Welcome to the Workshop

Welcome to the Workshop

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Pioneer Camp

Poppet spent the final week of her summer holidays in a bonnet and pinafore at Black Creek Pioneer Camp.
She did apprenticeships with the tinsmith, the tailor, and the printer. She did some spinning and tufting and played lots of old-fashioned games. There's even a bruise under her armpit from the stilts.
This was an incredibly good experience for her, she learned so much about pioneer times. Naturally, her main interest was in the chamber pots. Did you know the youngest member of the family has to empty them?
Nice.
Here are some shots...










Yes, it was very hot. And yes, she got very carsick on the way to camp every morning but she pushed through and had a great time. We're super proud of her.
Grade 3 next week. Gulp!



Wednesday, August 28, 2013

All Yours. Babushka, Babushka, Babushka-ya-ya.

I've been re-working my Babushka pattern. She's plumper and has a new hairstyle. I think she's turned out super cute!
And of course I've been singing this song non-stop since I started...






So, listen to Kate Bush and have a look at some pictures of my little Babushka in the making.





Do you like her? She's heading to a new retailer nearby and I'm very excited about this order.




I might just make some more soon...



Sunday, August 25, 2013

When we went to the zoo...

I'm backed up on family outing posts. Husband has had a few days off recently and we've made the most of getting out in the sunshine. Last week we went to a privately run zoo (there's lots of them in North America) and fed some goats and the like. It was an ok zoo I suppose, but the pens seemed a little small.
Poppet probably enjoyed the splashpad the most...











And when I can find where I put the photos from the CNE (agricultural show) I'll pop them up too.
I'm feeling extremely scatter-brained lately. Putting it down to the extended summer break.
It's nothing to do with the glasses of wine...



Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Princess Time

As promised, here are the shots of the soccer-loving Princess Poppet.
I found some cute fabric with sneakers on it, combined it with some other brights and even managed to source ribbon with soccer balls. All the way from China (naturally).
I finished the crown just now and it's just the cutest thing. I'm so pleased with it!
The possibilities are endless, and that is why I love making customs so much. Doors keep opening in my mind.
Here's the sporty Princess herself...











And here's a last shot of the girls together before they wing their way down under.






More soon, I seem to be on a roll!




Friday, August 16, 2013

Ballerina-licious

So we're at something like day 51 of the holidays.
Happily today was a potter about, fluff around kind of day.
We did some boring food shopping, chatted to the baker (who loves our accent, his wife is from Sydney) and went to the fabulous local toy store on the way home. I'm continuing to savor what's left of our time together. Next week will be our last full week, after that Poppet has a camp (Pioneer Village complete with costumes) and then it's school!
A last minute splurge today saw us completing a 350 piece puzzle when we got home. It took two hours and we listened to some great tunes before tv time was allowed again after lunch. She watched The Brady Bunch and I got to work and finished one half of a custom order. I've been asked to make a pink, soccer-loving Princess Poppet and a purple ballet-loving Poppet for some twins. Here is the purple ballet-loving Poppet in all her glory.

Cute much?!







I'll finish the soccer-loving Princess over the weekend and show you next week. I just have to finish her crown...




Thursday, August 15, 2013

Summer of Love

I'm sitting on the sofa at 7.30 am. I've finished my coffee, checked my email/twitter/email/facebook and am waiting for my kid to wake up. She never does this. NEVER. EVER.
My girl is the classic early-riser type. We have travelled the world, lived in different timezones and she has always found 6am. If she has a late night (later than her 7.30pm bedtime) Poppet will still wake at 6am.
But today she's having a lie in. I'm tempted to go upstairs and check if she is still breathing (old habits die hard) but I'm sure she'll wake any minute now...


image via pinterest

Meanwhile I can share a little of what we've been up to. The Canadian summer holidays are immense, just like their mountains, trees and moose. We've had almost 10 weeks off from school and I confess that I approached this break with a fair dose of trepidation. 99% of Poppet's buddies are away for the summer or spending time in camp so playdates are very thin on the ground. This means me and my kid have spent 6 weeks together trying not to go crazy. We've been to playgrounds, art galleries, movies and visited the dvd library more times than I care to remember (they have amazing ice cream!). I really thought it would be very difficult to spend so much time together but somehow we've managed to actually enjoy ourselves. Sure, there's been cross moments but nowhere near as many as I expected. It's been nice.


image via pinterest


We have a couple of weeks left to go, and one camp right at the end of it all (a pioneer camp complete with costumes - bonnets - and weaving) and then my girl will start Grade 3. That certainly feels like the end of an era. Grade 3 means she is leaving 'little girl' behind her and inching ever closer to the dreaded tween stage.
I will do my best to approach this phase with anticipation and deny the dread.
Hey, we managed summer holidays ok after all!

Somehow, amongst all of the kid time I've been able to get some work done. Lots of custom orders have been completed and I've re-visited this super cute pattern.
The Pocket Poppets will be available to purchase real soon. You'll be able to buy them individually or in sets and I hope to have lots of Christmas ones on the burn too. Here's a couple of sneaky shots of them.
I'll take some more today of the finished product.





And if you follow my Facebook page you may be aware that I'm offering a 15% off discount in my Etsy store until Friday. Just enter "AUGUST13" at the checkout to snap up an amazing bargain.
Some of these cuties are still available!





Ok. She's awake so I'll go hang with her for a bit. A rare playdate is on offer this afternoon and I just won't know what to do with all that quiet! Who am I kidding, I'm wild with excitement!



Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Yo Ho Ho

Hello there.
Just a little note to let you know some mermaids and pirates have hit the Etsy shop.
Exciting! It's been ages since I've been able to stock the shop up and will continue to be tricky during the behemoth summer holidays we have here. If you're interested in one of these guys I suggest you move quickly.









I'm not making anything except custom orders and Xmas stock from now on. In fact, I'm going to start off by only doing custom work for a while. I haven't quite decided how to release the custom spots for Xmas yet, stay tuned as I'll most likely do it here.
Only 140 days until Xmas after all...

Hope you're having a great day!



Saturday, August 3, 2013

Caribana

Toronto has an enormous Caribbean community (in fact, name a 'community' and you'll find it here) and every year they spend three weeks celebrating their culture and heritage. They call it the Caribana Carnival.
Of course, it culminated with a parade. Think loud music, loud colours, feathers, sequins and lots of skin.
We went to watch.













Now that's body confidence for you!



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