• Posts Tagged ‘toyidermy’

    Completing A Tall Order Gets Me Every Time

    by  • March 8, 2013 • Shop Love

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    We made it! Rather, we made them! All 500 of these Toyidermy business card holders were completed, painted, touched up and shipped out. And I couldn’t have done it without the help of my “partners-in-craft” who I can’t thank enough. | If you’re just tuning in, catch up with part 1 and part 2 of this story. |

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    It was a tedious job and I spent a lot of it kicking myself for accepting such a huge order with a tight timeline. But, once it was complete (and I caught up on some much-needed sleep) I felt so accomplished and happy I had taken on the challenge.

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    Each animal was meticulously painted by hand, sometimes with two coats. Then came the eyebrows and the Benefit logo stamp.

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    I think they turned out pretty darn good, don’t you? And now for some “beauty shots.” (pun intended.)

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    I foud these bad boys on the internet and can only think that after I sent the herd to Benefit, they added this cute chain and tag. The zebra says “Nice brows, wild thing.” If you’re unfamiliar with Benefit, they are known for their wonderful brow products and their “brow bars.”

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    And here’s another “brow cow” stolen from the internet, with the hangtag “How cow… what beautiful brows!”

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    So there you have it guys. That is the whole story of why I was missing in action for a little while at the end of the year. Thanks for bearing with me during those crazy times and this crazy story!

    | If you are now so inspired to get your own animal business card holder, there are plenty in the shop right now. |

    Painting A Tall Order Gets Me Every Time

    by  • March 7, 2013 • Shop Love

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    So, what does 500 toy animals look like? A mess, quite honestly. And painting those 500 animals. Well, it’s an even bigger mess. Have a look.Benefit_During9

    All 500 business card holders for this order were painted a shiny metallic pink. Then, they all got eyebrows, and the benefit seal on their “backs,” where the cards sit.

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    I couldn’t have done all this painting without the help of my dear husband, my good friend, Jill and my blogging friend, Emily. All three were a tremendous help as I pushed through to get these guys on their way to sunny California.

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    There was lots of paint. Lots of touch-ups. Lots of eyebrows. All in the name of beauty.

    Benefit_During2One of my personal favorites was the “brow cow.” I first painted the eyebrows on the cow and thought they looked great, don’t you? Here’s a closer look at some of the other guys.

    Benefit_During3 Benefit_During1 Benefit_During5 Benefit_During4Tomorrow, come back to see the full line up including rhinos, zebras, cows, giraffes and more. Plus, I’ll be throwing in a few “final presentation” photos I found on the web.

    A Tall Order Gets Me Every Time

    by  • March 5, 2013 • Shop Love

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    Remember a few months ago when things went radio silent with no warning or mention? And then this site went down altogether and I didn’t even know it until my mom told me (thanks, Mom)? Well, this is part one of the story of the reason why.

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    In early October I was contacted by a PR rep from Benefit Cosmetics about making some custom business card holders. Initially, it was 250-300 in quantity. Then that number jumped to 500… Of the same animal.

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    Let’s be honest, all I was thinking was, “where am I going to find 500 pigs?!” But, eventually, after a few samples sent and lots of emails exchanged, we settled on a mix of 7 animals and I got to work scouring my usual sources for the supplies.

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    I got my order in the same night we finalized the deal. Fast forward seven days later… No shipping notice. No tracking number. No delivery. Uh-oh… Order could not be fulfilled. What?! Commence freak out. I had just lost seven days of production time.

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    I could go into more horror stories of how the next order came in and the animals were too small. The next one the animals were too big. And the next was also cancelled by the company. Panic mode overload.

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    About 8 days before my shipping deadline, I finally got all my supplies (animals) in. And it was time to start some serious production. Production everywhere. There wasn’t a flat surface in our apartment that wasn’t covered with animals.

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    OK, who am I kidding? I really just split this into three posts so I could show you tons of gratuitous toy photos. Come back later this week to see these guys get a nice coat of paint.

    Life Lately Gets Me Every Time

    by  • February 27, 2013 • Dear Diary


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    Well hey you guys. Look what I cooked up over the weekend. No, not another burger. A new look. What do you think? Let me know if anything looks wonky and I’ll get to fixing it. There will be some more tweaks in the coming days, so just hang with me while I get this new space all nice and comfy for ya.

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    A special welcome to any new faces that I met on Monday night at the Boston Bloggers meet-and-greet. I prefer to call this my “girls’ night out,” but there were actually a few fellas in the crowd at Scampo at the Liberty Hotel. Note to self, plan a special dinner here.

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    Emily (above) from The Great Wide Open and I are coworkers, so we went to the meet-up together. But get this, even though we work within 100 vertical yards of one another, we really only met because of our blogs. That’s the silly, crazy blogosphere for you. Be sure to check in on Emily’s blog this week… she sat down with Kenneth Jay Lane last week. I know, right?

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    One more item to check out. Kristyn Ulanday and Max Esposito are two BU grads who are making a name for themselves. And that name is Full Frame America. We hit up the premiere of their first documentary, The Druid City, over the weekend. It’s the story of T-town (Tuscaloosa, for all those non-Alabamians) rebuilding after a massive tornado moved through a couple years ago.

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    Since part of the film’s focus is about the Crimson Tide, Max & Kristyn commissioned me to make two crimson elephant business card holders for the event. They looked pretty snazzy amongst all their photos. If you want to check out the film and you’re in the Boston area, make arrangements to be at the Boston International Film Festival this April. The Druid City just got accepted.

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    And speaking of elephants, check out this prototype I’m making for the Etsy shop. What do you think? An elephant pencil holder. Pretty great, huh? Still working on the kinks, but I have a feeling these guys will fly off the shelves.

     

    Valentine Puns Get Me Every Time

    by  • February 8, 2013 • Shop Love

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    Guess what?! It’s still not too late to get your Valentine’s Day gifts. There some new business card holders in the shop and ready to ship right away. (Well, as soon as this winter storm moves out of the way, that is.) All these little guys are pink and red and shiny and bright—just like your sweetheart.

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    Best of all, they will ship wrapped up and ready to deliver to your hubby, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mom, dad, best friend or whomever your heart desires. Each one is complete with a quirky little Valentine message, “I can’t bear to be without you,” “I love you and I ain’t lion,” “You make my heart hop.”

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    Go check out the full Valentine’s collection over in my Etsy shop. All orders placed by Sunday evening will ship first thing Monday morning by USPS priority mail (2-3 days) so they’ll arrive for Thursday’s day of love!

     

    Super-Sizing Gets Me Every Time

    by  • January 7, 2013 • Shop Love

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    When I last updated you on the shop, I mentioned a huge Toyidermy project. Well, that project had me searching high and low for the perfect toy animals. And that searching left me with some unique finds—like these larger than life animal “statues.” Ranging anywhere from 6 to 12 inches in both height and length, they’re huge. And I think they’re going to be a huge hit too. Check them out in the shop.

    I’ve also finally got tons of new animal business card holders in the shop—hippos, coyotes, gorillas, bears and more, like animal wine stoppers. They’re ready to be customized in your favorite color. Or they’re perfect little birthday gifts for bosses, coworkers, siblings or any animal lover.

    To celebrate this full shop of goods, I want to give my blog readers a little something extra. All January long, get 10% off any order. I know, I know, it’s not much. But a small Etsy shop can’t give away the (animal) farm. Simply use code GMET10JAN when you check out.

    Customization Gets Me Every Time

    by  • December 11, 2012 • Shop Love

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    So, part of the reason I’ve been MIA is because of a big order I received through my Etsy shop. Since finishing that 500-piece order, I’ve begun to stock the shop with ready to customize business card holders. Basically, these guys are all ready to go. You just pick a color and order. Any time you see the colored border, like on the horse above, it means you can choose the color.

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    There are a few horses, plus some more unusual creatures. Like, for instance, this friendly squirrel, shown in metallic copper.

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    Or this otter, shown in metallic light gold. He’d look great in any color though, right?

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    Or this blue bunny—like the ice cream. So, if you choose the color shown, your animal will ship right away. But, you can customize as you please, of course. There is also one lion left! And don’t forget about that raccoon, below. Plus, more animals to come. Pigs, hippos, bulls and more. Stay tuned.

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    PS! You still have a little bit of time left (US friends) to order for Christmas. Check out the shop for full details!

    Getting Political Gets Me Every Time

    by  • October 24, 2012 • Shop Love

    20121024-005640.jpgElephant | Donkey

     Toyidermy doesn’t like to take sides, but sometimes, it’s just more fun. So this election season, no matter which way you lean, you can silently display your political feelings on your desks with the election collection.

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    It’s a limited number run of a few patriotic business card holders, now available in the shop. If you’re interested, get yours soon because there really only are a few. (I made them, I know.) And, of course, no matter what your animal attraction here is, please remember to make an informed vote in two weeks!
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    And if you’d rather not get all political, there’s loads of other new business card holders in the shop, like this T-Rex. Tell your friends!

    The Wide World of Crafting Gets Me Every Time

    by  • October 2, 2012 • Blog Love

    Not too long ago I shared the story of my coworker/friend/fellow blogger, Emily of The Great Wide Open. Well, recently, Emily stopped by the official Toyidermy workshop (aka, my apartment) to see if crafting might be her next great passion in life. Above you can see she is hard at work. But, no worries. It wasn’t all business. Now, stop reading my blog and go see what she has to say on her blog.

    Thanks for stopping by, Emily!

    Football Gets Me Every Time

    by  • September 5, 2012 • Made It, Shop Love


    I don’t know about you guys, but here at Gets Me Every Time, we are huge football fans. And, while we all have our teams of choice, as I’m sure you and yours do, we all agree this is the best season of the year. I mean, the weather turns cooler and we get football. It’s quite the deal.

    And so, to celebrate this season’s kickoff (that’s NFL, all you college fans,) the shop now has some extra football flair. There’s more teams and colors (both college and professional) in the works, so request your favorite now.