Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday, October 17, 2011

Free Plush Prize Draw

Okay, so I only completed ONE project on Sunday, but I watched House on Haunted Hill again and enjoyed a delicious dinner of lobster ravioli. Plus, I baked.

So here is the completed bunny -- minus a ribbon or other suitable adornment I will be looking for in a minute:

I will be listed tomorrow!

He has amethyst bead eyes, and an embroidered purple nose and mouth.

When Raccoon came over earlier with the ravioli (thank you), the first thing he asked was, "Why is its mouth sad?"

"Because I stitched the face the night before, when I was mad at you!"

So take a look around. Does your work always reflect your mood at the specific moment of creation?

************

Okay, here's the important (lol) part.

If you're reading this, you can probably tell I haven't gotten around to promoting my blog. Or Facebook page. Or Twitter. With just over 30 items in my Etsy shop, my priority for now is to make more things (100 is the recommended number).

However, I think it'd be neat to have a prize draw and give away a little critter (or old man, who knows?).

So when the wildflower makery FB page reaches 10 "like"s, even if it's 10 years from now(!), everyone who likes the page -- excluding me, my significant other, etc. -- will be entered into a free drawing for a mini plush.

Note: I don't mean my super miniature 1/3-inch plushies (unless you the winner chooses that) but one of my usual palm-sized stuffed toys. And like everything in my shop, it will be made without patterns and never duplicated -- the only one in the world!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Progress Report: Furry Bunny et al.


Bunny in progress! It is extremely taxing to hand-sew through such thick (faux) fur. But the result is just so cuddly!

You can also see the autumn doll smiling in the bottom left corner... especially now that I've given her new red lips. I thought the original neutral lipcolour was prettier, but the red goes a lot better with her outfit. And maybe the season, too.

I've never tried red lipstick myself, but have been meaning to!


This is the cinnamon banana loaf I baked for brunch. I'm now trying to finish several projects at once.


The (very Myspace-y) photo above was taken last night, when I wasn't feeling at all well -- sorry for the lack of a smile -- but it shows all 4 projects I plan to finish tonight!

1) Blue teddy bear -- 90% complete (all parts have been sewn, just not put together)
2) Pink bow headband -- 85% complete
3) Furry white bunny -- 60% complete
4) Autumn-themed doll -- 50% complete

Wish me luck!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

BCGEU Christmas Craft Fair 2011

I figure I should at least post it here because the event has NO online presence at all...

The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union is holding their annual craft fair on November 22nd, 2011. Yes, it's a Tuesday... My friend who arranged a table for me says it's a pretty small fair -- around 15 to 20 vendors.

It will be at 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby, V5G 3W3.

Anyone who finds this through Etsy or Google is obligated to attend! :P Come support my half-a-booth, crafts in general, and whatever it is BCGEU does!

I'm working on a giant bow headband for it right now:


I'm already nervous!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Apples and Ghosts for Thanksgiving


This little rosebud kitty has been sold! I'm so happy for both of us (lol) -- I hope the new owner likes her!

I have also added a super tiny miniature ghost plush to my store:



He is 3rd and last in my "Hallowe'en Tinies" series! I managed to make the ghost even tinier than the Jack-o-lantern pumpkin and black cat, though it's hard to tell from the photographs... I have small hands and skinny fingers.

The first prototype for the ghostie didn't turn out very well, but it took me quite a while to finally toss it out and start over. I'm glad I did, even if it did take... a month and a half... because this little stuffed ghost is pretty neat (if I may say so myself). Still, it was really hard scrapping his less-than-ideal brother after spending all that time and eye-strain.

I wonder if other crafters have less trouble tossing out failed projects. They are all your children (or at least, creations) after all!



Asides from that, I spent the weekend neglecting my shop. As planned, I visited TWO apple farms in a row with B. and Raccoon. The other two R.s were busy and/or sick, so we had a lovely time without them. :P

We got plenty more apples, a few pears, and even an early pumpkin!


We then met up again and spent a whole day baking apple pie, watching the hockey game, and otherwise making the most of the (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend.


Here I am hard at work!

I totally helped by assigning all the duties. Raccoon was in charge of apple-washing, peeling, and clean-up, while B. handled the slicing and cider-mixing duties. Through team effort and a HUGE new restaurant-sized container of cinnamon (sooo cheap...), we managed to make a delicious if unusually brown apple pie that went perfectly with French vanilla ice cream.

Dessert (for lunch) was a frozen caramel apple with sparkling apple cider -- farm-milled cider mixed with San Pellegrino -- on the side.



All in all a delicious weekend.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, US Columbus Day, and Taiwanese National Day!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

50/50 and Apples


I didn't have time to post a new listing for the weekend, because I went apple-picking!


But I listed this stuffed bunny art plush kilt pin over the week!

Raccoon and I completely forgot that I had asked the guys (in passing) if they wanted to go, too, so it was just the two of us that day. <3

We picked about 20 pounds total (it was annoying that the farm didn't use metric :P) of Fuji and Honeycrisp apples -- not too interested in the Jonagold -- and got two jugs of freshly milled cider to share. Jonagold and Fuji apples will continue to ripen over October, so it's prime apple-picking season!


When we got back to civilization, we met up with the others for dinner and a movie. During the meal, B. suddenly asked when we were going apple-picking. I exchanged several "I totally forgot!!!!!!" shocked glances in succession with Raccoon while everyone sat in an awkward silence...

tl;dr We're going apple-picking again next weekend!!


...On a related note, 50/50 was really sad and brought tears to everyone's eyes. I bawled through half of it and had swollen eyes for the rest of the night.

It was a good movie. Without making light of its serious subject matter, though, I'd have to say it didn't have enough comedy. Sure, it accurately captures many, many awkward moments in life. And sure, awkward scenes that make you cringe with the characters seem to be a popular device lately.
But the awkwardness is just heaped on in this film, without much else to induce laughter. Despite all their efforts to market this as a refreshingly funny take on life with cancer, it left me feeling heavy and uncomfortable.

And, honestly, there are better movies to watch if you're in the mood for something heavy and uncomfortable. I'd watch Memento for the nth time. How about you?