​"In the tradition of great high seas adventure stories of times passed, with one key difference - this is a true story. The epic adventure of four-year-old Giovanni and the journey that could have ended his life, bringing him instead to start a new adventure in a new country, Australia".

I loved doing the research that came with illustrating a story like this one. Thank you to Crystal Corocher for your beautiful writing, and to Rochelle at Wombat Books for this wonderful opportunity :)

I've spent February tucked away sewing and am happy to report that I've finished making a new group of cloth dolls. Hooray!

All four dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from 10am (Australian Eastern Daylight time - AEDT) Friday 3rd March. 

I have a full and messy sewing table again. There should be a new group of cloth dolls  available via my online store in the next week or so. I'll let you know exactly when they'll be listed :) 

​Hooray!

​Here is my entry with this year's theme, 'Door to adventure'.

I've finally finished my latest group of dolls. I've been working on these for so long!

All five dolls will be available to purchase via my online store from Thursday (19 May)  10am Sydney time (Australian Eastern Standard Time - AEST) . 

I have handmade each doll myself, from reclaimed & salvaged fabrics and stuffed with wool. The dolls each come with their own removable cloak and letter-pressed certificate of authenticity.

They are quite delicate with lots of hand-stitching, and are intended as little art pieces to display rather than toys for small children. Each doll is around 25 cm tall and is priced from AU$430 + shipping (worldwide). 

My dolls sometimes sell out within a few minutes so be sure to move through the checkout process quickly, as I don't have a reserved cart on my website. 

I hope you like them!
Margeaux

I've spent the past few weeks making foxes from old woollen blankets, and barn owls from cotton, old upholstery fabric and wire. I haven't made these foxes or large clawed owls in such a long time... I missed them :) 

They're very firmly stuffed with wool and feature lots of embroidered details. The owls stand approximately 35 cm tall, and the foxes are around 25 cm tall.

All four of these creatures will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Thursday (9 Dec) Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). 

I've spent the past few months designing, perfecting and putting together a knitting pattern for tiny jumpers and cardigans to fit my Willowynn animal dolls... you an see my progress here.

And HOORAY, the pattern is finally finished and available to download via my online store!

​It turns out, designing a knitting pattern for a jumper, to fit a certain sized toy was not as easy as I originally thought. Especially since I had to learn to knit first :) 

I had a lot of fun coming up with designs and trying out colours and differnent types of yarns. And it's lovely to see everyone on my work table, now with their own jumper :) 

You can download the knitting pattern for my miniature jumpers and cardigans via my online store. Pleaese let me know how you go. I can't wait to see what you make!

I've finally finished sewing my latest collection of Willowynn dolls. They will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Thursday (24th June) Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). 

Each doll has been handmade by myself, from reclaimed & salvaged fabrics and stuffed with wool.

They are quite delicate with lots of hand-stitching, so are intended as little art pieces to display rather than toys for small children. Each doll is around 25 cm tall and is priced from AU$430 + shipping (worldwide). 

My dolls sometimes sell out within minutes so be sure to move through the checkout process quickly, as I don't have a reserved cart on my website. Again, they will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am (AEST) Tuesday 24 June.

I hope you like them!
Margeaux

I finally learnt to knit!

I've been spending my nights knitting in front of the fire, trying to design and knit the perfect jumper (sweater) and cardigan to fit my Willowynn animal dolls.

My pile of not-quite-right tiny jumpers is growing but I think I'm almost there... 

Knitting pattern coming soon! 

Edit: My tiny cardigan/jumper knitting pattern is now available to download via my online store. 

I've made so many prototypes, trying to get the design and size right... now everyone on my table has a jumper :) 

P. s. The Willowynn animal dolls pictured are not for sale, I'm sorry, but the sewing patterns are available in my online store :) ​

I'm very excited to announce that 'Kingdom of Rooms' written by M. J. Gibbs and Jenny Catalano (and illustrated by myself) has just been published, and is availabe to purchase via the author's website.

With the theme of 'royal palaces' and 'collecting', this fun-to-read-aloud book is full of poems that children will enjoy. 

I loved spending time researching and drawing the kinds of things that I think would be in a palace full of interesting bits and pieces - coats of armour, statues, Victorian toys, books and rocking horses... and soooo many peacock feathers!

And luckily for me, I had my boys to help me with ideas when I got stuck like, "The boy on the cover should be roller skating and wearing a knight's helmet". Brilliant!

​I created the illustrations using watercolour, pen and ink on paper and I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have!

I'm finally creating a downloadable sewing pattern for my snail soft sculpture!

There are snail prototypes all over the place here, and not just on my desk (pictured below). I have made so many snails, after first creating my design back in 2013, but offering it as a sewing pattern means I now have to make a proper template! So I'm tweaking and perfecting the shape, size and design. 

I took the photo above, years ago, upon discovering this little drawing on my work table. My family and I are fascinated by snails and have a very large (and growing) collection of huge snail shells. We live in a sub-tropical region of Australia, with rainforests nearby - where we regularly find the giant panda snail. 

I decided that my doll house needed a Christmas tree... because, why not?

My boys made the presents under the tree by wrapping some little cardboard shapes with patterned washi tape. I found the tiny battery-powered fairy lights at my local dollar store and the 'holly' on the stairs was picked from my garden (it's not holly, it's a native Australian shrub with these tiny holly-like leaves). 

This tiny pretend lounge room is permanently set up like this (minus the Christmas things) and includes a crocheted granny square as a rug (made by me) and a vintage green velvet sofa (found second-hand), that I would absolutely put in my own house, with a doily draped over the back. I made the round velvet cushions. 

Also, if you own a dollshouse, you'll know that the best part is looking through the tiny windows to see the miniature world inside :) 

If you like, you can see more blog posts featuring my dollshouse by clicking on ' dollhouse' in my blog categories.

I hope you all have a happy and safe holdiday this year and a terrific New Year. 

Best wishes,
​Margeaux 

I've just restocked my little illustrated holiday greeting card packs. The cards feature three of my watercolour illustrations - all pine tree / Christmas tree themed of course!

They're available to purchase via my online store, are ready to post straight away and are sustainably packaged. 

Obviously there are quite significant postal delays right now, due to the pandemic, so holiday mail will have to go out a lot sooner than usual, to arrive by Christmas.

​The estimated delivery time for these cards to reach you is up to ten business days within Australia, and up to four weeks outside of Australia. Plenty of time!

I've shared photos of my sewing table here so many times but I don't think I've ever really shown you where I spend the other part of my working life... this desk on the other side of my work room / studio.

Author Marg Gibbs and I were recently interviewed by the lovely Romi Sharp for the Just Write for Kids blog, about the making of our new book 'Goose at the Gate'.

You can read the interview here and watch a short video trailer all about this fun book of poetry for kids. Enjoy!

I've been working on a new group of dolls over the past few weeks, and they are almost finished. They will be available to purchase via my online store from 10 am Tuesday 22 September - Sydney time (AEST - Australian Eastern Standard Time). 

*The doll pictured in the bottom row will not be for sale.

My Covid lockdown period earlier this year was spent creating illustrations for a new children's poetry book by author Margaret Gibbs (and home-schooling my kids and designing elephant dolls), This is the kind of thing I've been wanting to do FOREVER and I had so much fun illustrating Margaret's gorgeous poems.

'Goose at the Gate' includes 40 poems for kids, along with a collection of my watercolour illustrations and Margaret's own bright and colourful collages. And it's out now!

​'Goose at the Gate' is available to purchase here. 

I'm having fun designing new elephant dolls (which are now available as a sewing pattern). Right now I'm trying to perfect their elephant heads by sewing prototype after prototype... using the fabric from an old bed sheet.

This is my favourite stage of soft toy design - looking at pictures of baby elephants, trying out different shapes, testing the scale of the trunk / ears etc... trunk up or trunk down (I've decided to include an option for both). Lots of fun and also a bit of a brain strain, and I'm happy to report that they're coming along nicely.

These guys will be similar to my other animal dolls that can be downloaded as sewing patterns. I also have patterns to sew their little overalls, dresses and coats. 

* Edit / update... the digital sewing pattern for my elephant soft toys is now available to download and print. Happy sewing!

As most of us are staying at home right now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I thought I'd offer this soft sculpture / embroidery tutorial as a free download ​... in case you're looking for something to do.  
​
It's also a great beginner sewing project for school children - for those of you at home with kids (me included). You can sew these using the sewing machine or by hand, and then decorate them with some simple embroidery stitches. 

​​The pattern includes instructions for stuffed fabric star, tree and round ornaments which are easy to sew, make great presents and look lovely hung on a garland or mobile (or anywhere really). I've put together some simple instructions, photos, an illustrated embroidery stitch library and templates. You can download the PDF sewing pattern here, for free, ready for you to print at home.

I hope you enjoy making these. You'll find more Willowynn sewing patterns available to download here.

My boys and I found an old dollhouse at our local tip shop a while ago. It was in pretty poor shape so we took it apart, cleaned it up, painted it and made tiny floor boards out of paddle-pop sticks (more about that here).

We've (I've) had so much fun collecting the odd bit of dollhouse furniture from op shops (thrift stores), making our own furniture and adding bits and pieces here and there - like my old watch for a wall clock, postage stamp pictures, corks for chairs etc. Last weekend I made some new bedclothes for the bed, cushions for the couch and little curtains... and spent a weekend blissfully arranging everything in the little house... all the while imagining how much I would have loved this as a child. I've even installed little lights... 

​Now I just have to make a tiny version of my dolls to live in it :) 

I'll have a group of three new dolls available to purchase via my online store from 10 am, Friday 28th February (Australian Eastern Daylight time - AEDT). 

All three dolls are handmade (by me) from reclaimed fabrics and stuffed with wool. They're not intended as a toy for small children due to delicate hand-stitching, but rather a little art piece to display. Each doll is around 25 cm tall and is priced from AU$380 + shipping. 

My dolls sometimes sell out fast so be sure to move through the checkout process quickly! Again, they will be available in my online store from 10 am (AEDT) Friday 28th February at 10 am.

I hope you like them.
Margeaux

I've been looking for a more eco-friendly / plastic-free way to package my sets of greeting cards, postcards and art prints. Up until now I've used the standard resealable 'cello sleeve' to protect my card sets and prints when posting out to customers, thinking that these were cellophane and made of cellulose (plants).  A couple of weeks ago, I ran out so went to order some more and found that, here in Australia, the resealable 'cello sleeves' are mostly not cellulose at all, but plastic. In fact, I read that (correct me if I'm wrong) if they are resealable (in Australia), they are almost certainly plastic. 

As I'm trying to reduce the amount of plastic I use, I had to find a new way to package my cards for mailing to customers. So I did a bit of research and here's what I discovered...

These are made from biodegradable cellulose, which is a product made from plant fiber. Just make sure they are not plastic and that they are definitely made from cellulose (plants). The bags come in a range of sizes, look and feel like plastic but can be home composted. I couldn't find any that self-seal here in Australia (lots overseas but I'm trying to shop local) so ordered some open cellophane bags at Buy Eco Green.  I just use my logo sticker (paper) to seal the bag, and I think they look great. You could even use a bit of washi tape (made from paper, see below) or tie some twine or cotton string around the whole thing.

Glassine is a specially pressed, smooth, shiny and transparent paper that is apparently water, air and grease proof. Much stronger than tissue paper and doesn't tear easily. It's also acid free and PH neutral so is perfect for storing precious artworks, photographs and collectible stamps.

You can buy it in sheets for wrapping, or as envelopes or bags. I ordered small glassine envelopes for packaging my card sets. I think they look really sweet and I love that they're completely compostable and recyclable - I'd love them even more if they were made from recycled paper.  

Plastic sticky tape has always made me feel uncomfortable. Every Christmas morning as a child, I would try to take the sticky tape off all of the used wrapping paper strewn across the living room floor, before either carefully smoothing and folding the paper, or putting the un-salvageable paper in the recycling bin (a big job in a family with five kids). But what do you do with the sticky tape??? I guess you could put it in with the soft plastics recycling at your supermarket (if you have that in your area) but even that concerns me. What did we do before sticky tape?

Some alternatives to plastic sticky tape: 

• If your item is wrapped (in recycled or reused paper of course :), use string or twine to tie it all up, or,
• a sticker made of recyclable paper - printed with your logo, an image or text.
• Washi tape - a very beautiful Japanese paper tape made from bamboo, hemp or tree bark, is completely compostable and recyclable, and comes in an endless range of colours and patterns.
• A paper bag.
• Wrap your item in nice fabric or use a fabric drawstring bag.

For packing boxes and mailers:

• Paper packing tape - a gummed, water-activated, kraft paper tape. I get mine from my local art and framing store as I use it to stretch my watercolour paper (but that's another story). It's compostable and recyclable, and you can write or stamp on it. 
• Glue (non toxic and biodegradable) - you could seal reused envelopes or tough mailing bags (or even boxes) with a strong biodegradable craft glue. Just make sure it's made from natural ingredients (not petrochemicals), biodegradable and the packaging is recycled or at least recyclable. 
• Biodegradable cello tape - made from cellulose so it's biodegradable. Though I feel this should be avoided and only used as a last resort. I need to do some more research on the biodegradable sticky tape and how biodegradable it really is and what would happen if it goes in with the paper recycling...

Tough paper or rigid cardboard mailers and envelopes are great as they can be composted or recycled (as long as there's no plastic tape). ​You can even go one step further by re-using old mailers. I keep my my used cardboard mailers (and my local post office holds on to their used mailers for me). I'm a bit over particular about how things look so I've started turning mine inside-out and making new tough envelopes for mailing my card sets to customers (see pics below). I find it fun :) 

Anyway, these are my thoughts on the packaging I'll now use for my cards (and other things) and I hope it's been helpful. Maybe you'd like to share some ideas that I haven't thought of, or correct me if I've got anything wrong! I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments below. 
​
Margeaux