"Goldilocks and just the one Bear" advance copies!

yee-ha - so what a lovely thing to arrive in the post this morning! 

...my advance copies for my first (of many i hope) books with the superduper Nosy crows.

also squeezed into the envelope were a couple of the greek edition. and may i say what a splendid job they did on the hand lettering.

 Thank you Ikaros books!

I dedicated this book to my brand new shiny nephew elliot. he is a real beauty,
I do hope he likes this little bear booky surprise!

just as an after note- this was a tricky book for me as i had a big trauma half way through it. my stupid rubbish hard drive malfunctioned with ALL my artwork on (oh, and a year of my little girls baby photos...don't ask, that is a whole different kettle of fish).

 so i had to start all over again. this was really really hard, but worth it as i am really pleased with this book. actually, i am doubly as proud of myself as i have worked twice as hard. so my plea to you all out there is BACK UP YOUR WORK/PHOTOS/ANYTHING PRECIOUS- as sometimes clever technology is utterly stupid and unreasonable.

 anyway- the book is out in march.... i really hope you will like it too

ps, thank you nice big green sofa so looking so nice in the backgrounds of the photos.

don't dip chips book

ooh lovely, have a look at cupcakesforclara lauras blog post about her top 10 childrens books. she was guest blogging for spooky sisters. caryl hart and i are lucky to be featured amongst very wonderful company with our chips book. thank you laura!

more little babies are here!

cards for two new shiny little baby girls....

how to make my russian dillydolly cushion.

cut out all the pieces



match the pocket pieces up (inside out)and pin.



sew around the edge keeping to the printed line as best you can (you can see this through the fabric).

make sure you don't sew the flat edge at the top (as you will need this open to be able to turn it inside out).

carefully snip around the curve (this makes a neater finish when you turn inside out and prevents bunching and crinkles around the seam)




turn inside out so that the 3 pockets are the right way around.

fold the unprinted seam in on itself and neatly sew. (It might be easier to hand sew the 2 smaller pockets as is quite fiddly)



sew each of the 3 finished pockets on the correct size dillydolly.
(again, the smaller pocket may work best if hand sewn)


pin both pieces of each of the 3 dillydolly together inside out.


sew each of the 3 dillydolls, making sure to leave the flat edge of the bottom open (again, this will be used to turn them inside out).

carefully snip around the curved edges into the seam (making sure not to cut into it). again, this will give a better finish and prevent bunching.


turn all 3 dillydolllies the right way around.


stuff each one then turn in the seam and neatly sew up by hand.

it works best if you do each one in turn, starting with the smallest.

make sure not to overstuff the smaller ones as remember they have to fit snugly in the pockets!



and here they are awake!

sorry about the not so great photos. light was not good.
also, may i recomment that you use good scissors not rubbish blunto ones that i used.
(where have my good scissors gone?!)

hope you like, this is just the prototype.
have a few tiny tweaks to make before i send off for the real ones!
exciting!

wonkybutton prints

also a lovely selections of prints
am so pleased with the quality and the paper.

more wonkybutton samples have arrived!

whoop whoop!
just need to snippysnip them and sew them together to make sure they work.
how exciting

it is that time of year again (ie yucky tax)

this is me trying to be really organised