Herbert and Friends - Handmade Softies by Torunn

Tomorrow we're heading down to Melbourne again for our first ever Markit @ Fed Square. I hear it's great so if you're around come by and say hi! 

In other news, a new stockist of Herbert & Friends, Fine and Sunny in Mildura, have done a super cute blog post about the new critters that arrived this week, check it out here! 

Some of you might remember I made a few fruit baby rattles late last year. Here are some more I've been working on. 

The fruit are based on patterns from this book below. The whole thing, including the patterns, are in Japanese so there's some guessing involved and some altering. it's a super cute book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in felt making fruit! 

Yesterday the creatures decided it was Cake Day! Cake Day is a day where you eat as much cake as you like even though it isn't anyone's birthday. But first they needed to make a cake, so they all got together and decided that carrot cake would be the cake of the day. 

The owls took on the role of recipe readers and general cake directors, while everyone else ran around and busied themselves in the kitchen.    

Once the boring-but-essential buttering of the cake tin and lighting the oven was completed, it was time for the proper cake making to begin! The raccoons decided the flour and dry ingredients would be their thing. 

While the red pandas dealt with the eggs and other liquidy ingredients (the hardest and most important job according to them).  

And the Brian the wombat fastidiously took on the role of carrot-grater (an exhausting job!) and walnut-chopper (actually funner than it looks). 

When it came time to combine the mixtures, the excitement in the room was palpable, they could just about see the finished cake in front of them! 

While the cake was happily baking in the oven, a decision had to be made about who would take on the all important job of icing-maker. At that moment, as if out of nowhere, the yetis appeared and insisted they would definitely be best for the job. Everyone agreed they probably would be best, and despite the fact that they ate several spoonfuls of the icing before it made it to the cake, they did an exceptional job!  

Team Carrot Cake were all very proud once it was finished, and rightly so. Cake Day was a huge success! 

Here's some weekend inspiration from Etsy...

1. Yellow, red, orange and white twin airport coffee and tea server, by Hobart Collectables
2. Yellow picnic basket, by Gina's Boutique
3. Tin picnic basket with an assortment of utensils, by Looking for Yesterday
4. Picnic blanket / handmade with vintage 1970's scandinavian fruit fabric, by Sewn Natural 
5. Retro picnic in the park vintage decoware metal cake plate, by Claudette's Vintage
6. 4 cloth picnic napkins, by Peppermint Pinwheels 

Frida woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather. There was nothing for it but to rug up on the couch and watch an episode of Adventure Time! 

While Frida was getting her dose of Adventure Time, Rufus and Rosa made her some lemon and honey tea. 

By mid-morning there was no doubt about it - it was definitely time for Burt's Family Feud the boardgame!! 

Followed by a round of Pick-Up Sticks. 

Pick-Up Sticks is never a quick game with Yetis because they're not particularly dexterous and are notoriously clumsy. Nearing the end of the game it was clear that Rosa would be the winner (she felt a little bad that she hadn't let Frida win but not so bad that she didn't enjoy her win at least a bit!).    

These three furry friends are available in my Etsy shop! 

Rosa

Frida

Rufus

I had a trawl through Etsy today and got stuck looking at kitchen things so I thought I'd share some with you... 

1. Vintage kitchen tools sunny yellow by 4th Street Market
2. Vintage 1970s avocado green Chadwick kitchen scale by Turner Vintage
3. Danish aqua pot by Box of Hollyhocks
4. Orange you glad 70s butter dish and napkin holder by Oopsy Girl 
5. Vintage orange coffee kettle pot by Euro Vintage
6. Set of vintage enamel mugs by Dairy Farm Antiques  

Today it was agreed that Sam the squirrel could choose the activities for the morning, it was after all her half-birthday (if you're unfamiliar with half-birthdays, it's the exact day you become something-and-a-half). It isn't often Sam gets to choose the activities because her friends feel they've outgrown most of the 'childish' games she likes to play. As it happens just about everyone involved had a great time (Flint the wombat was a bit overtired because it was way past his bedtime)! 

There was hopscotch to start the day off. 

Followed by skipping (only Sam had a go because she insisted she had to skip for an hour!)

After a full hour of skipping, the only thing Sam could manage was naughts and crosses. She lost pretty much every game - she blames the exhaustion. 

Sam is a custom order so unfortunately not up for grabs, but if you're pining after a squirrel send me an email!  

Marcella spent the morning stalking a snail and trying to conceal herself behind a slightly-too-small lemon tree. She eventually lost interest because the snail was super slow and she came to realise it knew she was there all along, and didn't actually mind her being there! 

Marcella then positioned herself on the doorstep and waited for something really exciting to happen... she's still waiting...

Marcella is a custom order so unfortunately she's not for sale. She's also the first cat I've made in softie form! It took a few goes but I got there in the end and I reckon she's pretty cute.

Over morning tea, Edgar interviewed Karlos for his new book - The Secret Lives of Koalas in the Spotlight. Karlos happens to be the most famous koala of all time, a perfect candidate for Edgar's book! Edgar couldn't believe his luck last week when he ran into Karlos at the local pool and he agreed to do an interview! The book will be a sensation!!! 

Karlos the famous

Edgar the writer

Karlos and Edgar are both available in my Etsy shop. 

This was Herbert's first market in a while so he was pretty excited! 

Toby also came along this time which made the market feel like a holiday (this doesn't really come across in Toby's expression so you'll have to take my word for it). 

Here are pics of some my favourite stalls from the weekend...

Poppies for Grace, for your cute stationary needs. 

Marcello Neckwear, for all the gentlemen out there. 

Made of Awesome, speaks for itself. 

Son Valise, the coolest/most hipster speakers in town. 

The Story Book Rabbit, cutest porcelain ever.  

Owl Know How, for everything you need to know about owls. 

Beneath the Sun, the best cat cushion I've ever seen! 

Hannakin, to add some quirky greatness to your life. 

bRAINBOW, for unique and beautifully fun wearables.  

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Stay tuned for an online shop top-up later this week...