Category: Blog

Back Page Contest Winner

Posted on by Anna

It was very hard to choose a winner of our Back Page Contest—so many of you found clever ways to use the 2-dimensional landscape page from Adventures in Mochimochi Land. (I knew you guys would come through big time!)

So John and I had a big debate about it last night, and we finally settled on…

Gummy Bear Photo Bomb by Tara!

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We loved the way that this image plays with the idea of a photo itself, and it has so much energy and humor.

Congratulations, Tara! You win this awesome collection of books from Potter Craft and Potter Style.

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I’ll be contacting you via Flickr for your mailing address.

Of course, we were smitten with lots of other photo entries, so here are some highly deserved honorable mentions.

One way to get a kite out of a tree by KnitWit685

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Travel Agent Squidy by Michelle

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The Photo Shoot by juleenbean

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Photographer Eddie by Salla Ahola

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(We liked the caption to this one: Nature photography proved to be too challenging for Eddie. The birds were just flying around and posing behind his back.

Big thanks again to everyone who entered this contest. We’ll have our big annual photo + video contest coming up in a couple of months (with even more awesome crafty prizes), so please stay tuned for that!

Halo Amok vs Chihuli

Posted on by Anna

On Sunday I got to visit friends in Oklahoma City—amazingly, it was my first visit there in about 12 years, even though I make trips to Oklahoma often. It was wonderful to experience the new vitality the city seems to have, and the highlight of the day was visiting the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for the first time. My timing was perfect, because they currently have an incredibly fun large-scale puppet installation by Wayne White, the former puppet artist for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. (I also blogged about him earlier this year.)

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White’s site-specific exhibit is titled “Halo Amok,” an anagram of Oklahoma, and it’s unmistakably him: kooky, over-the-top, and crazy fun. The three cubist puppets—three cowboys straddling bucking horses and a bull—were made on-site out of plywood, cardboard, and other rough materials.

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Visitors are encouraged to pull on ropes and turn wheels to make the kinetic sculptures buck and sway, which they do with much clattering and noise. It was a delight to see in person, and I could almost feel the creative energy rub off on me.

Here’s a terrible video I took of one of the puppets in motion: Halo Amok

Even the flyer that White created for the exhibit is an exciting work of art to me.

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Almost equally interesting to me was the fact that directly facing this noisy, joyful installation is the museum’s ongoing exhibit of blown glass by Dale Chihuli. The Chihuli works have their own sense of whimsy and large-scale wonder, but the rooms were darkened and quiet and definitely hands-off.

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I’m not the hugest Chihuli fan, but I don’t think anyone can help but be captivated by the way that the candy-colored glass seems to have grown organically on the spot into Alice in Wonderland-like environments. And the large collection at OKCMOA is something to see.

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My new dream is to live in a world that exists somewhere between the artistic sensibilities of these two masters.

“Halo Amok” is only up through October 6th—if you live anywhere near OKC, you must go, now!

Love to Oklahoma

Posted on by Anna

This tiny cowboy is spending the day rustling up love for the tornado victims in Oklahoma.

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Oklahoma is my birthplace and will always be home to me. I’m so thankful that none of my friends or family were hit, and my heart goes out to those who were not so lucky this time.

I hope you’ll join me in donating to the Red Cross or other organizations that are helping with shelters, supplies, and resources. (This list on CNN.com is helpful.)

I already had plans to fly to Oklahoma tomorrow for a visit with my family. I’ll be giving them extra hugs this weekend!

Last Weekend to Enter!

Posted on by Anna

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This really big little bunny is here to remind us that this is the last weekend to enter the Tiny Baby Bunnies Contest!

If you haven’t entered yet, that still gives you enough time to knit up some Tiny Baby Bunnies, photograph them doing something awesome, and upload it to Flickr. Look at the beautiful Koigu yarn our top three winners will get!

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The deadline is Monday night, April 2nd at midnight Eastern time. See full contest details here!

Knitted Nipsey and Soupy

Posted on by Anna

Now that Christmas is over, I can post my knitted Nipsey and Soupy! They were a gift to my mother-in-law Bonney, finished just a few days before the 25th.

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As you can see, Nipsey doesn’t seem to agree that his cat looks like him, but he appreciates the effort and the added touch of a fish.

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And Soupy is wondering when this rude intruder will get out of his personal space!

The Tiniest Countdown

Posted on by Anna

Thank you all for your great caption suggestions for Tiny Rocket! They covered a wide variety of subject matter (I was impressed at how many of you found a way to incorporate the holidays), but we were quick to find a favorite, which was contributed by Michelle.

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K10…K9…K8…K7…K6…K5…K4…K3…K2…K1…
CAST OFF!

Congrats, Michelle! That means you win a free PDF pattern from the Mochimochi Shop.