Showing posts with label amisaru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amisaru. Show all posts
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Expanding My Repertoire With Amikirin
After a few orders for different character cats and monkeys, I was asked to make a giraffe in anticipation of a friend's newborn baby. We didn't know what sex the baby would be but decided on a yellow giraffe with a green feature. A lot of crocheting and frogging (unravelling your crochet stitches when you make a mistake) later, I finished! I made short chunky arms, legs and tail and green spots for something a bit different and am so pleased with the final result. Who knew that Giraffe = Kirin in Japanese? Say hello to Amikirin!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Ramblings of a Crafter
Well what can I say? What a big year this has been for me. I looked back over 2012 thinking, "Hmmm I haven't really done all that much, another year has just plodded on by." But when I really thought about it, I'd actually managed to fit quite a lot into these last 365 days.
I started off the year wanting to reclaim my childhood obsession with craft as a hobby, so embarked upon a journey. First stop was making sock monkeys. My enthusiasm meant I bought a lot of pairs of stripey socks, buttons, thread etc ready to take on the world. Unfortunately my interest in pulling out the sewing machine, cutting ends of threads and lining up stripey legs quickly led to frustration and my bits and bobs have now been consigned to a shoebox packed securely within a storage box out of sight.
So onto my next project...
Somehow I came across the book "Hello My Name Is Amineko" by Nekoyama. I hadn't crocheted for many years but thought I'd try this out, after all, it didn't need any machinery, didn't make mess and was completely portable. I started off making one in front of the tv...and that's where it all began. I made one, then two and quickly grew into a family. This extended into a monkey family, a one-off gorilla and a ginormineko. I've made 50+ crochet creatures this year, more than one a week!
So what now for 2013? Well now that I've gotten the ball rolling with Amineko, I've got so many plans, ideas, thoughts arrrgghhhh. Too much to do, not enough time. Here's a list of things I have planned for 2013:
* more crochet creatures (zombies, monsters and a giraffe)
* get started on a bit of woodwork. I've got these beautiful handmade wooden fenders for my bicycle and was so enamoured of these that I bought offcuts of different colours and would like to make jewellery out of these, or something. A scroll saw has been added to my wishlist.
* and have just bought a Sizzix die cut machine, so would also like to play around with paper a bit once it comes in. Pretty labels to send out with my cats!
In the meantime, my year was also filled with doing other things I love. My day job is within the Dental Industry. I make false teeth. What??!! Yes I hear you, I MAKE false teeth for a living. More specifically, single crowns, bridges and implants. The dentist takes an impression of the patient's mouth and sends it to us. We pour it up in plaster and work on this model to make a tooth (or teeth) out of wax, which is then cast in a gold alloy and porcelain is built up on top of the gold to match the existing teeth. Nifty, huh? I only just started learning the porcelain build-up technique this year so will spend 2013 refining my work, but who knows, 2014 could lead to making other things out of porcelain...more jewellery perhaps? My favourite part of the crown-making process is painting on the colours and stains to make the tooth look realistic. We add touches of blue to cusp tips to make them look translucent and add tiny dots of brown into the fissures/valleys to give depth. Absolutely love it and can't wait to get better!
Ok so there it is, 2012 done and dusted. On to bigger, better and brighter things in 2013!
I started off the year wanting to reclaim my childhood obsession with craft as a hobby, so embarked upon a journey. First stop was making sock monkeys. My enthusiasm meant I bought a lot of pairs of stripey socks, buttons, thread etc ready to take on the world. Unfortunately my interest in pulling out the sewing machine, cutting ends of threads and lining up stripey legs quickly led to frustration and my bits and bobs have now been consigned to a shoebox packed securely within a storage box out of sight.
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| I'm sure I'll pull these babies out again one day and finish them off |
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| I actually managed to finish one. Yay for me! |
Somehow I came across the book "Hello My Name Is Amineko" by Nekoyama. I hadn't crocheted for many years but thought I'd try this out, after all, it didn't need any machinery, didn't make mess and was completely portable. I started off making one in front of the tv...and that's where it all began. I made one, then two and quickly grew into a family. This extended into a monkey family, a one-off gorilla and a ginormineko. I've made 50+ crochet creatures this year, more than one a week!
So what now for 2013? Well now that I've gotten the ball rolling with Amineko, I've got so many plans, ideas, thoughts arrrgghhhh. Too much to do, not enough time. Here's a list of things I have planned for 2013:
* more crochet creatures (zombies, monsters and a giraffe)
* get started on a bit of woodwork. I've got these beautiful handmade wooden fenders for my bicycle and was so enamoured of these that I bought offcuts of different colours and would like to make jewellery out of these, or something. A scroll saw has been added to my wishlist.
* and have just bought a Sizzix die cut machine, so would also like to play around with paper a bit once it comes in. Pretty labels to send out with my cats!
In the meantime, my year was also filled with doing other things I love. My day job is within the Dental Industry. I make false teeth. What??!! Yes I hear you, I MAKE false teeth for a living. More specifically, single crowns, bridges and implants. The dentist takes an impression of the patient's mouth and sends it to us. We pour it up in plaster and work on this model to make a tooth (or teeth) out of wax, which is then cast in a gold alloy and porcelain is built up on top of the gold to match the existing teeth. Nifty, huh? I only just started learning the porcelain build-up technique this year so will spend 2013 refining my work, but who knows, 2014 could lead to making other things out of porcelain...more jewellery perhaps? My favourite part of the crown-making process is painting on the colours and stains to make the tooth look realistic. We add touches of blue to cusp tips to make them look translucent and add tiny dots of brown into the fissures/valleys to give depth. Absolutely love it and can't wait to get better!
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| PFMs, Porcelain Fused to Metal crowns. |
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| Umm, yeah we can also make poo. This was made out of plaster and coloured with coffee grinds. My colleague also added his breakfast cereal to it to make it look more authentic. |
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| Except it turned out kinda looking like a cookie. It's best we stick to making teeth. |
Monday, December 10, 2012
Jimmy Monkey
Jimmy Monkey was made for a friend who wanted to give him to her brother for Christmas. The brief? To make an Amisaru matching the original Jimmy Monkey who was a favoured childhood toy of her brother's.
He loved his Jimmy Monkey so much that when he moved to Singapore, he opened a cafe named after his beloved friend. Jimmy Monkey Cafe & Bar (www.jimmymonkey.com)
Here is the original Jimmy in his cafe:
Here is Amisaru Jimmy in progress:
And here is the adorable Amisaru Jimmy in all his glory, finished and ready to go...he was such a lovely project to work on...hopefully he enjoys his new home in Singapore. If you're ever down that way be sure to visit them at:
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| tee hee hee...I just had to collage them together!!! |
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Christmas Madness
Well surprisingly I've been inundated with Christmas orders so I've been furiously working away in my spare time trying to get all the bits crocheted up and ready to put together. I've got some REAL cats to try and match this time, so again, am being challenged to see what I can come up with....love it!
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| From left to right: Princess (charcoal cat), Jellicle (tortoiseshell), Megsy (orange and white tabby) |
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| Closer detail of Jellicle. I predominantly used black wool flecked with brown and white, with random patches of white, orange, black nd brown wools. Apologies for the dark pic, I'll post a better one when they're finished! |
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| Some of my Christmas orders...amongst this mess are bits of Jimmy Monkey (Amisaru being made to match the photo of Jimmy Monkey), Batman Amineko, Princess, Jellicle and Megsy...I have more than 10 on the go all at the same time!! |
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| A Gorilla Amigurumi I made a few months back as a one-off. |
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Check out these cuties
Here are more pics of Amineko/Aminekos/Amineki (just exactly what IS the plural of Amineko??) enjoying the sunshine...
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| Trio of ballerinas |
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| Sisters |
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| Melbourne Demons Amineko (an Aussie Rules football team. AFL is extremely popular in Melbourne and one of the first question's recent migrants to Melbourne receive is, "Which team do you go for?" It doesn't matter what reason you have for choosing a team, you absolutely MUST choose one before Melburnians accept you into their fold!! Strange but true! |
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| Oooops, maybe had one beer too many at the footy |
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| Bathing beauty |
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| Just hangin' around |
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| Amisaru family! |
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| Amineko family! |
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| All together now! |
Monday, June 11, 2012
Introducing........AMISARU!!!
Say hello to Amisaru the crochet monkey. How cute is his little pot belly!
Amigurumi are stuffed crochet dolls/characters/animals. The term comes from the Japanese words Ami (crochet) and Nuigurumi (stuffed doll). Amineko = Ami (crochet) and Neko (cat), hence Amisaru is Ami + Saru (monkey). Usually amigurumi are small and not really used as toys, they're just aesthetic, that is, unbelievably cute. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia site for amigurumi:
"Amigurumi have no practical use; they are created and collected for aesthetic reasons. The pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness. To this end, typical amigurumi animals have an over-sized spherical head on a cylindrical body with undersized extremities, usually termed a chibi style outside of Japan. Amigurumi may be used as children's toys but are generally purchased or made solely for aesthetic purposes.
An online fad for creating and collecting amigurumi began in 2003. By 2006, amigurumi were reported to be the most popular items on Etsy, an online craft marketplace, where they typically sold for $10 to $100."
By the way, just letting you know I have a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amineko-The-Crochet-Cat/321785934536162
I also have an Etsy store and a Hand-Made store, but at the moment I have nothing listed in them. I had 10 gorgeous cats made up and ready to go on sale, but I have a lovely old friend from high-school days who runs a little childrens' boutique. I brought them in for her to have a look at, and lo-and-behold, she bought them ALL. I was so very pleasantly and heart-warmingly surprised, I didn't even remember to take a photo of them all.
So back to square one for my market dreams...
My many bright balls of yarn, ready to be crocheted into adorable cats and monkeys (oh how I wish there were hundreds of hours in each day!)
Amigurumi are stuffed crochet dolls/characters/animals. The term comes from the Japanese words Ami (crochet) and Nuigurumi (stuffed doll). Amineko = Ami (crochet) and Neko (cat), hence Amisaru is Ami + Saru (monkey). Usually amigurumi are small and not really used as toys, they're just aesthetic, that is, unbelievably cute. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia site for amigurumi:
"Amigurumi have no practical use; they are created and collected for aesthetic reasons. The pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness. To this end, typical amigurumi animals have an over-sized spherical head on a cylindrical body with undersized extremities, usually termed a chibi style outside of Japan. Amigurumi may be used as children's toys but are generally purchased or made solely for aesthetic purposes.
An online fad for creating and collecting amigurumi began in 2003. By 2006, amigurumi were reported to be the most popular items on Etsy, an online craft marketplace, where they typically sold for $10 to $100."
By the way, just letting you know I have a facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amineko-The-Crochet-Cat/321785934536162
I also have an Etsy store and a Hand-Made store, but at the moment I have nothing listed in them. I had 10 gorgeous cats made up and ready to go on sale, but I have a lovely old friend from high-school days who runs a little childrens' boutique. I brought them in for her to have a look at, and lo-and-behold, she bought them ALL. I was so very pleasantly and heart-warmingly surprised, I didn't even remember to take a photo of them all.
So back to square one for my market dreams...
My many bright balls of yarn, ready to be crocheted into adorable cats and monkeys (oh how I wish there were hundreds of hours in each day!)
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