A Rabbit for Charlotte's Friend

I made this rabbit man for a friend of the gentleman pictured above with the twig crown on his head.  Isn't he dreamy?  He reminds me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, because he is how I imagined the main character to look.  Almost exactly.  Maybe Charlotte, his friend who ordered the rabbit, looks just like Hermoine (whose real name I forget and who played Sam (in the movie adaptation of the book), Charlie's very good friend).  I was very pleased with how the bunny turned out.  I had to stitch on extra fur to make it longer, can you see the seam?  The proportions before made him seem too young (in my designs, being young means you basically don't have a torso).  So, the extra seam made it look slightly different in just the right way for me.  It looks more like the bunny suit wearer stitched it up himself in his hidden tree fort.  It just adds a tiny bit of mystery.  It's so exciting to see the power of little details.

I am getting Summeritis down here in Louisiana.  This is my first full summer down here, and it has been going on (temperature-wise) since May.  It is still so hot.  The leaves aren't changing, and when they do they only turn turd-brown for a little while and then they fall.    The only real notable seasonal change is that Starbucks has started serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  I ordered one to revel in the idea of fall, but then after my first sip I remembered I didn't like them.  So really this fake fall has burned a $4 hole in my pocket.  Curse you fake fall!  I guess I can make some applesauce, extra cinnamony, and that will feel like fall.  I must remember the glorious Louisiana winter that has a fall-like breeze with a spring-like warmth, inviting you to comfortably visit zoos in January. 

Also, thanks so much to Niki for commenting on my last post.  How have I not stumbled on your work before:  Go see everyone!  So beautiful and mysterious. 

Hot Dog!

Hurray for something new to show you!  I have been doing a lot of custom work, which I should share here too, but Facebook is just easier.  And, lazier :(.  I'm also confused by this blog a lot of the time.  I am not sure what it should be like.  I like reading other people's tangents and getting glimpses into their lives, so that is why I let myself keep things the way they are here.  What do you like reading when you some here?  Or, not reading?  What should this blog be exactly?  

In the mean time I'll tell you about this mustache man.  He's eating a hot dog and has a pet weiner dog.  He seems like someone who would be boisterous.  The kind of guy who laughs so hard that he can't help but let potato chip crumbles fly out of his mouth!  Nobody minds though because he is so endearingly enthusiastic about things in the world that are good.  He could be all about Hot Dogs the food, but really he is about "Hot Dog!" the expression.  

One of my secret missions of motherhood is to try to get my son to use old timey expressions.  He does say "Drats!", and (my favorite) "Wait a ding dang minute!".  But, I need to throw "Hot dog!" into the mix.  And "fiddlesticks". 

Anyway, this guy is going to Maker Fair in Cincinnati via the Plush Team.  He'll be for sale at the booth they will have there.   Have fun in Ohio, friend!

Luchadors!!!

In a non-direct way, these luchadors I am working on keep making me think about wanting to take a tai chi class.  That is sort of a moot desire though, in a small town in Louisiana.  Did I use the word "moot" correctly?  I hope so.  One of my favorite lines from Friends is when Joey calls it a "moo point",  like a "cow's opinion".  I like that.  I wish I had some connections to Merriam or Webster so I could request a little word switcheroo.

Lately, I have really been wanting to design my own wall paper for miniature scenes for some little plush people I want to make.  I want to print it in a simple way, like how Lotta Jansdotter teaches in this book.  

I also want to print some simple designs on bags that I sew that will need to have zippers on them.  The bags will really be just an excuse for learning how to sew zippers.  Zippers have intimidated me since the dawn of time (drama).  I need to learn because I am planning to reupholster my couch and sew new cushions.  My couch at its current state is pretty sad except for one decked out arm rest that is covered in drawings done in crisp black permanent marker.  

I got the idea from an Apartment Therapy blog post title Aah or Eek!?   It had a lot of images of couches like the one pictured below.

In the comments people were saying how it maybe could be a great idea if it was designed a little better or filled in more.  I thought it was a great idea too.  I also thought that I would have the work ethic to draw on the whole couch and make it awesome!  But, it turns out that couches are pretty big.  Also, my sponge-brain (that's a compliment) toddler took a note from his ma and drew all over the backseat of our car with sharpies too.  Regardless, I now want to reupholster it, so I am going to rev myself up with a line of cute little zippered bags for you soon!  Just wait! 

One last thing.  I watched Drunk History last night for the first time.  So funny!  I was laughing so hard that it felt like I had done a bunch of sit ups.  It was literally equivalent to working out at the gym.  My favorite was the Booth Brothers story which is in the second half of this episode.  Adam Scott is in it and he reminds me so much of my husband.  Please watch!  So funny!

Beach Baby, Beach Baby (sing along...)

We took our beach trip.  It was such a relief.  Working from home is both phenomenal and total poop at the same time.  It is a strange sensation to have your work be something that you love to do and do from home in the same room that your family eats burritos and colors pictures of dinosaurs (side note:  these coloring books are the most fantastic coloring books!).  Designing and sewing and drawing are the top three things I would choose to do with free time and I already do them constantly, so it's pretty essential for me to force myself to do other things and carve out some special time for my family that is out of our little house/studio(s). 

I can already tell my son is developing his home-body chops, just like ma and pa.  There is nothing he loves more than staying at home and playing with toys.  The other day I surprised him with some batman pajamas and he asks really sweetly if he can put them on as soon as he comes home.  I better never introduce him to a Snuggy.  What I am trying to say is that it is really good and healthy for us to drive away from home every once in a while and sleep in a hotel or on a friend's floor.  This time it was a hotel in a casino!  I thought it would be really sparkly and glitzy, or at least tacky in a delightful way, but really it was just boringly sophisticated.  Should I write a review on Travelocity?  "I was expecting more velvet paintings and framed photographs of Elvis.  What a disappointment!".

The actual town itself will charm your socks off.  It was so darn cute.  There is a folk artist from there who started painting in her 60's.  We went to see her paintings at the visitor's center and the nice lady working there gave us $40 to spend in the town!  They had won some sort of grant and they wanted to give the money from it to their tourists so they printed out their own special currency for the town called Magnolia Bucks.  We felt like royalty.  We had ice cream.  Three times!  That's what kings and queens do in a Southern, Mississippi beach town.

We splashed around the ocean for a good while.  Something about shallow ocean water makes me want to do cartwheels and handstands.  

Walter really liked splashing while running.  It was his first time experiencing it, really.  I always wonder at the stamina children have to do the same thing over and over, like running through water. I have to remember that it is brand new to them!  That is the very nice thing about having a child:  they make things new again.

We had pizza and beer at a place called the Ugly Pirate.  The inside looked like what a pirate ship would look like.  Plus we smelled of the ocean, so it was a multi-sensory experience! 

Thank you Bay St. Louis!

The Lee's

So adorable.  This is the kind of family you want to invite over for ice cream. 

Summer is drawing to an end.  I need to get my family to the beach, and soon!  We are going to stay in a casino at a cute beach town near by, something I have never done before.  It feels a little scandalous, even though my mom was a Craps dealer back in the day.

The Hollo Family

I made this beautiful family for a mom who wanted a representation of her whole family all together because her son passed right before turning three and never met his younger sister.  He has a halo made of shiny gold fabric over his head.  I am so happy that I was able to make this for them. 

The Friedays

Wouldn't you love your last name to be Frieday?  Then, you could feel good anytime someone said, "Man, I can't wait until Friday gets here". 

This family is from Budapest and Oregon.  Two beautiful places I haven't been, but would love to visit. 

My family is going on a vacation to Oxford, MS soon.  It's an in-between-er place for different families meeting up.  Surprisingly, there is a Marimekko store there!  I kind of doubt it, but part of me hopes they sell scraps of remnants for cheap like they do at the big fabric box stores.  Fingers are crossed!