Birdlife..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24780416@N06/2522089642/, originally uploaded by Phatsheep Textiles.

These little birds have been running around in our garden for a few months now, quite cute but not when they wake you up at 4am!?!
I've been working on a print inspired by these birds and some of the others that have been flying around nearby for a few weeks now, my first sample of fabric arrived on Saturday, always really exciting to see your print on fabric for the first time:

I'm really happy with how it looks and can't wait to get started making it into some new products which will hopefully be in the etsy shop in a few weeks and on my website once I get M to take some pics.

Remember Clothkits....

Any of you 70's/80's children remember Clothkits? I can remember the girls dresses but I especially remember the cloth dolls. I was searching through google for something or other and was super excited when I came across the Clothkits website. Go and have a look they have some great skirts, I might just have to go and buy the skirt kit designed by Rob Ryan, click here to see it (I would post pics but I'm bit scared by the copyright/using pics off peoples website thing).

I've also been buy working on some new product designs:

I'm really pleased how the grey shoulder bag has turned out, still a little bit of the Croft house pattern fabric featured but quite subtle. I'm thinking the Fair Isle Jumper fabric pouch would make a great make-up bag

Look what arrived in the mail!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24780416@N06/2480147607/, originally uploaded by Phatsheep Textiles.

I ordered the ribbons from Rosa Pomar last week, they are both so cute, but I especially love the beardy gnomes! I'm not sure what I'm going to make with them yet.

At the moment I'm happy just looking at them, they make me smile!

Recipient of the Arte y Pico Award

PhatSheep Textiles blog is the lucky recipient of the Arte y Pico award, a huge thank you to Aileen of Aileen clarke crafts for nominating my little blog. Aileen creates lovely fiber art, I especially like her scottish landscapes which feature wooly sheep. I should also mention that she is the founder of a great little flickr group handmade in scotland which you should go and look at if you have the time.

~ there are some rules attached to this award and in passing it on to others they are as follows;
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico’ blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules.

So here are the 5 blogs who I'd like to give the award to:

1. Syko - Kajsa makes the most lovely, cute and amusing accessories and art quilts, her blog is always an interesting insight into her working life and very frequently it makes me head off into my workshop and start sewing.

2. Pikaland - Amy at Pikaland has come up with a fantastic idea,Pikapackages full of talented peoples illustrated art, if you're really lucky you can win one of these packages, otherwise there is an opportunity to buy these little bundles of art loveliness.

3. Raspberry - Alice makes great linen bags, all unique, how she manages to come up with so many different applique designs is beyond me but if you read her blog you can learn some more about how she manages this, and the joys and frustrations of being a designer/maker.

4. SkinnyLaminx - Heather writes from South Africa, she's an illustrator, writer and designer, but great for us that she has time to write about her life and inspiration in this great blog, and she extra specially deserves this award because she's just gone full time self employed ( or unemployed as she blogged it a few days ago!).

5. Last but by no means least Elsie Marley - Meg (not Elsie!) writes a great blog but she deserves the award from me because she organised the first blog swap I took part in, the mobile swap a few months back which was great fun and a bit of a challenge, I'm still eagerly waiting to receive my mobile from my swap partner, maybe it got lost in the mail, but the best bit of the swap was making the mobile and sending it off to someone far away and hoping they liked it!

Ok, there they are! please have a look through these blogs and at the lovely crafts these clever people make.

Envelopes

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24780416@N06/2464430067/, originally uploaded by Phatsheep Textiles.

Not much Phatsheep work being done this week, too many sunny days! and workshop is still in a mess too, oops!
I have been working on another project for the past few weeks and it ends this week with a small exhibition in our local museum. We were tasked with designing something influenced by the items in the museum, hard to do as there are so many interesting dipslays.
The inspiration for my work has been mail - post boxes, envelopes, stamps that kind of thing.

Above are some purses and an oversized clutch all made in linen, my new favourite fabric, I've still got a large slouchy bag to finish for Thursday and organise how its all going to be displayed and get business cards and and and.......I should have been in my workshop more last week.....