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A blogging break

Some monkeys and bunnies for a wholesale order just finished. These are going to Millie Molly Moo, a children's store soon to open in Portland, Victoria (Australia!) A beautiful part of the world, from memory, if anyone happens to be in the area. The rest are over at Flickr.

On another note, I'm going to be taking a little blogging break for a week or so. This time of year coincides with the passing of my brother 5 years ago. For some reason I'm finding the 5 year anniversary much harder than the 4th. I'm not exactly sure why, but, as anyone who has lost someone very dear knows, the grieving process is nothing if not completely unpredictable. I would love to write about Mark on this blog one day - share a little of his wonderful life. But, for now at least, I'm going to light a candle and spend some time with my family. See you all soon. xo

Afternoon WIP

Thankyou everyone for your sweet and thoughtful comments about Audrey's 'lergy. It's been so lovely to receive cheerful little messages in my inbox whilst administering Panadol and attempting to assuage extreme toddler boredom. It looks like she's back on track now, so here I am with an afternoon to do some work and catch up on things a bit. I haven't managed to do much since last Friday except play with some piles of fabric. The ones in the photo up top will soon turn into some monkey/bunny aprons and dresses for a wholesale order I'm working on. Bernice monkey is the first cab off the rank for that order. I stuffed her whilst sitting on the couch last night, and there are a few more awaiting the same treatment whilst (ahem) Big Brother is on this evening.

Work in progress Flickr group is here.

On hold

There isn't much stitching going on around here at the moment. Winter has finally caught up with us and Audrey has her first cold of the season. As these things often do, it started on Saturday night. My Mum kindly offered to have Audrey (perfectly healthy at this stage, I should point out) for a sleep over so that Matt & I could have out first night out together since January, and a guilt-free sleep in (bliss!). We got the dinner in, but a phone call at 11pm saying that Audrey had suddenly woken with a nasty case of croup put the end to any dreams of extended sleeping. Scary business. So, all craft is on hold until my poor snotty girl stops barking. Until then, here is a picture of some dolls I made a while back that I never got around to posting about. Camellia bunny is now in New Zealand with Mindy and her daughter, Lyle monkey in the US and Columbine bunny with the daughter of a friend here in Adelaide. Back soon, hopefully!

Baby's got a body

My work in progress this week is again Audrey's doll. Who finally has a body. You've probably noticed that she is, as we say around here, in the nicky-noo-naa. The pile of fabric she's reclining on are what I'm planning on using for her dress. I want to make her frock removable, and for her to have a few layers so Audrey can play with outfits. Perhaps even a couple of dresses, an apron and coat as well... ha! Who am I kidding?! This is my aim, anyway. Probably a bit lofty, considering that this would have to be the slowest moving project I have ever worked on (ahem, aside from the quilt). Hopefully the outifit idea will make her more attractive to Audrey, who was decidedly underwhelmed when I showed her the doll in its current state: "Mummy... why is her hair all funny?"

Thanks again to everyone playing along with the WIP thang, it's been so wonderful seeing all your photos. Flickr pool is here.

This post, bought to you by the letter D

There was a a flurry of activity here over the weekend, and I didn't get to update my blog in time. I added a few toys to the shop on Friday night, thanks so much to everyone who has helped them to find new homes. I posted about some of the bunnies last week, but for posterity's sake here's the skinny on the others: the three happy-style monkeys (Dot, Lucille and Trixie) represent my latest crafting obsession. They have wool blend fabric bodies, wool felt faces and cotton aprons that attach at the back with a loop and button. I really want to make a little boy version of these lassies, but have a whole pile of orders to get through first. Must. Be. Restrained.

Two kittens. Thelma and Dora. Dora is named after my favourite Bloomsbury-by-association. I've always loved the name for people as well as kitten dolls, but I accepted long ago that since Matt and I have (different) surnames beginning with the letter D, we could never get away with giving a first name also beginning with D to children. Some letters seem to be able to cut it with repetitive use in names (Jasper Johns? Great name!), but D - to me anyway - just seems a bit goofy. Perhaps it's just some D-names? I'm happy to have this theory disproved. In any case, fortunately I get to use some of my favourites on the dolls.

WIP and whip

This week I have been working on orders and finishing up these three happy monkeys to add to my shop update (which will happen either tonight or tomorrow depending on how much light is still around for photos when Matt gets home). Those are the stripey socked feet of my lovely assistant next to the monkey tails.

Also, because it's a cold, grey wintery Friday and all our plans blew out for today, we just made some chocolate cupcakes with vanilla butter icing. May or may not include crunchy shell bits because Audrey is learning to crack the eggs. We were going more for toddler entertainment rather than cupcake art, which is lucky, eh? They are tasty nonetheless. Audrey is quiety devouring one on the couch as I type so I guess I'd better go and prepare for the attendant sugar rush shortly.

WIP Friday Flickr group is here. Oh, and check out Peony bunny!

The mail trifecta

It's been a stellar mail week here, and we're feeling pretty spoilt. Recently I made a doll for Li Li from Singapore (who is, sadly, blogless). In return she sent me my very own copies of the two gorgeous books above - which means I no longer have to stalk your blogs looking at your photos of them! Our budget doesn't often find room to stetch to these kinds of purchases so I hope my enthusiasm isn't cloying. Generously, Li Li also popped some sweets into the package (a few not pictured because I am a guts).

We also received a wonderful package from Sooz. Sooz and I have been planning a swap for a while (my part of the bargain is still forthcoming) and when I fawned over her woolen Mibala dolls on her blog a while back she offered to make me one. Suffice to say, we love her lots. She is pictured above sitting on some pretty fabric that Sooz kindly included. Audrey and I are still negotiating time share ownership. I tried to take a photo of the happy couple this afternoon, but most ended up typically blurry:

Finally, this morning saw the arrival of the very cool vegasandvenice monsters colouring book, and some of Christine's beautiful hand-drawn stickers. I love this book so much, and plan to put it away in safe keeping until Audrey is old enough to write her own journal entries in response to questions like: "tell the mosters about your favourite things to imagine?" and "tell the monsters about your idea of the perfect party?" Makes me a bit giddy to think what her answers might be.

Thankyou again, the blogosphere. You are very kind. :)

Bunnies, bits & bobs

Above are some of the finished bunnies from the new litter I've been working on: Orchid, Cherry, Oleander, Aster and Pepper. Aster and Pepper are off to new homes in Sydney and Melbourne respectively. There are a couple more that I need to finish, and I'm hoping to put some of them in my shop before the end of the week, along with a couple of kittens and monkeys that I've been putting aside while working on wholesale orders & swaps.

I can't believe it's already Wednesday. The week has flown by with dental appointments (urgh), some lovely mail, (more on that when I take some photos), and trying to update Audrey's winter wardrobe via a bidding frenzy on Ebay. My daughter always seems to have a growth spurt mid-season! ;) In between feverishly checking my bidding status (is it just me, or is ebay ferociously competitive these days?) I've been enjoying this new-to-me blog (via Nest), Jenn Docherty's sweet needle felted characters, and this fantastic cat softie.

Also, because this post really needs to be more disjointed and rambly (ha!), thanks so much for all your lovely, kind comments about the happy monkey, and on my last post. Typepad has been acting up and not emailing me new comments, which has made it difficult to reply to any questions... but, like catching up with my email, with any luck I'll get there soon. :)