What’s Hot at our place this week:

>> Wipeout: The American version is currently showing on GO! on Sunday nights. The girls love this show. They are mesmerised by all the different obstacles and challenges, and they each pick a favourite contestant to win at the outset and cheer them on until the end.

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>> Obstacle course: Related to the point above, the recent wave of warmer weather has meant spending late afternoons outside watching the girls go through an obstacle course that they have constructed themselves in the back yard. Slides, skipping ropes, hula hoops, bikes, tennis racquets - you name it, they’ve set it up as an obstacle (the Eldest in action here!)

>> Mangoes: Hello Mango season! We’ve made do with dried mango pieces (from the local Asian shop) for most of the year and very much looking forward to stocking up on some fresh, sweet, juicy mangoes (and making fresh mango juice, mango ice pops, mango cheesecake, etc!)

>> Red Velvet Cupcakes: Oh dear, I just can’t get enough of these! Curse you Cupcake shop that sits conveniently around the corner!

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>> Running: Because of the above point, this is something I need to keep doing :-) I recently switched my training plan from runnning 4 days a week to 3 days a week and it is definitely working out better for me. It does mean that my runs are now longer than they used to be, but on the flip side, it also means that I get a few more days in the week to sleep in - so it’s all good! Plus the girls are into running relays around the house and the Youngest’s running style is very cute!

And What’s Not:

>> Body aches: Dear Body, please stop reminding me everyday that I am getting OLD.

>> A sickly laptop. I had it repaired a few weeks ago and now it has decided to start flickering and is sporting a yellow tinge on the monitor. Trying to decide whether it is worth repairing or whether I should get a new one (neither option is cheap!).

>> I know that the majority of kids go through this phase but I have two VERY FUSSY EATERS at the moment and it is very slowly driving me insane! Everything I cook is turned away! I cannot tell you how many times a day I find myself saying, “Just one more bite” or at the end of a very, very long day begging in a controlled but high-pitched tone, “Please, please, just eat your food.”

What are your strategies for getting your little ones to not only eat their meals, but eat healthy meals???

Find out what else is Hot or Not over at Claire’s!

Happiness is:

1. Finishing up Peg Bears for the show next month - Peg Bears that incorporate gorgeous fabric designed by fellow Melbournians, thrifted crocheted granny squares, and thrifted doilies.

Peg Bear Gabber - made from Lara’s ‘Rainy Day in Autumn‘ fabric:

And Peg Bear Gagaku - made from Shannon’s ‘Letterhead’ fabric:

Finding this on the side of Gagaku also made me happy :-)

2. My 2-year-old sitting next to me, carefully watching me stuff a Peg Bear, and then saying, “Your bears are nice Mama. You’re the best.” :-)

3. Seeing one of my Peg Bears made from a fabric I designed on Spoonflower’s sign-in page here :-)

4. Hubby bringing home one of my favourite sweets, Mochi, from the Asian Grocery shop :-)

5. Thinking about Christmas :-)

A Week of Happy hosted by Pip.

I finally finished my submission for the Plush It show last night. If you haven’t yet heard of Plush It, it’s a group show happening on November 12th at the Ruban Rat Gallery in Sydney. All participants were given the same softie template to adapt into our own style.

I was stumped when I received the template - complete softie block :-) After a few days of pondering, making a samurai popped into my head. I drew some sketches but then realised that it would probably not translate too well given that the template is rather small and there were a few details I really wanted to incorporate and exaggerate.

Then I considered making a Woodland girl but again thought the body was too small for me to make it work (as you may know, I am not keen or very good at working on small softies!). So I decided to throw the whole planning stage into the wind and just designed the face and printed it out on to fabric. Next, I looked at my shelves of fabric and picked up the first 2 things that jumped out at me - the woodgrain fabric and some synthetic fur.

I cut some leaves out of felt and attached them to the body. After she was all stuffed and sewn up I decided she was still lacking something. Her eyes were pointed upward towards the top of her head. What could she possibly be looking at?

I suddenly remembered my little box of vintage handmade birds that I picked up from eBay a long while ago. After all, she did look like a tree. So I attached a small piece of ribbon to the top of her head and attached the vintage bird-and-nest to it (there’s a clip under the nest making the bird-and-nest removable).

So here is Sprout, the Woodland Tree-Girl:

In other news, I visited the Fracture Gallery at the Fed Square to see Omnific Assembly’s “Totem: Dolls with Souls” exhibit during my lunch break today. It was SO inspiring and satisfying to see the work from so many talented artists up close. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me so I have no pictures to share. Most impressive was Poppalina’s huge bear. I also adored the dolls by Kirsten Doran, Alice Jean McKellar and Warisa Somsuphangsri. If you go to Poppalina’s post here you can see some photos from the show. The exhibit ends on October 12th.

After work, I picked up a copy of the MX newspaper to find my brother and his band, Carnation, featured:

They are launching their debut EP tomorrow night at the Revolver (if any of you Melbournites are in the area). They’ve been together as a band for a few years now and worked really hard on this EP. It’s so great to see that they have reached this milestone (and have been receiving good reviews and airplay on indie radio). Obviously my brother is that Asian dude in the front. He’s 26 and a little eccentric. Oh, and he’s single too (ahem . . . but let’s not tell him that I told you that okay?)

And to wrap up this rather long-winded post, thanks so much for the great feedback on Softiesmaking.com. I am really happy to know that some of you are already finding it useful/helpful in making softies, and encouraging others of you to give softie-making a go :-)

Thank you for all the comments on the Monk-chis! It’s always a great encouragement when a new design receives a very positive welcome. I think it so wonderful that we can post up our designs on our blogs and receive honest feedback on what we make. I really do value your input and opinions and I thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think.

Which leads me to 2 very interesting links left by Beth and Catharin on the previous post (and I must add that I am very thankful that they did leave those comments!)

Firstly, Beth left a link to the “Monchichis” - here’s an example below:

I’ve never heard of these characters before - apparently they were big in the late 1970s and 1980s. They are so adorable! However, I can’t believe how similar my Monk-Chis are to the Monchichi - they even have similar names! Now that’s really strange.

And secondly, Catharin left a link to a Russian character who was popular in Russia in the late 1960s and 1970s. He is currently very popular in Japan. Here’s a pic of him:

As in the case above, I’ve never heard of this little guy before. He’s called “Cheburashka” and you can see him in action here.

The similarities between my Monk-Chi and Cheburashka are simply unmistakable!

And I have to admit, after seeing these characters, the similarities don’t sit well with me. In fact, they make me extremely uncomfortable and the last thing I want is the creators of these 2 characters to think that I have somehow ripped off their designs, or for anyone to perceive that there was some relation between them and the Monk-chi.

So I decided that I won’t be making anymore Monk-chis. Instead, since I really love various features of the Monk-chi, I’ve kept what I can and turned it into a Bunny-chi. He’ll even have a little heart-shaped tail on the back :-) Here’s a super quick sketch of him I did last night before going to bed:

I actually have a few Monk-chis cut out from synthetic fur as they were going to participate in a toy show at the end of this month. All is not lost though - looks like they will now have very long ears and will be eating carrots instead of bananas!  Hope to have them sewn up over the weekend.

And if anyone knows of any Bunny-chi-like creatures from the past, please let me know too!

You see, this is what happens when you let different kinds of softies socialise with each other freely while you’re away from the craft room.

First, there was Sian and her demand for new Shmerpi clothes after having a few words to some Chibi dolls and Cheery Chimps. And now, it appears that the Chimps have been talking with the Pirate Shmerpi. The result? The Chimps are now convinced that they can be pirates too! It’s mutiny I tell you!

And if there’s one thing I have learnt from watching “Planet of the Apes” it’s this: we should not upset the monkeys or they just might take over the world!

So may I introduce you to Alabaster the Pirate Chimp:

And his brother Pablo - who I think is taking this whole ‘ahoy me hearties‘ thing too far but he insisted. Hence, he is the Chimp with the peg leg:

Sheesh.

Fortunately, Happy Chibi Girls Mary-Yoko and Mary-Yumi are more than happy to don their patterned shirts, linen skirts, stripey tights and curly coifs.

However, just between you and me, only yesterday I overheard rumblings within the Happy Chibi community about Happy Chibi Pirates as well. What next? Pirate Seahorses? I think not. Besides, it would be practically impossible for Seahorses to convincingly wear those puffy pirate pants . . .

But I digress. For now, you can find Alabaster, Pablo the Peg-leg, Mary-Yoko, and Mary-Yumi running amuck at Mikes.

P.S. Thank you to all of you who sent Get-Well wishes! The whole family has recovered from a horrible bout of the flu and hoping that it will be the last we see of that bug for the rest of the year :-)

First, let me say sincere thanks for all the comments received on my last post about Sian’s new clothes. Not sure what I was thinking when I was writing that up (blame the flu meds I’m taking at the moment), but so glad that you enjoyed reading it :-) I wanted to take a break from writing my usual “This is so-and-so and she is made from yada-yada.”

But since some of you did ask - Sian is made from Terry Fleece which has the texture of Terry Cloth but is so soft and stretchy like fleece. I love it! And yes, she is larger than the normal Shmerpi I make. She’s roughly 48cm (19 inches) tall. Here’s an idea of the difference in size - Sugar is the smaller Shmerpi and is the normal size:

By the way, Sugar the Shmerpi (the purple one above) is now available if anyone would like to adopt her! (As the original customer who requested her no longer wants her). For details, go here.

And yay!!! My doll quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap II has finally arrived:

Isn’t it just gorgeous!! It is made by the multi-talented Jennifer (Mama Urchin) and she has used fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Chestnut Hill line (better photo here). I love the colours, the mix of patterns, and the wonderful details like the buttons and the french knots. It’s just perfect and now hangs in my little studio (you can even see it as the backdrop for the photo with the Shmerpi creatures above). Thanks so much Jennifer - I really love it!

Another lovely surprise this past week is that the delightful Ellia nominated me for a Rockin’ Girl Blogger award. The word “rockin‘” has certainly never been associated with me so thank you Ellia! :-)

Apparently the rules are:

-place the badge on your blog
-give credit to Roberta (She started the rockin’ blogger awards)
-check out the latest list she has on her site
-pick 5 rockin’ girls of your choice and tag em’

Okay, that last bit was REALLY hard as there are 100+ blog feeds in my Bloglines :-) Narrowing down to just 5 took me a long while, but here they are:

1) Abby Jane from While She Naps: Abby and I have share a few things in common - besides making softies, we both like to make collages too, and we both have 2 daughters (almost the same ages). So I have certainly enjoyed reading her blog over the last 18 months (ever since I started mine) and to see her work develop from softie-making to soft sculptures. And recently she has combined her soft-sculptures WITH collage! Brilliant! I am always inspired when I see her work and I always go to her blog during those rare moments when I feel like I just don’t want to make another soft toy :-)

2) Dawn from Look What I Can Do: I have long admired Dawn’s creations. I just love the way she can transform fabric into endearing creatures. And she has a great eye for fabric. In fact, she has a great eye for colour and form and photography too! And her blog shines with her love for her daughter. And she links to so many great things everytime she posts. And . . . well, I could on and on. Yeah, I think she rocks :-)

3) Kristy from Vintage Pleasure: Kristy was one of the first people who encouraged me when I started out and was one of the first people to buy one of my creations. Her encouragement has been invaluable. I love her blog for many reasons - there’s so much honesty and sincerity when she writes. Her love of all things vintage is infectious! She has a love of life. And I love reading about her daughters and all their creative endeavours. Plus, Kristy’s creations are just gorgeous!

4) Tiel from Tsk Tsk: I just love Tiel’s creativity. Her artwork is so inspiring to me and always brings a smile to my face. Tiel’s mixed media pieces are amazing. Her love of babushka dolls has grown from 2D into 3D, resulting in wonderful babushka softies. If you love birds and babushka dolls, you will love her unique art - check it out here.

5) Pip from Meet Me At Mikes: If you have met Pip in person then I really don’t need to explain :-) Pip is one-of-a-kind. A genuinely kind and generous person with an infectious smile, and a genuine love for vintage and handmade (just check out her shop!). I love popping into her blog as I never know what I’ll find but I’m sure it will be inspiring, cheery, and bright! Just go over there right now and you’ll see exactly what I mean!

So there we are. Please do pop over to their blogs and say hi :-) Meanwhile, I need to get back to some orders - particularly these ones that are patiently waiting for me on my craft table:

So I walked into my studio the other day to be greeted with this sight:

Noting her frown, I asked Sian the Shmerpi why she was unhappy.

“Well,” she began, “I’m not quite liking the fashion you have us Shmerpi folks sporting. Look at Isidore - she gets to wear such a pretty dress. And how about Ramona with her head scarf and dress with pockets? And don’t get me started on the Chimp - I mean, he’s wearing a tie! A tie! Seriously - why does a Chimp need a tie???”

I nodded - after all, she did have a point.

“Listen, the quirky tops and mismatched pant-legs you make us Shmerpi creatures wear is cute but, you know, it wouldn’t hurt to have us in - well, prettier clothes.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to empathize - because, really, how do you empathize with a Shmerpi? “Do you have an idea of what you would like to wear?”

“Let me show you,” she quipped. So I set her up with paper and a pen, and she happily sketched her ideas.

Then we spent some time checking out the fabric stash. She initially couldn’t decide between florals and novelty patterns.

However, once she saw the new floral number by Denyse Schmidt from her Katie Jump Rope line, Sian quickly made up her mind.

So I spent the next hour sewing her up a smock with pockets (while she impatiently drummed her stubby fingers on the table). And when I thought we were just about done, she requested some matching bloomers.

“Bloomers?” I said, “What do you need bloomers for?”

“Well, unlike the other softies, kids actually like to make us Shmerpi creatures do silly things like hang upside down. And when that happens, I would like to . . . you know . . . protect my modesty.”

“Riiiiiiight,” I said. “Of course.”

So I then made her some matching bloomers.

She hastily put them on and after a few little adjustments, Sian was finally one happy Shmerpi. She found a spot next to the window and immediately day-dreamt of new clothes and new outfits.

Before I walked out the door, she did ask me for one more thing.

“And what’s that?” I replied.

“I’d like some sisters - just like me.”

Hmmmm, looks like it’s back to the sewing machine. (Who knew Shmerpis could be so demanding?? And so fashion-conscious too.)

Thank you to all who have left comments! I truly appreciate and am continually motivated by your words of encouragement and your thoughts :-)

I just wanted to share some sweet finds today but before I do, here are some collages that are now available over at The Great Green Room.

I have posted about the first 2 previously. The third one is called “A Place to Dream” and is a mixed media collage incorporating: found & vintage ephemera, found & vintage buttons, acrylic paints, brass charm, black ink and sequins. The collage comes in a black square frame.

Also I wanted to say that after some serious consideration as to how to make One Red Robin fit around my family (rather than the other way around), I’ve made a few changes as to where my toys & dolls will be available for sale. Basically, my etsy shop will now only sell artwork and will be the place to order custom-made Shmerpi and Baby Chibi dolls. This means that the 10 softies I’ve completed and all future ready-made toys and dolls will only be available via The Great Green Room, Meet Me At Mikes, and in the very near future, Modamuse.

Ah, now onto some sweet finds!

My first find is sweet indeed. I popped into an Asian Grocery store located in Melbourne Central just for a quick browse and was delighted to find that they stocked many of the Japanese candies I’ve been searching for but couldn’t find elsewhere.

My family (particularly Ava) are BIG fans of Pocky. So I grabbed the standard Chocolate-flavoured Pocky, but also got the Mixed Fruit-flavoured Pocky, and a box of Cinnamon Pretz. Then I found some Strawberry Mouse Chocolate candy, which went straight into my basket. And finally, I couldn’t walk out of the store without a packet of Melon and Cream Dai-Fuku (rice cakes). I must admit that as I type this, half of the loot has already gone :-)

The highlight of my day was a quick trip to Meet Me At Mikes to drop off some new soft toys/dolls (which I’ll blog about tomorrow). It’s such a sweet treat to walk through those doors! My plan was to pick up one dress for Ava that I had seen during a previous visit. Instead, this is what came home with me:

I adore, adore, adore the 2 dresses - I love the fabric used on both (how could I resist apple-green polkadot?) and love their style/shape. Ava is going to look so adorable in them!

I was also influenced (quite easily I must add) to purchase a wonderful book by Valerie Janitch simply called “Collages: A Step-by-Step Guide“. It is truly a treasure-trove of ideas, techniques and templates - so happy to have it in my little book collection! And finally, I (again, quite easily) convinced myself to pick-up a Vintage Paper & Things package that included a vintage dress pattern, buttons and sweet odds-and-ends that will find their way into future collages.

Hope you’re having a sweet Wednesday/night too!

I’ve received a number of emails asking me about how I got started sewing soft toys. The short answer is that I got inspired by what I saw on all the lovely craft blogs and wanted to make something for my daughter (as I was a new Mum at the time). So after a bit of experimenting with the basics of sewing, I drew up my own pattern, which was a very simple shape and the first Baby Chibi doll was born (which looked something like this).

I’ve learnt so much from other crafters and online tutorials along the way (and continue to learn) that I thought it might prove helpful for someone out there to have access to a pattern and instructions for a very simple doll. And so I came up with Ruby :-)

Ruby is made up of basic shapes and her construction is also pretty simple. The fun lies in the embellishing and finishing of the doll. I made this first Ruby with a mix of fabric including wool-blend suiting, cotton print and corduroy. You may also note in the instructions that I have tried not to be too prescriptive with the embellishments or how to do the face - this is where your creativity and imagination take over!

Every few weeks I hope to publish a variation of this basic Ruby Doll. The first two will be Yelena Ruby (a Russian/Matryoshka inspired variation) and Haruko Ruby ( a Japanese/Kokeshi inspired variation).

To download the pattern and instructions for Ruby Doll#1 for free, please click here.

And if you do happen to make one, please let me know - I’d love to see it! Please let me know of any problems you had with the pattern or instructions as well. (And if there is enough interest, we can set up a Flickr group).

P.S. Thank you for all your comments on my previous post - my laptop has been very temperamental of late so I am currently on my my hubby’s PC but will respond to your emails/comments once my laptop decides to co-operate again :-)

A few more patterns that I doodled during the past week and finally transferred onto the laptop. The first one is inspired by our wooden floorboards, which I was cleaning after Ava spilled her drink on it (yet again :-)).

I’ve also been sewing but don’t have anything really to show for it. I received a special request to shrink down some of my soft toys to a smaller size and I’ve spent the weekend trying to do so. Despite my best efforts, the end result was disappointing - wonky toys with very little appeal (at least in my eyes). It proved that I certainly work better with larger items and don’t have the skill and gift to make beautiful small things, for example, like Myra :-)

The cooler weather has brought with it a sudden craving for rice pudding - but not just rice pudding, a Filipino chocolate rice pudding known as “Champorado“.

You can find the recipe here. Can be enjoyed warmed or chilled. The best rice to use is Glutinous or Sticky Rice, which I found at our local grocery (also readily available at Asian Grocers). You can also use Jasmine rice. Sweetened condensed milk is the perfect topping :-)

Hope you all had a fun weekend - we’re hoping to take the girls to the city tomorrow and join in on the Moomba festivities.