The first of the ladies is finished. Â This batch will be the Ladies of Summer, so all pastel and flowery.
I didn’t win a Softie Award, but you can see the winners here. I was thrilled to be a finalist and proud of myself for entering at all. It is not really in my nature to participate in competitions- I think I have an inborn aversion.  Congratulations to the winners and all of us!
Today (5/7) is the last day to vote on the Softies Awards… although if you haven’t already, by the time you read this it will probably be too late.
I am back at work-
a group (choir? gaggle? giggle? luncheon?) of big ladies in pastels.
I have been reflecting on how the internet and blogging community has become such a good part of my life. In one week I met Ariana of Staindrop (Sunday) who gave me a fantastic walking tour of Portland. Then Sister Diane of Craftypod (Monday) for talk, coffee and recommendations for great places to visit in Portland. Tuesday was spent visiting those places.
On Friday, back home, I spent the morning with Abby of While She Naps. We discussed all the favorite topics- kids, marketing on line, our blogs, other favorite blogs, the state of Art and art and the world. Wonderful! But not only that- we went out for a walk and stopped in a fantastic coffee/tea shop- Look at this!
We split one of these-
Thanks Abby!
Sunday was a party to celebrate a little more then one year since Boston Handmade began. It is my Etsy marketing and friends group.
Wow! What a week! And so many people look at me like I am some kind of nut when I say I blog, sell online, post on Flickr… they just don’t know what they’re missing.
Remember this fellow?
He is tickled pink (groan) to be a finalist in the 2nd Annual Softie Awards in the category of Pink or Plaid. I hope you will take a minute and go vote for your favorites!
Here is my original post with lots more photos. Thanks for your support!
I’m having a fantastic time here in Portland! I REALLY have to get out of my studio more often, eh?!
First, an amazing hotel- Hotel Monaco. Thanks Ben and Priceline…
We got into town around noon on Sunday. That’s noon, west coast time- we had been up and traveling for 10 hours by that time. Ariana, of Staindrop, met us at the hotel and gave us a wonderful walking tour of downtown Portland. The weather was perfect. We got to spend several hours talking about art, craft, blogging, etc.
Monday morning was our tour of PNCA. I have loved going on these Art School tours. On Monday afternoon, I met Diane of CraftyPod. I have to say that getting a chance to meet her was high on my list of why I wanted to come to Portland with my son! I enjoyed talking to her so much when she interviewed me last fall. Getting a chance to spend a few more hours with her was amazing. She found my blog originally because of my tikis. I wanted to make her a little gift and on Saturday, before I left, I got a flash of the perfect present-
a tiki pincushion! As you can see, she liked it :) There is nothing so satisfying as figuring out the right gift! She gave me a list of great suggestions of crafty places to go and things to see- Thanks so much Diane!
The weather was beautiful and clear, so Pete and I decided to go to dinner at a restaurant described as a place for tourist- I said, Heh! We’re tourists! It was a wonderful way to see the city and surrounding area-
Today (Tuesday) I spent the day checking out craft wonderfulness and Pete did his thing. First stop for me was the Knitten Kitten (a Diane recommendation).
How amazing is a craft supply thrift store?! I left there with a bag full of goodies. Then back into town to the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Next stop- The Playful Needle. And last, when I was worried that my feet were going to give out on me, The Button Emporium.
That place was heaven… well, actually I think Portland is an embroiderer’s paradise- I have never seen anything like the stores full of beautiful threads and embellishments that I’ve seen here. Swoon!
Okay, so here was what was in my bag at the end of the day-
from the Knitten Kitten-
and everywhere else-
Tomorrow we go back home. My stay has been a delight!
another trip, another bag!
I even added one of my printed patches to the pocket. This bag is to put my computer and my other bag into. Last trip, I didn’t take the computer and my regular bag isn’t big enough to hold it comfortably. I am not going to leave it home this time though… I really missed it when I went to London.
The fabric was given to me by my niece, an interior architect. Thanks Laurel! I absolutely love it!
So, now that the update is finished and I can stop stressing about that, I’ve moved on to stressing about my trip to Portland, Oregon. Not too much really- it is just that it is such a long travel time. I am trying to figure out books and projects to bring. I am hoping to meet up with some fellow artist/crafters … if you are interested, email me or leave a comment.
Phew, that was exciting yesterday! I did my update and, by the end of the day, the 5 tattooed men dolls that I’d announced were sold. By 9am this morning, they were all on their way to their new homes. Thank you everybody, for all the encouragement, advise and support. I had no idea what to expect and this was as good as could be!
I’ve been wondering for a while- Would it work for me to have an intern? I could use the help. I think I would enjoy working with another person. I imagine that having someone work with me for some hours every week would be a huge help to organize my production. Is this something that someone would want to commit to? How does someone like me find an intern? Does anyone have any experience with this- good or bad? From both sides- having or being an intern?
I finished one more before the shop update- Hurray! This guy is a little different- a totally modern type.
I had some problem figuring out how to do the chest hair. I stitched it in. It seemed okay.  I went on to do the moustache and chin hair. Hmmm, now the chest hair looked less than perfect. Snip, snip, embroidery removed and new hair (done in feather stitch) looking much better!
Wispy facial hair, bead necklace, ponytail-
Side-view-
close-up of his hair in back-
He will join the others in my shop update later today- 3pm edt.
Here are the 5 fellows that I will be posting on Etsy on Tuesday-
Once I had them all lined up, it seemed right to keep going. Add in the guys with the suits-
And hey! Lets get out all the men dolls that I have around!
The “Big Men” are about 16 inches tall. The tattooed man design is about 23 inches tall. I say “about” because they are all a little different.
The update details again- My Etsy shop on Tuesday at 3pm edt. The tattooed guys will be $125 plus shipping.
If I said I would send you an email when they were available and you haven’t gotten one, I am really sorry. I don’t have a good system for saving those requests and as a result, I am sure that I’ve missed people.  Email me if you have any questions- mimik(at)pobox.com. I’ve never done one of these announced updates before and it all feels very weird!
The Etsy shop update will be Tuesday afternoon- 3pm edt. I will post a group photo later today or tomorrow- I have to get to work on that! I had fun making this man mosaic on Flickr yesterday.
Old style bathing suit. I believe these suits were knitted of wool. Now that makes ya think!
I have really been enjoying doing the man faces. I never felt confident drawing mens faces until I started doing all these guys. I would try to draw a man but usually I thought the faces looked feminine. But, practice, practice! I get better!
I put 2 more (different) photos of this doll in my Flickr photostream.
Today is the last day to enter the 2nd Annual Softie Awards. I entered this year- I had to. They had a category for Embroidery!