And all the pipe cleaner animals stood erect-- a fierce wall of nylon and wire defiance--
with one voice they exclaimed, "We shall not be silenced!"

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Welcome to My Studio!

Some of you have been wondering where all the Fuzzington magic happens. Well, here are pics of me in my "studio." My studio is really also my office where my computer is. The pictures on the wall are some photos that I took at Big Sur. I have Ikea to thank for making them look professional with the frames! I love those pics because they're so relaxing. And naturally, I have a Fuzzington pic on my desktop!


When I sit down to creat Fuzzies, the first thing I do is take out all my existing Fuzzies, including the imperfect ones (hey I still love them) and line them up on my desk so I can be inspired by them! They usually come through.


So yeah, my workspace isn't all that fancy, but it's cozy and simple, a perfect environment to create my Fuzzies!!

Goodness! Featured AGAIN!!!

Charlie is a popular pup! We've been featured in the Sumpin Else Blog!

http://www.sumpinelse.com/

Thanks Carmen for the support!!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Another Blog Feature!

Monkee Baby Creations has once again featured me in her blog! She is so gracious and generous to post my stuff! This time the theme is Chocolate, for Valentine's Day, and I submitted Charlie, the Chocolate Lab Mutt. He comes with a heart shaped wine charm. Wine, chocolate, hearts... perfect combo for a Valentine's date!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Alchemy is Magic - My Best Fuzzies Ever!!

Earlier this month I posted an entry about an Alchemy request that I received from a lady who wanted to give her husband a Fuzzy that looked like their late dog for Valentines Day. With Hachiko passing this weekend, this order meant a lot to me because it really sucks losing your doggie pal and I really wanted to do a good job. Well I'm happy to report that I just finished them, and I'm very proud of how they came out!

I've posted the pictures that they lady sent me, and I've posted the Fuzzy based on the picture.



The trickiest part was the mark on Winnie's back that also looks like a sideways dog. I managed to cut out tiny pieces of felt to imitate the mark:


And here's Winnie's girlfriend Molly:




I love how they came out, and I hope their new owners will love them as well!!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Goodbye to a Wonderful Dog

Our family dog, Hachiko, died this morning. He was 16 yrs old according to the animal services department. He was a super sweet dog and we will definitely miss him. He seemed to be suffering in his last hours, and I'm glad his death came swiftly and quietly. He looked so peaceful this morning. Have fun in heaven old boy!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Two Items Sold!

I sold another two items today! Yay! One was Quentin the Monkey, and the other one was Marty the Martian Dog! I love Marty and his colors! They are off to Portland, Maine! Goodbye Fuzzy Friends! Stay warm over there!


Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Featured on Another Blog!

I've been in the Florida Keys for work this week (yeah, really tough job I've got) and haven't had a chance to work on any Fuzzies since I couldn't bring all of my supplies with me! Hopefully I can make more product with the long weekend coming up!!

In the meantime, Fuzzington has once again been featured on luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com!! Thanks Monkee Baby Creations for all of your support!!! Here's the link: http://luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/01/best-of-little-bitty-from-etsy.html
http://luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/01/thanks-to-these-little-bitty-etsians.html

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Uncle Fuzzy

On New Year's Eve, I was sitting at the coffee table in my parents' living room working on my Fuzzies in an effort to pass time until the countdown at midnight. My uncle, with whom I enjoy frequent witty exchanges, came by and began to tease me about my craft. He made some smart-alec remark about how I only new how to make cute little animals and asked me if I could do anything else. I told him, "Don't you worry, I'll make you something you'll LOVE."

So I went into my old bedroom and closed the door with a bag of pipe cleaners in my hand. Ten minutes and six pipe cleaners later, I emerged with my creation just for him, Uncle Fuzzy! My uncle loves gags, and as you can see, he got a real kick out of it!



I especially love how I captured the balding aspect of his likeness. This was certainly a conversational piece for the rest of the evening!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Got Another Custom Order!

I got another custom order yesterday!

This customer wants to give a fuzzy to her husband that looks like his dog that passed away from cancer last year. =( It's always sad to hear about pets passing away. I'm honored that she's asked me to make this Fuzzy so she can give it to her husband as a Valentine's Day gift. The big challenge though is that the dog has a spot on its lower back that looks like a dog silhouette. With my creations being so small (around 2 inches), I don't think I'll be able to get that level of detail with pipe cleaners alone. Right now I'm thinking of painting the spot on the Fuzzy to get the best accuracy. Any suggestions?

Which reminds me, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! AAAHH!!! Gotta get working on some Valentine's Day Fuzzies. And then it'll be Easter!!! Boy oh boy oh boy!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Finally Made it to an Etsy Treasury!! WHOOHOO!!

Beverly, my breast cancer awareness dog was featured in the blog http://www.luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com/ and was also included in a treasury on Etsy! YAY!! Here's the treasury link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=38844

I've been waiting for the day that I'd be featured somewhere! How exciting! Some Etsians are featured all the time, but my poor little creatures can be neglected sometimes because they're so obscure! Thanks Monkey Baby Creations for showing Beverly to your readers!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Monkeying Around!



Here is my largest fuzzy to date, Quincy the Monkey! He measures approximately 2 - 3/4 inches in height and carries around a polymer clay banana. Because he's so bendy, he can be flexible enough to hang off of things, like a tree, or your desktop monitor! I like him because he looks different from the creatures I've made in the past. Let me know what you think of him!

Go Fighting Illini!

Was up 'til midnight last night finishing up a custom order for my cousin-in-laws. I think they turned out really cool! They're going to be belated Christmas presents for their friends, who attended UIUC. I had a lot of fun making these. If you look closely, you'll see that the confetti has the chief's face on it! That confetti took longer to make than I expected! I hope those fighting Illini like them! =) I'm shipping them off today! Thanks for thinking of me cousins!

Picture quality isn't as good as I would have liked, but I took them last night in the living room so I could show them.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Good Fuzzies Gone Bad!!

My dear, sweet, adorable little dog Maggie committed a heinous crime last night!! Maggie has a liking for picking up socks and tank tops from the laundry pile and carrying them around in her mouth. Usually it's just socks.

I put a lot of things on the floor: books, headsets, clothes, papers, etc...I had my box of Fuzzies on the office floor, not thinking much of it. Five minutes later, I heard my husband cry out, "Oh-no! Maggie," and then to me, "I have some bad news for you." He brought over something in his closed hand. He opened it to reveal, to my horror, my Blue Bear Fuzzy (see last post) all chewed and mangled up!! ARGH!!!













I took the posting off of Etsy until I make a new one. So sad. RIP Blue-Bear-E #1.

The lesson of the day: Do not put Fuzzies on Floor, and don't be fooled by Maggie's innocent, adorable, lovable face!!!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

New Years Resolution #1: Post 1 New Item once a Day in January

I'm going to try to post more often, so I'm going to see if I can hold myself to posting one item a day in the month of January. So far so good!!

I'm also going top work on getting different types of creatures in my shop other than dogs!! So far I have posted a cat, a tiger, and a bear! I have a monkey in the works...




Friday, January 2, 2009

Another Shop Critique!

So after the last shop critique that I had about a month ago, I decided to get another one. The reviewers on Etsy remembered me right away, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing. Overall, they didn't have too much to comment on my shop. The only comments they had left were:

1) Shorten the item descriptions so that they can be easily scanned by the reader
2) Post items more often to get more exposure!!

Number 1 was easy.

Number 2 will be a little more challenging...

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Phew! Now that the holidays are over, it's time to kick off the new year with a bang!! 2009 will be an interesting year with the economy being the way it is, and since I probably won't be going out much to spend money, I can make more Fuzzies! YAY! Hope everyone has a wonderful, prosperous New Year!