TOMNI design n two green pears

Bird Tweet Column Inserts

2012-02-02T14:01:00.001+11:00

We have now added to our range of products the Bird Tweet Column Inserts..

Here's a short video showing the sound they make:

The Bird Tweet Column Inserts come in white and pink and can be purchased from our online craft store: www.tomnidesign.com.au/store

Toy making products - in use!

2012-01-30T19:18:00.000+11:00

I just had to share the project one of our customers made using our toy making products..

It's an adorable sock monkey blankie toy Jingles!

Samantha managed to incorporate five of our toy making products into the toy - squeaker, jingle column, teether, rattle ring and triangle shape..

Here's the link to more pictures and Samantha's blog :)

New Jingle Column Design

2012-01-13T13:44:00.002+11:00

We have recently received a new shipment of Jingle Column rattle inserts..

Due to requests, here's a video which will give you an idea of the sound that these jingle coloumns make.. the sound slightly differs depending on how the jingle column is shaken...

These have the same diameter (25mm) but are a little shorter than the previous ones. They are white in colour and make a sound just like the original ones! The original cream coloured jingle coloumns will be available while stocks last...

The jingle coloumn rattle inserts can be purchased directly from our store here

FREE Cat Rattle Pattern

2011-12-11T21:35:00.000+11:00

For a long time I've wanted to put up a tutorial featuring our toy making supplies.. I finally got round to making a pattern for the Cat Rattle which features the rattle ring.. I hand drew the pattern, so when you cut out your pieces you may just like to make sure that the straight lines are straight :) I've put up the pattern as a pdf file in our online shop right here, so feel free to download it - it's free!

I'll put up a detailed tutorial when I get some free time .. the making of the rattle is quite simple, so for those with more advanced sewing skills you may be able to work out how to make it by just looking at the picture :)

Here's a preview of the pattern...

If you have any probs with downloading it from our shop, please send us an email and I'll email it to you as an attachment...

New Stockist in Melbourne

2011-12-06T10:34:00.000+11:00

We have a new stockist of our two green pears products - this time in Melbourne at

Kids in Berlin

472 Victoria Street

North Melbourne

Kids in Berlin is dedicated to stocking womens, mens and childrens clothing by Australian designers - and they also have an accessories galore.. So if you're in the area, pop in and check out their range of products

Plastic rings and shapes for toys

2011-11-25T15:10:00.001+11:00

We've been flat out the this week with making our handmade items for the market, so it's taking me longer than predicted to add the new toy making supplies to the online store.. but here's a few more things we've added since out last post:

Big green plastic rings

Plastic key ring buckle clips in two different sizes.. 60mm and 53mm

For the complete list of these new product additions, please visit the previous blog post HERE

New Toy Making Supplies!

2011-11-11T18:58:00.006+11:00

We have brought in some new toy making supplies from a manufacturer that produces products for some well known toy making companies...

We are very excited to be adding these products to the toy making product range we already sell...

Below is a list of the new products, with links to the online store... (we'll be adding the rest of products over upcoming days so please check this page soon for more updates):

Rattle rings - one of my favourites! These rattle rings are available in five different colour options and can be purchased by following THIS link

Linkable shapes - great for adding to toys so they can be attached to prams etc.. These will be available in the shown star shape, as well as square, circle and triangle..

Teething rings that can be added to baby toys.. Available in five colours.. they are listed HERE

These rings make a crispy ringing sound when they hit against each other.. so they are great for adding on the arms/legs/necks of toys to make a jingling sound... they can also be sewn on and used as a handle... You can find our range of rings HERE

Big green rings - these are about 70mm in diameter, so they can be used as handles for baby rattles...

They can be found in the plastic rings / shapes category of our online store

Key ring clips / buckes: These are available in two sizes - 53mm and 60mm

These can be use in a variety of ways, including attaching them to toys, so the toys can then be clipped to the pram, cot etc..

There's lots more... so come back soon for more updates... of follow us on facebook so you receive notices about when these are available for purchase!

Button Hairclips

2011-11-04T11:54:00.000+11:00

I've just finished making and packing a new batch of button hairclips for this Sunday's market...
Here's a few pics of the available designs.. I especially love the designs with the new 'white dot' hairclips!

If you'd like to purchase any of our fabric covered button hairclips, please contact us via blog, facebook or 'contact us' link in either of our online shops.. or in you're in the area, pop in and say 'Hi' to us at the St Kilda market..

Pre Christmas Sale in Craft Store

2011-11-02T10:52:00.010+11:00

We have some exciting plans for our craft shop, so we're having a sale to make some room...

Up for grabs are lots of bargains... so make sure you have a good look through all the categories...
Some of the specials include:

- 10% off Spellbinders products

- 15% off Carolee's Creations papers

- Dress it up buttons - down to $3.00 per pack

- 15% off Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock

- 10% off BIG squeaker inserts (5pc pack)

- 10 to 15% off words and quotes

- up to 20% off chipboard and laser cuts

- 10% off black squeaker inserts

There's also other products on sale that have been reduced earlier on, so make sure you check out the different categories for all the hidden bargains! Sale for a limited time only, so get your bargains while stock lasts...

Penguin hatched..

2011-11-02T09:58:00.001+11:00

Sidetracking from the usual craft focused posts... yet again... This morning we found out that another one of our eggs has hatched! So here's the pics of the new arrival - Penguin!

Here's some more pics of our cutesies!

The black ball of feathers is the Midnight 2 - her head is somewhere in those feathers...

Fluffy keeping her chicks warm... can just see Penguin there too..

And here's all 3 of Fluffy's chicks.. they're still a little camera shy..

Chicks have hatched..

2011-10-31T19:21:00.000+11:00

I just had to share what's been happening at our place.. so forgive my sidetracking from usual craft themed writing....

I've shown off our chooks before... it's been a while now since we've had them.. We've lost one of the 'dinosaurs' aloong the way, which was really sad, so we were down to 3 (2 bantims and 1 'dinosaur' - I think the real name is English something or other...)

Since all of our hens were feeling clucky, we decided to get them some eggs....

and today...

our family welcomed 3 super cute yellow chickies!!

Here's mum "Fluffy" with one of the babies...

And here's another one whose mum is 'Midnight 2'.. ('Midnight' turned out to be a rooster and we traded him in for 'Midnight 2')..

Aren't they cute??

Rattle balls to the market..

2011-10-28T15:43:00.002+11:00

I've said before that I'm working on a few new project ideas.... Took me a little longer than anticipated to get the pattern right, but with some help of the hubby, I finally got there...!

All balls are made from new, lined, pre washed fabric - we use soft minky as well as cotton fabrics.. some balls have a jingle column, some a loud rattle insert... some have tags, some don't - for a bit of variety... :) They're about 15cm in diameter (cotton ones are a little smaller)..

All are filled with the eco friendly corn fiber (which you can purchase here ), are double stitched and made with care...

If you'd like to order one, just send us a message via the blog, facebook , or 'contact us' link in either of our shops...

Lego Cake

2011-10-21T17:37:00.003+11:00

We recently celebrated our son's 3rd Birthday.. So it was time to make a cake!
A nice carrot cake inside from a recipe that can be found here .. and colourful cream cheese icing outside!

I baked twice the portion of the cake, which was just the right amount of cake for the lego man cake. We printed off an A4 sized lego man picture we found on google which I used as a rough guide for the shapes..

The cake was made in parts: head and torso, legs, two separate arms, head 'bobble' and hands... the hands were made from smaller rectangular pieces leaning into each other to make a rounded shape... I used some toothpicks to hold the smaller pieces (like hands, head 'bobble', arms) in place.

I added food colouring to the cheese icing and used licorice for the facial details.

Here's the before picture:

and here's the after:

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I thought it was a pretty good first effort!

Owls to be stuffed

2011-10-19T20:06:00.000+11:00

I managed to get some free time today to sew a few more owls... Now they are just waiting to be 'stuffed' :)

New Badge Batch

2011-10-18T08:53:00.000+11:00

Here's some of the badges made in the latest batch - to go up to the St Kilda market this Sunday..

As always, if you see one you like, just email me via the 'contact us' link in the online shop ..

Owls flying in..

2011-10-13T21:26:00.003+11:00

Here's a few owls that I've managed to finish this week...

A couple large owls - these are approx 21cm tall...

Pin It

and Mama Owl - which is about 31 cm tall...

The owls are made from new, pre-washed, lined fabric, have hand embroidered details and are double stitched. The Large owls jingle and squeas.. the Mama - which can be used as a decorative cushion or a toy, has two squeakers in her belly..

Dinosaurs are walking

2011-10-13T20:38:00.003+11:00

I've been saying for a while that I'm working on a few new projects..
The first one - which took me WAY longer to make that I thought, is the Dino taggie rattle squeaker...

It started off with a really rough pattern which after some adjustments turned into these cute Dinos... :)

Here's some close ups....

The Dinos area made from soft, lined fabric and are double stitched with extra stitching across the tags and filled with corn fiber... They have one of our rattle inserts in them as well as a squeaker! If you'd like to order one, please contact us via the 'contact us' link in either of our shops..

St Kilda Market

2011-10-11T10:43:00.000+11:00

Hoping for good weather as we head into summer, we booked in to St Kilda market for every Sunday from October to end of December.. But as all things Melbourne, the weather hasn't been that kind to us last week!! It was a bit gloomy and the wind was blowing pretty much the entire day! So we're hoping for some better days to come!

I took some pictures of our stall - and as you can see our bunting was having a great time flying around...

Here's a small selection of our toys... We've introduced some new toys to our range - rattle/jingle balls as well as the cute taggie dinosaurs...

If you're in the area, don't forget to pop by and say hi to us..

Cubes are back.. Better than ever!

2011-09-13T20:41:00.000+10:00

As we prepare for the the summer market run, I've decided to bring back our cube toys... but they've had a bit of a 'face lift'!

Each cube is made from colourful panels and is now filled with the eco-friendly corn toy stuffing, has tags in the seams and makes a cool jingling sound.. thanks to our new jingle columns which have become my favourite toy rattle inserts...

And now for the twist! We've been experimenting with a new product - baby safe mirror, so some of the cubes have a mirror panel sewn on one of the sides..

I brought this toy back with young kids in mind, but when my (almost) 3 yo son saw the first cube that came off the 'production line' he instantly claimed it! Though we have a rule about balls in the house (don't we all?), I've seen the cube fly through our living room! (lucky it's soft).. So it seems that this toy with all the tags and jingling noise appeals to babies as well as toddlers...

I also have a couple more projects in the making so stay tuned!

Also, if you're interested in purchasing the baby soft mirror, please let us know!

New two green pears products stockist

2011-09-01T17:03:00.000+10:00

I'm very happy to announce that we have a new stockist selling a range of our two green pears handmade products - and they're all the way on the other side of Australia!

So for those living in or visiting the Perth area, make sure you drop by this great shop:

A Maize Homewares

125 Claremont Crescent

Swanbourne WA

Small toy rattle inserts on sale!

2011-08-30T20:40:00.002+10:00

For the next week you can pick up small toy rattle inserts for only 70 cents each when you purchase a pack of 30 from our craft store..

Press here to go to the rattle listing

These inserts are great for all sorts of soft toy projects.. they are only 20mm x 12mm so they fit into any small toy projects and make a gentle rattling sound...

We also have lots of other items on sale, so don't forget to have a look through the shop while you're there...

This rattle sale ends 6th of September, 2011..

New Jingle toy inserts - jingle jingle all the way!

2011-08-22T20:26:00.001+10:00

I'm so happy to announce that today we are adding a new product to our Toy Making supplies line:

Jingle Columns - special introductory price!!

I am SO happy with the sound these jingle toy inserts make! It's like a multi-tonal, almost melodic sound that's similar to a wind chime... and it seems to make a slightly different noise depending on whether you roll it, shake it one way or the other...

I think they'll be perfect for any soft ball or cube projects!

Each Jingle toy insert is 25mm in diameter x 53mm high.

They are available in single packs, or in a pack of five from our craft shop .

AND as I think you'll love these as much as I do, I'm offering a special introductory price on these - 50% off the original price, but only for the next 7 days!

In other news:

- 33mm diameter round toy rattle inserts are now available in a 30 pack

- 38mm diameter ball toy inserts (10 pack) are back in stock

- 25mm accordion squeaker inserts (10 pack, side squeaker) are also back in stock

SALE

If you think it couldn't get any better, we're also having a SALE on selected rattle and squeaker insert packs.. but this sale is also on for a limited time only...

Cuttlebug pear core'dinations card and card making hints

2011-08-21T16:01:00.001+10:00

I made this card some time ago and from all the cards I've made over the years, this is my favourite! It's a simple, elegant card that could be used for any occasion... however I like it so much that I haven't been able to part with it!

There were a few steps involved in making this card and I'll do my best to describe them, along with some handy hints :)

Here are the supplies I used. You can find many of them in our online craft store :

- Core'dinations whitewash paper - Pistachio

- two complementing green core'dinations cardstocks (from memory the darker one was called Parsley)

- Celery coloured ribbon

- 7 Gypsies Dax paper

- Gold and yellow ink

- Divine Swirl embossing folder

- Tim Holtz' Scallops die

- I had the rub on quote in my personal stash

- Blank Card (about 12.5 x12.5 cm so that it would fit into our 13x13cm envelopes )

- Pear die cut (could use other fruit or diecut shape. Mine came from a Francheville pack I picked up on special at the local craft store)

- double sized tape and foam squares

- sanding block

Here's what I did:

1. Cut out my green whitewash paper to the size of the card and adhered it to the front of the card.

HINT: I attach all of my papers/cardstocks using 6mm double sided tape . I find that this way I don't get any messy glue around my working space or any paper warping.. It's also cheaper than using an adhesive roller...

2. Cut the parsley core'dinations cardstock to just over 3 1/4" (8.5cm) x 5" (12.5cm). Punched out the scallop pattern on one of the shorter sides using the Tim Holtz Scallop die. Trimmed the top of the piece so the height measured about 4 1/2" (11cm) and cut the width so that it had 6 full scallops.

HINT: When planning on having a punched edge on a card centre piece, always cut your cardstock a little bigger than the finished size you are after. That way you can cut between the pattern repetitions and have a beautiful finished looking edge..

3. Cut the patterned paper to around 2 1/2" x 3 1/4". Cut the light green cardstock to size, making it 1/8" wider and taller on all sides of the patterned paper.

4. Sanded the edges of all cardstock pieces. I added some detail to the whitewash card background using yellow ink, after sanding it. This made the edges more interesting and a bit brighter.

HINT: If you don't have a sanding block, you can easily use an emery board to add a distressed look to the cardstock edges...

5. I layered and adhered my pieces: patterned paper on top of light green, then both on top of the dark green scalloped piece.

6. I put a piece of 6mm double sided tape across the lower edge patterned paper (from one edge to the other) and adhered the ribbon to the card, tying a little knot.

7. I put this centre piece towards the left of the card, then I put my rub on quote on the right side of the card.

8. Now to the pear! I embossed it in my Cuttlebug machine using the Divine Swirl embossing folder. I inked the edges using the gold ink (a small cube one I had in my stash) and gently rubbed the ink over the raised pattern.

HINT: If inking the raised pattern using this method, go over the pattern a few times pressing very gently. If you press too hard you will end up inking the de-raised parts as well..

9. When the ink dried I mounted the pear to the centre of my patterned paper using foam squares.

HINT: if you're working on a budget, instead of purchasing foam squares, you can use the foam tape that comes on a roll and just cut it yourself..

Keep smiling.. Till next time!

Eliza

Derinya Art & Craft Exhibition

2011-07-31T20:26:00.001+10:00

Today we went to the Derinya Art & Craft exhibition, where I was invited to display some of my handmade creations. It was really hard to decide which items to submit, so I submitted a range - from flower hairclips to owl toys.... Here are some pics of our items that were submitted:

And here are some pics of my favourite works by other artists who displayed at the Exhibition:

Currently in the making

2011-07-18T22:21:00.000+10:00

Here's a preview of the latest Owl Fabric Wall Art I'm currently working on... it's similar to the pink one which I put up some pictures of previously but in yellow (with some brown detail) for a more neutral look.

If you'd like to have an Owl (or giraffe) Fabric Wall Art made in custom colours, feel free to email me...
I also have a few other design ideas in my head... see how we go with them!