Meet My New Friends!

I realized that i've been a bit lax in introducing the newest members to my happy plushie family - my bad. Well, without further ado, here are the newest characters I whipped up with a hook and a little bit o yarn:

Donut of Glee - D'oh!

Mr. Pastree - sworn enemy of Mr. Toastee...seriously, don't let the happy smile fool you. you do NOT want to cross Mr. Pastree!

Cornelius - By Kay's request(and he comes out of his husk too)

I promise I'll be better with updates on my new creations....for the 2 people who read my blog ^_^

Big Juicy Kangaroo Burger?

Yes, you heard me right - Kangaroo burgers. My husband and I grilled up 100% kangaroo burgers for dinner last night, and they were pretty tasty! Not gamey at all. They taste pretty similar to beef burgers, so I would only recommend them for the novelty of eating kangaroo....especially at $9.50 a pound.

Where did we find kangaroo burgers in Lancaster county you ask? Well, on Friday, we took a walk around Lititz checking out all of the cute little stores and stumbled upon The Savory Gourmet. At first glance, the store did not have many items, but them we saw their whiteboard of available meats - alligator, ostrich, black bear bacon, yak, elk, and kangaroo to name a few. How cool is that? Bizzare foods in our own backyard!

Let There Be Light!

I have a really hard time taking nice pictures of my creations. It's a pain waiting for nice sunny days to get really good lighting, and I tried to create a backdrop to use to give some uniformity, but I felt that they could be taken up another notch. So, I decided to look into getting a lightbox. After pricing them, I decided to look into making my own. I found a great site - click here - with a couple nice tutorials. I changed it up a little, and built my own out of some PVC pipe. It was UBER easy and cheap - cost about $19. It would have been less, but I had to buy a hacksaw to cut the PVC pipe and that was $6.50, and I didn't have a white twin sheet and that was $5.98 at Wal-Mart.

My finished lightbox is pictured above. I did not use PVC cement to connect the pieces, because I wanted to be able to take it apart and store it. I really don't think the cement is necessary, because all the pieces fit together real tight. I also opted not to hang the posterboard backdrop with screws drilled into the frame as the tutorial had. Instead, I took 4 binder clips, and used zipties to connect them on so I could just clip up the backdrop. I figured this way, the backdrop wouldn't tear on the screws. I also could not find T-joints that screwed into the street elbows, so I has to saw off 2 inch pieces of PVC to connect the top pieces. It worked perfectly!

Above are a couple of pictures I took today it it all assembled. As you can see, I am having some lightning issues as everything has sort of a cream tinge to it. The lamps I am using just have regualr 60W bulbs in them. I think I'm going to have to pick up some 6500K Flourescent bulbs or daylight bulbs and see if that helps my color issues.

Eggy toys

Ever since I was little, and well, still today, I am completely enthralled by those little machines you put your quarters in to get a little toy or a piece of candy. I love little plastic toys that I really don't need but totally must have. Even now, every time I go to the grocery store, i root around in my purse before I leave to make sure I have quarters available in case the machines have some uber cool toys or stickers that I MUST have. Back in the day, those machines were 5, 10 and 25 cents for the really good ones - now it goes from 25 cents to $1. We always called them eggy toys ^_^

One particular machine I remember as a child, was the one at our local Super Duper - a grocery store. It had a big plastic chicken in it that would cluck when you put in your quarter, and your toy was in one of those plastic easter eggs. I was blown away awhile ago when I went to my local Redners Warehouse market and they had the same machine! Ahhh...the memories....

What brought this on? Well, I was watching How it's Made on the Discovery channel this evening, and one of the things they showed was how they make those machines. That got me thinking, how cool would that be to have one of my very own! So I decided to make it one of my life's missions to own an eggy toy machine. That way, when I wake up, when I come home from a hard day at work, and just whenever, I can partake in tiny plastic toy goodness.

3 cheers for asparagus!

I recently placed an order with Three Red Hens for some beautiful letterpress cards. I recommend you stop by their etsy store and check out their letterpress goodness! They also included their new design, pictured above. How cool is that? I LOVE asparagus! It looks interesting and is quite tasty!

Being inspired by the uber awesome card, as well as the asparagus we had for dinner on Saturday, I whipped up Gustav, the newest member of my plushie family! Let's all give Gustav a warm welcome!

The Eyes Have it!

When I started crocheting plushies, I had the hardest time finding safety eyes to use on them. When I checked my local AC Moore, Michaels, and JoAnne, they either didn't carry them, or just had a few packages of a couple eyes in sizes I didn't need. I was really bummed out at first, and started using black beads, as those were more readily available to me. On one of my internet searches, I stumbled across CRS Craft, and hit the jackpot! They carry safety eyes in every size and color imaginable! They also have a nice selection of noses too! Their prices are great, and they sell bulk packages too! Their shipping is uber fast too! If you are looking for safety eyes for any plush project, I recommend going to http://www.crscraft.com/.

Say Cheese!

Woohoo! I finally finished my custom order for a crochet camera. This project was so much fun to do! The camera has an uber log lens, and I sewed on a felt picture on the back to represent the view screen. And of course, you have to have a little face in the lens ^_^ I also ended up making a little roll of film plushie to go with it - the idea popped in my head and I felt he would be the perfect companion to the camera ^_^

Coffee anyone?

my newest creation - Kitty Koffee. It's a little crochet mug stuffed generously with catnip. I went out to dinner the other night with a friend of mine, and she brought her new puppy over - well, he liked the Kitty Koffee too! I guess it's not just for cats anymore ^_^

Is this the only thing I've been busy with? Oh no, I'm currently working on a crochet camera for a custom order - I can't wait till it's all done. It's looking really good so far!

Did someone say base?

Today was an uber gloomy day. The only bright spot was when I received a text at work from my bro that made me laugh out loud. It was a multiple choice question. See if you know the answer:

All your base are belong to whom?

A) them
B) us
C)big perm
D)Wendy's Ranch Tooth
E) none of the above

Well, do you know the answer?

Meet Wally Watermelon

Wally is the newest member of my crochet plushie gang. He stated out as a watermelon slice for a custom order, and I thought - I need to make another one of these little guys with a face. So I did...obviously. I love to humanize food! One of my coworkers, Bill, suggested I call him Wally...the name totally fit. The end.

I think I need to start focusing on getting some more of my patterns written out in terms folks other than myself can read. I have my own crochet shorthand that I use in my crochet pattern journal, and I think I'm the only one who can read and understand it. So far, I have transcribed Mr. Nanner, Happy Happy Ice Cream Cone, Mr. Pretzel, and my Cubicle Critters, and they all are avaiable in my etsy shop. I'd really like to get my Peas in a Pod, Mr. Toastee, and Frothy McBeer and friends transcribed soon - it just takes me so much time ^_^

I was accepted to participate in Plush You 2008!!!

How cool is that? I sent my application in a few months ago, and received the good news the other day. I have a tendency to down play my work, because I feel like there are so many other people out there who have a lot more talent than I do. But this revelation has made me uber excited! What is Plush You, you ask? Well, per their website "Plush You! Is an annual exhibit that showcases plush creations by a wide variety of artists from around the globe." If you are interested in learning more about this uber awesome event, check out the official website or the Plush You blog.

I get to submit up to 3 of my plush creations...I have no idea which ones I should send. I am open to suggestions - let me know what your choices are! Since Mr. Nanner was my first original design, he hold a special place in my heart and I feel like he should make the trip to Seattle to be a part of Plush You 2008. But seriously, I'd love to hear your ideas too!

My creations will be displayed at Fancy, and the show opens on Oct 10th. Don't worry - I'll remind everyone about it as the date comes closer ^_^