Monster Pie!!

Ahhh, pie! Here is the first of the monster pies. It is made with three fresh monsters and topped with a cherry. It was very fun to make I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Completed Monster

Here is Julian! When he was just a round pink puffball it was though that maybe he should just be a dragon egg, with all his jewel tones and texture. But I wanted to give him more life. As the face came together he needed feet, a tail, ears and a sorta spiky mane.

Julian incidentally loves to play the harmonica and eat crunchy things. He is a handful even though he can be very shy about his pretty pink appearance. He's kinda big at 10 inches high and 20 inches long. Just more of him to love!

Another Yarn-gram : )

Yay for yarn! Mom sent me more yarn. This one is a thick and thin Jo-Ann Sensations wool yarn. I am thinking that it is going to be a monster, but I am not quite sure how it'll evolve. The best part of it so far is that the thick sections of the yarn are spiraling and it looks awesome.Quinton is a Vulture-Elephant. He is going to be living in a baby's room. The story is that a mom joked about having vultures in her baby's room and the one who requested this magnificent beast got an idea to combine the vulture with the elephant/blue/green/white theme of the room. And viola!

Bunny & An Egg Cozy

I made a cute little bunny the other day. She's made with super soft fuzzy yarn which makes her really cuddly.And I also have an egg cozy here that ended up being an albino rat.
Happy Easter everyone! Hopefully I'll get to making a couple more Easter goodies : )

Vote for Plush Team St. Patty's Day Winner!

Hey! Here's a great opportunity to show the green for St. Patty's Day. Go to the Etsy Plush Team site to vote on your favorite creation. I made a leprechaun, but there are other fun plush, too.

Have fun & thanks!

Yarn...the beginning of something beautiful?

When I went out to my mailbox a little while ago I was met by this little box filled with yarn sent by my lovely mother-in-law. (Thanks Mom!)


So now that I have organized the yarn by color and tied all the ends together, I have three large skeins of yarn....but I am not yet sure of what it shall be. Any thoughts?

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by the super fun Electric Daisy. So that means that I get to tell you all 7 things about myself.

1. I can make a "w" shape with my tongue. Yeah, it's genetic, but neither of my parents can do it and my sister sort of can .
2. I can't remember a time when I could choose a favorite color.
3. If I could only create one type of thing for the rest of my life I would die.
4. I rarely use patterns (or recipes). When I do I tweak them and make them my own. It's amusing when I go to write a pattern because I'm already thinking about how I'm going to adapt it for the next creature.
5. I haven't had a cup of coffee yet today. That doesn't happen very often.
6. Josh (my husband) and I are really and truly best friends, even after 7.5 years of marriage.
7. When I grow up I want to be a teacher, artist, author in the realm of children's literature. (This still changes as much as it did when I was kid.)

The Rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by posting their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

In the wonderful rules of tag, these next 7 people are IT:

1. Creative Sundries
2. Cutesy But Not Cutesy
3. Phil Barbarto
4. Jelly Bat
5. Kellybot
6. Unblinking Eye
7. Danger Kitty Designs

Fresh Etsy

Check out my Etsy Shop! I just updated the banner and I updated my photos so they POP!

Let me know what you think...

varied new stuff

Today I've got a bunch of different things to show you. Corbin here is a striped ninja boy with a removable ninja costume. I've made two new ring designs. One is an octopus...

and the other is an olive with a pimento.

Ralph is a cup cozy monster-thing ready to keep your hands comfy while you drink your coffee or tea.

Squiggle has been crocheted in the usual amigurumi style and his face is an original drawing on a mini canvas.

Handmaiden Minneapolis Make Out Goods Show!

Check it out! I'm going to be in this show, so if you're in the neighborhood you totally need to come! There are tons a great vendors and you can get a peek at who else is coming on the Handmaiden site.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel is yet another entry for the Etsy Plush Team contest for Valentine's day. This one is a bitter valentine. I started with a heart and made the creature around it. Which means that Ezekiel himself has a heart implant and lacks the ability to feel and love. So, I am also calling him a heartless bastard. It's nothing against him, it's how he was created. The thing is, he's super easy to love and he's such a great huggable size at 12 x 9 inches. I think I am going to have to make more, especially since the hole in his chest is heart-shaped.

Valentine's Things

Inspired by this crazy holiday called Valentine's Day. I have created a sugar bowl with a sugar cube that is a die. The three options on the die are X's for kisses, O's for hugs, and ?'s for whatever the imagination can handle.


Ahh, and then we need a love potion to keep us happy : ) I am going to experiment with some different color combinations, too.


Keep your eyes open for more heart-y goods coming soon.

Now for some Images!

As promised, here are some images of the things I have been creating during blog-silence. It's nothing personal. I just get busy, but I always come back.

So here we have the commissioned bear hat with matching mittens. So soft. So comfy. So warm! Enjoy Megan!

Next, I made Josh a hearth stone from WOW.

And then I started a freeform duo in New York. I call them pods. I think they'll end up nesting on some bizarre looking creatures belly pouch soon.

I've had an idea for a ring for a while. Why not wear a toy around all the time. Plus, it'll wash well because it is acrylic.


More on the way! Next post won't be such a long wait : )

Ciao!

Well, it has been a while since my last post. December flew by and Josh and I just got back from a trip to New York to see our families. So, here's a quick picture update of what I've been up to and hopefully my next post will be much sooner!

I can't get pictures to load right now, but I'll post them soon : )

Plush Team & Turkey

So, I joined the Etsy Plush Team and the first challenge is to make a turkey, so here is mine. Tom is the turkey in this turkey sandwich. He is wearing white bread and is about 8 inches tall when sitting.

Vacation and a Gremlin

Four days off starts tomorrow. I am pretty sure the last time I had 4 days off in a row was in January. Wow...I need a vacation. So Josh and I are going on a teensy trip and then relaxing for the rest of it at home.

I have a new gremlin here. His name is Froderick and he is almost done. I needs some detail work...mainly pockets and trinkets for the pockets and mittens for every appendage. Froderick is my biggest gremlin yet at about 1.5 feet in height and width. Very huggable!



I, sadly, have not been reading much lately, or writing much either. Hmmm...guess I need to catch up a bit on vacation, huh? Now just to decide what to read. I know what I am writing, I just need to do it.

My top five desired reads (please note that my list will probably change tomorrow) - Physik by Angie Sage, Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, I am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak, Nixie's Song by Holly Black & Tony Diterlizzi, & books 6-8 of the Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell.

Most of these books have been on my list for months, so if I don't get through them all this week I won't be disappointed.

my first ACEO

It all started with a patch of brown yarn, which needed a mushroom. The mushroom required some grass and then there was a rabbit. Rabbit was hungry so he got some carrots. And that is how I made this Artist Card.


Enjoy! I may even make some more...

Tickle Monster for November

My entry for the EtsyMN November challenge is the Tickle Monster. The theme is feathers, so I did what I do best and made the feather into a crocheted monster.

His name is Krump. He has three eyes, two horns and a belly button. His clothing is removable if your're into that sort of thing and he's washable if he needs a bath.

It's Dead!

Here is a preview of my gremlin cadaver project. It started when I made an anatomical heart for my husband's dad. I began to think of crocheting human bodies, but it reminded me too much of body worlds. So I thought back to the gremlins that I had been making and combined the ideas to come up with gremlin cadavers. Gremlins have so many possibilities in body shapes and sizes, but also organs and diseases.

My first patient is this albino gremlin. So far I have most of his head done, including a removable skull and brain. He'll be about two tall when I am done. I also plan on making a case file for him to take pictures of all his parts and documenting the findings.




Oh, this is so fun! Hopefully I'll end up finishing him this month. There's a lot to crochet!

the world of illustration and books

I've been drawing a bit more than usual, or at least some of my doodlings are becoming more than just for me. Here is a tomato as requested for kellybot. She was making a website for a class and needed a cute little drawing. I like how it turned out. Maybe I will expand on this veggie theme and make some note cards or recipe cards.Next we've got a few sketches for a technology themed poetry book and possibly the beginnings of a comic. So we shall see what becomes of it. It certainly is an exciting prospect!

In other thrilling book news I was asked to submit a picture of my crocheted animals for an amigurumi animal book that is being published by St. Martin's Press. I screamed like the not-so-little girl that I am and sent in some information.

In crochetland I am creating the most complex amigurumi I have ever endeavored to take on. I am taking my gremlins of old and making them interactive. You ask, how can they be more interactive? Well, what if you could get inside of them to see how they work...like a cadaver. Hmmm...now that's something! I am thinking that I shall make a book of them with patterns for all the little pieces.

I love to crochet

Happy Birthday Todd!! Here's what I made Todd. It's a Rock in a Todd Costume!! I went with my theme of the pebble masquerade and couldn't get it out of my head to make his present like this.
Next we have a one skein wonder in three parts: one neck warmer and two wrist warmers. I have been wanting to make some wrist warmers for a while. I am not sure if I'd wear them yet. Maybe when it gets a little colder. The yarn reminded me of the changing leaves as is dances through the different shades of the spectrum, while being firmly embedded in the green of life.


I really like the flower clasp because it becomes a vine that is interwoven with the neck warmer and presents itself on the other side as a loop ready to take the flower.

Another Rock in a Costume

Sebee and Phillipa together.

Sebee taking a break from his costume. Even rocks get hot.

Sebee cute as ever smiling for the camera.

Autumnal Bliss

I find it rather amusing, at least from this end of things, that as soon as you tell yourself that you need to spend more time blogging, and even hope for at least one post per week, you suddenly find that it is two MONTHS later.

Yeah, funny.

Well, lots has gone on in that two months. I did almost no creating or reading or writing and a lot of working. But working is what I needed to do because I got promoted. I enjoy my job, but I was also extremely thrilled to have these last three days off.

This morning I got a digital camera. This is a big deal because I have been waiting two years to get one. No kidding. I got a Sony Cybershot DSCW55. And so far I really like it. In fact here's two pictures of what I made today.


Meet Phillipa of the Pebble Masquerade. She is a pebble disguised as a black cat. I made her for the EtsyMN October Challenge. I think I shall make more pebbles, but I am not sure what other costumes to go with yet.

Writing Transformed By Crochet

Well, since I have been writing a bit more it tends to consume my thoughts. It invariably has an impact on what I make and something like this happens: When I should have been finishing this:
So, anyway the I finally finished the custom hula hoop. In the process I wrote the story about Adalide who makes a hoop and brings her neighborhood together. And then I needed to crochet her. I love her arms and legs because they are semi-posable.

The story of Adalide will be put into a miniature book after I finish the illustrations. This will be the first of many little books that I shall publish under Squeaky Daisy Press--just named this last week when I realized that I needed a publishing name. Daisy was one of our first pet rats. She was particularly fond of me, while Marge had her sights for Josh.

In the mean time there will be more amigurumi characters that will come alive from my writings...as soon as Harry Potter is finished. By that I mean that I am spending quite a bit of time being Potter-focused while getting ready for the grand hallows ball book release at my store.