Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 Happy Australia Day… to celebrate, I made a koala plushie. I bought a fabric panel of an owl and a koala at the Wallsend Community markets last month, so thought today was the right day to make this Aussie icon. Australia Day was a rather lazy day. . A morning walk and then we retreated quickly back inside to escape the heat. I put a small indoors thermometer outside to test it out – it gave up! Obviously over 40degrees! We only went outside because we had to. We celebrated Australia day tonight by cooking, taking and sharing a slow cooked lamb dinner with my friend and my sister-in-law, both patients in hospital. Much better we’re told than hospital food! Here's a special thought for Australia Day: "Close your eyes... and think of the land that gave you life and breath, and think of all the reasons you are glad to be there, with the people you know, with the people you love."  from The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith. This week has been a slow c...

What a weekend of activity....family and Christmas sale gatherings. Yesterday the new socksillies gathered for a Christmas photo before getting ready for my annual charity Handmade Treasures Christmas sale. For those who have not seen socksillies before, they are my silly soft sculptures made from a sock or two socks. The photo shows them looking very festive. LamboArt friends, Bobbi and Jane also came over to bring their handmade treasures to go on sale on 28 November. They will be in USA then, so gathering and sorting their work had to be done early this year. On Saturday, it was the annual gathering of the “Yan” family at Budgewoi – a central meeting place. It was great to see cousins and their families again. Jim used it as an opportunity to gather more information for his family history documents (now two huge folders and about 600 people on the family tree). The children particularly had lots of fun – love those orange peel smiles!

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...