Ladybugs

This is a little loveliness of ladybugs. Literally that is what a group of these beautiful beetles are called; a loveliness. Whether you know them as ladybugs, lady beetles or ladybirds, these tiny insects always seem so magical to me. Despite them being best known as red beetles, they also come in many other colours, including the ones seen here.

This was originally a white shirt featuring half a dozen ladybugs on its front. The shirt was no longer wanted but I thought I could make good use of the printed ladybugs on it. I cut each one out, sewed black fabric to their backs and filled them with plastic stuffing pellets. The smallest beetle (yellow) measures about 5cm wide by about 6cm and the largest beetle (green) measures about 8.5cm wide by about 8cm, with the others ranging in sizes between these two.

These ladybugs were simple to make as the design was already done for me, and as I prefer to use recycled materials this was a fun way to create something new from something old and unwanted. The plastic stuffing pellets gives these beetle a nice weight to them so they are enjoyable to hold or toss about but also very sweet to just have sitting about.

Totoro Mini Figures

While browsing youtube I found a few cold porcelain recipes that I thought could be fun and decided to give one a go. Not knowing what to make I ended up playing around with a small amount of the clay until I ended up with a shape I thought could be a cute Totoro. After making two more smaller versions I set them aside to dry. Once completely dry I painted each one with acrylic paints, added a layer of mod podge to the completed pieces and was done.

Trying Something new I made these three tiny Totoro's from clay. These mini forest spirits measure only 4cm tall for the grey totoro (which I actually painted silver), 3cm tall for the middle sized blue totoro, and a tiny 2.5cm tall for the smallest white totoro. I had a lot of fun experimenting and playing with this new craft, it is definitely something I want to revisit in the future when I have a better idea planed out of what I wish to make.

Acromantula (inspired by the Harry Potter Series)

While walking through the bush the other day, I made the mistake of following a trail of spiders. At the time it seemed harmless, but not until it was too late did I remember that this was the advice Hagrid had given to Harry and Ron when they discovered the lair of acromantula's living in the Forbidden Forest. Thankfully I didn't run into an acromantula as large as Aragog, but as spiders go, I did meet a big one.

This baby acromantula is surprisingly cute for a deadly creature. Even with the highest classification of XXXXX I can see why Hagrid was taken with the baby Aragog, not that I'm tempted to keep this little fella around for too long. Once fully grown his size alone would make this difficult, but really I just couldn't live with the guilt of him eating my family and friends that may pop round to visit.

The pattern for this acromantula was created by combining a few different patterns, along with a few alterations I made myself, until I had a design I was happy with. I know acromantual's are described as jet-black in colour but I didn't want his eight black eyes to be lost in a black body, so I instead used this thick dark material that still allowed for all eight black safety eyes to stand out.

Sewing this acromantula was a little fiddly, especially when it came to turning it out as I had stuffed the legs and sewn them into the body as I went along. This meant that when it came time to turning the body inside out, (the right way round), I had eight thick legs to maneuver through the opening. After this it was easy enough to attached the safety eyes and fill the body with plastic pellets before closing him up.

If acromantula's weren't so intent on eating people I'm sure they would become more popular, especially if they looked as adorable as this little one. The pellet filled body gives this acromantual a nice weight to it and also makes him very tossable and with the use of two different sized safety eyes the finished effect of this acromantula is exactly what I imagined it to be.

Disney Princess Art Doll - Tiana

It has been a while since I shared a new Disney Princess art doll, so here is my Tiana art doll from the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. For these art dolls I made simplified versions of their dresses, so for Tiana I made a pale green dress, (top and skirt), to represent the green and yellow dress Tiana wore in the bayou when restored to human form after marrying Prince Naveen.

This Tiana art doll also has a pale green ribbon in her hair to match her dress, as well as a yarn flower on her hip. Tiana also has black yarn hair, painted black eyes and crayon cheeks. As I use only recycled materials and did not possess any fabric that was a suitable colour match for her skin I instead used tea stained fabric. The end result is a 10 inch art doll ready for a new home.

Cuddle Pillow Toy - Puppy #2

Previously I made a tan and ginger puppy Cuddle Pillow Toy for my nephew and decided to make more for my other little nephews. This one was made using a camouflage print material, otherwise known as an old pair of pants, and a pale blue material for his eyepatch, ears and tail. A pink material was used for his tongue and he was finished of with a pair of black safety eyes.

This completed puppy Cuddle Pillow is a comfortable 10 inches by 10 inches, making him an ideal size for play, hugs and naps. I have to apologise here for the very bad photos, I was again in a hurry to get a picture of this puppy before being wrapped and gifted. If you're interested, the pattern for this puppy can be found HERE in the Shiny Happy World shop, it includes detailed instruction on making this puppy along with the pattern pieces.

Disney Princess 3D Paper Doll #3 Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell is a common fairy whose speech resembles the sound of tinkling bells, unless of course you are able to understand the language of the fairies like Peter can. A companion to Peter Pan, it is she who is able to bestow flight to others with her 'starstuff', otherwise known as pixie dust, ultimately allowing Wendy and her brothers to fly with Peter to Neverland.

I know she is not a princess but I wanted a Tinkerbell paper doll that would fit in with my previously made Disney 3D paper dolls of Ariel and Pocahontas. But as Disney does not have a 3D Tinkerbell paper doll available I decided to design and create one myself. For reference I used Pocahontas' sitting figure for the body but I had to design and edit the face, hair and wings myself. She turned out very pretty and a one of a kind because I created her myself.

Fantastic Beasts Bowtruckle bookmark & Niffler + Gold Coin Key Chain & Newt's Suitcase Box

Awhile back I made a Harry Potter gift set using iron beads for my nephew, he liked it so much I decided to create a Fantastic Beasts set. As with the Harry Potter set, this set also includes a bookmark, that of a bowtruckle, two key chains, a niffler and a gold coin,  and a box, this one made to resemble Newt Scamander's suitcase.

Looking online a found a number of great designs that would be ideal to use for this Fantastic Beasts set, including this bowtruckle design. Using a square 29x29 peg board, the finished design was ironed pretty well flat on both sides to make it as thin as possible so the finished bowtruckle could be comfortably used as a bookmark, with the finished size being about 14.5 cm tall.

These two pieces were also made from designs I found online. There are a large number of niffler patterns that I found and wanted to use, but in the end I chose this smaller niffler to create because it was cute and also a similar size to the gold coin I made to accompany him. The actual key chain part is handmade by me using yellow rope, jewellery endings, jump rings and a lobster clasp.

For this Newt Scamander suitcase box I used the same box design that I created to make Harry Potter's school trunk box, only with a few modifications. I did think about changing the size and dimension slightly to better represent a suitcase, but in the end decided against it as it would be too slim to use a box. However, I think that the box looks quite good as a suitcase.

For this piece I decided to keep it a plain brown, with the exception of the black for the suitcase corners. I then added most of the yellow pieces to complete this suitcase box. These pieces include the large Newt Scamander 'NS' initial logo that I attached to the lid, the four pieces that I attached to the back as studs, and the two pieces that I attached to the front for the locks.

These yellow front pieces also cover the two magnetic closures I attached to this box, giving it a seamless look when closed while also providing a secure lid. The two suitcase pieces, the lid and base were then attached together at the back in two places with strong thread to create the hinges. The finished suitcase size is about 5 cm tall, 12 cm long and 7 cm wide.

I love the look of this Fantastic Beasts set. I am especially proud of the Newt Scamander suitcase box, as well as the previous Harry Potter trunk box, as I designed and created the whole thing from scratch. All of these pieces were made using iron beads, also known as perler, hama or pyssla, along with a 29x29 peg board. I do love these types of crafts and hope to make more in the future.