Here is my third post dedicated to my toy portrait series! It has been so fun to work on!!

It’s forcing me to think of background and scenery that compliment the toy and not just a plain white background (though sometimes that is the complimentary color) I have missed days here and there, BIG TIME, but that’s fine! This is my project and my schedule. If it takes 400 days to finish the 100 day project, then so be it!! :)

Life has gotten a little hectic, so I won’t be posting photos AS often, but I’ll try…

So here I go again. If I had Unlimited funds to go to Designer Con 2012, I would buy…

1 – Feather Gold Fatchel Bag by Park La Fun (they also have really neat wallets and guitar straps) /// 2 - Gumbo in Grombyland – Orange Creamsicle by Black Gard

3 – I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts print by the Beast Shoppe

4 – The Alphabot print by Genuine HAHA /// 5 – Cursed Candy Corn Plush by House of Darkly

6 - Winslow the (much larger) Beastlie by Beastlies /// 7 – Pink Rice Baby by Blamo Toys

8 – Out For a Drive print by Extracurricular Activities (this print is kinda part of a set! They’re not very expensive, and I bet they would look really neat next to each other. Maybe over a couch or sideboard?)

9 - Flat BunGoyle the Gargoyle Bunny Plush by Flat Bonnie /// 10 – Uninspired print by Gary Musgrave

11 - The Forest Warlord – Black and Silver Edition by Bigfoot /// 12 – Bigfoot Barbershop print by Ryan Roberts Photography (I’ve seen these prints on Fab a few times, and always want to buy them!)

Well, I’ve spent way too much time looking at toys and such. I have way too much to do this weekend, so I’m off to cast a few hundred necklaces and build some new displays. Oh and again, if you would like to see all of the other vendors that will be at Designer Con 2012, check out their list here, and if you go, I’d love to see photos!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Anyway, this post, and the next one will be dedicated to Designer Con! What is Designer Con you ask? Well to quote their website… “Designer Con is an annual art and design convention that smashes together collectible toys and designer apparel with urban, underground and pop art!“. It’s a one day event, this Saturday, November 3rd in Pasadena, CA. It looks awesome, and I’m seriously bummed I can’t go. Maybe next year?!? (hint hint JC).

Just because I can’t go doesn’t mean I can’t look at, and dream about, all the awesome stuff that will be there. So If I Had Unlimited Funds to go the Designer Con 2012, I would buy…

1 - 6″ RAAR! by Gary Ham /// 2 - I Don’t Wanna Grow Up print by Brett 2D Bean

3 – Florene & Talbert print by doubleparlour /// 4 - white resin ovok sculpt by Odd Fauna

5 – Ghost Larm by Sawdust Bear (I have been eying these for awhile now, you should check out the entire site, there are so many neat “specimens”)

6 – Curiosity Resin by Nathan Hamill (via Pretty in Plastic) /// 7 – Yummy Face Coin Purse by Jupey

8 – Owl Tote by Crowded Teeth(one of my all time favorite artist!!) /// 9 - Narwhal Plush Art Doll, Norbert by Nonesuch Garden

10 - CrappyCat Tuf-Fluck by Crappy Cat /// 11 – Bronze Polkadot Cavey by A Little Stranger

12 - BOOMBOT1 LAZ-E BLUE by Boom Botix (It’s a wireless speaker that looks like a little monster! how cute!)

So these were the first half of all the things I thought were super cute!! I just couldn’t narrow it all down, everything is so neat looking. Check back tomorrow for the rest of my favorites!!

If you’d like to see all of the other vendors, check out the list here.

You get this card with each piece that explains a little bit about their machine. Apparently their exact machine use to live at the LA Zoo and made kangaroos. I thought that was really neat!

I hope they make more molds, because I’d love to have some other pieces.

Also, if you’re interested in buying one of these in person, Rotofugi is located in Chicago, IL. Their shop is awesome and super fun to walk around. Plus everyone there is really nice!

For years I only ever bought from designer toy boutiques and ebay. I only bought the well known and easy to find pieces, which is how I ended up with boxes of toys when we moved. Lately however I have started getting into the more diy type of designer toys. The short runs, hand cast resin and hand painted pieces. They are really interesting and very inspiring! These designers are what made me feel like I could try my hand at this whole toy thing (I’m still in the way beginners stages of this).

My budget is very tight right now due to upcoming trips, trying to buy a car and business supplies. So I can’t buy too many toys. I wish I could snatch up every single awesome one I see! They are all so neat. Luckily I WAS able to get my hands of two awesome pieces this past month that were in my budget!!

The first one is a mini Ice Scream Man by Brutherford Industries (their currently sold out, but he has larger ones available too) I knew they were going to be released at a certain time, so I set a timer on my phone and snagged one the second they went live! Shipping was super fast and I received my awesome little man two days later!! It was blind boxed in really nice little packaging. The best part about this little dude? HE GLOWS IN THE DARK! really well actually. I didn’t know it until the artist let me in on the secret. I really love the design and seriously want one of the big ones now, a “vanilla” one to be exact!

My other awesome handmade purchase was a Blank Ick by Milky Robot. I love blank toys. I prefer them actually. This was Jess’s first try at casting toys, and I think they came out so well!! I really wanted one of the painted ones, but payday and release day never coincided. I was able to request a blank piece before she cast her third batch, that way I knew I’d get my hands on one. Jess has been really great to talk to about all things toys and casting. Talking to her was the last push I needed to try my hand at toys. Oh and she’s been showing all the progress over one her blog! You should check it out.

These two toys are awesome, so they were lucky enough to make it onto the shelf with all my other favorites. I FINALLY got a good enough photo to show! This is the landing between stairwells going down to our basement. It’s lit by recessed lights and is kinda small, so it’s really hard to photograph, but I really wanted to share it! You can see more shots here.

Do you know of any handmade designer toys I might like? Any artist I should check out? I love looking, even if I can’t buy!!

Don’t worry, she also loves princesses, dressing up and everything else girly. CT is a very well rounded toddler.

Her 2nd birthday is coming up soon. Next Sunday to be exact. I really wanted to make her a few of her gifts, something she would actually enjoy and play with. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile actually, and I ended up choosing a cape and shield.

I started with the shield. I wanted to do an actual Captain America’s shield, all red white and blue, but apparently I forgot to buy blue felt. I had a horribly stressful time the last time I went to Joanns (xmas shoppers are CRAZY), So I just said “whatever” and made it Red, White and Pink.

Want to know what the coolest part about this shield is?

It’s form is made with help from a frisbee!!! Yep, I thought of this while picking up CT toys one day. I didn’t know if it would actually work, so I was pleasantly surprised when it did!

Would you like to make your own? I made sure to take photo’s while I was putting this together. So if your interested, keep reading…

Supplies Needed:

• a frisbee, mine was a 9″ plastic one from the dollar store
• a piece of red felt approximately 11″x24″ (cut from a bolt)
• a piece of 3/4″ elastic about 4-5″ long
• a loose piece of white felt (the kind found in sheets)
• a loose piece of grey felt (the kind found in sheets)
• a loose piece of either pink or blue felt (the kind found in sheets)
• a glue gun with glue sticks
• tacky glue
• star and circle template
• scissors
• coordinating thread for each piece of felt (optional)
• a compass (if your frisbee isn’t 9″)

I’m not too great at showing how I did things. I warn you ahead of time! If something seems like it’s missing, just comment below and I’ll fix it.

First thing, print out the star and circle template. I know it looks like all one pattern piece, it isn’t. I just wanted to save paper and fit it all on one piece of paper. I suggest cutting out the large circle first, tracing it on the felt. Then move onto the next size until you come to the star. you should end up with 3 SOLID felt circles and one star. not rings. Trace each piece onto felt and cut them out. I made sure to label each piece.

After you have all your template pieces traced and cut out, get the frisbee and trace it onto the felt TWICE. make sure to leave about an inch around one of the outlines when tracing (you need that extra felt for stretching over the edge later). Cut out one of the circles on the traced line. Cut out the other circle with a 1″ allowance around the entire thing.

Put the smaller frisbee circle aside, you’ll need it later. Take all your other circles and stack them, trying to make them as even as possible. As pictured above. Once you have them the way you like, glue them in place. If you are choosing to not top-stitch or hand-stitch the edges, I would suggest gluing all the way to the edge and securing all the edges as well as you can. If you plan on sewing the pieces just use enough glue to keep them all in place. I used tacky glue. My specific glue required that I wait about 2 hours for it all to dry. It really needs to be completely dry before you can continue.

Ok, so this step is if your top-stitching or hand-stitching yours. Shown above is me top-stitching. I pinned the pieces just to give that last bit of security. I just used a small stitch around the edge of each piece. You could also hand-stitch this in the same manner, or any manner you like! I will say that there is a lot of bulk around the star, My machine can normally handle a lot, but it had some issues there. Seriously a first for me. Once your finished, clip all the loose threads and set the front piece aside. For now.

Now were onto the back piece. Using some of the leftover red felt and cut out two rectangles measuring approximately 2″x3″. enough to cover the ends of the elastic.

Pin the piece of elastic to the back of the other red piece of felt, not the front piece we just put together. Try and center it (I forgot to take a picture of this step). To make it all really secure I zigzag stitched the short edges to the felt, as shown above. You could also hand sew it. I just wanted to make sure it didn’t break on CT.

Next place a small rectangle on each end of the, now secured, elastic. I pinned mine. This will make the handle even more secure and cover up the raw ends of the elastic. Stitch in anyway you choose, I top-stitched just like I did on the front piece.

Were almost done. Now is the time to plug in your glue gun and get it nice and hot. I used a bunch of glue sticks, so I suggest having a few extra easily at hand.

take your front piece, the one that has all the rings and star on it and place it design side DOWN. Place just enough glue on the back side to hold the frisbee lightly. Center the frisbee and attach the top of the frisbee to the back side of the front piece. Flip it over and see how centered it is. If it’s not to your liking, take them apart and try again. That’s why I suggested not too much glue.

I stretched the sides over the same way I would stretch a canvas. You glue one small piece on one side, then go to the opposite side and pull the fabric taught and glue a little, then turn it slightly and repeat. This way you will have a nice even stretched piece. You can kinda see what I’m talking about in the photo above. Also, while doing this, please be very careful! It really hurts when you burn yourself with hot glue, make sure to either cover your fingertips or be very gentle and don’t rush.

This is what it should look like once it’s all stretched and secured.

Next step… glue the back piece, the one with the elastic attached, to back of the frisbee. I would only glue the center, just to secure it. Then once it’s centered glue all the edges down. Secure it as nicely as you can.

This is what the back should look like once your done! Which by the way, your done!!! Hot glue dries super super quick, so your new shield is all ready to be played with and enjoyed!!

I don’t have real action shots yet since CT won’t be opening her gifts for a whole week.

I would love to see all the finished shields you guys make!! Maybe you’ll go with a different super hero? Maybe you’ll use your child’s initial? Or a different sized frisbee? The possibilities are endless. Anything goes when your fighting crime.

Next up… A cape! A girl themed cape, of course.