The Roxycraft Blog

Sorry no bloggy

I've been MIA lately and I'm sorry. :(
Be back blogging regularly soon. Enjoying my vacay!

Nor Cal Ocean...
Originally uploaded by Tamie Snow *Roxycraft*

I Made it! :: Pom Pom Flower Bouquet

Remember a couple posts back when I showed you these pom pom flowers...well I told you I HAD to make them. And I did!

I made different sizes by alternating the number of fingers I used to wrap the yarn around. Some 2, some 3 and some with my whole palm. I got covered in fuzz (wool yarn) but it was worth it.

<3

Tutorial :: Making Brushed Amigurumi

For amigurumi, I usually don't use natural fibers, acrylic has so many benefits for making dolls like durability, washability, and shape resiliance that using natural fibers seemed like a waste of time and effort. But I recently came into a stash of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. It's an awesome yarn with a wool/mohair blend and I couldn't let it just sit on the shelf.

I had seen around the web some dolls that were brushed and thought I might give it a shot. Since I hadn't seen a tutorial for amigurumi specifically, my first attempt ended in me killing some doll eyes by scratching them silly...so I thought I might run you through the process so you can avoid some of the pitfalls.

Materials:
Any spun Natural fiber yarn (except cotton)
A dog slicker brush (mine has a soft brush on the flip side which I found came in handy at the end)

Close-up of what the bristles of the slicker brush look like: (click any picture for a larger version)

In this tutorial, my doll has a head and that's what I'm brushing up for you today. Make your piece until you only have a few round left to go. In my case, I stopped before I got to the decrease rounds.

Take out your stitch marker and avoid brushing your working yarn. (ignore that I have forgotten to do this in the next photo...lol)

When you use a dog slicker, one direction with smooth and the other direction will have resistance as it is grabbing fibers. Brush in the direction with resistance (you should feel tugging) in short even strokes. Go in the same direction for several strokes and you will begin to see fur forming.

Now turn your work and with the same grabbing side, brush sideways over spot you have just brushed.

 

Doing this back and forth method will produce the fur much faster than if you worked in the same direction. Continue working back and forth until your get the desired results.

Once you have a result you are happy with, add your doll eyes. Finish crocheting your piece and stuff it. Then take your dog slicker and finish brushing the bottom of your piece being very careful to avoid the eyes.

If your dog slicker has a soft brush side (you can also use a soft bristle brush of your own) brush the fur in the direction you like until smoothed out.

Use this technique on all the parts of your doll individually and before assembly!

Here is what became of that head!

I want to make these like...right now! :: Pom Pom Flowers

Make these Pom Pom flowers with instructions here. [via whip-up]

Etsy Love :: Vinyl Decals!!

So, I have been pondering things to stick on my walls. Most of them are still pretty bare because I am super picky about what goes up. I'd rather have nothing than something I don't like.

I have been contemplating decals for a while. I have no headboard in my bedroom, good place for a decal, I have an almost empty hallways, good place for a decal.

Well, I decided to get my feet wet with one that I'll probably put up in my office or bathroom...maybe even the car.

So me, right? I typically end my emails with it, so yeah!

Bought from etsy seller TastySuite for $6.00

New Doll :: Fuzzy Panda

I have been experimenting with some new techniques for amigrurmi and this week I've been playing with a brushing technique involving a dog slick brush and wool yarn.

I have made three dolls involving this and the first one I'm sharing with you is my favorite so far...Fuzzy Panda.

I haven't written up the pattern yet, but I plan to do a photo tutorial on the technique soon.

I hate doing the same dolls multiple times, so I am trying to make different dolls to bring to Renegade in July. So I hope to have lots of new dolls to show you in the coming weeks.

Craft Show Wrap Up :: Bazaar Bizaare at Maker Faire 2009

I was going to post about my experiences on each day, but covered the demo end and now I'll cover my experience vending at Bazaar Bizarre which was at Maker Faire.

Sorry I've been MIA since my last post. A bad cold had my energy sapped and my brain fried and I've had barely enough energy to watch movies much less type and think.

In short, my experience at Baz Biz this year was super awesome! The crowds were insane in a good way...I can only think that if you didn't do well as a vendor, you should look at yourself, because people were there and they were buying! Everyone around me seemed to be doing very well and it was so crowded most of each day that it was difficult to walk down our aisle.

I sold tons...above is a picture of my booth at the start of Day 1 and let me tell ya, it was stark by the end of Day 2...stark. I said goodbye to all my mushrooms, the Hippo and Rhino, Tough Love, Chilly, all my Flamies and Buties, the Yellow Bear, all my copies of Tiny Yarn Animals, most of the Booklets and Kits went too. The Flamies were very popular.

My neighbors were great too! To my left was Kelso Doesn't Dance who had the coolest wallets made from old maps and books. (very popular too) On my right was Petals and PineBlossoms who had some of the most well made bags I've seen at a craft fair...not to mention they had super cute owl and fawn motifs. (also extremely popular with customers) Behind my was Claire from Absolutely Small and she's always fun to be around. Billy and I fell in love with Roger the Pom-Pom dog and brought him home to live with us!

I also got around and did some shopping. We bought a card from Dutch Door Press, an apron from PenguinBot.com, some amazing prints and a  screen printed wood piece from Tiny Sparks Designs.

But Maker Faire was chock full of amazing designers! I wish I had a million dollars because I would have spent them all there!

Craft Show Wrap-Up :: Maker Faire CRAFT Lounge Amigurumi Demo

I'll be wrapping up my experience at Maker Faire 2009 in parts because soooo much happened. To start I'll tell you about the best part of my weekend! My Demo!!! 

   

At 2pm on Saturday, I had my demo "Making Successfull Amigurumi" at the CRAFT Lounge.

 

Here is my view from the demo table while I was setting up...the crowd was already building 15 minutes before! It was standing room only! I was so happy to see some familiar faces in the audience too...Some of my former sistas from the Sacramento Craft Mafia were there, Woody and Jessica Miller and even more that I could see, but found out later were there. Thanks everyone who made a special trip to come and see me!!!

That was probably the scariest hour of my life! But fun too! Everyone was so patient when we had some minor technical issues with the mic and all of the staff at CRAFT was amazing! It was great meeting Nat, Rachel and Becky!

I went over all the tips I've been covering in my new YouTube Video Series :: Amigurumi Lessons, so if you missed the show, you can watch my videos and get all caught up!

A lucky contestant in the raffle won the doll I used in the Demo! Super fun! I even got to meet the Crafty Chica herself at the end and she was probably the nicest person I've ever met! <3 Plus, she's a leftie like me!

There I am up front mid-demo! Can you see the sweat on my brow? LOL!

 

more on the Maker Faire to come...

Don't forget! Maker Faire 2009

 

Come see me tomorrow at Maker Faire! And come around 2pm to see my Demo in the CRAFT lounge!

Follow me on Twitter for Maker Faire updates!

Papaya + Peach + Pineapple Smoothie Recipe

Papaya + Peach + Pineapple Smoothie
Originally uploaded by Tamie Snow *Roxycraft*

3/4c frozen papaya
1/4c frozen peach
3 chunks of frozen pineapple
1/2c non-fat plain yogurt
1/2 juice (I used apple)

Blend well and serve!
Serves 1

all ingredients were bought whole, sliced and frozen on a cookie sheet in the freezer the night before.
Freezing the fruit makes ice unnecessary and gives it a better texture.