Herbert and Friends - Handmade Softies by Torunn

Tomorrow is my last Sydney market before Christmas and the last Eveleigh Artisans' Market before Christmas. I'll also be selling cushion covers in Sydney for the first time! I've been madly sewing trying to get the finishing touches done. If you're out and about in Sydney tomorrow or want a reason to be out and about come down to the market! 10am - 3pm just outside CarriageWorks! 

1. Started a new fitness regime - going to the gym every weekday morning at 7am (very challenging)
2. Got the evil flu that's been going around
3. Watched Mildred Pierce (great mini-series!) 
4. Was photo assistant at 2 weddings
5. Prepared shop orders (still in progress)
6. Made (and still making) more cushion covers
7. Watched Toby's movember moustache grow
8. Took lots of photos of friends' baby
9. Read Divergent by Veronica Roth (super excellent teen-fiction book)
10. Visited friends' new house
11. Had birthday lunch for Dad - his actual birthday is today. Happy Birthday Dad! 
Now. Finishing off shop orders, thinking about Christmas presents and listening to Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.


 

It's been a long time since I had a weekend off to relax, so I made the most of it by heading down to Bondi Beach and checking out Sculpture by the Sea. I also went for a swim which was the first of the season for me. Super nice! Here are a couple of photos of my favourite sculptures. 

We also had a dress-up party on Saturday night that was themed 'cats and lazers'. I went as Maru the cat who is a YouTube sensation! He's known for jumping into boxes. 

There are any number of super cute YouTube videos of Maru, here's one in case you haven't come across him before. 

The Finders Keepers team put on another great market in Brisbane over the weekend - it was a lot of fun, a bit exhausting but very rewarding. I didn't really get a chance to do the rounds with my camera this time but I did get a few snaps of stalls where I did my market shopping! 

Emerald Green Submarine was my neighbour for the weekend - I simply couldn't resist buying a pair of these mini dot studs (despite not having worn earrings for two years and not having bought a pair for about eight years!). Their jewellery is just so stunning and colourful! 

I'd been eyeing off this super cute dress by The Encouragement Award at the Bowerbird Bazaar and luckily they were also at the Finders Keepers! It looks great, it's super comfy and it has pockets - what more could you ask for?! 

I also picked up some new swimmers from the lovely ladies at Sirens Swimwear. It's always a treat to peruse their stall and I can't wait to try my new swimmers at the beach! 


If you'd like to see more market photos, Rachael from Penelope and Pip took some stunning photos over the weekend, you can check them out here.


Now it's time to clean up my studio space and get back to work. Stay tuned for an online shop update coming soon!

I'm Back in Sydney after a whirlwind trip to Adelaide. The Bowerbird Bazaar was an amazing market! And doing the whole three day market thing on my own wasn't nearly as scary as I'd imagined, and everything went smoothly. I had the cushion covers for sale for the first time which were a huge success!  

Here are some of my market favourites..

First up we have Linogirl who makes all kinds of amazing one-off jewellery, ceramics and limited edition prints. 

Next we have Harvest Textiles - a talented trio who screen-print textiles and make cushions and bags among other things. 

Last but not least is Mono who makes a collection of the most stunning objects! 

Now I have to start production again in preparation for Brisbane Finders Keepers this weekend!

Here are some critters patiently waiting to be packed and flown to SA. It's the first interstate market I'm doing completely on my own which is a little daunting and nerve-racking! Fingers crossed everything goes well. My flight goes at 6.30am tomorrow morning so the prospect of getting up at 4.30am feels almost as challenging as doing a three day market on my own! 

I'd love to see a friendly face in Adelaide so if you're in town come down to the Bowerbird Bazaar! 

While I've been a bit absent from my blog lately I've been working on a bunch of new cushion covers. They're a playful little group of characters that enjoy an array of different activities..

I have a super busy month ahead with the Bowerbird Bazaar market in Adelaide starting on the 28th October and the following weekend I'll be heading up to Brisbane for the Finders Keepers. I'm hoping to have some of these cushion covers ready by then. In the meantime I'm going to be flat out sewing like crazy!!! 

On Friday I dropped off some goodies at the Sweets Workshop in Summer Hill and as it happened there was an amazing exhibition on. Nia May is the artist and she makes papercut illustrations which are so incredibly detailed, intricate and simply stunning! The show is meant to finish on the 5th Oct but I'm told the show is getting extended due to its awesomeness. Here are a few pics of the work - they don't do the work justice so if you like what you see, go and check it out!    

Here are some new brooches I've been working on lately...

They'll be making their debut at the Eveleigh Artisans' Market on Sunday! 

I hope everyone's had a great weekend! Toby and I spent Saturday morning in Bunnings (with what seemed like half the population of Sydney) buying supplies for gardening and good old-fashioned home-making in general. We only have one small garden patch - here are some before, during and after shots..

It's not the most impressive 'after' photo because we planted seeds so now we have to wait and see what happens..

In the meantime we have this family of frogs to brighten up our garden patch, we feel a bit bad for the 'black sheep' of the family sitting off to the side, but he insists he's happy on his own comfy chair. 

We finally bought some picture hooks so we could brighten up the room. The Marimekko print above is a piece of fabric I had that we decided to stretch over a canvas frame. 

The Herbert & Friends crew have moved into the bookshelf and seem to be liking their new home. 

Below is our polaroid wall. We take photos of all our visitors as well as eventful moments, date the photo and put it up. I have to say polaroid photos are a lot of fun!