A Place to Call Home

Monkey and Hindergaard finally moved into their sparkling new house.

The bed may look a tad too feminine but the duo is quite happy with it.

Good thing monkeys are fond of heights

Monkey adheres to a strict skincare regime.

Holding his favourite banana, Monkey ponders on life by the window.

The only gripe Hindergaard had with their new place is the lack of good, solid food in the the kitchen

They watch TV all day when their owner is not at home. 

And a little role-playing for Hindergaard after a few drinks. Hindergaard is a St Bernard from the Swiss Alps, a rescue dog with a mini barrel of whiskey hanging round his neck. He tends to take a few sips from time to time.

Pose

MANUFACTORY - Handmade Collectible Toy Shop

Back in 2006 when I was setting up my Etsy shop looking for inspiration I found fellow Minneapolis artist Curster. I've been quietly following her growing success over the years and now she has her own B&M on 27th and Lyndale where her wonderful creations are available for sale.

Manufactory which resides in the space of former occupant Robot Love is filled with Erin Currie's fantastical beings along with other collectible toys and gifts. I was amazed at the amount of work that Erin herself has handmade and is available in the shop. I asked her if she ever slept or drank lots of coffee to accomplish so much. Besides collectible toys she also designs clothing and paints which is evident in some of the dolls she makes. Below are some of the frilly dolls that carry over her fashion sense.

Being a second generation shop owner Erin shared her experience of working in her mothers Scandinavian handicraft shop painting faces on gnomes. Her goal for Manufactory is to have a shop where other artists can sell their work and provide a space for them to create as well. Erin's passion is evident and work ethic incomparable. With those two attributes I'm sure her shop will be a smashing success. If you're in the area check it out!

Mushroom Forest Collection

From the Archive - Day 1: A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is a speculative fiction novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962, and was later the basis for a 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Stanley Kubrick. The novel was chosen by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.

Download the free PDF here!

WTD the Oracle

Inspired by Paul the Octopus, WTD (What The Duck) embraced his inner psychic within and ventured out of the house to follow his calling and test his new-found prowess.

WTD had an epiphany

... and his subsequent transformation.

He travelled far and wide, impressing everyone he came across with his uncanny insight and impeccable fashion sense, and his stature grew. He was received by all with opened arms, and welcomed with free clothing, buffet food, and medicinal-tasting beverages.

"Lead us out of the dark!" they pleaded. All these expectations and draining of psychic energy began to take a toll on WTD. To be continued..

Adventures With Embroidery

As if I didn't have enough to do with making plush, digital illustration, paper toys and custom fabric I had to add embroidery. The embroidery machine I bought last winter has been sitting idle taking up space for months now. I was beginning to think of ways to unload it on Craigs List. The machine sat there taunting me, reminding me of what colossal amount of money I invested, for nothing.

For some reason I thought I could plug in an illustration with a flash drive and it would magically embroider my illustration like a printer would printing ink onto paper. I could go about my business while the machine was happily stitching away. Hah! Not quite that simple. In reality you pretty much have to babysit the machine while its embroidering. With each color change you must change the thread color, cut the threads and make sure nothing else goes awry while it doing its thing. A design can take up to 45 minutes or more to complete.

The digitizing process itself is quite a bear. As with all new software there is a learning process. Slowly but surely I'm gaining confidence with the tools and have begun stitching my first samples. Although I have so much more to learn I'm starting to like the whole idea of adding embroidery to my list of crafty conquests. I think it fits well with my brand. My plan is to have finished embroidered artwork for my upcoming show in August. Let me know what you think of my first sample of Little Red.

Toys Toys Toys!

Hey All - come out and buy some toys THIS Saturday and Sunday - July 10th and 11th! RAMPAGE TOYS will be at the most excellent and MAGNIFICENT Urban Craft Uprising at the Seattle Center in Downtown Seattle - selling toys, plush, clothing, prints, jewelery and More!!!! YAY!

Come by the booth and say hi. It would be a pleasure to meet some of you loyal blog-followers (of which there are a million now!... or is it 9?... Same thing, right?). I'll be there with my lovely assistant, sporting a sport jacket (is that redundant?...) and vending the RAMPAGE goods to all!

In order to get you psyched, here are some pictures of things that will be for sale, and some pictures of a new toy I just finished for an artists trade with another local Artist - Kerstin Graudins! Kerstin does AMAZING screen prints, and it just worked out that she's as into octopi as I am! ENJOY!


Limited Run of 8 CC Cookie resin toys - with hand screened and water colored Header cards!

Various Nachteule toys! 5 color ways to chose from! Spary painted and screen printed headers!

Lots of SUPER COOL prints! Screen prints, monotypes, stencils! WOW!

A new OCTO toy! This guy isn't for sale, but you could always commision a similar piece ;-) He's built on a Mini Munny Body - lots of armature and sculpting work here - and the usual, spray paint and acrylics. He was a blast to make and paint!


Of course he glows! Fishnet pattern and ALL!

Hope to see you all at the Seattle Center this weekend! It should be a blast!