Let's catch up, shall we?

Its been so long since I last posted. I'll eventually get better about that. I have so many ideas for posts, and freebies, but then I get side-tracked. The holiday season was just a blur really as I had many orders for my sharktoplushies to fill. I still have a few custom orders that I need to finish up so I can regroup and get started on the 2013 crafting! Again, I have so many ideas!

Starting this year I've officially switched over to working part-time, to give myself more time for my craft business. So far I've still be really busy, because not only am I doing my arts and crafts in my free time but I also am now an official member of the NOVA Roller Derby! I was part of the 2012 Fall Meat Class, and passed my assessments at the beginning of December. I was super excited because I was drafted to the Vineyard Vixens team, which was the team I served as a mascot for in the 2012 season.

SEE!

On top of that I also was nominated to be the Marketing Chair to be in charge of all the Marketing sub committees for NOVA RD. So I'm pretty much back where I left off, with working almost full time on things as well as crafting and doing roller derby. I just can't fight the urge to DO ALL THE THINGS!

But it is giving me good practice with keeping up with my design skills and getting some illustration skills.  This is the poster I made for our upcoming bout this March.  If you are in or near the Northern Virginia/DC Metro area, you should come out and watch.  I won't be playing in this bout, but will be there working and cheering on my fellow league-mates.

Also, my new found roller derby excitement makes me want to make some roller derby related crafts.  So many ideas! I really need to start making lists and writing things down.  But first, I've got to run and pick up these derby posters from the printer.  *zooms off*

The Silence Plush and exciting news

Oh my, its been a long time since I've posted. I've been super busy with my job and haven't been crafting as much until just recently. This will change in the coming months. I'll explain why a bit further down.

Silence Plush
This year I was accepted into the Plush You 2012 Show. I decided to attempt to make my favorite monsters from the BBC show, Doctor Who. With being so busy, I only was able to complete one of these in time for the show, The Silence.  I'm glad though, as while searching the internet I saw that there have been very few attempts from crafters to capture The Silence in a plush form.

Here he is completed:



I'll admit, this was a challenge for me. It involved learning some new skills to get him just right. Oh that head, that head I though would be the death of me. There may have been a tantrum or two trying to figure out how to get it to work. I've never used gussets or darts in my plush work before, and once I figured out that these would be the magic tricks to get him just right, it was smooth sailing.  Also, having learned these skills now, it opens up more ways to create future plushies, which I'm quite happy about.

He stands about 15 inches tall. I originally was going to make a full body in a sort of "chibi", short form, but during the sketching process I really liked how he looked with just a tapered half body and no arms. It made it look like he was looming over something. Also, this way, the the help of some poly beads, he is able to stand up by himself.  His face is a separate piece of fleece, hand sewn to the head and stuffed slightly to give it some depth. I enhanced the depth by shading some areas with some prisma color markers, which I had on hand. There are a few tweaks I'd make if I did him again, but overall I'm pretty pleased with how he came out. He's been shipped off to the show, and you can next see him at Schmancy in Seattle.

Exciting News!
Another reason I've been so busy, is I've been working out the details and preparing for a big transition.  Beginning in January of 2013, I'll be switching to working part-time at my job so that I can have more time to work on my art and crafts and to teach myself some new things with web design and animation. I'm super excited. I'm in the middle of redoing my entire craft room/office at home. Its been painted to something more my style, and has new workspace furniture. My husband bought me a new 27" iMac. I haven't had a new computer since 2001, and have been borrowing a laptop from my husband since we were first dating in 2005/2006. I still have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do, which is why I'll be opening up my Etsy shop on a limited basis beginning next week. That way I can still take a few orders while getting everything set up and ready. The amount of craft supplies and fabric that needs to be gone through and put into "keep" and "give away" piles is staggering. I may have a craft hoarding problem, but I'm working on it. I already have about a car trunk full of "give away" stuff. Yikes!

Shop Reopening
That's right, the shop reopens October 1, 2012 and will be open until December 7, 2012 when I close for the Xmas holiday.

The White Rabbit

Over the weekend I completed what turned out to be one of my favorite works to date.  It all started out as a small concept and sketch that I doodled a year ago.



I just wanted a cute little piece that had a slight reference to the Alice in Wonderland theme. Also one of my favorite animals are rabbits. I had a little albino dwarf bunny when I was a child, pink eyes and everything.

During the Soundry's Cell Block 316 lockdown/show, I had begun to paint this little guy towards the end, but ended up getting a stressed phone call and had to pack up and go without finishing him. As I was pulling out canvases to work on for the upcoming Artomatic show, I found him and decided he had to be finished for this show.



I'm really happy with out him came out.  I absolutely love how he ended up shaded. I tend to work on the fly, so his shading and details hadn't really been planned, so he took on a few different looks before this one finally came to be.



He ended up absolutely adorable.  When I was finished and put him up on the wall, I almost didn't want to let him go. But he indeed will be available for sale at Artomatic beginning on May 18, 2012 in Crystal City, VA.

I'm Married!! and Sam Plush

So its been a long time since my last post thanks to wedding planning and prepping.  Well as of March, 31 I am a married lady! You know what that means? Back to making time for crafting and art!

Expect more to come over the next few weeks. I've got a few projects I'm working on that I'll keep you updated on, and I'm hoping to be ready to reopen my Etsy shop at the end of June.

In the meantime here is something I made in November that I forgot to post. My friend asked if I could make a plush version of Sam from the movie Trick R Treat.  I watched the movie to get an idea for the character, and I admit, I loved the little guy. He was right up my ally of creepy/cute mixed together. Anyway, here is my plush version of Sam. I had to make 2, one for my friend, and one for him to give to someone else.






 I even made his little butt flap and lollipop.

Xmas requests officially closed.

I'd just like to announce that I can't take on anymore plush/craft requests for the holidays.  I added a few more to the request list after my last post, but I'm now officially maxed out on what I can finish and get to customers on time for the holiday. I'd like to thank all those who have requested items, and can't wait to get your things to you all. For those that may have wanted a Suzannah Ashley item, never-fear!  I'll be back to crafting things in no time. So expect to see a lot of new fun things during the second quarter of 2012!

After Turkey-day catch up

My last post was the beginning of October? Holy smokes! I knew I was busy, but wow, seeing it in concrete dates makes it mind-blowing. I didn't end up participating in the craft fairs. There just wasn't enough time to DO ALL THE THINGS (partial reference to one of my favorite Hyperbole and a Half posts. Work, commissioned crafts, a sister's wedding, holidays, all of it seemed to pile up, and next thing I know it I'm here, at the end of November. Now its time for more crafts, more holidays, and soon my wedding.  I see a vicious circle forming here!

Currently my Etsy shop is empty. Its very sad indeed. It will soon have some items back up in it, many of them are custom orders for Sharktoplushies. A lot of people are wanting them to give as gifts for the holidays. In addition to the open orders for them I have, I'm going to make a few others to put up in the shop, and sadly that will be my last few items for sale until after the wedding in March.  However, someone else has their own version of a Sharktopus Plush for sale on Etsy. So if you aren't able to get one from me, you can try there.

But I'll still be posting some crafts and artwork that I've yet to post about. I have somethings to wrap up for the upcoming Baby Canvases show that opens this Saturday at The Soundry. Also, I have several crafty presents I'm working on for family and friends. I will still be planning for my shop reopening after I'm married, lots of ideas and brainstorming to do. Luckily I have the kind of brain that thinks non-stop.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Its October!

I absolutely love fall.  Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year. And now that its October I'm thinking about Halloween, which is also another favorite holiday of mine.  I don't necessarily go out and do much in celebrating the holiday, but its probably my favorite holiday aesthetically. Images of pumpkins, black cats, ghosts, and skulls are all some of my favorite imagery anyway, and Halloween has it all!

Because I know there are many people out there who love zombies, and because I haven't posted this piece yet, here is a zombie painting.  I created this for a partner in a Craftster swap. She really liked zombies so I decided to try and make her this painting, showing the cuter side of the undead.