Leopold was finished quite a few days ago, but it gets dark so early now (after the time change) that it's been hard to get a picture of him. He did want to share this 'Halloween' photo with you though (ok, I took it last night, but the pumpkin has been carved for days!)



Leopold celebrated his first Halloween this year. He was very excited to hand out life-savers to the costume-clad children. He even carved a (candy corn) pumpkin to spruce up the place. (He wanted to share the photo with you, but said you can't have his furniture.)

He is not quite 2 1/2 inches tall. You can find him in my shop, along with some more pics and info.

These little guys are fun to work on, and I don't have a large finished project taking up space when I am done. I am filling up my printer drawer/shadowbox (like a small one of these) with them until they find a good home, and I still have about 6 more spots to fill.

I finished up this little cat last night. I had closed the head before I bought the doll eyes, but opened it back up so I could use them. I'm glad I did ~ I think they look really cute.

Oliver the cat is barely 2.5 inches tall and is wearing a ringer t-shirt with matching pants.





(Stella, posted earlier, had a much longer head than I wanted. I made it the same way I made Bernard's head, but the thread does not crochet the same as yarn. But, that's how we learn ~ Oliver has a nice spherical head)

He can be found here.

Going on the theory that smaller = cuter,
I decided to make an amigurumi with embroidery floss/thread instead of yarn.

Meet Stella, the pink and yellow bunny ~



You can find her here. She is three inches tall ~ a little shorter than a business card, and the pictures below.



Although, I did find out that if you join rounds (instead of creating spirals), then it is not technically an 'amigurumi'. I bet a lot the dolls are made that way, so I will stick with the name. It is more descriptive of the style and size of the doll than the technique used.


I think my favorite amigurumi's right now are from "Gourmet Amigurumi" ~
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38635695@N00/tags/amigurumi/ (here is her gallery)
I am going to really have to sit down with these photos and get a dose of her magic.

I bought some doll eyes at Joann yesterday. I think that will add to the cuteness. Unfortunently you have to put them before you close up the head, which means the kitty I started on will either get pulled apart, or have embroidered eyes. I am eager to play with them though!



And for those of you following the EB job saga ~ I did get a call from them (a week late), so now I will be going in for training on Wednesday. Part of me doesn't know why I agreed to come in after the 3 month delay ~ but the job will have a few perks (game discounts for Christmas!), and there is not anywhere else around here I am that interested in either. I agreed to give it a try.

Sales have been *really* good lately, so that is making it a little harder for me to want to go after a part-time job, but we may need a steady paycheck if sales slow down again. This also means we may be car shopping this weekend ;)

Oh my. Things are exciting and busy around here lately! I have sewing custom orders lined up for at least a week, I just finished two ambigram orders and have two more to do, and I've been crafting a lot of other cute items on the side.

And things are selling well on the site ~ I don't know if holiday shopping has begun, but we finally have some extra money sitting around. We might actually buy a new printer so I can make prints from home!

Here is one of my new projects ~ I've been playing around with amigurumi (cutesy Japanese-style crochet dolls/animals), thanks to the yarn that kawaiikiki sent my way. I made Bernard, the chilly monster.



He will be up in my shop tomorrow morning with some more pictures and info.

He started off as a monkey, but after a few rows he decided to be some sort of monster. A monster wearing a cat-eared hat. He has 8 legs, two stubby arms, a scarf and matching hat. I am working on a second monster now, and writing down the pattern as I work (which is really hard for me to do!)

Also, amiguru-minis coming soon! (think 3 inches tall) Sooo cute!!

Instead of hoarding craft links in my favorites,
I thought it would be nice to share them on here from time to time...

A Flickr Gallery of cute crochet animals (amigurumi) ~ so colorful and fun!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpatrizio/sets/373475/

More amigurumi pictures & some patterns ~
http://huangfamily.com/craftingjapanese/archives/amigurumi/

A crochet pattern for a mushroom, and it even has a flip-top ~
http://www.crochetme.com/shroom

Pattern & instructions for plastic bag crochet ~
http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/Plastic%20Bag%20tote.html

A list of crochet abbreviations and stitch guides ~
http://www.crochetnmore.com/123basics.htm

In a fit of boredom last night I grabbed my crochet hook and wire and started to crochet. I've seen this done before (also with knitting), and it turns out so beautiful. Every piece I've seen has been a wrist cuff with beads added in though, so I wanted to make something different.

I started out with the idea of making some sort of bag or pouch, and hooking in pop tabs as I went. I decided against the tabs, and here is what I have so far ~



I have no idea what to make with it, any ideas?
I stopped working on it until I know how big it needs to be.
(Anything but a wrist cuff!)

I'm toying with the idea of making some wire amigurumi later on. I can only do a little at a time though, giving the wrist a break now and then.

These are a few projects I have been meaning to take pics of for a while, and two new ones.

Crafting New & Old
Inside this link are more pics and info for:

Rubik's Cube Earrings	Chinese Take Out Earrings	Crochet Kitty
Crochet Pop Tab Purse	Wallet with Applique