{designed by you}

Over the past few weeks, I've worked with a number of lovely people on custom orders for all sorts of animals. What fun! Though the foxes, bears and deer never get old, it's refreshing to have a big old wolf to sink my teeth into.

It's been so much fun, in fact, that I've got a permanent spot now for anyone wanting to design their own custom piece of art. What will it be next -- armadillos? meerkats? wombats? I can't wait...

P.S. As it's the last week to order before December, all advent calendars in the shop are now 15% off! 

{i could make that: wishbone stitch}

If you want a sneak peek into what's coming up on Red Red, have a look at my I Could Make That board on Pinterest. It's a giant collection of all the tutorials I love, the crafts I want to try, and the beautiful products I feel confident that I could make myself.

This lovely embroidery, by the merriweather council,  is a fine example of the latter. 

Danielle's beautiful embroidered hoops are only 3" wide, though. I'm not that subtle. 

Bigger. Bigger. Bigger.

I set about making my own, inspired by the wishbone stitches, but on a much larger scale. A 15" hoop. What's that, a 500x enlargement?

Hundreds of stitches. Reds, whites, pinks, yellows, oranges.



And here it is, many hours later. Nowhere near as neat as merriweather's beauties, and much more work, but giant. Humungous. Texas-sized, you might say.

Are you on Pinterest, too? Any favourite inspiring boards to share with us? We'd love to see!

January's Wreath

What is it about January that zaps away energy? I'd promised you (and myself) a wreath for every month of this year, and so today was a scramble to put together something, anything, wreath-like. There's nothing like the last day of a month to force out the creativity!

When I set myself this wreath-of-the-month challenge, I had millions of ideas -- mostly involving wire, hot glue and beautiful home-grown greenery. But now, where on Earth is that spool of wire? What on Earth should I glue to what? And why on Earth does all my basil keep dying?

Clearly, a new direction was needed. And it just so happened that all the freezer-paper and paints from the last project were still out on the kitchen table (the one up side to Justin being away!)

As if to punish me for putting off the wreath for so long, Tilly had one of those days. She was happy to play by herself for precisely ten seconds -- precisely enough time for me to do... well, absolutely nothing. So, channeling all these new Mummy muscles, I hiked Tilly up under one arm, and painted with the other. (Please note: I did the cutting while she napped. Let's not get carried away with multi-tasking!)

So, with exactly three hours to spare until February starts, may I present...

January's wreath!

A New Take On An Old Favourite

Ever since Spool created their free bird mobile pattern, everyone with a needle and a baby has been sewing birdie upon birdie from fabric scraps. 

The original Spool mobile:

I started making a mobile for Tilly last winter using their pattern, and yesterday, it finally hung above her bed. Now, I made a few changes to the design, for a few reasons. Firstly, because I got sick and tired of sewing birds. Yes, it's a simple pattern, but hand-stitching fiddly, fraying, curved-pieces of cotton is not my cup of tea. Give me felt any day. So, sewing four birds is all I could bear. And secondly, because I do not trust my branch-balancing skills enough to put sharp pointy wooden "spears" above Tilly's bed. Forget SIDS, I'd be worried about SIKS (Sudden Infant Kebab Syndrome).

So, my birdies perch comfortably on embroidery hoops, each swinging at his own pace. I don't think anyone has ever had an organ pierced by an embroidery hoop.

Tilly is fascinated by her new birdie friends... perhaps too much so. When she woke me up this morning, it was because she was tired. I have a feeling she'd been up for an hour or so already, just happily staring at her birds!