. . . for all the things that 2008 has brought (both good, bad and ugly!) and looking forward to what lies ahead in 2009. I am most grateful for the blessings of good health, provision and safe keeping that my family and I have experienced this year. I can only hope for more of the same in 2009!

How has your in-between (Christmas and New Year) week been? I haven’t touched the sewing machine in almost 3 weeks now and I think it has been a refreshing break. I am itching to get back into sewing again come the new year! Instead I have been catching up on sleep (mid-afternoon nanna-naps are the best!), catching up with family and friends, trying to eat in moderation despite all the festivities, and playing around with some pattern design :-)

Some new designs -

Quiet Streets (still needs a little bit of tweaking):

Wandering Birds:

And new colours for existing patterns:

Thank you for dropping in and taking the time to read my posts; for the support you provide through comments and emails; for the inspiration you provide through the sharing of your own lives and creativity. I have been blessed to have met some of you in person this year :-)

A big thanks to Pip, Cinti, Jessica and Nancy, Helen, Nikki (of Hudson), May, Catherine, Rachel, and Angela (and Mr Gadget :-)) for their invaluable support of One Red Robin this year. And a hearty thanks to Kirsty and Angela not only for their inspirational crafty-ness but also for their great memes that have introduced me to an amazing number of new-to-me blogs/crafters.

Wishing you all only the very best in 2009! ♥♥♥

Hi All! Hope you’ve had a festive and memorable week :-) We’ve been enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors and good times with family and friends.

Just wanted to pop in quickly and let you know that I have updated my shop with softies from a couple of exhibitions (”Plush, Vinyl, Clay” show in New York, “Super Plush” show in Los Angeles, and from my exhibition in Hong Kong):

In regards to pricing, I used the original price in Australian dollars and converted them into US dollars for the etsy listing - this means that due to the poor conversion rate, those living outside Australia might pick up a very good bargain :-)

Find them here.

Also, if you go to my “Where to Buy” page, you will now find the current list of all stockists that sell my softie sewing patterns.

Thanks to Cindy for the Eye-Spy Sunday theme this week - “Eye spy the festive aftermath“. As I mentioned, we’ve really been enjoying this holiday season. The girls have particularly loved opening and playing with their gifts, delicious food, and catching up with family and friends. Here they are looking very content and happy the morning after Christmas:

Hope you are feeling very happy and content too as we near the end of 2008 :-)

I’m so glad I had to bring a big box (for my softies) to Hong Kong because I was able to add a few more things in to it on the way back :-)

I was really happy to find some very cute Monchichi at the APM (couldn’t find any here in Australia for a reasonable price) - and a Matroyshka Hello Kitty!

I also stumbled across some gorgeous stationery from a Korean company called Jetoy.  I picked up a business card holder (on the cover is a cat dressed as Snow White :-)) and a mini-notebook (filled with gorgeous pages inside):

Plus a really sweet tote bag:

The APM were so generous and gifted me with some really lovely things. Firstly, a box of Godiva chocolates:

Also a candy container (filled with Gummies) designed by one of my favourite artists, Yoshimoto Nara:

They also gave me a souvenir show bag filled with these amazing goodies: a monthly calendar, notebook and wrtistlet all featuring the work of Japanese designer/stylist Kumiko Iijima (whose work was also on display - can’t seem to find a website though):

Must admit that APM really spoiled me with these goodies!

When we got home, I also received a package I had almost forgot about. Last month, there was the Plush You show held by Schmancy. One particular softie captured my heart and when it went on sale, I promptly made the purchase.

How gorgeous is he?! He is handmade by Sayaki Imai (no website unfortunately) and I wish you could see it in person. He is a mix of fake fur, cotton, wool, felt and suiting. The craftsmanship is stunning and I can only hope I can achieve the same level of craftsmanship and creativity with my softies that Sayaki obviously has in truck loads.

I have posted all of the photos from the HK show and more photos of the goodies here.

I’d like to wish you all a very happy Christmas with your loved ones, and a safe and exciting 2009. Hope to be back here in the New Year. Thank you for all your encouragement and support this year  - it has touched our hearts more than words can express :-)

We are safely back from HK :-) I’m fighting off some flu symptoms (that were brewing before we left) but I’m very happy to be back home again.

Picking up from the previous post, a few days after the press conference, the girls and I were interviewed and photographed for an upcoming article in the HK Economic Times. The slant of the article was a little different in that it was more about the importance of making craft together in the mother-daughter relationship. So we talked a little about the softies and more about teaching little ones to sew with Ava doing a very short hand-sewing demo :-)

It was really wonderful to be able to have the girls with me in the photos.

Being interviewed:

Photo-shoot with the girls:

The girls charming it up:

For the length of the exhibition, my softies were on display in a wardrobe. The theme of APM’s Christmas exhibition was “Magical Christmas Wardrobe” (and their decorations were incredible by the way!) and there were various open wardrobes displayed around the center holding various design/craft pieces from other artists.

Overall it was amazing time (though it went so quick!). I’m very grateful to the team at APM for all the effort, time and money they put in to promote my work - truly humbling! We also got to spend lots of excellent quality time together as a family without having to worry about a lot of things (like we do back at home :-)). The girls adored HK Disneyland too.

Goodbye Hong Kong - we will miss you!

Back tomorrow with some goodies I was able to pick up in HK. Thank you for the words of support in the last post :-)

P.S. Will update my shop with softies from the show after Christmas.

It’s been a fun but busy week! We arrived last Sunday afternoon and were taken straight to the APM to meet some of the people I had been corresponding with over emails the last few months. Such lovely people - it was a real treat to finally meet them in person.

I’ve been spending a few hours at the APM everyday running workshops on how to make the woodland doll-head brooches. A lot of young girls have come along - most have never picked up a needle and thread before - so it has been exciting to introduce them to sewing and how much fun it can be :-)

Last Tuesday was the press conference. Representatives from a few HK newspapers came. The APM put on quite a production. It started with a few models holding some of the softies and doing a little catwalk show :-) Then I was introduced and asked a few questions. Then I did a short demo on how to put a very simple doll together. And then it was about 1/2 an hour of picture taking and posing, with the photographers yelling “Look here! Look here!“. Very weird and very surreal. I also stayed back for some one-on-one interviews. Some pics -

Posing for some preliminary press shots:

With the girls before the conference began:

The press seated and ready for the conference:

APM organised my hair and make-up and while it wasn’t quite my style, it was very nice to be pampered a little bit and look completely different for a few hours :-) The next day, four HK/Chinese newspapers had covered my exhibition, so that was really exciting.

I’m about to leave for the APM again so I will wrap this up for now. The girls and hubby have been enjoying spending most of their days together exploring Hong Kong. We haven’t been doing much shopping at all given the poor Aussie dollar but have certainly been enjoying the food :-) Hope to post up more photos next week!

Just quickly dropping in to say thank you for your well wishes before we head off to Hong Kong. A week of frenzied sewing and packaging has yielded a few more things:

Peg Bear Gypsy - made from vintage fabric generously given by Dawn:

Peg Bear Ghazal - also made from fabric from Dawn :-)

Peg Bear Gaikyoku - made from Japanese fabric:

Giant Woodland Girl Mee finally has her apron and mini-Peg Bear buddy:

And this smaller fawn is for Woodland Girl Jin:

And I am almost finished packaging up 120 pieces of the doll-head brooch kits:

Press for the show has begun in Hong Kong and I am starting to get some seriously huge butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. Here is a good summary of what it’s all about on Discover Hong Kong. I also have a press conference to attend early next week to talk about what I make and I am petrified. At least I have a few days to psyche myself up a bit :-)

Not sure if I’ll have a chance to blog when I am there but I will try to post up pics if i get a chance.

Okey dokes, I guess that’s all for now (can you tell I am nervous?!). I’ll be back here just before Christmas. Happy Friday!

Two fawns were finally completed this week. Fifi is made of a red wool cashmere and vintage fabric (from Dawn):

And Figaro is made from wool-blend suiting:

(Pics have been edited using Picnik)

The unnamed Happy Chibi Girl was also dropped off at Mikes this morning for Mirabel. She was a lot of fun to put together and I am hoping to make a few more yarn-haired dolls. I used a 50/50 cotton/wool blend mix for her hair. I am sure her recipient will bestow her with the perfect name :-)

It was lovely to have a quick catch-up with Cam and Pip again at their shop and I even got to meet the super-talented Mr Ghost Patrol in person :-) Speaking of Mikes, I finally have all my Christmas gift-shopping done (and am starting the less-fun task of wrapping).

Most of my shopping was done online after accepting the fact that there was no way I was going to have time to make gifts this year. Here’s some of the loot I bought from here, here, here, here and here - all very highly recommended!

Buy handmade this Christmas! :-) Happy December!