Making: A Happy Chibi Girl

Reading: Wee Wonderfuls – 24 Dolls to Sew and Love by Hillary Lang

And wearing: Laser-engraved wood brooch by Audrey Kawasaki

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday too :-)

Yup, kind of a mess at the moment! I’ve resorted to cutting out fabric on the floor since I have no desk space whatsoever left. I’m seriously considering buying one of those big, spacious tables/desks from Ikea. But there IS a doll in progress amongst that mess!

And speaking of Ikea, you’ll also see two blue bags filled with Ikea goodies that I have yet to share! And one of those bags is full of stuff to giveaway – which will happen soon :-)

Thanks to the excellent response to the call for handmade dolls for the Project18 Orphanage. We’ve reached the number of crafters/donations required and I believe they have all started working on their dolls. I can’t wait to see what they create! (Also to the lovely donators, I have sent you an email with details – if you haven’t yet received this, please let me know).

More creative spaces to see over here (thanks to Kirsty for hosting!).

Have you heard of Catherine Bolt? She’s an amazing Aussie with a huge heart and willingness to help others. She’s mum to 9; a humanitarian; conservationist; Patron for Cate’s Cause, which is an appeal against homelessness; AND is also the Founder of Project 18.

Project 18 works to raise funds for humanitarian and conservation projects, the first of which is an orphanage in Bali, Indonesia.

Project18 not only seeks to improve the quality of life for orphaned and underprivileged children – it also seeks to teach them the importance of conservation and sustainable living. The orphanage is in its infancy and currently cares for 9 children.

Thanks to twitter, Cate and I ended up having a chat about how she is seeking dolls for the orphanage for Christmas – but not the kind that line the shelves in a department store. Cate couldn’t find any dolls that she felt the children could truly relate to or that defined beauty as anything other than a very Caucasian-centric standard.

So here’s an opportunity to create something with love, and put a smile on the face and on the heart of an Indonesian child this Christmas. The Project 18 orphanage is in need of 9 handmade dolls. There are no specific requirements, EXCEPT that the dolls should be female and they should be made to reflect the Indonesian people in appearance, so hair colour and skin colour should be of darker tones and it would fantastic if the dolls could also reflect Balinese influences.

The dolls will need to be sent to me before the 19th of November, which is only 4 weeks away. This is so that they can then be delivered to Cate by the end of November, and Cate can organise for the dolls to be sent to the orphanage before Christmas.

So how can you help?

I’m looking for 8 people to sign-up by leaving a comment on this post, who can commit to making just ONE doll each and who can commit to getting their doll to me by the 19th of November. I will contact these wonderful people via email with the details on where to send the completed doll, plus links to free doll patterns and resources.

If you are able to help in this way, please do sign up! Your time, skill, effort and love will be sincerely and deeply appreciated by Cate, Project 18, and most importantly, by an Indonesian child who will be constantly reminded by your doll that she is loved.

It seems like ages to me but I’ve finally completed a dolly :-) I made up a very simple doll pattern for this one. She’s turned out looking a little bit shy -

I’ve left her unnamed as she’ll be heading to Mike’s for Softies for Mirabel appeal. I’m hoping to make two more to go with her. Also on the list: a late birthday doll for my god-daughter and another doll that I promised a friend quite a while ago (soooo slack, I know).

Please pop back in here tomorrow to read about a little dolly donation One Red Robin will be running for a wonderful orphanage in Indonesia!

Thought I’d share two of my fave songs at the moment that, for some reason, both talk about ‘water‘ :-)

Brooke Fraser’s new song, “Something in the Water“:

And Kings of Leon’s new one, “Radioactive“.

Strange also that in Australia, this is National Water Week, and if you follow that link you’ll find tips and information on ways to conserve and protect our water resources.

In addition, just last Friday was Global Blog Action day and the focus was on addressing the current water issues affecting the world from conservation to providing safe drinking water in Africa. In fact Brooke Fraser is raising funds over here for her 27th birthday towards providing clean water to the places that really need it.

Water is easily something we take for granted but it’s a good thing to be reminded of how we can protect it and how we can help others have better access to clean and dependable sources.

And that ends my unintentional community announcement :-) Happy weekend all!!

It’s been a while but I’m finally making up some softies again. I’ve made a few really silly mistakes and I’ve somehow forgotten how to properly stuff a doll – what is that about?! – so there are handful of half-done softies lying around my craft room but I think this one is finally going according to plan :-)

By the way, tomorrow is the last day to get your entry in for the Cottee’s Cordial $1000 Giveaway – you can enter HERE.

Also, I’ve got a few more cool things lined up for you wonderful readers before we hit Christmas – an IKEA giveaway and the opportunity to make and donate dolls for a special orphanage in Indonesia! More details very soon :-)

And more creative spaces over at Kootoyoo!

Shock horror!! Yup, I have actually been sewing! Okay, just for a few minutes here and there when I’ve got a moment to myself but the sewing machine has been getting a little workout.

And this is what I’ve been sewing up:

I think I may have caught a little Baby-Bib-fever (note: not to be confused with Bieber-fever). Who doesn’t love a quick and easy project that provides a good excuse to just play with fabric again, randomly mixing up patterns and colours? Vintage English souvenir tea-towels in pristine condition were bib-ified, as were some classic Echino and Aunty Cookie prints – love how that Aunty Cookie print includes the phrase “I’m Hungry” :-)

Check out this gorgeous little guy in one of the bibs I made a while ago – he’s so ridiculously cute!

I’ve also started on some dolls, which I’m excited about. And I have to say, it’s so GOOD to be excited about making stuff again :-)

This past Sunday – 10/10/10 – I participated in the 10km fun run at the annual Melbourne Marathon festival. Just over 5700 people ended up running in the 10km race. The whole morning was overcast but quite still – perfect weather for a run – and I made it to the starting line with 5 minutes to spare :-)

This fun-run was my favourite fun-run from last year. But this year I knew that I didn’t have the same opportunities to do enough training runs or to cover the required distance every week, which meant that I wouldn’t be beating the personal best time I set for myself at last year’s race. So for me it was truly going to be a “fun” run.

And for the most part it was! I enjoyed running around landmarks in the city, inspired by people of all ages and sizes giving it their best, and watching mums and dads running with their kids. Of course, a highlight was running the last half-kilometre or so of the race inside the MCG (even though physically I was just about ready to keel over and die!).

{Inside the MCG, a few metres from the Finish line}

But for the first time ever in a fun-run, I fell over. I really don’t know what happened. One minute I was running at a nice, easy pace past the Arts Centre at about 2.5km into the run, and then all of a sudden my feet became tangled up in something and over I went! When I landed on the ground I was actually facing the other way, so when I looked up all I could see were hundreds of feet pounding towards me!

I got up straight away and started running again. And it wasn’t because I just wanted to get back into the race – no, it was out of sheer terror that I was going to be trampled by all those people! I looked back and didn’t spot anything on the road that would have tripped me over. So strange. Well okay, not really. It IS a well-known fact that I am clumsy :-) It wasn’t until I got home and looked in the mirror that I discovered the extent of broken skin and bruising on the left side of my back and left shoulder. As my dear friends have told me, I now gotz me some battle scars!

When I was walking back to my car, the first of the marathon runners were nearing the end of their race and I watched a few of them run by. These people are amazing! They had just run almost 40km by that point and they were still able to run with so much grace and composure. I would have had my tongue hanging out and my limbs flying all over the place! Kenyan Japhat Kipkorir was the first male to cross the finish line and Ethiopian Mulu Seboka was the first female. They completed the marathon in just over 2 hours – meaning they averaged 3-4 minutes per kilometre over the entire 42km race. So in the time it takes for me to just put my shoes on and tie up my laces, they have run 1 whole kilometre. What the heck, that is some kind of crazy! Simply astonishing.

The girls have told me that they want to go on a fun- run with me next time (could be due to the fact that you get a nice shiny medal at the end of it!). I saw a Mum running with her two teenaged kids and I thought it was such a wonderful sight – an opportunity to share a special achievement together. I’ve actually found a fun-run created especially for kids that my 6-year-old and I can do together early next year. It’s a couple of months away – but I’m so excited already! Can’t wait!

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* Entries are still being taken for the Cottee’s Cordial $1000 giveaway – be in the running by leaving a comment on this post!

Hello! I had such fantastic weekend, best one in a while (apart from the recent trip to Queensland). Hope you had a great one too!

On Saturday morning, I dropped in on Melbourne’s first Finders Keepers market at the Docklands. Such a treat! Got to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while (all of them looking gorgeous and happy, with lovely stalls full of good things!) and discover new-to-me designers and crafters. There was so much to see, bands were playing, barbeque was up and running, lots of sunshine, and the view over the water was so serene. I didn’t end up taking any photos because a lot of the booths were crowded around with people (and I was too busy looking at stuff!). I did come away with a bag of loot and to be honest, the only reason I stopped buying stuff was, well . . . I ran out of money! There were no ATMs at the venue and most sellers only took cash :-)

Here’s what came home with me:

Sailor Boy necklace and owl brooch from Love; fat quarters from Aunty Cookie and Ink & Spindle; a gorgeous bird pendant from Jane Peacock; hairclips for the girls from Meow Girl; and Belle & Boo badges for them too from Lark; cute earrings made by Cam from Meet Me At Mikes; and greeting cards from Betty Jo.

I also picked up this awesome poster. So good!! Unfortunately I didn’t pick up the business card from the stall that was selling these, so if you know who they are, please do let me know!

And my favourite buy? This owl from Made590:

Eeek, so gorgeous! They also had a deer and a horned owl. Will it be too weird if I get those too? I’m thinking about putting one on my desk at work :-)

Lucy from Design Files has a great round-up post about the market over here.

I’ll leave you with the winners of the Lego Games Creationary giveaway. Thanks so much for the wonderful response and the ideas on new Lego games! Some commenters accidentally left two comments so in the end I did a random drawing of winners based on 67 commenters (even though there were 70 comments in total). Random number generator dude picked these two winners:

Congratulations Posie and Nicole! I will be in touch with you soon to get your details.

Don’t forget, that the Cottee’s Cordial $1000 giveaway is still taking entries and you can submit your entry here.

Have a great week all!

Sponsored by Nuffnang.

I love being a Mum. The funny thing is that I never really felt that maternal calling until later in life.

You know how most little girls like to play with baby dolls and play Mum? That wasn’t me.
You know how tween girls go gaga over little babies? Nope, not me either.
You know how you had some friends in high-school who were motherly, watching over their friends like a Mother Hen, and you just knew they would make a great Mum one day? Definitely not me!

In fact, in my late teens I told my Mum I was pretty sure that I would not be having any children. Motherhood was not something that interested me in the slightest.

But now, years later, I find that the two most amazing people to have entered my life are my two girls. Two wonderful human beings with so much personality and character, love and curiosity, compassion and courage, sweetness and strength. Two human beings that lend truth to the saying that “good things come in small packages“, and in my eldest’s case, a very small package as she was born premature.

So why am I telling you this? Well, Cottee’s Cordials are also celebrating the fact that good things do come in small packages. They have recently released new 1L bottles, which are smaller, more compact bottles of cordial BUT these bottles will still make the same amount as standard 2L bottles.

This means it’s twice as strong, so you only need to use half as much. It means less packaging and it’s better value (and who doesn’t want better value?). In fact all Cottee’s cordial flavours are changing to 1L double concentrate, so you can still get all your favourites (ours is Orange Mango)!

And here’s the thing, Cottee’s are so excited about these smaller, better value bottles that they are giving away $1000 to a lucky commenter! Yup, $1000!! Imagine how many bottles of cordial you could buy with that! :-)

Do you want in?? If so, all you will need to do is leave a comment on this post sharing an experience or time when you have found the adage that “good things come in small packages” to be true.

Please leave your comment on this post by 22nd October. There are a number of blogs participating in this competition, so Cottees will be picking the best comment out of the all blogs and that person will receive $1000.

So comment away! I can’t wait to see what you share!

P.S. Make sure you read the Terms & Conditions here before entering :-)