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Things are looking up

- This package arrived in the mail from Nichola yesterday as part of an afternoon tea swap. It's a slice of fantastic chocolate coconut fudge and it was delicious (yes, I've already eaten it). Thanks so much!
- I have a shiny new pair of scissors.
- I just ordered a copy of Jess Hutchison's new book.
- My mum has loaned me her glorious sewing machine while mine is getting serviced. I know nothing about sewing machines, but I know what I like and I like this. It's a Pfaff, it has nice digital bits and a very satisfying hum (and a working footpedal - hooray!)

- Audrey's favourite passtime at the moment is spontaneous bear hugs accompanied by "I love you Mummy" (Ah, the best).
- It is Friday. Have a great weekend!

I hope it's not a sign

It's been crafting against all odds here. My Mum kindly offered to mind Audrey for the day so that I could catch up on a few toy requests. And, somewhat spookily, it was today (yup, that one sacred day put aside for sewing) that both my good scissors and sewing machine died. My scissors snapped clean in half (!) and my machine has developed major problems with its tension. And possibly the bobbin feeder thingie too, according to the machine servicing guy to whom I put in a desperate phone call this afternoon.

Fortunately, these two made it through unscathed: Alvin and Adeline will soon be off to a new home in Melbourne. I was seriously contemplating squeezing into the box with them!

Monkey business

This is what I'm working on at the moment. I temporarily broke my 2-toys-at-a-time rule because I've had a number of requests for monkeys in this colour. There was a small amount of this tweed left in my stash and I needed to find out how many monkeys could be cut from it. Four! These chaps are all spoken for (they'll all be dressed differently), then I'm going to have to find some new brown nubbly monkey tweed (fabric shopping - what a shame! ;)

I've also been tinkering around with a new blog design. I had some more tweaking to do, but was getting tired last night, so left it all unsaved & went to bed hoping to view it with fresh eyes this morning. Sometime overnight Typepad seems to have saved my changes, so it looks like this is it! Mind you, the monkey and cat in the title bar look a little agressive; think I'll be fixing that. Now, though, Audrey and I are off to catch a bus (in a public transport as entertainment kind of way).

Back-tacked

Here's my completed back-tack items. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the finished product, but perhaps that's just because I thought about it too much and am sick of looking at it! My back-tack recipent wants to learn a particular knitting stitch, so the idea was to make a knitting bag with matching needle roll and pack it full of useful yarn and essential bits and bobs (pattern, needles, chocolate, etc) to help her get started. I ended up using this Amy Butler print mixed with some wool blanketing to help make it sturdy, plus cotton tape and vintage trim that Leesa sent (thanks again!). Both bag and needle roll are lined in blue-green. Time to fill it with goodies, pack it up, send it north... and keep my fingers crossed that she likes it.

Avis

Thought I might just quickly post a picture of my latest monkey, Avis, while Audrey is sleeping off a big morning at the beach. I'm not much of a beach person, but it was such a fun morning. You just can't help but get caught up in the glee of a toddler running around in shallow pools, splashing and squealing with delight. Pure joy.

On the crafting front, I'm thinking a lot about Christmas. I just counted only 68 making-days before it hits. This is the time of year I start coming up with ridiculous goals for myself: Yes! I will make everyone a separate bag to house their (mostly home made) gifts. Yes! I will bake everyone I know gingerbread. I will make wrapping paper! And an Advent Calendar! Audrey will wake on Christmas morning to the smell of freshly baked spice biscuits! Etc, etc. This year, my big challenge is to not stress about it or become disappointed when I inevitably don't achieve 'it all' (or even half of it)... because I never do. At least that's the plan!

Mail you can eat

Friday was one of those days. We were running errands all morning: post office, supermarket, newsagent. I was getting hot under the collar and Audrey was quickly losing her patience. It was a real delight to come home and find this sitting on our doorstep. A wonderful package of home-made goodness from Kath of Redcurrent, the first installment of an Australian-blogger baked goods swap organized by Alison and Nicole. Audrey & I were so eager to unwrap it I missed out on a before photo, and it's lucky I took this when I did because they have almost all gone now! Thankyou! They are/were delicious and a real treat for a harried mum and toddler. Kath has kindly posted recipe details here.

Kind of blue

This was the state of my sewing room floor yesterday. No prizes for guessing what my Back-Tack buddy's favourite colour is! This past month has flown and I can't believe finished items and craft kits need to be posted soon. This fact, and seeing so many beautiful completed projects around the traps jolted me into action. I've had a bit of a Back-Tack block: knew what I wanted to make, but couldn't for the life of me get it together fabric-wize. I was staring and playing with this lot for well over an hour yesterday. Fortunately, last night the block lifted and I made major headway on the bag. Just got to tackle the rest of it now!

When Harry met Stella

Meet Harry.

And Stella. My two newest monkeys.

I think I'm reaching a better understanding of how I work best. For a long time, I'd cut out 6 or so toys at a time, sew them together at the same time, then make their clothes at the same time, production-line style. But I found my interest in each little character had dwindled by the time I got half way though. Definitely the sign of a short crafting attention span! Hence my new 2-at-a-time rule: the plan is to have no more than 2 toys on the go at any time. So far, 2 weeks in, it seems to be working. Fewer projects that I can't muster up the passion to complete cluttering up my desk. Let's see how long this lasts.

Thrifty finds

Last week I spent a fun couple of hours sifting through some local charity shops with my dear buddy Justine. Although we didn't realise it at the time, we each came away spending a mere $10 each. It's been a while since I spent a solid few hours doing this and to be honest I'd forgotten how thrifty thrift shops really are. Above are some of the buttons I came away with, most from a well resourced St Vinnies where the staff are so dedicated to the cause that they sort the buttons into jars according to colour (my kind of people!)

And fabric. Scores of the day would have to be a metre of beautiful thick black wool, and a small piece of '70s(?) floral - the black, mustard, green & white one in the photo above. Plus, not pictured, a huge tray of brand new crayons which Audrey has been busying herself with (ahem) drawing on the walls when we're not looking.

Thankyou so much to everyone who left such positive comments about Charile the monkey, I really do appreciate it!

Monkey boy Charlie

I've had the idea for this monkey turning around in my head for a while now, and have finally gotten around to giving it a go. Matt named him Charlie, and I think it fits! He's made from tweed, wool felt, orange wool-knit fabric for his vest and his stripey duds are from an op-shop t-shirt found about a year ago. Plus a knitted flower pin on his chest:

Charlie was quick and fun to make, so much so that I already have 2 more planned. I also tried a new technique whilst assembling this little guy, which I read about in this Japanese craft book - attaching the arms and legs before stuffing. Sounds obvious, yes? But I like my toys to be really firmly stuffed, and found that handstitching stuffed bits together didn't quite give the effect that I was after when I'd tried it before. Somehow it all came together for this little fella. Much less frustration involved this way, and much more control over the final product. Hell, all of you have probably been making your stuffed toys this way since the beginning! It works, anyhow, and I'll be doing it for all of them now. Here's another picture of Charlie to finish up: