Mr and Mrs Claus, aren't they so cute together? There's a lot of love in the room. My latest design printed is available directly from Spoonflower

Here's some little bird silk and feather Christmas ornaments that I'm working on at the moment. It's nice to get back onto the sewing machine as it's been a while and I've been longing to use these silks that I've hoarded for sometime. The colours are so intense. The little birds are bound for Shop Handmade in Canberra and (hopefully) another retail outlet in Sydney or online. Still working on some different colour combinations and just having fun playing with fabric

After the torrential downpour in Sydney all week, the clouds have parted and the sun reigns instead. Hello Spring, I've missed you. And I was determined to get me a slice

I've just started tennis lessons twice a week. Great exercise, I thought! I hate to admit it but the 'fast 20 balls' at the end of an hour's lesson is nearly the death of me. Sadly, my limit is a mere 12. Embarrassed and puffed, I've decided that I need more exercise for my exercise. Taking advantage of the Spring day I left behind the;

a) computer
b) sewing machine
c) husband and kid
d) bomb of a messy house
e) all of the above

and set out for a walk. The kookaburra's were at their comical best, laughing at my jiggling butt behind my back. No, I thought clearing my head, they're not laughing at me but at someone else. Dream on...

After a blast of Vitamin D and breezy clear air deep in my lungs, I can sit back at the computer and feel good that I've lost 10cm off my hips after half an hour's walk. Life is good!

P.S. I took this photo last Spring

Can a machine have sex appeal? It doesn't recipricate to longing hugs or have goose-bumps when you grab it's plug and whisper sweet nothings into its USB port. But I think it might be love, machine love. So you think I've gone around the twist? You could be right, so let me set the scene...

Today we set the talking-lady-street-directory to head towards the Paper Crafts Festival at Penrith Panthers as I'd never been before. It's mainly scrap-booking stuff that really isn't my thing. At all. I walked around the exhibitors with glazed eyes, witnessing the crafting of some very happy participants. Feeling quite numb and wished I hadn't wasted so much toll money and time getting out there (over an hour each way), I turned the corner and a shaft of light descended from the heavens onto a 30cm wide piece of plastic and steel. Ah, Craft ROBO. It allows you to die cut, score and perforate your own designs from Illustrator. I know dear readers that I have probably lost your interest at this point, but to me it's a god-send. After many years of package design, this would have been a perfect piece of equipment for the studio. Precision scoring and cutting instead of doing it all by hand. But what really appeals is the potential to die-cut my 3D cards from the Go Make Me shop in small quantities. Very exciting...well it is to me anyway. Just doing a bit more research before I lay down the cold-hard cash as it's not cheap

Do you have one or something similar? Is it love or is it a dog (not the sexy kind)?

What a busy and exciting day packaging my printed Christmas Softies Kits destined for Shop Handmade in Canberra. Not all of my fabric has arrived yet (very frustrating!!), so only 8 kits have shipped. At least I have all the labelling designed and physical packaging sourced. Each kit contains an Organic Cotton printed pattern, instructions, polyfill and ribbon featuring Mr and Mrs Claus and Baubles that will never break. Hopefully I'll be sending off the next batch of fabric patterns in the next week or two

Mr and Mrs Claus also have their faces on greeting cards beaming their happiness to the world. I've also designed an A3 point of sale banner (see above). Only $28 from Office Works! I thought that was super reasonable as I was dreading making my own stand

If you're in Canberra, pop in to see the lovely ladies, Julie and Rachel, for fabulous handmade goodies. Shop Handmade Canberra is located on City Walk Blvd Canberra City. Located across from the back door of Myer. Hours are 9.30am - 5pm Monday to Thursday, 9.30am - 6pm Friday and 9.30am - 2pm Saturday. You can contact them on 02 6156 3274

If you fancy just the pattern, you can always purchase from the Go Make Me shop!