Tag: Soft Dolls and Art Toys

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Hippos and ducklings

Here are some better photos of “Hilda the Hug Me! Hippo”, my sock hippopotamus. You can see her hand-embroidered eyes, nose, and mouth, which I did by winging it with some embroidery floss.

I even gave her some eyelashes, and some tufts on the end of her little tail.

Her posture is pretty funny too. I think I might just keep her!

The ducks showed up with some babies! Two sets, on different occasions, so far.

Their mama likes to talk to me. She will walk right up to me and quack, quack, quack. She’s the same duck who ran into some trouble before, the one we caught in a sheet so I could remove some fishing line from her leg. She seems to know me. Sometimes she will just sit and look at me for a while, tilting her head this way and that. She’s very sweet.

We’ve only seen one duckling today, and we’re hoping the others are hiding down by the pond with the other mama duck. They don’t all leave the pond together lately. Some stay behind. The ducklings in the other set are smaller, and I haven’t seen them myself yet. I’ve only heard about them.

It’s a big trip for them. They will just fall asleep in place while the other ducks are standing nearby. If anyone slows down long enough, it’s nap time.

Update: Just as I was posting this, one of the missing ducks appeared limping badly, unable to make it up the hill. We caught him in a sheet and found he had a long fishing hook stuck in his leg. We couldn’t get it out, but managed to cut it off so it won’t get snagged on anything. We poured some peroxide on the wound, but there is only one avian vet we know of who was willing to help last time, and he isn’t open at this hour. So, we will have to wait and see. Please everyone…pick up your stuff and dispose of it properly when you leave a place. Garbage and leftover fishing hooks and fishing line cause so much suffering.

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Sixteen slugs and a sock hippo

I’m pretty proud of myself this week. I actually sewed up all sixteen of those toys I cut out and fused. It’s been too unpredictable outside to get some better photos, but here is my new batch of “Hug Me! Slugs”, all lining up for their school photos. Maybe tomorrow, kids.

I also made “Hilda the Hug Me! Hippo”, my sock hippopotamus. She’s quite a bit larger than the slugs I made this week. I keep picking her up and carrying her around. She just asks and asks. So, what can I do?

We watched a cute movie this weekend, Lost in Austen. For anyone who enjoys Jane Austen, it is a miniseries takeoff of the novel and a entertaining spin on the miniseries Pride and Prejudice. A modern woman finds a door in her bathroom that leads directly into the Bennets’ house, switches places with Elizabeth, and inadvertently disrupts the order of everything. They must have cut out this scene from the version we watched:

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Hug Me! Kitty

Meet Darla, my new black and white, tuxedo “Hug Me! Kitty”. I took a little sewing detour to play around with my pattern designs and came up with a kitty. That doesn’t seem too surprising, huh? Lots of cats.

I like her curly appliquéd tail.

She’ll be ready to give someone a hug over in my Etsy shop soon.

I’m still sewing doll clothes. I stopped to make some blueberry apple muffins though. They were about to be blueberry muffins until I discovered I didn’t have a whole cup of blueberries. A happy short-coming though. The combination worked out nicely. I made them from the same buttermilk muffin recipe I usually use, and added a teaspoon of freshly grated orange zest. I also substituted some plain yogurt plus some milk for buttermilk, since I was also out of buttermilk, trying to get it to about the same consistency. That worked out fine too, but it must be time to go food shopping again!

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

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Art toys and strawberries

I finally put these fuzzy slugs up for adoption in my Etsy shop. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my soft dolls and toys, with the CPSIA legislation still unresolved, but given they are still working to sort out the details, I thought I’d post my slugs. From what I understand, you are safe if you say, “safe for children over 12,” which I will do, if necessary. It’s hard to understand the rules, or how toys made from materials already on the shelves of retail stores, like Polyfil, which is advertised to be 100% non-allergenic, or 100% polyester fleece, or 100% cotton fabric could ever possibly end up being considered an issue for anyone, but hopefully, they will come up with a list of “okay’d” materials, rather than make a blanket law that requires every children’s item to be tested for lead and phthalates. I believe they’ve already given libraries a reprieve by not insisting each of their children’s books be tested, and I think they’ve made allowances for thrift shops so they can continue to offer items for children. The law seems appropriate for companies that use raw materials to manufacture parts, but the way it is written, it seems to include just about anything.

My tummy and head haven’t felt too great the past couple of days. This morning, I couldn’t think of anything I could eat except a cookie, tea, and strawberries, which didn’t sound like a proper breakfast at all. I remarked that it sounded more like a breakfast a storybook mouse might eat. A friend told me that sounded about right for me, and when I thought about it, I agreed. So, that’s what I had and I did actually feel better.

I’m also reading my way through the last of my E M Forster novels, Maurice. And contrary to what you might guess, they did sneak Helena Bonham-Carter into the film adaptation too!

Other than that, I’ve been watching an eclectic assortment of arty films on IFC, and occasionally slipping over to Chiller, where I caught Killer Klowns from Outer Space. That sounds about right for me too.

Update: According to this Storque article on the CPSIA, dyed and undyed textiles, fabric and non-metallic thread and trim, are included on the okay list and can be used to make children’s items.