Happy Easter from the New Guys and Crazyhoundstore

Something in the Air

 Earlier this week I mentioned about some new designs I was working on... 

On the right, Black and White "Eric" was inspired by Harvey and the Rabbit advert that was on TV last year

And the Grey number, "Eardley" well I wanted to make a dog with BIG EARS and this is what came out. I am also really happy with the new body shape..

And this little guy, who is 50 Years old this year, with a repaired and re-stuffed neck, but minus his tail, probably has a lot to answer for as an inspiration for all my animal crafts.. Thank you Candy. 

Enjoy the holidays everyone.

Crazy Cats and getting the bug

I took a detour this week.. and despite my best efforts ended up making a dog sock that looked more like "Smokey" the cat...  a resident of Battersea Dogs Home (Cat Department). 

I am having great fun making these critters using wool of different textures and weight, so when you sew it together it twists and turns in all kinds of unexpected ways. This is really good for ears and tails.  Shrinked  cashmere sock with loose grey walking sock seems to be fun at the moment. I learnt a lot of these techniques from Sue Haven's book. You can also find her on you tube.  

                                                               

Glad to say that Smokey has now found a home, despite being 10 years of age. I can't look at the cats at the Battersea pages without thinking of a stray cat who wondered into a public meeting on a housing estate in Stockwell back in 1997. Amid the hubub of the meeting a gentle and then not so gentle "MEOW" could be heard. I looked over the landing to the lobby below, and saw a beautiful black long haired cat who just eyeballed me ! I put her in my office overnight and bought food in for the next day before taking her to Battersea Dogs home. She turned out to be a previous resident who had been re-homed and her new owners had abandoned her. How sad is that. Her name was Lucinda and I was so pleased when a friend offered a home for her.  

Finally, just to say, the upholstery supplies have not yet arrived so the Pappa armchair is sitting in the hall lobby, looking at me, just waiting for its new clothes.... so to fill the time I have been grazing the web discovered great ways to transfer images onto wood, fabric or anything else that stops long enough. My Re-purposed life has proved to be a great jumping off point to loads of free tutorials about furniture/junk re-purposing. So inspired was I that I managed to collect 5 pallets from a factory for free, hoping to turn them into something a bit useful , and I am off to the BlaaHal in Copenhagen tomorrow, yiphee! Let's hope the old Volvo suspension is up to it.    

Fish and Little Monsters!

Planning a visit to a girlfriend this week I wanted to put something together that I hoped her children would enjoy. We had visited the Zoo in Amsterdam this summer and Sophia was really absorbed by the aquarium, especially the tiny little fish that darted across one particular tank, with fluttery fins and BIG LIPS. We had to practically carry her away from it before the zoo closed. She also liked the butterflies, but I think they would be a bit tricky to replicate in stitches !

So, last week I hauled out my odd collection of silky scarves that I never wear, cardboard in hand to fashion a fish body template, and started on a design.

- TIPS:To keep the fish body symetrical I drew half the fish and cut out the shape then folded it in half and then drew around the first image.

-To make the fishy more than just a flat fish I cut a lozenge shaped gusset again using the symetrical trick (* that mostly worked!).

- Use a fine needle and small stitches to stitch the body together having pinned it together first, leaving a small gap at the bottom to turn the little fish inside out.

- Turn the fish right side out and stuff with fiber fill - I like it soft and squishy. Use a fine needle to shape lips and eyes to reflect the character of the fish you like and embroider the eyes if you like with beads. Hand stitch shut the stuffing hole.

- Fins ! I made the fins from the corners of the scarf, cutting triangle shapes and avoided the need to make a roll over hem in the silky material - I found really small pieces got dragged under the foot plate and I am hopeless with stabiliser!

You can then fix a loop on the fishes head to hang him or her from a mobile or ribbon.

Well - releaved to say Sophia loved the fish and took it to bed with her. I am told the first words she said when she woke up the next day was "FISH!"