out of the frame

Video Game Question

2012-01-07T21:58:00.003Z

I need your help on this one. I want to know if this amigurumi is recognisable as anything to anyone other than me! What old video game do you think is it from? Leave me a comment and let me know!Thanks!

Announcing the winners...

2012-01-05T07:12:00.001Z

The giveaway is over and it's time to announce the winners! There were 6 entries and I listed them 1 to 6 in the order they left comments. You can see above the numbers generated by the random number generator... So the winners are, number 5 - Wally and number 4 - Irit :) Congratulations you guys. I'll be sending you an email with the coupon code very soon. To everyone else - thanks for entering and look out for more giveaways during the year.

New Years Giveaway

2012-01-02T13:41:00.000Z

January is here and it's sales time. We were in Zagreb last week and made good use of the 50% off in many of ths shops. How would you like to win a 50% discount code to use in my Etsy shop? As you can see above there are plenty of cute dolls available and a pattern for an amigurumi bunny. If you want to enter then leave a comment below, and your email address in case you win! Giveaway closes Wednesday 4th January at midnight Central European time and 2 winners will be picked at random. You can check out all I have to offer in my Etsy Shop by clicking here: outoftheframe.etsy.com

Merry Christmas :)

2011-12-25T15:34:00.001Z

Snow makes everything look beautiful.

2011-12-22T12:58:00.001Z

A few more pictures from Modamo.kreArtiva Sajam

2011-12-19T15:02:00.003Z

Thanks Zanovijetak Cvijetak for the photos :)

More about Modamo.kreARTiva Sajam

2011-12-15T20:50:00.005Z

I hope you aren't going to get bored with me going on about the craft fair I was at over the weekend, but it was really good so I'm going to tell you about it anyway!

This is my table. I'm really happy with how I set it out, it looked so cute and funny with all those big eyes looking about! I was really encouraged by how many positive comments I got from people who seemed to love my dolls as much as I do! It's the first time I've exhibited them when I have been present so I've never had those kinds of comments before. Thank you to Zanovijetak Cvijetak who I think too this photo - and if she didn't she took some other great photos which I'll put in another blog post. If you like to accessorise with flowers check out her facebook page.

And this is a review of the craft fair in the newspaper - why is that exciting? It's exciting because I made the headline! It says 'There's something for everyone, from jewellery and bags to dolls made using a japanese knitting technique.'

Highlights from Modamo.kreARTiva Sajam

2011-12-14T19:32:00.004Z

This weekend I was in Mostar at the Sajam Lijepih Stvari - or craft fair of beautiful things. This video shows a few highlights from where I was standing and the video below gives an overall impression of the whole thing. It was a fantastic event, really well organised and really well attended. It was great to meet so many creative people. The atmosphere was positive and exciting, and for me, as a foreigner, it was a privilege to be part of something new and inovative that tells a different story about the people here in BiH than those you usually hear on the news. I'm looking forward to what will happen next with the Modamo.kreARTiva community :)

Gabby in Grazia Magazine

2011-12-08T13:52:00.004Z

Modamo Kreartiva Sajam is just 2 days away. They have done a great job of advertising it in newspapers, on TV, on websites and now in Grazia Magazine. If you look in the bottom right hand corner of this picture you'll see Gabby!

Ako zivite u Mostaru dodite u subotu ili nedjelju 10:00-20:00 u prostorijama HKD Herceg Stjepan Kosacka.

Seen for the first time...

2011-11-21T18:52:00.003Z

Anyone who knows me from when I lived in the UK will know that I love salt and vinegar crisps, (or chips if you're American!) and that I especially love sea salt and balsamic vinegar kettle chips. When we moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina I was surprised and saddend to find that there exists a country where there are no salt and vinegar crisps! They have peanut flavour, which is totally weird, and no salt and vinegar. BUT... that all changed today. I found salt and vinegar crisps in our local supermarket, and I ate them! I can report that they are fairly average salt and vinegar crips flavour - nothing like kettle chips, but good all the same, and especially good when you haven't had any for a very long time. The problem is that on the front of the packet it says 'The taste of summer'. Summer was over a few months ago and this is confirmed by the fact that the best before date is 01.12.2011 - next week! So who knows where these crisps have been hiding all summer, but I know they haven't been in the shops, and who knows if after next week there will be anymore! But I'll enjoy them while they are here and hope that some local people enjoy them too and that it catches on :) Here's to the future of salt and vinegar crisps in Bosnia and Herzegovina!

Gabby is in the newspaper!

2011-11-18T12:13:00.001Z

This is an advert made by modamo.KreArtiva for the newspaper Večernji List for the craft fair in Mostar in December and there in the bottom right hand corner is Gabby the love messenger doll! I'm not sure if it's already been in the paper or if it's yet to come out. I just found out about it so I hope it's not out yet so that I can buy a copy :)

Getting ready for the craft fair

2011-11-17T12:01:00.004Z

I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks and maybe some of you have started to think that I've stopped making dolls! But no... here is the evidence of what I've been doing lately. I've been busy getting ready for the craft fair in Mostar in December and life has been generally busy too. These 3 dolls are awaiting accessories. Apart from that i'm focusing on Christmas stuff to sell at the fair.

Ako voliš lijepe stvari...

2011-11-02T20:57:00.003Z

dođi u Mostar 10 i 11.12.2011.

Jajce Craft Party #2

2011-10-27T20:07:00.004+01:00

We enjoyed our Etsy Craft Party in June so much that we decided to do it again last week. As you can see, we had a great time. Craft Party #3 is coming - just need to choose a date...

PlushYou 2011

2011-10-18T11:54:00.000+01:00

The PlushYou 2011 opening night was on Friday. As I don't live anywhere near Seattle I didn't go, but some of my dolls made it there without me! I haven't seen many photos yet, I'm sure they'll start to appear on Flickr soon, but I did see this one on twitter and if you look carefully you can spot my dolls :) Thanks to Kristen and Schmancy Toys for putting on this exhibition again.

How to make a scarf from an old t-shirt

2011-10-17T15:24:00.000+01:00

This is another tutorial from makeit-loveit.com found via Pinterest. I didn't follow the tutorial exactly as I made my scarf from an old t-shirt rather than from shop bought t-shirt fabric so I didn't have enough fabric to make it exactly like the one in the tutorial.

How to make a necklace from ribbon and washers

2011-10-15T15:21:00.001+01:00

This is another tutorial I found on Pinterest. It is from a blog called Tiny Sparkly Things and is another well written and easy to follow tutorial with pictures to help. Click on the link and have a go yourself!

How to make a 5 way braided hair band from old t-shirts

2011-10-14T14:50:00.004+01:00

I have recently discovered Pinterest. It is highly addictive and an amazing resource of ideas for craft and cooking. I've been trying out a few of the tutorials I found on there and I'll do a series of blog posts to show you what I made and to link you to the tutorials I used.

This hair band is made from an old t-shirt! The five-way braid is surprisingly easy and I'm very happy with how it turned out. The tutorial I used is from makeit-loveit.com. It is really well written and has photos to help you as well.

An easy way to make pom-poms!

2011-09-28T12:09:00.002+01:00

I came across this on Pinterest and had to share it. It's a genius idea and it really works - I've tried it! The website address on the picture doesn't work so I don't know who took these photos and came up with this idea originally - but all credit to them anyway.

Doodling on holiday

2011-09-27T18:36:00.002+01:00

I'm back from holiday and I thought I'd show you this - I had a go at some doodling embroidery whilst we were away. I'd never done it before but it's pretty easy and very relaxing!

kad srce kaže ljeto...

2011-09-11T20:31:00.003+01:00

I won't be posting much - if at all for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to be on this beach :)

Mollie Makes in Bosnia

2011-09-08T07:30:00.003+01:00

Mollie Makes is a new UK magazine for 'those who love the crafty life'! It's full of ideas of things to make, interviews with crafters and lots of lovely photos. It even comes with a craft pack stuck to the front of the magazine containing all you need to make one of the projects inside. I heard about it last week on twitter and quickly asked our soon to be visitors to pick me up a copy in WHSmith before coming out to see us. I got the magazine yesterday and I'm pretty sure I'm the proud owner of the first ever Mollie Makes magazine in Bosnia and Herzegovina :)

Birthday Cake!

2011-09-07T14:37:00.000+01:00

I came across ThePudgyRabbit on Flickr. She makes super cute amigurumi. Her range of birthday cakes is my favourite. You can find out more about her at www.thepudgyrabbit.com.

Mille Sweet-tooth

2011-09-06T14:32:00.000+01:00

Millie Sweet-tooth will bring a smile to your face as soon as you meet her. She's not like the other mice, she sings in the shower, always wears pink and she prefers candy to cheese! She is just what you need to bring some sunshine into a cloudy day. She's got a Berry Sherbet lolly in her hand which she would be very willing to share with you.

She is available in my Etsy Shop.

The owl is ready to fly!

2011-09-05T14:30:00.001+01:00

So here she is - ready to go!

He's finished!

2011-09-03T16:28:00.001+01:00

He's finished and I think he looks great :) The shoes took a while to figure out and I took them apart twice in the process. They still aren't perfect, but for a first try I'm happy and I'm sure Sammy will be too.

Giant Amigurumi Owl

2011-09-02T11:39:00.004+01:00

My friend asked me to make an amigurumi owl for her daugther's 1st birthday. She said she wanted it to be quite big - so I thought, the easiest way to make something big would be to use thick yarn. It's very big - just over 9inches/23cm tall already and it's not yet finished. Hopefully it isn't so big that the little girl will be scared of it!

The leaves on the trees are turning

2011-08-31T20:16:00.003+01:00

It's September tomorrow and the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. So I've been stocking up on Autumn/Fall themed amigurumi in my shop.

Blackberry Crumble

2011-08-29T17:05:00.000+01:00

Sometime last week a lady came to our door selling blackberries. They looked pretty good and juicy, and we knew she needed the money so we bought a bucket. We then had to decide what to do with them, as there were too many to eat in a day and they wouldn't last longer than that. She had suggested we make tea or juice or jam, but I have no idea how to do any of those things. In the end I decided to make a crumble - which I also had no idea how to do! But I found a recipe online and it turned out so good that today, when I saw a girl selling blackberries on the side of the road, I had to buy some more and make it again!

Amigurumi - work in progress

2011-08-28T12:41:00.002+01:00

This is what I'm working on at the moment - for a certain little nephew of mine :)

Stuffed Magazine

2011-08-27T09:50:00.003+01:00

This week I got my complimentary copy of Stuffed Magazine. This time I'm in it as part of the Plush Team. The magazine has done an article on one of our team challenges. If you are a regular reader of my blog you might remember me writing about the Frankenplush Challenge. The funny green fluffy mousey monster thing with pink eyes on the front row is made by me and Cat from RaggyRat.

Maisy

2011-08-24T12:33:00.002+01:00

This is Maisy. She is studying literature and art history at university. To help pay for her studies she works part time in a cupcake cafe. On summer evenings she loves taking a stroll in the park or through town with her friends and on winter evenings you will find her be snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. She is available in my Etsy Shop.

Amigurumi Cacti

2011-08-23T07:43:00.004+01:00

You see quite a lot of Amigurumi Cacti popping up on Etsy. Some people make realistic looking ones and others go for the cute kawaii option with a little face. This pattern by mutts is one of the cutest and most original ones I've seen. She sells some fantastic patterns in her Amigurumi Friends Pattern Shop and she also has her Studio Shop where, if you're not much of a crocheter, you can buy the finished articles.

Orange and Blue

2011-08-21T08:20:00.001+01:00

Or is it yellow and blue? Anyway, this is the doll I'm working on at the moment.

MochiQtie

2011-08-20T08:39:00.004+01:00

I'm loving MochiQtie's Etsy shop at the moment. Her amigurumis are all so cute and little, and I love how she photographs them. Make sure you check out her shop to see more of them.

The black cat holds the key

2011-08-19T08:16:00.002+01:00

New in my Etsy Shop, this cat holds the key that you are looking for. The key to your heart or maybe someone else's. The key to your future. The key to understanding things that can't be understood... or the key to the cupboard that you know is full of chocolate and other lovely things.

Rainforest Man

2011-08-16T18:51:00.001+01:00

I made him for the latest Plush Team Challenge. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out!

what do you think?

2011-08-04T18:33:00.004+01:00

This is the first amigurumi doll I've finished in ages! I've been so busy that I haven't had time to make any. Maybe it's because I'm a bit out of practice, or because it took me so long to finish her, but somehow she didn't turn out quite like I wanted. I haven't decided yet if I will put her in my shop, and if I do I need to think of a name and a story for her and some kind of accessory.... What do you think?

The road signs of life

2011-07-23T07:37:00.002+01:00

More preparation for camp - life is a journey, look out for the road signs of life!

Rainbow Birthday

2011-07-21T13:19:00.003+01:00

It was my birthday last week and I thought I'd show you a couple of the presents I got:

A lovely rainbow hoodie and a Hello Kitty Momiji doll who you will see if you look closely is also wearing rainbow clothes.

Life is a journey

2011-07-19T18:56:00.004+01:00

The theme of the next camp we are going on is 'Life is a journey'. These are some things I have prepared for the craft workshops.

Paper Heart garland made from maps - tutorial by minnesotamom

Paper wallet made from a map - tutorial by Having an Art-A-Tack

It even has a place for your bank cards!

Happy Campers!

2011-07-17T17:56:00.004+01:00

I haven't blogged in ages. What have I been doing? Camping mostly! Or preparing for camps.

Yesterday we got back from the teenagers camp at Emek Beraka campsite on Boracko Jezero. We had a great time. Everyday was packed with activities including sports, group work, adventure challenge, learning about Jesus and making sock monkeys!

Custom Orders - The Happy Couple

2011-06-26T14:50:00.003+01:00

Here's another custom order I finished recently. It was made as a wedding anniversary gift.

Etsy Craft Party 2011 - Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina

2011-06-15T20:20:00.002+01:00

We had a great time :) Enjoy the pictures - you can see more if you click here. Did you go to a Craft Party? How was it?

Fairytale of New York

2011-06-13T18:17:00.004+01:00

When I got my Amazon Kindle, one of the first books I read was Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson. Why did I choose it? Because at the time it was free, and I liked the cover. Shallow answer I know, but in this case it did work to judge the book by it's cover! Because I enjoyed it, I then bought her other book Welcome to my World and started to follow her on Twitter - @Wurdsmyth.

One day I saw she had tweeted asking if anyone could read cyrilic because Fairytale of New York had just been published in Bulgarian and she wanted to know what the quotes were on the cover. I replied saying I could but in Serbian not Bulgarian. I knew that the languages had some similarities so I said I'd give it a go. They do have some similarities and I could translate some of the words, but thankfully she found a real Bulgarian to translate it all properly! Anyway, to say thank you for the help I gave her, which was not much at all - I translated about 5 words, She sent me this parcel which arrived today. In it were signed copies of Fairytale of New York in English and in Bulgarian and a bar of Galaxy chocolate, which just happens to be my favourite English chocolate and something that I can't buy here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It made for a lovely start to the day!

If you read my blog regularly you might have seen this doll before. Her name is Tulip and she is available in my Etsy Shop. I got the inspiration for her from reading Fairytale in New York - the main character in the book runs a florist shop.

Hand-painted Plush

2011-06-10T17:09:00.003+01:00

Happy Craft Party Day to all you Etsians out there! Here's another example of one of the things we're going to be making at our Craft Party on Tuesday.

and the back view!

It's almost Craft Party time!

2011-06-08T20:39:00.003+01:00

Are you hosting or going to an Etsy Craft Party this Friday? I'm hosting one here in Jajce but it will be on Tuesday next week because this week is the Theatre festival in Jajce. Today I had a go at making a simple sock creature - this will be one of the things people can make at our Craft Party.

Strumpets Crumpets Crafty Peeps Swap - Here's what I got :)

2011-05-19T22:17:00.004+01:00

Matching wallet and hanky case.

So after another interesting interaction with the Bosnian and Herzegovinan postal service I got my parcel from Poland. It was well worth waiting for. The gifts inside are so cute and beautifully made.

I love the zip lock part inside the wallet!

And how cool is this - it has my name on it.

And as well as being cool it is very useful.

If you're looking at the things I got and thinking, 'I so need one of those,' then check out Agnes's Etsy shop . If you would like to find out more about her and what she does you can read her blog.

Pickity Picks Giveaway

2011-05-11T12:24:00.002+01:00

So for all of you who didn't win anything in my giveaway last week - here's another chance! My Cupcake Bunny is one of the possible prizes in the Pickity Picks giveaway. Click here to enter - and make sure you choose pick 7!

Crafty Peeps Swap

2011-05-07T15:10:00.001+01:00

This is the second time I've been part of a swap hosted by StrumpetsCrumpets.

This time my partner was a candy loving, red headed girl from Poland. This is the gift I sent her. She makes the most amazing and beautiful notebooks which she sells in her Etsy Shop - Marysza.

She also has a great blog which you can read by clicking here.

Giveaway winners announced!

2011-05-06T14:50:00.004+01:00

I put all the entries into a list randomizer and then used the random number generator to find the winners.

Congratulations to Cybil Morris for winning first prize - the bunny and a copy of my pattern.

And to Jill Price of Monkey Gang for winning second prize - a copy of my bunny pattern.

To everyone else - thank you for entering, and better luck next time!

If you would like to buy a copy of my pattern it is available on Etsy and Ravelry.

(don't tell anyone, but it's cheaper on Ravelry!)

Double Giveaway!

2011-04-28T14:32:00.003+01:00

Exciting news: Yesterday I launched my first amigurumi pattern! It is for sale in my Etsy shop and on Ravelry.

More exciting news: To celebrate the launch of my first pattern I am having a giveaway - a double giveaway even!

Prizes:

First Prize is a copy of my pattern AND the original amigurumi bunny doll featured in the pattern.
Second Prize is a copy of my pattern.

How to enter:

Leave a comment here on my blog or on any links to the blog that I post on facebook =1 entry.
Tweet about the giveaway or share links on facebook = another entry.

Make sure I have a way of contacting you in case you are one of the lucky winners!

The giveaway will close on Thursday 5th May at 21:00 Central European Time and the winners will announced very soon afterwards.

Winners will be chosen using a random number generator.

Ready, steady, go! and may the best person win :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:24:00.004+01:00

I ate this creme egg today - so what? Well if you know me well you will know that I love chocolate and eat, or as I can now say, used to eat, an awful lot of it. This Easter is extra happy for me because I have saved this creme egg since the day it was given to me - 4th March and kept it for today. I have finally cracked the self discipline and eating thing and I'm happily getting slimmer (not just cos I saved this creme egg, I am on a diet too!). I can honestly say that eating chocolate less often makes it taste better when you do :)

Simnel Cupcakes - my first attempt

2011-04-21T13:45:00.004+01:00

I saw a recipe for Sminel Cupcakes on the BBC Food website. They looked yummy and I decided to try making some. Then I found out that you can't buy marzipan here. I decided to make my own and then found out that you can't buy ground almonds either! So I ground the almonds in a coffee grinder. Here is the marzipan:

It doesn't look quite as pretty as it does when you buy it in a shop but it tastes pretty good.

If you look at my first photo you will see that my cupcakes did not turn out as things of beauty! I think I put too much mixture into each muffin case. The tops cooked really well and then started to burn while the insides didn't cook at all. I decided to take the tops off and see what happens so what you see above is a plate of tops!

I had some marzipan left over so not to waste it, or the tops I had cut off, I made these! Everything I made tastes great but I'm not going to win any prizes for presentation this time. Oh and I know there are supposed to be 11 balls on a simnel cake but the balls I bought were kinda big and I could only fit 8!

3 notes, 3 cities, 30 dancers

2011-04-14T20:56:00.003+01:00

I think this video speaks for itself. I know Ashley because she ran some dance workshops for us in our Youth Centre in Mostar last summer which were fantastic. If you are interested in supporting the project click here. And please spread the word. Thanks :)

photos from the Stuffed Bunny Show

2011-04-12T20:53:00.004+01:00

Here are some photos from the Stuffed Bunny Show at eve-n-odd gallery. It opened on Saturday evening and runs til 6th May.

you can see more photos on the eve-n-odd gallery facebook page.

Nora the knitting bunny :)

The Stuffed Bunny Show is coming up...

2011-04-06T19:51:00.005+01:00

The Stuffed Bunny Show opens at the eve-n-odd gallery on 9th April - that's this Saturday. If you live anywhere near St Petersburg Florida then make sure you go and take a look. There are some really amazing bunnies on show there and they will also be for sale. Nora the Knitting Bunny by me is one of them!

Where were you today?

2011-04-04T17:00:00.003+01:00

Today we went to Banja Luka - the nearest big town to where we live. It was a beautiful sunny day and we did some shopping for work, some shopping for us, ate ćevapi in the garden of this ćevabdžnica, walked around and enjoyed the town and then came home. Where were you today?

inventing recipes

2011-04-02T19:00:00.001+01:00

I just made this cake. I think I'll call it Chocolate Banana Yogurt Cake. I'll try and give you the recipe but I'm not totally sure of the quantities cos I made it up as I went along.

6oz flour

5oz golden sugar

3oz cocoa powder

1tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2oz butter

1 egg

2 very ripe mashed bananas

some 0.9% plain yogurt - pouring from the bottle for about 3 seconds if that helps!

I mixed it all together, poured it into a cake tin, sprinkled smashed up oreo cookies on top and cooked it on 200 for 20mins.

As you can see from this picture - it's kinda thin! I think that's because I put it in a cake tin that was too big, but it could be cos it needed more baking powder. Anyway it tastes good and has a quite fudgy texture. Try it and let me know how it goes!

Steampunk Steve is finished!

2011-03-28T15:01:00.002+01:00

Here he is! The finished article. As I said before, I made him for the Plush Team Steampunk Challenge so at some point in a couple of weeks time you will have the chance to vote for him in the competition! I'll let you know when that time comes. In the meantime I hope you like him - and he is available to buy in the Plush Team Etsy store.

Exercises that make drawing fun...

2011-03-25T15:31:00.005Z

I recently bought a book called Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists (52 exercises to make drawing fun) by Carla Sonheim. It's full of great ideas to help you get over the fear of a blank sheet of paper and to help you put pen to paper and start drawing. This is my interpretation of one of the exercises in the book. I'm going to try it out with the kids at Art Club tonight!

Amigurumi goes Steampunk

2011-03-24T14:21:00.002Z

This is what I'm working on at the moment. It's for the Plush Team Steampunk Challenge! It's a bit different from my usual style but I'm having fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what all the other team members come up with.

My first attempts at Needle Felting

2011-03-23T15:48:00.004Z

Last Friday, while I was still in the UK, I went to the Stitch and Craft Show in London. I have been thinking about learning needle felting for a while so I took the opportunity to buy some wool roving and a needle felting tool at the show. Yesterday, after watching this youtube video I had a go - here are the results!

Plush Olympics

2011-03-22T10:39:00.004Z

The Plush mascots for the 2012 London Olympics as seen in the Olympics Store in London St Pancras Station.

The one with the orange accents is called Wenlock and is the official mascot for the Olympic games. The one with blue accents is called Mandeville and is the official mascot for the Paralympic games. For the story behind them read this Wikipedia article.

Nora in Florida

2011-03-12T15:00:00.001Z

Nora the knitting bunny has arrived in Florida at the eve-n-odd gallery ready for the Stuffed Bunny show in April.

The Bearded Man is finished!

2011-03-09T10:00:00.000Z

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I was struggling to make a beard last week. Well I did it! and I'm qutie pleased with the result. This was a custom order. The customer sent me photos of her friends and asked me to make amigurumi caricatures of them. If you would like a caricature made of someone you love - or even of you then please contact me at my Etsy Shop.

Kali the Fashionista

2011-03-07T12:00:00.000Z

I made Kali for the eve-n-odd gallery in St Petersburg Florida. If you like her make sure you like the eve-n-odd facebook page too :)

The Plush Team in CandyLand and in Starbucks!

2011-03-04T17:00:00.000Z

Milwaukee photographer Doug Downing loved the CandyLand show so much it inspired him to make a photo exhibition. His photos of the show are up at the East Pointe Starbucks (544 E. Ogden Ave.) Milwaukee and they will be up for the duration of the show. The photos look fab - and one of them is of my Flossie - can you see it? 2nd from the left :)

(photo taken from the Hot*Pop Blog)

Don't forget Candyland...

2011-03-02T21:52:00.003Z

The Plush Team in Candyland exhibition is open for another 21 days! So if you're in the Milwaukee area don't forget to check it out. It is at the Hot*Pop gallery N. Broadway. Yesterday the exhibition was featured as part of an article about art and creative endeavours in Milwaukee on the JSOnline blog - and the picture they showed has my dolls in it! (they're hanging on the wall on the far right of the photo)

The Bearded Man (work in progress)

2011-03-01T21:37:00.003Z

This is for a custom order - a caricature of someone. I've been sent some photos and now I'm trying to make the man! I've only ever made bearded amigurumis twice before and those were with the gotee kind of beard that's only on the chin - but this guy has a round the mouth and under the nose type gotee. (hope you like my techincal explaninations!) This is now the fourth beard I've made, the first was too long and he looked like Santa Claus, the second was too wide and the third just looked wrong. I think this one's a winner although perhaps it just needs a little more trimming...

The lost have returned! - (well some of them anyway)

2011-02-28T14:03:00.005Z

You may remember back in November I posted a blog about a gallery show I was going to be in called Soft Served. Well I posted my stuff off to them on 16th November and by the time the show opened on 11th December my stuff had still not arrived. By 7th January when the show closed my stuff had still not arrived. I went to our local post office 5 or 6 times between the end of November and the middle of January and asked them to track what had happened to these parcels. Each time they gave me some excuse about why it was still too early to track and I should come back another day. Eventually after much persuasion I got them to fill out the search form. Every time I've been to the post office since then I've asked for news of my parcels and been told- nothing yet, you must wait. Today - 28th February I went to the post office to send something. I had totally given up hope and wasn't even going to ask about my parcels today - but amazingly, as soon as I walked in, the man told me that one of the parcels I had lost had been returned! Looking at it I can't see any evidence that it even made it to USA other than the fact that the return to sender label is printed in English - but I don't even know if that means it was returned from USA. Any American readers recognise that RTS sticker? It hasn't been opened by customs or anyone else - when I opened it everything was inside just as I had sent it!

Who knows what kind of journey these little people have been on and although I was sad that they didn't make it to the show, I'm very happy to have them back again! They will be available in my Etsy Shop soon.

And here's to hoping that the other lost parcel will return very soon :)

Custom orders in progress

2011-02-27T21:01:00.004Z

I've got 4 custom orders to do in the next couple of weeks. They are all caricatures that have been ordered by people to give as presents. I was going to blog yesterday and show you this photo of work in progress - but I forgot! So now you get yesterday and today's work in progress pictures.

Nearly finished this one! only 3 more. I'm always a little bit scared when I'm making caricatures - what if the person is really offended by my impression of them! So far so good - so I hope it continues that way. And if you would like to order a caricature amigurumi doll then please contact me by clicking here or leave a comment with your email address and I'll contact you :)

Were you right?

2011-02-22T19:59:00.004Z

you might remember I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago called Can you guess what it is yet?. Well now is your chance to see if you got it right! This is the gift I sent to my StrumpetsCrumpets Valentine swap partner Annie from www.wattlebird.com. When I am making dolls for specific people rather than just for my shop I like to make the doll a caricature of that person. This is easier to do when you really know someone but you can actually find out enough about someone just from reading their blog to make a pretty good go of it. Annie said that she was wearing almost the same oufit as this little doll the day she arrived! You can read more about what she thinks of this doll by clicking here and reading her blog.

Family Photo

2011-02-20T19:44:00.003Z

We've had family visiting us this week and it's been fab. This is us at the lakes in Jajce on Tuesday.

The Return of the Eco-bunnies

2011-02-18T15:12:00.002Z

My Eco-bunnies have returned from from their visit to Stampington and Company where they took part in a photo shoot and appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of Stuffed Magazine. They will now be available in my Etsy shop.

Strumpets Crumpets Valentines Swap

2011-02-12T17:33:00.004Z

Thank you Annie from Wattlebird Designs for my cute alice band :) and thanks to Becky from Strumpets Crumpets for organising the swap.

what are you doing this Saturday?

2011-02-09T20:57:00.004Z

This Saturday there is a new gallery opening in St Petersburg Florida called eve-N-odd gallery. I would go to the opening if i lived closer - but as it is I live very very far away and across the sea! The lovely gallery owner Jennifer contacted me last week to ask if I would like to be part of a Stuffed Bunny Show that they will be having in April - and of course I said yes! I've made the bunny already, but now I'm working on a couple of other dolls to send to her as well as she said she would like to carry more of my work! Exciting :) You can find out more about the gallery by liking their facebook page.

Major Periwinkle

2011-02-05T18:46:00.001Z

After serving Queen and Country for many years Major Periwinkle is now a retired gentleman. He spends his days at the Rotary Club, looking after his grandchildren and walking in St James Park. His shock of white hair is a little alarming at first sight but when you get to know him you will find him very friendly and always ready to entertain you with stories of his adventures in Her Majesty's Service. Oh - and contrary to popular belief he doesn't have a sword hidden in his cane - honestly....

my current wishlist...

2011-01-31T20:03:00.002Z

a circus monkey by Dingogirl - she does them in lots of different colours but I'd like a pink one just like this.

a bag of licorice allsorts by ScrumptiousDelight

a plush brontosaurus by LEFTZ

and a travel card holder by Felt Mistress. (I wouldn't mind Tippy as well but he's probably well out of my price range for now!)

can you guess what it is yet?

2011-01-30T17:32:00.003Z

In my last blog post I said I was about to start working on something for my swap partner for the Strumpetscrumpets Valentines Swap - well I've just finished it! I want it to be a surprise for my partner when she gets it, so rather than show you the final thing I thought I'd show you a work in progress photo I took this afternoon.

Valentines Swap

2011-01-28T15:00:00.000Z

I was reading the itsy bitsy spider's blog a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned that she was taking part in the Valentines swap over on the strumpets crumpets blog. Having just recieved my Russian Christmas swap I was feeling quite in the mood for another swap so I signed up too! My swap partner is Annie from Wattlebird - you can check out her Etsy shop here and her blog here. I'm just about to start making something for her...

The Cupcake Bunny

2011-01-27T19:31:00.004Z

If you're feeling hungry and in need of something sweet, call the Cupcake Bunny and she'll bring you something to eat. She works at the bakery not far from here and her cupcakes are famous for bringing good cheer.

The Cupcake Bunny is available in my Etsy Shop.

photos from CandyLand

2011-01-24T14:18:00.009Z

Thanks to FuzFrenzy for taking these photos :)

Sugar Plum, Flossie and Bronwyn hanging out in CandyLand

and here's my Cherry Lolly Tree in the distiguished company of plush made by Zfla, Plushroom Soup, and PterodactylPants.

Business cards on the table...

Spot my 'Lifesavers' Letter O in the Bonbon banner.

My little Cherry Lolly Tree again and look at that massive Pez elephant made by zfla!

Sugar Plum, Flossie and Bronwyn and a huge ice cream made by Diane Koss of Cutesy but not Cutesy

outoftheframe in Stuffed Magazine

2011-01-21T20:56:00.004Z

Another one of my exciting parcels that arrived the other day was my copy of Stuffed Magazine. And why was it so exciting? Well.... here it is - outoftheframe in print for the first time!

I sew cute :)

2011-01-20T19:41:00.003Z

If you read my blog yesterday you will know that I got loads of exciting parcels all in one day. Well here is the contents of one of them! An awesome Christmas present from my sister - the I sew cute sewing kit from Fantastic Toys. I love it!

My Russian Christmas Gift

2011-01-19T19:40:00.007Z

I have been expecting quite a few parcels for a couple of weeks now and have been wondering where they've all got to. Well today I found out! I went to collect the post from the PO Box for the church and found all our mail had been put in there too! So today has been like Christmas.

One of the parcels I was excitedly waiting for was my Russian Christmas Plush Swap from someone in the plush team. Well here it is! Thanks to Heather from Needlings for my awesome new plushies.

First - an awesome Needlings Christmas card and a cute little business card...

And then - 3 awesome plushies, some pins - and is that some werthers originals I see down there?

And here they all are - the complete contents of my parcel!

Thanks again Needlings :)

And keep checking my blog over the next few days to see what other awesome things I got in the post today!

CandyLand

2011-01-18T20:19:00.004Z

The Plush Team Show 'CANDYLAND' opens on Friday at the Hot*Pop Gallery in Milwaukee. There will be some amazing plush art on show. If you live in the area make sure you visit and for those of you who don't (like me) let's hope someone takes lots of good photos!

Check out this article in OnMilwaukee.com about the show and see if you can spot the reference to outoftheframe :)

Giveaway Winner

2011-01-15T10:22:00.004Z

Congratulations to Krista for winning the giveaway - and for everyone else there's always next time :)

Below is the randomized list of all the entries and above is the winning entry number.

Giveaway Time!

2011-01-10T14:39:00.000Z

this little DJ could be dropping some old skool beats at a party at your place soon...

You have 5 chances to win him. Here's what you have to do to enter:

1. leave a comment here on my blog telling me which is your favourite item in my etsy shop.

2. share the link to that item on facebook.

3. tweet the link to that item.

4. share the link to this giveaway on facebook.

5. tweet the link to this giveaway.

don't forget to let me know which of these things you have done and make sure I have a way to contact you in case you are the winner :)

The winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator.

The giveaway will close at midnight GMT+1 on Friday 14th January and the winner will be announced soon afterwards.

Buckle

2011-01-08T21:03:00.004Z

My Mum sent me a text saying that my Grandma - who we called Buckle, would have been 100 today. She actually died almost 20 years ago but I still remember so much about her. She had a very big influence on my life and is probably the reason I love making amigurumis as she was the first person to teach me things like knitting and crocheting when I was little. She was an artist and was always making things. This picture was taken in Devon ages ago by me so I'm not in it which means you don't get to see me looking like a funny little girl :) The little girl in the front is my sister and then there's Buckle, my Mum and Dad and my Uncle. She was an awesome Grandma. The best you could ask for :)

What do you think?

2011-01-07T17:49:00.002Z

I've been adding new items to my shop the last couple of days. Here are some of them and there's more to come! What do you think? Which is your favourite?

SALE

2011-01-06T15:22:00.003Z

All my Christmas amigurumis have been reduced by 25% for one week only! Sale ends on Monday 10th January. Click here to go to the Christmas amigurumis section of my shop.

Making a good start to the year

2011-01-04T15:09:00.004Z

I've been properly selling on Etsy for a year now. Last year was ok, I made sales but I also learned how hard you have to work to get sales! This year I want to do better so I guess that means even more hard work. I've been busy these last few days making new amigurumi for my shop so it's full of new exciting things at the start of the year. It's looking quite empty at the moment and when I take the Christmas stuff out it will be really empty! So keep an eye out over the next week or so and you'll see lots of new things appearing in my shop :) Here's a sneak preview of some of what I've been making.

Amigurumi movies - Part 3

2011-01-03T12:15:00.001Z

Our main character is now very upset :( She tried to get a present by stealing and it didn't work and now she feels bad cos she knows she did something bad. She decides there is no way she'll get a present this year. She is really tired from all this thinking and from being upset so she puts her hat on, goes to sleep and the video starts...

Here is the translation:

It looks like there isn’t a way...

New girl: Hi

girl: hello

New girl: why are you so sad?

girl: it’s better if you don’t ask

New girl: come on – I’m sure it can’t be anything so bad – and if it is it has passed. It’s a new year – smile a little.

girl: How can I smile? – I don’t have anything to smile about

New girl: Ahh you are one of those people that needs a reason to smile. I know what you need. Here you go

girl: What?

New girl: It’s ice cream – for you. Take it.

girl: but I don’t have anything to give you in return for it.

New girl: you are silly! it’s a present. You don’t need to give me anything. I simply thought that it would make you happy. that’s why I bought it for you.

girl: wow. I can’t believe it. thank you so much. it’s so good!

And so the message of the show - a present is a present, you can't earn it, you can't steal it, you can only recieve and accept it :)

Amigurumi movies Part 2

2011-01-02T14:27:00.001Z

so at the end of the last video the little girl doesn't get an ice cream - even though she was really nice and gave the Eskimo a cup of tea.

Our main character takes off her hat. Now she is worried - she thinks there isn't enough time left to do enough good things to earn a present and so she needs to come up with another way of getting a present. She puts her hat back on and the video begins...

Here is the translation for those that need it:

or maybe in a not so nice way..

boy: there you go – you didn’t get any ice cream.

girl: it still isn’t over – I’m changing tactics.

boy: what are you talking about?

girl: I have another plan, but this time you need to help me.

boy: ok let me hear your plan.

girl: We’ll do it like this. When the Eskimo comes you will get him into a conversation and I will steal an ice cream from his basket.

boy: please – how do you think you can be good by stealing an ice cream?

girl: you are so slow. When you steal you don’t need to be good anymore to get anything – do you understand now?

boy: ok – but on one condition – that you take one for me too.

girl: ok

boy: Hello, it’s you again with your ice cream. Tell me – how is it in the North Pole? It seems to me that it must be very cold. It’s not surprising that you came to Jajce (the town where we live) – it’s better than the North pole. and how on earth do you heat your houses there? It really isn’t clear to me! There everything is ice – I have to say - I couldn’t live there.

girl: whoops – did you see how that ice cream fell out of the basket? just like it had legs! We need to go now bye

boy: you are so clumsy.

And....the final episode will be up tomorrow!

Amigurumis in the movies Part 1

2011-01-01T13:43:00.001Z

This is the first video of three that were part of the children's show we put on last week. The videos are a glimpse into the imagination of the main character. Each time she needed to think she would put on a big black and red hat and then the videos would start as if we were seeing into her mind.

Before this video the main character says that she's heard that you have to be really, really good to get a present and she is worried that she hasn't been very good this year. She decides she will have to think of something good to do quickly if she has any chance of getting a present. Then she puts on her thinking hat and this video plays.

Here's a translation of the video for those of you who don't understand!

We try in a nice way to get a present:

girl: Hey look. that Eskimo has lots of ice cream. He could give me one...

boy: listen to you – he certainly won’t give you an ice cream just like that. Look how he likes to eat them.

girl: you are silly – I didn’t think he’d give me one just like that.

boy: Then what did you think. Why would he give you his ice cream?

girl: I know what I’m going to do. Look how cold it is today. I’m sure he’s freezing just like his ice cream so I will be really nice and bring him a cup of tea. You will see that he will be really grateful and I’m sure he will give me an ice cream to say thank you.

boy: pull, pull, pull

girl: Hi – your basket of ice cream is so cool.

Eskimo: Thank you

girl: I really like your hat – it must keep your ears really warm.

Eskimo: thank you

girl: You know what – I thought that today must be really cold for you and your ice cream so I’ve brought you a cup of tea.

Eskimo: thank you very much. I must go now. thanks once again. bye

boy: ha ha ha – your plan was so good...

And now I'll leave you in suspense as to what happens next - you'll have to check the blog again tomorrow:)

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Amigurumi Caricatures

2010-12-30T19:20:00.004Z

These 2 were a custom order - the customer sent me some photos of her sister and brother-in-law and wrote a little bit about each of them and asked me to make amigurumi caricatures of them. They were great fun to make - and she said they were a big hit!

Cute cushions :)

2010-12-28T10:31:00.003Z

I haven't blogged for a whole week! We've been really busy preparing a children's show which happened last night. Samaritan's Purse is a charity which runs a something called Operation Christmas Child which organises the distribution of shoeboxes filled with gifts, which have been donated by people around the world, to children in countries in need. We recieved a delivery of around 1000 shoeboxes a couple of weeks ago and have distributed some in schools around the area but the majority of them were given out last night at the end of the show. Some of my amigurumi dolls featured as part of the show in 3 short videos so hopefully they will be up on the blog sometime soon for you to see. In the meantime our sofa cushions got some new super-cute friends this Christmas from mymimi.

Plush-Spotting in Zagreb

2010-12-21T20:43:00.007Z

This weekend we have been in Zagreb and amongst other things we visited artOmat which is an alternative Christmas fair - selling arty handmade items - including some Plush art!

This artist - Rec has her plush art for sale in a concept store in Zagreb called Prostor which we didn't have time to visit but it's on the list for next time! Their stand at the Craft fair was very cool.

and... as part of the artOmat fair the artists were offering workshops - we were a day too late to go to this one but look - it's called Plush Adventure! (and yes those are naked plush people in the picture maybe I should have put a warning on this blog post!)

As a plush geek kind of person this was all very exciting for me to see that the whole plush art culture thing is starting to take off in this part of the world - although Zagreb is like a whole other world compared to BiH and to the other parts of Croatia I have visited - but anyway it's getting nearer! Now I need to see if I can make contact with any of these people and take part in any shows or craft fairs a bit nearer to home.

I have never been so cold!

2010-12-15T14:29:00.003Z

I don't think I have ever felt so cold as I have these last few days - but you can't complain too much when everything looks so beautiful and white :)