Stuffed owl made from an original pattern, available here. Mark suggested the beak curve. Handmade toy by KnitOwl 6.5 inches sitting, 11 inches standing.
Toymaker's Rant: Etsy used to have a lot more 'quality' toymakers, people who took some visible time with their toys when making them. Lately I see a lot of amateurish work and things that look more glued together or hanging together by luck alone than that good quality work I was used to getting inspiration from.
Quality toymakers like Hop Skip Jump, Loobylu, Jhoanna Aranez and Little Birds, all of whom I greatly admire.
I'm wondering where all the other 'artisans' went? I still see some, new and old, on Flickr. A lot of them have their own shops now..
Etsy used to be great because we were all in the same place. It was a benefit to post toys there because it put you into a search engine that was used by lots of people every day. It was like Ebay, but everything was handmade by a real person (often with a blog, who you could start a conversation up with). Not to say there aren't still a lot of nice things on Etsy... their yarn, beads, clothing, handbags etc... are still on the most part looking very professional.
Note: my work is nowhere near as 'professional' as those artists I listed above, but I do put some time into making sure my toys will stand up to normal handling and not look thrown-together. I should invest more in some materials like wool or linen, but does that make the toys too fancy for real children to get to play with them?
Quality toymakers like Hop Skip Jump, Loobylu, Jhoanna Aranez and Little Birds, all of whom I greatly admire.
I'm wondering where all the other 'artisans' went? I still see some, new and old, on Flickr. A lot of them have their own shops now..
Etsy used to be great because we were all in the same place. It was a benefit to post toys there because it put you into a search engine that was used by lots of people every day. It was like Ebay, but everything was handmade by a real person (often with a blog, who you could start a conversation up with). Not to say there aren't still a lot of nice things on Etsy... their yarn, beads, clothing, handbags etc... are still on the most part looking very professional.
Note: my work is nowhere near as 'professional' as those artists I listed above, but I do put some time into making sure my toys will stand up to normal handling and not look thrown-together. I should invest more in some materials like wool or linen, but does that make the toys too fancy for real children to get to play with them?
5 comments:
Hehe - what a cute little bird!
Very cute bird!
Your toys have stood the test of time with my two kids. They've been slept with, loved, dragged places, thrown in the air, smooshed, folded into toy cars, and stuffed into backpacks and bags and are still holding together. I like the fact that they can be played with!
Love the bird!!
Mr. Sloth is doing well. His people owners keep his kitty owners away from him though.
I don't know about Etsy, maybe some people have an elevated idea of the their actual talent?
Cute!!
Hmm, I don't spend a lot of time looking at the toys on etsy - but I wonder if it's just because every other person seems to have an etsy shop?!
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