While She Naps

Installing the Window Display

Today my artist's group, the Wellesley Women Artisans, installed our window display in a vacant storefront in Wellesley Center. Seven of us contributed work and it was fascinating to watch it all come together.

We were assigned a large and prominent corner building (the site of what used to be The Rugged Bear, a children's clothing shop) and just in time for Wellesley College graduation tomorrow. The weather today was beautiful and all kinds of passersby kept coming in asking about the work.

This is the first event our group has done outside of just meeting at one another's houses. It is a great feeling to be among likeminded people working together to create something beautiful for the whole community to enjoy. Wellesley seems more artsy, more friendly, more down-to-earth when we are among one another.

Our display is up for at least a month, maybe longer, on the corner of Central and Abbott Street in Wellesley Square.

You can read more about the Wellesley Community Art Project and how it pairs artists with empty storefronts right here.

Custom Plush from a Child's Drawing: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

I found this excellent drawing in a box of artwork in the attic saved from when Roxanne was four-years-old. I don't actually remember her making this one in particular, but I absolutely love this rainbow guy and the writing, too. A beautiful, fleeting moment in her life. 

And now we have Mr. Rainbow to hug. This is my fifth piece for the window display that will go up in Wellesley Center at the end of the month. 

Felt Hibiscus Flowers for National Nonwovens

This week I've been making felt hibiscus flowers for National Nonwovens' booth at Quilt Market next month. National Nonwovens produces gorgeous felt in all varieties. Last year I sewed butterflies for their booth which was a lot of fun and they kindly provided me with all the felt for my new book. It's always an exciting day when a big box of felt arrives from them!

I love working with their products and I really enjoy creating booth decorations for them. I'm not going to Market (maybe someday), but my flowers are going and that's something!

This year the National Nonwovens both will have a sort of tropical vacation theme. I came up with the idea of big hibiscus flowers that I think show off their beautiful new felt colors. This is nearly a no sew project (hello hot glue gun!) - just a bit of stitching to create veins on the leaves and to connect the petals. 

If you'd like to try out some of National Nonwoven's felt you can get it right here. 

Custom Bear for a Print Ad

Over the winter I got a call from an art director who was making a print ad for a pharmaceutical company. The ad was for a new pre-natal vitamin that helps alleviate constipation and the art director was looking for a custom teddy bear that was, well...constipated. 

Making this bear qualifies as one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. I sewed this poor bloated, uncomfortable teddy on a very short deadline. He is stuffed with excelsior so his body is really moldable and I left a gap in his back with a velcro closure so that the art director could maninpulate his stuffing on the day of the shoot to make him all lumpy.

I don't have an actual hard copy of the ad. Hopefully I'll see it on one of the tables in the waiting room at my OBs office sometime. 

Plush From a Child's Drawing: Stella's Snail

Stella came home from Kindergarten with this snail drawing a few months ago.

I think it was a pretty slapdash effort, actually, but to me this snail had such incredible personality. I squirreled the drawing away upstairs for a future plush project.

I mentioned to Stella this week that I was making a plush snail based on her drawing and she had not idea what I was talking about. So I would say that this softie captures a truly ephemeral moment of her childhood and that's just perfect to me!

Get a plush toy from your child's drawing right here.

 

Custom Plush Toy From a Child's Drawing

Send me a drawing made by a special child in your life and I will create a custom softie for you!

This is a project 've been planning for many months and I'm really pleased to say that today the listings are live! I'm only going to take a few at a time (there are three listings right now) so that I can work in small batches and really make something you'll love.

So sort through that overflowing box of artwork and pick a favorite, or have your child draw something this afternoon, send it to me and see it come to life as a huggably soft plush friend!

custom plush from children's drawings...continued

Today's edition: a drawing Roxanne made when she was 4-years-old of a little girl with brown, curly hair.

The pieces I'm doing now are all made from felt because they will all be displayed together in a store window. When I begin taking custom orders the toys will be made from a variety of materials so that they will be a bit more huggable and more easily washed. If you are eager for a custom toy from your child's drawing you can order now from Wendy Tsao, a Canadian artist who makes them, too!  Check out her work! She does a great job.

building my custom plush portfolio

Two more finished custom pieces to show today. Heidi Rettig left a comment on a post I wrote a few weeks ago asking if I would make a plush version of her company logo. Heidi has an arts consulting company. I took a look at her logo and I thought it seemed like a cool project that would help me to show some range. She sent me this image of her logo:

And I created a plush version:

Super fun.

I am also continually working on creating custom plush from children's drawings building up to being able to offer this in my shop this spring. We went up to the attic on Saturday to bring down boxes of artwork that the older girls made in preschool and it's like a goldmine. I found a drawing of a rattlesnake Roxanne made when she was four-years-old and obsessed with the Gadsden flag.

The furry tail with yarn sticking out was all Charlie's idea. I had fun drawing with stitches to recreate the circles she drew on the snake's body.

Custom Plush: Logos

In an effort to build my custom plush portfolio (one of my New Year's goals) I tweeted a few weeks ago asking if anyone would like me to create a plush version of their logo. I heard back right away from Sarah Day whose blog is A Small Fox in a Big World. Sarah is someone I've been in touch with on and off for many years. She helped me to design a postcard for my first big show in 2007. And she tested a pattern for my new book and is in the process of testing a second one. She has been super generous to me, clearly, and I was thrilled when she asked if I'd make the adorable fox logo that she uses on her blog and in her Etsy shop into a softie.

Sarah sent me a few digital drawings of her fox. I asked a few questions just to be sure I was envisioning the fox the same way that she was and then I sat down and started.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about rendering someone else's drawing in plush. I've only done that one other time (for a print ad that I'll tell you more about once it is released), and both times I was unsure when I started whether I would like it.

But I do! I really love it. To take what a client has given me and build them a three-dimensional fabric version is perhaps the most fun I can think of! Sarah's logo really lends itself to a plush toy. It is almost like a drawing of a toy. I am curious about making plush from a rather untoylike drawing.

I hope Sarah is happy with her fox, and I hope I can continue to build my portfolio so that I can take on more work like this.

How to Make a Hobby Horse

I have wanted to make a hobby horse for a long time. I searched around a bit for online tutorials and there didn't seem to be much available so when Kathreen asked me to create a guest post for Whip Up I thought this would be the perfect project. 

My kids are begging to play with him and I have to say, I'm pretty fond of this project. Fairly quick to make, the materials were easy to find, and it makes a really fun, imaginative toy.

Gather up some brown fabric or felt, some yarn for the mane, and a dowel or broomstick and you're ready to go.  For full-sized pattern pieces and step-by-step directions with photos trot on over to Whip Up.