Pairs’ SP

What a relief to see the old (yet new) “McBru” back!!! They appeared so relaxed and calm. Their 3T had great height, and is close to competitive with the best in the field. On an aesthetic note, I’d vote for Rockne to wear a single color/piece costume, as it would lengthen his line. His current two-tone top and tights ensemble instead accentuate his stockiness.

I was once again reminded that the gamine Yuko Kavaguti (of Kavaguti & Smirnov) is indeed THE most flexible contemporary ladies skater. Her extension appears unstoppable. Every position and even jump seems to be finished off with a spiral position or pointed foot. It is both beautiful, and yet coltish at the same time.

I was thrilled to discover that Pang & Tong’s SP music was from Bizet’s opera Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearfishers). I’ve never heard it used by a skater, and it was ripe for the pickin’. I’m, of course, a big proponent of using fresh operatic selections for skating programs (that of course excludes Carmen, Turandot, and much of Madama Butterfly). It is the tenor aria “Je crois entendre encore”, sung by the character Nadir. Enjoy this most beautiful rendition of it, sung very idiomatically by the great french tenor Alain Vanzo. Amusingly, a pop recording of this aria was also made in ‘05 by Alison Moyet (formerly of Yaz)

They proved to be in top form, even at this early phase. I hope they medal in Vancouver (just below Shen & Zhao, that is).

I have a new skater crush (which could land me in jail, as he was born the year I graduated from high school) on Alexei Rogonov, of up-and-comers Martiusheva & Rogonov. This team, new to the Seniors, has a beautiful aura and presentation. They have great “backs” (ie: posture), and she looks like a young Grace Kelly, and he a young Val Kilmer…well, sort of.

Men’s SP

It was so great to finally get to see Johnny’s new SP. Unfortunately, I do agree somewhat with Paul Wylie’s assessment that the sizzle was greater than the steak. BUT, in some ways I feel like this program presents Johnny in a light more true to himself than any before (ala pop star/diva-on-ice, or runway model)…that is, more flirtatious, and less restrained. I feel that Johnny was more passionate and told more of a story than he has for several seasons. The costume is certainly his most flamboyant to date, complete with man-corset. I love the daring black and hot pink color combo. However, the music itself (by di Blasio), which I believe is in part Plushenko’s old music (perhaps from his ‘01-’02 LP?), resembles tinny elevator music. I didn’t see much of David Wilson’s stamp on this program, and it just doesn’t feel on the level of his programs for Yu-Na.

Speaking of “Plushy”…he layed out perhaps the most beautiful 3A I’ve ever seen (not to mention his 4/3 combo). It had a delay, before the set down. I suppose I have to learn to live with his wavy arms, as they are just part of his signature movement, and I’ve decided to surrender my previous judgement of him and welcome him back enthusiastically (not that he needs it). He offers a competitive excitement that I’ve missed, and I honor his chutzpah. Who else can sit out of this current COP field for four years, and come back like that? In the old days, when the bar was lower it was easier…now it’s close to miraculous.

My partner, CJ, was complaining that Plushy had “had his time”. I replied, “skaters aren’t like bread…they don’t have an expiration date!” Hell, my argument is always, if they can get back into fightin’ shape, it is their right, and our privilege to see things shaken up a bit!!!

Also, amusingly, when Florent Amodio went down on his 3S, CJ called it “Salchow Tipping” (see right). BTW, it was great to see Florent on Senior ice. He has a lot of promise. And, keep an eye on that Artem Borodulin!

Ladies’ SP

Alissa is starting to put the sizzle back in Czisny again!!! She looked so composed, and yet so engaging. I was very proud of her for not rushing her jumps, and skating a nearly clean program. I hope this is a continuing trend!

Amber Wagner really has evolved into a very sophisticated and sexy skater. The details and nuance of her SP are notable. I felt she was a bit undermarked, especially as there were no visible mistakes. Perhaps her jumps were not as big or her glide as fast as Júlia Sebestyén’s (who staged a major upset, and is in first).

Many years back I often found myself rooting for Júlia. When she won her European title in Hungary, I was ecstatic. However, much of her glow wore off for me in recent years. Well, the joy and energy in her skating was visible again, and she looked positively renewed. Even her physical appearance and hairstyle are much more warm and “open” than in recent years, which offered a much less appealing (to me anyways), edgy, Euro-trash look.

Miki Ando’s SP is billed as the “Mozart Requiem”. Well, it’s really a musical mash-up, also incorporating what sounds like some generic horror movie soundtrack music. That was a disappointment. Perhaps I’m a purist, but Mozart’s Requiem doesn’t need anything added to it, and should stand on its own. On the whole though, I think the drama and severity of her program actually suit her style of movement and look. Having just watched my fifth suspense/horror film of the Halloween season, “Drag Me to Hell”, I kept expecting her program to summon up a demon (ie: the “Lamia”!). Cue evil laughter!

In the sea of the average Russian Seniors ladies’ skaters, Alena Leonova has won me over. No, I don’t consider her to be a real contender for an Olympic medal, I despise folk song programs (Americans don’t skate to Peter, Paul & Mary, or Woody Guthrie, why do singles skaters feel the need to explore their folk roots on ice? In ice dance, I know it’s often a requirement.), and her style is not very evolved, but she has the most infectious smile, and a genuine verve…shades of Slutskaya.

Signing off, for now…

Today I love…

1. Ebola plushie (and other giant microbes) references in my ENV class

2. Int’l pre-orientation group reunion lunch with my ‘13ers.

3. Hearing S speak Gujarati to her parents on Skype, and feeling oddly warm and fuzzy inside.

4. Studying in the Grill until midnight with many, many, fellow Grinnellians

The Plushies – Tools of War by ~kryptick2 on deviantART

New stuff from me today. This is actually a followup to another image I made a while back of these little guys trying to subdue a woman.

Here’s the first image.
The Plushies – Capture by ~kryptick2 on deviantART

I actually like TreeHugger’s headline better, but what can you do, they thought of it first…

Fiber Arctic: Seattle Fiber Artists in Stitches Over Global Warming:

Seattleites are in for a luscious, though-provoking treat: Tomorrow marks the opening of “Fiber Arctic,” a group installation featuring 20 fiber artists pondering climate change and the way it’s reshaping the Arctic landscape.

Exhibiting at Schmancy Gallery until July 9, the show will include artists like Jenny Hart, Heidi Kenney, Nicole Licht, Vivienne Strauss, and Craft’s Becky Stern.

First we had the cosplays.

Now I present to you – the Pedobear Plushy.

This is shaping up to be epic, I’m surprised that they’re still looking for wholesalers and retailers.
Check out the maker’s site here.

A new litter has arrived at cloudsparrow.etsy.com! For custom orders, contact me at the store – I’d be happy to bring a plushy into your life.

E

A couple of weeks ago, I offered to make a pair of the Jackie Clark “britches” for my daughter’s best friend E. His mom and I picked out the Robots – Printed Rockets- Baby Blue fabric from Free Spirit at Cool Cotton. This was my third pair of pants from the “bloomers and britches” pattern. My first pair of the britches, the difference being no ruffle on the bottom of the pant. I still think the crotch is too long on them, but they are super comfy and cute. This isn’t that great a picture, but the kids are starting to get savvy to what that box with the light is that Mama Emily holds up to her eye. The only way I could get him to pose was to give him PZ’s camera and let him take pictures of me taking pictures of him. Who doesn’t have a least one of those in their album? Tres artistic!

astronaut or photographer?

This post is all about the boys. End of March, our little buddy, K had his third birthday and he LOVES airplanes and rockets. I was able to use scraps from E’s pants for this rocket ship plushy. The rest of the fabric and stuffing were all recycled from an old pillow and other projects.

K's rocket ship

This one was definitely far from perfect. I should have cut the fins out as part of the body, but didn’t think about it until much too late. Now, as K’s mom pointed out, it looks a bit like a chicken from the back. Hey, it’s a two in one. Ha! When you are using recycled fabric you only get so many tries, but his mom made my day when she told me he’s slept with it every night since we gave it to him. Very cool!

I got the idea for this plushy from molly chicken’s love bird tutorial. Her pocket plushy is much better and I’ll probably use this tutorial for other projects in the future now that I’ve got one under my belt. Speaking of which, if you are looking for a cool rocket ship plushy tutorial, check out the long thread.

molly chicken love bird

the long thread

I still need to make K an astronaut to go in the rocket’s pocket. Keep me honest, people! Anyone have a cool pattern/tutorial for a fun rocket man? I’ve been thinking about using goody goody’s pint sized pocket pillow tutorial, only adapting it to a rocket man instead of a little boy/girl.

One of my pinup zombie ponys (ponies?) was put in this lovely etsy treasury by Ickydogcreations.

Cute eh? So from top to bottom here’s the links:

Small throwing zombie: underroos

Monster Pets print: nikscarlett

Zombie Bunny brooch: alittestranger

yellow zombie kitty: amyjoshandmade

You know what zombies I..: uglyclothes

Purple painting: rockythezombie

Zombie pinup pony: fugsly

hopping zombie block print: daspetey

Suri baby zombie doll: mrsevils

Your mom is a zombie Tee:  strangelittleduck

Biffs the zombie: papermoongallery

Bishop the zombie teddy: trulyoutrageous

I share my abode with two awesome British shorthair (“Brits”) cats, brothers Jack & Charley, so it was with great interest to have come across this utterly charming plushy of this unique breed. Handmade in Melbourne, Australia by Chelsea.

Brit

Check out her other cat (and dog) breeds at her Etsy shop. $16.95.

Mini Mustachio Rules

Welcome to the wonderful world of plushy’s by Emi Tanji. Not only are her creations the cutest things ever and make me happy, but Emi herself is the cutest thing ever and makes me happy too. This Hawaiian native is a graphic designer for “Wizards of the Coast” and makes plushy goodness in her spare time. Each creature has its own unique look and feel. Everyone who comes in goes right for these guys making it hard for her to keep up with the demands. Emi also does all her own graphic work in her display and tags for each one. High energy and always smiling is what sets Emi apart and it comes thru in all her tiny creations.

Emi's World

Bob may not be the cutest flower in the pot but he will certainly bring a smile to your face! Bob’s a bright one as you probably guessed that after catching a glimpse of his big noggin’! He enjoys watching MythBusters as well as learning about the latest and greatest technology on the market. He makes a wonderful study buddy and loves a good chat over coffee and donuts.

Like Bob? Be sure to stop by the shop for the January 15th shop update!

While my batch making is moving a bit slow this week, what with all the holiday madness and all, I did manage to bring  to life the first little plushy of the shop update batch! Here is the (yet to be named) little guy hanging out with Herbert in the “New Work” box full of goodies ready to be uploaded for the huge January 15th shop update!

Pssst… you can buy Herbert now!

I’ve just finished up my batch of original ACEO cards, which I promise to post soon, and have begun my next batch of work… plushies! I started by sketching out a couple ideas, then made the template and cut out two sets of felt for each. So I have four total ready to be sewn up! Above you see the cut out felt next to the sketch of what it will become  =)  Stay tuned!

While I haven’t mastered the lighting of the photo lightbox yet… I have begun to work around it and list items! I’ve got much better window lighting at my new place, and am making do. I plan to to some Happy Flowers shopping tonight or tomorrow so that I can get packaging done and photographed as I think it will help sales. Here’s a peek at some items for sale!

I put together my photo light box only to find that I have no light strong enough to light it! I’m hoping that in the morning with the light from the window, and adding another desk lamp, I’ll have good lighting. Meantime, here’s some pictures… the photo light box, the model, and the not-so-great turnout.

I’m always amazed at the cute plushies and amigurumi animals that come out on a regular basis from Cute Designs. They are all designed, stitched, embellished and given names and stories by Donna, and she sells them through several venues. Designed to be collectables, there will be someone to appeal to everyone…

Who are you and where do you come from?
I’m Donna and I’m in Herts, UK.

What do you do in your spare time other than craft?
I love watching films and playing video games.  I love playing on my Nintendo DS and Wii.  I also like spending time with my cats and reading sci-fi and fantasy books.

What is your favourite game at the moment?
At the moment on my Wii I am enjoying Star Wars the Force Unleashed and on my DS I am loving Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise.

Please tell us a little bit about what you make… What do you enjoy making most, crochet or plush?
I like to design amd make little plushies out of felt and also crocheted amigurumis.  I mainly love making animals because I have always loved them and it can be fun turning them into little characters to appeal to other people.

It’s a tough one being asked if I prefer crochet or plush.  I really love both.  Sometimes felt can be better as you can really get it to look very much like your design on paper and is also a quicker process to produce.  Crochet takes me longer but I like having cute 3D critters and find crochet really relaxing.

What are your most popular pieces?
For my plushies people seem to like little Felix “Scout” McFrosty, and for my crochet, Marvin the Monkey seems to be loved by many.

What are your main inspirations and ideas behind making your creatures?
Animals.  I love making animals and anything cute as I also love kawaii and quirky stuff.  I love Japanese style designs.

What are you currently making?
At the moment I am making a crochet kawaii purple bunny requested by a friend.

Can you make custom orders?
Yes, I have taken custom orders in the past.  If I think I can make it I will do it.

Where can we buy your work?
http://www.cutedesigns.co.uk
http://cutedesigns.etsy.com
http://www.folksy.com/shops/cutedesigns

Today I finished up this little dude. I think he came out pretty cute… he could use more stuffing as he’s supposed to appear a little dimensional, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with plushy #2. Here he is with his older bother… the first born:

Today I got home from my trip to NM and found a lovely stash of felt in my mailbox from Lupin! I was so excited I had to start playing right away. So I made a little flower template and cut out all my little pieces. The only hold up is that I have no thread or needles! So until tomorrow, this little plushy will sit like this: