Life is wonderful

I must admit that I am totally spoilt in so many ways, being able to craft in lots of beautiful locations around Australia as I do.

My husband and I have reached a stage in life when we can take off to warmer climes for winter in our motorhome, which Rob converted from a small bus specifically so we can live in it off the grid and fully self contained. we named the motorhome Robbiebago II. You can follow our journeys on a separate blog of the same name here.

It is this life on the road that has prompted me to look for a craft I can easily source materials along the way, it doesn't require lots of space or weight and that there be aspects at least that can be done whilst Rob is driving esp on the long road trips. (Australia is such a big country, almost as big as the USA and it surpasses all of Europe.)

Europe fits in Australia with lots of room to spare.   On this trip we've only gone north as far as Gladstone which is a good 18 hours non stop driving.  We've taken a leisurely few months to get there.

The fact that I can use the sales of my sock creations to support Without a Ribbon is also very important to me. WaR is an Australian charity set up to support people who have been diagnosed with rare cancers of which I am one myself. Rather than count the days I have left, I can be proactive.

Sure there are some days that are not as great as others but the vast majority of them are great and these is what I focus on. Now that we know my husband also has a degenerative lung disease just makes our time together ever so much more precious especially while we can still both travel.

A sloth named Baffles

A Minnie Mouse Monkey in her little skirt

So lets leave all that extraneous drivel and get on with showing you my latest sock creations.
Many of them are still available for sale as I have not been attending any markets this trip other than from the other side as a browser and buyer! LOL

Baby Peaches

Pocket Pal Kitten "Minty'

A week's holiday break

We recently had a week to stay on a friend's bush property as a break within our  travels. It was on a open bushland property and we were joined by Rob's brother and his wife.

Plenty of family time around the campfire

That's our rig in the back and my brother and sister in law with Rob talking to them. We enjoyed their company and also went sight seeing, had a fire every evening, went out for drives and a dinner out, there was also plenty of time for some craft. I was able to set up a sewing machine in the covered outdoor room you can see between us and the bus/motorhome. It was great to have it all out and indulge in some craft time whenever the opportunity and inclination occurred. The kangaroos come for a feed whilst I was sewing one afternoon.

Hungry but shy kangaroos

Here are some of my recent sock toys.

I finished these girls

2 of these girls are still waiting for their forever home on my Facebook page. I also had plenty of time to also get started on these delightful sock sloth dolls.They too can be found on my Facebook page.

Sock Sloths nearing completion

Now that's what I call a week of pure luxury. A holiday within a holiday! What's your favourite way to spend a week?

Sock dolls and where it all started.

It started with a snowman called Olaf.
I made three for my granddaughters back in 2014 basically following Sarah's tutorial at her blog Repeat crafter me whilst on a 4 month holiday trip around Tasmania to recover from my rare cancer. They were very popular with the girls as well as others that saw them.

Then the next year I decided make a few more but the simpler snowman variety and sold a few as it closer to Christmas. I had been greatly assisted by the caring people within a craft group called Illawarra Cancer Carers and so all my dolls & profits went to them at first.

After Christmas I decided I wanted to try to make a doll from socks and my first doll was a sweet little baby. I wrote about her here.

Soon my husband & I were itching to get back in our motorhome for more travelling. I like to have a craft to do for relaxation whilst on the road and this time I decided to expand my sock dolls. It was a great idea. I can buy socks just about everywhere and for the stuffing, I can always by new pillows in bigger towns that we pass through.

I soon realized that I really enjoyed this new craft and that socks were taking over my creative life. To sell my dolls on line I needed to set up a new Facebook Page, Platypus Creations and I decided then and there to dedicate 50% of all my sock toy sales to Without a Ribbon, an Australian charity set up to support people with rare cancers. I have decided to follow through with a dedicated blog page rather than as a add on to my other craft blog, Inkspirational Designs. 


Do you want a sock doll, sock monkey or some other funtastic sock creation? Then you're in the right place...

Please note that most of these sock dolls and monkeys on this page have been sold.

The best and most up to date way to see what dolls are currently available is to follow me on my Facebook page of the same name. There you can browse my photos and each sock toy will have a descriptive comment along with price etc. If it has already been sold, it will be the first word in the description. Sadly due to on going health issues, I rarely can take any custom orders, however I am always open to suggestions.

So do pop across to my facebook page and see what my latest designs are. I will endeavour to keep posting my designs here as well for those of you that don't have a Facebook account!All you need to do is send me a comment and I can even send you some photos of what is available at that time.