Something New

I've learned to not take custom requests. Oh, I'll change a piggy's shirt from blue to red, or I'll give you one animal, not two - but I get quite a few inquiries that start, "I love your work, can you do  _______?".  It's fraught with peril. I worry so that my vision is nothing like the clients. It also takes me an unreasonably long time to design. Trial and error seems to be my method and I hate to send something out that I'm not in love with.  But. . . I got an email from a lovely mum who had purchased one of my Noah's Arks last year. She was looking for a farm/barn set that used the same size animals as the arks and wondered, "can you do it?"  I just so had a barn in the unpainted state that I'd been thinking of before Christmas.  So I told her I could finish it up for her. Usually our "first editions" go to our own kiddlets.

 Some of you may not know that I have a big helper. The BLHubby does a lot of the building of the basic Ark boat. He also is responsible for the 3 Pigs houses. For some reason I make the 3 Bears houses All the animals and bookends I do all the woodwork. I always do all sanding and of course  the painting. If I could get a helper elf I would put him to work sanding.

 He handles the stuff that is cut on the big mean table saw. For some reason that saw and I don't like each other. It's sad. I"m all for ladies and power tools. I can use most all of them. But I've had a few mishaps with the big saw (kick backs that throw big pieces of wood right at my chest and bend the blades) and I'm a little gun shy. This barn is a good illustration of how BLHubbs and I work together. He works in manufacturing and is all about reproducing things exactly. He thinks about how to cut things out so the wood won't be wasted. When I wanted a barn he calculated angles and roof lines. I then say things like "It's too wide" or "can you do one a little taller?" and he without grumbling too much will do it. We struggled with the roof. It took a bunch of angled cuts to roof it and I didn't like how it looked or felt.  Then I come in and hold a piece of wood against something and think "that's about right" and I cut it out with the scroll saw. If it doesn't fit I sand it down.   I glued some roof "shingles" on the top of BLH's roof and I liked how it turned out.  We work well together.

 This was fun to finish. I've been slow to put it into my regular line up of items but this has been a bit of a struggle to get my head around. I think we'll do some "tweaks" and a few changes. It uses the same size animals as the Noah's Arks but I think a farm needs baby's. I did get some baby piggies.

There are hay bales, well, straw bales, that go with it, too.

 So glad to see this done and off to some little boys.

Shop Update - Return of the Squirrels

I have been busy, not just moving a house. I've redesigned my Cheeky Squirrel Bookends to be a bit bigger so they will hold books better.

I"m excited to have these back in stock. I love critters in clothes. More fantasy than wildlife, but fun.

I love these for little boys.

I confess, I did dress up the barn kitties in doll clothes when I was young. I'd still be at it but I don't think our little squirrels would stand for it.

Three Little Pigs Edition Seven and How Not to Shoot

I've had another Three Little Pigs play set ready to list in the Etsy shop.  I still struggle with photos. You would think that I would know by now what works, and what doesn't.

I was in a hurry (it was getting late in the day) and didn't pull the photos up on the computer right away. I've listed it with the three best photos I got, but. . I'll be retaking the pictures when we finally get some sun.

This set is a bit brighter in color. The stick house is a lighter brown, but my favorite part of this set is that each little pig has the same portrait of their piggy mom.

 If you have to leave home, at least take family pictures with you.

New Arrivals

I've got a new baby! Not a human baby and not even a puppy. (BL Baby Boy became a puppy Dad). Look! Aren't they cute?

These are baby elephant bookends. Now in the shop.

I got the idea to do these when someone wanted one elephant bookend and one pig, because their nursery was pink and gray. I got to thinking that the size and scale of these were so different, wouldn't it be great to have an elephant more like the bunnies and the pigs.  I love my elephant bookends but they weren't really supposed to be bookends. They're the elephants for the Noah's Arks. What other animals would be great?

On the Worktable

My worktable looks a bit disjointed, but I feel like I'm getting some things done.

The table has spilled over to the dining table, too.

Sneak peak. These are new elephant bookends. Hope to get them posted in the next couple of days.

Koala Changes For the Better

I'm always amazed at how my creative process works. (That sounds a bit weird and pretentious, but stay with me.) Over the time I've been making Noah's Arks and the animals, the designs have evolved and changed. Most changes have come when I have a slap your head and wonder why I didn't do this before moment.  I make the smaller animals out of a solid piece of wood but larger ones are made of at least two wood layers so that I get a realistic look. The layered animals take a lot more wood and work so they are priced a bit more.  The relative size of the animal has made the difference in which category or size they fall, but the Koalas have been a three layer animal even though they are smaller. 

You can easily see the three layers above. Standard 1" wood (which is less than 1" thick) seemed a bit thin for a chubby koala so I thought I had to layer them.  BLHubby presented me with some two by fours (romantic, huh) and the "slap your head" moment occurred. I ran a length through the planer and after cutting used my dremel to shape the ears, face and front legs.

I think they are nicer than before. More round and cuddly. And, they take less steps to make so they have been changed from the "Large 3D animal section" to the "small Animal" section and priced less.

I'm in love with them. Change is good. I just wish I could figure out things sooner.

Shop Update

I've been shockingly absent here, but working my fingers off making. When I would think "you need to update the blog" I then would thing "you need to make stuff" and the "making stuff" won out. I decided I was a "maker" first and a "blogger" 2nd.  Here's some of what I've been covered with paint for.


Bunny Bookends

I've got a new set of bookends and the first pair were sent to Singapore. I'd love to have traveled with them.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf Fairytale Play Set

A new version of Little Red and the Wolf. This one is not as dark and I'm so happy with how Red returned out.

The whole crew looks great.  Hope they find a good home.

Shop Update - New Bunnies

I've done a couple of new bookends but they didn't make me happy. It's hard to make the idea in my head look good in real life. Finaly, success! Meet the newest bookend:

I love these bunnies.  They are similar in size and shape to the Piggy Bookends. 

The Bunnies aren't identical.  One is sitting up,

And one is crouched down.  But both are sweet. 

On the Work Table

If you stopped by yesterday you could have had this view of the work table.

Lots of camels for Nativity Scenes in the background, some tiny bunnys for Noah's Arks and the black on the way right are skunks.  Sorry there isn't anything closer, my camera decided to run out of batteries and only took this pict. Oh, the piggy's! In Red! 

I had a request to do a set of Piggy Brothers in red for a little boy's room who's family is a huge fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks.  Easy Peasy.  Note, if I put the Arkansas logo (or any other licenced NCAA or NFL team logo) on the pigs I would be in trouble.  But you can't licence team colors.  Arkansas does have a licencing program for crafters where for a not too huge fee you can get permission to sell a limited amount of Razorback specific crafts.  Not all teams have that program. My emphasis is more fairy tale than sports so I don't think it's for me but  I love these brothers in red. 

New in the Shop

I have been working, even with colds, visiting kiddlets and life in general.  I've got two more Arks listed.

This green deck house is a new color way.  I made the roof like the "fancy" thatched roofs you see on old English cottages.  It ended up looking tropical.  I like it.  May do it again.

Here's another orange one.  This time with yellow doors and blue gray roof and some fancy waves.  I love this Blue, yellow and orange combo.  Still loving the Tangerine Tango color of the year.

I've Been Featured!

Check out My 365 Magazine.  I've been featured! Issue 8 is all about Etsy and I'm one of the Etsy Sellers Featured.

 Thanks so much to Nadia and Kiki for thinking of me.  I feel like a rock star.  Check out the other Etsy sellers featured.  Great Stuff.  :)

Friends at Dinner

Look who was seen watching over dinner.  Every girl needs a few of her best friends at meal time.  Looks like  fluffy, bug in a ball and a moose. 

I adore seeing my animals in their natural habitat.  Huge thanks to Elizabeth for sharing.  (And for having such a cutie patoie.)

Three Bears

I'm never sure if my favorite fairy tales have bears or pigs.  Maybe it's the wolves that I like the best.  New in the shop is another version of Goldilocks and The Three Bears.

Meet the family.  They have a wonderful house all in a woodland style.

Goldilocks, of course, is splended.  Buttter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

She can't help but invade the house and try out the furniture.

I'm not the only one who loves three bears.  Look at where we ate dinner one night when we were in West Yellowstone, MT.  We had spent a busy day Yellowstone Park.

Salmon was served.

Shop Update

At long last, in spite of all this summer's "stuff", I'm getting the shop replenished.  Two new Noah's Arks done and listed.  Two more waiting for paint.

A pretty red boat house.  It seems that red, yellow and blue are popular colors for an ark.

I love this one with the blue roof.  It seems to me that blue boats look the most sea worthy.  Or they look like vacation photos of the Caribbean or Greece.

New in Shop

It's been a dry spell for new designs.  It's not that I haven't been creative but there's been a lot going on.  Meet the squirrel brothers.

Sassy Squirrels Bookends

They're always talking but they love to be where your books are.

Find them here in my Etsy shop (BLHubby thinks they need buck teeth. I think he's too literal about squirrel anatomy.)

Today on the table

This morning the work table looks a bit chaotic.  Elephants, pigs, tigers, cows, penguins, raccoons nativity scenes and more.  It's what happens when I travel and get behind.

I do love to see the raccoons run across the table.

Piggies Get Dressed

I love it when a design comes together.  I usually have a vague idea and then I struggle to make it live.  When I made the Piggy Bookends, the original vision was a make believe pig with clothing.  I ended up with a realistic baby pig that's been a hit in my Etsy store but I still had that vision of a story book piggy that was snazzly dressed. Last night, I hit the jackpot and stayed up till midnight making this.

I think they're dapper.  And sweet.  When I'm excited about a design I get hyper and can't sleep.

I'm off to list them in the Shop.