Living in a dream world

Oh my!  1950s retro style for kids - I find myself powerless to resist this outrageously cute skirt pattern from Ottobre Design.  Yes I am a sucker for a well staged picture, and yes I do know the effect will not be the same when my child is covered in tomato soup stains and sporting crusty porridge in her hair instead of a co-ordinating headscarf.

No matter - I promptly ordered the back issue (3/2009 if you feel similarly compelled), and now we play the waiting game as it wings its way to me all the way from Finland.

To help me while away the time Ottobre have very kindly provided entertainment in the form of this Japanese doll pattern, available in PDF form from their print for free section.

It is presumably an applique pattern, but since I have recently purchased Doodle Stitching: Fresh and Fun Embroidery for Beginners
I am buoyed with confidence about my long neglected embroidery skills, and I have transferred the design to a piece of evenweave ready to be tackled.

Dear oh deer

This does not bode well.  I have just discovered Folksy.  Sew, mould, carve, solder, cast, sculpt, buy, sell, go!  Indeed.  So I did - buy, that is. 

So much crafty goodness to tempt me, I can almost hear my hard-earned PayPal funds trickling away.

I have so far sucumbed to the following temptations:

1. Dear Deer Needlebook - here I am like a sucker, keeping my needles in their pedestrian cardboard packet, when they could be living it up inside this little beauty.  Brightly coloured felt, spotty buttons, a pocket page at the back with a strawberry on, no less, and a cute little deer on the front - what's not to love?

2. Mama Loves Disco - 100g of pink, lime, black and white buttons.  Not quite such a practical purchase, as I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with these yet, but they spoke to me and I couldn't resist their zingy pleas.  So far I'm considering sewing them in a heart shape onto plain linen and mounting it onto a canvas, but this idea may yet evolve into something completely different.  Any suggestions welcome!

Both items were from the seller PaperFish in case you're interested, but I'm afraid I can't be held responsible for any compulsions to overspend if you click on her link.