My Little Empathy Monster

This strange creature is a result of an on-line class I did with Tamara Laporte over at Willowing Love.  I'm enrolled in several of her classes and the Empathy Monster is part of her Art, Heart and Healing course which is free.  I gave little guy to a special friend and she named him Maximilian.  Max has lots of hugs to give and I'm sure he's happy in his new home.

Whilst sewing is not a new craft for me, drawing is and I love the challenges I face every time I pick up a pencil or paintbrush.  I just wish drawing and painting was as easy for me as pushing material through a sewing machine.

See what I mean ~ there's always room for improvement.  Whoever said that was very wise.

Rock-A-Bye Baby

About a month ago I purchased this Dala Horse fabric from Carina at Carina's Craftblog.  The fabric arrived two days ago, I had been waiting so long.  That's what happens when you live 'down-under'!  Anyway, I just had to make something there and then and seeing I have a little niece arriving in the world mid-October, I thought, can't have too many baby bibs.

The one above is for a 3 month old baby and it has velcro fastening with a bright yellow fleece backing, with blanket stitch edging.

This one above is for a 6 month old baby and pulls straight over the precious little head, it's got a bright yellow fleece backing as well with an easy to pull on stretch-knit neck, again with blanket stitch edging.

And this bib is for a 9 month old baby and has the same bright yellow fleece backing with velcro fastening and machine stitching around the edge.  All made super durable, with speed in mind because I remember how my children were crafty dodgers when it came to wearing bibs.  Get 'em on quick and get 'em off just as quick.

Well, I can't help myself, I made this fibre filled ball awhile ago, with the arrival of my niece in mind.

And for the unborn babies big sister, I made this, Mali the elephant.  Little miss 3 year old will get Mali, so she doesn't feel left out.

Meet My Dala Horse Babies - Tiny 3D Soft Toys

This is the very mischievous Laila who won't sit still and is often missing from the group.  I had trouble getting her to sit quietly for the photo below, hence it's a bit blurred.

Her brother Thor is featured below.  Thor is already displaying signs of leadership, whether that will change or not remains to be seen, I don't think his brother Bo will give him much grief.  Thor's been having a bit of trouble with Laila, but he is very young and Laila is a handful already and only a couple of days old!  What will become of her?

The other siblings in this decorative family is Inga, she is so shy, oh my goodness, she is cute though.  Quite often she can be found hiding behind Thor and I had a bit of trouble getting her to look at the camera.

Brother Bo, who we think might turn out to be the romantic, was found once or twice peering into the mirror admiring his beautiful adornments.  He can be so vain.

Their mother and father, Darma and Winter were presented to the world last week and it goes without saying that they are very proud parents.  Darma is slightly exhausted with the effort of delivering the four babes into the world and is currently resting.  Winter, the proud dad is keeping an eye on them whilst mum is resting.  Winter has a lot to learn about keeping four frisky, delinquent foals at bay but he has great pride and in time will have the kids under control.

If you would like to see more traditional Dala horse craft then pop by here at Gingerbread Snowflakes as Pam is one of the organisers of the Dala Horse Craftalong.  There is a link to the Craftalong at the top of this page if you would like to see photos of Dala horses made by participants of the Craftalong or click here to view the flickr group.  The other organisers of the Craftalong are Carina at Carina's Craftblog,  Kathryn at the The Pickled Herring and Hanna at  ihanna blog.  These ladies know what a traditional Dala is all about and you'll learn heaps from them.  I, on the other hand have adapted what knowledge I have about these deliriously gorgeous horses and gone completely overboard with their decorations.  I had so much fun, that that was how four more were born and now I have a family of Dala horses.


                              Hope you enjoy my babies.

Dala Horse Soft Toys

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, it's Christmas in July

Winter & Darma Dala Horses

Winter

Darma

I've been secretly working with Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes on the 3D Dala Horses.  I didn't even know what a Dala was until about a month ago.  Pam gave me links and lots of information that I soaked up like a sponge and then got to work making my Dala's.
There are some other blogs which have a keen interest in this little Christmas in July challenge so you should sooch over and check out what's going on.  Carina at Carina's Craftblog has the most beautiful embroidery designs, then Katryn at The Pickled Herring blogspot who amongst other things produces beautiful felt inspired Scandinavian Crafts and don't forget Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes who has been working on her own Dala 3D horse.


If you would like to make a Dala horse similar to mine, click here to go to the tutorial and download the pattern template.  Thanks for visiting and I 'd love to hear what you think of my Dala's and let me know how you go if you decide to use my pattern.


Cheers and Merry Christmas for July

More Softies

Robin Pin Cushion

Honey Bear

Puff

Spout The Plushie Lout

It’s time to release my latest little one, 

I’m a bit apprehensive!

He didn’t take long to make, an hour or two and I was through.

But there’s been so much doubt about releasing Spout,

He has an outrageous attitude,

I’m ashamed to say he’s turned out to be somewhat of a lout.

Every day he runs around the house, knocking things over,

He gives me such grief and the dogs run for cover.

When a visitor comes to the door,

Spout runs up and gives an almighty roar.

Thankfully, all this activity makes Spout a tired toy.

So it’s nice for all of us when we can hear him no more,

Well, just a quiet snore!

Latest Edition to the Plushie Family

This is Tangles

Allow Me To Introduce Doreen and Elizabeth

I've always wanted to have chickens running around my backyard, but unfortunately I couldn't devote the proper amount of time to them since I worked full time.  
Now that I am not working, I still can't have chickens in the backyard because I've got two Jack Russell teenager dogs/children who would kill on sight.  So I've created an alternative!!!!!

Doreen looks a bit angry in this photo, but she can drop an egg or two when nobody's looking.

My Latest Creation

Retro

Retro is made from faux fur and a gorgeous retro stretchy fabric and from this my little Retro was born.

Have a Bonza Day

Bonza

What can I say, I not only fell in love with the faux fur and printed material, I fall head over heels for Bonza.  As my dad would say, "What a bonza bloke".  But Bonza is a she and she lives up to her reputation; just a feel happy creature with not one scary bit of fibre filling in her body.

Mali My Elephant

As cute as cute could be

Mali is a recent addition to my plush toy range and I named her after the baby elephant born at the Melbourne Zoo Australia. The real Mali is 12 mths old, extremely cute and cheeky, a real delight to watch and doesn't she love the attention. She has a new family member now, a baby boy called Ongard - so she's got some competition.

I took this photo of Mali, her mum Dokkoon and aunties when she was only a few months old. One of the aunties was pregnant with Ongard at the time of this photo.