Animaritime 2013 Wrap-Up

I really liked how I did my wrap-up last year for Animaritime so I figured I would follow the same style this year as well! This was my 3rd convention, my 2nd time at Animaritime and my 1st time doing the whole weekend. IT WAS AWESOME! I could never have imagined the love and compliments I received, or that I would sell out of most of my dolls within the first day! WOW!

Friday - Day 1 table set up

My favourite part of Animaritime was: the reactions from people! It just makes me feel so awesome to see people jumping in spot and smiling when they look at something I made. I was also extremely happy that J was there with me and was able to see what both of our hard work and frustration during prep-time was totally worth it!

My least favourite part of Animaritime was: the set up this year... Due to the large number of events being held, the convention spanned the convention center and the hotel across the street, which made it feel like we weren't getting the same number of people through the vendor/artist room on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday - Day 2 table set up
Hey look it's me crocheting!

What surprised me the most about Animaritime was: that a lot of the hats, mitts etc that I brought more as table filler (as I didn't have a ton of time to create stock) sold really well! They weren't big sellers the 1st day, but on the 2nd and 3rd as my table became less cluttered, people seemed to really love them and often commented that they hadn't noticed them on Friday or Saturday.

What I learned from Animaritime was: I need to start my stock now for next year... like right now! As J kept pointing out if I had had 2 or 3 of some dolls, they would have sold...

Sunday - Day 3 table set up

The next step for me is: I'm going to be a the Muddy River Murder this Saturday, then, it's looking through my stock and perfecting the items I want to have for next year! Sadly this year Hal-Con isn't in the plans for me, but hopefully next year!

As J and I lived in Fredericton for 2 years while I finished up my university, we decided to turn this weekend into a small vacation as well! After the Con was over, Monday was Canada Day!

Canada Day was wonderful! We had breakfast at Crêpe Suzette

Their version of eggs benedict was delicious!

Then we pretty much set up downtown and watched people, hung out, listened to music and I even found some time to do some crocheting (you can't be surprised).

Aww we're cute!

Sadly the night ended on a bit of a downer... the fireworks, which I remember being great years ago, were a bit of a flop... they usually shoot them off of two barges in the river, but I think the 2nd barge malfunctioned...

There's a whole lemon in my lemonade!

And Tuesday, the rain that had plagued us Friday and Saturday, started again... but we braved it to hit a few stores before heading home. I was really excited to hit up their LYS (local yarn store) but unfortunately their clerk was too busy on the phone with a friend to acknowledge us, plus there was a large dog in the store. As I advertise my work as being done in a pet-free home, it felt disingenuous to purchase yarn from a shop where animals are present. We left, with only a glare from the clerk for talking to each other while she was on the phone...

10 days until Animaritimes

In less than 2 weeks J and I are off to Fredericton for Animaritimes! I'm really excited and totally terrified - I KNOW I'll forget something vitally important... I've made numerous lists to try and combat this but I'm pretty sure even that will prove futile...

I've been crocheting pretty much non-stop for days, and I still have way more than I'll be able to complete planned, so it's going to be a busy few days! It's also looking like I may have another opportunity to set up a table the weekend after Animaritimes (more details to come) which isn't really helping my anxiety over what I need to do. I'm always so paranoid I just don't have enough, and truth be told, I probably wont, but I'm only one person and I really need to learn to stop beating myself up over this, and try to plan better next year!

I've been working hard on My Little Pony's this past weekend, I have 3 nearly completed and I'm hoping to have the other 3 done as well (but I expect I'll only have time to finish 1 or 2 more).

Rarity - Fluttershy - Rainbow Dash

Arg...

I don't know what happened... I just don't know... It was all going so well... I was so productive, ahead of schedule, it was awesome... and then I had a bad week and now I'm freaking out again! Plan for next year, is to start crocheting as soon as Animaritimes finishes... get a good stock going and then I wont be stuck in this spot... but that doesn't really help me now does it?! Nope it doesn't! Hopefully this weekend, I'll be able to buckle down and get working! Only two more weekends to go...

Tiny 11th Doctor

It's not exactly like I haven't been up to anything either... I work full time, so I have limited crochet time to begin with, plus last weekend we decided to hit up the pretty Hopewell Rocks...

Hey look it's me! Under the giant gravity
defying rock... eek

And then this weekend we drove to Saint John to watch the Atlantic Canada Roller Derby Championships and I am so happy we did! Moncton (Muddy River Rollers) won!!! and New Brunswick teams took the top 3 spots! It was a really fun day, though I must say our win, by only 1 point, was a bit of a nail bitter, J was pretty much freaking out. I'm still working on finding a balance between my life/marriage, work and crocheting. I hope I'm getting better, trying to get out and do things, but time will tell!

Fighting my Procrastination

It's hard for me to believe that ECCE was only 10 days ago! I've always been known for being a procrastinator which is why I am shocked at how much progress I've made on my Animaritimes To Crochet list! I was determined that this event (Animaritimes) would be different, and I wouldn't end up scrambling and frantically crocheting at the last minute. Which is why last Saturday, shortly after ECCE finished up, I made my To Crochet list and promised myself that if I wanted to add something to the list, something else had to come off!

My list had 38 items on it, and I currently have 19 crocheted and 30 days to go!!! The 19 aren't done yet, I still need to sew arms on etc, but everything is crocheted! All in all, I probably have 15-30 minutes left on each doll/hairclip. I'll buckle down some evening when I don't feel like crocheting and finishing them up, I really hate assembly!

I've been primarily focusing on items I had success with at ECCE for the past week, I've restocked my  video game, superheroes and Star Wars dolls, and now I'm finally starting work on new stuff!! Currently I'm working on Rarity from My Little Pony!

Part of the reason I'm so determined to be organized this time, is that this is the first Con I'm going to be traveling for (even though it's only 2 hours away). I want to be confident that I've brought everything I could possibly need and can relax on the drive up without panicking that I should finish this or that etc.

Zombie Bear Stare!

This is going to be a photo heavy post! but it's because I finally finished my Zombie Bear!!! I started this guy months and months and months ago... then didn't touch him for months and months etc. but yesterday I pulled him out of his hiding place and TADA! he's done! 

 He is 100% yarn and technically would be baby safe... 

  He's 9" tall and totally awesome! 

 I'm hoping he gets bought next Saturday at the Con. but honestly if anyone contacts me before then, he is yours! $50 plus shipping (if you aren't local)

10 more days...

I have no cute photos today to post... I did finish up a mermaid doll this morning, but I REALLY hate her face... I'm not sure what to do about that, I don't really have time to tear it out and start over, especially since I didn't realize how much I hated her face until I finished her hair, which always takes forever to do... I might try giving her a mouth and see if that helps, I generally hate dolls with features besides eyes, but in this case, it might help.

I don't feel ready at all for the Con. although I do apparently have 33 items ready for sale! Awesome! I apparently developed a life this past weekend so no crocheting got done, but I did have a fun weekend!

Anywhere here's the plan for the next few days...

    Wed  - 10 days - finish derby bunny, and top hat fascinator
    Thu - 9 days - create last cupcake container and 3 last hair clips
    Fri - 8 days - finish Keroppi purse and Nyan cat scarf; work on ZombieBear
    Sat - 7 days - print off tags and business cards; get everything priced; fix up ugly bunny, tin man and mermaid

I'm going to be honest and say I don't think I can accomplish all of this, since I went to bed last night at 8:30 due to my new migraine medication, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!!! I hope I can get everything finished up though, because it means that next week I can try to whip up some more little $5 and $10 items.

more and more cuteness!

Time is ticking away, but I'm at least creating lots! Thankfully I work best under pressure, I am and will sadly probably always be a procrastinator! Last night I finished up 4 cupcake containers, I need another frosting and cake bottom because one of the frosting and cakes don't actually match and I did some more work on Derby Bunny! This morning, I finished up some hair clips, I now have 7 done, I'm hoping to finish up 5 more (mainly because I have 5 more clips available) and I have most of a rainbow scarf done, I'll probably add on a nyan cat to the end (if I have time).

DUST BUNNY! 

Designed and created by me! woo!
His buttons are off-center... I might fix that,
or maybe it gives him character...

I  just clued in that this guy isn't actually complete...
he doesn't have a nose/mouth, I need to add that on...

Cute little poptart wristlet! It's probably 4x6 or 5x7.
The frosting is an open pocket and the top zips closed.
I used tunisian crochet to ensure that it's nearly a solid fabric.

FREAKING OUT!

I'm so thrilled with this!! from sketch to reality!!!
He's not identical to the drawing, but I love the results!

So getting ready for Animaritimes has taken over my life!!! I have 19 days left to create things, so far I have 19 items done that I for sure want to sell (still need to go through old stock to see what's saleable in there), seven more things to finish (well really 22, but 12 of those are hairclips... so I'm just going to count it as one!) and I have three or four things I would love to start and finish as well...

Just your basic everyday raspberry-coloured fawn...
She's definitely my favourite! I'm still amazed she stands!

On top of the things I need to crochet, I need to make my tags and tag everything, and I would like to be able to get a nice portfolio printed so I can hopefully get myself a few commissions at the Con. too... AHHH!

Love this little ballerina alien! Her hair was hard to make but worth it!

I'm pretty freaked out, I mean what if no one buys anything? But I'm also proud of myself, tonight I finished a scarf and the detailing on two dolls, which is quite awesome! I have finally gotten myself organized as well, I have a list of everything done and the pricing I want to give them, as well as what I have started and what needs to be completed on those projects.

I just pity this doll! He looks way too warm.

I managed to finish up to snood a friend on Twitter commissioned from me, and I need to start a hat someone else commissioned this week too... I kind of like those projects though, they give me a bit of confidence that someone likes my stuff :)

Can't decide if I like this guy, I do know he's not the most stable,
even with a ton of weights in his feet.

T- 40 days until Anime Con

So I've been sick on and off for about 2 months, which reflects in the fact that I haven't been blogging... which my mother keeps reminding me.... mostly because I haven't really been making much! I start little projects whenever I had a day or two that I felt great and am just now starting to finish things up, which is good because my first "show" is coming up! here are a few little things I've finished up for it, I have some more that I need to photograph and I will hopefully upload some better photos of these! Apparently my phone didn't like me when I took these!

Cute little cookies (sugar cookie, oreo, lemon cream, berry cream and jam cookie)!

They are life-sized and I will be turning them into hairclips!

 I have 4 or 5 more of these made in various colours!

They are cute little cupcake containers, the frosting is removable and they are perfect for little treats

This little girl, is one of many various dolls I've made, or half made and she just adorable!

So... I promise to try to start posting again... and I'm hoping to post up the cookies as a free pattern in a day or two, it's way to simple a pattern for me to justify trying to make even a dollar on :)