Kawaii Koalas!

Aloha everyone!

I know, I know . . . I've been M.I.A lately, but I have a really good excuse this time! I had an influx of custom orders to do so it was hard to get any fresh crafting done. The custom orders were all amigurumi so by the time I was finished, I felt a need to put my crochet needle down and do something completely different.

I delved into my box of old project ideas and patterns and rediscovered my tried and true koala softie. The koala pattern was the very first softie pattern I ever drafted. I still remember the delight of having an idea in my head slowly come to life in my hands. It felt magical. And it was the spark that ignited my cute and crafty obsession.

I was a wee bit apprehensive when I started the koalas because it has literally been years since I've made one. I was afraid I wouldn't embroider the faces right, that I couldn't re-capture their "spirit". These softies are so different from my amigurumi, whose faces are quiet and humble. With my koalas, the personalities are more lively, their expressions more developed and detailed . . . and I have to render it all with a needle and thread.

Well, here they are:


Here's a close up look of one of their faces along with the crochet twin cherries by her ear:

It wasn't the easiest thing, but I managed alright, I think. :)

Since we spoke last I also managed to whip up some new cards for my blog/ shop. I was getting low on MOO cards, and I was going to order more, but then I thought, "I have this nifty, new laser printer . . . " So I gave it a go with some basic printable blank business cards.

Well, they're nowhere as nice as my former MOO cards, but I think they came out alright just the same, and they were fun to design and a lot less pricey. Here's a tip if you are going to try these at home: The cards I purchased came in perforated sheets. I recommend not tearing them apart. Instead, hold a ruler along the perforated edge and use an exacto knife to cut them apart. The edges just look neater and sharper that way.

Lastly, I've been woefully horrid at keeping up with my monthly giveaway, haven't I? I really am trying. It's just been so difficult to keep up with my blogging lately. I'll definitely try to pick up the pace from now on. Anyway, I have two Reader Appreciation Giveaways this month (an extra to make up for missing last month). My pal P pointed out these super kawaii Hello Kitty mini candy boxes at a local store. Hawaiian Host chocolate covered macadamia nuts are a yummy-licious staple here in the islands and I was surprised to see the character endorsements they have now -- Hello Kitty and Lilo & Stitch just to name a few. P said they'd make the perfect giveaway for my blog and I think he's absolutely right! So you know how it goes -- I will pick two people at random from the comment pool at this post.

Thanks again for dropping by! :)

Blythe Woolly Lamb Hoods, an Origami Envelope Tutorial, and March's Reader Appreciation Giveway

To continue the tale of the Woolly Lamb Hood from last post --

Voilà!

Despite extensive struggling with the poofy faux wool fabric, I managed to whip up three Blythe Woolly Lamb Hoods. I intended to make four, but after two broken needles and countless fits of cursing I decided to end the battle early.

I did get a pinch of joy from using my new Japanese fabrics. There is nothing more satisfying to this crafter than cutting into a crisp piece of freshly purchased fabric. My favorite hood by far is the one lined with the pink kawaii fruit fabric -- to match the fabric's theme, instead of a flower by the ear, I crocheted twin little cherries with dual stems and leaves.

If you're interested in any of these hoods they should start showing up in my shop in a day or two.

Lately, I've been trying to adopt the "use what you have" mentality and the craft item I have been trying to get rid of was my extensive collection of origami paper. After much brainstorming I came up with this idea -- folding them into little envelopes, filling them with stickers, and stamping a little "For You" message on the back. But whatever for, you ask? Well, I plan to give these as an extra little thank you gift with each purchase at my shop.

Here's a quick how-to for the envelopes:

Origami Envelope Tutorial


Step 1. On the diagonal, fold paper upwards in half to form a triangle.

Step 2. Fold the top corner of the uppermost layer down to the bottom edge of the triangle.

Step 3. Take the right corner and fold it exactly 1/3 of the way toward the left. I suggest measuring for accuracy if you want a really neat envelope.

Step 4. Take the left corner and fold it to the edge of the right side. It should now resemble an opened envelope.

Step 5. Fold the right corner of the uppermost flap back towards the left edge.

Step 6. Unfold and open. Use this crease as a guide as you press down on the open flap to form a little square pocket.

Step 7. Take the very top corner and fold down to the bottom edge. This forms the envelope's top flap closure.

Hooray! You're done! Now stuff your little envelope and seal it by taking the top flap and tucking it into the little square pocket.

I'm horrid with instructions, so bear with me if the tutorial is a bit confusing. I tried. :) If you have any questions, feel free to to ask.

Finally . . .

March's Reader Appreciation Giveaway is this very cute puffy paper doll sticker set. The sweet, little girl has an extra dress to change into and lots of food for her to eat. As always , I will randomly choose someone from the comment pool at this post and announce the winner in my next post.

Thank you for visiting! Have a great weekend!

Easy Peasy Handmade Labels, More Thoughtful Little Owls, and Yummy Stuff

I've been toying around with the idea of personalizing all my handmade creations with labels for awhile now, and I'm thrilled to say that I've finally slayed the procrastination beast and done it!

I've seen labels made via the iron-on transfer paper method, where you print your label yourself and then iron it on to ribbon. I thought that was a nifty idea and the results I've seen came out great, but honestly I'm so technologically inept that I foresee many a losing battle with my printer if I go that route.

In the end, I decided on a more basic, fool-proof method to make my labels -- hand stamping on ribbon.

The first thing I did was have a stamp made. I decided to skip the fancy graphics and just have "Willy-Nilly Waterlily" spelled out plain and neat. I found JLMould through Etsy and they did an amazing job of creating my stamp for me. Then I just stamped away!

Here's some quick tips if you want to try this yourself:
1. Use a quick drying, permanent ink pad.
2. Experiment on different types of ribbon. I found that stamping on medium weight 100% cotton ribbon had the least ink bleed of all the ribbons I had on hand and made the crispest stamp images. On the other hand, polyester satin ribbon had the most ink bleed and the blurriest stamp image, so you might want to steer clear of that stuff.
3. Heat set your freshly stamped labels by pressing with an iron (at the highest temperature your ribbon can stand) for about a minute. After doing this I found that my labels stood up much better to a soap and water wash test.

Here are my labels hand sewn onto some owl butts. I just love how they came out!

Speaking of owls, this trio will be going up in my shop shortly. They are all made with super sweet cotton and linen Japanese print fabrics, and a coordinating cotton corduroy. If you're interested, please stay tuned to my shop. :)

On a very random note, I'll end this post with one of the reasons I'm so fortunate to live in Hawaii -- Lappert's Premium Ice Cream. It's made right here in the islands and it's without a doubt the best ice cream I've ever had the pleasure to taste. My favorite flavor is Mauna Kea's Secret (on the right), which is a yummilicious mix of white chocolate ice cream, rasberry sorbet, chocolate chips, and chocolate brownie chunks. Can you say heaven? Please, if you ever visit Hawaii you MUST have some! You know I'd never steer you wrong! :)

Perspective . . . and stuff

Only 21 days into the new year and it's been quite a whirlwind for me so far.

First, I moved into a brand new apartment. It's so much smaller than my old home, which takes a bit of getting used to. It's funny how you don't really have a clue how much junk you've collected over the years until you have to pack it into boxes. Downsizing my personal possessions was an awful, but necessary endeavor. It's the letting go part that stings the most, I think. Whether it was giving my belongings to charity, saying goodbye to the stray cats I befriended over the years, or closing the door of my old home behind me for the very last time . . . *sigh* . . . letting go is always difficult, isn't it?

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, wouldn't you know it? When I finally settled into my new place my computer began having horrible fits, which pretty much amounted to its final death throes. So even more letting go . . . this time to my trusty old Emachine. Goodbye Emachine! You served me well for being a midnight impulse purchase at my local Wal-Mart. I will look back fondly on all the times you crashed for no reason.

Finally, the icing on the cake that has been the introduction to my new year -- and I say that with venomous, dripping sarcasm -- is that I managed to get a strep throat infection.

For awhile I viewed these recent events with ill humor and I dreaded what the rest of 2009 had in store for me. However, after much useless cursing and shaking my fist to the heavens I had an epiphany!

I've come to realize that you can't control what fate has in store for you, but you certainly can control how you view such events. For instance, I can cry a river over the fact that I no longer reside in the wonderful, big house I lived in for 14 years . . . or I can look around my cute, little townhouse and revel in the fact that less room means less cleaning. :) Plus look at the pretty view that greets me every morning from my back lanai:



And it did suck to have my computer die out on me at the most inopportune time. Not to mention it cost me a pretty penny to replace it, but now I have a new Compaq that doesn't freeze up when I'm trying to blog about how it's been freezing up.

As for my strep throat -- yes, it's awful to be sick and in pain, but it also gives me the perfect excuse to rest up and eat all the ice cream my heart desires. :)

It's all about perspective, you see. Change your perspective -- the way you view your life -- and you'll find that things aren't always as bad as they seem. There really is a silver lining.

So 2009 . . . bring it on because I'm ready!

Well, thank you all for allowing me to wax philosophical for a moment, but now onto more cuter and craftier things.

The winner of the Happy Swirly Cupcake is . . .

I will be contacting you shortly Mushroom Meadows! :)

Also, I'm slowly but surely getting into my crafting zone again. I plan to list a new item in my shop every few days as I get it done so I might not blog about here, but please check my Etsy store often if you're interested. I have some Bashful Blooming Cacti and some Happy Swirly Cupcakes coming up. Here's a peek at one of them:


Oh, before I go I wanted to share a photo of dear Loovee taken on a field trip to Hawaii's premier shopping mall, Ala Moana Center. I loved the big-eyed lemurs and I thought big-eyed Loovee would fit in perfectly among them:


Well, I've been so very out of the loop lately so I'm off to check out what my blogging pals have been up to. Hopefully, you've all had a better start to the new year than I did. :)

TIB's Heroes Contest and the Arte du Blythe Fat Book Project

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) where none of your projects turn out like you pictured them in your head? Well, that's the state I've been in. I had such great ideas for the TIB Heroes Contest and my Arte du Blythe project, but for some reason I kept falling short of realizing them. I hate when that happens. *sigh*

Anyway, now for the unveiling of the hero Loovee and I chose!

Drum roll please . . .

It's Gachapin!

Here's a closer shot.

I am sure I've spoken about Gachapin before, but in case you're unfamiliar with him, Gachapin the dinosaur is a very popular television character in Japan. Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to grow up watching him in the children's show Hirake! Ponkiki! as I live in the USA. However, I fell in love with his adorable likeness during my trip to Japan and I have since watched many YouTube videos of him. Little did I know that behind that gentle, dopey demeanor lies such vibrant energy. I've seen videos where he rock climbs, break dances, jet skis, and even ice skates! I enjoy all of his playful antics and greatly admire how agile and athletic he is . . . and that is why Gachapin is my hero! Wow. That sounded like a grade school theme paper.

As for the costume, it didn't come out like my original sketch, which I ripped up in frustration so I'm afraid I can't share it with you. The dress I had in mind was completely different, but being that I was crunched for time, I decided to nix it and just use my old apron dress pattern. The helmet came out pretty dead on, so I am pleased with that bit. Although it's not exactly what I envisioned, I'm happy that I managed to whip up something at all before the looming deadline.

For my Arte du Blythe Fat Book project we had to create two different page designs with an animal theme. Fat books are chunky little books filled with collage art pages individually created by different artists. I had to make 28 pages total (14 of each design). I have never done a collage before so it was a very interesting endeavor.
This is my first page design. It feels rather busy to me and has no clear focus, so I'm not sure how I feel about it, really.

This is my second design. This one has a definite focus, but feels rather sparse. However, I was too afraid to touch it up for fear it would get too busy like the first design. What a dilemma, huh?

Well, I am hoping that I can move past this so-so crafting phase and find my zone with my upcoming project -- updating my Etsy shop. My shop has been woefully neglected and I plan to remedy that right away. I plan on making owls; amigurumi rabbits and cupcakes; and even Blythe clothes such as some apron dress/head kerchief sets and sundae hats.

Well, thank you again for dropping by. I'm off now to visit my fellow blogging pals and see what wonderful things they've been up to.

Come back soon!

In Need of a Blythe Intervention

Etsy and the TIB Forum's Clothes and Sundries section is a dangerous place for me. In the wee hours of the morning, when the rest of the world slumbers and the only light in my home is the glare of the monitor illuminating my eager face, I shop.

"I can't pass this up!" I tell myself. "Loovee absolutely NEEDS it!" I tell myself.

And so Loovee ends up with a cute new shirt all the way from Cris Shida in Japan.

A whopping influx of shoes.
This very elaborate Kenmore kitchen set, and Barbie dining table with matching chairs.
Some lovely kawaii fabric, which Loovee begs to be made into a dress soon.
Finally, to punctuate the ridiculousness of my problem, yet another Re-Ment dress form just because it was too good a deal to ignore.

Loovee is thrilled beyond words. My bank account -- not so much.

Well, I must run along now. I have some crochet dress sets to do and two swaps coming up, which I must prepare for. How exciting! Blythe stuff coming in the mail, which I needn't feel guilty about!

The Crochet Dress Phase Continues

Hello friends! So I'm still very much in the depths of my crochet phase. Do you recall the crochet babydoll dress I made for Loovee a few posts back? Well, I've improved the design and my technique, and I've been having fun whipping up more dresses in a variety of color combinations. I even crocheted some floral hair clips to match them.

This set I'm keeping for Loovee. I know it looks a lot like the last dress I made, but it isn't. I've tweaked the colors a little in this final version .

I never did show you a view of the back, did I? I decided to use a tie closure. The ties are 100% silk double sided ribbon, which is very smooth and soft, and not stiff at all. I thought the silk ribbon closure was functional yet very pretty.

Here are the other dress/hair clips sets I've made in lovely spring colors. I plan to post these extra sets on the TIB Forum's Clothing & Sundries section later this evening, so if you are interested please take a peek there. Update: They have all been sold. Thank you to those who purchased them!

I came across even more great shops at Etsy that crochet for Blythe and I wanted to feature them here. Crocheting such tiny little dresses and accessories is not easy (for me anyways) so I admire and appreciate people who have such a talent for it.

I just adore the sweet crochet camisoles and floral bonnets at Millie Made.

Sweet Honey Complex has the cutest crochet hats! Her cupcake hats and her animal helmets are so kawaii. I especially love this frog helmet.

Lilith Delgoulet Designs creates crochet hats, tops, dresses, and coats. There's lots at her shop to choose from in various styles and colors! She also has a crafty Blythe blog, too.

Grrrlie Designs features some very sexy crochet outfits for your Blythe like sequined cocktail and flamenco dresses. She even published her very own crochet patten book!

I love the crochet hats at Lucy's Postcard Quilts for the pretty variegated yarns she uses. Her hats come in a variety of styles, too, from brimmed hats to pointy elfin caps.

The above are only a few of the many skilled Blythe crocheters at Etsy. Do check out their shops. You're bound to find something you'll fall in love with!

Craft Spaz

The above title accurately describes what I've been like since my last post. I have so many project ideas popping into my head that it's hard for me to even think straight. One moment I'm cutting fabric for a new softie, soon after I'll drop that to crochet an amigurumi bunny, and before that's even done I find myself doodling more outfits for Loovee. I just wish I had the focus and time to do everything that whizzes through my head.

Here's some of the projects I've actually finished:

I had such fun making Loovee's sundae beret that just for kicks I whipped up several more in a variety of "flavors" with yarn I had on hand -- mocha, crème de menthe, strawberry and French vanilla. However, this time I embroidered nuts on the hot fudge instead of sprinkles, which I thought gave it a more proper sundae feel to them. I really do not know what I shall do with the rest of these, so I think they'll find their way to my Esty shop.

This week I managed to make Loovee this new summery (as it's always summer in Hawaii) outfit. I crocheted her tank top out of some cotton thread. The denim wrap skirt was so very quick and easy to make. The cherry detail is a tiny iron on patch I purchased on my trip to Japan. I was so excited to finally have reason to use it!

Lately, I have been musing over creating a little house for Loovee. She does not have one as of yet, but I'm hoping she will in the near future. Being the DIY-er that I am and having adopted the Trash to Treasure philosophy, I want to whip up things for Loovee whenever possible -- from clothing to wee home furnishings. However, I did purchase a Re-ment Lamp & Chest set all the way from Gina Garan. That bunny silhouette on the lamp just won me over.

Anyway, in this first episode of Marginally Extreme Homeless Makeover, here's a before shot of some odds and ends along with the Re-ment chest.

And here's the after shot with Loovee doing her best Vanna White impression. I used that leftover ball of fluffy yarn to crochet a simple shag carpet. I re-purposed the round jewelry box into a Blythe sized storage hat box, which holds some of Loovee's crafting supplies. The Re-ment chest adds the final touch to this little vignette.

Here's a close up of all the bits and bobs inside Loovee's little craft box -- yarn skeins made of wound embroidery thread, folded fabric scraps, button cards, and a pair of mini scissors. Now she can be a proper craft spaz lik me!

Whew! So now that I've gotten you all caught up with what's been going on around here . . . back into the crafting mines I go!

Loovee Time and Some Random Crafting

Loovee has been suffering for some new clothes. The poor dear has only about 5 or 6 outfits to her name, which is a frightful shame. Her wee wardrobe has been giving her a bit of a complex after seeing this and this. However, I hope to change all that very soon by clocking in some much needed Loovee crafting time each week. This is what I've managed so far:

Quite awhile ago, I sketched this silly strawberry sundae hat for her.

And last night I finally finished crocheting it. I'm so happy with how it came out. I embroidered some pink, yellow, and white sprinkles on the hot fudge sauce, which gave it an even more yummy touch.

Thankfully, Loovee does not have to depend entirely on me or the kindness of her pal Molli to remain well clothed. Monica from Feltland custom made this beautiful dress for her in her favorite colors. Isn't it lovely? The knitting is just so unbelievably dainty and neat.

In random craftiness news, every year after Christmas I am left with a bunch of very sturdy and functional, yet hideous gift boxes. I love to use them to store my bits and bobs, but I cannot bear to look at them. This year I decided to do something about it.

Some glue and some pretty paper later and . . . voilà!

No more motley collection of boxes that assault your eyes! I actually went a bit crazy with this and discovered some ugly boxes from Christmas past to wrap. A crafter is always in need of more storage, right?

Oh, yes -- Happy 2008 to you all!