Pirate Peanut

Ahoy, mateys!  Anyone out there a pirate lover?  I've been working on my Peanut People, and here is the third in the series, Pirate Peanut!

I was debating on this particular Pirate whether to give him green or blue eyes, but my resident creative consultant/product tester (5 year old Spunky) decided for me, so blue it is!

Pirate Peanuts are approximately 13" tall (8" wide).  They are made from quilting cotton, fleece hair, and a jersey pocket.  Each face is hand-embroidered, so they are all unique (and well done, because I believe in working with excellence!).  As I mentioned before, the pocket is perfectly stretchy, just right for stuffing with tiny friends.  And friends we have. Lots of friends.

...but more on those friends later....

Have a great day!
:) Caren

Brick & Mortar Here I Come!

Hi again!  Hope your day is going well.  I just got word that HomeTown Toys is having their Grand Opening this Friday and Saturday!  I totally appreciate this shop - they have unique and made-in-the-USA toys.  You know - the kind of toys you can't find in Walmart.

Why am I telling you about this?  Well, I'm glad you asked!  I'm getting ready to send them samples of my creations.  Seriously, in a few weeks some of my creations may be lining the shelves of a special "Made in America" section.  Maybe somewhere by these fabulous hand-made rocking horses!

It is exciting for me, because it will be my first foray into selling in an actual shop, and not just on-line or word of mouth.  Squeal-able, super-duper exciting!  

Anyway, here's the details on the Grand Opening, in case you are going to be in northern Ohio this weekend:

HomeTown Toys 202 W. Third St., Dover OH 44622 (330) 343-8699

Grand Opening Friday 11am - 5pm and Saturday 10am - 2pm

Have a great week!

:) Caren

Kitty Peanut

In my last post I introduced you to Nana Peanut.  Well, here's her friend Kitty.

My philosophy in making toys is simple - I make what makes me happy, and pray that God uses it to make someone else happy, too.  That way I am, in effect, "creating smiles".

I do have design priorities, though.  Here is my short list:
#1. It's look must drive me to immediately say "oh, that is SO cute - I want one!"
#2. It must be so soft that I immediately say "oh, that is SO smooshable - I want one!"

How's that for priorities?

She is shaped somewhat like a Russian stacking doll (matryoshka), just like Nana.  And her pocket is just right for tiny friends, too!  (More about her tiny friends in a later post.)

I added my label inside her pocket.  Did I share my label with you yet?  I designed it from one of my sketches - it's ironed and sewed on - no rough edges!  (Some day I'll figure out how to customize my blog, and I'll incorporate this into my header.  But thinking about HTML gives me a headache.  I'd rather be sewing :)

And what kitty would be complete without a tail?  I have a couple more kitties in the works, and I'm thinking of adding an embroidered mouse to her pocket.  What do you think?

Sunshine & Nana Peanut 

I'll leave you with a funny (true) story to lighten your day:

My 2-yr-old Sunshine, upon seeing Kitty Peanut for the first time, exuberantly announced:

              "I love my Kitty!"

             "I love her panties!"

From my home to yours - have a very blessed week!

:) Caren

Nana Peanut

Hi friends!  I had a full and exhausting (in a good way) holiday weekend.  Finished moving MOST of my studio upstairs (still need my cutting table moved, but it's really heavy so I have to wait for help). Participated in my very first ever garage sale (it was 100 degrees out - it was not very pleasant).  And I did some sewing (I know, you're shocked, right?!)


Here's Nana Peanut - I made her over the weekend.  She's perfect for holding my studio supplies, but I'm pretty sure this little cutie pie would rather hold little kiddie toys instead!  I'm thinking she needs a hair bow or flower or something.  But my little "product testers" really like her.

How 'bout you?  How was your weekend?  Get anything productive done, or did you lay around and do nothing?  (Ooooh, doing nothing sounds like great fun!)

Cheers to a great week,
:) Caren

Uncomplicated

This blog post is a reminder to myself to keep things simple.  

At the moment I have a million (ish) fabulous ideas floating around in my head.  I start by drafting my patterns and adding elements, and by the time I'm sewing I realize that I have made things WAY TOO COMPLICATED.  Has that ever happened to you?

If you haven't noticed, I get pretty excited about uncommon animals.  You know, the ones that are totally unique.  Yep, teddy bears and stuffed kitties are nice, but they're fairly common.  A stuffed kangaroo?  Now that's not as easy to find!

See, it all started with a realization that I have a baby shower to go to this Saturday (eek!).  And yes, I do already have a gift to give, but it is not hand-made.  So I decided I'd make a small stuffie for the new baby.  Here's my sketch.  A bunny.  Not so difficult, right?

Ha!  Then I thought - oh, I bet that baby would like a crinkly toy!  So I added the crinkle factor (in this case, a sanitized pretzel bag).  Then I thought - oh, one is not enough!  I'll make a family!

  But even before I could finish one bunny, I had a "great idea" (anyone ever seen Wallace and Gromit?  "Don't worry, I have a GREAT idea!").  Yeah.  A kangaroo family.

Yes!  A pocket!  A little joey to snuggle in it's mommy's "pouch"!  Great idea!

But by then the crinkle bunny family was partially finished.  So now the kangaroo daddy has been finished.  So I'm kind of committed.  (Or maybe someone should consider committing me!)

I mean, really - look at those ears.  Gorgeous!  But ouch - they were fussy!!!  There's a bit of the "crinkly" in there, and then I gathered them, then the patch on the inside.... what was I thinking?!  And that's only the daddy kangaroo!

And since I was already committed, I decided not to leave this poor bunny family unfinished.  They deserve to be together, right?  So here's mommy:

Doesn't she look happy?

And if I ever get Mrs Kangaroo and little Joey finished, I'm sure they'll look every bit as happy to be a family...

...IF, of course, I can tear daddy kangaroo away from my little Sunshine!

Have a very blessed (and uncomplicated) week!  :) Caren

Fleecie Doll

I found this book and decided to make this lovely doll out of fleece.

Fleecie Dolls by Fiona Goble can be purchased at Amazon.com

The book has some really cute ides for dollies, but I am so short on time that I have to be really really picky about which projects I start.  Oh, and the down side to the book was that the patterns (included) had to be enlarged, which was really tricky since I had to go to the office supply store to use their machine (I had to do a bunch of taping because I couldn't figure out their machine - grrrr!)

The dress on this doll is way too big - on purpose.  I figure if my toddler is going to try to dress and undress her she might as well have a big dress on.  So far she hasn't tried to get the dress off.  I think that is because she's been too distracted with getting her socks on the doll (she's getting pretty good at that!).

I learned something from this book - did you know that if you cut fleece in skinny strips and pull it (in the direction it stretches) that it actually curls?  Oh yes!  

(And it's very much like real hair - it "uncurls" fairly quickly so some of it is curly, some of it is wavy, some is straight - just like my Sunshine's hair!)

One more thing - the fleece is stuffed just perfectly for Sprout to chew on while he's teething (sorry, I don't have any pictures of that).  Hope this little doll doesn't mind!

You all have a wonderful day!  :) Caren