Shifting gears completely with this post. I want to highlight what is currently going on in my home country, Philippines, and to ask for your help.

Photo Credit

Photo Credit

I am truly horrified by the floods that have engulfed Metro Manila due to Typhoon Kenastra (or ‘Ondoy‘ as the Filipinos have named it). In a matter of 9 hours, Metro Manila received the amount of rainfall that it would usually receive in one month.

As a result up to 80% of Metro Manila is now under water; the death toll is 140 240 (and rising); and over almost half a million people (HALF A MILLION) have been displaced. There is also the issue of disease outbreak as sanitation systems are in disarray and have spilled into the floods.

This is an extract of the latest report from the Age newspaper:

“Philippine rescue workers have been struggling through knee-deep mud and putrid water in a desperate effort to help nearly half a million people displaced by the disaster. Reaching people still stranded after Saturday’s disaster in the capital Manila and surrounding areas, preventing disease outbreaks and getting aid to survivors were all big concerns, authorities said.

“We are concentrating on massive relief operations. (But) the system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed,” the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Anthony Golez, told reporters on Monday.

“We were used to helping one city, one or two provinces but now, they are following one after another. Our assets and people are spread too thinly.”

Please watch this video also to help understand the level of devastation that is occurring in the area: Manila Flood Kills Dozens

I have read the articles and I have seen all the news footage, and it really just breaks my heart. I have family there and childhood friends. The Philippines and its people have been through so much tragedy already, and if there is one thing that marks a Filipino, it is resilience. They will be able to rise above this but in order to do so, they desperately need your help. If you are able to, can I please ask that you make a donation to the Philippine National Red Cross. Thanking you so much in advance!

I was recently contacted by a lovely reader of this blog, Peggy, who lives in Europe. Peggy was inspired by this Babushka doll:

In fact, she loved the look of the doll so much that she decorated her daughter’s bedroom using the doll as the theme! She made wall paper, cushions, and even a quilt (cushions and quilt are hard to see in the photos but they have an applique of the doll). I am sure you will agree that the results are simply amazing!

{Photos by Peggy}

Peggy has done such a fabulous job! I wish I had the skill and patience to put something like this together for my own girls. It has obviously been done with a lot of love. I am thrilled to bits that my doll inspired this wonderful bedroom. Thank you Peggy for sending me these photos of your beautiful work!

So that’s the good stuff. On the not-so-good-stuff front, funnily enough another blog reader was kind enough to let me know that a certain chain store here in Australia is currently selling pajamas that look like this:

Hmmm, not sure what to think. Probably just a coincidence . . . right? . . .

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◘ Don’t forget that the September Sale is now at the One Red Robin Shoppe! 15% off softies and cushions and a 2-for-1 offer on all art prints (i.e. buy one and get one free!). Ends October 2nd!

She’s off to enjoy a Girls Night In :-)

(Thank you Tinnie Girl for the bag of crocheted bits-n-pieces - the blue crocheted square has found a new home!)

◘ Don’t forget that the September Sale is now at the One Red Robin Shoppe! 15% off softies and cushions and a 2-for-1 offer on all art prints (i.e. buy one and get one free!). Ends October 2nd!

. . . last night. The makings of another doll for an upcoming auction being held as part of the Cancer Council’s annual event, Girl’s Night In.

The event (run for the month of October) encourages women to get together with their friends somewhere indoors and donate the money they would have spent on going out to the Cancer Council for research, support and education. The doll I am donating will be auctioned as a part of Karen Wasson’s Girl’s Night In fundraiser and you can find the details here.

Hop on over to Kirsty’s for more creative spaces. And while you are there, make sure you check out all the fabulous redwork quilt blocks that have been contributed to Kirsty’s Quilt Project. Each one is so wonderfully special. The final quilt is going to be beyond stunning.

By the way, have you heard about the first ever Asia-Pacific Blog Awards sponsored by Nuffnang and Pringles? It will be held in late October and Nuffnang/Pringles are flying all the finalists over to Singapore for a big gala dinner where they will be announcing the winners in a number of categories.

Did you know that Loobylu is a finalist in the Best Hidden Gem category? Isn’t that fantastic?! In fact, I think her blog is the only handmade/craft-related blog amongst the 60 or so finalists. So please do go and vote for her over here.

Happy Friday all!

Two happy chibi girl samples all ready for their trip to the Houston Quilt Market:

What a week it has been so far. Earlier in the week I went to work only to get the chills followed by a fever mid-morning. I somehow made my way back home and straight into bed. I’m feeling a little better today after a visit to the Doctor. I really thought I had overcome whatever bug it was that I had last week but it looks like it doesn’t want to leave just yet . . .

My laptop also decided to throw a hissy fit on Monday. I ended up having to replace my hard drive. Thankfully most of my data was backed up. I’m still trying to re-install all the applications. Thank you to all of you who bought items from my shop over the last few days - you have helped pay for my laptop repair ;-)

So while I was moping around the house this afternoon in a sour mood, I looked out the window and saw this:

And suddenly was reminded that this little episode is just a small bump in the whole scheme of things. In fact, this too shall pass. Good things are ahead. And so, I stopped moping :-) Thank you Rainbow (and Rainbow Maker).

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◘ Don’t forget that the September Sale is now at the One Red Robin Shoppe! 15% off softies and cushions and a 2-for-1 offer on all art prints (i.e. buy one and get one free!). Ends October 2nd!

Thank you Sally for the great Eye Spy theme this week!

Like most Eye-Spy players this week, there are many people who inspire me - from family and friends to creative crafters and artists, to sports people and humanitarians.

The one person who always jumps first to mind when I am asked about inspirational people is my paternal Grandmother. For as long as I have known her, she has been strong, fiesty, witty, resilient, intelligent, creative, loving and kind. I think her laugh is the most wonderful laugh I have ever heard :-)

She is turning 94 in a few months and lives near San Jose in the USA. In the pic above, she is in her early-20s.

She was raised in rural Philippines. Her parents owned significant pieces of land and used it to help fund the education of their children. My Grandmother eventually studied education and became a teacher. She then transitioned to become a piano teacher, a business woman, a corner store owner ( I still remember visiting her during this time and having free reign on all the lollies in her shop!), and later on, a seamstress. She can speak many different dialects and has a beautiful singing voice.

When I was in Primary School, she lived with us for a year or two. During Primary School, we had those annual book parades, and everybody would come dressed up as a book character. Most years, I just came dressed as a character I made up and would endure lots of teasing :-) In 6th Grade, I really wanted to dress up like Mary Poppins.

My Grandmother took me to the market where we picked out fabric together, and she made me the coolest Mary Poppins dress ever (if I find a photo, I’ll post it up)! The dress was red gingham with a full skirt. She made me a fitted coat of dark blue velvet with long coat tails to wear on top of the dress. I wore a dark blue velvet hat, carried a big red umbrella, and a straw basket that she lined with red gingham too. And I won the parade that year! It really meant a lot to me that she took the time and energy to make the dress and that she was there to celebrate with me :-)

I am sure I inherited my love for sewing and making things from her. I was so stoked when my Aunty sent me my Grandmother’s sewing tools, and odds and ends last year. It was invaluable.

I have so many great memories of my Grandmother and I wish I had the luxury of living much closer to her. She is my last surviving grandparent. I would love for the girls to get to know her better too. She tells great stories and is the source of many hilarious one-liners (in fact, sometimes I think that somehow my youngest has inherited my Grandmother’s sharp wit)! Her determination, resilience, endurance and strength of character are an inspiration to me.

Most inspirational to me is that she volunteered weekly to help children with special needs at a local school until she was in her early nineties. They simply called her “Grandma“. When we visited a few years ago and went to the school to pick her up for the day, it really touched my heart to see the kids hugging her goodbye with such love and admiration. I can only hope that I will be that strong, and full of life and vitality in my nineties to spend my years serving and helping others.

Find more inspirational people at Cindy’s place :-)

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◘ Don’t forget that the September Sale is now at the One Red Robin Shoppe! 15% off softies and cushions and a 2-for-1 offer on all art prints (i.e. buy one and get one free!). Ends October 2nd!

◘ Thank you to those who have purchased from my shop. Unfortunately my laptop (which houses all my art print images) is being repaired at the moment so - assuming the repair goes well - I am hoping to send out your prints at the end of this week.

I’m hoping to temporarily close my etsy shop while I work on my next exhibition. Before I close it, I thought it would be good to have a SALE!

So, if you hop on over there now you’ll see that all Softies and Cushions have been marked down by 15%!!

Also, there is a TWO-FOR-ONE offer on all art prints meaning if you buy one print, you’ll get the second one for free! To take advantage of this offer, buy one of the prints you want, then in the Message section of the purchase, type in the code “ORR2for1” followed by the second print that you would like for free and I will ship them both to you in one package.

The September sale will run for two weeks and will end on midnight, Friday 2nd of October.

Please note that I will not be stocking the shoppe with new creations until early next year.

Please click this link to see what’s available: One Red Robin Shoppe

Thank you!

Ahhhhh, definitely feeling a little more settled and level-headed today :-)

Thanks to Rhelynn for the great suggestion on the last post regarding kids gifts - a floor cushion or something to sit on is an excellent idea! Especially when you have kids who would much prefer to sit on the floor and draw, play games, watch TV, eat, do homework, etc, instead of sitting on the couch like regular people :-)

I really like what Fiona did here teaming Ikea heavyweight prints with vinyl to make some hardy but gorgeous floor cushions. And here’s a tutorial for bean bag chairs provided by Michael Miller Fabrics. These would be quick and easy to whip up and look so good in kid-themed fabric.

Meanwhile, in my creative space today are happy chibi girl samples waiting for some clothes . . .

And not so much in my creative space, but hanging around my neck is something I recently won from a giveaway hosted by one of my favourite blogs - Pikaland. It arrived yesterday:

I adore it! “The Visit” glass art pendant is made by Lori Dean Dayment, who is an artist/printmaker living in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. You can view her beautiful work in her etsy shop here and she posts her inspirations and good finds on her blog here.

I hardly win giveaways so this was such a wonderful surprise. Thanks Pikaland and Lori!

More creative spaces to be found at Kootoyoo’s.

P.S. Have you seen Cate Blanchett’s crocheted granny squares dress that she wore at the recent opening of Screen World? Do you love it or hate it? I actually love it because I do love granny squares and who would have thought that you could make a dress out of them?! Though I would never be able to successfully carry one off but Cate can wear pretty much anything and still look fabulous!

Boy, I’m feeling really restless at the moment. Can’t sit still. Can’t concentrate on anything for more than 5 seconds. It’s all because I’m waiting on a few things, waiting for people to get back to me on craft and non-craft related decisions. And I am impatient by nature. And I hate uncertainty. Not a good combination. I’m not proud of it and it has been to my detriment many times. So playing this waiting game is really driving me loopy!

I am very thankful for distractions - like blogland - for times like these :-) It’s good to be able to step away from the anxiety and be immersed in creativity and inspiration, even if just for a little while.

Someone told me that Christmas is only 14 weeks away - seriously! So I’ve started thinking about gifts for kids. I’d really like to make an effort this year and make as many gifts as I can.

Here’s a few ideas I’ve come across:

1) Chez Beeper Bebe provides an excellent tutorial on making your own colouring books tailored with your recipient in mind:

2) The you can team it up with this easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy pencil roll - tutorial provided by Cinti of My Poppet:

3) Got a little Masterchef in mind? I love the idea of this chef’s hat by Cam (tutorial also provided):

4) And you can then team up the hat with a kid-sized apron using Supafine’s super fine tutorial over here :-)

Found any kids gift tutorials you’d like to share too? Please leave them as a comment - I’d love more ideas!

I also wanted to share Cathy’s Ruby Doll:

Isn’t she beautiful? Cathy did such a fantastic job with the pattern and I really love how she embroidered the hair and even made a matching bag (doll+bag is another great gift idea for little girls don’t you think?). Of course, Cathy is half of the very successful Audrey and Maude team so it should be no surprise :-)

If you’ve made a Ruby Doll, don’t forget to add it to the Ruby Doll Group on Flickr!

Well, I finally started running again today. Can’t believe how unfit I have become after just one week away from running!!! I did a typical distance for me and used a standard route and I was struggling all the way to the end. I think it’s partly due to this cough, which I can’t seem to shake off. It made breathing properly a real challenge! Anyway, I’ll try for another run tomorrow and see how that goes. The Melbourne Marathon 10KM race is only 3 and 1/2 weeks away so I need to get my act together!

* All photos above belong to the blog authors to which they are attributed.

Last week is a complete blur - the family had the flu, there was a wedding, plus unexpected happenings. We are all finally on the mend. I think all the sunshine we’ve been having lately is also helping. Needless to say, not much sewing has been done (I’ve been saying that a lot haven’t I? :-)).

As a means of catch-up, these Baby Chibi doll samples have been completed for a while and I had a chance to take some photos on the weekend:

I’ve been spending the last few nights working on illustrations for a possible new project that will take One Red Robin in a new direction . . .

I haven’t run for a whole week and I miss it. Once I get over this nasty cough, I am definitely going back on the road. Sorry, this post is sounding like a brain dump! But my head feels ridiculously full of too many things to remember, and do, and think about. I think once I start running again, I’ll be able to get my mind organised.

I hope you are well. Are you enjoying the change of season in your part of the world?

I’ll leave you with my favourite shot of the girls from the recent family wedding we attended - little girls and bubbles are definitely a good mix!