I made this unicorn felt brooch for a fellow crafter’s birthday the other week and just thought I would share! Oh, and don’t forget, free gift with every heart magnet set purchase over on my Etsy shop. ^_^
Blog Archives
Haku and Chihiro {spirited away plushie set}
{2011 Project}
Wow! I can’t believe I never posted about this baby! I thought I already had, but I must be crazy because it doesn’t seem to be anywhere. Any who, this was a large commission, and included two plushies: Haku (dragon from Spirited Away) and Chihiro (protagonist from Spirited Away). Haku is easily the largest plush I have ever made. He is approximately 3.5 feet long, and is made from an up-cycled white blanket, vintage button eyes, eco-felt for details, up-cycled cotton sheets, and stuffed with eco-fill. Chihiro is a simple doll, I made her from a modified version of my Sailor Zoisite pattern. She is made entirely of eco-felt, with vintage button eyes and eco-fill stuffing.
Thoughts and criticisms always welcome!
xoxo
Gardenging/ Eco Swap
So today I officially finished another swap (as in, both my partner and I have received our packages). So that means I can finally post what I made and sent!
The “large” item that I made was this set of napkins/ tea towels what ever you really want to call them. I hand-dyed and stamped them. I only made two mistakes, which makes me happy.. and as far as I notice, I didn’t make any spelling errors. I really enjoyed making them, it makes me want to stamp everything in the house.
Polymer clay plant markers with chalkboard paint.
Everything all packed up into a mini burlap sac and hand-made tag.
Another swap done! Thanks for checking out what I made this time around.
xoxo
the Soldier of the Sky and the Soldier of the Deep-Sea earrings
I recently finished another swap, called an OTT (one tiny thing) swap. It meant that the craft I sent was not allowed to be more than 5″ in any direction. This one was an anime themed swap. My partner loves Haruka and Michiru (Sailor Uranus and Neptune) from Sailor Moon. She also mentioned that she would like earrings, and so I decided to try a new craft: jewellery making! It was fun, and I do like the results, but I don’t think it is something I would want to do too often.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune themed hand-made earrings
I made the planet symbol charms, and the wand icon charms out of polymer clay and mixed media. I assembled all the chain and bead pieces. I also decided to make her a small jewellery box to hold the earrings:
Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus hand drawn altered jewellery box.
I picked up the small box (about 3″ long and 1 1/2″ tall) at a second-hand store. The wood was in nice condition, and the inside was lined in nice blue velvet. I used two stickers that I had from my childhood (note: that the stickers are definitely not official Sailor Moon merchandise, another sticker from the same pack says “Sailor Moorery” and other silly misspellings).
Currently, I’m working on a garden/ recycling swap. Send outs are mid this month so I better get working…. Thanks for checking out my latest work!
xoxo
It is Okay to Fail Sometimes {keep trying}
{includes 2011 projects}
Originally, I had a post started for yesterday about my kitchen. It included new “before” pictures, a colour palette, and a rough outline of plans. But, due to some unexpected events, I completely forgot to actually *post* it online. So, instead of simply posting that today, I have decided to write a new post (and save said kitchen post for tomorrow, which is really for the best as I now have plans to go to a hardware store and pick up paint!).
So, even though I am a little upset that I forgot to post yesterday, I know that it is important to keep going anyways. Its okay to fail sometimes, in fact, I think it is even inevitable to fail sometimes. 
I have made a few plushies that have turned out to be failures, or in need of some serious pattern re-work, such as this incredibly awkward, plum Jackolope, or my original Dante-pillar (which is a cat mixed with a caterpillar respectably).
Not a complete failure.. but needs a lot of work.
This is a basic kid’s science experiment that I managed to complete destroy:
Yeah, that’s Rock Candy solution. I tried to make it for my partner’s birthday. Instead of sweet candy forming, however, I got weird fluffy mold growths!
But the real point is, you can’t let failure, or disappointment stop you from moving forward.
I started this clay doll months ago. I designed her, sculpted her head and torso out of foam, and sculpted her head out of clay… and yet, I never managed to make time to keep working on her. But today, I am going to start working on her again. Also, I found this cool feature on Pinterest the other day, it lets you see all of the pins from a specific source. It’s really awesome to see what has been pinned from my blog on there, click here to see.
xoxo
Etsy Shop {new items and updated}
Just a quick note to say that I added new listings to my Etsy shop, and I am offering a free “My Heart is in Stitches” key chain when you buy my pixel heart magnets (but only until Valentine’s Day!).
Staying Productive {craft swaps, forums and the internet}
I am easily distracted. I frequently think that looking online for three hours is considered “inspiration” or “research”. I don’t give myself enough time to do the stuff I *actually* need to do (organizing, crafting, diy-ing, cooking… gah). Controlling my internet time and usage is a BIG part of my 2012 goals. Despite trying to pare down internet time, I still post on Craftster, and I still love to do craft swaps.
Currently, I am doing an on-going Birthday swap (since my birthday was this month). This type of swap is different, in that you pick people to make gifts for, and people pick you to make gifts for (based on a list you make and your communication). I have already sent out one gift, which was a cell phone case:
Teal wool felt, with rich brown accents, and bright yellow stitching
It was made based off of these cases, originally designed and made by Etsy seller Hine. I felt a little weird about making something completely based off of a product someone else makes and sells, so I made sure to create something that still my own. I used some 100% felted wool for the main casing, and used eco-felt as the liner and for details. This made it a bit thicker and heavier than the originals. It is kept closed with Velcro. It has a slot on the bottom for head phones and a small pocket on the back (much like the originals).
Check out the Craftster thread, showing off all of the January birthday gifts here.
I am also signed up for an OTT (one tiny thing) Anime swap, and am already started on that project too.. so expect another swap update in a few weeks!
What I love about craft swaps, and about posting on Craftster is that it really pushes me to create. With swaps, I get to make something that I otherwise would probably never make. Being able to post projects is also really great, a lot of people will respond with feedback and criticisms, helpful tips or ideas. Craftster just released their “best of 2011″ list and.. my “IT Came From Beneath the Sea” silk screen actually made it on! See my fancy new badge on the side there? This makes me pretty happy, I must say. This reminds me of the fact that I have about 15 of these prints sitting in my portfolio.. maybe its time to pull them out and sell a couple of them?
Thanks for reading, as always
xoxo
