Retro Busy Bus

Lovin' me a Retro City

I have an addiction to design.
Very late at night I will leave baby and hubby in our cozy bed and sneak downstairs to paint.
If I start surfing my go-to sites (Project Nursery, Ohdeedoh), hours whittle away with no shut-eye.
There are worse addictions.

'Busy Bus' above, caught my eye because it is especially simplistic and has that homey Richard Scary child-like illustration going on. It is sometimes a real challenge in a painting to stay simple, but the results are bold and beautiful.

Favourite elements;
-plump fig-shaped trees
-street scooter
...and of course the old school camper attached to the station wagon:)

Swinging Koala

A Swinging Day at the Beach

Joey & Sea Turtle

Ahhhh!
Nothing like a finished piece of art for baby-to-be!

In my first piece to a customer since our daughters arrival, we have some of my favourite elements of children's design combined; brilliant colours, fun-loving characters & pops of pattern.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work, via email with a lovely and patient customer in America. She has been generous (and organized enough with her nursery planning!) to allow me the much-needed span of time to complete a piece with baby in tow.

This 2x3 foot canvas is meant to bring a little Down Under to a baby boy living Stateside, who is set to make his grand arrival in the New Year. Since his nursery is going to boast a few pieces of work from an Aussie painter, mom wanted to stick with the Australian theme; landscape, beach & animals. Mama & Papa kangaroo are set for a day on the beach with their surfer koala baby and Joey. Sandals, surfboard and sea turtles suit the ambiance and bring in pops of tangerine, lime and turquoise.

Babies love patterns and it keeps them occupied just long enough to change a diaper. Above you will find polka-dots on Papa's surfboard, Hawaiian style Hibiscus on Koala's board shorts, coppertone rings adorning the inside's of the kangaroo's ears and bellies, not to mention spots on the sea turtles. Loads to look at 'eye-spy' style.

Wishing a beautiful and healthy final trimester to the mom and dad-to-be.
Pleasure working with budding families near and far!

DROOL-Sister Site

Little Olivia is three months old tomorrow!
(By far, the best three months of my life has been the first three of hers!)
To celebrate, her journaling junkie mama has opened a sister site...
DROOL
www.mamadrool.blogspot.com Lessons in Mamahood...as taught by a Little Miss.

Pictured above: My "Teach" in my fave tee, with our fave guy!

Olivia`s Woodlands Nursery

Roots & Wings-Mural by Mama
~Ahhhh! Finally a mural for my own baby girl!
Group of Seven styled tree trunks, baby owl in nest with parents perched on the branch above. Framed in cherrywood, here in Shanghai.

Paper Lanterns
~Dada worked hard to find these! (Crazy to believe it is so difficult to find paper lanterns in China!)
Nursery colours; turquoise, lime & tangerine. Placed near the change table for occupying Stinky Pants. LOVE them!

"OLIVIA" Letter Animals
~Each letter of her name coincides with a Woodlands animal/motif. Frames painted in the three nursery theme colours: turquoise, lime and tangerine.

Woodlands Crib Decor
~"Love" "Foxy Baby" and Retro Felt Fox adorn the crib between naptimes.


Woodlands Mobile
~Owl, Fox, Doe & Hedgehog surround a woodlands tree with bell.

Olivia has arrived!!
Her Woodlands themed nursery is complete.
Now we just have to think about one day moving her into it! Maybe in the Spring...or when she is 20...or something like that;)

BLISS!

olivia grace
December 4th, 2010
8:32am
7 pounds & 13 ounces
Shanghai, China

Simply cannot express the happiness Adam and I feel since the safe arrival of our baby daughter, Little Livie Grace! There is absolutely no feeling that compares to this kind of bliss:)

This morning Livie and I headed to the market & I reached in my coat pockets to find a pair of her socks in one..and a diaper (a clean one!) in the other!
Finally...I am a mother:)
Life is good.

Happy New Year to your and your loved ones! Our hearts are bursting...we are so grateful & in awe of the miracle of life.

Tiny Taste

Stumped.
What colour to paint this teeny, tiny Hootling, while sticking to our nursery palette;
chocolate, tangerine, lime & turquoise?
Bump has been asked.
Bump has a sense of humour.
One day, kicks for BOY.
Next day, kicks for GIRL.
All while snickering to his or her little self in there;)

Pregnancy Project Mania!

Woodland Owl Blocks-made out of brown & cream sheep wool felt, each of the three blocks spells out the animal featured and has tiny ribbon tabs for wee fingers to grasp. Before I sewed up the last edge of the Owl, I managed to slip a little jingly bell inside. The Fox & Doe? Sans sounds.




PEEKY Pocket Book-made out of brown & cream sheep wool felt, this 6 page, baby-friendly book highlights one colour per page, as well as a little 'peek-a-boo' pocket with a surprise tied to ribbon. A loop attached in the corner can be clipped onto a diaper bag. By accident, Peeky Owl on the front has his wings sewn along one edge so his eyes can be covered, open & shut! Handy accident!

Owl Log Cabin-made out of brown & cream sheep wool felt, this carry-along cabin is perfect for imaginative play. Inside the snap-flap door, you can store three little Owls, a pillow, quilt and camp fire. No matches required.

Peek-a-Boo Owl-made out of brown & cream sheep wool felt, this little tree stump is more than meets the eye. An eye-height hole is carved out for Owl to peek through. Attached by ribbon, your wee one can have fun learning the concept of in and out..over and over again.


Woodland/Clothing Tabbie Ties-made of brown, lime, orange & turquoise felt. These came from the concept that newborns can see highly contrasted images best. To keep to the Woodlands theme of our nursery, I designed 6 silhouettes of animals and sewed them onto concentric circles in our nursery colours. Tiny ribbon tabs stick out for small fingers to grasp. Velcro ties allow you to attach them to your ring sling, baby pram or tank top while feeding. The reverse sides are silhouettes of clothing items. Later down the line when your toddler is learning to dress him/herself, these can be attached to baskets holding the appropriate clothes.
Foxy Baby-made of orange & cream sheep wool felt, this Foxy cot toy is originally an Etsy design that I fell in love with. Cute retro feel! This is one of my favourite nursery items!
Kiddy Aprons-great for helping in the kitchen or conducting the train.


Car Caddy-made out of cotton material of choice. Rolled up & tied, this caddy is a convenient carry-along. Once rolled out, one side holds up to 8 cars in individual pockets while opposite the center-fold is a small road stitched in felt.


Armstrong Farms-made of thick red felt.
IKEA has designed eco-friendly felt toys recently. While doing some nursery shopping, we noticed they have a felt barn available. Hubby, having been raised on a farm (not in a barn, I get into trouble for saying that!), fell in love, so I promised to tackle the project at home. The roof and sides snap open and split into a garden, pond, fenced area & mud bath (for the very cute piglets!).
We purchased IKEA's set of soft tractors & animals that can be stored inside the farm for easy travel.
Doorway Puppet Theatre-made out of cotton material of choice. This is absolutely ingenious and I cannot take credit for the idea. Searching the internet for puppet theater's, I came across a variation of this doorway version. Ideally, it should be measured to fit a standard doorway with a tension rod (though I have also seen it hung between two trees for 'al fresco' performances). Velcro patches help little fingers tie back curtains, a diamond-trim overlay/bottom trim give it a funky edge & the back hosts two large pockets for performers to store puppets. It conveniently rolls up to make for easy travel & hours of creative play.

House Call Doctors Kit-made out of cream sheep wool felt, this carry-along doctors kit features a felt x-ray scan, real stethoscope, needle-less syringe, felt bandages, mask & empty pill bottle (perfect for Tic Tac type 'medicine').
Mini Bunting Flags-made out of orange, chocolate, lime & turquoise felt triangles. Bunting flags are all the trend these days. I have scoured the internet for creative peeps projects and these flags pop up again and again, in different forms; party invitations, birthday banners, holiday decor, shabby chic childrens decor. Here, I finished two miniature strands; one that will hang at the base of the crib and the other that will run across the top of the curtain.

Faux Bear Skin Rug-made out of faux fur & upholstery material. To fit in with our Woodland/Canadian theme, but remain veggie-friendly, I sewed this fun, fake version of a bear skin to be placed in front of the crib.

Crayon Caddy-made out of cotton material of choice. Similar concept to the car caddy. Rolled and tied this makes for a convenient travel case. Inside are 12 pockets, each large enough for one crayon or two pencil crayons/markers.


Bored Bag Tags-made of laminated "idea" cards & IKEA's drawstring bag. Sadly, this is another idea that was simply not mine, but another result of internet surfing. I cannot tell you how many times this would have come in handy for my mother;) With literally over 150 rainy/sunny day ideas, the wee ones can no longer claim "there's nothing to do!" Most cards are seasonal-friendly (with the occasional, "sledding" and "swimming" suggestions.)
For this pregnancy project, there was no sewing involved, but I am guessing in a few years, the time spent making, printing and laminating these cards will be well worth it!

Having pregnancy projects has completely helped ease my crazy, new mama mind and given me ample opportunities to bond with the pumpkin poking & prodding inside!

Three weeks to go and Bun should start seriously considering a good day for a birthday;)
Have toys.
Need child;)
(I guess I should just focus on eat, sleep and changing 'duty' for a while;)

Up next?
A newborn model to show off the nursery digs!