Here Comes The Tin Man!

O.k. I left off showing you a wip pic of 3 characters. I finished one but still have the other two to work on. I tried to photo document the steps mostly in case I ever had need to make one of these again for a custom order or something, and also in case anyone was interested in my process. Warning this post is photo and rambling text heavy.

Here he is at the very beginning on the right. I forgot to take a full body photo of him after he was sewn and stuffed but his body is similar to the dolls in the photo below.

I struggled with this doll because I wasn't sure if it was worth all the time and trouble and effort to do all the details I had in mind for him or really any of the others in this series. I had a crisis of felt! I thought about simplifying him to make my life easier, to get him done quicker and move on faster. I suffer from a chronic painful illness so my good work days can be few and this project was turning into an never ending one (at least that's how it felt to me). I had huge plans for a Wonderland project last year that never got off the ground so I was determined to do this one when things just started to fall apart.

While I was moaning and groaning and flinging things around my studio and pretty much depressing myself my daughter asked what was the problem. So I explained it all and she convinced me that if I simplified the dolls I'd be very unhappy with them at the end and what was wrong with details? Even if they never sell isn't my satisfaction with them the important thing? She is always amazed by what I come up with. So then we watched part of the movie so she could see the costumes and details because she has never seen the movie before and became more adamant that I had to do them properly. So per her suggestion I put all the other dolls away and am concentrating on just one at a time. Working so isolated as I do I don't really have anyone to bounce ideas and suggestions on so she was so helpful. She really saved this project.

Here's the beginning of the collar and barrel body that I'm adding over the basic body. I was stumped at what to use for rivets but have a ton of mini white buttons so I hand dyed them a blueish gray.

What I forgot to show is that the button/rivets go down his back too.

I stuffed his barrel to almost bursting.

Closed up the bottom.

Wired and sewed his hands. I HATE wiring and sewing hands. It's usually one of the last things I do.

Made a mock up/pattern of his funnel hat.

It was at this point I realized I sewed the handle on backwards and set everything aside to cool off before I took the whole thing apart (because of the way it was sewn) to position the handle correctly. AAAGGGHHH!!!

Hat pinned in place and you can now see the rivets/buttons on the sides of his head. He has some on the back of his head too.

Arms attached, bow tie in place, axe in hand, done.

It's a horrible day for photos here but I'm done. Once everyone is done I'll do a good photo-shoot of the whole cast. I'm so very pleased with how he came out that I've been carrying him around the house all day. I hope you like him too.

A New Frank For Fall.

I made a prototype head for a doll I was working out a pattern for. The head didn't make the cut for that particular piece but it was a great head regardless so I kept it on my worktable. After I finally finished several big projects I thought this head deserved a body.

You've probably seen him chilling on my worktable in other photos. Here he is waiting for a body.

Tailoring his jacket. Deciding on the position of his arms. Hands still need to be sewn and stuffed. He's a tall guy.

Hands sewn and ready to attach the arms.

Frank's all done and is in my etsy shop. There is a link to him on the right side of this page. He's  22 inches tall and is a OOAK. He's made from eco felt and is entirely hand stitched by me using my own pattern. He has a loop sewn on his back so he can be hung on a wall.

My 2011 Holiday Plush

Every year I make a new holiday collection. There is only one of each type of character and I don't make more so they are very OOAK pieces.  I had a Mrs. Claus planned too but time got away from me so she got cut. I have to say that these are my favorite so far. All my new Spring and Halloween plush for next year will be of this design too. These plush are between 11 and 14 inches tall (28 and 34 cm) and in my shop this weekend.

Happy Holidays!

Worktable Wednesday...so much going on.

I've been approached to possibly have some plush at a Tech conference this summer. They were especially interested in my plush Tardis since the Doctor Who show is gaining popularity here in the States. But I can't just sell those so I started playing around with some new designs to go along with the Tech theme. A Nerdy Guy and A Robot. Thinking about A Nerdy Girl too. What do you think?

The other side of my worktable holds 2 of my Pirate theme plush dolls that I've had on hold forever. They were in my unfinished projects pile. I dug them out and started working on them until this whole "Tech" thing came up so they may remain unfinished for a bit longer.

Messy, crazy worktable! I'm usually pretty good about tidying up but since I'm in the thick of working right now it's going to stay a mess for a while. What does your worktable look like?

Wordless Wednesday

The Dolls of Sassy Pack Rat Studios.

Wordless Wednesday WIP

New Ginger Pillow Plush in the Shop.

My initial thought for holiday plush was larger versions of my ornaments from last year. But of course I went the other direction with Holiday plush in the same style as my Halloween plush. I still had the urge to do my original idea so I made 2 Gingers.

They are a simple pillow style plush and I think pretty cute. I only have one boy and one girl.

Friday I'm going to put just about everything on a get stuff sold sale and if you are a blog reader I'll have an extra special discount just for you guys. So be sure to check back.

A Few Mini Plush, A WIP and A Treasury.

I decided to do some mini plush of my large Holiday Plush Dolls. So far I have a Reindeer and a Snowman. Not sure how many I'll be able to do as I have 3 large time consuming custom orders to make this week. So if you want one grab it now or custom order one so you'll be sure to get it.

As always I have owls. I think I'm only making minis right now because of time. Here's Ginger the sweet Gingerbread owl. I have several others in production and they are all Winter Holiday owls (not Christmas) that anyone might like to decorate with.

My Large Plush Chocolate Gingerbread Man is featured on a fun unusual foodish type treasury by my etsy team Team Bacon.

Working like crazy to finish the 3 prizes for my 2 Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway. Details on Friday! I have 2 almost done. Do you have any thing you'd like to see for the 3rd one?

Cute Plush Snowman is Finished.

This is Bert and he's a snowman. He's new and in my shop. Yep.

I re-shot the reindeer and cookie people photos so they aren't so boring. Crazy busy! Don't forget about the Big Giveaway starting on my Blog Anniversary on Friday November 12th, 2010.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

...in 67 days! OMG! I'm such a last minute Nellie! I have started but will have to work like a complete lunatic to finish in time as I curse my silly procrastinations. 

I did have a lovely productive day yesterday cutting out gingerbread men, reindeer and snowmen and really felt like I was getting somewhere until....I realized that I still have to cut out all my Santas, Mrs. Claus', elves, hand stitch all the facial details, hand sew, stuff each one, cut out all the minis of the same designs, hand stitch, hand sew and stuff.

I also wanted to offer large Snarky Girl dolls for the Holiday and have started those too but I think something will have to give.

This may be the year I loose my mind! Anyone want to take bets on when that will happen, should I start a pool?

Sassy's Friday Feature - LEFTZ

LEFTZ on etsy has some of my favorite plush characters. They are fun and eco friendly. And I'm all about re-use, re-cycle anything and everything so LEFTZ plush are a personal favorite. The genius behind LEFTZ is Mary Casher. All LEFTZ creations are made using thrift store finds and donated fabric. They are also stuffed with plastic grocery bags, you know the ones that end up in the landfill or caught in the tops of trees. Mary puts these to good use and they make surprisingly good stuffing material. (these bags are all clean, btw) Mary also lets you know how many bags each LEFTZ creature is stuffed with. I tweet with Mary often on twitter. She's a lovely person and such an inspiration to a plush-want-to-be-maker like me. I own 2 great LEFTZ creations and can attest to the fact that they are very well made and just plain fun.

Mary's creations are called LEFTZ because they are missing their left eyes. The right eyes are fun vintage buttons. She doesn't use patterns so each creation is slightly different than the last.

Mary has had several of her LEFTZ creations featured in STUFFED Magazine and is having a giveaway on her blog of Pepper the cat that was featured in STUFFED. Giveaway ends September 23rd.

Giveaway

Ted and Dew Drop are in the sale section of LEFTZ shop and I believe once they are sold no more of these will be made. (no more sparrows will be made) So grab them up folks!

Ted the horse

Dew Drop the sparrow

Nessie the water monster

Mary had a plush series that she recently sold off and retired called Tribals. They are tree like creatures with spears. I was lucky to purchase one before they were all gone and I love it.

Retired Tribals no longer available for purchase.

Mary is taking her plush in a new and fun direction with the addition of monsters. Some are fleece and fabric and some like below are fur.

Bananas the monster

This monsters unique name comes from the fact that he used to be a monkey plush found unloved in a thrift store. He was taken apart and recycled into this fun monster. You can read about his transformation here. From Monkey to Monster

 

Geeky plush bunny

This guy was sold the same day he was listed. 

How awesome is he in his geekyness?!

There's a fish trend on etsy right now and LEFTZ does them the best! Look at these patterns and colors. Luscious and I don't even like fish but I like these!

 Largemouth Bass

Holiday ornament

Want a LEFTZ on your tree this holiday season? These mini largemouth bass are perfect. Grab them quick LEFTZ always sell fast!

Where to find LEFTZ

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtTales

http://www.facebook.com/LEFTZ

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftz/

http://leftz.deviantart.com/

http://twitter.com/arttalesleftz

New Halloween Plush Dolls

I've been wanting to make some plush dolls and recently was focused so hard on my other dolls that I needed a break. I had a design I did months ago so I set aside my Halloween dolls for a bit and cranked these out instead. They are based on a design I did for a Vampire Dotee Doll swap I did last year. I had so much fun with it I wanted to do larger plush. The original design didn't have arms or legs but were pillow like but I decided to push myself further and make dolls out of them. I'm in love with them! There was supposed to be a witch and a Skellie but time got away from me so I might not do those this year. I did do a Ghost, Vampire, Frank and his Bride.

Please let me know your thoughts on them. I'm thinking of re-doing the ghost. I made him first and I think he needs more detail. These will be OOAK and if they sell I won't make anymore until next year and they will be somewhat different.

This is the Dotee Doll that inspired my design.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my little creative efforts. Christmas is kind of screaming in my ear and I feel like I'm already late in starting that so more fun things are a coming!

Etsy Score!

One of my favorite sellers and someone I talk to almost daily on twitter is having a $10 sale in her store so I was finally able to get one of her awesome creations. They are not hugely expensive I'm just broke most of the time, plus who can resist a sale?

Meet Walter the Walrus.

Look at hims face! Love hims tooths!

Walter is from a great shop called ArtTales and Mary's creations are called LEFTZ for various reasons but mostly cause they are missing their left eyes. All LETFZ are made from mostly reclaimed materials: thrift store finds, vintage buttons and fabrics given away. They are made without a pattern and stuffed with plastic shopping bags. Each one is unique and super eco friendly!

LEFTZ creatures were recently featured in the latest issue of STUFFED magazine. Please check out her shop and her great blog too.

ArtTales Etsy Shop

LEFTZ Blog