Lex's bunny and Reddit

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail that my Child's Own Studio website had reached its bandwidth limit. Someone had posted www.childsown.com on reddit.com. I contacted my host server who looked into it, and we weren't sure if the traffic was due to the reddit effect or if someone or something had (mis)used my site as a portal. Anyway, my web host increased my bandwidth and my site was back up and running.

A customer who found me on reddit, sent me a drawing by his five year old daughter, Lex.




Along with the drawing, he sent a simple request. That the soft toy be her most beautiful creation, with eyes filled with peace, and that it would help encourage her to keep using her imagination and creativity. So, I did what I could!





Then he posted the bunny on reddit.com and I got another e-mail saying that my website's bandwidth limit was reached.

oh well...

Sarah's slug

I hate slugs. Ugh. They wreak havoc in my garden, shredding my hostas and putting polka dot holes in my other plants. They're slimy too. Have you ever touched one? I once did, when I tried to put one on a fishing hook. Ewwwww!

But Sarah Cloke, age 11, knew what she was doing when she drew this slug.

So, even though I can't stand slugs, I really like this guy. He's so cute, I'd even cuddle him.

how to train your dragon

At some point, I almost gave up on Toothless. I began working from a pattern by Katy A, but in the end, it didn't look quite right, so I unpicked the stitches, made some modifications, re-stitched it, found it still not right, unpicked more stitches, made some more modifications, and restitched it (all over the course of a few days), then made a couple of mistakes, and flung the wretched toy across the room. Then, I tidied up my sewing table and went to bed. The next day, a bright, sunny Sunday, while my family and friends went on a hike (a favourite activity of mine), I stayed in my studio and faced off with the dragon. This time, I stayed calm, and even whispered sweet words and promised it a fine fish if he came along nicely. In the end, he did.

Girl with a big heart

by Allison, age 4

This is a self portrait, and a very sweet one at that, with a big red heart and a big smile on her face. I made the doll with a little more hair than shown in the drawing, because I really wanted it to look like her (the artist).

mouse and pig

So, I'm back from vacation, which everyone agreed had been a wonderful time! We saw a dinosaur dig, visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum, did a fair bit of hiking and saw quite a lot of wildlife, including a black bear that loped across the highway right in front of us.

And now, back to the sewing table!!! I have a number of soft toy orders that I must start.

Here is a pig and mouse that I took with me to work on in the cabin in the Rockies. A while ago, I did a giveaway for this blog, and one of these softies is the winner. So, this mother got two softies for the price of one.

by Victoria, age 10

by Elisabeth, age 7

On vacation with Instagram

On Vacation

On the road to Alberta! Have seen the Three Pigs' homes, Old Mother Hubbard's cottage, the old woman and her shoe house. In the next few days, will visit Dinosaur Provincial Park and see dinosaurs in Drumheller.

See you later!

The Bombing Boys' Club (or Camp Wendy)

What do you do during the summer holidays with a kid who doesn't like daycamps? A couple of years ago, he didn't complain about daycamps, but now, my son baulks at them and just wants to stay at home, where he could while away a considerable amount of time with Youtube or video games.

So, I came up with the idea of hosting our own daycamp, and inviting a couple of friends who were still around and available. And it's been really fun so far. Camp runs from 9 to 12, and they are kept busy with the activities that I plan for them, and the morning just flies by. One of the activities was getting them to start a blog and you can check out their blog and see what they've been up to here.

Killarney Slice of Summer Fair

Do I look like I'm having the time of my life?

  For the first time ever, I showcased Child's Own Studio at a local community centre fair.   I don't know how other crafters do fairs.  I tried working on some lumpsucker fish, but I found all the visitors and noise to be quite distracting.  Yes, I am a Classic Introvert, especially when I work.   So then I gave up and just greeted people and explained what I did, and some of them were kind of interested and took my card, and a couple of them were quite intrigued.  Most of the children got the idea right away and entered the draw.   

And the lucky winner is:

(I rubbed out the number for this posting. )  I have yet to contact this lucky person; I called once, but the line was busy.  I will try again tomorrow,  you have my blogger's word!  

More lumpsucker fish for Parks Canada

Parks Canada has asked me to make 12 more lumpsucker fish which will go into their visitor centers and be used to educate children (and adults) about these little guys. Here are the first two of the order, and the rest of them will have to wait until mid-September, when the summer holidays are over.