Recently, I made a very fun gift for a friend, who just returned from Illinois (a corn state!). He was spending a short hiatus there, helping with family stuff. Myself and many others missed him dearly, and decided to throw him a welcome back party when he returned. I knew this was a moment for NifNak cuteness to fill his life with joy!

While away, he sent a youtube video of his adventures in the the Land of Lincoln, which featured CORN as a prop. I just *knew* that his special fuzzy bit of joy, just *had* to be corn.

I proudly present, Earl the Expired Ear.....

I also made a mini coffin to place Earl in to complete the presentation. I know, it seems silly to have a dead ear of corn, but my friend is very silly and he appreciated the (inside) joke.

Yay!!!

I'm so excited! I was accepted into the Maker Faire's Bizaare Bazaar. Yes, the competition was fierce, there were double the applicants than there were slots, and I made it! Wheeeee!!

I'm very excited to meet all the other crafters, inventors, geniuses, and DIY'ers at Maker Faire. What inspiring folks will I meet this year & what other neat things will people be selling? My head is exploding of all the new experiences in store for me. There's so much to plan for my first ever craft faire (oh, and what a craft faire it will be!!!!). How will set up my table? What will showcase my critters and other NifNaks at their C.O.L. (cutest optimal level)??? How much opportunity will I get to meet my fellow vendors? Will I be placed near my friends, personal heroes, and bunnywarez founders, m & jovino? I'm shivering with excitement!!! Postings of my exciting developments will soon follow....... squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Yayyyyyyyy!

Today I have my newest version of NifNaks up and running. I'm not quite done ironing out all of the wrinkles in my store, so as of today, I have put up a gallery of my products until I can get theNifNaks Store up and running (which should be done by this Friday, if all goes well:).

All the fabulous models you see pictured in the gallery are dear friends of mine who helped me out at very short notice. (I'll post real model props in my next post.) They all were real troopers in that, although we shot in San Francisco's Mission District, the weather decided to be cold and foggy. Can you believe that?? Spring time, and it was foggy in The Mission!

And if there weren't enough challenges for the day, I was very ill that day. But guess what! I have the most bubbly and resilient friends -- everyone was patient with my light-headed blatherings and had loads of fun. All the models even had a small entourage of cute guys who accompanied us during our shoot (thanks Colin, Aaron, & Andy!).

Although getting up the newest version of NifNaks was something I already was working on, my time line for this was accelerated due to the application deadline for this year's BazaarBizarre at Maker Faire. The applicants are juried, so I wanted to make sure they had the best idea of who I was when I submitted it last night.

BTW, I had so much fun attending last year's Maker Faire! Check out this really cool high-speed photo of me, taken by Tom of Quaketronics -- it was even printed in Make Magazine, Vol.8!!!

And if that wasn't cool enough.... I was even quoted in ZDNet News article on Maker Faire 2006! I can't even imagine what this year's event has to offer. (yay, shiver, wheeeeee!!)

I really hope I'm chosen for BazaarBizarre -- it'd really mean a lot to me if I was..... You see, attending Maker Faire last year and seeing the success of M & Jovino's bunnywarez was what inspired me to start my own art & craft business. It'd be very fulfilling to come full circle in just one year, and have the opportunity to give back to my community. Anyway, cross your fingers and wish me luck!

As a present to myself, I took my first solo motorcycle trip through the woods of Northern California.

(Here’s a picture of me that Colin took of me after my bike was all packed up, and I was ready to roll out!)

The trip was delightful , and included camping in nature, beautiful twisty roads, staying at hot springs in the mountains. Unfortunately, many of the neat and beautiful things I saw were not captured by my camera. Half way through the trip it went kaput. However, let me share with you the cute lil’ friend I made at the hot springs!


Look at his beautiful blue belly!

Through this motorcycle trip, I discovered a sense of independence that I haven’t achieved before through riding before. I think with this trip, I finally adopted “motorcyclist” as one of the many labels I accept smacked on me.
 
I will leave you with an image of my bike somewhere in the coastal mountains of Northern California.

For the weekend before Valentine’s Day, some friends and I got together to attend a super-sweet candy-themed Valentine’s Day Party.

As always, my friends got SUPER creative with the theme. One creative couple made matching outfits, she was Strawberry Shortcake’s friend, Blueberry Muffin, and he went as the Purple Pie Man. Remembering my moustache that I made for the Edward Gorey Ball, my friend asked if I’d make him a “frenchie” purple moustache to complete his outfit. And here it is!



Also, I simply must share with you the costumes of all the people in my party—we looked d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!

I made a fantastic moustache for my male companion out of wool. It was fantastically three dimensional. It was an Edward Gorey drawing made real.

(photo aboave courtesy sharlenes.com)

As for my costume..... Remember that lady in the beginning of PBS’s “Mystery!”? Well I made a costume inspired by that lady who is fainting when an urn falls. Look at my first attempts at papier-mâché!



ps. "Blutig" - German for "bloody" - was one of Edward Gorey's many pseudonyms.

Yes, that’s right. I met Mr. Paul Reubens dressed as that fun-loving alter ego of his, Pee Wee Herman!

This holiday season is the perfect time of year to introduce my critters and other curiosities with friends and loved ones.

Frolicsome Flippy was hatched especially for my dear friend, April. April is such a vivacious and happy soul, and she needed a little turtle buddy to share in her daily adventures. Flippy is the perfect candidate because he's always swimming along, looking for another occasion in which to wiggle his flippers with joy.

 

 

 

I know April will squeal with delight when she sets eyes on her new friend.... as for Flippy, he just might to pee on her with joy!

Ahh, a perfect match, made possible only through NifNaks.

 

 

Last night was very eventful for me. Not only was it my graduation from my fantastic 10-week business course at the Women's Initiative, but I also bid farewell to Squishy Squirrel.

 

  As you can see above, Squishy enjoyed his stay here at NifNaks—this is a picture that I caught of him frolicking in my backyard on day. I was terribly happy every day we spent together, but it was time for Squishy Squirrel to move on to greener places.

 

A fellow Women's Initiative graduate, Masha of Music Together, asked me a few weeks ago to find the perfect companion for her squirrel-loving friend, Sam. My first commission!

In the following weeks, I spent many days sitting under the shade of an oak tree, playing with acorns and my soft wool. One day Squishy Squirrel entered my life and I squealed with delight when I looked into his itty-bitty eyes. To my surprise, Squishy squeaked back, and it was at that moment that I knew that I had found the perfect friend for Masha's friend, Sam.

 

 

Here is Sam, the happy adoptive parent posing with Squishy and his friend/my fellow graduate, Masha.

Goodbye, Squishy Squirrel. Thank you for filling NifNak Studios with shrill squeaks of joy and the sound of happy prancing

With the many perks/blessings that come with moving into a larger home, some are sometimes so sweet and simple that I never would have expected how happy they could make me....

Reason #247 of why I love living at my new home: the opportunity to fill our living room with a ridiculously huge tree. Reason #248? Getting to hand-craft an original felted wool tree-topper for that tree, in the shape of everyone's favorite starchy faux-deity, the FSM!

There couldn't be a more appropriate Christmas Tree topper for our Anarcho-Buddist-Atheist-Judeo-Christian-Humanist-Pastafarian-Smart-Ass household to have, other than the one-and-only Flying Spaghetti Monster.

To make him (her? it?) I used a combination of methods, including wet felting (the noodles) and needle felting (the meatballs). I'm particularly happy with how the eyestalks came out, as they are poseable. To complete the theme, we even made a garland of vegetable dyed pasta!

All hail His Noodly