Happenings...

Dotty Dogs have gone a little crazy around here, barely making it to my Etsy shop even before selling! I am so  thrilled, and have made 19 already with another 7 on the cutting table as we speak! Thankyou for your support and kind words xx

The Munchkin is starting to write letters and as we are doing it the "natural learning" way it is exciting to see the evolution! This gorgeous chalk drawing is of me, with my name (allana) written underneath. So proud!

We visited our lovely and talented friend Sandra of Grace of Autumn last week and had an adventure wandering around her stunning bush block collecting bush treasure and discovering new things. I love her home and surroundings and always feel inspired and re-energised after a visit. Thanks for being such a lovely friend to The Munchkin and I Sandra xxx

We have also been outside in our yard getting the disaster that should be the Veggie patch under control. Lots of garden offcuts and blackberries to remove (ouch!), soil to prepare and paths to excavate, oh, and of course playing in the mud!

 The Munchkin and I had a lovely few hours after it was all done planting Zucchini, Lebanese Cucumber and Beetroot seedlings that we had purchased at a great price from a local school fair and I am happy to report they are doing beautifully! We figure even if we do sell the house soon it will be nice for the new owners to have a productive, and attractive garden to call their own!

My Pop always had a hugely productive Veggie patch and after he passed away my Nan took it over as a flower garden. I am fortunate to remember always leaving their house with potatoes, apples, silver-beet and other yummy produce freshly cut or dug by Pop. 

My Nan always looked after the Raspberries and Strawberries. Her Strawberry patch has become quite big and it is such a treat to be able to walk The Munchkin around to pull sun warmed , sweet Strawberries from it. The last huge bowl was supposed to be for jam but they were gobbled by all of us pretty quickly instead.

Last but certainly not least was this gorgeous scarf arriving in my mailbox from the kind and sweet Kylie of Lucy Violet Vintage! She thought I might like it to make a cushion from but I am tempted to turn it into a summer top instead, what do you think? To kitschy? 

Thankyou so much Kylie, your generosity and thoughtfulness is heart warming x

So that's some of the things that have been keeping me out of trouble the last week or so.

Thanks for stopping by!

Yours, 

Allana xxx

In my shop now...

Just listed in my Etsy shop are these two a Dotty Dogs (The red one sold as I was publishing this!!). Please excuse my finger peeking out of the third one (oops), also the little floral panel on the chest of the yellow one is being sewn on asap, just got ahead of myself and thought I'd better get some photos while the sun was shining!

Thankyou so much for your kind comments and support of my Dotty Dogs. I have been overwhelmed by how many of you wanted to take a little Dotty home or gift them. Six are off to live in the UK which is exciting too! I will be selecting another five tonight which will be listed either Sunday or Monday if these two were not what you had in mind :)

Yours in delight, 

Allana xxx

What I've been doing...

During the week I made two little Dotty Dogs from a 1960's toy pattern using only vintage materials I had in my stash. The grey is the offcuts of vintage army blanket from my cushion making and was first born sewn and deemed a favourite by The Munchkin. However when the pink one came along it was decided that she was the most favourite and we would be keeping her thankyou very much! 

The next day two Dotty Dogs multiplied into five Dotty Dogs which was quickly followed by...

...another five Dotty Dogs, with another three in the works after some lovely, lovely ladies placed orders!  I have now sold 8!!!! I feel so lucky to know people who appreciate handmade xxx

Should you be interested in purchasing a Dotty Dog, which are named for this little cutie (our most coveted puppy from this litter - she had a waiting list!) with her oversized ears...

...they are $25 each and nice and light to post for wee ones overseas etc. I will have a few in my etsy shop by the end of the week or feel free to contact me via a comment. 

Please note that they have no features as such (eyes etc) as I wanted to keep them quite simple, open ended and also safe for babies and wee ones.

Humbly yours,

Allana xxx

A breakfast of rainbows...

A few days ago I finally found a good enough reason to use my gorgeous Dottie Angel notebook. I had gifted the other two in the set so this one was just for me and treated with the respect it deserved. I chose my favourite pen, and sat down with a few issues of Country Style magazine to record "Places I would like to visit".

It was all going splendidly.

and then...

our darling puppy Genevieve decided that my new, no-one-else-is-allowed-to-touch-it only-been-used-for-an-hour Dottie Angel notebook was a chew toy...

...she was not in my good books.

I voiced my distress on an Instagram Picture.

I admitted to crying over said, irretrievable loss of perfect notebook...

and then, a fellow instagrammer and lovely blogger made this comment (and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing) :

"Puppies that cute eat rainbows for breakfast, it is only appropriate to follow up a meal like that with a Dottie Angel notebook"

and you know what? I think she's right! It eased the pain somewhat. Hard to be crabby with a face that cute for too long anyway :)

Yours in (mock) mourning, 

Allana xxx

Inspired...

Country Style - Sept 2010

Today I was flicking through an old Country Style Magazine (Sept 2010) and came across this great picture which inspired me immediately (and in a phoney and poorly executed French accent much to the amusement of The Munchkin!) to sew a bench cushion.

 I have had some gorgeous duck egg blue floral fabric for a while which I picked up for a few dollars a metre at Spottie and couldn't find the right project for. I paired this with a no longer used doona which I folded in quarters longways and cut slightly to fit. I still need to pop a few stitches through it all to hold everything in place inside but I am super happy with it. Another quick project that was made using only things I already had to hand. I think I will make another length of my left over metres into a tablecloth for summer and then maybe a tote bag, hmm... and a cushion... 

... 

Any ho, I am looking forward to lots of cups of teas, magazines and great books on my new cushion over summer. I am currently reading a gorgeous 1950's copy of  Pollyanna's Protégée from the Pollyanna series. Who knew there were more than 14 books written! I am enjoying it so much and am now keen to track down the remainder. All you lovely ladies who have a soft spot for Anne will surely enjoy Pollyanna too! The Glad Game is something I will be adopting for sure :)

Till next time,

thanks and gratitude for popping by,

Allana xxx

A quickie...

I did a fun little sewing project today for our hammock. A pillow each! 

I have a few vintage army blankets stockpiled for a little project I may get to one day (sigh) and this one is the softest one. Using the blanket edge I cut out a simple back. Half a vintage pillow case made the front panel. They are slightly narrower than a regular cushion but still fit an insert nicely. These literally took about 10 minutes each! My kind of sewing project! 

The black and white panel is an upholstery weight off cut I found at an Oppie a few months ago which I love. The Munchkin says it reminds her of this book, and I tend to agree. That cushion is now residing on one of our armchairs and looks mighty fine if I do say so myself!

The gorgeous quilt in my recent pics is by the lovely Claire of Baby Boudoir. I had been drooling over them for 12 months (has it really been that long!) and on the weekend finally treated The Munchkin to her choice of them. We both adore it and I am waiting for a sunny day to get some proper pics to show you all. Do pop over to Claire's and check out her colourful world or she can be found once a month at the Made With Love Market at Wynyard.

Yours in contentment,

Allana xxx

A handmade weekend...

I had been promising The Munchkin a little softie to house her iPod full of bedtime music. After seeing this one and feeling like it was a bit out of my budget at the moment, I decided to make my own. I was flicking through the visual feast that is the new Dottie Angel book today when I spotted some heart cushions and realised they would be perfect (and yes, I admit, simpler than a softie!)

First step was a little speaker ($10 - thanks Target!) and then we chose our fabric. The Munchkin is all about yellow right now so a sweet little vintage sheet FQ from my stash was chosen for the speaker cushion, and a little vintage inspired yellow piece for another plain cushion. I was given a gorgeous big piece of candlewick by my Nan from fer fabric stash last week so it became the back for some "touch me" texture. 

When I was drawing my pattern I drew on to the heart shape a pocket of sorts, big enough to house said speaker. I cut it out all as one piece so all that was required was to sew around the whole shape, turning inside out, stuffing and stitching up the stuffing hole. I added a little bias ribbon from here to tie the "pocket" together and keep the speaker safe. Her shuffle then clips on to the pocket. It is stuffed nice and tight to make the speaker not really noticeable, plus it sits at the back.

I am really happy with how this turned out, and now I can have my iPhone back of a night time! 

If you are interested The Munchkins' night time play list is about 2.5 hours long and contains:

Go To Sleep Jeff - The Wiggles (album)

Brahm's Lullably - Jewel

Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole

Lullaby - Dixie Chicks

Powder Blue Reprise 

Night Mantra 

Sleep My Love - all Renee & Jeremy

Blessed Be - Alison Krauss

If I Rock You - Jay Lag'aia

Lullabies and Childrens' Songs - Album

Three Little Birds - Georgie Parker

I also finally recovered my little Oppie footstool today with a round piece of vintage barkcloth from my stash. I love my staple gun, it is such a quick and satisfying crafty tool!

I hope you had lovely, creative weekends too or at least enjoyed lots of lovely creative thoughts,

Yours till the world ends, 

Allana xxx

Coastal dreaming...

I've never really liked swimming.

The deep water kind of freaks me out although I can swim fine.

I dislike driving on or near piers.

It's not entirely rational, but that's what a phobia is.

I do however love the beach.

How could I not when I have lived in the one coastal town my whole life! 

Almost every car trip meanders along the coastline.

I could never be bored of it or take it for granted.

I know how lucky I am.

I love the sound of the waves roaring.

I love the smell, the salt in my hair and (more often than not) the wind whipping around me.

It makes me feel alive,

and reminds me that I am a small, minuscule part of a whole.

Before Mr HMH, or The Munchkin came along I often took my dog to the beach.

He always ran ahead but came back every so often to check on me before running off again to explore.

We have just taken sweet Genevieve to the beach for the first time.

The excitement of it made her forget how much she dislikes her lead.

I think we will be going back soon.

As a family.

Barefoot.

To reconnect with the earth.

and each other.

Yours in hope, 

Allana xxx

Strawberry kisses...

...and then I rested under the lemon tree.

Yours in Strawberry kisses, 

Allana xxx

NB. Stawberries from here, labels free from Frankie magazine, Strawberry Jam recipe from here, hammock from Freedom

We have been...

On Saturday we indulged my whim by driving the 3 1/2 hours to Sweet Envy in Nth Hobart, just to buy their awesome Macarons! They are totally worth the drive and at $2@ are the best value around (not if you have to drive to get them, but still...)  

On the way we stopped at the divine Ut Si Cafe in Perth (near Launceston) I have been bursting to get there since I first found their blog and was not disappointed.  The converted church is stunning, the kitchen garden and woodefired oven inspiring and the food and service first class. 

They also had a little market happening that was selling house produce, Callington Mill flours, and seedlings and plants. I chose 2 tomato plants to compliment the ones we have already chosen this season and I also snapped up a couple of handmade tallow soaps in hand crocheted bags for the gardeners in my life as gifts.

Our breakfast of house baked bread, Huon Valley mushrooms, free range eggs and Mt Gnomon bacon was outstanding! If you have the opportunity to stop in to Ut Si we highly recommend it. We will most certainly be making the trip back again soon. (The market is on Saturday mornings if you are inclined) 

On Sunday I was inspired by our foodie experience to bake some rolls using the Callington Mill brown flour I had purchased. Served with free range eggs from our dear friend's chookies, and strawberries fresh from my Nan's garden it was a lush meal indeed. Incidentally I am so looking forward to having our own chookies again soon, it has been too long!

In other exciting news our three boy puppies have all gone to wonderful homes, with the wee girl set to go this week too. Two of the boys went to a brother and sister which is lovely as although they wont be living together they will still be able to have playdates - yay! The boy we had nicknamed Jack is now AKA Lorenzo and Wavey is possibly going to be Jonty... great names right!

Bye boys, it was great getting to know you and we trust you will be happy and well loved at your new homes!

Yours in happy tears and Macaron bliss,

Allana xxx

Little Mo and Friends 3rd birthday celebration...

My favourite whimsical illustrator, and all round super nice girl Helena is having a very special 2 day online party to celebrate Little Mo and Friends 3rd Birthday!

I love all that is Little Mo, and Helena has become a dear friend who I am dying to meet one day soon!

As well as the already gorgeous range of notebooks, book plates, postcards and other stationery gold, Helena will be releasing some new goodies during the party! If you have not fallen in love with her work yet, get thee over there on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th of November! There will be teapots and pugs even!! 

Yours in anticipation, 

Allana xxx