He's Got a Cupcake Growing Out of His Forehead.

I am on a new kind of plushie making streak. I got the idea talking to the lovely Lace (http://lacejayne.blogspot.com/) over lunch last week, and I think 'tis a brilliant one :) Here's how it goes: Get a hold of some plain white cloth. Obtain fabric markers. Create amazing character that NEEDS to become 3D. Draw thus character with fabric markers onto previously referred to white cloth. Stitch together and stuff! Weee! I love the idea, because as you know I have been really enjoying turning my drawings into plushie form. While I am a huge fan of buttons and fancy stitching and fun fabrics, this technique gives the finished plushie a unique feel- more like a three-demensional stuffed DRAWING rather than...well, a plushie. It all depends on what you want for a finished product. Here's my first attempt. He was really kind of a guinea pig, because I was trying to get used to the way the fabric markers worked, blended, and went onto the cloth. Plus, now I know that I need to save more room for the seams, because even though I thought I had plenty of room I could use more. I think he looks a little bit squished on there...I would prefer to have more white around the edges.

He doesn't have a name yet, but he's got a cupcake growing out of his forehead (which he likes to eat with a spoon) so he's all good.

And here's my original like-three-second sketch.

I am absolutely OBSESSED with the fabric markers that I used to do this project. They were pretty expensive but they were worth it (plus I'm a working lady now, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty. I need $ to fund my projects!!) They -the markers- blend nicely while they're still wet. Siiighhh. Blissful.

One more new news goody-bit: My cousin is getting married later this month, and since I have absolutely nothing to wear, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my own dress! I went to the fabric store today and found the PERFECT pattern along with the PERFECT cloth. Yay, I'm so excited ^__^

I'm thinking of making the dress with the green skirt, but without the apron. LOOOOKIT THE CLOTH!!! It's pink with animals!!!!! AWWWWW :D

BEHOLD: THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS.

Ohh, work. Lovely lovely work. 'Tis that season again! I pick strawberries at a local farm during the summers. The people are nice, the pay is good, I get to spend the day outside and it's basically my perfect job except (ow!) the significant amount of back and knee pain. Every year I get what I call "the dreaded rhinoceros knees" which form due to the excessive kneeing that I do. Before they build up their crusty, protective outer layer, the skin stings for days on end and looks all red and puffy :( poor knees, you deserve better. AND YOU SHALL HAVE BETTER! I have taken this grave matter into my own hands, and created ...duh duh duh daaaaa!!!! THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS!!!!

KNEES: Oh, master! Please except our greatest thanks! In return, we shall serve you with hours upon hours of painless kneeling!

ME: What humble servants you are, kneesies. I must say you are one of my favorite body parts! You work hard, yes you do. My wallet and I thank YOU for your ongoing loyalty and servitude.

KNEES: *Quiver with happiness at pleasing their master so*

Reporting for duty! Herm, I think that I like them very much. Unfortunately, I may like them too much to actually USE them :/ I will try to put my attachment aside.

A few side notes before I wrap this up:

1. The skull quilt is coming along swimmingly :) I'm almost half way finished stitching the squares together.
2. I made another more mini plushie recently. He's a cute, simple lil' guy; just a square with an irresistible face. He's inspired me to make many more "shape" plushies ^__^
3. Between working and gym going (muscles good), I am having a hard time finding significant art time. I'll have the week ends and late afternoons, but I probably won't be producing as much as when I had my whole day :( It's sad, but money making has got to be done. So blog entries may become slightly less frequent *sniff* I hope not though!!!

Mr. Squarie-Square takes his place on top of the growing mound of plushies.

In Which I Discuss Mr. Waffles, Petunia, and My Bloggie Buddie..

**Foist things foist (wonky accent, don't ask me why): my wonderful plushie-making-amazing-photo-taking friend made a blog! We're bloggie buddies, yay. Look at her stuff, 'cause I think it's great. ----> (this is my digital finger pointing the way to...) DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR**

In fact, just yesterday we got together and had a major plushie making party at my kitchen table. She already made a blog post telling about the two characters that were born as we stitched and ate rock hard pears with peanut butter (yummy, but a bit tough on the jaw.) She also wrote about the joy (and incredible addictiveness) of making plushies. So I guess this is like a companion post. After all, like I said we're bloggie buddies :)

**Note: all photos taken by her**

PETUNIA AND MR.WAFFLES MINI BIOS.

MR. WAFFLES (or Waffles for short) - made by me:

Mr. Waffles is a very dedicated but modest shoemaker. When he walks, he swings his long neck back and forth for momentum, as his short legs do little to keep him moving forward. Although he is the sweetest giraffe you'll ever meet, his single (but massive) tooth and lack of tail make him self conscious. This shyness keeps him from getting out much, and the years of hiding out avoiding customers in his shoe shop have made him quite socially awkward. His girlfriend Maiibull-Eeen is the only one who understands and appreciates him, despite his bashfulness and insecurities. She shows her love for him by making him his favorite breakfast every morning: whole wheat waffles with freshly cut strawberries.

PETUNIA -made by her:

Petunia works from morning 'til night in her green house arranging bouquets of her most exotic flowers for distinguished customers. She is modest and reserved, and because of this she is one of the only people Mr. Waffles can spend time with (other than Maiibull-Eeen of course) because she doesn't overwhelm him. They especially enjoy playing checkers and working on piano duets together. Maiibull-Eeen never gets jealous, because she trusts Waffles with her heart and is thankful that he as at least one friend beside herself and his mother (she really is a fabulous woman!) Petunia's only sibling is her brother, LC who poops on people who he doesn't like.

And the plushie invasion continues...

THEY'RE TAKING OVER!

I even did a cute little drawing. I heart crayola markers.

I really need to do something about getting a scanner. We have an old one, but it's left over from our PC days, and it's not compatible with Macs. It's difficult to take good photographs of art work. I guess you don't have much choice with 3D stuff, but I think it would be AWFULLY NICE to be able to scan my drawings and such. Especially because when in comes to doing art on the computer a lot of the initial stages are done manually on paper and then scanned in to be worked on further...ahhh, wishful thinking...

Frankie Turp, Maiibull-Eeen, and others.

Now that my painting class is over, I've been scrounging around for projects to keep myself occupied with. I don't sit well with doing nothing. It makes me depressed. Luckily I've managed to keep myself nicely fueled with all kinds of bits of doings. And I'm starting a summer metal sculpture class the 26th which runs for 5 weeks, so during that time my whirring motor of a brain should be happy :-)

I find that I tend to go through phases of different art forms, where I get really involved in one medium. Sometimes these phases last for only a few days, but they can go on for months. I'll get really into sewing, knitting, painting, drawing...the list goes on and on. And of course there are tons of subcategories in each medium: plushie making, spinning, abstract painting, cartooning, etc. The possibilities are endless. It's almost like the phases are on a rotating schedule, each taking their turn, passing it on to the next...then later on coming back for the next round. Most of the time I have more than one area that I'm exploring at the same time, and the ideas kind of spill over so that even though the work I am creating in each medium is different materials-wise, it's all connected; one thing leads to another. Right now, I'm in a Plushie-Making-Graphic-Novel-Phase.

This most recent phase started about a week ago when I decided that a fun project would be reincarnating some of my childhood drawings. So down into the basement I went, dragging out a mountain of dusty folders stuffed with scribbles and potato people. Children have such freedom, and can put things on paper with natural ease...I miss that capability, that blissful liberation from art "expectations." Using my childhood artwork as a jumping point, I made sketch after sketch of revamped characters which were originally created by my 4-7 year old brain.

The giraffe/bear and bee/dog/rabbit on the upper page were among a group of marker drawings titled "MIXED UP ANIMALS." There was even an angel/skunk. Heh. Imagine that.

I love the all leg guy wearing shorts (written in carefully formed letters on the original drawing: GLAMMA ITS YELLOW AND HAS NO ARMS. I assume "Glamma" was some kind of invented species of mine?)

This is where the "graphic novel" part of this current phase comes in. I've always wanted to make my own comic books/strips/graphic novels, but in the past I've felt like it was very intimidating. Not sure why, since I lot writing and I love drawing. Bang those two passions together and voila. Why should I feel like it's beyond me? I found the book Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, and I'm planning on taking myself through that this summer (in fact, I've already started.) I'm excited. ^___^

On to PLUSHIES!!! Who doesn't love a good plushie? I know I can't resist 'em. My graphic novel excitement was interrupted by The Invasion of the Stuffies. All my attempts to hold my ground were futile. The first incomer was Frankie Thurp, a dignified used book salesman with way too much heart (he certainly wheedled his way into mine.) He also smokes a pipe even though I tell him he shouldn't. I stitched him together during a visit with a friend.

Remember about what I was saying about the ideas spilling over? Well, here is an example of that phenomenon. After Frankie Thurp, I began making another plushie, but this one I based off one of the revamped childhood drawings I did. SQEEEE!!! I named her Maiibull-Eeen (hey, what a poet I am.) Just wookit dat wittle buck tooth! And her toes :) I wuv her! She's got wire in all those bows to make them nice and bendable and to make sure they hold their lovely bow shape.

There she is, up at the top.

And there you have it- my life in plushies and cartoons since classes let out. Sorry about the length of this massive post. I seem to have a tendency to get behind on this blogging bidness, and meanwhile the art work that I do keeps on a pilin' up. By the time I get around to doing a post, it's a novel...