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Rabbit season

Posting here has been a little thin on the ground of late. I think I have bitten off a bit more than I can chew at the moment. I'm working on some freelance work, am up to the gills in glorious monkey requests (so wonderful!). Plus we all had a grumpy and tired-making cold for the last week. And then I decided that I wanted to make some Easter rabbits. I've been hand sewing and finishing up these girls at any given opportunity - while making dinner, while Audrey's been in the bath, while waiting for files to save (and so on, and so on). But I'm really glad I did make them, they were an absolute labour of love. I've just put them up in my shop.

Petunia

Maple

And Tulip.

They're all made from a mix of wool & cotton prints. A couple of the prints used were ones I recieved in a lovely package from Lisa last week (the subject of a whole other post soon), which matched these lassies perfectly so I couldn't wait to chop in. Also, as you can see, the apron I did on Audrey's bunny for Tie One On has me stuck on a bit of a rabbit apron bender. A bit late to come to aprons, I know, but I'm enjoying making them nonetheless. And just as I was typing this a dear friend called to say that she had a baby girl, Maeve, a few hours ago. I've been twitchily waiting for this call all morning. A happy day!

Barrel o' monkeys

Stanley.

Bonnie.

Werner.

Some new monkeys off to live in various locations. I'm especially jealous of Stanley who is off to Denmark.

Thankyou so much for all your lovely comments about Honey rabbit. You are all so kind. As predicted I couldn't resist giving Honey to Audrey early. What is it, 3 weeks to Easter? Oh well. So far they seem to be getting on quite well (except she's got a new name now: "her name is called Peepo" according to Audrey). And who would have thought rabbit ears would make a good necklace? Not I.

Tie One On Honey rabbit

Patience has never been my strong point, and I am at my weakest when there's a new craft project in the wings. So yesterday, ahem, when I was supposed to be working on a freelance job (the kind that pays money for important stuff like helping to feed my family and pay the mortgage...), I was sewing up Audrey's Easter rabbit instead. Honey was supposed to be wearing a dress (hence the half flowery arms), but half way though I changed my mind and aproned her up for this month's Tie One On theme: aprons for dolls or soft toys. Honey is supposed to be for Audrey for Easter, but I doubt I'll be able to withold her until the end of the day (like I said: impatient). I had a ball making Honey, and if I get on top of everything (like feelance jobs a-waiting), I hope to put a few rabbits in my shop for Easter.

Autumnal

I love Autumn. This year, I am particularly happy to say goodbye to our long, hot (SO HOT!) summer. This was our first weekend of proper Autumn weather, and it heralded a flurry of activity. This tower of apples from my Mum's tree became apple pie (no photo but many, many leftover cooked apples... anyone got any good recipes?). Also, this...

ended up in the skip that we got over the weekend. (The fence, not our house... it might need lots of work, but we are rather fond of it). Soon we will plant a hedge in its place.

And, because Autumn means Easter in these parts, I started work on a bunny for Audrey's Easter basket. Hope you all had a lovely weekend, too.

Week of thrift

I'm not a regular thrift-shopper. Years ago, I'd know the contents of my local op-shops like the back of my hand. Now, though, I don't do it so much because I don't drive and bussing it everywhere with toddler in tow loses it's novelty very quickly! I've found my way to a few places in the last week, though, and thought I might share a photo of my booty. Usually I'll find a pillowcase here and an oven-mitt there... but the fabric above was all found over the last few days in 3 different op-shops. A lucky run! The yellow floral is a sheet and the dots are a tablecloth. I'm not so sure about the purple and pink large scale florals, but they are upholstery weight and I have a difficult time passing that up! The white/pink floral is a Sanderson linen sample. The blue is my favorite - a folksy looking pillowcase. The whole lot totalled just over $10; thrifty indeed.

Otto - for Lisa

I made this monkey for lovely Lisa of A Bird in the Hand. She made me one of her wonderful log cabin pilows (check it out - wow!), and I made her Otto. Lisa was one of the first people to comment on this here blog, and I always think of her as one of the forces of good in crafty blog land. I had a great time making Otto for you, Lisa - I suspect he'll settle into his new home remarkably quickly, particularly with all those new friends!

A lesson from the weekend

At last, I updated my shop with 3 new toys. Eileen and Roger above are both looking for new homes, but - quick as a flash - Winifred has happily already found new digs.

We had a long/holiday weekend here, and I was desperate to use some of the time crafting something other than a soft toy. (Bless the toys, but variety is important!) I found myself with a couple of hours on Saturday and put together this cushion. I wasn't even going to mention it here, because I really, really (can't emphasise that point enough) don't like it; it was on it's way straight to the scrap bag. But then, I realised that the construction of this garish little pillow actually re-taught me a very valuable lesson: do not craft in a hurry. I need to post this here to remind myself: whenever I rush a project, it always ends in disappointment. At least I got to try out my rotary cutter, which I have had for 6 months still in the packaging. So far, quilting has not been my most sucessful venture, but it's an art I really want to get my head around. Third time lucky?

Winifred

Just a quick post. I had lots of plans for while Audrey had her nap this afternoon. Yes, nap - her day sleep has returned, but now with added mystery: will she or won't she sleep on any given day? Your guess is as good as mine! Today it was not to be. I'd planned to write a long post about something or other. But quiet time is running out, so instead I'll introduce you to Winifred monkey. I'm experimenting with monkey fashion a little, but there still had to be a bit of ruffle. Winifred and a couple of her friends will go up in my shop sometime on the weekend. You know, naps allowing.

Monkeys and scones

This little monkey, Josie, is heading off to Melbourne this week. I photographed her in Audrey's room this morning. She's sitting on a '70s armless sofa that we bought before she was born. It's covered in off-white chenille. I have no idea what we were thinking buying white soft-furnishings for a children's room! Miraculously it has managed to stay mostly clean, although not so tidy - to take this photo I had to shove a mountain of toys & clothes aside to clear space enough for the monkey.

New things are in the works, just a few more toys to make first. Oh, and I made Orangette's ginger and pistachio scones over the weekend. They were every bit as good as they sound.

Scone wars

We can't get enough of these at the moment. I do a fair bit of baking, and now that Audrey is at an age where she really enjoys it, we seem to be churning out biscuits, muffins and cakes at a rate that can't be good for our collective health. Trying to think of an alternative with less sugar and butter, we turned to the date scone. First up we made these above from Australian cooking bible The Cook's Companion. They're dense and very sweet, and with a bit of nutmeg to make them interesting. They're also quite flat - not the fluffy scones my grandma used to make. I thought this was something to do with my baking (although that didn't stop us from eating our way through 4 batches over the last few weeks!) However, today we tried this recipe (doubling the fruit). And, thank goodness, they rose in a satisfyingly traditional scone-like manner. So far, though, Stephanie's are winning this particular battle in our scone wars. I think I'm addicted to the trying. Next up, these.