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things to do or pretend...

This "list of things to do or pretend" is from an old Progressive Phonic primer I found tucked under a pile of books at the local op shop. The book isn't dated but I'm guessing from the style of illustration that it from the 40's or 50's. Here's the list...

1. Clap softly
2.Sing sweetly
3.Speak clearly
4.Run swiftly
5.Breathe deeply
6.Eat slowly
7.Knit loosely
8.Write neatly
9.March smartly
10.Dance lightly
11.Walk briskly

If I didn't know better I'd swear that this list was written with me in mind...the only thing that I would add is
12. Go to bed early.....
and after a month of successive late nights , that's on my to do list for the week!

I have been working on an embroidery design from this book, "Broderies d'ici et d'ailleurs (ISBN 2-263-03704-7)  that I bought online at alapage.com. I do not speak French nor read it so it was an interesting experience filling out the details form!  I really only bought it because I loved the cover image of Babushka dolls ,which I haven't tried yet as I was distracted by the Koi fish pattern.

I'm going to make it into a bag of some sort once I've finished stitching- I was thinking maybe a semi circle shape perhaps? Probably should finish it first!

By the way, pop over to the Morphe II toyshop and have a look - its really exciting to finally see them all together.

Here are a few other bits and pieces I've been playing with...

3 very small cats( in a very poorly lit photo)

and remember "blue"?
.. ..I had a lot of trouble deciding what I wanted to do with him at this point...

I finally just added a face and  lots of hair - left him nice,simple and squeezable.

up ,up and away......

Well, the dolls have hopefully made it safely to Adelaide for Morphe II . Last night was spent designing and printing some promotional stickers( a few of them shown above) that will go into the mail tonight. Now I just have to finish a couple of toys that will be up for sale in the appleseed shop in the next week and then its back to the drawing board.
Literally.
I  haven't done an drawing for Ilustration Friday in months and really feel the need to do a bit of scribbling. This should get me in the right frame of mind to start my pages for the Design a calender swap, which I'm really looking forward to. Not to mention a few swaps that have been put on hold until the Morphe dolls were completed.

These are the tags that went with my submission - I found an old typewriter on Ebay and it was perfect for making these. I think that the old typewriter and I are going to have a long and happy relationship.

A few people have asked about the knitwear that two of the dolls are wearing...did I knit these tiny garments???No, indeed I did not! I felted two old holey jumpers and did a cut and sew- still fiddly but not as time consuming as knitting them would have been!
After making these largish size dolls, I had a hankering to do something on a tiny scale.A swap to make something art or crafty that fits into a matchbox was exactly what I after. I have almost finished a tiny cloth doll about 3.5cm tall...... she is based on the circled drawing  and still needs some arms and legs. After that I'm thinking of painting her and going from there.

Found some new bits and pieces to go into the (mostly) old paper packs .....and what to do with these old bits of paper? Here's one use for the sheet music...

And its been so exciting to see the paper packs popping up on blogs....here  and here for instance... quite a thrill indeed!

under the old oak tree......

amazing what  one week of warm weather can do....

this is the huge old oak tree in our back yard.....an absolute godsend in summer as it provides a wonderful green dappled shaded place for us to play in. And in Autumn a pile of crunchy  leaves to jump into ( oh and rake up, I forgot about that....)

This spate of warm weather has meant that we have been able to spend afternoons down at Clontarf, a lovely harbourside beach. Surprisingly enough,nobody else has been about so we've had it mostly to ourselves, barring the odd dog and owner, or couple of walkers ( the beach is part of the foreshore walk from Manly to the Spit Bridge).
There have been lots of little jelly fish about and Rose has become quite brave, scooping them up in her hands ( gently, don't squeeze them!) and then letting them go. Her favourite thing is to "rescue" the jelly "blubs" that have become stranded on the beach. I haven't the heart to tell her that I think that they are a bit beyond the rescuing stage.

And happy, joy, joy, I  have almost, just about finished my toys for Morphe II ...they'll be packed up tonight and on their way to Adelaide in the morning. A sneak peek of the works in progress ( I will take the final photos this afternoon and show them off in all their glory in the next day or so...)

can't write...I'm sewing....

madly! Working on putting the finishing touches to my toys for Morphe II. Probably would have been finished if I hadn't decided that I needed to make another completely new toy as I wasn't happy with one of them late one night ( or early one morning depending how you look at it).
Now I look at it again I have no idea what what so awful about it???? Maybe too many late nights, one of them out seeing Hugh Jackman in the Boy from Oz. He was just amazing - singing, dancing and poncing up a storm. Oh, and he isn't too hard on the eyes either....
Really, anyone who can look that good in a pair of tight gold lame pants is fine by me!
See you all when my work is done......

This little gem was sent to me by my lovely Aunty Jane ( kisses from the girls to you both!) ..it was her Brownie card.

and inside....

A Brownie must know

the Brownie promise
the Law
the Motto
the Salute
the Smile
the Good Turn
the Fairy Ring
how to fold her own tie
how to wash up the tea things
(and the best one)
how to plait & part her hair straight.
Not a bad set of rules for life, I am thinking.

Now can any one enlighten me as to what the "Fairy ring " is?
I was a Sunbeam, not a Brownie and there were no Fairy rings at the good ol' Salvation Army!

shouldn't oughtta have done it...

I have purposely not looked at the blog's of anyone else who is sending stuff for Morphe II. I thought it best to just trundle along happily doing whatever I decided to do without any idea of what everyone else was doing.
And then today I did it. I peeked at another blog.
      And fell into a great big pit of self doubt.
              And it serves me right too!
I always avoided as much as possible looking at anyone else's submissions at uni - all it ever did was make you doubt the standard/quantity/creative genius of your own stuff.
So after looking at one, of course I looked at a few more ...and a few more...aggghhhhhh! Panic set in for a bit as not only am I still trying to decide which of the several half finished toys I will send, but all of my work started to look boring, run of the mill ,plain and uninspired!  Other People have not only decided what to submit but they've finished them. And sent them!
So I did what any self doubting, indecisive girl should do in this situation. I went to the gym, spent an hour in a body combat class kicking, punching and yelling and then came home and reassessed.
No, my toys aren't boring, or uninspired..however they are in various stages of assembly. My plan...finish the toys I have started and then make a decision on which to send ( perhaps with some feedback from a few fellow craftybloggers). And no more looking at what everyone else is doing or has done.......not until after the deadline has come and gone and my toys are safely in Adelaide. Then I can look and admire properly without the angst !

Sorting through fabric is always a good distraction and I came across this lovely piece of barkcloth  that I'd forgotten I had...

And while the nasty bugs of the last two weeks, coupled with the cupcake- making frenzy that has been August, have eaten up most of my creative energy, a little found its way into these two pieces...

A pincushion/ soft toy/desk ornament/ good thing to throw in frustration crocheted apple...

and a felt zip pouch in my favourite shape- of -the -moment for zip pouches.....

with a touch of embroidery for good measure.

Back to toyland for me....