Big Chops!

A lovely, lovely email landed in my inbox last week from Florrie and Vanessa with some photographs and tales of their enormous brood and their rather troublesome antics!
Here are two Little Errols, a pair of Mini-Matchbox Monster Babies in love (cuddling-up in an innocent smoothie hat!), Mischievous Maud and who is the tan coloured fur to the right?... Big Chops!

Here is the whole family; Maud (who matches the walls beautifully!) also has Bothersome Boris to keep her company and Teeny Timmy to play with (Tiny in blue tweed at the bottom) along with Squeaky Beryl on the right with a Sleeping Baby. Lucky that Big Chops is quite skilled at crowd management; here's what Florrie says they have been up to:

"Here are the photographs of Big Chops with his family. He has married Little Errol and adopted Bothersome and the Little Twins. Greedy Greta, Little Errol's sister is quite jealous but she has Maud to look after! Greedy likes to plump herself until she is almost round which makes Little Erol upset because she is quite flat now. Big Chops has his work cut out trying to keep the peace."

"Big Chops does experience some difficulties, especially when taking Bothersome out for his walks. He had to put Bothersome on a lead because he kept running into peoples gardens and going through their letter boxes. Bothersome now uses the lead to tangle Big Chops up by running round him in circles! "

Thank you so much to F and V, it is very good to hear how they are and to hear some of the tales of chaos! x x x

Delicate Doilies

It was so nice to see some of you at the Notting Hill show last weekend. Such lovely people! it really made the show for me. THANK YOU x x x x

Tiny Tweed Twins

Oh Gosh, at last a new picture! I have been sending out orders and working on comissions and not been doing very much sewing at all, but here I have a cross breed! These two tiny tweed twins are a cross between Mischeivous Maud and Bothersome Boris and the little Squeaking Sleeping Babies, They are just less than 3 inches tall and they are very lazy.

Alice's Bothersome Boris

Alice came to help me for a weeks work experience over Easter (THANK YOU Alice!) and at the end of the last afternoon when we were both too tired to do much else, we sat sewing and I showed Alice how to make her own Bothersome Boris. She sent this photo of him and here is a link to see some of her other pretty creations.

Teeny Timmy and Moaning Mini

Gosh, it has been a loooong time since I have had a chance to update here - and I have so many things I want to add. Here is Mischeivous Maud's teddy Teeny Timmy, the one who is in bed with her in one of the scenes. He is about 5-6 cm tall. Bothersome Boris also has a teddy; Moaning Mini, she is pink and very, very small and very annoying. I've made a large family of these titchy teddies and took an armful of them to Kids.Modern to find new homes. They are made using the same fabrics as Maud and Boris: Harris Tweed, leather scraps and reclaimed wool. I've also made a whole herd of them that are a bit bigger- just big enough to fit a squeaker into, they are VERY naughty and I'll put a picture up here soon.

Bright Ideas Show at Craft Central

These are the display cabinets in the entrance lobby of Craft Central, there are 16 in all, divided into 4 lots of 4. I created a scene and story in each strip, this is the first one with them on stage.... (I have added a couple more below this one) and because there were so many cabinets to fill, I also brought in a few things from my big cabinet at home to help fill it up. Here are few of them:

Lovely old cotton reels, and a some wool cards. I collect these lovely pieces of haberdashery and find them the best inspiration for colours and styles for my illustrations and cards.

I found this tiny cup at the village fair a few years ago, it reads 'Mother' in gold. It was the best 20p I spent that day! I'm now on the lookout for a saucer for it, and maybe a teapot and jug.


And this sweet little card is from an old game. You spin the wheel to get a letter of the alphabet and then pick a card and answer it beginning with that letter. Each of the cards is soft, textured, heavy paper and the type is pressed into it quite far, they have a beautiful quality.

Photo credit: Sarah Murphy

Mischeivous Mauds Bedtime

Maud in bed with her teddy Teeny Timmy. I have made a batch of Teeny Timmys for the Christmas sales, they are about 2 inches high and made from the scraps left over from Maud and Boris, they have tiny reclaimed leather ears. Maud is tucked up in bed (my mums old jewelley box) with some crisp cotton bed linen (lace table runners) and a good book (a grusome Victorian miniature).

Photo Credit: Sarah Murphy

Bothersome Boris Baking

This is his biscuit recipe for all butter biscuits with icing, and here he is baking with one of my miniature stoves.
I read an Enid Blyton story when I was young about a little girl who accidentally left her (fully working electric) toy stove at the bottom of her garden overnight. The fairies and elves used the stove that night and, to say thank you to her for having used it, they left her some tiny, tiny cakes and a note. I wanted that so badly - the stove I could cook small cakes on, and most especially for some fairies to make a tiny cake for me.

Photo Credit: Sarah Murphy

Bright Ideas show opening soon

At last... I have put up my display in the exhibition to launch the twins. I have four very long cabinets to fill with just a few tiny toys so I have created scenes of them in their own worlds. I especially like Maud in bed in a box and Boris cooking biscuits. I'll put some photos up very soon.

Bright Ideas
Craft Central (the new name for the Clerkenwell Green Association)
33-35 St John’s Square
London
EC1M 4DS
Nearest station: Farringdon for the underground and
overland trains
It's open from the 1st - 25th of November
Weds - Saturday 12 - 6pm plus Sunday 25th November
and admission is free. I will be invigilating the show on Friday 9th, Friday 23rd and Sunday 25th of November if you'd like to come and say hello - It would be nice to see some friendly faces and nice chatter.

First Press for The Twins

It's their first bit of press! A tear sheet arrived today from Selvedge magazine, the Nov/Dec 07 issue and it's not long to go until the show opens. I've made some props for the display cabinets; lots of sewing, including some bunting, a bed and a stage with curtains and pelmet.

Packaging for The Twins

Hot off the press I have the packaging for Mischievous Maud and Bothersome Boris. They come with: an adoption certificate, a family portrait, a membership card, information on their production, care instructions and a cut-out-and-make minuscule meal; the main course is a pyramid of peas and for dessert a big slice of cake- providing them with a perfectly balanced and delicious diet when the Fondant Fancies run-out.

Mischievous Maud and Bothersome Borris

A preview picture of prototypes of the new TWINS to be launched on 1st November at Craft Central (the new name for the Clerkenwell Green Association) as part of the Bright Ideas award scheme and exhibition. They are made from beautiful handwoven Harris Tweeds. More info to come....