Journey

This little turtle is for a beautiful brand new baby named Journey. Her Aunt wanted something to give her that she could keep for ever and ever. This little turtle takes her Blankie and her Teddy Bear with her everywhere she goes.

See my yarn at The Yarn Museum!

I wanted to tell everybody about the Yarn Museum! It is a website that has been set up to honor the artistry and beauty of handspun yarn. Photos can be submitted in several different galleries. It is free and open to all levels of spinners. There are several galleries that are currently open for viewing. I have been spending hours looking at all the AMAZING yarns hung in the galleries and peruzing the websites of the spinners. What a fantastic way to bring the spinning community together to celebrate their artistry!

You can see my yarn in the First Skein Gallery and the Inaugural Show: Anything Goes.

Sorry this was so long in comming

As I was reminded recently ;) It has been a couple months since I updated my blog, so this will be a very LOOONG update. I have done so many things in that time! For a few weeks I was burried in custom orders and unable to spend time creating new babies. And it was about the time that I was getting out from under all that when SHE walked into my life.

Ok, it was more like She was lugged to my doorstep by a very understanding Mail Lady, and she hardly ever leaves my side now. She is a Majacraft Little Gem II named Aurora. I know, totaly cheesy name for a spinning wheel, but in my mind it was the perfect name for a wheel. I have her set up next to the computer so now it is like one of those L shaped desks you see in those big office stores, except instead of having drawers or a printer I have Aurora and a table for holding the wool bits I am working with.

She is my constant companion and my new obsession! I have now accumulated enough wool to fill two of those XXXL zip lock bags to the top ( I think they are about 3" tall ). I found such wonderful wool from online sellers, or dealers as I have affectionately named them. My husband is so understanding about the two complete sheep I have squirreled away in the closet. He has even started calling dibs on his favorite rovings when they come in the mail.

And after reading all of this, I am sure you want to see what I have been doing! Here are some of the yarns that I have spun up.

This one is an Orange/Pink/Red combination. It was from my favorite Dealer, Spunky Eclectic ! She has the best colorways for her rovings at the best prices! And she is evil too. She sends out emails to let you know when she has new things in her store. EVIL TEASE!! I love it : ) There was 3 oz of bulky weight wool blend in this skein. It was about 100 yards and has found a nice home

This one is Corriedale in differerent shades of Green. It is 3 oz of worsted weight yarn, about 114 yards. Also from Spunky. It still needs a home.




This is 3 oz of a Merino worsted weight spun yarn combining Blue, White and Purple. There is about 147 yards of this available in my shop currently.






This is 3 oz of a Purple/Pink BFL combo that found a home earlier this week. It was a worsted weight and there was about 100 yards. It was so soft!




Before this one was even off the wheel, my Son had called dibs on it. There was 3 oz, so I made him a hat.

This is a wool blend of three different rovings I had. They were all about the same value, so I combined them as I spun. They came out so wonderful together, and there is a TON of it. 774 yards of worsted weight available.



This one is for ME! I called it "Still Life With Yarn" because it reminded me of a bowl of fruit, apples, grapes, pears. I am spinning it in between other yarns. I am planning to use this and some deep burgundy that I have to spin still to make a shawl for me!


I had called this one "Atomic Cherry Cordial" because it was this nice chocolate brown color mixed with SHOCKING Pink. It looked irradiated! It has found a home too.

This is Freckled Lemonade. It looks like Lemonade with Strawberries in it! So fun and bright. There is 2 oz of worsted weight yarn, about 100 yards available currently in my shop




I have two different skeins of this color. I called it Cherry Limeade. One skein is 4 oz of a sport/DK weight, about 276 yards. The second is 4 oz of a worsted weight, about 200 yards. Both can be seen at my shop.

I didn't know what direction I wanted to go with the yarn in my shop. Then I decided that there are lots of small skeins of yarn available, but not many skeins with lots of yardage. I asked some people that I know what they would prefer and they agreed that larger yardages would be nice. I decided I would focus on spinning 4+ oz skeins from now on. I still need to purchase a jumbo flyer, but I have my second mega skein available!


So I present to you Swimming Lessons! It is my favorite colorway by far! It is Superwash Merino. There is 8 oz of it total, 424 yards. It is such a beautiful combination of blues and greens. So cool and SOFT like you would not believe!

So, if you actually read through all of that, that is what I have been up to the past few weeks. I have also made custom orders of my pre-existing designs, but mostly I have been focusing on the spinning.

Little Prince

Prince, originally uploaded by Amy's Babies.

I am sorry it has been so long since I posted something new! This little guy has been requested over and over by people. I tried several months ago, but I could never get it exactly right. It is hard to figure out how to get the head on the body. I think I got it figured out this time.

He stands 6" tall and has metal bands across his hands so he can grab onto a Magnetic Katamari. Now there is a Prince to help you roll up the world!

All Dressed Up

I found these little turtles going door to door in my neighborhood. Because they move so slowly, they had gotten an early start on Trick or Treating! They want to go home with you and see all the Trick or Treaters in your neighborhood!

This little witch has brought her best friend with her. She stands about 3" tall and her friend is 1.5" tall.

This little turtle has dressed up as a pumpkin. He has a stem and a little bit of vine on his head.

This is a turtle dressed as a Ladybug. He even has little antenna on his head.

This turtle dressed up as a Zombie! He is Trick or Treating for brains this year. AAHHHHGGG HE'S COMMING RIGHT FOR US!!!! . . . . very. . . . slowly

The Scream

Why is he screaming. What terrible thing did he see or hear that causes that look of abject horror on his face. This icon of the expressionistic art movement evokes so much emotion in so many people. He is like a wreck on the freeway, you can't stop looking.

This amigurumi was inspired by the Edvard Munch painting by the same name. It is my favorite of the Expressionistic art. I have been around art history for my whole life. I was taught at an early age to enjoy it. I am glad I had the chance to bring one of my favorites to "life"

What you have all been waiting for!

Ok Guys!

Mark September 12th on your calendar. That is the day that the pattern for my Pirate doll, now named Sam, will go on sale on the Interweave Crochet Magazine website!!! You can go there now to see what I wrote about the experience of creating the doll. Here is the link

http://www.interweavecrochet.com/projects/paid/pirate.asp
Get your yarn and hooks all ready!

Wonderful Author

I wanted to tell you guys about a great friend of mine who is an author. Catherine Burkett has been a friend of mine for several years. She is an author as well as a wonderful wife and mother! She has published two books so far, but I am sure she has more books locked away in that mind of hers. Go give her site a look!

http://www.catherineburkett.com/

Moogle for you!

This little guy has been on my list for a while! I adore the Final Fantasy games, so making a Moogle was a requirement : ) He stands about 3 1/2" tall from the top of his head and 6" from the top of his bauble. What a perfect companion for your work area!

This week I also got some beautiful yarn from Sock Diva! She makes the most colorful and beautiful yarn. She is my yarn hero ; ) She is the reason that I am scrimping and saving for a spinning wheel of my own. You're the best Sock!!

roving swap

Hey all you spinners out there!! There is a very cool roving swap going on at http://spinningrovingswap.blogspot.com This is a swap for people of all spinning experience levels! This will be a very fun swap, but we need more people to sign up. Please take a look at this swap!

New Contest at Fearless Fibers!!

Hey Guys!

There is a new contest going on over at Fearless Fibers!! Deb is giving away a kit for making a felted bag this time. Go check out her blog and enter to win a great prize!!!

http://fearlessfibers.blogspot.com

Buttons, Kitties and Turtles

First, I have the buttons in stock! They are fantastic and come in 5 different images. THANK YOU KITTYCROSSBONES!! I will be listing them in my shop as a set and individual buttons too!


I have been working like a mad woman to get my store restocked! As I told you before, I have been working on a new type of item for my store. My Grandmother used to make quilted stuffed animals for craft fairs when I was younger. I remember spending weekends making these toys with her and going to the craft fairs with her to sell them. When we went to visit her in San Diego a few weeks ago, I asked if she still had these patterns. I wanted to use the patterns, but I didn't want it to be the same old stuffed toys. So I began to think about what else I could do with them. Aplique seems a natural fit for these animals! "Mommy Loves You" is the first of those new items. It was named that because it looks like the big cat is watching over the smaller one. It is a Pillow Cover with a set of quilted cats apliqued onto it. The Mommy cat is green and the Baby is pink. I think it came out fantastic! I have a bunch of other animals including sheep, pigs, ducks, elephants and many more!

I have also been busy making sesonal Turtles! I have two new Autumn Leaf turtles. One has leaves on his back because he was out playing in the piles of leaves. The other has leaves hanging from his head because he likes the feeling of them dangling around his face.

I have also had several custom orders for turtles. I have made a second winter turtle in pastel colors and a nurse turtle. I am working on another nurse and a doctor right now.

Vulture and Shadow Turtles

This little guy was a dare from a great lady in one of the Yahoo Groups I frequent. She dared us to make an amigurumi Vulture. He is about as tall as a spool of thread and just big enough to perch on a computer mouse or a monitor, to glare at people who linger in your office.

I also captured these three Shadow Turtles.

You know that feeling, when you are home alone and you just KNOW there is something watching you from a dark corner, or waiting for you in a dark room. When you turn quickly to look for it, there is nothing there! Sometimes there are small flashes of light, with no cause. Like light reflecting off of small eyes.These are Shadow Turtles. They can be found in dark corners or forgoten cupboards. Their pearlecent eyes catch and reflect even the smallest amount of light. They are harmless, most of the time. But they enjoy watching. Always watching.These Amigurumi Shadow Turtles were captured lurking in my craft supplies. They are 3" tall.

This is Thamuz, Murmur and Hypnos. Their eyes are pearlescent buttons that grab and reflect even the smallest amount of light. I was sitting here working on the computer by monitor-light, and all I could see of them was three sets of glowing eyes watching me work. Gave me the Jibblies!

Masukami, Long Haired Maiden

Masukami is my newest doll. She is based on the evil spirit imagery in several recent Japanese movies and video games. She has died too young by drowning. Wandering the river banks, she searches for her lost love. Is it you?

Not sure the photos captured the evil in her eyes accurately. There are swirls on the buttons and when they are turned just right, they look eeeevil. I have caught her glowering at me a couple times this morning.

She sits 6" tall with another 5" in legs that can either be folded underneath her in a kneeling position, or dangled over the edge of a shelf or computer monitor. She is number two in my horror rag doll series and would be a perfect companion to Romero, the Zombie rag doll.

The Naval officer turtles are currently available in my shop now too. Things will really start rolling in my shop in the next few days. Keep your eyes out for new updates daily

Button sets

Hey guys!

I have been very busy the past week and there is an end in sight finally. Another 2 weeks and I will finally be able to start making new dolls! YAY! Until that time I came up with this new item. I had AmyLynn from http://kittycrossbones.etsy.com make me some 2.25" buttons with some of my babies on them!

I will be using them for promotional items and they will be sold in sets and individually too! I got some ideas for at least 2 more sets to come in the future. They will be listed in my shop by the end of the week. Collect them all! Trade them with friends!

AmyLynn was a wonder to work with. She worked so fast! And I love the way the buttons look! I can't wait to get my hands on them! I also look forward to working with her again in the future! Nothing but a wonderful experience : ) Go visit her shop today!! She does more than the 2.25" buttons. She has buttons of all sizes, keychains, necklaces, bottle openers and mirrors too! She is a wonderful etsy seller!

I need another vacation!

Hey guys

Just came back from my whirlwind tour of the west coast. What an adventure! I need another vacation just to recover from that vacation. We drove up from Tucson up to Newberg, Oregon for a wedding with a stop overnight in Stockton, California. We spent the weekend in Oregon at a wonderful wedding and visiting museums. Then it was back down to San Diego, with another stop to sleep in Stockton. We visited with family, went to the beach and visited more museums. Along the trip I sold almost all of my dolls! YAY, but now I need to restock.

As you know, I had intended to spend the 5 days we were driving making more dolls. Well you know the proverb about best intentions. We left Tucson at 3:30 am. Before we got to the freeway I remembered that I had left my box of dolls I was going to show off and some custom orders for family back at home. We turned around and ran back for them. So at 3:45 we were finally on the freeway and on our way!

I went to grab the yarn to start creating some new dolls. I reached behind me only to find that since my work yarn was the first thing loaded into the van so I wouldn't forget it, it was now buried under the luggage! Oh well, I could reach a bag of yarn I had been using to make a granny afghan. I could work on that until we stopped to get breakfast.

Well, things never work out the way you want them to. At 6:30 we stop on the far side of Phoenix for breakfast and I realize I have left my box of buttons, beads and other random small crafty things back at home!!!! Well crud! I figured I would continue to work on my afghan and when we got to San Diego I could spend a couple days making all the pieces of dolls to be assembled when we got home.


In Oregon I got to deliver these two super cute turtles I made custom for my Aunt. She is married to a Naval Officer so when she saw my Military turtle she wanted to know if I could make her a Naval Officer turtle too. She wanted one in Dress White and one in Dress Blue. She was very pleased with these little guys!

When we got to San Diego I sold half of my stock in one evening! I needed to make more dolls. I sat down with all the supplies I had with me and began to create. We weren't the only family members staying with her, so after a few minutes I had an audience of teenagers watching. They wanted to learn how to crochet too, so I passed out all my hooks and some balls of yarn I had been using for my afghan and spent the afternoon teaching them how to use them. I figured I would have the rest of the vacation time to work on the dolls.

In the evenings there was too little light to work with, and we were busy all the other days. So I ended up spending more time thinking of new ideas than working on the old ideas. I have come up with a new type of baby for my shop. It will be introduced as soon as I can recover and get my head on straight. It will be quilted instead of crochet. I am so excited about them, that it is hard to do my chores around the house! I want to sit down at my machine and start sewing right now!! I will have to restrain myself for now, but come back and see what I come up with!

Bust's Girl Wide Web

My Blog has just been added to Bust's Girl Wide Web! Give the button a click and check them out! Very cool articles!

Vacation time

Hey guys

I wanted to let you know what is coming up in the future here on my blog. I will be going on vacation July 12th and I won't be back until July 22nd. But in this time I will be creating like a mad woman! I have a notebooks that I keep with me at all times. One at my creation station (in front of the computer) and another in my purse (in case inspiration hits away from home). I have pages of notes, scribbles and sketches. My goal is to get as many done on my trip as possible.

On my list I have:
-Edward Scisorhands Doll
-A Geisha Doll
-Mrs Weasley, Hagrid and Snape
-Some Lord of the Rings dolls
-Willy Wonka Doll
-Barbosa Doll
-A Murloc
-A Cactaur and a Moogle
-Dr Who, K-9 and a Dalek
-Japanese Horror Long Haired Maiden
- A child from the Village of the Damned
-Zhan from Farscape
-Shadow Turtles
-Jade Turtle and Elephant
-more turtles to be determined later

Holy cow, that is a long list! I won't get to all of it before I get back, but I will be focusing on the full sized dolls first. I will be trying to make turtle versions of quite a few of the larger dolls too. We will be taking the laptop with us, so if something comes out particularly good, I will upload it and let you guys see!

Featured Item

Hey Everybody!

I wanted to share my excitement with you! I went to festivities over at my parents house yesterday, great bbq and the best fireworks show in years. When I came home, I found that Jack had been featured on the front page of http://craftster.org ! I was so excited I could hardly sleep last night. There he was with so many other super cool crafts. Check out the craft diagonal from Jack, it is a Van Gogh recreated in melted beads! And the one right under him is a super cool afghan with a wonderful tree pattern on it.

Well, I didn't think it could get any cooler than that! Until I woke up this morning. I started up al the various windows I have open durring the night and noticed I had 3 emails notifying me of conversations waiting for me on http://etsy.com , so I headed over there to see what was up. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw the front page! I had to call my husband right then and tell him to go to the front page himself! I think I will have to be scraped off the ceiling today! He is on the Top 100 Items list too!

Thanks Everybody!!!

P.S. He has found a home! He will be going to live in New York City

Captain Jack Amigurumi

Captain Jack is off on another adventure! This 12" doll is ready to commandeer one of these ships, pick up a crew in Tortuga, raid, pillage, plunder and otherwise pilfer his weasely black guts out. So if you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death then you have just one question to ask yourself. Can you sail under the command of a pirate, or can you not?

This pattern has been renamed Pirate Sam and will be available September 12th at the Interweave Crochet Magazine website

http://www.interweavecrochet.com/projects/paid/pirate.asp

Contest over at Fearless Fibers

Just wanted to let you guys know about a contest over at http://fearlessfibers.blogspot.com

The prize is some of her beautiful hand-painted yarn! I love this yarn! There are so many great colorway options. Check out her blog and her etsy shop http://fearlessfibers.etsy.com

Custom order elephant

This little elephant was requested last Friday by Sweets4ever over at the Craftster.org forum. She said she would really love to have an elephant and gave me this little graphic she created using some of my other items for texture and colors!

So, as you can see, He was made with That Grey, That red, has green eyes and is indeed 3" tall. I am currently waiting to hear from her what his name is.

Then I will be buckling down to create the ultimate swashbuckler! In honor of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie opening next week, I will be attempting to create an 11-12" Capitan Jack Sparrow doll! I have been running through the yarn physics in my head for about a week now? Which yarns will be the best colors and textures? Which ones will need to be split into 2 ply instead of the heavier 4 ply to get the right movement from the fabric? Where will I forego yarn and use thread for the lighter weight materials? Where am I going to get the right hair beads? Gathering pictures from different angles so that I can see everything I need to.

I think I have it all worked out and I will be putting him on the blog by July 6th, because he will need to be done by then if he is going with me to the midnight premiere ; )

Need a Tropical Vacation?

Are you sitting at work right now? In a cube where the only light comes from the buzzing fluorescent lights above you and the computer monitor in front of you. Do you wish you could be on a white beach somewhere? Under an umbrella. Drinking a drink with an umbrella in it. Well, I can't help you with that, but I can give you a little piece of the tropics with this little turtle!

Margarita has a mottled green and yellow shell. Wearing a straw hat under her umbrella she will bring a little color of the tropics to your grey little life! She stands about 3" tall and is about 2.5" long. She will be sent with a brand new unopened parasol.

Baby Squidydiddy Octupus

This cute little guy was a custom order in my Etsy shop. I was asked if I could make an octopus in the same style as my turtles, but with no costume. So he is all naked! His little legs are wired so he is poseable. Right now he is holding a parasol to keep off the sun. His new mommy says that he will have his own fish tank when he gets home!

Katamari As Seen on Kotaku and BoingBoing

I just got a new shipment of magnets for my Custom Katamaris! If you have been wanting to get a Katamari, now is the time. These go fast! They are about the size of a softball and fit nicely in your hand. They have super strong magnets for hours of rolling fun! I have heard of them rolling things like scissors, paperclips, staples, pins, needles, batteries, even some silverwear! What kinds of things can you roll up? Try this and see.

Let me know what colors you want this wonderful ball to be, or type SURPRISE ME in the message to seller box and I will send you a beautiful Katamari surprise

New Blog Rings

Hey Guys!

I have no new items to show you because I have been busy with brithdays! We have one birthday a week in the month of June (I will be happy to see July!) I have been crocheting a shawl for my mother. I will post pictures of her with it when it is done.

I have joined a BUNCH of new blog rings. They are not quite functional yet, but when they are they will be fun to look through!

The next doll will be a Captain Jack doll in honor of the opening of the new Pirates movie. Not sure yet if it will be a turtle or a full sized doll, that will be the surprise!

"Cry Baby" Walker Turtle Amigurumi

By request of the ladys at Crafster I bring you the second Turtle in the Johnny Depp series, Wade 'Cry Baby' Walker. Good girls want him bad. Bad girls want him worse. He's the kind of guy that every girl wants but should't marry!! Too young to be square... Too tough to be shocked... Too late to be saved. He's a doll. He's a dreamboat. He's a delinquent.

Keep watching this space for more turtles!

Random Act of Art: Lobster Amigurumi

I was a participant this week in a Random Act of Art! This little lobster amigurumi was commissioned for a lobster lover.

I was contacted a couple weeks ago by a customer who wanted a lobster, but it had to be kept secret. After several attempts to get the claws just right, I made this little cutie.

I set photos to the customer and waited in anticipation for the approval all artists seek from patrons of their art. She loved it and sent me the address of the recipient. I read the name and address and laughed out loud!! Turns out it was for one of my cousins! I called my husband over to see the address. I gleefully packed the little guy in his shipping container and sent him on his cross country journey. I heard today that he had been happily received!

So now that he has arrived in his new home, I can share him with all of you. He was a lot of fun to make and has been sent to a wonderful person.

Thank you for letting me be a part of this Random Act of Art!