Herbert and Friends - Handmade Softies by Torunn

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!