A Noteworthy Blogger

I only follow a couple of blogs. Each of them I have stumbled upon quite by accident and have loved the crafty awesomeness of the writer. But my absolute favourite would have to be Abby Glassenberg’s blog.

What’s more, Abby is incredibly generous with her advice, tutorials, tips and tricks. I have learned so much from her blog. Her free tutorial for an octopus was a huge hit when I made them as party favours for Big’s fourth birthday and her techniques have featured in a lot of my own designs.

Recently, Abby’s blog has undergone a massive overhaul in the last year to focus more on how she has succeed in her business as a toy designer and author (her second book looks amazing!).

When I emailed Abby, she was lovely enough to get back to me, answering all of my questions.

Abby is a plush pattern designer, craft book author and sewing teacher. She blogs about sewing stuffed animals and running a handmade business, as well as being the mum of the three girls. She lives in Massachusetts and works from home with her studio in a corner of her bedroom.

Look at that space! I would give anything to have a work space like that!

And one for her girls!!!

As a strong believer in honesty, Abby speaks openly about what goes on behind the scenes in a creative business and is lucky enough to have her blog supported by sponsors, which supplements the income she makes selling softie patterns and teaching sewing classes.

While she admits that working from home can be isolating, Abby loves the fact that the internet has made it easy for her to stay motivated each day by checking with what the makers and bloggers she admires are up to.

Like most of us, Abby has moments when things do not go according to plan (an admission on her blog that made me breathe a massive sigh of relief!). When this happens with her patterns, she takes a break and reminds herself that it is not wasted time, but failed experiments are tremendous moments of growth.

Abby also collects paintings, but says that her favourite form of art is anything in three dimensions and clever.

What makes me utterly envious is how efficient she is. Abby has a work table that allows her to keep everything out so that when she has five minutes while someone is in the bath, she can close a seam or cut something out. I, on the other hand, tend to faff about doing something completely useless because I never feel like I have enough time to start something.

Even if you don’t sew, the advice on Abby’s blog can be translated into all forms of small business ventures and it is nice to read about a SAHM who is making her business to work. When the internet can seem so vast and uncaring and it is difficult to break into online cliques, Abby’s blog is very refreshing.

I have been doing stuff...

As ever, I am completely incapable of keeping up with this blog. I am hopeless about it. I really want to do it, but there always seems to be something else I’d rather do.

It doesn’t help that I find posting so time consuming. I thought technology was supposed to make things easier! Clearly I’ve missed something or it just doesn’t!

So, I’ve been on a little bit of a sewing sabbatical. I crafted up a storm for weeks getting ready for the opening of Handmade Cans (which is looking gorgeous, by the way!) and then...stopped.

I’ve been doing other things, writing, working for Cairns Parenting Companion (which I’m loving!) and generally faffing about.

There have been a couple of sewing projects that I’ve finished. I hand-quilted (!) a blanket for the girls. I had been watching a particular panel to come on sale at Spotlight and when it did, I grabbed one. The woman cutting it was clearly going to be crooked, so I tried to politely point it out. She was so rude to be about it, and continued on. Then when she realised I was right, her response was, “Oops!” while I was quietly fuming. I’d been waiting for this panel for ages and there were only two left, so it was not correctable.

But she gave me the last panel for free, so I can’t complain too much. I’m just not happy that the border is not what I had hoped for. But the girls love their ‘Sister blanket!’

We have also had a couple of birthdays, so that has meant making presents. I never remember to take photos of them. One that I should have was a gorgeous seahorse I made from a free pattern. Big informed me at 4pm last Tuesday that it was a friend’s birthday the next day and could she please have a seahorse for her. Fortunately I did actually have the pattern already printed and cut out. So there was a seahorse the next day - fluoro pink with a sparkly blue fin. I really loved it!

Then there was a good friend’s daughter’s birthday. I asked her what she wanted and after asking for a Peppa Pig cake (fortunately someone else was already doing that!) she asked for a doll with orange hair.

Enter the most beautiful doll book ever! I have been following the blog Bybido for ages and loved the dolls I was seeing. Jill released her book, Storybook Toys, quite a while ago and I finally wore down and bought it. While I love making the Waldorf style dolls, the embroidered faces on Jill’s dolls captivated me and I really wanted to learn how to recreate her style. My amazing hubby had no idea what to get me for Mothers’ Day, so he said I could get a couple of books from bookdepository.com – best present ever! 

I made the Little Cub for Big as a special toy for her to snuggle at kindy. I cut off a torn section of her ‘Nigh Nigh’ (cot sheet tied in a knot that she has been carrying around for almost 5 years) and she helped me dye it with tea to create a nice colour. Then we used bamboo fleece to create the body and hat. The cub has been dubbed ‘Sharn’ and Big loves the fact that she can be both asleep and awake!

But back to the doll. I picked the next simplest design (Jill states that it takes 4 hours to stuff one of her more detailed dolls and I just did not have the time!). Her instructions are wonderful and detailed with diagrams and all of the patterns are included in full size at the back.

Embroidering the face and hair (each strand is hand stitched) took me four hours alone, but I loved the end result. Everyone who saw the doll before it was gifted commented on how amazing the face and hair were – so totally worth the time! Hopefully with practice I’ll get quicker and tidier with my stitching.

Little calls her 'Emily' and keeps asking if she can have one. Seeing as I made Big a Little Cub, it only seems fair!

Jill has many other vintage inspired toys in the book, all of which I am going to try at some stage. Both girls regularly flick through the pages, putting their orders in for what they want!

And finally, here is one of Big's creations. We were playing with playdough and she asked for some tiny snails. I made those, the rest is all her! They are kissing on a rock, if anyone is wondering!

Giveaway winner!

My apologies for multiple delays. After sorting some technical difficulties, I am happy to announce that Lindsay B is the winner. Congratulations!

Lindsay, please contact me to discuss the details of your prize :)

Thanks to all who entered, I appreciate your support.

As ever, the winner was selected using the random.org list randomiser.

Something noteworthy

I wanted to start a series on here, for the weeks when I'm not particularly inspired to be creative. I wanted to write about people who I find 'noteworthy', hense the title.

To begin, I had been fortunate enough to have my crafting hero answer some questions for me, but then some things came up and I've decided to write up her interview another time.

The last few weeks, my head has felt like it was going to implode - I've felt a literal pressure building inside my skull. We lost another house contract, no one is really interested in ours, it's all costing money we don't have and then I found out on Monday, that there has been a monumental stuff up at the kindy. Not only have we never paid a cent for Big's fees, but they are twice as much as we were told they would be. Massive debt.

None of my toys have sold since September. Centrelink told me I'm at home, so "you don't need childcare". I will neither confirm nor deny that I called David at work and sobbed uncontrollably into the phone until he had to hang up.

Here is the noteworthy bit - I have amazing friends! Friends who can see past the rubbish and love me anyway.

Monday morning, I went to visit my gorgeous friend, Alana. Her little one was teething and clingy, her big girl and Little refused to get on, but we talked craft and art (her work is amazing. She is so talented!) and she emailed me a truckload of links for online stores that she loves.

I find Alana so amazing. She eats organic, knows her natural therapies inside and out and gently offers suggestions, rather than being judgemental. She truly is beautiful inside and out and when I left her house, I felt so refreshed after sitting in the silent bush (they have no neighbours) talking and enjoying her company.

On Wednesday, I went to see an equally gorgeous, talented, artistic friend. She is a rare treasure indeed. Bek nursed my darling sister-in-law so selflessly in her last days. Bek is unwell herself and has 3 kids, but she is so generous with her time.

So I drove up the hill to see her. We chatted, crafted, laughed, drank tea, ate chocolate and she made me the most delicious lunch! We realised how much we have in common and gushed over how beautiful each other's children are.

I drove home feeling lighter than I had in such a long time. The pressure in my head dissipated and I felt happy.

When I got home, I checked my emails. I had deliberately not checked them while visiting Bek. I had taken Alana's advice and signed up for one of the sites - making my first sale within 24 hours!!

I am so lucky to have wonderful friends. Bek and Alana are just two of them and their love and generosity is truly noteworthy.

(Don't foget about the giveaway!)

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

In celebration of Willowbel Creations's online store, I am giving away an elephant, and you can choose the colours of the cape and mask!

To enter: like my facebook page and share the giveaway status.

For a bonus entry, follow this blog via Networked Blogs or your own blogging account (links are on the sidebar).

Giveaway closes on Sunday, June 2 2013.

Good luck!

What is going on in her head?

Despite the fact that I carried both of my girls, gave birth to them, fed them for almost a year each and am at home with them virtually 24/7, there are times when I look at them - really look at them - and wonder if I really know them at all.

This is especially true of Big. She is almost 5, determined, talkative, inquisitive, emotional, affectionate, imaginative and loving. But I often find myself curious about what is really going on in her head. She loves making up stories and she describes very vivid pictures from her imagination.

A few months ago, I taught Big how to hand sew simple items. When her best friend's birthday drew near, Big insisted on making her something for a present. I asked her what she wanted to make and she replied, "A rainbow with arms and legs and a face."

We went to Spotlight and she gave me instructions about fabric and I told her I would do the difficult sewing. We set about designing and cutting out. It took me a while to get my head around sewing arches, but I did it!

It is massive. Huge. But Big was so thrilled with it. She helped me stuff it and then proudly sewed the stuffing opening shut. She wrapped it and took it to her friend's school (we pick her up once a week and it happened to fall on her birthday). It was a success and loved, making both girls' days.

Once this project was done, Big threw herself into sculpting with playdough, proudly showing off her creations. She loves bright colours and there is usually a love heart or a fairy involved.

(That is her suitcase - packed for a trip we are taking in September. She has been carting it around all week!)

There are a lot of tears when what she creates with her hands does not match what she sees in her head. She finds that the biggest frustration of all. We have many conversations about perfection and the fact that it is not real or necessary. One day I hope we both learn that lesson!

The more she creates, the more I feel like I get to know her better and I realise that there is so much more to her than the fact that she is my daughter.

I found fairies in our garden...

More than anything, I love making things for my girls, especially when they can give me input on what they want. Seeing their faces when what they have imagined comes to life is so thrilling!

A couple of weeks ago, we had a birthday party to attend. The invitation arrived in our letterbox and it called for Avengers to assemble! Unfortunately, I have two girls who have no idea who the Avengers are, so Big was a little confused.

I explained that it was a costume party and she immediately asked if she could go as Tinker Bell. Once she gets an idea in her head, it is next to impossible to shake it, so I set about making a Tinker Bell costume.
 

Hubby wanted to dress Little as the Hulk, which reduced Big to tears because she found the idea of a green sister scary. But the problem was soon solved.

As soon as Little saw Big in her Tinker Bell costume, she asked, "Mine?" Within a couple of days, two costumes had been made. I had bought Little a tutu from a second hand shop, so hers ended up being a bright pink costume to save time. It is that bright, that I had to move away from the window when I was cutting it out because the sun on it hurt my eyes!

Little wore her costume almost every day, but Big wanted to save hers for the party.

At the party, the parents and extended family had gone all out! A city backdrop had been painted and an uncle, who is a photographer, took photos of each child posing in their costumes. The party favours were a frame for each child with their photo in it. The birthday boy's mum had covered each frame with pages from old comic books. The girls love theirs!!

While Big wore store bought Tinker Bell wings that had been a gift, I did make Little's. I'm happy to post a tutorial if anyone is interested. They were very basic to make.