Poppet of Power

Lanikins and I are united by tragic stories of loss in our respective childhoods.  She lost her She-Ra to a bratty brother attack and rightfully gives him a hard time about this crime to this very day.

I mourned an entire She-Ra family of action figures (good guys and bad guys!) that was accidentally thrown away. I stored the crew in a plastic bag with their “wedding” regalia.  I “designed” these bridal party gowns using multicolored Kleenex and my grandmother mistook the heaps of colored facial tissue for trash.  The Crystal Castle, once buzzing with activity, stood empty and hollow. My wails of sadness were likely heard all the way in Eternia.

So nearly 30 years later, it warms my heart to see Lani passing along the joys of She-Ra to a new generation of powerful young princesses with the lessons learned: I have no doubt this She-Ra will not fall pray to bratty brothers, nor will she need to suffer the indignities of a Kleenex wedding dress. This particular plushie was made as an exchange with Padfoot, and it was destined for Padfoot’s daughter.  Lani does the cutting and sewing for all of her plushies sans pattern, because she is  a plushie making goddess. Most of her plushies are not for use as children’s toys, but she rose to this particular challenge by making a beautiful doll that is built to last. Just like the good ol’ Princess of Power herself.

As part of her process, she did watch a lot of She-Ra on Netflix, which sounds really fun. She is currently working on some Dr. Who’s (10 & 11) so I’m guessing she’s suffering through those Neflix marathons. What a trooper ;-)

Hey look! It’s Yeti and Friends!

I’m interrupting my previously scheduled post because I found the Etsy shop of Yeti and Friends. Who are Yeti and Friends, you ask? Why it is a fellow who makes yetis (and presumably his friends) into trophy heads. It seems a bit sad and macabre and not at all becoming of a vegetarian such as myself to endorse trophy heads, but these heads seem pretty happy about being decapitated and mounted. I mean, look at this pretty little girl depicted (and decapitated wakka wakka) here. Pure bliss on that furry little maw.  So to each their own, ya know?

Anywhoddle, I had the pleasure of having a booth next to these guys at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco this past October (it’s like an even nerdier Comic-Con).  Their booth was constantly packed, they brought tons of yetis and were completely sold out by the end. They were incredibly friendly and thoughtful booth neighbors and the products were very high-quality. Seriously Jim Henson-esque. Given the fact that I have the rare opportunity to share something I’ve actually be able to see first hand, I was excited to stumble across their shop on Etsy. Be sure to check out their diverse offerings of heads!

Soft spot for a troll softie

I spent many, many a year inhabiting the body of Roseblood, a troll mage, my wild World of Warcraft days. Trolls were a terrible choice, game-play wise. They had no compelling “race” bonus and their large feet meant that acquiring new footwear was meaningless, shoe-wise, since my feet were too big for the in-game shoe models. And what kind of fantasy world is that?  One in which you never, ever get to admire your cute new shoes?

Nevertheless, the troll life was for me: birthed among the red rocks of Durotar, swimming to exotic islands to fight the evil voodoo of rival troll tribes, gathering tiger fur, the rebellious tusks, the wild hair. Good times.

That love and dedication to the life of a troll comes across 125% in this troll plushie from twocheeseplease.  He is so sweet I’ll forgive him for being a hunter (my greatest PVP nemesis). Check out his cute little quiver! According to twocheeseplease, his eyes are hand painted and he is sporting yarn hair along with, “very manly tusks, a super soft minky body, and microfleece accessories.”

Manly and minky indeed!  As Roseblood would likely say, “”You’re the type I’d like to sink my teeth into!”See more of twocheeseplease’s amazing work:

Tutorial Tuesday: Angry Birds Pig Plushie

crafters love angry birds… FACT

Craftster user Miss Jols shares with us a tutorial on how to make the bad guy we love to hate (but secretly love to love, and would love to squoosh!) out of green fleece!

Don’t pretend you wouldn’t make 6 of them, pile them up in the corner and throw stuff at them until you’d knocked them all over…  no? … just me then …

Yoshi Egg Plushie

Happy New Year Geek Crafters!

Since first picking up Super Mario World, I’ve always wanted a Yoshi. After years and years of waiting, I found an Etsy shop that sells Yoshi eggs.

Granted, they’re PLUSH Yoshi eggs, but still. They’re pretty adorable.

Etsy shop Get Your Game On not only sells already made plush Yoshi eggs, but DIY kits for said eggs. She also sells plush Invincible Stars and various Hello Kitty plushies.

“We build the worlds we wouldn’t mind living in”

“Drummer, beat, and piper, blow,
Harper, strike, and soldier, go.
Free the flame and sear the grasses
Till the dawning Red Star passes.”
~ from Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

Two weeks ago the world lost an amazing woman, one who had a profound impact on many people and forever changed the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. I will always have a place in my heart for Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which I read, devotedly, throughout my teen years. In her honor, here are a few of my favorite crafty dragons from around the web:

Cthulhu Crochet and Cousins, a long-time favorite blog of mine, showcased a couple of adorable dragons, based on this (free!) pattern from Lucy Ravenscar on Ravelry. They aren’t strictly Pernese-style dragons, but they’re too adorable not to include!

And this one, by Craftster user Faren, is a two-fer: the adorable clay dragon caught my eye (oh how I want one!), but below it, you can also see an embroidered dragon flying across a painted map of Pern. That’s some serious fan-love!

Finally, there are these stuffed “shoulder dragons,” by Cheryl Simshauser, made to look like McCaffrey’s fire-lizards. I love the gold one! She seems to be looking right at you.

As many internet commenters have already said, “R.I.P. Ms. McCaffrey – Long May Your Dragons Fly!”