Tagged: birthday

a party turtle for katie

party turtle plush for katie

Last week, Brad and I drove to South Carolina for Katie and Jimmy’s wedding. The day of our arrival was also Katie’s birthday, a day I named The Most Anticlimactic Birthday of Katie’s Life. Because, really, when you’re getting married in 3 days, how significant does the anniversary of your birth feel? Not very.

plush party turtle for katie

But I was determined to do my part to keep Katie’s birthday on the radar, however small that blip may be. She had visited my apartment a week or so earlier, and she had noticed my original party turtle for the first time. She loved it. Birthday gift conundrum: solved.

party turtles, new and old

Katie loves orange, like I do, and I couldn’t resist making a party turtle in a much brighter colorway than my original. When Brad saw the picture, he said, “your party turtle looks like an old soul.” And I think that’s pretty perfect for Katie and me: she’s the energetic one in this friendship.

party turtle plush partied too hard

Every once in awhile, my party turtle parties too hard and falls over. Katie’s party turtle, when I first stitched him up, wouldn’t stay upright even for a second! Don’t party so hard, Party Turtle! To help her (Katie declared the turtle a “her”) stay upright, I re-opened the stitches in her belly and slipped 3 nickels into the shell. Now she’s well balanced.

Katie had a good birthday (helped, of course, by Party Turtle), and Katie and Jimmy had a great wedding.

The party turtle isn’t my pattern; the adorable, incredibly silly pattern was made by Jodie, whose blog, Ric-Rac, features some really amazing and perfectly executed plush, including the tiny turtles with party hats. Everyone needs a party turtle: they make any occasion that much more festive.


Here are some previous posts about Katie’s wedding… more to come!

Happy Birthday, you old blog!

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

happy birthday, dear blog! 7 years 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!

year one: starburst wrapper ballet flats

2007

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

year two: plush goomba (super mario)

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.

year three: homemade prom dress

2009

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

year four: pumpkin spotting and haiku

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.

year five: adventurous whales at the SPACES contemporary art gallery

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!

year six: chalk festival giraffe

2012

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

year seven: tiny plush narwhal

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!

afterparty

days after birthdays
need that extra little push
to remain awesome.

twins

but my brother ben came over for leftover cake! and it was fun.