Making Time

Is that a porcupine?

Honestly, I didn’t do any research about what a porcupine ACTUALLY looks like. i think i combined a hedgehog kinda face, an echidna body shape and long (but fluffy) quills.

I really miss my camera… it was stolen, but I was also stupid. My brother’s Kodak is fixed-focus, hence no closeups. Alas.

Alas. His body is made in a nice bit of alpaca I had leftover. I made the ears and the feet out of picots - which makes adding these tiny details alot easier. The quills are looped into every-other row of single crochet.

Meanwhile… my nephew was learning to crochet alongside me. I was so impressed with his patience, and his stick-to-it-tiveness. I’ve taught adults who gave up quicker. He is quite pleased with his little “bed”, which is for his city.

(The font above is Singer Mears)

I am *trying* to redesign my site… I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I thought for inspiration to check out some crafty stitching fonts- and I was surprised to find so many good ones being offered for free. I have bought fonts in the past, but since I’m just playing around, this is a good way to start.

‘Home sweet home’ - Cross-stich font at Web Font List

and ‘Stitch and B*tch’ at Acid Fonts

Korsstygn 1 by Lars Törnqvist

Embroidery Font by Kingthings- who does custom font design!

Oh my goodness. I love love love stop-action animation. And this little fella is adorable. Komaneko!

What a cute cat! and so creative and talented. The clips I watched show him working on his sewing machine, making an airplane out of a baguette and spoons for propellers, and hunting down a scary monster in the forest. You can sneek-peek behind the scenes and see the folks who made it. You tube has a clip from TV showing behind the scenes shots! It amazes me.

Komaneko’s DVD is available in July. You can watch clips - but I can’t link to them directly. On this page you can watch some clips of the Komaneko animations. Not sure on the regions and viewability. But, Amazon is selling the little Komaneko soft toys on their site.

My uncle hinted I should make some finger puppets. On his last trip, he went to Ecuador and saw many little kids selling finger puppets in the streets. He bought some, but they seem to have been lost in his recent move. He is now in a nursing home battling cancer. So I am looking into making some finger puppets to cheer him up. I wanted to see what those puppets looked like…

I found some companies online who sell the peruvian finger puppets. I was surprised there are so many fair-trade companies set up. With prices like 30 USD for a set of 10 finger pupppets and an embroidered bag… it would be better to buy a set of finger puppets than make them.

I noticed unusual creatures, like bluejays, peacocks, stingrays and starfish… It’s a nice change from the common humanoid-shaped stuffed animal toys like bears and rabbits. Kids could learn a little zoology while playing.

from A Greater Gift, fair trade toys- The set of 10 with embroidered bag is 30 USD.

Also see: Fair Go Trading, fair trade finger puppets and toys and Fair World Gallery

How about a puppet theatre that transforms a doorway into a stage? how cool! See other puppet theatres at Fair Go Trading