Tuesday, September 25, 2012

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:

Silence Plush

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.

Monday, April 23, 2012

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.

The White Rabbit - Doodle

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.

The White Rabbit - Progress Shot

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.

The White Rabbit

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.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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.



Sam Plushies


 I even made his little butt flap and lollipop. Sam Plush - Front/Back