Easter Excitement

First off, I want to wish everyone a very belated Happy Easter! I had hoped to publish this post in a more timely manner and send my well wishes sooner, but I've been slow to emerge from my chocolate candy coma.

Loovee and Gachapin wanted to give you all a proper Easter greeting, too. Sweet little Loovee surprised Gachapin with an Easter gift -- a festive bunny bonnet . . . in pink, no less. Loovee thought he looked adorable. Gachapin thought . . . well, I think his face says it all.
A cute and crafty highlight of our Easter weekend was our wonderful swap with Linda, Molli, Zelda and Ramona. Look at all the beautifully wrapped packages!

Gachapin received a cute froggie toy and these yummy snacks. Just looking at this delicious cupcake made him forget all about the silly hat he was forced to wear that day.

Loovee was thrilled to receive these three beautiful babydoll dresses! She had the most difficult time choosing one to try on first because they were all so lovely.

Loovee also got this pretty Sew Pixie travel cozy so she can now travel safely and in style. Looks like I may have to get one for Gachapin, too.

Thank you so much Linda & girls for another fun swap! You gave us so many wonderful goodies and we appreciate it so much.
So now for some very exciting and surprising Easter news. Do you recall these little gals? Well, my little ami bunnies were voted the winner of the Billions of Bunnies category in the first annual Q.D. Patooties Easter Parade! I'm so tickled, you have no idea! Thank you so much to Lisa for putting this wonderful softie celebration together. Go and visit her Etsy shop to see some of her own amazingly adorable softies.

Well, that's all our Easter news. Once again, a belated Happy Easter to you all and thank you for visiting!

Cute Explosion!

Well, so much cuteness has been pouring in lately and I'm so excited to share it with all of you!
My newest cute obsession is TarePanda by San-X. How can you not fall in love with such a roly poly, lazy panda? Loovee, of course, is obsessed by association. She just adores her TarePanda shirt from Minikitty and her own mini panda plushie.

I am building up quite a collection of Japanese kewpies. I fell in love with Sonny Angel Kewpies on my trip to Japan. They are tiny PVC figures that wear the most adorable outfits from animal helmets to shirts with silly sayings. They come in blind boxes so you never know what you are getting until you open them. Each one is a cute surprise (and I was very surprised to find two completely nude ones)!
Most recently I've discovered Ecopit Kewpies. An Ecopit Kewpie is described as "The watcher of the earth and spreads the love, happiness, and energy, and the brightness in the world." This little guy is appropriately named Bumble and he is one in a series of Ecopit dolls from Japan. Read more about the Ecopit philosophy here. I purchased mine from the Valley of the Dolls, a great doll shop which also features Blythe and Pullip dolls.

After I received dear little Bumble I just had to go back and purchase another. Please welcome Pilote! I adore his little sprout head. His cap says, " I would do anything for your smile." So sweet!

Well, that's all the cuteness for now. 'Til next time!

The Return of the Crochet Dress Sets, Arte du Blythe, and You MUST Watch This

I've crocheted four more babydoll/ hair clip dress sets that I'll be listing on the TIB Clothing & Sundries section tomorrow. I'm so tickled by the complimentary reaction to them. Thank you to everyone for your kind comments and for purchasing the last sets. I'm so appreciative! These will be the last of the them for now as my crochet dress phase is dying down and I'm excited to move on to other crafty projects. Update: I've just listed them here.

So I've recently become a proud member of the Arte du Blythe group. If you haven't heard about it yet it's basically a bunch of crafty people getting together to create a fat book dedicated to Blythe. What is a fat book, you ask? Well, read all about it and the Arte du Blythe group here, and come join us if you are interested. Everyone is just so lovely over there!

The little doodle above was my entry into the group's blog button contest. Doesn't she look familiar? It was the first time I had ever used Adobe Photoshop to color one of my sketches. I usually hand paint them with watercolors and I guess I'm just so used to that organic, textured look because my Photoshop doodle looks quite flat to me. Still, it was very quick and fun to do. When I have the time I think I will toy around with the artistic capabilities of Photoshop a bit more (oh, and also fix Loovee's wonky eyelashes above).



Someone posted this great video on TIB not so long ago and if you adore Blythe and haven't seen it yet, please do! It's in Japanese so I have no idea what they are saying, but I've gathered that it's some sort of news report featuring the Blythe doll phenomenon in Japan. It's amazing eye candy!

Well, I must run along now because I just got some cuteness in the mail and I am dying to rip open the package. I can't wait to show it to you in my next post!

Thank you all for visiting! Have a great weekend!

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!

Tag! Loovee's IT!

Milkberry tagged me for another meme, but Loovee wanted to have a go at it this time.
I don't know why the big people always get to have all the fun. I want to play, too!

Okay, so seven random facts about me. Hmmmmm . . .

1. My name, Loovee, comes from the book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The Hooloovoo, is an alien race described as a super intelligent shade of the color blue, and my name is short for that.
   
2. I think pink is the sweetest color in the world!
3. Gachapin is my best-est friend even if he's a Japanese dinosaur, and we have a hard time communicating because I don't know much Japanese and the only English he knows are, "Cake!" and "Mine!"
   
4. I cannot live without my pig boots, which are not boots made out of a pig, but boots with a cute pig face painted on them.
   
5. I have 4 pairs of eyes.
   
6. I hum to myself all the time, but never when anyone is around.
   
7. I'll eat most anything with peanut butter in it, and I especially love peanut butter mochi and Reese's peanut butter ice cream.

So now who will I tag for 7 Random Facts?

My pals Molli, Zelda . . . and New Girl, too, if she's not too shy to talk.

I always read about Hana and Misuzu and their adventures, and I would love to know them better.

Lilly London is very fashionable and I would love to know more about her!

Febee is a new girl and I'm so curious about her!

I want to know more about Marlene and her pretty violet hair.

And Alla . . . you're it, too!

Cuteness, Critters, Crochet & World Peace!

Hello, friends! Once again, long time no post as things have been quite hectic around here so I shall make up for my absence by making this an extra lengthy one. Here's what's been happening since we spoke last:
These little critters are off to our dear friends, Linda, Molli, and Zelda. Goodbye Owl and Bunny! Have a safe trip to your wonderful, new home where I know you'll get lots and lots of love. Thank you, Molli, for adopting them! (Update: They arrived safely!)

I've been lucky enough to come into all manner of cuteness lately. Some adorable barrettes for Loovee, which include a set of pink Hello Kitty clips; a kawaii notebook with a sweet teddy bear softie on the cover; the teensiest bunny stickers; and the pièce de résistance -- the cutest Gachapin keychain ever!

These are the first commercially made Blythe outfits I've ever purchased -- Sugarmag and Par Avion. I prefer to make my own Blythe outfits or to get them from fellow crafty folks. I just appreciate the personal handiwork so much. However, Gina Garan had a great clearance sale at her TIB shop, so I decided to give it a go. The neat thing about ordering from her shop is she gives you a free signed Blythe postcard. Hooray for freebies!

Notice that there's not a single bit of pink or blue in it, which are Loovee's favorite colors. So who could this outfit possibly be for? Hmmmmm . . . . The plot thickens.

Although, I have crocheted a simple tank top for Loovee in the past, I've been apprehensive of crocheting a whole dress for her. The problem is every time I think "crochet doll dress" my head immediately gets filled with visions of those awful toilet paper cozy dolls my grandma used to have in her bathroom. You know those plastic lady dolls with their crochet dresses that discreetly hide a fresh roll of T.P. underneath their skirts. Thankfully, I came across some beautiful crochet dresses on Flickr that completely changed my mind and have obliterated my notion that crochet doll dress = a special kind of ugly.

Look at this lovely Blythe dress from Godesia. She has a great Etsy store that sells her crochet creations, too.

This sweet dress is by TeenyWeeny Designs and is for a Pocket Fairy doll. She also has an Etsy store. Love her Blythe hats!

This Blythe schoolgirl dress by Jojoling is incredible! Last I checked she still had a few at her Etsy shop.

I adore this mod Blythe minidress by Dolluxe. Her stuff sells out super fast at her Etsy shop so visit often if you want to snag one of her amazing pieces.

Anyway, I want to thank the above for inspiring me. Here is my very first crochet dolly dress! Not too bad, eh? It still needs a bit of tweaking, but overall I think it came out okay for my first try.

Notice the pretty heart barrette on Loovee's noggin? It came all the way from Holland from Tizzalicious. She makes the cutest accessories (for Blythe and people alike) in lots and lots of pink, which makes them all very painful for me to resist. She has a great Etsy shop and a blog dedicated to her craftiness, too. Thank you, Tizz!

Last, but not least I've been tagged by the talented Zari at justZHM to do a meme! How thrilling! I have never been tagged before. The theme for her meme is Love and Peace and that is her beautiful dove illustration above. It is a very timely subject for me as this summer my brother-in-law will be shipping off to Iraq. It is my hope that this new year brings less strife and more peace to our world.

Much aloha to you all!

I Am Having Trouble Coming Up With an Appropriate Title for this Post

Hello everyone! Long time no post, I know, but I've been feeling a bit under the weather. Crafting has been slow going, but this is what I've been up to lately:

Normally I like to draft my own patterns, but I was feeling a tad lazy so for Project Loovee I dusted off my Dolly Dolly Coordinate Recipe Vol.1 book and gave it a go with one of the patterns inside. I chose to do this baby doll top, which I planned to lengthen to make a sundress.

However, my hope for a quick and easy project backfired as it took me 3 days -- 3 long, arduous days -- to whip up such a simple dress. Maybe it was because I was feeling ill. Maybe it's because I'm so used to making my own patterns and sewing things a certain way that following someone else's instructions just confused me to no end. Whatever the reason, this dress is without a doubt the most headache inducing project I've had in recent memory.

Anyhow, here's my little Loovee enjoying the fruits of my agonizing labor.

Oh, do you remember Loovee's crochet blanket from last post? Well, it got buried amongst the clutter of my art desk, and I thought I lost it for good so I started on this new one. A week later, lo and behold! The first blanket surfaced and now I can't decide which one I like best. Which do you prefer? Your opinions would be much appreciated.

I've not done an installment of This Week in Cute for awhile so here goes one featuring Gachapin, beloved Japanese icon, but most importantly -- Loovee's bestest friend. If you're like me, you may have first spied him in the Killer's video, Read My Mind. Gachapin is little known outside of Japan, where he's a famous children's television character. Think of him as the Japanese equivalent of our Big Bird in the U.S.

Loovee and I were lucky enough to adopt a Gachapin of our very own on our summer trip to Japan (thanks to my pal P).

Here's a picture of him on a modern art sculpture at the Kozunomori Station.

And another of him at a park near Narita Station. I just love his droopy little face!
Loovee and Gachapin have been inseparable ever since!

Thank you for visiting!

Amigurumi Rabbit Redux and Some Loovee Happenings

This has been a week of willy-nilly crafting. I haven't had the time to work on anything really ambitious, so I kept my projects rather quick and simple.

Do you recall the amigurumi bunnies from last week?

Hooray for me for getting off my bum and finally finishing them! I had the most difficult time deciding on a proper color/fabric combination. I kept changing my mind over and over. My art teacher once told me that what's worse than having no vision is having an unfocused one. Note to self: Next time sketch out all of your ideas first!

Here's a view of their fluffy pom pom tails.

In minor Project Loovee news, I purchased these plain pair of glasses from the TIB shop. I wanted to give them a more Loovee-esque flair so I modded them by adding the butterflies to the frames. Voilà! Some silly glasses for an equally silly girl.

Finally, I've been working on this crochet ripple blanket for Loovee. Aren't the colors the yummiest? So vibrant and juicy like a bowl of fresh fruit salad. The colorway is called Freesia from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns. It's 100% merino wool and it's soooooo buttery smooth and billowy soft. It will definitely keep Loovee warm and cozy at night. This blanket is actually a sneak peak into a much larger project that I'm very excited about. I'm dying to get started on the rest of it. Please stay tuned for the big reveal, which hopefully won't be that far off.

Thank you all for dropping by!

Easy Peasy Beaded Headband for Blythe: A Tutorial

I think the best gift a crafty blog can give other than inspiration, is a tutorial. From blog tutorials I've learned such things as how to sew a zipper bag or how to make a bottle cap pin cushion. I'm just so grateful when people are willing to pass on their knowledge. So today I'm gonna pay it forward by making my very first tutorial, which I hope you will all use and enjoy.

I thought up this idea while browsing through my local hobby shop. I came across this nifty thing called memory wire. Memory wire is a coiled jewelry wire that snaps back into its original shape when flexed. I noticed that the necklace sized memory wire was about the diameter of Blythe's noggin, and then this simple idea popped into my head.

Anyway, let's get started shall we?

First, gather your supplies:

-- Precut memory wire, regular necklace size (Find it at your local hobby or bead shop. The diameter of the wire coil I purchased is about 3.6 inches.)

-- an assortment of small beads
-- needle nose pliers

1. Trim one of the precut wires to a length of 8 1/2 inches. My wire came with one end already bent in a little loop. If your wire doesn't have a loop, take your pliers and make one. Make sure that when you bend the loop, the wire's end faces outwards. It will be less likely to catch on your Blythe's hair that way.
2. Now start slipping beads onto the wire until it's about 7 5/8 in. in length. If your doll's hair is extra poofy, you may want to lengthen the headband a bit.
3. Cut the wire about 3/16 in. after the last bead.
4. Grab your pliers and carefully twist the end into another loop to secure the beads in place. Try to make the loop tight against the final bead so that the beads don't slide about on the wire.
5. If the headband is a bit loosey-goosey on your Blythe's head, you can bend them a bit inward to give it a tighter fit. This may take some doing as the wire does tend to hold it's shape, but it'll work.

Hooray! You're all done! Now you have a pretty headband for your Blythe! These are so easy and fun to make. I whipped up these three headbands in less than 15 minutes. I do hope I explained things well enough, but if you still have questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Happy crafting!

Project Loovee and Amigurumi Bunnies in Progress

I've decided to try something rather ambitious with Loovee. I'm aiming to make her a new article of clothing every single week. It could be something as elaborate as a two piece outfit or as simple as a headband. Whatever it may be, that's my goal -- to slowly expand her presently pathetic excuse for a wardrobe.

So in this first installment of Project Loovee, I was inspired by these kawaii appliqués. I didn't want anything too frou-frou because I really wanted to feature the appliqué. Thus, I sketched this simple A-line dress.

As you can see, I nixed the ruffle at the hem because I discovered that linen unravels like crazy. Instead, I wrapped all the edges with a cotton bias binding. Machine sewing such tiny binding is a nightmare for me, so I opted to sew it on by hand. Actually, the whole dress is hand sewn. Although, it wasn't exactly as I planned, I think it came out alright. It looks like a crafty apron style dress.

Here's Loovee modeling her latest dress and enjoying her new Re-Ment Fashion Mannequin. Now she gets busy draping and pinning right next me as I'm sewing away.

After taking a long holiday break from my Etsy shop, I'm starting to gear up for its reopening in a week or so. These two amigurumi bunnies will be the first softies to be listed. They are presently in various stages of development, but I do hope to get them done this weekend.

Well, this is a round up of what I've been fiddling with this past week. Happy Friday everyone!

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!