Happy Holidays Everyone

I'm going on Christmas vacation today- wahoo! I'll be back in the New Year. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! And, I wanted to present to you Matilda the Christmas Mushroom.

Sprouted: December 18th
Favorite Color: white
Favorite Drink: Egg Nogg
Favorite Food: Sugar cookies
Favorite Activity: building snowmen
Favorite Season: winter

I had planned on making a bunch of Christmas mushrooms, but my schedule got too hectic. I'm glad I did finish one for a special someone at the last minute. My last mushroom of the year :)

And one last thing to share: some of my Christmas gifts and Christmas craftings. Choco & Minty as bees- I love them so so much!!!! Kathie Olivas toys... a craft bucket from my Secret Santa... the biggest gift of all- a Canon EOS 5D- I sooo can't wait to use it!!! Paper snowflakes... and one of the gifts I got for Chris- that was my fave pic of our gift exchange.... he got me Choco & Minty, the Kathie Olivas toys, and the Camera- I'm so lucky :)

See you soon!

Diego is featured on Plush Monster Feed

Kelli from Plush Monster Feed was so nice to feature Diego on her blog :)

She posts about new plush every single day! I can't wait to look through all the entries.

I crocheted up these flowers for one of my friends at work for her Xmas present. I hope they brighten her day every day!

They are removable from their pot even and come with their own crocheted soil! And the best part, no watering needed :)

I found the pattern at on the web at www.mygurumi.de and I just had to embellish and add faces to the flowers

PS: that's one of my paper snowflakes casting a shadow- how pretty!

Callie & Cailey the Mushrooms with Sidney the Owl

Bethany was so sweet to commission me to make a purple mushroom for her daughter's birthday. I knew a few cute facts about Caroline, so I tried to incorporate them into my mushroom making. That's also why I added the owl to the mix. I ended up making two because I could not decide which version I liked better and it turns out Bethany couldn't either so she bought both of them!!! Today was Caroline's b-day- Happy Birthday, Caroline! And Bethany was so nice to share some pictures of Caroline opening her gift. Check them out over at her blog. I think Caroline's expression is priceless and it was definitely one of my favorite custom orders that I've had the pleasure of working on :)

And I couldn't resist and had to add at least one pic of Caroline- this is my favorite shot!

She looks so happy :) I love Nathaniel's expression too. He seems to be really happy for his sister! What a great shot! You guys are awesome!

Diego the Lucha Libre Mushroom

This was probably the most difficult commission I've done to date, but I really love the result. He comes with a removable mask!!! Next time, I'm not sure that I would make the mask removable, because it took so long to get it right... but then again, that's one of the cool things about it. What do you think?

Sprouted: December 15th
Favorite Color: red, blue and yellow
Favorite Drink: Burstin' Lime Soda
Favorite Food: anything with tabasco sauce
Favorite Activity: wrestling of course!
Favorite Season: summer

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and for my Secret Santa, I finished this awesome Guitar... the pattern was designed by the super talented Katie of Caffaknitted

and lastly, some paper snowflakes that I've made over the past few days... next up is decorating my bedroom window with them.

I got TAGGED

Nicole Licht from Astulabee tagged me for 6 random things... (above you see an image of my collection of hers... I got the duke for my bday from my boyfriend just the other day- hooray :)

1. I turned 29 the other day and to this day, I haven’t owned a car thus far. I’m not sure if it’s by chance or choice, but at this point I don’t really want one either. I’m happy with car- pooling and using the bus system here in LA. I guess I just feel it’s one less thing to worry about, one less responsibility… I just wonder how long I’ll keep it up?!

2. I was born and raised in Germany until the age of 12. Although when I was young, I couldn’t speak any German. I only knew Polish when my parents put me in Kindergarten. And even though Polish is my first language, it’s also my weakest. However, I dream in all 3 languages.

3. I’m a vegetarian. I’m not good with keeping track of dates, so I think it’s been 7 or 8 years. It was an easy transition for me. I didn’t like meat to begin with. I wish I could give up sweets as easily. ;)

4. I miss my dog Rambo. I’ve always loved animals and I need to move to an apartment that allows pets. But at the same time, I really want a dog and I feel like he or she would need more room… and a house is pretty impossible out here. Hopefully sooner than later… Btw, I can usually imagine people as animals. I’ll be like, you look just like a beaver, and you look like a pelican, you look like a red panda… some people totally get it and some just think I’m odd.

5. Growing up I was an only child, it took my parents 8 yrs to get me a baby brother, 19 to get me a baby sister… but because of the boredom I learned to use my imagination a lot! I remember I used to take a little mirror hold it up towards the ceiling, look at it downwards and pretend to be walking on the ceiling. I haven’t tried it in quite some time… but I remember it was a lot of fun.

6. I get sayings wrong ALL the time. Even if I know them… I’ll say “Thumb of Rule” instead of “Rule of thumb” or “My stomach is doing summersaults” instead of “I have butterflies in my stomach.” Quite frankly, I’m not even sure I got them right this time. I’m just no good at sayings… but it seems to get a lot of giggles  Some words also give me real trouble, no matter how many times I rehearse them, to this day, “canary” as in the bird… I’ll say “cannery” even if I wanted to say “canary.” Recently, I discovered “Bengal” gives me real trouble.

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And now for the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Dawn from Plush-a-holic
Nichol from Pink Cheeks Studios
Bethany from Red Yarn
Chelsea from IttyBittyBirdy
Leeanna from MeetSamandPete
Jhoanna from OneRedRobin

Tag...you are it!

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and on a side note...some snowflakes we made today...

Theo in his new home

isn't awesome? and he has an Uglydoll to keep him company, I think it's Babo?

Maegan looks so happy with Theo as a buddy. And Theo is happy to be hers! Thanks John for sending these in!

Amy, Benjamin, and Horace the Owls

don't they look like they are comforting poor Benjamin (in the middle)?

Maisey the Owl

Maisey the Owl {size ref}, originally uploaded by Effunia.

Maisey is about 5-6 inches tall. She's completely hand-sewn and made out of felt. I was intending her to be a Christmas ornament, but I couldn't make myself stick string through her head. But it would be an easy addition if needed. I figure it can sit on a tree branch just as easily. Also this way, it's more versatile and can just be a plush as well.

I'm planning on making a bunch of these for the holidays in different color ways :)

Bake it Pretty Giveaway

I don't know about you, but I'm always up for entering giveaways and I found this one that's particularly appealing since I want to make cupcakes over the holidays with my little sister. I would love to have some supplies, if you do too- just head over the Every Little Thing Blog and leave a comment to win by Nov. 25th. Or if you can't wait... just head over to Bake It Pretty :)

Happy Holidays Etsy Treasury

Thank you to Pinkparchmentsoaps for including Maxine in her wonderful Holiday Treasury :)

NEON rainbow etsy treasury

"so bright, you gotta wear shades"

Thank you to Jessijewels! Here's the actual link to the treasury.

Ringo & Kat the Rocker Mushrooms

Yeah! Rock on :) The red one is a custom order that I made for an Xmas present. I was pleased with the result that I had to make another one and put it in my etsy shop. Looks like I'll have to make one more for my little sister, she said it's the best one to date, even better than the little devil one. Personally, I love their little mowhawks.

Kat's Bio (red one):
Sprouted: November 16th
Favorite Color: neon red
Favorite Drink: vanilla cherry coke
Favorite Food: french fries with mayo
Favorite Activity: rockin' out
Favorite Season: Summer

Ringo's Bio (green one):
Sprouted: November 15th
Favorite Color: neon green
Favorite Drink: Sierra Mist
Favorite Food: fish sticks
Favorite Activity: rockin' out
Favorite Season: Summer

They sits all on their own at 13 inches tall & come with electric guitars that they can hold.

Amy the Birthday Mushroom

Sprouted: November 2nd
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Drink: cherry soda
Favorite Food: cherry cupcake
Favorite Activity: having parties
Favorite Season: Summer

Sits all on her own at 13 inches tall.
Her hat is removable via magnet :D

Custom order for marshmallowtwist :)

The Plant & Happy Halloween!

Today we followed Bitter Betty Blogs tutorial on how to make ferocious plant fangs. It was a lot of fun and we did it all in an hour. Here's her tutorial if you want to have fun too :)

Teddy Bear on a whim & Bat from Fuzzy Mittens

The other day I was at Michael's and I saw this great ball of yarn. Well, it wasn't that great, but immediately I envisioned this little bear when I looked at the skein of yarn. I'm pretty happy with the result, being that I free-formed him. I am especially proud of the hat with the holes to let the ears poke out. It felt very good to just knit and crochet with no rules :)

Then the Bat is going to be 1 of the 24 presents for my little sister for her Advent calendar. I have a lot of work ahead of me! :p The pattern is by Fuzzy Mittens- aren't her patterns just super adorable?

Softie Central

Yay! My mushrooms were blogged about on Softies Central! Thank you!

What a cute little bunny too by Little Love Blue :)

Kiley arrived at her new home!

Thanks to Bethany for blogging about her :) Doesn't she look happy?
Thanks for taking the picture Bethany!

Create your own custom mushroom!

Here are a couple of ways to create your own mushroom:

1. Look through my past mushrooms and see which ones you like and let me know.

2. Fill out a little questionnaire to help me create one just for you!
Favorite Color-
Favorite Shape-
Favorite Smell-
Favorite Animal-
Favorite Food-
Favorite Book-
Favorite things to do-

3. Or do both! :)

I made an animated gif of this, but unfortunately neither blogger or etsy seem to support it :(

Laura Plansker & Magdalena Bors

I just had to share these two artists with all of you. I absolutely love their images!! I've been wanting to do little mushroom dioramas for a while now (but I'm not sure how feasible it is- I might have to make a really tiny mushroom versions so they can fit into a shoe box due to my limited amount of space). These images totally inspire me. Of course, now I'm a little scared to even attempt, because these are so good!

This is the work of Laura Plansker








































And here is the work of Magdalena Bors

Yay- finished 2 custom orders and a little Mushroom Devil for my shop!

These two were custom orders that were requested right after I made the Molly mushroom. And I have to say, that I really enjoy making things in two's right now. I don't know what it is... maybe they just look cuter together?!

I also wanted to offer a lil' devil mushroom for my shop. The first one was for a friend. Ralphy hopes he's lucky enough to go trick or treating with an adult/kid this year :)

And check out this sweet blog post I received from Starr!!! She has an etsy shop too with some pretty jewelry!!! Thank you Starr!

Theo the Mushroom Devil

Sprouted: October 13th
Favorite Color: candy red
Favorite Drink: spicy tomato juice
Favorite Food: Deviled Eggs
Favorite Activity: roasting marshmallows at a campfire
Favorite Season: hot hot summer

He was a custom commission made by a friend of mine who loves all things Halloween :)  Sits all on his own at 13 inches tall.

Kiley & Riley the Trick or Treat Mushrooms

And I quickly wanted to say "Thank you" to Rebecca from Edward & Lilly!!! She wrote really sweet things about my mushrooms on her blog. That made my day :) She also makes very cute plushies, so go on ahead and check them out :)

Happy Halloween

as you can tell, I'm already feeling festive :) I've got a few more Halloween type mushrooms ideas in the works and then I have to work on some commissions... and then hopefully can return to some more Halloween ones. I know I won't be able to finish all my ideas, but I guess I can save them for next year. These are sooo fun to work on :) I'm really loving the colors! Plus, Fall and Winter are my favorite season, so I'm feeling extra crafty.

Anyway, here are their bios from left to right

That's Kiley the Trick or Treat Mushroom
Sprouted: October 11th
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Drink: Apple Cider
Favorite Food: candy corn
Favorite Activity: going trick or treating with her twin brother!
Favorite Season: Fall of course!

Then there's Baxter the Skeleton Mushroom
Sprouted: October 12th
Favorite Color: blood orange
Favorite Drink: brethren cider
Favorite Food: gummy worms
Favorite Activity: collecting bones
Favorite Season: Fall

and lastly, Riley the Trick or Treat Mushroom
Sprouted: October 11th
Favorite Color: Pumpkin
Favorite Drink: Egg Nog
Favorite Food: Pumpkin Cheesecake
Favorite Activity: going trick or treating with his twin sister!
Favorite Season: Fall of course!

Finnegan at his new home :)

1. John & Finnegan the Skeleton Mushroom, 2. John & Finnegan the Skeleton Mushroom, 3. John & Finnegan having fun- wee, 4. John & Finnegan having fun

doesn't he fit right in?

Finnegan the Skeleton Mushroom & other craftings...

This weekend was pretty good. I guess I made up for last weekends "no crafting." I finished a scarf for a friend's bday. Finally got around to making one of my halloween themed mushrooms (can't wait to make the other ideas i have for these little guys). And I started working on the lizard ridge blanket- wohoo! I always make something for other people and this time, I'm going to make something for myself.

Here's Finnegan's bio:
Sprouted: October 5th
Favorite Color: Bone White
Favorite Drink: Nuclear Punch
Favorite Food: Skeleton Tooth Stew
Favorite Activity: scaring people
Favorite Season: Fall

Craft Club at my work

Craft Club- Week One of October, originally uploaded by Effunia.

This is not a plush post, but... this was so fun, I had to post it.

Today we all made these hang-ups with construction paper. They were great for our one hour lunchtime craft time. The idea and templates were taken from Martha Stewart and John got all the supplies for us. It was great to sit back and just craft for me :) And not have to plan or do the explaining. I plan on doing a version of these with my sister when I go home for Christmas- I'm thinking they'd be perfect for snowmen! :D

Yellow Squid- Hurrah!

The other day I received this wonderful yellow squid from Lexi of Orangefishy as my swap counterpart. He's my first yellow plush and I love him. Thank you Lexi!! Check out her shop here... she has some other beautiful squids there, I esp. heart the light blue one! I couldn't be happier with mine!

Also, if you want to see some more of my toy collection, check out my flickr page :)

Two new Mushrooms

Sprouted: September 20th
Favorite Color: canary red
Favorite Drink: Root Beer
Favorite Food: French Fries
Favorite Activity: sailin' the world
Favorite Season: Summer

This is Jolly Lola Rogers, she is a custom order for LoveMyLittleLola. She liked my Pirate mushroom but wanted me to make the whole thing with a touch of girly for her daughter. My fave are the pink eyepatch and the eyelashes on the Parrot. The hat is removable via magnet.
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This is Petunia the Mushroom

Sprouted: September 20th
Favorite Color: Forest Green
Favorite Drink: Vanilla Latte
Favorite Food: Lasagna
Favorite Activity: spending time with friends
Favorite Season: Fall

This one is for a friend's Birthday- I hope she likes it. Whenever I hang out with this friend, we often spot a ladybug. We noticed this trend back in high school and it's continued, hence the ladybug theme on this one :D