Thursday, November 26, 2009

Raggy Rat Giveaway!

I love Raggy Rat's work... and now she's having a giveaway (click on the picture to be taken to the giveaway!):




Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Woof!

Here's the first dog I've ever made... he's a rather... unspecified breed... XD

He still needs a proper collar and tag!!

He stands 6 inches tall, his nose is stitched and then glossed and his face, paws and ears are shaded.

This is also the first time I've ever put steel shot in a creation, so he has quite a nice weight to him too!


Friday, November 20, 2009

Just a small snippet...

This is a line from the book I am currently reading (The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle)... I think if more people thought with this logic, the world would be an amazingly better place:

Let me set the scene up for you first:

The girl has fetched a vial of potion for an old woman who has been caged and is near death. The old woman told her the vial will bring the near-dead back to life. The girl both has family who could use such a potion, and suspects the old woman might have betrayed her... but here is what she thinks:

But the elixir was not mine. If I took it and left, the old woman would die.
...the question was not what sort of person she was. It was what sort of person I was.
I could not know her heart. With difficulty and hard work, my mother had always told me, I might know my own.

Then she gives the elixir to the old woman.

I just kind of thought that was a beautiful way to look at things.

Thimbleprim Studios Mouse Swap

If any of you stuffed animal sewers are interested, there is a stuffed mouse swap over at Thimbleprim Studios!

And, no worries about needing to get it done before the holiday rush... finish date isn't until Jan 23rd.

So, click this picture and check it out!


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What *IS* the Myth of the Narwhal?

So... a few months ago I was visiting home and we were discussing creatures that had been built up to be real, but were not (think 'jackalope')... when my brother turned to me and asked, "Yes, Heather... what *IS* the myth of the Narwhal?"

Now... at first I thought he was joking, so I laughed... but then he said, ,"No, really, what's the myth of the Narwhal? You know, the mythological creature, The Narwhal?"

My brother is by no means a dummy... in fact, he's a pretty smart guy... so, at this point, I was rolling on the floor laughing. He rarely makes such mistakes... so when he does, well, I'm afraid we're the cruel sort of siblings who have to make sure he never forgets!

(for anyone wondering... the Narwhal is NOT a mythological creature!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narwhal )

So, for Christmas, my brother is going to be getting a stuffed narwhal, and an illustrated story, "The Myth of the Narwhal" XD

He's gonna kill me.

Here is my prototype Narwhal... I had meant for him to be entirely fuzzy, bt his tail was too small to turn... and then I kinda just liked him this way, so I think I'll make all Narwhals this way :)


His horn is paperclay, with drawn on swirl, and then coated in gloss... and I hand colored all of his spots on him :)

Friday, November 13, 2009

To sing the praises of others!

Ok, everything I have in the works isn't ready for showing yet... so I am going to show you some of, what I consider to be, the amazing quilts my Mom makes for dolls:

(click on the image to see them larger)


Quilt #1

Quilt #2



Also, I took a picture of a doll holding the scrap pin pink thingy I made... and pretty much just wanted to share them to illuminate the importance of lighting (HAH)




Thursday, November 12, 2009

New Pin Creature... thing...

Well, I managed to make this little guy last night... despite what I was supposed to be sewing (go figure)

He's a mouse... in love? Full of love? Wearing his heart on his fur???

He's 1.5 inches, not including his tail... made of those mohair scraps that I just can't bring myself to throw out!

You can click on the photo to see him larger :)


Blog Award!!!


How exciting! Raewyn at Dollys2 and Sophie at Sophie Z'Ours ... both bear/dollmakers whose work I GREATLY enjoy (seriously, go check them out!!!) have given me the 'Over the Top' award... which my brain has dubbed 'The award with an amusing name'.
I love it!

Rules :-
1. Use only 1 word answers.
2. Pass along to 6 of you favourite bloggers.
3. Tell them you've given them the award.
4. Have Fun !!

1. Where is your cell phone? Buried
2. Your hair? Red
3. Your mother? Short
4. Your father? Tall
5. Your favorite food? Pasta
6. Your dream last night? DiscWorld
7. Your favorite drink? Coffee
8. Your dream/goal? Stability
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Trouble
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Adventuring!
13. Where were you last night? Crafting
14. Something that you aren’t? Male
15. Muffins? Please!
16. Wish list item? Funding
17. Where did you grow up? Everywhere
18. Last thing you did? Blinked
19. What are you wearing? Comfort
20. Your TV? Hijacked
21. Your pets? Demanding
22. Friends? Sad
23. Your life? Ongoing
24. Your mood? Shifting
25. Missing someone? Grandpa
26. Vehicle? Aqua!
27. Something you’re not wearing? Monocle
28. Your favorite store? Book
29. Your favorite color? All!
30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Today
32. Your best friend? Which?
33. One place that I go to over and over? car
34. One person who emails me regularly? spammers
35. Favorite place to eat? Mouth

I am presenting my award/tags to (since two different people tagged me, I feel it's only fair to tag 12 blogs... sorry if any of you have already gotten one!):

1. jennylovesbenny
2. Country Bears
3. The Raggy Rat
4. bearbits
5. Vintage by Crystal
6. Skye Rose Bears
7. A Stuffed Life (formerly Yesterday's Glitter)
8. Skunkboy Creatures
9. The Cart Before The Horse
10. bingle bears
11. GUMI GUMI Island
12. Son Blest Bears
13. Gypsy Mare Studios

(I like baker's dozens)
Check these links out! I mean it!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

It's a Cotter Pin Conspiracy!!!

Ok, every time I go into my local hardware store, they only have about 4 or 5 packs of the size cotter pins I need. Each pack makes only one bear...

Now, I've asked them if they have more stored somewhere, to which they claim they don't, and yet, the NEXT DAY, I will go back and the meager supply of cotter pins will be restored.

Do the cotter pin faeries come at night? I think it's a conspiracy.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The weekend was fruitful!

I managed to create a new bear, a new ACEO card and a 'scrap' pin. :)

This bear was particularly scary for me to make... not because I thought it wouldn't work (the grey bear from my previous post was the test pattern) but because I had to cut into mohair for the first time, EVER!

That's some scary stuff!

Anyhow, a bit about this bear:

1. Yes, it is the same pattern as the grey bear I posted on friday. Isn't that weird? It always fascinates me how different bears look, even though they're from the same pattern, based just on what material you use.

2. She has a glittery green leaf pinned to her head. This is 100% removable and is going to be part of my branding for Little Bearries. I also want to make a necklace that says "Little Bearries" or something like that, to go along with it.

3. I made her nose not 'full' on purpose... because I thought the mohair, when trimmed on her muzzle, had a kind of antiquish look, so I thought she'd be cute with an antiquish looking nose :)

4. She stands 5.5 inches tall

On to the bear!

Hi...

I'm just a little pink bear...

*siiiiiiigh*


Next up is my next ACEO card! A jellyfish!! It's marker and colored pencil. I am really loving making these cards.




Finally is a little pin I made from the scraps of mohair (because I couldn't bring myself to toss them!) Its a bunny/cat... thing... and it stands about 1.5 inches tall not counting the ears, and 1.75 inches tall counting them.



That's all for Monday!

Friday, November 6, 2009

New Bear from a New Pattern! (again...)

So here's the deal... I ordered a mohair kit off etsy that someone had put together that was meant to make bears from their pattern for bears. The kit didn't come with the pattern... but pretty much my brain said "Hey! 3 pieces of mohair, eyes, joints and embellishments all for under $25?! Sign me up!" So I bought it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I expected them to be small pieces of mohair for that price... but after my initial purchase, I kind of didn't think about it anymore.

Then the mohair arrived, and my brain yelled at me "HEY! These are SMALL pieces... you don't have a pattern this small!!! IDIOT!" Thankfully, my brain quickly forgave me, though, and set to work on making a small pattern.

Now I have a little bear who stands roughly 6 inches tall (now... at this point you might be saying, "Wait a minute, Heather... don't MOST of your bears stand about 6 inches tall?!" and you would be correct... my bears so far have been about 6-8 inches... so how I managed to draw this one and think "Oh yeah, he's small!" I have no idea... but his pattern fits on the mohair pieces, and that's what counts!)

He was a lot cuter yesterday before the 'incident'... I had decided this bear should have a stitched nose... and it all went swimmingly, until the LAST stitch... in which someone started talking to me and I pushed the needle out through his cheek when I looked away for a second! I could have wept.

So out came his stitched nose, and up rose my level of aggrivation, and he ended up with a needle-felted nose that just doesn't look as cute as the stitched one did.

Oh well :) This one was just a practice run before I cut into the mohair, anyways. So, without further ado, here's my latest little bear:


Who is this? A Koala?

No... not quite!

It's a little bear! (shocking, right?)

Heather thought I was a 'little' bear... but look at that bear to hand ratio! Heather is an idiot.

It's ok though, I'm still small... and let me tell you, being small ROCKS!

I can stand up and Heather has no clue!

I can sit down and Heather has no clue!

Aww man... my life is boring.


Don't feel too bad for this guy, he's all melodrama because I haven't given him a name beyond "Small Bear with Big Head", which, to be honest, I don't think he appreciates very much.

If anyone has any name suggestions, I'm all for them. :) I've got nothing... I keep trying to figure out one for him, but then I get so annoyed that he's not as cute as he should have been, thanks to the nose trouble... that I just end up thinking "GraaRGH!" which... while amusing, probably isn't the best name for him.

Also, knittingturnip is having another giveaway! She's so generous!!
Click the image to go check it out:

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Finally!

Sorry for being MIA for the last week and a half!

From having a hospital stay myself, to the very sudden and very unexpected death of one of my best friend's fathers (he was only in his early 50s)... it has not been a good time health-wise!!!

Things seem to be getting back on track though! I will even have a new bear (from a new pattern) to show off tomorrow! :)

Until then, here are some other things I've been working on!

First up is the Happy Leaf... there will be some sad fall colored ones to come :)



Next, I've started a new series of ACEO cards (I'm still working on animals too... but I've misplaced the book I had tucked all the old ones into and I'm afraid they may be gone forever)

These are Fairytale girls... most of whom meet rather dark ends :) ... or maybe I should say :(


Little Red Riding Hood



Goldilocks