LOVING :: skinny laminx flower fields

Love love love this new fabric from Heather Moore of skinny laminx.

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Kids Crafternoon Books Giveaway

Back in July I posted about the first two books in the Kids' Crafternoon series that I contributed projects to: Sewing and Papercraft. The second two books - Felting and Beading - have just been released and I'm kicking off the blog tour today.

These books are a wonderful resource chock full of fun projects aimed at school-aged children, and even better, the projects are designed for the kids to make with minimal supervision. The series is edited by Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up fame and are published by Hardie Grant. For the previous blog tour I interviewed Kathreen about kids and creativity - I loved what she had to say. You can read it here.

Over the weekend Roxy and I decided to make the Stitched Jewels from the Felting book. We made a brooch and a variation on the pendant, making ours into a tiny bag that Roxy put her precious rose quartz into. It was a fun and fast project which Roxy really enjoyed and she was thrilled with her pendant bag.

I was honoured to be asked to contribute to these beautiful books again and I loved creating the projects, especially the Zombie Critter Charms:

OK, the giveaway part... Hardie Grant have generously offered to give you guys the chance to win a copy of the new Kids' Crafternoon Felting and Beading books. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by Monday 21st November. There will be 2 winners - each will receive the book of their choice, either Felting or Beading. As the books are being sent direct from the publisher this giveaway is open to Australian residents only.

If you'd like to purchase your own copy of the Kids' Crafternoon books they are available from Booktopia. They'd make a wonderful Christmas gift, and not just for girls - there are lots of projects in the books that crafty boys will enjoy.


You can catch the rest of the book blog tour here:

15 Nov - soozs big adventure
16 Nov - mmmcrafts
17 Nov - // Between the lines //
18 Nov - Christine Chitnis
19 Nov - Chez Beeper Bebe
20 Nov - The Happy Zombie
21 Nov - a work in progress
22 Nov - loveinthemummyhood
23 Nov - jcasa handmade
24 Nov - picklebums
25 Nov - modern parents messy kids
26 Nov - little eco footprints
27 Nov - li'l magoolie
28 Nov - ohdeedoh
29 Nov - Simple Kids
30 Nov - sadie and lance
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Giveaway Winners

The winners of the Christmas Craft giveaway are:

In the spirit of the festive season I decided to give everyone who entered one iron on motif each... so if you email me with your postal address I'll send you a motif that I'll select at random. If you have an absolute fave let me know and I'll see what I can do. But no promises.

The 'real' winners, who were chosen at random are:

Email me with your postal address and let me know your selection Debra and Margaret and I'll get your goodies out to you. Refer back to the original post for your choices.

Thanks for entering! I have another crafty giveaway tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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Introducing Roxy Longsocks

I'd like you to meet my newest creation: Roxy Longsocks.

Following Roxy's disappointment that I didn't name any of my Sweetie Petites after her I made a promise that something even more special would share her name. And she now agrees that it was worth the wait!

Roxy Longsocks has a sweet face and those long dangly legs that kids seem to love. You can make the Springtime version or the Wintertime one with her scarf, coat, hoddie and mittens. I'll have to take a photo of Roxy holding her doll to show you because it's a lovely big size: about 66cm, or 25.5 inches.

The Pattern Kit (available now in my shop) contains a sewing pattern and printed fabric face panel. It also has a pattern for you to make your own fabric and felt faces. Additional faces, which are printed on cotton linen blend are available for purchase too. Currently I have blue eyes and brown eyes in stock, and faces with green eyes will be available before the end of the month. Unlike the Ooshkas, these faces don't have hair, so you get to choose the colour and pattern of her hair from your fabric stash.

To celebrate Roxy Longsocks' arrival you can buy the Pattern Kit for 20% off from my online shop for the next week only. Just put in the code "Roxy20" to receive the discount. Offer ends Friday 18th November.

The Pattern Kit should also be available in select fabric quilting shops in Australia and New Zealand early next year.

I had so much fun designing and creating this doll and I'm so happy with her. I have to say a big thank you to Amy of Badskirt fame who has been so awesome helping me behind the scenes not only with Roxy Longsocks, but also with another much more complicated new product that I'm really excited about. It should be ready to show you early in the new year. And also to Marina of Wink Designs who has been pattern testing for me. Thanks lovelies!

Roxy's not on my website yet, but she's definitely in the shop. If you have any Christmas presents to make I know that little girls love Roxy Longsocks and you can't beat handmade!
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52 Suburbs Around the World

Two years ago I blogged about Louise Hawson's project to document 52 suburbs of Sydney over a year. Following the highly successful project, blog and exhibition Louise is now hoping to expand her horizons and go global.

To help Louise reach her goal and continue her photographic journey to discover and capture the beauty, character and 'unfamous' aspects of well known cities she has set up a kickstarter page. Louise is so close to her fundraising goal, and with only 4 days to go she just needs a bit more of a nudge along. If you can pledge even as little as $10 head over to kickstarter, or blog, tweet or Facebook and get the word out for her.

Edit Thursday 10th: I just checked in at kickstarter and Louise has reached her goal! Weeee!

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