tiny happy

a dress with pockets

I made myself this brown dress, from the pattern in this Japanese book: 'Stylish Dress book' (ISBN: 978-4-579-11185-5) and some reproduction-print quilting fabric (bought from here a while ago.)

I wanted a slightly 1940's-America feel to the dress, and I think the fabric helped me get close to that. It's a super-comfortable dress, nice and loose, with a wide, open neckline. Perfect with wool pants and a cardigan. Sorry about this terrible picture of me in front of the art supply shelf- as you can see, housework is not my priority!

I didn't do a very good job with the pleats down the front- they're rather wonky- but luckily, I'm not fussy about such things on my clothes. And I can always make another one. You can't have too many dresses.

forget-me-nots

This is the wool crepe fabric and embroidered ribbons I bought from Cloth House when I visited London last month. I adore the fabric, and look at it every day. But I have no idea what to do with it. If you live in London or visit there sometimes, I strongly recommend you go to Soho and have a look at the fabrics inside that little shop.

I thought I'd been managing quite well so far, this winter. I hadn't been longing for sunshine or warmth, or different places to be. But then yesterday, I found myself embroidering some summer flowers (forget-me-nots). And while I slept, I dreamt about walking without shoes in the wild garden where we used to live, picking grapes from a vine and eating them one by one.

wednesday

enjoying the small patches of sunlight when they're here :: tucking the dolls under their new blanket (handknitted by our friend in NZ, Susie) :: some more white and grey for my shop today :: the sun shining on our frozen harbour last week.

waiting inside

One morning recently Keira and I were eating an apple together, and she seemed much more interested in the seeds than the actual food. So after a chat about the purpose of them, we decided to try planting a couple in an old yoghurt pot filled with soil. She got very excited about these little seeds in the windowsill, watering them every hour or so and singing to them, and giving me regular progress reports ('still just dirt in there, mum.')

Anyway, maybe it was the over-watering, but those little seeds never sprouted. And then a few days later, Keira presented me with this drawing: 'MIFO'. She explained that the seed was very complicated, because it was filled with very tiny flowers and trees and fruits and vegetables, and wasn't sure what would pop out of it and grow. I liked that idea of the great and colourful potential inside something so small and ordinary. So I made a little embroidery, inspired by MIFO.

ferns

A little project finished on the weekend: a new set of stationery for the new year. I've always loved ferns, and I even managed to find a few little tendrils in the garden, snap-frozen. It's a super-simple design, two green inks gocco-printed onto card.

ice and caramels

Tom made these outdoor ornaments a few weeks ago with the children- to grace the rails near our front door step. He made them by placing cookie cutters in a shallow tray filled with water outside for the night, with small sticks in the centre of each shape to create the holes. (I think he added those when the water was half-frozen.)

And here we have some florentine caramels- made to add to a gift for Arlo's teacher. It's quite yummy- sort of like a less-creamy russian fudge. It's easy and quick to make, but not so good for the teeth. But you probably guessed that.
 

Florentine Caramels

2 1/4 cups plain sugar
2 Tb coconut
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tb golden syrup
25 gms butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Put sugar, coconut and ginger into a medium saucepan and mix together. Add golden syrup, butter and milk and heat gently, stirring all the time. Bring to the boil. Do not stir. Boil until mixture reaches 'soft ball' stage. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon until thick. Pour onto a buttered plate or tin. Cut/break up when cool.

white on grey

I found an old, thick wool blanket a while ago in a beautiful grey, and decided it would make a couple of lovely sturdy bags (now in my first shop update for the year.) I sewed some vintage crochet pieces to one, and worked a design in white embroidery yarn on the other.

As the temperature drops below -10 degrees, we're seeing a lot of white on grey here. Just a general ice/permanent frost that covers everything. It's very beautiful, but I have to admit, especially from the warmth of inside.

Today there is a little interview I did with Margie on her beautiful blog Resurrection Fern. I feel very lucky to be included in her week of features- I'm in good company!
Hope you're keeping warm today.

 

the c.p.s.i.a

Like many other craft bloggers, I'm worried about this new CPSIA law which is to be passed in one month, and has the power to put many crafters and artists out of business. It states that any company selling goods in the USA for children under 12 years of age must invest in third-party testing and labelling. The costs for doing this are in the tens of thousands of US dollars. It seems such a shame, considering the ultimate aim of the law is to create greater safety for children, which is exactly why so many parents like to buy handmade toys and clothing.

If you want to read more, here are some links:
cool mom picks (there is a wealth of information and furthur links here.)
change.org (where you can personally vote for the law to be amended)
etsy's response to the law
handmade toy alliance (a great site with sample letters you can copy and send to your senator or congressperson if in the US.)

If you have a few minutes for this very worthwhile cause, please visit one of these sites and vote/write. Thank you for helping to save handmade goods for children!

in flight

We spent Christmas in Germany, and on the way home we drove the entire length of Denmark, just as the sun was coming up. The motorway was crowded with trucks and holidaymakers, but above all the vehicles soared flocks of birds, dipping and diving in the grey sky.

So I made these little notebooks when we got home, in memory of those Danish birds. I used black A5 notebooks from Muji (I went there with Charlotte in London) then added the birds free-hand with white watercolour paint.

Thank you for the nice welcome back yesterday- I'm looking forward to another year of craft blogging!

a new year

2008 projects, originally uploaded by tiny happy.

Happy 2009 my friends.
I made this little mosaic to round up my creative work of 2008, and can see that I was really into linen and pale colours!
I hope you've had a peaceful break sometime over the last month. I'm looking forward to another year of seeing and making.

xx