Melly & me

Im so excited....

...and I just can't hide it!!

I know I said I would be posting tomorrow, but for once I am doing the giveaway draw early as I just had to do a post tonight, I couldn't wait to share my news.

This evening I completed the final project for my book!!!! This is such a great feeling and it feels like such an accomplishment.  It was only about a month ago that I had a bit of a break down thinking that I couldn't get it done.  I felt so overwhelmed and uninspired at that time and could not see an end in sight. But now I have done it.  I know there is still more work to do but the feeling of all the designing being done is a huge relief, it is the lion's share.  So here is a sneak peek of my final creation....

I have had a lot of questions about when the book will be ready, and even an order or two have already come through, so I thought I should fill you all in a little bit more!  The book will be called "Kaleidoscope" and I am hoping that it will be printed and ready to hit the shelves in late May/early June.  In the next week or two we will get working on photography, then off to the graphic designer and then to print!  It is always hard to gauge the timing of these things but I will make sure I keep you all posted.

And of course you still need a sneak peek of the new project 11 that took the "Twitters" place....

She is a cutie!

Speaking of cuties, I also wanted to share with you all this cute little fella!!  When we had the Bushfire Appeal Auction, Kelly was the winning bidder of our little Acute.  Since that time Kelly has finished up a cute new friend to keep Acute company.  He is so cute and has been named "Obtuse"   Don't you just love him..

Last but not least I better let you all know who won the "Twitter" patterns in our giveaway....

Ineke, Kim and Noela are the three lucky winners.  Please email me you details ladies, and I will get your pattern in the post right away.

May the floss be with you,

Melly.

Not another giveaway!!!

What a dilemma!!!  You may remember in my last post I gave a sneak peek of the 11th project for my book.  The next day I made another new creation and decided that this one instead had to be the 11th project for the book.  So my poor sneak peek from last week had no new home, no purpose!  

There was no way that I could allow this little girl to have no destiny as she is just as cute as a button and needed to see the world.  So what was there to do but to release her as a new pattern.

So here is my sneak peek revealed a little earlier than expected..... 

And then of course since she needed to be released as a new pattern I had to make her a mate to keep her company......

They have found true love and don't they make such a cute couple!!  I am calling this new pattern "Twitter" and it will be written and ready to go in the next few days.  So of course this means another giveaway!!!  It feels like there have been so many lately, but hey, can you ever have too much of a good thing?

Leave a comment on this post to go in the running for your own "Twitter" pattern and I will draw three lucky winners on Thursday.  

Melly.

What a great show!!

As we mentioned in the last post we spent the weekend at the "New Look" Stitches & Craft show in Melbourne.  We were not sure what to expect, and there had been so much speculation leading up to it that we went with a very open mind, expecting anything.  Well let me just say that the new concept is amazing!!! The show was such a breath of fresh air and it was so nice to see a show where there were new and exciting ideas.  I strongly recommend you give the show a visit when it comes to your state if you would like to see a show that is fun, fresh and interactive.

We ran some talks on successful softie making tips as well as two workshops on making our "Messenger Birdies".  The whole thing was so much fun and the classes were great!  We had such an amazing bunch of ladies come and spend two hours with us and it was super exciting to even have a young, first time sewer in our Saturday class.  Maddy came along on Sunday with her mum which was so lovely!  It is always great when you get to meet a blogging pal in the flesh.  I just had to show you her birdie as it is just so sweet....

We also saw a great deal of rain over the weekend and it is official that the fires are all out!!!  That is cause for celebration!!!  I think our fire season may be officially over as we seem to be getting quite a bit of rain now and the Autumn breezes are replacing the Summer heat. Of course the weather is so unpredictable so I wont talk too soon.

And what would a post be without another book sneak peek???!!  So above is project number 11........ only one more to go, I can hardly believe it.

Melly.

Come see us....

Next weekend we are going to have a bit of fun at the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show!!  We are hoping some of you might be able to come and say hello.  We will be running a 2 hour craft lab where you can make your own Messenger Birdie...

And also a 45 minute studio where we share a bit about our journey and share tips and tricks for successful softie making.  You can go here to find out more.  We will be running these sessions on both the Saturday and Sunday and hope to meet a few of you there - the show is sounding amazing!

Today we had a public holiday here in Melbourne and my beautiful husband took the kids out for the day to give me a much needed work catch up day.  It is amazing how much you can get done when there is a full day of peace!!  So I completed projects 9 and 10 for the book in one day and it feels so great, only 2 more projects to go before we can begin photography - CANT WAIT!  

So of course I cant tell you about a new project without the standard peek........

hmmmm, any guesses??

I wish you all plenty of finished projects this week and hope to see some of you this weekend,

Melly.

Up to date...

Yes, we are a day late again.  This is becoming a bit of a habit, isn't it?  At least I have a good excuse - I was on a roll creating yesterday which was a huge relief and I wasn't going to jeopardize that for anything! 

So firstly I will announce the winners of our giveaway!! Sharon, Mary Ann and Jo you are the three winners of the gorgeous new pattern.  Please email us your postal addresses and we will get those posted out as soon as they are ready to go.

Over the past week I have managed to get a few more projects completed (only after a bit of a break down mind you!!) which has been such a great feeling.  I think maybe I am starting to get a little more used to this running around each day and am learning to use those available hours, short as they may be. 

Firstly I created a cute project that I will be teaching at my first two retreats this year..

Then I managed to make a new pirate Magoo which was the requested "Custom Melly & me item" we auctioned off in our bushfire fundraiser.  I hear he has now arrived with Linda and is being loved to bits.  Of course I can never make just one so we did have to witness a very sad farewell...

Next was another new project for the book.... project number 8 which has turned out oh so cute! Those coming to the Inspired Stitches retreat will get a bit of an early look at this one!

In other news, today we have been told to brace for very extreme weather conditions. There has been so much warning in the form of TV, radio announcements and even text messages from the police. They are expecting very bad conditions for fires as well as such high winds that may cause a lot of damage. We have been bracing for this day, local schools have closed and we wonder what we will face.  At this stage it seems to be not much as we awoke to the sound of rain showers on our tin roof!! - we were expecting to wake to the sound of gale force winds but the pitter patter was a nice surprise. I have been watching the weather channel and it appears there is still a fun 24 hours ahead of us, not enough rain to help much and the winds are still yet to come.  So while we all keep quiet at home and wait to see what the day brings I will be making some more of these...

Project 9 for the book!!! That means I have nearly finished three quarters of the projects - woo-hoo!!!

So I hope you have now had your fix of sneak peeks, what a post full of teasing!  I cant wait for the day when I can start revealing all of these projects to you.

Take care and I hope that all of you will be safe from nature's extremes today,

Melly