Mac The New Graffiti Monster and Going to Gallery

First I have to say I might be losing my marbles. The holidays are always crazy and I forget every year until the panic sets in and I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I like being my own boss but I really need to stop piling so much on my plate during the holidays. Most days I have 10,000 more things to do than I can complete and I stress SO MUCH about the things I won't get to. Also my studying is suffering and that is just unacceptable! So it feels good to complete such a big project as this and know that one huge thing is off my list.

Remember the graffiti monster I made over the summer? I had started a second one and then had to put him aside (see above paragraph). Well then I got wind of a gallery in Chicago that is putting on a plush show in December. The gallery is called Oh No! Doom which I think is just about the coolest name ever. Lana Crooks is coordinating the show, which is called Soft Served, and she makes the coolest plush ever! I mean look at this and this. It's insane (and admittedly intimidating).

Anyhoo they are letting me in and it is the first gallery show I have ever done. It has been a goal of mine for a long time to get into doing gallery shows but I never seemed to have the time. I like it because it allows me to be creative and work on a design I have never done before. After all that is my favorite thing about making plush!

I decided to send Mr. Lucius the first graffiti monster as well as finish the second one. I had not really done much on the second one so I had a looooong way to go and I have been working on him for what feels like forever. You know me and my details. He's finally done though and I just took some photos of him.

This is the doodle of him when he was first conceived (like a plush baby haha).

And here he is done!

As you can see I changed a few things about him and to be honest I haven't looked at his original picture until I started to write this post and now I wish I would have looked at it sooner. I think I would have done a couple other/different things. But I am really going to stop obsessing about it!

Raaaaaaawwwrrr!

Wanna know a little bit about him? Well he is about 20 inches tall and 13 inches wide. He is made of fake fur, felt and fleece. His eyes are glass and hand painted. I painted in some blood looking spots. The eyes are wired and can be bent in different positions. I love how they came out. He wears a knit beanie and has 12 arms/legs. His paint cans all have paint with three of them standing out as spray.

Blood eyes

Side View

If you are interested in Lucius or Mac check out the Oh No! Doom gallery in December.

Mac does graffiti.

Lucius wants one more photo taken.

Thanks for reading! I have to get back to sewing now!

Y is for Yummy

The fabulous Plush Team will be doing a group show at the HotPop gallery in January and the theme is Candyland. What a great theme!! For the show the team decided to create plush letters that would make up candy themed words. The words would then be strung around the shop amongst the plush pieces. Well you know how I like making plush letters/words so I of course signed up. I was chosen for the first "Y" in Yummy. There were some really great letters being made like this one, this one and this one and I was feeling like I couldn't compete! I decided to look at candy online and I found these rainbow twist lollipops that I thought would be cool in plush.

And here is what I came up with! What do you think?

mmmmmm...yummy

Now I have to come up with what I am going to make for the show itself. Perhaps candy babies....monsters eating candy...I guess I better get cracking.

New and Exciting!!!

One of the number one requests I receive from customers is a baby doll for kids with changeable clothes. The second most common request is a play doll with open eyes. I have accomplished both with this new design! It all started when I was cleaning out my drawers (like usual) and found this doll that I never finished. What happened was somehow the head, body and legs got sewn but no arms. Well each fabric I have is slightly different and the fabric that doll was made from ran out before I was able to get arms sewn. For about a year the doll sat here and I tried to match the fabric but it never happened.

Last week I bought some fabric paints with the intention of painting eyes that would hopefully withstand a washing. Prior to now I used acrylic paint that was durable but not washable which was the reason I did not have open eyed dolls for kids. I decided that the doll that had been stuffed in the drawer would become an experiment. I painted eyes and then after letting it dry tossed the head in the washing machine. I was nervous but so happy when it came out perfect!!! I decided to finish the doll into a huge bundle baby since it didn't have any arms. I listed her in my shop and she was snapped up immediately (maybe I should make more big ones).

Next I started on a design with changeable clothes for kids to play with. Here is the first one, a little girl with sleepy eyes.

I thought she came out super cute but I wanted to alter the pattern to have smaller hands and added ears. I made a little boy next with open eyes.

I spent the day photographing them and trying to come up with a name for the design. They are so soft and floppy, truly a baby doll I would have loved as a little girl. After discussing with my Mom on name ideas I decided to call them Soft Heart BeBes. What do you think?

They measure in at about 15 inches long. Each Soft Heart will come in a velcro diaper, altered onesie, hat and socks. They can have open or sleeping eyes, be a boy or girl and have different skin colors. Do you know a little girl or boy that would like a sweat little baby doll for Christmas? If so please email me if you would like to order. Otherwise I hope to get a couple of these little ones made up and listed in my shop before Christmas. If you like the two shown above you can find the boy in my shop and the girl may be listed as soon as I hear from a customer that may purchase her. And for now here are some additional pictures of them.

A Pumpkin Filled Day

My pal Sarah planned a pumpkin carving party yesterday at her house which started with heading out to the pumpkin patch first thing in the morning. We went last year too and it was so much fun I am hoping it is becoming a tradition! The pumpkin patch we go to is at Lone Pine Farms and is only a little ways out of town. They have goats, hay/corn mazes, playgrounds, food and of course PUMPKINS!

The goats are always really cute. They have food you can buy to feed them. Some of them are high up on a goats-only path that goes over head.

Normally you take either a tractor or horse drawn ride out to the patch so this year we got our tickets and boarded. Our friends Dave and Kim decided instead to walk to the closest patch and I was like "who wants to walk....you gotta take the ride!!". Well it turns out it wasn't a very good pumpkin season in these parts so the tractor took us around the perimeter and ended up just dropping us off right next to Kim and Dave. It turns out that WAS the only patch! It was kind of stupid ha ha. We ended up walking back!

After picking your pumpkin you have to put it on a big scale and get it weighed. Then the best part happens....TREATS! Inside the store there are piles and piles of fresh produce and sweet treats. We always get a bag (or bags depending on who you are) of the farm's kettle corn but it is also fun to check out the other treats. They had the biggest carmel apples we had ever seen.

Sarah had planned the carving part for the afternoon so after coming home for a bit I made some homemade scalloped potatoes and headed back over. I am a firm believer in the pumpkin carving kits that come with tools and templates so I got a new one this year to bring and share. Everyone got to work and our pal Dave toasted the pumpkin seeds in the oven (which came out delicious). Adam sat out front where he had more "elbow room" and carved a masterpiece.

The pumpkins started lining up outside the house before it was dark but luckily we didn't have to wait long before it was dark enough to see them in all their glory. We ended the evening with a game of Apples to Apples (which by the way is my favorite game ever). It was a great day!

Miniature Mania!

I was recently asked to make the smallest doll I have ever made at two inches. The first attempt was too big but I got it right the second time around. I enjoyed making the tiny dolls so much I made another one and listed him today. One thing I like about these little guys is that they don't require many supplies. And things are still tight around here until my financial aid arrives so there has been no spending money on supplies! I also like that they don't take as much time to make as some of my larger, more involved dolls/plush.

This is the one that started at all. I finally got her down to 2 inches.

Below on the left is Tilly who was my very first attempt. She is available in my Etsy shop along with Robert who was finished up yesterday.

In addition to that doll request I was also asked by a nurse to create a BeBe Pet bear that she could attach to her stethoscope. After creating that little guy I made a couple more of those too. It is kind of fun when people ask for something special because it gives me an opportunity to do something I hadn't thought of. I like it!

Below is the little guy that went to the nurse.

This little one is a polar bear available for adoption here.

The two pictures below include a patchwork bunny, brown bear and tan dog. They all went to one person who adores miniatures.

Want your very own miniature but need something not available? Email me! I would be glad to work with you. :)

Happy Happy Birthday!

One of my favorite little people ever turned 3 and had his birthday party last night.

I was finally able to give him his giant octopus that has been waiting here for him. I made him an octopus because my Mom has a small one and whenever he comes to her house he dives for it. I had not made it to be safe for kids (small eyes) as it was supposed to be just for my Mom. But she told me how sad it is to take away from him and that he needed his own. I hope he likes it!

The party was at a pizza place I went to when I was a kid, and had my own birthday parties at. It has a super old horse carousel that of course is always the main hit of the night. I rode around on it once and felt a little sick so after that I stood on the sidelines. This is my Mom with the other little stinker who I haven't spent as much time with, unfortunately :(. He is so sweet and squeezable!

I can't believe he is 3! This does not seem so long ago! (Hat via Auntie Casie haha).

It's Looking Spooky Cute Around Here!!

Lately I have been working really hard to use up fabrics and finish half completed projects. The main reason is because of my car troubles and it's resulting effect on my bank account. It actually has been good for me to work at finding things to make around the house and not running to the fabric store on every little whim. Another benefit has been that the BeBe Babies and Friends Etsy shop has been consistently making sales and staying stocked. Yay!

One dolly that has been sitting around for about a year now is a little witch that didn't get adopted last year with the others. Not only that but there was another witch that was laying here half completed. I just got them listed in my etsy shop today. You can find Zora here and Lilura here.

In addition to these little witches I have been working, and listing, new designs for Halloween. Here are some of my other new creations that are available in my Etsy shop.

BeBe Pet Bat

Tiny Witch

Vampire Bundle BeBe

Just a reminder I have the time right now to take orders so if you don't see what you are looking for or need something in a different color send me an email at bebebabiescom@yahoo.com Thanks for visiting!