Supplies and Inspiration

This is my inspiration for my new project. (the lady on the right). I have not yet chosen the male i want to do. I have chosen her because she embodies me the most of all the guests in the book. A little bit medieval and Wicca. I adore her sleeves, and riding on a broom with a cat? Well I love cats!


This is my stash of designing supplies, pencil, rulers, cardboard, paper scissors, foil and a notebook. I do not do drawings as such but measure out directly on cardboard the basic shapes i need and go from there, Luckily enough cardboard is easy to get, and also recyclable. The foil is used to make shapes with that i cannot do with cardboard.
This is how i start to make the basic figure. Later on my supplies change when i do the clothing, this is by draping, i will show you that when i get to it.
I know already the size of the doll i want to make and go from there.

Cat Garden

These pictures are of our cats' garden enclosure. They have a plastic dog kennel that used to belong to our little dog Joe. The entrance/exit from the cat flap in the window of our dining room/lounge is made from our guinea pig hutch, the garden has cat friendly plants including cat nip and cat grass. They have fake grass from Clark Rubber, and it all sits on a concrete base The frame and the wire was from Bunnings and it was made in about a week by the whole family. This way the cats can get some fresh air and be safe too. All the plant pots have solar garden lights.
If anyone has any ideas on how to add climbing equipment without taking away light and space, please leave suggestions.

Alice in Wonderland

This is one movie I am so looking forward to seeing,
I adore the creativity that they do together more detail can be found here
I love the quirkiness and the lavishness of the costumes, the hair, face and make-up. This will be the must see movie for me.

Dolls House Continued

Dining Room Table.
Bed flat against the wall.


The stairs.

Flat lounge chair.

Lounge chair folded out.
Enough on this project for the day, I will keep you posted on the final thing later.

Fold up Dolls House

What is this?


and this?

It is a work in progress.. A fold up dolls house that is going to have fold up furniture.

At the moment it is just in the preliminary stage. The walls, floors and roof are made using cereal packet cardboard, too flimsy for the final product. It needs more furniture, No kitchen or toilet yet. the doors are not finished but i like to share what i have done right now.
The bed is made, the shower, a lounge chair and a dining room table. The stairs are done too.
It all folds up like an old fashioned Christmas tree decoration. The inspiration for this is my idea of portable and post able. (i want to send it overseas). The furniture is attached to the walls using velcro to enable you to move them around. It all joins together using the clips or hooks you find on trousers.

The Perfect Match

This book called The Perfect Match by Wayne Anderson This is one of my favourite illustrators, I just love his drawings. This particular book is the inspiration for some felt dolls i am making, This is a wedding story and a flip book that can change to over 8,000 guests and at the back it has a poem and pictures of 14 honoured guests, and the perfect couple that when they come together they form a perfect heart, The Perfect Match.

I have been thinking about this for some time now, and next year a lot of our thoughts are on weddings. My nephew in February, my daughter in April, and my niece in September. Very very busy and so exciting.

Our Pets now Passed

This first one is Puddy, Puds for short, (When the kids were little they thought it funny, (He is a puddy dog, not a poody cat).He was a German Sheppard , Labrador cross. Very very gentle, Loved his tummy and his ears rubbed. Bought from a market in Bundoora which has now closed.
This is Joe, He is a terrier cross with a bit of everything, who had just the biggest grin, He had a crooked paw, was cross eyed, and just LOVED Puds heaps, followed him everywhere, Puds used to dig dips in the garden for joe to sit in, so that when the wind blew, it would pass over him and he would not get cold. Joe was bought a little while later to be a companion to Puds, Also from the same market.

This is Jake. Jake got his name from my mother Joan, and her husband Mike. Originally i was going to use the first two letters from my mum and the last from her husband but that would have made him Joke. He was bought from a friend down the road. Their cat had kittens born in the back of a bus that they had in their garden. I picked the kids up from school one afternoon with him in my pocket. He was the runt of the litter and cost us 3 second hand Barbie dolls. He was a wonderful boy.
All three of them have now gone, but they were with us for about 16 years, and all passed away within a couple of years of each other. They were all runts of the litters, (i have a thing about the most needy). If i was to buy a Christmas tree it would be all twigs, i am sure of it.

Our Pets now Passed

This is my favourite picture of our cat Whiskey. He was a really lovely boy, but sadly one of those kitties that go for a walk and not come back. He was a rescue cat. we miss him very much.

Using my new camera i am very happy with how the pictures look. This first picture is the Jumpers for the dolls I am making to put under the Christmas tree in K Mart. 70 made so far...
This next picture is the view of where my stash is held in the place called the bar. Notice the cat in the cat bed at the top? There are two beds here. This is on top of a childs wardrobe, it used to belong to my daughter when she was little. She is now in her mid 20s.
This is the large crate that the dolls and clothes go into as i do some work each day.

Just a couple of dolls so far, I will be working in earnest now that i have enough fabrics to do them.

Some examples of how i work, 10 sets of dolls dresses ready to sew. 3 sets of dolls bodies ready to turn and stuff. 10 sets of boys shirts and shorts ready to sew. This way I can vary what i do, Sometimes knitting, sometimes sewing.

Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair

I recieved in the post yesterday a preview magazine for the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair
Thursday - Sunday July 23 - 26, 2009.
This is a great event, I always look forward to going to things like this Just the atmosphere of being amongst like minded people gives me such a buzz, (plus you get to see some amazing quilts).

Today i went to the hairdressers to get my hair cut, Not a big thing you may say, but after cutting my own hair for many many years, (the last time i got it cut it properly it cost $12) about 5 years ago, today it cost me $25, money well spent. It was not until I had my photo taken for this blog did i realise i need a bit of a make over!! Went to have my picture taken today with my new camera when oops! it needed recharging. So blog Photo is going to be replaced tomorrow.

Hugs From Helen: Twas the night before Christmas

This is a wonderful 7 part stitchery from Helen Don't you just simply feel like picking up your needle and threads to make it? I know i do. If you go to her web site and check it out you and leave a comment you could go into the draw to win a set. (she has some other wonderful stuff too)

New Camera

Today i bought myself a Kodak EasyShare digital camera. 10mp 3x optical zoom from ALDI
Well, to be honest i asked Mark (my middle son) to get it for me and i will be pay him back. It should be mine in a couple of months. My picture quality should improve enormously, it is an easy camera to use.

Angel and Devil Chess set

This is another chess set i made and it is on two levels. This too was a gift for a friend for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Wedding Present

This is the chess set i made for my sister as a wedding present. All the peices have different colours on them according to their status. The fold up box is made of hardboard. (to me that was the hardest part, I am not a carpenter)! It has a piano hinge in the middle, the board itself was the first time i have done quilting and it is padded and sewn onto the case by hand. The main fabric used is corderoy with leather edges sewn on by hand. The brass fittings and hinges are from my second favourite store ,Bunnings
This is where i buy my hardware and wire, glues, wood paints and varnish.

Fingerless Gloves

I have knitted these gloves to share with you.

Black and White plus one other colour

This was another cloth doll challenge that we had at A.C.D.A
called Black and White + one other colour. This is one thing i have not given away because i promised it to my cats.

Topsy Turvy

One day my son Jonno and his girlfriend were talking about toys and childhood and i asked her, Is there a toy that you did not have growing up that you wish you had? and she said a Cinderella doll. Right away i knew what i wanted to make. so fabric from my stash and my favourite store in the whole world is Spotlight where i bought the blue and decorated netting. The doll stand is an old wire lampshade that i covered in fabric. This was the perfect answer to keeping the doll upright without spoiling the hair and arms, as no part of the doll was supporting itself. The face and body were painted to look like wood. She loved it.

So You Think You Can Dance Challenge

this was a challenge that we did with the cloth doll club i belong to. A.C.D.A . Australian Cloth Doll Association, and this particular challenge was called So You Think You Can Dance? I thought of my dad and Morris Dancing.
The dolls clothes were made using an old shirt, the doll stands are toilet roll holders, and the shoes and belts were from a leather skirt.
The backdrop is painted and the the flooring is quilted and all glued onto plywood.

More Dolls

The first two doll pictures were made for my sons' girlfriend for a story in her classroom. The story was about a girl who had polio and a red birthmark on her face, basically it was about being different and acceptance. The monkey and owl were made for a friends birthday Collingwood supporter. The main body of the animals were made using wool jackets from the opp shop and the monkey hands, feet, face and tummy is a curtain fabric, much like mini bear fabric.

This one i made for my sons' girlfriends best mate, she is batty about owls

things i have made

Today i thought i would share with you some things that i have made.
This was made for my sisters' new baby.

My two Furr Babies

This is a picture of my two Furr Babies taken today.
They are both girls, Tilly, short for Chantilly named by my daughter Steph, is the white with brown and black patches. She is the LOUD one, and loves my husband and boys heaps, follows them around like a dog. Meg, short for Nutmeg named by me. This orange tabby is my cat, loves to play and cuddle me when i am knitting, on the computer and when I am watching T.V. Her voice is very tiny. they are both rescue cats from the Greensborough Cat Protection Society

This is my fabric/yarn/paints and finished item storage space. When the house was built it was originally meant to be a bar, but i have taken it over completely.

My Sewing Room

My Sewing Room and Space

My sewing room is in the Family room that shares the space with the family computer, the cats play equipment, a pool table (i have taken that over as my cutting table).