Easter Holidays

My little 8 year old sister Lilly came to stay with us again during the week. It's becoming a bit of a school holiday tradition. She is AWESOME to have here too, as Chelsea just follows her around all day saying 'elee, elee' instead of clinging to me!

Last time Lilly visited we made a bear. This time we did some drawing. Lilly painted some lovely little art cards (ACEOs) that I've popped in my etsy store. She's very excited about the prospect of someone buying her drawings! She won two easter colouring in competitions this week, so she's positively glowing when it comes to her art work!

Another girly bear

This lovely lady in pink is Shelby. (named by my little sister shown in the post below). Click on each of the little photos above to get a better look at her if you so desire. She was made to fit those gorgeous handmade pink overalls. I bought them at the same time as I purchased Gracie's little dress.

I am really happy with Shelby. I am experimenting a bit at the moment with keeping my bear's faces furry - but still feminine. I think if I hadn't designed Shelby specifically to fit the hot-pink overalls, she probably would have been a he... but the addition of the head bow really softened her look a lot. And I think she makes a handsome girl.



Chelsea and Oliver thought so too...

School holidays

Normally i don't pay much attention to School holidays. Mainly because i don't do the school run yet, and am not driving in morning school traffic to get to work. But this time I am very aware that it's school holiday!

We have my 8 year old sister staying with us for the next few nights. My mum and step dad are taking a well deserved kid free break. Lilly came to stay with us.

She has been an incredible help with Chels. And i get the feeling Chelsea is really going to miss her when she goes. We decided to fill in some of the time while Chelsea has her day naps making a bear. Lilly chose the fabric. Drew out the pattern herself. Cut some of it out herself. Pinned some herself. Sewed some herself ( on the machine and by hand). Did some of the joints herself. Helped me set the eyes. Sewed most of the nose herself. Did ALL the stuffing herself. And ALL the seam closures as well. She has blown me away! She called her bear Violet.


Also - thought I'd throw in another photo of Oliver. He's 11 weeks old today. And you can really see that his nose is starting to blacken compared to his earlier photos! He's heaps bigger too, but thats probably hard to tell in a photo. (also - check out the pregnant belly sneaking into the shot! )

Another day at Nonna's house

Chelsea and i had another day at Nonna's house today. Which was great in terms of bear making-ness, as i had a few pairs of sculpted eyelids, noses and claws that i needed to bake in an oven that wasn't broken!

The kids loved the clay and made some very cute little creatures (as you can see). There's a penguin, a parrot, a dancing lady, two fish - mum and baby) and and evil pig in a basket (made my Nonna herself!).

So stay tuned for some more special bears with sculptured eyes (and possibly clay noses too! That will be a first for me if i can get it to work/look right).