Herbert and Friends - Handmade Softies by Torunn

Toby gave me a Gocco for Christmas!!! I'm so excited to use it, I've ordered some paints so as soon as they arrive I'll get started. I came across the Gocco for the first time on a blog about a year ago and ever since then I've been pining after one. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Gocco, it's basically a self-contained colour screen-printing system. If you'd like to read about it and see a demonstration click here. As far as I know they aren't manufactured any longer, but you can still get them through places like Etsy and Ebay. I've been fantasising about what I'll print first, so far I'm planning on making small story books about Herbert. I'm going to have to start practising my drawing!

Apart from getting super excited over my Gocco, I've been taking advantage of the cool, overcast weather by going to the movies, playing basketball in the park and generally doing fun relaxing things with friends. I also had a great Christmas, so overall it's been a fantastic week! I managed to fit in a bit of sewing and made my first ever panda brooch.

I hope everyone enjoys the last couple of days of 2009!!

Yetis and more 23/12/2009

In the midst of Christmas preparation I've managed to add some creatures to my Etsy . I feel a little bad choosing favourites when it comes to the creatures, but I can't help liking Atsuko the Yeti extra much. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that she's a yeti, and we both love snow! Here she is followed by Zakary, Rodney, Amy and Tomi.

I hope everyone has a super fantastic Christmas, with loads of good food and great presents! xx

Wedding bliss 21/12/2009

I can now reveal the surprise I was working on! On Saturday two of my best friends got married, which was super exciting and beautiful and everything you could hope a wedding to be. I made them a little softie bride and groom based on a drawing of them in their wedding invitation.

The couple that were married are the reason I started softie making in the first place. It all began when I was trying to think of something special to make for them as an engagement present and decided to knit and sew them something. After making those first things there was no stopping me and I just kept going! So it was only fitting that I make them something for their wedding, and luckily these turned out hundreds of times better than the first ones I made!

Now I'd like to reiterate how amazing the wedding was. Zoe the bride was absolutely stunning (as was Justus the groom). They were married on Shelley Beach and it was the most perfect day possible! The whole atmosphere of the night was pure joy and elation. It really was a perfect wedding! I could go on and on describing each detail of the night, but instead I'll show you the photos of the softies.

Frog fiasco 17/12/2009

This week I've been busy getting orders ready for Christmas, three of which are frogs! Here they are in a little congregation preparing to separate and find new homes.

These will be some of the last frogs of their kind. While they have been very popular and I do love them, all the detail is very time consuming. I've been working on designing a new frog which still has a little way to go but as soon as it's done I'll share some photos. I just hope it lives up to the old one.

I've also been working on a secret project which I should be able to post about on Saturday! I'm very excited about this one, I just really hope it turns out like I'm envisaging, fingers crossed!

I hope everyone's Christmas preparations are on track and going well!

The Olive Tree market 13/12/2009

Yesterday was a super long day! It's the first time I've travelled so far for a market (from Sydney to Newcastle) and I'm not sure I'd do it again. It was quite nice and relaxing on the way there, it felt like we were going on a holiday! But when it came to the drive home at 9pm there was more of a desperation to get home, especially after a day at the market which is always fairly exhausting.

The market itself was somewhere in the middle for me, I didn't love it and didn't hate it. It was a mix of handmade, beautifully designed items to some fairly generic hippyish stalls and then what looked like some mass produced trashy items (it sounds like I'm describing Glebe market). It definitely had a heavier focus on handmade items than Glebe tends to have. The vibe of the market was great! There was live music in every section which everyone seemed to be getting right into and the Novocastrians are really super nice people. So all in all it was pretty good and sales were good, but I still have a slight feeling of disappointment. I think I'll put it down to the the fact that it was my first market after Finders Keepers which has the ability to make any market look a little mediocre.

Now that I've done a general rave about the market, there were a couple of stalls that stood out for me. The first one was a stall that sold sculptures made from reused objects. The sculptures that really caught my eye were these amazingly awesome robots! The robot in the first photo was my favourite and I would've loved to have taken it home with me! They are made by Old Made and can be found in a shop in Newcastle called Make Space, 18 Wolfe St Newcastle. They are closed during January but will reopen in February. In the meantime, if you would like to get in touch with Old Made you can send an email to gharris@aapt.net.au.

The second stand out stall was one that sold tea cosies. I'm not too sure what it was that I loved so much about these tea cosies, I have never been into tea cosies and I'm not convinced I'll ever own one but they were just so whimsical and quaint!

The Finders Keepers 07/12/2009

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I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Kate and I had a great time at the Finders Keepers market! We met loads of wonderful people and each stall was full of beautiful objects, jewellery, clothes and more. Carriage Works is such an atmospheric space to be in and there was a great vibe over both days. This was a super exciting market to be part of. Thank you to everyone that made it such an amazing experience!

Most of Herbert's friends found new homes over the weekend so this week I'll be busy sewing for my first ever Olive Tree market in Newcastle on the 12th December. I will also be updating my Etsy store soon with new items as they get made. Until that's done, if anyone would like something in particular, send me an email and I can do a custom order.

Here are some photos of our stall at the Finders Keepers. We were going for a rustic travel theme with old suitcases, wooden crates, a park bench and some foliage. At some parts of the day we had direct sunlight coming through the skylights which looked pretty great!

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Happy birthday Toby! 02/12/2009

Today is Toby's birthday. Happy birthday Toby!! I'm having a little break from sewing to take him out for brunch, and dinner tonight with family. It's nice to get out of the house after a long day of sewing. Last night we went to the movies and saw Where the Wild Things Are. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. The monsters were so awesome, I wish I had some big furry monster friends too! Here is a photo of me as Max. I highly recommend going to see it. I'm off now to do birthday things. Have a good day!