Swaddle Bear/Bunny Babies

Get ready to get your snuggles on!  Here are some sleepy babies all swaddled up and ready for hugs.   I can only imagine the adorable coo sound they make when having sweet dreams.  In between sewing these guys, we have been eating a lot of frozen blueberries here.  We've also been petting goats and laughing at miniature donkeys at the zoo.  Not a lot of people have caught on to the amazing weather, so we've had the sunshine, zebras and tortoises mainly to ourselves.  I've been enjoying the less showy animals the most, lately.  The tortoises, especially.  I like to create their dialogue in my head.  I imagine them to be really complain-y, like the old men who meet in coffee shops before the sun comes up and grumble about politics.  I like those guys.

These Swaddle Babies are going to be under $40.  And, I am going to make some macho men in unitards next that will be priced around $45.  I love the Bloomington Handmade Market, and I want the colorful people of B-Town to be able to afford some presents for their babies and couches.

Workin' At the Studio Yeah! (Said To the Tune of Car Wash)

I have been busy, in factory mode, prepping for the Bloomington Handmade Market!

 

The market takes place April 7th (mark your calendars).

 I am trying to meet the people's needs this year by making some dolls that are a bit more affordable, and baby-friendly (button-less).  Making things less expensive means resisting my urge to make hats, bow-ties and corsages for mustache men, and making them a bit smaller.  Their heads look so naked, and their necks (can you have a neck if you don't have a torso?) so bare.  But, it's okay guys!  (this is me giving the little men a pep talk).  "This is an economy that has to forgo accessories, so pump up the charm with your wit and charisma instead of your plaid newsie hat!" 

These guys are part of my new line called Swaddle Bear Baby Bundles.  They are smaller, squishier, softer, and without buttons.

 These guys give me baby fever a bit.  Being a new mother (two years ago!) was overwhelming, but I felt most at peace holding a tiny swaddled Walter while he slept.  It is the most peaceful and heart-softening experience in the world.  These little guys remind me of that time.  They would make nice gifts for newborns, or for parents who have empty nest syndrome!

I am also working on a special request for a friend.  She has cute friends that need cute things.

Do you spy new fabric up there?  Fabric designers are sure doing a good job these days.

Aerial shot!

I am a vegetarian, but I love this print so much.  Look at all that All American food up there.  I never crave it, really, but I do get nostalgic for it in a way.  It reminds me of carnivals and baseball games and green grass and lakes.

Merle

Thanks for this Fransisco!

Walter Turns Two

My monkey turned two!  I made him this tent out of leftover fabric of mine.  It's a crazy mess, but he loves it, though it only took him a couple of hours before he realized the bamboo poles may be better weapons than tent-holder-uppers.  I found the pattern for the tent in the wonderful book Growing Up Sew Liberated.  I did change it to make it more colorful and wild, like my child, but the plain canvas one in the book is lovely too.

Peek-a-boo.

Cake!  Walter's a fan.

Frosting is delicious.  Just a simple fact that you probably knew already.

I wanted him to wake up to a bit of magic and wonder so I cut some sticky vinyl up and stuck it to the window.  All monsters are "Rawrs" to him.  Rawr!

I have a two year old!  How did this happen?

Walter plays cars on the window ledge here, so Joseph and I also gave him a dramatic background scene with sticky vinyl.  Can you tell we are reading Game of Thrones?

Rainbow cake!  Every bite is a tie-dyed adventure! 

Happy Birthday, Little Man.

Next up I get to work on a wedding present requested by someone who keeps a beautiful food and gardening blog, and who rocks my socks off.

Also, just a reminder, everything in my Etsy shop is 25% off until Friday!  Coupon code is AllDolledUp.  Snatch up some new friends for your couch!

Sale Time!

My artist talk was yesterday.  I was so nervous, but about 10 minutes in, I found my groove, and it went well.  I hope the students found it useful.  It was so nice for me to curate the show and create and give an artist talk.  Being a stay at home works the brain in other ways, but it was so nice to do some deeper thinking and writing, something I wouldn't have just done on my own.  Also, I went miles beyond my comfort zone for my public talk, but I didn't pass out, and life carries on.  Now I feel a bit stronger than before.  Cool.  So, to celebrate I will eat chocolate bunnies (celebrating looks a lot like regular life for me in that statement) and I will have a sale in my shop!!!  When you check out of Etsy just put in the coupon code ALLDOLLEDUP to receive 25% off!

Thanks so much!

Mimi Kirchner

Mimi Kirchner needs no introductions because she is very well known in the world of soft dolls. I love her work so much.  The shapes of her dolls are great----especially the broad chested fellows above and the big sweater grandmas.  They are just so comical, and they easily become animated in my mind.  I can imagine those sweater grandmas watching Wheel of Fortune and practically becoming one with the couch they are sitting on.  The men I see walking around in a manly manner and tipping their hats to any ladies in sight.

Here is a short bio that she wrote for her blog:

I am a Boston-based fiber artist. I live with my husband- Ben Hyde- in a Victorian era (1892) 2-family house. I have 3 kids who are mostly grown up and doing their own things. I graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1976 with a BFA.

Her craftsmanship is unmatched.  She is just so, so, so good and exact about everything.  And all the little details send my heart aflutter.  People tell me they wish they had my patience, but there are various degrees of patience, and in the doll making realm, I think hers is the highest.  Look at that naked robot!  Yoinks!  So incredible!

I could snoop around at this photo for hours.  What are in all those drawers?!  Maybe things only Mimi sees the potential in.

She sent these foxes for the show as well as three others.  With Mimi's work, you can look at it for a very long time and keep discovering new things, which is one of my favorite parts about art observing, the continual surprise.  Her characters are so specific, you can spend a lot of time developing their stories in your head.  Do you know that the girl fox has a pig inside her purse?  A tiny pig!  I peeked inside it when I was hanging the show.  That had me smiling all day.  My goodness.

That black object on her table with the strap is some sort of magnifying goggle contraption.  I saw her using them on her Handmade Portraits video on Etsy.  Also, I think you really know your craft on a personal level to have so many scissors!  I really aspire to be at her level one day.  I think lots of soft artists look to her as their model for craftsmanship.

Thank you to the fabulous Mimi Kirchner!

Mimi's blog
Mimi's shop.

Jess Quinn of Small Art

I am a big fan of Jess Quinn. 

This is the first image I ever saw of Jess Quinn's.  She didn't have a big internet presence at the time, but now she posts her work regularly and I am never let down.

Jess has a degree in painting.  She makes her living off of her dolls and also does model making for a stop frame animation studio in Bristol.  She never seems to have a shortage of ideas, and she makes many, many beautiful things, each surprising.  It's as if she has an entire alternate universe stored away in her head!  I just think she is incredible.

She makes many types of dolls, some textile, some wood, some clay.

An elephant looking surprised, maybe because he woke up wearing a sweater.

A studio shot.  So colorful.

She uses which ever medium seems right for a particular character, Here is a quote of hers from her Etsy biography: Everything is made by myself and I love each process and material to be openly expressed, each stitch or paint stroke is visible a trace of my working hand. I love colour and have collected a fair amount of vintage fabric over the years, these are added into a lot of my work, a hint of nostalgia added to something new.

She is fearless with her materials.

Thank you Jess for what you bring into the world!

Her Etsy shop is here and her blog is here.