Introducing Violet!

After reading all about Amy’s beautiful Smith, I decided it was time to resurrect my Blythe and finally name her. I adore her, but she simply sits on a shelf in her factory clothes and make up.

So I decided to brave it and do a bit of custom work on her, as her original make-up as seen below left her a little too bronzed with a frosted pink lipstick reminiscent of Collette (of ‘ring my bell’ fame)

(this is going to be my Christmas card this year...)

I started with a de-shine I was so nervous about it though. After the first few scrubs I regretted it, but the more I did the better she started to look. I used a spongy nail buffer (you know those square 4 step ones?) which worked a treat and didn’t leave sny scratch marks.
Then I decided to spunk her up a little bit with some cutesy freckles and a lick of pink lipstick. I still need to do a bit of work on the lips though. And for the finishing touch I added some false eye lashes and viola!

She looks fresh faced and cute as a button! And, she has a name……Violet.

Here she is with her viewmaster


and here she is with my viewmaster reels.

Brown Owls catch up

What a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning. 1 Cup of coffee, 3 cups of tea, a bit of crocheting and some lovely friends!

This is the wonderful "Coffee and a Yarn" cafe in Newtown

Plus I finally got to meet our newest little owl - and she is a complete doll!


Want to join the Sydney Brown Owls? send me an email at honidesign @ gmail . com (without the spaces) and include your name, preferred email address and a little bit about you and what crafts you like to do (and if you have any skills you could teach the rest of the group.)

London Toy Museum

As I’m keeping a few crafty pics to show you a bit later I thought I would post some more pictures from our trip overseas. These are from the Toy Museum in London….seriously the most magical place on earth (along with Disneyland…) The museum was a rickety old 4 story house that was completely filled with toys!

Mr Honi was too tall for some of the rooms!

It had the ORIGIANL Sooty, Sweep and Sue puppets, dollhouses galore, stereo viewers and a million more beautiful dolls.

This hand decorated babies pillow was beautiful – except for the spelling of “stranger”....

Tell you what, I am LOVING dollhouses at the moment (well, I've ALWAYS loved them actually)

Does anyone else lust after this little house and the outdoor furniture?? (incluiogn the outdoor piano?)

You can click through my flickr account to see the pictures in large size..

…..This issue of Frankie has a great article about a girl who furnishes doll houses. I had a ripper when I was a kid – I’m thinking about resurrecting mine….

Hooty

A few of you may have already seen this pic on Facebook, but i thought I’d post it here too. This is Hooty the baby Tawny Frog Mouth that fell out of a tree and into my heart……(wow how corny did that sound!)

Anyway, little Hooty’s mama left him there so Mr Honi and I took him to the vets. He’s now being looked after by a WIRES carer and will be released back at our place when he’s old enough to fly.

He was the cutest little bugger ever. Masses of fluffy feathers and a beak. Apprently it's common for them to fall out of trees - this little guy was just lucky he landed on our balcony and not onto the crazy cat lady's balcony a few doors up!

It will be mine...

A couple of you wonderful girls emailed me with a link to Melody Miller’s website. Seems this uber creative girl has made some fabulous fabric that sends my heart a flutter….check this out!

The 'Ruby Star' Range also includes vintage transistors, retro crockery and some lovely vintage ladies too. You can see all the range on her website.

I am hoping to purchase some if I can – and if I’m feeling clever, I might make a pattern from my new very favourite dress below and re-make the dress in the viewmaster fabric!

ps - seems i under estimated myself - and THREE of you are still reading along ;) thanks for the comments girls it really lifted my spirits xxx

EDIT: The dress is this season from Target

Drowning not waving....

Hello dear readers (well, all 2 of you who are still here, checking it to see if I’ve posted!) Despite promising in my last entry that I’d be back posting regularly, it seems that I have again been subject to a blog/craft hiatus.

A very dear girl sent me an email asking if I was ok and if I needed to be recused from any potential piles of fabric that may have fallen on me – causing my blogging /emailing absence. This made me laugh – but in a metaphorical sense I guess a big pile of fabric did land on me - stifling me completely.

You know you need to take a step back from the rotary cutter when you become physically anxious over the amount of fabric you have lying around the room. When you hide a fabric purchase from your husband like an acholic hides their gin. You also know it’s time to take a breather from reading 80 different blogs when the sight of ‘1278 unread posts’ gives you cold sweats.

Its funny how a ‘crafting passion’ can cause you be exhilarated, gleaming with elated pride over what you’ve created and then all it takes is one or two ‘craft fails’ to render you crushed and completely de-motivated. Or when the excitement of finding new inspiration turns to a dreading fear that you’re ‘behind the times’ in the fast pasted craft blog world.

After a good clean out over the last few weeks, I can feel my creative juices flowing again. I am looking ahead with a positive outlook and I will not let failed sewing attempts beat me. I will not fear my fabric hoard, but embrace it for the beauty it beholds and the projects it will deliver.

Also, I will not worry that I am a “jack of all crafts, master of none” instead I will rejoice in the fact that I am kinda cool at lots of things.

So thankyou for your patience and for returning here. Obviously I’m doing something right for you to come back! I’m in a good headspace now - let the crafting begin!

Image of a my half finished summer frock that I will start sewing again :)