Attack of the Plush Doll Monsters

If you follow me on twitter, you would have seen I said something about sewing some plushies. Well I did, and I feel like showing them to you now. Not only that but my awesome husband has started making these amazing hand carved wooden swords and wands. I have added a page for them at the top of the blog here. He plans on making other things other than just swords and wands. He wants to make canes and bows and arrows and all kinds of really neat items so as he makes them and I get pictures of them they will be added to the flickr stream. There have been lots of new pictures added to flickr and they are on here as well in their respective pages, so take a few minutes to check them out.

On another note, my sister is relocating back home after many years away, so hopefully I can get her to let me post more of her process photos here since she will be living close by now. Now, on to the pictures!

Here are all those dolls I made. 

There is a flying pig in there, some ponies, a couple of dinosaurs, a frog, an octopus, a snake, some mustaches, and a pair of riceballs. I am going to save them for the show in Edmond next week. What doesn't sell I will put up in the Etsy store, plus I will make more. The pig has to be my favorite new one.  He is really fat and squishy.

Here is a couple of pics of the swords my husband made:

There was a dagger and a wand, but some kids snatched them up before I could get pics of them. He carves them all by hand. Our sunroom is covered in wood shavings and sawdust! As I am typing this he is sitting out there carving a broadsword and several wands.

We are gearing up for the show at the Funky Hair Ranch in Edmond next weekend. Hope you can come by and visit us if you are in the area. I love doing shows, you meet so many interesting people and see so many interesting things. As always we will also be setting up in the Plaza District next month so come by and hang out with everyone there. That's about it for now. I have a four year old waiting for me, lol. Will update again soon!

Bead Madness

I have been beading like a maniac for about 2 weeks now, I think. My perception of time is a bit wonky cause I work from home so I never see weekends anymore, but that's a whole other post about the side effects of working in your pajamas every day.

These are for the upcoming Plaza District Festival on October 9th in Oklahoma City.

The top one is going to be a bag and the others are hair pieces. I need to edge them and put them onto some barrettes. Then I decided to show my mess. I have this HUGE stack of drawers that are full of nothing but beads in them. I am slightly shocked though cause when I went through them the other day I realized I am running out of a few colors. I haven't had to buy beads in about 5 years, I buy in bulk, so it was a bit of a surprise to me.

Other than this, I am just trying to get my whole look for my booth together. I haven't had a real booth in a long time and I have changed what I sell so coming up with a cohesive look is stressing me out a bit. I want it to be simple but pleasant to the eye, but not to where it is distracting from what I am selling. The crafts are the stars after all. Until next time, happy creating everyone!

I come bearing dance costume pictures!

This month has been a bit hectic, dance season has descended upon my household so we have been scrambling to finish costumes. Mainly one costume. My daughter is dancing a solo to Eartha Kitt's "I Want to be Evil" this year and I designed her costume and helped my mom put it together. My mom did a lot of the sewing, I glued a ton of rhinestones to it, one at a time because I am clearly insane. The pink dress is made out of organza and tulle with sequin and rhinestone accents. The unitard underneath has a tulle cumberbund and bow with rhinestones all over the front and back of the top. So this is what I have been working on all month, along with a few other things I will post about when finished. Here are the pictures:









Doesn't she look thrilled at having her picture taken :/

Craft Show stuff!

I have been meaning to do this update for about a week now. I let things get away from me and lose track of time because my weeks get so crazy with three kids and my new part time job.

I was part of a craft show at my mom's place of business. It was their annual Christmas Craft Show. I tried it last year but was not that successful.
It gave me a year to think about what to do next. I clearly
am not a jewelry maker. Frankly, I hate making it. I do however love to sew things by hand. I spent time at the library pouring over all kinds of books about sewing bags, hats, clothes, you name it, but nothing was really making me feel passionate about making it. That was until I went digging into my grandmothers old craft folders. She has patterns in there from the 1950s! It made me remember how much I loved making dolls with her when I was a kid. So I sat down and sketched some ideas out and then made the patterns for them. I also read a few plush toy books to get some ideas on sewing and materials. Then, I got down to business. I made dolls like crazy. I had to hide them from my kids. They kept trying to steal them, especially the youngest one. I made them out of felt, fuzzy fake fur, velvet, and canvas. I dug up my embroidery thread and my buttons and just had a great time. I also painted a few with acrylics. I worked like crazy to get my stuff done for the show. Day of the show and I can say I did much better this time. So now I am sharing my little creations with you. I still have some left over and they are going to go up for sale in the Etsy store.

I have a few more ideas, I know definitely the big dolls are getting made in more colors and in a bigger quantity next time. I sold all but one of them! I am also going to work on more screenprinting and block print note cards. My plan is to enter more shows this year and have fun meeting new people. I have to get out of my cave some time! Here are the rest of the pics. Make sure to check out the Etsy store some time in the next day or two because I will be posting the rest of my stock there.