Annie Aime Les Sucettes

hey what's new ladies and gents? new news, unfortunately i wasn't able to make it to that FluffyYukYuk release party.

Christmas is coming. turns out i somehow thought there was at least another week and a half until said holiday, and i thought i had a lot more time to get things done. i don't. i wanted to make lots of plush toys for people, but that and trying to finish some new designs and getting the toys ready to be sold online. right now it looks like i'll be setting up shop at etsy.com. i'm pretty enthusiastic about it.

i of course need to start spreading my name around, so hey, every now and then in the middle of a conversation just drop my name and say i make toys. yeah.

but here are some new ones. a couple bugs first.

this was a test bug, just to see how that way of attaching the limbs would look.

my mom thinks he looks like a crab. i guess he sorta does...

now Architeuthis. i know what you're thinking, that's not a giant squid. i didn't really have a name for him but people kept saying he looked like a tooth and then i thought about Architeuthis, and i don't think i pronounce it right... but anyway it looks like i'm getting into making more 3-d designs, not just the flat toys. they're fun, just a bit challenging.

he has velcro hands to hold things! like my pen!

and here's the Cowboy. aptly named by cuau! he was a fun little guy to make, the softest most fun to squish cow... bear... cat... thing...

i hit the city by three and the bottle by four...

first thing's first! i have a new camera.

next, i've started using a sewing machine. an older sort of cruddy sewing machine that my mom pulled out of the closet. i'm not so bad at it, and it does save me time but for the smaller toys and pieces it's pretty difficult and not worth the hassle. good stuff though. there's also a bit of lag time between when i finish the toys to when i put them here. dsl didn't work out at home so posting stuff takes a ridiculous amount of time, and quite often my internet will cut me off or just won't upload anything! BLARAGH! so i'm actually posting this at my college tech lab place.

also check... this out! i remember seeing this toy a long while ago, or bits of it on some forum a long while ago. check out their site, http://www.ohnodoom.com/, though it seems right now it's basically just the flier and the forum.

click to make bigger i think.

so it seems that 5 days from now they're having their release party for that chompin critter. i'm planning on getting one (at $25!! how can i afford these things?) though i'm not a hundred percent sure i'm going to the event. i probably will. i'm not sure if that place is more of a store or if it leans toward gallery. either way it'd be cool to check out. and with my new camera i might even snap a few pictures to share.

though i think people only show up here when i give them the link.... hehahahehe.

now these Quadropods were much better in doodle form. because i like what i originally planned these guys will probably undergo a redesign. now i told will church these guys were named Aquadropods, whatever reasons i had for that have expired. so thusly, they are this.

quadropod 1

(i like this one the best, the next two suck a little bit)

quadropod 2

quadropod 3

"MyGhoul." another toy that was a fantastic doodle, but he turned out alright. he's got a pocket at his mouth so you can put stuff in there. that's where he keeps his heart. i'm not sure if he ate it or if he stole it.... you can never tell about these guys...

this picture's dark because i didn't use the flash... why? i dunno. i just want you to see that little heart. making it was difficult due to my fat fingers. i stuffed it and had to close it... jeez.

see? that heart fits right in there. i made a whole big fuss over that pocket cause for whatever reason my brain couldn't visualizing it working right, but i don't know why. it wasn't complicated at all. damn my brain!

Deux amoureux tout étourdis par la longue nuit

Before i get to the toys i want to mention that i got to meet Shawn.. i wanna say Smith..., the man behind Shanimals. some of you might not be a hundred percent familiar with Shawnimals... so check out this site: http://www.shawnimals.com. i was at Rotofugi (http://www.rotofugi.com, it's a pretty sweet place to pick up fantastic, but pricey toys) for the pre-release party of the Ninjatown microplush blindbox on tuesday.

(picture from rotofugi forums)

i picked up 4 of them, and i'll probably get more... because i ended up with 3 zombie ninjas and one White Ninja. learn more about Ninjatown at http://www.ninjatown.com. So anyway, that Shawn guy's a nice fella, i chatted with him for about a minute as he signed my Zombie Ninja. it's pretty inspirational to meet a guy who just started out making toys for fun a few years ago and now he's pretty widely known... among those people who would know him. i'm hoping in a few years i'll still be making toys, just more awesome.

i think i also chatted with another toy designer... though he didn't say so. he introduced himself as James, and this morning i remembered that Mei Mei and Di di were designed by a guy named James who works at Rotofugi! coincidence?! most likely, but i'd like to think it was something crazy.

So every moment that i'm not making toys i'm coming up with new toy ideas... i've got lots of pages of stuff... some of it's even good! it's hard for me to fall asleep because i just lay in bed talking to myself thinking about toys... i'm also on route to figuring out how to sell some of these guys, once i get to a point where i stop thinking my toys are of a cruddy quality. i need constant praise damn it! haha i joke. sort of.

finally, here are some new friends. i'm not a big fan of the second one, he didn't turn out super fantastic in my opinion... oh wells. yes they're not particularly complicated, but simpler means less work time! which means more toys. i do have some more intricate toy designs in mind, but i have lots on my mind.

Seeker
(he's ridiculously squeezable, you know you want to)
Meeker
Peeker
(what a pervert, look at the eye! what's he looking at over there?)
Freeker
(he's my favorite.)

i don't really speak french, this blog title which babelfish roughly translates to "Two in love all dazed by the long night..." was taken from "Les Champs-Elysees" by Joe Dassin, from the Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack. it makes my brain think enthusiastically and whimsically. great for doodling toys.

hey also! my camera sucks, i need to get a new one. today whenever i pointed it toward the sunlight it started making clicking noises and the screen would flash. what the hell?

baby tonight, i've got a question for you...

nothing spectacularly new.

Mr. Heartface
The Evolution of The EveryMan (#4 needs to be fixed, he ugly)
a redesigned MiMo (note Mo's flat outlet belly. i like it better)

MiMo red and green... you know... for the christmas.

i now have two MiMo sets not including MiMo red and green (for those of you who might be interested... heh haha). now it still takes me somewhere between 2-3 and a half hours to finish one half of MiMo, i make them together so they're made for each other.

but because of the lengthy work time on these guys and the dozens of other ideas i have that start work on, i'll be setting them aside for a bit. if you're interested in a mediocre quality (i've only been sewing for... three weeks... there are imperfections aplenty) MiMo, you'll have to let me know.

so what's next on the list of toys to be made? why... MiMo + Friends! and some simple kind of cute fellas i've nicknamed Eekers.

in the year 7510 if god's a comin he ought to make it by then

toy toy toys.

a few new fellows to keep me company. the orange guys are still practice for 3-d plush toys. they're simpler versions of some designs. and while i figure out the kinks for more 3-d toys i decided to pull out some nice fleece material, which makes for fantastic plush toys. they're very soft.


medium rosefelt and something else...


an angel


mr. skullface


Mi (white) and Mo (blue)




together they are MiMo.


crab.

I believe in love, but it don't believe in me.

ladies and gentleman, i'd like you to meet Winthrop Thome.

my very first three dimensional design! unlike the previous ones he's not just a back and a front piece sewed together. he's not perfect. he's got marker lines on where i traced the design and there's lots of mistakes in the sewing... lots of obvious mistakes. but i still love him plenty.

i think i'm getting better at this.

from the front
sideview!
check out those legs!
twistalicious.
closeup.

the northwest fills the lungs kills the pain in my chest

another wire and clay mixup, she's got more wings instead of arms and no head... i sculpted one but it was very ugly so i'm leaving it unbaked/unfinished for the time being. the armature was pokey... also sculpting breasts? difficult.






and what's this? plush toys! well... sort of... i'm trying. the last time i sewed something was in 4th grade for a class project so i'm not a hundred percent on what i'm doing. lots of guess work. they're pretty basic. i just doodle onto a piece of fabric and cut out it out twice and sew them together. figuring out how to hide that final stitch is pretty hard, but so is not poking myself with the needle. since these guys are just practice i'm using a whole bunch of left over orange fabric from my sister... i think she said it was okay to use it, but she's away at college so ha! it's mine!!

"Hever"
i started real basic, not the most original plush toy. he's stuffed with old newspaper.

"Brant"
a little crazier design wise, long necks. since i only have orange cloth and i didn't want to sit there stitching an eye on with thread, it's just a blue sharpie. in fact, they all have blue sharpie eyes. he's got a full Parade magazine in his gut. just about 17 inches from toes to top.

"Coolidge Collage"
since this afternoon i bought a whole bunch of plush toy stuffing Coolidge here is an actual plush toy. he's modeled after a duck i once met.

all together now.

i'm working my way up to the more ridiculous stuff. practice makes perfect friends.

after scrapping with the ferals and the tabby

a drawing led to a mess of wire and sculpey clay. it didn't turn out like the drawing and it's not really finished, he still needs to be sanded down smooth, plus the hands haven't been baked and i doubt i can bake them separate... so just don't touch those. also something's to be done with those wings.

i definitely spent at least an hour just sculpting his face. does that sound ridiculous to you? a little bit maybe but that clay was soft and i really only have the one sculpting tool that would work.

the figure's about 6.5 inches tall in his hunched over pose. and though i understand i should take better pictures... i'm lazy.