A few weeks ago, I got a convo from an Etsy buyer asking me if I would make her a custom toy… I’ve received convos like this before, but most of the time, they really just want one of my designs in a larger size or it doesn’t end up coming through because the buyers expectations of quality can’t meet the price they expect to pay.  (I love a challenge, but it’s hard to deliver a good product when buyers expect to only pay about $30 for at least 10 hours of work.. ouch.)

But, this custom order went through very smoothly.  :)  She asked me to make a kettle bell (don’t worry, I didn’t know what it was either until she sent me a link–it’s basically a weight that’s a ball with a handle) and I figured that after some minor pattern adjustments, this was something we could definitely work out.

I’m really proud of how it turned out!  It’s pretty big at 11″ x 11″ and I’m very satisfied with the felt applique I made and hand stitched on the back.  Check it out!

Buffy the kettle bell is the toughest physical trainer out there. She’s worked with celebrities, royalty, and CEOs, but her favorite clients are the nice “Average Joes”. She’s loyal and will stay by your side as long as you need her–but really, who would let go of this cutie?

I love how the applique turned out.  I chose a font I liked (I used Rockwell which you can download at dafont.com for FREE) and sized it to what I needed in Word.  To save some ink, when to Font and check the outline box since I only needed the shape of the letters to be printed out.  Then I cut the letters out and traced it onto the gray felt with a disappearing marker (you can buy it for a few dollars at Joann’s.  TOTALLY WORTH IT.)  And here comes the time consuming part, I hand stitched the letters onto the finished plushie with a simple backstitch.  Hulu helped me pass the time.  I watched last week’s episodes of Parks and Recreation and the Office.  :)

Want one of your own?  Send me an email to jane@janiexy.com and I’ll re-list it for you!

I’m hoping that I’m getting back into the habit of blogging.  It’s so stress relieving to take a break from that sewing machine in the cold/hot garage–a.k.a. my studio.

Today, I was a vendor at the Long Beach Sunday Market and met some AWESOME people.  I think meeting fellow vendors is one of my favorite parts about these events.  A couple of my favorites….

Pearl Helix Bracelet by Penrose Designs

Silver Elephant Necklace by Lovely and Amazing

I also got asked by a few kids (5-9 years old)  to draw some pictures of my toys for them.  I’ve never considered myself much of an artist–especially when it comes to drawing, but one girl said, “My grandma is an artist.  Do you think she’ll be able to draw Billy the Blueberry like you did?”  I was flattered, especially since Billy is just a couple of circles thrown together in a few places.

It did get me thinking though, maybe there will be a Janie XY coloring book in the works?  :)  Let’s hope so!

Oh and before I forget, let this be a lesson for all your crafters or people thinking about selling your wares at shows like this.  You may have your products, table cloth, display, etc. set up, but make sure, especially when the show is on a Sunday morning at 9 am, that you HAVE CHANGE FOR THE EVENT!

I couldn’t believe I forgot that very important detail, but I did.  lol.  Luckily, I found out that our local Ralph’s opens at 6 am and that they happily give LOTS of change.  Lesson learned.

The truth is that I make toys all the time, but something funny happens between the last stitch and the time when I hit the “finish” button while listing it.  I can’t find time to take picture, pictures come out bad, Photoshop takes forever to open, and the list goes on and on.  So, you can see why I don’t list very often and when I do, I do it in bursts.  This time, we’ve got 3 new toys listed!  come and check them out!

There’s nothing quite like getting a scoop of ice cream or soft serve from your local ice cream shop.  My personal favorite for taste and economical reasons is Rite Aid’s ice cream.  (If you haven’t had it yet, you’re missing out.  I think all their flavors are awesome!  But I usually go for black cherry, coconut pineapple, cookies n cream, rainbow sherbert… ok, I go for all of them! lol At about $1 a scoop, how can you not?)

When I’m hungry, I think of ice cream.  When I’m bored, I sketch ice cream. When I’m happy/sad, I get ice cream.  So, when I was itching to make a new plushie toy, it only seemed natural that I whipped up some soft serve.  So, here it is, in Vanilla, Strawberry, and Chocolate.  It’ll be available in the store as soon as I get a decent picture out of it.

Valentine’s day is fast approaching and I thought that plushies would make a great gift for your loved ones.  You’re probably going to get  a stuffed teddy for your Valentine anyway, so why not make it special with a Janie XY creation?  I still have a little tweaking to do on this little guy, but he should be up and ready for sale by next week.  

That little pink thing on the right is a heart and the white thing behind him on the left is this little tail with a heart at the end.  Lots of love going around here.

Now this isn’t something I normally obsess over. I guess I’m more about the feedback and sales, but if you’re not familiar with Etsy, they have a feature where you can “heart” a store. Before Unique LA, I reached about 70 hearts, then on Christmas Eve, Etsy blogged about me and I skyrocketed to 160 hearts. Just about 2 weeks later, I’ve finally reached 200 hearts!! Boy, it feels good.

Living in L.A., I’ve grown extremely tired of “pet people”. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but I think it’s a bit excessive to carry your dog in a stroller, put rain boots on it (in LA! When does it ever rain here), etc.

But when I saw this, I couldn’t resist. If I had a furry friend, I would definitely be tempted to order this from IttyBittiesForYou.

The all pearl version.

A few months back my sister’s friend got married and commissioned us to make her a silk flower with jewel encrusted center.  When my sister and I heard about the project, we got straight to it and headed to downtown.  We literally spent over 2 hours drooling over Swarovski crystals and the variety of shapes and colors and then another hour deciding which ones to get.  We finally decided on about 4 different shades of blue and grey and a string of real-ly pretty pearls.  :)  (Come on, I would never hot glue real pearls to a silk flower!)

For our friend’s wedding, we used an alligator clip she provided for us, but my search for some metal combs was still going on as I felt it would sit on a head the best.  Finally, I found these combs at Joann’s yesterday (go figure, the place I’m at every hour on the hour had them) and for only $1.49 each!  That’s probably over priced, but I couldn’t find them anywhere else, so I’m happy with that price for now.

Anyway, I just sewed it on and here it is.  (After I had take take off the comb and sew it on again because I positioned the comb backwards–I really should take more time to figure out how things need to go.)

Here it is on the right way.  *phew!*

These will be up on my store, New Society, when I get a free moment and some decent pictures of them.  I can’t wait for you to see the crystal versions!

Batwing Hoodie in Grey by tldgrainwear

Everyone knows that.  In fact, it’s the reason we’re in a drought now.  (For those of you who are not from Los Angeles–or are, and didn’t know we’re in a drought… we are low on water and yes, there are such things as “water police” to monitor our use of H₂O)  BUT, if there were ever a day where it rained for a record breaking more than 3x a year, I would definitely buy this jacket.  Actually, I would buy this jacket, even if that day never came.  First, I need it to rain some money…  It’s a reasonable price, I just don’t have the dough.

Itty Bitty Pretty in Pink and Stripes, $2.35

You know when you find a nickel on the street and it somehow makes your day–even though you can’t really buy anything for a nickel anymore?  But just knowing that maybe this nickel will even out your coin collection to be worth $10, or knowing you’ve walked away with something you didn’t start your day with.

Itty Bitty Mini Owl Cards, $2.20

Well, that’s how I feel about thank you notes.  Usually, when I purchase  or trade something on Etsy, my favorite part is opening the package and finding a simple “thanks!” included with my awesome item.  It always reminds me that there’s a human on the other side of this–the human that made what I now own.  That’s why these mini thank you cards are the perfect fit to lift up anyone’s day.  Give them their “lucky penny”.

Snowy652’s selection of mini cards will give anyone in need of pint-size stationary exactly what they’re looking for.