The Year in Review: How to feel Successful

If you want to feel successful, write a list.  Write a list of all the things you have done.   I took a page from my friends book who wrote a list of all the books she had read this year.  Day to day I feel like I don't get anything done, but looking back at 2013, I've done/made a lot!  I've never done a "look back at the past year" but it might be a new thing for me, as it feels really good to see all my creations in one place!


I've categorized my makings in different sections, take a look!


Clothes:

a dress for me

a kids dress for a contest that I won!  

(thanks to everyone who voted!)

a custom fairy dress being used for a bridesmaid dress

a baby clothes outfit

this cape made from a snuggie

here is the tutorial on that.

3 pairs of owl wings (made in 1 day)

for halloween costumes

a fancy dress made for my sister

Custom Work:

bunting made for a candy shop

doll clothes for a 12" doll

a summer hat

wee mouse tin house

special envelope that housed a narwhal going to Australia

Flowers:

I helped my sister design and make bouquets

 for 2 weddings in the summer

 Here is her website.

Food and Drink:

coffee, coffee, always coffee.  I got a proper espresso machine as a gift 

and its been AMAZING!  

chocolate valentines cookies

cupcakes for a 1st birthday party

work trade for a friends birthday

homemade vanilla coffee syrup for my sisters birthday

pickles!

they taste sooo good!

I grew some veggies too 

Gifts:

Christmas ornaments for an ornament exchange

2 activity bags for a long plane ride for 2 little girls I know

pom pom hat

a mouse for a friend in Romania

wallet for my mother-in-law

kitty face pillow

sock monkey

monkey softie friend

fairy skirt

house warming gnome for a fern

birthday confetti

I went to India this year too:

I packed this hand bound book

did a little sewing

and looking

fed an elephant

sewed a lace jacket for my friends wedding

planned life for my family while I was away

went fabric shopping

Miscellaneous:

embroidered my motto for parenthood

a case to house watercolors and a notebook

felted elf slippers

tree topper antlers

felt Christmas wreath

pom pom flower arrangement

crochet dish cloths

burlap pillow

play tent

needle book kits

joined roller derby

made a batch of terrarium mushrooms: tutorial

bag for kids using my friends tutorial

printed some baby blankets using my tutorial

burlap hanging basket

did a balloon twisting workshop

got better at roller derby

painted a mug

made some necklaces for a market

I made an epic soft book for my daughter when I was off in India here are the highlights, more detailed posts in my August blog archives:

With each page taking anywhere from 2-5 hours per side this was by far the biggest project all year.

Softies:

lots of mice!

some for sale in my etsy shop

this handsome valentines mouse

small spring bunny

some narwhals

a waldorf doll

felt beluga

Last but not least my blooming upholstery business:

outdoor swing cushions

kids foam chair

my favorite chair all year

another kids foam chair

Well there you go!  Phew!  Have a happy new year!

Happy Christmas Day!

I love December and Christmas. I love it because I get to make lots of Christmas crafts and because I get to give presents away!

To bring these two things that I love about Christmas together I decided to organize an ornament exchange on a soft toy design forum I am part of.  It was so much fun!  I am going to do it again next year too.  Maybe I should start designing now.

Here are the ornaments I designed,

foxes made from plaid fabric, ric-rac, buttons and felt.

wrapped and ready to go!

Here are the ones I got in exchange:

                       

 

Somehow I ended up with 4?  I'll have to find out how:)

This Years Christmas Tree Topper:

I'd seen this before with real antlers, which I don't have access to, so I made some plush ones.

I'll be making more of these next year.

 

Other Christmas findings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this wreath is my newest crafting addition, made from felt.

A very Merry Christmas to you! 

Custom Sewing: Doll Clothes

Last week I was commissioned to make some doll clothes for a Christmas present.  I took it on because I hadn't made or worked with doll clothes in a while so it was time to brush up on my design skills.  I like making people size clothes but doll clothes are SO much more fun to make.  First of all, my imagination is allowed to be a little more "out there" especially with fabric choices. Second, they take less time to sew!  It's more of an instant gratification type sewing. These all fit an adorable 12" Jelly Cat brand doll.

first up: these 2 skirts and petticoat

 

A tunic and a jumper

a red cape with ric rac

perfect combo! 

 

 

lastly, a pink jumper and a long cape

How to Bring a Doll to Life

If you've ever wondered what makes a doll come to life I have the answer for you. 

Well at least one answer; and not the magical kind of come to life, but the kind of life that will make that doll stand out from others.  And maybe in a way, having a doll stand out does bring it to life magically, to be picked up time and time again by whomever owns it.

Making a doll come to life is all about proportion; how one thing relates to another, size, length, fabric choice.  I learned all about proportion in Fashion Design school, it's one thing to learn it and another in practice.  It's something that takes time and practice AND trial and error.

I'll show you what I mean, here's a look into my making sketchbook:

This doll looks like a bean.  She didn't even get arms because I wasn't happy with the body shape.  The for head is too high, not enough space up there for realistic hair.  So it threw all the other facial features off.

This doll is smaller and flatter.  Good face proportions but she is just too flat.  In fact she looks like a drawing.  I wanted to do something different for hair so thought an extension of felt would look good, but it made her even more flat.  I like the length of her limbs, but her legs are too far apart.

Alien doll ahead....this doll is getting the more 3D look I was going for but the eyes are CRAZY! With the big hair up top, it makes the lower half of her face look too small edging on gaunt/alien like. I put some plastic beans in the bottom half of the body to try to give it more weight, but it ended up spreading the legs apart more.  That accentuated the fact that the limbs were too narrow.

I liked the hair, because it is an alternative to felt, which I had been looking for for a while.  I wanted something more 3D.

To balance out the big hair I made the whole body and limbs 1/4" wider.
 

Once I had the body figured out, I had to figure out the eyes.  THAT was a journey in itself.  Take a look:

So again, the proportions can make or break a design.  Eyes #1 were too small, #2 good size, but  the tear drop size was too sleepy, #3 not enough character, #4 too animated, #5 the eyes get lost and washed out especially on the fair skin, #6 too bright, #7 sequins are too bright for this dolls eyes, #8 just right!

Here she is all styled and ready to play!

Two Santa Mouses

I made a small holiday shop update!

Meet Santa Mouse #1

and Santa Moue #2

They can be found in my Etsy shop.

Crafting with a Toddler

I've been wanting to start including my daughter when I make things and thought wet felting would be the perfect intro. She LOVES to play with soap and water, and incorporating it into a craft made us both happy!  

I started felting about 4 (?) years ago and I still love it.  My favorite thing is to demystify the process for friends and show them how to felt.  The day before we made these, we had our neighbor and her two little girls over to felt, they enjoyed it so much I thought WE would try it together! These slippers took about 30 minutes to make and they are so durable.

rubbing the soap and wool to make felt

we made elf slippers for winter...she hates wearing them. Classic.

Playing and cleaning at the same time.

Her little elf slippers drying by the fire.

We added sparkly bells to finish them off!