Question:
Monday, June 29th, 2009He followed me home….
…should I keep him?
Jenn ; )
Posts Tagged ‘Plush’
Feelin’ the love!
Friday, February 13th, 2009Today would regularly be our Friday Two Spoonfuls post. But, since the other spoonful is livin’ it up in Florida right now on vacation, I’m sneaking in a little vacation, too. ; )
That hasn’t kept me out of the kitchen, though.
Yesterday I made some Valentine’s Day cupcakes.
My first time making red velvet. (Yummy)
I used *this* recipe for the cupcakes.
And I used the cream cheese frosting from *this* recipe to top them off.
(Double yummy)
And for the piece de resistance, tiny heart sprinkles, which I received in a wonderful little goody package from Ginny. She also gave me some of her priced cupcake liners, too – what a generous gal!
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I’ve been a very lucky girl lately, and a bit overwhelmed by some unexpected kindness from friends. Not only did Ginny share her love of cupcakes with me, but when she heard about the trouble I’ve been having with my sewing machine, she made and sent me this:
It’s a little plush sewing machine! Isn’t it the cutest?!?
Sewing something pretty with a little needle.
It’s a genuine Bernina, just like mine!
Thank you, Ginny – for cheering me up while my Nina’s been away. : )
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This morning I made a trip to the post office, and since I wasn’t expecting anything, I almost didn’t check my box. But I’m so glad that I did, because look what was waiting for me inside!
This is a lovely little wool pin that Maia made and sent to me!
It’s so pretty, and I wasn’t expecting it at all.
What a wonderful Valentine’s Day surprise! Thank you, Maia!
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I wish you all lots of Valentine’s Day love.
Share some with a friend,
it can make all the difference in the world.
Best,
Jenn : )
"The LMB3000"
Thursday, July 26th, 2007“The LMB3000″.
That is the name that Josh suggested I call my lamb plushie.
For the record – Josh is an incredible designer and his suggestions when I’m working on a new creation are usually spot on and very helpful. But alas, naming cute stuffed animals does not seem to be his forte! Whatever the lamb is eventually named, it will NOT be “The LMB3000″.
Sorry, Josh.
Anyway…
I’ve gotten two things checked off my To-Do list.
This is the first lamb prototype – what do you think?
Overall I’m very pleased with how this first version came out.
There are some minor changes I’m going to make: like tweaking the spacing of his eyes & mouth, maybe changing his eye color to black, filling his legs with beads instead of polyfil…
I also created a quilt design for lamby’s matching quilt/pillow set.
I’ve decided to save cutting out ornament pieces for the weekend – I think Saturday I’ll rent a movie or two and camp out downstairs where it’s cool.
So, next on the list is:
1. Make prototype of matching bag for lamb.
2. Make one more prototype of lamb with changes.
3. Make a few checkbook covers using the new fabrics I’ve cut out.
I’d like to work on the matching bag today.
I may be able to have a “progress post” on Saturday : )
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I added a new sewing book to the shop today!
I’ve had some requests for my original style, with the binding on the long side,
so I’ve made a few more of those.
Have a good day! Thanks for stopping by!
(“The LMB3000″….. Men!)
Jenn : )
There’s Always An Opportunity…
Saturday, July 14th, 2007…to learn something new.
I like to learn new things. I am always on the lookout for opportunities to learn a new technique or challenge myself to try a new way of doing something.
Even if it’s just in a small way.
Even if it’s just in a small way.
I’m not sure what’s come over me lately – but I’ve been thinking alot about the holidays (as in Christmas. I know, it’s the middle of July. Perhaps the scorching heat we’ve been having here has either fried my poor noggin or just made me long for cooler weather. Either way, like I said in an earlier post, it’s been a bit of “Christmas in July” around my studio.)
I was looking through my sketchbook recently and came across some drawings that I did earlier this year. I think they’d be really cute made into Christmas gift tags.
I could redo the illustrations larger, then scan them into the computer and print them onto card stock.
But how to make them into gift tags?
I went to the office supply store and looked for pre-perforated sheets that I could print out. No luck.
Then I went to the Paper Zone and found these handy gizmos made by Fiskars.
The space ship looking thing at the top is called a ShapeCutter,
and the orange template at the botton is a ShapeTemplate.
Well, it just so happens that today I am wrapping up my Summer Swap goodies to send to my partner, Jane. So I thought – why don’t I take this opportunity to try making my own tags?
The tag shown above is alittle ragged (it was one of my first attempts) but I’m happy to say that (with a little practice) I think this is a great solution to my tag quandary.
The shape cutter was easy and fun to use.
I don’t have a Michael’s close to me, but you might find them there, too.
The cost was reasonable at about $27.50 for the cutter, template and an extra set of blades.
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In other news…
It appears that both the lamb and the mouse are the most popular of my critter ideas!
There were four votes for each.
Josh’s vote is for the lamb, so I will start with that one, followed by the mouse.
Thanks to everyone who made a suggestion, I really appreciate your feedback!
This weekend I have a couple custom order sewing books to work on, and (break out the eggnog!) a very special someone has requested a completed set of my snowman ornaments. I am super excited about that! : )
Once those projects are finished I’ll begin making prototypes of my lamb plushie and bag. I make those out of muslin until I get my design just the way I want it.
(I’ll be sure to post some photos for you to look at…. you never know, you may get to see some funny Frankenstein-esque creations along the way!)
After that I will make as many of the final version as I have fabric for.
I’m expecting these to be limited editions – probably the most I’ll make will be five of a single design.
Hope you’re all having a great weekend!
Jenn : )
And The Winner Is….
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007With the help of my ultra high-tech name choosing device….
A winner has been chosen!
The wonderful Mrs. Kwitty!!!
Yay!
I’ll be sending some birthday goodness your way soon!
Congratulations on your win : )
And thanks again to everyone who posted a comment.
What a great birthday I’ve had!
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Lately I’ve taken a bit of a break from working on big projects.
Instead, I’ve been working on some smaller fun stuff.
I recently made this set of drink coasters.
It was a special order for a customer who wanted them to match her kitchen.
This was a great project to work on – especially since she sent me photos and actual swatches as color reference – so I was able to find really good fabric matches.
The circles match the fun pattern of her kitchen walls.
We’ve also had a bit of “Christmas in July” going on here,
as I’ve fallen back on one of my ongoing projects – embroidering Christmas ornaments.
I like to keep a little basket of ornaments to work on while Josh and I watch tv or a movie…. and for some reason I just felt like working on them these last few days.
Maybe because they are fairly quick and are easy to pick up and put down
(kind of like a book that you read when you are on vacation).
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I think I’m ready to start another big project now.
I’m going to begin working on my “Critters in a Bag” (for lack of a better name) project in earnest. This project was actually one of the first things I blogged about: see HERE. But it’s gotten pushed to the side as I’ve worked on other things.
My idea is to make sets of little plush creatures,
similar in size to this little monkey that I made for my friend Ginny.
Each set would include a plushie and a little bag to carry it in.
I have also toyed (ha! – nice pun, Jenn) with the idea of offering a little add-on set, which would include a matching little quilt and pillow and a set of coloring cards that I would make from my own drawings.
As you can see – if I were to do all of that it would be a pretty ambitious project. But one that I think could be alot of fun. All these ideas have been knocking around in my brain for the past six months. I think it’s time to do something with them!
I’ve sketched designs for 5 different plushies.
Here are the fabrics and ribbons that I’ve gathered so far:
(you can click the photos to zoom)
Super soft fuzzy fabric for the Lamb.
Sweet pastels for the Bunny.
A great fuzzy orange for the Cat.
A light brown velveteen for the Bear.
And blues and greys for the Mouse.
So, here is a question for you, my readers.
Which plushie should I start first?
The lamb, the bunny, the cat, the bear or the mouse?
Let me know what you think – I’ll be keeping a close eye on my comments here : )
Hope you’re having a good day!
We’ll chat again soon,
Jenn : )
My Secret…Revealed!
Friday, January 19th, 2007
Does this look like an ordinary egg carton to you? Not very exciting. Mundane.
Well… not when you use it to store your embroidery floss!
My husband laughs at me every time he walks into my studio and sees one of my egg carton organizers. Yes, I know that they make plastic craft containers specifically to hold embroidery floss. I think I have a couple of those and I keep colored pencils in them or beads… and yeah, I think I have a bead organizer – but I think I keep something else in that ; ) I’m just weird that way!
(Hey – if anyone is reading this – leave me a comment if you’re interested in recipes that use eggs – I have quite a collection of those.)
Here is a book that I recently bought (and love!) and thought I’d share with you: “Plush-O-Rama” by Linda Kopp.
It is 128 pages long – filled with lots of color photos and great tips on how to make plush critters. Have you ever wondered how these little guys are put together and look so neat and tidy – well, this book will show you how it’s done. I learned some fun new techniques from this book. It’s a great way to learn how to make plushies so that you can then design your own unique creatures and make them – just like the pros!
And if you already have this book or buy it and decide to make a critter – leave me a comment and/or email me a photo – I’d love to see!
: ) Jenn
WIP Wednesday
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007
Hello everyone!
Thanks for the great comments you’ve left for me – I love to read your thoughts and ideas – they’re wonderful motivation for me to keep up with my sewing and sketching : )
Sorry for this fuzzy photo – our sunshine here is sporadic and it seems to be either blinding or grey outside. This is a picture of my sketch for the hedgehog sewing book/pincushion set and one of the adorable little buttons I’ve found to go on the book. I’m not sure why the button has a hedgehog AND an apple on it – but by total coincidence I had a Japanese fabric that has hedgehogs and little apples on it – how did that happen?
So it looks like hedgehogs and butterflies will be the next sets that I finish up (and then kittens and finally Scotty dogs and dragonflies).
I couldn’t resist getting a photo of the fabric and ribbon I have for my first plush animal and bag.
This is what I’ve gathered for the Little Kitten plush & bag. I’m going to use the fuzzy orange/brown fabric on the far left for the kitten. The corduroy on the right will be part of the bag and the two middle fabrics will be part of the outside of the bag and then the lining.
I plan on making some prototypes of the kitten and bag out of muslin – so that everything is the way I want it before I cut into these gorgeous fabrics. I’ll post some of my attempts so you can see how they’re coming along : )
Now I’ve got to make dinner and then get back to my sewing while I watch Top Chef on Bravo!
Nite all!
The Very Beginning…
Wednesday, December 27th, 2006Well, this is the beginning of my newest project, and it all stems from this “happy accident” : )
I was working on a prototype for a new purse and I wanted to try something out (the front pocket I think..?) and decided to just make this little guy to see if I liked where the design was going.
When I finished putting this together I really, really liked the size and shape – so boxy and cute!
So the next logical step (ha!) was to grab one of the little stuffed critters that I have on a nearby shelf in my studio and tuck him in the bag.
Wa-La! He was a perfect fit!
“Cute” I thought, and just put the whole thing aside and moved on to another project.
But something about this little bag has been like a seed in the back of my mind and it has kept growing until I can’t ignore it anymore.
So I’ve done some sketches of bags and plush animals of my own design and bought some lovely fabrics and ribbon and I’m going to turn this idea into something tangible : )
(Oh, and buying the fabrics and ribbon has been soooo much fun! Gorgeous wools, velveteen, corduroy…. YUMMY!)
Check back to see the raw materials evolve…. Jenn : )
