Yearly Seattle Trip

I realized while looking back through my old blog posts that my pal Katrina and I took our last Seattle trip nearly one year ago to the day. It wasn't planned that way, and honestly we might need to rethink our timing next year. If you know anything about Seattle it is probably that it rains a lot, but did you know that it isn't even one of the top 10 rainiest cities in the U.S.? However, this fact does not make you feel better when you are poured on every time you visit. So imagine our surprise when we emerged from the gigantic rain cloud stationed over our home state of Oregon and found ourselves instead being soaked by blazing sunshine on Seattle's waterfront.

I of course had only packed warm sweaters and a rain jacket for the trip because I expected to be cold and wet as we trooped around the city so I had to improvise to be comfortable in the sun's heat. Due to it being the last spring break weekend, and such a beautiful one, the tourists were out in full force leaving Pike Place Market jam packed.

As you know from my last trip, Katrina is a chef at a top restaurant in Portland Oregon. She is a through and through foodie and always has a specifically planned out food tour for us whenever we travel. Her list is usually very ambitious for the inherent limitations to how much a person can eat. Regardless, like any challenge, we rise to it and do the best we can to stuff ourselves. The first stop on the list was a place in the heart of Pike Place Market. To Katrina's disappointment the market was being renovated and she was upset that one of her favorite places, and our first stop, seemed to be closed as we couldn't find it. But then we spied a long line and realized it was still open!

Image found here.

Piroshky-Piroshky is a little Russian bakery that sells all kinds of savory and sweet treats. Katrina's favorite is the sauerkraut, carrot, cabbage and onion but I went for the smoked salmon pate. Served piping hot, the bread is soft, chewy and a little bit sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of my piroshky but I think if I could do it over I would pick a different flavor. The pate was awesome but there was quite a bit of it and it's richness was a little much for me personally. The experience was beautiful though, as the we sat on a bench near the waterfront and enjoyed the sunshine and people watching.

As we attempted to take a picture of ourselves a slightly awkward man offered to help. He was adamant that we have the ferry in the background so we weren't exactly ready when he decided to snap the picture. Therefore he took another one which was even worse than the first. Incidentally you really can't see the boat well anyway. Awwww memories!

Next we did a little walking and shopping and I finally was able to visit a store that I know well but was closed last time we went to Seattle. As you know I am in the business of plush dolls and you can't be in the business and not know about the shop and gallery Schmancy. The owner of Schmancy holds plush gallery shows each year as well as stocks a tiny shop full of artist made plush and other designer toys. I had already promised myself that I could purchase one piece on this trip and after carefully searching the entire store I decided on a very familiar piece by my pal Becky of Scrumptious Delight. I have had my eye on him for quite a while and was not disappointed to see, and purchase, him in person. I snapped a picture of him in our large, bright hotel window.

If you come from a rainy city or state you know that it is important to enjoy the sunshine when it presents itself because it is generally a short lived treat. This was the case on our trip and near the end of our shopping we saw the dark clouds finally catching up with us from the south. After a quick drop off of our bags to our room, and a change back into our warm clothes, we headed off to first dinner.

Both restaurants we ate at this trip specialized in Italian food. The first was Tavolata in the Belltown neighborhood. As always we order what looks good and share everything in order to sample more of the menu. We ordered the wild watercress salad, chicken meatballs, and grilled flatbread because we had resolved to make first dinner all about appetizers. Everything was delicious with a few little unexpected surprises. Included with the meatballs were corona beans which I had never had and the hint of garlic on the flatbread was perfect. I wish I had more to say about the food because I don't want to leave you thinking it wasn't amazing, because it was, I guess I am just not moved to say much about it.

Image found here.

Next we hoofed it up to Spinasse located on Capital Hill. We hadn't planned to walk because it seemed far but it felt good to work off first dinner and it turned out to not be a bad walk at all. Spinasse could not be more different than Tavolata. The atmosphere quickly changed from large, modern and hip to cozy, traditional and old school. Here we ordered 'Pio Tosini' prosciutto di Parma with marinated apple, ravioli di topinambur and a radicchio salad. The adorable waiter, who seemed to have been transported straight out of Italy and to our table side, brought us some rabbit pate to sample as we waited. I watch a lot of Bizarre Foods and Anthony Bourdain (actually both of them are on a shared episode on t.v. as I write this) so I like to pretend I am one of them when offered something I might not normally have the chance to eat. In the spirit of these shows I took a giant bite of the thin toast the pate was spread on. I will say it was not the worst thing I have ever tried but one bite was enough. It was sweet, and also bitter, and my idea of what Andrew Zimmer must mean by "gamey". In fact the interesting flavors didn't really stop there as the rest of our food arrived. I definitely would pick Tavolata over Spinasse, not because of quality, but just because some of the flavors at Spinasse, were not my favorite.

First, the prosciutto came on a large plate and was literally the most prosciutto I have seen in one place at one time. We weren't even able to finish it which was a shame to waste. The radicchio salad was typical and delicious but the ravioli was a bit different. The pasta was amazingly thin and delicious, as only homemade pasta can be, but the included herb had an interesting flavor I can't say I was altogether wild about.

Image found here.

Finally wee hailed a cab back to our hotel and passed out in a food comma.

The next day started with a wonderful experience at a place called Eltana. I knew nothing about the fact that traditional bagels are boiled in water but learned all about it as we ate our truly amazing bagels. I had a plain bagel with a date walnut cream cheese spread. It was sooooo good!

Image found here.

Next we spent an hour or two in the amazing Elliot Bay Book Company and then a couple more hours eating in the Uwajimaya food court and roaming their bookstore. Both of which I highly recommend only if you have time to browse and enjoy being assaulted on all sides by goodies of all kinds. I left Elliot Bay with a zine called Afterzine, which I haven't read yet, and I left Uwajimaya full of sushi and strong green tea. It was certainly a pleasant way to leave such a fun city and head back down the freeway for home.

The Biggest Order EVER!

One of my fabulous retailers, AmeriKid, let me know a while back that they would be interested in carrying my new design, the Soft Heart BeBe. Well they are an awesome store, full of children's toys made only in the U.S. They are so devoted to carrying only American made products that they did not want my Soft Hearts to come in store bought, re-sized onesies. Sooooo I decided to finally bite the bullet and learn to make some baby/doll clothing. If you have been following me for any amount of time you probably know I resist making clothes at all costs. I don't really know what I hate about it...maybe it is because when I am done with a doll, or plush, there is a sweet face looking back at me and clothing just doesn't have that.

Well the order was placed for 10 Soft Hearts about a month and a half ago. I thought I could get them done in 3-4 weeks but as you know school was so much work this last term that I just really didn't get time to pound them out. My goal for spring break was to get this order done and out. Luckily with the help of my Mom they are done! What do you think?

The order was for eight girls and two boys but when I started picking fabric I found this adorable green/brown with monkeys for the boys. After looking at it for a while I thought it could be for a girl or boy and I have a feeling it is going to be popular. I decided to do five of them in the hearts and five in the green monkeys.

I think I did a pretty good job on the outfits for my first time. I can get a little upset about details but I was at the toy store the other day looking at doll clothes for ideas and I don't think store bought clothes look perfect. I tried not to beat myself up! I am sure I will get better at it.....yes I said it....I am going to continue making clothes for my dolls. I think now that I have a pattern it will be fun to pick out fabrics and make the clothes myself. I am also planning to sell just the outfits in my shop soon so if you are looking for doll clothes check back.

The outfits were made from two different patterns. The romper and booties were made from this McCall's pattern. I of course shrunk it and altered it to my own specifications. The hat is from this doll clothing pattern by Simplicity. The outfits in this pattern set are really cute and I want to try a couple more of them out.

If you are interested in adopting any of these guys they should be available at AmeriKid shortly. Of course you can always visit my shop for new babies or email me to order. I have lots more of both fabrics so I can always make more.

I hope you are having a great spring break!

Ophelia and the Home Stretch

Tomorrow I have all of my finals for Winter term in one day. Yikes! Luckily my Shakespeare teacher is having us present our creative projects in lieu of a test. The other positive thing about this is that my Shakespeare class is my last class for the day. This means by the time I get to Shakespeare my brain will be exhausted from two consecutive finals and I will be ready to sit and watch creative presentations!

I told you a while back that I would have another creative project to show you. I have been working on this doll on-and-off for a couple of weeks now and I am relatively happy with how she came out. Making this doll was a bit of a stretch creatively for me. I generally don't like realistically human dolls and have avoided making any for a long time. Mainly it is because I don't like making clothes very much and it seems the doll never comes out the right size for store bought doll clothes. I also don't think I am very good at painting realistic features. However, I decided to give it a go on this girl!

The only guidelines for our creative project is that the subject had to be from one of the plays we read throughout the term. The plays we read were Merchant of Venice, Henry IV Part I, Hamlet and The Tempest. We read The Tempest last and it's possible if we had started reading it before I started my project I would have picked a character to make into a doll from that play. It would have been fun to make Caliban I think. Nevertheless, that didn't happen so I of course picked Ophelia from Hamlet because, well, she is truly a character that stands out from all the rest.

There is a lot of online inspiration for Ophelia, including a few other dolls. Check out this one, this one and this one. When we were reading Hamlet we watched several scenes from the David Tennant version of Hamlet that came out in 2008. The scene where Ophelia is crazy and handing out flowers is intense and extremely powerful. If you want to watch it you can see it here on YouTube. The image of her in that scene is the inspiration for my Ophelia doll.

I created her first from muslin but her legs were so skinny that I couldn't stuff them. Muslin can be really difficult to work with, at least for me. It also has no stretch so I was having a hard time getting her wig to fit such a flat head. I decided to try to make her out of the fabric I use on the BeBes and it ended up working pretty good. She is wired throughout her body so she could potentially be posed but I didn't want to mess with her.

Luckily I had a wig laying around here that fit her perfectly. For her outfit I made her a muslin shirt and skirt that are underneath her dress. I had no idea what I was doing for her outfit but found some pictures online that helped inspire me. I had this scrap of a dark turquoise velour that ended up working perfect. The dress itself is not perfect and don't let it fool you, there's a lot of glue holding up those folds. By the end I had no idea what I was doing and decided to go back to my favorite crafty tool, glue. The good thing, for me, was she needed to look a little disheveled because she went crazy outside pulling up flowers.

I made her a headband out of some ribbon and a rope belt thingy out of floss. I looked all over town for some plastic fake flowers but I couldn't find anything small enough to look realistic for her. In the play she has rue, daisies, columbines and fennel. I was going to try to make all the flowers but after cutting out a tiny daisy and some fennel I was spent. I decided that was enough for her ha ha. I added some bits of moss and straw to her hair for effect. I also dirtied up her feet and skirt bottom to represent her romp through the weeds.

So that's Ophelia! I'm glad she's done...it was an adventure...I probably won't ever do another one like her ha ha.

And the Winner is....

Kim!!!!!!!

Hoooray! I am sending you a message now, Kim, but in case you don't get it or see this first, I will need you to email me your mailing address. You can email it to me at: bebebabiescom@yahoo.com. Thanks to everyone for participating. I will definitely be doing another one soon because this was so much fun! :)

BeBe Babies Giveaway!

Hi everyone!

Today is March 1st which means I am getting my BeBe Babies monthly newsletter ready to send out to my lovely mailing list. It is also my dear Momma's birthday so I am feeling festive. I have decided to do a giveaway which I don't know that I have done on my blog, and if I have it was a looong time ago. The giveaway will be for one of my most popular BeBes, the Bundle BeBe in a sleepy owl print. Here's a picture!

The giveaway is going to be up for a week and there are several ways that you can enter (and enter more than once for more chances):

1. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. Also if you do any of the below additional entry options please let me know in your comment so I enter you the correct number of times!

2. Join my mailing list to receive an additional entry. Email bebebabiescom@yahoo.com to join. You will only receive one email a month (on the first of the month) with news and other special notices for BeBe Babies.

3. "Like" my brand new Facebook fan page and receive an additional entry.

4. Follow my blog and receive an extra entry.

5. Visit my Etsy shop and let me know your favorite doll listed to receive an additional entry.

6. Blog about my giveaway on your blog and receive an additional entry (make sure to give a link to the blog post).

Thanks for reading and entering! Good luck and have a great week!

Topsy Turvy School Project

Well I thought that school couldn't be more time consuming than it had been in the last year and a half but I was wrong. It turns out taking two literature classes at once is MUCH more time consuming than math and history. Mostly it is because of the amount of reading and writing that is required in a literature class. I suppose I need to get used to it though, being an English major and all. *sigh*

In addition to all the reading and papers both my literature classes require a creative project that relates to the texts we are reading. The first one I have completed is for my American Literature class. We are reading texts that were written from the beginning of "America", including Native American and slave era samples, all the way to the 19th century. Of course it is a no brainer that any creative project for me will include some kind of doll or sewing project as it is what I know how to do best. I thought it would be interesting to make a doll that would replicate something a slave child or slave era child would play with.

I did a little research as well as asked opinions from my doll peeps on what kind of dolls were known to exist during the time. One suggestion I received was for a topsy turvy doll. If you haven't heard of a topsy turvy doll, basically they are dolls that have two sides with a dress or outfit that covers the other side. I don't know if that is a good explanation so go here to see some modern options. You can also see better pictures and buy patterns for them here.

For my doll I made my own pattern and it was MUCH harder than I originally thought it was going to be. The difficulty was in the dress. First of all the dress has to look finished on both sides and has to be able to turn which required keeping the top of the dress and skirt separate. I ended up hand sewing much of the doll's outfit which was a bit time consuming. I wanted the doll to look homemade and old so I tried not to stress out too much about the little flaws here and there.

If you are interested in the history of the topsy turvy doll, including the speculation over why the doll would be black on one side and white on the other you can read about them here.

Without further ado here is my doll! Come back soon to see the next doll I am making for my other class. I don't want to give too much away but the class is Shakespeare.... Bye for now!

Adopted BeBes!!

I have been accumulating pictures from various customers of my dolls in their new homes. Some of them are so cute I thought maybe I would make a post to share some of my favorites. Enjoy!

This is my favorite!!! Soooo sweet!

Here is that teeny tiny BeBe baby that was a custom order over Christmas. I was so happy to see she fit snuggly in the matchbox she was intended for.

Amarion in his new home!

This picture cracks me up. He looks so protective of his dolly.

Awww sweet!

Creating a Monster

There's this really great blog called ionlylikemonsters and a while ago the owner of the blog sent out a call for plush artists to make some brothers for her blog mascot Roland P. Fingermonster. I thought it was a great idea and promised to make a monster right away. Well you know me and I couldn't just leave it at something simple so I have been working on him for several weeks now (it also was because school is kicking my butt this term). Anyway! While I was working on him the other day I decided to take some pictures of my progress. I intended to document his whole creation but as the day turned to dusk the light started to wane and since I refuse to use a camera flash, the documenting ceased. It would have been too much of an effort to set up my photo tent to take a picture every five seconds as I worked on him, so I only have the first parts to share with you. Don't worry though, I have all kinds of tips on creating monsters and working with long fur!

Let's start at the beginning.... You have clicked over and seen Roland by now right? It is important because I used his image to design my "brother" monster for him. Here is what I came up with.

The first step for me when creating a new design is to figure out what the basic shapes of the design are. In the case of the guy above there is the outline of his body which includes the gusset (the top of the head) and the rest of the body. Here are what the pieces look like when taken apart and photocopied.

When working with fur, especially long pile fur, it is important to keep in mind which way the nap of the fur is going. Depending on the look you are trying to create you will probably want the nap going all in the same direction, and usually up or down. Sidewise fur usually looks funny although you might be going for that. The bottom line is just to be aware so you aren't surprised or disappointed when you turn your pieces. I want my nap laying down so here is what my pieces look like when cut out.

Usually I am opposed to pinning in all shapes and forms. This is because I am lazy and can't be bothered with it. However, I will ALWAYS break this personal rule when working with fur. Fur is slippery and thick which makes it extremely tricky to sew. The main thing you want to do when pinning your pieces is to keep the fur inside the seam facing the right side of the fabric. As you pin, keep pushing the fur down between the pieces. This will help hide the seams when you turn the fabric of your monster and also leave less fur for you to pick out of the seams later. This first picture shows how the fur is sticking out as I pin and then next shows when I have finished pinning and all the fur is nicely tucked inside.

When you start sewing fur you might want to leave a seam allowance that is larger than you normally would leave on other fabrics. Even though you have pinned your fur it can still slide a lot and you want to make sure you get both pieces sewn together. When you are done sewing a piece make sure to check both sides to make sure they are sewn completely together. If they aren't go back over them, it doesn't matter if it looks pretty on the inside it is the outside that will count.

Next you need to decide on the placement of the gusset and get it sewn on. I refer to my originally drawing at this point and notice that I want his gusset to come down a little bit as the forehead and form the top of the mouth. I eyeball it and mark where I want it to be.

Now you want to pin the gusset on really well and sew that together. It is starting to look like a furry helmet!

The mouth is the next part and again I trace the mouth from the original drawing as reference.

To make a mouth that goes in you have to create a trim around the inside of the mouth. This is done by cutting a strip from the same mouth fabric (in this case black fleece) in about an inch to two inches (or depending on how deep you want the mouth to be). Then you sew that piece to the inside of the mouth (fleece) and the outside of the mouth (fur).

Okay this is the last progress picture and it was taken with the dreaded flash! You can see how his mouth has come together though.

And since that is the last of the progress photos here he is done! I am about to email Janet at ionlylikemonsters to see if she likes this guy. Wish him luck!

Boom! Done!

He thinks he is pretty funny.

Crazy arms/legs. This picture is a little creepy.

He's got his eye on you.

Bye!

Merry Russian Christmas!

It is that time of year again when the Plush Team draws names and sends each other plush gifts for the holiday. Instead of celebrating at the "western" Christmas time we choose to do a Russian Christmas because it is celebrated a little bit later in the season (January 7). This gives us crafters a little more time because most of us are the busiest during the holidays. In addition it is a secret swap so no one but the person in charge knows who has who. It is so much fun to anticipate what kind of plushie goodness you will be receiving.

This year guess who was in charge of the swap? Meeeee! Unfortunately because I drew the names I knew who got me but the good news was I couldn't have been more pleased with who it was. I almost felt guilty because if I was going to cheat she is probably who I would have picked because I have been a huuuuuge fan of her plush for a loooong time. Luckily my Mom has pounded a guilty conscience down deep into my soul and there is no way I would do something like that! It is better when it works out honestly anyway right?

Before I show you what I got let me tell you what I gave. My swapee partner was Anne-Claire of Hibou Cards. I was so swamped leading up to the send date that I didn't really get a chance to make something special but I had a couple octopodes sitting around that have really really wanted a home. I decided to send her this guy because he was/is my personal favorite. Luckily she liked him!!!! Read all about how he is settling into her home here. Here is one of her pictures in case you don't want to click over. She has an awesome pirate parrot that is his buddy now.

Now on to the present I received! Like I was saying I have been a huge fan of Becky aka Scrumptious Delight for a long long time. I received my package from her yesterday and had been sitting on pins and needles waiting for it because she had told me she was working on something special. I spent my time waiting wondering if it would be a cotton candy or perhaps some pickle preserves. I received a hint from Becky's husband because him and I have been working on a super secret project. He said that it was special and awesome and I would love it. Errrr I was stumped.

As you can imagine I ripped the package open as soon as it arrived. I took the time to read Becky's adorable card and then ripped the paper off the plush! I never could have imagined something so clever, amazing and thoughtful. I really think she should make more because everyone will want one! Here it is!

Becky used small rectangles of velcro to give the "wall" a brick look. Not only is that a clever use of velcro but it serves the purpose of holding up the felt graffiti and the totally awesome spray cans. All the pieces are removable and can be stuck on where ever you want!

I know that the graffiti lettering was done by her talented husband Aymeric so I really appreciate his contribution as well! Now I am going to have to work more on some felt graffiti so I can add to the wall! Did you also notice it says "Boom" which stands for my other shop Boom! Plush!? So personal and sweet!

Well what do you think? Is it not the most awesome plush ever!!!?? A big thanks to Becky for making my day/month/year.

Pro Nails!!

My pal Sarah posted a video on Facebook the other day on how to make marble nails. I thought it was so cool! She agreed and today we decided to try it for ourselves. It was really fun and we learned a lot along the way. It definitely wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

She decided in the end that the effect really wasn't for her so she took hers off and painted them solid black. I left mine though because I like crazy colors. I think if I did it again though I would come up with a strategy that matches better. I was just doing colors all willy nilly. Anyhoo here is how they look!