They’re here, they’re here, they’re here!!! My new branded business cards have arrived.
After years without any specific branding & a moment where I made my logo but only used it as a watermark, I went to the next level & now I have my own cards with a scrappie critter logo (made by me) on them!
Yes, I do sew other things, but my creative passion is really with my scrappies & it was well & truely time for me to acknowledge that more openly to others. So tadah!
My little square cards are double sided too, but you’ll have to either order something from me or hit me up in person to get a copy & see what it says :0)
A few weeks ago, I made this amazing scrappie critter for a friend Lorenzo & posted it to Italy.
Lorenzo had asked if I could do one that incorporated the logo of Schrödinger Hat on it somehow, whilst we were travelling around in Europe and then patiently waited for me to get back & settle in before I made it for him.
I delved into my big piles of misc fabrics & played with a few combos before ultimately settling on this layout. This was in fact the very first scrappie to get a button for an eye & I have to say I LOVE how it turned out. The cats eye’s fabric for one of the legs, glows in the dark, and just had to be included.
The nose & mouth were actually a request from my youngest to add & I knew that Lorenzo would love that she had a hand in the design. I added those features by “drawing” & “colouring it in” entirely using freehand machine sewing, which I am slowly improving on. K2 loved it, so I know that Lorenzo would too, especially knowing it came about because of her.
Lorenzo & Schroddy
Lorenzo has been very gracious in sharing posts of Schroddy on social media platforms like Youtube & LinkedIn (as per image left) which has been simply amazing & I can’t thank him enough.
Thank you for asking me to make a scrappie critter for you Lorenzo & I am so happy to see Schroddy promoting the importance of Sustainability & the Environment. 🌏
I am so excited to let everyone know that I will be attending two events in April. This doubles the number of events that I attended last year. 😆
For those who have been following me on social media, you might have noticed I now have a new size of scrappie critter too, the Pocket- Sized one, which I am very excited to announce that I will be bringing to both events, as well as mix of other sizes.
The first event, I am attending will be at the Spencerville Spring Market on Saturday April 8th. It’s taking place indoors at The Spencerville Arena from 10am – 3pm. I haven’t officially been announced on their social media as attending, but rest assured, I will be there. The market is part of the events organised by the SBCC over the easter weekend. There’s even an easter egg hunt from 10-11am in town that you can check out as well. I haven’t been to an event in Spencerville since Covid, so it will be nice to be doing an event local to me.
I am also REALLY excited to be attending the annual North Grenville Sustainability Fair again. It’s happening on Sunday April 16th from 10am-3pm at the North Grenville Municipal Centre. I love this event so much as it aligns so well with my values. both personally & as an artist. If you are a little bit “crunchy” like me, I highly recommend taking the time to attend. Bring the kids too, they always have amazing activities for the little ones & they have some great talks too. I love it because it reminds me how many people really do care deeply for the environment & it is great for my kids to see that too.
Please note that I will have slightly different stock at each event. My scrappie critters will of course be at both, as will some hanging towels, bookmarks etc but I will only be bringing my current stock of aprons to the event in Spencerville. Aprons will be reduced in cost to aid in rehoming them, although I do ask that people either pay in cash or I am happy to do e-transfers on the spot too, as it reduces my costs in processing card payments. Aprons will be sold below my costs so please if you can be mindful of that, it would be greatly appreciated, as everything I bring to events or have stocked in stores is handmade by myself.
Hope to see some of you at either or both events, and if you do go, please do say a quick hello.
These two little scrappies have been a favourite in our house, since I completed them on Saturday, February 6th. I honestly didn’t expect the enthusiasm I’ve had from the kids for these two, but every day since they were made, they have checked on them to make sure they’re ok & hoped that no-one would buy them.
The one on the left is comprised of a heart shaped piece of fabric that I came across in velvet (it was given to me with some scraps a friend had) & given that it’s February, I thought that it would be perfect to finally do something about it. I had thought of adding it to a much bigger scrappie, but decided to embrace the heart as the full shape. It was an instant hit.
The little red scrappie with a heart was also popular, due to it’s size, colour & the heart on it.
They really did make the perfect valentines day gifts to my kidlets today, who were incredibly relieved that no-one had bought them from my site. I am so happy that the kids appreciate gifts that are handmade, the way that they do.
In August, I saw a post on a local Facebook group, from Melissa, who was looking to have memory items made, as her mother had sadly & unexpectedly passed away. I decided to comment & sent a link to a previous write up about the memory scrappies for Lawrence, I had made, with an offer to create memory scrappies for her.
Melissa, reached out to me describing her mom, Susan as Martha Stewart reincarnated, she could turn anything into a something & Melissa liked the fact that I had “unique craftiness” too. So thus, our creative venture began.
Normally, when I’ve made my memory scrappies, I will have at least one long face-to-face meeting with a loved one & several follow up discussions, in person or online, as I think of new questions, but this time around (Covid) all our conversations were online. Even though it was different, it had it’s benefits, the fact that everything was written down helped a lot. Melissa was wonderful at sharing memories both in words written & pictures shared. The love that Melissa had for her mum was abundantly obvious, it was quite beautiful to be privy to it & to capture it in the scrappies created.
Susan’s Beautiful Gardens
A talented artist
As with all my scrappies, every creative decision made, happened for a reason. All of the fabrics used were Susan’s. I did use some interfacing & new polyfil, but everything that you see, carries memories of Susan. One continuing theme on each, were the eyes, all made from the same fabrics. They are green & brown, as I was told that Susan’s eye colour was green/brown.
Water Loving Scrappie
Now, to talk about other features of each scrappie. The first scrappie, was nautical themed, the red striped shirt I later discovered, Melissa had given to her mom. I picked it because I wanted to capture Susan’s love of the ocean & it had a lovely boat anchor on it, which I wanted to feature. There was a blue shirt, that reminded me of the water, so I used that for the face on this one. The brown striped arm was my little nod to gardening as was the yellow (flowers, the sun) and then there was a green top (her favourite colour was green) that had a pattern on it that made me think of vines. The other leg, a mosaic pattern, was a nod both to artistic talents and to the way the water catches the light sometimes.
Stars front
Stars back with open zipper
The next scrappie, made use of a star shirt, as the main fabric. Not only was Susan, one of a kind, just like the stars, but she was incredibly special to her family, who loved her very much, so, of course stars had to be included. This one features the mosaic fabric again, this time I used it to create a pocket. It isn’t easy to see, but the pocket features a puzzle piece, cut from the same fabric I used for the legs, in recognition of time spent making puzzles. The legs (& puzzle piece) are made from a gorgeous quilted jacket that made me think of a painting or beautiful garden, which had to be recognised. I also used a part of that jacket for all of the brown pupils within the eyes of each scrappie. There was a green top with zippered pockets on it that I decided to use for the backing fabric, incorporating the zipper into the design, because lets be honest, zippered pockets are awesome. Green being recognised as her favourite colour, again.
The third scrappie featured another pocket, this time only one though. The pocket was taken directly from the same jacket that I used in the previous scrappie for the legs (with nods to gardening & artistic talents) & I used a couple of other pieces of clothing to create a little heart & spade icon to recognise time spent playing cards, including Go Fish with one of her grandkids. It seemed apt to use a shirt that repeated the words je t’aime (I love you) in a heart shape on the back too. The red striped fabric from the nautical themed shirt of course tied in a love of the water & the yellow used, linked back to creativity, sunshine & time spent in the garden.
Little Scrappie
back view
Melissa had actually only asked me to make 3 scrappies for each of her mom’s grandkids, but I really wanted to give her something a little extra, so I made her a little travel sized scrappie of her own, one that she could always take with her. I went back to my winking style for this one, because I wanted to capture some of her mums cheekiness. The heart shaped mosaic fabric was a purposeful little message of love, to symbolise the love that they both share for each other.
Scrappies together
Here they are complete, together.
They’re a pretty cute little bunch, aren’t they?
Thank you for asking me to make these scrappies for your family Melissa. I hope that they bring lots of reminders of the wonderful memories you all have with your mom.
EXTRA Artist notes: Each of my scrappie critters are made to be uniquely imperfect, just as all of us are. Some will have more noticeable stitching in places, in this case the nautical one does. They’re not symmetrical, appendages are not exactly the same in size or number on each. This is all done on purpose, our differences & imperfects are what make us who we are after all.