Christmas Cards - It's That Time Again!

Wow, I can't believe it's already nearly the end of November! I've got Thanksgiving pie in the oven, plans all set for the weekend, and Christmas is right around the corner! Yes, it's that time again!

Do you write Christmas cards? If you are in the market for a truly special set of cards, I can work with you to pick out the images you like best from over hundreds of images I've taken of fall and winter, and custom print and cut you a set of cards just for you! My cards are currently selling for $2.50 each, but for the Holidays, you can get a set of 10 - 19 of my cards for $2.25 each, or 20 or more cards for $2 each! There are loads and loads of wonderful images for you to choose from, or you can tell me the kind of thing you want, and I can make suggestions!

Some of the possible images are in this post, where I advertised the cards last year (but ignore the prices, things change. ;) ). I've taken some wonderful images in the past year since then. I love winter photography!





















So, if you are in the market for some nifty, nifty cards, get in touch with me! I also do prints. For holiday orders, I'll need to know what cards you want by December 10th.

To get started placing your order, e-mail me at unforth AT yahoo DOT com!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project

I've spoken in both of my blog posts this past week about my affection for Japan. In all my traveling, I've only ever found three places that I liked so well that I would want to live in them without any other temptation than just getting to be in them. These places are New York City (my home "town"), Tokyo and Venice. I've gotten to live in two of these cities - I was a resident in Tokyo for four months in 2007, and I feel in love. Even before that, I was a Japan-o-phile, studied Japanese for 6 years, and majored in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japan. There's no place like Tokyo in the world. I talk a lot about in this post (already linked in my WIP Wednesday, but I know I get some other folks for this post). Since last Friday, every day, I wake up feeling normal, and then at some point in my morning routine I remember that Japan is still in a state of crisis, and I look up the latest updates on the situation with the nuclear plant with a heavy heart, tears in my eyes, a little nausea, and the echoing thought that a place that I love is only 150 miles from such a potential disaster.

On Monday, I knew that I wanted to help. I went to the American Red Cross web page, and I donated as much money as I could afford. It felt totally empty. I kept thinking. I decided that if I can possibly manage it, I'm going to use my vacation in September to go and help with the rebuilding efforts that I'm sure will be well under way by then. It felt like too little, too late. I got dressed for the gym...and I had an idea. While I was at the gym, I let it percolate and develop. I ended up skipping out on work to implement that idea, and tonight it will be ready to go.

So, without more ado, let me introduce the 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project. The purpose of this project is simple: raise money for aid to Japan.

In Japanese culture, cranes are considered to be a sacred animal. There is an ancient myth that promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes, threaded together on a string, will be granted any one wish by a crane. The gift of a string of a thousand cranes is considered to bestow good luck, happiness and prosperity, and strings of cranes are frequently given as gifts to newly weds, newborns, and as part of coming of age activities.



I've designed a pattern for crocheting an amigurumi crane that looks like the origami version of a crane. The basic pattern can be done either in sport-weight (pictured) or worsted weight, and turns out roughly 3 inches high, and 6 x 6 inches width/length. The worsted weight is a little bigger. There are also instructions for resizing the pattern to any other size within reason.

The 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project has 4 components:

1. The pattern. The pattern is just finishing up testing today. The regular pattern is already confirmed good to go; I'm just awaiting feedback on the resizing instructions. I've made the pattern live on Ravelry while still waiting that final feedback, because I can easily re-send the updated version to purchasers through their system. The pattern is $5. See the end of this post for more details on how the money end of this will work.

2. The finished dolls. I encourage you all to sell your finished dolls to raise additional funds. The regular dolls work up in about an hour - less once you get the hang of it - and are quite cute. My testers were thrilled. :) I've already donated one of my finished dolls (the orange one, pictured above) to a charity auction being done on Live Journal (here, if you're interested). There are several ways to go about donating your doll, such as an auction like the one I'm in, or posting it to a store you've got and donating the proceeds, or requesting a receipt as demonstration of donation and sending it. OR, if you don't want to bother, you can either send your doll to me, and I'll take care of figuring out a way to sell it, or you can join the Ravelry group, and we can match those who have cranes with those who want cranes. I'm selling the small cranes for $10 each, and larger cranes (made with the resizing more) priced accordingly, at roughly $10 an hour as the rate.

3. The commissions. Can't crochet and want a doll? Contact me and I'll make you one - within reason. If I get swamped, there's only so much I can do. This is where the matching comes in. :)

4. The community. An effort like this can't work without your help. I'm only one amigurumi crafter, and I'm a small fish in a very big sea. If you think this is a good idea, if you think this is something that can succeed, then please help even just by spreading the word, and encouraging those that you know to spread the word. I'll be distributing information by whatever means I can. I've made a group on Ravelry at The 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project, and over the next few days I'll be sharing it on every forum and group that I can think of - but I'm only one person, with a full time job, leaving for a business trip on Sunday. Even if you can't give - even if you've already given in another form - I know I've heard lots of crafters say in the past seven days that they wish that there was some way we as a community could band together to help. This is my attempt at doing that. I'll also be organizing a crochet-a-long.

I'm raising money in two ways:

1. Buy from me, pay my pay pal account, and when I've built up chunks, I'll pull the money and donate it to the American Red Cross. I'll be keeping updates of the fiscal end of things, including screen caps, in the Ravelry group and the blog for accountability purposes. The downside of this option is that I am not able to cover the percent of your purchase price that gets deducted as fees by Ravelry and/or Paypal and/or Etsy. The upside is that you can then download it immediately from Ravelry, you don't have to worry about anything except sending the money, the rest is up to me. This option will result in approximately 90% of your money going to the American Red Cross. The pattern is now available from Ravelry, and I'm still deciding if I'll put it up on Etsy (etsy has a larger following, but more fees associated with it). You can go directly to buy it here, or you can check out the pattern here if you're a member.

However, in case ya'll don't trust me (and I wouldn't blame you, the internet is rough that way!) there's the second option...

2. Receipts. Show me a receipt (with all personal info blurred out) demonstrating that you have donated the requisite dollar amount to a charity of your choice working for Tsunami Relief, and I will send you the pattern or doll that you've requested. This can be a cell phone bill showing a $10 text donation, a confirmation screen cap from the charity, or whatever else shows that you did it. In this case, I'm trusting you - and I do. I highly recommend the American Red Cross, with the downside being that they require a minimum donation of $10. The Japan Society in New York is also doing a funding drive that appears to accept smaller donations - you can access that here. The downside with this option is you'll have to wait for me to send the pattern for you (I try to have a less than 24 hours turn around on sending out patterns). If you have already donated and want the pattern or a doll, send me proof that you have made a donation of the requisite amount and I will send you the pattern. You can send this information to me at unforth@yahoo.com.

If you want to follow this more closely, feel free to follow me on Twitter (@unforth), join my on FB (fanpage is Curiously Crafted Creations), join the Ravelry group (The 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project) or just keep an eye on this blog. Contact me at unforth@yahoo.com, or Private Message me on Ravelry (Username: unforth) or anything else you feel like (ie, comment on this post) to get in touch with me and ask me questions - or if you have ideas to help! I'll admit, I'm hoping that other people will have other ideas to contribute to raise money for the 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project - but for now, I'm getting us started. :)

If we can sell 1000 amigurumi crane patterns, we can raise more than $4,500 for relief to Japan. If we can sell 1000 amigurumi crane dolls, we could raise an additional $10,000 or more. When I think of all the people that we could help, it brings tears to my eyes. Together, we can do more than any of us could dream of doing alone, and we can help bring joy and happiness and prosperity back to the people in Japan who are suffering. Thanks for your time, everyone.

FO Friday on Tami's Ami Blog
Fiber Arts Friday with Wonder Why Gal.

Edit: There are now more posts about the project! Use the 1000 amigurumi cranes tag, and there's an update in this post.

Re-Introducing Sammy the Squirrel!

Last summer, I completed a squirrel pattern as a commission for a friend. I've now finished a second version, and it's been thoroughly pattern tested and updated, and it's that wonderful time again: a re-release!

Meet Sammy the Squirrel!


Sammy is a real tough guy, the biggest and strongest squirrel in the park, and a lot of the other animals think he’s a bully. But that’s only ‘cause they haven’t gotten to know him! Sammy only got to be strong so that he could protect all his brothers and sisters from all of the predators, especially the big, mean dogs who spend all day chasing the squirrels. All the dogs are afraid of Sammy, though. He might be smaller than (most) of those cruel dogs, but he’s so fast and brave that he leads them around in circles until they’re totally exhausted, and then he taunts them until they promise not to bother his fellow squirrels ever again. In the squirrel community, Sammy is a hero!

The new version of Sammy is available for $2.50 from Etsy and from Ravelry.

In other news, I've finished the first version of the Manager for the Oceans on Thursday, and should be finished with a second version today or tomorrow - with hopes for a third version (because I had to modify from the first a fair amount) by Monday or Tuesday! Expect to meet this mystery man...er...ocean-goer soon!

Swedish Chef Amigurumi

At the beginning of January, I agreed to make a Swedish Chef pattern for someone who was looking for one on Ravelry. At the time, I hadn't yet done the copyright research, and I thought I might as well go for it! Yesterday, I finally finished (a week late, and I feel terrible about it). I heard back in the late afternoon that she was satisfied with the FO, then I put the pattern together and send it out, so now it's finished, and I'm glad of it. :) It was late enough that I offered to send it for free, but we agreed on half payment, instead. It didn't cost me much to make (mostly scrap or old stash yarn) so I don't mind. Once I found out about the copyright stuff, it suddenly became like pulling teeth to get myself to finish this project. On the plus side, I am getting a lot of positive feedback from it. Doing something like this, it's easy to see the allure of working with well known properties - people notice, and appreciate more because the work is more accessible. The temptation is certainly strong - but oh well.

Anyway, on to the pics!








All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this project turned out. I got to experiment with some new techniques, practice making a doll based directly off of a picture (though actually, now that I think about it, I've referenced pictures with most of my creations), and it was interesting to make a doll with so many different pieces (body, arms, head, two ears, nose, hair, two eyebrows, mustache, apron, bow tie - made of two bits - and the cleaver). Making the hat was entirely experimental and turned out almost exactly how I wanted it (but shockingly time consuming). Then, I had to figure out how to make the hair (which worked much better than I thought it would). Lastly, to make the eyebrows and mustache, I had to learn how to do a loop stitch (I used Planet June's tutorial), and then I crossed my fingers, muttered a prayer to no one in particular, and clipped each loop - and discovered to my joy that this didn't, in fact, cause the whole thing to fall apart. Phew! Several moments of fear involved in that one. :) So this whole project was an excellent learning opportunity.

My inspiration photo, by the way, was this one:


I'm not happy to have done something that violates copyright, now that I understand how that works, and I'll say plainly as I said when I wrote this post about what I learned relating to that: never again. Now that I know how the law works, I will not make anything else based directly on a copyrighted source. Inspired by - like, say, the cowel I made on Monday which was inspired by the Jump Gates in B5 - that's fine, it's a distant enough interpretation that I don't see any cause of thinking it's a derivative work - but, say, a doll based on a puppet? Totally off limits. So don't ask. :)

Art Collection: Latest Commission

This post pertains to two of my hobbies that I don't talk about very much. One is that I collect fantasy art - absolutely love it. I mostly get originals, and I commission at least a few works every year - usually of the same character, though this commission isn't that character (that's a post for some other time, but I'd have to get a bunch of permissions first...). The second hobby that relates to this post is writing. Specifically, I'm an aspiring novelist - I've finished three first drafts, one of which I've edited about half of, and I'm currently almost a third of the way through my fourth novel, which I started on 1/1/11. How do these two things combine?

Well, the novel that I've edited about half of is under the working title of just "Golden Age," and is based off of a table-top roleplaying game that a bunch of my friends and I played. It's ridiculously over-length, which is the main reason I haven't finished it yet, but the two main characters in it are very dear to me, both because of the game, the memories I have related to them, the friendships they reflect, etc. Right after I finished the manuscript initially, in August, 2009, I spoke to my friend Avery, who is an artist, about getting three commissions. The first two were sketches of the two main characters; she finished this for me last fall. The remaining was for a full digital piece of a scene in the book.

So, a little background. "Golden Age" is a book about super heroes active during World War 2. The two main characters are a woman named Marie who goes by the superhero nickname of "Enigma," and a man named John who goes by the nickname "Scout." Because it's WW2, there's a lot of patriotic type stuff going on in the background, and at one point Marie gets asked to be the model for the centerfold in "Yank," which is a monthly magazine sent to servicemen. She's always wanted to be an actress, and so she has no issues with posing a little risque. It ends up being a minor plot point at a later point in the story. Here's the original description I wrote for the image in the centerfold:

"A stiff breeze blew a skimpy dress tight over her body and tousled the carefully-done ringlets that had been put in her hair. Her whole body was extended, one leg up, as she reached for her umbrella, moments before snatched from her hands by the same breeze. The shot was of her back, but she glanced back over her shoulder, a moue of lovely frustration on her face."

This was also the description I sent to Avery when I requested my commission (along with an overview description of what Marie looks like) - which she sent me the finished version of yesterday!! But before that, here are two 'in progress' pics...

First, she sent me a sketch to get my approval on the general layout.


Then, she sent me a follow-up with the colors filled in.


And finally, yesterday, I got the image in my e-mail that made me absolutely squee with delight:

(you can look at a bigger version here.)

I'm so, so happy with how this turned out. (and also very excited that Avery gave me permission to share it with ya'll ;) ). If you like what you see, she's always open to commissions (though there does tend to be some delay on their getting done) and you can check out her other work on her deviant art account.

At some point I'll do some posts on other artists I like; I've gotten permission from a couple already about posting some of their work - I was going to do a pre-Christmas post about all of them but didn't end up getting the time, but maybe I'll do a monthly feature instead. :)

And in case it wasn't clear? OMG SQUEE I <3 MY COMMISSION! :)

Happy Yacht, a New Amigurumi!

So, I'm a little nervous. Last week, on Ravelry, I encountered a lady looking for a pattern to use to make a modern-looking ship, specifically this one:


I answered truthfully that I'd not seen a pattern for a really modern looking vessel in my experience - I'd seen sail boats, sailing ships, and little tug boat type things, but nothing on a larger scale. I then mentioned that I could design such a thing... and within a few days, we'd reached an agreement! So this ship is my first-ever commission from a stranger, and I just finished it, and I'm kind of nervous. I mean, I've been sending her progress pics all week, so I know it's so far more or less what she wants, but I'm still nervous. But...well, whether she approves the final design or not, it's still a finished doll - since she's only buying the pattern, this is what it is no longer what she decides. :) So I present...the Happy Yacht! (better name pending...I just have to think of one...)



The Happy Yacht actually has three pieces, with the two smaller ones attached with buttons:


First, there's the main ship:


Then, there's a secondary launch vessel for more mobile exploration:


Third, in case the worst should happen, no ship should sail without a life boat:


When you line up all three, you can see their relative sizes:


This project was a lot of fun to make, and not nearly as much work as it looks like - for some reason I can't put my finger on, it came together pretty quickly. Of course, I won't be done with the commission until she first approves the design, and then I put the instructions into a usable form (instead of in my first-line "okay how am I going to write what I just did?" form :) )

I really hope she likes it. Can't believe I've actually got a little knot of "oooooooooo" in my chest over this. :)

State of the Store Sunday - November 28, 2010

The last week or so, I've done a lot of general maintenance on my business, and rather than spam you all with continual updates, I thought I would just do one general update. Indeed, I like the idea of a "State of the Store" report, not as a weekly perhaps, but as an occasional post for when things have changed. Like now! Cause a LOT has changed!


For starters, after a fair amount of debate over what a banner should look like, Curiously Crafted Creations has a banner that I don't hate. I may change it in the future, but I think that it's important for an etsy store to have banner - I don't know, I just think it gets the page off on the right foot.

I also ordered business cards:


To celebrate this achievement, I bought a business card case that I've wanted ever since I saw it in 2008 - it's from the Met, and shows a Tiffany pattern:


I re-listed all of the cards that I had previously listed (they don't sell too well). This was a big debate for me. I mean, if I just keep sinking money in to this, it will demolish any chance that I'll make a profit. On the other hand, if my work isn't out there, obviously it's never going to sell. Thus, I decided to just go for it. In the end it's a difference of only a few dollars. Thus, there were a decent collection of photos up (four sold yesterday, unusually enough! :) ) going in to today. I augmented this today by listing the first batch of cards suitable for use as Christmas cards. I knew I had to get these up ASAP if they were to be of any use as a pre-Christmas item to sell. So if you have any interest in Christmas cards, you should wander over and see what's up! I also created a "deal" - a "buy any 5 cards" option that shaves 15 cents off the price of each card (5 for $8 instead of 1 for $1.75). I'm planning to put a "10 for $15" deal up as well.

Speaking of a few dollars, I'm in the green again! I spotted a really good deal for printing a pile of photographs - 365 prints - for free if I spent $10. Of course, that was before shipping, so when all was said and done I spent almost $40, which more than ate up my old small profit margin. But the initial Christmas card commission (which I've now finished and shipped), an unexpected large purchase by a friend, and an unexpected commission for an amigurumi pattern (my first ever commission from a stranger!) has put me more solidly in the green than I've ever been. Which isn't saying much, we're still talking about a profit of less than $100, but I'll take it - it's better than having taken a loss! :) I'd have a larger profit if I was prepared to stop trying on the card front, but I'm not ready to do that. I KNOW I take nice photographs, and do good work, and I really do believe that if I keep at it, I can get somewhere selling them. :)

Meanwhile, the deal gave me a chance to conduct another experiment I've wanted to do for a while.

Cards are obviously not the only way of selling photography! However, I've been reluctant to offer the option for larger prints without running a test. Since I had to spend $10 anyway, I decided to pick out a photograph (one of my personal favorites) to print at a 16 x 20 size. It was $15 + shipping, a total of just under $20. It turned out both better and worse than I expected. It turned out better in that the image is nice and clear and crisp, and looks pretty much just like the original. Details that were not visible on a smaller medium, like the veins in the petals, are VERY clear. It turned out worse in that it showed every little imperfection. Two examples - neither visible in the photo above - are that there's a little black speck on one of the petals that is shockingly noticeable, I don't I'd ever have spotted it on the original if I wasn't looking for it, and the other is that it turns out the steeples (or whatever they're called) are a little out of focus, another thing I never would have noticed but is pretty easy to spot on the full size poster. So clearly if I'm going to do large prints I need to VERY carefully examine the original picture, and spend some time removing teeny imperfections like the black speck.

On Friday, I finished my experiment with pattern testing. I've been a member of the Free Pattern Testing group on Ravelry for a while, but always as a lurker. A couple weeks ago, I carefully reviewed all of their FAQs, rules, and policies, and I went for it, testing the Blub Blub pattern. I sought 5 testers, and provided them with the pattern, and awaited their feedback. I'm very glad I did this. It's proved a very beneficial experience. It firmly established that I wasn't actually criminally negligent when I didn't test any of my previous patterns - my testers didn't find a single error in my actual description of the doll, and agreed that my directions were very clear. What was lacking - and what I added - were some generalizations that helped the maker to figure out things that were slightly confusion. This was solved by the addition of a "tips" section, and a few other odds and ends (like page numbers!) and the result is that the Blub Blub pattern went live yesterday on Etsy and Ravelry. It's a lot of "firsts" wrapped in one - my first tested pattern, the first pattern with higher quality pics thanks to my "light box," and my first pattern released with a pattern. Then, just to top things off, I put Santana Squid up for testing, should be done in a couple of weeks. :)

I also listed both of the previously made Blub Blub dolls for sale. These are the first completed amigurumi I've ever actually listed on etsy - all the others I've sold were either commissions to begin with, or I get specific requests for them. No idea if this will work, but if it does, that'd be nice. :)

Hmm...what else? That might actually be it. And it's plenty! Lots going on - a commission and two gifts to make - listing things for sale - working away - and generally thinking about what I want out of this business and how I want to go about succeeding. Not bad for a few weeks work!

Christmas Cards

Today I'm finally back on track after a busy week and some necessary couch time to recover, and one of the first things on my plate was to outreach to my friend April. See, April has been my best customer for my photography cards - one of my main products, but which I've hardly talked about at all. But now the time has come!

So, I make cards. They look like this:

(though not actually blurry, of course ;) )
The insides are completely blank, with the only writing on them being a little writing on the back describing where and when the picture was taken and my copyright. All of the photographs are by me. Each card is hand cut, the paper is recycled, and the photographs are inserted in the card in such a way as to be easily removable for framing or whatnot. I sell them for a mere $1.75 each. Here's a link to one of my personal favorites (different than the image): Light Bulb in the Trees.

Unfortunately, they haven't been selling, hardly at all. But I'm not ready to give up yet!

April had a nifty idea that I had in fact considered, but hadn't been able to muster the time to address. I mean, if I'm going to be selling cards, I should do a big push on Christmas cards, but I wasn't planning to...but her interest has given me heart! She's doing a custom order of Christmas cards, and when I was looking through for ideas for images to make cards out of, I realized I really do have some good images for Christmas Cards. Here are some samples, but there are lots more:
Set: Snow in Central Park
These are images I took last February when we had a huge snow storm.












Set: Snow in New York City
Images I took in Riverside Park in February, 2008.






Some other odds and ends:

This is my personal favorite. ;) I love dinosaurs...



...and I have loads and loads more. So! Here's the advertisement part. :)

Do you write Christmas cards? If you are in the market for a truly special set of cards, I can work with you to pick out the images you like best from over hundreds of images I've taken of fall and winter, and custom print and cut you a set of cards just for you! I'm selling 10 cards for $15, 15 cards for $20. If you'd like more than that, I can do that to - we can discuss price based on the number. Each card can have it's own image, or all of the cards can have the same image, or anything in between! So get in touch with me on my blog, my Hive account, my Etsy, my Facebook account, or just by e-mail at unforth AT yahoo.com, and lets make some cards!

Tom Seaver Amigurumi Doll, Part 2

This post is a bit late, as I finished the clothes for the doll about a day after I finished the body, but I had a couple other posts to do and have been very busy. As for today, I'm exhausted, so not tons of commentary on this one: I finished the Tom Seaver doll! This pretty much meant taking the body I had already made and adding a hat and a shirt. And here it is:


Over all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though I think the addition of the shirt clearly revealed the weaknesses in the original doll design, and in the next version I make, I'll be:
1. Making the head bigger
2. Making the arms shorter
3. Making the body (underneath the shirt) more narrow)
The next version will probably be a Santa, as I think I have all the right colors around the house (including some white fun fur, I hope...)


Another minor problem was that the neck was too long in comparison to the head so the head kept wanting to flop down.


Back stitching the logo on the front and the name on the back was time consuming but fun, and it turned out how I wanted pretty well. Seaver's number was 41, and his nickname was "Tom Terrific," thus instead of "Seaver" on the back, I wrote "Terrific!" Well, I thought it was cute. :)



So...that's that. :) Right now, I'm working on a squid - might even be done tonight, though it's hard to say cause I'm really, really beat.

Developing the Body for a Male Amigurumi Doll (Tom Seaver, Part 1)

Earlier this month I advertised that I was taking commissions on Facebook, and I got two requests. One was for Alot, which I made over the weekend and blogged about yesterday, and the other was from my dad, who requested a doll of his favorite baseball player, the Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver. After brief discussion, he and I decided that I would make it for him as a Christmas gift instead of as a commission. Despite the amount of time I've got to do this one, I really felt like making it anyway, for a simple reason: the core of this doll would be a simple male body, which would have lots of uses, some related to upcoming holidays (for example, I could make a santa claus! or a Frankenstein! or a pilgrim) so I planned out a body, and here it is!







I'm very happy with it, it looks pretty much exactly how I imagined it in my head. My only concern is that the head might be a little too small. My mom thinks it is. What do ya'll think, are my proportions off? If so, how?

By tomorrow, I hope to have his hat and shirt done I've started both already, but I had to pause on the hat because it will be crocheted directly onto the head, whereas the shirt will be removable. And then he'll be finished! (no pants!) ;)