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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Monkees
and Rabbits
To continue the list of things I will miss about London.....it's
my UK blogs.
I know what you're thinking, of course I can still read them in America and yes of course
I will, but it's the discovery of these blogs that was part of the best things about London for me.
It was
almost exactly one year ago that I stumbled upon my first blog...Little Cotton Rabbits.
Up until then I had never actually read a blog. From the very first page of Julie's blog I was
hooked. I stayed up till about 11:00p.m. reading it from beginning to end!
How cool it must be to
have a blog and blog shop to showcase original crafts. I must read more, see what this whole blog thing is all about.
So I started clicking on all the "favorite blogs" on Julie's site and that's when I found Monkee Maker. Once again, I read it all, laughed and laughed and actually snorted laughed! This was an entirely different kind of
blog (who knew), silly, clever and so very bad (good bad)!
It took only these two wonderful blogs to convince me
that blogging was my new passion. So I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I do.
A special "thank
you" to Julie and Kerry for inspiring me (and many others I'm sure) to venture into a whole new world!
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Softie
finalists?
They finally announced the finalists in the 2nd Annual Softie
Awards. Although I was not one of them (believe me, I never thought I would be once I saw the competition!), I was SHOCKED
to see about 50% of the finalists were NOT very great is my opinion.
The most shocking part was NO LITTLE
COTTON RABBITS! What in the world were the judges thinking? Half of the "elephant" category does not
even come close to the absolute perfection of Julie's Emeline.
In the "pink or plaid" category once again I cannot understand it. I would challenge anyone
to create a pig as cute and technically perfect as Julie's Penelope.
OK, now I feel better...just had to get that off my chest.
Mon, April 28, 2008 | link
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Raouls
- Maida Vale
I will desperately miss this cafe'.
The very first
day we arrived at our flat in London, my husband went around the corner to Raouls for coffee and guess who he ran into?
****JUDE LAW****
Apparently this little coffee shop is a mecca for celebrity sightings.
Paul McCartney, Sienna Miller, Robin Williams...they all live within 2 blocks of our flat.
But it's the coffee
and the red velvet cupcakes that I will truly miss.
At one point, we were going to Raouls almost every single
day even though I have a really nice espresso machine at home! There's just something about having coffee "out"
especially in this quaint little neighborhood.
Ironically our new house is only a block away from a "mom and
pop" coffee house. I'll let you know if it measures up!
Thu, April 24, 2008 | link
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Cath
Kidston London
 I'm really going to miss this
shop!
There's nothing more inspiring than sitting down to design a new knitting project
using my Cath Kidston knitting bag and needle roll stretched out on my antique pink chaise. The pattern is called "washed roses"
and it is just lovely.
In the new house I will actually have a studio room all to myself! The
design plan includes lots of storage from IKEA and a color palette to include the "washed roses" line along with
the "blue spot" line both available from Cath Kidston.
I managed to convince my husband that
I needed additional pieces from both lines to complete the look.
I think it was the creation of "Dog"
(see posting below) that swayed him into injecting some $$$ into my studio!
Here are the pieces that will go into
my new studio:
1) Washed roses large zippered storage bag - used for WIP
2) Washed roses knitting
bag
3) Washed roses needle roll
4) Washed roses set of 3 notebooks - for all my new patterns and ideas
5) Washed roses ironing board cover - no hiding this one in the closet
6) Washed roses large laundry
bag - I plan to use this to keep my giant bag of toy stuffing.
7) Washed roses small cushion - for the pink chaise, a
place to rest my head
8) Washed roses fabric - just in case!
9) Blue spot fabric - I plan to make a
sewing machine cover and a small cushion cover
10) Blue spot Dish towel - a great table protector under my sewing
machine
11) Blue spot coffee mugs - I cannot even think about being creative without my morning cappuccino
12) Blue spot/washed roses square stash buckets - I actually made 4 of these using cotton duck for the sides and
oilcloth for the handles and bottoms. They look great all in a row on my sewing table filled with yarn, fabric and bits
and bobs.
I'll be sure to post before and after pictures, but give me a month or so, since
my studio is last priority after the rest of the house gets painted and organized.
Wed, April 23, 2008 | link
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
The
good the bad and the unknown...
The good news....we just bought our first "real" house!
The bad news....it's across the pond, which means we are leaving London!
The unknown....will I still have a blog readership from the UK? Oh please say yes! I have made
so many UK blog friends and fallen in love with so many UK blogs, I don't know how I would make this move without you!
Since we married (almost 6 years ago), we've lived in 4 different cities in 3 different countries.
I even delivered my son via c-section in Singapore!
It's exciting to be going back to our home country,
even more exciting... our new house has a YARD! This may seem minor to most of you, but for us it's a really big
deal.
 At the age of 18 I moved out of my parents house and into a apartment. As the years passed, my apartments became lofts,
then highrise flats.
I always dreamed of a house where you opened the kitchen door to a beautiful secret garden with flowers, a vegetable/herb
garden and space to stretch out on a chaise and listen to the birds sing.
In my last few
days in London, I'll be posting about all the things I will miss and the memories I will never forget.
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Meow....
I know what you're thinking....another Softie entry?
No, just another experiment...a
cat named Zoe.
It's the same body as the dog with a modified elephant head.
The eyes
are a beautiful green felt that is hard to photograph but just stunning in person.
Her face is very angular, she
even has a chin!
Fri, April 18, 2008 | link
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
"D"
is for Dog!
I just couldn't resist one more entry into the 2nd Annual Softie Awards.
"Dog" will be entered into the "Cutest Face" category. I just love his cashmere knitted collar and leed along with his blue tongue.
He's oh so special because
after waiting forever for my 2 year old son to finally talk he said DOG about a month ago!
The
entry period closes tomorrow, so if any of you are on the fence about entering, GO FOR IT!
As I said before,
it's not all about winning, it's really about exposure and connecting with like minded people from around the world.
Monday, April 14th
Priscilla!
Guess who else is going to the 2nd Annual Softie's Awards?
It's Priscilla and she's been entered into the "Elephant" Category.
I've found (partly from watching other softie designers) that once you design a body, arm and leg style you
like, you can turn them into just about any animal !
Again, I will be shocked if I make it to the final
5 in any of the categories. It's really a chance to solicit feedback and get the added confidence to continue on,
tweak my designs and practice with new fabrics.
I will definitely be keeping my signatures...triangular body, felted "upward glance" eyes, long legs,
felted monogram letter and matching naming sequence. The rest will develop as I continue down the softie road.
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Meager
Beginnings
It's hard to believe that these two piles of fabric shapes will soon
become 2 frogs...INA and IRA!
I'm always curious as to how softie designers go about creating their products.
Most interesting to me are the steps leading up to the big reveal.
For instance....I tend to
cut out all my fabric pieces for multiple frogs at one time. Then I concentrate on the knitted accessories and faces
before I even think about starting to sew the pieces together. I use an assembly line technique to sew all the arms,
legs, hands, feet etc. So towards the end, I have about 8 legs and arms scattered about with no finished bodies!
My dining room tends to look like a frog autopsy from CSI!
So here is a "shout out" or tag as they say
in the blog community to Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits and Molly at Molly's Knitted Teddy Bears ....
1) How does your creative process begin?
2) Do you start and finish one
(Bear, Rabbit) at a time, or do you tend to start multiple pieces for multiple ones and end up with lots of "parts"?
3) When it comes to clothes (dresses, sweaters) do you knit these before you know who will wear them or does
the finished face dictate what you will knit?
4) Have you ever knitted one and after completion, just couldn't
bear (ha, ha) to part with it?
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Pink
or Plaid?
 That is the category I've entered Georgie into for the 2nd Annual Softies Central Awards!
In about 2 weeks time, they will narrow down the field from hundreds to 5 finalists.
If a miracle happens
and I make it to the finals...YOU WILL be asked to vote and vote hard for ME....well actually vote for GEORGIE to win
the "Pink or Plaid" category.
All that said I have to admit that I have friends who are also entered in the "Pink and Plaid" category, so
it makes it even more difficult when it comes to voting...but should one of them in particular make the finals they will certainly
get my vote....she's just so darn talented I can't help it!
Time will tell.....
Tue, April 8, 2008 | link
Monday, April 7th, 2008
Again....?
What is going on with the weather lately?
First, wild
weather with tornadoes in Atlanta last month and now....
It snowed AGAIN this weekend here in London and it's APRIL!
I awoke
yesterday morning to a blanket of snow on my terrace and the trees across the street.
It was a beautiful
site, but quite concerning as the Global Warming topic hits full steam on Earth Day, April 22nd.
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Frog
Friends!
It's almost time for my first SHOP SALE!
I'll be sending out advance mailing list emails today for the sale on Saturday
night.
There will only be 4 Frog Friends in the shop this time...Georgie & Georgia, Harry & Harriett.
Each frog will be $35
USD (shipping is included!) via Paypal only.
The shop will be on a first come first serve basis. Which means
each frog picture on the SHOP PAGE will have a comments link below the
picture. If you would like to purchase that particular frog all you have to do is be the FIRST person to leave
a comment...don't forget to leave your email address so I can send you a paypal invoice.
Have a great weekend
and I hope to see some of you around the shop on Saturday night!
Fri, April 4, 2008 | link
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Obsessed!
We've all been there right?
You fall in love with something,
decide to make it THE primary theme in the room and then realize you are too late. It's been discontinued....ahhhhh!
Well yes, it happened to me with the Cath Kidston "Orange Spot"
pattern. Not only does it match my "Volcanic Orange" Le Creuset cookware perfectly , but it really complements
my "Satin Blue" Le Creuset accessories that add a pop of contrast color about the kitchen.
So I am now sending out this desperate request to all of blog-land....
***** DO YOU HAVE ANY FOR SALE? *****
Cups, saucers,
oven gloves, apron or fabric? Oh please say yes. I've been checking Ebay for the last few months and have found
very very little.
Should you find anything tucked away somewhere that needs a good home please email me HERE with your discoveries.
Thanking you in advance.
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