Plush Team Summer Challenge

After a lot of busy months I am so happy that I have managed to make something for this month's Plush Team Challenge. The theme is 'Dessert or Desert' and I decided to combine the two and make a cactus ice cream! I drew a little picture of the idea that was in my head, and a few hours later, after some unravelling and re-doing, I finished it!

The perfect desert dessert. The cactus ice cream cornet.

And in this week's news...

We went snowboarding again today and I really enjoyed it! I still can't quite believe I can do it - I know I'm not going down any steep hills or anything yet, but I didn't think I'd even have the guts to step on a board so I'm very happy :) This is a video of me today.

In other news, on Friday I bought some new shelves to try and bring some order to the mess in the craft corner of my bedroom!

And it's time to get busy making a Mardi Gras themed amigurumi for our Plush Team swap next month.

Amigurumi Beach Friends

As a kid, a lot of my summer holidays were spent on the beach in France. As a tribute to those days and as my entry to the Plush Team Beach Challenge I present to you Monsieur Le Starfish and Monsieur Le Sandcastle! If you would like them to brighten up your day and bring back happy childhood memories of summers on the beach, they are available to buy from the Plush Team Shop.

Busy, busy...

I haven't blogged for ages :/ sorry about that! Time just seems to fly past at the moment! Just so that you know I haven't been lazy, here's some of what I've been doing lately. This is the beginnings of Monsieur Le Starfish who I am making as part of the latest Plush Team challenge.

And this is the beginnings of a dog which will be an accessory to one of the dolls I am making for Plush You 2012.

Sweet and Sour - a Scrumptious Delight?

 Plush Banana Split by Scrumptious Delight

Plush Pickle by Scrumptious Delight

Do you like the sweet and sour combination? I do! I love sweet and sour chicken, sweet chilli sauce and Hawaiian pizza. And I like the combination of sweet and savoury - french fries with chocolate sauce :) In our town there is an amazing pizza restaurant where they make the best Hawaiian pizza ever, but it's not very popular as people here don't get the sweet and savoury thing. I have been trying hard to convert my friends to it and I'm succeeding slowly! 

Even if you don't like sweet and sour food, you must like this sweet and sour plush combination! Both of these plush are made by Scrumptious Delight. Go and check out her Etsy shop for more sweet and savoury delights - marshmallows, cotton candy and more!

Not the skull, just the pitcher and other stories...

Today's theme for Fresh Stitches Design Week is 'Trouble Spots'. Yesterday I told you that I am trying to make an amigurumi version of this picture for the current Plush Team challenge. I showed you how I'd done the skull and ended by saying 'next step - the pitcher'.

The pitcher is definitely a trouble spot! It's such a weird shape, it is going to be really hard to make it in 3d. Here's a sketch where I've tried to imagine it flattened out. I've only drawn 2 sides - the third side will be even harder!

 I've decided to start with the base as an equilateral triangle and build it up from there, making each side separately. Does anyone have any better ideas or other advice to give?

And in today's other news, the circus is in town! If you look carefully you can see a black blob to the right of the first megaphone - that is the backside of a monkey! Yes, a real monkey, tied to the roof of the van as it goes through town advertising the circus. I took the photo quickly with my phone as it drove by which is why I managed to miss getting all of the monkey. Some things only happen in BiH! (well probably other places too, but not any places I've been too.)

This blog post is for Day 5 of Fresh Stitches Design Week.

Skull and Pitcher

The Plush Team Challenge for March and April is to make a plush self portrait or a plush still life. When I read the words 'still life' the idea came into my head to try and make an amigurumi version of a Picasso still life painting. I looked on google images and decided on this one - The Skull and Pitcher.

 So far I have only made the skull - here are my workings out in my notebook. I'm not really sure if I will succeed in making everything - it's harder than I thought!

The skull has turned out ok-ish though. Next step - the pitcher!

This post is for Day 4 of Design week by Fresh Stitches.

I love getting parcels!

I love getting parcels, and this one made my day! Those of you who have been following my blog will know that the pipes in our house have been frozen for almost 2 weeks now, and as a result we have been without a toilet and shower and all those other things that need water! As you can imagine this has been quite annoying, so getting this parcel today was even better than getting it on any normal kind of day.

What is it? Who is it from? you ask. This parcel is from the wonderful Abbydid who drew my name in the Plush Team leap year plush swap! When I saw her name on the outside of the box I was already excited about what would be inside... was I about to become the proud owner of a Wibbly Woo?

Yes! What is a Wibbly Woo? According to verified sources, the Wibbly Woo is a legendary creature located in the peat bogs of Northern England. Harmless, happy, helpful little scamps, they make excellent companions (especially at bedtime). Wibbly Woos have large, soft mouths perfect for safeguarding treasures. 

So I opened the bag and inside was not just a Wibbly Woo in my favourite colours - but also a little box...

And inside the box was all my favourite food! Wibbly Woo was hungry from the journey (it's a long way from Cincinnati to Bosnia and Herzegovina) so I let him tuck in.

There were also some very lovely promotional materials from Abbydid.

And two bags of fabric scraps which have arrived just in time for our Craft Party on Monday! Thank you so much Abby :)

And on the water front - we got a new toilet put in today (the old one had cracked because the water froze in it :/) and although we still don't have any water in the bathroom, we can use the toilet and use the bucket of water method to flush it! Today has been a good day.

Mille Sweet-tooth

Millie Sweet-tooth will bring a smile to your face as soon as you meet her. She's not like the other mice, she sings in the shower, always wears pink and she prefers candy to cheese! She is just what you need to bring some sunshine into a cloudy day. She's got a Berry Sherbet lolly in her hand which she would be very willing to share with you.

She is available in my Etsy Shop.

Amigurumi - work in progress

This is what I'm working on at the moment - for a certain little nephew of mine :)

Orange and Blue

Or is it yellow and blue? Anyway, this is the doll I'm working on at the moment.

The black cat holds the key

New in my Etsy Shop, this cat holds the key that you are looking for. The key to your heart or maybe someone else's. The key to your future. The key to understanding things that can't be understood... or the key to the cupboard that you know is full of chocolate and other lovely things.

Rainforest Man

I made him for the latest Plush Team Challenge. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out!

Happy Campers!

I haven't blogged in ages. What have I been doing? Camping mostly! Or preparing for camps.



Yesterday we got back from the teenagers camp at Emek Beraka campsite on Boracko Jezero. We had a great time. Everyday was packed with activities including sports, group work, adventure challenge, learning about Jesus and making sock monkeys!

Steampunk Steve is finished!

Here he is! The finished article. As I said before, I made him for the Plush Team Steampunk Challenge so at some point in a couple of weeks time you will have the chance to vote for him in the competition! I'll let you know when that time comes. In the meantime I hope you like him - and he is available to buy in the Plush Team Etsy store.

Amigurumi goes Steampunk

This is what I'm working on at the moment. It's for the Plush Team Steampunk Challenge! It's a bit different from my usual style but I'm having fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what all the other team members come up with.

photos from CandyLand

Thanks to FuzFrenzy for taking these photos :)

Sugar Plum, Flossie and Bronwyn hanging out in CandyLand

and here's my Cherry Lolly Tree in the distiguished company of plush made by Zfla, Plushroom Soup, and PterodactylPants.

Business cards on the table...

Spot my 'Lifesavers' Letter O in the Bonbon banner.

My little Cherry Lolly Tree again and look at that massive Pez elephant made by zfla!

Sugar Plum, Flossie and Bronwyn and a huge ice cream made by Diane Koss of Cutesy but not Cutesy

My Russian Christmas Gift

I have been expecting quite a few parcels for a couple of weeks now and have been wondering where they've all got to. Well today I found out! I went to collect the post from the PO Box for the church and found all our mail had been put in there too! So today has been like Christmas.

One of the parcels I was excitedly waiting for was my Russian Christmas Plush Swap from someone in the plush team. Well here it is! Thanks to Heather from Needlings for my awesome new plushies.


First - an awesome Needlings Christmas card and a cute little business card...


And then - 3 awesome plushies, some pins - and is that some werthers originals I see down there?

And here they all are - the complete contents of my parcel!

Thanks again Needlings :)

And keep checking my blog over the next few days to see what other awesome things I got in the post today!

Janey and Travis - Santa's Little Helpers

Here are my latest Christmas Creations Janey and Travis - Santa's Little Helpers! They are both available in my Etsy Shop.

Janey works in the post room sorting all the letters that come in for Santa. She opens the letters, reads them and then sorts them according to continent then country, town and street. She loves reading the letters and seeing what people write and she can reveal that some people who are in their 60s and 70s still write to Santa - who says he's not real?

Travis works in the packing department making sure all the orders are boxed up correctly and sent to the right address. In quiet moments he enjoys popping the bubbles in the bubble wrap.

Dice Head the Las Vegas Croupier

Introducing Dice Head - the Las Vegas Croupier! I made him for the Plush Team Las Vegas Challenge.

I was in Dubrovnik on Sunday, we were taking my sister and her husband to the airport cos they were going back to the UK. Before we went to the airport we spent some time in the old city walking around, eating lunch etc... Just before we left the old city Matt (my husband) and Andy (brother in law) decided they wanted ice cream. We went into the ice cream place and while they were choosing one of the guys working there asked me and my sister if we wanted ice cream. We said no and he said 'visiting Dubrovnik and not trying the ice cream is like going to Vegas and not playing the casinos.' to which I replied 'I've done that too!'