Making a miniature tutu skirt

I wanted to share the process of making Odile's tutu skirt, which I made from scratch. The best thing about this technique is that you can actually apply it to real people and not only dolls! I have a lot of tulle at home, and am planning to make a full size tutu for little moi in the near future.

I made the skirt from beautiful golden tulle I got from a friend, using a non-stitch technique I picked up on YouTube. It's actually very easy to follow, just requires some patience. It was quite a tedious task, and took almost two hours (while watching TV, I admit). Here is the tutorial, easy as pie!

So, I cut several dozens of thin strips of tulle and tied them to a satin ribbon, in matching gold color, which I later used to secure the skirt to Odile's waist.

Tying thin strands of tulle to a satin ribbon

The tying is complete, fitting Odile's waist

Placing the skirt over the satin bodice

That was the base of my work. After that came embellishments, jewelry, hair and makeup and tiny golden shoes I ordered especially et voila - the little ballerina was ready!

I am very grateful I found this simple tutorial, and am actually eager to make some more little ballerinas. My friend also gave me red and white tulle, which are waiting to be made into something beautiful.

Last but not least, I almost forgot! I got a flattering review of on custom made Flutterbride and Fluttergroom on Urban Brides Magazine. Here is a little excerpt for you guys (in Hebrew).

 

Have a nice week everybody! And please comment, I love reading what you guys think.

A short note and an even shorter little lady

To let you know I am (finally) working on a batch of new Flutterbutts that will be listed on my shop in near future. One might say, it's about time too!

In the meanwhile, meet little Tamar - a very special custom ordered Flutterbutt I recently finished.

Isn't she cute, with her little shoes?

Almost forgot - Also in a couple of weeks, I will be holding an international giveaway on my fashion blog. I will keep you guys updated here as well, so you can register if you want to win a nice prize.

See you at the altar

This is a short little entry, to show off my new hand puppets - the first I made in ages!

I got a rushed custom order for two full size hand puppets imitating a lovely couple who will get married next week. Their friends decided to make them a wedding video with puppets in their own image. I had a week to make them, and had to compromise on some aspects of the similarity, but the guys who ordered them seem to be happy, so - mission accomplished.

One thing I can tell you though - no more emergency puppet making for me. You cannot believe how stressed I was, espceially since my right hand hurts terribly for the past month or so (I know, I should see a doctor), it has been raining most of the week (preventing me from working on the roof) and I was working as usual througout the week (meaning I had to work on the puppets at night). Bad bad bad.

The guys promised to send me the film after the wedding, so I will be sure to share it with you guys! That's it. Have a nice weekend everybody and stay safe and warm. And of course - congratulations to the happy couple (obviously I am not sharing their photo, not to spoil the surprise).

Puppeteer on the roof

Today was such a beautiful sunny day, following several rainy ones, that I decided to spend a few hours on the roof.

Last month I sowed different types of tomatoes all over the  roof garden.Look how huge this couple is getting!

And here is a cherry tomato variety, I think it will soon be ripe for eating. This is actually from a tomato I put in the ground, and not seeds.

The orchids are blooming, finally. I can't wait for the poppies and freesia to blossom we well.

 The sky was so clear, I could see the ocean nice and clear, the first time this week.

You will be happy to hear I spent the afternoon working on an order of two full size hand puppets. Can you spot the fetal puppets in this photo?
 

I still have a lot of work on this order, but I got a nice start. I missed working on the roof. I honestly have no idea how I am supposed to sell this apartment, but I do know one thing - I will be buying a smaller roof garden flat, no doubt about that.

I will be posting more about the new puppets as work progress. I already made a new custom ordered Flutterbutt this week, but a waiting for something to arrive by mail before I can show her off. I see lots of puppet making in the near future, yay!

Puppeteer's block

So, I haven't made a new puppet in months now.

It seems the part of me which makes the puppets, a cheerful and childish part, has been temporarily lost since my mom died 3 months ago. The thought of making a new puppet seems like a mission impossible. Yet, I haven't added anything new to my puppet shop in almost two months now, and the holidays are coming near. There is nothing there to interest my regular buyers, since they already know all the puppets, unless they order a custom made one.

In fact, I have only about 3 more weeks to work on anything, if I want to sell and ship it in time for Christmas anywhere outside of the country, so the pressure is on. But I don't know how to force myself to create anything, I mean, can it even be done? I don't want to even consider the possibility that "I lost it" and I am not as depressed as I expected I'd be before mom's passing. So why can't I just do it?

What do you suggest I do, dear readers? Any thoughts or advice are welcome.

 

 Puppeteer's block, illustration

Angel on duty

A Flutterangel hovering above Mamisha's hospice bed.

Shop update - Sex and the City

Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are now 

waiting for you at my shop. Get ready to be carried away!

Sex and the City

These past few weeks have been so energy consuming, that I have not made anything but earrings for a very long time. In fact, I did not make any puppets since February, I believe. That's how it works for me, I fear. When worries come through the door, my creativity goes out the window.

But this week, I finally managed to sit myself down and bring to life a project I first thought of two months ago. It's almost too late, as the hype is already gone I fear, but still it's better late than never. So please welcome the wonderful, sexy, fun loving, devoted and oh so trendy Sex and the City girls!

This is my original draft

And here is the gang, which will be available in the shop

tomorrow (Saturday the 19th of June)

Carrie Flutterbutt is wearing her signature tutu outfit

with Louboutin cowgirl boots

Miranda is wearing a printed strapless day dress with a

trendy oversized straw bag and huge earrings

Charlotte is wearing a strapless coral velvet dress'

with black lace and satin roses. She also has a 

sequined evening handbag and is wearing her 

matching pink diamond ring and earrings.

And finally, Samantha is wearing a super reveling yellow

micro mini sequin dress with her signature statement jewlery

which include a purple crystal bracelet, huge gold earrings 

and, of course, the flower ring she got from Smith.

I hope you like them, and remember to check back for the 

shop update tomorrow.

Yossef

Today, after reading about him on Yifat's blog, I came upon this sweet movie showing Yossef the puppet signing books on the last National Isreali Book Week. Yossef and his long time operator, Roni Mosenson-Nelken, who is an acclaimed puppetry teacher, wrote a wonderful book discussing the art of puppetry, the philosophy behind it, and the relationship between puppet and operator. The moment I saw it on the book store I knew that a - I must have it and b - I'm SO stupid I didn't write it myself (but I am not really angry, my book is in the works. I am simply sad I am not the only one who can write such a book so beautifully. Big ego you know).

Israeli puppetry and art lovers, this book is a must! I wish I could have my signed by Yossef.. I also think I should take a course tutored by Roni, maybe a summer school thing?

"Do you know how to sign? Simply scrabble something 
and say it's a signature, that's what grown ups do"

Leap year babies galore

This year, there is no 29th in February so my birthday spreads across both the 28th and the first of March. I admit I had better birthdays in my time, and am not the most cheerful person these past couple of days (and getting less cheerful by the minute, as the garage manager calls every once in a while to tell me what else he found wrong with my car and how much it costs to fix it). Add to that the fact I am no healthier than I was last week, and you can imagine how thrilled I am.

Luckily, the bad weather delayed the official birthday celebration to the weekend, which allows me plenty of time to pout. And I got some lovely birthday thingies to cheer me up.

This is the cake my mom made me. The decoration is a bit off, cause she lost her special tool but I love it, and it is so yummy!

There was also birthday cake at work, and another at lunch so I expect to gain a few grams this week. Apart for cakes, I got several cool DVD's from friends in different countries, as well as these amazing earrings and this silly summery bag. I also got a milk foamer from my brother (he took his daughter with him to buy me a gift, and she said they should buy me something for drinking coffee).

I created a special Happy Birthday Fluttergirl to celebrate my annoying birthday, and she is now available on my shop.

I also made another Flutterbutt on Saturday, whom Junie named Roxie. She has lovely detailing and comes with her very own overnight bag!

That's it. Not bad for a grumpy old woman, eh?

Before I am done, you will find the accounts of Tzipi the world traveling Flutterbutt's adventures in Kent on the sidebar to the left. Next week, she is going to London. Want to support Tzipi? Grab a button (also on the sidebar) for your blog!

Am I still ill? Oh no

Oh yes, I am still ill damn it. A week and a half now, and it hasn't been a month since the last time. I am going to see a specialist next week in hopes of findings why I am getting bad colds so often. So I am stuck at home blowing my nose silly and cursing the minute I was born. My huge stash of aloe lotion Kleenex is about to expire and I missed God knows how many days at work. But as Morrissey says, there's a brighter side to life.

First off, I got word that Tzipi the world traveling Flutterbutt finally arrived to the UK. Her host will blog about her soon, as well as knit her a sweater (poor thing is reportedly freezing). On top of that news, a wonderful package of miniature shoes arrived from Hong Kong today, bearing among other things, a little surprise I got for Erez who is also sick as a bat these past few days. Low and behold his highness's new donkey slippers!

I better get back to coughing and twitting. It's good I can speak without opening my mouth and infecting innocent people. But before I do, one excellent new site for Etsy sellers. Cr8tivity is loaded with stats and useful tools which exceed Craftcult by far. Enter your Etsy username and see all it has to offer. I wonder how many people use it, and if it is a good idea to advertise on it. Enjoy!

Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more

I am not sure that Bob Talbert said the above about my latest creation, but ain't that the truth!

I was recently approached by a most wonderful teacher, who asked me to make her a hand puppet look alike pal to use in her classrooms. What an awesome request! She commissioned a blond, blue eyed full size puppet wearing a cool blouse and skirt, and a pair of glasses.

I used the gorgeous blond hair that was leftover from Marissa the puppet, which I cut to shoulder length. It has a beautiful natural hair color (ash blond, sort of grayish) and texture. I added blush and big red lips and long black lashes on her hand drawn eyes.

I had the perfect pale pink blouse waiting on my puppet apparel stock, but I had to go shop for a matching skirt. I was looking for a nice denim skirt, but ended up finding a cute brown skirt with a floral embroidery, which matched perfectly.

Since she is a teacher, I gave her a comfy pair of tennis shoes, then finished her up with some nice accessories - a pair of reading eyeglasses hanging on a beaded chain, some cute dangling earrings, and a pink sequin headband et voila! An excellent little teacher, who may be costly but is definitely cheaper than a bad one.

I hope the kids will enjoy their new teacher, I sure had fun making her and  also added a little extra feature the kids may appreciate - an inherent hate for homework.

So many custom orders, so little time

Believe it or not, I spent almost half of the past couple of months ill. I had a flu, an ongoing sinus infection and now another head cold. I missed almost 3 workweeks at the office! This is driving me nuts. I guess my bad eating habits are catching up with me, not to mention biting my back. I am taking care of that.

In any case, all these sicknesses cost me in terms of promoting my shop and creating new products. I also had several custom orders that dragged and dragged and were completed in great delays (thank God for my sweet understanding customers, who agreed to wait for their orders to be completed).

Finally, this week I managed to catch up on my custom orders. All apart for one, who is waiting for me to shop for cloths, which will have to wait till next week.

First is this sexy little hand puppet. She is made after a very rich successful gorgeous blond lady. Therefore, I had to create a chic designer outfit for her with elegant accessories. I made her a backless collar dress in coral toned lace. The neck is decorated with clear rhinestones. The gladiator sandals are also decorated with rhinestones and compliment the satin back straps of the dress.

Next, we have a lady who ordered a look alike hand puppet of her brother. He is a very handsome young man, and I did my best to make him a worthy mini me.

 

I also had a very nice man, who ordered a look alike Flutterbutt of himself as a birthday gift for his girlfriend. The drawn whiskers are a  memento of a romantic event they shared, which I find very sweet. I packed him is a transparent bag, so he can see the complete work before giving it to his beloved (obviously, he received photos while I was working, and approved them). I think the gift wrapped boyfriend is very cute.

Now, I am very eager to 1) be healthy 2) create a Flutterbutt of my own liking. Custom orders are wonderful, but I didn't update my shop in so long, I feel it's time to refresh. After all, it is apparent spring is approaching.

Here comes the Flutterbride all dressed in white

Thursday was the birthday of my relatively new and most beloved friend, D. Not only did this fine, sweet and beautiful lady turn 26 but she is also about to get married. Since I am the wedding attire stylist (dress check, jewelry and shoes on the way) I know what wedding gown she chose, and I know the wedding gown designer (Fish'n'dag) so I decided to make her a Flutterbride in her own image as a gift.

D's most striking feature is her long silky black hair. So of course, mini D had to have the same hair. It took me almost an hour working on it alone. Hard work, but don't you want to use her shampoo?

I took some artistic liberty with her wedding gown, since D has a very clean and elegant taste but Flutterbrides are a bit more fru-fru in nature. I added some lace and trimmings D would rather wed in a garbage bag than wearing. The red and fuchsia ribbon, though, is after the designer's style.

Finally, since D has a silly doggy who likes to eat things (and people) I decided to make her into a puppet mobile she can hang out of her reach. I decorated the wire with shiny transparent Czech glass and plastic beads, and Murano heart beads in silver and red.

I think D was pleased to get her fancy little Mini Me. She put her in the middle of the open space for everyone in the office to see, and placed a nice pink flowerpot right next to her, to compliment her gown. Later on, she realized something is missing to make her Mini Me really convincing as a double, so she added a final touch, which everybody agreed did the trick.

Mini D smoking a pretzel. Taken with my cell phone camera

The many bags of Mini Me

Just like her mommy, my Mini Me has a many shoes, bags and accessories to choose from. Someways it takes her half an hour to decide which bag fits her outfit best.

Someways she just grabs the closest one, throws her keys and wallet in and runs out the door.

It is pretty annoying to get home from a long day at work and find your doggy spooning with your new sneakers.

When she goes out, she likes wearing her high heeled boots with a little sequined evening bag.

When it's her turn to take the doggy out, she usually wear sneakers and a large messenger bag, with enough room for plastic bags (for doggy) and magazines (for her).

Doggy is always cheerful after a nice walk.

My Flutterbutts usually get tired after a long shoot, but sometimes I find them sleeping in piles. When did Pinky get in there? I honestly have no idea, but sssshhhh!!! Don't wake them up.

If you want a mini me of your own, click here

These boots are made for walking

What do you get when you take one woman and have her work on a major product release during the day and custom puppet orders at night? One very hungry and very busy woman.

That is why I was shocked to find myself making a new Flutterbutt in the middle of the night, when I should have been tucked in bed and snoring peacefully.

But I wanted to make her, and so I did - a teen, with a woolly purple flower shaped barret and a purple sweater (I bought both months ago and was waiting for winter to use them), a short skirt and the fuchsia pompom boots I bought on eBay a couple of weeks ago.

I seriously need to get me boots like these

Holding one of the lovely balloons Junie sent me

I photographed her against a Brussels sprout Christmas paper I bought in Urban Outfitters. There is no end to how pleased I am that I managed to bring it home from London in one straight piece. I was sure it will be ruined in my suitcase.. I wanted to shoot with an opposite color background, to make her pop. And she sure does!

When Mamisha saw her, she cried out "Ooh, peas!" and so I decided to name her Sweet Pea.

If you like peas too, you can buy her at my shop. I promised Mamisha she will be hers if I don't sell her within a month, so you better move fast! When my mom wants something, she usually gets it.