she's on the way...

I was up late last night determined to finish the doll that you see cut out on the left. It was one of those projects that you get carried away with....I kept trying to remind myself to keep it simple, but found myself adding more hand embroidery here and there, here and there, here and there......
She is now done, awaiting her photo shoot at the fireplace mantle.

curtain bliss.....

We took the boys on an IKEA expedition a couple of weeks ago with the intention of getting a new faucet for our sink, and returned with these curtains that I felt were desperately needed once I laid my eyes on them. Now that I have them up, I can't stop looking at them. It is one of those purchases that just makes you feel all good inside.......

cakies are so sweet......

I got such a lovely write-up about my work by such a wonderful person and creator of sweet children's treasures. Her cakies
blog is a great place to visit and you also must go to her shop. My eldest is so in love with her crowns that he insisted on printing out a picture of it and hung it on his wall next to his bed. Won't he be surprised when he receives a crown of his own for his birthday.....

a great review from poppytalk handmade!

I just received an absolutely lovely review from Poppytalk handmade. You can check it out at http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/. Poppytalk is a monthly online street market curated by Poppytalk to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world. I am very excited about their review, and even more about my involvement in their upcoming "Home Sweet Home" exhibition July 7 - Aug 8. Check out the site for yourselves, and I am sure you will love it just as much as I do! Their gallery site is poppytalkhandmade.com

morning maggie.....

The boys were fast asleep by 6:30pm last night, giving me an opportunity to create a little doll. I have been wanting to add a skirt to some of my girls, so I thought i'd give it a try......thus "Maggie" was born.

the artist in him......

We decided it would be a good day to get the easel and set it up in the driveway. Aidan became very focused on his work, and was quick to run to the neighboors and offer to sell his "masterpiece" for $1. Marcus, on the other hand, managed to miss the easel and paint the rocks, inside his shoes, the driveway, his bike........
I have noticed that Aidan has picked up my tendency to always step back when I am working, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of this proud mama moment.

one bedroom or two?

the boys are tired...i'm tired.....the easy bedtime routine has decided to leave our house for a while. My four year old is suddenly challenging the idea of going to bed, and now screams at the top of his lungs at the gate for two hours until he finally crashes out of exhaustion. This screaming in turn keeps the little guy awake, and being that they share a room, things just spiral out of control. The hardest part about it all is sitting downstairs listening to the non-stop screaming (meanwhile I am failing at my attempt to enjoy a glass of wine and pretend that I can still relax) and knowing that they are going to get up at the usual 6am regardless of how long they take to go down........just one of those grumpy moments I thought i'd share with the world.......

oh, if the pillow could talk.......

It was one of those nights.....it started out as a simple idea to translate a painting of mine into a felt image for the wall. Three hours later (by this time it was midnight, a full three hours post bedtime) I frustratingly chopped it up and made it into a pillow. Eureka! suddenly all that time that had seemed a waste of my precious sleep time (my boys love to wake up at 6am sharp....) made sense. I had to look at it in terms of a discovery that wouldn't have been made hadn't I gone through the extremely maddening process. I would love to hear what you think :)

free motion splendor.....

O.K., so my sewing skills are a bit lacking, and I had no clue you could free motion stitch on your machine (yes, I am a bit behind.....). I have been struggling and struggling to get a certain look, and now thanks to this handy little foot for my machine I can draw as scribbley as I like. These are my first two attempts after taking two hours to figure out how to use it (again, I am quite behind.....)

a great write-up from christina romeo

I wanted to thank Christina Romeo, an artist that does absolutely incredible work, for posting a great review of my work on her web site. You will find her really sweet comments at http://mom-co.com and http://www.mom-co.com/nav/greatfindsmusthave/. Thanks again Christina, and if you ever want to trade some work, I wouldn't stop you.......

a little giveaway at coolmompicks....

Go to coolmompicks.com today and enter to receive a free softie made by yours truly....you have until midnight tomorrow to enter. Good Luck!

a little cottage......

DSCN7419, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I have just been blessed with three hours of uninterrupted sewing time, thanks to a friend who has taken the boys for a playdate at her house. It is just absolutely amazing what can be accomplished when you don't have little ones at your side trying to "help" you sew........I did this little cottage yesterday and am getting ready to sew a bunch of red telephone booths. We'll see how far I get by 11:30am!

a lovely review at Coolmompicks.....

DSCN6736, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I just wanted to thank Coolmompicks for their lovely review of my plush creations. Their sight is a wonderful place for any mum to explore, and i highly encourage you to check it out for yourself. thanks again.......

thanks yet again Etsy......

get_convo_image.php, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

Oh it has been such a lovely experience with Etsy. I found out that I was featured on two separate occasions today...one for my townhouse seen in this image on the top left, and the other for my little chair that I have recently posted. Thank you so much artsyclay for giving me the image to use on my blog...I am afraid my computer expertise goes only as far as being the master of Atari back in the 80's.

Felt kind of strange....

DSCN7391, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I am much more comfortable taking pictures from behind the lens...it felt a bit strange creating a portrait of myself and trying to be both the photographer and the subject. I needed the image for a book that I will be part of (along with 10 other designers) that will get published in Taiwan this coming September. I am really thrilled to have been asked to be a part of this project, and excited to see how it turns out! (In case you didn't notice, I am very carefully trying to stick my lower jaw forward in order to not reveal the family trait of lack of chin...does it look natural?)

some new ideas are brewing

DSCN7260, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I just sewed this little chair the other day, and I am getting the urge to sew a bunch of household items to go with it.......I stayed up late last night expanding on this idea by sewing an inside view of a dollhouse. I think I am tapping into my girly childhood a bit. Could it be that I am surrounded by boys that prefer dinosaurs and trucks to combing and cutting doll hair?

it's sounding like summer

DSCN7185, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

We had a wonderful afternoon the other day crafting our own cave out of anything we could find in the yard. My oldest was very picky about which leaves were allowed to decorate his dwelling, and the little one was just happy picking up sticks that could fit in his little hands. Now that they are getting older, I find that I am starting to relive the moments I had growing up. Summer meant building caves, cooking with mud, building ponds in the sandbox........ I really want the boys to have the kind of summer I had growing up, where the day was just filled with time to self-explore and enjoy all the sights and sounds of summer. (alright...I am sounding a bit to serious....did I fail to mention the part in summer where I would put my sister's wet swimsuit in the freezer?)

What a "sweet" mother's day

DSCN7223, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

We had a really nice mother's day this year....it started at 10 a.m (no suprise that we were the first customers!) with a trip to get some ice cream, followed by a round of 18 holes at mini golf. Once Lucious realized that the kids wouldn't be fond of the idea of taking turns, we were able to dive into the madness of whacking the balls non-stop until one eventually got in.
On the work side, I have some great prospects happening (I can mention these at a later date) and am struggling at trying to find the time to get work done. I have enjoyed being home with the boys tremendously, but I find that I am ready to have some more "me" time during the day. There is only so much you can get done when you wait for the wee ones to go to bed.....(and it doesn't help starting off the night with a glass of wine) I don't want to throw on the t.v whenever I want to work, so I have to find some creative way to get them involved in something while I sew for a bit......any suggestions?

Oh more lovely news from etsy!

DSCN6791, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I was informed by a friend that I made the main page again of hand-picked items for etsy.com. Thank you so much for thinking of my work again, and the Lorry looked so lovely on there. It has been so encouraging as I resume a career that had been put on hold for so long....Please go to Etsy.com and let me know what you think!

Polly was featured on Etsy!

DSCN6580, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I was so thrilled to see one my dolls featured on Etsy's main page today. It felt so good to see her there, and hopefully you can get a chance to see her before she goes! Unfortunately my computer skills are quite novice, so I am unable to attach a photo of the main page for you to see. You should be able to find her by logging in to etsy.com....

Here is Aidan

DSCN7156, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I just finished Aidan as the boys were sleeping. You can see more images of him at my shop. With both boys refusing to nap today, it was nice to get them down early so that I could have some time to relax a bit before putting myself to bed.

Meet Marcus

DSCN7089, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

I just finished this boy the other day and am really happy with the way it has turned out....I have a feeling some more english school boys will be coming out of this one!

A rainy couple of days.....

DSCN7057, originally uploaded by samcotterill.

It's been cold and damp the last few days, and the fire has been lit throughout the day. We were all actually quite calm, and the boys enjoyed sitting near the fire and reading. Even though I am missing the sunlight and the warmth that comes with it, I wouldn't trade it for this one particular day I have just mentioned. I managed to stay in jammies until about 4pm, and ended the day feeling nice and relaxed (which is very unusual with my two boys!)
I have just finished laying out a design for another doll...one which I am very excited about. The feedback from Etsy has been great, and I can't wait to see where it brings me!