BUT. . .there is something fun about being able to really blabber about the stuff in a nice rambling blog post (and it's a slow day at work so I need to look busy).
It's been a few months and I'm still making stuff. In fact, not having posted here in a while I realize I've churned out quite a bit lately. Where to start?
Ok, let's start with the random things, mostly gifts for others.
GIFTS n'At
Guinea pig! I've made two of these before. This was a single pig made for a co-worker who was leaving for a new job. She used to take us (meaning the office folks who were interested) to see the baby guinea pigs (in the labs) so she needed a guinea pig as a going away present, naturally. (Ric Rac pattern used)
Let me just side bar, baby guinea pigs are just about the cutest little things I've ever seen. They are born looking just like miniature versions of full grown GPs and they can eat sold food fresh out the womb (though they do nurse). I so wanted to stuff one down my shirt and steal it but the workplace does frown on theft and my husband frowns on rodents as pets so. . .no baby GP for me.
Next up, a baby gift for my SIL (well, it may be a gift more for my SIL but it's under the guise of "for the baby". . .pishaw, that baby can share)
My sister-in-law likes her some Dr. Who and cats so. . .see this is why this gift is more for her than her baby. (dolls and daydreams pattern used)
Speaking of. . .a new niece means the Bratling count (remember, Bratlings are all my husband's nieces/nephews) to FOUR. Which means I have to come up with an official Bratling name for this new one. Which meant I had to amend the Bratling naming scheme a tiny bit.
The new list:
OB1 : aka The Original Bratling (the eldest) formerly known as merely The Bratling until he was no longer the only one.
Her Royal Hind-Brat: aka the first female bratling (second eldest of the group and formerly known as the She-Brat) Play on Her Royal Highness (this child is a bit of a princess of her castle. . .in a not overly obnoxious way)
Wee-Brat: also brother to OB1 (no name change yet, he's still little so no personality based name has emerged yet)
Ab-Brat-cadabra: so named because she was late to her own birth, which leads me to believe this kid will like making an entrance (keep folks waiting!) so she has a "ta-da!" feel to her. I was going to go with "Tardy-Brat" but that has negative implications with the expression "tard" and I don't like that for a number of reasons. Ab-Brat-cadabra is also a little nod to this new she-brat's real name.
Blah blah. . .next up, a gift for OB1.
Back at christmas time, after being presented with the jigglypuff I made for him, I was informed by OB1 that the only pokemon he still needed for his collection was an oddish. He instructed both me and his grandmother that we needed to get cracking on making this creature for him (hey, he is a brat after all). Once I looked up what the hell an oddish was (and saw it was basically a ball with feet and leaf hair) I told OB1 that I'd see what could be done for his birthday (notice, no promises just a "might happen" type thing). (original pattern based off a basic ball pattern I got via sweetbriar sisters baby bird pattern)
I'm happy to report oddish did happen before his birthday but he didn't get it until about a week later when I actually saw him (I don't see any of the bratlings much, which is fine with me. . .they are perfectly nice children but none of them live super close and I'm just not keen on taking vacation time just to hang out with a kid. . .sounds harsh but that's not my idea of a good time).
Oddish did have one design flaw which I'm fixing now. I need to more firmly attach his leaf wig to his head. OB1 (being a brat) was none too gently with oddish (swinging him by the leaf hair) and the hair came lose. My design flaw, I should have remembered my target audience here. So I just need to stitch the hair on a bit more firmly (using a button to anchor the stitching at the bottom of his body then running the thread up through the body AND putting a few stitches directly in the leaves to the top of the head).
Despite the design flaw, oddish was well received (if being flung about a desolate mall is to be considered "well received" which in the case of OB1 I'd say is a big yes). I was happy with how he turned out so that's all that really matters.
Next up:
SWAPS
Some patches
I'm doing a color series of patch swaps on swapbot and these are the orange and red rounds. I missed the yellow round (oops!) but plan to keep up with the series.
And I did a pincushion swap:
I re-purposed some shopkin packaging (they come in baskets/boxes like these) to make a pair of pin cushions for the swap and one for me. I kept the pumpkin. I had the idea to make a pin cushion out of it for a while but just never did it. So this swap was good to get me to do that. They turned out really nice, so I was very pleased.
Then, I did a doll swap.
We were to use an existing pattern (cupcake doll pattern) and make a doll based on what our partner requested. My partner wanted Stevonnie, a character from Steven Universe. It's a cartoon I'm not familiar with but google can solve that problem lickety split. S/he (Stevonnie is a combination of a male character and a female character, so s/he has no one gender) turned out VERY well and was a big hit with my partner.
PAINTING
Finished my first octopus painting. I'm very pleased with it.
Then I started (and I think might be finished with) this canvas.
It's just a fun little abstract (that looks really bad in this pic, I swear it's more fun in person). I just needed something fast (this only took about three classes, which is break neck speed for me when it comes to painting) before I moved on to my next (and much bigger) canvas.
I just started this one last class. It's another octopus themed piece. I like how it's looking already but I know I'll get to a stage where I think it's a flaming sack of dog crap. That's how painting works for me, each canvas has to go through a cycle. First is excitement to start (with a bit of trepidation). Then wondering if you did it right (that's where this new canvas is currently heading. . .where I'm trying to figure out if I have everything drawn out so it will look ok at the end). Then hating everything about it (aka the cursing stage). Then kind of liking it but not sure if it's really that good. Then realizing it's done and it doesn't matter, it's done and you made it and that's that.
Speaking of painting, I definitely have my favorites and some I actively despise. And a whole bunch that I'm just "meh" about. They are not like your children. Or maybe they are! I don't have kids (and this is one of the many reasons I don't. . .I'd feel so bad if after it was all said and done I loved the kid but I found their personality was just not compatible with mine and I thought they were just kind of a dick or a bore or something negative. . .I know that totally happens but I just don't want to deal with that).
Ok, I'm ending this post here because I want to make separate posts for the QUILT I made and for the Fluff stuff that's been finished.
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