Yes, yes, yes--I am late with this post. But here is my October Toy Society Drop. It is the Silly Snake found in the sweet book Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan. And I have to tell you this snake was a mongo hit around our house--I mean, Beeper declared the snake his own when he saw it, like they had always belonged to one another or something. So, yes, now there is a second snake in progress for Beeper. And aside from the fact that this snake plushie is big with the kindergarten reptile-loving set, it is also just BIG. I mean, like 4 feet long. With this sort of size, I am thinking it must be at least part anaconda. Which explains why I have this irrational fear of Beeper sleeping with the snake, and keep imagining the snake entwined around his sleeping body. 
But back to the Toy Society. We dropped this snake on Halloween eve, just outside the Seward Co-op in Minneapolis, on Franklin Avenue. And this is drop number 10 in my year long commitment--I know, can you believe it? You can see all my Toy Society drops from this past year right here, if you really want to. And also, don't know about the Toy Society and its acts of random plushie giving kindness?--learn more about it here--but really, the best way to learn about it is just to do a drop for yourself. You should. Think about it at least.
Look. It's Steve the Cat. Isn't he a sweet (if wonky) little kitty? I made him from some reclaimed blue wool suiting--and vintage buttons for eyes.
He was created from Denyse Schmidt's pattern in her book, Quilts. Have you seen this book before? It has some drool-inducingly gorgeous quilts with a lovely modern edge to them. Also, have I mentioned that I do not even know how to quilt? But this books makes me want to knuckle down and learn it despite the fact that it seems a like it could feel like Chinese Water Torture given how long it seems it would take to complete just one quilt. I feel like I would have to train for it like a marathon--doll quilt first, build up to a wall hanging, then muscle my way through to a lap quilt--and finally, the big race--the bed-sized quilt. One of these days, I tell you...Anyway, the book has lots of other patchwork projects that are not quilts--totes, slippers, cards, etc. Really, the book is lovely--you should check it out. And incidently, Denyse also creates some of my all time favorite fabric collections--like Katie Jump Rope--one of which I used on Steve's tummy and ears. So Steve is all Denyse Schmidt, all the time.
But back to Steve. This is Steve in a tree. 
Yes, poor Steve is stuck in a tree, waiting for some person to come a long and rescue him. Rescue him AND report back to The Toy Society on who has helped him down and will now assume responsibility for him. He is good cat mostly (although he does have a tendency to dig through the bathroom trash and make off with little pieces that he stashes in little nests under the bed). But he has quite a docile nature and was really quite agreeable to being my September Toy Society drop--number 9 in my year long commitment, for those who might be counting (and if you have some idle time on your hands, you can see all the drops I made here). Now I am just hoping that someone picked Steve up before it rained last night--you know how cats detest rain. 
Here's my August Toy Society drop. I think he looks a bit like Huntley--the nosey daschund from Curious George. The pattern is Elsie the Little Dog by Kate Henderson of Two Little Banshees. It can be found in the super duper plushie pattern book More Softies that has loads of other adorable plushie patterns by plushie designer superstars like Myra Masuda (My Little Mochi) and Abby Glassenberg (While She Naps). Also, it was a total cinch to make--took me like an hour and a half or something. I did add the big black bulbous felt nose--he just seemed to need it--so he could be as nosey as Huntley.
And you probably don't realize it, but we are in hiding right now--doing our very best to seize the remaining days of summer around here--at a cabin in the far reaches of northern Minnesota. So, this toy was dropped on little Ludlow's Island on the beautiful Lake Vermillion. And as always, you can see all my other Toy Society drops here--all part of my year-long Toy Society commitment. Don't already know what the Toy Society is? Well, you should go find about the Toy Society and its handmade plushie mission here.
I made this little lovely from Emily's Black Apple sweet as hell doll pattern (find the link on her blog, Inside a Black Apple) for my July Toy Society Drop ( read more about the Toy Society and its random acts of plushie kindness here and if you are bored, you can see all my drops over the past year here). 
Of course, I made some modifications--knee socks and a bib detail I added to her dress. But then I also decided she should have some accoutrement--because shouldn't all dolls have a little accoutrement? So, I made the capelet, beret and little mary jane shoes. 
And then I thought, well, why shouldn't I share these simple little patterns with you to either embellish your own Black Apple doll, or that you could use for your own doll design? These little pieces take like an hour to whip up and add so much je ne sais quoi to your doll (not to mention how much adoration you may inspire in any small children who would be so lucky as to receive a doll with said accoutrement). So, go ahead, find my simple, easy-peasy pattern with instructions here:
And so the doll was dropped on behalf of the Toy Society last Friday, just outside Java Train in Saint Paul, Minnesota (yeah, I am little delayed in this post--been camping on Lake Superior the past few days...more on that later...). Makes for drop number 7 in my year long commitment. I've already got plans to make a weiner dog plushie for my August drop...hope you'll stop back to see that one too. 
This is my June Toy Society Drop. He was made from the Peanut, the Wee Elephant pattern, designed by Hillary Lang (of the lovely Wee Wonderfuls) in the book Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. (and I love that book. Everything friggin thing about it screams LOVELY. And I might add that I don't even quilt--if that means anything to you.)
I decided to do my June Toy Society drop tonight en route to the grocery store, while taking the Greenway--a cross-city biking path here in Minneapolis. So, I stopped here, on the Martin Olav Sabo bridge over Minnesota State Highway 55. It is one of my favorite parts of the Greenway and despite the climb to get up the bridge, one of my favorite parts of the ride when I am heading that direction. So, Peanut the Wee Elephant ended up here.
Moored somewhat precariously to a piece of wire cabling, looking down over the Sunday evening traffic. (yes, this is evening in Minnesota in the summer--it stays light here until 9:00pm during the summer months. And yes, Beeper is in the Burley bike carrier there--happily reading comic books, oblivious to his mama leaving toys around town at random)
And so we bid adieu to my sixth drop on behalf of the Toy Society as part of my year long commitment (read more here and see all my earlier toys I made and dropped here) to make a monthly drop. (And no, you need not make such a ridiculous commitment if you are interested in dropping something you made yourself for the Toy Society--you need only do it once really. I'm just spaz and have an achievement orientation that likes to rear its ugly head and command me to do things like this...I suppose this has something to do with why Mr Beeper likes to call me Hurricane Holly--a force of nature to be reckoned with)
Just skidding in on the last day of May to make my monthly Toy Society drop (as part of my year long Toy Society commitment--read about that here, but only if you feel like it). This month I made this sweet and abstract little Beetle Bug by Carly Schwerdt of Nest Studio. Her pattern can be found in the fantastic book, Softies Only a Mother Could Love.
And this is where we made the drop--here at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which happens to be about my favorite place in the whole city. Beeper actually picked the sculpture for us to hang it from--he chose Arikidea by Mark di Suvero. Of course, it is one of Beeper's favorites, owing to its hugeness and also that you can climb on board the wooden platform and sway on it.
Baby Binky Bunny number 2 dropped for The Toy Society? Check. And I was really SO happy to be able to drop this on Easter morning for some random person to find. So, there I was in the bathroomon Easter morning, brushing my teeth, listening to my boy in the background playing happily with the new toy animals the Easter Bunny left in his basket (yes already, they were a king cobra and an alligator--I can't help it if baby chicks and bunnies hold no interest for him) thinking, thinking, thinking about where I should drop the Baby Binky Bunny...someplace where people would show up, even though it is a holiday, someplace where someone would find it who needed to find something like this because their circustances might not be as fortunate as mine on Easter...and then I knew it had to be the Minneapolis Children's Hospital--which is not even 10 blocks away from my home. So, that's where it ended up--tied to a small tree with a pink ribbon, just outside the main doors.
Just completed my pair of Monster Ninnis (made from Revoluzzza's lovely and FREE pattern found here) that I am sending off as part of the Australian Bushfire Appeal hosted by the Toy Society. I think I will include a little tag with each, just a little something informational about how these monsters are special--they not only LOVE little kids, but they also keep you SAFE, and can put out a fire by simply SMILING at it with their one-toothed grin.
So, no official Toy Society drop for March since these will be packed up and shipped off, but I have some BIG plans, baby, for my April drop--an all new plushie design from mmmcrafts...
For my monthly toy drop, I decided to join the Valentine's Day drop hosted by the Toy Society--and knowing I could do it while in Antigua made it all the more groovy. You see, I have actually been to Guatemala a couple of times before for work and having hung out in Antigua, I immediately thought of all the little indigenous Mayan girls who hang out in the Parque Central. And just knew I HAD TO make a little doll--with clothes that could be removed just to up the play-value ante.
And as you know, one of commitments to myself--besides making a toy drop monthly on behalf of the Toy Society--was that I would use this opoprtunity to make plushies using the patterns of other plushie artists. Which I have been totally digging so far--but I just did not have any doll patterns with clothing readily on hand--so I decided to design my own pattern this month. And here she is--my little red-haired dolly with the heart-shaped mouth, stripey stockings, black boots and beret, wool scarf, flowery tunic and lovely little pale yellow wool felt coat with a peter-pan collar. 
Of course, she won't need any of these wintery clothes in the ever-temperate climate of Antigua--and little Guatemalan girls may even be bewildered by her wardrobe...but she did come direct from a Minnesota winter...
So, Mr Beeper and I did make our drop on Valentine's Day near one entrance to the Parque Central--and we went to find a park bench to sit down and see if we could spy who would pick up the doll--and when we turned back, only one minute later, all that remained was a pink ribbon on the ground from here she had been tied to the fence post. Gone, just like that--into some eager receiver's hands.And need I say it again? The Toy Society is so cool. You really should try it out.
So, I really do love love the Toy Society--it's that whole random acts of kindness thing. Having experienced some random acts of kindness myself, firsthand, at some critical moments in my life--well, I just really believe in the importance of doing nice things for perfect strangers, with no expectations of gaining anything in return. It's good for the world to do those things--and you never know how important the seemingly small thing you are doing might be to someone else. And that, for me, is the allure of the Toy Society. Random giving of handmade toys to someone you do not know in exchange for nothing--not even the knowledge of who will end up with your creation.
It is another Polly doll by Carly Schwerdt of Nest Studio, found in the Softies book. And that is another thing: I decided that I wanted to not make any of my own designs for these monthly toy drops--I want to only make the designs of other plush artists. Just because I like other people's designs and want to share them with all of you and because I like to make new plushies I have never made before and because I want to. So there.
This is Noel and Yule--two lovely little holiday monsters I made for the Toy Society's Christmas drop. These were made from the Lucy's Monster pattern (by Marne Cales) in the book, Softies.
And yes, I am a tad late in getting these little fellas out there...but today, Mr Beeper dropped them in different locations in Minneapolis.
This one at Matthew's Park on 29th Ave....
And this one, on Dean Parkway and Lake of the Isles Drive.
Don't know about the Toy Society? Well, you should go check them out--post haste. It is a blog dedicated to acts of random kindness--specifically, one where plush toys are dropped in random locations anyone to find and take home and love. Go to the blog--really. So cool.
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