pupa pupa

Turmeric Tabby

Introducing turmeric tabby!  

His bright sunny colouring comes from the wonders of turmeric.  

Not only does turmeric aid in digestion, it makes a wonderful fabric dye :)

City of Craft

This Saturday (December 13th) from noon to 8 pm I'll be hanging with the pupa pupa gang at the City of Craft Show at the Theatre Center at 1087 Queen St. W. (downstairs).  It's going to be a great event with lots of amazing crafty goodness.  Be sure to check out the flickr site for lots of drool-worthy pictures from vendors.  I've been busy with a brand new batch of fairies, mice and keep an eye out for my tumeric tabby... Hope to see you there!

Trunk Show this Sunday

This upcoming Sunday from noon to 5 (my kind of hours :)  I have been invited to participate in a trunk show at the Workroom on Queen St.  I've been getting some really fun dolls together to show and look forward to hanging out in such a fun environment.  

Environment filled with lots of amazing fabric.  and cool craft books.  and patterns for bags and clothes.  and some amazing very talented makers with lovely stuff that I'm allready drooling over after checking the Workrooms flickr pic's.  Looks like I'll be doing some shopping as well...  

 

and make sure to check out some of the lovely sellers on flickr 

Hope to see you there :)

fairy

My daughter really wants to get to the bottom of fairies.  

We can carry on fairly long discussions about their existence.  Where do they live?  Why can't we always see them?  How big are they?  Are they really, really, really real?  I'll start babbling on about faith and magic and she'll interrupt me with "I wonder where they sleep?"  

Well my dear, this fairy can sleep with you.

Currently getting a great batch of fairies ready for the City of Craft show coming up on December 13.  I'm doing all the wings a little different and playing around with some quilting and fraying.  They all have apron tops and little capri's so their wings won't be smushed.  This angel is wearing a top from an amazing vintage fabric I hunted down that I'm also making a skirt for myself out of :)  (I can be so easily distracted..)

3 mice

I wouldn't call these mice blind as they are so stylishly decked out.  I have been amusing myself greatly with accessorizing these guys- oh how I love fabric!! 

Not yet listed in shop.  

The bodies are all hand dyed, the one in the middle is  coffee stained and there were some cool white spots left after washing.  The others I dyed using a normal fabric dye after more than a few attempts at plant/food dyes failed miserably.  I haven't given up yet...  next up, cool aid!  The mustache really makes me giggle.

now in store...

Pupa pupa dolls can now be found at a couple of very cool baby stores in Toronto.

In the East end of town in Leslieville, Baby on The Hip has a really fun selection of new reindeers, elves and regular dolls.  This store has a fantastic collection of baby stuff, everything from clothes to strollers.  Cool site as well!

In the West end of town on Roncensvalle Ave you can find "Toronto's coolest toy store for boys and girls" Scooter Girls!  They also have a nice selection of pupa pupa's including brand new angels, the tote sets and petite baby lambs.  This is one fun store packed to the rafters with a ton of great stuff.  

I hope all the pupa pupa's will behave in their new stores until they find good homes.

mini press coverage!

I was pretty happy to find a picture of one of my dolls in this months Toronto Life in their Holiday Super Shopper section!  Woohoo!  Smoochie Baby is a fantastic kids store and carries some amazing stuff so of course I'm honored to be featured there.  Thanks Smoochie Baby!

There she is on the second row :)

Children's Trunk Show November, 2008

Last Thursday and Friday I participated in the Children's Trunk Show at the Distillery District- so much fun!  The weeks leading up were all late nights and I must admit it was nice to go to sleep last night at a decent hour without doll parts or thread spread out all over the bed. 

It was great connecting and chatting with moms, getting feed back on my work and thinking up new ideas.  I really enjoyed seeing all those adorable wee babies, gets me to thinking....

I was happy how the display turned out with the birch poles.

I sold out of mermaids the first day so I proped myself up to sewing machine and made a few to bring the next day.  I was thrilled how the elves turned out with their denim crop pants and wool hats.  There are also some new mice and reindeer with a new profile that I'm very excited about that were popular as well.  Seeing as this was only my second show I had a lot of fun with it and look forward to the next one on December 13 for City of Craft

Now to get pictures of new dolls on line and replace sold dolls!  I've also got some winged fairies ready for final tweaking and finishing.  HOWEVER, tomorrow is 'idea Sunday' so I get to treat myself and work on something new, I've been dying to make myself a skirt and perhaps purse from a vintage wool crepe that I've been using on the mermaids tails. (as seen in picture above on red head mermaid.)

Idea Sundays

Ahh Sundays...
For me Sundays have always been a day of rest.  Time with family, no schedules, a day to recoup from a busy week and get ready for another one.  I think it's important for the creative mind to have this down time as well.  So, on Sunday's when the boys go down for their thankfully long afternoon naps I always work on new ideas.  I pull out my sketch pad, go over ideas I've jotted down and just go with whatever interests me most.  Absolutely no working on past projects.  Setting a day apart for this really helps me not get bogged down on projects and keeps the fun in sewing for me.  This is what I worked on last Sunday!
Getting ready for Christmas, the elf and reindeer turned out super cute.  I can't wait to figure the clothes out for my elf.  I'm not ready to list them on Etsy yet, I think there has to be some law out there on Christmas stuff showing up before Halloween.

apple spice muffins

These are seriously good. I discovered this recipe a few years back and make them all the time. This past week we've been out apple picking so out comes the recipe. I know if you try it, you'll be hooked.

apple spice muffin, originally uploaded by D.Andrea.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown flour
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground all spice
1/4 tspn grated nutmeg
1/4 tspn salt
2 large eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter melted
1 cup applesauce
1 cup pecans/walnuts (optional)
topping; 2 tblspn sugar
1/4 tspn. cinnamon/allspice/nutmeg

preheat oven 400
Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until well combined, then add butter a little at a time, whisking untill mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold into flour mixture untill flour is moistened. Stir in nuts if using. Scoop into awaiting muffin tins, sprinkle topping on and then bake until puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

I have given you the recipe as I found it but I usually only add about 1/2 cup brown sugar. Using fresh ground nutmeg really kicks up the flavour. If you have some ground flaxseed, bran or wheat germ around sneak it in, if I do I usually add less flour so they are not too dry, or a little more apple sauce.

If there is time, I like to make the applesauce, it really is simple to do and I'll usually make extra for the kids. I found that making the applesauce a little chunky gave me the best muffins. To make applesauce, just peel and slice apples, put on stove in smallish pan with a little water on med heat. The apples will cook down, mash them as you stir. Try and let the apple sauce cool a little before mixing into the batter.

If all this homemade apple sauce talk is a little too domestic sounding too you, by all means any unsweetened applesauce will do. I love useing the mini- silicone muffin trays, they are the perfect size for little hands. I always double this recipe as they move fast.