sleepy-time cushion

My friend Katie has some wild children (awesome, but wild) and therefore could use a bit more sleep. So I made her this cushion:

I took the idea from a post I saw on the Mr XStitch website. The original is "A Gentle Warning to my Children" by The Cotton Floozy:

Hilarious. You should check out her blog. She does all sorts of hilarious embroideries, like one of seagulls puking rainbows. 

I posted a link to it on Facebook a year ago and Katie loved it. This year, I thought she should have her have her own version. The wording was really too perfect, so I kept that. But I wanted it to be more personalised, so I used a photo of Katie's sleeping profile (nabbed off of Facebook! Lucky she has such a lovely profile, am I right?), traced it, and embroidered it onto light fabric. I exercised a bit of creative license and gave her hair pink streaks (it's blond in real life) to match the lips, but my favourite bit is the eyelashes. Those were fun. 

My brother suggested a pillow would be a fitting object for the message and I agreed. So there you go!

I wrapped it up in cheerful yellow tissue paper and shipped it across the pond. She insists that she loves it and it makes her giggle. It may not help her sleep, but if it makes her giggle, then my work here is done. 

I'm hoping to make some similarly amusing cushions for my dito shop. Not this one, as I'm not into stealing other people's ideas for profit. It's a shame The Cotton Floozy thought of it first, because it's JUST SO GOOD. 

ticky tocks for kids who are all growed up

Big ticky tocks!

Because I couldn't just make them for toddlers, could I? Question is, do I put them in the babybandito shop or in dito, my grown-up shop that I have neglected now for quite some time? They wouldn't be the only thing in the grown-up shop. I have ideas, you know. Grand plans. And they (of course) involve funny embroidery.

At a market the other day, a lady quite cleverly quipped, "It's a perfect holiday watch!" And she's completely right. Because when you're on holiday, you don't actually want to know what time it really and truly is. Luckily, these are all set at roughly brunch time or party time, depending on whether the sun or the moon is out. And everybody knows those are the two best times of day.

So what do you think? babybandito or dito?

{pay it forward} Adele

It's a patchwork needlebook!

Made with my Heather Ross fabric stash and some lovely wool felt. You may recognise some of the fabric from the little pincushion I made for my sister. And lookit! lookit! I got to bust out my new dito labels:

 I even used mitred corners with my handmade continuous bias binding. For the first time ever!

Happy stitching, Adele...

{handmade treasures} bloomsbury group

I was going to wait until I had more items in my new shop to introduce it to you, but what better way than to share its first inclusion in an Etsy treasury?

I'm in the third row - a set of lavender heart sachets I made for hanging on doors. These particular beauties were commissioned by my friend Hazel, so I dedicate this blog entry to her. Yay! xo

48/365

Grace in small things.

1. I've been putting my new shop together and one of my bags has already been added as someone's favourite!

2. I've also been working on a little present for my friend Amy and it's finished. I desperately want to show it off, but can't until it's in the hands of its rightful owner. It is awesome. ifidosaysomyself

3. I watched Capote last night, finally. What a great film. Philip Seymour Hoffman is da bomb (to bring back an accolade of old).

4. I've signed myself up for a very very fun sounding market, Playtime.

It's probably more of a one day festival than a market. Anyway. Keep your fingers crossed that it'll be a good day for babybandito! Even if it's not, a market/festival named after a Jacques Tati film and run by a French lady has got to be a good thing to steep yourself in for a day. It's next Sunday. You should totally come check it out.

5. Dhari still likes vegetables.

46/365

Grace in small things.

1. I have begun my month of exam marking (blech). My small thing that I have found to cherish in this mountain of spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes is this: The Pomodoro Method.

It gives me nice little five minute breaks (and the occasional 25 minute break - woo!) to do whatever, guilt-free, because I know I have to go back to the mountain of mistakes for another 25 minutes, over and over again, until it is finished. So how have I spent my break time today? Well, at first, washing dishes (what?). Then doing minimal make-up and hair, checking email, Facebook, updating my favourites on Etsy, reading everyone else's blogs and finally updating my own. I was unable to finish this first point in a five minute break, but oh well. It's done now!

2. Starting on Adele's Facebook Pay it Forward gift. At this rate (see above), it might be done by July. Even so, it's going to be so cute and so useful. There's something so lovely about perusing my many craft books, shopping for the perfect thing to make for a friend. And then, of course, digging through my Heather Ross fabric scraps stash (WHICH I LOVINGLY HOARD) to find the most fun combination of patterns and colours.

3. I've ordered labels for my new grown-up brand, which I've hinted at for ages now. It's mostly been little wisps of ideas floating in and out of my line of vision, but I now have an ever growing list of things to actually make and put in this new babybandito offshoot for big banditos. Those lovely lavender hearts, for starters. It will be called "dito", pronounced deeto (not ditto). Makes sense, right?

4. How tiny Dhari's bum looks in big boy pants. We tried it (potty training) out yesterday. To put it lightly, he's not totally won over by the whole idea. Still, pretty cute.

5. I found Collective Memory Part 2 in the cupboard the other day. Part 1 is in Kansas City. Anyway, I can now add to the one "Vintage" quote by Amy I have over at my other blog. It's weird reading through them. Some are still hilarious, others? Not so much. Most make no sense whatsoever. Still, good fun.