Robot invasion
So I’ve been making lots of pushpins to get ready for Craft2.0 in Christchurch. I’m really liking this new robot fabric in green. I like that these so closely resemble 1950s tin robots. I might have to invest in a piece of the other colorway available (yellow I think). I will have a few of these in rings and brooches too.
It’s double sided fabric and has pretty lilac polka dots on the back – not the colour I’d have picked to go with these geeky little robot men.
And there’s a few more sets of my orignal robot fabric – a slightly coarser linen weave in cheerful red and blue
Looking Back
While I was pondering some new designs for bears recently, I was looking back at some past favourites and trying to pinpoint what about them appealed so much to me.
Actually, I shouldn’t call them favourites, as every new bear seems to become a favourite – rather there are bears that marked certain points in my bear making journey where something new was achieved. Sadly I don’t have photos of many of my bears after a computer crash but here’s a nostalgic look back at some past Honeythorpe creations.
In late 2004 I started a total rethink of my bears. My new designs were small-ish – between four and five inches for the most part and had big feet and a chubby tummy. By 2005 I was happy with the new look and Plum Puddin’ was my favourite bear of the year. Pandas are my favourite bear to create and I love the soft matte finish of alpaca. This guy measures around 4.5″
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I have always loved bears with “chops” and when the high quality woven synthetics suitable for small bears arrived on the market, I was so excited….and very very intimidated. I was so sure that I wouldn’t be able to make a cute bear from this fabric, as it was so different to the sparse mohairs I favoured. I still haven’t used this fabric as much as I would like – Alaina and Kaia were two of maybe three bears I’ve made in it.
I love fairy bears – and a lot of the bears I collect are very feminine – but I don’t do “frou frou” very well myself! I wanted to make some fairy bears but to do them in my style. The purple bear (whose name escapes me) was my first attempt at a masculine-ish fairy bear – I love the sculpted eyes and bridge of the nose – the complete opposite of the two smooshy faces above, but still recognisable as my bears. I love the caramel and blue colourways of the bear on the right….wishing I had more of those wings right now! These two measure about 4 inches and 3.5 inchres respectively.
So…what aspects of these bears will be incorporated into my new bears? We shall wait and see!
Twinkle
Meet Alexander – the first Honeythorpe bear for 2009 (yes, I know it’s May already!).
Alexander was created from my favourite vintage velvet. A warm caramel colour, this velvet has a matte finish and is sooo soft to the touch, helping give Alexander his baby bear appearance.
Alexander measures a tad under two inches tall when standing. He has rounded limbs and a chubby tummy. His nose and claws are stitched from dark brown cotton. Alexander wears no adornment as I think he is perfectly sweet without it.
Alexander is available from the website .
Craft2.0
I spent most of the weekend finishing up my goodies for craft2.0 on Easter Saturday. Sue is adding profiles of stall holders to the blog daily (which means each day I figure out new ways of spending my money!)
Just over a week and a half to go and I’m feeling semi-organised. This will be my first time at craft2.0 and I’m a little nervous. But I’m really pleased with my product so that’s a start.
Blythe dresses will be on hold until after Easter. I do have a couple more dresses finished to add to the shop, maybe I can squeeze in some photo sessions after work this week and get them in the etsy store. I’ll try and get some pictures of my craft 2.0 goodies as well.
