So.....Notice There's No Pictures?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Five days after I start my blog, my camera gets dropped into a glass of water. In addition to that, Mister's mother needed her sewing machine back? WTF???? Can't a sister get a break?

Meet Mr. Fox...

I finally finished my red fox that I started about a week ago! I saw this little guy on Lucky Kate Crafts blogspot and attempted him without any sort of template. This sounds silly, but I have it stuck in my head that teaching myself this way, will force me to really learn how to sew. Besides, with everything that's been going on lately, I can only afford the patterns I absolutely need!

He's made out of woolen felt. I had to figure out how to do the embroidery stitch around the ears, tail, and legs. That took awhile, and came out a little sloppy. Not too sure about my color choices either. I was really unhappy with the way I closed up the bottom, It came out all lumpy. I'll have to figure out how to remedy that on the next one. A challenge!

Thanks to my Mister's mother, I was able to put the nose together. She showed me how to cut and assemble it - then I sewed it together by hand.

Here's a picture of the whole mess in progress. I don't have a lot of room to work.... Overall, I am very happy with the way it came out.

Mister's dad was released from the hospital today. We're all very glad to have him home, safe and sound. Now we're all going to be up to the task of making him take it easy!

Parting shot of my fox and my hound...♥

The Birth of Plucky

Figured since I am semi-retiring my teeny, tiny sewing machine, I would post a picture of the last doll that I made on it. 

I saw this little guy on the cover of Linda Kopp's Plush-o-rama and decided to try to create him from memory. Please keep in mind, I'm teaching myself to sew and I haven't been at this for very long. His body is made of anti-pill fleece, and I used felt for his wings, legs and facial features. It looks like I might have rushed stuffing his head just a wee bit, it's a little lumpy. Considering what I was using to sew him, I'm very happy with the way he came out. *Insert pat on back here*

Parting shot of the Shark in action. We will not miss you little guy.

Tried coming up with something to sew today. So very, very tired from my medication increase. Thinking seems almost impossible. I purchased this wonderfully plush sherpa fleece in hot pink the other day; stared at it for about 2 hours before I finally decided to try a Junker Jane plush monster that I saw in Stuffed magazine. Junker Jane is so unbelievably creative and unique. Maybe one day I'll have lovelies as creative and unique of my own...

'til next time...♥

Stuffed at Last!

I'm so excited! It's been out for a while now, but things have been a little tight with the recent economic downturn. So naturally I was overjoyed when finally able to splurge and purchase the new Stuffed: The Crafting of Softies (Vol. 3 Issue 1) magazine which came out January 2010. 

This issue is packed full of incredible gems like Melissa Sue Stanely (www.melissasuestanley.net), Junker Jane (http://junkerjane.blogspot.com), & Karna Erickson (www.etsy.com/shop/cocoondesigns). If you have any time at all, I really suggest taking a stroll through Karna Erickson's etsy shop, or visiting the Doll section of her flikr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cocoondesigns/sets. The photos of her dolls make you ridiculously happy, I can only imagine what the dolls themselves do.

In addition to obtaining my highly prized stash, I pseudo-upgraded my sewing machine! My Mister's mom is letting me use her sewing machine, which is far superior to mine in every way. It's like mine, but all grown up. I've included a photograph to illustrate why this upgrade is important, and to also point out the inadequacies of my own sewing machine. Please notice, my sewing machine is slightly larger than a 12oz. can of Coca Cola.

All in all, it was a good day. A good, stormy, sleep-in type of day. Now all we need is Verno home from the hospital. 

Time to curl up with my new magazine.

'til next time....♥

No, Thank you, Jo-Ann....

There is something about a fabric store that can hold me in a spell for hours. My poor, poor Mister occasionally tagging along, pushing the cart with my bolts of fabric in it... I love to walk around and touch all the different fabrics and hold them against each other. Imagining the possibilities - which I would probably never be talented enough to create. All this for my little lovelies....which really aren't very lovely at all. So after a long day spent at the hospital waiting for my Mister's father to receive his pacemaker, I end up at the local Jo-Ann Fabric store...

I made my way through the wet streets of Chino, braving the insanely inadequate California drivers, to peruse the red tag and clearance sections and gather some unique fabrics I'd had my eye on. Splurged and purchased much too much fabric to keep on hand. It just gives me the warm fuzzies to dig through them all. Also helps with the insomnia - being able to start sewing something at 3am comes in extremely handy when you can't sleep. 

My Mister loves that I've taken up sewing, thinks it calms the beast. I think it's more like an intense rage that gets focused on the doll. I love it. The dolls seem to have mixed feelings. My pups, on the other hand, hate it. They are constantly being told to not step on this or that. They have no concept of personal space. And Mobee is none to happy when he gets yelled at for taking off with the doll...

'til I manage again....♥