happy 11th and stuff

I have a few diff blog posts in the work of what's been up with me lately, but I need to hurry up and finish getting ready as today, bf and I are heading down to SD for the day to visit our animal friends at the SD Zoo.  It's the start of their holiday celebration Jungle Bells so they'll be opened 'til 8, which we love since all the nocturnal animals become really active by evening.  It's also our 4 year anniversary!  I can't believe it's been 4 years since we met and well, the rest is history.  As we always say every month, Happy 11th! :)  So, I'll have to save all the fun and different news for when we get back, but just thought I'd stop by and say hi :)

p.s. Traveler would also like to say happy holidays :)

gone bananas

Last night, I finished my monkey plushie.  What do you think?  I rushed through the pattern and had some construction problems (my own error) so he's a lil lopsided and puckering at the sides.  But he's still wonderfully soft and cuddly.  I need to cut him a little larger to account for the seaming and I need to be more careful with the sewing machine to keep his nice rounded shape.  But it's ok, I'll be more careful for next time and then he'll be ready for the shop!  My bf says the 'messed up' parts are what he likes best but they still bother me.

I got in a bit of a funk last night about my crafting.  Although I've made a few plushies, the perfectionist in me keeps focusing on the bad parts than just allowing myself to love all the great things - I mean, I made these things with my own two hands!  That's pretty amazing.  I need to stop comparing myself to other sellers and just do what I do.  My friends are always amazed and love my stuff and I can only try to make stuff and put it out there for other people to enjoy.  Being imperfect makes it homemade anyway and adds to the charm and character of my work.  I'll chalk it up to a small disheartened setback last night but I'm ready to forge ahead today.

I'm planning on working on and re-working some jewelry pieces this afternoon/night.  I'm still rusty on my wire work which is frustrating because I find myself wasting supplies doing things over and over again.  The wire just won't cooperate sometimes!  But once I get some more practice, it should be better.  And I need to stop overthinking my designs.  If I just let the wire and beads lead the way, I think the pieces will become more fluid and come together nicely.  I've been thinking of ways to simplify and improve what I've done and what I'm planning to do so I think that'll help me focus and get down to business.  I also got some small ziploc-style bags to store each of the pieces so I can finally protect them from tarnishing and getting dirty since I lack any way of storing everything up.  I'll choose some nice heavier stock scrapbook paper to use as a holder and then place each piece in its own bag.  Every piece will still be gift boxed and packaged nicely when bought so no worries!  This is just a way I can store them nicely now and protect them so they won't get damaged or tangled.

I hope I stay inspired and focused today!  Lots to do and I think I need a break from plushies anyway :)

a whale of a tale

Isn't he just adorable?  I'll be creating another one to sell in the shop, so look out for him if you want to get your hands on one, too!  He's super soft and cuddly and looks adorable as a pillow/cushion on my bed.  Have I mentioned lately that I love my sewing machine??  But my poor jewelry has been neglected so I need to get back to that, too.  I haven't forgotten about my lovely sparklies!

I also worked on a monkey plush yesterday but I went a bit too fast and messed up a part of him.  We'll be headed to the craft store tonight so I can get some much-needed sewing supplies.  Hope to be able to fix him by tomorrow, then a new picture will come!  I'm loving having this week to experiment with plushies and my sewing machine.  But next week it's down to business.  Going to be working on the inventory now that I have some confidence and created some working patterns.  I really think I might be able to reach my goal of opening shop by the end of this month.  Yay!

a hammie plushie is born

After working on my pattern yesterday and carefully hand stitching all of the facial details and working on the little hands, feet, and ears, today I sewed up the body of my hammie plush by hand and with a little help from my sewing machine.  She was stuffed with polyfil and lots of love and then she was born!  What do you think?

Look, and she even has a little tail nub, hehe :)

She needs a little work but I still love her anyway.  I'll need to work on one for the shop! :)  For now, she looks super cute as my new Etsy avatar and she's soft to cuddle, hehe.  I'm excited I actually made something and that I've figured out how to use my sewing machine.  Yay!

saturday night fun

Tonight is my first night at home in such a long time.  While enjoying the peaceful night, I randomly decided to make this lil fried egg for fun:

Cute, huh?  The free pattern is from the lovely blog of Ana Paula Rimoli (find it here: http://amigurumipatterns.blogspot.com/).

I've been stuck working on a crochet lamb for a friend.  I bought the pattern from a fellow Etsian and it has definitely been a challenge!  There are some unusual stitches within the pattern and although it's been frustrating at times (and resulted in me unraveling precious work I thought I completed or having to start completely over), I think it's been good practice and has helped me work through some unfamiliar crochet territory.  I hope it'll look great when it's finally done!  I finished the main body parts and am just working on the arms, legs, and ears at this point.  Then I get to assemble it!  *fingers crossed*

Because of the lamb, and my general laziness, I haven't made progress on my Etsy shop at all.  The weeklong road trip to Portland and Seattle last week really took its toll on me and I've been sluggish and dragging my feet all week.  I really need to get on track next week!  I'm still aiming for a September shop opening and hope that will be true.  I was convinced before that I wanted so much stuff to be perfect before I opened, but now that just seems silly.  I can't promote any work without anything posted!  Duh. I want to work on a small inventory to have on hand and I'll post those things, then gradually work on new items and add those every few days or so.  I can always work on other things once I have items posted - like improving my overall shop look, getting business cards, etc.  I'm not sure why I keep holding back.  I really just need to make items to sell, take good pictures, and create my shop policies.  It doesn't have to be perfect right away but I have to have at least *something* in the shop to promote.

The goals for next week are to make some jewelry (some designs which I've had in my head for a while) and figure out how to work my sewing machine.  Once I get that working, then I can work on plushies, bags, etc.  It's always slow to get going each day but I think once I start the process on Monday, I'll be motivated to keep going!  My desk (aka work area) needs a major cleaning anyway.

say hello to my new lil friend

Say hello to Mr. Lizard!  He's my new little plushie friend.  Bf saw a pattern for him in my 'Cute Dolls' book by Aranzi Aronzo and asked me to make him.  He's made from anti-pill fleece (rather than jersey as the book suggests) and I filled his tummy and tail full of some pellets so he'd be able to sit upright a bit easier.  He doesn't have an official name yet but Mr. Lizard might stick - any suggestions are welcomed!

Because I used a pattern, I won't be selling him on Etsy, but making this plushie reminded me how fun it is to make new little friends!  I have to work some more on my drawings but I hope to make a lot of fun little friends and bring them to life for my Etsy shop.  I've also been tackling with a necklace design I can't seem to get right (it's pretty but doesn't function properly as it constantly gets tangled and doesn't sit right when I wear it).  I hope to fix that today.

Oh, and know what else is funny?  Bf has been so inspired by seeing cute things on Etsy that he's started to sketch his own drawings for plushies, too.  He's created quite the series of characters and now we have the materials to make them, so no doubt he'll be cutting out some patterns soon and having me help him sew them together.  I hope I can figure out the sewing machine soon so he can sew them himself!  When did our household become this crafty?? :)

I (heart) the SD Zoo

I love animals and going to the zoo is one of my favorite things.  The bf and I are members of the SD Zoo and we try to go as often as we can (for me to see my precious pandas and for him to see the mischievous monkeys).  We're so spoiled that such an amazing zoo is not that far away for us, it makes for fun weekend getaway trips!  Here are some highlights of animals we love at the Zoo:

Zhen Zhen (3 yrs old and looking just as 'precious' as her name)

Su Lin (4 yrs old, ZZ's older sister and definitely 'a little bit of something cute')

Supermom Bai Yun ('white cloud') and Baby Yun Zi (officially 'son of cloud' but I like to call him King Fluffy Butt)

Baby giraffe

Meerkats - oh so cute!

Sleeping pile of meerkats - just like my hammie girls

Gabby, a red-cheeked Gibbon, just relaxing.  Her parents are Mel Gibbon (yes, seriously) and Tina, who reside at the SD Wild Animal Park

Chuy (pronounced 'Chewy'), Gabby's brother, just hanging around

This Bonobo (unfortunately, I couldn't figure out which one she was from the pictures on the wall) was really loving the crowd gathered around to watch her and when a guy offered his ice cream cone, she kept gesturing and beckoning him to give it/toss it to her!  It was so cool and funny.

A beautiful blue Macaw

A trio of koalas - and the newest baby girl!

There are many peacocks that roam the Zoo freely (you'll often hear them making a lot of noise while you walk around the Zoo).  This lil guy ended up in the rhino pen and got really agitated and foofed up his tailfan for no reason.  Ridiculous.

Pygmy Marmoset - the bf's fav.  Look at how little he is!  It's hard to tell from the picture but he's like a miniature monkey that could fit in the palm of your hand!

A beautiful assortment of flamingos - and flamingo babies (little gray puffs) and eggs in nests!  It must be that time of year!!

creations on the horizon

I have so many little projects on the horizon (both Bar-wise and crafty-wise)...here they are in no particular order!

Crafty:

• Make myself a necklace.  I'm imagining a simple moonstone and red ruby briolette combination - something about the glowing moonstone and the bold red ruby really speaks to me.  And I'd really like to be able to wear something to show off my jewelry-making skills (ha).  This one wouldn't be too flashy as I think the colors will speak for themselves, but I do have some creative designs in mind for others that will hopefully follow suit.
• Finish Pickles II, the crochet turtle.  Poor lil guy still needs his front arms crocheted, then he needs to be sewn and stuffed.
• Start the crochet Cleric that M wants so badly.
• Design and construct a plush version of my lil bao drawing (or some cute plushie of some sort).  I need another little friend.
• Bend and twist crazy bits of wire into a jewelry tree to hang and organize all of my necklaces.  The ones I've bought AND the ones I'm planning to make.
• Find a better way to organize all of my fabulous jewelry-making supplies and gorgeous gems. Leaving all of those beauties in plastic bags and random containers just makes me sad (and I can hardly see or find anything when I need!).

Bar:

• Make flashcards.
• Memorize and practice typing out the black letter law.
• Practice MBEs until my head spins.
• WRITE ESSAYS.

No biggie, right?

birthday fun

Happy (early) birthday Ms. Wendy!  I should've spent the day studying but instead, I made a silver lariat necklace with crystal quartz and marquis-shaped prehnite (photos to come soon) and this penguin card. My new little friend is the paper equivalent of a crochet amigurumi who still needs to be assembled as a part of the gift (oops).  This little guy needs to be holding a 'Happy Birthday' sign and a special message inside and then he's ready for giving tomorrow night!  

Enough crafting for today; time to hit the books again.  It was fun while I could do it...I really need to be better about waking up early to watch lectures online and study, then take a lunch/craft break before hitting the books again at night.  I hope I can get on the right track next week after the Memorial Day weekend! :)