maine times six

It's been really, really hot here lately.  So of course we've been thinking of going someplace a little cooler for a quick trip.  Naturally, I thought of Maine.  (This obviously isn't a surprise if you know me.)  

I was going through some photos on our computer and found some of my favorites from our last trip to Acadia.  This one is from a slightly foggy day which happened to be our anniversary.  

We considered going back to Acadia National Park, but have never gone in the summer months and were a little worried that it would be super crowded.  When we go in the end of September, it's perfect. The days aren't (usually) sweltering and the trails and beaches aren't packed.  On our honeymoon (to Acadia, of course!), we had discussed coming back and had said we would on our 5 year anniversary.  Well, we ended up going on our 4th anniversary instead.  We'll be skipping Acadia this year as I'll be starting a new job in the middle of August.  However, we wanted to fit in a summer trip before I started.

Instead, we're going to our second favorite place(s) - Portsmouth, NH and the Portland area.  This trip will mark our 6th trip to Maine in the last 6 years.  We like Maine the best for its natural beauty, but we are so excited to go back to one of our favorite shops anywhere- Daytrip Society and Daytrip Society Jr. Can't wait.  

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mid summer photos and new work

I wanted to share a few pictures Kinsey has taken recently that I think have a "summer" feel to them.  I love this one of the corn field and blue sky.  I didn't know at the time that Kinsey was taking this picture and thought to myself that I wish he would take a picture like this.  And he did.  The corn was already so tall for being so early in the season.  I believe this was the very beginning of June.  

This is one Kinsey took of an old barn that was torn down near when I grew up.  The barn has been torn down for a while, but they left the stone foundation in place.  It's right at the side of a huge open field.  

Here's a sneak preview of something (sort of)  new I've working.  Last year, I made a few hot air balloon pins and sold them at a few stores and shows, but for whatever reason never made more.  I found a half finished balloon in my desk drawer the other day and decided to give them another try.  Not just a pin this time....something a little different.   Look for them soon!

hello alligator!

I've been playing around with the idea for an alligator plush in my head ever since Kinsey and I went to South Carolina a few months ago.  Kinsey really wanted to see a "real life" alligator in the wild and we were almost finished with our trip and had yet to see one.  We even headed to one of the state parks that I had seen some at during a prior visit or two, but none were to be found.

We were visiting my grandparents and went out to dinner at the Chestnut Hill Restaurant that was right on a small lake and known to be a place to see gators.  (If you go here, get the homemade chips!  Mmmm!)  We had a window table and saw all kinds of turtles swimming right by us.  This was nice enough, but Kinsey wanted to see a gator.   The staff periodically throws bread out in the water to attract the alligators and during our visit one was hiding out right below the restaurant deck's not wanting to come out.  My grandfather being the wonderful and helpful host of the "bed and breakfast" we were staying at and wanting to make his guests happy, made sure that Kinsey would get his wish.  Sure enough, the alligator appeared right in front of where we were eating and hung out for a while.  Mission accomplished!  Kinsey now believes that there are alligators in South Carolina. 

The great thing about this gator (and completely unintentional when I designed it) is that it's legs can support the body so it stands up on its own.   It's wonderful to have sitting around and fun for playing!  I have a few other alligators I made with different fabrics, but this is probably my favorite.  I love the bright green color and how it looks against the yellow back spikes.  These are now available in my shop and will be available at the Summerfair show this Saturday.  

the words and stories

Here are the two "about stories" I wrote to accompany my plushes in Stuffed Magazine's Summer 2012 issue.  

Eben and Ella (Ellie Friends)

(Picture from our trip to Acadia National Park at our cabin in the woods)

Eben and Ella are husband and wife.  They live in a small and secluded valley where no other elephants live for miles around. This is okay with them because they prefer to be by themselves.  Their house is a lovely, cozy, stone structure that is in a small grove of sycamore trees. 

Ella enjoys tending her extensive flower garden behind their home.  She spends her winters studying new plant species and in the spring, she’s always trying new varieties. She loves plants that can grow tall and are very colorful.  Her perfect way to spend a day is with a nice pot of Oolong tea, a good gardening book, and her planting trowel within reach.  She is also an avid quilter and creates her own flower motifs for her pieced designs.

Eben spends his days making furniture from trees in the nearby forest.  This forest is one that was planted by his great grandfather and Eben plants three trees for the one he cuts down.  He has a small mill not too far away from Ella’s flower garden, so they can talk and break for tea together in the afternoons.  Eben has quite a collection of beautifully made furniture and every so often, he opens the mill for a special sale, which brings in animals from all over the valley.

Olive and Ethan (Twin Boys)

(Picture from our trip to Acadia National Park on Sand Beach)

Olive and Ethan are twins that live in a small coastal village on a small island in Maine.  They come from a long line of lobstermen, starting back with their great-great-great-great grandfather. The brothers have a lot of similar interests, like the sea, flying kites, and watching seabirds.  They often spend time together exploring the island, but also like to pursue their own hobbies. 

Olive never goes outside without his lucky orange scarf, even in the summer.  He can usually be found down at the harbor watching boats sail by.  He hopes to one day have a small boat of his own and already has the perfect orange and blue paint picked out for it.  Olive often thinks of sailing around the neighboring islands and looking at all the sea life beneath the surface. His current under the sea fascination are jellyfish and he’s keeping a log of all the different species he finds.  When not dreaming of sailing, Olive can be found playing in the village park or enjoying some honey brioche doughnuts from his favorite bakery. 

Ethan’s favorite color is blue.  He can usually be found, like Olive, down at the harbor.  Ethan usually stays along the quiet side and combs the shore for beach rocks and small pieces of driftwood.  He has quite a collection and hopes to one day display his findings in the small village historical museum run by his grandfather.  Ethan makes sculptures from the broken pieces of rocks he finds and sells them at the old general store. When not at the beach, Ethan can be found at the library, reading about his favorite animal, puffins.

Hope you like them!

progress and working...

I've been pretty busy working on a variety of different projects as well as restocking more of my plush designs for online and craft shows coming up.  Our soonest craft show will be SummerFair in Carlisle, PA.  We've never been to this show before, but have heard from other people it's worth it.  It will be the largest space we've ever had...20'x20'!  Kinsey and I will be sharing a space, so we'll each have plenty of room for our things.  If you're local to Carlisle, please come out and say hello!  The show is Saturday, July 7th!

Below are some partially finished boy heads (sounds rather disturbing, don't you think?).  After I embroider the facial features, sew everything up, and right before I turn them right side out, I always like to stop and take a look.  I really like how the embroidery looks from the backside with the faces.  You can clearly see the facial details, but it's kind of in a skewed way.  It reminds me a lot of vintage embroidered dolls and how the stitches have begun to fade and warp slightly.  

The next picture (sorry it's a little fuzzy) is of a massive pile of half finished pieces and well, body parts of dolls and animals.  (See the random arms?)  I have a lot of pieces like this around my work space.  I'm starting to try to get it a little more under control and have cleared this pile down significantly.  

This last picture I wanted to share, does NOT include random arms or heads removed from their body.   This is Thomas the Sailor.  He's the newest plush doll in my shop.  I finished him today and not to play favorites, but I like him a lot!   Instead of my usual felt buttons I sew on the shirts, I opted for a hand embroidered anchor emblem.  The colors really pop beautifully!  I actually have done this anchor emblem before on a handful of plushes, but have only sold those at craft shows or at brick and mortar shops.  

What kinds of projects have you been up to lately?

published in stuffed magazine summer 2012!

Back in this post in February, I talked about sending my box of plush toys to Stuffed Magazine to be considered for an issue.  Well, the Summer 2012 issue is finally out!    

Near the beginning of the magazine (pages 14 and 15 to be exact) are Olive and Ethan.  These two were my first ever "good" attempts at making plush people.  I literally made these two days before I sent off my package.  I wanted to try out a doll, but was having a hard time getting it perfect and finding a good fabric for the faces.  I hand embroidered the facial features and need a fabric that can handle being poked with a needle and doesn't show through.  I actually have since making these two, changed to a different face fabric.  Very similar in color, but the new fabric is much softer and easier to work with.  (FYI: All the plush people in my shop are made with the newer fabric.)

When your work is chosen for publication in Stuffed, you are responsible for writing everything in your article.  This was really fun and gave me a chance to really personalize Olive and Ethan.  My article about them was centered around the coast of Maine (surprise, surprise) and even mentioned one of Kinsey's favorite treats we had in Maine: honey brioche doughnuts! (We get them at the best bakery in the entire world, Morning Glory Bakery in Bar Harbor. )  

A little further back in the magazine, are my plush elephants.  This story was about Eben and Ella (husband and wife, of course) and included all kinds of things I like: a house in the woods, gardening, drinking tea, reading, making furniture, and drinking lemonade with your husband.

I love how they posed Eben and Ella in this shot! 

Here's Ella (very similiar to the one featured in Stuffed- same name but slightly different clothes) checking out her relatives in the magazine.

I'm thrilled to be included (twice!) in this issue and am looking forward to submitting again!  If you have any interest in soft toys or plush sculpture, this is a wonderful magazine to check out!  

(I'll be posting the small stories for each I wrote in the next few days.)

quick flower tutorial project

I recently made these lovely flowers for my sister in law's birthday.  They are super easy to do, fairly quick, and involve supplies you most likely already have.  

You will need:

*yarn of any color you want for your flowers

*scissors

*glue gun and glue sticks

*small twigs, dowel rods, or other type of "stem" for your flowers

Choose your yarn and wrap the strand around two of your fingers as shown.  You can use three fingers if you'd like - this will make the flower head bigger.  I used two fingers for all of mine.  

Continue wrapping the yarn around your fingers, but not too tightly!  You don't want to lose feeling in your fingers.  I wrapped the yarn about 50 to 75 times around.  Experiment with what outcome you like best.

After wrapping the yarn around your fingers the number of times you want, slide the whole thing off.

Cut off a piece of yarn from the skein that is somewhere between 5 to 8 inches long.  Place the piece of yarn directly under the wrapped yarn pile.  Try to center it the best you can.

Next, tie the piece of yarn tightly around the wrapped yarn pile.  I double knotted it.  

This will pull the yarn together and you will see all these little loops.  Take your scissors and cut through all the loops.

Cut, cut, cut.

You will be left with this crazy looking pom pom.  Take your scissors and keep trimming off pieces of the yarn, making it even all the way around.  You can make it as long or short as you want.  Although, you won't want to cut too much off because you might show the center piece of yarn you knotted. 

Here's a finished example.  

Now you're ready to attach the flower head to the stem.  Twigs, dowel rods, whatever you want.  I used twigs for mine because that's what I had and I liked the idea of mixing the soft yarn with the rustic sticks from nature.  

Here's the finished set.  I displayed them in a glass Ball jar with pieces of brown felt for "dirt".  I wanted the arrangement to look like it was still growing in the ground, although the flowers would look just as good without the felt base.  I just tossed scraps in the bottom and arranged the flowers.  Finally, I  found two vintage buttons and tied a piece of ribbon around the top.  

Perfect, easy, and looks great!  

Now of course, I need to make some for me!