Herbert and Friends - Handmade Softies by Torunn

I found out earlier this week that Herbert & Friends will be taking part in the first ever Melbourne Finders Keepers market! It's been at least five years since I visited Melbourne so I'm really looking forward to exploring the city with all its cool and creative arty craftiness. I thought I'd include a random photo of a Melbourne tram for effect.

The weekend before Melbourne I'll be in Newcastle of the This is Not Art festival and will be having a stall at the zine (and other art and craft goodness) fair on Sunday 3rd October. It's going to be a super busy and fun month!

In the meantime I've been busy working hard at my business course, only one week to go!!! I handed in my business plan today which is a relief and very stressful at the same time. Now I have a couple of days to get ready for Eveleigh Artisans' Market which is this Sunday. I've made some new sloths and there are some turtles on the way that should be ready by Sunday.

I hope everyone's enjoying the first day of spring! Here are some spring inspired photos I took a little while ago.

Until last week Nora didn't know dentists existed! Since she found out, her life has changed significantly, starting with recurring nightmares about her teeth falling out! She has also entertained thoughts of becoming a dentist herself so she can have the cleanest teeth imaginable. The whole teeth and dentist issue started occupying so much space in her mind that she decided to discuss the matter with her friend Basil.

'Basil' Nora said anxiously 'do you know what a dentist is?'
'yes of course I do' Basil replied with a hint of laughter in his voice, which Nora assumed must be because he thought her question was stupid.
'well' said Nora 'have you ever been to see a dentist about your teeth and the possibility of them falling out?'
'I have in fact been to a dentist' Basil replied jovially with a hint of smugness 'and I did ask her if she thought my teeth would fall out. She said that badgers have remarkably strong teeth and that there was no chance whatsoever my teeth would fall out ever!'
'Wow' Said Nora, full of admiration.

It was at that moment Nora decided she should seek out one of these dentists and find out for sure whether or not her teeth would in fact fall out. Even if her teeth would one day fall out it was better to know in advance! 

This is what I've been up to the past week.

Herbert was meant to come along but unfortunately there was a bit of a 'Home Alone' incident so he didn't make it. Instead, Toby and I made a Herbert snowman and when Herbert saw the photos he didn't mind too much that he was left behind and he said he quite enjoyed having the house to himself anyway.

Now that I've had my snow fix for the year I can focus on more serious things like business school and sewing!

I'd like to introduce Basil the Badger, the newest of Herbert's friends

Basil looked timidly on as he watched an alpaca, a wombat and an anteater play badminton over a fallen branch. He'd been observing these three characters from behind a tree, waiting for an opportunity to introduce himself and ask if they might need a fourth player to even out the game. Wombat seemed to be struggling against the long-necked agile alpaca and the anteater who could not only use his racket to hit the shuttlecock but also his long nose.
Basil decided the best way to approach them would be to just pick up a racket and join in so as not to disturb the game and introductions could happen later. Unfortunately it didn't go quite as smoothly as Basil had planned. He ran in, picked up the racket, hit the ball and WHACK! The shuttlecock hit the alpaca right in the nose! (it had been a long time since Basil had played badminton).
Luckily it turned out the alpaca, Jalina, wasn't as badly injured as it first appeared and after a few awkward apologies and introductions the game commenced once again.

The last four days of markets have been super long but also very rewarding. My winter themed stall set-up was received really well and I like it so much I might keep the theme going as long as I can without it seeming weird.

It's been at least two months since my last market so it was great to get out into the public again and see people's faces light up when one of the creatures catches their eye. It's a great affirmation that what I'm doing is worthwhile. It can be easy to get bogged down in the negative aspects of running your own business from time to time and forget why you started in the first place. So thank you to everyone that came by the markets over the last few days!

In other news, you can now buy Herbert & Friends softies at Made By Others, a beautiful art and design store in Moss Vale!!! Here are some photos of the shop taken from their website.

Their address is 366 Argyle St, Moss Vale. Check it out if you're in the area!

I've spent the last week cutting, sewing, stuffing, painting, studying (I'm back at business school) and keeping up to date with latest in the election campaign (overall quite disappointing).

There's only two days to go until the Winterland market which starts on Thursday! I'm feeling quite well prepared with just a few bits and pieces to get finished. As you can see above, I have a new moose creature, a little collection of snow yetis and new penguin brooches. If you don't have plans for Thursday night, Friday night or Saturday come by and check it out! If you do miss it I'll be at Eveleigh Artisan's Market on Sunday. 

I have an ever-growing collection of fabric scraps (they're not really scraps because I still love them) that I haven't known what to do with. They're pieces that aren't big enough for owls but big enough to do something with. Over the weekend I decided to make some little owls. It's hard to see the scale of them in the photos but they're about 13cm tall and super cute when they're all lines up! They'd look great sitting on a branch or a clothes line but for the time being my couch will have to do. They'll be coming along to the Winterland Market but It's going to be really hard to see them separated, partly because I love seeing all my favourite fabrics complimenting each other.

There is a new, really awesome shop/gallery in town called Sweets Workshop. It's located in Summer Hill and it stocks Herbert & Friends softies and brooches! It also has a whole bunch of awesome illustrations, ceramics, and jewellery predominantly by local artists and designers. I highly recommend checking it out! Its grand opening is tomorrow 10am - 5.30pm and they will also be open on Sunday 11am - 2pm. It's opposite Summer Hill station on Carlton Cres, you can get further details here.

Have a great weekend!

Here are my first two snow yetis!

I'm really missing my camera (the one that was stolen in France) and getting quite frustrated with my little camera. The small camera is  great for some things, but when it comes to taking photos indoors and trying to manipulate light I really need an SLR! I'm going through the process of making a travel insurance claim, so hopefully I'll be able to get a camera in the next few weeks (fingers crossed).

Here are two more magazine entries this month, this time in Notebook!!! First is the typewriter and second the Winterland Festival promotion!

It's been a week now since we arrived back from holidays and I'm slowly getting back into daily routines. Over the weekend I went fabric shopping to find some Yeti fabric. Luckily I found just the right thing so there are snow Yetis on their way!