And.... We're back! Meet Mitsie.

After more than a year away, I have finally picked up the needle and thread again. I decided to commemorate The Whimsy Patch comeback with a new dollie style, the Modder Dollie--a sort of update on my Mod Dollie. I will still be making both dollie styles, but the Modder Dollie will start to take front and center in the coming months. I'm also working on patterns for a Whimsy Patch Geeradragon and Whimsy Prince ensemble, Letter Fairies, and Birthday Whimsies. The holiday season might see some new cuties emerge from the Patch. We'll have to see....

So meet Mitsie. Her favorite colors are baby blue and candy apple red and she loves to cuddle. She has a penchant for shoe shopping and adores baking in her spare time–when she’s not shopping that is. She recently created a Apple French Toast and Custard Tart that is to die for and she decided she would celebrate by inviting all of her friends over for tea and treats. Mitsie is known for extravagance so she pulled out all the stops and featured three different local honeys with her freshly brewed tea and whipped up some homemade whipped fresh cream. Yum! Mitsie plans to introduce some new friends in the near future but they are all out shopping for their debutante ensembles as we speak. (They planned the debutante and the Teas and Tarts party.) They’ll be sure to stop for afternoon tea and scones once their shopping trip is complete.

Happy Holidays Needlers!

I hope that you all have a prosperous and creative 2010!
Please pay a visit my new blog when you get a chance

cimmerii.california.com
xoxoCimmi

Rag Dolls, living in my shoppe...

Hi everyone, I just wanted to show you pics of  a few dolls I added to my Etsy Shop

Anne

A Green-eyed Mermaid

Luce! She has the softest Bamboo yarn hair and is wearing a vintage fabric dress

Flora

Ever since I recklessly left my full time job to open an art gallery/doll studio, I have been able to make so many things! I am broke but oh, so happy :-D

Ragdoll Renee for Poto Mitan Benefit Auction

This is Renee, a Ragdoll I made this week to donate to a Benefit for Poto Mitan, a documentary about Hatian women's rights.

Renee is a Burning Man loving nature girl.

potomitan.net

Bess and Man-Cat are going to the Monkey House

Hi Needle Peeps!!
Meet Bess and her boyfriend Man-Cat.
They are in love.

They will be in a Plush show opening next weekend at Monkey House Toys

Stop in if you are in the neighborhood!
monkeyhousetoys.com

Squint (Dolls for Friends)

His name is his biggest tell, but we were unsure what else to call him. You see he's myopic in nearly every sense of the word.

Squint does not like to wear his glasses because of how he thinks it makes him look, but because he won't wear his glasses he won't venture out of doors, try new things or take a step outside of his daily routine (which takes place mostly indoors.)

We've pleaded with him, begged him and tried to rationalize the situation, but you know the old saying, "myopia is sometimes a window to the soul."

At this point, we're hoping that someone might be able to invite him over so we can have some type of low key intervention. We're out of patience and frankly, I'm tired of him bumping into the coffee table and spilling my ice cold Pepsi Free.

More about Dolls for Friends

So excited to be here!

Introducing my very first Plushie. She doesn't have a name yet but enjoys dancing, the sea, nature and travel!

She is handmade by me :) her face is drawn and painted freehand. Her eyes are my first try at Manga style eyes.

She is 19 inches tall. All her clothes are hand made without a pattern.

Cheers,

Danette

http://selkieisle.wordpress.com/

Mask-er-Raid (Dolls for Friends)

Something is slinking through the shadows. Can you see it? Perhaps not, perhaps it's nothing more than a perceived sense of motion-maybe dread, fear, uncertainty? Whatever it is, cognizant thought or raw emotion, you don't quite feel like you're alone.

You take a couple of steps, unable to shake the feeling that there is something dogging your heels. Nervously, you stop and peer deep, deep deep into the shadows, straining your focus, second by second eyes becoming adjusted to the dark, and that is when you see it.

You see the unseeable, hear the unhearable and witness what so few have witnessed that if you were to add it up it would be the sound of one hand clapping. Yes, it's Mask-er-raid, the phantom jelly. Defender of the defenseless and captivator of hearts and minds. He has been trailing you throughout your time in the city, ensuring the safety of your passage and warding off evil as it approaches.

You take a step back and take a deep breath-thankful to know that the rumors were true, that there is a defender of humanity, siding with the voiceless. Yet, you still think there is more to this. Why did he choose to reveal himself now after so many years of silent stewarding? You lean back into the shadows, straining again for sight-vision-clarity. As you open your mouth, you make a silent squeek, unsure of what to say beyond the single word, "Why?"

A moment passes until a raspy, dry response is returned, "I'm hungry, do you have a dollar for the value menu?"

The Giraffes Are Coming!

The Whimsy Patch opened up the other day and a stampede of Whimsy Giraffes and their dollie and chap friends came rushing out. They were coming to visit their friends Gigi and Dottie and were ready for a night out on the town. They hit Maido, the best sake and sushi pub in town, then made a run for the dance clubs and danced, danced, danced the night away.

Check out my blog at www.thewhimsypatch.com to read all of their stories:)

Uno (Dolls for Friends)

We've been warned for years about the dangers of toxic waste and their effects on ocean life due to careless dumping. Yet, despite the multitude of warnings by the media we've never personally seen the the mutational after effects that this hazardous sludge imposes on its unsuspecting victims... until now.

Meet Uno, a jellyfish who is a third generation descendent of toxic dumping in the South American rain forests. With these types of mutations you never know exactly what type of unique characteristics each generation will develop. In Uno's case he developed the all too common singular eye, enlarged canine teeth and a slight glow when the lights are out (which is nice if you like a little night light when you sleep.)

Uno is now looking to relocate from his greenish, illuminated home waters to a new locale that is a little less inTOXICating and with a bit more visibility.

Buckman Art Show and Sell Donations (Dolls for Friends)

We were approached by the organizers of The Buckman Art Show and Sell to see if we would be interested in donating five pieces for gift bags they were preparing. The bags are to be presented to the events' musical guests at the end of the night. In return for the donation, they would give us some additional press leading up to and during the event, and a bit of all-around goodwill. Given the nature of the art show and sell, we graciously accepted.

We just dropped off the pieces yesterday at the school offices, and we took a few quick snaps before handing them off. These five will be at the show, in addition to one large piece that we sent in earlier for the auction that will be benefiting the school. Of course, these six are in addition to the 50 to 75 pieces Jill and I are frantically putting together to sell at the show. This officially marks the largest lot of plushies we have put together for any show. I just hope we have fingers left after all this sewing.

Cleaning the Gears (Dolls for Friends)

This is a recent piece we did for the video game company Gearbox Studios in Plano, Texas. They have made wonderful games such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Halo and Brothers in Arms plus a slew of other games for X-box and such. We felt their wonderful contributions to our daily lives could go no longer without sending them a little love-Dolls for Friends style.

In reality, we had been in contact with one of their execs because they have purchased some pieces from us in the past. We offered to do a custom piece for them as a thanks for their wonderful contributions to the world of art and technology (don't think of video games as art? tsk tsk), and they gladly accepted.

They sent us a copy of their new logo so our little beastie could be branded for his new home. We designed and constructed the piece in about a week and sent it off to them a few days ago. From what we understand he's been well received down south and has been put to work as a level tester where he gets to drink as much Jolt and Red Bull as he can handle.

Farley (Dolls for Friends)

Took a break, but now we're back. This is Farley:

From his outside appearance, one might think that Farley is nothing more than a work-shy, sluggish, lethargic, lackadaisical loser, but you know what? They would only be half right. You see despite his disheveled, outward show, he is in fact an Ivy League educated, know-it-all.

After taking his PhD in Ancient Literature, Farley traveled all over the world visiting various locations depicted in his much loved literary works. Once satisfied with that, he enlisted in a traveling Shakespearian theater group and performed a variety of the bard's works in several cities around the world... and then, it all came to an end.

After performing Julius Caesar for the upteenth time, Farley developed a strange, morbid fascination with the play and the man him self and went into a strange period of solitude. He started to withdraw from everyone he knew, mumbled to himself quite often and began to dance around in the town squares wearing nothing more than an ivy wreath on his head. Farley had his troubles.

After several months of professional help, he has finally been able to move past his obsession (he still looks a bit out of it) and has begun to read, write and dress again. He is now looking for a place he can lay low and recoup his physical and mental health and write his memoirs.

Syd (Dolls for Friends)

ZZZZAAAAPPPPPPP!!!! Our lights dimmed heavily.

ZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!!!! Our lights went out.

We rushed outside to see what the commotion was to find this little beauty perched on the bottom of our bug zapper. We were so surprised, and more than a little myphed at what we were looking at. I had to actually consult my rare collection of flora and fauna reference guides to even begin to get a hint of what she was.

It turns out that she's a Northwestern reticulated Electro-Rhopalocera. In other words she is one of the only nocturnal butterflys known to exist. They, like other butterflys, feed on nectar at night, yet they are also able to store large amounts of electro-kinetic energy as defense mechanism against predatory creatures.They are harmless to humans, but could be considered harmful to other animals of a lesser size if construed as being a threat.

After tripping the breakers in our house we brought her in to feed her some mangoes and honey. She has now been with us for two weeks. We call her Syd.

G. Wilikers (Dolls for Friends)

Mr. Wilikers has long been a staple in the upper crust elite of England's finest social circles. Born with the finest pedigree and every opportunity at his disposal, he's made use of his vast wealth (he's a trust fund baby) and knowledge to create a very comfortable and regimented lifestyle. While his proper and methodical habits could be construed by some as being annoying, after a few days they become more tolerable and eventually can end up being quite comforting.

He will keep his hosts up for hours spinning wonderful tales on the history aristocratic life, and he knows the dirt on just about everyone. As a matter of fact it was rumored that G. Wilikers was deemed SO proper and SO wealthy that he was approached as being the original mascot for the world-famous game Monopoly. It was felt, however, that a more "normal and traditional" image should be used, so it was a no go. Oh well.

A Sustained Life (Dolls for Friends)

We've been working diligently on getting our next group of pieces ready for the upcoming 2nd Sunday Sustainability Fair being held in Portland on February 10.

We were approached by the fair and asked if we would like to represent using pieces made from reclaimed and recycled materials. Since nearly all of our pieces are in some way using reclaimed materials, we thought this would be a great opportunity to get out, meet some people, talk about what we're doin' and share some DFF love.

If you're PDX local and in the city on the 10th, swing by the booth cause we'd love to hear from you.

Percival (Dolls for Friends)

Percival is extremely fond of techno, dub, trip hop and down tempo music. He's been known to attend a variety of rave and house style parties, spending days grooving to the hypnotic, repetitive musical structures while hopping around in a semi-trance like state alleviating his cares and concerns.

He's extremely mellow, widely read and loves to talk about a variety of subjects. Despite being a bit squinty from a variety of strobe light induced corneal burns, Percy is extremely friendly and outgoing.

Magmador (Dolls for Friends)

Magmadors were known to be ancient producers of volcanic activity. Their job was to shake at tremendous rates of speed resulting in friction at the base of large volcanoes.

Once the pressure and tension had reached a maximum stress level, the volcano would spew fire and molten lava into the air and give way to molten rivers that would eventually become the base of the land masses we now inhabit. Over time as the all of the major continents became formed the small, but mighty magmadors went into a perpetual state of hibernation, awakening every so often just to let us know they are still there.

This particular magmador was found in an old lava tube in the Pacific Northwest. He is rather gentle and just likes to lay around and smolder.

More photos can be seen on our Flickr page.

Harutori (Dolls for Friends)

Winged and majestic, the Harutori species is rumored to fly in the early morning right after sunrise. They are habitual sleepers and clock in at a whopping 22 hours of sleep per day. The other 2 hours are spent in solo flight and gathering food. And while 2 hours may sound like such a slight amount of time to be seen, it's really what happens in those two hours that makes the species stand out from the rest of the "tori" species.

When asked to describe the experience most people cannot adequately put it into words without some type of emotional outburst. It's said that the experience differs for each person that witnesses the flight of Harutori. I wonder what your's will be?

Bertram (Dolls for Friends)

Countless people migrate to Hollywood each year in the hopes of striking it huge in show business. Of those individuals, nearly all of them fail to recognize their dreams of success. After several years of scrimping and scraping they usually leave the stretches of southern California for brighter pastures-never having realized the dreams of their youth.

Bertram is one of those optimistic dreamers who came to la la land with ambition and plans to take the world by storm. He worked day and night trying to secure his position on the silver screen never losing focus on his brass ring of hope. That was three decades ago.

Now, pushing 50, Bertram is coming to grips with the fact that his spot in the limelight may never come to fruition. Despite his attempts to bring himself in line cosmetically with the rest of his contemporaries (obsessive teeth bleaching and enlarging, tucks, lifts, and even sewing literal stars to his body to emphasize his plans of making it big) he has had little success.

He's finally decided that it's time to fall back on his formal education (occupational therapist) and focus on taking his place in the ranks of "normal"society.

More photos can be seen on our Flickr page.