ldhenson

This happened some months ago, but I didn't get a chance to post about it until now.

Robyn Miller, one of the co-creators of the Myst computer game series, commissioned one of my plush wahrks. As Myst has had a huge influence on me over the past decade, I was only too happy to make him one. Seriously, I was over the moon. Moreover, I wasn't about to charge him one cent for it. Did I mention Myst has had a huge influence on me?

Anyway, he later sent me back an autographed soundtrack and a nice note by way of thank you.





He is awesome.

I've just realized that I just missed one one-year anniversary of my first stuffed toy, completed a year ago yesterday! That was the little stuffed bat, stitched from an adorable pattern by Carolyn Vosburg Hall.

I had picked up that book at random while browsing the crafts section at my local library, and it was only because the bat caught my fancy (after all, it was Batman Begins that introduced me to Christian Bale) that I decided to check out the book and take it home. I love stuffed animals, but I already had a ton of store-bought ones at home. No bats, though. I kid you not, had the book not contained one, I would never have given the idea of making stuffed toys a second thought.

And I would've missed out on a world of fun! After all, I had tried it as a kid once, failed miserably and hated it. That's serendipity for you, I suppose.

At one time I had vaguely entertained the notion of having 12 toys by the one-year mark, but I've only done nine to date (not counting commissioned duplicates of some of them). They're the only nine I've ever done, with the sole exception of a Riven beetle which didn't work and which I never completed/posted. Still, not too bad for a self-taught toymaker who just really really...wanted a bat!

The series so far:

1. bat (the only one sewn from a pattern)
2. dragon (Reign of Fire)
3. Batarang (Batman Begins)
4. Cornetto and improved pattern (Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz)
5. wahrk and greatly improved pattern (Myst)
6. 1967 Chevy Impala (Supernatural)
7. 1963 Opel Kadett (Top Gear)
8. robot goldfish (Red Dwarf)
9. New York circa 1900 (indirectly Newsies-inspired)

Heh, my stuff isn't fannish-influenced, no sir.

(The dragon will probably get partly-disassembled and re-done. I've learned a lot since I made him, and looking at it now there are improvements needed, hoo boy. It's why I haven't put together a pattern for him yet nor stitched a second one, though I know some folks are waiting...)

I put a group shot of my plush wahrks up at myst_library. I'm quite happy with them!

If the dang weather ever clears up, I can go out and get some shipping boxes for them.

So I redid my plush wahrk. As pleased as I was to be finished the first time around, I had never been entirely happy with the shape of the head. To my surprise, what I thought would be a fairly straightforward shape turned out to be the most complex of all the plushies I've made so far in terms of drafting a pattern, necessitating about four re-cut patterns until I finally figured it out.

Wahrks have a very distinctive look to their heads; my first one was much too pointy, while now I've fixed the curve.



Hey you. You been futzing around with the feeding lights again?


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My plush wahrk, which at one point I thought completely finished, now lies mostly-disassembled on my desk. I waffled for a long time about re-doing it, mostly because I wasn't sure if I could put it back together again, but finally had to admit that as much as I liked it it just hadn't turned out the way I'd envisioned.

Wibble.

I'm wondering if anyone on my flist, aside from tainry, will know who this fellow is. Oh sure, he's man-eating and ferocious, but also kind of adorable. But don't tell him I said that.

Help help he's got my finger.



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My Myst linking book pendant, posted to myst_library.

You're letting all the beetles in!



I fell in love with the Riven beetle at first sight, so I finally made myself one. He's roughly the same size as the beetle on the CD box.

X-posted to myst_library here.

Haven't gotten IV yet...I promised my friend I'd wait for her to visit so we could start it together. Oh, the foolish things we promise :-)

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My local craft shop got two new P-40 plastic kits in today. Not sure I'll actually try one after I finish my balsa model (how many do I need?), but they're fun to look at.