Getting Ready for Valentine's Day

You'd think that I'd be one to hate Valentine's Day. It's very rare that I have a Valentine on Valentine's Day, but for some reason I adore this holiday. Valentine's Day is my second favorite holiday for which to craft (Halloween is numero uno). Here are some Valentine's Day plushies I've already made for my Etsy shop.

The Perfect Boyfriend

Large Kawaii Raccoon Plushie

Ninja and Anatomical Heart Plushies

Each of these plushies (and smaller versions of the kawaii raccoon) are available in my Etsy shop.

I am also open for custom orders, so just send me a convo through Etsy or drop me an e-mail (see "Contact Me" above).

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know I haven't posted at all this year, but thought that this might be as good a time as any to start. I want to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine's Day whether you're single or not (still single here). Here is a Valentine plushie that I made for my grandmother. It's cupid, complete with polymer clay bow and arrow.

I've been doing a lot of plushies since December and have improved quite a bit. I don't know if I'll get around to posting pics of the plushies I've made over the past few months on this blog. If you're interested in seeing what I've been up to, you can view all my creations on deviantART.

Much love,

It Was A Happy Halloween!

I'm the third zombie from the left.

Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday, but unfortunately the past few years have been pretty lackluster because I didn't really have anyone to celebrate it with. This year was the best Halloween I've had in a long time! First, I got out of my creative slump and made a pumpkin plushie for my niece (see previous post) which she loved. While playing JMKit's Halloween game, which was released yesterday, I noticed that I make a cameo as a zombie at the end (see picture above). How awesome is that? To be featured in a game made by your favorite artist is really an honor, and as a zombie nonetheless! Finally, I spent the evening making cute little Halloween treat bags with my friend Jason. I hadn't seen Jason in several years and we had tons of laughs while catching up. He just bought a new home and this was his first year handing out treats to the neighborhood kids and I was glad to help out. I didn't wear a costume, but wore a $5 tee I bought at Walmart that had a rib cage and a stitched up heart on it. My monster hoodie came in handy as the night got colder. I did get a little freaked out at one point during the night. The street was free of trick or treaters and I looked up and saw Michael Myers lumbering down the street. He stopped in the middle of the street and turned around and stared at us for a few seconds. The costume was really good, so I was a bit uneasy for a few minutes. lol Even though I didn't get all dressed up and attend any parties, I still had a great time! Thanks to my great friends and Michael Myers for making this a very memorable Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin plushie I made for my niece, Allie, for Halloween this year.

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and safe Halloween!

The Shark Hoodie

I'm super stoked about this creation! I received a request in my House of Plush Etsy shop the other day from a customer who wanted a shark hoodie as a Halloween costume similar to the monster hoodie I currently have listed. At first, I wasn't going to take the order because of my lack of confidence in my abilities, especially when it came to making the fin. While mulling it over, I googled "shark hoodie" to kind of get an idea of how this thing was supposed to look and I found a tutorial for a children's shark hoodie by Martha Stewart. Her instructions on how to attach the fin made of "industrial felt" (which I had never heard of) did not help me in the least, but I found her templates for the eyes and fin to be quite useful (I referenced it while making the eyes and fin for this hoodie).  

After discussing it with the customer, I finally committed to making it, but let her know that if I encountered any problems with the fin; I'd let her know immediately so she could make other arrangements for Halloween.  I went shopping for supplies the following day and was thrilled to find the illusive industrial felt that Ms. Stewart had mentioned in her tutorial.  It was a different color grey than the hoodie, so I sewed regular charcoal colored felt on each side of the industrial felt to make sure the fin had a more uniform look when attached to the hoodie.

I wanted to find a way for the customer to be able to attach and remove the fin easily.  Velcro seemed to be the easiest answer, but would be really noticeable if the customer wasn't wearing the fin.  I opted for sew on metal snaps instead and they worked really well!

I shipped the shark hoodie off yesterday and I can't wait to hear back from my customer!  I've already gotten a lot of positive feedback on this project from friends and family.  I hope my customer is as thrilled with the results as I am!

If you'd like me to make you a custom shark, monster, or creature hoodie, feel free to contact me and we'll work it out!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! (Or Happy Zombie Jesus Day to those of you with a sense of humor). Have a great time with your family and friends today at church, an Easter egg hunt, or in my case, at the Cracker Barrel (yes, my mother doesn't want to cook so the family is headed out to the Cracker Barrel). Allie, my niece, is looking forward to hunting Easter eggs in the "tall grass" at my parents house because Poppy (my dad) hasn't been feeling well lately, so he has neglected to cut the grass.

Much love,

Good Friday

Good Friday wasn't so good for me, but it wasn't very good for Jesus either, so I guess I'm in great company. That is all.

(Happy Zombie Jesus Day on Sunday, just in case I don't tell y'all then--that means Happy Easter, and yes, I'm a Christian. Thanks for asking).

Happy New Year!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I've been blogging for nearly an entire year now and am excited about the year to come! I'm hoping that 2010 will mark an upswing in my life. 2009 was shitty for me to say the least . . . I am optimistic that this upcoming year will be better than the last! Thanks to everyone who has been reading and showing their support! I love you all!

Allie's New Doll (One of 10!!!)

Here is my niece, Allie, with one of the 10 dolls she received this Christmas. This particular doll was given to Allie by her "granna." It's supposed to look like Allie, but I don't see the resemblance except maybe for the hair.

Happy Holidays!

Since I'm broke this holiday season, I was unable to mail out Christmas cards to all my friends and family, so I'm posting it here. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Merry Christmas Jinx Bunny Fan Art

This is some fan art I drew and submitted to deviantART. It's of the JMKit character, Jinx Bunny in a Santa hat. Merry Christmas!

Merry Bloody Xmas

My Christmas "card" from Jonesy (a.k.a. Bumpo). Make your own HERE.

Snowman

My Christmas Tree

JMKit Christmas Tree Ornaments

It's time to put up our Christmas trees, and if you're as big a fan of JMKit as I am you'd love to adorn your tree with their trademark characters. Well, you're in luck. Here is a pic of my tree with only JMKit ornaments on it. (I'll be adding more later on).

These ornaments are free and only require a printer, some card stock, and scissors. You can find these wonderful ornaments HERE. Enjoy!

JMKit Ice Tiles

New and exclusive to my Etsy shop for the holidays, JMKit Ice Tile Pendants. Featuring JMKit's characters: Jinx Bunny, Minx Bunny, Flake, and Bleu. Get yours today!

Halloween Clearance!!!

Visit the SALES/CLEARANCE section of my Etsy shop to take advantage of the newly marked down Halloween merchandise! Many items have been marked down to either half off or more!

Costume Change

Well I had all of two trick or treaters before the vinyl pants and deep pore cleansing mask that were parts of my MJ costume began driving me nuts. The look on the first little girl was priceless (OMG WTF?). So it was time for a costume change! Screw trick or treaters! It's raining and no one's out because of the University of TN football game. So now I'm Sailor Moon. Much cuter and breezier than the vinyl pants. Now I await my Halloween guest who may show up 4 hours from now. At least I'm comfy!

Waiting for Trick or Treaters

Currently I am sitting downstairs in the dark wearing a Michael Jackson "Thriller" costume awaiting the arrival of my very first Trick or Treaters. I didn't have a party to go to and since this is my favorite Holiday; I had to have an excuse to dress up (although I would have totally just sat around dressed as Michael Jackson for the hell of it). My cats are currently trying to steal the candy (grape flavored fizzy candy that is yummy). The neighbor is playing some God-awful radio station way too loudly. Monster ballads? Old Country? Soft rock? WTF is that shit? Oh, it's really crappy R&B. *Turns on iTunes* Radiohead it is! I guess you should really take a look at what a child would see should he or she approach my door this evening. It's mighty frightening.

Scary isn't it?
And now I wait as I browse the net because my TV doesn't work downstairs. Willie and Johnny don't know what the hell is going on. I will provide updates on kiddo's Halloween evening as warranted. Happy Halloween! (You may see some costume changes--depends on my mood).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

My cats, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween in their (shared) elephant costume.