365 Day 268

I've got my work cut out for me!

When I made the last batch of Tookies finger puppets for Art-o-mat I started to discover some times saving steps for myself. I am not much of a seamstress and this is about the extent of my sewing skills...LOL. Because there is usually a good deal of time between Tookies batches I often forget how I did something the time before or one of the prep steps. Today I decided to get ALL of the initial Tookies cut, sorted, counted, matched with buttons and labeled into envelopes because this is my most dreaded/difficult part of the process. Now that it is done I can just snatch up a handful of envelopes and work on the finger puppets in front of tv on and off throughout each day/night until they are done.



I always think I can do ten in one 24-hour period and have them completed in ten days if I make 100 instead of 50. Yeah, that hasn't worked yet...but maybe I can get closer with this batch.

I am also making a small batch for the Northville Art House Holiday Market...along with a few other items. I will donate a pair of Tookies to the raffle basket, too.


This season's new colors! The goofiest things get me happy and excited.

I did all of the cutting last night -- separating the hand into onesy and twosy seam guys and lopping off the wrists and pinky fingers.







This is the batch for Art-o-mat. I am actually kind of "cheating" because I pulled out ten completed Tookies that I considered putting into my Etsy store but I have been dragging my heels about. LOL -- now I don't have to write copy for them and list them. So I really have only 90 to make for this set of 100.






I put the sorted-into-colors fingers into envelopes.












Then I take out a batch and choose buttons for the eyes. I found last time that since this is my most dreaded step in the process -- choosing the colors -- if I can see them together I have less risk of making two the same...not that it matters to anyone but me.









And here is the initial batch for Northville Art House.


I chose October 12 for my delivery to the Art House date. This gives me a definite deadline.

The Tookies I make for the Art House will be slightly fancier than the Art-o-mat ones, and they will come without boxes. I need to get these made before I start on the Arto-batch.


Whew -- THREE HOURS LATER -- no kidding -- I really have my work cut out for me! But the hard part is done!

365 Day 267

button sorting day

It's coming on "making-more-Tookies-finger-puppets" time again. I am making some slightly fancier ones for Northville Art House's Holiday Market and the regular ones for Art-o-mat.

I am very excited to have gotten all of these buttons late in the spring this year at insanely low prices on sale at Michael's. Nutsy prices...I couldn't not buy them, but they have waited for sorting until today.

There are two different companies and many different color palettes and shapes.



After I started sorting these primary color ones I discovered that there were actually two shapes to each color...double the sorting.








One button has a dip and one is roundy.












Sorted! Now to bag them.











This is the other company's buttons. They are slightly thinner and have slightly larger holes. They are all the same as far as the surfaces go.


Within the four color combos there was only blue from the pink/green/blue/brown set and the really turquoisey blue from the fruity-colored set that overlapped. ALL of the other colors were different.





Blues...with crossovers.












The rest of them.










Now back to the other company with powdery colors and some checkerboard buttons.













Dayum...that company again...dippys and roundys.










NOW...onto the shapes.












I just sorted these into shapes, not colors.











Whew -- all done with the buttons.

Tomorrow -- the new gloves!!!