New Design...Upcoming Show...Diet...SUMMER!

Hello everyone! It has been a long time since I posted...sorry about that! A lot has been going on around here so let me catch you up.

SUMMER

It is finally summer break for me as I don't return to school until the end of September. Summer for me means work work work on BeBes! I love having the whole day, without interruption, to work on new projects to stock the BeBe shop with. Also now is a great time for any special orders so send me a note if you have been thinking of adopting a BeBe. I can't say how much time I am going to have this year because I will be starting at the university which means a much harder and larger work load.

Luckily the Weather was Nice for Summer Camping on the Lake

New Design

Here in Oregon we have not had a very nice summer this year. We have had much more rain than usual which has left the warm sunny days few and far between. Even though I am longing for many more summer days the thought of fall is on my mind. Fall is my favorite season and designing dolls for Halloween is my favorite also. Luckily a lovely customer came along and asked for a black BeBe cat which I had never done before. I say luckily because I think she is one of the cutest BeBes I have made in a long time. I love her so much I am heading back to the fabric store to get more of this black fur so I can make several more. If you want your own black cat drop me a line! You can see more pictures of her here on Flickr.

She is wearing an adorable tutu I made her in Halloween colors.

Upcoming Show

On September 3rd BeBe Babies will be in Portland Oregon at the Dolls 4 All show. If you have never been to one of these doll shows I will tell you they are awesome! I have exhibited several times over the years and have always had a great time. At this show I will be bringing along some skill sheets and will be providing demonstrations on plush doll making skills. If you have been interested in learning the ladder stitch or where to get started making dolls please stop by and see me. For more information on the show see this page.

I should have lots of new BeBes at the show so if you can make it please stop and say hello!

Diet

Remember how I said one of the only things I could think of as a goal before I turn 30 was to lose 20 lbs? Well thanks to my psychology class earlier in the summer I decided that I need a little more structure to reach this goal. So I have embarked on the 17 day diet plan and am currently hungry on day 2. Why this diet? Well because the book is here because my boyfriend is doing it. Basically the diet is a three phase thing with high protein/low carb/low sugar meals.

On Sunday night we spent diet-eve eating copious amounts of McDonalds which was a big mistake. First of all we don't eat that unhealthy and rarely eat fast food as it is. However the positive was that I wasn't even really hungry in the morning so my two egg whites and half a grapefruit seemed like a satisfactory breakfast.

Yesterday went pretty well. The food wasn't much different than what we normally eat. For instance a normal dinner for us is a chicken breast, asparagus and rice. That's basically what we had for dinner last night just without the rice.

This morning was a different story. I woke up crabby because I literally woke up twice last night because I was hungry. Breakfast was a cup of berries on top of 6 oz of yogurt. By lunch I was ravenous and devoured my salad (which by the way is all lunch was). To be fair it was a huge salad with eggs on it but still I am learning that I was very dependent on carbs. And while I like vegetables I like them best dipped in something creamy like ranch dressing. On this diet the salad dressing is olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I don't want to write too much more about the diet but will keep you updated on results. The diet boasts 10-12 lbs in 17 days which seems highly do-able if I went off my stomach's opinion at the moment. It would be great to get halfway to my goal in 17 days. Oh and after the first 17 days the next 17 day phase consists of more food during a day. Yay! This is basically the motivation that is keeping me from scouring the cabinets for a bread crumb or cracker.

That's all for now! Until next time...

Sneak Peek...

Remember how I just said I was inspired to make a mermaid? Well today was a lazy Sunday and I spent all day working on the first of what I hope will be a series of mermaids. She came out so cute that I am thinking I might send them in to Stuffed. I'm not ready to share her completely yet because I want to get the others done first and also set up a scene for photos, however, here are a couple sneak peeks.

Her tail is made of this gorgeous blue brocade fabric. It took me a couple of times to get the pattern right because I have never used brocade fabric and it frays a lot and quick.

I had a bunch of shells which I put in her hair and used for her bikini top. She measures about 15 inches tall.

When I was at the fabric store I didn't see any other brocade that I liked but I am going to go back and look again because I think it is perfect for the tail. I wish they would have had this one. Green is so pretty!

Manatee!

It is really fun to receive custom orders or suggestions for a BeBe that I have never made before. Sometimes, of course, it can be a little daunting if I am not sure where to begin. Then how do I begin you might ask. Well usually I begin by looking up images on Google. In this case I looked up pictures of manatees and printed out a couple from each angle of the animal. Like this one and this one.

Then I draw a pattern which can include enlarging, changing and tweaking until I think it is right. The first attempt does not always turn out but it is easier to tell after sewing the first one what might need to be changed on the pattern to receive my desired result. In the case of this manatee I only had to resew one time and it wasn't because the pattern was flawed it was because I wasn't paying attention to the direction of the stretch in the fabric. I wasn't so sure if she turned out good but the customer loved her. What do you think?

I added buttons for eyes which I think was a nice touch.

The pattern actually looked a bit like a mermaid which gave me an inspiration to make one. It's funny how that can happen while working on something new or different, and I love when it does. Look for a mermaid coming soon!

You've been Published! (sort of)

I'm not sure if you all are familiar with a wonderful magazine called Stuffed: The Crafting of Softies but it is a high quality, beautiful magazine put out by Stampington and Company. The magazine does their own photo shoots of each artists' work which leads to amazing visual concepts. The magazine is like plush eye candy! Just look at this issue's cover.

Even though the quality of the magazine is very high their submission guidelines are a little daunting. First they highly recommend that you actually mail your plush to them, even before you know if you will be selected to be in the magazine. You must provide a check or money order inside your package for the shipping of the plush back to you, again whether or not you are included in the magazine. When the magazine first began a couple years ago Plush Team members, including myself, eagerly sent off our finest work for a chance to be included. Unfortunately for several people, again including myself, we were rejected. Those of us in the art/crafting business know to not let the sting of rejection get under our skin and instead be positive and try again the next time.

In fact I did try again the next time, and was again rejected. I have to admit at that point I was a little sour on the whole thing, not only because of the rejection, but mostly because it was costing between $20-$40 to mail my work back and forth with no benefit. At that point I stopped submitting because I reasoned it was too expensive for me. Besides, sometimes things like this are more about it being cool to see myself in print and less about it translating into sales, which I suppose truly is the bottom line.

Well then the fabulous Plush Team did a challenge that was selected to grace the pages of the magazine. It was a challenge called Frankenplush Scrapenstein and fortunately I had participated. I contributed the arms and legs to this guy. I thought he came out awesome if I do say so myself. The article itself did not focus on my group's piece but did take a group photo where you can kind of see him (far left hand side).

This week I received my complimentary copy for my meager contribution which I think is pretty darn generous of the magazine (the magazine itself is a bit spendy at $14.99 retail). My name is even printed it it! Woot!

Instead of being satisfied that I am finally printed somewhere in this particular publication I now once again want to try for my own spread. The next submission deadline is Aug 15. But what the heck should I send!? The first time I submitted, I sent a one of a kind set of BeBe Pets that were modeled after the Fox and the Hound. I still even have them...here they are!

I still think the fox is pretty good but the hound is a mess. He's all floppy and just so rudimentary compared to my work now. It's funny because I can totally see why they did not select these two to be printed. The second time I just sent a selection of regular BeBe pets but when I see my work from that time period I can again see why they did not pick me.

So the question now is... 1. Should I try again? and 2. If I do what the heck should I send? These are the things I am contemplating today. If you have a suggestion please leave a comment!

A P.T. Stitchy Afternoon

Recently I received a couple Plush Team kits in the mail and today I decided to sew and put one together. The kit is for creating a plush toy of the Plush Team's mascot, P.T. Stitchy. The team put these kits together for the Maker Faire a while back when they taught some plush making classes. I have a doll show coming up in September where I will be teaching basic sewing skills as well as how to get starting making plush and dolls. I will be offering instruction, skill sheets and simple plush kits. I thought I might bring along these Plush Team kits in case any one would like to make their own P.T. mascot. If you are interested in your own kit you can find them for sale in the Plush Team Etsy shop here.

I would definitely recommend this kit for beginners as it was super simple and quick. I believe these guys were printed by Spoonflower which is a place I have wanted to try for a long time. I like how the design is printed on the fabric and ready to sew. I'm thinking it might be fun to print up the BeBe Babies bunny mascot and turn her into a plush!

I think it took me about an hour to complete him and isn't he cute??! He quickly found his way into bed with Maisy. She isn't so sure about him yet.

Another thing I did this weekend to get ready for teaching at the doll show was I put together my first skill sheet and video. The skill that I find the most useful when creating plush is the ladder stitch. I know from recently trying to teach it to my Mom that it isn't easy to get or remember if you don't use it often. Because of that I made a sheet but also a video for my Mom, and anyone from the doll show, that needs help at home. You can view the video on my website here or watch on YouTube below.

I hope you find it helpful!

Sloths are my Favorite

If you read my previous post you know that my friend Sarah and I exchanged birthday gifts yesterday. She received the good day, bad day polar bear pillow from me and guess what I got!!?? A crochet sloth finger puppet!!! OMG! I have been a huge fan of her finger puppets like FORever and I also love sloths a whole lot. I fell deeply in love with sloths after watching videos like this one. As far as the puppets go I mean LOOK at these cuties. I want a whole collection now...hint hint.

Anyway here is my sloth! Isn't he/she the cutest ever???? I keep calling him a he but maybe it's a she. What do you think?

My favorite thing about him is his adorable little claws. They remind me so much of a real sloth and I love the way his arms curl up. Sooo sweet!

I think Sarah should make millions of finger puppet animals and let me adopt them all. hahaha

Summer Happenings!

Well I finished spring term yesterday and even though summer is still slow in coming around here it is officially summer break. I spent the day today relaxing and working on finishing up a couple of projects. It was a wonderful first day of freedom. It started with checking out all of the pretty things happening out in the yard.

Then I was able to finally get pictures of my entry into the Plush Team May/June challenge. The theme of this challenge is circus. I decided to finally make a BeBe bear clown, which is something I have always wanted to do. It seems when I doodle, I doodle circus bear clowns. I thought I might make another one but after how difficult this one was I'm not sure.

He has shiny red shoes and a wool felt hat. The balls he is juggling were made by me out of clay and they are on a white wire. The ball he is standing on is weighted and he is attached to it. He doesn't stand perfectly on his ball but takes a little coaxing (or lightly leaning against something).

And lastly I made a birthday gift for my friend Sarah. She really likes polar bears and I decided to make her a polar bear pillow that is happy on one side and mad on the other. I call him the good day, bad day polar bear. I actually traced the pattern from a picture of a real polar bear which I am not sure translated well into plush. I think next time I would make his head more symmetrical. What do you think? My Mom kind of likes his kooky ears. I don't know what Sarah thinks yet.

More Realistic Eyes

Now I will admit I don't have much in the way of painting skills and I have never felt that I am very good at it. My dolls have very basic eyes and painting which is truly the way I like it. However, I decided a couple days ago to try painting eyes on my newest doll that were a little more lifelike. I searched online for tutorials on painting eyes and ended up roughly following this one. The tutorial is for painting on a canvas but I figured it wouldn't be much different on a doll. I didn't do every step or technique on the tutorial but changed it to suit my taste.

I think they came out really pretty but I'm not sure if it fits with my BeBe Baby style. First I think they make her look much older and less babyish and second I think they are too big. I suppose I could continue combining some of the techniques and not using others. What do you think? Here is a close up of Maribel's eyes.

And her is a farther away picture of her.

If you are interested in adopting her you can find her in my Etsy shop here.

Adorable!

You have probably seen the mini BeBe Babies that I have made over the years but what you might not know is that BeBe Babies began as a single miniature doll. The very first BeBe Baby was around five inches long. It took several tries before she was at least satisfactory and in comparison to my dolls today, she was very crude. When she was done, even though she was so simple, I had one of those moments where I knew something great was coming. Through the following year I worked on her design, tweaking things here and there, until she was even better. I have continued on since then changing the original pattern and ending up with the miniature designs I have now.

The original BeBe used to reside in a tea cup at my Mom's house but as of today my Mom can not seem to remember where she is. She is probably hiding up in the Christmas or Valentine decorations. I wish I still had her picture so that you all could see what she looks like but I promise if and when she is found I will share her with you all. It was early 2007 after all and since then I have changed photo hosting sites as well as computers so it has been impossible to track down her picture.

I thought it would be fun to look back over the years at some BeBe miniatures so that you can see their evolution. You will notice that details, like noses and ears, did not originally exist on them. Another thing you might notice is how much better my picture taking skills have become.

Next came noses and ears but still no toes.

And finally toes emerged!

Now my miniatures have reached their smallest size ever at around 2-3 inches. The inspiration for this post came from a wonderful customer who has been collecting my miniatures. She posted some pictures of them in super cute outfits she made as well as in an adorable doll house setting. Here are a couple of the ones she bought that you will see in her pictures.

And here are her pictures!

I hope you enjoyed the miniature BeBe journey!

Inspirations

So last week was my 29th birthday and I had all these grand ideas of making a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turn 30. I have seen a lot of bloggers do lists like these and then as they complete each thing they blog about it. I always thought it was cute and fun and I wanted in on the cleverness. Originally I thought this would be a great way for me to set some goals and accomplish them, plus I really like making lists and checking things off. I had thought about it over the weeks leading up to my birthday but only sat down to make the list a couple days before. I got stuck after three things, THREE! It went like this:

1. climb to the top of mountains (mt. pisgah, spencers butte for starters)
2. go to San Francisco
3. lose 20 lbs

I then figured I didn't have to finish the list until the day of my birthday. But then on my birthday I climbed to the top of Spencer's Butte (which was awesome by the way) so that left me with only two tasks left and still no new ideas.

View from the top of Butte

Part of the reason it was hard to make the list was because I was trying to be realistic. Sure I can think of 30 amazing, magical things I want to do like travel around the tropics or live in a bigger house but a lot of the things that come to mind require vast amounts of money or resources. It just isn't realistic to think any of them will happen this year. Even if I wasn't a desperately poor student I probably won't have the money for such things for a long time, if ever.

The list has been basically abandoned but that isn't exactly what this post is about. In fact I wasn't even going to share my failed list attempt but then over the last couple days I was finding myself inspired by simple things that really didn't cost me much or anything. It all started really with the climb on my birthday. I had wanted to do it for so long and never thought it would be so easy. I also realized that some of the reason I liked the 30 things list is because it would require me to blog more which I really want to do.

I recently was introduced to Tumblr via Koalogy and it occurred to me that I don't have to always have a long or profound story to tell. Blogging can be quick little inspirations about what I see or makes me happy on a given day. That idea is the inspiration behind this post. Here are a few of the things that are making me excited right now.

Maybe you saw my recent Etsy treasury but I have really been getting into jewelry lately, specifically rings like this vintage-looking pretty. So I was digging through my old jewelry looking for a necklace actually, and I found this ring. I don't remember my Mom giving it to me at all but apparently it came from her. It has the tiniest Casie-size diamond in the middle and I love it so much.

Over this last weekend I went to visit Katrina in Portland and decided it was time to invest in some new faux fur. There is a fabric store in Portland called Fabric Depot that has the most amazing selection of fur. They have nearly every color and style lined up along the walls. I love to walk up and down the line dragging my hand along their furry piles (I also hug some of them sometimes but they are way in the back and no one is usually back there but me and the amazing wholesale ladies). I was getting so sick of having the same old selections in my closet to pick from when monster making. Admittedly these colors look a little Easter-ish but the pink was half off and I wanted to have colors that are nothing like I already have. I can't wait to figure out what to make with them!

Lastly, each year I plant a garden with vegetables and lots of flowers. It can generally be a hundred dollar or more investment but it is one indulgence I really look forward to in the spring. This year it just isn't possible to spend that amount of money on plants but luckily my lovely parents built a greenhouse and had all kinds of plants started! I still might be able to buy some flowers but luckily I have been supplied with all my veggies and some flowers. They are probably going in the ground tonight but just seeing them on the porch waiting is making me happy.

What inspires you daily?

New BeBe Veggies Designs!

Thought I would share my newest BeBe Baby designs. I have been working on a pea pod BeBe for a long time but the first couple attempts weren't right. I finally got a prototype done yesterday and then made a jalapeño! Yay!

I really want to make a whole series of fruits and veggies but I will probably wait and see how these guys do. I'm not crazy about the shade of green for the pea pod but I bought some different green today so the next ones will be a shade different. I want to do some cute photography with them, like with the real veggies or in the garden, but unfortunately it is raining and I just didn't have the energy to go to the store today. So hopefully this is just the beginning! If you are interested in either, both are listed in my shop here.