With Orla constantly around me and being my biggest source of inspiration these days, is it any wonder that my latest little girl's bag has turned out quite the way it has? I like to think of it as my Orla for Kids Bag.

It has a strap large enough for a little one (or a bigger little one) to wear over one shoulder as an across the body bag. If a certain model had been in the mood for showing how this looks, then I would have been able to illustrate the point. But let's put it this way - never rely on kids for anything.

The bag is fully lined in my favourite of the moment crisp fresh green stripy shirting fabric.

I've also inserted a zip to keep everything in it safe and secure.

This is the first of a new style of bag for me and whilst it took me a while to work out the best way to design this zipped bag with a flapped front (I'm sure there's better terminology for that), now that I have, you'll be seeing a few different versions of this. Particularly if that afore-mentioned model gets her requested designs approved and produced.

Not that she deserves it, mind.

Here's how the conversation went with Ruby this morning, after she took a look at the Drawstring Linen Laundry Bag I designed yesterday...

Ruby: "It's nice, but...(uh oh)...I'd prefer it if it had handles...like the ones on my blue bag. Just long enough to go over my shoulder...but not too long so the bag drags on the floor"

Me: "But you like it, right? You think it works?"

Ruby: "yeeeeees...I like the lining... (phew)... but I'd still prefer longer handles...

"and the front is a bit plain. I think I'd like a bird on it...

"...or maybe a flower...

"or maybe both...

"Do you think you can do that by the time I'm home from school?"

That'll teach me to ask Madam's opinion (I'm still not actually sure I did ask, however), because somehow Ruby has managed to wangle a new bag.

Off to sunnier climes

Thanks to the lovely Christina and the Giveaway she hosted, this little guy is off to LA. Well done to Janelle and hope you'll both be very happy :-)

A very big thank you to Christina for hosting the Giveaway and an even bigger thank you to all of you for taking the time to enter AND for all the amazing things you have said.

And if you didn't win and you meant what you said, you can always buy one from here :-)

Here come the girls

It's been a while since I did the boys' cushions that I recently designed and have been waiting for time to do the girls'. It's quite strange because I normally find girls' ideas come much more easily. But of late I've been struggling with ideas for the girls that work for me. I'm not entirely sure why that is. Whilst there are alot more images and designs you can work with for the girls, it is actually the more striking, graphic designs that work for boys.

It could be because i'm not actually a very good artist. All the images that I thought about using, I just couldn't get quite right when I tried to draw them out. Certainly not at this larger scale. I can get away with the simplicity in my little sized card designs, but on a bigger scale, they just didn't quite work.

I am however pretty pleased with the three that i finished up with. I've got some non-animal varieties that I'm lining up for series 2, but in the meantime enjoy the little creatures that have evolved here.

At the moment they are only available from my Etsy site. But if you like the look of them, watch this space, as any day now I'll be directing you to a gorgeous blog that is doing a Giveaway for your favourite...

Elephantum

It appears that the cushion obsession has lasted another day. I had in my head what I wanted to do for a children's range and for once what has been produced is exactly what I had envisaged. I wanted to use simple imagery and colours. After all this is a children's range. I didn't want it to get over-powering and busy.

I'm very into my linen at the moment (in case you hadn't noticed) and wanted to incorporate the freshness of that. I am producing 3 boys designs and 3 for the girls, all coordinating with each other for those that feel 1 is just not enough. There will also be 2 or 3 colourways within the series. After all, we all like a choice.

Another thing I am loving at the moment is this rectangular shape. It really lends itself to a bit more detail. As does the stitching, that also seems to feature quite heavily in what I am doing at the moment.

Hopefully I'll have the full range to show you very soon.

Smile please...

Noah and Ruby are having their school photos today. I love seeing their little faces change over the years as the next photo comes in. This will be the first school photo with just Ruby and Noah though, since Samuel is no longer at the same school after his move up to High School. I have a thing about seeing the 2 little ones together - as I call them. Noah is completely different with Ruby than he is with his big brother. Noah feels VERY competitive in Samuel's company - ridiculous since he is 2 years younger. But from the minute he could get up and follow Samuel, he has tried to do just that. With Ruby it's very different and he is very sweet and a lovely big brother to her - most of the time. And their photo normally reflects this.

So in celebration of Noah and Ruby's smiley faces, here's a little montage of appliques that are all ready to go on a card order. Smile please, everyone :-)