20/52 {a weekly family portrait}

{a portrait of our family, once a week, every week, in 2013}

You'd be excused for thinking this is a Red Band ad. We got tired of buying a handful new pairs of gumboots every winter, so are going the "quality" (aka, freaking expensive) route now. And hoping that Jada's will last for 4 more brothers!

Also, it's been raining. A LOT. And hard. This parched lawn is now full of puddle-lakes. Perfect for splashing in.

 Joining in with Jodi, and see previous portraits here:

Made for Murr

I may have inwardly squealed when Mrs Murr sent through these sweet sketches and asked me to make some dolls for her gorgeous girls, Gemma and Maible.

The dresses were based on this pin. 

In fact, I first came across Murr on Pinterest, and I found myself pinning all her pins so I began following her there. Then on Twitter. And now we're at the stage where we've already arranged the marriage of Sawyer and Maible...ah, where would we be without social media? (rhetorical question. don't answer that!)

She has been blessed with an eye for style that I can really only dream of, so it was such a creatively inspiring project to work with her in making these dolls. 

In fact, I enjoyed working with Murr so much that I cheekily asked her to design a few more dolls for me. I can't show you them just yet, but I'll just say this: AH.MAZE.ING.

And, watch this space!

(Sooo many exciting things happening for Tiny Eyes at the moment!!)

The Mother's Day Tunic

I very, very rarely buy new fabrics for my dolls but on Friday I saw this sweet floral and couldn't resist. It tempted me all Friday night while I cut out doll orders.

On Saturday, I couldn't resist any longer so made it into a simple tunic top. 

It was supposed to be a "quick" sew. It wasn't. (It never is when I sew real clothes!). However, I decided it would be my 'Mother's Day' top, and enjoyed wearing it out for the first time the next day.

Jada (9) gave me this sweet watercolour and ink painting of a fantail (Piwakawaka). They are my favourite NZ bird - so cheerful and friendly. I was stunned at how well she captured it.

It was such a gorgeous day on Mother's Day, wasn't it? We spent some time at a remote beach where I wore my new top with jeans and gumboots (I got waaay too hot!!)

I noticed Sarah wore something special for Mother's Day, too.

Did you?

19/52 {a weekly family portrait}

{a portrait of our family, once a week, every week, in 2013}

Having had house-sitters in our home for so long, our vege garden had turned into the most fantastic garden of weeds. On Tuesday the sun was shining so we all got outside and began to reclaim our vege patch.

I like this 'portrait', it is a little more accurate of what it's like having 5 kids, not always neatly bunched together, but usually scattered around doing their own things. I'm continuously head counting ;)

Joining in with Jodi, and see our previous portraits here:

Meet the Designers!

I am getting so excited about this project and have been bursting to share who the designers will be. 

Here they are!

Gillian Weavers - Gill is a seriously gifted ceramic artist for her business Mudbird. I'm so inspired by her ability to turn such a basic material into something so delicate and beautiful. I really can't wait to make a Mudbird-inspired Tiny Eyes doll.

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Melissa Wastney - Melissa's brand, Tiny Happy, has the most relaxing, simple and unobtrusive vibe. I find it entirely refreshing in a often visually noisy online world. I am so humbled (and slightly stunned!) that Melissa has accepted my invitation to design a doll, I can't wait to see what she suggests.

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Rebekah Nathan - You know what's better than discovering an amazing crafter? It's discovering they're also really, really nice. Rebekah of Bliss in a Teacup is just that. I'm so happy she has agreed to design a doll for me.

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Rhiannon Larsen - I am so thrilled to have Rhiannon, the creative genius behind Croutons, designing a doll for me to make. This lady has an enormous heart and an enormous talent. Basically, she's my fave kind of person.

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Emma McCleary - Emma embodies the generous spirit of the craft movement - both with her time and her talent at Emma Makes. She is one of my personal role models of a successful business woman and crafter. I'm especially excited about making her doll.

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Erinna Lane - Erinna is the mama of 4 boys, (all under 5!) and along with her husband runs Big Kid Film Productions, Walton St Cafe in Te Awamutu, and a social media business, Sprout, with a friend.

Supermum? Pretty much.  I've specifically asked Erinna to design a boy doll, inspired by her yummy sons.

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Anya Brighouse - As well as being an inspirational mother, Anya is also an interior designer, sylist and and fashion writer. She writes about all of these loves for various NZ magazines and on her website, Beautiful Bedlam. Anya loves strong colours, which is unlike me, so I am really excited to make a doll that's completely different to my usual aesthetic.

Winter Collab Project

I have been rolling this idea around in my head for a long time. Something I've really wanted to do, but never been brave enough to ask. So, on Friday night, with heart beating, I emailed a few of my NZ crafting and design heroes and invited them to join with me in designing a Tiny Eyes doll.

And no one replied! For aaages. 

But then a few replied, "Yes!" And then some more. I kinda couldn't believe it. It was going to finally happen!

I'm waiting on a couple more responses, but as soon as I hear (or not) I will share the list of lovelies I will be collaborating with in the next few days.

(The moral of the story is, if there's something you REALLY want to try, give it a go. It might turn out better than you think xo)

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Keep up to date with dolls and info here: Tiny Eyes NZ on Facebook

18/52 {a weekly family portrait}

{a portrait of our family, once a week, every week, in 2013}

Bedtime story.

"Then he sat down on the grass, looking fat as butter, sleek as satin, and jolly as all get out..."

Joining in with Jodi:: See our previous portraits here: