last minute

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to show you our latest goodies for Christmas. We have made two new Spice Angels dressed in vintage doileys, linens and lace. Holly and I had a great time digging through the large stash of vintage materials collected over time to find just the right bits & pieces . It's been a while and I had forgotten some of the treasures packed away. We love making these dolls as it is such a lovely way to use gorgeous old materials. They smell Christmassy too; the hearts are filled with cloves.

The first one has blue accents with a lovely old blue bird doiley and "french blue" shoes.

The bottom doll features an autumn toned doiley and "maple syrup" painted shoes. The best part is bringing them to life by blushing thieir cheeks....they 'warm up'.

Holly has been busy on her own too. There are more licorice allsort buttons and the cutest little plum pudding buttons avaliable in the Wattlebee shop now.

Plum Pudding Buttons - so cute!
These cute Holly leaves and Berry Beads are perfect for making an original pair of earrings but could be used on any Christmas project.

Licorice Allsorts - New colours and styles

Holly likes to make sure all the holes are clean in her buttons and we have the perfect size drillbit hidden away, I say hidden as our drill went missing, then one by one the bits went too. Lovely sons like to use them but they don't remember to give them back. I have to hide my scissors too! I hope Santa brings me a new pair....I've hinted a lot! Perhaps ones that give an electric shock to anyone not using them for fabric...ha ha!

Hope you are well underway with Christmas preparations and not feeling too stressed.

Best wishes

Deb

Drum roll please......

Apologies for being sooooo slack with saying hello. I don't know what happens at the end of each year, the world speeds up and time seems to speed up with it. Everything has to happen before the magical change over to another year. I think I'm my own worst enemy as I try to do too many things at once and end up not finishing enough of them.

Anyway.... an absolutely lovely thing happened recently. I was awarded a very special honour from a very special blogger in Ireland. Stephanie's blog - My Calico Heart is always interesting and a visual delight ( also updated regularly...unlike mine). I was really thrilled to receive this award and have posted the banner with pride. I feel I have found a new friend and it is certainly inspiring and rewarding to have people like Stephanie on your side.

As to new designs...well I just finished work at school and as the kids are now on holidays ( me too) I'm ready to go. I really love christmas and all those holidays so no excuses are allowed. Not sure I'll finish the small Christmas wall hanging. The Moda fabric is gorgeous but I want it to be perfect, and at the moment it's not so I'm just going to chill on that one. There's always next year!

Another enterprising friend in Prague is holding Doll Club classes featuring my dolls. I am thrilled that the classes are going so well for her. Bohdana is a very talented person and her expertise in sewing and classes is a vital part of the success. I'm very grateful to her for my part in introducing doll making to The Czech Republic. Bohdana has sent wonderful...joy filled photos of classes in progress. I will ask permission for photos to show.

Until next time...
Deb

Fresh Start

Hi everyone,
Just a quick post to show what we've been up to.
Getting in early for the new year with a fresh new look. What do you think?
I love this funky, smart look and have started drawing up designs to match. That will be our next show & tell.
Check out Holly's as well, she's been having some fun too. Aren't kids great with computers.


I have added two new Blogs Hugs n Kisses & Hatched and Patched- lovely crafters.

Off to do a few things now for an early Monday start.
Happy creating
Deb

Just Steamy!

Hi Everyone,
Another steamy day...weather I mean. It's been so humid we just don't feel like doing more than we have to at the moment. The humidity brings crackling storms and pretty impressive light shows....and rain. My fruit trees and vegies are growing at a rapid rate. Actually found a cucumber that the bugs had missed, they must have been busy on the tomatoes, lucky me!

I don't think the family was that impressed with the cucumber either as it was quite prickly and required intense dermabrasion before using.

We have such wonderful customers at Wattlebee. It's always so nice to receive an email and I appreciate the kind words and friendliness. Holly has sold two packets of her buttons and has been busily making more.....so exciting for her. I think there are only 3 weeks left of school for another year and I'm looking forward to the holidays too. Plenty of time for lots of creating.

I have been making quite a few aprons as a result of the Newsletter that just went out. I love screen printing so it's been so much fun. The little birds design will be advertised in the new year.
January will be a busy month as dolls will be appearing in Australian Homespun and Australian Country Threads magazines to start off the year. One is an Australiana doll the other is for an applique special.

Trying to finish the last of my study. Three weeks left until last submission - one more project to go. I'm working on a local site, an historic cemetery, it's pretty run down and sad looking and I'm mapping certain areas. I always feel better taking someone with me when I visit to take photos, as it's too isolated and over grown in parts....a big baby!

This is a view of the entrance to the cemetery...I must admit it was a gloomy day and it isn't that bad when the sun is out.


This is a very clever art work by UK artist Susan Stockwell - Titled: South America.
It is made from used coffee filters....how clever is that!

Best wishes

Deb

Aprons completed

Hi everyone,

Finished two of the aprons yesterday after finally tracking down just the type of natural tape that I wanted for the ties....just a tiny bit hard to get. Haven't had time to pop them in the shop yet but will over the next couple of days.
I had big plans for this weekend, all ready with the new fabric colours etc and as generally happens, plans change. But all for the good as we had a lovely relaxed roast lunch this Sunday, something we don't normally get to do, and this took up most of the morning with preparation. The boy's had been out trying to catch sand crabs from about 4 am and as you could imagine were pretty tired by afternoon but their efforts did result in a wok full of chilli crab. An early night for all I think! A pretty nice alternative weekend though.

Holly has been making the most gorgeous little softies. She made two this weekend and has drawn up a real cutie to make next.


Here's Bernie -he has a lovely doc flannel face which just feels wonderful to touch.
She's almost finished a cute little orange print with flower softie ( these are rabbits) and then the new design. The hard part is getting her to clean up afterwards though.

Well it's off to work tomorrow and there is a art exhibition for the senior girls to attend to so it will be a busy few days. Thank goodness it's part time as I wouldn't get anything else done. Just love it though.

Uni is coming along fine. I felt completely exhausted after first submission and felt like crying after mailing my work.....not uncommon as I've since learnt. But this second half is okay. I was ironing my last project and burnt a hole in the organza fabric...actually melted onto my iron, well it turned into a plus as it suits the theme even better. I'll never admit that it was a mistake and not intentional. Did have to buy a new iron though.

Take care and happy creating.
Deb

Show & Tell

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post before bed as it's been a long day. Pretty happy with the journal covers...the dowel button worked a treat too! Easy to make yet smart looking.

Here are the two finished covers for the Poinsettia ( Xmas one) and the little birds.

I stitched around the middle bird and up & down the stripes for a little contour, you could do the same around the flower but I think they look fine as they are. I wanted to keep it simple and compliment the fabric.

Anyway...love to hear what you think. Will be making up the aprons next.

Have a lovely day

Deb

The most fun!

Hi everyone,

This weekend has been such a lot of fun, don't you love it when a plan works!

All I wanted to do in this long weekend was screen print and everything went really well. A few mistakes...I mean experiments, and we were off and running.

I have a few sneak peeks for you. The first print is a special one for Xmas as it's a Poinsettia flower ( which always makes me think of Christmas). I've screen printed it onto beautiful 100% linen destined to be journal covers - I thought they would make lovely gifts or just to record your special Christmas ( great for sizes, what to buy and wish lists too). Tomorrow is the big sewing day so I'll have a finished one to show after that. I'm also offering really yummy aprons for a great look on Christmas Day. They too are printed on pure linen and look great.

This one pictured is a mini version for a little kitchen helper.

The following bird print is really cute....decided to print in chocolate colour on natural linen. These are pre cut for A5 Journal covers. I'm padding and stitching before making up a sample cover tomorrow.
I'll package them as kits so that you will have a pattern and can make up the pre cut & printed fabric....great for gifts!

The linen makes them feel so special and will last forever. I feel ready to get stuck into lots more as Holly has been making samples with gorgeous bright, fun colours that can be embellished...more on that very soon.

Off to play an Agatha Christie mystery game with the kids then a good nights sleep ready for another big day.

Happy sewing

Deb