Handmade 3D

I've moved!

2012-02-01T17:25:00.000-08:00

If you found me here I just want you to know, I have moved!

www.Handmade3D.me

Come check it out, I'm all fancy now!

Flower Growth Chart

2011-12-16T18:31:00.001-08:00

I know I have been absent a lot this past year and I do apologize. But can you believe my little Zoe turned 1 year old today! This has been one of the best years of my life. And to end it off, I wanted to create a growth chart for my little flower. I have seen cute ones at stores and online, but they are either too expensive or I think "I could do that!" Well, now you can too. :) I made this over a couple of days, but if I had uninterrupted time I could have probably done the entire thing in one afternoon. But other moms out there know that uninterrupted time is not a luxury!

What you’ll need:

½ yd of green felt by the yard 60”

Fat quarter for center of flower

Scraps of fabric for petals (about 3 fat quarters)

Polyfill Fiberfill

Water Soluble pencil

Sewing Machine

Rotary Cutter and Rulers

Thread

Scissors

Pins

** I use an embroidery machine to create the leaves but you would use any type of machine or applique or write the markings by hand.

Creating the stem of the flower:

1. Cut a strip of 6” x 60” of the green felt.

2. Using your water soluble pencil and ruler, draw 1 inch markings along the right side of the vertical length of the stem.

3. Mark every 6” with a pin.’

4. Using a dark green thread, stitch a line at every marking

a. For the inch markings, stitch a 1” inch line

b. For the ½ foot markings, stitch a 1 1/2” inch line

c. For the foot markings, stitch a 3” inch line

Special Note: With the measurements given you should be able to create a growth chart starting at 6” at the base going to just over 6’ tall. I am only 5’4” so I imagine my daughter will be around that height. If you have a taller family, you may want to mark the bottom as 1 foot or even 1 ½ feet tall. You will need at least five inches at the top of the stem to attach and overlap the flower.

5. Mark the 1 foot increments with numbers. You can use your embroidery machine or applique.

Creating the leaves:

1. I created 12 leaves in hope that she will still let me mark her growth at 12 but who knows! I would rather have too many leaves than not enough. I also changed the directions for every other leaf to be on the opposite side of the stem.

Machine Embroidery:

a. Load the vip embroidery file into your embroidery software. Add the years with your text functions. Depending on your hoop size you may be able to create more than one leaf at a time.

b. After stitching out the designs, cut out the leaves.

3. By Hand:

a. Use the attached template to trace the leaves on to your excess felt.

b. After cutting out a bunch of leaves use whichever method you like the write the ages on the leaves

Creating the Flower

1. Create the 12 petals out of scrap fabrics.

2. From your extra felt, cut a 6” circle and a 4” square. This will be the back of the flower and a pocket.

3. Stitch the 4” square on top of the circle.

4. Cut a 5” x 2” strip of fabric. This will be the hanging loop.

5. Fold the strip of fabric in half lengthwise, twice. Stitch along the edge to create the loop.

6. Stitch the loop to the top of the pocket circle.

7. Cut a 12” circle out of your yellow fat quarter. This will be the center of the flower.

8. Stitch a long loose stitch around the edge of the circle.

9. Using the thread, hold one end and gather the circle so the edge folds over itself about 2”.

10. Lay out your 12 petals along the raw edge of the inner circle.

11. Whip stitch the petals to the circle to keep them in tack.

1. Using your sewing machine, use a zig zag stich to secure the petals to the center.

2. Place fiberfill in the center of the flower.

3. Cover the hole with the stem and the felt pocket. Hand stitch the three layers together.

You are done! Measure carefully on your wall to hang. Measure your little flower and place the leaves at her mark!

I apologize for the odd spacing of this post. If you would like a pdf version of this tutorial, as well as the VIP embroidery files for the leaves, please email me at 'ellen@3doodle.com'

The Easter Bunny is coming, let's eat candy corn!

2011-04-11T18:17:00.001-07:00

It's almost Easter so we decided to take Zoe to see the Easter Bunny. She will be four months old next week, I can't believe how fast time has gone by! She is our big little girl and is absolutely wonderful. She was so happy with the Easter Bunny, I am so happy with her picture! My maternity leave is over but I had such a wonderful time off with her. Only the past month or so was I able to get any actual sewing done. It took us a while to develop a routine. But I loved every minute of it. I made some soft books for her and joined the Stuffed Team. Below is my contribution to our calendar which will be coming out later this year.

I am currently in the Stuffed Bunny show in St. Pete at the Eve N Odd gallery. I also have work hanging for the "Hip to Be Square" show at the Bricks in Ybor. Local peeps check it out! During my maternity leave I started experimenting with my 3D modeling, printing on fabric, and quilting. I think it turned out great, we'll see if it sells!

Baby Zoe is here!

2011-01-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

(Zoe at birth)
It has been a busy and exhausting few weeks, but I finally had a chance to post. Baby Zoe arrived December 16th, 2010 at 9:34 am. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 3/4" long. She is the most precious perfect princess and we couldn't be happier!(2 weeks old)Our little Rocker chick.

Quilts, Quilts!

2010-10-22T07:43:00.001-07:00

I completed the "Life is a Stitch" quilt a while ago and sent to my mom for long arm quilting. I love piecing quilt tops, but can't stand the actual quilting together part! The pattern is from Kimberley Enimo's Jelly Roll Quilts and More book. Fun pattern, pretty easy to do. It used Honey Buns to make the quilt. I changed it a little to use up some of my strips and put blocks in the corners instead of solid red. If you look closely the fabric has scissors, little irons, pin cushions, I thought the sign went perfect with it!

This will be Zoe's wall hanging quilt! It was a lot of fun to make, I really enjoy doing applique. I adapted the pattern Annie's Garden from Material Obsessions. I only did the top half of the quilt pattern and then with help from my mom scaled it down 50%. It being a baby quilt/wall hanging, it didn't need to be huge! I used the dark purple as the trim because the upper wall it will be hanging on is pink! It should look great above her crib. I loved the overall look of the original quilt and thought it would go well with the fairy garden theme we have for her nursery. When I originally bought the book I wasn't pregnant yet. But when I saw the pattern I knew it would be above my daughter's crib one day! In the pattern she uses more flowers and hearts. I took out the hearts and a few flowers from the original pattern to add the fairy and mushroom houses. Even better I have lots of left over fabric to make a plush lady bug, mushroom house, and flowers!

I am 31 weeks and can't wait for December to get here! I'm starting on making Christmas presents this weekend for the homemade touch. That and when the time gets closer I will be so big I don't want to do Christmas mall shopping!

For the locals, I will be selling at this year's Atomic Holiday Bazaar! I went as a shopper last year and couldn't believe the indie talent. This year I am a vendor and will be huge! Come out to it if you're around the area, it's our biggest indie craft show!

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

2010-09-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the opening of the "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" show at The Bricks in Ybor. This was another project that took a long time I was keeping secret. I didn't want anyone to know I was making the Great Gonzo! The show contained 18 artists making portraits of famous actors/ characters that can be tracked back to Kevin Bacon. Most actors can be tracked back in three or less moves, but we had to come up with six moves exactly.

If you are interested, The Great Gonzo was in “The Muppet Movie” with Steve Martin who was in “Sgt. Bilko” with Dan Aykroyd who was in “Sneakers” with Robert Redford who was in “The Sting” with Paul Newman who was in “The Color of Money” with Tom Cruise who was in “A Few Good Men” with Kevin Bacon.

While I was making Gonzo, I had a clear picture in my head of what I wanted. I was first going to make him in his caper outfit that he gets shot out of the cannon with. But doing some research and Muppet Show watching I realized he actually didn't do that that often. He was usually wearing a suit. I found a photograph of Gonzo in a maroon suit almost in a 'Kramer' pose. I thought this would be perfect! Jason (my husband) had the brilliant idea to add the chicken feathers around himdue to his love of chickens.

When I finished Gonzo, I was happy with him but not 100%. I was afraid he would look 'crafty' compared to the other fine artists that were accepted into the show. Well apparently I had nothing to worry about! Gonzo sold the day of the show, even before the opening, in the the middle of the afternoon! While at the show I sat in an area where I could watch my piece, partly because I was afraid someone would bump his nose, but kept seeing great reactions to him. People smiled, laughed, and kept saying how much they loved it.

Apparently I am doing something right!
Gonzo with his magical red "sold" sticker. My husband and I only stayed to 10 pm, and at that point were the only two that sold! Below is his piece which sold while we were there.

Quilts, Dolls, and Baby!

2010-09-11T08:57:00.001-07:00

I have been slowly creating more plush items, but a few other projects took priority. Since the wedding has now occured I can finally show off the wedding quilt I made for my husband's cousin! The pattern is called "Fandango" and in the orange borders and backing are little love birds. It turned out amazing but took way too long!Next I received the wonderful order from the Florida Museum of Women Artists! I was able to make 10 cats very quickly, but the quilted dolls took a bit more time. Here are the finished 8 in their color varieties!Since then I have just completed a piece for the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" show at The Bricks in Ybor. The show isn't until September 24th so I'm not revealing it yet! Since I was doin all of these projects I wanted to get back to sewing something for my upcoming little girl. Here is her Christmas bunting, hat, and matching stocking! Let's hope she is here before Christmas! 25 weeks down!

Florida Museum for Women Artists

2010-08-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

This past week I received an order for 20 dolls from the Florida Museum for Women Artist's gift shop. Check them out, it looks like a wonderful museum I wish I lived closer to go take a peek! Here are the first ten cats!
They have also asked for ten quilted dolls, which two are completed so far!
Everything is going great in Babyland! Baby girl is currently 22 weeks 5 days. Energy comes and goes, and have started the wonderful side effects of pregnancy swelling! This picture was taken at 18 weeks. We had out first baby shower last weekend in NY and received tons of goodies! There are just too many cute baby things that come in pink!

Fatty Pennies!

2010-08-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

After a few months of hard work, my first pattern booklet has been released! Please check it out!
Fatty Pennies is for sale at QuiltWoman.com.

Nursery Fun!

2010-07-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ever since I found out I was pregnant at the end of April, my brain has been on everything baby! Well of course, I know. But I will say my plushies took a little back seat for a while but hopefully will start up again this month. I wanted to share some of the items I have made for little Zoe when she makes he appearance this December!

The first is this giant Z! At our wedding we had giant paper-collage letters at the entrances to the church. An 'E' on my side, 'J' on Jason's side, and an 'A' in the middle. I thought it would be perfect to continue the letters by making one for her nursery.
Next I was on a bib kick. At this point I hadn't bought anything yet but was itching to make something. I found a real easy bib tutorial online and bought the designs from Urban Threads. I know she won't need these for a real long time, but couldn't resist!Making the bibs from scratch took a bit of time. So next I went out and bought a ten pack of terry cloth bibs to embroider on instead. My husband is in gaming so I decided to make one that spoke to him!

Next I have a few onesies to finish and then I really want to work on her baby quilt. Although, I do have a wedding present I need to finish first. Grr, I want to make more baby stuff!

Big News!

2010-06-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

So for the past two months I will admit I have done next to nothing on my blog, for my shop, and even very little sewing. And here is why: We found out we were pregnant at the end of April and were beyond thrilled and excited! The past 8 weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, as I'm sure it will be to come! I have had such little energy that I am sad to say I haven't made a plush since the beginning of April! In April I was tired all the time and had no idea why, until we checked this out!

May led to our first ultra sound where we saw our little blob and found out we were due Dec. 23rd. Because of sweet baby this will be our first Florida Christmas! May was very tiring and exhausting, falling asleep by 9 pm. Hey, I would sleep any chance I got.

June has been great. I am finally getting energy back, and even though I haven't sewn any plush yet I made four embroidered baby bibs, couldn't resist! We also had our second ultra sound last week. It was the NT Scan to check for Down's Syndrome which everything turned out fine. And lucky us had such a clear scan that we found out we are having a Baby Girl! Just what I always wanted, our little dream coming true! She was bopping along in there, waving, and I couldn't feel a thing. Very bizarre. We also got bumped up two days, to Dec. 21st, my husband's birthday. He is thrilled.Today marks Week 13 Day 3. Super-Grandma is coming down tomorrow for a week filled of shopping and sewing, it will be a great start to vacation!

In the news & Atomic Happenings!

2010-04-20T06:22:00.001-07:00

Last Friday's Art After Dark was a great event, and it even got me into the local TBT - Tampa Bay Times! Thanks TBT! I really appreciate you posting my shop link, let's hope it leads to sales!

More good news, I have been accepted to the Atomic Holiday Bazaar in December! It's a long way away, but so far my first scheduled show. So excited! I went last year to shop and saw amazing artists and a huge turnout. I will only be doing a table to help keep cost down so I must concoct more vertical displays. I think I will work on more wall art too, they are so cheery! Check out Atomic's blog for more info!

Embroidery Pin Holder and Art After Dark

2010-04-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

Today I decided to make myself a little pin holder. I have started accumulating sewing pins for events and memberships I have joined. Instead of leaving them lying around, I created this quick rainy afternoon project to hold them! The doll is from Urban Threads, 20,000 stitch count! She turned out adorable!

I want to thank everyone who came out Friday night for the Art After Dark event at the Tampa Museum of Art. It went great and we had lots of fun! Here are some pictures from the event.

Wall Art

2010-04-15T06:07:00.001-07:00

For the month of April the below two pieces are being shown and are for sale at the Tampa Artist Emporium. I love making plush monsters but had the idea of plush collages of sort. Painting with fabric we could call it. Well, whatever we call it, they turned out fabulous!Each piece is 16" x 20" fabric stretched around canvas. My lollipop one was my first doodle and I still love it!
Big, big show this Friday night at the Tampa Museum of Art! Can't wait!

Heads and Pictures

2010-03-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hi there! In a few weeks I will be exhibiting at the Tampa Museum of Art, Art After Dark :Cause an Effect show. This is a pillow I made for the event! I will be donating a portion of my proceeds to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

I have never made such a large pillow before! It's 26" x 26". The back is a white fleece.

After I brought the pillow back inside I thought my rocking chair looked funny in the backyard so I started having fun taking pictures for a bit. It's spring! the bird are back, the lizards are back, and I even saw the blasted black snake - eek!
This is my favorite corner of the backyard. The fence is falling over, in the summer their are vines all over it, and it has a good view of the neighbor's tree.
Wiley was helping me take pictures as well. He wanted me to see what was on the other side of the fence. I didn't see anything, but two houses over someone does own some loud birds!

Schmancy Plush You Olympic Challenge!

2010-03-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

I completed my submission for the Plush You Olympic Challenge today! I was assigned the 'Made Up Sport' category and at first was a little nervous about it. But after some brainstorming with my husband about winter sports for Floridians, we created the "Snowbirding Biathlon." Read on for the rules!

Welcome to the Snowbirding Biathlon!

To qualify for the Snowbirding Biathlon the participants must:

1. Reside at least six months of the year in the New England Coastal area.

2. Reside in the winter months in the coastal areas of sunny Florida!

3. Wear a penguin suit.

Snowbirding Biathlon Regulations:

Round 1- Carving on the Water

Participants must complete a round of carving on their surfboards, with at least three turns before hitting the beach. The more turns before reaching the beach will reside in higher points. The participant will be wearing the penguin suit to add difficulty for balance and turns on the board. If the participant falls off their board, they are disqualified for the round!

Round 2 – 50 yd Timed Waddle

Once participants reach the beach, they must sand their boards and race in a 50 yd penguin waddle across the beach. The waddle winner will be competing against the time runs of the other participants. Runners will continue to compete in the penguin suit, adding difficulty to the waddle. Deductions will be made for falling over during the waddle.

The participant with the best score of water carves and run time will be the winner!

Bonus points awarded for the following:

1. Squawking like a penguin during the race.

2. Oldest Snowbirding competitor.

3. Dismounting from the surfboard in a penguin dive.

Tampa Bay Sewing & Quilting Expo

2010-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

This past week my mom and I went to the Tampa Bay Sewing & Quilting Expo. It was a blast and I learned a lot of new techniques and made some great projects. Oh, and let me add almost all of these projects are now on my UFO list. Three hours for a class is just not enough!

My first class was with Karen Pharr, entitled "Zany Zinnias." This class opened my eyes to new forms of quilting. I always see quilts with straight lines, blocks, strips, etc. Zany Zinnias let us create more of an artistic quilt. We used applique to create the zinnias. The original format we were following had the zinnias floating in space. I decided to add stems so they appeared to be growing. This piece still has a lot of work to go, including finished the flowers and then quilting and binding. It was a great start to the class weekend!My second class was "Purrfect Fun with Kitty Claudine." I have always wanted to try a "Melly & Me" pattern but never got around to ordering one. This class included the pattern and materials to make the cat. Again three hours is not enough, but she will be finished eventually! Reading through the pattern gave me some ideas on how to complete and finish my pattern. For example in the pattern the designer had you hand stitch on the ears at the end. For me, the less hand stitching I have to do, the better! I added the ears in when we sewed the bodies together. The class was taught by Colleen Casey, who runs the Some Art Fabric internet store. Great person and great fabrics! I shopped at her booth at the expo, but more on that later.

This year my mom and I decided to add night classes to our list. We tried to get in as many classes as possible! My first night class was with Allen Smith from Keep Me In Stitches. He was a great guy, whose store donated the use of Janome sewing, embroidery, and felting machines for the expo and classes. In his class we use three different machines to create this felted purse.

I enjoyed the class so much I got an early birthday present from my mom! A brand new felting machine! But sorry Allen, were Pfaff girls. We are loyal customers of Tess's at Scrap and Sew. The machine is just so pretty, the Janome version doesn't have a butterfly! I foresee felted monsters in the future!
Day 2 - woke up exhausted but so excited for more classes! My first class was with Nelly Vileikis to create her "Small Whirligig" pattern. The pattern we used was a miniature of her larger pattern. The pattern was pretty simple to make, and again without enough class time I wasn't able to add the 'whirligig' part. At each point is a pocket, and imagine these pockets slightly stitched over to create more of a curve. That way the pinwheels will appear to be in motion. While doing this pattern I had a great idea result from its making! Each point triangle is folded over to create a pocket. Monsters can have pockets!
In the afternoon I had my least favorite class of the weekend. The class was well taught and many of the other students enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I expected at all. The class was called "Mixed Media Meets Machine Embroidery." To me I expected playing with different types of fabrics and adding embroidery designs. I didn't expect a pillow out of it. Going back on the site I see an image that looks exactly like what I created, so shame on me I guess! The class was fun and I will more than likely give it to my husband's grandmother for Christmas. I did learn you could curl fleece, how cool is that! And besides, unbeknown to me, my faith in the instructor Pam Damour will be completely fulfilled in a class on Saturday.
For my second night class, mom and I not knowingly, signed up for the same class! That of course made it extra fun. The class was "Mixed Media Journal Quilt" with Kim Montagnese. This class was a lot of fun, we started the quilts with stamping a saying we had brought with us. My mom did a cat saying and I chose a quote from the Cheshire Cat! WE also used iron on transfers from vintage photographs. I found this moon girl and thought she just looked extremely out there! The angry eye on the moon was a pure happy accident occurring after I transferred the image. Next will be quilting, a fun binding and fun holder. Mom plans on adding some cat toys to her holder. What would a mad person have, a mad hat perhaps?
On to the final day, day 3. At this point I can't wait to be able to sleep past 6:30 am (morning classes start at 8:30) but also sad that it's the final day.

The first class was with Debby Kratovil teaching "Coffee Filter Fans." This was a bring your own machine class, and luckily mom had a class with her right after mine where she needed to bring it too. This was my first attempt at paper piecing. Her technique using coffee filters broke down into such easy steps, I found it very easy to accomplish! I was a little sad to add the points to the fans, never have I had such good points before! She gave us a pattern to use with these to create a 'Drunkard's Path' quilt, but I see crazy lollipops instead!
My last class of the expo was by far my favorite, and again as I mentioned, refueled my faith in Pam Damour. This class was called "Thread Painting" and was exactly what I had hoped for. I have always wanted to try thread painting but never experimented with free motion before. The class started a little hectic due to confusing/conflicting schedules, no fault to Pam. But once we got started I was hooked! She gave us options of flours to paint onto fabric. There was an assortment, one of which was daises in a vase. As soon as I saw it, my brain screamed "Vangogh!!" Since I knew I wasn't yet comfortable with free motion, I could make my base painting layer much looser to fit with my thread style. The painting as rather fun, we used Fantastix applicators that I have never used before instead of straight brushes. I used a yellow, blue, and red to create the base fabric print. Then after drying we went to sewing machines and did free motion on top of the painting. I started with the vase first to get in to the motion, since I knew it was the most controlled line I wanted. Then I kept switching thread colors and went to town! I have one layer left of a bright orange to add a bit more highlight. Again this being a class with Pam, her use of the fabric was to then create a pillow. But me, no way! I'm framing this baby. This is too cool to be a pillow I'll never use. I just adored this class and want to do more like this!
So after all the classes, it was time to shop at the vendor's in the expo. What fun! I got a lot of precut fabric from Some Art Fabric's booth, a dog Christmas jelly roll quilt kit from The Gypsy Quilter. I got Amy Butler's Liverpool pattern, fabric to make it, a book on needle felting, and a most surprised find "Quilting with the Muppets!" Who knew!!

All in all it was a fantastic three days and I must thank, thank, thank my mom for helping it happen! After this rough last year, with out her support I would not have been able to go or gasp, shop! Love you mom!

Crafty Accessories

2010-02-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

With the sewing expo next week, I wanted to show more of my crafty side. Part of which was the little sewing kit bag I made last week.

This week I wanted wearable accessories. I made three headbands, one bandanna, and one wristlet. Might make more wristlets before next week, they were so cute! The Bandanna was made from one I already have. The headbands and wristlets designs are from the book Sew Cute.

Crafty Goodness Day!

2010-02-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today was an ugly rainy day, so to turn it around I declared a Crafty Goodness day!

First item completed - alchemy request for a custom ninja:Second item completed - Patchwork Cat I started playing with layering of fabrics and thought why not make a plush from it! I'm going to continue playing with fabrics like this to see what else I can create. She is available in the shop.

Third item completed - Sewing Kit zipper bag.In two weeks I will be going to the Tampa Sewing Expo. I am so excited! I went last year and had so much fun, learning new ideas and becoming inspired. For many of the classes I signed up for you need to bring a basic sewing kit of scissors, needles, etc. Last year they were stuffed in a bag all over the place - this year a nice little bag!

It's only 6 pm, I think I can get another project started at least!

Handmade3D APP!!

2010-02-04T19:29:00.001-08:00

Hello Iphone and Ipod users! The brand new Handmade3D App is now available for free on Itunes!

Ever see the claw game at arcades or even in front of Walmart? Now play the Claw game with Handmade3D plushies! And it won't cost you any quarters!

My wonderful husband created the game for me. It has links to his other games and a direct link to the etsy shop! Just search '3Doodle' in itunes for his other games. There is a great fishing game as well.

Busy Bee

2010-02-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

This week has been very busy and very productive! I have a long list of 'crafty goodness' projects I want to complete and started prepping for some. I also have been ordering supplies, which three came yesterday!

Me being the non-quilter, has stumbled upon a wonderful fabric site. Even if you are a non-quilter like me, this site is amazing for its deals! Last Saturday I purchased a deal of the day, getting this jelly roll for $21.95!! I know, amazing. I love this site. All bow down to the Missouri Star Quilt Co. I purchased the Sweetwater "Make Life" line. Love the polka dots, designs, and words. I will be using it later on in a Jelly Roll Quilt. Not sure which one yet, but I just couldn't pass up on the deal! Great shipping too. Ordered on a Saturday, received on Wednesday.

The etsy shop has also been doing well, a nice little uphill climb for Valentine's Day. Three sales this week, including a custom. Below are the fabric choices as a sneak peek for a custom order. Should be a lot of fun to make, I am going to try something different for the eyes this time.I started sewing the sashing for the paint box quilt and have finished some content for a super awesome project, more details when it gets finished. I also experimented with making a tote bag. Turned out pretty cute, but not as big as I had hoped. Still cute, it will work as a library book bag.

I must now return to that pile of fabric. The plush is itching to be created!

Handmade3D Munny

2010-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

This spring my first show will be a Munny vinyl toy show at the Skatepark of Tampa on Feb. 27th. When I signed up for this event I was very excited about creating a munny based on fabric. I had all intentions of having my munny for sale at the show. That is no longer accurate. After I created this munny, she is now my munny.

I knew I wanted to create a munny girl. I wanted to use my signature eyes, which I knew I could probably draw on her. But then I thought my work is known for fabric, so why not make the eyes of the same felt I use on my plush dolls. From there I thought why not make a little dress for her. Then I found this awesome fabric that could be a bandanna. Knowing how small this outfit would be, I first made a practice piece from muslin to get the overall shape and size down.Once I had the template, it was time for fabric! I played with a few options, but found this stripe fabric remnant I had left over from a plush. I thought the stripes worked well for a skirt. On the pieces went and then time for the base. My original idea was for her to stand on a spool of thread holding a needle, which connected to the spool. I played with some spools I had, building a couple up, but it didn't look right. I bought the wooden spool off of etsy and filled it with batting and then the chosen thread color. I added her needle and button earrings.
She doesn't have a name yet, but oh is she crafty!

Paintbox Quilt Along - Blocks Complete!

2010-01-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

For my first quilt along, I went at it full throttle! In 10 days I completed 80 blocks! Much faster than I had previously anticipated. I thought it would take much longer to make all the blocks, but I used many many scraps and only had to make one trip to Joann's to buy some extra polka dot fabrics. Making the blocks was a lot of fun, next comes the sashing to complete the quilt top. I found a white on white polka dot fabric! It should go nicely.

Blue and Greens and New Idea!

2010-01-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

This week I have been super productive. This morning after finishing some details for work I went back to the sewing table! Here are the next 10 paintbox quilt blocks. A couple of greens and introducing the blues!
As I was sewing these quilt blocks, every once in a while I would have a small scrap piece. I have been keeping scraps from the past year in these cute little baskets I got for a $1 a piece at a Joann's sale. Looking at them today I thought those little scraps would be great to make a 2009 scrap crazy quilt. I have no idea how big it will be and what it's end use will be for, but it sounds like a plan to use them up! As you can see in the picture in the back, a thrift store find for fifty cents, Scraps Happen!

Paintbox Quilt Along progress

2010-01-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

After a week full of prep class work, and then week 1 of classes, I decided to take a sewing day!

I, the non quilter, have completed ten more blocks for the quilt along. Continuing with my theme of polka dots, I decided to scale down the craziness down a bit. I will be using the main colors of green, blue, and purple so hopefully all the paint blocks will work together later on. So here are the next ten green blocks!

Paintbox Quilt Along

2010-01-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

I received a wonderful Christmas present from my mom this past holiday: Layer Cake, Jelly Roll, and Charm Quilts book. I'm trying to get more into quilting and it looks like a great quilting book. Only problem is, I am a bit strapped at the moment to buy some jelly rolls, layer cakes, and charm packs!

So for the time being I found a Quilt Along to participate in. You can find all the information here, at Oh, Fransson blog. It will be a paintbox quilt along. I have decided to use polka dots prints (my favorite) and solids. By posting this information and my first two blocks here I hope to keep this as a resolution and complete it in a time frame. Along with the host, I plan to give myself 10 weeks to complete it. In my terms, til the end of Winter quarter 2010. I have 80 blocks to make, and hope to quilt it in that time frame as well.

Actually scratch that, I have 78 blocks to make. :)

The Choices Bag

2010-01-08T14:08:00.001-08:00

I know this bag isn't all that impressive, but today it was a fabulous project. Let me explain the reasoning behind this bag. I am a computer animation instructor and teach using the computer for my day job. The past few weeks I have been on vacation. Two of those weeks were true vacation away from home, visiting family. This past week I have been in uber-work mode, trying to finish everything for the new quarter next week.

This past week I have had so many ideas of things to make for myself and for my shop. But alas with the new quarter on Monday I have had no time to do so. And I'm still not done with all the work! I'm in the final stages of working on prep work for the students.

This afternoon I came up with some ideas for class projects where the student needs to be given something at random. I thought they could choose the topic from a bag. Before I used simple plastic grocery bags. But today I thought since my eyes were going crazy from the monitor and my hands were itching to play with fabric, I would make one!

This bag was extremely quick and easy, under 30 mins. I followed a simple pattern from Amy Butler's InStitches book. It's the pattern for her recipe card holder, but thought it would work perfectly for my task.

I think it says something when you start implementing craft into your day job!

Time to go back to the paying work.

**Update - 1/14/10**
The choices bag went to work this week and added a lot of confusion to the students. Just what I wanted! Giving out random numbers and random topics for them to research and/or create from worked very well. Students became engaged and participated in classes with each other. Will definitely continue it in future classes!

A Handmade Christmas

2010-01-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

Since the holiday has passed, I can now show all of the handmade gifts I gave this year!
The first was a pair of hand towels for my mother-in-law. The embroidery worked pretty well on the towel fabric.

The second is a table topper I made for my grandma. It's so big, she might use it for a lap quilt instead!

The third is a table runner I made for my mom. We all laugh that I continue to say I'm not a quilter, but apparently I'm getting better at it.

The angel wall hanging was for my grandma-in-law. She loves angels and this applique was fun to make. Mom made the base and cut out all the pieces, her favorite part. I did the applique and stitching, my favorite part.

The ruler holder was a gift to me from my mom. Let me rephrase that. Back in February '09 my mom and I went to a sewing expo here in Tampa. She bought the pattern for the ruler holder bag and said she would make it for me for Christmas. I opened the box it was in, and withdrew the pattern! We made the bag together over the few days I was there. The embroidery design is from UrbanThreads.

And last are pictures of my flamingo guest bath. The towels I embroidered with my mom while she was here for Thanksgiving. The wall hanging we made over the Christmas break. I love having time off to just sew! This February my mom is coming back to Tampa for us to go to the sewing expo again. Hopefully will get more projects done at that time!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well.

The Tale of Schwabbie!

2009-12-03T16:30:00.000-08:00

Schwabbie is a pillow monster I made in the summer, with long floppy arms and sweet green ears. Schwabbie went for sale online with no luck, and traveled with me to some craft shows to see many smiles. But he got his biggest smile this week!

A few weeks ago I had plush work accepted to a Christmas show at the Tampa Artist Emporium, a local indie gallery. I dropped off some holiday inspired plushies as well as ornaments. The week after, for Thanksgiving, my parents flew in so I took them to the gallery to see my work. While there the owner remembered my work and asked me to bring in more plushies, some un-holiday inspired and more weird designs. I decided to take my big pillow monsters since at craft shows they gain attention, but didn't ever sell.

This week Jay and I went to the gallery to drop off Schwabbie and some friends of his. Shelby, the gallery owner, loved him and his friends. They were setting up for an event this Friday, the Winter Wonderland, and one of the volunteers that was helping setup saw Schwabbie and fell in love! She put him aside immediately and bought him for her niece. So after all this time Schwabbie found a home! And I may have found a new niche to sell! :) If you're in the area, the Winter Wonderland event is this Friday evening, but the show is going on all month.

I told a friend this story and he suggested that I post some of my progress work of my plushies. So as a treat, I have below some skecthes I came up with when I originally created Schwabbie. In the sketches you can also see Huggie the Hippie, who sold online a long time ago!

Black Friday to Cyber Monday!

2009-11-24T06:14:00.001-08:00

With Thanksgiving this week, and Christmas around the corner, it's time to shop! Handmade3D will be having Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales!

From 11/27 to end of day 11/30 all orders will receive free worldwide shipping!

Please note this offer does not include "Penny Eye Pillow Monsters." However if you purchase a Penny Eye Monster, I will cut the priority shipping in half, having it be $5.15 to ship a Penny Monster. If you purchase anything else with your Penny Monster, they will be shipped free.

Keep in mind those silly little PJ's are also on sale! Buy a PJ with any other item and the PJ is reduced to $5 each!

All shipping charges and PJ discounts in those dates will be refunded through Paypal. Happy Shopping!

Holizaar Deux!

2009-11-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

This past weekend flew by with fabric, festive music, and sales! Holizaar Deux was a good/bad show relationship. Here are some images of my space!The show was well promoted by Coralette, aka The Crafty Hag. We had some very nice traffic for day 1, not as much for day 2. Some errors that were probably unforseen and unavoidable was a fancy-schmancy white tent craft fair outside, a block away. With all those white tents, probably lost some views. Day 2 their was a charity walk going on, which closed some of the streets for an hour.

As far as sales go, I made enough to get back the booth fee and to pay for lunch. But that's it. No actual profit. The show was fun and I met a lot of great people, but I don't plan on doing it next year. I didn't hit my target audience and the space was too expensive. But it was still a great experience and hopeuflly will bring people back to my shop!

I'm worried about a similar occurence at my next show in two weeks. But hopefully with that being in Decemeber, more people will be thinking of Christmas gifts for kids and will buy, buy, buy!

Mildred Helms 10th Annual Fall Festival

2009-11-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

It was a hit! A success! Smashing! I exceeded my own expectations. I originally signed up for this event knowing it was at an elementary school function. I had a few reservations about it, but thought it would be geared towards my prime audience. And boy was I right! The event started at 10 am, and I literally sold my first plush at 10:01 am! There was a steady stream of viewers and sales the entire day. Thank you everyone that helped make it a success! Here are some pictures from today's festival:

See that frog and bird there? Sold! You can also see the tip of the bear's ear. He was the first sold!This time I tried a different price point and tactic for the little PJ's and boy did it work! Overall I sold 19 plush items! That included 3 turkeys! Fantastic day and hope the luck continues! Most of the new guys will be in the shop soon.

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

2009-11-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

It's almost turkey time! Which means all of us crafters need to get our butt in gear! The turkey's are done, so now on to some more festive plushies for the season! These turkey's can be seen this weekend at the 10th Annual Fall Festival at Mildred Helms Elementary school in Largo. Come for games, rides, and plushies! After this weekend, any turkey's not sold will be put up in my etsy shop.

p.s. I made my first international sale this week! Australia!

My Creative Space . . .

2009-10-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Has moved! Woo hoo! When my husband and I first moved into our house last year we put a pool table in the loft and took the second bedroom as our office. In the past year we had a sun room put on the back of the house and the pool table finally moved out there! This week I took everything from the office and rearranged it into the empty loft space. Here are the before pictures:
The office worked, but it was tight. You can see my fabric stash on the floor next to my desk! And the loft finally empty! The pool table belongs down stairs. You could play up here, but there were tight corners.Woo! Organization! Space! It's almost finished. Where the ironing board currently is, I want to get a hutch of some sort to store fabric so it can get off the floor of the old office! Have you seen the creative space of Jenny's at All Sorts? That's what I dream of and hope to find at the flea market this weekend.

May I add my husband is on vacation and doesn't know about this yet! :)

Like creative spaces? Check out Kootoyoo's site for tons of inspiration!

Art-Oberfest!

2009-10-11T16:27:00.001-07:00

Today was my first craft show! It went very well and was located in St. Pete. It was incredibly hot, but we had enough shade for most of the day. We did have to keep moving with the shade though! We ended up sitting on three different sides at different times!

First the setup, tons of energy and excited!
Up front we have the Halloween corner! So many people loved the mini mummies!

Next came the newest item, giraffes! Lots of people loved these, their necks are positionable so they can look anywhere!
In the corner we have the pillow monster and the another new item. Thinking about calling them hooded plushies, but not certain yet.

And on the right corner we had the pink collection. Be sure to look up! Those ninjas are sneaky hiding in the corners!
And here is the final result! In the pink closet organizer are more plush. Some small pjs and some belly plush monsters. The overall day was a lot of fun. I made back the booth fee and then some! Can't wait for the next show, but boy do I need a break!P.s. We were right in front of the food, great traffic!

Status Update and Inspiration

2009-10-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have been sewing like crazy! I think I will be able to make my goal of 100 for next Sunday, the 11th at Art-Oberfes t. I have 34 left to make in 7 days, I think it can be done. See my work this week below!
There are a couple duplicates, but not that many. I love making originals! I used all of my small printed fabric eyes up. I still have a few larger eyes left over from my Gotcha's which I may or may not use. I have two black belly monsters sitting next to me waiting to be stuffed.

After sewing straight for a few days, well almost straight. Had to finish off a syllabi and work a little on a 3D project, but sure felt like sewing straight. Anyways, today my husband and I went out to an art festival for creative inspiration. He's trying to finish up his first level of his ipod game and I needed some inspiration to finish the last 40 plush. We went to an art festival and saw mostly the same type of 'florida' art we see at all art shows. But a few booths stood out, and one in particular. Please check out Ed King's work on his site! His work stood out from the croud, just like I hope to next weekend. He has some great, fun designs and I just love the line work. Fun bright colors have always appealed to me and now I'm inspired to make more plush! Creativity is striking again, time to get out my sketch book.

September number crunching

2009-09-30T11:43:00.001-07:00

I feel very fortunate to say that my sales again have increased 100%! I had two sales in August and four sales in September. Now I could be greedy and say one of those sales was an order of 3 plushies, but let's look at sales itself instead.

Now with the etsy sales, I made a high profit on ebay which was very needed for all the supplies I had to buy for my upcoming shows!

October's goal is to continue the 100% increase each month. Should hopefully not be a problem since I have a show on October 11th. I have 55 more plushies to make for a goal of 100 at the show. I think this will give me a good variety of plush to sell, but means I have to get sewing! I need to make 6 a day, back to work!

Frankenstein has been featured!

2009-09-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Frankenstein has been featured on Myshoppingconnection.com Woo! So excited for the publicity, I still love this guy! Thanks Erika from MyShoppingConnection!

Banner Complete!

2009-09-21T14:47:00.001-07:00

I am one step closer to my first craft show on Oct. 11th at St. Anthony's Park in St. Pete. I completed my banner over the weekend! I initially was going to have it made, but my motives with the business is to create plush designs by hand. So I made it myself!

The overall banner is quilted together, pink letters appliqued, and purple letters embroidered. Hopefully people will see it from afar and go "Let's look over there!" "Buy me a monster, Mommy!"

My Creative Space . . .

2009-09-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

This week I have been making miniature versions of Frankenstein! He is so wonderfully plush, but I received an etsy convo last week about someone wondering if I would have sales. Unfortunately he took to long to put on sale!

So I decided to make miniature versions and she bought both! Thanks Stefanie! So this week I am trying to create more mini Franks, in case the price point is the issue on big Frank not selling.

My first craft show is October 11th, that I need to prepare for. I'm wondering how many plush to bring, 100? Any ideas anyone? Also wondering if I should make more pumpkins. They're cute, but don't necessarily stand out. Hmm . . .

P.S. This was my first creative space post! See more creative spaces at kootoyoo!

Accepted to The Needle!

2009-09-14T15:08:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone, I have exciting news! I have been accepted to The Needle blog! Click side bar image or click here. The Needle is a great blog I have been following for months for inspiration on plush artists. Plush artists from around the world post their creative works to this blog to share their designs and talents. I am so happy and honored to be selected to post their as well! Now have to come up with a great 'first' post, perhaps Frankenstein?

Halloween Items

2009-09-08T17:02:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for Halloween! But at the same time, I hope it takes a long time to get here! I just posted to my etsy shop a new Halloween monster. This monster can get unraveled if he doesn't stay happy!

While making him I came up with a brilliant idea! Hope to create his brilliant idea by the weekend. Stay tuned . . .

Updating the site - Updated

2009-09-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Please pardon the constant change of appearance! I am currently updating my blog so it is more customized by me!I think this will be the design for now! I am using my favorite fabric as background, it matches my avatar and my appearance in etsy.

Craft Show Table Cover

2009-08-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

This has been a very productive weekend! I have gotten a lot of work done. Two plush monsters added to my shop and finished the covers for my craft show tables! Last weekend Jay and I went to the local Flea Market looking for tables for the craft shows. I found one online that I absolutely loved. It was 6 ft long, and folded in half with a handle to make it easier to carry. We both have short cars so thought this would be perfect. However, cheapest we could find online was $80 a piece! And we would need two! That's a bit expensive for the tables. So we went to the flea market thinking we could find some of the old 4 ft card tables to use instead. But low and behold we found the exact table I was looking at online! And there were two of them! A total steal, because they both still have great condition. $25 each! We were amazed and got bought instantly. Quickest trip ever to the flea market, loved it.

So this weekend went to Bed Bath and Beyond looking for a sheet to convert into a table cover. Sheets are so expensive! And who cares how soft it is for covering a table? So instead we went to JoAnn's and bought fabric to make my own. Now I didn't save any money, probably spent more than would have at Bed Bath. But I love them! They turned out perfect and will coordinate with my sign.
As soon as I put the cover over the table, Thirteen ran under. She just loves pretending to live in forts! You can see her in the back left, contemplating her next adventure.

I have a matching one in pink which will be the main table when I do 1-table shows. Still working on my sign, have to learn a bit more about my new machine and wait for a hoop to come in.

Book Review: Crafting a Business

2009-08-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been reading Crafting a Business. I must say this is one of my favorite books so far. It is very inspirational, and it is one of the newest books I got from the library. The book goes through almost 30 different women artists in all different craft fields. Amy Butler is mentioned, as well as Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes! From jewelry to antiques, to running a business online from home or a brick and mortar shop. Each woman(or small group) gets roughly 4 pages to show fantastic pictures of their spaces and crafts and to tell their story. They each give tips on what they have learned to do and what not to do. There is a small inspirational section, look at designs for business identity's, as well as a business section in the back to starting your own business.

Other books I have read have far more business topics in running a business. But this book is far more inspiring. In some margins there are quotes from the women which are inspiring as well. My favorite quote is from Te Junk Gypsy Company: "If you want to start your own business, don't copy everybody else. You can really sell it better if it comes from what you believe in." I thought this was a perfect statement for my mind set. I am reading all of these business craft books to try and break into the business. But you have to keep in mind your own opinions at all times. don't do something you are not comfortable with!

I really like this book, and once I have a higher profit than loss, I might buy this book for my own library.

Support Local!

2009-08-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

So the past few months my sewing machine has been driving me crazy. The buttons on the screen kept going in reverse. As in I select a stitch, it goes to the previous menu! Then whenever I finally got the stitch, and set my knot settings, to click OK I would have to click three inches above the button! Needless to say it was in dire need of service. Then it started switching stitches in the middle of sewing. That was the last straw! I took it into my local dealer to get serviced. Found out she was having a fantastic sale. Turn in your old embroidery machine, get the new machine at 1/2 price!
Luckily Sewing Santa found out (i.e. Mom) and bought me a new sewing machine! Oh how wonderful it is. The deal for the machine was Pfaff just released Creative Vision 5.5. The store had V.5 to sell and I was one of the few lucky ones to get it!
During my lessons to learn the new machine, which by the way is absolutely fantastic, I found out I am able to post my business cards there and a plush monster! Below is the monster I decided to show at the store. I got the front blue fabric and the yellow laurel burch fabric from the store, so thought it would be fitting! The monster also has a laurel burch pocket in the back to hold sewing supplies, ipods, whatever. He turned out really nice, and I really like the colors. Am working on a similar color scheme to sell.
The plush will be sitting in Scrap and Sew in Lutz, FL starting next week. Let's hope it brings business! Buy Handmade, support the local arts!

Book Review: Crafts and Craft Shows

2009-08-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well this week I have been having major problems with my sewing machine and had to take it in for repair. Sniff! So in turn I was able to finish a book this week with all the time left over where I usually would be sewing!

I read "Crafts and Craft Shows" this week to hopefully find ideas on what to do for my upcoming first craft show on December 5th at the Handmade Holiday Bazaar in St. Pete. This book was pretty decent, I didn't learn anything new. But it did help come up with a lot of ideas on how I want to setup my booth. The author writes about crafts shows with a lot of detail in producing the craft, setting up the booth, pricing your work, and dealing with customers. I found it interesting to read, but a little dated. The author did craft shows for roughly 15 years as his sole income. The book is design specifically on what to do and what not to do to make a profit. The book has a few images on examples of craft booths they found selling well. Some of the images I though looked a little tacky, but that could just be my style choice.

If anything, the book made me aware of how much more work there is to craft shows then I thought. And for that I am glad I read it. My list of things I need for the show has gone up, but I think it will make me better prepared. I am glad my first show will be an 8' x 5' space and not a 10' x 10' space. After my first show I can decide if I want to invest in the equipment that is needed for a larger space. I do think I will only be doing shows near holidays, as in I believe that's when my craft will sell the best.

Craft Apron!

2009-08-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have been reading and talking to a lot of people about what they do with their cash at craft shows. Many say they wear an apron to put the money in so they don't have to worry about watching a cash box. I thought this was a great idea and scoured the internet for a free apron tutorial. Found lots of tutorials, and this one is my favorite! Just what I wanted, small and lots of pockets.

Apron Pattern

Book Review: How to Run Your Business Like a Girl

2009-08-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

The past few days I started reading "How to Run Your Business Like a Girl." From the title I thought it would be a fun, inspirational book about women in business and how they run their businesses. I was mostly right. The book is broken into sections about starting a business, guides, being a boss, where you work, and so forth. However, the book does not 'teach' anything. I learned absolutely nothing from the book. For each section/chapter there are a few pages on the actual topic. Then there are three examples from women who run their own businesses describing how they reached the current chapter's topic. Then there is so anywhere from 2 to 6 examples of a questionnaire of other real life women who started their own businesses.

When I started the book I liked the format. I liked reading in depth how these three companies started. And then the individual start up questions and answers. But it go boring and repetitive fast. I found myself reading about these other women, who were inspiring, but not learning anything. The first few chapters were actually inspirational. But after that it seemed like the questions and answers just repeated themselves. And I got bored with the three life story sections. There is no actually 'running your business' information, just ideas from others.

The book itself is a very easy read. Under 200 pages, when I would say 50 or so of those pages are questions and answers. I wouldn't recommend it for learning about how to run a business. But it was a little bit inspirational for a while until I got bored.

Only good thing I got out of this book was two sales on etsy during the time I was reading! At least my shop is still going while I learn how to make it better!

Book Review: The Boss of You

2009-08-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been reading "The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business." This book is by far better than the "Anti 9-5 Guide."

First off, this book is more business minded, but still craft/handmade inspired. The book goes into a lot of sections of starting a business, opening it, and keeping it going. My favorite section was the beginning, where they have you list your goals and you skills. Then they continue on to help creating a mission statement and how to apply it to your goals and overall business plan.

They do not go through the detail of creating a business plan, but do highly suggest you create your own. There is a lot of discussion on budgeting for your business, and they leave it open to an online business or a brick and mortar business.

There is a large section on marketing and advertising which I skimmed through. Most of it read like common sense, but for those with little marketing skills there is good information. They even go into the importance of networking, which should be a no brainer for a start-up business.

The fourth and final section of the book is more around business that are already started. It talks about keeping your business going and how to expand. I figure when I get to that point in my business, I'll recheck out the book and read it.

Overall I really liked this book. It is written with great information, but light-hearted adding in a bit of comedic writing along the way. There are nice examples that help explain what they are discussing, and the authors go into a lot of possible scenarios. This book I would recommend!

Book Review: The Anti 9-5 Guide

2009-08-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

This week I have been reading "The Anti 9-5 Guide: practical career advice for women who think outside the cube."

Overall I would call this book decent, for someone else. I did not receive any help from the book. I like how it is written and structured. Light hearted with many stories of other women who quit their long time careers to do what they truly wanted. Each section is inspirational, if you are still in the mindset of not liking your current job and needing the push to break out.

I am not in that position. I love my current job and its current hours. I hoped this book would be more about business advice on what to do with your career and company such as marketing and branding. There is a nice appendix to other resources of books the author recommends, one of which I am getting out from the library. But as far as business advice their is a lot of information on ideas on how to get information for your intended new career. And lots of advice of "out of the cube" working styles.

Maybe the reason this book does not work for me is I am not in a cube to begin with.

Going Batty!

2009-08-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

I started working on my Fall line this weekend, and went a little batty! I love the design I came up with and made multiples of each. I have two - three more color combinations that I'm going to try as well!

Moving right along!

2009-08-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

I got a lot of important stuff done this week!

1. Accepted into Handmade Holiday Bazaar. My first craft show, very excited. It will be with a lot of ETSY FESTers (The Florida Etsy Street Team) Bought two cheap folding chairs today in fact. Next is the search for the best table.

2. Officially opened my business! I have "Handmade3D" registered with the state and IRS. I have a tax ID. I also opened my Small Business checking account. I'm really doing it! Very excited and a bit nervous. Main goal for Year 1 of Official Business = Break Even!!

3. To accomplish main goal #1, I want to get into more of a business mindset. I'm not jumping into this completely blind. I have base ideas and markets to start with. But to further my chances I ordered about 8 craft business books from the library to help guide my craft research! I will post reviews to them as I complete them. I want all the help I can get to make this not necessarily profitable, although that is a long term goal, but as a successful business.

4. Updated main shipping options for ETSY shop. Sadly my Pillow Monsters will have to stay at priority shipping due to their size, but I was able to switch to first class shipping for the rest of my items and in turn was able to cut shipping in half for those items. I hope this will boost my sales.

5. Since the summer months are slow online sales, finding this myself and through many other sties, I have decided to start working on my fall line. Need to get it done early so I can move on to my holiday line for the craft fair!

6. And finally, today I sent off my submission for STUFFED magazine. I had made a couple fun plushies this week but didn't think they were over the top! So I decided to send "Ulla." I think she encompasses my current style and passion for plush.

Lots of great things happening and can't wait to keep going!

Handmade Holiday Bazaar!

2009-07-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

My luck is on a roll it seems! I was accepted as a vendor at the Handmade Holiday Bazaar in St. Pete! Mark your calendars for December 5th to come and see my display along with many other local artists!

In front of Fiberolgie
411 15th Ave N
St. Petersburg

Time to get sewing!

Mortal Plush Show pictures!

2009-07-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the show!The Art Whino Gallery! My very first plush show!

Having a Blueberry Vodka cocktail before the show! Talking to Jay, wishing me luck. :)

Me in front of my Gotcha family!

Of course my mom and I took many more, but don't need to show all our photo craziness! Three of the Gotcha's are now on sale at Art Whino's online store. In the store section go to the Mortal Plush tab and then go down to the third grouping to find them! Only three are there so I am curious to find out if Bobby was sold!

Update: Craft Hope Dolls

2009-07-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

On the Craft Hope website is an update to the dolls sent to Nicaragua. There are some adorable pictures of girls with their new dolls. And this picture shows one of the suitcases stuffed with dolls, and one of mine is right on top! Look for the doll in the orange polka dot shirt and black skirt with flowers. I hope she is making someone very happy!

Update: Hope Pillow Monster

2009-07-19T09:10:00.001-07:00

Hope has been saved! After discussing her plight with my husband, he said why don't I give her a shirt! Brilliant idea! The rough patch is now hidden and she has been posted to ETSY. Now she can spread her love and courage to others!

Hope Pillow Monster

2009-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I had the noblest of intentions for this monster! I made her to sell on Etsy to give a portion of the profit to my husband's cousin who currently is fighting breast cancer.

Everything was going great. I loved how her hair turned out as spikes, it follows along the back. The seaming around her mouth and eyes never came out so perfect before! The pleats on her skirt were nice and even. I sewed the skirt on and decided to iron the pleats to make sure they would stay straight. And wham, disaster! The iron slips and hits the fleece.

Of course this happens right before I am about to sew her up and there is not enough fleece to fix it. I moved the arms, they were originally supposed to be on the sides like my T-Shirt Producers monster, to try and help cover the mess. I put her in the pillow and stitched her up. From afar you can see nothing wrong! But if you go to pick her up she has a rough patch right under her arm. I can't sell her like this. If I was buying something like this to help cheer someones day and found a rough patch, I would would be disappointed and want my money back.

So instead of giving my cousin-in-law part of the profit, she will get the first Hope Pillow Monster. I hope it cheers her days and gives her something to hug when needed. And hopefully in the times to come I will be able to make more of these to cheer other women's days.

ETSY shop open!

2009-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am excited to announce my ETSY shop is open! Please let me know what you think!

Handmade3D.etsy.com

I had a great trip to Scotland, even supported some local plush artists there! Am full of ideas and can't wait to get started! But this weekend am going to DC for the Mortal Plush show, can't wait!

Ladybug Fly Away Home!

2009-06-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

I was out in my yard this afternoon and found the biggest ladybug I have ever seen! I thought she was so pretty, climbing around my ivy fence.
I went to pick her up, and low and behold! She's a very angry male ladybug! He's upset he keeps getting mistaken for his wife. Silly Ladybug, er . . . Sirbug!

Business Sewing

2009-06-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy with work the past few weeks. Finished final grading yesterday and have to finish a class outline by next Friday for our big trip. But I did manage to get a few things made! I call them "Business Sewing" due to not a monster, but a necessity. Both patterns by Amy Butler. The business card holder was real quick and easy, but does not hold many cards! I was going to bring it with me to Scotland but I want to take more than 6 cards!

The ipod cover was difficult, many layers of stabilizer hidden inside, and then the bending of fabric to close it off. Never again! But it's done and matches my laptop cover.

The Gotcha Family is going on summer vacation!

2009-06-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

To Washington, DC! I have been accepted to the Mortal Plush show! I am so excited! This is my first show, and they will be making a book of the show as well. First show and published work!!

I am so excited!! To learn more about the show, please see Mortal Plush's website.

Studeny Body 2009!

2009-06-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

Presenting the Student Body Class of 2009! These students are going right to the top!

At our school we have a faculty show each summer. Last summer I showed a mixed media cross stitch I made. This summer I wanted to show my new craft, plush. The idea came from my students. As an instructor, we here all sorts of excuses and comments by students! We get to know them and even when they don't mention something, we can understand what they are thinking. Two of my students in the Student Body of 2009 are actual comments I have heard. The other two I refer to as studentisms. They don't say it, but I'm sure they are thinking of it sometime!

Here are some closeups of the girl student, since she got pushed to the back a little.

Challenge #1 - T-Shirt

2009-06-01T13:40:00.001-07:00

As part of the Crafty Summer Series, here is my piece for the first challenge: T-Shirts!

For this challenge we had to take a T-Shirt and re-purpose it somehow! I found this old T-Shirt of mine I got in NYC when I went to see The Producers on Broadway. I love the shirt, but it wore out and doesn't fit anymore. So I knew it was the shirt I wanted to use!
So the first step was to trim out the front. I had an idea to take the text and apply it on a monster. Once I had it cut, I decided to turn it into either a belt or a head band for the monster. Headband it is!
Next was to pick fabric and layout the eyes and mouth to get the right proportion. I knew this monster was going to be bigger than I usually do, so I went and bought a Soft-N-Crafty pillow at 12"x16". This helped build it's form so I wouldn't have to use up my stuffing! Luckily it was on sale at Jo-Ann's that weekend too! Once I had the pillow I took a little stuffing out and sewed it creating the legs, removing the excess material.Once I had the pieces, it was time sew! I appliqued the eyes and arms on first, then sew over top to make sure they would stick to the form. Next arms sewn and stuff, then the body making sure to add felt for his spikes and my tag on the leg. I even appliqued the Producers logo on the back to keep with the shirt! Once all parts were sewn, I stuffed the pillow form in, with help from my husband! Word to the wise make your seam larger than three inches! I closed the seam and hand sewn the headband to the monster so it would be sure to stay on. I am very happy with this monster, and am definitely Flaunting My Stuff!

Sneak Peek on next project!

2009-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

So I have made a few plushy items this past few weeks, but I cannot post them yet. They are a secret! so until then I thought I would show a sneak peek of my next project: The Student Body!
Our school is having a faculty show this summer, with no theme. For some reason I came up with this idea, and of course inspired from my students!
More to come . . .

The Toy Society - My First Drop!

2009-05-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

I made my first drop for the Toy Society today, at the local zoo! It was a little tricky, had to get there early enough so no one would notice me leaving the sweet bug! When we left, almost four hours later, little bug was gone so hopefully someone took her! She was left in the "Mommy Oasis" spot, so hopefully a mommy will give her a good home!

Craft Hope - Dolls for orphans

2009-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Absolutely love this, am going to see how many I can make!

Update 5/22/09: My little doll family is on its way to Virgina Beach, and then to Nicaragua!

Kala joins the Luau!

2009-05-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

Here she is! Kala's ballet practice ran long, so she was late to meet Kao at the luau. She was going to get into a game of limbo, but thought she better get party drinks for Kao and herself first.

Luau Anyone?

2009-05-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you go to a backyard luau, be careful if you run into Kao here! He's a little temperamental. He wants to juggle fire but his girl friend won't let him. Where is she anyway?

Long Kats

2009-05-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

After taking a crazy quilting class in March I found I love layering strips of fabrics together. I was playing with fabrics and thought it could be fun to make a softie out of stripes. And cats have tons of stripes!

Introducing the Gotcha Family!

2009-04-21T15:46:00.001-07:00

The Gotcha’s are a family of five different personalities, all trying to express themselves and their wishes for the outside world to see and to understand each other.

Hope Gotcha is a dreamer. She is not sure what she wants to do with her life yet, but it open to all possibilities. She looks to the sky to imagine something for her to hold on to.Bobby Gotcha is a little frantic and needs a vacation. He is stressed to the point of his stuffing breaking out of his body. He is in college and is unsure of what to do with his life.
Zander Gotcha is very upset with the world. He lost his job at the candy factory and is unsure when he will be able to find new work. He wants to take care of his family and does not want to disappoint his wife Merry.
Merry Gotcha is the mom of the family and loves all her children. She especially loves her new Baby and holds her tight. Even while Baby sleeps, she will not let go of her devotion and will forever keep her baby embraced in her arms.
The Gotcha Family was created as an entry for the “Mortal Plush: I am not your toy” show.

Laptop Cover

2009-04-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

I love my laptop, I have a great big screen that works very well for working in 3D programs. Problem is I could never find a laptop bag or cover that works for it. I found a small piece of luggage I use to transport it, but even that's tight. Solution = Create my own! I am so happy with this, look at those lines line up! Design by Amy Butler.

I'm not crying!

2009-04-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

My name is Wallflower. I was not invited to the dance, but I wish I was! It's sunny outside but I'm all alone in here. Sniff. . .

Photo Album

2009-04-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

I went to the store to get a photo album to hold all the pictures of my softie creatures and couldn't find anything fun. So I decided to make my own! I bought a cheap ten dollar album that had a plastic sleeve protector. I used the sleeve protector to make to size reference and then went and had some fun with it! Side name used photo fabric.

Now my softies have a photo home!

Easter Wreath

2009-04-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

So after making the bunny table runner for Easter, I realized I don't have any other Easter decorations besides for a few rabbits! So here's a wreath I made just for that occasion. I tried a few different varities of the wreath itself and types of eggs, and this came out to be my favorite! I got the bunny as a gift, who she got it from Pier 1.

Love Rocker

2009-03-13T13:42:00.001-07:00

This is Love Rocker. He loves to jam out but has a wild side. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is sporting the new Handmade3D label! I guess that means he has a record deal. :)

Pinky Fish

2009-03-02T14:00:00.001-08:00

This special fish was caught in my backyard pond. I hope there are more like him in there!

Blossom Bunny

2009-02-22T16:41:00.001-08:00

I found Blossom Bunny hopping around my back yard this weekend. He is just so excited that spring is coming!

Cross Stitch

2009-01-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

For the past five years or so I have been creating cross stitch pieces in my spare time.
Below are a few I have done!"Starry Night" was the first cross stitch I did to get back into it after a ten year gap. It took a few months during my spare time.
A common theme I chose after that was antique Singer sewing machine compositions. My mother has three different ones similar to this that I created for her.

This was my first own cross stitch design. I combined traditional methods with ribbon embroidery.Recently I have dabbled with painting the fabric and creating my own cross stitch designs on top of it. I found watercolors on the fabric work very well to create light colors to stitch on top of.
~Ellen

First Table Runner!

2009-01-30T08:03:00.001-08:00

I am proud to say I have completed my first table runner! Done with applique and quilting.
Here is a close up of the bunny:
~Ellen

Current Softies!

2009-01-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, below are some softies I have created in the past few months. I have watched my mother sew for years and apparently some of it sunk in!
Her name is Bitesy and she is my first softie! Design from Kate Sutton.

This is Dirk. He is my first own design. He is jealous of Bitesy's spikes and wishes to he has a tail.
This is Thistle. Thistle is a greedy little Christmas gnome. He comes out when he smells candy canes & egg nog. He likes to steal ornaments from Christmas trees to put in his hole in the wall.
For the holidays I made peppermints since I was in a sewing mood!

That's all for now, more to come when the machine beckons!
~Ellen