the littlest m

New Spoonflower fabrics

2011-12-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

I designed some new prints recently, and sent them off to Spoonflower. I'd kind of forgotten all about them, until they arrived yesterday....

Christmas card making

2011-12-04T19:00:00.001-08:00

Dusted off my print gocco, I haven't used it since I printed this fabric (2 1/2 years ago now!)
I drew my design in a special carbon pen, and exposed my mini screen and literally within minutes I was printing.
The first colourway I kind of liked, but I thought the green tree would have come out a few shades lighter than it did.
And then today, while my little one took himself off for a nap (most unusual for him, but he did work really hard in his swimming lesson this morning!) I decided to try a different colourway, I quite like these ones, bit of a shame the white tends to lighten off quite a bit once it's dry.

Christmas has begun

2011-12-01T19:30:00.001-08:00

Little m and I are very excited about Christmas this year.
I remember reading something somewhere on another blog, where the girl was writing about loving all the excitement of Christmas, all the preparations, all the planning, but feeling a little bit let down by the actual day itself. I know what she means. Especially since being here in Australia, the Christmases don't feel like those of my own childhood in England. No fires in the living room, twinkling fairy lights lighting up the house by half past three as it's so dark outside. Frost crunching underfoot in the mornings, the excitement and possibilities of snow, icicles hanging off the windows, and cold, how I miss the cold at Christmas!
But of course there are positives here too. Sunshine, lots of it. Light, warmth, long days, cider on the roof terrace, barbeques, eating seafood.

So this year I decided that we'll make the most of the excitement of Christmas, and spread it out over the whole month. I have finally (nearly!) finished making Toby his advent calendar. Just 2 more felt ornaments to go. But it's hanging up. It's being used and loved.
Everyday a new felt ornament to hang on the fabric tree, and a little surprise for him in the pocket too. Yesterday he couldn't believe it when he found a large gold (chocolate) coin, and that he was allowed to eat it before breakfast! And today an even bigger surprise, a tiny letter from the Christmas fairy, a small chocolate coin and a Lego skateboarder. He was beside himself with excitement! And he's been re-counting the story of how he found everything in his advent calendar, how the Christmas fairy had left it all there for him while he slept, all morning to anyone who'll listen.

This is what Christmas is all about for me. Magic, family, the sharing of excitement, anticipation.

Crafty weekend

2011-11-24T19:31:00.001-08:00

Some friends and I snuck off last weekend for a crafty retreat in the country. We rented a little cottage that was as cute as could be, and crafted away with just each other and some red wine for company! It was heavenly.

I started making an advent calender for little m, the idea came from this advent calender, and I'm making mine pretty much the same, I've just changed the Christmas tree a little. And all the ornaments are my own...I managed to get quite a bit done. It's amazing how speedy I can be without a little one hanging around me!

But there are still 7 ornaments to make, and all of the assembling to do, and 24 buttons to sew on. And only 5 days to go until the start of December, so I better go while little m is still sleeping and make a few more things....

Fabric from Spoonflower

2011-10-31T00:56:00.000-07:00

And here is the latest of my projects on the go at the moment. Another quilt for my little one.

But this time to be made from my own design. My fabric has finally arrived from Spoonflower! And I'm so very excited about it.
Lots of Woodland animals, and a raccoon, posing as a robber. Playing police and robbers is one of little m's favourite games, so I knew he would love this.

(You can see it at Spoonflower here.)

It's been a while.....

2011-10-29T03:52:00.000-07:00

It really has been a while since I've been around here.
And it's been a while since I really did any kind of crafting or sewing or drawing. I had a bit of a dry spell, and started back at work, and found myself with not a lot of time to do anything...

There are still piles of unfinished quilts, one of which was begun way before Little m's 2nd birthday, (he was 3 two months ago now) and has sat unfinished for nearly 18 months!

I went off it a bit, thought it looked a bit busy and crazy. And wasn't sure how to go on with it. I put it away for a time, and having looked at it again recently, thought that it's probably worth finishing.

And another quilt has begun for Little m, been cut out, sewn together, and now needs to be finished...

Inspired by a baby quilt a did a while ago

I'm starting to feel a little inspired to be creative again.

Birthday Cake

2010-09-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

How did this come around so quickly? I can't believe another whole year has gone by...

Based on my little one's favourite book, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, it was a bit of a rush job. (Following an entire day spent in emergency, with his second broken arm...) I managed to decorate the whole thing in just a couple of hours, but I was quite pleased with it in the end. And my little one just loved it, and ate all of the sugar food for his own tea.

Unfinished

2010-09-07T01:49:00.000-07:00

Birthday present making for Little m's second birthday.

This is teeny tiny Bebo. Much loved bear and best friend of...

Percy. He's a little bit shy.

I've made Percy for little m. He's not quite finished yet, by Thursday (hopefully!) he should have a coat and a little pair of boots to keep him warm. And a bed to sleep in. It's one of little m's favourite games of late - getting his toys dressed and putting them to bed. And I'm hoping he'll adopt this little bear. I made him just for him, with love.

Boris

2010-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello.

This is Boris.

Handmade by me yesterday, and I'm very pleased with him. My first attempt at needle felting.
I seem to spend hours browsing around Flickr looking at things I could make, but always feeling like I'll never have the time.... I've been obsessing over needle felting for the longest time, ever since buying this book for a friend. So on a whim I popped into Spotlight yesterday and bought a few supplies, quickly looked at a youtube tutorial and started making.

I have ideas for many more things, and with Little m's birthday coming up, I can feel my craft fire re-igniting....

Paper dolls

2010-04-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Over a decade ago, I saw this idea in an English magazine, way before I had children, or even knew any. I tore it out and somehow managed to keep it for all this time, despite now living on the other side of the world. I don't think I've seen it or thought about it in all that time in between, but I came across it a few weeks ago whilst tidying some drawers out. Just in time for my niece's birthday.
Paper dolls, joined together with paper clips, with moveable arms and legs. The original idea used tissue paper skirts, but I thought using some of my collection of cupcake cases would be cuter. The bodies, arms and legs were all painted with watercolour on watercolour paper,

cut out, pieced together using tiny paper fasteners and then the cupcake paper skirts attached. A pretty little paper doll garland for my neice's bedroom. I think I may add some wings to turn them into fairies before I send them off to her tomorrow...

Looking at this one, I think you can tell that I've been obsessively watching all 3 seasons of Mad Men in the last few weeks....

Easter Holiday

2010-04-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

My husband celebrated a very special birthday at the weekend, so we decided to head down to the beach for a relaxing long weekend away.

I made little m a special t-shirt to wear for the occasion, just using t-shirt transfer paper. He loved the t-shirt, maybe because of the drawing of his beloved toy lion Gaw-Gaw, or maybe because of all the attention he got whilst wearing it...

And I made an Easter nest table decoration to go with the painted eggs, out of paper mache, cut out news print and raffia.

It was a really relaxing and lazy weekend. Just lovely.
Hope you all had a great Easter too.

Painting eggs

2010-03-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

Its been a while......
I have managed to do a only a tiny bit of crafting these last few months ( its six months since I last blogged, I can't believe it!!) I did manage to give a hand made gift to everybody in my family,(thogh it completely exhausted me!) but sadly I didn't manage to photograph any of these lovely things, and now they are all on the other side of the world...
Since I've been back here in Melbourne, there hasn't been a whole lot of time for crafting. Looking after a toddler is so demanding, and he won't leave me alone for a second.

But late in the evenings, I have forced myself to paint some eggs for Easter, I'm scared that if I don't do something creative, I'll start losing my creativity (as well as my mind...)

Christmas present making

2009-09-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in a frenzy of Christmas present making.
I'm already starting to panic about it. It's still early, I know, but I'm definitely panicking. I leave for the UK 8 weeks from today, and I have decided to make something for everyone in my family (....what was I thinking?) So I'm not going to be able to talk much about what I'm going to be making, I'm not sure which members of my family lurk around my blog...but here are some little snippets of some of the projects, that are mostly just little piles of fabric at this stage.

The party is over

2009-09-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

The party was a success! But thank god it is over. I had no idea how stressful a party for a 1 year old could be. It almost felt like Christmas, there were so many decorations, so much food, and so much organising to be done. And once there are four babies in a room all getting up to mischief at the same time, it feels completely hectic.
But I was really happy with my cake, it all went according to plan despite my nerves...

And the red velvet cupcakes I made, from this recipe, were delicious! (With cream cheese icing from my Mum's recipe)I would definitely make them again, so light and velvety, just as they are supposed to be...

We decorated the room like a big top, with red and white streamers, and big bunches of red and white balloons. I made paper flags and paper party hats (which all the babies refused to wear, not even for long enough to take a photo!) But poor little m was not to happy with his party. Everything seemed to make him cry that day, including opening his presents. Poor little thing, I think the attention was too much for him.

Cake decorating...

2009-09-11T01:55:00.000-07:00

The sugar decorations for the top of the cake are complete....phew!

But there is still so much to do!

Getting ready

2009-09-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

The invitations have been drawn, printed and posted......

And the weekend was busily spent hunting down decorations for the big day

When I found these vintage style clowns I nearly burst with excitement, they are so perfectly the type of thing I was looking for.

Little m turns one this week, and we are having a little party to celebrate on Saturday. And there is so much to be done!
A house to be tidied, then decorated. Food to be made, and of course a birthday cake to be baked and iced. I have never iced a cake in my life, and I think I may have set myself too big of a challenge, thinking I can make a circus themed cake with striped icing and model animals.
I think there may be tears....I'll let you know how I go.

Spring

2009-09-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling very creative over the last 2 months. My new life as a mum seemed to have taken over for a little while, which was just fine with me.
Little m is not so little anymore, he's growing and changing everyday. And my baby free time seems to be shrinking each day at an alarming rate, as he cuts back on his day sleeping.

But I am beginning to feel Spring is in the air, and my creative juices have started flowing once more....
What started out as one of my many piles of fabric that I dream of turning into a quilt ( i have many, many, many of these lying around and cluttering up my little studio, destined to never become anything more than a pile...)

was slowly cut, stitched and pinned together

and even more slowly, hand quilted...

and finally last night I finished sewing the binding. What a feeling of accomplishment!
It's a baby quilt, and a gift for a dear friend of mine.

Happy Birthday to my Mum

2009-06-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

(Mum and me, in 1981)

It's my beautiful Mum's birthday today. I wish I could have spent the day with her, only she's on the other side of the world, in England.
But I have spent the past week or so frantically making her a present, in every spare minute that I get. (There aren't too many of them these days....Little m has decided a 45 minute sleep twice a day is all he needs, thank you very much.)
I was pretty pleased with the final result. I made the bag using the "Melly & Me" Toffee Apple pattern, which is perfect for a summertime bag. It was a little bit fiddly to make, but the instructions were really clear. And I managed to sneak in a few bits of Moma Wonderland fabrics, I'm just totally in love with that range.

And I popped in a little make-up bag too...

The parcel arrived for her today. I hope you enjoy it, have a lovely day, Happy Birthday!

My Creative Space

2009-06-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Not a lot happening, just making some little patchwork linen pouches....but sneaking into the photo is something very exciting indeed.
Little Snoopy.
I used to have one of these when I was little, and I adored it. We gave it away years and years ago when I was still small, and over the years I have often thought about it, I loved it so much.
Now that little m has arrived into the world, I seem to constantly be lamenting about the toys of my own childhood. They seemed so much more imaginative and beautiful than the plastic toys available now.
But yesterday afternoon, a surprise package arrived from my beautiful mum. Nestled inside was Little Snoopy. I was overcome with joy, squealing in delight, he brings so many happy memories back. Little m was watching me as if I was crazy, he couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

But now Little Snoopy is sitting proudly in my studio, bringing a smile to my face.

Pop over to Kirsty's to see more lovely creative spaces.

Beautiful things

2009-06-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

The long weekend is over....it was so lovely and relaxing. The days are back to normal, just me and little m. It is freezing cold here today, raining, and there has barely been any daylight. Other Australians think I am crazy, but I love these kinds of days. I love being able to wrap up warm, curl up cozily under a blanket on the sofa. I love the sound of the rain on the roof, and it gushing loudly down our pipes. I love the strange half light, it all reminds me of back home, of England. I guess I never thought when I left 6 years ago, that one of the things I would miss the most would be the English weather, all the rain, and the fog and the frost.

I popped into one of my favourite shops in Melbourne, Zakkaya, at the weekend. I only went in for a birthday card, but the shop was bursting with beautiful things, and I just couldn't help myself.
I bought these beautiful wall stickers for little m. I have been looking for a while, I wanted something non-girly, and a little bit quirky, and these Japanese ones were just perfect.

And these Shinzi Katoh postcards were just too cute.....

And a beautiful wool and wooden beaded necklace, a gift for a friend.

And I did get around to doing a little bit of crafting for myself this weekend too. I bought some beautiful Japanese fabric recently, that I couldn't wait to use...

a simple patchwork scarf,

and patched with some hand embroidery on linen, for a simple bag

So many things to do....

2009-06-01T21:27:00.001-07:00

Oh, I have been a very bad blogger....I've just been a bit busy with my big project, which is nearly drawing to a close now. And I think.... (I really don't want to jinx myself by saying this!) it is all under control, and should be finished before the long weekend.

I've had a tiny bit of time to squeeze in a bit of crafting. I made little m a tiny patchwork blanket to clip his absolute favourite toy to, when he's in the pram. He's just discovered the joy of throwing things out of pram and leaning over the side to watch where they fall. He doesn't yet realise that I spend most of my day in a fog of tiredness, and am therefore highly unlikely to realise what he has done until it is too late, and the toy is gone forever.

He has lost a few beloved toys in this manner. But if the wooden ladybird goes, I don't know what i'd do! So this should keep it safe.
I embroidered a little bee onto it, he likes to do little buzzing sounds when he sees pictures of bees.
Other than that, I just spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to make, leafing through the pages of my craft books, piling different combinations of fabrics together, dreaming of all the projects I am going to start. I then realise there just aren't enough hours in the day. Where do they all go?
So instead I just continue to make little piles of fabric.
I can waste quite a lot of time doing this. (..I think that may be where some of the mysterious hours go....)
This may be a quilt for my lounge room to snuggle under in the winter months,

This may be a new quilt for a friends baby,Then there's the monster softie to make for little m, and many many birthday presents which need to be made in the next weeks. Thank goodness the long weekend is stretching before me!

My Creative Space

2009-05-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thankyou for everyone's lovely comments last week! It took a few days, but by Sunday something was starting to happen, and the designs are well under way now. That doesn't mean that I'm not having design tantrums nearly everyday though, getting so frustrated with myself.
In fact I've just had one of those tantrums.....which is why my creative space looks the way it does today. I've pushed all my design work to one side ( you can just see some of it in the photo) and I've been making some more scrappy log cabin blocks. I don't really no why I'm making them, I just find it kind of therapeutic. And I like the way it just uses up all of those tiny scraps of fabric, of which I have so many. And they're pretty quick to make, giving instant satisfaction, which is always a good thing if you ask me.

Also in my creative space, is this little monster....
getting into everything, trying to eat everything, (including my fabrics) and generally getting up to a whole lot of mischief.

Have a look at some other lovely creative space over at Kootoyou....

My Creative Space

2009-05-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's after midnight, the house is silent, and everyone is asleep. I am upstairs in my studio working. I've even managed to resist the sometimes overwhelming urge to look at my favourite blogs, for a while now. Maybe even a week.
I haven't been able to do any personal crafting. I have a big design project that I have just started, and I've been researching, panicking, drawing, then throwing the drawings away. I haven't done a lot of designing since little m was born, and I find it hard after such a long break.

But I've put new pictures up on my inspiration board, behind my computer. I'm hoping the fresh images will get some creative juices flowing, that my hand will finally co-ordinate with my brain, and something good might happen.

Oh please, let something good happen....

Have a look at more lovely creative spaces here at kootoyoo

Look what arrived in the post today....

2009-05-06T06:13:00.001-07:00

the most delightfully packaged little parcel.....

with some sweet little paper clips.
Each layer I unwrapped added to my anticipation,

and finally, he was revealed,

Matt L'Oiseau

with a little cap, and his own little pocket. Beautifully made by a little sprout

I am in love.....

Fabrics and granny squares

2009-05-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tried making granny squares again this weekend. Something just seemed to click this time around, there were no tears, I just kind of made some. They're a bit messy, I think my technique is probably all wrong, but I was so pleased with myself! It may turn into an obsession, like it seems to have with everyone else.....

My trip to Patchwork on Central was great on Saturday. No little m, just me, free to browse for as long as I liked, with birthday voucher in hand.

It actually all felt a bit frenzied. I was like a child in a sweet shop, just grabbing at anything that took my fancy, with no thought as to what I'll make with all my little bits and pieces.
I just can't stop staring at them though, re-arranging my pile, opening them up and folding them back again.
Happiness.

On my desk, on my mind

2009-04-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

On my desk this week,
it all looks fairly orderly, but my mind is not....I have so many things that I want/need to make at the moment that I can't concentrate!

This is what is on my list so far:

Another baby quilt for a friend - maybe this time in shades of neutral and green
A birthday gift for my other niece who turns 1 in two months time (but I have to plan ahead, because they live in the UK)
Little m's quilt, much talked and thought about, but not yet begun.....
Make some drawstring pouches from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book, for holding all those baby essentials that are driving me mad by getting lost in my own handbag
Make a bag from this tutorial on Oh, Fransson!
Start learning to crochet....I keep seeing gorgeous granny squares about the place, and i want desperately to be able to make them! I had an obsession with learning to crochet a while back, and tried to learn from books, it was a disaster. I blame it on being left handed.There was a lot of frustration, maybe even some tears...

But anyway, right now I'm just embroidering. Trying not to get distracted. Little m is having a rare, fairly lengthy afternoon nap, and I am enjoying the stillness in the house. Maybe this embroidery will be a square to put into the new baby quilt, or maybe not, I'll wait and see how it turns out.

And pop over to Kootoyoo to see more lovely creative spaces.

And for those who live in Melbourne, don't forget there's a sale on on Saturday at Patchwork on Central Park. (I have a birthday voucher just burning a hole in my pocket!)

Staying up late

2009-04-24T21:24:00.000-07:00

I stayed up late again last night, to finish the birthday gift.

I think one of the only positive things about my husband being away on business at the moment, is that I can spend the evenings crafting, making a bit of a mess, spreading all of my things all over the couch and staying up too late, without having to justify myself. The other good thing is I can just skip dinner, and eat chocolate and drink wine instead. (Is that good or bad.....?)

My Creative Space

2009-04-22T23:46:00.001-07:00

I'm in the middle of making a birthday gift for my niece this week.
A bird purse, which I've managed to finish,

and a matching applique bag, which I've only just started....

I haven't managed to do a lot else this week, just been busy busy busy with little m.

Pop over to kootoyoo to have a look at more creative spaces.

It's finished!

2009-04-14T06:19:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter break in Anglesea, by the beach.
Very lazy, very relaxing.
And beautiful weather, sunny days, cloudless skies and a cool autumn chill in the air, my absolute favourite kind of days. (I can't help it, I think it's the English in me, I just love cold weather!)

And little m got his first taste of life in the country. We showed him the ocean, koalas, and the kangaroos that were jumping just outside the front door, he soaked it all in.

And I managed to finish the baby quilt. Phew!

Mostly machine quilted, with a little bit of hand quilting too. I'm not sure if you're supposed to mix the two things together... but then I never follow the rules.....

My Creative Space

2009-04-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

This is a little corner of my creative space this week.
The beginnings of some little pouches. I'm a bit obsessed with making these, you can never seem to have too many pouches, for housing all your little bits and pieces.

You can see more lovely creative spaces if you pop over here.

And over in another corner, are a couple of Easter bunnies. The little handmade felt mushroom bunny arrived in her own little egg home from Effunia this week, and I just love her. She'll be good company for my Christina Gordon toy bunny, as she is a little grumpy, being on her own she for such a long time.....

We're heading off to the beach for the Easter break with Little m. We live in the heart of the city, sometimes I think all he sees are people, trams and cars. So I can't wait to show him the ocean, trees, cockatoos and koalas, I think he'll get excited.

Have a good Easter everyone xx

Handmade presents

2009-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

I've had a busy week making things. I decided at the beginning of the year that all gifts given this year would be handmade by me. I'm enjoying the challenge, and thinking of things to make. And I have to plan in advance (not something that comes naturally to me) so I have time to make them.
It was my husband's birthday this week, and I decided to make him a special print using my gocco. (My love affair with my gocco continues, though half way through printing we fell out and I wanted to smash it...all is forgiven now though. Phew.) All of the motifs have special, personal meaning to us both, and I was pleased with it in the end.

I think he liked it too.

And I have been having a frenzy cutting out fabric squares and embroidering for the baby quilt. It has to be completely finished and ready for the baby shower in less than two weeks. Aaaaarrgh!! (I told you planning was not something that comes naturally...)

More printing...

2009-03-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with my gocco printer now that I've started using it! My husband bought it me for Christmas as a surprise (isn't he fabulous?) And I was a bit scared to use it, but now there's no stopping me.
I've done some more colourways of my "Elephant Family" fabric,

and also a new design,

which I plan to use in a quilt for a friend whose baby is due in May. She doesn't know if it will be a boy or girl yet, so I thought shades of grey, linen and white would be best. Here are some of the other fabrics that I'll use. I'm looking forward to starting this quilt, though I haven't got a lot of time to complete it in, it's bound to be a complete rush!

For Little m

2009-03-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

Oh, I haven't blogged for long time I know.
And here's the reason why......

Little m.
He's becoming so much fun to be with at the moment. I just can't resist spending all of my day time with him. (Which means absolutely no housework gets done...)
But he's also growing teeth, having his first cold, and now that he has turned six months, he's demanding my time more than ever before. He has also decided that daytime sleeping is no longer the thing for him....and as a consequence of being so exhausted by the end of the day, over the last week or so I have only made crafting disasters. Including an elephant softie that has the most ridiculous ears you have ever seen. It was straight into the bin for that little guy.

I did however manage to get to the Stitches and Craft show last week here in Melbourne, which was fabulous. I did a brilliant craft lab on acetate etching by Tegan Rose from Ink and Spindle.
Here's what I did on the day,I'm not really in love with the picture I created, but I love the technique.
And it also inspired me to get out my print Gocco and start designing and printing some fabric for Little m's new quilt.
Here's my first attempt at printing on fabric
I need a bit more practice with my technique I think....but at least my creatively disastrous phase has hopefully ended.

Mmmmmmm

2009-03-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

lovely new fabrics that arrived the other day.....

Its so hard finding cute fabrics that are boy friendly. There is so much gorgeous stuff for girls, but finding things for boys is so much harder. After hours of searching online, I found these. To be turned into a quilt for little m, whenever I find the time.......

Bonjour Madamoiselle Mitten

2009-02-28T22:02:00.001-08:00

Now that her couture coat and matching handbag are complete, she was willing to be photographed in full....
she is wearing her mother's pearls....
but she is a good kitten, she remembered to put a handkerchief in her pocket.

A new banner for my blog!

2009-02-26T05:42:00.000-08:00

At last I've got around to doing a banner! Named after little m, my not quite 6 month old baby, I thought it should include a little sketch of him. And his hair really does stick up like that, as if I put it in curlers....
And if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be doing all this crafting and blogging stuff. When he was newborn, I was totally shocked by how much time looking after him took up. I found it quite difficult to adjust to my new life, but slowly, bit by bit I managed to get a few minutes a day to myself. And I appreciated them more than ever before! Now I savour every spare moment I get and use it to craft, my own little outlet away from the exhausting, and sometimes mundane job of being a new mother. Little m is my inspiration. I want to make things for him, paint pictures for him, and as he grows be creative with him.

Mess

2009-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

This is what is currently in progress on the floor in my studio.
Two little embroidered shoes, belonging to one Madamoiselle Mitten....

and the reason they are on the floor as opposed to my desk, is because this is how my studio looks right now....

Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
It's a wonder I manage to make anything at all in this mess. But somehow I do. I finished this little make up bag for a dear friend of mine.

Even when I do manage to clean my studio up, I can't seem to work again until I've got more stuff out and jumbled it around. Its seems the more mess I make, the more creative I feel.

Books

2009-02-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

Much of the weekend was spent browsing bookshops, I could just spend hours and hours doing this..... Moving from art to design to sewing, drooling over the sumptuous pictures in the cooking section, and then finally getting lost in what is always my favourite section, childrens picture books. I loved these books best even before I had a baby of my own, before I had neices....and now I have the perfect excuse to buy more books than ever!

So I did buy a few books for little m (that have gone straight up to my studio....) but my favourite purchase of the weekend was this darling little book that is just for me, I just had to have it....

Isn't it divine?
You can find more of Rob Ryan here and also more stunning papercutting here.

Finding little gems like these is what book shoppping is all about.

A dog and a kitten

2009-02-17T23:25:00.000-08:00

I've been away from my blog for longer than I intended, me and my husband both caught the most terrible stomach bug and have been laid up in bed for days...thank goodness little m didn't catch it, I don't think I could have coped! I had never thought before about how hard it is to look after a crying baby when you can barely look after yourself.It has been a nightmare.

But it was lovely today to finally get back to normal, and I managed to finish off the 2 other softies I had half finished that are also to be donated to the bushfire appeal.
Meet Bob the Dog.....

...and Mitten the (sleepy) Kitten.

I'll be dropping them off tomorrow, along with the 2 bears. Hopefully than can give a little happiness to someone's day.

Bushfires and bears

2009-02-10T03:16:00.000-08:00

I was going to tell you about a new project that I was starting, but because of the events over the weekend here in Victoria, I have changed my mind.

The bushfires have left an overwhelming feeling of sadness in me. My sister-in-law was trapped in one of the worst affected towns, and somehow, by luck, she survived. The thought of what could have been gives me shivers. I feel complete heartache for all the families that have lost loved ones or lost their homes, I cannot imagine how they feel.

It's not much, but I want to do a little bit to help (of course, as well as donating money here) so I am going to make some handmade toys to distribute to the children of the families affected by the fire. If you would like to help too, then pop on over to The Toy Society website.

I made these little guys on Sunday and yesterday, and I think they will be my first donations...

This is Freckles the bear,

and this is Newton, he likes apples...

especially apple pie. I made him to celebrate little m having solid food for the first time yesterday! It was such a lovely moment, as I put the first spoonful into his mouth his whole face crunched up at the strangeness of it all, and once he had tasted it, he just lit up in one huge beaming smile. Delightful.

Softie addiction

2009-02-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

hmmmm, who does this honey belong to?

the honey bees seem curious.....

so they go investigating

ah-ha! This is the culprint, the one whose been eating all the honey....

Can you tell I've been spending too much time reading books to little m? He quivers with excitement everytime I get them out, and he's not yet 5 months old.
I only seem capable of baby talk at the moment....that and making softies, I think I'm becoming addicted.
I'm going to start a new project that I'm very excited about, I'll tell you more in my next post...

A little introduction...

2009-02-01T00:24:00.000-08:00

For a little while now I've been silently lurking around the craft blog community, obsessively looking for hours at a time, at the beautiful things these crafters create. I am always left feeling so inspired and awe struck, and wishing that I could make things as lovely as these. I've been too shy to comment on the blogs, and I have decided that something needs to change!
It's time I stopped wishing, and started doing...so I am hoping that by starting this blog I will become more confident in commenting to others and that it will inspire me to start being more creative myself.
I've only recently become a mother for the first time, so I don't have a whole lot of time to do crafting. But I'm managing to snatch a few minutes here and there during the day and I'm regularly finding myself going to bed at 1am, as I get so engrossed reading blogs or starting new projects and late into the evening seems to be the only time I get to myself.
This little lady is the latest thing I've made in these early hours, from the "More Softies" book,a Moopy Bunny, with a bird on her headand then I thought she may need a friend,so I made him, he may be a pirate, but he's very friendly.