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shop talk

Well, the ear infections cleared up (knock on wood) and giraffes are now in the shop. If you're interested there are some pictures of them close up over on Flickr: Frank, Hermoine and Abe. I've had to increase the price very slightly to cover costs because I'm making these guys about 10cm taller (and a whole lot plumper) than they used to be. Also, I've hopefully fixed the mailing list problems by moving the whole shebang to this new provider. These new peeps are cheap and, so far, good. The last provider I used had a few problems (including, ultimately, not delivering any emails I sent - kind of a cornerstone function of an email list service!) If you had problems joining the last one and would like to receive a note when I list new toys, the box to join is in the top right hand column of this blog. Seriously, thankyou if you have made it this far. :)

Anyway, enough of this talk. Today is Sunday and among other things, I'm hoping to cut out some new toys, catch up on emails, sew up a cushion and test some white paint. Happy weekend, all!

Oh, just about to save this post and I've noticed that two all giraffes have already gone, but Abe remains. Thankyou so much! xo

week of giraffes

Last week was supposed to be giraffe week. I had three of them cut out and was feeling particularly on a roll. But then both kids came down with ear infections and giraffe week turned into week of sleep deprivation, antibiotic dispensing & cuddling feverish little people. Hopefully this week will be a better one for the giraffes, and with any luck they will be ready for the shop by the weekend.

Also, this past week, we tried to buy a church! A very run down old church in the shape of an octagon with no kitchen/bathroom/heating/21st century comforts like running water. I've always loved the idea of turning a church or old hall into a home, but unfortunately we missed out. Very exciting to give it a go, though.

So for now, back to tending to the convalescing sickies - and giraffes.

new and blue (and green)

Thanks for your nice words about the Marmalade cat doll. I got quite enthusiastic about the lilac/blue cat after that last one, and so now - three more. All made from wool flannel, two boys (one with a favorite Liberty print as a tie) and a wee girl with a lined wool cape. They've all gone straight into the shop this afternoon.

With them, a couple of rabbit dolls. Moira, in green and Bernadette above. Bernadette started out life as Bernard, but he just wasn't doing it for me. Turns out he was supposed to be a she all along (I'll pack the tie and short trousers in with her just in case there's a change of heart).

It's taken me weeks to get these together. It's been so cold here I'm having trouble dragging myself to the sewing machine at night. Henry is having an extra long sleep this afternoon, though, and my hands are almost thawed out so I'm off to cut out giraffes while the going is good.

Edited to add: Sorry to my mailing list if you didn't receive the message I sent about this shop update earlier today. Problems with list management site. Think I'm going to have to try another way...

marmalade

In between baby sleeps and school runs this week I've been finishing off this little round faced cat. I fussed over this one to a ridiculous extent. I'm so pleased with how he came out, though. Just like my sketch for once! It's all about the lilac coloured wool flannel - so pretty and soft. Do I have more lilac Marmalades queued in my head? You betcha. upesmgw849

friday

It's Friday afternoon. Henry is asleep and I've just pulled some cupcakes out of the oven for Audrey's play date this afternoon. I'm hoping H will continue to sleep just a bit longer so I have time to put on a load of washing and make fishcakes for dinner. 

I've had the urge to make another cat doll recently (it's been a while!), and Marmalade here is the first cab off the rank. Her face is too pointy. A visit to the fabric store this morning yielded some fantastic lilac coloured wool flannel, though, so a round-faced Marmalade is waiting in the wings.

Hope you're all having a good Friday.

off the wagon

So, I fell of the photo-a-day wagon around day 125 (minus two, but who's counting?) I'm going to try to dedicate the time I used every day thinking about what to photograph and editing photos to actually making stuff, and blogging more - I've missed being here. Taking a photo every day reaffirmed that while I like to take photos, I'm no photographer. It was fun while it lasted though, & lovely to have a record of the first 125 days of this year. A big salute all those people who see the whole 365 though!

garden inspiration

Last week I was clicking around the internet, doing a bit of fantasy shopping (where you don't click 'checkout' at the end) and bemoaning the state of the Australian dollar. Right at the top of my wanty list was a couple of the gorgeous Paumes titles. The next day, I saw Claire had been doing the same thing, and I was thrilled to then discover through a comment on her post that a few of these fantastic Japanese books were now available in Australia through Lark. A couple of red wines later, the 'checkout' button had been well and truly clicked.

London Gardens is as inspiring as I'd hoped. 

Those fantastic white chairs seem to pop up everywhere in the book. And check out that garden studio!

More Paumes here, here and here, too.

befores and afters around the house - the garden

I haven't written about it much here lately, but we have an old house that we've been fixing up slowly. After lots of work indoors (and still more to do, oh, it never ends!) we are finally getting around to the yard. Lately, we've made a couple of new garden beds and planted some wild iris, a flowering plum and some ornamental pear trees. But most exciting for us was the arrival of three pallets of recycled old red bricks last week. Now we have a back patio. At some point we are hoping the back yard might even be an inviting place to be. It's a plan, anyway. 

I dug around my blog archives and found this 'before' (ish) photo from November 2005 (another good reason to keep a blog!) That weirdy old pergola sat unsoundly on cracked concrete. Matt still goes into the foetal position every time he sees bougainvillea - removing that took 2 days and a truckload of bandaids. The 'after' photo doesn't look like much, either, but there is still much to do! Next up is a new pergola, some gravel for paths, and painting the back of the house (we are testing muddy greys up there to the left). 

And because I clearly need all the inspiration I can get, I thought I might share with you some of my favorite home blogs at the moment:

Sheterblog

Sanctuary

The Seventy Tree (via a&b)

Nestled In

Desire to Inspire

good gracie

Here's Henry sporting his swish new hat. We were very lucky to be sent this hat by lovely Gina. Gina's blog has been one of my favorites for a long time now, not just because we're both from the same town, but also for her humour and fantastic creations - also available in her shops. 

I'm sorry I couldn't get a better picture of Henry in the hat because, you know, I think he looks pretty cute (although I may be biased). But he's quick these days! For this third photo I got wise and bribed him with the holy grail - a prawn cracker (that's the blurry pale thing he's holding). He was still momentarily, just enough for a blurred grin & then off again. As an aside, Henry took his first unaided step about a month ago - on this momentous occasion he was lurching for a prawn cracker (we're all class). He's made no steps since. Nor have there been any prawn crackers in the house. Coincidence? It seems not. After this photo he took his second step. Which proves to me that prawn crackers must be magic.

Thanks again, Gina. :)

and it was all yellow

Yellow, specimen one: Mervyn. To go in a hamper for silent auction organised by Shannon, to raise money for PANDA. Do you know they don't receive government funding? Pretty astounding. If you've ever been afflicted with PND, or know someone who is struggling with it, you'll know how important an organisation this is. 

Yellow, specimen two: quilt! The top is finished and needs a jolly good iron. I am nonplussed with it, but hope the love grows after I take all the time to baste, quilt and bind the bugger. No quilting for a while though, as we are right in the middle of school holidays. Bike riding supervision calls. :)