Making Mad March Hares

I’ve been making paper mad March hares for next weekend’s event; I love this kind of experimenting and creating.

But…it EATS time!

I started off early, over breakfast! it was a beautiful sunny day and I had a clear(ish) table to work on. Double pleasure; so I got started straightaway with the sun pouring in.

As you can see by the pictures it got to afternoon and I was still at it. To be fair the ideas and scissor chopping, quick sketching bit is quick and fun. Then trying to make the actual templates and instruction sheets takes ages. I don’t mind doing it but you can find you’ve been an hour on one teeny page (I timed it!). Typing and tweaking and cropping and then redrawing.

This process is not my best bit of a project!

I am – apparently- a “starter instigator” according one of those work teambuilding profile things!

Who knew?

Well anyone who knows me lol!

Don’t get me wrong – I DO finish things- but it is not “my best”.
(Love that quote phrase from The Dollhouse- a weird TV drama, stumbled upon a while ago)

Anyhow I now have a couple of Hare finger puppets, a mad ‘revolving eye’ hare head picture, and an animated boxing hare scene (my favourite). Plus of course (being me) some interesting side diversions too maybe work on later.

My clear desk now looks like this;

where I pushed it all back like the tide so I could take the ‘how to’ photos for the publisher instruction pages.
Also, I’m wondering if I can rescale the side profile finger puppet to fit the page better; but without a tiny pair of hands to try it on, I’m a bit stuck with that.

However, quite pleased with this little guy.

His head probably could do with a ‘sink fold’ but I’ve tried to get it a simple as possible, otherwise I will end up making them all instead- not the point and no fun for the children ( or me ).

Simple is hard to get to sometimes; people have no idea when they see a couple of folds and cuts, how much you have to actually leave out!

These are just some of the casualties, ( and why I do most of my trials in scrap paper ) poor little paper people;

time to tidy up, but….
… just for fun; this little chap looked quite like he would love to escape his paper world…

look little hare wants to get out into that sunny hillside..

there he goes

off up the hill!

Sorry about the laundry, but it was the first sunny day a while…

and yes, I do use one of my own pegbags, he is just on the end of the line that you can’t see.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

The weather has improved, yippee!

OMG SUNSHINE!!

Time to get on with pegbags; two have just been sold so will need some more in the shops. At least I can take pictures of them outside now. Here are some guys that have been waiting for their photo shoot for ages.

I made a cute little soldier but needed to decide which colour eyes.

I have tried a couple just as normal one- sided ones.

They were originally for a shop, so I was trying to cut down the time it takes to produce one. I like them, but I’m not sure if I should just abandon the double sided/opening ones which were the original concept.

It just does not seem worth selling through a retail outlet as the mark-up needed means either they become (what I think of as ) very expensive pegbags; or I work for peanuts. As it is they take about 3-4 hours to make. I am not sure why; it seemed to take less at first, but I guess they were slightly more simple. Now, with inserted beaks

and shaped padded feet

(and don’t get me started on dinosaur spines)

They just take longer. But it is hard not to make a creature when the fabric shouts so loudly at one to make him or her, LOL.I am still working from the fabric, up- as it were! I have loads of ideas of creature shapes but really can’t go buying more fabric when I can hardly move for “the Stash”…. so I am putting lots on hold ( but it is VERY hard when you have an idea, not to rush out, get fabric and make Mr Fox and Mr Badger). Sob!

Not to mention all the other toys and crochet all orbiting in a creative space holding pattern; which sometimes feels like it has slipped and is around my neck strangling me…

If only I had a house slave like the Romans…

and a dictation slave…

and a knitting slave…

HMM

Well must stop all this and get on with some sewing of the aforementioned pegbags.

I would love to see them in a real shop-
but the whole thing seems easier on-line; plus there is a personal connection to most people I have sold to, which I do enjoy ( even if it eats up more time ” it’s worth it ” ).

I would love to hear any comments on these subjects; selling and managing creative flow! Then I won’t feel like it is only me with the angst!

Read Full Post »