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.

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!!

I’m naming her Dolly. I know, I know, It’s suuuuuch an original name! Ha. I’m happy with her as my first try. She isn’t perfectly flat or square, so she’ll give me a little bit of a challenge when it comes to making a mold and casting her.

I always have extra plastic casting supplies lying around, just in case, so I was ready to make a mold right away. I’ve been casting for about nine years now. You would think I’d be perfect at it by now, but I only ever made molds of items with flat backs. I tried my hand at a two part molds years ago, but I got super frustrated and gave up pretty quickly.

This time around I researched A LOT! I watched loads of YouTube videos and I even passed on a teeny bit of my knowledge to someone else to try it out first. I felt ready after it all.

The mold did NOT come out perfect, at all!! The first half did, but then I made the horrible decision to do the second half at night when I wasn’t feeling 100%. I think I didn’t spray enough mold release, or it had gone bad, I don’t know for sure. When I went to take the two halves apart I found that they had melded together as one large silicone chunk with my figure inside!!!! I cut Dolly out as gentle as I could, but along the way I did accidentally break her head off. No worries though, I glued it back and it’s drying now!!

The mold wasn’t the way it was supposed to be, BUT it was in working condition. Cutting a slit in the silicone to get figures out is actually another way of making 2 part molds.

So I tried to cast an example to see if it worked.

I love watching the plastic go from clear to white (or whatever color I used).

The first piece I cast had a few bubbles in the hair flip area, but the second one came out pretty much perfect!! Which seriously made my day. I thought I had put so much work into something and screwed it up, but I didn’t.

I’ve cast about seven already today and have enough plastic for a few more. I made mostly white ones since I’m planning on painting them all, but I did make two neon pink ones too! One for me and one for CT (who also stole the first white, bubbly, one too). I’m now researching the best primer and paint to use. Once I’m finished I’ll share the absolute finished pieces!

I’m so excited to be working on these. This whole process has been on my to do list for years! Oh and I’m nowhere near done working on it all, I want to perfect it. I also want to try some other ideas out. I really can’t wait.

I’ve been itching to make some resin figures to paint. It’s been on my to do list for years. Finally a few months ago I decided that I need to stop saying I’m going to do it, and just do it!! My plans got put to the side quite a few times, but yesterday I finally sat down and sculpted. I’m not 100% excited about what I made, but it’s a good start. I finished an entire figure, a little rag doll looking figure to be exact. I’m planning on sanding and sealing the figure today and HOPEFULLY make a mold and a test cast by Friday. Plans always change, but I really hope I can keep to these!!

Usually when I do anything work related CT doesn’t care. Today was different, she was super interested. So I set up a little work area for her to play at too. She never really liked Play-Doh, it always grossed her out. I figured she might go for it this time because I was doing something similar.

She LOVED it!! She actually spent FOUR HOURS playing with one little tub of Play-Doh. Purple to be exact. We only have one color since she never showed interest. She has never, ever, sat for that long to play with anything!! I got a lot finished and she perfected the art of making Play-Doh caterpillars and mustaches. You can even see one of her mustache creations below.

We went by Target last night and picked up a few more colors plus some little Play-Doh ”tools”. CT was really excited when she went to bed last night because her plans for today are to play with PINK, not purple. haha. I wish I could have days where that’s the only thing I need to do!!