Etsy Handmade Toy Guide

Since it's black Friday and all, I just thought I would drop in with my own personal list of handmade favorites, all found in crazy labyrinth of shops Etsy has become.  Tell me, does it not warm your heart though, just a little bit, to know that there is so much good handmade stuff for kids out there?  It makes me all giddy just to look at this collage.  Options for kids on Etsy have definitely improved over the last few years and what can be found goes far beyond plushies and custom outfits for Blythe dolls.   Some of these shops were new to me, but many are also tried and true favorites of mine--like The Small Object (and yes, I will be buying the I Like to Draw pencils and drawing set for Beeper's stocking). 

Some of my very favorites are the activity book from Belle and Boo (bought it some time ago and it is worth every one of its 9 dollars--so lovely and full of the sweetest variety of activities and crafts), the mohair bunny with all its adorable outfits and teeny weeny pastries from Man o' Mine, those simple wands with the colorful knitted handle from Green Mountain Wee Woolies, that funny little wool plushie from Sara Carr, and while this is not handmade--well, I had to slip in a vintage Fisher Price set in there (we already own this pop-up trailer and truck set--so brilliant the way it pops up, the little motorcycle that sits on the trailer, and the little boat on the top of the SUV).  Oh, and that new cat design from Cotton Monster is killing me I love it so much and really just want it for myself.

So, go ahead, do a little browsing, click away and get a closer look at some of the items and support all the great artists and crafters out there making so much fantastic stuff. (the list runs from left to right, starting at the top--just in case you happen to follow the photos from right to left from the bottom or some other wonky way)

1.    Multi-colored Natural Wooden Blocks from Imagination Kids $16 

2.    French Alphabet Cards $58 From Bibitty 

3.    Hand Turned Wooden Top from Urban Turn $4  

4.    Hellobaby Munchkin from Viola Studio $19 

5.    Little Tooth Teething Toy from Little Sapling Toys $12 

6.    Pogo Handstitched Woodland Friend  from Pogo $44 

7.    Aada Bunny from Man O Mine $200 

8.    Bubbles Before Bed Book from Belle and Boo $10.75 

9.    The Little Lion Hat from SweetPeaToadTots $55 

10. Tree Branch wands $5 rom Green Mountain Wee Woolies 

11. Set of semi Trailers from Nin Design $38 

12. Rainbow Alien Invasion Finger Puppet Set from Babus Toys $45 

13. Letterpress Fortune Teller from Sycamore Street Press $8  

14. Vintage Fisher Price Pop Up Camper $44 from Toys of the Past 

15. Ultimate Mustache Crayon Set $10.95 from Gaddy Nipper Crayons 

16. Lina Von Katz Kitten from Cotton Monster $58 

17. Paper Doll Set from Sarah Jane Studios $9 

18. Indoor Teepee Tent from Moozle $195 

19. Linen Doll Tallulah from Leilalou $26 

20. Ninjas with Intelligence from Goose Grease $30 

21. Green Digger from Elsie Marley $55 

22. Bear, Bunny, Bird Pocket Notebook Three Pack $12 from The Black Apple  

23. I am Here - Your neighborhood custom map play mat from Board Stiff $28.50  

24. Wooden Car Stacker from Just Hatched $18 

25. I Like to Draw Pencil Pack from The Small Object

26. Unique Linen Pencil Clutch $23.09 from Pilli Pilli 

27. Edie Plush from Sara Carr $39 

28. Silver Bubble Wand from Nina Gibson Designs $38 

29. Coco Doll from Beeb $43.50 

30. Mushroom Bowling $28 from Muddy Feet 

31. Yellow and Blue Wooden Toy Boats from Friendly Fairies $58 

32. Design Your Own Starter Home $18 from The Merc Shop 

33. Shooting Marbles Set from Marble Maam  $9 

34. Tim from Raplapla $56 

35. Walking Blocks from Asher Jasper $40 

36. Pull Raven from Sleeping Forest $28 

Sticking with Him

I received a little something in the mail from Stephanie Congdon Barnes recently. A little something I ordered from her for my sweetheart--Mr Beeper. It is my valentine to him...
Because I think he is so cool. Really. I love his goofy sense of humor, and his political rabblerousing, and his guitar playing in the basement on the weekends, and how he can engage anyone in conversation and immediately learn so much about them, drawing out their views, their history, all that is of interest in them. I also love that he works for an organization we both believe in (Big Brothers, Big Sisters) and does so much good there with all his inventive and brave ideas to gain better support for them. And I love what a good, good daddy he is to our little Beeper. But mostly, I adore his kindness--after all these years, he is still one of the kindest human beings I have ever known and I am still so deeply attracted to that in him. So, I think I'll stick with him for a little longer--like forever. Happy Valentine's Day, Mr Beeper.

Gingerbread Men on the Rack

That's what we've been doing today--gingerbread men and gingerbread pre-fab homes, yet to be razed (we used this MS recipe here--the honey makes a milder and more golden gingerbread). Holiday prep has been a little crunched all up at the last minute around here with a of flurry cookie baking, popcorn stringing, paper-chain making, tree trimming and gift shopping all happening in this final week before Christmas. Tomorrow we deck out the gingerbread houses and do some final baking before we depart Tuesday for my in-law's farm in central Illinois for a few days. And this. Well, this I HAVE TO share. Just because it is so freakin' lovely--it is one of Mimi Kirchner's Tiny World Pin Cushions. It was a birthday gift I bought for myself last week. It reminds me of Minnesota, and also of our long-held dream of moving away to the seclusion and beauty of the big woods one day. A dream in a teacup to keep me company while I sew. Happy birthday, me.

Monster Mail

Something not entirely unexpected arrived in the mail today...
I heard some rustling and squishing inside the box. So I opened it...and a little something blue began to clamor to the top...
And, then there it was: oogling me with its two googly eyes. And was that a smile I saw beneath all those fangs?
It's our very first Cotton Monster by Jennifer Strunge. His name is Angelo--and he's a pentapod monster, in case you were wondering. He is also made from all the best materials--recycled, that is. I think I need more of these...I mean, one for me--since this one will be a holiday gift for Beeper come Christmas. Thanks, Jennifer--I know my little boy will so love him. I do.

10 Bibs, a Wood Duck, Charlie & Sarah, and a Black Sheep (no, this is not the start of a bad joke)...

This is what is on my work desk at the moment--a rainbow stack of freshly cut bibs made from reclaimed toweling. The urge to make a bunch of bibs just came upon me late last night. Yeah, weird. But I think it had something to do with the fact that I have made a few of these before for a friend's baby shower and they were simple to make and provided some quick crafting gratification. You can see the final results from the baby shower bibs below...The design is from Amy Karol's book, Bend the Rules Sewing--they turn out really nicely. I think she recommends using flannel on the back of her bibs, but I really like the extra weight and absorbency of the terry cloth--plus, it gave me an excuse to dig into my stack of toweling. I also have about 3 other plush projects under way--more Babies on a Stick, some sock plushies, and am doing some variations on the Groovy Rainbow Chick doll I made for the Plush You show--more stripey clothing and unnatural hair colors in this version. This afternoon my Beeper (yes, this is what I call my boy--now you know where my shop name came from...) and I walked down to Powderhorn Park to do the playground thing and call upon the neighborhood geese. You can see them aiming for Beeper across the lake like feathered torpedoes......they know stale bread crusts await! Then Beeper was all, Damn the Torpedoes, and just gave them the bread in short order and focused on the lovely wood duck that popped over.

And by the way, Beeper's light blue British Flashcard style tee with the screen printed red mini on it was created by the talented Charlie and Sarah. They do a whole line of British Flashcard apparel for babies to adults and totes (I have one with the Lolly design on it in red--I use it to tote around my WIP's).

In fact, we have several of their designs--like this Tipper Lorry tee. When I was selling at the No Coast Craft O' Rama last year, Charlie and Sarah were also there--and Brian bought one of these for himself. Then I bought Beeper a matching one for Christmas so daddy and son could have hip matching tees (and I will have you know they have been known to actually wear them both at the same time--Beeper LOVES that). Anyway, the actual live Charlie and Sarah are way cool. I love them both and am looking forward to seeing them again this year at the No Coast sale. I groove on Sarah's energy--and she is a marketing dynamo with their wares. I am perpetually impressed.

And on a final note--I am lovelorn over this little Black Sheep in Eveluche's shop right now. My brain says no, but my heart cries, yes, yes, yes! Especially since she could be the partner to my Melancholic Sheep--I mean, maybe my sheep would cheer up if he only had this little black sheep to befriend in my workshop....don't you think?

Autumn Light and a Woodland Creature

Such a gorgeous day today. Nothing but warm sun and a lazy autumn breeze. I had the door open in my workshop while I worked from home today, hanging out on the porch in the sunshine while I did my conference calls. This is my favorite time of year in Minnesota and I am grateful to be home for it--no travel for work for another month.
And I wanted to share the Woodland Creature I purchased recently from Astulabee. Such a brilliant little design. The raw silk face, the pink slubbed silk capelet, the little patches of embroidered fur accent on the body--and the lovely little pink silk mittens this one has.
Astulebee's work has been so increasingly brilliant over the past year. Her most recent work for the SuperPlush show is rocking my plush world. They remind me of woodland creatures gone rock star. And speaking of rock stars--or people who clamor for attention. Check out my boy.

Kung Fu Juni. Showing off his new traditional silk jammies his mama brought him back from China. HIYA! Have a fabulous fall weekend.

Felted Wool and Melancholic Sheep

A big ol' pile of felted wool sweater pieces on my work table--soon to be plush for the Plush You show. Like, really soon since the deadline for submitting my pieces is, like, a week away or something. Gotta kick it into high gear and get behind the wheel of my sewing machine and quit this lollgaggin' around the house, watching Weeds on DVD, reading novels into the wee hours, boozing on the wine with friends....
The amassed colors of the wool are inspiring me though.

Oh, and there's someone I want you to meet--but be forewarned, he's feeling a little melancholy today so don't be too happy around him. Here he is....
It's the Melancholic Sheep, made by Eveluche. He may be feeling a little sad and pensive, but I mean, is this not one of the absolute sweetest and most beautiful plushies you have ever seen? I am so in love with it--I actually think it may be my favorite plush EVER.
All of Eveluche's work is so gorgeous--every single piece, without exception. And there is something about her work that just sort of grabs your heart and squeezes it a little and you fall deeply in love, and immediately feel heartbroken that you cannot afford to buy every single one of her plushies. Her work has soul.
And here is my little Melancholic Sheep friend, laying down for a little nap. I guess I can let him rest there a wee bit while I go make a cup of green tea and read some more on the sun porch...plushie making can wait a bit longer...Sweet dreams, little sheep.

Sunday Morning Muffins with Yvonne

Blueberries are my fave. And now that we know they are chock full o'antioxidants?--well, just all the more excuse to eat moremoremore. But the traditional blueberry muffin has always held a cherished place in my tummy since I was a wee lass--plus, my boys like 'em too. So, after years (literally) of adapting and modifying muffin recipes, I think I have finally created one that not only tastes delish, but also satisifes my need to have more healthy grains and fiber in the muffin without creating a dry, lifeless thing merely labled a "muffin." And here is my recipe for public consumption...

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of pure, unadulterated unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar (you can reduce this to 1/3 C if you want a less sweet muffin
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup plain yougurt (you can use vanilla yogurt--and full fat is the best really, but you can use reduced fat--or even sour cream or reduced fat sour cream--just something thick and creamy and dairy-ish)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• zest and juice of half of a lemon (if you really like lemony muffins, use the whole lemon--my boy is not so into anything too overtly citrus-y flavored, so I only use half--but I used to make these with a whole lemon and they are reallly fresh tasting with more lemon--you can also omit the lemon altogether if you don't like lemon--we're flexible around here)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup regular boring old white flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen are fine--no need to defrost them, you can add them frozen to the batter)

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. You can either grease your muffin pan with additional butter, or toss some muffin papers in there (I usually try to avoid the additional waste of muffin papers and just lightly grease my non-stick muffin pan). Using a wooden spoon or mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, yogurt and lemon and mix thoses in too. Then in another bowl, mix together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, oatmeal, and both varieties of flour. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently, tenderly combine them until the dry ingredients are just barely moist--the batter will likely still be lumpy and you just need to accept it that way and release your feelings that you MUST make the batter all smooth. The less you mix this batter, the lighter and softer your muffins will be. Beat them too much and you will get heavy, dense, depressed muffins. And again, you will need to ever so gently fold in those blueberries with just a couple stirs of your spoon--no aggression here either. Fill your muffin cups equally (should make 12 muffins), then slip these babies in the oven for anywhere from 20-30 minutes, or until they are all golden and happy and seem to be begging you eat them NOW. But you should let them rest for about 5 minutes before you attempt to pop them out of the muffin pan or they might get overly sensitive on your ass and crumble at your feet.Naturally, they are best eaten warm from the oven slathered with a little butter, but they are also good the next day--and I often freeze half of them so I can quickly thaw them for consumption on another Sunday when I am feeling more lazy...
And about Yvonne. Have you met her? Well, let me introduce you to her. This is Yvonne. Isn't she lovely and RAD? I yearn to be as cool as she is. Check out the scooter print dress and the clever boots made from recycled leather (and the mail-style tote slung across her body above).
And the cool skull cap/head scarf made from vintage linens.
She was made by Shannon Jefferson, creative genius behind Project Grab Bag. And apparently, I am not the only one who is crazy about her dolls since she has only sold about 800 items in her Etsy shop. Shannon makes all of her dolls using recycled and vintage materials--which rocks my reclaimed world.
And these dolls are on the bigger side--like about 20 inches or so long--something a kid could really wrap their arms around and adore. I actually acquired Yvonne through a trade with Shannon--one cashmere pug + one baby on a stick = Yvonne showing up on my doorstep. I love her. Even my husband commented on how "cool" she is. I know. Thanks, Shannon.

Summertime Ether

All of my best-made intentions around Bitty Bebe making have somehow managed to dissipate this weekend into the ether of summer...instead, I have found myself lured outside repeatedly and then suddenly consumed by the need to stake the tomatoes (this is our backfence kitchen garden--we grow eggplant, gypsy peppers, sweet banana peppers, fennel, scallions, 3 varieties of tomatoes and 2 varieties of summer squash--my handy husband built the boxes)...
weed the flower bed... poke around the pots of herbs outside the kitchen door--like they are all good little children in need of my praise and attention.

And then weeding and poking led to filling up the kiddie pool for my boy, which led to the need to get out bowls of cherries for eating...
and then a lunch of salad caprese... and then fruity ice cream sundaes (fat-free frozen yogurt, fresh pineapple, strawberries, almonds and shredded coconut over it all...like ambrosia but better)...and, well, now the whole afternoon is about gone. I did notice while eating my salad and strolling the halls of Etsy that A Little Sprout had one of her adorable City Bear Girls for sale. Yes, in keeping with my doll obsession, I already own one--but what I really wanted to do was to tell the world about her dolls and how perfectly wonderful they are--so finely made and they arrive at your doorstep in these sweet brown paper packages... and when I bought my second doll--Chloe--from Sara, she even made a little sleep sack and pillow and included these with the doll. How sweet is that? So, go check out the shop if you are interested in biying one of her dolls--but run, don't walk, as her stuff goes FAST.

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls

Hey everyone. Welcome to my brand, spanking new blog. Can I tell you how super duper excited I am to FINALLY have my very own blog? For months, every day it felt like, I would have something I wanted to share with all of you--a new plushie purchase, a recipe (love to cook, love to eat, love to feed my friends...), some new blog or artist I was crazy about, a new design I am working on--and I just had no way to really share it all beyond posting some photos out on my Flickr page. But now--FINALLY--I can blabber all I want about all the stuff that rocks my midwestern world. And maybe no one is listening, but who cares? Here I am anyway...

So, dolls. I have been obsessed lately. Been sketching and jotting notes about all manner of dolls and new doll designs. The pattern I am working out as we speak is for a teeny-weeny baby doll that will come with clothes, a plushie, a blankie and a mattress...I think teeny things are somehow more loveable--just the fact of being able to hold it in the palm of your hand makes it more adorable. I am calling this new design my Bitty Bebes. I expect to have a couple in my Etsy shop by this weekend...here is a look at the sketch of the design (I made this sketch while on a plane coming back from London for my corporate girl job.). It was inspired by my Baby on a Stick rattle design I made a couple of months ago.
Also, I love Emily Martin and her blog, Inside a Black Apple, and her lovely artwork, and all the other stuff she dreams up and seemingly so quickly produces (so much satisfaction in visiting her blog because there is ALWAYS something new she is making, or some amazing new piece of news regarding her artist/crafting success). So, she makes these Sophie dolls every now and again, and they are crazy-sought-after--they literally sell out in seconds when she posts them in her Etsy shop, The Black Apple. And, I had my eye on this one with a sweet woodgrain dress and shiny red buttons that reminded me of cherries--and blue hair--swoon! And I actually managed to snag it (teehee) in her shop update...love her.

And lastly, Mahar Dry Goods, is carrying several of my Two Faced Friend dolls.

I love Robert's webshop and was a fan long before he came to me about carrying these dolls--the shop carries the most beautifully crafted, handmade items for children--from clothing to toys to books. It was a true compliment to work with him. He alone is carrying these dolls and I am not carrying them in my shop right now. You can view more photos of my Two-Faced Friend doll designs here.

So, thanks for coming by today. I hope you will visit again. I'll try to be a reasonably good host and serve up something new when you come by....Ciao, bebes.