What would Santa do?

Some of you may be curious as to what I will be doing about the CPSC regulations taking place as of February 10. I won't go into too much detail but If you haven't heard the Consumer Products Safety Commission has required that all items meant for children under the age of 12 must be tested for lead. Although my soft toys are adult collectibles they may be perceived as children toys which would require me to have a 3rd party lab perform tests to see if they are safe or not. Even though my soft toys are made of wool /rayon felt CPSIA would mandate this unnecessary and expensive testing. Not only does this effect toymakers but anyone that sells children's products. Everything from clothing, baby products and vintage toys will be affected forcing many companies and small hand made businesses into bankruptcy and closing up their shops.

For more information and what you can do to help.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

My favorite Moody Doll purchased from vintage toy seller shop66

So how does this affect me? Frankly, not much! It has taken me over 35 years to find my artistic style. I will continue to design and make toys . Its what I LOVE to do. Most of my soft toys are sold to adult collectors. I have clearly listed all soft toys not intended for children under 12 and will label each plush also.

My paper toy PDF s will not be affected by these new regulations. I will continue to design fun paper crafts for people to download. In fact I've been working on quite a few right now and will have them available after the new year. Patterns are not affected as well. I'm working on some new patterns to make plushies of your own.

Rumor has it that as long as toys do not cross state lines that they are exempt from testing. That means more craft shows for me in the following year. I've also heard that kits are also exempt, in that case I'll be making more kits also.

New paper toys including a B-day cake with party hats available after the holidays.

DESIGN THIS DESIGN THAT

I guess nobody buys magazines anymore. Just like TV you can view magazines on the web. Design This Design That is a beautiful online magazine that is also a lot of FUN. I'm featured in the latest toy issue. Ariadna has put together some of the best vinyl, plush, and paper toy makers around in issue 3. The illustration issue is worth checking out too.

Ann Wood and Dean Lucker

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Dean Lucker and Ann Woods private studio during a St. Paul open studio tour. I have been an admirer for a couple of years now and it was a thrill to view their new work of mechanical sculptures, pictures and dexterity games. Both artists use a complimentary soft color palette and visit themes of nature and whimsy. Their work is truly a marriage of art. I'm hoping they start a new collection of work and have it available on Etsy. I'm sure the Etsy crowd will love their work as much as the fine art world!

www.woodlucker.com

Bill Baird Marionettes

"High on a hill lived a lonely goatherd, Lay-ee ode lay-ee ode lay-hee hoo." Whenever the Sound of Music was on TV when I was a kid I had to sit through all that singing just to watch the best part of the movie ... the marionette show. The actual puppets made by Bill Baird are on exhibit at the Charles H. Macnider Museum in Mason City Iowa. The museum has an awesome collection of his work including Winne the Pooh and the Wizard of Oz. This is just a small sample of his work. If you're in the area its a must see just so you can say, "I saw those!" when the Sound of Music comes on during the holidays.

Christopher Robin and friends.

Follow the yellow brick road.

My DREAM job!

Every year during the holidays Macy's Mpls. puts on a spectacular Christmas show. Its the closest thing our city has to a Disneyland attraction. Many artists and designers combine their talents creating an animated walk through depicting illustrations from classic children's stories. This years show was an original story, "A Day in the Life of an Elf". My favorite scene was the toyshop and candy factory. Some day I hope to work with this group of people. Macys if your reading this I'm available!

New look finished!

I'm so happy with the new look of my website. I think it really reflects the Fantastic Toys style so much better now. The pastels, scalIoped trim, ric-rac are all elements I use in my creations. The page literally looks "handmade" now. I just about gave up but I pushed on. I swear I think I have a blood clot in my leg because I've been sitting in front of the computer so long. I need to finish some of the remaining pages, the shop in particular. You should see my cart icon.. its a little wheel barrow. :) Anyways it should be live by the end of the week, wheather or not I finish the shop page.

Website Redesign

After making some new logos for my blog I thought I should tackle the website again. As much as I love, LOVE my current website splash page its almost impossible to make changes being that it's essentially an illustration. Ideally I would like something that would have a blog, gallery and shop with cart. But since I'm doing everything from scratch its an endless task. I thought my blog would be a good place to get some feedback. If you any ideas please share. Do you like the current website or do you like the new direction I'm going in?


Current website is an illustration with animation. Roll over the flowers and they move. B-fly boy flutters wings. Impossible to move elements around. I can only add text in text box. I like the illustration style but have pretty much abandoned it in favor of faster vector graphics.




New direction I'm going in. I have kept most of the elements from the original but have gone with a handmade look. I like that it looks like cut paper illustration and there are elements of sewing in it. I think it reflects my style more and the direction I'm going with as far as what my store will carry... i.e. dyi kits and paper crafts. It is however missing any visual reference to softies. Even though it still needs works I like the user friendly menu on top. I'm thinking the rollover flowers on the bottom is too cluttered and might remove it entirely but will miss the animation. Maybe some photos to replace it?

So what do you think? I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks

Little Red Dot - Super Plush

Super Plush is one show I wish I could have gone to this year. I've done four plush shows this year mailing my softies around the country unable to attend. I was lucky enough to exhibit with 20 of the most talented plush artists around. My Paper Crane and Chikagraphy to name a few. Thanks to Princess Meech and Effunia Flickr sets I was able to attend vicariously through their photos. Seeing a little red dot is always nice too!

Christmas Giveaway! Win a White Reindeer!!!

Giveaway is now closed.

As part of my blog launch I thought it would be nice to offer another freebie. This is the first year I have made this gorgeous white reindeer. This limited edition softie is only available during the holiday season. I'll even pay for shipping within the United States.To enter, fill out the form to the right and at the end of the month I'll pick a WINNER! Contest ends Nov. 30. Make a comment to improve your chances of winning. Who knows I may have a giveaway every month so check back often. :D

Christmas has arrived early this year!

I just LOVE this photo. Can't you just see them celebrating and dancing around like the timeless Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer Christmas special? Included in this years Christmas Collection are elves, snow people, whie fawns and whole lot more.

Nutcracker Clothes Pin People Ornaments

When I was a child my favorite part at Christmas besides opening presents, was trimming the tree. Every year the best part was unwrapping the clothes pin people from storage. It was such a treat to unveil each handmade pin doll from its packaging to discover what wonderful character was inside and place them on the tree.



I'm excited to share with you a limited edition Clothes People Ornament Kit. Based on the holiday classic the Nutcracker, each kit contains materials to make three enchanting characters from the timeless story. Everything is included to make the Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King.

Cupcake Softie Tutorial

Make a yummy cupcake in your favorite flavor. Decorate it any way you wish, add frosting, sprinkles or fruit. Share a cupcake with a friend or family member.
Celebrate your LOVE of cupcakes.

A PDF version with instructions and pattern is also available for download.

Download Cupcake Pattern and Tutorial

I'd love to see photos of your delicious creations! Post them at the flickr group I created.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/665113@N22/

Please do not sell the cupcakes. They are to be made for your enjoyment and given away as gifts to family or friends. Please ask me if you can use my photos or tutorial before you post them anywhere else online.

Materials Required
Craft felt
Craft glue
Needle/Thread
Trim-ribbon
Polyfill stuffing
Embroidery floss
Pins

Instructions
Cut out felt from pattern pieces in your favorite flavor and cup color.

1. Sew up cake side with a backstitch.
2. Gather cake base with a gathering stitch.
3. Stuff cake full with polyfill and pull opening closed with gathering stitch. Secure thread with knot.
4. Sew baking cup side. Pin cup base to side and sew together.
5. Glue eyes on and embroider mouth with embroidery floss.
6. Decorate cupcake to your liking. Add sprinkles, frosting, or strawberries. Add trim or ribbon around cup. Have fun!

Gallery 2008

"Lover", Sold

"One lick to Paradise", Sold, limited edition prints available
Opening Nov. 7th, 7-11pm
507 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291

"A Guardian's Dilemma" (watercolor, sold, limited edition prints available)

"Blossom" (watercolor, sold, limited edition prints available)

"The Temptation of Eve" (Sold, limited edition prints available)

Gallery 2007

"Habitat" watercolor and ink, sold

Drawings