Forrest the tribal teddy

so i've been playing around with the idea for a while but i finaly got around to making a teddy from some of my handspun wool.

here's forrest. he's the first tribal teddy. he's wearing a very attractive bunch of lime green spotty feathers i picked up yesterday from spotlight. the melbourne cup is over for the year so they're selling them off cheaply (well slightly cheaper than they usually are) forrest is made from squambo

hopefully after christmas (i have wool packages arriving soon) i'll be able to get some more made.

so following on from yesterdays theme i decided to make some ipod/mobile phone cases with matching little brooches. yep the brooches have a pin back so you can move them, take them off, or wear them yourself.

and here mum is standing with our apparently 6ft christmas tree she bought yesterday. no mum isn't a giant that's just a teeny tiny box.

felt and fun

so last night i didn't feel like doing anything much so i started looking through my felt and decided to make some colourful broochees. i haven't made any in a while and now i have my pinking shears so i added some crinkle cut ones. i've used loads of ribbon from my stash and buttons from the tin. i just love looking at these. they're soooooooooo colourful drool worthy i'd say :D

here are a couple of single pics of the two different types.

the praying mantis now has a name -rodney- liza loo came up with it. i swear this bug is looking for trouble, she keeps roaming around during the day. but i think rodney is actually a girl. i found an egg case where she's been hanging around so i think were going to hear the pitter patter of tiny little buggy feet :D

some more brooches from left overs. i'm calling these ones "stop lights" cause there are 3 buttons.

these are "push the button" but i need to retake the photos.

i've ended up with tonnes of leftovers of my spun wool so i decided just to crochet them all together to make soem new cowls. i think they look pretty darned good actually. liza loo wasn't around to do the photos so i'll retake them when i can nail her down for a little while.

new ted-e-bears

just some new ted-e-bears that were finished this week.

pom poms and stash busting

i made some more scarves from my handspun wool. so the pom pom making thingy struck again. i just couldn't resist using them on some of my scarves.



this cowl is a big tube with no opening so these are jsut decorations.

on this one they're used instead of buttons so you can open the sides.

and i've been sewing alot lately trying to get rid of some of my stash (play quilts and new journals coming soon) so i've had alot of big offcuts which i hate to throw away. so i've been turning some into jewelry which also helps get rid of some of my buttons and ribbons (clever thinking that LOL)

big storm

so i'm spent most of my time this week chasing my bantam chicken -madam squawky pants. she's decided to get all clucky and nest in an old wheel barrow we've been growing strawberries and peppermint in. the strawberries are all gone now- she stripped them and then sat right in the middle.

here she is giving me the evil eye.

yesterday afternoon we had a sudden hail storm. the clouds skated over really fast then all of a sudden it just got windy. i finished whooing the chooks into the coop and got back inside as it started. the photos don't do it justice they were actually the size of large marbles.

and yes that brown blob in the middle of the wheel barrow out in the hailstorm is madam. luckily the chicken yard has a great big tree right over it for shelter. i checked her after it all finished and she was barely damp. stupid me for worrying.

but the storm seems to have cured her of the cluckiness. she was out and about today when i got home.

mantis 1

mantis 1
Originally uploaded by rosie.ok

the praying mantis i discovered last week.

well actually i was trying to get a closer look at her friend, didn't see her, leaned where she was sitting and she tried to climb up my pants.

here's the photo from monday. hard to see but she has a bit of a dragon fly hanging out of her mouth.

gnome home update

the gnome homes looked a little naked so here's the update of 2 with their new gardens.

gnome homes and new background

lots of pics to upload from this week.

i finally got around to updating my background.

long stoy short i pulled it out this morning and got a closer look and realise my nephew had done some little scribbles on the far right tree. so this morning just seemed like a good idea to fix the whole thing. i pulled out heaps of coloured cardboard and scrapbooking papers. then made all the seperate pieces (glue all over my fingers of course and bits of paper sticking to me) each piece then gets bluetacked on so i can move them around or jsut pull them off and change them.





the trees have buttons used as the spots- the buttons are bluetacked so i can change them later.





and i used some of my big feathered butterflies which were left overs from something else





here are some photos of teddies (and the new kitty design- mouth needs reworking) i took yesterday then the new photos i retook of them. HUGE difference !!!!!!

















a new design i've been working on for gnome homes. i love the tall pointy ones. so i'm going to make some new mushrooms in the future to match them and i'm working on a little "gnome" design or something else to go with them as a set.



i love the new background. it makes everything so much brighter and happier :D i might look for some little bumble bees when i go shopping this weekend.



and of course i got a package from sherry earlier in the week. they always turn into a huge distraction LOL so the rest of that day turned into a spinning day. here's the yarn i made form it. includes some sequins, coloured metal bells (and yes they jingle) and some coloured foil butterflies.

named it "sugar coated candy bunnies"

fussy piecing and big box stitching

i started a new project to help get rid of some of my fabric stash. i took this photo a couple of days ago. i'm going to fussy piece some of the stars (english paper piecing so i can handsew) and then use random pieces around so it's a bit of a scrap pieced look. i actually have a few more stars together with the random diamonds around them finished so i'll put up the photos tomorrow.

i bought this new wool over the weekend and got started on a big cowl scarf. i started and stopped about a million times trying to find the perfect pattern. i wanted a big basket weave stitch but didn't have enough yarn so i settled on a big stocking and garter stitch checkerboard pattern. it's finished now and i'm going to get some big buttons on the weekend to finish the back.

modelled by the lovely liza loo of course.

edward and lilly and jingly jingo

rebecca from edward and lilly just sent me a link to a post which has one of my leaf brooches.

here's new little bear pattern- jingo- that i'm working on. i started at his head and was going down the body when i decided i wanted a clown with the ruffle built into the body pattern. which of course made him hugely complicated especially when i had to hold down all the bits while i worked the rest of his body. that'll teach me a lesson !!!

so now i'm reworking the pattern to come up from the bottom

the batt womans batts

just had to post pics of the new wool i got from sherry- aka squambo -well i got it last week actually and i just jumped straight in and went to work- she traded me for some stuff out of my shop for her wool.

i love them both, but the beautiful yellow wool (with little bits of grass green and bright blue) is so buttery and soft. it reminds me of easter for some reason



here's the finished spun wool the pics are a little duller than the real colours. i'll post pics later of some of the stuff i've made from it when i can get my model to stand still for long enough to take the photos.

loads of accessories

wool i handspun from sherry, aka squambo


made the "yarn" for this from strips of fabric torn up, knotted together and spun into a wool.



here are some of the new accessories finished this week. i always have to drag liza out to do these then she stands around soaking up the attention LOL

dirty, dirty fun

another package arrived from knittydirtygirl and i couldn't wait to finish what i was doing so i just had to get to work yesterday. there was another batt but it's already been spun :D

shown across the top is my new drop spindle i ordered from butterflygirldesigns i had to search around etsy for a good bottom worl but finally found a couple. so i think i'll have to spoil myself for christmas and get another couple.




on my hook right now is some of the wool i spun from the last batch. it's a simple sc stitch scarf with bobbles thrown in. i found out if you only go through the back of the stitch (from the right side) you make a little ridge. so i'm playing around with little sections of that too.



loads of other woolly stuff has been finished but i'll have to get liza to model them so i can take the photos.

bunny man

i've come up with a new design of the large bunny dollies.

the man dolly !!!! i'd been thinking about making some when i was contacted by someone who wanted a man bunny for her fiance. so the suited man bunny was born.

there are more coming soon in little suits and some in little sweater/ pants sets.

this guys little suit opens at the button in the front. you can then lift his shirt collar and undo his tie at the back and change them over for others that were included in the set. his little glasses also come off too.

this little piggy

little miss peppa piggy is finished. so another design down on the list of little play dollies. the monkey was finished yesterday but my 3yr old cousin, miss charlie visited and took a shine to her, so now she's a bit mushed from being huggled and cuddled. that's ok since i wasn't entirly happy with the face so i'll be remaking another soon.




since it's raining here today (and it's a public holiday so the mail man still has my wool parcels) i'm going to be spending the day sewing more brooches. i've got one finished and alot more cut now (digging out fabric from the stash)

new stuff and old stuff and lots and lots of stuff...

so i did eventually count my fabric stash and i almost fell off my chair.

when does collecting turn into obssession and hoarding. i'm not really sure where the line is but i think i've definitly gone waaaaaaaay over the line.

my unofficial stash total is around 300 pieces of different fabrics (i say "around"because i've been shopping since the first total so it's gone up since then)

the official total doesn't include the 2 garbage bags of other fabric i have in my wardrobe, my large bag of fur fabrics (also hiding in the wardrobe) and a fat quarter box of solid colours stashed on my shelf.

so in an effort to get rid of some of "stash mountain" i've been busy. some are being torn into strips and spun into art yarns. and i've also made a start on a mini quilt.

i've got some new amigurumi stuff done- some more bunny dolls and a new panda guy too


oh and i was looking for something else to do with the yarn i've been spinning so i made some book cozies (same way i make my biz card holders, just on a grander scale LOL)

blog feature

i just got a reminder from the lovely etsian nicole tattersall that i'm on her blog with 5 other aussie etsy sellers.
you can check it out here http://nicoletattersall.blogspot.com/2008/10/1-october-5-featured-etsy-sellers.html

frantic lunacy

a big thanks to all the lovely etsian who've been putting my stuff in their treasuries lately :D

here's the treasury pic from the lovely tallib first week in september. mines the pink and turquoise apple brooch in the middle 3rd row.

The Octodudes and 3 wise owls

finally for those waiting i have 2 new patterns for sale up in my shop- The Octodudes (and yes you must capitalise) an octopus pattern with 6 legs not 8. and the fat forest owls a kind of fat apple shaped bird with the big eye circles.

Trendy is as Trendy Does: From the Circus to Le Cirque

Trendy is as Trendy Does: From the Circus to Le Cirque
Originally uploaded by Naughty Secretary Club

another one i found from the naughtysecretary club with my little pink and yellow clown brooch there in the middle

Etsy Front Page 8/29/08 PianoBenchDesigns

Etsy Front Page 8/29/08 PianoBenchDesigns
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

dang it!!!!! missed this one too. mones the bottom one in the middle- the scarf worn by the very lovely jadey

Etsy Front Page 8/13/08 girlsavage

Etsy Front Page 8/13/08 girlsavage
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

i missed this one. mines the yellow and pink bunny on the left with the mohawk

brooch pillow

ok so after doing the swap with http://www.flickr.com/groups/797614@N24/ and expanding my fabric stash even further (i must be up around a hundred fabrics now, i'll count later) i've been trying to think of little things to do.

i love patchwork but me and the sewing machine aren't always the best of friends (but keep that quiet cause if she hears you there'll be trouble next time i need to use her)

so i needed some little projects to do by hand. so i've got one dolly quilt finished and another on the way. this one's pictured with little lilly a new crocheted dolly design

the second project i've been thinking about for a while are little brooch pillows to add to my range of brooches.

instead of packing your brooches away in your jewelry box you can have them pinned to the pilow and out on display. you could also use the pillow for a pin cushion. or if you spray a little perfume on the back you can leave them out as decorations

the first pic has some of my brooches pinned on and the second has some pins in it.

i'll have some more complicated designs later. these are pretty simple. i just made a square template for the small patches. then traced around sewed the front panel together. the layed it ove the backing fabric/ cut it to size, pinned and sewd around leaving a small hole to stuff it through.

new package YAY

new package YAY
Originally uploaded by rosie.ok

my new package from knittydirtygirl on etsy. soooo many sparky, colourful, wonderful bits i'll just have to get to work on spinning something new :D

knitty dirty clutches

the two clutch purses i made from the yarn i spun (knittydirtygirl)

the main body is knitted in a rectangle and sewn along the sides. then i tried putting a knit band along the top but didn't like it so i decided to use a crocheted band.

the top band was super easy, i just picked up the stitches along the top (but skipped some to make a gather and have the opening smaller)

screen shot

loads of lovely etsy people have been featuring me in their treasury lately.

here's a great one of aussie sellers from eclecticmoi mines the little brown monkey keychain 3rd row down.

uuuummmmmm......

i know i should be posting but i've felt pretty rotten lately so i've been putting it off.

done with the excuses so now for an update.

i just started learning to spin and i think i've found a new obssession :D

so here's the first lot of wool i got and spun from squambo on etsy i ooly remembered to take photos of 3 balls instead of 4.

and here's some of the stuff i made from it modeled by my lovely sis liza and her friend jadey

indie fixx article

i feel a bit like a pratt putting this up.

a little while back i was asked by miss fruifly off etsy if i'd mind doing an interview which she'd write up to put on indie fixx.

well here's the interview :D anything stupid i've said just ignore LOL

the sale is still on for a bit longer in both my shops for anyone interested.

parcel pressies

i got heaps of great stuff in the post last week.



this one is from wooldancer a great aussie seller. i had so much trouble finding etsy sellers who shipped out of the us and uk. so finding her was a god send. now i just have to wait for my drop spindle to arrive in the post.

and this gorgeous wool was hand dyed using food dyes by the lovely cseneque she dyed this one especially for me in sunny yellows and bright pinks. i love this and i'm playing around with how to use it before i make a final decision(i don't want to waste this jewelled beauty) the far right is for a scarf knitted in fairisle with other pure wools i have in my stash.

my love whale necklace was a trade with gypsyrabbit she hs the most gorgeous packaging for her little goodies :D

SALE SALE SALE

i want to clear some space in my etsy shops so i'm having a big sale.

so if you want some great bargains go and check them out

here are some:

all 22 of my amigurumi patterns in a pdf file pack for $20 bought seperately they'd be $79

load of scarves under $20, most are aroud $10

brooches are reduced- prices depend on designs and there are loads to choose from

heaps of plushies still left and on sale too

guardian pharmacy knitting

i finally took some more photos of the stuff i've got finished to send to the guardian angel knitting program. it's run through the guardian pharmacies here in australia and they partner with world vision to send warm winter woollies to children overseas in need. this year it's all going to the caucasus region (the region between asia and europe)

i missed out on sending stuff last year cause it was so crazy around here. but i've got more planned and on the go so i'll definitely get my parcel in the post this time :D

malou and her funky little bunny

the lovely malou sent me a pic of the funky little rabbit she made from my bouncy bunnies pattern. she used a rainbow sock wool with a grey base. she plans on sending more pics of her creations along soon so we can all get a look at what she's doing :D

treasury

see i knew sitting around for 6 hrs and lurking around for a week would pay off :D i snagged a treasury and you can see it here http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=55610 i'll have to try and get a screen shot later (my keyboard shortcuts aren't cooperating grr......)

waiting for the treasury

so i'm stuck sitting here patiently waiting for a treasury slot on etsy. so i thought i should do something productive.


this is a new batch of wearable stuff. they're part of a custom order. so what doesn't get chosen will be put in my wearables shop on etsy







these are from a new customised bunny dolly. she's a keepsake for an upcoming wedding. of course i went overboard on the little gal -lots of fun :D- but the extras are removable.

i got a few new patterns done last week and over the weekend. but i've been really slow in getting the photos done.

there's a new bunny and teddy pattern- big head and little bodies.

a new snail/slug with bif eye stalks hanging off the side.

a cute new little puppy

and a couple of new felt brooch designs i'm playing around with.

so when the photos are done i'll put them up before i send stuff off.

baby safe mr. ted's friend

baby safe mr. ted's friend
Originally uploaded by rosie.ok

a new custom mr ted.

was commissioned by a lovely lady who was looking for a baby safe toy for the new little person who's going to be in her life.

he has woollen eyes instead of safety eyes so he's more chew friendly :D

new scarf-knitted chevron

new scarf-knitted chevron
Originally uploaded by rosie.ok

one of the scarves i'm making for the guardian angel knitting program http://www.guardianpharmacies.com.au/new_angel.cfm any aussie with spare time and wool should get involved. of course there are tonnes of other programs around in every country where crafty people can get involved to help out in their communities.

i've got the scarf and the matching beanie (with tassel) finished and i'll photo them tomorrow. the beanie was easy, just made it larger across. the points of the chevrons became great decrease points to shape the crown.

new bunny dolly saffron

finally got around to finishing poor little saffron. i had her head finished weeks ago and she's been sitting there staring at me since LOL

is up for sale in my etsy shop. i also have listings where you can order your own custom dolly.

flingles and fluffers and floxes

ok so i was bored last week and was trying to think up some quick patterns i could make so i settled on a guinea pig pal for my bunnies. well the guinea pig didn't go so well, so i decided he was actually a lemming. still didn't like him even though he was now a lemming. somehow just changing the name didn't help....

then i was going past my work table with a pile of fur waiting to be cut and i had a stupid idea. my lemming needed some hair!!!!!! and after he got his little red mohawk lars the lemming as born. and soon after lars came little lulu.

of course this set me off and i wanted to make heaps of stuff to use up my little fur scraps that i can't bear to throw away :D

then i got sick of the guinea pigs so i made a little punk bunny with a furry neon mohawk.

then i decided i wanted to make something smaller and fit-in-your-hand sized. i was flicking through my work books and thought the hedgehog/alien bird nose would look cute on a little alien. so the flox was created. little and foxy. i was thinking weeble (weevil) but that's been taken.

new collector bears- atlas and cherry

this is the fancy new collector bear clown atlas, so named because is shredded collar is made form an atlas print fabric. i love the mish mash of the different fabrics so i think i'll have to make some more of these fancy little guys :D






and little cherry is the sweetest gal around. she's made from a cherry red chrysanthemum printed fabric.

the bells on both these guys were from a big pack i bought ages ago and stashed away.

of course they'll both be going for sale in my etsy shop www.rosieok.etsy.com and no these aren't play toys cause they're both thread jointed and definitely not kiddy friendly

little precious

i wasn't planning on having the pattern ready cause i still have a cold and was feeling a bit funky this morning. but after i had a nanna nap i feel heaps better so i got the typing finished YAY!!!!!

new minified elephant dolly

people have been asking for my dolly pattern so i decided to make some minified versions.

this is a new design - a little elephant dolly.

i went through 50 million different trunk versions and originally it was going to be larger, then i hit the jackpot with a smaller trunk and head size ended up soooooo super cute.

this original will be for sale on etsy. and the pattern will be ready for sale there to in a couple of days