nuigurumi style

What better way to chase those post-post-holiday blues than with some retail therapy? A friend and I went to Japantown in SF for lunch on Saturday, and of course I had to stop by the Kinokuniya Bookstore and their stationery shop. At the latter I picked up a note pad and some stickers from san-x's Wanroom collection - all the characters are pieces of furniture with oddly bear-like faces. I find this sort of thing irrestible and it was difficult to avoid buying the large stuffed versions of each little dude. I think I like the bathtub and the TV the best (just like in real life, now that I think of it).

Although the craft section in the bookstore looked a bit picked over (maybe I need to stop telling people about it? heh) I was able to pick up a copy of nuigurumi style. This fine book (isbn 4056041792) has been mentioned on other blogs - boy, is it ever nifty. I needed an inspiration kick in the pants, if you will, and it delivered. The images in this post are from this fab book.

I really love these painted dolls - frequent visitors to this blog know I have a small (big) obsession with really simply sewn dolls, just a front and a back sewn together with all the details represented (clothes, hair, etc) on the fabric itself (either with painting or embroidery). Another picture in the book shows the artist painting the doll, it looks like she sews and stuffs the doll first then paints afterward. Perhaps she puts down some gesso first, I wonder? In any case, lovely. The image at the top of this post shows some similarly constructed dolls, with features apparently drawn on with crayon. The dresses themselves are also very simple - merely two pieces of fabric gathered at the top with some thread. I like the spindly legs on these ones and the somber expression on the dog(?)'s face.

This fluffy yellow fellow is also quite nice, I love the unusual shape and the great facial expression, as well as the fabric choices - a lot of nice textures.

I'm craving inspiration right now, I've made a stack of image-heavy books about 3 feet high next to the couch, and when I come across something I like, I draw it. I hope this works!

update

Happy Sunday.

As those of you on my notification list know, I have decided to stop printing the booklet. This could be a temporary or permanent thing, depending on what I decide. As difficult as it is for me to disappoint people, I know that it was a good decision. I have really enjoyed having it out there and seeing toys made from my patterns - and I have sold many times more than I ever thought possible! It was pretty wild.

Everything and everyone is okay, I just need to take a step back from the project. Sorry about that, folks.

gocco & candy

What better way to chase those post-holiday blues than to play with your presents? As I mentioned before, Jeff got me a Print Gocco for Christmas, and BOY do I love it. It really is so much fun - it's pretty easy to use, and the results are exactly what I was hoping for. Here are the results of my first go at it - I did a little doodle of some tiny folks, strolling I suppose, and of course I had to get my name in there somewhere...



I printed it all over all sorts of paper (it's hard to keep the master once you're done, so most people recommend printing a lot of stuff before you throw it away). The white stuff is just some thin white stationery paper, and I was pleased to see that the ink didn't bleed through at all. Now I have some nice personalized stationery! The hot pink paper was a gift from my parents - a bag of acid-free paper scraps, nice.

Also from the 'rents - I mentioned that Dolores the bear reminded me of ribbon candy, so when my Mom saw some of this old-fashioned treat at her grocery store, she got me some! Mmmmm. I liked the clove flavor the best. Here's one of the artsy fartsy pics I look before I started eating all of it.

fred flare

Hey! Those of you who are waiting for the next shipment of booklets (which will be available from my website later this month) can purchase it from fred flare, one of the coolest stores out there. Go here!

Edited to add:

And! And! Karen of krafola was kind enough to interview me for her Amazing People Interview series on her amazing blog. You can check it out here!

Wow! How deeply #1!