Frida Kahlo Softie by craftyclaudes

For the last few weeks I have been working on this little Frida Kahlo softie/cushion as a Birthday gift for my sister.   The idea came to me watching a short film on Frida recently.  I loved her unique style, passion for her Mexican heritage and her colourful self portraits.   So after spying this gorgeous fabric on one of my recent shops

I got to sketching and practicing my pattern making skills.  Using a template of a babushka doll that I had made recently, 

Raiding my fabric stash I found these cotton napkins that I got to use for Frida's face.

 More cutting and many hours of sewing by both machine and hand.....I finally completed her in time to give to my sis.

A little poncho with pom poms made me smile.......arribaaaaa!!

 Hand stitching felt flowers for her hair piece....

 Martino let Frida enjoy a little bit of chill out time in his fave chair. She enjoyed it for a little while.  We got used to seeing her around the apartment in all stages of creation......

but now she goes home with my sis to hang out in the Queensland Sunshine.  I think Frida was a hit!  

Craftyclaudes on Etsy

I am thrilled to declare craftyclaudes Etsy shop is now open for business!!  Yay!   This has been a long time coming and it gives me the chance to put a big tick next to one of my goals for 2010. It has taken lots of  sewing, beading, stitching and planning - not to mention endless cups of tea and ok...some biscuits too  ;-) 

Currently listed in the shop are these brooches and bird softies. 

I will be adding more of the same in the next few days as well as my beautiful owlies so stay tuned.


Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Made by.....my mama.

I have a very talented, resourceful and crafty mum.  She is always making things. Yummy food, lovely floral arrangements, cute cushions, table cloths, decorations.  She does it all.  A self taught crafter  - my favorite kind.     This Christmas she has made some tree decorations using scraps of felt left over from my various projects.  All carefully designed, cut and hand stitched.

Blanket stitching - so neat.

Christmas tree decorations ready to be hung soon.

Very beautiful, colorful and sweet - just like my mama!

Paper garlands - A simple project....

Well....I have finished all my projects for market. Thirty two pieces. All done - phew!  A big achievement for both Maves and I.  So this weekend we will have fun photographing them and thinking about what markets we will sell our wares at this Christmas season. Yay to us!   Upon finishing all the little pieces I decided to continue on my crafty crusade and got out my paper stash.  After focusing on fabric, felt, beads and thread for a few months, it was nice to go through all my pretty papers and try out my brand new paper punch.

I started making lots of these:

Then when I had a bunch of them ready I ran them through the sewing machine.  

In between each shape, I would leave a little thread to give them some room to just hang out

and voila!!  A paper garland :-)

This was by far the quickest project I have ever made.  Plus now that I have tried it, I am thinking Christmas decorations and filling the apartment with pretty garlands.  Just don't tell Martino.  He might think its a little too girlie.   But I loved how these turned out and now that spring is here and our apartment is filled with light and beautiful breeze, these little guys will flutter away and add a festive feel to our place. 

Sweet!

tick tock tick tock.....

As pretty as this clock is, it only serves as a reminder that a deadline is looming.   Way back in winter my lovely friend Maves and I set each other a goal.  The goal would serve as a way to keep creative ideas and inspiration at the forefront of our minds. So we set about pursuing our favourite crafts (me: sewing   / Maves: sculpting).  Along the way we have been sharing ideas and updating each other on the progress of our creations. It has actually been a wonderful time.  Personally I know that I have been far less of a procrastinator and have not felt like giving up when creations don't quite go my way.  Its also nice to be able to talk about what you are making as often crafting is a lonely activity.  I still do however dream of a starting a crafty club where we can all come together for a few hours and share cups of tea and chat and craft away on our projects.  Something to work on for the future I think!.

So next Sunday 10 October, our creations are due.   We get to show them off to each other  and Maves gets to use her other big talent - photography - and we will have a day of styling and photographing our creations.     I have been thinking of ideas for how I would like my little dolls, birds, owls and brooches photographed.   Its very exciting and I look forward to sharing them soon.

Sewing techniques learned along the way....

pequeñitas - (minus the pins) soon to be shared!

Softies for Mirabel - 4th annual Handmade Toys drive

From one of the awesome blogs I follow - Meet Me At Mikes. A call out has been placed to all crafters out in the community to support The Mirabel Foundation.

The Mirabel Foundation is a very special organization that helps children who have been left abandoned (or sadly, orphaned) due to drug addiction of their parent(s). They provide support to the children and also to their carers who are often the grandparents or the extended family.  You can read more about them here.

The idea is that you create a doll, toy, softies, plushie - anything that a child aged from 0-17 years would like to play with and call their own.  Once made, you send your creations to Meet Me At Mikes and they will kindly organize delivery to the kids!!  I love participating in things like this.  Its where I get to craft away and know that no matter what I create, it will be appreciated by a little person.  That is pretty cool don't you think?

Here are some creations from the past 3 years:

Photos courtesy of the Meet Me At Mikes Flickr group - see link below.

 
You can check out more pics of them here

If you are lucky enough to live in Melbourne (or visiting ) all the creations will be on display in the window of Meet Me At Mikes from 1 to 7 December for all to admire before they are sent to the foundation.

Here is a pic of a past year window display

So am very excited to start planning my softie creations. This calls for a fabric sourcing expedition - all for a fantastic cause!

Crafty scenes....

Its been a very busy few days finishing off my projects in preparation for Christmas markets.  Ive been playing around with some ideas for other softies that I want to make.  I finished off some dollies and also some more owls.  They have been my favourite ones so far.  Using fabric remnants, vintage fabric (found on a recent thrift store shopping expedition) lots of felt and even some upholstery fabric.   These little guys are turning out really nicely and even my old trusty work horse of a sewing machine is behaving itself and helping me along the way :-)

Here are a few pictures of what I have seen and been up to in the last few days.  Lots of fun, colour, fabric, wool and creative goodness.  Just how I like it!

Oh yeah - Martino finally organized his art desk yay!  incl the 3 little tins I made for his birthday :-)

Felt project # 1 - Bright bright birdies.....

This little birdie grew from a small drawing I once did when on the phone.  I guess you could call it a doodle.   A few months ago after playing around with some bright colored felt and wondering what my next creation could be I decided to go with the little birds.   I designed a basic pattern and got to work cutting and sewing - what I love best! ...... I will turn these little birdies into some hanging decorations. I really enjoyed making these as they allow me to incorporate lots of my favorite things,  bright felt colors, seed beads, embroidery thread and some ribbon.

I am now working on a whole bunch of them - as many as I can sew by an October deadline that has been set.   These birdies make me smile.

one little elephant.....

photo by Sowri - (available on Flickr via creative commons)

When we left Chile to begin our new life in Australia (30 years ago last month)  I remember holding onto a special little gift given to me by my Year 1 school buddies. It was a little elephant soft toy.  I remember he was grey with big ears, black  glassy eyes and he felt very soft . When I close my eyes, I can still feel the sweet comfort he provided to my 6 year old self during what was then a 20+ hour flight.   I remember having to leave my granny and aunts and uncles at the airport and wondering why they were all crying.  After all, we were only going on holidays (or so I thought).  The idea of packing up the few belongings you have and heading to a land that was foreign must have been so hard for my parents, especially with two little kiddies in tow.  They did it as they knew this country offered many more opportunities for work and education than a unstable post-military coup Chile could provide.

So 30 years later here I am in a country I am so very proud to call home.  Mighty grateful for all the opportunities that it has afforded our family and wanting to express it all in my creations.   So in celebration of this big year I am creating a little elephant friend which will combine my love of fabric, beads, bright colours and my recent obsession with all things India.  For inspiration I checked out some pictures on Flickr and loved these two.

and now....to create!

photo by Eliza Raschke (available on Flickr via creative commons)