Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Mushrooms in the garden .... we have had some rain in the last week, but these mushrooms are the beautiful hand printed Thea and Sami Fabric. http://www.thea-sami.com.au/ I was fortunate enough to win some of this hand printed linen from Thea's blog giveaway in February, and this is what I made with it. This woodland elf is an adaptation of Jacquie Lecuyer's pattern, Uma . This was a pattern of the month in January at Hello Dollies http://www.agbhellodollies.blogspot.com/ - my doll group at Anne's Glory Box . My version of Uma not only features the prize fabric, but some my embellished felt and one of my husband's wooden buttons. It is a cloth doll, with a needle sculpted face. I am still very much a beginner as far as needle sculpted faces go, as I tend to make most doll heads from clay, but I like the idea of "soft sculpture" so am determined to keep practising. Mother's Day is coming up , so with the remnants of the mushroom fabric, I made some very ...

We all need some silliness in our lives. I have become an ardent fan of "stray sock sewing". I think it is or was a fad in Japan. Years ago, I made funny little toys from socks for our children, but recently I discovered a person called Daniel who has taken creative sock sewing to a new dimension. His little sock dolls aren't just dolls . As he says, they are more like little pets with unique personailies. I am completely "hooked" - I just love making these. I have called my creations - SOCKSILLIES. What is a socksillie? A "socksillie" is a fantastic soft creature made from a single sock or a pair of socks. Any resemblance to a real person or animal is purely coincidental. Each has been named and their names indicate the number in the series. For example, the twins in the first photo above, are Abbie and Bertie and they were the first two socksillies I made. Then there is Clarrie, who now has a new home in Sydney. The "contented cat" chara...

If you celebrate Easter, I hope you had a peaceful and blessed time. We had the great Easter Egg hunt for our grandsons at our place. This was the hunt in ten easy steps .... 1. Read the instructions on your individualised map. 2. Get help if you're not so good yet at reading maps. 3. Look ... 4. Find ... (can you believe how small these eggs are? ) 5. Stash ... 6. Count your eggs ... 7. Check if there are any eggs still hidden ... 8. Work off the"sugar high" creating with clay, 9. Try other artisitic pursuits , 10.And, phone your friends to tell them about the good time you're having.

This month, I am featuring and singing the praises of a very talented and creative textile artist , quilter, embroiderer, teacher and doll maker , Fay King . Fay is seen most days at Anne's Glory Box (Hamilton, Newcastle, NSW ) where she is the shop manager. Samples of her work are throughout the shop ... Fay has an extraordinary sense of colour and design, and what others would not dare to put together, works beautifully for Fay Fay is also the coordinator of Hello Dollies,a doll makers' group both in Newcastle and Sydney. She makes the most exquisite dolls, embellished with her renowned delicate embroidery . Fay's dolls are quite small, so these photos only hint at the tiny, perfect stitches on the doll's clothing. The beautiful fine features of Fay's work demonstrates her keen eye for detail in design and her meticulous attention to neat and complete finishing off. This is what inspires me and what I really admire about Fay's approach to sewing, embroide...