Surprise!

Internet, we have officially had a change of plans:

That, my friends, is a zygote. A zygote that has taken up residence in my very own lady parts. Trust me, it's there.
Shock! Awe! Swooning!
Needless to say, the Dan and I are very happy and thrilled about this little change in lifestyle. And it's already turned everything upside down.
The nausea! Oh my sweet Wesley, the nausea! Here is something I did not know about morning sickness: It does not go away after the morning. Nope. Sticks around all day, and on into the night. It is DELIGHTFUL. And it makes getting anything done very, very hard.
So, remember how I was all like "July 1st I'm launching the comics site! And it's going to be amazing!"
Um. That was BEFORE I found out and became so queasy I could hardly move. Suffice it to say, I'm a little behind schedule. Not only behind, but now I'm re-evaluating the project. Suddenly I don't have as much time in the day as I thought I did.
Good grief, I'm already going soft.
Also: squishy. There's a lot of eating of crackers going on.

Schmancy Exclusive!

I was recently invited to create an exclusive plush for the mother of all designer toy shops, Schmancy. (Home of Plush You!) Naturally I leaped at the chance.
Here's what I came up with. I call them the 2010 All-Bunny Swim Team.


Their ears are all wired, so you can bend them pretty much any way you like.


Of course, they are bunnies, which means they've got these:


And, as previously mentioned, these fellas are exclusively available at Schmancy. They can never be made again. They're not up just yet, but I've heard good things about June 9th.
If we're very lucky, they'll be available on the Schmancy web shop soon after that!

Three years!

We interrupt Inspiration Friday to bring you something else. Today, as previously mentioned, is the anniversary of the day I opened an Etsy shop...three years ago!
THREE YEARS!
I am not one who is known for sticking with a vocation. The term "serial-temp" has been applied to me in the past.
Well, WHO'S TEMPING NOW? THREE YEARS!
In honor of this milestone, a video:

And that's right, A GIVEAWAY! (I can't stop with the all caps today!) This is my little way of trying to say thank you for three great years.
Simply leave a comment below to be entered. We'll pick a winner on Monday, Feb. 15th.


For extra points, (that is, extra comments + increased chances to win), you can also do any of the following:

1. Buy something from me! 5 extra points!
2. Join the mailing list! 1 extra point!
3. Upload a photo to the Chickenpants fan page! 2 extra points!
4. Join the Chickenpants Fan Page! 1 extra point!
5. Blog about the contest! 2 extra points!
6. Tweet about the contest! 1 extra point!

To get those points, do one (or more!) of the things mentioned, then come back here and leave an extra comment(or...five. or however many. Does that make sense? I need more coffee.) Leave me comments. Win things. Yay!

Happenings.

Today is sort of a banner day at the Absolutely Small studios. I'm finally able to share my top secret project with you:



That's right, DECOR pillows for the Regretsy book! You can read the post here: http://www.regretsy.com/2010/01/06/book-news/
And, if you are so inclined, you can check out these famous, famous pillows in my Etsy shop RIGHT NOW.
D E C O R
There's even a custom listing, should you want a different letter.
That's enough self congratulatory posting for me. Back to work!

New Absolutely Small Goodies

I've got a few new things to share with you this week. For starters, I've got a new blog address: http://chickenpants.net
(the old one still works, of course! but isn't this shorter one spiffier?)
Second, I am very happy to have a bunch of new hats & scarves for Chickenpants in the shop!
Oh, the cuteness.



And third, another thing I am quite excited about: Absolutely Small Gift Certificates.
Give the gift of Small! These are brand new for me. They're available in any amount from $5-$100. And you can choose to have one mailed to you, or to print it out yourself. (Talk about last minute gifts!)


(and don't forget to enter the contest!)

When Creativity Knocks...

At Maker Faire this year, I was invited to film a demonstration of how to make a SQUID.RO plushie. Here it is!

It's featured on When Creativity Knocks this week. (And it has a pathetic amount of votes. Sad!)

(And if you're looking for the SQUID.RO kits, here they are!)

It's ON!

OK, it may be late on Wednesday, but it's still technically Wednesday in some parts of the world, so here it is, the weekly shop update. And this one's a dilly. (Is that an expression? A dilly? I think I heard it on a MST3K episode once. But I digress.)
Announcing the Absolutely Small Creature Closeout!
All the Poppets, Wee Goats, Lambs and Buns are now on sale. Where once they were $18, now they are but $11! Apparently, I have been watching too much tv with ren-fair-type themes! Huzzah!
Seriously though: as much as I adore the Poppets, Wee Lambs, Goats & Buns, it is just time to make some space for what's to come next. (In my studio and in my mind.) As of NOW, I have officially retired their designs. Snatch 'em up while you still can!

Conveniently enough, they're all in the new Creature Closeout section of the shop.
(And remember: Shipping on the first item is $5, and then only .50 for each additional. That's almost free. Huzzah!)
I still have some on my desk, waiting patiently for their moment in the sun/photo box thing. (Including one pink Wee Bun who you simply have to see!) Expect to see a few new Poppets/WGs/WBs soon-ish!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Is it too soon to use the Chickenpants thank you picture again? Maybe so.

Thank you everyone for making the weekend sale a success!
Thank you Etsy's The Storque for the lovely article!
Thank you Disapproving Rabbits for mentioning Chickenpants on your blog!
Thank you Cranky Yellow for the blog post!

Thank you all for inflating my little airhead to ever greater heights!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Absolutely Small has been receiving some lovely press lately.

Handmade with Amour posted an interview with me a few days ago. She had some really fun questions!

Nonlinear Girl wrote a very sweet little post about the latest Chickenpants Adventure movie.

A blog called Wound Up Ladybug mentioned Chickenpants Adventure #4.

And, last but not least, CRAFT was kind enough to mention the new movie, too!

Thank you all!
Now, off to work on my next project...getting all those ninjas and pirates into the shop!
Have a great Monday, everyone!

Absolutely Small now at Shana Logic

Just a quick, super belated note to let you know that you can now get some exclusive Absolutely Small goodies at Shana Logic!
Such as this little cutie:

and a special 8 x 10 Shanalogic Exclusive version of this Chickenpants Limited print:

The dog, Snuffins, was the first one I've ever made as identical(ish- I'm not a robot!) run. Quite a different experience for me!
And I'm very happy to have the Chickenpants Limited print available in this new larger size.
That's all the news for now. Have a great Thursday, everyone!

And Now, We Zazzle.

I was thinking to myself the other day, hey, wouldn't it be great to wear a Chickenpants t-shirt?
Actually, I don't think that was what I was thinking. I honestly don't remember what prompted this, but! Now! We have a Zazzle! So the options are there to order Chickenpants and other Absolutely Small greeting cards, posters, t-shirts, etc etc.
Here's the address: http://www.zazzle.com/absolutelysmall*
Check it out, and let me know what you think!

And if any of you create paintings/ anything really that can translate to 2-D, you should check out Zazzle. It's actually a lot of fun!

Podcasted!

Over on IndieBizChicks.com, a little interview with me was just posted up. I blather on about craft fairs and marketing and how I can't pinpoint where my ideas come from.
Actually, it's really well done and well edited. Crissy is a master editor, let me tell you. ^-^
You can listen online here, or download the podcast here.
Either way, I hope you enjoy it!

Plush me!

A little interview with me is up on Plush You! You can check it out at
http://plushyouinterviews.blogspot.com/2008/03/claire-chambers-interview.html
And, to be nifty, I made this Chickenpants Adventure movie for it, too:

(Not that the movie has anything to do with Plush You. But, it does have a pug in a chicken hat.)

Mentionables

Absolutely Small has been mentioned in a couple of very nifty blogs as of late!
The Chickenpants were given a lovely writeup on the Crafty Bastards blog.
Monday, my Etsy Profile was mentioned on the Etsy Profiles blog.
Last week the shop was mentioned on the Shop 66 blog, too. Shop 66 has some really awesome vintage goodies, by the way! Vintage Japanese appliques, pose dolls, cute figurines...good stuff!
Thank you everyone for the lovely write-ups!

I'll leave you with these photos of my latest creature: Poco.


I'll be back later this week with March's Chickenpants Limited print.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!

It's my Etsy-versary!

One year ago today, I took the leap and opened up my very own Etsy shop. It's been a nail-biting, slow and painful, fast and exciting, crazy oxymoron willy-nilly punctuation learning experience of a year! It has been great. I want to officially thank everyone for all the support, hearts, and of course sales!
So, in honor of one year of Etsy-ness, it's time for another raffle!
This time it's for a February 2008 Chickenpants Limited print- "Kitchen Invasion".


Chickenpants Limited prints are released every month in
editions of only 30. They measure 5 x 7 inches (12.7 cm x 17.8 cm). Each one is signed and numbered by the artist (me!).
So, in order to enter to win this cute little print, just leave a comment below. I'll have a random number generator pick a winner on Tuesday, Feb. 19th.

Thanks again everyone- for reading my blog, checking out my shop, and coming along for the ride. I wouldn't have anything at all to write about today if it wasn't for each one of you.

Sweet!

Here's a new little creature:


Every so often comes a creature from the Absolutely Small labs that is so pure, so innocent, so tooth-achingly cute, that they eschew all formal given names and instead take on endearments, and at the same time they form tremendous run on sentences, for the artist simply cannot bring herself to end this indulgent sentence. There we go.
This is one of those creatures.
It's name: Oh Sweetie.
It's in the shop, gathering awesomeness as we speak.
In other sweet news, Absolutely Small was mentioned on both Cuteable(today) and Softies Central(yesterday).
And in other, other sweet news- it hasn't rained all week! And the sunlight is infecting my heart. (In a good way!) So I bought my very first tree ever! It's a peach tree, and I have named it Willy-Nilly. ('cause that's the way I bought it.) Oh, false spring- I fall for you every year, willy-nilly, head over heels.
Have a great, and hopefully sunny, weekend, everyone!

Shows!

Just a quick postlet- you can see Absolutely Small at in two real, live shows soon.
First of all, there's PLUSHED at Purdue Uni, which is already going on.

They currently have all sorts of photos up on their Flickr account- so many awesome plushies there! Oh! And! All the plush in the show will be available for sale on the site Box Wonder. Yay!
Secondly, The Main ARTery Gallery in Benicia, California has a few of my paintings in their upcoming Child's Play show, which runs from January 25th - April 19th. Apparently, they will have all sorts of snacky goodness at the opening reception on Feb. 2nd.

(Do forgive the crummy photo of the post card- getting the scanner to work is sort of an ordeal right now!)
I'll also have a few pieces up at Side Show Studios in Sacramento, CA in February. Alas, no postcard for these guys.

Woot! So, if you happen to be in any of these areas, please stop by!

Because no small mention goes...unmentioned

Two nice things today:
Item number one: Today is my last day at my day job! My time has been served! I am now a free woman. Wooo! It still hasn't really sunk in that I'm not coming back to the beige empire.

Daily Photo 1.17.08
Originally uploaded by absolutely small

Avert ye eyes! The beige, it blinds!

Item number two: I was quoted in the Storque, Etsy's news blog thing. And they included my Chickenpants Limited print in their "related items" part. Nice! Thank you Etsy!

We'll take this thing to the moon!
Originally uploaded by absolutely small

Have a lovely weekend, everybody! Me, I'll be baking and cleaning up a storm in preparation for long anticipated and much put off family thing. Maybe this year's gingerbread cookies will be edible! Here's hoping.

Podcasted!

The Chickenpants have been mentioned in a podcast! The website IndieBizChicks.com was kind enough to give them a little love this week. You can download the podcast here. They also have a blog (naturally!), which can be checked out here.
If you happen to be a crafty sort running a business, or just a regular small business owner, you should check it out. They've got some great resources to help along the way.

Chickenpants Limited

There's nothing I love more than ideas making the jump from my head into tangible reality. It's been a really awesome month for that already. But! I have one more. I am really happy to be able to share with you my latest: Chickenpants Limited!

Chickenpants Limited is a new print series. They'll be released every month in an edition of only 30. Each one is signed, numbered, securely packaged, kissed by a Chickenpants, and awesome.

I've really enjoyed working on this new project! I hope you'll find the prints as amusing as I do.

And you can find them in only two places: my shop and February's Sampler.