Want To Make A Plushie?

Skipping 5 Fandom Friday this week to bring you a tutorial! This year I have learned how to make felt plushes, and I’ve become a bit obsessed. They are super cute, and in my opinion, pretty darn easy. Especially with some of the mods I’ll tell you about further down in this post – seriously, even if you can’t sew, keep reading! I put in a no-sew mod. 🙂 So, for those who are interested, here’s how I make a plush from scratch!
*Full disclosure: I am NOT a seamstress by any stretch. This is just how I personally do things.*

Step 1: Find a reference pic, and make a sketch. If this is your first plush, I highly recommend buying a pattern, and making it, just to get the hang of things. I purchased 10th Doctor and 11th Doctor plush patterns from Deadly Sweet, and they were immensely helpful to me in learning how to put together a pattern on my own. For this tutorial, I’m using the kitty plush I made. I used the below image as a ref to go off, and sketched it out to the size I wanted the plush to be.

Step 2: Make your pattern, and cut it out. To do this, I use a lightbox. I lay a new piece of paper on top of my sketch, and trace out each individual piece I will need. In the case of the kitty, I traced a body piece, each stripe for both body and tail, and then the heart pieces. The little girl I made this for loves rainbows, so I made six pieces for the heart, one for each color of the rainbow.

If you don’t have a lightbox (my dad was getting rid of his and I snagged it!) you can just use a window and some sunlight. Tape your sketch to the window, and then trace with a piece over it. Once all your pieces are traced, I find it super helpful to go over the edges with a thick marker, to give yourself a really bold outline when cutting. Also, make sure to write info for the piece inside each section. For example, on the body piece I wrote x2 (front and back), lt. purple (color of felt I’m using), and for the little piece I also write ‘kitty’ so I know which plush it belongs to in case they get mixed up with another pattern.

I cut around the outside edge, to give myself a little wiggle room.

Step 3: Cut out your felt. Pin your paper pattern pieces directly the felt, and start cutting! I use a LOT of pins so there is no chance for wiggling, and the paper holds up fine. So go nuts.

Step 4: Being assembling! Now that all your pieces are cut out, you can start putting things together. You’ll need to assemble each side separately before you put your two body halves together. I started with attaching the tail.

When pinning pieces like this that stick out, make sure it’s not right on the edge – leave a little overlap on the back side, like above. Then just stitch it on!

Time for the no-sew mod. I have never made a plush that can’t also be assembled with hot glue. I personally like the stitched look, but if you’re pressed for time or just can’t sew, hot glue is a perfectly acceptable option. In terms of durability, the only thing I would question is how well they would wash as I haven’t attempted a hot glued one in the machine before. Also, when pinning things, you’ll need to put your pins farther away from the edges so you have room to glue right on the edge of the felt.

Now it’s time to sew (glue) on the back tail piece. When doing so, make sure you lay on the front so they two tails are lined up exactly. Otherwise, it will be all sorts of disasters when you get to sewing the final front and back together.

Once lined up, pin the back tail piece in place, and sew (glue) on to the back body piece.

Continue adding and sewing (gluing) on all detail pieces (in this case that meant all tail and body stripes for front and back, and the heart pieces on front). A quick note – when sewing piece on outer edges, leave a bit going past the edge instead of lining it up exactly (see above image) – it makes it easier when putting the whole thing together.

Once all the detail pieces are attached, I put on the eyes. For these, I used Safety Eyes (which when I started I had no clue what that meant. But luckily, the people at Joanns do, and clued me in!). If you’re using Safety Eyes, simply pop them in, and if you’re not you have two choices. You can cut out black felt circles and sew (glue) them on, or wait until the end and paint them on. I have done both, and they both work fine.

Step 5: Sew together front and back pieces. Getting to the end now! Line up your pieces and pin them together – again, feel free to go nuts on pins as you don’t want any wiggling.

Then start sewing (gluing) things together. I always start with small areas that will need stuffing; in this case, the tail.

When sewing the two pieces together, put your needle through only the top layer, not both, to start (see above). This will allow you to hide your knot at the end inside the plush (see below – no knot sticking out the back!). If you’re gluing, quite obviously this is irrelevant.

Step 6: Stuffing. After sewing (gluing) all around the tail, and a bit down on each side, stop and put stuffing in the tail. I use purchased polyester batting, but if I continue making them I’d like to come up with something more eco-friendly (like mixing scraps and using stuffing from discarded stuffies.)

Once the tail is stuffed, keep sewing (gluing) all around the body, leaving a gap to put the rest of the stuffing in.

The size hole you leave is entirely up to you. I’m used to stuffing now, so I only leave a 1.5″ – 2″ gap to stuff. Now fill it with stuffing!

I pack the stuffing in pretty tight. If left loose it can settle oddly, and end up lumpy. Just make sure you leave enough space to close that final edge. Once stuffed enough, sew (glue) the whole thing shut!

Step 7: Final Details. This step may or may not be relevant for yout. In some plushes, I add on the little details like mouth (or eyes if I’m not using Safety Eyes) with hot glue or paint, once the whole thing is put together. I like this since sometimes when you put things on ahead of time, pre-stuffed, the stuffing can warp the positions and things look off. This prevents that. In this case, I painted on the mouth, and darkened the purple part of the rainbow as I didn’t have any dark purple felt, and didn’t want it and the body to be the same color.

Ta-da! The finished product! Pardon the messy art desk…it is always in some form of disarray.

So there you have it! My method of making a felt plush, from scratch. Now I have a question for you, lovely readers! Would you like me to share some of my already made patterns here on the blog? If people are interested, I’d be happy to share some! Obviously, not the Doctor Who ones, as those are purchased and that’s just a rude thing to do. But the ones I made from scratch I’d be happy to share with you guys if anyone has a desire to get crafty!

And lastly, I’d love feedback on the tutorial. Is it easy to follow? I know it’s long, but I am one who loves every detail spelled out for me, so that’s was my diving off point. If it’s too much – let me know! Constructive criticism completely welcome. Thanks! 😀

A Very Small WIP Wednesday

I am in massive super crunch time mode for art lately. There are EIGHT DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS. I have no idea how that happened. I started making presents in September. How is it that I’m still behind?!?!? In spite of that, I am actually feeling relatively okay about being able to complete the last two gifts I have left. Anywho, let’s dive in to the WIPs.

Finished the kitty plush! I used a Pusheen pic as a ref for the pattern I made, and finally got her all finished up yesterday. Keep an eye out – I’ll be posting a tutorial on how I make plushies this Friday, and this little kitty is my example!

The next time I decide to do an oil painting on a deadline, please kick me in the face. I am the slooooowest painter, and this is taking me so much more time than I planned for. But I am ALMOST. DONE. At this point, all I have left is adding in the bowstring, and then detailing out her midsection and bow. Then it’s just a couple detail revisions and a bit of reworking on the background and DONE. I’m hoping two more sessions will complete it. Which sounds great, except oils take a long time to to dry. I have serious doubts that this will be dry by Christmas so I think I’ll just be placing it ever so carefully in a box, giving to my brother and saying, “Hope you love it, but don’t touch it!” 😀

Below is a quick comparison of what it looked like last WIP Wednesday.

I fixed the proportions (aka no more giraffe neck and looking like she just got her wisdom teeth out) and also added more detail to things – gloves, dress, and so on. Definitely SO much happier with it now.

And that’s all I’ve got for this week! My next WIP Wednesday won’t be until 2015!! But hopefully by then I’ll have some new stuff to show you. I’ve got lots of art plans for the coming year!

Christmas On A Budget: From Kids & For Kids

Today we’re talking about the small humans you may have in your life. My daughter is about to turn four, so keep in mind this list is geared toward the younger spectrum of kids, both in gift making and receiving. This post mostly focuses on handmade gifts. Personally, it is super important to me to instill making gifts for people in my daughter’s life.  I am really not a fan of opening up a gift marked as from a little/young child and finding something storebought. They didn’t buy it, and chances are they didn’t even pick it. So why bother saying it’s from them? Maybe it’s just because I grew up making presents for everyone, and my friends I have always made each other things, but I find making a gift for someone and then getting to watch them open it to be one of the best parts of the holiday season.

My biggest thing to keep in mind when giving gifts from young children is practicality. I know that drawings, cards, collages etc. are great, but usually the reality is it hangs on the fridge for awhile and then ends up in the trash. I like gifts, even those from little ones, to have a little more lasting value, and ideally a USE to them.

A go-to for very young children is ornaments. For my daughter’s second Christmas (she had just turned one) we gave hand print ornaments. Specifically, I embossed her hand prints on green and red paper, dated them on the back, and looped some ribbon through. However, a stamp pad is much cheaper than an embossing kit (mine was a gift – woo!) and a stamped hand print would work just as well. If you’re feeling like putting in a little more effort, make up a quick air dry clay and do hand/foot print ornaments that way! I love ornaments as an option for young, especially first Christmas, kiddos to give as it’s a practical item that will be used year after year, and it commemorates their first one! Need some inspiration? Search on Pinterest – you’ll be overloaded with ideas.

My little’s first handmade gifts!

Picture frames/photo gifts are another great ‘from child’ option. You can buy plain photo frames at the dollar store, and then simply have your kiddo paint on it (after removing the glass! Don’t forget that step! I’ve done it!) and pop in a picture of your choice – voila! My other favorite option, especially for the 2 -3 year old age is the ‘interview’ photo. Write out a series of questions to ask your child about the recipient. For example, I made one of these for my mom last year and I asked my daughter, “What is Mimi’s favorite food?” “What is her favorite animal?” What is your favorite thing to do with Mimi?”, and so on. The answers you get at this age are hilarious, especially if you ask about age! As you can see below, I wrote out my daughter’s answer on a piece of watercolor paper she had painted, added a photo of my mum and daughter, framed it and called it a day. The whole thing cost me $3.15 (for the frame, and photo print) and my mum still says it’s her favorite present she’s gotten from my daughter! That’s a win. If you’re pressed for time, skip the interview and just have them paint on a picture. Once it’s dry, lay a photo over it and frame it. Done!

Photo gifts from last year. So simple!

This year, we opted for bookmarks, another really great and practical option for little kids. Grab some thick paper (cardstock works fine, though my examples below were done with watercolor paper), cut it into bookmark size pieces, and have your child paint away! Once dry, laminate (you can buy a pack of laminating sheets for $6 – $10 depending on the kind – it comes with LOTS), and you’re done. We opted to add in some pressed leaves and flowers from our stash to give them some extra spunk. My daughter placed them, I did the gluing as the pressed pieces were so delicate, and that’s it! If you’re child is old enough to write (we are just starting, but she’s doing so well!) have them jot a quick message on the back just to give it the extra oomph of handmade love.

My other most favorite simple, cheap, and practical gift from little ones: A painted flower pot + a seed packet. A medium size plain terra cotta pot is about $2 – $3, and plain acrylic paint works great on them! However, you will need to seal the paint if it’s going to be an outside planter. We’ve never done these for Christmas, but they are completely applicable, especially for an indoor plant or herb!

Now it’s time to talk about ideas FOR kids. With all the commercials and advertising kids are exposed to I find that hand making gifts for kids can be intimidating. And yet, I think it’s so important to do to help instill with them the importance of handmaking gifts for people, themselves included! My daughter is only four, and we don’t have cable, so she isn’t exposed to a ton, but even she loves My Little Pony and many other ‘brand’ type things (Littlest Pet Shop anyone?). Luckily, most of my ideas can be adapted to incorporate their favorite things!

Plush stuffies. I know this sounds really scary, and complicated. The idea of making a stuffed animal of any sort always intimidated me. But I tried it this year, and it’s not that hard! I definitely recommend starting out with a purchased pattern if it’s your first time. Etsy has so many options, and most are only a few bucks each. Mine are all made out of felt because again, it’s super cheap. Can’t stitch to save your life? No problem! I’ve yet to make a stuffie that couldn’t be put together with hot glue instead. I use hot glue on some of mine that have really small details simply because I find it easier than stitching. I’ll be posting a tutorial on how I make plushies (from pattern making to finished product) very soon, so you can see my method. But hot glue would be a completely acceptable (and time saving!) substitute for hand stitching!

Some examples of the plushies I’ve made as gifts this year!

In the same vein as stuffies, I think masks are another great option for a fun gift, and one that promotes imagination! These would be a bit more advanced as you’d probably need to make your own template/pattern, but still a great option. Etsy has some amazing shops that sell masks – browse for inspiration if you’re thinking of making one for a special kiddo in your life!

Jewelry is another great, and relatively simple thing to make for the late toddler/preschool age (just beware of choking hazards). My daughter loves to play dress up with her jewelry, so a new beaded bracelet, or bracelet/necklace set would be a most loved gift. I tend to scout for beads and things on clearance, as you can often such great deals that way. Especially at Joanns.

As for non-homemade gifts, I love stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx to get great deals on toys and things. They tend to carry a pretty decent variety of brand toys and non-brand at a price that doesn’t kill your wallet. Often times too they have a pretty sweet arts and crafts section! My local Marshalls always has a great array of notebooks and journals (which my daughter loves to doodle in, and practice her letters!), along with really fun kits of crafts to do with the kiddos. It’s my go-to store for kiddo gifts!

 Next week is already the LAST POST before Christmas! I thought November went by fast, but good gravy December bumped it up to light speed. Anywho, tune in next Monday for the final post in the series Stocking Stuffers!

WIP Wednesday

I’m still rolling steadily along with Christmas presents. Down to my final six! Which sounds kinda scary when I think about the fact that Christmas is in less than four weeks. I got this?! I mean, YEAH, I got this!

Most recently finished is this little puppy plush! Made for a very special little boy I know. I realized afterward that I totally forgot to include a tail when making the pattern! Whoops…thinking I’ll cut out a dark blue piece and give him a 2D tail hot glued on the back.

This pile of pieces is on it’s way to becoming a cute little kitty plush! I based my pattern off a Pusheen image I found online, and customized the colors to suit the little girl it’s going to.

Oh, the Zelda painting. I am still loving it, but hating what an incredibly SLOW painter I am. It’s not so much a complaint as a realization of reality. Luckily I’m almost done.

And now, a little art babble with this close up. First off, let me tell you that painting a face in oil paint when her whole head is legit the size of my thumb is HARD. Also, I’m very quickly discovering I have some seriously wacky proportions going on in the head/neck area. That will all be taken care of with the next session. I need to bulk up the left shoulder, move up the cape clasp section – basically just a lot of adjusting the whole area. Then it’s just adding in a some eye detail cleanup, finishing the dress and bow and DONE! Oh, and Gannondorf’s top hand if you look in the big view; apparently I completely forgot to detail the shadow there!

I sketched this portrait out on Monday, and now I just need to shade it. Followed up by one of her little brother.

Other than these projects I still have my little’s treasure chest to detail, and my hubs oil painting to finish. Go go go!!

What are you working on lately? Making any presents for the holidays?

 

WIP Wednesday

GAH, I am so behind on blog stuffs! I can never manage to keep up with life when I am sick! But luckily, I feel pretty much tip top again, so it’s time to get back on track with posts, starting with WIP Wednesdays again. Nothing new this week, just more progress on things I’ve already shared. Now that I am in epic Christmas present scramble mode, I won’t have a ton of new stuff to share in the next two months, but I’ll post all I can!

I’ve had this portrait of Mr. Cumberbatch finished for a couple weeks, and I’m quite happy with it! However I absolutely need to work on rendering certain clothing texture.

A penguin daddy and baby! This is a Christmas present for a friend of mine, who adores/collects penguins.

I’ve made a rather abysmal amount of progress on my Neil Gaiman portrait. I haven’t even finished laying the darks in the hair yet! But, this project does wind up at the bottom of the priority list since it’s just for fun, not a Christmas present. I work on it when I can, or when I just HAVE to use my pencils after spending days leaving them untouched while I work on my two big sewing projects (see below).

Princess Luna is coming along nicely. All her pieces have been cut out and I’m in the process of stitching each side together.

But this is where the majority of my effort has been going. Princess Celestia. This plush has taken SO MUCH work. I entirely hand stitch these plushes, and since I’m kinda slow at it, these are a huge time sync. But I’m loving how she’s turning out!! This is the front side, obviously, and it’s 100% finished.

The back side has MUCH less detail than the front and will therefore take much less time to put together. Then, I can sew the whole thing together and stuff it. I’m a little worried about the stuffing part, as I’m hoping nothing will look warped or misshapen, but I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

That’s all I’ve got for you this week! I feel like I’ve been working a TON, but it’s only because sewing takes me ages haha. I’ve got a couple more plush patterns to draw, then cut out and stitch, and TWO oil paintings to do, one of which I haven’t even started. It’s gonna be a busy two months of art. Just the way I like it!

WIP Wednesday

Lately art has been a balance between finishing the just-for-fun projects I’ve started, working on Christmas presents, and still wanting to start more just-for-fun projects! I’ve made the decision to focus on Christmas though. I know it’s still two months away, but I also know me and if I don’t bust out at least half my list, I’ll never get them done in time. I’m making so much this year! Which is awesome, but also stressful. I’ve actually closed commissions for the season just so I can focus on it, and it’s been a great choice. One less things to stress about!

Last week, I was lamenting about my little raccoon and his poor nose. I made the decision to seam rip the nose off, then cut and hot glue a new one one and I am SO HAPPY I did! I just love him now! So I will definitely have to remember that when making a new one…I’ve got some raccoon plans up my sleeve.

Finished my Bravely Default piece! Tiz’s (far left) eyes are a bit dark, and Ringabel (pirate) looks a bit evil haha, but overally I like it a lot! I also learned I’m not a huge fan of using watercolors in this manner. I like them for more tightly controlled things, and this was very loose. I think a piece in this style is one I’d like to try once I get a set of Copics and see what I think!

I got the Neil Gaiman piece all sketched out and have just barely started laying in the darks in the hair. However, after staring at it while working I think I’m going to erase the left eye (our left, that is) and redraw it in. It’s too low, and it’s driving me banana sandwich.

This piece however, I am 100% happy with! It was just one of those times where everything is working out exactly the way I want it to! I’d say I have about an hour left to finish up that side of his coat, and then it’s all done! At this point, I feel like I’m subconsciously putting off finishing it up because it’s been so much fun to draw.

The last thing I wanted to share today is a bit of my pattern/plush making process. I started a new plush for my daughter for Christmas, and figured I’d give you a taste of how I do it!

I start with a sketch. I find a reference pic that I like, then sketch it out to the size I want the plush to be. In this case, it’s about 8″ x 8″ including the hair and wingtips. I know how messy it looks, but I have to sketch in all the sides of everything (hair, wings, etc) for the next step: tracing.

Using a light box, I take my sketch and trace out each individual piece I will need. Then I cut them out, pin them to felt, and cut the felt out.

And voila! Princess Celestia is coming right along. I need to snag a couple other felt colors to cut out the rest of the hair, and then I’ll be ready to start sewing it together (which is a whole other ball game). This is definitely the most complicated plush I’ve tried. I want it to be ‘viewable’ from both sides, not just the front, which added the extra step of making sure it all works from the back too. So far so good though! We’ll see how it all comes together once I start layering everything to sew.

I have some plans for upcoming Christmas posts and I was thinking about making a full step by step tutorial for (how I do) pattern & plush making. What do you guys think? Something you’d like to see?

WIP Wednesday

Art lately has had it’s ups and down. I’ve started some portraits that I love, and had some other projects not go so well. Also, I felt way less productive than normal art-wise lately. I’ll have to kick it up a notch for October!

I started a watercolor piece of my party in Bravely Default (which has since changed but that’s besides the point). It was all going swimmingly until my three year old ran in to my room after a nap and grabbed my arm causing my to drop my paintbrush full of BLACK PAINT on top of Agnes’ face (far right – that awkward looking area). After some deep breaths and a saying through gritted teeth, “PLEASE DON’T GRAB MUMMY’S ARM IF SHE’S PAINTING….” I started damage control. Luckily these are watercolors, so I dabbed as much off as I could and waited for it to dry. I’ve been lightly layering up white gesso on top and now it’s at a usable point. This is Mixed Media paper, but if you overwork the area, it really starts to disintegrate which makes blending watercolors pretty much impossible. Hopefully I can finish it up in the next two days or so.

I finished my hedgehog!!! And I think he’s just the cutest thing. I’m really excited about him, as he is my own pattern with no reference for it other than an actual hedgehog. He isn’t that dynamic of a stuffie, but he sure is adorable. Plus, I love the subtle geek tribute of Sonic and Tails when he’s with my little fox!

Unfortunately I’m not too happy with my second plush pattern. Sigh. I really want to like this guy, but his face drives me nuts. When I designed the pattern I forgot to allow for a ‘neck’ area when I stitched it together, so now the nose looks way too far down on the face and it’s all I can focus on. I may just rip the stitching on the nose out, cut a new one, and hot glue it on farther up. He is supposed to be part of the other woodland plushies above for a friends baby shower, but I may just give him to my little depending on how the fix goes.

I started this portrait of the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch. I love how it’s turning out! This piece has more to it now, but being honest I was totally too lazy to take another picture. Photographing graphite portraits drives me bonkers since I have A: No lighting equipment and B: no tripod but I do what I can! A lot of the subtler midtone shading can get lost, but it’s usually fixable with editing.

And then last night I started a portrait of Neil Gaiman just because I felt like it! I’m reading one of his books, and was flipping through Sandman again looking at the art so I guess he was just on my brain. I felt like starting a new portrait, and that’s who I picked!

Made anything lately? Let me know below!

WIP Wednesday

Although I love sharing for WIP Wednesday I am heading into the season where a lot of my art is being made for Christmas presents, which means a lot of it has to be kept under wraps (WOO bad puns!). But, I’ll of course share what I can!

I finished my fox plush! I made him from my own pattern, using both a ready-made plush on Etsy and Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog for a reference. I definitely learned a lot (via trial and error) about pattern making, and for my next couple designs I’m going a bit bigger. This guy was a tad small, and some of the pieces were hard to cut. My stitching also ran into a couple problems, but I still like him! Eventually I’ll do a post dedicated just to pattern making, and probably share my patterns if they come out nicely!

This is the next pattern I’ve made – a raccoon! He actually had a lot more pieces than I was originally thinking, but he should be so cute once he’s all done!

This little guy is the one I’m most excited about – a hedgehog!! Who will of course be blue to accompany the fox (Sonic and Tails!!), and then I’ll have added in some subtle geek to this particular batch of presents.

This was a speedpaint I did last week to celebrate Winter Solider coming out on Blu-Ray. (YEEHOO!! I love this movie). Anywho, start to finish was about 25 minutes I think? I posted it on my Instagram but wanted to share here too. I’m trying to work on speedpaints to help me improve my watercolor blending skills without taking a ridiculous amount of hours to get a painting done! As you can see, it’s pretty rough, but that’s why we practice, right?!

I threw some rough color into this sketch, and now I definitely have an idea where I want to go with it. It is definitely going to get fully inked, and (hopefully) have a comic panel type to it.

And lastly, from my sketchbook, I’ve been working on some pose stuff for two reasons. 1. It’s good practice, especially when I rarely do full body stuff. 2. I have some fun illustrations planned that will need a full body pose and I’m trying to find ones I like!

I do have a couple portraits finished and started, but can’t share them. . .I’m not sure if the people they are for read my blog but I’m not risking it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s WIPs!

Life In Photos #24

Our morning walks are still going strong! We decided to walk up near my mother-in-law’s house this week as she has some excellent back country roads to walk on.

My little miss had a blast collecting as much mica as she could find! She now has her own mica jar to fill to the brim.

We stumbled upon this gorgeous view on one of our walks. I am absolutely having our family photos done here this year! Especially once the leaves start to turn – it’s going to be so beautiful!

This tree in particular. I can’t wait until it turns, and we can take photos with it. So perfect!

I ended up having an little impromptu photo shoot with my miss when we came upon this rock. I am so in love with the pictures! I took about fifty! I have a ton in color too, which look great, but these two black and whites are a couple of my faves. I just love black and white photography.

And lastly, my little is so into ‘reading’ to her stuffies/toys lately. She has always loved to, but lately her stories are getting so much more complex! I love listening to her (though so far my attempts to record any haven’t been stealthy enough haha) and just basking in her imagination. It’s definitely one of the most amazing parts of becoming a parent.

Clockwise from top left…

1. This little fox is my first pattern that I designed myself for a plush! There’ll be a bit more info about him on this coming WIP Wednesday.

2. I attempted to make little French Macarons this week and boy was it a baking fail haha! However, despite looking all wrong, they really did taste delicious.

3. I don’t often do selfies, but I got tagged for one this week and my little had to photobomb.

4. We’ve still been having lovely visits with our donkey friends! The baby’s fuzzy head just kills me!! So cute!!

 

WIP Wednesday

I’m about 90% done this bookmark, which will be a Christmas gift for a friend. It’s been so much fun to paint, and I’m loving learning more about using watercolors. I haven’t decided if I’m going to paint a background color or not. The Magic card has an ochre yellow background, but I don’t really like it. So, to leave it white, or pick another color? Thoughts?

I sketched out two more bookmarks to paint just for fun! Sorry they’re so hard to see; I tend to sketch REALLY lightly when I’m going to be painting, so I had to fiddle with the levels in Lightroom just to see this much! On the left, a happy little dancing Groot, because who doesn’t love dancing Groot, and on the right a Moriarty bookmark. He is my absolute favorite part of Sherlock, so he definitely needed a bookmark.

This is the very very beginning stages of a commission I just received over the weekend! So this is a little peek into my process – my first step is to do a really rough outline sketch to place everything in for proportion and size. Next up I’ll start revising and adding in detail, then move on to shading.

I’ve had Doctor Who, especially Ten, on my mind lately, so I sketched this up to paint last night just for fun. Very small, the whole paper is 6″ x 8″, but I like painting small.

I sketched this up last night too, after my daughter woke up in the night (definitely based on her). I’m quite pleased with it as it’s 100% out of my head with no reference. I still get nervous drawing stuff that way! But I like how this turned out. It’s very rough, and I can’t decide if I want to revise it to paint, or just leave as a sketch for now. I really need to save my pennies to get a set of Copic markers as I think they would be perfect for it!

This project has taken up most of my crafting time this week. I’ve been working on stitching some plushes as Christmas gifts, and these Doctors are my first attempt! Ten was the the first one I ever made, and though he has some flaws I love him. My stitching is already neater for Eleven – he just needs to be stuffed, sewn shut, and have his details added! These were purchased patterns, but I’m working on making my own patterns for other characters, and animal plushes too.

I actually have a few more drawings and things started, but they are gifts for people so I’m keeping them under wraps. After Christmas they’ll be a giant art/craft dump post with them.

What are you making lately?