February 23, 2013

Happy Birthday, you old blog!

February is the Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog’s birthday month… and boy, is she getting old!

I’ve been blogging here since February 2006. That’s right, seven full years. This blog has watched me go all the way through high school, and now I’m almost done with college! I’ve been looking back through the archives and it’s making me nostalgic. Seven years. I can’t believe it. Want to take a whirlwind tour with me?

2006

It all started with the Starburst Wrapper-ed Ballet Flats, who were soon followed by their buddy, the Starburst Wrapper Bracelet Tutorial – still my most popular post by far!

2007

2007 included Ben’s plush Goomba, one of my first forays into real custom plush work.

2008

2008 was quiet because senior year was busy! But some notable events included my homemade prom dress as well as my costume work for my high school’s production of Beauty & the Beast.

2009

2009 welcomed college with daily blogging: enter the haiku project. Also, a delightful new autumn tradition sprouted: pumpkin spotting!

2010

2010 was the year of the adventurous whales: my first series of plush to be proclaimed “art” and hung in an art gallery. I was so proud.

2011

I’ll never forget the most glorious, yet most temporary, work of art that Brad and I drew together: the giraffe we drew at the Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival. It was the most beautiful thing!

2012

And in 2012, I invented the tiniest plush narwhal the world has ever seen!

I’ve loved looking back over my old posts these last few days… and it’s a good reminder that I want to keep going! I love having this archive of my projects, especially since so many of them end up going to new homes. And it’s wonderful to see how my creative skills have progressed. So here’s to documenting progress, big and small, because it adds up. And here’s to seven more years of blogging!

October 3, 2012

a breeze at spring point ledge

it was a wonderful spot for sitting.

July 4, 2012

brad visits boston!

a very tall ship - with awesome flags

Last weekend was the best weekend. Why? Brad came to Boston for a visit!

this should be the next tall ships postcard

We explored some awesome restaurants throughout the weekend: Otto Pizza in Harvard Square was delicious, Sunset Grill & Tap has the most incredible nachos (and 112 taps!), and the Quebrada Baking Co. had croissants and danishes so perfect I don’t think I ever need to go to Europe again.

(okay, i take that back. but seriously, that place was good.)

the plethora of taps at the harpoon brewery tour

On Saturday, we had planned to tour the Harpoon Brewery near the Boston Harbor. Coincidentally, it was also Tall Ships Weekend in Boston, when a handful of quite old and very tall ships dock at the Boston Harbor!

So we toured the brewery – I highly recommend this tour! If you’re coming to Boston and want to tour a brewery, the Harpoon Brewery is way more exciting than Sam Adams, and they’ve got some seriously delicious beers. And yes, through some great teamwork, Brad and I tried sips from every one of those taps pictured above.

Also, many of the Harpoon-branded items were a perfect orange, like that giant orange vat. That wasn’t the only reason I thought the tour was great, but it certainly didn’t hurt!

brad admiring a GIANT flag

Following the tour, we followed the sails on the horizon to the pier. The pier was buzzing with people, tourists and Bostonians alike, all excited to see and tour the ships. To see these old ships in a harbor that was flanked by tourists and t-shirt vendors was entirely surreal… they didn’t belong and yet, there they were!

this ship has a vulture instead of a mermaid... awesome

It was a great weekend of adventures in the sun: walking around the city, walking along the beach, sitting under a tree next to a pond with our pastries. We were happy and content, exploring with minimum agenda for maximum random excitement.

brad and i and our pirate friend