Mr Penguin and other things

Since last post I have been sick (with four kids there are so many opportunities to pick up bugs it seems), but still have snuck in a bit of sewing.



Last night I made this Purl Bee penguin for a dear friend's new little boy. I did cross stitches instead of button eyes and put a jingle bell in the body. I do love him and of course spent a bit of time posing him and admiring him in the middle of the night.






Mr Penguin will go with these bibs.



Made out of panels (from the Craft Fair last year, can't remember the brand) with terry toweling backing and my own bias binding out of a denimy looking fabric.




In other news, I have fallen in love with this cover of the latest Frankie, which my lovely husband brought me home from work last night! He knows me well.

Lately I...

... have been quite preoccupied with preparing for what I hope will be my last exams ever, which will all be over in about a month.




... am having fun cutting out a quilt for Strawberry, to (sort of ) match this one I made for Mr F, as they will be sharing a room later this year after the arrival of baby number 3!





... am admiring this beautiful family home (that I first spotted here on the lovely homelove blog)  in Inside Out, as well as my growing belly.




... am quite excited over this mermaid doll kit by Louise Elliot, handed down from a friend of Mum's- such cute design and great loud colours!



... feel determined to get back into making lots of things soon!

Plodding, and party plans!

This week I am still feeling a little off and so really am just plodding along, struggling to do anything much outside of work, and feeling like I am falling behind with basic things I have to do- like dropping off dry-cleaning and mending.  That said, my husband has been great, the kids remain charming, and I should be feeling a bit brighter soon!

We have hit our run of February birthdays, which will now include Strawberry turning 1!  So I have been starting to plan her little party.  These invitations by Suzy Ultman I picked up a while back at the GOMA shop, not sure if they'd be used anytime soon, but it turns out Strawberry loves dolls already, so they seemed appropriate.  I doubt anyone loves them as much as I do though!   Such a cute design with gorgeous envelopes and stickers.  Now to plan a cake and party dress!

Cute new/old things.

Okay, so I have been doing nothing except working the past six days, and now, on my one day off for the week, I am sick.  Which should not surprise me as everyone else in the house has their turn with the same thing this past week.  Still, I am feeling quite sorry for myself.

These recent arrivals are courtesy of my aunty.  The Pippi doll she picked up in Sweden as a Christmas gift for Strawberry, who loves her and calls her 'Ippi'.

And the buttons were long stashed, awaiting some children to be able to use them- a lot are animal shapes, some are sparkly, some pearly and all are fairly small, so ideal for kid's clothes.  Some were handed down from my uncle's mother in Sweden, some were on my Mum's and aunty's clothes made by my Grandma.  I hope to use lots of them, although (despite my determination not to hoard), I too am sure to hand some down, unused, to my children one day!

Inspiration

I had a fantastic time today at the Easton Pearson exhibition at GOMA- sadly the last day of the show. After initially being not particularly desperate to see it (hence leaving it until the last day), I am so glad I went. At one point I nearly cried, I was just so into it.

I don't actually own any Easton Pearson clothing, and don't pay it lots of attention in the shops as often the pieces are not the most flattering shapes for me, and it's usually a very embellished, not super practical look. And it's not generally considered a young woman's label. That said, I knew a lot of the stuff is actually made in Brisbane, which is really rare these days, and a lot of attention is given to handmade finishes.

Anyway, in the gallery setting I was able to have a good look at some of their best pieces, and there were great descriptions of how the items were made. And the clothes were just stunning! Absolute works of art. So I left feeling really inspired, planning to put to use some of their finishes like grosgrain ribbon belts, running stitch embroidery, clothing handpainted after construction, and trims like cotton tape and rick rack. Maybe even frills with fishing line edges.

Being the inexperienced blogger I am, I forgot to take my camera so very sadly no pictures! Do check out their beautiful work though!

Which brings me to another source of inspiration- Charlie and Lola. This is my son's 2nd birthday cake from a few months ago- he is wild about Charlie and Lola, particularly Lola, and at the moment even more so about Lola's friend Morten. Charlie and Lola make an appearance on our TV most days, and I adore Lauren Child's style of illustration. Lately I have been enjoying her Pippi Longstocking (supposedly bought for the kids) late at night. I find myself dreaming of having my little girl dressed entirely in 'patterny' Lola-style outfits made by me. And of my son growing up to be as lovely a big brother as is Charlie- surely seven year old boys are not normally that patient and kind with their nagging little sisters?