Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Tagged: plush

in memoriam of my cactus: a plush cactus

My beautiful pet cactus, Cactus, is now officially a resident of cactus heaven. It was a good cactus, and I loved it as much as anyone has ever loved a cactus, but the Cleveland sun, especially the amount that comes through my window, was just not enough.

Cactus, in better times

Cactus had been looking a bit peckish for awhile, but I kept hope that it was just having a dormant winter. But on Wednesday, its head popped off. Goodbye, Cactus.

My room and my heart are feeling rather empty, so I was compelled to make a memorial version of my beloved Cactus.

Plush Cactus

Much less alive and much more cuddly, the presence of Plush Cactus is slowly healing the prickly hole in my heart.

greetings from narwhal-land!

velour plush whalesI have begun to refer to my room as the Narwhal Factory (others may argue for One-Woman-Sweatshop), considering that besides homework, eating, and sleeping (in that order), narwhals are basically what I do. I’m not complaining. I’m almost complaining. It’s stressful at times. But this is an awesome college job.

My craft show Saturday went well, for my first one. It was a slow day for all of us, but I got to make friends with some Cleveland crafters and learn tips from people who have done far more customer interaction than I have. It was wonderful to get real-life opinions from people… online, there are plenty of people who stop through the site without buying anything. Do they like, dislike, hate my products? But in real life, nobody can walk by a whale without commenting on its cuteness. Which always helps the ego get a little boost.

I also had lots of fun brainstorming. First of all, I would love to do more craft shows. It’s hard to find shows in Virginia that aren’t super-folky, but I’ll be on the lookout this summer. And I want to build a nifty display setup; you guys don’t get any pictures because the room was dimly lit and, while I had a decent setup for my means (ie Dorm Room and dishracks), it wasn’t picture perfect. Next time, promise. And I realized that I don’t have anything that boys, especially boys in the “can still get dragged to crafts shows age”, can buy. First order of business once school’s out: boy ipod cases. That’ll be fun.

I did sell something. Two somethings, actually. And since there weren’t too many people coming through, I was happy. And I made friends, so you should check out their stuff:

Judy of Modern Pixie
Stephanie of Stephie Lou
Jessica of Jewelry by J
Jen of Jeneration Design
and Nelleeta, but she doesn’t have a website…

Today I was thinking about going for a walk through Little Italy and exploring the little art galleries… but the skies are alternating between bright blue and drippy gray. A good day for staying in and sewing, which is just what I’ll do – once I get my room to be less of a mess.

ninja bear!

ninja bear - made from "peg bear" pattern in One Yard Wonders

The creators of the book One Yard Wonders are producing a sequel, and are currently asking for project submissions. The deadline is April 1st (i know! sorry!) extended to April 11! but if you’ve got a pattern that you’ve been itching to publish, this could be your chance!

I decided to submit a pattern, but before finalizing I had to see the first book to make sure I was on the right track. So I picked it up from the library… it’s a darling book! Great pictures, some very cute projects, and the two things that every craft book should have but not nearly enough do: spiral bound pages and patterns printed on tissue and presented in an envelope.

Even though I had borrowed the book in order to use it as a guide, I couldn’t pass up a chance to make something as adorable as the “Peg Bear” pattern. So, shoving homework aside, I stitched up this little guy who is now affectionately referred to as Ninja Bear! Stuffed to the brink of explosion, he’s quite heavy, very huggable, and incredibly sneaky.