Finally, here they are, all together, in the window at Gather Here.
and the other way-
And the groupings-
There are 8 foxes in the window- 7 new ones and one that I had in stock. 4 boys and 4 girls.
Category Archives: General
the explorer fox
I labeled him an explorer but he might just be a tourist. He has a Guidebook-
and a map. Here he is in the window display, leading the walk of the foxes.
I had to take these latest photos in very poor light because I knew they had to get into the window display. As a result, they are a bit fuzzy but that’s better than nothing, right?
Winter fox girl 2
Another fox girl in a warm wool coat.
I love the bird fabric- I bought it in Portland last summer.
Silk ribbon bow at her ear-
I set up the fox window at Gather Here in Cambridge (Massachusetts). Stop by if you want to see them in person! I will be going back when it isn’t pouring down rain and take photos and will do a post sometime soon.
2015 round-up continued
I didn’t get as many dolls finished in 2015 as 2014 and there are many reasons. At the end of 2014 I decided that my resolution for the New Year would be to try to get to the end of the year and not feel so completely crazy (stressed). I wasn’t actually sure how to accomplish that so I worked away and mixed it up with trying new things.
I started out 2015 by doing my prototypes for the 2015 ornaments for West Elm and went to Brooklyn to deliver them. Any excuse to go to NYC! And in October I designed the next line for 2016. It has been really exciting that they have continued my line of ornaments.
I traveled a LOT this year. Some of the trips were awesomely fun, others ended up being very stressful- so I guess I’ll be testing out more of the traveling this year, right?! I went to New York City and/or Brooklyn 5 times in 2015! I saw Mr. Finch! I went to Puerto Rico for some snow relief, Philadelphia for the Sweet Paul Makerie Retreat, an I’d-go-back-in-a-minute week in Portland Oregon, and Chicago. This year I will be heading out to LA in April for Craftcation.
I taught a few classes- Tiny Worlds in January, and Ornaments in July (in Portland) and December in Cambridge.
We had that horrible winter and I am hoping to never see anything like that again.
I published 5 ornament patterns and I have so many more that I want to make, so hopefully, more patterns this year! I also had 2 free ornament patterns in the Sweet Paul Holiday issue and I saw a few super cute ones that people had made and posted on Instagram.
I was part of the 6 weeks of Softies over on Sew Mama Sew. I was interviewed by Abby with my friend Salley. And I was honored to be a featured artist in Susan’s book.
What I most obviously didn’t do were any shows. No deadlines and packing up and setting up booths and spending days interacting with customers. I think I needed a year off but I don’t want to leave them completely behind. The shows I was doing weren’t really working for me and what I really need to do is find the right show(s) instead of none.
Onward into the New Year! I don’t have a vision of what I want to focus on this year but not making myself crazy is still a good goal for me. I really want to get to some more of the things on my endless to-do list and to feel like I am doing fresh things and not rehashing old ideas.
I am currently very busy working on a group of foxes for a window display for Gather Here in Cambridge. Pictures starting tomorrow, I hope!
Tropical man
I am trying to get a few more pieces finished up and in the shop before Christmas.
This fellow is decidedly not winter-y. I felt sorry for him when I took him outside into the frigid air for his photos. This is some amazing toile that I bought out in Portland (Oregon) last summer- fun fabric-shopping memories!
I was in the mood to embroider a mustache. He has a forelock curl which you can hopefully sort of see.
I would usually wait until I have a few fellows but since time is tight, I will list him into my Etsy shop tonight.
polka dots and tutu
She is the last one for now.
And here are all the ladies, out on the porch, enjoying the day.
blond man with mustache
This one doesn’t have a beard. Yup, no beard.
Here is a close-up so you can see what is on his arm.
I am going to start posting these men to my etsy shop tomorrow (8/19). There are 2 more finished but not posted yet, of the big man variety.
let’s get going again
I had to get a new computer, which is not my idea of fun. There are so many things to relearn. That is why there haven’t been any posts. Well, that, and a trip to Chicago for a long weekend. And starting up the design process for another ornament line (2016) for West Elm! (I am stopping right now and doing some fist pumps- YEAH! So excited!)
Anyway, I finally figured out enough to post some new fellows.
I’ll be back soon with some more!
other tools for ornaments
I played with some new-to-me supplies/tools when I was working on the patterns. I didn’t write them into the pattern directions because they aren’t necessary, maybe just interesting.
Have you heard of Frixion pens? They are erasable gel pens. There is an eraser at the end of the pen, but much more useful for me, the marks are erasable by ironing. That sounds like magic, doesn’t it! Well, there is a problem. Yes, the marks disappear with heat but they will reappear with cold. I would never use them on my dolls, but an ornament? I don’t think it is that big a deal if the marks came back a bit. The marks are either cutting lines or will be covered with embroidery. And, you could always iron them again. The thing is, these pens work great on the felt- so much better than the water-erasable fabric pens! I got mine on Amazon but I think they are available at lots of places. (btw- that link goes to amazon and if you buy the pens, I get a teeny tiny kickback!)
Next, Clover Applique pins. Short pins that work really well for pinning all those tiny felt pieces. You don’t end up trying to sew the equivalent of a porcupine.
And lastly, Merchant and Mills Bulb pins. I have been wanting to play with these funny safety pins. I discovered that I could pin them onto an ornament to hang it, instead of a string. And, I just wanted them.
and the winners are…
I put the # of comments into the random number generator and got 30, 66, 16, 25, 15, 44, 41, 6, 40, and 27. Congratulations to Beverly Ann, Bettina, Dhonna, Vivien, Sarah, Susan, Mary, Kimber, Jennifer, and Barbara. Have fun with your patterns!