I turned the big 33 today (which just happens to be my favourite number!).

I spent the day at work but was showered with lots of lovely greetings and sweet gifts including:

A birdcage necklace by Love (by Geneine Honey) worn to work this morning . . .

And a deer brooch also by Love worn out to dinner tonight with hubby . . .

Both gifted by my wonderful family.

Last year was simply amazing but exhausting. Our circumstances are/will be very different this year and I have scaled down my crafty commitments to focus on other priorities, but I am excited and remain hopeful about what’s in store over the next 12 months :-)

P.S. The ‘dinner‘ with hubby turned out to be a very well planned surprise party with family and friends. I had no clue!

Inspired by the paper-cuts of Elsita, Loobylu, Angry Chicken & Roby Ryan, and fully aware of my impatience and inability to work on a delicate paper-cut project (my clumsiness plus a sharp knife = not a good idea!), I turned the sketch from the previous post into a new fabric design, “Woodland Cutout“:

In different colour combos (fat quarter size to illustrate the scale of the pattern):

Hope to get a few samples printed soon (just waiting for the Aussie dollar to inch up a little more!).

I’ve been itching to do some op-shopping for weeks and finally had a chance yesterday. I was up at Watsonia to visit a good friend and popped into the Salvos store there just before. I know Pip, Kirsty and Cindy have been busy hooking up crocheted granny squares (something I would love to learn how to do this year), but I think I may have stumbled across the biggest crocheted square I have ever seen! Behold:

It measures 1.5m by 1.5m and is in absolutely perfect condition. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Just imagine how long it must have taken for someone to make this. Of course, I quickly paid the $7 for it and went back to the car to marvel at it :-) So happy! It will definitely come in handy now that the nights are getting very chilly.

Thank you to Cindy for asking me to pick an Eye Spy theme for this week. Here it is: “Eye Spy . . . my new favourite blog!“.

What’s a blog that you have stumbled across in the last month and have instantly become smitten with? It’s always exciting to come across new blogs, so here is an opportunity to let us all know what you love reading at the moment and gush about why you love it so much :-) I’m looking forward to reading about your good find!

Just putting the finishing touches on the next pattern I will be releasing through Pattern Press, Mama Babushka:

And her Baby Babushka:

The Babushka was published in Handmade Magazine last year and I have since received numerous requests to publish it as a standalone pattern.

I have added the Baby Baushka to this new release and I think it would look very sweet for the Mama Babushka to be surrounded by two, or three, or four Baby Babushkas made of different fabrics :-)

Thanks to Hugo & Elsa for this week’s Eye Spy theme: Eye Spy A Work in Progress

Here we are at the very beginning of one work in progress - fabric choices! Got these beauties from here:

The two on the left are Fortune Sea and Cathedral Dusk by Anna Maria Horner and the two on the right are Wonderland by Momo - Metamophosis Sky and Teatime Tomato. I can see two fawns, a Woodland Girl and a Peg Bear in these :-)

And also in progress, a doodle that will hopefully turn in to a new fabric design:

* Thank you so much to those of you who have voted for my fabric in this week’s Spoonflower fabric contest - your support is a huge encouragement!

Just a quick one to let you know that my “Folksy Teaparty” fabric in blue-red-green is one of the 6 fabrics participating in Spoonflower’s fabric contest this week:

The way it works is that voting is open to everyone. The fabric with the most votes is printed up by Spoonflower and sold by the yard in their etsy shop for a limited time (until the new competition starts for the following week).

I think this print would look really cute made up as an apron, over mitts, coasters, place-mats - anything kitchen-y actually :-)

So if you would like to snap up some of my Folksy Teaparty fabric please hop on over here to cast your vote :-)

Voting closes next Wednesday.

Thanks for your well wishes on the planned surgery for my Youngest. As it turned out, after a 2-hour wait at the hospital, they decided that she was too young for the surgery (she’s 2-and-a-half) and instead will monitor her for the next 5 months and re-asses later on in the year to see whether surgery is needed. Phew! And hooray!

So plans changed and I had all intentions to sew up a storm but I will be honest with you - I have been so, very, very lazy! I haven’t been able to muster up the motivation to sit at the sewing machine.

Instead I have been:

>> Gaining inspiration and ideas from reading the latest: Frankie, Shop Til You Drop 4 Kids, and Your Investment Property (completely different inspiration and ideas in the latter magazine than from the first 2!)

>> Swooning over the pages inside the Bob Boutique catalogue,

. . . and Pyglet’s wonderfully teeny tiny and super impressive hand-drawn zine (get yours here):

>> Putting in a little extra time at work.

>> Watching TV whilst devouring the very last (and well hidden until now!) Easter eggs.

>> Still training a few times a week for this.

>> So very smitten with the awesome pose dolls created by SuperJunk (aka Melissa) and doing a little research into how I can make my own :-)

{image credit: “Becky Doll by SuperJunk“}

>> Updating my other blog, Softie Making, sporadically - there are so many wonderful free softie patterns out there! Go see for yourself!

>> Flicking through my collection of Simplicity patterns and Japanese craft books and writing down all the garments I really want to make for the girls and I - and trying very hard to will myself to actually get up and do it!

>> Preparing and planning for a non-craft related change in our personal circumstances, which is a few weeks away. It’ll mean a lot less time to work on craft so I think I am also mentally and psychologically preparing myself for this (not-so-happy) change! :-(

I do have a crafty project I need to complete by the end of this month so I am psyching myself up to get some sewing done over the weekend. Hope to be back on Sunday with a finished softie to share :-)

Finished up this (lazy) resting fawn, which is on its way to Shannon who is organising an auction with all proceeds going to PANDA:

I think she looks right at home sitting on a little girl’s bed :-) Although, I hadn’t realised when I was making her that when all sewn up and stuffed, she is the size of a small dog!

A few good things that have inspired and excited me this past week:

From top-left clockwise: Artwork+Embroidery by Sarajo Friedman and she has a great interview with Poketo over here; quilted artwork by Caroline Hwang; Amy Karol’s new book “Bend the Rules with Fabric: Fun Sewing Projects with Stencils, Stamps, Dye, Photo Transfers, Silk Screening, and More “ is now available for pre-order!; and Kawaii overload thanks to the illustrations of Bukubuku (aka Silvia Portello).

Also worth a read is Pikaland’s series on Inspiring Creativity - the first two installments are already up: 9 Tips to be more creative and Creativity, Competition & Copycats.

I’ll be away from the blog until later in the coming week as the youngest is scheduled for a minor operation on Monday but I might pop into Twitter and Facebook here and there :-)). Wishing you an inspiring and productive week ahead!

Friday already?

It has been a good week. I received this in the mail:

What is it you ask? Well, I signed up for the Mother’s Day classic fun run to be held on Sunday, May 10. I will be doing the 4km run. That up there is my number to pin to my shirt and a thingamabobby to tie to my shoe to record my time.

This is a surprise to most of my family and friends because I have never, ever, ever been sporty or athletic. Ever. I told them about my participation in the fun-run this week and I have never heard so many collective gasps in my life!

I shunned all manner of sport since forever (I was the girl who, without fail, would go to catch a ball and get hit with it square in the mouth, with my glasses flying off my face) and always just passed P.E. in high-school. I especially hated running events - why run when you can walk; what’s the hurry I say? But with the encouragement of my hubby (who has been sporty and athletic since forever), I have been exercising regularly over the last 6 months simply to be fit and healthy, and must admit that this is the fittest I have felt in a long, long time. If there is any time in my life that I can even imagine I can do this, it is now.

But also and more importantly, all funds raised from the event will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is the leading community-funded organisation in Australia raising money for research into the prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer. My relatives have suffered from Breast Cancer - only one out of the 4 that were affected has survived. It is a horrible, horrible disease. And this is why I am also running - to help raise funds into more research (and it doesn’t help that my dad reckons it is highly likely I will get the disease at some stage due to my family history!).

It is always awkward to be asking for money when the economy is so bad and there are so many other charities that also need help - but I will ask that if you have a few dollars to spare ($2 or $5 or $10 or $20 or more), that you will consider sponsoring me for the run. Your donation will go straight to the NBCF (not me!) and if you live in Australia, all donations over $2 are tax deductible and they will send you a receipt.

If you would like to sponsor me, you can find my sponsorship page by clicking on the Mother’s Day Classic pic over on the right-hand side bar.

I have begun to train for the event. I went for my first 4km run a few days ago and except for that split second in the last 100 metres when I seriously thought I was going to collapse and die right there, I was actually surprised that I managed to complete the full 4km :-) Of course, the next two days I waddled around like a heavily pregnant woman since every muscle and joint in my legs hurt like crazy. That’ll teach me not to warm up properly before hand!

And in other news, Ze Bun-bun #4 has found a new home with a little girl (yay!), and the pattern and instructions for my Myrtle the Turtle softie is now available in the latest issue of Sew Hip (there she is in the bottom-right corner):

Our long weekend has been wonderfully relaxing and refreshing. We’ve celebrated Easter at a Good Friday service and happily witnessed the baptism of friends; consumed our fair share of choc eggs and hot cross buns; enjoyed long mid-afternoon naps; watched DVDs; and even managed some crafting with the girls, and a little sewing.

Easter chicks the girls put together:

Doodling and sticker-ing by the littlest one:

Doodling by the eldest and the Mama :-)

And with bunnies still on the mind, two Doddi Bunnies for two babies celebrating milestones this week:

We’ve got Easter Sunday service tomorrow, a surprise birthday party, and our wedding anniversary to celebrate in the next few days. Did I mention April is my favourite month of the year? :-)

Hope you are finding joy during this Easter break as well! What’s been your highlight so far?

Ze Bun-bun #4 is looking for a new home:

Here he is hanging around at Degraves St., Melbourne city, at 9am this morning:

Anyone willing to adopt a quiet, polite, bookish, and shy bunny just in time for Easter?

Hope he finds a great home!

More about the Toy Society here.

EDITED: Just checked @1pm during my lunch break and he is gone! Hope he will bring lots of smiles to his new owners. Must admit it was the strangest thing dropping it off in the alley as so many people were walking by and I was trying to be very inconspicuous :-) It was also a little difficult leaving him there - I kept turning around as I walked off to make sure he was still okay. So silly! Funny how easy it is to get attached to things we make.

I finished up the Ze Bun-buns for the Ze Girl-girls :-) I tried to take some decent photos of the Bun-buns but the girls couldn’t wait to cuddle them. Here’s the one that turned out okay:

They were then quickly scooped up by the girls and given great big bear hugs. They have already been christened with names: Anya and Bella. My intention was to give them to the girls at Easter but they really wanted to cuddle them during their afternoon nap so I caved :-)

The girls picked all the fabric for their bunnies and have been excited seeing them in various states of progress on my craft desk. And a fairly new development (Eye-spy theme thanks to Christina!) is that Ava has started liking pink. Up until this point she would shun anything pink - blue was her favourite colour. But since she started Prep, suddenly everything she has must be pink. I’m wondering how long it will last :-)

A special little mug arrived in the mail today:

I got my Little Mushroom girl pattern printed on to a mug via Cafepress and I am delighted with the way it has turned out. A little bit of colour to add to my desk at work :-)

And finally, the Easter egg consumption has begun over here. I picked up my ultimate favourite kind - candy covered, speckled, solid chocolate eggs. So very good.

Off to polish off the rest of the eggs with some coffee in my new cup before the little ones wake from their nap. Wishing you a week filled with many smile-inducing moments. More Eye-spy players over here.