Well, these guys are still hanging around (I do love me a bad pun) over at Renegade Handmade, I am pretty sure they will be making their way back to me soon so if you want to snap one up you will have to be quick! In other news I managed my first full day off the junk, oh, not that kind, I mean biscuits and chocolate and over processed food. I have picked up a pretty awful comfort food habit of late and I am determined to put an end to it now, I’m just fed up with feeling tired and irritable, not to mention blubbery. While we are on the subject of food you must pop over to Nicole’s for a thoughtful post on this very issue.

Time to own up to another recently acquired habit, perhaps fetish is a better word. I just can’t help myself, I *need* to collect hankies, Adam thinks I have gone insane, he just doesn’t get it. We are not supposed to be spending money, some heavy duty saving going on around here, but I couldn’t help it, I spent $8 on this, that’s nearly £5 with postage, yikes!

Ignore the title, this post has nothing to do with nonsense or balderdash, I just like the sound of the word. This post has everything to do with The Poppies, a virtual awards ceremony to celebrate the handmade community, over at Poppytalk. Click here to nominate your favourites. I have voted in some of the categories but I am not finished yet, it is so hard to choose! Here are my nominations so far, do add your voice to mine if you agree.

Margie Oomen of Resurrection Fern
Nicole Licht of Astulabee
Jessica Marquez of Miniature Rhino
Belinda Kemp of Gretchenmist
Julia Pott
Lizzie Stewart

and the nominations continue:

Mathyld of Encore Petite
Diane of Hibou Caillou Chou
Maya of Designs Maya Made
Maria of Psarokokalo
Regina of Every Eskimo
Melissa of Acts of Kindness

There is just enough time left to nominate if you haven’t already, quick, quick!

Here is a peek at a bit of embroidery work, I have some others along similar lines in (slow) progress, I thought they might be nice for Valentine gifts but I’m not sure if they will make it into the shop in time.

I can’t stop looking at Elisabeth Dunker’s blog Fine little Day. I think it is the light.

The first day of advent, I must rush to the loft and get down Ishi’s Advent House. As is the norm this year, we are woefully unprepared to mark the beginning of the festive season. The 1st of December is a special date for me for another reason, it marks my 1 year Etsy-versary, can it really be a whole year since I listed the first items in the Lou Lou & Oscar shop? Another shop is celebrating its one year milestone today as well, what an incredible year it has been for Margie and Resurrection Fern. Happy Anniversary Margie! In case you didn’t know, Margie was the first person to make a purchase from Lou Lou & Oscar, a Catty Catty, really who could ask for a more generous and appreciative customer. I didn’t know it that day but Margie would become such an important presence in my life, supporter, confidante and most wonderful of all, a very good friend. I am going to stop now before I get all teary!

There is someone else I must mention today, really a huge source of inspiration, incredibly generous and an all round good egg, did I forget to mention that she also makes some of the most beautiful pieces of art it is possible to find, ok, now you know who this is! Thank you Nicole, Miss Astulabee, I don’t think Margie would have found me on day one without your sweet blog shout out about LL&O.

Nicole was also responsible for bringing another amazing person into my life, lovely Mathyld, aka Encore Petite, it is true to say we bonded over our love of all things Astulabee, happily the first meeting of the Astulabee Appreciation Society (European Branch, don’t you love our acronym!-Ha) went swimmingly, pictures will arrive here at some point soon.

So, a happy day to celebrate the wide web of connections and alliances this year has brought. Hello to all of the lovely people I have *met* since LL&O began. Now I am a little teary! There will be quite a few changes coming up in the next few months, our family circumstances are changing, I need to become more *professional* and self-aware, fresh starts all around. Urgh, price rises too, I hate to do it but if I stand any chance of keeping LL&O viable I have to. I know that pricing is an issue many of us struggle with, undervaluing our time and our work. As a UK based maker it is hard to be competitive in North America, I will do my best. I hope that our change in circumstances will allow me to try out other ideas and avenues to keep LL&O running smoothly, this is so exciting and a little nerve wracking, more about this nearer the time. Oh, secret squirrel!

I’m sorry not to have any big celebration or giveaway planned for today, when my new plans come to fruition I will make up for my lack of planning then. I do have a special little interview coming up later though. Be sure to check back to see who is joining us. I will be taking a break from LL&O over the next few weeks to prepare for christmas, spend some proper time with my boy , catch up with long overdue email and get those images of Paris up. And yes, that is another work by Lizzy Stewart at the top of the post, I am so obsessed! Happy December my friends.

Oh dear, a terrible pun, on with the post! I am feeling drowsy; october always brings with it the desire to hibernate, I don’t want to go out, I want to be cozy, a homebody, it’s not even cold yet. How many of you kittens have the desire to grab a grizzly and head for a cave (metaphorically of course!)? Here is a collection of some of my favourite bears from around the inter web, let’s share some ursine love. I had intended to stealthily insert an image of a new embroidery piece at the bottom of the post, yup it was bear related. But guess what, I hated the finished piece so I scrapped it and reused the elements. The experiments that don’t pan out often lead to happy accidents and now I have a couple of new things for the shop, as soon as we can squeeze in a photo shoot! I have some exciting news to share with you very soon, I would tell all now but I want to put a more considered post together about it. I hope that you are all enjoying the autumnal/spring weather (hello southern hemisphere), our house is crawling with chestnuts collected by Ishi, he fills his pockets with them, we have painted little faces onto a few, such fun. Here come the bears! Trust Your Instincts print above from AshleyG

Knitted Bear print from Julia Pott

Finding Beehives from Oh My Cavalier

Magical bear by Astulabee.

Giant Bear in a Tiny Village by Lizzy Stewart

Print from ISO50.

I have added the marvelous Master Ludwig Is Afraid To Be Alone print above from Mon Petit Fantome to correct a glaring oversight on my part. Thanks for the reminder girls! I have been in love with Mr Susan for the longest time too (love those wolves!) and have to confess that I omitted some wonderful bears for the sake of brevity and getting the post up! I must run another bear round up when I get a chance.

Oh yes, bears on the brain. I am completely obsessed with the Andean Bear at the moment. Of course Plush You begins this evening, with luck I will be back later with a small round up.

One of the best makers of soft sculpture around is having an end of summer sale, 15% off the exquisite items in the Astulabee Etsy shop. I wish, wish, wish for the deer above (just incase my secret benefactor is reading this!). This may be your last chance for a while to share your life with a magical, handmade creature. Get thee gone now!
Astulabee

Oh, looky, looky! So exciting that Nicole of Astulabee fame has a new website, get all your goodness in one place. Congratulations Nicole, I love the feel of the site, the typography, everything is just perfect, a distillation of everything I love about your work! Click the image above to go there…quick!

I think that he looks like Nick Cave back in the days of The Birthday Party! Zebra fabulousness (above) from Skunkboy Creatures of course. Here we are again friends, it is time for another plush gathering. I am feeling so inspired by the wonders on display here, my fingers are itchy and desperate to get snipping and stitching and stuffing! Things have been a little quiet on the creature front for me recently, that is going to change very soon though. I had planned to release a little list of the places you can find my work this year, I am waiting to hear if I have been accepted into one particular show, once I know you will know-keep your fingers crossed for me please kittens. Now, feast your peepers on plush heaven!

“Quand la pluie tombe chez moi” by Cocon

Wonder by Melissa Stanley

Victorian Lady by Junker Jane

Lumi by Le Train Fantome

Family by Matilde Beldroega

I can’t help making up background stories for the new creations from Astulabee. Oh, especially the Show Pony!

Endearing foxes from Oso Polar

Super floral fish by Flora Douville.

Kootoom, Turris & Pecten by Sarah Bourque.

Deer by Takiyaje.

Plushrooms from Kitty Bee.

Beuys Bunny from Das Kaninchen.

Jinx Moon Bunny from Moon’s Creations.

Peascape in Strangeland from Kit Lane

Large Fabric Bird by Abigail Brown

Rabbit from Fawn Potter.

Francis by Flannery O’Kafka

Cat from Red Craft Works.

Miss Black Dahlia from Meeniak.

The Classic Maggot in White with Pink Heart from Pterodactyl Pants.

Feathery Doll by Cathy Cullis.

Doli Mary Chestnut from Misako Mimoko

Crazy cool! I want a plush wall. Collected work by Ninon.

Before I forget please do join me tomorrow for the ever shifting weekly interview, so exciting, meet me in Argentina!

One of the lovely things about extending my birthday week is that it gives me the perfect opportunity to share the handmade gifts I received with you. I am a lucky and extremely happy birthday girl!

First off is a gift I bought for myself (every birthday I choose a couple of meaningful items to mark the turn of another year). I ordered this a while ago, you may remember it from the Forget-Me Not show at Gallery Hanahou in February. How felicitous that it actually arrived the day after my birthday, just in time to appear in this post. You may have noticed that there is a very special someone missing from my birthday/spring extravaganza, where is Miss Nicole of Astulabee, surely you aren’t still honouring that admiration truce from way back? Everyone knows how important Nicole is to me, I adore her as an artist and as a person (who wouldn’t? Such beauty, intelligence and all round good-egg-ness!). I would have pestered for a little something but the lady has been so busy with the American Craft Council show and hot on its heels this amazing project, I didn’t want to add to the mix. Oh but be assured I will be badgering soon, very soon (sorry Nicole!).

The piece is called My Love For You Is A Roller Coaster and I love it more than I can say. As you can see from the detail above the stitch work is so very fine and delicate and yet so powerful at the same time. I was truly astounded when I took it out of its protective wrapping, thank you Nicole for being such a genius!

Who is that foxy fellow with the sly and cheeky countenance? Why it is Mr Arctic Dodger of course, I have been warned that he is little bit tricksy, he has behaved impeccably so far and keeps me company from his window sill vantage point. I see him silhouetted against the night sky and sometimes I swear he is waving at me. Dodger is a gift from the unbelievably amazing Margie of Resurrection Fern, he is so beautifully designed and realized, right down to his removable wool jumper. If you look carefully you can see Dodger’s companion Etienne the Merfish, who travelled with my foxy friend to keep a scaly eye on him! I was moved to tears by Margie’s beautiful gift, and though we have never met in person, I have some little pieces of Margie’s magical presence around me. Thank you so much Margie.

Hooray, someone must have read my birthday wishlist post! I received the loveliest bag of birthday goodies from my dear friend Karin, including these gems from Etsy. I have been drooling over the reading wolves print from Oh My Cavalier for ages and am so happy that it is mine, all mine!

So very precious. I am in love with these tiny little twig hairclips from The Sparrow’s Nest. They were packaged so beautifully in a hand stamped box filled with fairy-sized paper leaves. Perfect.

And, yes, yes, yes, do you remember the darling miniature plastic fawns from The Thin Veil, just crying out to sit on top of some pretty cupcakes? Well, I have some. They are so photogenic, I am going to have some fun with these. Thank you so much Karin and Evie for giving me the most wonderful gifts and thanks also to Mr Probert for flying the best presents of all over to me!

Do you recognize that exquisite style? No one illustrates vintage garments as beautifully as Diane. I knew that this had to be my birthday dress as soon as I saw it. My pictures don’t do it justice. You really need to feel the weight of this dress, examine the beautiful beadwork and explore the enchanted subaqueous garden Diane has created. I am becoming a bit of a collector of pieces from Hibou Caillou Chou, this is seriously desirable art work and you can wear it too! Diane is another wonderful person that I have *met* through Etsy and blogging, I am so happy and proud to be a part of such an amazing community. You are one of the coolest Diane!

I hope that you are feeling inspired by all of this handmade goodness? There is plenty more coming up this week. Don’t forget to pop back later for a very special announcement. Hmm, curious!

**Etsy is down at the moment for site maintenance so I can’t access the shop links, I will return and edit the post later with the appropriate contact information**
Done!

I realized this week that I have taken a trip in a time machine, sartorially speaking, back to 1986! Breton shirt, denim shorts, thick wool tights, oversize cardigan, dark blue Converse. I am wearing the same ‘uniform’ I rigged myself out in when I was 16 & it feels so very ‘me’! I just can’t do super groomed, elegant, ultra-feminine. If I could (and had a large trust fund or similar) I would be beating down the doors of Kenzo to get my paws on the Autumn/winter 09/10 collection.

Folkloric, flowers, foliage, babushka, cossack style. The most beautifully tailored coats, patchwork smocks. Ok, I need the smelling salts, swoon!

Antonio Marras’ collection reminded me of an illustration I saw a while ago over at Flickr by Kitty Vane.

Just gorgeous! I am sending out a plea for an Astulabee, Kitty Vane, Le Train Fantome adult apparel line with knitwear and jewelry by Resurrection Fern, styling and illustrated detailing by Hibou Caillou Chou, so very ‘now’ kittens!

I snuck out of the tipi for this one, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put together my fantasy fashion ‘A-Team’! Who would feature in your fantasy collaboration?

From Paris Nord, it can only be from Miss Mathyld aka Encore Petite.

I bought this gorgeous Meadow lingerie bag from Mathyld’s Etsy Shop and it is even lovelier in person, beautifully made, delicate and pretty with the most adorable embroidered detailing. It is a shame that the embroidery doesn’t stand out in the images I took, it really adds a very special touch. Before going into raptures over my new bag I should also say that it was packaged so inventively and with such obvious care that I almost didn’t have the heart to open it.

Also the most wonderful little gifts, including a perfectly lovely teapot brooch, I can imagine the Dormouse from Alice poking out of the top! The brooch went straight onto my coat (pictures later!).

Thank you so much Mathyld, I hope that you are sewing up some more lingerie bags, they would make the perfect gift for the discerning lady (which I most certainly am!) this Valentine’s Day, or any day in fact. Because this is a day of self-revelation for me I am going to show you my knickers now!

Isn’t my lingerie enhanced by its proximity to my bag from Encore Petite? I am looking forward to seeing more of Mathyld’s work, get over to Encore Petite for some Parisian Chic; lovely cushions, bags and brooches-swoon!

It is one of my dreams that I will one day have my own little bricks and mortar shop where I can bring together all of the beautiful handmade treasures I have come across. I love Etsy and my expectations are always exceeded when I get to meet the item I have purchased in person. Sometimes I wish that photographs could offer the complete tactile experience! Sometimes a photograph misses the perfect little details. How wonderful to guide a customer around my imaginary emporium and encourage them to explore the delights on offer! Beginning to sound a bit racy now! Carried away by my little shop dream! It is so exciting however to hold an object and discover tiny detailing you couldn’t see in the picture. This is always the case with (Oh, it is so difficult not to fawn!) Nicole’s work, everything I have received from Astulabee has been a revelation. Today’s delivery was no exception. I received these-Hooray!

Hello Sweet Valentine card and Wolves In Love print.

Here they are together, you can just make out the pretty, red jewels on the Valentine! I am so in love with Nicole’s Wolves, probably my favourite representation of these beautiful creatures ever, yes, *ever*. I’m going to stop now before I get carried away again! Thank you so much Nicole!

Oh, lovely, lovely Margie! Thank you, thank you, thank you ad infinitum! I had to order these stunning prints from Margie’s shop Resurrection Fern because I love them but also because I keep missing shop updates and Margie’s work flies out in seconds.
It is no wonder, such rare, fine and beautiful art indeed.

Felt, Lace-covered and Natural stones print.

Matryoshka Stones in a Frame print.

Especially for Ishi, The Polar Bears Are Turning Green print.

Oh, and a wonderful surprise! Who is nestled safely inside but Merfish Feste, the tiny, capering swimmer, plus a lovely print of Feste and his friends. I was overjoyed to see him and his colourful, intelligent and happy spirit brought a big Chesire Cat grin to my face.

Thank you so much Margie for your wonderful generosity and marvelous friendship.

I consider myself so lucky to be surrounded by objects and artworks made by such talented and special women, you are all such stars!