Busy as a Queen Bee

I haven't been around much these last few weeks... I have been busy, getting organised for a few new things, settling into the school routine, crafting it all leads to a very busy schedule and not much time for electronics.



So here, in a few snippets is what we have been up to. The Princess is now eating with gusto, her favourite snacks being watermelon and sweet potato. I have been sewing up a storm of toys for an up coming market, designing my own doll patterns, making clothes for the princess (that jacket is reversible, and made from scratch from my own pattern YAY!) I have been really getting into the swing of making Waldorf Dolls, the Prince got his very first school sticker on his second day of school for his behavior (beaming mumma here!!) and also again on his third and fourth. He was born ready for school this one, and comes home each day full of excitment, yet when asked what he has been up to says with disappointment... 'they still haven't taught me to read yet!'. Last of all, I have been working on my very first Waldorf doll for sale... the pink hair beauty. She still has some work to go, but is coming along nicely... this one is for a friends little girl!

So, hopefully now I am back in the swing of things... I hope you all had a fab weekend!

Introducing My First Waldorf Doll

Meet Jenny, the newest addition to our tribe. She has a few little touch ups to go and then she is all finished. 

Jenny is my first ever attempt at making a waldorf doll. I'm pretty happy with the results - I made her from a bought pattern, but now that I have been through the process I have an idea on what I would change, to make it my own style. I enjoyed every single moment of making this sweet girl.

Jenny is actually named after another Waldorf Doll maker, who I found when Googling Waldorf dolls a few years ago. (If you read this Jenny, I hope you don't mind) But it kind of works in two ways as Jenny is my mothers name as well, so she can pretend its named after her if she wants ;)

Making a Waldorf doll was a daunting thing for me to start - there are a lot of fabulous doll makers out there, (I will list my favourite at the end of this post), and after looking at a few I became nervous about how mine would turn out.

Once I actually received my doll kit in the mail though, the nerves left and it was filled with excitement. Every step of bringing Jenny to life was enjoyable, from shaping the head, to stuffing the body. The aroma from the wool stuffing is something that I can't explain well with words, but the smell of it, it makes you feel like you are making something 'real', something that has 'life' something that has 'heart'. Watching the doll come alive from a piece of fabric, limbs forming, the face shape is just something you have to experience to understand. Even the feel of her little buttocks just make her seem more real.

I will bring you some more photos of Jenny in the next few days, she is in need of a few more clothes - the dress she has on now is her cousins and its a little on the small side (must of ate to much at Christmas).

If you want to check out some fabulous doll makers who's work and words have inspired me I highly suggest not going to look until you have a few hours free - once you start you may not be able to stop ;)

Little Jenny Wren

Poppy, Bean and Bloss

Fig&Me

Waldorf Doll Journey

There is so many heart aching in Australia right now, I feel strange writing a post that doesn't reach out in someway, to let them know that I am aching for them to. But, I guess thats the beauty of Australia. We pick up and move on with the whole nation holding us up.

Tonight, I am going to share with you a new journey I am taking. I have talked about it in a few posts earlier, and its the journey of making a Waldorf Doll.

My doll kit arrived in the mail today, I was so excited I near snatched it off the water logged postman. I opened it up, and took stock of the unfamiliar fabrics and stuffing. I waited ever so patiently for the prince and princess to fall asleep before exploring it some more, and started on the head.

I've always imagined what it would be like to make a Waldorf doll, but actually getting in and doing the work for exceeds anything I could have imagined. See, Waldorf Dolls are made from all natural materials, including the stuffing. For those of you that have never handled wool stuffing, it has a smell to it. At first I turned my nose up, because I am used to working with polyester (or poly-fill) stuffing. But as I was shaping my head, the aroma of the wool slowly came in line with my senses. It has a beautiful, soft, natural smell. It brought back many memories of shoveling my grandfathers horse stables at the farm, of sitting in the big old arm chair that was covered in spider webs whilst watching him work with the horses. I know I'm new to Waldorf Doll making obviously, but I guess, this is what making these dolls is all about.



So, this is the progress so far, the shaping of the head. This is one of the elements of the Dolls that makes them extra special. On to the body tomorrow, wish me luck!


P.S; Tomorrow, all shall be quiet here in a virtual moment of silence. A mark of respect for Lori, Tony and their family. I will also be sending love and strength to Lori tomorrow via Twitter as she farewells her husband under the hashtag #LoveToLori. You can read here for more details.

Pay It Forward 2011

I promise something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this message, offering something handmade to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you, and it must be sent to your 5 giftees sometime in 2011. Ready, set, GO!


I joined over at Rosehips and Spiderwebs

Olga the Elephant

Don't let her sweet look fool you, Olga the Elephant arrived in our castle today all the way from Russia, the prince, princess and I went to pick her up this morning. She is a hard old women who's mood changes as much as our Tasmanian weather, could be due to a bit of jet lag, but I just think she is a snotty nosed old lady. The dark clouds bring the dark side out in old Olga, her bones creak, her skin sags and her manners are appalling.

You shouldn't let her small size sway your judgement either, this old lady certainly packs a kick when things don't go her way... Little does she know, if she keeps her horrid attitude up she is destined for her worst nightmare... the baby play area (insert evil laugh here).

Got My Happy Pants On

image from {here}

ok, well maybe I lied. I don't own a pair of so called 'happy pants', you know those ones from the 70's/80's, ridiculous colours, ridiculous style, but did you know, if you ran really fast down a hallway lined with floor boards, then slid on your knees that they would puff out like a parachute? (You'll just have to trust me on this one. Please oh please oh PLEASE do not go and buy yourself a pair of happy pants, they are not cool, they were never cool)


But in this instance, we will make the pants I have on now my happy pants, well, that could work because pjamas do make me happy.

I had a brief chat the other day about wanting to make a Waldorf Doll. It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. I was quite nervous about the whole process, but in the last few weeks I have been connecting with other Waldorf doll makers across the globe who's work I admire. Some have sent fabulous links of wonderful tutorials others have sent kind words of encouragement. The Waldorf doll maker community seems like such a beautiful, supportive community, and I can't wait to be a part of it.

So why the happy pants? Well today I received a book in the mail to help me on my journey and confirmation that my doll kit order has hit Melbourne... So its only a few days until it hits my mail box... and I am SUPER excited. So excited that I had to come here and ramble on about it because my four year old prince is sick of hearing about it ;)

Dino-riffic!

I am really going to be trying hard this year to get creative, to get crafty which I hope in turn will help 'get me happy'. Not that I am not happy, but certainly not as much as what I want to be.

Heck, I studied art at Uni I SHOULD be doing something arty... shouldn't I?

You've heard about writers block, well I have been suffering from creative block. Not the type where I don't want to create, but more so I don't know WHAT to create. Not sure what has caused it, but I do know that these little toys I have been creating are slowly bringing back my want to create which is such a breath of fresh air... I might even be tempted to get the easel out sometime in the next few weeks and get back to what I always used to be about. It has been a long while since I was walking down the street with paint in my hair and on my clothes because I had been awake for over 24 hours painting or even drawing up a storm.

Anyway, sorry for getting you lost on my little tangent... I did forst off come here to show off my creation today... another T-Rex and I am loving the colours... very similar to Charlie's Bedroom (although this is not for him, he has requested a lizard?!?!).

I love making these, they are the sweetest thing.

Creative Collective: New Year - New Craft

I'm joining in this month with the Creative Collective challenge, New Year = New Craft. I have started in the past few weeks to get into soft toy making. I have never drafted my own pattern though, and have really wanted to so I gave it a go. Of course, I chose an owl, I love them and thought that it would be simple enough to have a go at...

So introducing Edward the Owl, I thought once I had finished him that he would make a cute pin cushion... Until I heard him screaming out Arghhhhh! I thought to myself, 'thats strange, owls don't make that kind of sound normally', it sounds like he is in pain. Poor Edward, seems he is not cut out to be a pin cushion.

Pins removed and whilst I was hanging out the washing, I heard the sweetest sound...

Seems the little sweet heart had followed me outside and his headache was fixed up by the sun...

Now, I was thinking that I would give this little soul away until he decided to hide away from me, until he found his way into a pair of caring little hands, so instead, I am going to make up another one to giveaway, he seemed more pleased about that idea...

So, if you would like to win one of Edward's cousins, leave a comment here. I will leave the comments open until the end of this months Challenge, 31st January (Australian Eastern Standard Time). I am happy to post anywhere - but please note that these Owls have small parts and are not intended for small children or adults that tend to put things in their mouth.

Dolls, Dolls and More Dolls

image from {here}

I've started to slowly become involved in a love from my childhood that has never really died... it has just kind of been hiding away amongst all the other things going on my life.

That love is Dolls.

I had a Barbie and Baby Doll collection to die for when I was younger and a whole lot of outfits and accessories to go along with them. I can remember 'stealing' off cuts of my nana's fabric, cutting holes in it and turning it into a pretty ugly dress for them.

Now that I have a daughter, I am kind of in doll heaven, actually make that toy heaven - my other secret love is Lego...

But I can't make lego.

Over the last few weeks I have slowly been dipping my feet in doll making. Mainly for Christmas presents for other little girls I know and now I am hooked. I can't stop making them.

See, as much as I love and loved Barbie Dolls as a child, it is not a 'toy' that I will be buying for my own Princess. I'm not a Barbie Nazi, but I do believe that there are more substantial/educational/more emotionally healthy options for her. So in steps her mumma with her sewing machine and doll-fever. I am determined to make her, her own set of dress-able dolls for doll house play.

That and  then a big challenge... a Waldorf Doll. I am in LOVE. I have ordered a kit and am going to practice by making my self one first. Its rather daunting. I have wanted to make one for a very long time and the more that I think about it the more nervous that I get. If you don't know what a Waldorf Doll is then check out this blog by a very talented lady: Little Jenny Wren

I'm sure you see every bit of that journey! Lets hope its a successful one!

Get Orgnaised: My Creative Space

Where do you create? Gone are my days of having a whole room dedicated to crafting, there is just not enough space. For the past few months I have been crafting on the kitchen bench or the dining room table. I don't mind doing this except I found that when I got the crafting bug, by the time I had managed to drag out my huge plastic boxes of fabric and sewing notions, the crafting bug had died.

Not only that - but all my sewing things were stored in those huge UGLY plastic storage boxes on wheels - and they were all stacked in two piles of three in my room. Sometimes they were draped in a fabric I liked - at least to try and hide their uglyness, but most of the time they just sat there reminding me every morning when I woke up how ugly they were.

I can hear all you 'main-land' Aussies screaming in your heads 'Why doesn't this Women go to Ikea'... well, another problem of mine, just make sure you are sitting down before scrolling down...








WE DON"T HAVE AN IKEA!!! (this could be a whole blog post on its own!) Can you just imagine how I survive - I tell you, not well, not well at all.

So off I trekked to the local Kmart the other day and bought a car load of those white boxes that you can see in the above picture and got to work on cleaning out a closet in our dining room to store all my crafty things within easy access. And I must say, I am digging the result (I just won't show you what is opposite this picture - a whole pile of crap which I now have to find homes for)


I still have a lot more crafty things to go through and sort, but now that I have some direction as to how they are being sorted it shouldn't be to long before I will be moving into this wardrobe, let the creating begin!

My Creative Space

I have been making so much for everyone else lately, I thought it was about time that I made something for my own daughter. I have a pile of old clothes that I don't wear, but just couldn't throw away so I rummaged through them this morning and pulled out one of my all time favourtie tee's. A few cuts, a few stitches (maybe one swear word!) and about an hour later I had a cute little t-shirt dress for my princess. This is the first time that I have really tried to sew with a stretchy fabric. I normally stick with cottons, easy to sew, great results... So I am very pleased with how it turned out... stretch is hard to sew when you are used to sewing cotton. It doesn't do what you tell it to do and the machine will eat it if your not careful!! (I was lucky, my machine must of been full this morning)

So, she has a little bit to grow into, but I think it looks cute! Ever so soft and comfy and best of all I didn't need to buy a single piece of fabric, talk about saving the environment ;).

Now I am off to rummage through my wardrobe to see what else I can cut up... I wonder if I have any old Christmas tees??

A sneak peak

Here is a little sneak peak into something that I am creating... I can't give to much away because it will ruin the surprise of a big unveiling I'm hoping to have in the next few weeks... so stay tuned!

My Creative Space

Old clothes... waiting to become new clothes.

(they will probably be waiting a fair while at this rate!)

Head on over to Kootoyoo for more Creative Space's