A New Raft of Critters at Fivetrees

Check out my new little buddies in my fivetrees shop!

Havel

Ulla

Artur

and the photo shoot was going very well right up until someone jumped on me and bumped my arm so that I got this picture. . .

the cutest critter I know. . .

Tiny Clothes

I was sick all Memorial Day weekend. Had one extra day today. I slept a lot, read a lot, and made a few things--including tiny clothes for new tiny friends to be added to the fivetrees shop soon.



Pink and orange. . . more things ought to be pink and orange. It's such a lovely combination.


I love this tiny cardigan.


Two boy pants, one girl pant and one pair of pants suitable for a carnie. Which is which? Hmmmmm. . .

New Bunny Design

So, I usually crochet or knit every bit of my critter, but one day a few months ago, I tried my hand at sewing a doll. I tried a bunny, but she didn't come out exactly the way I pictured her and so I thought her a failure and didn't finish her.

But then there was an opportunity to donate work to fund student college scholarships and I figured I would finish her and give her away--which I did. But to my surprise, she turned out to be beautiful.

Here she is:

Gwendolyn

A new bun for the fivetrees shop--little Gwendolyn.

Jane's Debut

Hey Jane, you big bunny cutie, you. . .

Lovely Critter Idea Sketches

The "lovely" in "Lovely Critter Idea Sketches" is in reference to the new batch of animal dolls I'm thinking about making being uber pretty and a little delicate (not that my sketches are lovely. i'm a little more realistic than that). I will still make my older versions of critters as well, but I think in the midst of this cold winter (brutal winds and hail tonight), I need a dose of not just cute, but also glam. Sequins. Taffeta. Pleats. Bows.

If these come to fruition, they may even get a "line" name.

I'm teetering between "The Ann Line" (after a resplendently fashionable colleague of mine) or "The Bloom Line," because Rachel Weisz's costumes (designed by Beatrix Aruna Pasztor) in Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom are gorgeous. And I sketched last night as I watched it. None of those costumes show up in my critter drawings, but Pasztor's work certainly veered me in the direction of that weird and beautiful shift in evening wear during the 60's when some designers still clung to old traditional dress shapes on one hand, but also started to play with the babydoll a-line thing that Twiggy was starting to popularize just by being huge-eyed skinny her in Euro and States' Vogue layouts. So chic and feminine, oddly nostalgic while being super forward looking?

Boat necks on evening gowns? Narrow bodices made of one giant bow over the huge puff of an impossibly giant A-shape? Yes, please.

ok. So I am a little proud of this last little sketch. I think she's adorable and she will be my first project in this "line."
Stay tuned. . .

New Rattles

New Critter Rattle

Another bunny. . . but this time with a scarlet handle.

Romy and Langston

new in the shop at fivetrees
and summer has settled in finally, so these new little boys were able to play out in the garden amongst the nasturtiums and sage.

Langston

Jerome (Romy)

new bunny

oi! new bunbun!

half naked

all dressed for outdoor spring fun.

Brighton

the perfect gentleman bunny

New Bun

Jean Pierre!

someone else's bun

I love etsy for a million different reasons. But today it's "favorites." Favorites are splendid because people can favorite me and I have the instant gratification of knowing that there are people in the world who are looking at my schtuff and enjoying it. But it's even more splendid because it functions like this family tree of happiness. Someone favorites me and then I can look at their shop and their favorites and see what other things they like and discover other amazing folks on etsy.

Etsy is a big place and it's wonderful that there's this easy way to discover different artists. So today, for example, through a favoriter, I found kinglappin and this grumpy disapproving bun just in time for Easter. Love the cute face and the folded arms. I imagine that it's response to any questions I might pose would be, "meh," and a dismissive shrug.


Love. It.

New Bun

This one's definitely a lady rabbit and I think I want a little cape just like hers. . . but in red.

B is for Bunny

naked bunny

Bunny!

Here's the newest, rocking a poncho and neckerchief. More to come, undoubtedly.

and I love this profile shot. It's so serious and portrait-y.

really proud of this one

part of my larger series of toys. i am terribly proud of her. . . but she is also the tamest I ever want to be again with this idea. She's only gnaw-your-own-arm-off cute, and, though I am especially proud of figuring out how to crochet an intertube in my first go, her future compatriots are going to need horns or more eyes or stranger accessories.

everything after Delia has to be creepier or more tongue in cheek or over the top. but she's a solid start and test of my stick-with-it-ness.