Fuzzington

I WON! I WON!!

2011-06-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick update on the Old School Video Game Sampler that I posted a few weeks ago (http://fuzzington.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-san-diego-county-fair-entry-old.html) that I entered into the County Fair this year. I found out, much to my horror, after submitting this piece that I had accidentally spelled "syle" instead of "style!!!" How I missed this major typo during the thousands of times that I looked at this while I was stitching it is majorly beyond me...
I went to the fair yesterday to see the other exhibitors' work, and to check on my piece, not expecting to win. But much to my surprise, I won SECOND PLACE in my class!!! I was so stoked as this was not only my first time entering the needlepoint division of the Fair, but it was also my first major cross stitch project! Guess I won on "Syle" points!

WHOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My San Diego County Fair Entry - Old School Video Game Cross Stitch

2011-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Every year I try to enter something in the Competitive Exhibits at the San Diego County Fair. In the past, I've entered the Photography competition and the general arts and crafts competition (with my little Fuzziingtons). Generally my entries are very amateurish compared to the hardcore entrants (every year there are people that DOMINATE different categories) and I never expect to win, but it gives me an excuse to do something crafty, PLUS I get a free ticket to the fair out of it!

This year, I decided to try something new and enter the Needlepoint/Cross Stitch competition. It gave me a new craft to try and learn. I'm pretty new to cross-stitching, and in retrospect I had NO IDEA how long it would actually take me to complete my submission. I have never worked so hard on something that ended up looking so simple. I've estimated that I have spent at least 60 hours and made more than 10,000 stitches in this project. But in the end, I was pretty happy with how things turned out, all things considered.

I present to you, my Cross Stitch sampler entry for the San Diego County Fair 2011 Needlepoint and Sewing competitive exhibit!

This cross-stitch sampler is a tribute to the old school Atari video games that I played as a kid. The three that are featured here are Pac-Man, Centipede, and Space Invaders. I played these games endlessly on my Atari 5200 game system, and had so much fun with them. Video games have since become such an elaborate and sophisticated experience-- sometimes I just yearn for the simplicity of an 8-bit video game with a joystick and one button! These games may seem old school, they never go out of style.

When I turned my entry in, the older ladies volunteering at the Fair gave my project an odd look. That's right ladies, this isn't a traditional sampler with pretty flowers, animals, houses, and alphabets. It's not traditional by any means. If the judges' reactions to my piece is anything remotely close to the reactions of the ladies that took in my entry, then chances are I have zero chance of winning anything. BUT, I know that some child of the 80's will stumble upon this during the fair, as they hang out in the Home and Hobby exhibit to enjoy the air conditioning in the exhibit hall. And when they see this they'll give it an approving nod in agreement, and that's all I'm really looking to get out of this. :)

Craftster Featured Project!! 4th Quarter 2010

2011-04-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

I was a featured project on Craftster.org for 4th Quarter 2010!!

I love submitting pictures of my creations on craftster because I always get good feedback on my work, and I'm glad to know people appreciate my art. One of my submissions was chosen, out of hundreds of submissions, as a featured project, and that makes me very proud!! They chose "Val," which is a custom Fuzzy of my best friend's pomeranian, which I gave to her for her birthday. I blogged about that here.

SOOOO HAPPY!

Another Treasury! - "Not Weird.... Gifted"

2011-04-05T03:26:00.000-07:00

My mother always told me that I'm "not weird, but gifted," and this fact has been confirmed by this Etsy treasury that maybeads created, which includes Henry the dinosaur.

Maybeads is a gifted glass artist, and she makes the sweetest handmade glass beads that you ever did see! Click here to check out her shop! I recently bought these adorable turtles from her:

So the next time you see my pipe cleaner animals, just remember that they're not weird, but gifted!! :)

A Crafting Binge

2011-02-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

I obviously have been out of the crafting loop for a while thanks to my day job, but yesterday I had a crafting binge. If crafting was chocolate cake, I'd be 20 lbs. heavier today.

One of the most awesome and simple dollar crafts that I did were these Shower Ring Curtain Bracelets that Sarah showed a tutorial for on her blog "Stepping Through Crazy." She has the best crafting ideas ever, and these shower ring curtain bracelets are sheer genius! Here's what the result looked like from her tutorial:

I bought a 12 pack of these shower curtain rings for $1 at Big Lots on Friday and made several of them yesterday. I used some metallic paper from a Chinese Red Envelope and here is my favorite of the ones I made:

Doesn't it look nifty? I love this one.

I also was busy making Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) for some swaps on Swap-bot. Here are a couple of them...

This one is called "Rainbow Punch" because I used crafting punch tools to make the little embellishments.

And this one is named "Norman" for a Robot ATC swap.

It was really nice to have a whole day of crafting, but now I have to clean up! Boo...

Blog Features in October!!

2010-10-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

The last 30 days have been real nice for Fuzzington in terms of Blog Features! Check out all the places we were featured!! Make sure you visit these wonderful, eye-candy blogs! They're so much fun to read!

http://aquariannart.blogspot.com/2010/09/follow-leader-to-fuzzington.html

Aquariann featured me because she got her 300th blog follower, and using a random number generator, she featured her 278th follower, ME!

http://shinycatcreations.blogspot.com/2010/09/featured-etsy-seller-fuzzington.html
ShinCatCreations made me a featured seller on her blog and posted an interview with me!

http://celebrateoddetsy.blogspot.com/2010/10/fuzzyingtons-poofy-creations.html
I always love it when my work gets categorized as something unique or "odd." It makes me feel like I stand out from everyone else!

http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com/2010/10/102210-top-etsy-finds-by-lindab.html
I was featured in Linda B's "Top Etsy Finds" feature for the week! Come vote for me so I can get an interview!!

Thanks again to the bloggers for featuring me, and to all my blog readers for all your support so far!

Benson - The Morkie

2010-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the first feature of NightLady's custom order: Benson the Morkie.

I have never heard of a "Morkie" until now. For those of you who are unfamiliar as well, a Morkie is a mix between a Yorkie and an Maltese, and look at the super cute result!!

Benson's nickname is "Hightower" because he's a little taller than his parents, so I made him taller as well! Look at those long legs! :)

Custom Order - A Bundle of Love!!

2010-10-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

I just shipped one of my biggest orders ever from Nightlady on Etsy! Check out her shop here. She sells the loveliest flower pins and brooches, like this one:

So pretty, right?

Well, Nightlady really surprised me a month ago for an order for 12 Fuzzies!!! WOW! Five items were already in my shop, but the rest of them were custom orders!! Three dogs belonging to her, three dogs belonging to her parents, and one raccoon. The ones in the shop she was going to use as prizes for her students.

I certainly had my work cut out for me, but after a couple weeks of bending a twisting, I eventually finished! Here is the entire gang:

I'll be posting more detailed pictures in the upcoming days, so stay tuned!

I MADE IT TO THE FRONT PAGE ON ETSY! YAY!!!

2010-10-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

So I was checking my email last night, and what did I find? An email from "Statsy Featurator" saying that:

fuzzington was featured on Etsy's front
page, with the "Fuzzy Puppy Finger Puppet"! Hooray!
You can see a copy of this front-page treasury here:
http://statsy.org/featurator_view.php?date=2010-10-07+23%3A00

OMG! I was so stoked! It took almost two years, but we finally did it! Check out my little doggy, the first in the 2nd row!

And I have to thank BuyMeLove for creating a treasury that made it to the Front Page with my item in it! BuyMeLove sells really cool vintage stuff. Check out her shop here.

And thanks to being featured, I got 11 NEW HEARTS in my Etsy shop yesterday! I officially have OVER 500 hearts in my shop! YAY!!!!

Make sure you sign up at www.statsy.org so you can get notifications of when you've made it to the front page!

Custom Pipe Cleaner Pup: Val

2010-10-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

My best friend's (Luisa's) 31st birthday was yesterday, and as a present to her, I made her a custom Fuzzy of her adorable Pomeranian, Val. I believe Val is short for "Valentine" because she was a gift to my friend from her husband for Valentine's Day. Here is Val (the only recent picture I could find of her on Facebook--- I have no idea why she has a cone on):

And here are a few from when she was a pup:

HERE is Val, FUZZIFIED!!

Turned out Val was pretty hard to fuzzify. I don't know if it's because she's so darn cute, or if I had just put too much pressure on myself to make Fuzzy Val "perfect" for Luisa. Either way, I think Luisa liked it.

My New Squidoo Lenses

2010-09-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have created TWO Squidoo lenses to see what this is all about! Check them out and let me know what you think!!

Here's one for Fuzzington. I think I'm going to need to update it with more pertinent information:
http://www.squidoo.com/fuzzington

This one is a running list of why I love Swap-bot:
http://www.squidoo.com/10-reasons-to-love-swap-bot

We'll see if we get any royalties, just cents even!! :)

New Mini-Monsters and Sci-Fi Items in the Shop!!

2010-08-31T11:12:00.001-07:00

Halloween is not that far away, and there are now some cute new items to get you in the mood!! I don't make nearly as many monsters (cute ones, of course) and sci-fi creatures as I should, so here is the start!! Hope you all like them!

Mini-Mummy:

Vampire Bunny:

Love Robot:

And, back by popular demand, Tarantula Ring:

More to come in the upcoming weeks! It'll be SPOOK-tacular! HAHAH!

Squidoo Lens

2010-08-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

So I was looking around in the Etsy Forums this morning, I and I stumbled across a post that talked about "Squidoo Lens." I had never heard of this before, so I clicked on the link and found a new promotion tool before that I am just DYING to try!! Here is the link to the tutorial http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-the-etsy-module#module106749681

The intro of the tutorial says this:

A lot of people with shops on Etsy complain about lack of traffic to their stores. There is the mis-conception that by opening a store one is guaranteed sales. That is not how things happen. Most of the people with an Etsy shop are looking for quick, easy, and cheap answers to this problem.

While many people know about Face Book and Twitter and how they work, few on Etsy seemed to have heard about Squidoo. And Squidoo is the perfect answer. On Squidoo one can make a web page that can be as simple or complex as one wishes. And it is free.

Squidoo itself is a complex entity with many different parts to explore. But, starting at the beginning...

What is Squidoo? Squidoo is a web site, set up for sharing information. On it one can build a web page, called a lens, using a variety of different modules. And with these web pages one can gather views and direct traffic.

Has anyone tried this? I'll be putting mine together today. Anyone with some tips on this, please let me know!!!

Cool New Widget for Your Etsy Shop!

2010-08-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

I just added the Craftcult Etsy Widget to my blog (see top right). You can choose from a bunch of different styles and animations. It's pretty slick. Try it for yourself, and see how cool it is! You can also get one of your own at http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php?userid=

Enjoy!!

IT'S FUSILLI RICK!

2010-06-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Okay-- so this isn't made out of pipe cleaners... BUT--

My financial advisors, Rick Nerad and Steve Deppe, are AWESOME! I love these guys because they're personable, fun, and really care about my financial well-being. My hubby and I have been with these guys for almost 5 years, and we always have the best time when we meet with them. Shameless plug: If anyone reading this is looking for some top-notch "wealth management," feel free to contact them: http://nd-wm.com/

ANYWAY, it turns out Rick is a huge Seinfeld fan, and during one of our meetings last year, he did the best impersonation of Jerry Seinfeld and showed us the "Fusilli Jerry" episode. For those of you who need to be clued in like I did, here's a link to the video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdiROsB-yJI

Here's a picture of Fusilli Jerry that I found on the Internet:

Since then, I've been meaning to make a "Fusilli Rick." I purchased a bag of fusilli late last year to make Fusilli Rick as a Christmas present, but ran out of time, and that bag of fusilli has been sitting in my crafts drawer for over 6 months. I finally was struck with inspiration this weekend... With a bag of pasta and LOTS of glue, I present to you:

FUSILLI RICK!!!

I was really happy with how it turned out. I tried to stay true to the spirit of the original one. I even used the blue base!! This little statue shows Rick waving HI (because he is a really friendly guy) and reaching for our file.

I spelled out "Fusilli Rick" with alphabet pasta.

The little file holder also doubles as a business card holder!!

Here are some pics from the "Making of Fusilli Rick:"

My hubby will be delivering this little guy to Rick today. Unfortunately, I won't be there to see his expression when he receives it...

Next on my list, "Spaghetti Steve!"

Custom Pipe Cleaner Pups: Chippy and Dale the Maltese Twins, and Daisy the Yorkie!

2010-06-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

In my last blog entry, I showed a picture of three dogs that my buddy Jarrod sent to me to Fuzzify for his Mom's birthday. Chippy, a 10 lb Maltese; Dale, a 6 lb Maltese; and Daisy, a 4 lb Yorkie, the smallest of them all!!

These adorable little pups are so petite as it was, I could hardly see how I could make them any smaller with pipe cleaners! Hahahah!!

Somehow I managed to make some time in my insane workweek and make these little guys! Here they are!

CHIPPY - 2 inches

DALE - 1.75 inches

DAISY - 1.5 inches

THE GANG!

I tried to make them proportional in size based on their weights. Now all I need to do is put bows on these little ones and wrap them up for Jarrod's mom. I hope she likes them!!! Happy Birthday, Jarrod's Mom!! :)

New Custom Order!!!

2010-06-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

What will I be doing this weekend besides WORK (which I have a ton of)? Well during my breaks (in case you're reading this JJL), I'll be working on this week's custom order: 3 little fluffy dogs from my buddy Jarrod. Here are the pics that he sent me... they are SOOOOOOO ADORABLE!!!

The two Malteses remind me of our little Maggie.

The fuzzified versions of them will be a birthday gift for his mom. I will post pics of them as soon as they're done!!

New Fuzzy Friends in the Store! Fifi and Harley!

2010-05-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

Introducing some new fuzzy friends!

Fifi, the Pink Terrier! She's pink and bubbly, and looks like cotton candy!

Harley, the Skinny Doxie.
All he's got is this bone! Take him home and feed him a ham sandwich!

Come check them out in the shop!

YAY! The Worm Treasury!

2010-05-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

My garden buddies have been featured in a treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bdddc258de56d91bf0cce37/worms-everywhere-are-worms

That's the 2nd treasury for Fuzzington this week! YAY!

It's Been a While, but LOOK! We're in a TREASURY!

2010-04-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!

Yes, it's been WEEKS (maybe more than a MONTH!)since I've made an entry in this blog. I've been taking a little unofficial break from Fuzzington because life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately. Over the last few months:

- I've been exercising my creative juices over at Swap-bot, and I've been getting all sorts of cool stuff.

- My grandma passed away. It was sad, but she had lived a very long life (she was 102 years old!). I planted an avocado tree in her honor. You can read about it in my gardening blog: http://rookiegarden.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-memory-of-my-grandmother.html

- I've been SWAMPED at work!! I'm spending half of my time in LA and half in San Diego. Gives me little time to work on Fuzzies, but I think I just need to put a Fuzzy travel kit together so I can work on Fuzzies in my hotel room.

HOWEVER - I have been featured in a treasury!

How much is that doggy in the window the one that has been handmade

And to my joy, it's was my Original Fuzzington Pup that was featured!!

I have have some new ideas in the works. In the meantime, I'm also looking for custom work, so if any of you want to Fuzzify your pets, let me know!!!

More Swap-bot!!

2010-04-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Man, oh man, my creative juices have been FLOODING lately, and all because of Swap-Bot!!! Here are some things that I've made for swaps. Swap-bot has given me a creative outlet to work on new types of creations for fun. I'm still in love with my pipe cleaners, but a little break every now and then never hurt anyone.

Kawaii Matchbox Swap

Handmade Postcard Swap

Some funny postcards made for the Recycled Postcard Swap:

I've gotten some really cool things back in return!! I'll post pics of some of the things I've received in another entry. I'm really loving it!

Happy St. Urho's Day!!

2010-03-16T23:53:00.000-07:00

Every year, my good friend Big John throws a St. Urho's Day celebration, with an abundance of make-your-own-pizzas and Grasshoppers-- mainly in the form of a minty, blended, alcoholic drink (although one year someone actually brought little lime and chili sauteed grasshoppers-- which actually didn't taste half bad).

For those of you who are wondering who St Urho is, legend states that "St. Urho drove away grasshoppers (rather than frogs) from Finland using the incantation "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" ("Grasshopper, grasshopper, go from hence to Hell!"), thus saving the Finnish grape crops." (Wikipedia)

Well, Big John seemed to have all sorts of St. Urhos decorations, like St. Urho's cocktail napkins, but his decor was missing one crucial thing: a Fuzzy Grasshopper!! So during the two-and-a-half-hour car ride to Big Joh's party, well-equipped with green pipe cleaners, beads, and wire wrapping tools, I made this little present for him.

Even St. Urho himself would have a hard time shooing such a cute grasshopper out!!

Another Matchbox - Good Luck Charm for the Hubby!!

2010-02-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

My poor hubby has been studying his butt off for the last 6 weeks, holed up in his home-office, for the California BAR exam. For those of you who aren't aware of this, the California State BAR is notorious for being among the hardest BAR exams in the country. I guess a lot of people want to be lawyers in California, though I'm not exactly sure why.

At any rate, with all the studying, the hubby was getting stir-crazy and was looking forward to getting the exam over-with, but also dreaded it at the same time. As a pick-me-up gesture, I made him a little good luck gift and gave it to him the weekend before the test (he took the test last week, and is now a much happier camper!) :)

I made a little green matchbox and affixed stickers with some words of encouragement.

Inside I put a little Fuzzy 4-leaf clover to bring him a little luck. How could you not smile with this little guy around?

The hubby brought it with him and while he claims that the exam was as tough as he had anticipated, he hopes this little guy brought him a little luck during the three-day test. Coincidentally, the results will be available on my birthday, so I'm hoping for a good present from the BAR Association for the both of us!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

Spring in a Matchbox

2010-02-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

My latest crafty obsession is matchbox crafts. I recently joined swap-bot and discovered a whole world of crafters that swap their goodies. One of the more popular swap items are hand-decorated matchboxes. I saw these pretty little treasure chests, the boundless creativity that surrounds them, and the cute little items that go in them, and I was HOOKED!! Since then (yesterday), I have made a few to try them out, and after the first few practice ones, I'd now like to present to my readers the first matchbox that I've created as a gift for someone. I call it "Spring in a Matchbox."

Spring is upon us here in San Diego, but not in other parts of the world. I thought I'd send a little Spring to my cousin, who lives in Ontario, Canada, where today the weather was a high of 8-deg F. EEK!! Here's what I'm sending her...

I made a matchbox out of cardstock using "Rachel's Matchbox Template." Then I covered it with some Washi paper that I had, and topped it with a felt flower and butterfly. The drawer knob is a pewter bead.

Then I filled the box with a bunch of miniature goodies...

The contents of the matchbox are some flower stickers, a couple of fabric flowers, a little silver tree pendant, and a packet of flower seeds for her to plant! At the bottom of the tray is the word "joyful" and that's how I hope she feels when she opens this box! :)

The hubby practically puked from an overdose of cuteness when I showed this to him. I told him how I wished I was getting one of these in the mail, and he made the snarky suggestion to send one to myself.

These things are absolutely ADORABLE, and I can't wait to start swapping them on swap-bot so I can receive some of my own!!

Bloggity News

2010-02-13T12:17:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to blog about some features that I've received from some wonderful Etsians since the new year began. These Etsy friends have been gracious enough to take time out of their busy days to write thoughtful, well-written blog entries about my work. As a token of appreciation, I thought I'd return the favor.

The first is secretjewelz, who blogged about about a Fuzzy ornament that she had purchased, Howie the Dog, who is now the newest pet for her adorable pullip dolls:

Secretjewelz makes some amazing jewelry with vintage items such as "vintage glass jewels,brass,buttons,watch parts,pictures,vintage dictionaries but to name a few..." She has such a broad range of vision, which results in a wide array of unique and uber-cool items, as evidenced by some of my favorite items below:

I am such a huge Alice in Wonderland fan! Gotta love the Mad Hatter!

A trip to secretjewelz's Etsy shop is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

The second person who featured me in her blog was "Do-Rah! designs!" Do-Rah blogged about the Fuzzy Worm Garden Buddies that she purchased from my shop!! I hope she has fun with them in her garden!

Do-Rah! designs specializes in designing "handbags, reusable lunch totes,and pillow covers" using "high end upholstery samples, buttons, trims and fabrics that I have collected." Seriously folks, how could you not love these:

I could totally see myself taking one of these bags to the farmers market, or the library, swap meets.. so I could keep all my awesome eco-friendly finds in a very stylish way! So make sure you check out Do-Rah! designs!!

Much thanks to these ladies for promoting me!! Let's keep supporting the handmade movement!!

Custom Pipe Cleaner Fuzzy - Molly the Yorkie

2010-02-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest little custom Fuzzy: Molly the Yorkie!

Molly belongs to Molly827, one of my new Etsy friends! Here is a picture that was sent to me of what Molly looks like:

And here's Molly Fuzzified!

I love how she came out, especially with her little top knot!!

She measures approximately 1.5 inches, and yes, she's made of 100% pipe cleaners!!

My Morning in Monterey - Cannery Row

2010-02-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

After a full week of hard work and long days in the hotel conference room (see my previous entry where I rave about this lovely hotel, the Intercontinental), I finally had a chance this morning to take a walk along Cannery Row before my flight back to San Diego. It was quite a relaxing morning and was just what I needed!

Cannery Row is not a very large place. It's really only about a block or two long (little blocks), but there are lots of shops to visit, and a lot of interesting things all packed into one place. It's right on the water, so there are some really pretty views that you can see from the boardwalk. And it's very peaceful early in the morning.

My best friend and I had taken a road trip years ago along the California Coast, back when we were in college, and this was one of our stops. Our experience then was very different from my experience today, but then again, we were also much younger and fairly different people. When we went, we stayed at Motel 6's every night (the hotel choice of poor college students), and we knew very little about Monterey County, other than that John Steinbeck had grown up in Salinas, and had a strong influence in this region. Ten years later, during this business trip, I stayed at a 5 star hotel, and I've realized how much more expansive Monterey County is.

Last night I gave my best friend a call a call and said, "Guess where I am!" We started recounting our memories from our trip and one of the things that I had totally forgotten about was this one store on Cannery Row that sold American nostalgia products. She recalled, "Do you remember that one really weird guy that was working at that store?" And indeed, I instantly had a vision of this person in my mind. He was the cashier at the store, and was probably in his late 30s, slightly overweight, longish hair, unshaven... looked sort of like a messy Jack Black. When we were there, he went to great lengths to talk to us and even offered to show us around. Well you can imagine the impression that left on two college girls: Yuck-o! Oddly enough, as I was talking with her, and that memory was re-emerging in my mind, I came to the sudden realization that I was standing right in front of the actual store! So this morning a I took a picture of the store (American Revival Company), and texted it to her for posterity.

I stopped into a coffee shop and had a morning cup of coffee to go, but I soon realized that I was getting pretty hungry, and none of the restaurants on the Row were open yet, so I went back to my hotel to have breakfast at The C Restaurant, which is a lovely, affordable restaurant with ocean views.

Can I just reiterate that I LOVE the Intercontinental Clement Monterey Hotel? The staff was so nice, and when I sat down for breakfast, everyone addressed me formally by name. I ordered the Clement Omelet, which contained chorizo, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and monterey jack cheese. Mmmmm, yum! I just loved how it looked too!

After breakfast, I took a moment to step onto the restaurant deck to take some last pictures before departing for the airport.

My morning on Cannery Row only lasted a couple of hours, but I really enjoyed that time to myself. I will definitely be back soon!!

On the Road Again - More Hotel Pics: The Intercontinental Hotel, The Clement Monterey

2010-02-02T00:06:00.000-08:00

This week I'm in Monterey, CA for work. I am staying at the Intercontinental Hotel - The Clement Monterey, which is right on Cannery Row on the water side. This hotel is definitely going on my list of Favorite Hotels. The rate right now is $159 a night, but I've stayed in more expensive hotels that aren't nearly as nice, and aren't in a location even remotely as cool as Cannery Row.

(The view from my room)

The room is very relaxing. I have a queen sized bed with a down comforter, down pillow top, and down pillows. Quite plush!

There is also a fireplace in here. Quite lovely. AND, the room has a 45" LCD TV, WITH the Cartoon Network (which is a must for any hotel I stay at; I relish my time with Adult Swim).

And all nice hotel rooms have really nice bathrooms, and this one is no exception. Stone floors, marble counters, a rain shower, and a separate bathtub. Nice toiletries, and a french mill bar of soap. And a really nice touch is the live orchid on the bathroom counter.

Oh, and did I mention the cotton robe and complimentary slippers??

With all this traveling, you start to feel like once you've seen a hotel, you've seen them all... but every once in a while, you find a real gem that you're totally stoked about. The Intercontinental is one of those gems.

Fuzzy Garden Buddies!!

2010-01-31T19:39:00.000-08:00

Spring is on its way, and I have been working on developing a green thumb. I've taken up gardening in the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I decided to take it up in the winter, when planting seems to be the least fruitful (literally), and I have a 2-ft tall tomato plant that has lots of flowers, but won't bear fruit because it's too cold.

So in the meantime, I've decided to spruce up my ever-growing tomato plant with some cute Fuzzy plant ties. Caterpillars can be gross and bad for your tomato vine, but not these colorful little guys. I created these adorable little Fuzzy worm buddies to help hold my giant tomato vine to the gardening stakes.

Now they make me smile every morning when I water my tomato plant! My neighbors love them and I made them as set of 4 for each of them. At their suggestion, I even put a listing in my shop for these Plant Buddies!

Other than that, I've mostly been trying to grow things from seeds from the produce I buy, or turn to saving plants from the discount section at Lowes to plant in my side yard. I've also created a little compost bin out of a plastic filing crate, but I realized today that after the storms last week, the compost is now too wet, and I have to add some "browns" to the mix. Hopefully in a couple of months, I'll have a bounty of tomatoes and bell peppers from my container gardens, and the annuals that I'm sprouting from seed will add a burst of color to my currently mostly-dirt side yard. I'll bring about more pics soon of the garden.

But tomorrow, I'm off to Monterey, CA for business. Next weekend will give me more time for gardening!!

Bloggity Stuff

2010-01-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

If you were directed here by Shrimp Salad Circus, then

HELLO!!! WELCOME TO MY BLOG!!

Hope you vote for me!! My blog is about my handmade pipe cleaner critters, and other crafty goodness!

If you have never heard of Shrimp Salad Circus, it's a wonderful blog about all sorts of fun stuff, from Etsy, to treasuries, to tutorials-- basically "the best of what's around."

AND, I've been lucky enough to have been nominated for a Tops In '09 Award on the Shrimp Salad Circus Blog in the "Other" category!!! So please please please, go to Shrimp Salad Circus and vote for me!!! THANKS!!!!

Work Gets in the Way of Fuzzington

2010-01-23T21:24:00.000-08:00

I can't believe January is almost over! I looked at my last blog entry and have realized that while the holidays feel like they happened just last week, they also seem like a distant memory. My two weeks off during the holiday were so enjoyable. I got to prepare in advance for Christmas, and make all sorts of handmade crafty goodies as presents. I got to work on my garden and plant lots of stuff. And I sold a good number of ornaments over the holidays. Every day was full of creativity and really satisfied my hunger and desire to make stuff. I really enjoyed this time.

Then 2010 rolled along, and BAM! It all came to a screeching halt. Work came back, and once again got in the way. I am in the middle of a whirlwind business travel schedule right now:

Week of 1/10 - San Jose, CA and Seattle, WA
Week of 1/17 - Denver, CO
Week of 1/24 - Stay home (phew!)
Week of 1/31 - San Jose, CA
Week of 2/6 - Plantation, FL
Week of 2/14 - Chicago, IL

Many people tell me how lucky I am that I get to travel around the country and see different places. However, they don't realize that the only sightseeing I really do during these trips is taking in all the sights along the highway as I'm driving between the airport, hotel, and office. My days are spent in the office, meeting and conversing with people, often under stressful environments. During these times, I often daydream about hiding away to do crafts.

I have taken to taking pictures of my hotel rooms for fun during each of my stays. It's kind of fun and quirky, and really, it's the only piece of the destination that I can really experience.

Here is my room at the San Jose Marriott the first night I was there:

Not a bad room. One thing I love about Marriotts is that they usually have nice comfy beds, and this was no exception! Also, I'm a fan of the flat panel LCD TV. The room was a bit on the small side, and was on the ground floor with a view of the parking lot entrance, but overall was aesthetically pleasing.

There was a glitch in the online booking system at work, and I had only been booked one night when I should have been booked for two. Unfortunately, the hotel was already overbooked, so the room manager said she'd have to put me in an "unconventional" room. She called me the next morning to tell me that she was putting me up in an "Executive Suite" and that it was a pull out sofa bed. Now, if you're reading this entry, you must be thinking the same thing I was when I heard this: Why would an Executive Suite have a pull out sofa bed? So that night when I got my keys to the suite, my confusion was further increased when I went to the top floor of the hotel and found double doors to my room with a gold plated sign with my room number on it. I thought, This is going to be niiiice. So I went in and the place was HUGE!! It was a giant room, with a great view. I looked around and sure enough, there was my pull-out bed.

My perplexity suddenly dissipated when I realized what an "Executive Suite" really is: a really nice conference room!! It wasn't made for guests to actually sleep in, but rather to have meetings! This became increasingly apparent to me when I tried looking for the temperature controls in the room, and when I finally asked the front desk where they were, they told me that the temperature in those rooms were controlled by a central computer and asked me what temperature I wanted it set at. It was hard not feeling like I was sleeping in the office after my realization that my room was a meeting room, and the sofa bed certainly wasn't the usual lovely Marriott bed. It felt more like a hammock since it kind of bowed in the middle. Regardless, I was thankful to have a room, and the room did have a pretty nice view:

At any rate, I'm halfway through with traveling, and at least I'm home in San Diego this week. I'm getting sick though...as in cold/flu sick, not sick of traveling. I guess when you travel in the winter time lots of other people are sick, and when you're in an enclosed space with lots of these sick people, you're bound to catch something. Hence, I need to keep taking my AirBorne.

So full circle back to the original intended subject of this blog entry-- work gets in the way of Fuzzington. With all this traveling, I haven't really had time to work on new Fuzzies, let alone write in this blog. So let's hope this doesn't cause big dent in my Etsy business, and I'll have more chances to post new items!!

More hotel pictures to come...

Sweater Brobee

2009-12-31T12:38:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have young children, the name "Yo Gabba Gabba" may be a common part of your household vocabulary. I know it is with my brother-in-law and his wife. Their son LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba. His favorite character is Brobee. Brobee is this green striped creature that reminds me a lot of that old McDonald's character Grimace (old skool). For Christmas, I decided to make him a handmade Brobee toy of some type.

My original plan was to make him a Brobee sock toy, since Brobee could easily be made in the same fashion as a sock monkey. But it was virtually impossible to find green/lime green striped socks! I looked online, at Walmart, and Target! No luck. Then I tried to find striped fabric at JoAnns... no such luck (out of the thousands of patterns they have there). So finally I tried Ross, thinking maybe there was something I could use from the kids section. Again no luck.

So I gave up and decided to go shopping for myself. I went to the Juniors section to find a sweater for myself, and lo an behold, what did I find? THIS SWEATER!

It was PERFECT! The right color, and it came with a scarf!! All for $6.99! There were only two on the rack and I bought both of them up. I used one sweater for Brobee's body, and the sleeves from the second sweater for the legs. I also got a green microfiber towel to make his head.

Here are the pictures I took throughout the process:

Being that I'm not the best at sewing, I learned a few things along the way and had to redo the stitching of the arms and legs to the body, but it looked pretty good in the end.

On Christmas, my nephew was one happy boy. His first remarks about his gift were, "Brobee is BIG!"

All the time and hard work I put into it definitely paid off!

Pipe Cleaner Riley - The Golden Retriever

2009-12-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

My buddy Chris has made it into my blog again!! I just finished a custom order for him that is going to be a Christmas present for his sister, and I think it's one of the sweetest presents ever! He asked me to create a Fuzzy of the family's dog, Riley (who, btw, is a girl dog-- apparently "Riley" is a unisex name... kind of like "Taylor," I guess). Anyhow, here are the pictures of Riley that he sent me:

Isn't she the cutest Retriever you've ever seen??

Oh and then there's this one... EEK!

Don't worry folks-- she's just catching a snowball mid-air!

Chris also requested that the Fuzzy have a pink leash or collar, but given winter is pretty darn cold in Boston, I gave the Fuzzy a pink scarf instead. Here is Fuzzified Riley:

I really love how she came out! She looks like Baby Riley!! Chris also pointed out that the keychain looks like a leash, which I hadn't thought of. I hope his sister likes it! I almost wanted to keep it for myself!! :)

Merry Christmas, Chris' sister!

13 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS

2009-12-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to Ella Fitzgerald on Pandora right now singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." What a lovely song. It's feeling like winter here in San Diego. We don't get snow, but we've been getting our share of rain, which has also made the temperatures dip into the 40's and 50's. I know, still pretty good compared to the rest of the country, but we here in SD are admittedly a bunch of wusses when it comes to the cold!

Christmas is certainly buzzing right now. I've finished my brother in law and his wife's presents. They are sitting under the tree. I'm 75% done with my handmade presents for my nephew, sister, and cousin. My parents' gift is also very close. I hope to get more presents under the tree this weekend.

I'm also off to a holiday party tonight. My White elephant gift contribution is a self-assembled "Grow yourself a Garden Kit." It's made up of little vases and seed packets (basil, parsley, chives, and tomatoes). Even comes with little garden markers so you can mark what you planted. With it being winter and all, I thought a few plants could spruce up someone's kitchen. Plus, I'm giving the gift of life! :) Hope whoever gets it likes it! Wonder what I'll get? I think my present is pretty darn cool, so worst case, I'll just try to get my garden gift back! Hahaha...

Teach Me... PLEASE!!! - UPDATE!

2009-12-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

Quick update - When I got to work today, I told my friend that I was impressed by his daughter's tenacity in getting me to teach her how to make a Fuzzy dog. Then he told me that it turns out that the 9-yr old emailed me without telling her parents! When my friend asked her why she didn't check with Mom or Dad before emailing me, she said, "Because I'm old enough to do it myself." Isn't that awesome?? :)

That little girl really is going to go far in life with such initiative! What a great quality!

Teach Me... PLEASE!!!

2009-12-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

I went to a friend's house over the weekend and spent the evening with his wife and kids. Since they were cooking, I thought it would be a nice gesture to bring their kids a little something in as a token of thanks. So I made each of them a Fuzzy dog and they loved them when I brought them out. Success!

But that's not it. It turns out his 9-yr old daughter and I both share a passion for crafts, and this little girl is VERY CREATIVE. Well, today, I got the following email from my friend:

"Be prepared that you will receive email from my daughter from now on. She has been hooked into your little gift. She spent most of her time trying to make the same figure that you gave to her. She was frustrated and even cried because she couldn’t make it. She asked me to invite you to our house again (very soon, like next weekend) in order to teach her how to do it."

I was flattered that I could make a little girl cry (in a good way). I told my friend that I could offer her some hints and thanked him again for the wonderful evening and dinner.

A couple hours later, I received this email from guess who:

"Hi Ms.Sharon,

Can you please stop by my house for 30 minutes to teach me how to make a dog out of pipe cleaners before CHRISTMAS ?

I have about 150 pipe cleaners.

I was planning to make dogs for my relatives for christmas present. Can you e-mail me back? Please tell me what date and what time you are available."

Wow, this little girl is HARDCORE! How could I say no to that?? So this weekend, I'll be going to their house to spend a couple hours teaching her the tricks of the trade, and some of my "secrets." I should have her sign a non-disclosure agreement so she doesn't take that knowledge and outsell me in the market! =P

Christmas is in the Air!!

2009-12-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

This year, I've gotten into the Christmas spirit early!! Perhaps it has to do with the fact that this is the first year I haven't had to travel a lot for work at the end of the year. Or maybe it's because some of the tougher personal events that I've endured over the last two years has given me a heightened appreciation for the simple, fun, and good things in life. Regardless, my Christmas spirit started ringing well before Thanksgiving!!

Two weeks before Thanksgiving, I started working on my gift list, and started making my handmade presents for people. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I set my Pandora station to Christmas songs. Last weekend I put up our new Christmas tree (thanks Lowes for the $16 sale on a 6 ft artificial Christmas tree that will last us forever) and our Christmas lights in our front yard. Today I'm supposed to study for a final, but instead I've been making Christmas pipe cleaner animals. Times are tough for the entire nation right now, and it's made Christmas seem a little more meaningful.

Sales in my shop seem to be boosting with the holidays approaching. I think my niche market really is people on the prowl for stocking stuffers. In the last 4 weeks, I've sold 6 items, which is pretty good for my shop. Yay!! Here are some Christmassy things that I've been working on...

Hope everyone is basking in the holiday spirit like I am!!

I pity the fool who don't think pipe cleaners are cool! - Mr. T

2009-11-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

One of my guy friends at work, Chris, is into quirky things. I usually get a good Internet link at least once a week from him that would be categorized as "interesting." He's been a real supporter of my Fuzzington efforts, and he was the one who recommended that I make some mainstream characters, like the mini-Yoda.

He's also a real Mr. T fan. A couple of weeks ago, he found a scanned Mr. T cereal box from the 80s. Do you all remember this?

He downloaded the high-res file (it was like 50 MB), printed it out, assembled it, and had an exact replica of the cereal box in his cubicle!! I was so envious, I practically begged him to make me a mini one. A week a later, he stopped by my desk while I was on a conference call, and dropped a mini cereal box off at my desk! I was so stoked!! You too can have this awesome box by going to this site: http://tinyurl.com/yj5g8o3

At any rate, to return the favor, I thought I'd make him a little present. He'd asked me in the past if I could make a Fuzzy Mr. T. So last weekend, I gave it a try, and while it's not my best work, I found the end really made me smile!

Have you bought tickets for the Gun Show?
Look at the guns on this little guy!!

"I pity the fool..."

I got the gold chain from a quarter machine at Frys. Mini Mr. T was able to stand on his own until I put the gold chains on him. Then he kept toppling over because the chains were too heavy. So I had to glue him to a little wooden disc to stabilize him. I now realize why Mr. T was so buff in his heyday-- so he could support all those gold chains on him and not fall over!!

So Mini Mr. T is now sitting in Chris' cube next to the Mr. T cereal box! :)

Who Said Friday the 13th Sucks...

2009-11-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

....because Friday the 13th (11/13/09) was a great day for me! I made TWO SALES!!! I usually get an order for two items, but on this day I received sales from two different people!!

The first item was Herman the Sheep, who I personally think is one of my most adorable creations, but I think that's partly because I think sheep are funny-looking animals.

The second item was my Mini-Yoda! I hope this person is truly a Star Wars fan, and I think this is the case because when I looked at Google Analytics, "Yoda" was a search word on Etsy that led to my shop!!

Funny, the process of making Mini-Yoda came really easily to me, but making Chewbacca and the Ewoks for some reason has been more challenging and I still haven't figured it out!

I hope that this is the Holidays sending sales my way!! Did I mention the Fuzzies make great stocking stuffers? :)

How to make YOUR OWN MICROWAVE POPCORN!

2009-11-09T17:57:00.000-08:00

OMG - Buying microwave popcorn is way unhealthy and expensive!!

I read in my hubby's Men's Health magazine how to make your own MW popcorn, and it is super easy! Literally, all you do is:

1) Buy popcorn seeds from the store (usually at under $1 a pound)

2) Throw a handful of popcorn seeds into a paper lunch bag. You can get them really cheap at the dollar store. I got these cute Dora the Explorer bags from the 99c Store (20 for a dollar!)

3) Fold the paper bag like you would a lunchbag to seal it (don't add anything to the bag). I like to fold the corners down to really keep it closed.

4) Throw it in the microwave for 1-2 mins. I set mine for about 1:45.

5) The popcorn will start popping using the moisture within the seed

6) Carefully open and enjoy!!

That's IT! NO OIL OR ANYTHING!!

I love the fresh popped, non-oily taste of popcorn made this way! You can always add butter if you want! I like to top it with cheese powder.

I am never buying microwave popcorn again!!

Extraordinary Uses for Pipe Cleaners

2009-11-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

I've been getting several messages from people about how they have bags of pipe cleaners and don't know what to do with them. Well, fret not my friends! Here is a list of uses for pipe cleaners from the Readers Digest book, Extraordinary Uses for O rdinary Things.

I hope that this list will give you a few ideas!

Decorate a ponytail

Need a fresh look for your hair? Tired of using plain old ribbons? Once you have your hair in a ponytail, twist a pipe cleaner around the hair band. Twist a couple together for an even brighter effect.

Use as an emergency shoelace

Your shoelace broke and you're about to go out on the court to play that grudge match in basketball. A pipe cleaner is a good stopgap tie-up. Just thread in your shoe as you would a shoelace and twist it up at the top.

Safety pin holder

Safety pins come in so many sizes, it's hard to keep them together and organized. Thread safety pins onto a pipe cleaner, through the bottom loop of each pin, for easy access.

Clean gas burners

Have you noticed that your stovetop burners are not firing on all their jets? Do you see an interrupted circle of blue when you turn a burner on? Poke a pipe cleaner through the little vents. This cleans the burner and allows it to work more efficiently. This works for pressure cooker safety valves, or pressure cookers' too.

Make napkin rings

Colorful pipe cleaners are an easy and fast resource for making napkin rings. Just twist around the napkin and place on the table. If you want to get adventurous, use two, one for the napkin ring, attach the other pipe cleaner to it, shaped into a heart, shamrock, flower, curlicue, or something else.

Use as twist tie

You're ready to close up that smelly bag of kitchen garbage when you discover you are out of twist ties. Grab a pipe cleaner instead.

Use as a travel toy

If you're worried about having a bored, wiggly child on your hands during your next long car or plane ride, throw a bunch of pipe cleaners into your bag. Whip them out when the "Are we there yet?" questions start coming your way. Colorful pipe cleaners can be bent and shaped into fun figures, animals, flowers, or whatever. They even make cool temporary bracelets and necklaces.

Use as a mini-scrubber

Pipe cleaners are great for cleaning in tight spaces. Use one to remove dirt from the wheel of a can opener or to clean the bobbin area of a sewing machine.

Decorate a gift

To give a special touch to a birthday or holiday present, shape a pipe cleaner into a bow or a heart. Poke one end through a hole in the card, and that runs its length. Line the vase with a plastic bag before you fill it with water and add the bouquet, giving fresh life to a treasured heirloom.

And my own little Addendum to this list: Make super cute pipe cleaner animals!! =)

Fridge Pidge - Custom Order

2009-10-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love custom orders. They give me a way to challenge my pipe cleaner sculpting skills, and really gets my creative juices running! I just wanted to share with everyone one of my latest custom creations.

Christyn from ReclaimTheThrone (see blog entry from 10/16/09) requested a custom Fuzzy of her Sheltie, Pidge. She also requested that the Fuzzy be made as a refrigerator magnet, hence the nickname I coined for this creation, Fridge Pidge! =)

Here is the picture of Pidge that Christyn sent to me. Isn't she adorable?

And here is Pidge fuzzified. Her coloration was the most difficult to achieve.

Here is Fridge Pidge!

You like? Any comments would be lovely!

China - Day 2: Beijing

2009-10-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, Winston here again! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while! It's been difficult finding free internet access here at the Pond, but they finally opened up an Internet Cafe right next to my nest! Now my webby feet can partake in the world wide webby whenever I'd like!

Day 2 of my China trip was an attraction packed day in Beijing! Our first stop: The Temple of Heaven.

From Wikipedia (because they say it better than I ever could):

In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important. The temple was built for these ceremonies, mostly comprising prayers for good harvests.

This place was pretty amazing! The architecture was stunning, but what was even more interesting were the people (mostly seniors) who come to the surrounding park to take part in all sorts of recreation, such as...

Calligraphy with Water

Ribbon Dancing

Music Playing

Ballroom Dancing (Didn't know you could dance with yourself)

Just Hanging out with the Boys

Wow! I'd like to take up a little synchronized swimming when I get become an old duck! I'll have to start lobbying that idea with the local pond!

We then went and visited the Olympic Village Birds Nest Stadium!! This was the whole reason I wanted to go to Beijing...

It is at times like these that I wish I was a filthy rich bird! What an amazing structure! The only drawback is that there's no pool inside. Guess this one's more suitable for those darn, spoiled chickens than it is for us aquatic fowl. Perhaps one day I'll have a Bird's Nest of my very own (sigh.....).

For lunch we had this green stuff-- I know, looks totally gross right? What is it? Guts stew? Apple oatmeal? Ground up caterpillars? Noooo.... it's Spinach Congee! And it's pretty darn good! What's a "congee," you ask?? Ahhh, you haven't had porridge 'til you've had congee. Shh! Ancient Chinese Secret! Still don't know the Congee? Look it up on Wikipedia!

And finally, we ended the day with a trip to the Forbidden City, where the Emperor used to live. This place is HUMONGOUS!!! Imagine living at a place the size of Disney World, but instead of cool rides and parks you had a lot of really intricate buildings and gardens, and this entire place was your home!

I have enough trouble as it is swimming from one place to another at the Pond. I sometimes wish I had a motorboat. I don't walk nearly as fast as I swim, so I'd have to get a golf cart if I lived in this place! But then I'd have to learn to drive a golf cart. Well, I'd have to get one first I guess. I wonder if I could get financing?? I think I'll just stick with the Pond.

Day 3 and the Great Wall coming soon!

Sincerely,
Winston

A New Banner Thanks to a New Etsy Friend!

2009-10-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

I got this super-cute, wonderful new banner for my Etsy shop from a fellow Etsian, Christyn, who is owner of ReclaimTheThrone (ReclaimTheThrone.etsy.com)!! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK??

Christyn's shop specializes in refurbishing vintage furniture into OOAK, lovely pieces that anyone one would want to have in their home.

In her spare time though, she makes some AWESOME banners, and I really think she should start a business making banners. =) Check out her blog for some of the other banners she's made!! http://reclaimthethronevintage.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU CHRISTYN FOR "refurbishing" my shop!!

China - Day 1: Beijing

2009-10-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Winston the Duck here with a report on my wonderful trip to China! I must say that my 9 day trip was quite adventurous, yet exhausting! I took a lot of pictures at first, but it just got so tiresome lugging that big camera around, I slowed down toward the end. However, I'll share with you what I have!

I flew-- ha ha, silly me, I didn't actually fly, I took a plane-- from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. It was a red eye flight (1:30 in the morning)! Here I am in the airport (LAX), just passing time, waiting for the plane to arrive.

When we arrived at Hong Kong (16 hours later), we took another flight to Beijing. We flew on Air China, and boy oh boy, those Chinese airlines sure are something!

They served us a "westernized" breakfast of ham and eggs. Here I am with my cup of apple juice.

Here I am wrestling with the breakfast. Soggy, pastuerized eggs, oily croissant, and flimsy spinach. YUM!! The essential food groups. And don't forget the french fries that came with it! I love french fries!

I did thoroughly enjoy, however, the piece of dragonfruit that they served. These fruits come at a premium in the States. It looks strange, but it tastes like a really sweet kiwi. Mmmm... yummmmm....

We arrived at the lovely Beijing airport, which was built just for the 2008 Olympics. Isn't it neat, with all its lines? Sure beats the hell out of LAX!

We then hopped on our tour bus and went to check in at the Westin in Beijing, which is a brand new, luxurious hotel. We ducks know how to enjoy ourselves.

Now here comes the bad part... Dinner. We walked into a beautiful restaurant for dinner that night, and the dishes were beautiful and tasty.

But I was unprepared for what they had in store for me. It turned out the specialty of the night, the whole purpose of the dinner was to serve...

PEKING DUCK!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Luckily for me, no one realized that I'm a duck, thanks to my dashing looks, extreme charm, and perfect American accent. I was able to get out of there safe and sound, but the food that I had eaten earlier wasn't so lucky. I ended leaving all of that in the alley behind the restaurant. Later that night, I would seek out a McDonalds and order a McChicken sandwich. Thank goodness for McDonalds and their international status!!!

More soon...
Winston

It's Nice to Be Home!!

2009-10-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are finally back, and I must say, it is really nice to be home!! The weather here in San Diego is beautiful compared to the hot, humid weather that we experienced in China and Hong Kong. We had a blast though, and my little Fuzzy Buddy that accompanied me on the trip, Winston the Duck, took lots of pics. He told me that he especially had fun at the Great Wall! We wanted to update our blog while we were on our trip, but you can't access Blogger in China!! So Winston will be filling you all in over the next few days about his travels.

Hope all has been well while we were gone! =)

OMG - Did you watch the MTV VMAs?

2009-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is not my usual post about Fuzzies... I watched the MTV Video Music Awards tonight in one of the best ways possible-- ONLINE! Thanks MTV.COM for posting all of the videos online since I don't have cable!

The VMAs were great this year! I experienced a whole spectrum of emotions!

I was pensive when Madonna made her speech about MJ.

I cried when Janet danced with the video of her brother.

I cheered when Taylor Swift won her award...
...then I booed when Kanye West robbed her of her moment.

I was touched by Taylor Swift's bravery as she put on a smile in her performance minutes later

I was perplexed, but impressed by Lady Gaga's performance
...but was absolutely swept away by Pink and Beyonce

Then I cheered and cried again with admiration when Beyonce brought Taylor Swift up for a second chance at her acceptance speech!!

What a wonderful evening!

9/14/09 - UPDATE!!

I posted something similar to this post in the Etsy Forums, and wow! It's blown up! I guess there was a "Kanye" moment in one of the replies and it's generated some heated responses! Oooh, the drama of Etsy! =) Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6282605

More Milestones!!!

2009-09-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Fuzzington is steadily humming along... Some new milestones have been reached!!

I reached 100 followers on this blog! Currently at 106!
I reached 100 fans on Facebook! Currently at 128 FANS!
I reached 300 followers on Twitter! Currently at 301!

And since July, I've made 8 SALES!!! That may not sound like a lot, but for Fuzzington it means we're getting back on track!

So now it becomes a question of how to increase sales. A lot of feedback that I've been getting in the Etsy forums about my shop is that people don't know what to do with the Fuzzies. Well, how about "to just sit there, look cute for you, and keep you company!!" =)

But seriously, I think it's a good point... I should help potential customers with figuring out uses for my little Fuzzies. I'm also going to start trying out a line of keychains, magnets, and rings to see if it sparks any interest. I'm also going to keep going with the pencil toppers.

Wish me luck! Hopefully with the holiday season approaching, business will pick up even more!! And thanks to all of you who support the Fuzzington cause!!

Custom Fuzzy: Ichabod

2009-09-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's a little early for spooky Halloween stuff, but given that stores are starting to display Halloween goodies, I thought I'd show off my latest custom creation: Ichabod, the tuxedo cat. Ichabod is mostly my sister's cat. She and her boyfriend named him Ichabod, after Ichabod Crane from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

As a challenge, my sister's boyfriend requested a custom Fuzzy of Ichabod. I made him during a two-hour car ride from memory, and I must say, he came out pretty close! Guess all those times I played with Ichabod paid off!

The cat eyes are part of a new design that I'm experimenting with. They're made with a thin yellow pipe cleaner with two beads. I'm thinking I need to show a little more separation between the eyes. I also would like to add some whiskers. And the ears could be a little smaller.

Overall though, I'm really happy with how he came out. My sis and her b-friend seemed to really like him as well. At least this version of Ichabod won't scratch her boyfriend up! =)

Guess What? Chicken Butt!! And...

2009-09-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

... I won the Chicken Cake Make Us LOL contest!!! WHOOOOHOOOO!!!! I told y'all I was funny!!

Here is their video announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijaY8jmffFw

I am so stoked! Thanks Nadiah and Ali from Chicken Cake! Check out their cool shop here: ChickenCake.etsy.com . I can't wait to get my Chicken Cake gear!

Naughty Dog Series

2009-09-01T12:50:00.001-07:00

The last few days have been stinkin' hot, and to our alarm, we found FLEAS on our adorable little Maggie! Yuck-O! I've never done so much research on fleas in my life.

And maybe it's the fleas getting to my head, but they inspired me to create a naughty dog series (and by no means am I saying that Maggie is naughty for getting fleas, but those fleas sure are)! They each come with their own little polymer clay bone, fire hydrant, and pee spot!

This one looks like our little Maggie (except it's a boy). He looks like he's saying, "Yay! I'm peeing! Care to join me?"

And this grumpy little beagle appears to be saying, "Don't bother me. I'm peeing."

I've also developed some new packaging for my items! What do you think??

Fuzzy Butterfly Garden

2009-08-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

One of my friends at work was recently let go, and we were all very sad about it. This lady loves anything crafty, and loves all things Victorian. Think roses, tea parties, paper dolls... So on her last day, I gave her something that I thought would make her smile: a Fuzzy Butterfly Garden.

In the garden are three butterflies, a caterpillar, and a moth. The three butterflies can be hung like ornaments, and the caterpillar and moth are refrigerator magnets.

I didn't get to see her open it, but she did send me this thank you note:

"Let me just say that your gift was sublime. From the very get go of the creative gift wrapping, to the lovely note and to crescendo with the opening of the tissue to find my very own butterfly garden, hand made by you! It made me laugh and grin and cheer you on mightily! Well done Sharon! I love their size, colors and bright cheer they exude."

I'm so glad I was able to make her smile!!

Alchemy Request - Hannah the Doxie

2009-08-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest Alchemy creation, Hannah the Doxie!! Hannah is an adorable little Doxie that loves to chase her little blue ball, and belongs to the lovely LaughingFridge (LaughingFridge.etsy.com). Here is a picture of Hannah in real life:

And here she is after she was Fuzzingtized:

Hannah is made completely out of brown pipe cleaners and glass beads, primarily using traditional wire-wrapping techniques. The only glue used was for her little pink felt tongue. Hannah loves her little blue ball, which is made of polymer clay. I hope the owner loves pipe cleaner Hannah almost as much as the real one!! =)

YAY!! 100 Fans on Facebook! Now What??

2009-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

I DID IT!

I finally got 100 Facebook Fans on my Fuzzington Fan Page!! I now have the power to add a username to my facebook url and make it easy to type in! My link is now http://facebook.com/fuzzingtonfuzz. It was a bit of a bummer because "Fuzzington" had already been taken as a user name (booooooooo...) but this name is fine.

I do have to admit, however, that setting up your user name is not an intuitive process. I had to look it up in the Etsy forums, and I found this SUPER helpful thread by StarGlowStudio: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6238241

From her thread:

Congrats on getting your 100 fans!
I've had a few people emailing asking if I know where to go to get a custom URL. Here's the link...
http://www.facebook.com/username/
Below the blue box, click on "Set a username for your Pages."
Remember, choose your name carefully - you can't change it later. Make sure it's spelled correctly!

Super helpful, right?? By the way, StarGlowStudio makes some amazing pet portraits, so make sure you check out thier shop (StarglowStudio.etsy.com). This one reminds me of my little Maggie when she has hair:

Thanks to everyone who helped me get to 100 Fans! I'd especially like to mention my 100th Fan, chrissymaciel, a talented young artist that just started her shop not too long ago. She's got some really trendy knitted hats and scarves that are just wonderful!

Give Chrissy's shop some love ( crissymaciel.etsy.com)! Chrissy, we can't wait to see more of those stylish items!!

I Have the Best Husband in the World

2009-08-19T10:46:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I was tasked with creating favors for my best friend's bridal shower, and since the theme of the shower was Hello Kitty, I decided to make some cute beaded Hello Kitty bracelets. They're made of glass beads and Swarovski crystals, with a little Hello Kitty charm. I bought the charms on Etsy. Here's mine.. isn't it cute?
However, I only had two evenings to put together TWENTY of these babies and I had no idea how I was going to crimp, tread, and bead all twenty in time for the shower. Luckily for me, I have the best husband in the world!! Now let me preempt this by saying that my husband is definitely NOT INTO CRAFTS. He thinks it's cool that I like them, but his idea of fun is sitting on the couch watching sports all day with a few beers. This same guy offered to help me bead the bracelets, so all I had to do was start them off, and he beaded more than half of the bracelets!! So sweet!!

Here's my cute husband in action.

I think it's so cute how he laid out all the beads before stringing them. I should have gotten him a beading board. =)

He was a real trooper and we finished all of them in one night (even if it took us until 1am)!! He even admitted that he had fun doing it!! What a great guy!!

FB Fans - I am so darn close!!!

2009-08-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

I am officially at 99 fans on my Facebook fanpage, and it's been at 99 for the last two days!! DOH! Who's going to be #100??

On a separate note, I am now offering fuzzy embellishments in my shop, starting with these cute, fuzzy hearts! Use them for scrapbooking, gift wrap, confetti, of just to give to those you love!

So give me some love!! =)

HOBBY LOBBY

2009-08-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

We are very blessed here in Southern California to have a lot of things that many people in the rest of the country wish they had: palm trees, beaches, beautiful weather all year round... but there is one thing that we do not have: Hobby Lobby.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was in Schaumburg this week for meetings, but in a perceived
act of divine intervention, my meetings for Thursday were canceled, and since I had a late flight and a rental car, I had the perfect opportunity to pursue what I consider to be a crafter's paradise. Oh, how happy I was to be in this store!!! I memorialized the visit with pics on my cell phone.

Why do I love Hobby Lobby so much? Well right off the bat, the sheer size of the place is astounding to me. Just look at it! It's huge! If you took a Michaels, JoAnns, and Aaron Brothers, and mashed them all together into the same store, you'd get Hobby Lobby!

And the selection-- Oh, the selection!! And the great prices!! Imagine a Wal-Mart that only sold crafts!

There is a whole half of an aisle dedicated to PIPE CLEANERS! Folks, I present to you the birthplace of Fuzzington:

There are thin pipe cleaners, thick ones, feathery, striped... even JUMBO sized pipe cleaners (in the left portion of the picture above). I didn't get those jumbo ones because I wasn't sure what I could make with them. Needless to say, I stocked up...

On top of that, I got some great deals on postage stamp collecting supplies, as well as animal eyes for my sock monkeys, and some great jewelry findings. Somehow I was able to stash it all in my suitcase, and airport security did not give me any trouble for bringing a bunch of craft supplies home.

When I got back to San Diego in the evening, my husband and I went to Trader Joes to stock up on groceries. As we were checking out, I joked about how the many items we were ringing up at Trader's reminded me of my purchase that morning at Hobby Lobby. The cashier overheard me and asked excitedly, "They opened a Hobby Lobby here in San Diego??" Unfortunately I had to break the news to her that this wasn't the case, and she looked disappointed. She had moved out here from Tennessee and said she really missed the store.

So for those of you who are fortunate enough to have this great store in your community, and are amused by how I revere this store-- I think you're really taking Hobby Lobby for granted!! Please, let this be a reminder to not take Hobby Lobby for granted! Perhaps one day, I can "lobby" to bring Hobby Lobby to the west coast. Until then, I'll just have to wait for my business trips to Schaumburg and hope for canceled meetings...

High Hopes for Hobby Lobby

2009-08-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm in Schaumburg, IL for work this week, and I'm feeling very excited! Why? Because my meetings on Thursday have been canceled, which means I can take an earlier flight home, but more importantly, it gives me time to go to HOBBY LOBBY!!! For those of you who have followed the growth of Fuzzington, you'll recall that Fuzzington all began with a pipe cleaner purchase from Hobby Lobby. I would go to a Hobby Lobby over Michaels any day, but unfortunately, there are no Hobby Lobbies in San Diego. There is, however, one here in Schaumburg!!! So please keep your fingers crossed that I will have time on Thursday to visit this great store! I didn't travel over 2000 miles to not go to Hobby Lobby if I was presented with the opportunity. Stay tuned! We shall see what happens!!!

Another Treasury!

2009-07-28T20:59:00.001-07:00

Fuzzington has been featured in a treasury again, thanks to the lovely deersprite (see blog entry http://fuzzington.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-fuzzington-feature.html for the feature I did for her! She featured my Fuzzy cat, Mr. Kitty Pants! Here is a link to the treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=62304

Mr. Kitty Pants is a friendly little guy who enjoys his afternoon tea with a sprig of catnip on the side. He makes a lovely companion and enjoys quoting poetry, art galleries, and walks in the garden. He'd make a lovely companion on a quiet afternoon!

Project Wonderful Ads on my Blog!

2009-07-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Look to the right... scroll down. You see 'em? See them over there? That's right! I now have Project Wonderful ads on my blog!! Get 'em while they're hot!

I'm not exactly sure what strategies are out there for using PW, so if any of you have suggestions, please send them my way! THANKS!!!

200 HEARTS!!!

2009-07-23T22:59:00.001-07:00

Great news!! As of today, I exceeded 200 Etsy Heart for my shop!! YAY!!! Thanks to LittleStudioJewels for being the 200th person who hearted my shop!!

LittleStudioJewels has some great wire-wrapped jewelry that is simple and elegant. You can visit her Etsy shop at LittleStudioJewels.etsy.com. The ring below is just one of many lovely items in her shop!

Thanks everyone for all of your support!!

Customizing Your Facebook Widget

2009-07-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

I put my Facebook Fan Box widget on my blog a couple of days ago (see right hand column and scroll down), and I love how it looks! Rather than the text link to my Facebook fan page that I have under the "Important Links" section, I now have an attractive Fan Box that shows my fans on facebook, and hopefully entices others to click and join! Have you gotten yours yet?

Of course, as I did with the Etsy Minis on my blog, the code for the Facebook Fan Box had to be modified a little to make it fit correctly. If you have a blog on blogspot, the Fan Box may be too big initially.

Here is how I got the code for my Fan Box from Facebook, and how I implemented it to fit correctly in my blog:

1) Go to your fan page in facebook.

2) Click on Add Fan Box to your site

3) This will take you to a page where you can set up your widget. I chose to check "Include Fans" only. The streaming version takes up too much room in my opinion, but you can check it if you like.

4) Copy the code generated and add it to your blog layout (this would be a gadget in blogspot).

Now take a close look at the default widget that is produced in Step 3 (sorry for the bad resolution). Do you see how it is wider and has more fans listed than the widget that is in my blog? There are a couple of parameters that you can change in the code to get the same results as mine. Or you can play around with the numbers and see what suits your blog best.

In the code that is generated, the default number of fans listed is 10, and the width of the box is 300 pixels. I changed these two parameters to make my widget fit better:

- To change the number of fans, look for the text in the code that says connections="10" Simply change the number 10 to the number of fans you want to display. In my case, I changed it from 10 to 6.

- To change the width of the widget, find the text in the code that says width="300" (which should be right next to the "connections" text) and change the 300 to a smaller number to make the box narrower, or a larger number to make the box wider. In my case, I changed the number to 200. Depending on your blog layout, this number can vary.

And there you go! I hope this helps you all put a nice Facebook Fan Box on your blog!! Good luck, and convo me if you need help!

Fuzzy Spider Magnets!!

2009-07-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

I promised one of my friends a while back that I would make her a pipe cleaner spider. I ended up making a pink one that looked like a really feminine, friendly tarantula. It was super cute, and I showed it to my super creative sister, who said, "You could totally make refrigerator magnets with those!"

What an absolutely wonderful idea! The little light bulb went off in my head and voila!. Here it is, in my shop now! The Crazy Legs Fuzzy Spider Magnet! It will look awesome on your fridge, or on a desk drawer in your cubicle! Lovingly made with yellow chenille stems/pipe cleaners, it measures approximately 3 inches in diameter. Come check it out!

(Yes, I heart hello kitty)

Day of Red Flowers

2009-07-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Fuzzington has two new recent features!

The first one is a treasury entitled "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" by NightLady!!! She featured my Louie the Tiger in her treasury! Can you identify which one is Louie??

Nightlady has some lovely handmade organza flowers in her shop! I especially love this one... isn't it just lovely? You can check out her Etsy shop at NightLady.etsy.com. Incidentally, she has the exact same number of sales as I do right now, so show her some love!! =)

The other feature is by shannonmarie3 on her blog (http://shannonmari3.blogspot.com/)! She takes the most beautiful photographs of flowers. I find it hard to believe that she's got so few sales!! Go check her out at het Etsy shop at shannonmari3.etsy.com. I had a hard time picking a picture that I liked the most... I would have loved to post all of the photos in her shop, but if I absolutely had to pick one only, I think it would be this lovely photo:

I think I may just be in the mood for red flowers today... but the thing I love about this piece is that it looks very much like a Georgia O'Keefe painting. Just stunning.

Thank you ladies for the features! I hope everyone will check out these talented artists!!

Also, I have 195 hearts on Etsy as of today!! Who'll help me get to 200??? =)

Flying Fuzzies

2009-07-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

What's that? Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird-- it's a plane-- it's....

SUPER DOG!

"Abandoned as a pup, he was found by Muriel, who lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband Eustace Bagge. But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere; it's up to Courage to save his new home."

And if you ever need a wish to be granted, here is a Fairy Fuzzy:

Cinderella: Oh, no. No, it isn't true. It's just no use. I can't believe. Not anymore. There's nothing left to believe in. Nothing.
Fairy Godmother: That's not true, dear.
Cinderella: Yes it is...
Fairy Godmother: Nonsense, child. If you'd lost all your dreams, I couldn't be here. And here I am.

These two crack me up. They really capture the imagination, don't you think?

Twitter Magic... and ice cream!

2009-07-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

Like many people, I did not get twitter at first. How were you supposed to communicate with people using blurbs of 140 characters or less? And how could you possibly get to know anyone in such a fashion?

Well now I'm starting to get it. Twitter has opened up doors to me that would not have been there otherwise. I now have almost 140 followers, and while it may not be the thousands that other twitterers have, the following I have so far has already given my shop more exposure than before. Today, I posted Herman the sheep, and within the first 5 minutes of twittering about my new post, I got 25 views, and 1 heart for him! WOW! I don't know about you, but I think it's amazing that 20 people around the world are compelled to click on my link and check my store out!

I have also been discovering all sorts of talented Etsians, artists, and events! I've even happened to come across two ladies who sell homemade ice cream in their ice cream cart in random places in San Diego. From their blog:

We make delicious gourmet ice cream sandwiches from scratch featuring local eggs, organic dairy, and other fresh, seasonal ingredients. You can follow us on Twitter (CreamQueenz) and catch our Cream Cart at the beach, in the park, or even outside your favorite San Diego bar. Make sure to try our signature "Cream-a-Donna"!

How cool is that? I swear, they're going to be the next cool cultural phenomenon, like Krispy Kremes, or the bulgogi taco truck with the DJ (some of you know what I'm talking about). You can follow them on twitter: http://twitter.com/CreamQueenz. I hope to run into them someday and taste their yummy-sounding ice cream! Check them out today!

A Month at the Fair, and Smoky Robinson!

2009-07-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

After a month-long stint at the San Diego County Fair, the Fuzzies are finally back! Although they didn't win anything, they were pretty popular at the fair. I went on Saturday (4th of July) to the fair to check on them and to see Smoky Robinson in concert after the fireworks. That man is almost 70, but boy he sure can put out those high notes as lovely and smooth as ever! He sang all is greatest hits, and everyone in the crowd was singing along! Here's a pic that I took at his concert:

He looks nothing like he used to. He's definitely had a lot of work done (his face doesn't move too much), but that mouth does. And that's all that matters!

Anyway, back to the beginning of my day at the fair... First, I had my chocolate-covered deep fried twinkie.

I have to admit, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it would be! It still tasted like a twinkie, just warmer and oilier. I think it would taste better if they roasted them like mashmallows. Or throw them in the toaster oven. Oh well, at least I can say I've finally had one. Beans taste better refried than twinkies do.

Then I went to go look for the Fuzzies on display... After much searching, I finally found them!!

I was a little peeved that some of them had fallen over. Thank goodness I had at least pinned them down, or I might have lost a few!

And then I found my Marching Band aaaaaaaaall the way at the bottom of this display case. I had to make two rounds around the exhibit hall before spotting it! They looked happy... marching on as usual.

I stood incognito at first to see what people's reactions to my Fuzzies would be. Several people walked by and ooohed and aaahed and said, "Aw, isn't that adorable?" much to my delight.

I think next year, rather than the Miscellaneous crafts category, I'll enter them into the Miniatures competition. They might stand a better chance. Maybe.

Featured Fuzzy - Baby Ostrich

2009-07-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

It all started with a lone pink pipe cleaner in my stash. And then a little yellow felt. And an idea that I had for how to make felt beaks for my future birds. When the head was formed, the word "ostrich" floated into my head. One google search for ostrich pictures, and8 pipe cleaners later, viola! Meet my latest intricate Fuzzy, the baby ostrich. Now on Etsy. What should I name her?

Happy 4th of July and The Wonderful World of Project Wonderful

2009-07-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm going to the San Diego County Fair today to watch fireworks and then watch Smokey Robinson in his post-fireworks show! I love Smokey's songs, but I hope he'll be able to move his mouth to sing, given all the plastic surgery/botox he's had in the past years!

I'll also be checking up on my Fuzzies that are on exhibit at the Home and Hobby competition! Hope they're all still there, and that nobody took any of them. It turned out that they didn't win anything. I guess this year there just weren't any judges with a penchant for pipe cleaner arts. Maybe I should submit them to the miniatures competition next year. Either way, the submissions cost $6 each and you get a free fair ticket for participating! Tickets are normally $14, so it's a nice discount and totally worth it!

Also, a quick note, yesterday was a record day for new Fuzzington followers! I received 50 visitors to this blog, 6 new blog readers, 20 new twitterers, and 8 hearts to my shop! Now I just need to work on getting traffic to my facebook fan page. Thanks so much everyone for all of your support!!

Now on to project wonderful. My latest obsession are free ads on Project Wonderful! In the past, I had heard about it, but I figured you had to pay for ads. But then one day I saw a listing in the Etsy forums for a free project wonderful ad! So I signed up for a PW account, and set up an ad square. By the way, the ad square that I set up looked so simple and cute (see below). I'm thinking of switching my banner to something that looks like that.

Anyhow, I have since been keeping an eye out for those "Your Ad Here $0" messages on PW. I think it's a great way to attract people to your blog. I've found a few blogs that I really like through these searches. My only question is, how effective are these PW ads, and why do people offer free ads? Is it to bring traffic to your site even if you don't make any money on them? Can you make money with free ads? Also, does anyone get a lot of traffic from their paid/free PW ads?

I don't think I really understand this whole PW thing yet, or how it works. All I know is I get lots of emails from them about how I am the highest bidder, and then I've been outbid, and then I'm the highest bidder again. I get these like 4 times a day, and I'm not sure how I even become a high bidder again with $0. There seems to be something almost philosophical about that: How do you become the highest bidder with nothing? What is zero dollars higher than? A negative bid? Or for you math geeks, an imaginary bid, as in $4i?

I've also signed up to be a publisher, but haven't heard back from PW yet. Perhaps if and when I start publishing my own ad spaces, I'll understand why I want to put $0 ads on my site.

Any tips or advice from you wonderful PW users out there?

I'll look forward to your responses. In the meantime, heave fun porking out today! I know I will on funnelcake, hotdogs, and lemonade!

Etsy Mini Custom Code For Your Blog

2009-07-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start featuring my favorite shops on my blog using Etsy minis for those shops and posting them on the right side of my blog (scroll down on the right).

The only problem is that I wanted to put a 1x1 Gallery Etsy Mini for each store, but I didn't like how Etsy did theirs. This is what theirs looks like if you take several Etsy-generated 1x1 minis and post them to your blog:

See how it looks if I post multiple shops this way? I see all that text that says "Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade, Fuzzington.etsy.com" under every listing, and it just seems seems so repetitive and takes up a lot of room on my blog. So I decided to remove it so that it looks like this:

I love how it looks a lot less cluttered! It may not make a huge difference with only two shops, but with 5 or more, it sure can!

How did I do this? I generated an Etsy mini for my store in Etsy to play with, and edited the flash code that is generated (guess my Engineeering and Computer Science degree finally paid off!). I tried to post the code at the end of this blog entry, but blogger actually uses the code and you can't see the code. I've posted the code in the Etsy forums at this thread: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6206975

Now, here's another trick. Rather than asking people to send you their Etsy minis, you can just change any references to the user ID and name of the Etsy shop that you need an Etsy mini for. When you look at the code for your Etsy mini, look for text like that shown below, and the fields that I've highlighted in red:

object data="http://www.etsy.com/flash/spots/etsy_mini.swf?user_id=6289001&user_name=fuzzington&item_source=shop&item_size=gallery&rows=1&columns=1

So, for example, the code that I posted in this blog entry is for my store. To change it to an Etsy mini for MyDadsHands' Etsy shop, I would replace my user ID, 6289001, with hers, 7220882, and my Etsy account name "Fuzzington" to "mydadshands.' As far as I know, there are only two places in the code that looks like this, so you should be changing the user name and IDs twice each in any Etsy mini code. Make sure you type in the name of the shop exactly as it is shown in the Etsy user name, and make replacements for all id's and usernames in the code. You can use this trick with any code that you get for your Etsy Mini, regardless of the dimensions of your mini.

I think any Etsy seller would be ecstatic if y ou went ahead and made a mini-Etsy for your blog, but as usual, make sure you let them know you did as a courtesy. I'm sure they would love to know!

For those of you who would like to try this for Etsy minis larger than 1x1, the same kinds of modifications that I made to my code apply. If you need some help, feel free to convo me.

Hope this comes in handy for your blogs!!!

Fuzzington Momentum

2009-07-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, since the Fuzzington flame was reignited in me a couple of weeks ago, things have really taken off! I've made a lot of progress in the last week. To date, I have received 23 hearts, and 31 new followers on my twitter account! I also gained three followers on this blog! Thanks so much everyone for your kind words and support! It really makes me feel good knowing my work makes people smile!

On a related note, Fuzzington has received two new features! The first one is an Etsy Mini for Fuzzington that shadezofmichelle so generously offered to post on her blog! Shadezofmichelle makes the coolest handmade lampshades, like this one:

They are so lovely and intricate! You can visit her store at shadezofmichelle.etsy.com and her blog at shadezofmichelle.blogspot.com.

The other is a blog feature by Just Because Creations more! This all around artisan makes "a large variety of crafts that include paper crafts, decoupage, knitted items, plastic canvas, gel candles." Check out this cute outlet cover:
You can visit her store and blog at: JUSTBECAUSECRAFTSAND.etsy.com and mycreationsandmore.blogspot.com

Thanks for the features, ladies!

TwitChuck - Are you a Spammer on Twitter?

2009-06-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

I found this tool on the Etsy forums that allows you to check twitter users to see if they're spammers so you can decide whether or not to follow them. It's called TwitChuck! Here is the link:

http://www.twitchuck.com/

I am happy to say that I am NOT a spammer according to twitchuck! It looks like I may have actually gotten a decent score (89)! So follow me! =)

Are YOU a SPAMMER?? Hee hee...

New Fuzzington Feature!

2009-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Fuzzington has been featured in a a treasury!!

Thanks to deersprite and her daughter Rayneedeigh for choosing my baby elephant Fuzzy for their baby treasury! Here is a link to their treasury:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=58817

Deersprite has a shop with an assortment of items: jewelry, bath products, quilts, and needlework! What a talented lady! Here is a link to her shop: deersprite.etsy.com. Look at this lovely necklace from Deersprite:

Her daughter, Rayneedeigh, was the person who actually chose the elephant for the treasury. Rayneedeigh is just as talented as her mother, and specializes in "sock monsters, jewelery, soap, and everything else my mind dreams up." I especially love her sock monster Petunia:

Very cute! Here is a link to her store: RayneeDeigh.etsy.com

Make sure you visit their stores and show them some love!

Thanks so much ladies for the treasury listing!

Latest Etsy Find - MyDadsHands

2009-06-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest Etsy find and purchase from MyDadsHands! It's a "Como se Llama" notebook, hand sewn and printed! It's such a clever idea! I can't wait to start using it in my meetings at work and bring a little humor to those overly-serious meetings. It really was a serendipitous find. How did I find it?

Well...

I was browsing through facebook the other day and stumbled upon one of my buddies from High School Volleyball. Turns out she's now an artist/art director! AND she is a fellow Etsian!! Her shop MyDadsHands is super-cool. From her Etsy profile:

"i've always been envious of women with delicate, feminine hands. mine are neither delicate nor feminine--in fact, they are a carbon copy of my dad's hands. these hands might not be ideal for beauty pageant waves or blingin' diamond rings, but they're perfect for making things."

Well those hands were also great for setting a volleyball! =)

Check out MyDadsHands and all the nifty items at http://mydadshands.etsy.com
She also has a blog where she features her daily projects: http://mydadshands.blogspot.com

Have fun!!!

New Fuzzy - Baby Snow Seal

2009-06-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest little Fuzzy... It's a baby snow seal! This little guy measures approximately 1.5 inches and is made entirely our of white pipe cleaners and plastic beads. As usual, no glue used, just traditional wire-wrapping techniques. I've been conceptualizing this seal for a while now. Finally figured out how to do the head and muzzle, but it took some thinking.

These baby seals are so cute in real life... it's hard to believe anyone would want to kill them for their pelts. It seems so savage. They're so sweet and innocent!

Fuzzington at the San Diego County Fair (Part 2)

2009-06-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

My second entry to the San Diego County Fair was in the spirit of their theme this year: Music Mania. I decided to make a little marching band of instruments. This was the first time I worked with metallic pipe cleaners, and I'd have to say, they were a bit messy to work with! They're essentially made of tiny bits of tinsel and they are very rough. Certainly not soft enough for my usual fuzzies!

I made a tuba, a drum, and a flute. They're all walking in time to the conductor. The sheet music that they are marching on is for "America, the Beautiful." I thought this was a rather patriotic piece, and kind of funny. I'd never made instruments before, but I thought these were cool for the first try! =)

Hope the judges like them!

Fuzzington at the San Diego County Fair (Part 1)

2009-06-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

This year, I thought I'd try my hand at submitting an entry to the Home and Hobby Competition at the San Diego County Fair! I decided to make two entries. One was a fun diorama using the Fuzzies the I already had, and the other was in the spirit of the this year's fair theme, "Music Mania."

The first diorama was entitled "Best of Show." The setting is an animal competition at the Fuzzington County Fair, displaying the first and second place winners.

For example, here we have the winning rabbits:

I made the pink one first place because I love pink!!! It's my favorite color!!

But wait, there's more to the story...

Here's the little guy who won second place in the bird category:

He certainly tried to put on his best show! He fluffed his feathers, stood up really straight-- he even got all dressed up with the cute little bow, but he was no competition for the first place winner of the bird category, who also stole the entire show...

The grand prize winner is...

Baby, the dino-bird!!!

I've never even heard of a dinobird. Have you? Hmmm... maybe it's some sort of exotic species.

Hey, hey! Hold on a sec! Something doesn't look right here. Who are these two guys in the background?

Why are they high-fiving? And why are they holding the trophy??
Something doesn't look right about all this...

Second Fuzzy creation to come in Part 2 of this blog entry...

Fuzzington is Coming Back!!

2009-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

It's been a while since I updated this blog. Far too much time has passed since I've been up to my Fuzzy shenanigans!! I've been super busy with school and can't wait until summer session is over so I can get working on the pipe cleaners again! They have been sad and neglected and have been calling me deperately! Just one week to go and we'll be back in business!

Not too much has happened since March... I did, however enter a lot of the Fuzzies as a diorama into the San Diego County Fair Home and Hobby contest. I'll post something soon with pics so you can see the Fuzzies at work.

Anyhow, you can expect to see more activity in this blog and at the store!! Looking forward to getting back into the action and hearing from all of you!!

- Fuzz

VOTE FOR ME!!!

2009-04-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have been selected to be a contestant on Blockhead Radio's Weekly Artisan Challenge! If I win, I get free ad space for a week! My adorable little pipe cleaner elephant has made it to the challenge! Please vote and help me win!!!

http://blockheadradiolive.com/3D

Click on Marley, the Fuzzy Pipe Cleaner Elephant
And the Click VOTE

Thanks so much for your help!! I'll let you know how I placed at the end of the week!

WISH ME LUCK!!!!!!

Slow Progress...

2009-03-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

I am sad to report that I have not had a chance to work on my Fuzzies in almost two weeks!! I've been traveling so much for work! Two weeks ago I was in Schaumburg, IL (I call it Scumburg during this time of the year because it's so darn cold over there). Last week I was in LA. This week, I'm finally back in SD. Monday is already over, and still no Fuzzies!! Boo-hoo. I have some new creations in mind that are begging for me to bring them to fruition, like a flamingo, a pink dinosaur, a giraffe, a seal pup (the white kind), and a frog.

Also, the San Diego County Fair is coming up, and I've been trying to think of themes that I could make a bunch of Fuzzies for, and put them in a diorama to submit in the arts and crafts competition. Maybe a farm scene to go with the general nature of a County fair? Or a zoo? So many ideas... Any suggestions?

I really wish we had 36 hour days so I could make time for crafts. Sometimes my day job gets in the way of my love for crafting. It's almost like the day job is a wife of 30 years who nags me endlessly to do take out the trash and do chores, and crafts are like the hot young secretary that I have a love affair with during my midlife crisis, who makes me feel alive again. Yeah, that's a pretty lame analogy...

Henry the Dinosaur

2009-03-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with trying to create more eccentric Fuzzies. As a result, here is my latest pipe cleaner creation, Henry the Dinosaur and a prehistoric tree! Henry is made of green pipe cleaners and pink felt for the tongue.

I basically used up my whole stash of green pipe cleaners for the dino and tree (about 12 pipe cleaners). The dinosaur measures 3.5 inches from nose to tail, and 2.5 inches high. The tree is about 4 inches high. I went for a more abstract look with the tree. I love how Henry looks so friendly!!

Looks like the Fuzzies are getting bigger and bigger and before I know it, I'll be selling FUZZIES as opposed to Fuzzies.

Why Dog Grooming is a Profession

2009-02-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

There is a reason that people are employed to groom dogs, and I'm about to tell you why.

Here's our cute, sweet, adorable little dog Maggie at the height of her cuteness:
Doesn't she look so cute an fluffy that you just want to hug her? Yeah, well the cute fluffiness comes at a price. It has to be constantly combed to reduce tangling, and she is a woodchip magnet when she goes outside.

A few days ago, my hubby had the bright idea of giving her a quick haircut. My parents had given us pet clippers from a while back, and we thought it would be quick if we used the clippers with cutting guides. Well it turned out that Maggie's hair is very deceiving, and wouldn't cut very easily. Plus she squirms a lot and won't hold still when you try to cut her hair. She thinks you're playing a game.

Thirty minutes and a few frustrated sighs later, we gave up, and poor Maggie looked like a total hackjob.
We didn't even try trimming her head. Her body was so uneven!

You can imagine our utter embarrassment when we brought Hackjob Maggie into the Grooming Department at Petco with our tails between our legs. The groomer was really nice though. She laughed at our horrible grooming job because Maggie looked so silly, and reassured us that she had seen way worse, like people hurting their dogs in grooming accidents. We told the groomer to do whatever she could.

She called us an hour later and told us Maggie was done, and commented that Maggie's a "real bullet." We found out later that they had to take a few breaks because Maggie was so squirmy.

The groomer did a great job, but it is so funny how skinny Maggie's body is now. She's like an owl... under all that plumage is a little itty bitty dog. Her face looks better though. Neater. We bought Maggie a few shirts to keep her warm at night, and she doesn't seem to mind.

We're getting used to how she looks, and we've learned our lesson. With Maggie, grooming is not a luxury, it's a necessity for keeping her happy and clean, and reducing the number of woodchips on our carpet. $30 every 4-5 months is totally worth it! I totally understand now why there are "professional" groomers out there!!

Something tells me we're not going to hear the end of this for a long time...

Another Blog Feature - Made For You Blog

2009-02-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

Fuzzington has been featured in the "Made For You Blog" by dreamlandcrafts! I especially like this blog feature because it doesn't feature just my items, but a little about me too! You can see my short bio on the feature, in case you're curious:

http://madeforyoublog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shop%20California

Dreamlandcrafts' blog is pretty cool because she features sellers from all around the country and around the world, and her entries are categorized by location!

Dreamlandcrafts has some cool things in her Etsy shop, particularly her handmade dreamcatchers. I had one above my bed as a kid... Here's one of her many dreamcatchers:

Thanks again for the feature!!

Made My Own Lightbox!!

2009-02-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

I love the outdoor pics that I take of my Fuzzies and post in my shop, but there is a certain time of the day where the sunlight is just right to get good pics. Generally it's between 4-5:30 pm, when the sun is starting to go down. It seems that's the best time to get indirect natural light is as the sun is going down. The next best time is early in the morning, like 7-8 am. Unfortunately, my day job cuts down on my opportunities during the week to take pictures, and the weekends are usually booked. So, how do I work around this? With a lightbox!

I've been meaning to make my own lightbox because I really like the idea of having the flexibility to take pictures whenever I want, plus the pics look professional in a different way. I found some instructions on this site that were really clearcut, with lots of pictures for reference:

http://www.studiolighting.net/homemade-light-box-for-product-photography/

You can buy a manufactured lightbox for around $100, or you can make one for a fraction of the cost. Since we're all crafty, creative, DIY types, why would you ever want to BUY one?

So here we go on my journey of making a light box!

Here are the materials I bought for the box. Overall I shelled out about $30 for everything: $10 for the foam board, $12 for the shop lights, $3 for the masking tape, and $5 for the lighbulbs (does that add up to 30?).

(Cute little Maggie's always wondering what I'm up to)

I couldn't find "daylight bulbs" as specified in the instructions, so I got "full spectrum" bulbs instead, hoping they'd have the same effect. Next I cut each of the large foamboard pieces in half. My first try wasn't so good, but it got better:

Then I placed the pieces together just to make sure they would fit together. I'm notorious for mis-mearuring things and screwing projects up:

Like they talked about in the instructions, I cut a flap on the side and on the top so I could peek into the box with my camera from different angles if I needed to. You can see, I've taped four of the sides together already with the masking tape.

Taped the bottom side on, and viola! The box is complete!

(Gasp! Is that a picture of ME? I look so proud of myself, don't I?)

I attached the shoplights to the box and turned them on! Looks beautiful!

I then took some test pictures with all of my Fuzzies. I had to play around with my camera settings a little, but here's what I ended up with:

I had to do a little tweaking in photoshop to get the colors to pop a little more, but you see overall how it looks! I'm thinking of adding one more shoplight to get more lighting power.

I'm really excited with the results! It's definitely a different quality to the photos... they look like they've been taken in a studio, and the colors are certainly more vivid! I'm not sure which style I like more. I still love how my Fuzzies look in an outdoor setting... gives them more character. Someone on Etsy suggested using both types of pics.

It turned out the lightbox was a lot easier to make than I had anticipated! I'm still experimenting to find the optimal combination of camera settings, lighting angles, and photo software to get the optimal pics, I'm already very happy with the results I've gotten so far! Certainly glad to have options in photographing my items now. What do you folks think? Hope this helps anyone thinking about making their own lightbox!

Another Blog Feature! Feathered Friends Mementos

2009-02-21T23:31:00.000-08:00

Fuzzington was featured in the Feathered Friends Mementos blog today! YAY!! Thanks so much Heather (jinx1764) for the feature!

Heather's Etsy shop features handmade bird-related items. It's nice to meet other people who have a love for birds like I do. I've had a pet lovebird named Happy for about 8 years now, and she has been my buddy, my roommate, and confidante over the years. Here's a pic of my birdie eating some corn:

You don't realize how much personality birds have until you actually get to connect with one! They are smart, loving, and super-expressive. Happy has her own little cage in our bedroom to sleep in at night. Usually she's very content in her main cage during the day, but like clockwork, once 9pm rolls around, it's CHEEP-CHEEP!! CHEEP-CHEEP!!! It's bedtime, and she wants out of the main cage and in to the bedtime cage. So cute... And when I say, "Good Night, Happy," she'll respond immediately with a cute little chirp.

Anywho, for that reason, I'm glad there's someone out in Etsyland like Heather who is promoting our feathered friends! I especially like this item of hers:

I'd love to get one of Happy. Maybe when I get more funds from sales. In the meantime, here's a link to her Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6192317

Enjoy!!

New Friend and a "Gift Exchange!"

2009-02-20T06:45:00.000-08:00

My personal philosophy has always been that being positive and friendly will open doors to opportunities and experiences that you wouldn't normally encounter. Being nice, or paying someone a compliment doesn't take a whole lot of effort on one's part, but it's amazing how a small compliment can really make someone's day. That's what I love about Etsy; the people that you meet through Etsy are so encouraging and positive that it makes for a fun environment to start a business in.

Well, last night, this philosophy earned me a friend, and a "gift exchange!" I was in the Etsy chatroom last night, and saw some familiar faces. One was Casanovax2. Now if you're like me, you're probably wondering what a Casanovax is. When I first met him in the chats a few weeks ago, I remember asking him to explain it, and he kindly clarified for me that his name was "Casanova X 2." Duh! I felt so silly for not having seen it.

Anyhow I was looking through his shop and posted one of his ink drawings, La Guitarra (see above), in chat. Somehow the friendly expression on the musician's face really drew me (no pun intended) to the piece. He thanked me and I mentioned to him that I wished he had more items in his shop because I really liked his art. Casanovax has some really cool abstract looking ink drawings.

(Shameless plug - here's a link to his store: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6889802 ).

Now, I'm by no means an art expert, but I used to be an avid art museumgoer, and I thought that Casanovax2's artwork was very reminiscent of Picasso's later works. I commented to him on the similarities between his work and Picasso's. Turns out Picasso is one of his idols and he seemed to be very flattered by the compliment! He told me he was impressed by my art knowledge (what little I have anyway) and that no one had ever said that about his work.

You know what he did next?

He offered to GIVE me a piece of art as a GIFT to express his gratitude for my appreciation! WOW!!

I was so flattered! That was so nice of him! I know how long art can take to produce, and I didn't want him to just give me something... I felt that at the very least I could give him something in return, so I offered up one of my Fuzzies as a trade. He told me that he wasn't looking for something in return, just wanted to give something as an expression of friendship. At the end we agreed that we weren't doing a transaction on Etsy, such as a trade, but we were "exchanging gifts." =)

So I chose La Guitarra and he chose Charlie the Chocolate Mutt! I'm glad he chose Charlie as Charlie is one of my fave Fuzzies. Casanovax will be giving the Fuzzy to his daughter as a present. Hope she likes it!

Yeah, I'm totally stoked. Made a new friend, got to exchange artwork.... I'd say it was a good day!

My New Tea Wallet

2009-02-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

One of the coolest things that I've ordered on Etsy is a TEA WALLET! What in the world is a tea wallet? Why, it's a wallet to carry teabags in! I purchased mine from craftysteph's Etsy store. She also sells handmade incense that's really cool! Out of all the tea wallets I saw I liked this one the most because of the super-cute fabric (reminds me of a tea garden) and this tea wallet has two layers of pockets (I just really like how that layout looks).

I received it last night, and her packaging was adorable!! I highly recommend buying from her shop if you find something you like! It was a great buying experience! I stuffed it with green teabags from Trader Joes this morning, and showed it off to all my co-workers when I got to work!

I LOVE MY TEA WALLET!

Promotion Ideas

2009-02-17T11:15:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to think of new ways to promote Fuzzington (as if I'm not trying a lot already with twitter, facebook, myspace, flickr, craftster, etsy chat, etsy boards, oh and this blog!). Ideas seem to be popping into my head everyday, and I've been writing them down in my Fuzzington journal. I'm starting to realize that I've got lots of ideas, but just don't have the time or energy to do it after a long day of work!!!

My latest promotion idea that I really like is to make an instructional online video on how to make a simple pipe cleaner animal. The one I have in mind is this really cute butterfly that I came up with a few days ago. It looks really good, and it's fairly simple to do. Plus, by doing a video I can put a face to Fuzzington, my face. I don't think anyone really knows what I look like... I can also put it on Instructables.com or youtube... I think people would like to get a glimpse of my craft and how fun it is to work with pipe cleaners.

Some other ideas that I would love to do, but just don't know how to do yet:
1) Craft fair
2) Sell at a local store
3) Pass out business cards or flyers (to just anybody?)
4) Make promotional items and pass them out
5) Blog giveaway for promotional item

Any tips out there? I'm sure a lot of you have experience with this!

BUT, my biggest problem right now is that I don't have enough product!!! Gotta get working on those!!! Promotion is no good if you don't have items to sell!!

We shall see what happens in the upcoming weeks!

Fuzzy Valentines Day!

2009-02-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

Here is my hubby's Valentine's Day present! It is a pipe cleaner Maneki Neko! He stands about 2 inches tall and is made of white pipe cleaners, with a little red, yellow, and green felt for the accents, and a little bell. I used a sharpee marker for the dark parts of the yellow spots. His eyes are plastic beads. I bought a little wood disk from Michaels for $0.89 and painted it with red acrylic paint, and glued the cat to the wooden base to make him look more like those Japanese statuettes.
For those of you who don't know what it is, from Wikipedia:

"The Maneki Neko (招き猫, literally "Beckoning Cat"; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money cat or Fortune Cat) is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of porcelain or ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner. Maneki Neko can be found with either the right or left paw raised (and sometimes both). The significance of the right and left raised paw differs with time and place. The most common belief is that the left paw raised brings in customers, while a right paw brings wealth and good luck, although some believe the opposite. Still others say that a left paw raised is best for drinking establishments, the right paw for other stores."

My husband is a business owner, so I thought I'd make him a Maneki Neko to help keep him going during the bad economy. I wasn't sure which paw was more significant raised, so I just raised both of them!

My hubby generally hates cats, but I think he loves this one! =)

A Cool Project with Paint Color Samples

2009-02-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a super cool and easy project that you can do with those free paint color sample cards that you find at the hardware store (or the hardware section on Wal-Mart), courtesy of the Go Make Something blog (http://gomakesomething.com/ht/recycled/punchedpaintchips/) I picked up a few at Wal-Mart the other day and had a ball with them! Here's a picture from their website:

Definitely something fun to do on a rainy day, and with all the rain we've been having here on the West Coast, you'll have plenty of time to make them!

On a Roll in February!!

2009-02-11T17:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, we're not even half way through with February yet, and I've already had 4 sales! That's really good for Fuzzington! Let's see...

Tabitha the Witch Dog is going to Portland, Maine. She's one of my favorites because of her costume and little broom. I really should make more costumes for my Fuzzies.

This holiday ornament is also going to Portland, ME along with Tabitha.

I also got my first INTERNATIONAL order!! From Liverpool, England. This certainly was the first time I had to ship something to an international destination. Did you know you can't get a delivery confirmation for a shipment to England unless you get express mail, which costs $28, as opposed to $4 for first class mail??!! Eesh! Well appropriately, this little guy is traveling "out of this world" and going to Liverpool:

And the 4th order is the custom order that I did earlier in the month, Winnie and Molly!

I'm having a lot of fun with making more strange Fuzzies, like the alien. I think I'm going to try to make a purple or pink elephant next...

Fuzzington: Where it All Began...

2009-02-10T22:27:00.000-08:00

This entry should also be called "I Love Martha" as in Martha Stewart. I have deep respect for that woman to have built an empire on crafts. She's making millions off of what we love to do best.. crafts. And for that I admire her.

I also have to thank her for being the spark of an idea that became Fuzzington. And Hobby Lobby. And I have to thank Cox Communications for their Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which is like TIVO. Oh and the DIY channel for playing Martha Stewart's craft show.

So it started like this: When I moved in with my husband after we got married, I was amazed at how many cable channels he had! One of the channels was the DIY channel, and it had all sorts of crafts shows on it. When I was a kid, I loved crafts shows, but we didn't have cable and we could only get them on PBS whenever they had them. So I was in heaven when I found the DIY channel! I started watching the Martha Stewart Crafts show because I had heard so much about her, but I had never seen her at work. She amazed me with her professionalism and pristine neatness in making crafts (although I like to be a little more freestyle in my crafts than her). I started recording her shows on the DVR and watched almost every episode. There was one show that did these adorable little dolls made of muslin and Martha said that the patterns could be found on her website at www.marthastewartcrafts.com. So I went to look it up and started browsing around, and I stumbled upon a site about pipe cleaner animals. And they were SO CUTE and AMAZING! I didn't know pipe cleaners could be so cute (hence the tagline for my shop). I was intrigued... but I didn't have any pipe cleaners. I marked it down as something I would have to try one day.

Fast forward three months, and I was in Chicago for a wedding and I was staying with my brother-in-law and his family. My sis-in-law (his wife) is also a crafting fiend, and she decided one day to take me to Hobby Lobby. Oh... my... god... can I just say, Hobby Lobby is the bestest hobby store in the whole wide world! I wish we had them here in Southern California... Hobby Lobby kicks Michaels' butt anyday!! Anyway, Hobby Lobby also happened to be having a sale on pipe cleaners. WOW--they had a wide selection of pipe cleaners: thick ones, fluffy ones, striped ones, feahery ones, in all sorts of colors... I didn't know so many types of pipe cleaners even existed! So I bought a few packs to see where they would take me. When I got back to her house, and I was putting the pipe cleaners into my suitcase, I suddenly remembered something about pipe cleaners... what was it... OH! Martha! So I looked up the website again to see how they were done. I decided to try my hand at making a tiger based on the techniques that were shown on Martha's website. It actually came out pretty good in my opinion. But the biggest test was to see if my 2-yr old nephew could understand what it was. If he could identify what it was, then maybe I had something. I showed it to him, and his face lit up and he said, "Fuzzy!" And he loved it! I thought, These are really fun! Maybe I have something here!

My pipe cleaner animals have become a lot more sophisticated since that first one. I started making more pipe cleaner animals, and I found that ideas and techniques just came to me as I practiced and practiced more. It got to a point where I would decide to try something out, and I could picture in my mind how the pipe cleaners needed to come together. I think there are still a lot of artistic juices that are just waiting to be tapped for future Fuzzies!

In the meantime, if you want to try out your own pipe cleaner animals, here's the link to Martha's page.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/pipe-cleaner-creatures

On her page, you can learn to make these cuties... they're super fun to make, and kids love 'em! As Martha would say, "It's a good thing." Enjoy!!

100 Hearts!

2009-02-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

I received my 100th heart on Etsy today! This is very exciting! There are other Etsians out there with hundreds and thousands of hearts, but I think the 100th heart is a good milestone.

I remember when I first joined Etsy, looking at one of my now favorite shops, Woollyton, who was also in San Diego and sells the cutest polymer clay kawaii charms. She had something like 350 hearts, and I didn't even have one. I remember being so astonished by the high number of hearts and sales she had made in just a year! I thought I would never get that kind of popularity!

While I'm not quite as popular as Woollyton, and still can't figure out how she's managed to get so popular (although her product really speaks for itself), I'm really happy with the progress that I've made since last October. 21 sales! Not too shabby for 4 months...

I might as well put in a shameless plug for Woollyton in here. Make sure you check her out at http://woollyton.etsy.com

A Great Etsy Refresher - Etsy 101

2009-02-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

To all you Etsians that follow or happen to stumble upon my blog, here is a great refresher course that I found online for your shops! Modish has compiled a list of cool resources on the Web that talk about how to make good Etsy shops.

http://www.modishblog.com/modish/2008/03/publish-320buil.html

I know you all have perfect shops, but it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves of what sells! We could all use sales! =)

Welcome to My Studio!

2009-01-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

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

http://www.sumpinelse.com/

Thanks Carmen for the support!!

Another Blog Feature!

2009-01-27T17:19:00.000-08:00

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!

http://luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/01/heres-treat-just-for-you-from-etsy.html

Alchemy is Magic - My Best Fuzzies Ever!!

2009-01-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

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!!

Goodbye to a Wonderful Dog

2009-01-25T11:54:00.001-08:00

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!

Two Items Sold!

2009-01-19T20:29:00.001-08:00

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!