Portraits

I drew this two years ago, when Casper was barely two months old. It's funny, he still puts his hand up like that on his face when he sleeps. 

Casper in the bath a few nights ago, one of my favourite times to draw him.

Next year, I will be taking part in the 52 project- a portrait a week. So in 2013 I will be photographing, painting or drawing a portrait of Casper each week and uploading it to both my blog and my Tumblr. I am looking forward to documenting our life this year in pictures, and I hope it will be a nice addition to the ol' blog.

Potatoes

So I got this idea in my head that it would be really fun to make some wrapping paper this year with Casper as a nice Christmas project to do together. I roped my friend Mel in on it too and we started to get really excited about spilling paint all over our clothes and using potatoes for something other than food. We decided to do it this afternoon so I went and bought some metallic blue and fluoro pink paint and some brown paper in a roll. 

The thing is, that when we started printing, Casper was soooo not into it. he could not care less about this exciting project that Mel and I had meticulously planned and wanted to play with the dogs instead. So it ended up being just the two of us potato stamping and having a whale of a time. Casper did participate by finger-painting over some of our stamps which I think turned out to be very beautiful and dramatic.

At least he was an absolute dream for the post-wrap party photo shoot.

Koala

I just finished making this koala as a prototype for more that I will put in my shop. I was thinking about not putting her on the blog, as there are a lot of things that I don't put on here. If you haven't gathered by now I am a perfectionist/overachiever/classic-older-sister type. 

I really like her, but she's a bit wonky so I will be revising the pattern. I think she turned out great for a first attempt. I came up with the idea for a koala with ric-rac ears a few weeks ago and I couldn't wait to see what it would turn out like. I ended up also using ric-rac for the claws in the spur of the moment. She's made with an old bedsheet and the pattern is made up of only 4 pieces which is amazing to sew up. I used an old floral sheet for her body and some really old corduroy for her tummy. Her eyes are wooden buttons. I incorporated her nose into the pattern too, it's just black cotton.

I can't wait to give her to Casper when I pick him up from daycare! When I gave him the kangaroo he said "kanga-woooooo!" and started hopping it around the house. 

Little Peeples

1. Casper and his "peeples", evaporating little footprints on the step.
2. Toddler playdate with our favourite flame headed girl B.B.
3. Pick on someone your own size.
4. Beautiful light on a cherubic cheek.

More Kangaroos

See? I told you there would be more. Now there are four kangaroos in my shop all waiting to find a new home. I spent today sewing up all of these adorable roos after cutting all the fabric a few days ago. Sometimes I think it's nice just to jump straight into the sewing part. I think my favourite is the velveteen one- if she doesn't sell, I'm keeping her on my bedside table.

Now to get to work on a koala pattern. I think he's going to have to be smaller, with velvet and ric-rac ears?

Kangaroo

Today I made this kangaroo toy and I will be making a few more to sell in my last minute Christmas pop up shop in the couple of days. Isn't she lovely and sleepy? I think all she needs now is a pocket.

Floral Pinafore

I made this pinafore a few months ago from some floral corduroy that I have had for a while in my fabric cupboard. I made up the pattern, it was fairly simple to sew. The skirt is tucked all around, there is a zipper closure and then the suspenders are buttoned on. The clasp on the back is an old scouts neckerchief slide. 

I had seen a couple of pinafores around the internet (I think they're called jumpers in North America) and wanted to try my hand at making myself one. I really like wearing it, it's comfortable and versatile. I was wearing fair isle jumpers underneath it when it was colder and for Summer I think I will wear some short sleeved button up shirts with it! I might try and make some shorts with suspenders next time.

Drawing the Domestic

I try to draw whenever I have a spare moment, just to keep a record of the everyday. Looking back at these drawings, (most of them are from this year) it seems like unremarkable moments are the ones I want to keep. I don't usually post my pictures on this blog, but I feel like sometimes there is a blurred line between how I see the world and the way I work in it.

I suppose I have always been a diarist, and always loved the idea of people reading back on my life someday. That's probably also the reason for having a blog, so that there is some chronological record of things that I have bothered to write down and a way of tracking my creative development. Another interest of mine is book binding and although I have never been trained, I make all of my notebooks by hand. 

 

Secrets

This week I have been working on a secret project that I won't be revealing until later in the year. 

Today I am painting some illustrations for an online film review. Last night a friend of mine asked me to make him a jacket out of astro-turf.

Old Favourites

I made this cape for Casper when he was very small, to see if I could make something for my shop that would be suitable to sell in one size from newborn to toddler and beyond. I am glad to say that it has continued to be worn (and torn) and hopefully will last until next winter too. 

I love the thought of having clothes that can grow with children, I am brewing some ideas for "growing" dresses and pants for summer. Oh and in case you were wondering, yes my son is magic.

Car Cake

Yesterday we had a picnic to celebrate the lil' man's birthday. It was such a beautiful sunny day and so many people came to hang out- it was really heartwarming, there are so many people who love him.

We didn't take too many photos, but other people did. Though I did insist that Steve take some pictures of the cake I made, because it had a few run-ins with park dogs and the frosting was looking kind of melty. I made a Casper cake last year and wanted to up the stakes a bit with a car cake this year. I based it on my Dad's car, which is a pink FB Holden. It's a basic chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, marshmallow headlights and oreos with liquorice wrapped around them for the tyres.

The best thing was that it combined Casper's two true loves, cars and cakes.

Colour Theory

It might be something in the jeans, but Casper knows his colour theory.