Special Times

Hi everyone,

So sorry for being so quiet. How did that month slip by so quickly? I write in my head all the time but just didn't quite get to sitting here and writing as I am now.

It has been a month of waiting, waiting and more waiting, but at last our precious little bundle has arrived. Oliver arrived safe and sound last Sunday and in our totally unbiased opinion he is absolutely beautiful. Mum (and dad) are both well and nan & pop (us) totally besotted. Dad is already planning the fishing rod he will make for him...hope he'll like fishing! Now I can get on with making his quilt. I wanted to wait and choose colours etc that will suit. He will be living by the ocean so a fishy, watery theme sounds perfect.

It will be a mad rush tonight packing for our trip to Sydney. Getting anxious already.... I'm not really a comfortable flyer. Thank goodness it's a fairly short trip though. Lots to see and do and good company so I'll be happy when we land.
I'll have lots to show & tell next week, so until then...
have fun & be safe.
Deb

P.s forgot to mention a really creative blog, Cart Before the Horse, that just happens to be having a gorgeous give away! check it out.

cough cough!!

Hi everyone,

Well, best laid plans and all that. Taken a little more time than I expected to post but who didn't want to have a flu shot? And, who was sick last week with the flu? Of course it was me. Actually half the family in turn has been left feeling like you know what. Never mind, we're a pretty tough old bunch usually so everyone will be back to normal soon.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post I really appreciate it. Marianne and Wendy W were the lucky two Pin Angel pattern winners this time, but there are more new patterns coming soon. Please let me know your address/ changes etc and I'll pop them in the mail.

Just wanted to share the new Doll Club pattern for October with you. This is Peace Angel and she holds a small appliqued quilt ( extra stitching) and has hands that are a little more challenging.

I have received the name of my swap partner so I'm pretty excited about joining in this year. We've exchanged some nice emails ( stitchers are always nice people) and it's fun swapping with someone from the US so I'm looking forward to the whole project.

Better get back to choosing fabric for Helen's swap project and finishing my last essay for this study period. Yeah!!

Bye for now

Deb

Felting madness

Hi everyone,
This is not my new profile photo. It was actually our dinner. Well, it was pizza dough I left to rise and when I next looked it was staring back at me, magic! Had to wait all of 2 seconds until someone started to laugh and I had found the culprit. Silly sausages in this house.

Now I have to say...what happened to July! It's the first of August and I have been madly trying new things. Such as...my new felting/ embellishing machine....fav new toy. So far it's lots of fun and I have been making flowers for embellishments on items and packaging them as little fun trims to add to handmade goodies. They look really good on beanies and certainly dress them up. Just as well really as I have been collecting wool roving and felt for ages and only touched the tip of the iceberg/pile to date with some other projects, so everyone's happy.

Holly & I spent time today organising clothes for an up-coming trip to Sydney . Trying to find suitable items that are travel friendly and right for our adventures has been a challenge. All black and mixable seems to be the way to go....I can add scarves etc to dress up or down. We're both really looking forward to this trip as it was arranged by school and is mean't to be a cultural experience. Drama, Visual Art and Music are on the agenda with art galleries, Sydney Opera House back stage visit, Brett Whiteley Studio workshop and all sorts of exciting things. We didn't have excursions like that in my day and I'm tagging along this time. I plan on taking lots of photos so I'll bore you with those after September.

For now though....Just finished another doll project for Australian Homespun Magazine. I always love working with Homespun and will look forward to seeing the project in print ..it's out early next year.

I have also just sent off a large order to my friend Bohdana in Prague. She is running a very successful doll club over there and she puts a great amount of time into the workshops. All the patterns need to be translated by her and that takes quite an effort. Anyone interested in joining living near by -this is her site - Český panenkový klub

The boys have returned from their annual fishing competition at Rainbow Beach and a good time was had by all, and I do mean all. Us homebodies can relax and enjoy some alone time too. It's always nice to have them home though. The weather for the comp was lovely, which is a change from the wind and rain in previous years.

Almost forgot...the pin Angels ( pin cushions) pattern is in the Wattlebee Shop now, I was alittle slow in getting it there.

Best wishes

Deb

Over the line

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know what happened to the first half of '09? I can't believe it is July already....better get used to it I suppose.

We had a great week away. The beach is always relaxing and I needed a de-stresser. How would you feel after this...... Oops!! .....You can drive on the beach, in places, but things can go wrong. Makes for an interesting walk though.

On a calmer note ....

First seagull that actually stood still long enough.

Pin dolls are completed and the pattern will be available very soon. This is the cover ..........

They turned out really cute..........I guess they could just be collectable mini dolls if you didn't want to stick pins in them, eitherway they are fun to make and would be great gifts for crafty friends. There will be ready made versions available online too.

Australian Homespun magazine has asked me to contribute another project, so I'm busy drawing up some ideas for that....I love doing those projects. It won't be out till next Feb, but everything needs to be ready by the end of this month....I'm such a sucker for punishment!

Doll Club project No.3 has been sent mid June....hope everyone is enjoying making up Fairy Queen. I would love to see your finished work, so don't be shy, send a pic and I'll pop it on the blog for show and tell.

I have decided to sell some of the dolls made especially for magazine projects to make way for newer ones. These dolls are the originals that were used for photography in Australian Homespun & Aust. Country Threads mags. They will be available in the ready made section of the Wattlebee Shop as soon as I can get them on ( next few days). If you are interested in any in particular please let me know before they are posted. Also, I will be adding some of the original Doll Club dolls in the ready made section as we are running out of room in the studio.

Until next time,
Deb

brrrrrrrr!

Hi everyone,
Just a quick note -
I'm not complaining...I always wish for the cooler weather, but it is surprisingly cold at the moment. I'm sure it's a direct arctic wind that blows. Out came the black tights, boots and maybe even a pair of gloves could be put to good use in the morning. Actually I love it when it's cooler. We don't usually have much of a winter and quite often anything heavier than a light coat is a waste so I bought flannelette sheets again today ( last purchase probably twenty years ago) and a new yummy blanket. Bed all made and looks inviting.....Medium ( a favourite tv show)is on tonight and I do have an essay due Monday so unfortunately not an early night ahead.

This is truly wacky, but I was cooking dinner the other night and saw this.........

The Yin Yang of onions! Maybe you need to see it from a distance....I thought it was amazing.

Okay, back to crafty things. I've been working at finishing the last pin angel and she should be ready to unveil very soon....that will be my next post.

Take care

Deb

Weekend endeavours

Hi everyone,

This weekend is almost over....they always go far too quickly! I do have something to show for it though. I finished Pin doll No.2. She is a little cutie and I'm making quite a few for our Etsy Shop.

We had our first sale on Etsy, and lovely feedback, which was pretty exciting.

Here she is - all 5 inches of her ( I've been playing with Photoshop and having fun with brushes).

She has a tiny elastic topped pocket in the front for small things like buttons that you may like to keep safe while sewing. I love sewing with felt, so naturally I use it when I can and I had the perfect colours for her wings. It's officially the first day of winter tomorrow in this part of the globe so we are starting to think 'cosy'.

I would like to show you a couple of beautiful dolls made by Angela in Brazil. She has used a Wattlebee pattern called Daisy and made it in her own style. A very talented lady...thanks Angela.

Took a train into the city on Saturday to visit the Qld Art Gallery's latest exhibit - American Impressionism and Realism. Absolutely loved it! I had seen The China Project during the week with a school excursion, so we had a quick look again in GoMA ( Gallery of Modern Art) then across to the Impressionists. Certainly nothing like in a book, you really appreciate seeing these beautiful works in real life.
We all agreed our favourite was a painting by Charles Conder titled -Departure of the Orient- Circular Quay.

Today was quieter and a little cooler but all in all a great weekend.
The boy's went fishing again...they called to say it was raining where they were, so that was a bit of a shame. I'm sure they had fun anyway...better crabbing so I'm told.

Well, almost time for bed and setting alarms..... I don't want to sleep in and late for school. It's so easy to do that when all the early risers are away. Everything will be back to normal Monday and I'll be looking towards the next weekend.

Hope your weekend was a beauty.

Deb

Pins & thingmybobs

Hi Everyone,

Can't believe it's taken me so long to write but I have been working on some things and at least now I have something to show. This little item was a lot of fun...it actually only took a couple of hours to put together from drawing the pattern to finish, but there will be 3 sizes and styles in the one pattern...so I'm pretty excited about showing the whole set when ready ( nearly there).

Here's a peek...........

I love working with felt....it's quick and always looks neat, warm too! The weather is really starting to cool down on this side of the planet. Blankets and slippers are being employed and yummy cooler weather comfort foods such as braised lamb shanks are on the menu. Did I mention porridge.........I love porridge, very good for you too.
This is the top of Inskip Point at Rainbow Beach. You can see two of the large barges that go across to Fraser Island. It's quite a wide expanse of beach and drops off to the water so you can only see part of the barges. This was taken a couple of weeks ago and the weather was perfect. I spent some time taking macro photos of mangrove shoots, drift wood and water patterns on the sand as inspiration for some Collograph printing plates that I am working on. All new stuff but I'm learning.
Just prior to that the boys spent some time building a back fence...they did a great job. Also went mad pruning!

Holly was playing catch and release with soldier crabs. They were absolutely everywhere until you moved and then they would quickly dig into the sand and hide.

Well, off to sew some more little thingmybobs.

Happy weekend

Deb