Remember this little fella that I made last year?

His name is Norm and he’s in the March issue of Homespun (12.3)!! If you want to make your own little Norm the Garden Gnome, make sure to pick up a copy of the issue (it’s also got a bunch of wonderful stitchy projects from a range of fantastic designers).

From the Homespun website:

Thank you Homespun!

So we actually made it over! I’m still pinching myself. That last week in Melbourne was a mad rush – a blur of activity and exhaustion. But somehow (and with awesome help from family) we got everything into storage, got on the plane, and made it safely to HK :-)

We’ve been here almost a week now and we’ve spent it settling in to our new home, visiting the girls’ schools and preparing them for their first day, and getting acquainted with our new neighborhood in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.

Our apartment is tiny by Aussie standards but is just enough for the family. We feel very thankful that we’re able to enjoy this view of the Hong Kong harbour from our windows:

We don’t have a car so we’ve been walking and taking public transport everywhere. The train system here is fantastic (although ridiculously crowded sometimes) so it’s easy to get around.

I’m not complaining about all the walking though since we’ve been enjoying our fair share of both Chinese and western delicacies :-)

My company has been awesome and have allowed me to work from home for 2 weeks in order to help get the girls settled. So at lunch time, the girls and I go out for a walk around the neighborhood. We visited Kowloon Park, which is a massive park with lots of things to do and see.

I think we’ll be going back to that park often :-) Here’s a view of Tsim Sha Tsui from the children’s playground in Kowloon Park.

It’s just turned Spring here so the mornings are just a tiny bit chilly but the days are really lovely with maximum temperatures between 19°C and 21°C :-) I do post up photos from time to time on my Twitter account if you’d like to see what else we’ve been up to.

And thank you so much for all the best wishes I received before we left – it was very comforting to know that we were moving to another country with so much support and love :-)

When I first started reading crafty blogs, Abby’s (called While She Naps) was one of my first blog feed subscriptions :-) I love her style and each of her softies are endearingly adorable. I was blown away when she started making soft sculptures, especially her range of fabric birds.

So I was thrilled when I found out that she was actually writing a book on how to make these amazing birds! The book has now been released, and I was also privileged to receive an advance copy recently  – it’s called “The Artful Bird“:

Inside you’ll find 40 of Abby’s stunning bird soft sculptures, complete with pattern pieces with detailed and helpful instructions.

These are some of my favourites, which I hope to try once I get a new sewing machine :-) The Peacock, the Flamingo and (of course) the Owl:

Absolutely amazing, right?! You’ll also find an excellent section on materials and techniques – very well illustrated and explained:

And in the back there is a section of Q-&-A with well-known bird artists like Ann Wood.

This is definitely a book for crafty bird-lovers! I am so proud of Abby – her creativity and talent are awe-inspiring and this book is a testament to just that.

As I mentioned, once I get all my crafty stuff together again, I’ll definitely try making one of Abby’s birds!

So, I’ve mentioned previously that we are moving soon. And this will be our new home:

{above images are credited to A. Aranez}

Yup, the family and I are relocating to Hong Kong!! It has happened rather quickly with a job offer sent my way just before Christmas. It’s one of those opportunities that you know will only come around once in a life-time. So we are packing up and moving to HK. In fact, we are leaving at the end of this week!!! :-)

It’s been a whirlwind of activity and paperwork since just after new year, organising accommodation, schooling, storage, flights, mail redirection, etc. The to-do list was huge to begin with and it is encouraging to see it slowly reducing in size as the weeks have flown by!  I have been to Hong Kong numerous times on holidays but it will an exciting experience to live there for a year or so.

I will certainly miss Melbourne, my family and friends, and I will miss this house that we’ve grown into so comfortably over the last 8 months. And I think I will most definitely miss the freedom to go running outdoors and the clean, fresh air :-) But there are a lot of good things to look forward to in HK as well and it will be a good, fresh start.

Travelling a lot as a kid myself, I think it will be wonderful for the girls to experience a different country/culture/way of life while they’re still young. It’s funny that my eldest is the around the same age I was when my dad first relocated my family overseas to Asia from Australia :-)

So what happens to One Red Robin? I’m bringing only a very small portion of fabric and notions with me. I might get a new sewing machine while I’m there too. I know they have a huge Spotlight store over there, and I am looking forward to exploring all the small, crazy-cheap fabric shops. I’m planning to work on new designs for my sewing range with Pattern Press, but besides that, I don’t see much making happening in the next few months. So expect this blog to be filled with photos of our adventures in HK for a period of time whilst we settle in :-)

Hopefully my next post will be from our new home!

The lovely Holly posted up a link to a recipe for Dulche de Leche Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches – and I knew straight way that I had to try and make some! The key word in that last phrase being try :-)

Click over here for the recipe and to see what they SHOULD look like.

Now, this is how mine turned out:

Erm …. I can only put this down to the fact that my subconscious saw the word “sandwich” in the title and therefore subconsciously caused me to make them as flat and big as an actual sandwich :-)

But seriously, I think I put way too much butter in the cookie dough (and maybe overdosed on the peanut butter). And the condensed milk took, like, forever to firm up into dulche de leche, and I kinda gave up earlier than I should have (and then chucked it in the freezer for a little while, which helped to make it thicker).

I have to admit though that the actual peanut butter cookies, though flat and crunchy, turned out quite good. I could eat a couple of those in one sitting! And put all together, the sandwich is really delicious – crunchy on the outside and gooey in the middle.

Ok, I better get back to the packing ….

Peppered in between the packing and the making in recent weeks, have been lots of kiddie birthdays and activities.

Fairy bread anyone?

How about some cordial with that?

And a box of shape cutters to go with your play-doh?

And this is wonderful – spotted at my eldest’s recent 7th birthday party at the Art Factory:

Love the colour you find in everyday life? Please feel free to join in!

I’m back from self-imposed blog-break! And with a rather boring photo of what I’ve been working on:

But I have a good reason for the boring photo – I’ve sewn up three new softie-related designs for an upcoming book, so I can’t do a full reveal just yet :-) I’ve written up the instructions and all that is left are the photo how-to’s and diagrams. I’m super, super, excited to be part of this book as the other contributors are my crafty heroes . . . . and my girls get to be involved too *insert ear-piercing girl squeal!!*

I’ve also been in the thick of packing/throwing out, organising, and paperwork for the big move. But more about the move next time :-)

A belated Happy February to you! I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead. We’re experiencing some crazy weather here in Australia – devastating floods and cyclone in Queensland, flash flooding here in Victoria (and today it is freezing cold – it’s meant to be Summer!), and deadly bushfires in Western Australia. Please keep all those affected in your thoughts and prayers. We Aussies are a tough bunch :-)

Hope you all enjoyed (or are enjoying) your weekend. Just wanted to pop in and say that there are only a few hours left on the auction of Fiorella Fawn, which is part of Nuffnang’s Queensland Flood Relief Appeal. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal.

We are in the midst of a big move at the moment, so I won’t be making fawns (or softies in general!) to sell until much, much later on in the year as I won’t have access to my sewing machine and fabric for quite some time (I know, how will I survive?!) . So, if you are keen to own one of my fawns, please do bid on Fiorella over HERE – and you’ll be making a important contribution to the rebuilding of Queensland’s flood-affected areas.

I’ll be on a blog break this week to focus on the big move, and also to work on a project for an upcoming collaborative book, which I am very excited about! The deadline is approaching soon, so I better get cracking :-) Meanwhile, please help yourselves to some of the freebies/tutorials I’ve posted up over here. And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you may want to try my free Sweetheart softie :-)

It’s been a busy week! I haven’t had a chance to sew anything but I’m hoping this happy mail received today will get me back into the craft room :-)

Some lovely linen from Linen Me on etsy, and a few pieces of my designs printed on to fabric by Spoonflower:

I’m especially delighted at how Woodland Cutout in pink on linen/cotton blend . . .

. . . and Little Mushroom Girl in grey and red on cotton turned out :-)

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Don’t forget that the auction of Fiorella the Fawn for the Nuffnang Queensland Flood Relief Appeal is still open! Please do bid HERE!

Firstly, thank you to those of you who generously bid on Fidelity the Fawn in the auction I held for Make It Perfect’s Queensland Flood Appeal! And a special, special thank you to the wonderfully talented Kathy of Pink Chalk Studio for her winning bid of $250!!!

Nuffnang Australia is also holding a special auction of items on eBay donated by Nuffnang bloggers. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the Queensland Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal. As part of the Nuffnang community, I have donated one of my favourite fawns, Fiorella :-)

You can find all of Fiorella’s details and place a bid over HERE. The auction for Fiorella ends on the 31st of January.

I am thrilled that Fidelity is going to such a creative and inspirational home. I am sure Fiorella will find a wonderful and loving home too!