Disney Princess Art Doll - Ariel

Another Disney Princess art doll, this is Ariel in her human form, from the classic Disney movie The Little Mermaid. These are the colours of her dress worn when Ariel and Prince Eric are spending the day together falling in love during their tour of the kingdom, despite the fact that she has lost her voice to the sea witch Ursula in exchange for a pair of human legs.

Being a Disney movie there is of course a happy ending for Ariel and her Prince, and if you can't already tell Ariel is one of my favourite Disney Princesses. A simple enough outfit for this doll but still, I hope, very much recognisable as Ariel. Accompanied by a beautiful picture of Ariel printed as a tag, this lovely art doll has now found a new home.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set03 - Mamoru, Luna & Artemis

The new Crystal series has impressed me in a lot of ways and I have to say that the romance between Mamoru and Usagi is a lot sweeter and more, well, romantic in this new series than it is in the original anime from the 90's. I especially liked the moment they shared when they first looked into each others eyes and the way Usagi feels her heart beating faster each time she sees him, a sure sign she's in love but just hasn't realised it yet.

A new set of Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers, these feature Mamoru Chiba, a high school student and Usagi's love interest, along with the sailor scout's guardian cats Luna and Artemis. To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Let me know if there is any problems with these.

Art on Canvas Board - Goblin

Another Brian Froud inspired painting on canvas board, only this time it is of a mischievous goblin named Jylde who is a master goblin chef featured in the book GOBLINS! There are so many fun characters to explore in this book but this particular goblin caught my eye with his fish tail hat, metal apron and tiny wings.

This is not the greatest photo but it does show how adorable this little goblin is. The original Brian Froud image is sepia toned, however I decided to recreate this goblin using bright colours, so I chose green skin with yellow eyes. As with my Faery painting, this goblin was first sketched out before being painted with acrylic paints.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set02 - Ami, Rei, Makoto & Minako

I loved the original Sailor Moon I watched growing up and now watching the newer Crystal series I am loving Sailor Moon all over again. The original anime was great, but I have to admit that I do prefer the use of the characters Japanese names as used in the Crystal version over the Dub names that were given to the characters in the original.

These new Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers feature Usagi's friends, and fellow scouts, Ami Mizuno, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino and Minako Aino. To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Let me know if there is any problems with these. Enjoy.

mini Cuddle Pillow Toy

This cheeky little puppy with his spotty eye patch and protruding tongue was originally designed to be a cute pillow toy at a comfortable 10 inches in size. However I decided to make this at a reduced size so he could keep company with my half-Kneazle Crookshanks who lives on my bookshelf. So now I have a mini 6 inch dog to partner my ginger cat.

Completely hand-sewn with tiny 5 mm shiny black eyes, a blanket stitched black nose and little pink tongue, this puppy has a fully stuffed body, with stubby semi-filled paws and floppy ears that hold only a little stuffing at the ends to give a bit of volume. At full size I can imagine that it would be a very huggable and comfortable toy for young kids.

Making this puppy was simple enough due to the well written instruction that accompany this pattern. There were also plenty of pictures throughout to help aid in this patterns construction, there were even a few links to techniques used that may be unfamiliar to the novice sewer. Overall a fun project that I will make again. This pattern was found in the Shiny Happy World shop HERE.

Sailor Moon Crystal Wallpapers set01 - Usagi Tsukino

So it took me a while, but I finally got around to watching the reboot of the classic Sailor Moon from the 90's, Sailor Moon Crystal, and I love it. I wasn't so sure I would when I first saw the new super skinny look of the characters, but the storyline, now in-line with the manga, is really good and you forget how skinny they look and see just a group of girls ready to save the world.

These are my first Sailor Moon Crystal wallpapers and they feature the main heroine Usagi Tsukino. To download click on the picture of the wallpaper you want and "Save Image As" to save to your computer or alternatively you can select "Set As Desktop Background". Please let me know if your having any problems with these. Hope you enjoy.

Disney Princess 3D Paper Doll #2 Pocahontas

It's been a while since I posted a paper craft and I thought I should finally get around to the next Disney Princess paper doll, so here is Pocahontas. If you ignore the sequel, as I do, the first movie shows a free-spirited young woman with a deep respect for nature and love of her people. With her animal friends and Grandmother Willow, she demonstrates a deeply spiritual side and shows one should always follow their heart.

As with the previous paper doll Ariel, Pocahontas was printed at half the size, making her more difficult to cut out then she would be at the full size, but with an xacto knife and cutting mat (NOT a job for little hands) the process was made easier. This Pocahontas doll is available to download HERE at the Disney website, there are full instructions and best of all its FREE.

Sailor Moon Hair Clips + Moon Stick & Disguise Pen Key Chains

Previously I made a Sailor Moon Bow Hair Clip that I just love, I also made a Sailor Mars Bow Hair Clip & Transformation Pen Key Chain, so I thought I would continue the trend and make Sailor Moon's red hair pieces, or odango shields. There were a few examples of these in iron bead form that I found online, however they were made using a square bead board and I preferred the look a round board would give so I just made up the pattern myself, not that it was difficult at all...

These odango shields are roughly 2 inches, big enough to be noticeable but also small enough not to be too obtrusive, and since I don't have long hair like Sailor Moon I can choose to wear just the one and it still looks cute. As mentioned I made these using iron beads on a round board then hot glued them to hair clips. There are many types of iron beads you can use, including perler, hama and pyssla. The two key chains were made in a similar way only using a square bead board.

I found the designs for the two key chains, the Moon Stick and Disguise Pen, with a basic google search. The Moon Stick is about 4 1/4 inches while the Disguise Pen is 3 1/2 inches, making them just the right size to attach to your keys or bag, so it's easy to carry a little Sailor Moon magic with you wherever you go. These were such a simple and fun way to spend a few hours and the results are so pretty.

Disney Princess Art Doll - Snow White

I have a new art doll based on the Disney Princesses and made as a gift, this is Snow White. Dressed in her iconic colours of blue and yellow, as reflected in her top and skirt, this doll is finished with a red ribbon headband in her short black yarn hair. Rosy cheeks complete her look and with a printed tag she is ready to be off to her new home.

This Snow White art doll was fully hand-sewn, her arms and legs being hand stitched into her body, and possesses the ability to either sit or stand as desired. Her eyes are painted on and her cheeks are crayon, which is why they look a little rough. Being 10 inches at her full height and just 4.5 inches when sitting, overall this art doll is a pretty little thing.

Kashira Heads

Since it is almost Halloween I thought these Kashira heads from the movie Spirited Away would be a fun make. These are three brothers that are simply big green heads that bounce and roll around the witch Yubaba's office. Although mine don't actually bounce, they do roll about and are an ideal size to be handled, tossed or juggled when not being set as decorations.

For these heads I resized the pattern to make them small and cute ,and easy to handle as mentioned above. The facial details are embroidered and the eyes are stitched to the face using needle turned appliqué. The pattern pieces for the ears are actually from this Garden Gnome pattern and their facial hair is stitched on using black wool.

These super cute Kashira heads were made using Choly Knight's Blob Plush sewing pattern that was found in her book Sew Kawaii! The Blob pattern is simply the body for these with add-ons to create a bunny or kitty, whereas I added on my own features to create these heads, as described above. Choly has a number of other patterns, many for FREE on her blog Sew Desu Ne?

Radish Spirit

I have a new little fiend to share with you. Those of you who have seen the movie Spirited Away will (hopefully) recognise this strange looking creature as a Radish Spirit. This gentle but large vegetable spirit is one of many spirits who visit the bathhouse owned by the witch Yubaba. The Radish Spirit is based on the japanese daikon radish or white radish.

I found the perfect pattern to use for this Radish Spirit, only having to edit the facial features and add the roots or hairs to the hands, mouth and facial features which I did using a silken cord. I also had to design and create his accessories, the apron tied around his waist and an upside-down soup bowl he wears as a hat.

The soup bowl, or hat as this Radish Spirit prefers, was a little tricky to design and then piece together. Once I had created a shape I liked, I decided to sew the fabric pieces over the same pieces cut from a plastic sheet in order to give the finished hat a more rigid bowl look and not just have a floppy fabric piece to place on his head.

The apron was easy enough to put together, just a bit time consuming as I only hand sew. The Radish Spirit would not be complete without his leafy greens on top of his head. This was made simply by hand cutting a piece of green fabric into a leafy shape and attaching to the top of his head by a few well placed stitches.

With black safety eyes this Radish Spirit is complete. Standing at just over 6.5 inches tall, this Radish Spirit is a gentle reminder to treasure the simple things in life, for even something as simple as a humble radish is worthy of reverence. He is also a welcome addition to my ever growing collection of hand-sewn plushies and dolls.

The pattern used to create this Radish Spirit was from Choly Knight, it was her FREE Cthulhu Plush pattern with a few alterations as described above that brought this unique plush to life. This pattern, and other FREE patterns, can be found on Choly's blog Sew Desu Ne? on the Free Patterns page link.

Baby Demiguise (inspired by the Harry Potter Series)

Some of you may be familiar with my quiet little companion who showed up a few months ago disappearing and reappearing as he wished, as a Demiguise will do. More recently he has been spotted with a little companion of his own. It seems my friend has become a father and along with other males of his species, it is he who is responsible for the care of his child. As a youngster the babies hair is still a snowy white colour with invisibility skills yet to fully develop, unlike his silvery haired father who can disappear at will.

This baby Demiguise was made in the same way as my original Demiguise, only on a smaller scale. The pattern I used provided the pieces to shape the body, arms and feet. After reducing the size of the pattern I then created pattern pieces for the whiskers and tail and edited the face shape and features. His eyes are blanket stitched, his nose is two french knots and his mouth is backstitched all in black as with my original Demiguise.

The small face whiskers were very tricky to turn once sewn, but he wouldn't be a Demiguise without those added features so the end result was well worth the trouble these pieces gave me. The foot pads were backstitched rather then appliqué as suggested in the instructions that accompanied the pattern used, as I liked the simple look the stitching gave to the finished Demiguise. As with all my sewn projects, this baby Demiguise was completely hand-sewn.

My magical creatures collection continues to grow with this new addition of a baby Demiguise and sitting at just 4 inches tall he is so far the smallest of my Fantastic Beasts, smaller even then my Mooncalf which is only 4.5 inches tall. The pattern used for these Demiguise is Choly Knight's Bigfoot Plush Sewing Pattern found HERE in her etsy store. Choly also has a lot of great FREE patterns available on her blog Sew Desu Ne?.

Disney Princess Art Doll - Rapunzel

I have a second set of art dolls I am working on for gifts. These dolls are based on Disney Princesses and first up is Rapunzel with her long golden hair and purple dress. Her long limbs are sewn into her body, her eyes are painted on and her rosy coloured cheeks are crayon. It was hard to get the pink cheeks look right but it turned out sweet looking enough I think.

This Rapunzel art doll was fully hand-sewn and finished with a cute pink flower in her hair to complete her look. I found an amazing image of Rapunzel online that I printed up as a tag to accompany this doll when I gifted her. Despite her limbs being sewn-in she is able to either sit or stand as desired. Although the finished doll is a little rough looking, I do love how this art doll turned out.

My Little Pictish Pony

This uniquely decorated pony was inspired by pictures of Pictish animals with their swirling motifs and beautifully intricate designs. The pony pattern is the same as previously seen with My Little Pony Snuzzle Inspired Plush, only here it is a bigger size. The swirling design was initially sketched out before being hand-stitched to the pony and as with my previous pony the legs are fully moveable.

This Pictish Pony is one of the few plush creations I have kept for myself. The colours I chose are a basic stone grey colour with red coloured stitching for contrast and luck, as red is supposed to be a lucky colour. The pony is finished with a red yarn tail but no mane as I preferred how he looked without it. Stitched by hand, this pony was a lot of fun to decorate and is a one of a kind plush.

Bunbun Pocket Plush Mashup

These two little bunnies were made in just one week, a big task for hand sewer, but I wanted to finish these for a sewing contest that ends tomorrow. I would have started these sooner if I had known about the competition beforehand, I may have gotten more sleep this week... These were made from the combination of two patterns from TeacupLion.

This doll bunny was created from the Bunbun sewing pattern that is given away to subscribers of TeacupLion. The Bunbun pattern consists of the head and ears only, to this I added the body of TeacupLion's free Pocket Bear pattern. I left the bunny face quite simple so the hand embroidered doll face and stitched fringe would stand out as the main feature of this bunny costumed doll.

I gave this doll bunny a floppy ear look by flipping the Pikachu ear pieces included in the Bunbun pattern and finished off the look with mini buttons down the front and a pompom tail to complete the bunny costume for this doll. The Pocket Bear body pattern I used was enlarged to better suit the original size of this Bunbun sewing pattern.

This little bunny was also made from the same two TeacupLion sewing patterns, only here it was the Bunbun sewing pattern that was reduced in size to better suit the original Pocket Bear body pattern. The face placement for this bunny was taken from the Pocket Bear pattern using black safety eyes, a few well placed stitches for the nose and finished with an elegant black bow.

The patterns for these two little bunnies are available HERE. As mentioned the Bunbun sewing pattern is available to those who subscribe to TeacupLion's mailing list, while the Pocket Bear sewing pattern is a FREE pattern available from the same link above. These are such easy to follow and detailed patterns to work with and I am so pleased with how these cute little bunnies turned out.

Faery Rag Doll #3

This is another of my faery rag dolls. Yet another faery doll that was made as a gift. Totally hand-sewn, she is soft and huggable with her big ears, floppy wings and soft stuffed body. She is 24cm from head to toe and her wing span is about 16cm, making her just the right size for little hands, or a shelf decoration.

I love how simple and adorable these faery rag dolls are, with their blanket stitched hair, sewn ear details and colourful wings with matching printed dresses / bodies. Initially I was unsure about how much face detail to add, but I am happy with the simplicity of just her black safety eyes as I think her understated beauty suits a more modest look.

My Beanie Mouse

This sweet little fella has been a welcome companion since his arrival a few days ago, although Henry (my ginger cat) has seemed to be a bit too interested in my new little friend which has led me to be very wary about leaving the two alone together.

After my attempts with altering existing patterns to create something new, as I did here with my magical Mooncalf creature, I decided to try and make a whole pattern from scratch and this is the result. There were a few redraws and editing of the pattern as well as a few unpicked and resewn attempts to create this mouse.

To bring this mouse to life I started with an oval base shape, then there was a lot of measuring and drawing and remeasuring and redrawing as well some sketched out pieces for the ears, paws and tail. Initially I thought the ears a tad large but once all put together they suited him perfectly.

This cute mouse was finished with black safety eyes and a few stitches for his nose. Although his paws and tail are stuffed with fibrefill his body is filled with plastic pellets to give him a soft, playful finish. Being about 11cm long (24cm including the tail) he is a comfortable size to hold in one hand. He didn't quite end up how I first imagined, but I am very happy with how cute he turned out to be.