Fab Finds #9

Great stuff…

1. Smart Girls at the Party is an internet sensation encouraging girls and ladies to be cool in a much better, smarter way. This site is a step in the right direction for feminism. It encourages smart talk amongst the girls and breaking down the walls of stereotypes. One of the creators of this friendly site is Amy Poehler, and she will respond to questions via video feed, covering issues as dealing with people, situations and using your head. There's so much more to it, but I'll leave that for you to explore...

Meredith Walker, Amy Miles, and Amy Poehler,
creators of the web series Smart Girls at the Party.

2. Softies for Mirabel is just round the corner and is a lovely festive season project to participate in. The aim is to make a  toy which will be matched with a child, under the wing of the Mirabel Foundation. For more information simply visit this link. This is a project that I have participated in over the years, and this year is no exception.

3. I love sinking my teeth into a goody juicy burger. Who doesn't? Well actually now that I think about it, not everyone, but I think you understand my sentiment. So when I came across this burger via a Pinterest feed I just knew what I'd be adding to next weeks dinner plan. It is none other than a Jamie Oliver Insanity Burger recipe, excerpted from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food.

Insanity Burger
Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food

4. Bashful Garter is now a fully operational fashion website with a cool new look-book and a shop stocking specially chosen high quality pieces from independent designers.

Bashful Garter lookbook

Softies For Mirabel 2014

Click here to find out more about this charity.

Millie is on her way

    I have finished the Millie doll, dress and all. I'll be placing her in the post before the day is out. In a couple of months she will find a home with a Mirabel child. Click here find out more about Softies for Mirabel.

Photography and doll design by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography and doll design by Melissa Gaggiano.

Millie II: a Work in Progress

Doll design by Melissa Gaggiano.

    I wasn't expecting to make this much progress with the charity Millie doll today. But so I did, and I am pleased. Each doll I design gets a little bit easier to construct. So I guess I am learning from the process.

    Tonight I finished the body by attaching the arms. All that is left to sew is the dress. I'll get on to that sometime tomorrow. I can hardly wait to send this on to Pip for Softies for Mirabel.

Sweet Cloth Charity

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Yesterday I began work on a cloth doll I plan to donate to Softies for Mirabel. Today I finished embroidering the eyes and eyebrows, and attached the mouth. Tonight or tomorrow I will begin cutting out the pattern pieces, attach the hair and go from there.

Softies For Mirabel

Softies For Mirabel is a wonderful cause. To find out more visit Meet Me At Mikes.

Softies For Mirabel

    For six years running Pip [nearly typed Pop] Lincolne, over at Meet Me At Mikes, has coordinated a charity event titled Softies For Mirabel. This is the third time that I have donated a homemade doll, and I chose this sweet little thing that I finished on the weekend....

    I couldn't possibly explain Softies For Mirabel so eloquently, but Pip's poster says it all quite nicely. Have a read of it to find out what Softies For Mirabel is all about.

My Creative Space...

I have a few different projects lined up at the moment, as you can see below.

My first embroidery project.

Slowly but surely I have been working on my very own piece of embroidery. This will take a while to do as I decided not to have a deadline for this. So I can take it and leave it.

Punk Girl 

Punk Girl has the potential for becoming a homemade doll. I want to make her for the Softies for Mirabel project. But we'll see how I go for time and resources over the coming weeks.

Emjie zine in progress

Then there is my zine. Okay, admittedly I am not hitting the time that I wanted this finished, I am just waiting for some bits and pieces to come through. Hopefully not much longer though.


Check out all the other cool crafty corners over at Kootoyoo.

My Creative Space...

The weather here in Melbourne is Suddenly Spring. It was only a week ago that I was freezing my toes off. Now I've got to trade my sweats for slightly cooler garments. Which means I'll need to make myself some shorts.

On Tuesday I began making a finger puppet collection, for my baby Gwen. Follow this link to see my first creation.

Also I received word from Katharine, of Woolly Wotnots, that she had received the Japanese doll collection I had crafted as a Pay It Forward project. Follow this link to see Katharine's blog entry on the topic.

Earlier this week I delivered to Meet Me At Mike's my contribution to "Softies for Mirabel". I designed and had the doll made in just under a week. Not a bad effort, I think. The doll is named Genevieve, and to find out more about her creation, simply follow this link.

Piper the cat is asleep (not so creative I guess).

I am currently reading "New Moon" for the second time. Now that is a hard read because I will be feeling Bella's anguish all over again. But I can't help myself. No, I can't stop myself. I am head over heels caught up in the world of the Cullens family.

Shimmy on over to Kootoyoo to see other great creative spaces.

Genevieve for Mirabel

Another Emjie production:

In response to Pip's call out for 'Softies for Mirabel', I designed a doll, named Genevieve. See below some photos of the process and the finished, final product.

My original concept sketches

A dress that wasn't used. The dress was fine, but ultimately didn't match the body.

And here are the photos of the completed Genevieve...

Now it is time for a visit to Meet Me At Mike's.