OMG!!!!1!!!1! Topanga and Dan are on Cute Overload!

This is like winning the cute lottery for me.


The Meg has chosen to post two of my photos!


Of course, no pugs were actually this depressed during the shooting of this picture. And right afterward they were picked up and snorgled and entertianed and fed treats to within an inch of their lives.
Right: so here's the link!

Sunny Chickenpants

Sunny Chickenpants is a proud little chicken who's not afraid to strut her stuff. She's proud of her bright yellow complexion, darn it! Sunny Chickenpants is certainly not afraid to be different. Strut, strut, strut. Chest out, leg cocked to one side - if you've got it, flaunt it, after all!



She's made from soft fleece, vintage pink stretchy fabric, a few beads for eyes, a bit of felt here, a bit of ribbon there, and one button made from a shell.

She's hanging out in the shop with the rest of her peeps.

Chickenpants the Argyle

Chickenpants the Argyle hails from the place where everything is argyle. He's moved away from his hometown since then (all the argyle- it was just TOO MUCH!), but he likes to remember his roots. Hence the argyle belt. He's keeping it real, yo. For-shizzle?

His belt buckle button, by the way reads: "CHOO CHOO". I don't know why. It's not like he has more than a passing interest in trains...Maybe he just thought it looked cool.
Chickenpants the Argyle is made from vintage stretchy plaid material which I am very quickly running out of. His chickenpart (er...) is made from very soft & fuzzy fleece. He's stuffed with non-allergenic polyfill, and he's got beads for eyes. Add a ribbon and button belt ("CHOO CHOO") and you're all set to rock the chickenworld.
Needless to say, he is in the shop, spreading his argyle goodness around.
Up next: Sunny Chickenpants

Miss Dot Chickenpants

Today's Chickenpants: Miss Dot

Miss Dot Chickenpants likes being the center of attention. Her choice of loud fabric may have something to do with this. She worked really hard to be able to fit into these pants. Now she looks fantastic and she's searching for some pie. Boy, has she ever earned it.

She's made from fuzzy fleece, non allergenic polyfill, vintage stretchy geometric patterned fabric, little beads for eyes, little bit of ribbon, and one button for a belt buckle.


See how swelte she is? She's roosting in the shop for now.
Tommorow's Chickenpants will be: Argyle Chickenpants.

Chickenpants Hot Wheels

Today's Chickenpants has a penchant for speed. Vrrooooommm! Who's that skidding round the track? Vrrooooom! It's Chickenpants Hot Wheels, and he's pushing his chickenfoot to the metal! Vroooooomm!

Hot Wheels has earned his name, yes, for driving fast, but also for wearing a small toy tire as a belt buckle.
He's made from fuzzy fleece, non allergenic polyfill, vintage stretchy plaid fabric, little beads for eyes, little bit of ribbon, and one Hot Wheels wheel for a belt buckle.

He's roosting in the shop for now.
Up next: Miss Dot Chickenpants.

Onward came the Chickenpants!

Marching forward in semi-orderly lines...

I created one Chickenpants (and a painting to match!) a little bit ago. But my brain never quite let me stop at that...and the vintage fabric, it beckons, you know.


First up is Big Jim Chickenpants A rootin, tootin, barrel chested chicken.

6.5" high,
4" wide
Broad at the shoulders and narrow at the hips.
And everybody knows you don't give no lip
to Big Jim Chickenpants.

He sports a paw print ribbon belt with a "Western" button belt buckle.
He's made from fuzzy fleece, non allergenic polyfill, vintage stretchy plaid fabric, a couplea beads, little bit of ribbon, and a button.

All the Chickenpants plushies are my original creations. Although they follow a basic pattern, each one is unique and has different embellishments. Each one has a bit of a different personality, too.
If you'd like to see more, as always, Flickr delivers.
I'll be adding them to the shop as well.
Up next...Chickenpants Hot Wheels!

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Charging Douge
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

I've been holed up with my sewing machine a lot lately. Which is great- I've been making lots of new guys! The only thing with that is, the more I fall into visual land, the more words fail me. But I am looking, always looking, filling up my eyes with new...stuff. So, in lieu of a lengthy post, I'll share some goodies:
Wow! Steampunk!
Disinterested Pug With Found Objects
The Rat Bat's new shop. I'm waiting for those pug tiles to come on sale...

Handmade Parade Recap

Here it is in a nutshell: Handmade Parade was fun. And if you happen to be in the Sacramento area in May, when the next one is, you should go.
And here's the more lengthy (fun) version:

One side of my table...
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

Pictures of my table...

And the other side of the table
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

LaurenSmash's table!

Lauren's Table
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

It was really neat to meet another Plush Team member in the flesh.
I wish I had snuck out from behind the table to take more photos- there were a lot of really wonderful displays. And now I don't have a photo to commemorate meeting the founder of ZNE! She was really sweet. I also met the founder of Mission Indie Mart. All sorts of movers and shakers were there. Jen from Rosebud Designs gave a demonstration on how to spin wool. Katie Jean gave a demo on making your own tags. Kelly of Sweet Addie brought some very awesome jewelry.

Daily Photo 10.14.07
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

And what good is any show if you don't bring home some goodies? I picked up a great handpainted illustration from Laurensmash, a lovely applique scarf from Vanity Exposed, and a wonderful hair clip by Speckled Hen.
The moral of the post: visit craft fairs! Even little ones. They're quite awesome.
P.S.: Peptogirl took some awesome photos of the event!

Coming soon...

Daily Photo 10.13.07
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

A recap of Handmade Parade, complete with photos and links galore!
In the meantime, I'm off to get an order packaged and get my 50 samples for the Sampler done.

March of the business cards

March of the business cards
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

Things have been nuts. It's always this way before a show, so it's really no big deal. However! I seem to have misplaced my stack of business cards somewhere in all the chaos. They're just gone.
With no time to get an order placed, let alone received, I did the next best thing. I made my own. I printed the bases out on the computer, and then hand painted a little chick on each one. While painting on beaks, I realized that this is actually the third time I've hand painted a run of business cards. Also, it's kind of fun to do this. So then I decided to number the backs as well. Might as well keep track. We'll see how we do at the show...but if any are left over, I'll be putting them into the packages of Etsy purchases.

Mystifying...

Poking through the analytics software for this site, I discovered some of the keywords that are bringing people to this site:
(Idea for this post stolen mercilessly from Minor Tweaks)
The number one search that people find this site from:
"chicken tattoo". Other tattoo related queries: "tattoo of chicken", "small and cute tattoo", "tattoo chicken"
Not that odd, right? I posted a piece of mine called "Chicken Tattoo" not that long ago.
Also, there are plenty of "small" phrased key words:
"small bobs" (Um? My...hair? Or did you forget a vowel? Also: AHEM.)
"small chicken project"
"small dogs from the dubois petshop"
"small pictures of a cat, rat, bat"
"small poem +shoe"
"smallest art work in the world" (probably something by this guy)
Now here is where it gets a little weird:
"I feel statements" (I feel...itchy. I feel...a little peckish.)
"+cow+blank book" (have we ever had a cow on this site? We totally should. Did you notice how now we are freely using the editorial "we"?)
"baking assignments"
"Cuteable blogger a guy"
"Hare's breath away expression" (Right here!)
The Most Disturbing Search Award certainly goes to: "injured dog paws" (also found: "injured dog pictures", "picture of an injured dog", "pictures of injured dogs", "picture of injured dog") You post a photo once... and it will come back to haunt you in multiple ways.
"labels with hydrogenated vegetable oil"
"pictures showing frustration"
"weird things that conduct electricity"

Personal favorites:
"win a cool pet chick.com" (Amazingly, this domain name does not appear to be taken. Shocking, huh?)
"cool chick craft show" (I want in!! Where is it?)

So, there you have it. What weird keywords are people using to find your site? Please share!

Letting the pictures speak for themselves...mostly.

This is what my painting desk looks like right now:

Daily Photo 10.08.07
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

This is the painting I rushed to finish for SFG:

Autumn Fox
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

My eye's been twitching, and I've got that perpetual motion, jumping from one half finished project to another, gasping for air feeling. Must be pre-show time!

Handmade Parade - and another contest!

The very next show that Absolutely Small will have a table at is: Handmade Parade!If you're in the Sacramento area on October 13th, you could be there too! Like the postcard says: live music, free demos, diy kits, 30+ vendors. It's going to be really fun.
As far as the contest goes: Little Lovelies (one of the excellent vendors) is trying to stir up some promotion for this event. If you post the Handmade Parade flier picture and a wee post about the event on your blog, (and then come back to her site and leave a comment about doing said thing) you'll be entered into a contest to win some neat handmade goodies. Visit her site for all the details.

Bluebones and...

Bluebones - handmade winged creature
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

nothing else to share this morning. Why not? Lack of time? Well, not really, no.
It *may* have something to do with the Game Cube finally being fixed and a rediscovered joy in playing the new Legend of Zelda game.
It *may* also have something to do with reading this old post on Seth Godin's blog. That had a way of clamping down on my ability to write anything.(Wait...you're not supposed to write about your cat on a blog? Huh. All these rules! {*5 year old self* "I'm breaking the rules! Noooooo!"})
But, anyway: Bluebones!
Why the name Bluebones? Because the armature of the wings was made with blue pipe cleaners (the better to slightly be able to see them with). I then detailed the wings in a little bit of blue for some detail.
Bluebones is sporting a little blue button collar. It's kind of tricky to photograph, on account of his super fluffy head. The collar is made from two different colors of baker's twine.
The wings were sewn on machine freehand, so they're each unique. I left the edges of the wings and tail exposed and untreated, so they'll have a nice soft frayed look to them.
More photos start here.
Also, he happens to be in the shop.

Reluctant to knock the Plush Team contest post off the top...

but the blog must move on. Oh, but first: update on the contest! It was featured on the Etsy Storque today! Thanks Etsy!

Snow Bunny face
Originally uploaded by chicken widget

Right, well, anyway. The reason I knocked the contest off the top was to introduce this little cutie. I'm calling her "The Snow Bunny", and she's the first, and probably only, Snow Bunny that I will ever make. I've been trying to make more than one of each of the softies, but that's not really me. I get terribly bored doing the same thing over and over again...I like to create new things from scratch all the time. This of course means I will have basically no profit margins at all, but who cares? I'd rather create what I want to create. (Not that I'm saying I'll never create another rabbit, or that there will always be only one of a given softie pattern- but the details will always be different, you can count on that!)
Anyway: Details that make me happy with this creature include:
*The extensive use of fancy pink and red baker's twine! I hand embroidered the ears with it, and attached a little bit of it to the muzzle to make whiskers. Also, the button tail on the back is attached with it. I am so in love with baker's twine at the moment.
*The handmade pompom head is made from a super soft 70% Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool blend yarn. This yarn came from a family ranch owned by one of my husband's coworkers, and it's a delight to work with. They raise the alpacas and spin the wool themselves- how cool is that?
*The body is made from a nifty fleece known as 'poodle hair', and that's the best description for it.
And I think that's it! She's currently in the shop, waiting to go to a new home.

Announcing: The First Plush Team Contest Ever!

How would you like to win these amazing goodies?
I happen to have them here at my house, and let me tell you- parting with them will be tricky. They're all sorts of cute and awesome.
How do you win these cuties? Simple- visit the Plush Team Blog where all the details are spelled out for you. I'd respell them, but I'm lousy at spelling. I will say that the contest is a combination treasure hunt and word scramble, and a lot of fun. Also, it begins TODAY, October 1st, and it ends October 8th at midnight. So what are you waiting for?
The official Plush Team Blog has all the information you need, including the treasure hunt list of which shops to hit to find the letters. Right here!
(Hint: one of the letters is in my shop, making friends with a chick. That narrows it down, doesn't it?)