Craftzine.com blog: Amigurumi and Toys Archives

Archive: Amigurumi and Toys

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July 18, 2007

Cupcake Wars on Softies Central

Wrist
Softies Central has a cool cupcake round up and I'm loving this cupcake wrist pincushion by Elizabeth Brennick. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 18, 2007 04:30 PM
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Cutesypoo Flickr Group

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Jocelan of cutesypoo has started a cutesypoo flickr group for toys that are so cute, it becomes art! [ via ] Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 18, 2007 09:00 AM
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July 13, 2007

Project Plushway

Kristen of Plush You has got a new contest for you called Project Plushway, inspired of course by our favorite TV show "Project Runway".

Kristen writes:

Because Flickr is such an addiction of mine I thought it might be fun to try and do a photo swap challenge to get myself and perhaps you to think outside the box. This is how I was thinking it would work. You send me an email saying you are up for the challenge at kristen.rask@gmail.com. I get all emails organized and then after July 15th I send each person someone else's email. You then send an email along with a picture of your choice to the email provided. Your photo could be anything (although keep it clean people)! Food, flowers, colors, abstract, etc. Then you make a plush piece that was inspired from that particular photo. Then upload your photo and the one you were inspired by to the plush you flickr group.

Pictured above is robot minions by Andricongirl from the Plush You flickr group. To find out more about Project Plushway visit the Plush You site - Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 13, 2007 04:00 PM
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Crochet Two Peas in a Pod Pattern

Aren't these the cutest? It's the Two Peas in a Pod pattern by Alicia Kachmar. Make these little smiling friends for yourself with her free crochet pattern. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 13, 2007 02:24 PM
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Interview with Teresa Levy of Sewing Stars

Teresa Levy of Sewing Stars
Site - Link.
Blog - Link.
Flickr - Link.

Last holiday season I took a trip over to Rhode Island for Craftland and one of the great crafty ladies I got to meet there was Teresa Levy of Sewing Stars. Teresa makes the cutest plush dolls and animals from her signature bunny to her recent ice cream heads and apple dolls. She also makes a handful of other cool things such as 2 pattern booklets so far on small toys, bags, paper goods, and even paintings. This gal never stops so I got a chance to talk to Teresa more to find out more about the ins and outs of a crafty business and what's in store for her in the crafty future.

And a quick note for all you Southern California crafters, Teresa will be at Felt Club this Sunday in LA.

Nat: How do you manage your craft business while working a full time job?

Teresa: Oops! Does it still say that on my website? I need to update that full-time crafty lady! I left my job last fall to pursue Sewing Stars full time, and I have been supplementing here and there with temp jobs. It has been great so far, and although I do have my days where I wonder what next, I am a million times happier than I used to be.

Nat: Do you have any tips for crafters on business?

Teresa: Stay as organized as you can. That is something I need to work on for myself, actually!

I also find that my blog is an excellent marketing tool along with Flickr. Because I am small it is hard to know what will be big sellers and what won't, so getting feedback from the blog readers is an excellent barometer as to where to go with a new idea.

Nat: What kinds of crafts do you enjoy to do most?

Teresa: Well, my crafting actually really runs the gamut. My favorite items to make are the plush dolls and mohair bears. For me they are more challenging work and keep my interest going. I also like doing the more mundane types of tasks like paper punching all the circles for buttons sets. There are moments when I need to do something totally different and I will clear off my sewing table and sit & draw for a while. Part of the reason I do so many different crafts is to keep me on my toes, and not get myself stuck any ruts.

Nat: If you had time to learn a new craft, what would you like to learn and why?

Teresa: Ceramics! I have always wanted to learn how to use a potter wheel. It seems like such a fun and interesting way to use material. It also incorporates painting and sculpture all in one which seems like so much fun. Someday I will learn how!

Nat: What are some of your favorite recent projects?

Teresa: Well, the ice cream dolls are my current favorite. That is always the way, though. The items I am most currently developing are always my favorites...I also am still quite happy with the giant squid & sperm whale plush too.

Nat: What are you currently working on this summer?

Teresa: Well, aside from getting ready for the holiday season, I am also developing a third pattern booklet, and a stuffed toy kit that I hope to debut on the site in September.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 13, 2007 11:10 AM
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July 12, 2007

Inspiration: Crochet Sea Creatures from Japan

Keiko from O'Reilly Japan introduced us to this amazing Japanese crafter 203gow who crochets beautiful sea creatures. Check out her blog here and visit the inspiring photo gallery. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 12, 2007 02:30 PM
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Knit Fruit

Kamithina points us to the cute free knit fruit patterns by Alexandra of Peachcake Knits. Here's the direct links to the following patterns:

Pear - Link.
Apple - Link.
Sour Apple - Link.
Banana - Link.
Peach - Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 12, 2007 11:17 AM
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July 10, 2007

Mini Quilt Store made from Polymer Clay

Joan of Lazy Girl Designs points to this amazing miniature quilt store by Sarajane Helms, complete with quilt samples and bolts of fabric all made from polymer clay. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 10, 2007 07:00 PM
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Nintendo Gameboy Car Mirror Ornaments

Hanging dice are so passe! These days you can hang up your own dangling felt Nintendo Gameboys. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 10, 2007 10:11 AM
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July 9, 2007

Mr. Potato Mash

Ashley points us to Mr. Potato Mash a gallery site of custom made Mr. Potatoheads from clay in all kinds of fun characters like this Shrek version above. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 9, 2007 06:30 PM
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Plushkill Forest Unicorn

When you're in need of something unique to hang on your wall look no further than the Plushkill Forest Unicorn made by Cherrybox on Etsy.
Cherrybox writes:
Everyone wants a plush unicorn to bless the hearth and home! They are extremely hard to hunt and kill. But I have found that they like Old English Malt liqour which I leave outside my window to attract them. It also attracts other things that we don't hunt or talk about.
To get yourself your own Plushkill Forest Unicorn visit Cherrybox's Etsy store here. Thanks Moxie! - Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 9, 2007 02:00 PM
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July 7, 2007

DIY Batmobile

Bonnie points us to this fun little Batman toy car craft project that you can make yourself. See more finished pictures here. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 7, 2007 10:30 AM
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July 6, 2007

Inside-Out Teddy Bears

Phil @ MAKE writes:
I really like these turned-inside-out teddy bears from artist Kent Rogowski - [via] Link.
Related:
- Kent Rogowski: Bears. June 21 - August 10 - Link.
- Bears (the book) - Link.
Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 6, 2007 04:03 PM
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A Closer Look: Wunderkammer

I've loved Jessica Polka's wonderful patterns since I first saw her Voluptuous Octopus (the name itself is delicious, and the squiggly legs and nubby texture are just perfect). When I saw her Red Coral enclosed in a specimen box, complete with tag, I couldn't have been more delighted. I've been fascinated by the idea of a Wunderkammer, literally translated as "wonder chamber," since first reading Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler's fantastic book about the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, a modern-day attempt to capture the magic of a Wunderkammer. I've also been a fan of The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities since Taschen re-released the 18th century text, so I was immediately drawn to Jessica's amazing amigurumi. Seeing creatures from the book's pages recreated in crochet astounded me, and somehow the translation of objects from drawing to worsted-weight yarn rekindles the awe and sense of surprise that early readers of the book must have had. She exactly captures the astounding twists and turns that nature takes in her work.

Be sure to check out Wunderkammer, Jessica's Etsy shop, to see her other patterns and her mini specimens. I asked her a few questions about her creative process:

Arwen: How did you first get involved with crafting?
Jessica: My awesome Quaker school kindergarten had a "junk porch" that took donations of recycled household materials. We'd have structured time during the day for making things -- most saliently, I remember building doll houses out of shoe boxes.

On the home front, my mom had been trained as a very talented seamstress, and taught me the basics of sewing, knitting, and crocheting. Through my elementary school days, I cycled through a panoply of typical "girl" crafts: bracelet-making, embroidery, beading, etc, with detours into polymer clay and electronics.

Arwen: Why crochet?
Jessica: Crochet is utterly amazing. It offers you, in the form of single, slip, and double stitches, a set of "pixels" of discreet size that you can use, together with increasing and decreasing, to build any shape imaginable.

It's a soft and huggable form of low-tech fabbing. I remember when I made my first amigurumi piece by following a pattern: I was shocked to see this little animal built up in layers from what was essentially a linear set of instructions. From there on out, I loved experimenting with different combinations of stitches to get the geometric shapes I wanted.

Plus, I love having an excuse to own yarn.

Arwen: What got you interested in making sea creatures?
Jessica: I have, for several years, been totally fascinated by the idea of a "wunderkammer," or cabinet of curiosity, which was the name given to the earliest of natural history collections. A wunderkammer was quite literally the most amazing, shocking, and befuddling specimens of the natural world -- real and imagined -- jammed together in a room or ornate display case. The viewer, I imagine, was supposed to get the sense that they were beholding all corners of the earth at once, in one glance -- sea shells (once a rarity) displayed next to preserved two-headed lambs, saintly relics, and "unicorn horns."

I got my mitts on a copy of Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, and it was only a matter of time before I made the connection between the beautiful red coral branches pictured in it and a few forlorn balls of red yarn I had earmarked for armwarmers.

Arwen: How do you come up with the designs?
Jessica: I might make a preparatory sketch or two, but most of the design work is done while working with yarn -- I just freeform, backtracking liberally when the results are not as planned. From the initial prototype I then count stitches to make a pattern, perhaps rearranging some of the stitches to make it more sensible to write and read as I test the pattern.

Arwen: Any other projects in the works? What are you working on now?
Jessica: I've just started a line of jewelry and wearable "micro-specimens" that are made in tiny size 10 crochet thread instead of worsted-weight yarn: little red coral fronds dangling upside-down from a ribbon, etc. They're very delicate, and the thread has a beautiful sheen that gives a nice texture to the finished pieces.

To expand my color palette, I'm going to experiment with hand-dying my yarn, which should allow me to more realistically model the "specimens."

I am also working on some new patterns: more species of coral, lizards, salamanders, and a crustaceans 4-pack (krill, crab, lobster, and shrimp).

Arwen: What inspires you?
Jessica: I just took a 2-month pledge at Wardrobe Refashion, which is a great challenge to break off a reliance on manufactured clothing by not buying anything new. Thrifted and handmade stuff is fair game, though. In general, I get really excited about having some parameters and restrictions to work within (especially when I pick them myself!)

Arwen: What's one tip you'd give to other crafters?
Jessica: Perhaps it's because crochet is so forgiving (you can just pull on the yarn if you don't like what you've done) but I've found it very useful to think of craft as something extremely edit-able. Not being afraid to erase and redo something was a major breakthrough for me.

Arwen: What are your favorite crafting books/magazines/websites?
Jessica: I love CRAFT and craftzine.com, of course! Whipup is also among my favorites, and Design Sponge is amazing.

Arwen: What are some of your most important influences?
Jessica: Albertus Seba and Ernst Haeckel, an amazing engraver, are endless sources of entertainment. Joseph Cornell (especially his earlier work) is also a great influence. I am in awe of the incredible crochet work of Gooseflesh, whose unsurpassable plastic bag sea creatures blew my mind, and I also admire the blisteringly 3-dimensional crochet dolls of Bobilina.

Posted by Arwen O'Reilly | Jul 6, 2007 10:52 AM
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Wicket the Ewok Crochet Pattern

Angry Angel on craftster.org has a crochet pattern up to make this cute amigurumi version of Wicket the Ewok from Star Wars. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jul 6, 2007 09:00 AM
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