My Little Pony Inspires a Rainbow Mask

I grow up in love with the movies and the tv shows and the toys that were such a big hit in the 1980's: My Little Pony.  My three daughters have fallen in love with the vintage toys and movies that I have kept or purchased from Ebay and they have recently fallen in love with the latest version of the tv show.

Since I started designing and developing children's felt masks for my mother's Etsy shop I was inspired not only by this particular childhood favorite but also by my children's love of bright colors.  My oldest daughter is a fan of wearing every color of the rainbow every day that she can.

So this mask is for all those little girls and princesses out there who love dragons, and unicorns, butterflies, rainbows and fairies.  You can look for this mask in my mother's shop here.

Superhero Masks - A Kids Obession Turned Creation

Superheroes have really become almost an obsession at our house.  For years now my husband and I have loved going to see these types of movies together, and now that my kids are a little older they have discovered them as well.  Whether it is the cartoon version or the live action they watch superheroes, then they play action figures, and dress-up.  My nine year old daughter has even said that she would like to be Captain America for Halloween this year.  Her six year old brother followed that idea with a request to be Ironman with a "real suit of armor".

As you know I have been designing felt masks for my mother's Etsy Shop: Our Cozy Creations and the superheroes are great sellers.  So we have been trying to branch out and expand our choice selection and I often find myself asking my kids which superheroes they like the best and why.  "The Avengers" are a group that continue to come up time and time again.  Both my girls wishing that they made action figures for the girl superheroes and not just the boys.  So my sister and I have been designing masks for the little girls in our lives that want to be as amazing and super as the little boy's in our lives.


Well the other night I was struggling with my design for Wasp from the Avengers.  You can read about that here.  Starting fresh the following morning I was not only much better at being objective about what I had accomplished the night before but my daughters were also awake and could give me their opinion.  So here it is.  While working on this design I can say I learned more about "The Avengers" comic book characters then I ever thought I needed to know.  And that knowledge has spurred me into action to create one more design so that the original team of five will be complete and available.  This design was taken directly from some of the current cartoon animation my kids watch from time to time right now and is stamped with child approval, my girls especially were thrilled after they saw me add the rhinestones to it.  If you are curious you can check out my inspiration from another artist: MonteCreations on Deviantart here.

New Leopard Felt Mask Design

I found some time yesterday evening to do a little bit of crafting and design work and I discovered something.  I should stop sewing when I start to get tired.  My first project was a cute leopard mask. which I managed to finish right around 7:30pm after my boys and the baby had gone to bed.  I was on a roll and in the mood to keep designing so I started into another design for Wasp from "The Avengers".  I worked at it and sewed and redesigned and cut felt clear up until about 10:30pm when I was ready to scrap the entire thing and break into tears.  I was exhausted and unhappy with the entire design.

Fortunately I have a very supportive husband who recognized the signs of exhaustion that I was in denial about because I quote: "Just want to get this right".  He convinced me to set it aside and come back to it another day when I am feeling less tired and more fresh.  So here is my new leopard mask design now available at Our Cozy Creations on Etsy.  And Wasp you may ask?  More to come on her when I figure out what needs to change with her design.

So a note to myself and any other crafters who tend to find themselves frustrated late at night while working on a project.  Take a break, get some sleep and start again fresh another day.

Insomnia a Chance to Reflect

Ever since my three month stint in the hospital last year with pregnancy complications I have suffered from really bad insomnia.  As I am sure many others have suffered with this issue for various reasons before me and will continue to after me it has caused me to take time and reflect in the wee small hours this morning.

I would have called my day yesterday a failure and said that I actually managed to accomplish nothing.  Not a single task was completed as far as I was concerned when I crawled into bed last night in my first attempt to sleep.  But then my husband with his constant loving humor started cracking jokes and reminding me that I was not allowed to beat myself up, I already had been by ongoing health issues.  So he tried to point out that I had accomplished more then I was giving myself credit for.

First, all my children were alive, well fed, and had clean clothes.  Is this an accomplishment when it is something I do out of love for them even on the days that I feel at my worst and isn't something I consciously think about because it is second nature?  I am not so sure.

Next, I pointed out that I had attempted to do laundry today and it wasn't finished.  His response was but your daughters willing worked on it today without complaint and you washed and dried six whole loads.  That is something.  Immediately my rebuttal was but they aren't folded or put away so it isn't complete right?  This was the nugget of wisdom gleaned from this for me:  "Tiffany" he said "laundry is an unending cycle so it must be counted each step along the way."

Then he asked me a question:  "Why do you refuse to take credit for all the good things you do?"  Selfishly I wanted to continue my little pity party and so I said very determinedly "because after 34 years it's a very ingrained habit so why change now?"  Well the joke is on me because he responded as he often does with things like:

I've braided my nose hair for the last 34 years, why stop now?

I'm in the habit of snoring when I sleep so why change now?

I love to shave my back hair into patches like a chess board why change now?

I've done cocaine for the last 34 years why change now?

I've smoked all my life it's too late to change now.

As we laughed over the silliness and absurdity of all these statements, because they would never apply to my husband at any time in his life I began to understand his point.  Just because something is a habit or you have always done something a certain way, doesn't mean it's right or even that good for you.  It is so easy to be over critical of yourself and not remember the good you do at the end of the day, because so often we simply live in the moment and at that moment I was tired and hungry and hurting.  But it reminded me of a song by Hilary Weeks called "All The Good"

"While my weaknesses all shine

And I forget

Until He patiently reminds me

I forget about

 The good things I've done

The kind words I said

The tiny victories that no one sees

And the changes I've made

And when the count comes in

As I'm adding up the day

In the midst of the "coulds" and "shoulds"

Help me remember

All the good"

 

So I reflect this morning on the good I need to remember from yesterday:

• I snuggled with my six month old daughter
• I helped my daughters learn how to happily work hard as we washed and dried six loads of laundry
• I helped lovingly direct my kids cleaning efforts so they could be done with their bedrooms in time to go swimming with their dad
• I patiently helped my daughter sew her own superhero mask even when she interrupted my attempt to finish a dress as soon as her sister went to sleep for her morning nap
• I remembered to make lunch for myself and eat it (trust me this is an accomplishment)
• I allowed my daughter to learn and develop her skills in the kitchen and cook lunch even though it would have been faster if I had done it myself

 

Did I develop talents yesterday?  I sure hope so.

The Minion in ME - Despicable Me Minion Felt Mask Design

This week has been what I would have considered a slow week as far as creativity goes.  Between doctor appointments and therapy for my son Jeremiah and my husband being out of town on business for a couple of days, I have felt like I was dragging.  But as I have looked over my week I realize that I accomplished more then I thought I did.

Friday morning we went as a family to the kids summer movie program in our area and watched "Despicable Me 2".  It's a cute movie all four of my older kids loved.  The little minions in both the Despicable Me movies have become quite the phenomenon.  And I have to admit that even I think they are pretty funny.  This movie prompted my inner designer to step forward and demand some attention.

So while my mother was over and we were sewing in the afternoon, I set to work designing some very cute minion felt masks for the Etsy Shop: Our Cozy Creations.  I started with the normal goggle eye minion, because figuring out where to put eye holes for the kids was pretty easy.  And not wanting the girls to feel left out I came up with a way to make both little girl and little boy minions by adding eyelashes and a cute hair bow.

Then I started on the single eye goggle minions.  This was a bit trickier since I didn't want to ruin the look and shape of the minion, but the person wearing the mask still needed to be able to see.  I was never able to figure out how to put on eyelashes that would actually look cute on a one eyed minion, but I think they turned out pretty cute anyway.  So this is what I managed to actually accomplish this week with a little sewing help from my mother since she made up the shop samples after I drafted the pattern.  Coming soon:  Purple minion masks.  I am really excited about these because all that crazy hair is just going to be fun.