The Enchanted Wood

It's a Book Title themed week over at Madeit and I'm joining in the fun with one of my own childhood favourites. Who doesn't love the Faraway Tree and all it's it's quirky inhabitants? And all those crazy worlds at the top of the tree? For that matter, who doesn't love all of Enid Blyton's sweetly old-fashioned characters? 
Here's my "Enchanted Wood" picks

From left to right, top to bottom:
Wooden Leaf House Puzzle by Raw Toys
Rainbow Amigurumi Crochet Toys by Rosieok
Little Boy Night Light by Sage Design
Illustration - Lively in the Forest by Nomuu
The Original Laser-Cut Jewellery Tree by Bird of Play
Woodland Little Red Fox Girl by Joyfoolery
Fox on the Run Archival Print by Bellablackbird
Fairy Dress by Hannah Banannas
Felt Fairy House by Snuggles and Smiles
Woodland Notebook by Misiu
Kawaii Chocolate Brown Squirrel by I Made This For You
Wooden Autumn Acorn Set by Raw Toys

Check out i made this for you's clever picks for Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop here

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!

One of the things I love best about this little biz of mine is coming up with new designs to create. It's also one of the most frustrating! The amount of new ideas I have in my head is unbelieveable. Sometimes it's just a tweak on a pattern I've already made, sometimes it's a 'start from scratch' kind of project, but either way, I simply can't keep up!

I have managed to complete two new designs this week. Both fall into the 'tweak' catergory. The first is a boys jacket. I made this pattern up last winter, but I only ever made up one for Mozzie (hopefully I can actually get a few listed in my Madeit store this year!). The only real tweak was 'machine sketching' (not sure of the real name!), but it's something I've wanted to try for a while. And I have to admit I think it turned out pretty well.

The second was an Easter version of the Oblongs - something I intended to make last year, but typically ran out of time.Pretty cute, huh?
 

It's been a while...

About eight months, in fact. But I'm back to give this blogging thing another go! I've deleted a handful of posts and now I'm pretty much back to square one. I figure I'll just start with what I've been up to...(I'll keep it short and sweet)

So my Madeit store is looking pretty full and I have have a stack of new designs, which I'm pretty pleased about :) And then there's December...
December is one of my favourite months, anyway. The start of Summer, the build-up to Christmas and the big day itself, Mozzie's Birthday, and usually a camping trip over New Years - I love it all. But this year was especially great. This year December was big for Mozzie and Mac
One of my dresses was selected for Madeit's Mega Giveaway. A pair of shorts were chosen for Madeit's 'My Child' magazine ad. I organised a Handmade Showcase for Madeit sellers, which was fun (not sure how successful, but anyways...). Oopsidaisi put Mozzie & Mac on her list of handmade labels that had impressed her in 2012 (a pretty big deal for me, as she is hand-maker that I respect enormously) and my facebook page likers increased dramatically - for the little page that I have, at least.
But the most incredible event in December? Being chosen to feature in Madeit's Designer Spotlight (thanks Bec!!!). There's no way to describe exactly how it made me feel to picked - excited, a little bit nervous and incredibly honoured  is as close as I can get. And good. Really, really good. It's so easy to doubt yourself and your skills in the world of handmade and just to be chosen feels like a big scoop of validation: yes, I CAN do this, yes, my work IS good enough. And add the feedback and support from fellow Madeit sellers (who are a fantastic group of people) and I'm feeling pretty positive about what I do!

Now I'm off to do a little more sewing :)
 
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All the pretty dresses...

I finished four dresses today, including three that have been irritating me for weeks. All this sewing would be soooo much easier if I could stick to one or two patterns. But no, as soon as I get one design pretty much figured out, I get some bright idea for a new one. Which will, of course, not come together as easily as I envisaged. I had to scrap one this morning (more a colossal screw up with my measurements than a design issue), but the others have finally come together. And I made a new Perfect Summer dress while I was at it.I still have another three dresses cut out and ready to sew. And yes, that includes not one, but two new designs!

Not the best pictures, I know. 

First is a Perfect Summer dress in a size 1. I love pure white! Still need to test the sizing, though. Second is a linen look bicycle print pini in a size 2. So cute. Button holes drove me nuts, though. Ever tried to unpick a button hole? Not fun. No pic for the third, which is a pretty floral print dress with doily sleeves. Pretty sure it's a size 6 - I need to bribe Mozzie to try it on for me ;) I don't have a pic of the fourth either, but it was the trickiest. I had no idea an elastic waist could be so difficult! It probably wouldn't have been if I'd planned it better, but you get that...

Mozzie & Mac and Me

See, this is why it's taken me so long to start a blog. I've already sat in front of the screen for a good 15 minutes trying to figure out how to start...it only gets easier, right?Well, how about an introduction? For Mozzie & Mac and me. 

The real Mozzie and Mac are my two gorgeous kidlets, Jack and McKenzi. This is us (and my beautiful partner):

Pretty cute, right? (Yeah, yeah, biased and all that) 

Mozzie (Jack) loves ninjas, robots, Lego, spaceships, Egypt, dragons, Star Wars, fruit bread and riding his scooter. He's pretty laid back and he has a fantastic imagination. He's constantly collecting random bits and pieces to build his rocket - he even tried to convince me he needed an old car engine sitting in someones front yard - yeah, good luck with that, kiddo! 

Mac is the ultimate princess: anything pink, sparkly or frilly (preferably all at once). She's also a real little mommy. Awwwww. Add puzzles, more Lego, arty stuff, Kindergym and preschool and that's pretty much what little Mac is made of. Oh, better add a tub of dirt - she's also the biggest grub I've ever come across. She can destroy an outfit/clean face/freshly mopped floors in about three seconds flat. And I have an appalling habit of buying her white clothes...

As for me, well, my name's Cori. I'm 27 - just. I grew up in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie but also call the Gold Coast home after two stints up that way (Mozzie was born in Tweed Hospital - yes, I know that's NSW, but we lived a good 30 metres on the other side of the border!). I love books, music, the beach, gymnastics, op-shopping, hardware stores(it's a bit of a love/hate relationship for a renter), hangin' with the kidlets, my family and yummy food. I'm a bit of a grammar and spelling freak, although my own isn't perfect - but it bugs me anyway. I'm opinionated and highly competitive, but so quiet that most people wouldn't realise.  I'd love to be an archaeologist, except that the best stuff has already been discovered (can you imagine unearthing Pompeii???). 

Since I was a kid I've loved creating things. I went through a miniature weapons phase once - whittling tiny little aboriginal weapons from bark and twigs. Yes, strange child. I would also dig clay out of the creek running through our backyard. Unfortunately it wasn't quite the same as the soft, smooth stuff we used at school. My mum taught me to sew when I was about eight or nine, I think. I started out as most girls do - sewing barbie clothes! I also got into beading for a while. Of course I did Art all through school. I wasn't really that good, to be honest, but I'm incredibly proud of my year 12 major work - it has pride of place on my lounge room wall. Crochet was one thing that I never really got the hang of, despite my mother being quite brilliant at it.

I took up sewing again shortly after Mozzie was born, but it was a pretty slow start. It wasn't until I bought a new sewing machine a couple of years ago that I really got into it. Mozzie and Mac began with hair clips, bibs and softies. I'm slowly progressing,  and I've even developed a few signature pieces along the way - button bracelets, Perfect Summer dresses and the Oblongs. There's still a lot of experimentation, and I'm still struggling to make my patterns in multiple sizes (how do I know how big size one is?), but I'm getting there. And having a lot a fun doing it. There's really nothing better than that sense of pride when something new not only works out, but works out better than you had imagined.

Alright, I'll shut up now. ;)