applehead

small hands....

Little fingers that just couldn't resist touching.

Tiny embroidered pincushions that should have been finished in time for Christmas.

Almost there....

collage for Sophie....

the last custom collage to be finished before the baby arrives...for a little girl who loves bubbles, bears and hot pink boots!

I am now hoping to find the energy to work on a few new collage ideas that have been chasing around my head for a while. The alternative is to  just retire to the couch and eat a few ( or perhaps many!) of these instead!

My favourite icecream treats from Pat and Stick's...I've heard that they are extremely nutritious and good for you (actually, I made that up but surely anything that tastes this good must be a little bit good for you,no?)

cloth paper scissors....

The first issue  of cloth. paper .scissors for 2008 is on sale....and look! the smallpeople made the cover!
It was so thrilling to receive my copy in the mail- actually the generous people at Interweave Press sent me a few copies,so I have one to give away. Let me know if you are interested via the comments and I'll do the random draw thing mid next week.
I am busy cutting and pasting as I work on my new idea for a series of collages ...oh, and I finished my 'block' for the Paper quilt. Just need to let it dry before I can scan and post it.
Off to see 'Hi-5 circus' with the girls today...a belated Christmas gift for them!   

Ari and Milena.....

Tiel and I organised a swap earlier in the year...I finally finished mine and sent it up this week. It arrived safely so now I can show you what I made....

Ari

Milena

It took me a while to work out exactly what I wanted to "say' about Tiel's two children - however she helped me out with lots of insights into their personalities. Finding just the right parts to 'make' Ari's robot was a challenge to say the least!
I have one more smallpeople collage to finish for this year and then I'll put the glue stick and scissors away for a week or so.
In January I am very pleased to announce that my 'smallpeople' collages will be featured in the first issue of Cloth.Paper. Scissors. for 2008. It will be very exciting to see them in print.... I can't wait!

A big thank you to everyone for their lovely comments on my last post. I'm almost 20 weeks and the baby is due the first week of May. (This means sometime in April as I have to have a c- section and if this pregnancy is anything like my one with Charlie than it may be a few weeks early.We'll see...)
We found out last week that we are happily expecting a girl....three girls!...I'm figuring the teenage years are going to be interesting to say the least in our household.
Charlotte is a little disappointed as she was hoping to call the baby 'Diego'.
Me,I'm thrilled as I was not -so -secretly hoping for a girl.
Now I'm off to find something girly to knit. A winter baby so at least she might wear a little hat or two. I really enjoy baby knits- so small and do-able!

scissor, paper,rock...

I had the pleasure of making a custom 'smallpeople' collage as a wedding gift for a London couple. It was quite a challenge to come up with something that I felt would be suitable - I don't know them and I wanted a theme that was related to being a couple but without being overly sappy or drippy- romantic!
It took a while but once I nutted out the caption , the rest was almost easy....

I have been saving the green and blue floral for something special , and when I heard that the couple are about to head off traveling, I thought that it was the perfect reason to use my blue Eiffel Tower.
I can't wait to see what they think of it.....

smallmums...and postcards

Jenny from South Australia took her set of postcards to school to show her students...for Mother's Day they all made their own 'smallmum" to give to their mothers. Jenny very kindly sent me some photos of the children's art work....

"my mum likes to put the washing on the washing line"

"my mum loves to play checkers"

"lying in bed is a treat for my mum"...I just love the music sheet linen...
I can't wait to hear what the mums thought of them!

Some of you managed to find the second pack of 'smallpeople' postcards in the shop before I had a chance to mention it...there's a pack going off to Switzerland tomorrow and a few already on their way to the US.

If you want to have Violet, Beth, Alice, Charlotte and Yolande live at your house then have a look over
here...

The original smallpeople collages will be in the appleseed shop on Tuesday 15th at 8pm... about 10 are already spoken for but the rest of the crew will be there with bells on..... need to put this one on hold for a little while... as there are a few ideas in the works regarding the future direction of the smallpeople, it seems like a good idea to hold onto the originals for a while longer. I am now looking into the possibility of having full size prints made on archival quality paper as an alternative...will keep you posted. In the meantime if anyone is interested in having a custom made smallpeople collage just drop me a line for the details! 

smallpeople no 30....

here she is ....the final one in this series of 'smallpeople'.

Rose came up with a line for this one as well..."Ivy was quite amused by the strawberries" ( I promised her that I would tell everyone!)

Well,now what?To begin with,this weekend, I am going to stick them all up on my white wall and just enjoy them for a few moments. Then?
That's a bit harder to decide.
Some are headed off to new homes, a few are staying right here with me ( I couldn't give away my own children's names, now could I!)
The others will be up for sale shortly in my Etsy shop.
Aha, you didn't know I had an Etsy shop did you? It's been hopping along quite nicely for the same length of time as my (Typepad) appleseed shop. When I first decided to sell things, I couldn't work out which was the best way to go so I opted for two stores. Both have done really well so for the present I will keep my little empire as is.
Getting back to the future of the smallpeople...well, Damian is encouraging me to self publish a smallpeople book, along the lines of an ABC book.This was also suggested by a few other people. I guess if I went along this pathway, I'd be sure of a good supply of baby presents for the next few decades!
The other direction I am pursuing is custom 'smallpeople'- I have had requests for specific names and I think that it will be a challenge that I enjoy.

Hmmmm, something to ponder this weekend,while I sit with a glass of champagne and enjoy all 30 smallpeople staring down at me from the wall....any other suggestions most welcome indeed....

(By the way, I'm sure that this is not the last you will see of the smallpeople....one will pop up here and there when the inspirations hits me!)

Thank you to everyone who commented (or didn't comment but dropped by for a look) -the encouragement and feedback has been overwhelming. My postcards have gone to Portugal ( thanks Zelia!) New Zealand, Germany, Japan, Brazil, US, France, UK and of course Australia. That in itself is enough to give me a thrill!

Now, where's that champagne.....

smallpeople no.029

smallpeople no.028

smallpeople no.027