Testing, testing...

You may have noticed me complaining in the past that one of the hindrances to me progressing with my craft (ooh, does that sound pretentious, or what?) is that I have no permanent setup for taking decent photos...

Well, folks, that is about to change! I got myself a photo tent off eBay from Next-Gadgets Ltd, for about £10, and so far, it's a serious step up. Here's the first shot I took in it:
I still have some tweaking to do on the setup, such as the colour balance (as you'll notice, the white is, like, SUPER bright!), and I need to do some test shots at night, since that's when most of my work gets done. READ: that's when the toddler is asleep...

However, it's still a great little thing. I love the velvety backgrounds because they're non-reflective, and it all being in a tent means a lot less shadow. My next step is to get some kawaii Japanese fabric to make some backdrops with, just to jazz it up a bit!

Oooh, I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself!

Now, if I can just finish that DAMN DRESS and move onto some more fun things...

noisypitta.etsy.com

Another little green man...Another!

I've done it AGAIN! And this time I've learnt that I'm starting to lose patience with not having a "studio" in my house...I've finished another green dude, and I want to post him on Etsy, but it's so much effort to get the pictures all set up...

Bah, I'm just being lazy, I know. But it's starting to get my back up because I'm trying to do this kitten pattern as well, and every time I want to take a picture of what I'm doing, I have to set up the whole photo studio and it's a pain. I can see you thinking, now, why don't you just leave it set up? Well, I'll give you a hint: it's two years old, and its name is Jim. (My son, if you didn't get that hint.)

Anyway, moving on...Here's a taster of my latest little green man:
What do you think?

By the way...(Tip and trick coming!)...A tip that I learned from browsing some crocheting vids on YouTube: you can work a large pony bead into your fabric for an eye, and it will make it child-safe! Overall, this doll is as child-safe a doll as I have ever made: no PVC beads, only polyester filling; only embroidered features (e.g. smile) and an eye that won't come out unless you unravel the whole thing! The arms are whipstitched onto the body, but even if they come off, they're completely sealed before stitching on (using the tab technique like on my baby bird pattern, when I attached the wings).

I'm eager to get all of my things child-safe, not only because I have a child, but because I believe that these toys should be TOYS, and therefore made to be played with!

noisypitta.etsy.com

Auuuggghh! What is it with green aliens?

Okay, I know, I KNOW. I think it might be a cardinal sin to post twice, once right after the other...But I didn't want these two thing to be in the same post, but I'm kind of on a blogging ROLL, ifyaknowhaddimean.

Look at this cute little green guy!!!
I appear to have an obsession with little green aliens.

Anyway, if you'll recall, this is the guy I'd sketched in my notebook a while back. It's actually turned out quite close to what I had envisioned, which is kind of a first for me. Usually, the way things look just kind of HAPPEN. So yeah, I'm proud of it.

I swear I'm going to go to the H-word for all this pride. (One of the seven deadly sins, isn't it?)

noisypitta.etsy.com

No dice on the comp

Well, as you may well have already ascertained, I did not make the final of the Hobbycraft craft competition. Of course, if you see the finalists, you'll understand why! There are some fantastic creations on show, and you can still vote for your favourite by going onto their website.

I'm still working on the kitten pattern, doing some tweaks to the body shape. In the meantime, when I haven't been crocheting, I've also done some drawings for an elephant and a weird little alien dude. I also mistakenly started a little chick today, but I haven't got eyes that are small enough, so who knows what I'll do! I'm leaning toward the french knot route...

noisypitta.etsy.com