Custom Order: 2 Zipperump-a-zoos

Did you know if you do a Google image search for "Zipperump-a-zoo", a picture of one of my plush versions is one of the first images?  This is how a mother found me and sent me a message on Etsy, requesting me to make 2 Zipperump-a-zoos for her daughter.

The back-story is quite delightful...

"My 2 1/2 daughter was first introduced to the character in my childhood book "little monsters bedtime book." The last page of the book, and a line we repeat at her bedtime, is "good night, sleep tight, don't let the zipperump-a-zoos bite". Since then we got her a copy of Prof. Wormbog and the search for the zipperump-a-zoo. She started calling my husband Professor Wormbog, she's "Little Laff", her younger sister is "Kerploppus" and I'm "Croonie". She goes on Zipperump-a-zoo hunts and finds them eating our shoes!"

This is why I photographed them in one of my favorite shoes.

I find it funny that even when I make two "identical" items...they still have a bit of a difference to them.  That's part of the appeal of handmade I suppose.  I can't make 2 items exactly alike if I try!

Commissioned Piece: Kaze-kun the Crow

I finished the crow plushie that was supposed to go with the fox that my friend Em from My Kitty Empire commissioned me to make.

Before I left, Em took some nicely staged pictures of the Fox and Crow for me with her snazzy professional-grade camera. (she's a freelance photographer and illustrator)

Em and I actually went shopping together yesterday in order to find some specific rectangular-shaped shell buttons that she wanted for the crow's eyes. After a trip to JoAnn Fabrics (where I found the buttons, but not the leopard print fleece I was looking for for another commission project...blah.) we went to Goodwill, where we both bought ourselves some comfy clothes as well as some monster-making sweaters! After thrifting, we got some food and then went back to her house to eat and chat. After we finished lunch, she gave me a tour of her wonderfully HUGE 200 year old house...with magical little passages that lead you from one room to another. It was one of those lovely old houses that just never ends!

* all photos (except for the first two) are courtesy of My Kitty Empire.

Commissioned Piece: Yukiko the Fox

A friend who saw the foxes I made for my woodland creature series commissioned me to make her a fox with anime-esque "happy crescents" for eyes...

I'm used to putting the eyes on after I sew the head up, so I couldn't hide the embroidery thread knot on the underside of the fabric like I do when I usually embroider details...but luckily, I worked it out to make the knots look like the fox has cute little eyelashes!

I liked "staging" these photos with the fabric and balls of yarn. It adds a little "granny chic" and makes it feel extra cozy to me. (the orange sweater I made the fox out of is super soft! I wish I had enough to make myself a blanket!)

* My friend just tagged me in the following picture on Facebook with this caption "Natsuko says, "Dear Yukiko, I am looking forward to having you as a companion! Kitsu-kitsu!"

She's named her already! She says Yukiko "means Child of Snow :D since she was born in winter and there's snow everywhere!"

Emoti-Nubbins

A friend of mine is a teacher and ordered a set of my "Emoti-Nubbins" for her classroom this year!

I added 2 new emotions to the set (well, they're more like feelings than emotions)...and omitted one that was included in the previous sets (Worried/grey).


Angry (red).

Happy (yellow). In the original Emoti-Nubbins set I was comissioned for, the client wanted Happy to be orange. But I changed it for this set. I feel like yellow is a happier color. It reminds me of sunshine.

Sick (green). I know...more of a feeling than an emotion. But I wanted a green Nubbin in there and thought "sick" was the most appropriate feeling. I know the traditional emotion for green is jealousy/envy, but that's a pretty complex emotion to do with such a simple monster. I suppose I could have made "Worried" green too (instead of grey). But I stand by making green the Sick one.

Sad (light blue). The very first Emoti-Nubbin was a sad, blue one. I made it specifically to promote awareness of the CPSIA vs. Handmade issue. A lady saw it and wanted to order a set of Nubbins with different emotions. Thus the concept of the Emoti-Nubbins was born.

Tired (dark blue). Another "feeling" more than "emotion". But I figured something schoolchildren feel a lot is tired. This is the first Nubbin I've ever made with little eyelids. I thought it needed the lowered eyelids to make it look like it was tired and make it look like it was yawning and not yelling. (Although I can imagine it whining, saying "Awwwwww!"). I don't know. It was an experiment. What do YOU think it looks like?

And lastly...Silly (purple).

I wanted another "positive" emotion in the set. Plus, sometimes "happy" just doesn't describe it because you just feel downright silly!

*MARKET RESEARCH TIME!:

1. What emotions would YOU want me to include in the Emoti-Nubbins?
2. What colors have I not included (pink? brown? black? orange?) that you would put an emotion with?
3. Would you change any of the emotions on the colors I DID include in this set?

I'm curious! PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT! ;)

Commissioned Nubbins

Here's a look at some comissioned nubbins I've done as a result of my exposure at the Spot art shows... This one was inspired by the "CPSIA Nubbin" I did to promote an awareness of the Consumer Safety Improvement Act's impact on handmade toys. A woman saw my sad, crying Nubbin and was inspired to ask me to do a series of emotion Nubbins. She works with children (Kindergarten I think) and thought is would be good to use the Nubbins in order to teach small children about feelings. She requested Happy (orange), Sad (blue), Angry (red), and Scared/Worried (grey). I tried my best to use colors associated with particular emotion. The scared Nubbin was the hardest. My husband suggested yellow (yellow being associated with fear...like as in "yellow-bellied"), but the woman ordering them suggested a darker color like grey. I made a fifth Nubbin...a Silly Nubbin that is purple. I haven't taken any pictures of him yet, but I will try to before I hand them over. She also told me that if it went over well in her classroom that she would give my card to all the other teachers too so they could request some Emoti-Nubbins of their own!

I did this other Nubbin for a fellow artist at the Spot art show who does pottery. She requested a purple Nubbin with her sorority letters on it in this pink/fuchsia felt she picked out from my felt stash. She's planning on giving it as a gift to one of her sorority sisters.

She also requested a little heart on its butt!

Oh!...I had to go out to buy some more thread colors for these projects to use with my sewing machine...and I thought it was funny that the thread I bought just happened to coordinate with my set of bright-colored buttons I have. I didn't plan on buying the thread to match the buttons, I was just buying the colors of thread I needed...