Happy Chibi doll for a happy little girl is done (just missing the shoes) :-)
And the first handmade doll for the Project18 Orphanage Handmade Doll appeal has arrived!
Isn’t she just wonderful?! She is sure to put a huge smile on a little girl’s face. Thank you so much Donna!!! You can find Donna’s beautiful Steiner dolls in her etsy shop – Riverside Dolls.
More creative spaces at Kootoyoo.
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 :-)
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!
One of my favourite craft-for-charity events of the year is now open for donations – Softies for Mirabel, hosted by Meet Me At Mikes!
If you haven’t heard of this appeal previously, Meet Me At Mikes is collecting handmade softies of all kinds on behalf of the Mirabel Foundation. Mirabel is a charitable organisation that seeks to provide support to children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental drug abuse. They provide an amazing, invaluable, life-changing service. The softies collected via this appeal will be distributed to children being cared for via Mirabel at Christmas.
The key date to remember is 7th December 2010 – please get your softie donations to Mikes by this date. All the important info on where to send your softies can be found here.
If you are looking for some softie-making inspiration, please do have a wander over to my other little blog – softiemaking.com – for links to free patterns and softie-making tips. I promise to update it with more links this month :-)
Sign-ups for Softies for Mirabel are open over here. And don’t forget to spread the word!
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What a fantastic response received so far on the Lego Game: Creationary giveaway! So sweet that kids are leaving comments too :-) Go over here for more details on how you can enter the giveaway.
Something I had forgotten to put up when we moved to our new (old) home a few months ago was a height chart for the girls. It’s such a thrill for them to see that line next to their name go higher and higher on a height chart every few weeks (although not so thrilling for me because it is proof that they are growing up too fast! Boo hoo).
Mooo recently contacted me about their new range of height charts and very generously sent me a chart for the girls. Talk about serendipitous timing!
A couple of things I really like about Mooo’s height chart:
Mooo have also released a new range of wall stickers too – I particularly like Springville. They have a wonderful range of mix’n'match wall stickers too. Again, these stickers simply peel off if they need to be moved around.
So to spread the word about these new ranges, Mooo are very kindly providing two giveaways – one height chart and one wall-sticker pack! To be in the running, all you need to do is go on over to Mooo’s Height Chart page OR Wall Sticker page and pick ONE product that you like the best (e.g. Birdie Stack Height Chart in Iceland).
Then come back to this post and leave a comment stating the product (please pick only one product – either from the Height Chart range OR the Wall Sticker pack range). Please get your comments in by 12 midnight, Friday 10th September (AEST).
Then on the following Sunday, I will separately collate all the comments left for Height Charts and all the comments left for Wall Sticker packs, and randomly draw a winner from each. Details of the winners will be provided to Mooo and they will send the winners the product that they have picked! Easy!!
Super-absorbent bibs for my newest nephew. Just have to hammer in those press studs. I love making these – a quick, easy and satisfying project, especially for the time-poor (like me!).
I’ve mocked up my own pattern for these bibs but if you’re looking for free bib patterns, try these:
More creative spaces over at Kirsty’s here.
{Stunning papercut illustration by Naomi Shiek}
Some of you may not know that I also have a twitter account over here. I use twitter mainly to share links to lots of wonderful things that I have found across the websphere or to share a great link someone else has discovered.
I realise that some of you do not use twitter and have no intention to start using it (I admit . . . it can be a real time-waster!), so I’ll do a regular post here on One Red Robin providing a quick list of the craft/art/design-related links I’ve tweeted recently so that non-twitizens can also share in the internet goodness :-)
Craft/art/design-related links I’ve tweeted in the last 7 days:
Hope you enjoy these links!
Remember how I mentioned those delicious ricotta hotcakes I had at Bills in Sydney a few posts ago? Well, they have been stuck in my head ever since. I finally googled them and found the recipe – yipee, thanks Internet :-)
I made a batch on Sunday morning and followed the recipe here. I decided to use only 3 eggs instead of 4 and I skipped making the honeycomb butter (only because I would have to refrigerate it overnight and I couldn’t wait that long!). Instead I caramelised sliced bananas (using brown sugar), cut up some strawberries, and drenched it in maple syrup :-)
They are sooooo delicious! I love how light and fluffy they are (I’m not a fan of dense, heavy pancakes). You do need to keep an eye on them though as they cook pretty quickly and they burn easily. The recipe actually makes a large batch, which is great because it means I’ve got breakfast sorted everyday this week!
I’ve been bringing my own breakfast and lunch to work for 4 out of 5 days every week for the last month (1 day a week is my treat day :-)). I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal but this is from a girl who has basically been buying her breakfast and lunch every weekday since she started working – just over 12 years ago! Also . . . I really dislike cooking . . .
But funnily enough, I am actually enjoying it! It just means a little more planning, a little more cooking on the weekend, and preparing the night before. The upsides are, of course, money saved, much less packaging, less food waste, and an unexpected benefit – time to catch up with colleagues in the office kitchen while we all wait for our turn at the microwave or sandwich press :-)
Have you seen Pip’s Project Yellow Box? I never had one of those growing up but I’ll definitely be trying some of the recipes she shares, and perhaps gather my own little yellow box of easy recipes for weekday breakfasts and lunches :-)
You know when you’ve got a spare five minutes so you sit down and pick up from where you left off on one of your favourite blogs, and you click a link, which leads to another link, and then another link, and then another? And before you know it, almost half an hour has passed you by?
This is what happened when I stumbled upon the work of two very talented Aussie female artists. And I knew instantly that I had to share their work with you!
The first is Anna-Wili Highfield. Her “paper sculptures are created from archival cotton paper, that is painted, then torn and sewn together, to create the figure of an animal.”
{image credits: All images above belong to Anna-Wili Highfield}
Aren’t they simply stunning?! I am particularly enchanted with that Barn Owl :-) She also creates copper pipe sculptures. Find more of her work here.
I am also smitten with the work of Melanie Matthews, who is a Melbourne-based freelance illustrator. How adorable is this postcard?!
{image credits: Melanie Matthews}
I understand that her website is still under construction but you can view a sample of her work here, and I also found a blog of her cartoon drawings here. I would certainly be lining up to buy any book that she illustrates :-)
Hope you enjoy these too!
It’s been crazy busy at work. Coming home has become my favourite part of the day where I receive big bear hugs from the girls and this week, find a few happy packages waiting for me!
I won a sweet little mixtape CD giveaway from Pilgim Lee a few weeks ago. I had no idea what music would be on the CD. The cover says “Tweet Music“, and I was giddy to find inside 18 songs that were related to ‘birds’! Also, check out that awesome postcard. Thank you Pilgrim!
I also received the postcard set I ordered from The Black Apple. I’ve been a fan of her work for a few years now and really couldn’t resist the postcards from her most recent collection: Lost on the Midway. Worth a look at this collection if you haven’t already over here.
And finally, I also received this fabulous print by Judy Kaufman: Identical Twins
This print has found a happy home in my bedroom :-) I’ve got my eye on the “Houses & Birds” print too!
So, now I have a confession to make ……. it’s been TWO WEEKS since the last time I stepped in to my craft room!! Isn’t that terrible?! Here I have a whole room just for making stuff and I haven’t been making use of it. But I’m ready to rectify the situation – see, I’ve made a pile of fabric!
Okay … baby steps :-) Tonight I’m going to transform that pile of fabric and start on a few bunnies. Yup, that’s the plan :-)
