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.