Let's make happy
Crafted Things
Creative Cross Stitch
Dec 29th
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been thinking a bit about creating my own cross stitch designs. I don’t know if it’s something I’ll get around to anytime soon, but I’m inspired by these charming samplers that my mother-in-law Bonney made back in the ’90s, substituting their original wording with her own favorite sayings.
And this was way before Subversive Cross Stitch, of course. I like the way that they look so quaint at first glance, but take another look and you get the joke. Even with the humorous words, it’s obvious that Bonney put a lot of time into them and they are something that her family will always treasure.
Merry Christmas! (Anybody use the elf tags?)
Dec 25th
I usually go into Christmas with a little trepidation, but emerge on the other side with much joy. That’s more or less what happened this year.
Now that most of the organized festivities are over, I’ve been catching up on some online happenings, and I noticed that Lime & Violet gave my Mochimochi Elves gift tags a mention yesterday on their blog. So nice!
If you used the tags, I would love to hear about it (even if your recipient was puzzled by the strange creatures on their gift). I don’t know how many people downloaded them, so it would be neat to get some kind of feedback.
I’ll likely be internet-free over the next couple of days. Enjoy those holiday leftovers!
Two Funny Toys
Dec 17th
I was lucky enough to be able to attend both of the plush-making workshops that we recently held at gallery hanahou in conjunction with Luv-able + Hug-able!
The first workshop was led by the Ossu! Syugeibu “crafting club” from Tokyo, who encourage people to craft without patterns or any skill whatsoever. We made funny creatures out of socks, somewhat a la Sock and Glove but without stuffing and with a mouth opening. Mine turned out to be a type of bear with a bow tie.
Here he is gagging on his hand.
The idea is that the toy will change shape depending on what kinds of objects you put in its mouth, but I kind of like my guy floppy.
The second workshop was the Jenny Harada workshop last Saturday, in which Jenny led us in making silly Elf Chums! This is the second workshop I’ve taken with Jenny. She’s a very patient teacher, especially when I’m attempting to sew things on the inside of my toy.
Here you see my Elf Chum (on the left) next to two of Jenny’s. (Her furry brown one is still my favorite.)
And here you see it with his cousin Bjornzi, a plush in Luv-able + Hug-able that I bought at the opening and have yet to bring home:
Both my red bear and my little elf have moved in with me, but neither of them have names. Any suggestions?
Update: Jenny’s Elf Chum pattern is now available in PDF form in her Etsy shop. So go make your own!
Couture Cross Stitch
Dec 12th
This has been a nice break from endless knitting, started over the Thanksgiving holiday.
My awesome mother-in-law Bonney gave me the chart, which was created by Kyoko Maruoka, aka Gera. Her designs are way cuter than most traditional cross stitch.
(My finished cross stitch will hopefully resemble the above in the end.)
Outside of Japan, you can get them from superbuzzy. But this cute Japanese import doesn’t come cheap—it’s$17.95 for just the charts to the above design, NOT a kit. No wonder Bonney thought she was getting kits, and ordered multiples of the same design! Well, at least I’m getting full enjoyment out of this project.
Pics from Luv-able and Hug-able
Dec 7th
The opening last Thursday was wonderful! The gallery was full throughout the evening, and many people went home with new hug-able friends. Thank you to those of you who turned out!
I was too busy to take too many photos, but here are a few from Thursday.
I wanted to take home all of these, but I ended up picking the big blue furry guy with the candy cane legs!
Katie Park, known to many of you as Caffaknitted, was there with her Henry VIII and his darling wives (who are less blurry in real life).
Nicole Gastonguay was there too! Her creations were way cute.
Blythe Church sent us some amazing objects.
Love this tiny antlered creature by Ariana Marinelli.
Ossu! Syugeibu came all the way from Tokyo with their Mr. Slim. Then they lead a fun workshop at the gallery on Friday.
And of course Jenny Harada was there! She made the blue furry guy that I adopted. (And I just noticed her matching stockings!)
Funny plushes by Rei Komurasaki:
Eloole made their versions of Picasso and Dali.
Here I am with the cities and a few rogue elves.
More pics are up on the gallery hanahou flickr page. The show will be up and also online through January 7th!
Luv-able and Hug-able
Through January 7
gallery hanahou
611 Broadway, Suite 730, NYC [7th Floor of the Cable Building, NW corner of Broadway + Houston]
