:: the Bernina has been dusted off ::

Hold the phone.  The Bernina was up and running today.  Whipped up a Millie Mischief made-by-mee cushion kit for the kids' piano teacher's grand-daughter (did you get that):

{{pink Millie, light blue + purple border, wool-felt and perle-8 snippets to embellish, and a wool-felt heart for the back}}

{{Millie Mischief is ready for Ruby}

{{back o' the bag.  I do love that Sarah Jane Studios balloon print}}

We haven't made the mee-friends for quite a while now, but we might bring them back for another run. They are very cute, and we love the idea of small hands slowing stiching away to create a one-of-a-kind mee-friend cushion to love and keep.  Vee and I will talk.  Get back to you.

In non-sewing news, I had a nice surprise today.  Our very sweet P&C president made us a cake for organising the school fete - check it:

{{before}}

{{after ... and no, that was not one massive piece for me}}

Wasn't that just very unexpected and sweet?  He paid for our coffees too.  Awesome start to the day.

Am so pleased to finally be back to the sewing after such a long fete-enforced break.  Spent quite a few hours over the weekend sorting my fabrics ... again ... by colour.  Still going.  

Happy Monday     xoxo cat 

:: bunkered down in BrisVegas ::

Another week has flown on by, ending with the perfect long weekend - cold and rain in BrisVegas, so we hung out at home, saw friends and family and did not much at all.  Loved it.  Here are a few pics. 

{mee friend kits, headed for Ireland - gosh it's a long while since we've made these}

{patiently waiting for the husband ... my husband, not Teddy's husband ... he'll sit like that for gee, whole minutes at a time, for no apparent reason, just waiting}

{hama beads, how we love you}

{chocolate + blackberry jam cake.  made this twice. and ate a lot of it.}

{made this for one of my kids' teachers who's headed for an England-holiday. Thought the V+A fabric was perfect}

see you xoxo cat

:: the home stretch (and thank goodness Vee's back!) ::

Well how glam and gorgeous did Vee and her sis look at the Melbourne Cup last week?  Scroll down to the last post if you missed the pic.

I'm so glad Vee's back in town!  I've missed bouncing ideas around with her and our many "ooh, look at this, what do you think" moments that happen during each week.  The sewing just wasn't as much fun without her.

We've had a great weekend - drinks with friends, a bit of shopping, lots of home time, and a birthday party.  Here's a little bag I made in place of wrapping paper for the birthday pressie (it was a Hawaiin-themed party):

There was a lot of finishing-off sewing going on over the weekend too - Vee and I are into the home-stretch and headed for the Twilight Market next Friday night!  Here are my six cushions, and oh yes, they - are - finished!!:

Am so happy with them, and completely overjoyed that they are finished.

We've made three happy little bunting sets - these will be pinned up in the entry way to the market, and will look super-noice near our garlands (scroll down if you missed that pic from a couple of posts ago).

And here are my five little mee-friend cushions, ready for market:

All the close-up pics are in our Flickr stream in the 'made by mee cushiony friends' set, but I do particularly love Pipsqueak's ear.  I don't know if you can see, but there are lots of little stitches in there:

We have lots of pricing, packaging and organising to do this week.  Should be fun.

'til next time      xoxo cat

  

:: made by mee cushiony friends - Millie Mischief ::

Millie Mischief, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

Here at last is our final made by mee cushiony friend for you to meet (we thought Finn McTrickster was the last one, but Millie Mischief was waiting quietly in the corner, counting her tiny-treasures collection).

This is the gorgeous Millie Mischief. She loves to collect tiny treasures and carry them in her tiny handbag. She also loves to create fabulous imaginary worlds, and populate them with her tiny toys, who all talk in very high pitched voices. A lovely tea party never goes astray either, and Millie is quite the tiny food gourmand - think meringue mushrooms and fancy chocolates.

Do you have a Millie Mischief in your life?

Millie Mischief can be screen printed in hot pink or charcoal onto calico. Her made by mee cushiony kit lives inside a matching drawstring bag, and contains a patchworked cushion front, a cushion back, instructions, wool felt and embroidery floss for your crafty kid to embellish. She is suitable for crafty kids of all shapes and sizes, within an 8 to 108 age range. An adult should be on hand to wield an iron and sewing machine.

Pop across to our shop to have a look at Millie Mischief and her mee friends. The Millie photos in our shop, show Millie with some felt and floss embellishments, unlike our pic here. We can package her up and send her flying straight into the arms of your crafty kid.

'til next time xoxo cat

made by mee cushiony friend 'Finn McTrickster'

...and last but by no means least! we would like to introduce you to our fifth and final mee cushiony friend.....a total little mischief maker and his name is Finn McTrickster.

Finn McTrickster loves to 'hoon' around on his scooter and skateboard, he enjoys talking (or perhaps the sound of his own voice!) and asking lots of questions.  In his quiet moments, Finn loves to invent wonderful, far-fetched stories to whisper to his made by mee friends Pipsqueak, Millie Mischief, Lisey-Lou and Bela Blue.

Finn McTrickster is one of our limited edition screen printed (on calico) made by mee cushiony friend kits. He comes in his own little drawstring bag, and has been designed for crafty kids aged 8 to 108.

All of the hard work has been done for you.  Inside his little bag, you'll find easy to follow instructions, a patchworked cushion front - already sewn together and ready to embroider, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery floss to decorate Finn to your heart's content. For younger kids an adult should be on hand to wield an iron, and to sew Finn together.

Finn McTrickster can be printed in chocolate, orange or grey.

Does the crafty kid in your world have a place in their room for Finn McTrickster? 

Pop across to our little shop and sneak a peak today.

xoxo cat&vee

made by mee cushiony friend 'pipsqueak'

..so...o.k...here is our next adorable made by mee cushiony friend and her name is Pipsqueak.

Pipsqueak loves to sing and dress up in her mum's shoes. She is easily distracted by all things shiny and enjoys playdates with her made by mee friends Finn McTrickster, Lisey-Lou, Bela Blue and Millie Mischief.  When Pipsqueak is tired from all of these awesome activities she loves nothing more than to curl up in a patch of sunshine for a dreamy afternoon snooze.

Pipsqueak is one of our limited edition screen printed (on calico) made by mee cushiony friend kits. She comes in her own little drawstring bag, and has been designed for crafty kids aged 8 to 108.

All of the hard work has been done for you. Inside her little bag, you'll find easy to follow instructions, a patchworked cushion front - already sewn together and ready to embroider, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery floss to decorate Pip to your heart's content. For younger kids an adult should be on hand to wield an iron, and to sew Bela Blue together.

Pipsqueak can be printed in chocolate or grassy green.

Does the crafty kid in your world have a place on their bed for Pipsqueak? Pop across to our little shop and sneak a peak today.

xoxo cat&vee

::: made by mee cushiony friends - Bela Blue :::

Bela Blue, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

Here is the second in our little five-part series, to introduce you to our made by mee cushiony friend kits.

You met the lovely Lisey-Lou yesterday, and I'm back again to introduce you to the gorgeous Bela Blue.

Bela Blue is quite the sophisticate .... sometimes. She loves music and reading (a LOT, particularly history books and books where you have to read the whole series many times, like Harry Potter and Sisters Grimm). Bela Blue also loves to scarper around outside, climb trees and swing as high as she can. Back on earth, she loves to collect rocks and shells and anything interesting enough to keep in teetering piles in her nest.

Hmmm, do you have a Bela Blue in your life?

Bela Blue is one of our limited edition screen printed (on calico) made by mee cushiony friend kits. She comes in her own little drawstring bag, and is for crafty kids aged 8 to 108.

Inside her little bag, you'll find very fab instructions, a patchworked cushion front, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery floss to decorate Bela to your heart's content. An adult should be on hand to wield an iron, and to sew Bela Blue together.

Bela Blue can be printed in aqua blue or hot pink.

Bela would love to spread her wings and feather her nest with the crafty kid in your life. Pop across to our little shop and ruffle her feathers today!

'til next time xoxo cat

::: made by mee cushiony friends (again) :::

mee friends hanging out, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

So I'm on fire with posting today. Someone really does need to stop me ... but of course, if you were to pop over, that would involve making eye contact with a mournful dog with a bucket on his head, so perhaps leave me to it and enjoy the rest of your afternoon bucket-free.

It occurred to me AFTER hitting 'post' (just now, when talking to you about our lovely Lisey-Lou), that I should have shown you a group photo of all our fabulous mee-friends out on the town together.

From left to right, we have Lisey-Lou (scroll down, there's a post all to herself), Bela Blue, Pipsqueak, Millie Mischief and Finn McTrickster.

Stay tuned for our next 'all about me' mee-friend post ... who will be next ... the anticipation really is worth it .....

'til then xoxo cat

::: made by mee cushiony friends - Lisey-Lou :::

P1020892, a photo by cat&vee on Flickr.

This is the first of five posts we'll do, to introduce our made by mee cushiony friends. Maybe there will be five posts today ... maybe it'll take us a week to do them all ... what delicious anticipation ... be sure to check back soon!

The gorgeous girl you see before you is Lisey-Lou. Lisey-Lou loves netball, her Mum's caramel slice, playing in the park, and to sparkle and shine with jewels of every colour.

Do you know a girl like Lisey-Lou?

Our mee-friends are a limited edition design, screen printed onto calico. They are available to buy as a cushiony kit, for crafty kids aged 8 to 108 to make themselves. Adult help is required to wield an iron and to machine-sew the cushion together.

Each kit comes with super fab instructions, a patchworked cushion front, a cushion back, and wool felt and embroidery thread, so your crafty kid can embellish Lisey-Lou (or her other mee friends) to their heart's content.

All kits will arrive in your letter-box neatly wrapped inside a matching draw-string bag.

Lisey-Lou can be printed in purple or hot pink, and is a sweet little friend for your crafty kid to love.

If you have a crafty kid who would love to sparkle with Lisey-Lou, please pop across to our lovely little shop.

'til next time xoxo cat

... works in progress ...

We've both had a productive weekend - despite almost being blown away in Brisbane's windy weather yesterday.  It was so nice to get out and about in the sun today.  

We have:

* some new mee-friend kits heading out the door to our friend K - just in time for school holidays.  K asked for a purple Lisey-Lou, green Pipsqueak and charcoal Finn McTrickster.  Don't they look sweet all together?

* taken and uploaded heaps of new photos - we have a new-found appreciation for the skills of professional photographers!

* updated our lovely little shop - pop across to see our sewing kits, jewellery kits and mee-friend cushion kits.

* played around with some new ideas for bags and cushions.

Cat also managed to get to the Writers' Festival to see the fabulous Ann Patchett being interviewed by Suzy Wilson - and is now madly reading Ann's new book, 'State of Wonder'.

Hope you've had a happy weekend.  

xoxo cat&vee