But what can I do? They don't shake my heart...

Whooaow!

Oh jeez after a week of fun custom order designing and getting stuff done I've fallen off the horse! Or... I've fallen off the six-legged elephantisum.

So before I get to complaining lots here are my two most recent customs, while I continue to work on my current order. I think it's strange that it's so tough to sell on Etsy.com since it's so easy to fade into the background... but then within a week and a half I've already been asked to make custom toys from people on deviantart. Maybe that's not strange, but hey! I'm cool with it!

This is a Mushroom plush. I actually had some difficulty with this little fella. I started with a really simple design then decided that it wouldn't work after I had started, so I had to come up with a new pattern that just about doubled the pieces of fabric I had originally planned.



The stalk was longer than I wanted. And just as a rule when you stuff a plushie mushroom cap you can not make it umbrella like a mushroom should... without some other structure inside it.

Mushrooms love Strawberries.

At least I can't... yet.


Then a wonderful toy that I'm plenty proud of. A fellow plushie toymaker on Deviantart, Banniee (this is her Deviantart), requested something completely original. She is also one of the most enthusiastic persons who's ever liked my toys.

She said she was interested in elephants with lots of legs... so I began the task of designing a six legged elephant. I hit a few bumps when putting it all together. It really isn't too complicated a design but the challenge was sewing the legs and ears on and then turning it inside out to stuff it. I only made it harder for myself and I had to undo a good portion of work I had already started.



But it's the challenge that makes it wonderful and exciting! She's named it Maylo the Elephantisum, since I pointed out that it didn't really turn out to be a six legged elephant... but it's elephant-esque... it's elephantisum.


I'm really proud cause it's obviously a 3-d design! I haven't created so many 3-d toys and this is my favorite so far!


So anyway! I'm being lazy again. I've got to get Banniee's Maylo out the door and shipped off to her. Then I've got to get some more work done on an old fashioned kitty plush....

But then... I feel like I'm missing something. I came up with a whole bunch of little notepad pages of toy ideas and doodles. They're some fun animal designs there, but my laziness is an obstacle to overcome. What I need is a something fun, different, and original to really get me motivated. I want to be a little crazy. A little... craaaazy.

So I've got some new exciting plans I'm hoping I follow through on... I won't tell you what it is... It's a secret!

Trying to find my umbrella...

Well I've really been slowing down recently. I should be making at least 1 toy a day! How hard can that be?! I dunno! Not very hard I'm sure!

Ohhh welll.

But Hey, here's my Unicorn. His name is Errol. I came up with Errol's design a long long time ago, it's all the way in the back of my doodle pad! I had wanted to make him once before but I guess I never got to it, but I've finished it now, so here he is!



Etsy info:

"I'd like you all to meet Errol! He's in search of a good home after all he's been around for a while! He was born a long time ago, hatched from an egg actually! But that was back when everyone hatched from an egg.

Errol has seen the world! He's seen the sights, smelled the smells, tasted all sorts of exotic foods! He's jumped from planes and run into burning buildings to save frightened kittens! He's done so much all he really wants now is to be back somewhere warm and comfortable.

He just wants to slow down, make a few new friends and be around when somebody just needs a hug. He's always up for a good hug!


Errol is entirely hand sewn. He's just about 12 inches tall with a 3 inch horn."

If he's still available you can find him HERE.


Anyway! I actually spent almost half an hour trying to write a poem for his description. It started out strange and there was no real order to it.... but some of it rhymed... I don't know. I'm not much of a poet sometimes... there are moments though... I once won a poetry contest at my college! But to be truthful, no offense to anyone intended, a lot of the entries were uninspired and real angsty love sort of stuff. I think I just won because mind was different.

So I bet you're wondering if I'll share this poem with you! Probably not, I don't like it anymore.

In other news here's a couple of mini crabs I've made for my very first custom order! Cause that's right! I do take custom orders and commissions!


And jeez what else! I've completely forgotten! Crammed Organisms is happening right now! I meant to mention it back when it started but not participating sort of pushed it out of my brain.

Check out Crammed Organisms for pictures and links to more pictures!

So if you're in St. Louis, and for some reason are reading my blog.... but also still haven't visited any part of the show... get to it!

Heaven is a place... it's a place where nothing... nothing ever happens...

In my attempts to update more often I've found myself at a loss for interesting things to blog about!

Ah! A couple days ago I got my fourth and final wisdom tooth pulled... at least a good year and a half after my dentist pulled the first one. I know that most people... if not a lot, get all fourth wisdom teeth pulled at once. That requires surgery and costs lots of money! So instead of being put to sleep and not being able to feel anything my mother opted for me to lie in a chair conscious with local anesthetic injected into my gums and getting each tooth pulled one at a time.

It's terrifying! The Dentist lunges at you with what I can only assume to be a fancy pair of pliers and a dental screwdriver! No, no, my dentist is a great real nice guy. But still! After that first time... even though it doesn't hurt... You can certainly feel him tugging and twisting and pulling and you can hear the cracking noises as it separates from your head... augh! No wonder I had such long intervals between extractions... Ehh...

I just thought you all should know that, because who doesn't want to read about dental procedures?

Meanwhile I've just completed my very first plushie toy swap! It was part swap and part sale to my very first customer Amanda from California. I saw one of her Henryrabbits and found it absolutely adorable. But having no money I suggested a trade and now Fruit Stripe resides on my couch besides Francis the Robot and my Uglydoll.

I'm not good at taking pictures so I'll just share the nice one Amanda took for her shop.

Etsy also let's you upload thank you pictures and this is the one she took for me of my toys! Look at that guy! I need to take better pictures...

And of course I'll mention her Etsy shop. Henryrabbit Designs. She makes little plushies but also does graphic design work! She's come up with some real sweet banners and design logos and things... mostly for other Etsy users I think. She now cares for four of my plush toys! I think she's building a King Kongery collection! Hahaha.


But wait... There's more! A little while back I made a little arm plush which I simply named Arm. He was a funny little guy, just about 5 inches tall.

Big Arm is just about lifesize... from elbow to shoulder he's about18 inches. The mouth and eyes are sewed on by hand but the rest of him was finished on a machine. I knocked that fella out in less than 10 minutes! Which is great since I'll end up selling him for lots less than if it was hand sewn all the way around.

I haven't listed him or Tom Waits on my Etsy shop yet. I'm having a tough time figuring out how to take decent pictures of them.... Plus I don't have any boxes big enough to ship them yet! I'll need to find some... But I'll do that! And I'll probably include a new little Arm to send with Big Arm.

Meanwhile! I'm once again working on another Non-Sequiter toy. This time it's name is Antonio Banderes. It has nothing to do with Antonio Banderes and it looks like a flower... I dunno... Often times I when I'm ridiculously motivated I'll get to work on whatever idea is in front of me. Antonio came about during one of those moments.

Unprofessional looking pictures of him as soon as I finish!

Someday somebody's gonna ask you...

Let's get straight to business!

I am now taking commissions. Wouldn't you like a custom toy from the King Kongery? Whether it's a toy I've made before which you can find on my deviantart, or elsewhere on this blog. But maybe you'd like to see it in a different color or size.

Or perhaps you'd like a completely original toy. Just let me know the size of the toy, colors, whether you'd like it to be a 2-d or 3-d design. Original 3-d toys are a bit more complicated so they'll probably cost a bit more.

I don't think anybody reads this blog, so you can direct custom orders to my Etsy shop. You can also email me at vickangaroo@yahoo.com

Prices will of course vary depending on the toy design and size. Every toy will be designed and handmade by me!

A note though... I know people like my MiMo toys a lot... but at the moment I'm messing around with their design a bit. Nothing to change the basic cuteness factor of the toy. I'm just trying to see if I can alter the plug design for the better. We'll see.

But stay tuned for another something later on.

Why don't you come and play here? I'm just sitting on the shelf...

I need to update more often.

I also need to make more toys!

Currently I've been listening to one song over and over and over. "Why do you let me stay here?" It's sung by actress Zooey Deschanel who is one half of "She & Him" It's sweet, upbeat and I think quite perfect for inspiring toy makery. I haven't heard the rest of their album "Volume One" except for a few snippets.

You can download "Why do you let me stay here?" for free at music.download.com


Anyway, what have I been up to? Lots of doodling and trying to decide what I should be making next. Thanks to their popularity I actually will be making more MiMo and Noodle Lady toys. I had been concerned with MiMo for a long time because I had been wanting to redesign them. Since they were one of my earliest toy concepts I just kept thinking maybe they would need an update.

But maybe they don't. Maybe they're just fine they way they were!

Also I can't stop thinking big. I've just finished Tom Waits, and you'll get a quick glimpse of him below. I do love Tom Waits, but the name has no real connection to the toy. Just a non-sequiter. Deal with it!



Even though it's easier to see in person... my sewing on Tom Waits is quite fantastic on some parts. Not all of it... just some... for a moment I could probably fool you into thinking it was done on a sewing machine!

He's pretty big too... almost 28 inches long. I just wanted to make something real simple but kinda large.... but he ended up taking quite a bit of time. I won't tell you how much! but there were mistakes and changes... and his face embroidered all the way around twice... TWICE! if you've embroidered something... you'll know how long that should take. Then double it since i work so slow.

So I'm working something else at the moment, something else that's real simple and big. Then another thing that's a little less simple but still big. Soon Soon for another update!