The Phantom Moon

Robot Love

My daughter is a bright, spirited little 2 year old who absolutely adores Robots, Cars, Rocketships, etc.  She enjoys playing with the dolls that I make her but in the end, her heart is set on her Robots.  This of course means that we've watched Wall-e, Cars and Robots a combined total of 598,256,245,635 times (at least that's what it feels like).  While we've bought her many toys to play with I thought I'd take a quick stab at making her a plush type robot and here's what I came up with:

He's made of felt, scrapbooking buttons I found at JoAnn's (on Sale no less, woohoo!), embroidery thread, polyfil and ... pipe cleaners!  I used them in the Robot's Arms, Legs and Neck so he'd be fully posable for BB.

He can even lounge after a hard day of work.  Oh man, do I remember those days of lounging ... sigh ...

My mom even requested that I make another Robot, this time in Green.  For BB do you ask?  Nope, this one will be for her :)

Another Swap Completed

Ok, I officially love Swap-Bot.  I've completed 3 Swaps on the site (ok, the first one kind of didn't count) and have just mailed out number 3.  The swap called for Cute Monsters' and even though it was a little challenging since my mind has been in doll mode lately, I had a lot of fun.

I like his floppy ears, horns and funny teeth.  I scored the fleece and fabric from the sale bin at JoAnn's a few months back so he's totally made from stash stuff - yay!

Luckily the swap rules allowed you to sew your monster since I can't knot or crochet.  Though I'd change a few things the next time around, I really like how he came out.  And since the little fella has a ways to go (and since I literally got this guy out right before the deadline1), I included some candies for his journey ...

I hope he likes his new home!

Tigers & Sketching

Today I took a long needed break and had lunch at the park.  I grabbed my sketch book, colored pencils and my lunch and took off a little early so I could get a good seat (during summer time in the city, the park benches fill up fast!). 

A lot of people use this time to walk their dogs and most of them are pretty cute.  As a young woman with her dogs rounded the corner, my breath was taken away.  She had some of the most unusually colored dogs I've ever seen ... Luckily, an older woman stopped her right in front of my park bench and while they were distracted I snapped these shots.

Isn't their coloring just wild?  Their coats remind me of tigers!  They were gorgeous and so well behaved.  I discreetly turned off my Zune to listen in and heard their owner telling the chatty old lady that she had adopted them from a Greygound Rescue and that they were the sweetest things.

Anywho, after they left I finished my lunch I started sketching.  It's been a long time since I sat by myself and sketched ... it felt so good!  Though I love drawing Robots, Rocketships and everything in between for BB, sometimes it's good to just doodle and let your mind wander.

I reminded myself that I had wanted to make a Mermaid Softie this summer so I set about making a sketch of what I'd like her to look like in the end.

I wanted to stay away from the seashell bra bit but this may be altered when she's 3D (we don't need a wardrobe malfunction in the softie world ;).  It's a good start and I think I'll try and make her into a plush this weekend, but I might change her coloring a bit.  What do you think?