And the Winner is...

First, I have to tell you all that I am not happy with Survey Monkey where I hosted the contest survey.  I didn't realize with the basic (free) account you could only receive up to 100 votes before you have to upgrade and pay.  I'm not against paying for services but the next level up from basic costs $24 a month!  I think that is a little much for a survey site.  And they held my responses hostage until I paid (ok hostage is a harsh word, but in order to see all 410 votes I had to pay the upgrade).  I had a feeling I knew which photo was the winner but I didn't feel comfortable not confirming for sure.  I will be canceling the service now because I'm not going to pay $24 a month for a survey site.  Hopefully for the next challenge or vote I can find on that is truly free or at least cheaper.

Ok on to the fun part.  Drum roll please....  And the winner is PHOTO 3!!!!  Tonya and her daughter blew the competition out of the water with their Easter photo receiving over 80% of the votes.  Congratulations to Tonya!  I will be emailing you about your prize.  :)

April/Easter Contest at BeBe Babies

Ok everyone the entries are in and it is time to vote!  I have created a survey through Survey Monkey where you can record your vote/favorite photo.  Voting is open until April 19 and the winner will be announced at that time.  Good luck and thank you to all my wonderful friends and customers who entered.  If you missed out this month make sure to join the BeBe Babies fan club to participate in future contests.  Please post and share this contest with your Facebook dolly friends, or other social networking sites, to support your friends who have entered.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.


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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!

Hot Pop Gallery Show

Hello everyone! The Plush Team is doing a group gallery show at Hot Pop Boutique & Gallery in Milwaukee. The show opens on January 21 and runs through March 20. The exciting part is the theme.......Candyland! I was really excited about the theme because I love candy/treat themed plush. Originally we were scheduled to have the show in May but got moved to January. That is the downside. It was really hard to find time to work on plush for the show with all the Christmas crazies but I was able to get 5 pieces done (which what was asked). Since the show goes through March we have been told that as things sell (hopefully) we can send stuff to restock. Soooo there may be more candy plush from me in the near future!

Because I am still trying to promote both of my shops (Boom! Plush! and BeBe Babies and Friends) I wanted to make pieces that would represent both. I decided to make 4 Ice Cream BeBe Cones and one candy monster. The monster is a spin on the Lemonheads candy character. I made him to look very similar to the actual character but made him furry and gave him horns. I really think he is cute!

This is the original character in case you don't remember.

And my monster!

I had a needle felted lemon sucker that I made a long time ago so I stuck that in his hand.

Doesn't he have a sweet face!? This is another one I kind of hope comes home to me hee hee.

Last but not least here are the little BeBe Ice Cream Cones! It's funny because a couple people have pointed out that they are scary which took me a little by surprise. It's weird when you make something and you see it one way and then someone points out something about it that you never would have thought before. Depending on what is said it can be a little alarming. I have to admit hearing that they are scary did kind of shake my confidence. Mostly because I didn't mean them to be, or think they are, scary at all! I can only think of one thing that makes them scary and that is if you literally look at them like you are eating a baby...which is not what I meant at all! I sort of thought in my head that the babies are so sweet...like ice cream! I'm really not the first one to make plush ice cream cones..I mean look at this, this, this and this.

If you live in the Milwaukee area be sure to stop by Hot Pop where you can find all of these guys as well as a bunch of other awesome plush by the Plush Team!

Christmas Gifts Part 1

I call this post part 1 because I am working non stop on Christmas gifts and there is bound to be a second post with the second round of gifts. I would like to say that I am a cheery santa's workshop type elf but really I think I resemble a manic crazed elf who has far too much to make and not enough time to do it. I already know that it isn't going to all get done and the part that has me panicked is that there are no funds to buy last minute gifts. I foresee many people opening artfully made IOUs this year.

*sigh*

Jolly aren't I? Before I continue bringing you down (does anyone except my Mom even read this blog?...) on to the gifts!

This gift is for a fun gift exchange I have coming up. I have had a BeBe ice cream cone design in my head for a while and finally made one. I really this she's cute and will probably make more.

And this next gift is for my Mom. I have instructed her not to read my blog until after Christmas but since she checks my blog everyday I am hoping she won't forget and do it out of habit. My Mom has a thing for Christmas carolers so I thought I would make some cute little BeBe carolers. I think they came out so cute!

I made their little books from images on the Internet shrunk down. I think it worked well.

Everything I used to make each doll came from scraps I already had. It feels really good to be able to use stuff from my craft room and not have to run out and buy something every five seconds. The dolls each are about 11 inches tall.

Well I better get back to the slave machine, I mean sewing machine. :)

Don't Chew your Pencils or they Might Chew You!

The Plush Team is doing another team fundraiser and my week to list some tiny plush is coming up this Tuesday. I had all kinds of ideas of what I wanted to do but I settled on pencils because I was thinking of the whole back to school time coming up around here. This ended up being a pretty smooth project and I love how they came out. In case you can't tell they are vampires. Each one is slightly different and they all have a different eye color. They are made of fleece. Three of them are going to be listed in the Plush Team shop on Tuesday Aug. 17. You can find the shop here. One of them is going to be included in the Plush Team giveaway that is going to be given at the end of the book tour. I may make some more of these guys for the Boom! Plush shop if they are well received. What do you think?

New Set! Alienpus!

I drove around to all the craft stores today and can you believe there was no space paper anywhere??? No stars, planets, aliens nada!!! Maybe it is the wrong time of year because there was plenty of beach paper (which would have come in handy last time with my under the sea theme but of course it wasn't out then). I guess when putting together a scrapbook you would rarely need space paper as most of us don't visit space on our family/summer vacations. I guess it's a good thing because it enables me to cut up paper and play with my craft supplies. Who needs cookie cutter designs anyway!

Anyhoo! Yesterday I was walking to swimming class and I had a brilliant idea! Well maybe not brilliant but something I really wanted to make and so as soon as I got home I furiously sewed the rest of the day. I love projects that I am able to complete in one day and this was one of them. Pleasantly there was little frustration and I only had to start over on the vinyl once, yay! By the way, vinyl is a bit tricky to sew with and I am new to it. I think there are so many possibilities though.

You know how I recently enlarged my octopus pattern and made some big ones? Well for some reason I am obsessed with all things octopus and it's not like I am the only one. Lots of people out there have been making all kinds of octopuses, monster-puses and more. Like these, these, these and these. However I have not seen an alien octopus and for some reason it popped into my head. This may be due to the amount of X-Files I have been watching lately.

A little bit about this dude: He is made of green and white fleece and his helmet is vinyl. He is approximately 10 inches tall and 22 inches wide. All of his tentacles are wired and can be posed. He has a somewhat floppy big head but can be positioned pretty easily without his head tipping over. The helmet is not removable because he would die if he breathed our air. He probably needs a story but I didn't write one so you can imagine for yourself where he came from and what he is doing here. Oh and if you want to bring him home he is in the Boom! Plush shop here.

Fun Mail!!

It's been a long time since I bought myself a new toy or doll but I splurged this week and finally purchased a doll that I have wanted for a very very long time. I was so excited when I went to the post office today and realized she arrived. She is a Dal and her name is Cinnamoroll. Here is what she looked like when she arrived.

And after pulling all the packaging apart. I can't believe how pretty she is in person. Her outfits are so well made and the details are perfect.

Here is the outfit she had on under her bunny suit. Isn't she pretty!!!!? I think I like her more than Blythe because she is articulated and can sit and hold things. I can't wait to do some clothes shopping for her. She is so pretty!!!

Making Sets.

Well since I can't seem to ever get over to the beach, even though I only live about an hour away, I decided to bring the beach to me! I wanted to make a beach scene to do a photo shoot with Captain Weirdbeard and Olly Octopus.

Look at all these pretty papers waiting to be cut up and pasted.

Ta-da! Captain Weirdbeard is a socially awkward guy that ends up drinking too much when he is nervous, especially around the ladies. His friends think he is funny and the life of the party but deep down he wishes he wasn't so awkward.

His favorite booze is XX. This particular bottle was crocheted by my awesome pal Sarah. It is sewn to his arm because he doesn't want to loose it.

Oh no he fell down and decided to sleep right where he landed!!! Some nice sea creature must have covered him up. Maybe it was Olly Octopus?

Olympic Challenge Entry!! Yay! Finally!!

Kristen of Schmany and PlushYou is putting on an Olympic Challenge. For all the details (it is too late to enter but if you want to know the criteria) go here. I have finally finished my piece and I am really excited to share it. There are four categories and I got opening ceremonies. I had no idea what to do! The only thing that came to mind was a torch and I figured everyone in my category would do a torch so I wanted to think of something more complex. Since the olympics took place in Canada this year I tried to think of all things snow and Canadian. My list was long but I decided on a snowflake that is melting while holding the torch.... What started as a brainstorming session ended with a piece that is probably the most complicated thing have I have created to date.

Here is the original concept drawing...

I have to tell you I almost gave up. First of all a snowflake must be perfectly symetrical. Aaaand all those little legs have to turn and the bases are quite narrow (and not fun to sew and cut out). The first attempt was too small and all wonky. I enlarged the pattern and tried again....

This dude is made from white fleece. The torch is grey fleece and flame is wool felt. The snowflake himself is completely wired and can stand on his own. His face is embroidered and colored with ink.

I call him...... "The 2010 Olympics are HOT!!!"

What do you think? I want to win the GOLD!

Captain Weirdbeard!

It has been so long since I posted! I thought I would share my newest creation. This is Captain Weirdbeard! He is a drunk little star fish pirate. He started out as a doodle and is now a completed plush made from orange minky dot fabric and felt (oh and his peg leg is a cotton wood print). Right now he has a little felt liquor bottle which I will be replacing with a better creation. Cap. Weirdbeard is wired throughout his body and can be posed in all kinds of ways.

I hope to create a new photo set with him that will include sand and beachy type things. In fact I am thinking about taking him to the actual beach for a photo shoot but we shall see if I find the time. Look for more fun plush creations soon!

Day Off With Blythe

I have the day off... Here is Blythe in her new boots and tights. And in front of a new in-progress backdrop.

Witchies are Coming....