Time to share some past crafts that I have made for our Spring School Fair. A reminder for myself really, as I like to look back and remember the treasures that have been lovingly made and sent forth to bring joy to others.

felted cherries

Fleece gnomes and their knitted homes

mini shape candles and felt pouches

Ladybird pegs and pine cone people

Cuddly Dolls

Winter back home in Australia is cold but colourful, The deciduous autumn trees are bare, but the gums are still green, and some are in blossom, the odd bottlebrush stands out in its red bristlly glory, and slowly the brilliant bursts of yellow wattle are starting to spread through the bush…

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SEASONAL EXCHANGE  – Ready for a ‘Summertime’ crafting challenge!
Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange is inspired by the small nature table I have tried to start for my young children to mark the changing of the seasons. However, I have found most material and craft project sourced for inspiration is often based on seasons in the northern hemisphere which is not always relevant to us, as seasonal changes where I live in the Southern Hemisphere can be subtle and quite different from what is happening in the northern hemisphere.
 
Like my children, I am also learning about the unique seasonal differences in Australia, I am new to crafting and new to keeping a nature table. I would love some inspiration and I am sure other people would as well.
 
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have Seasonal Craft exchange reflective of the seasons of the Southern Hemisphere.  I am sure there are many of you like me, who are ready for a crafting challenge, a chance to create your own symbolic item reflective of the current season and a chance to inspire a stranger through your chosen craft.
 
So here goes, to get the ball rolling and to keep it simple I thought we would start with a ‘Summertime‘ themed craft swap.  As it is a busy time of year, to participate you need to include a minimum of one handmade item that you can swap with your allocated partner.
 
GUIDELINES
The crafted item should be related to the current seasonal theme, in this case ‘‘Summertime.
 
The swap is open to all those in Australia and overseas. [You don’t have to live in the Southern Hemisphere to participate!]
 
As a participant, you must be willing to mail overseas and honour your swap commitment.
 
The details: Participants will be allocated one (only) swap partner. You will send directly to your partner and they will send directly to you. Swap partners will be randomly allocated.
 
No prior crafting/ art skills required.
 
Participation should be done in the spirit of openness, appreciation and sharing. The only requirement is the item you send should be handmade by you with love and care. Make something special that you would love to receive yourself.
 
No returns!
 
The exchange is open to all ages!
 
All packages must be mailed by the 1st December, the first day of summer and should be suitable to send in the mail.
 
So…. if you would like a small handmade summer inspired keepsake to add to display over summer sign up now!
 
REQUIREMENTS
At least one, no more than five items.
 
One of these items must be handmade. It can be an object, an artwork, an ornament, small handmade book, something to display. The key requirement is it is something made by you.
 
If you would like to include additional items things that could be included might be items from nature (unless you are shipping internationally), a card, additional artworks, a candle, purchased items made from natural materials (no plastic/polyester/foam/etc) etc.
 
All of the items must be theme and seasonally appropriate.
 
Optional: You may want to include in your package a little blurb about your items and/or yourself.
 
In addition, it would be wonderful if you were able to document the process of making and the final product. These images can be posted on the Flickr group Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange http://www.flickr.com/groups/1548872@N21/
 
HOW DO I SIGN UP
Sign ups will take place here until 18th of November.
 
The first 100 people to sign up are in!
 
Please email at southernseasonalexchange@gmail.com
 
In your email please send your
Real Name, Mailing address (in English), Email address, [Optional: Facebook and/or Blog URL and Blog name.]
 
**Please make sure you email me this info to be entered into the swap.**
 
PRIVACY: Your privacy will be respected and your details will not be passed on unless you give permission.
 
Partners will be allocated after sign-ups have closed.
 
I will confirm when you have been added to the list. Please be patient, this may take a couple of days.
 
Sign ups are open now!
 
DISCLAIMER
As I mentioned previously I am a mother of two very young children, new to crafting and have never undertaken co-coordinating something like this before, so your patience and understanding is really appreciated in this first attempt. I am excited to see if anyone else is interested in participating and will give it my best shot to get it up and running.
 
If it is a success we might try it again when autumn comes around.
 
INSPIRATION
Thanks for Seasons Round Exchange http://seasonsround.wordpress.com/ and New Zealand Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap http://www.newzealandhandmade.co.nz/2010/10/new-zealand-handmade-christmas-ornament.html for inspiring the idea of the craft swap.
 
Want some inspiration check out some of the swaps on flickr. Here are some to start with
Seasons Round Exchange  http://www.flickr.com/groups/seasonsround/
The SavVy { Seasons } – a modern Swap http://www.flickr.com/groups/1437999@N23/pool/
Soft trees swap http://www.flickr.com/groups/15961496@N00/
Rhythm of the Home http://rhythmofthehome.com/
 
Also another wonderful webpage is Seasons South and North http://www.seasons-south-and-north.co.uk/

Our little star moon baby is back at the bedside to share in the night time stories, and the waiting has begun for Christmas day. 

Blessings on your advent celebrations.

martinmas

with needs to be a whole week this year. Clutter has crept up on us in a big way, but it is feeling good to pare it back and polish and mend.

My eldest has kept us entertained with a story of little man red cap, little man blue cap and little man gold cap who love eating crumbly currant buns, but have trouble keeping their house clean.  One sweeps too fast and strong everywhere but just ends up spreading the crumbs, one sweeps half heartedly pushing around the broom so upset that there is a mess but not making any better inroads into cleaning it up, and one that flits a little here and there trying to sweep up little bits they see, but tracking it back and spilling crumbs as they get distracted by the next patch to clean.  Finally their friend little man green cap comes to tea, but their house is still a mess, so they can’t offer him anywhere to sit that isn’t all crummy.  He helps them clean by showing them to sweep with care each part of their house until they are all finished.  Red cap lifts the furniture out of the way, blue cap points out all the crumbs that might get otherwise missed, golden cap runs back and forth emptying the dust pan for the birds outside, and green cap gets the job done with their help so he can happily sit down to tea. 

Crumbs, crumbs everywhere

Under the table and under the chair

Sweep them all up, sweep them all up

Crumbs in a pile make us smile.

We have so far fixed a hole in the kitchen ceiling, sewn back into good repair hand-me-down summer clothes, swept up alot  and polished wooden surfaces and toys with lavender scented beeswax, but we still have a long way to go…  

May our light within continue to shine forth and work for good!

One of my favourite alternatives for people characters are wood and wire type dolls which I sew clothes onto (from wool felt mostly).  They are slightly posable and stand well on most surfaces.  These are two I have made recently,  Joanne and Peter.  Of course they can easily be called other names and be other characters, and they often are in the traditional tales I tell.  But I have found the stories I write myself tend to take on the characters of some of the storydolls I have sewn.  I can easily see how commercialised toys could limit the play or storylines a child spins for themselves, being so heavily invested in a set character, and find it interesting I have the same tendancies with my own handmade supposedly open ended dolls!  I need to make a conscious effort to shake myself up a little and let Peter be the little boy or the wise old farmer, or the proud father, and Joanne to be the big sister, the crafty aunty, or the strong harvester … Not always an easy thing to do!

My eldest son has finished all his big and little letters as we have only one more term until the end of the first grade school year.  We made some mini pictures of his letter work from his main lesson book to cut up into a wall frieze.  It makes a neat summary for us of his letter stories through the illustrations, and is an easy acess visual reminder of those words and sounds, not just hidden away in a lovely and cherished, but cumbersome MLB. 

I have taken close up photos of the letters/pictures if anyone is interested, but I didn’t want to overload the post with photos, and I’m sure you all have your own stories and letters that captured your imaginations.