! Hope to be back at the end of the week :-)

P.S. Thank you to those who voted for my Babushka doll in the 2nd Annual Softie awards. I missed out in The Cutest Face Category but please go have a look at the wonderful winners!

P.P. S. Thank you for the Peg Bear love! I won’t be stocking more Peg Bears in my shop until after October, but there will be a small number of new Peg Bears in 3 lovely shops by the end of the month – will provide details closer to completion.

Some new Peg Bears (with headgear :-)) are now available in my shop.

My final shop update will include a few Happy Chibi Girl dolls in the next 1-2 weeks and then I will be taking a break on softie shop updates until October so that I can focus on my little solo show in September.

I also finally wrapped up the easy-peasy Lamb Lovey and another Doddi Bear Boy:

Thank you to Hip Hop and Banana Bread for the fun theme for “This Is”: “This is the pair of shoes that I would sleep in if I could..”

I must admit that I am not really a shoe-gal – in fact I probably really wear only 3 pairs of shoes. And I’m also very much a hoodie-jeans-sneakers kind of gal too so I am pretty sure these shoes would be on my feet ALL THE TIME if I actually did own a pair :-) Camilla Engman Converse:

And thanks to Angela for also suggesting a little bit of a Flashback today – something pre-1985. So here’s me circa 1979. It was my first proper studio portrait. I actually managed to sit still and smile at the same time – my parents were so proud :-)

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I’m a bit behind on comments and emails but hope to respond very soon.