Saturday at the studio....

It's raining here. again. The gloomy and sleepy mood is back but I am fighting it off with some toy making. I was hoping to take pictures for the monster pattern today but not sure how it will work out with the lighting... 

Anyway, there are plenty of things to do around here. I finished a fox with fabric called "Cherry Woods" by Saffron Craig that I paired with rose pink felt. She turned out to be very cherry sweet, didn't she? 

Mid morning I caught a glimpse of light and took pictures of doilies for the Plushka's Makery store.... These are just a few of them, there are also crochet hearts in store that I just love!

More of my new "Blossoming love" lavender hearts are in the making right now, in lighter shades of pink. 

.....and that's how I spend my morning. 

Hope you are having a delightful weekend! 

Rain, toys and gloomy days...

It feels like I haven't blogged for ages, in reality it's been only a couple of days. It feels like forever! With 2 days of constant rain (much longer for our QLD readers!) it is very gloomy in the studio. Thus, I couldn't take any pictures and just felt like having a nap... so I took a day off and use this opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Plushkin. Although the weather is a little better today, this is the best picture I could take of my hedgehogs...

Thankfully, we are safe and dry here but so many of our friends have been affected. Our thoughts with those who are still expecting the water to rise and have been evacuated. 

If you know any flood appeals besides Australian Red Cross appeal or handmade auctions, do leave the link in the comment so we can get involved and spread the word. 

Stay safe lovely readers!

xox

the third one....

I received so many helpful comments on Facebook about my happy little monsters! I was going to make another one combining two designs, taking into account that some people preferred green monster for one eye and aqua for the tags.   

I thought I'll just add tags to the green one but it didn't feel right. Tags just didn't go with that shape so, I thought that it will be better to make a different design all together. It needed to be round for the tags but not the same shape as the aqua one as that would be too easy, right?! 

It also had to have one eye so, after some tinkering, I came up with this:

They are now a group of colourful monster friends!

With so much bright colour around me, I am off to paint my toe nails red and hope they will survive the swim this afternoon. 

Hope you are having a fun Australia day long weekend!
xxx

My creative space and my happy felt monsters

In my creative space this week I am having fun with monsters! I must say, I had to come out of my "comfort zone" in order to make these two cheeky guys.  

After I made the round aqua monster, I checked with my Facebook readers whether I am on the right track at all. Will kids like it? Is it cute enough? After many positive comments (Thank you everyone for the feedback!), I continued with monster making and that's when the lime green one was born. Gotta love Facebook! My monsters affair would probably be over after making just one....

Now I am working on the pattern, instructions and kits so stay tuned!  

Hope you are having a creative Thursday!

In the studio lately....

 It's a toy making season here, in the studio. I started from the owls and now moving to the foxes and hedgehogs.... My stock building plan is going well so far. 

However, I did  make a small customer order that is now on it's way to US. Two linen napkins with Hello Kitty were requested to match a set of cups with the same pattern as the Liberty fabric.

 I really enjoyed making the heart applique and added hand-stitching around them to emphasize the shape. As I have the same set, I styled a picture for the lisiting and now I think I need napkins like these too! 

Today I am working on these two cuties with organic fabric. I like this orange, perfect for the foxes! I will be also making a burgundy red one later this week...

How is your start of the week? 

What's in the making at your place? 

My creative space...new toy and a new pattern!

Sometimes I have a clear plan for a day but it changes in a split moment when a new idea pops into my head! 

That exactly what happened last week.  I was in my studio looking through my notebooks and, out of the blue, I found a sketch from 2 years ago that I done on a plane to London. 
I am going to release a few patterns this year so I thought why not this one?! Thus, after a few days of making sure the pattern works and writing the instructions, it is now available in my patterns shop. 

I made 2 dolls to demonstrate different facial expressions and colour combinations. Pattern contains the step by step instructions as well as a few pictures to demonstrate the process behind creating their sweet faces. It also comes with 5% discount on any supplies required to create this doll that can be purchased in Plushka's Makery .

They are so much fun to make that I find it really hard to stop on just 2, there are so many colour combos that I can make them in! 
I think I'll make a few more next week, they are just too lovely. 
Do you like Russian dolls?

Happy Crafting! 

My creative space....

In my creative space this week, besides stitching items for the new Valentine's day collection, there are a few toys on the production line as well as another blanket. 

I took me a few days to pick the fabric for this fox. Raspberry felt proved to be a little tricky to match fabric with, even with my gigantic stash! However, after consulting with Mr. Plushkin last night, we came to the conclusion that these hearts will look nice. Due to multi-coloured design, there are a few matching shades of pink in there and white background goes beautifully with white features on her face. 

Would you agree? 

This blanket is ready to be put together and, in a few days, I will share pictures of both finished blankets. I did try a new boarder on the pink one and will experiment with another pattern on this one as well. 

It's completely new to me using black as a background but I really like it now. Black really highlights the other colours, doesn't it? 

Finally, two baby owls are waiting for their feet and wings and they will be ready to fly off. I've been waiting to try this shade of pink for some time as I had this fabric just asking to be used. For the aqua one, I went with a safe option by choosing the most popular fabric from last year. 

Hope you are having a creative and fun Thursday, whatever you are up to!

We are having a slightly cooler day before another heat wave here and it's nice to be out and about after being pretty much locked up with the air on all day on Tuesday! 

xxx

My creative space....

In my creative space today, I rewarded myself for finishing orders early. So, just before I start putting everything away for our trip and doing some packing (which I am not looking forward to), I am making bears... 

A new toy always brings an exciting opportunity to explore the colour and fabric combos. I started making bears in the primary colour that they come in, in real life, - browns. 

Then I had a new flecked felt arrive and couldn't resist making a grey bear. It still has a little bit of brown in it so that was hardly explorative! 

Next, Coco Blondie was created. She is a bit more adventurous (although a bit closer to Polar bear) light beige bear with a hint of grey. Her lacy belly really suits her timid and sweet character. 

Now, we are entering more colourful stage of Plushka's bear production. For my first 2 bright bears, I went with pink and yellow. Still a little safe, right? 

On the yellow one I got to try a new fabric which is always fun. That was the only fabric I could find with yellow in it and tiny print to fit his belly! I think a little more fabric stash digging is in order. 

If you would have to pick one, which one would you pick?

More creative spaces HERE.

Have a lovely creative Thursday! 

My creative space....

In my creative space this week, a few new production lines started - owls, Mimi garden birds with one brown bear mixed in, just because I wanted to try a new felt colour. 

It took me some time to find a fabric for this bear. I went with a safe yellow polka dots and really hope it will work....

After cutting out so many different toys, my pile of felt scraps  looks so colourful!

More creative spaces HERE.

            Have a wonderful creative Thursday! 

Wombat Wonderland Blog tour

Today Plushka is delighted to be the first stop on Saffron Craig's blog tour introducing her new fabric range - Wombat Wonderland. This collection is inspired by, yes you guessed it, wombats! 
Mystical white wombat among yellow and green flowers and pretty butterflies in soft pastel colours...
It is a wonderful range for girls and little boys as, although there's a few pinks in the range, the softness is offset by sky blue, garden green and fresh yellow.

For my blog tour projects I've picked 2 small scale prints: 

1. Lovely Sunrays print was destined for the robin with it's delicate, pale blue pattern of stylized flowers and sunrays on a crisp white background.

2. As soon as I spotted these Triangles, I saw bubblegum pink elephant made with this fun print in pastel green, grey and pink with mint dots.

All designs from this range are printed on great quality 100% organic fabric, it is very soft to touch and is so nice to work with. 

I will be definitely making more toys with fabric from this range! 

100% pure new wool felt from Plushka's Makery

Fabric can be purchased in Saffron's shop HERE

Keep up with the tour and get inspired:

Friday 7th of September - Toni Coward of Make it Perfect

Friday 14th of September - Amy Gunson of Badskirt

Friday 21st of September - Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey

Friday 29th of September - Siobhan Rogers of Bespoke Quilts.

P.S. Thank you Saffron for inviting me to participate! 

My creative space...

It's all coming together after a few evenings of mad stitching. The robins are now ready to be stitched together and Christmas owls are almost ready as well. 

I love the new teal fabric that used on the robin, it's not traditional Christmas colour but for some reason I really like it. 
What do you think? 

First robin for this year is finished, made with lovely fabric by Prints Charming, it's a part of the early bird Christmas order. I love these orders, they get me in a mood for a busy season ahead. 

I also finished a Mimi bird in soft pink for one of the showcases on Facebook that I am participating in. The theme is "Pastels" and I think she should fit in nicely?! 

More creative spaces HERE.

       Have a fantastic creative Thursday! 

Monday, two elephants in the Post office...

My two custom made elephants are ready to get all wrapped up and jump in the box. Long road ahead but I am sure they will be greeted with cuddles and smiles so it will be worth it! 

My mustard baby owl thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of her with an elephant so you can see how small and cute she is! I think she just likes to model...

More orders are to be finished today but after I go for a walk to get some sun and vitamin D! 

Happy Monday! 

Sunday crafternoon...

My Sunday so far is all about finishing orders, mainly elephants.... 

I am very happy with the progress and hope to finish these two fellows tonight, that's my big quiet-sunday-in-the-studio plan! 

Have you been stitching or sewing this weekend?  

My creative space...new toy is here!

This is the last toy for this year so it is such a special moment for me, showing you a toys that I've been working on!  I've picked a bear  to be the 9th Plushka toy as I felt it fits into the "Plushkandia, the enchanted forest" collection and completes it nicely. 

This is the first toy to be released in two sizes. I usually design one and then make bigger or smaller size later but this time I wanted them to be together. I was inspired by the documentaries about  bears. In those movies, mummy bear always has a few little bear cubs around, watching over them.

It's always exciting to work with a new toy! So many new possibilities in felt/fabric combos and new face expressions to create. It's like a new magical world! 

I cannot wait to try new colours and might make a polar bear.
What do you think? 

More creative spaces HERE.

Have a creative Thursday! 

Saturday in the studio....

Not that many things got done today but I wanted to make a few more Apple garden birds and I managed to finish them just before it got a bit too dark for the pictures. 

I wasn't sure what colour will go with soft apricot so I went with teal. I quite like it, what do you think? 

All 4 of them are trying to stay warm as it got a bit too chilly today at the studio. Although I love the cool sea breeze, it might be the time to close the balcony doors...

Hope you are having a lovely weekend! 

xxx

My creative place.... new toy

In my creative space this week, a new toy was born! It took me a while to get it to look the same as the one I drew on paper, 8 months to be exact! First prototype toy went completely wrong and I felt a little discourage. However, I kept looking and looking at the drawing and the pattern so by the time I found a few hours to make 

another toy, I knew where I went wrong...
 

I wanted the shape to be simple and "huggable" so little kids can take it to bed and 
cuddle it to sleep but still decorative to be  a great room decoration. 

While working on the pattern, I've been stashing away some fabrics  that will go with the fox's colour and character.

Let's the production line begin! 

Visit more creative spaces here

Have a creative Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday - sea blue bunny

Join WW at Plushka's! Leave your link below....

the frogs, forest and tropical

When I was creating "Plushkandia, enchanted forest" collection, an army of rattling forest frogs were created to accompany these hedgehogs. You probably already saw them on my Facebook page or the shop, they were a great success! 

I tend to go with "safe" or traditional colours when I try a new toy but now I can start experimenting! Thus, the new army starting to appear. I call them the "Tropical frog rattle toy".  

The are so many colours to go with as mother nature really made it easy, frogs come in so many gorgeous colours that I don't really need to think! There are even blue frogs:) The only part that can be tricky is choosing fabrics to match but I was lucky so far....

I am planning on making yellow, red and blue frogs soon. 

Love frogs!

Have a wonderful Friday! 

New creations and some changes...

January went by so quick and it was so strange to be away from the blog for so long! I never expected the first month of the year to be that busy... I do have a lot to show for two weeks but at the same time nothing that I was hopping to achive. Maybe I just have high expectations when it comes to the productivity and efficiency! 

Anyway, that's what I've done since you saw me last here with the blanket progress...

- New decorative cushions collection. I had doilies that I was urging to put to a good use and, as I love cushions myself, I created a few to start and there are a few more creations I want to add to this collection  so stay tuned! 

- I wrote an article for the Cheeky Chat, that made it easier to reflect on the last 2 years, my business and what I achieved. 
Am I where I wanted to be?  - I think so.
Would I do anything different? - Most certainly! 
However, these are mistakes I learned so much from and, hopefully, this article will be helpful for crafters who just started. It will be out in a few weeks or so. I will post a link here so stay tuned!  

*********
That article and Cheeky Chats are one of the reasons why I made a decision that there are a few changes need to be made so my business will keep going. The price change is going to be the first, following by a new collections created together with lovely talented ladies;) I will blog about it next week with a previews on what's coming! 

- A few customer orders were finished. I love them so much and for some reason all the toys ordered are pink or purple:) 

I love finding new fabrics for my toys and this one I allocated to the elephants. You may be noticed that I try to have fabric piles for each toy that I make. Rabbits have their own selection, hedgehogs have more forest themed fabrics that suit their shape and colour. It makes them more individual and unique and I love that:) 
This fabric is by Liz Scott, her new collection called "Domestic Bliss". He turned out very cute and is in the shop, waiting for a new home;) 





Happy Monday!