I’m about to say something that might make me very unpopular: I’ve never done a thing for St. Patrick’s Day. I appreciate the idea of a cultural celebration, but perhaps I associate this day too heavily with those who use it as an excuse to get rip roaring drunk and puke on their own shoes…or someone else’s shoes.
But, since people seem to get very into this holiday, here are some goodies I dug up for the occasion.
Let’s bring on the crafts!
For a nice relaxing sleep after drunken festivities…
Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you…
I wonder if these were mass produced, and there are a bunch of people walking around brandishing one of the most irritating grammatical mistakes in the English language: (If [your] not able to make a grammatically correct button, fake it!)
I wish I had come up with the idea to slap a label on five green jelly beans and market it as a holiday novelty (at 800% profit per package).
I’ve actually toiled over the best way to make a knit thyroid gland (since I, and a few people very close to me, have had problems with the pesky little thing). I think Ben Cuevas found the magic design…incorporate the throat/spine!
On any given night, I’m liable to stop what I’m doing and just churn out something like this. Here is a quick Hubert Cumberdale sock puppet, based on the character in the delightfully creepy Salad Fingers cartoons (originally posted on Fat-Pie with other David Firth cartoons).
My speedy, off-the-cuff rendering looks lumpy, but such is the nature of socks…he can be smoothed. If you haven’t seen Hubert Cumberdale in action, I won’t spoil anything. Watch the cartoons!
Hubert was quickly adopted after his creation. I do hope he’s enjoying his new home.
Posted in craft, plush with tags craft, plush on November 8, 2009 by shewalkssoftly
I’ve posted about needle felted anatomy and eye creatures before. Here are a few favorites from The Felted Chicken, who has some fantastic sea creatures.
Puffer fish!
And this angler fish actually lights up! She really goes the extra mile here.
There are also plenty of non-sea creatures and other adorable things on her Etsy and Flickr pages.
I was floored when I received an amazing package in the mail from my kindred spirit Sarah. I had made her a plushie last month; a jellyfish named Princess Squishy (an incarnation of a nickname/drawing conjured up in the delightful minds of children Sarah worked with).
In return, she sent me the most amazing collection of trinkets: classic Bigelow Rose Salve (it’s delightful), a Liz McGrath limited edition tin, and a phrenology head pocket mirror!
But the most incredible gift was this handmade necklace. An anatomical heart seasoned with tiny gears, axe in a glass case, black flower and a locket filled with meaningful symbols. Does this girl know me, or what?
All of this for a plush invertebrate! What a talented and beautiful soul she is. I’m so grateful.
A few people who couldn’t make it to my birthday party last month took it upon themselves to send some neat stuff and I’d like to thank them.
The lovely Agmac got this adorable crocheted tummy:
…and one of the more unique fetus ornaments I’ve seen to date. It’s wonderfully shiny, spiky…and unborn. I wonder how people would react if I wore it as a necklace. I could just say it’s an “Earth mother with an edge kind of thing.”
Matt P. found this rare and elusive coloring book. There is almost no info available about it, except for the fact that it was created by Matthew Laznicka, about whom I had previously posted. The images are incredibly fun…I’ll have to feature some of them in future posts:
I was grateful to Julia for surprising me with one of the pieces I had posted about as well. The Aroha Sihouettes laser cut LP book necklace is every bit as awesome as it looked on the website.
She also included some little lowbrow art trading cards.
This next one was a small part of a much larger gift from Matt C. and Steph. Louisa and I were unnaturally fascinated with this confection, so we decided to do some research. Turns out Zitner’s Butter Krak eggs have quite a cult following in the Philadelphia area. Since I can’t eat coconut, I enjoyed this one as an intrigued spectator.
I’m fascinated by random cultural explosions that take place around arbitrary objects. Bacon has become a veritable phenomenon over the past two years, and I’m noticing steady growth of the toast trend.
I’ll refrain from posting images of pictures burned into toast…it’s been done ad nauseum. I will, however, show you this meta-toast mosaic:
Who can forget the 1990’s pioneer of these crumbly, starchy heroes, POWDERED TOAST MAN?
High-velocity raisins, corrosive croutons, acidic marmalade, flying butter pats…and of course, flight. He had it all.
Years later, we meet Mr. Toast and his mini empire. There are countless variations of Mr. Toast images and products. Personally, I’m a fan of Vampire Toast:
(Love the shiny cape…very classy)
Slightly more menacing is this toast from one of my favorite web comics.
Never thought toast could be sad? Well, My Paper Crane proves that it can be, if aware of its ominous scorching fate.
If you prefer your toast enraged and screaming, you can now purchase a Mini Toast Pocket Friend:
In fact, angry toast does seem to be all the rage (pun intended).
And my own soft toast creations, circa 2006 (and part of a complete plush breakfast) were pretty happy too:
Yummy Pancake’s Mr Toastee flickr set runs the whole gamut.
Happy…
Dressed up…
Drunk…
Whole wheat, original and rye (together in perfect harmony)…
Some modern toast creations include bizarre, counter-intuitive designs like this Soft Toaster Cell Phone Holder, complete with bear face and ears:
(The toast, also with a face, is supposed to “wipe off” the phone…wonder if it’s large enough for touch screen phones)
Are you…
(Image source link now dead)
What are your feelings about the growing Cult of Toast?
I’ve made plush meat products before; bacon strips, a T-bone steak, ham, and of course…the Turducken. But this life sized meat project trumps anything I’ve undertaken.
The South Park Quality Meats installation in San Diego includes salami, different cuts of meat, sausages, frankfurters, ham, a leg of lamb, a tongue, tripe, one goat and two pigs heads, and a side of beef.
All pieces are made from thrift/recycled fabric, and recycled polyfil stuffing.
Check out the store front! Signs were made by a seven year old boy and a nine year old girl.