Happy Tote

I made this yesterday, click the image to enlarge. Happy tote is made of felt, ribbon and a dash of happy of course!

Blythe

Photos of my two blythe dolls. If you don't know the history of Blythe, she was a doll produced by Kenner in 1972 and was manufactured for only one year before she was taken off the market. Some speculate that with her oversized head and large color changing eyes there was a creep factor that did not play well to children, but these are exactly the reasons why adults find them interesting. Many years later a photographer took the vintage dolls with her on her world travels using the doll as a model and muse upon foreign shores, her work was published in a book and a collectors everywhere scrambled to attain the elusive Blythe. Previously vintage Blythe dolls had been selling for 30 dollars but now suddenly the prices were stimulated into the thousands. Around this time Blythe became a fashion model, really, for a real runway fashion show. With such a demand inevitably Blythe would be reproduced by Hasbro. Mine of course are the current releases and not the pricey collector dolls. At first the replicas were just that, but for the last few years they have been produced from an original 1972 mold, these are called "supreme blythes". I have some creative aspirations for my dolls, but I have some bigger priority projects right now. If I ever get around to acheving this vision, I will let you in on it. This image is a collage I made of my dolls with some ultra saturated background images, can you find the Nanogirl? The rose you see is a custom brush I made and have turned into an avatar for you. You can get it here at the library under the 100X100 section.

Birthday

As promised here is a birthday photograph collage. Click image to enlarge.

Top left: collection of items from a store I found by accident. Daiso is considered a dollar store that is very popular in Japan. Everything I bought from the store was $1.50 (except for one item that was a cost of $3.00). The diversity of products was impressive and the packaging was in usual delightful Japanese charm. I've looked it up online and as far as I can tell the only USA shop is here, what luck!
In the photo you are seeing bunny ears from the cover of a blank notebook, the pink geisha is a stationary set, puffy cute stickers, softy pink pen and a sticker doll set ready to be fashioned.

Bottom left: browsing my new discovery.

Top right: Hello kitty items which was where I was headed when I stumbled on the other shop. In the photo, Hello Kitty washcloth, draw string bag and stamps (each with their own expression).

Bottom right: (clockwise) Boasting my Hello Kitty bag, a $1.50 Snow White dwarf, ready to leave the house, and finally, returned home.

Kumi

Happy Birthday Kumi! I made this image as a present for you. Click to enlarge and then right click to save. If you want a transparent Gif I have one of those too, for some reason blogspot won't upload Gifs properly. Just let me know and I can send it via email. Do with it as you please.

Image description: thinking of kumi (hence the thought bubble).

Quick fix

This petite doll was originally sporting a gold lame' jumpsuit (see above section of image). I removed it and simply wrapped ribbon (which she is standing next to) around her and tied black string around her waist for a halter type dress. Houndstooth is one of my favorite prints, I wish it was this easy to make a houndstooth dress in people size. Next Thursday is my birthday and I have a feeling that I might be lucky enough to get a full size version of this doll, I'll let you know : )

New Fabric

Click the image to enlarge. Or click here to view an even larger version of the image.

Ada-bot

I've been on a creative bender! Yesterday I made a huggable robot, Ada, named after my favorite "first programmer ever", Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852). I'm actually quite surprised at how well it turned out considering that it's my first plushie, that I just figured out how to cut fleece, and that I had no pattern. I cut squares and rectangles out of fleece for the legs, body and head. The heart was cut out of sticky felt (the same as on the Valentines envelope) and the eyes and mouth are also felt. The legs and arms are so skinny that I had to use a pencil to stuff them. I chose to use a drop of glue for the pipe cleaner antenna to keep the look of simplicity. It's alive, it's alive!

Home made Valentine

Here are some images from my first greeting card made from scratch. I used rubber stamps for the print designs (the red and pink flower designs). For the envelope after I stamped the block design I cut a heart shape out of felt and I attached it to the envelop using a "kiss me" brad. I taped that down on the inside. The back of the envelope also has a smaller cut felt heart that will seal it closed.
For the card, once again I stamped out a design. The silver and red heart was accomplished in three steps. First I made the heart out of shiny silver paper and then using a rubber stamp I applied the design to it. I had to let it dry for some time since it has such a slick surface, if I touched it too soon the red ink would smear. After it was set, I then cut the second smaller heart out of red pseudo suede paper and glued it on top of the silver heart. For the inside of the card I used a lined heart stamp and the silvery word love was made three dimensional by using an embossing heater. The "handmade especially for you" on the back of the card was also embossed. A tiny heart was glued above it. I've never felt so much excitement about giving a card before, but I can't wait!
By clicking the image you will be directed to a medium sized image, you can click here to see a higher resolution image.

Happenings

Image 1: New storage system. Stacking drawers for fabric. Clear for easy visibility. Image 2: Fairy girl made out of wire and fake flowers.

Stupid Sock Creatures

Here's another book of quirky characters, awaiting my attention. Now this one utilizes socks instead of knitting and also isn't as soft and cute as their knitted cousins. These "creatures" seem to be more monster oriented and might be better suited for boys. Of course the wonderful thing about creating is that you can make any modfication you like!

Yarn Robots are cuddly

I just received my copy of Unusual Toys for you to Knit and Enjoy by Jess Hutchison. I thought it was unavailable, and true, on some websites it is, but I just scored the end all be all of the knitted robot pattern! Also includes, dolls, bugs and bears. I look forward to finding some time to give this book the creative attention it deserves.

Robot song with video

[Thanks to Tyler Emerson.]


http://www.uvphactory.com/Portfolio/robot/