In My Shop: Funny Bunnies

3 lovely cashmere funny bunnies, all awaiting adoption into good families who will not judge them for being ear-challenged.  Did I mention they are made almost entirely with recycled materials?

You can find them here, in my little Etsy shop.

Whoops! About that Zakka Style Lucky Day Give-Away...

What?  I'm only 14 days late to announce the winner of the Zakka Style Lucky Day Give-Away like I said I would.  Punctuality is over-rated--and, clearly, for people with better memories.  So, if you are still lingering, wondering if I am EVER going to announce the winner...well, yes, I am.  Right now, in fact:

#12--LALANIA SIMONE!

Come on down and claim your copy of Zakka Style.  Please email me with your mailing address and other essential info and I will happily get the book off to you in the mail.

To everyone else who left comments with suggestions about what you would personally like to see in a Beeper Bebe book--thank you.  It was helpful to me to hear from you and will certainly help shape the direction of future book-ish endeavors.

In My Shop: Jelly Bean Bags & Vintage Button Barrettes

Check it out, baby: more stuff in my shop.  A few sets of jelly-bean-scented jelly bean bags, done up all tidy in an appliqued draw-string bag, and some new Cute as a Button barrette sets (made with all vintage buttons).  Have a look--but, really, only if you care.  

BottleRobots

Have you seen these awesome robots made from recycled plastic bottles and various other discarded plastic bits?  The complexity of the articulation and the amount of character they manage to express in each pose just kill me.  Beeper thought they were pretty brilliant too, and they have me thinking about saving up some of our own plastic bits from the recycling bin to try our hand at making our own.  You can see more of these amazing eco-friendly creations at the Bottlerobot blog (as well as get glimpse of robots in process).  You can also buy postcards of some of your favorites in the Bottlerobot shop, here.  

In My Shop: Mooshy Belly Bunnies

There are a rainbow array of little mooshy belly bunnies in my shop.  These bunnies are made from recycled stripey t-shirts.  They also have sweet mooshy bellies--no, not morbidly mooshy--just mooshy enough that they make for good cuddling, but can still fit easily into an easter basket.  Find them hopping around here.  

(Psssst: want some mooshiness you can make all on your own?  Head on over this way and find my FREE mooshy bunny tutorial...)

Color Around Here

Beeper's Strip of Color

Oil Crayon Rainbow

String Weaving

(A Wonky) Quilt Made for My Mum

People Rally

Perler Bead Circles

Perler Bead Squares

Lots of color going on around here lately.  Last weekend we found a large set of perler beads (Beeper calls them "melty beads") at the thrift store for $1.25, and new designs have been showing up daily.  Not sure what we are going to do with all the circles and squares (please share your ideas--tiny frames?  coasters with half-assed coverage?), but I am happy to see new patterns emerge daily.  And the throw--I actually made that for my mum for Christmas, from that Anna Maria Horner fat quarter stack I bought ages ago and intended for a quilt for our bed, but--well, it just found its way into a little wonky throw because I thought my mum might like all that color to curl up under (and let's be honest, I could not stand the silent reproofs that lovely stack of fabrics gave me every time I looked its way).  Oh, and the weaving set was an impulse Christmas gift for Beeper (bought it from Jack Be Nimble's brilliant little Etsy shop), one I second-guessed after buying, thinking he would never be able to slow down his pinball-energy long enough to weave a single row, or even have the interest--yep, I was wrong.  

What kind of color are you finding in your home this week?

Zakka Style (and a Lucky Day Give-Away)

Here it is.  Zakka Style.  The last of the books I contributed designs to this past year.  It is a collection of zakka-inspired projects from crafters around the world, curated by Rashida Coleman-Hale, published by Stash Books as part of their Design Collective series.   

The funny thing is, I never really fancied my crafting style to be very zakka-ish.  Sure, I veer the direction of cute--but that homey sweet look particular to the Japanese zakka aesthetic--not so much.  So, I was a little flummoxed (but pleased too) when Rashida contacted me about a year ago and asked for a submission.  My first idea was to make the spelling version of my counting bean bags--which I did--but they did not make the cut for unknown reasons and that project wound up here.  My next idea was to make the hand warmers you see above.  I was in the midst of a a very snowy winter and having something sweet I could tuck in my pockets to warm up my hands seemed a good idea--and I guess Rashida thought so too since here they are in the book, all happy and cozy there.  I designed them to have removable rice bags to warm in the microwave, so the exterior embroidered pouches could be washed if needed.  Now check out some of the other loveliness in the book...

...patchwork pencil case by Shannon Dreval...

...stem messenger bag by Larissa Holland [Hey Larissa! That bag is awesome!]...

...patchwork ribbon by Melody Miller...

...Zakka Block Quilt case by Leslie Good...

...orchard path tweed pouch by Amanda Jennings...

...sweet sugar cookie sack with playtime cookies by Amy Sinibaldi...

...little pocket pillowcase--with bear--by Meg Spaeth [Hi Meg!  How's it going?  Still love this design...]...

Lovely, right?  And there are many other beautiful projects in this book--24, to be exact--bookmarks, totes, memo boards, sewing kits (one of my favorites--it is on the cover), pot holders, nesting boxes...and even more than that.

Now, if you have hankering for your own copy of this book, I have a little quid pro quo for you, something I would like to get your thoughts on: if I were to put together a book of my designs, what sorts of designs would you like to see in the book--what would it need to have in it to make you want to buy it? Would you want it to have all toy and plushie designs, or would you want it to be a mash up of big people stuff, kiddo stuff, and whatever else...what about the crafting mediums--would you prefer it be all sewing, or again, a mix of sewing and other crafting techniques (sort of like the array of tutorials I offer today)?  Any other ideas or thoughts you have about what you would like to see in a book are appreciated and welcome.   So, leave your comment here by end of day Sunday, March 4, to be in the drawing for a hot off the press copy of Zakka Style.  Just be sure to come on back on Monday when I will announce the winner so you know if you won and can contact me with your mailing address, real name, that sort of stuff.  

And for those of you who are impatient (you know who you are) and just need your own dang copy right now--you can order Zakka Style right here.  Now, off you go...