Stix on the Beach: Tales From The Happiest Hooker!

Back From The Dead

Edie & Dolores
Best Friends...Forever.

 

Edie the Energy-Sucking Vampire.
She Will Leave You Feeling Drained.

Edie is quite pale in comparison to her best friend, Dolores de las Muertas. Where as Dolores is the life of the party, Edie is a total killjoy. And now things are worse! Edie’s been acting like she’s been staked in the heart since finding out her boyfriend has been fanging someone else!

Famous Last Words: “He’s so dead to me.”

Dolores de las Muertas
She's Drop Dead Gorgeous!

Dolores is a fashion magazine whore and likes to think of herself as the love-child of Christian Dior and Betsey Johnson. Her dazzling sense-of-style is the perfect accessory for her larger-than-life personality, which can make even the deadest of hearts feel a spark of optimism!

Famous Last Words:  "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that!"

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Last summer I started working on my retro-inspired Who VooDoo Love rag doll line. I was so happily in love with the idea of it! I loved everything about creating and marketing the collection ― until it was time to actually sell the Dolores dolls. The plural is the problem. Apparently, I really do not like making more than one of the same thing. It's a good thing Marissa did not have an identical twin.

Also the first version of Dolores that I did end up selling was not the one I had envisioned. And that always bothered me ― a lot. When I was offered the opportunity to sell them at a craft faire, I simply could not do it ― and feel right about it. If I could have fed Dolores after midnight so she'd multiplied a la Gremlins, that would have been awesome. But making more than two of the same doll just killed my creative buzz.

And I came to another conclusion too: I really do not like being crafty-for-profit. I know that sounds incredibly sacrilegious in this Etsy-worshipping environment. But I really do not like Etsy-Be-Like-Everyone-Else-Dot-Com either. A particular elitist attitude has turned me off from that scene and I want to distance myself from it. I did the same thing with Facebook. I've gone rogue.

All this doesn't mean the Who VooDoo Love dolls have met their true death! There are still characters I want to bring to life. And because I love the process of designing and marketing, ideas still spin in my head in the dead of night. I admit, there is an merchandising idea that I find intriguing, but I'm not sure if it'll ever see the light of day. Well, maybe one will.

Croakin' & Crochetin'

A knitting frog vs. frogging your knitting.

I walked into my bedroom the other day and found a crocheted frog knitting. I wasn't totally shocked, 'cause I'm the one who made her. The knitting part, though, was a bit of a surprise. She looked quite stunned when I quickly snapped a photo.

I crocheted Froggy Without A First Name as a Christmas present for Mom. It's a super easy pattern from a vintage MacCall's Christmas Knit & Crochet magazine. I'll be adding details over on my Ravelry project page — you know, the important stuff,  like the hook sizes, an enlarged photo of the written pattern — stuff that'll make it easier if you want to make one too!

My mom's fondness for frogs might have had something to do with my obsessive habit of catching and cleaning 'em in a cereal bowl when I was little. I'm still really confused why there were so many frogs in our backyard. We lived in the outskirts of  L.A. —  not Louisiana!

The secrets out! I'm a natural blond.

By the way, if this long-limbed amphibian seems familiar to some of you: I made a black & white boy one a few Christmases back. I'm thinking next Christmas I'll crochet up some tadpoles.

Within Reach

Back in May I came up with an idea for a new collection. It was completely different than what I've designed in the past. And then I changed my mind. I've decided to take the heart of the collection and use it to give new life to my old design concepts.

Just a matter-of-time before it all comes together.

Felt Up-Close

"Look into my eyes."

I love creating with felt ...
...so much freedom to get Funky + Freaky + F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!!!

The punky plushie striking a pose in the above photo was inspired by Plurbits. More information on where to find the template can be found in my previous post.

I was pretty much going to go with the look in the book (similar to those found via the link) ... ... but I immediately picked-up on her own personality!

Orange County Girl: Getting ready for a new face!

Last spring I stocked up on sheets of felt + skeins of floss.
I had envisioned doing hours of embroidery.
I also envisioned exercising my way back into my size three jeans. I did not begin to work on either one ...
... until this month.

I overstuffed myself and my jeans did the same thing too!

I learned a few things about felt that will help me with future projects:

1. It can fray easily. Look for strongest area of the fabric before cutting.

2. Allow for plenty of seam allowance. Don't want to stitch anywhere near the edge where the fabric is weak.

3. Pull tighter when stitching by hand. But not so tight that I tear the felt.

...and I did stitch her all by hand.

She burst at the seams on her neck, though. This was a combination of stitching too close to the edge + not stitching tight enough + overzealous stuffing.

Of course the sight was saved by an old standby: a scarf! On second thought .... I decided to think of it as a sapphire necklace ...

... after all ... this is Corona del Mar!

Miyoko

Miyoko is Japanese for "beautiful child" and/or "beautiful generation" -- which is perfect, since Miyoko is the first of many Plurbits I'll be creating!

Plurbit Pre-Op

I've been wanting to bring crafty back forever...and as you'll read in the next blog post...that time is now. You know I've finally created a place to feel inspired...all was left was to start creating in that space. But it was scary. I did not know where to start.

Yesterday afternoon I sat staring at my art table and feeling myself get angry. I missed what art did for me. I missed the high from being creative that no amount of Vicodin can replace (although, creating while on Vicodin is a lot of fun too!).

Marissa has been telling me for weeks to just do something! So I picked up Softies Only A Mother Could Love...flipped to the page with the Plurbit patterns...and started the addiction to art again.

Plurbit Porn Centerfold.
"It's artistic!" I was told.

I am purposely not showing the finished Plurbit from the book. Not due to copyright infringement or anything moral like that...but because I want to show my complete one alongside the ones Heidi Iverson created + contributed to the book.

The above photo shows the pattern for Plurbit. It is suggested to enlarge the template to 130%..but that requires a copier or scanner or something that I don't have or didn't want to mess with. Personally, I liked the size of the template as it appeared on the page...and went with it!

Plurbits are a bit perverted.
Bondage + arrow instructions of where to put it.

I love buying cheap fashion patterns at thrift stores...for both the art on the envelopes and the tracing paper! I used an old pattern piece to trace the template for Plurbit. I held down the paper with paper clips + clothes pins and traced the lines with a color pencil.

Body paint is always fun.
"Especially when the brush is a tongue!"
(Plurbit better watch her mouth or she won't get done!).

Paper-on-paper action. Plurbits don't discriminate!
"No on Prop 8! Love not Hate!"

I cut so slow. But my perfection pays off by my pieces matching nearly identical to the templates!

Sticking pins in Plurbit.
She assured me it didn't hurt a bit.

Couldn't help but think of certain bitches while I was stabbing pins into Plurbit...you might suspect that's the reason for so many...but I am just anal + like to have a real secure pattern piece on the fabric (felt, in this case) before cutting.

Plurbit thought she met her match!
The fact is, though, she was looking at the back of her own ass!

I'm still working on Plurbit...and one of the greatest things about it so far is that I returned to her around midnight...and before I knew it...it was almost 3AM!
And...I woke to a messy art table this morning!

...and it's only going to get messier....
...once I clean it up first...'cos I'm anal or a Capricorn...or a combination of both.