More Mini Menagerie

I finished the rest of the custom ordered Mini Menagerie awhile ago and finally have some time to share them with you. Here there are in all their kewtness.

Mini Sleepy Olifont, who carries around a pillow to rest his sleepy head on, is 7"L from tush to trunk and about 6"H. His sleepy little eyelids are machine embroidered on the edges and then hand stitched over his button eyes.

 

Mini Panda is about 5"H not including the height of her ears. Her fancy bamboo snack is about 10" untwisted & about 8" in it's curly state. The bamboo and her sweet face are completely hand stitched!

 

Click the pics for larger views!

How-to: Get More Out of Upholstery Samples

I love recycling/upcycling upholstery samples but I hate wasting the edges because of the inch or more strips of paper glued to them! Well, it really all depends on the type of glue used. Usually the samples are glued with a non-water-soluble glue, but sometimes you get lucky and the glue is either old or water-soluble. It doesn't hurt to test a piece since you could possible gain inches more on those precious samples!

You can try:

Dampening the paper edge - If it is water-soluble glue, or the glue is old and crumbly, the paper will slide right off. Test on your least favor sample. Use a wet sponge to saturate the paper, but not to the point of dripping wet. Let it sit for a minute or so and then see if the paper will slide or peel off easily. If it does you've got it easy! Dampen and slide/peel away all the paper. Wipe off excess glue left on the fabric with clean sponge. Let it dry flat on newspaper or something you would mind getting color on. Upholstery fabric is usually not color fast.

Steam iron - Use a steam iron on the highest setting you feel safe with. Be careful! I'm not responsible for you getting steam burns or burning the fabric. If you have those handy dandy heat resistant gloves or finger covers now is the time to use them. Place some paper towel, brown paper or an old rag between your upholstery sample and the ironing board. A lot of steam can make the dyes run and stain your ironing board. Steam the paper, in effect melting the glue, and quickly and carefully peel away the paper. I suggest working in small sections because you want to try and get all of the paper off in one go. If little bits are left they will be very hard to get off later. Little bits of paper will have to be scrubbed or picked off, you don't want to gum up your iron, but this could damage the fabric so be patient (not so easy for me!).

Soak & scrub - I have not tried this but I know others have used this method on the tougher glues. Again use your least favorite sample so you're not up set if the color runs or there is any sort of damage to the fabric. Soak the piece of fabric in a bit of cold water in the sink. I've seen that a couple drops of dish soap or detergent will help the process. Then scrub in small circles using an old toothbrush or something similar.

I personally would only use the "soak & scrub" as a last resort since you don't know how the fabric will react and if it's a delicate fabric like a velvet or chenille it could be shredded by the scrubbing. The least amount of distress to the fabric the better! Unless of course that's the look you're going for ;)

Mini Menagerie

I still have a couple more to complete but I thought I'd share some of my latest work, a custom mini menagerie!

Sleepy Olifont is always prepared for a good nap with his eye mask & blanket. (Sleepy Olifont is not a Mini but he may have a lil sibling soon)

Mini Kawaii Piggy can't wait to be snuggled.

Mini Dolphin wants to go for a frolic.

And Mini Hippo will have you know that his large cranium is due too his massively intelligent brain, thank you very much.

I forgot to mention that the Mini's are between 5" & 7.5" long. Hand-size and squishable.

V-Day, Love it or Hate it

Whether you are buying a gift for yourself or you SO, there's a whole delectable page of goodies on sale in my shop for VDay/anti-VDay! Hairclips, pins, collectible art dolls, there's even a cloak at 30% off w- free shipping, zomg!

Here's a peek:

 

 

xx ~Static

A 1yr Stay on New CPSIA Regulations!!

Oh thank goodness.
Info is summarized nicely at the Etsy Handmade Blog - Breaking News: The CPSIA Mandatory Testing & Certification Proposed 1 Year Suspension

Etsy Dark Side Finds: Historical Dead Theme

Welcome to the Etsy Dark Side. We are the roaming fox fires in the darkness, the sparkling mist in the ever shifting shadows, faerie rings flow in our wake. Come join us!

Today's Finder Static White	Mona Lisa Choker by AbyssalGems ♦ $13.00
Not signed up with Etsy yet? For shame! Signing up is free and easy. Just click here & begin enjoying all the hand made, unique wonders Etsy has to offer. Don't forget to search the keyword "EtsyDarkTeam" !	Day of the Dead - Dia de los Muertos Janis Joplin Skull Print   by NatashaBlue ♦ $15.00
Come join the Dark Side	Gothic Nosferatu Vampire Horror Pendant by AgonysDecay ♦  $20.00
	Meet Me At The Hanging Tree   by WingsOfSin ♦ $60.00
Dreams of Cleopatra by Room3Designs ♦ $58.00	Agnes Brooch   by PerfidiousBeads ♦ $35.00
Black and White Flapper Lady Button Post Earrings by BellaLili ♦ $13.00	Planterbox by SMACART ♦ $200.00
Anne Boleyn Zombie Doll    by MrsEvils ♦ $35.00	Tarot Card Necklace Death by HandmadeHorrors ♦ $10.00

  Made any EtsyDarkTeam purchases lately? Let me know!

  Don't forget to keep those reviews coming, my darklings.

  Buyers are welcome to join in the fun, just send me your thoughts on your EtsyDarkTeam purchases with a link to the item(s) and I'll post the review!

Team members:

  How to be included in the Etsy Dark Side Finds, you ask? Well hop onto our forum and join in the Exhibition run by SacredOak & HandmadeHorrors. Enter up to 3 items related to the current month's theme. (See the forum for more details)

  Once a month I'll be choosing one item from each shop in the Exhibition to be promo'd here!

xx ~Static

"I had walled the monster up within the tomb!"

The 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday is in 2 days, Jan 19th!

In celebration, I'm offering 20% off ALL items in my shop between now and Jan 19th 2009, midnight CST!

In the "Message to Seller" be sure to mention "200EAP" and I will refund you the 20% (before s&h/tx) via Paypal.
(Sorry I only accept payment via Paypal.)

xx ~Static

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Not signed up with Etsy yet? Well you should be! It's super easy and there so many amazing & unique items for your buying pleasure. Just click here.

Custom Can Be Frustratingly Fun

Yes, getting custom requests can be frustrating but in the end they can be pretty fun too. I look at it this way, it keeps the rust off of the brain gears. I have schooling in clothing design, creating and many forms of art & craft but not once did I take any doll making courses. Sure I've read a lot of books and look up info on the net if I need to but there is a lot to be said for hands on learning. That said, it takes me forever to come up with a new pattern since I have to think in 3D and my mind does not work in the usual ways, so I am told. There are no creature-creating-forms, like a lovely convenient dressform, I could work off of unfortunately. It all has to come out of my discombobulated brain.

Why do I bring this all up? Well, I have a repeat customer that I absolutely love and dread requests from. This customer loves to only give me the absolute vaguest of descriptions such as "a bunny" and "a panda". But in being so vague I can make them however I see fit. I have an idea of this customers sense of humor, likes & dislikes so off I go right? One hang up, I have to do them from absolute scratch! So I pour over my books and think and think and stab at the paper and think some more. Finally, eventually I get it just right. Have I mentioned this customer is extremely patient and I'm a perfectionist? Hah, yes we're a good customer/creator match.

So without much more rambling here are my latest creations:

Big Ninja Bunny Foo & Spawn of Ling

Big Ninja Bunny Foo carries a grey felt throwing star & a felt carrot that doubles as a throwing knife (not pictured, sorry). Foo is made of squishy soft fleece with pose-able ears, felt nose & hand embroidered face.

Spawn of Ling has a hand stitched stick of tan & green felt bamboo. It can even be twisted to look like that novelty bamboo. Spawn of Ling is made of the same squishy soft fleece, has hand embroidered mouth, hand stitched felt eye patches and nose.

Big Ninja Bunny Foo also brought along a friend who now chases after my Scrap Bats. Meet Mini Ninja Bunny Foo:

As you can see he is still learning the ninja-ing thing and the Bats are still getting the better of him. He's also available for adoption!

So in the end, you see, it's all definitely worth it!