penguin

Making Sock Monkeys and Penguins

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Sock Monkey and penguin by Jen Goode

I joined in with a new challenge… make a sock monkey with the help of Ana and Megan Araujo from When Creativity Knocks. They’ve put together a fantastic video tutorial called  Sock Monkey’s Go BanAnas.  It’s a fun, step by step how to build your sock monkey DVD plus printed patterns using the Original Rockford Red Heeled Socks! I’ve never made a sock monkey, so I was excited to see how difficult it would be. It wasn’t hard at all and only took a couple hours.

Sock Monkey and penguin by Jen Goode
Sock Monkey and penguin by Jen Goode

Of course, because penguins seem to pop up everywhere around here, I had to make a penguin out of the sock scraps. I had a great time making this projects! It wasn’t difficult once I checked out the video.  Once my sock monkey was created, I started noticing a ton of sock monkeys everywhere I went. Did they really just pop up or had I not noticed until now? I had no idea they were becoming so popular again – crazy fun!

Sock Monkey Penguin and accessories by Jen Goode
Sock Monkey Penguin and accessories by Jen Goode

There are basic instructions for making a sock monkey that include the sewing, adding eyes and a mouth along with little nostrils for the nose. To add my own personal touch, I included eyebrows and a belly button. I also stitched up a cute hat and a scarf that says “I heart penguins”, all created from felt scraps.

My sock monkey package also included a sock monkey stamp. I started to make a keychain by stamping some polymer clay, but I haven’t finished it just yet…

Rit Dye is a sponsor of this challenge as well, however, I love the brown of the socks so I chose not to dye anything this time.

There’s a contest you can enter until December 19th to win a sock monkey package worth over $40.oo!

Prize pack includes:

  • DVD “Sock Monkeys Go BanAnas
  • 1 pair of Rockford Red Heeled Socks
  • Sewing kit, including: needle, button eyes, floss and stuffing
  • Plus 1 pre-sewn sock monkey

Here’s how to enter:

  1. Go to the When Creativity Knocks website.
  2. In the Member Login box click Create An Account.
  3. Enter the code: Sock Monkey

 Special thanks to the sponsors of this challenge:

 

To see more fun sock monkey creations, click on the Designer Connections links to the right. Happy Hopping!


The penguin makes an appearance in Crafts ‘n Things magazine

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Penguin stenciled on an apron in Crafts 'n Things magazine December 2011

In the December 2011 issue of Crafts ‘n Things magazine, my penguin is showing is smiley face on a cute apron set designed by Roxi Phillips, professional designer extraordinaire. How cute is that!? You can get a hold of the penguin stencil used in this project at LilGoodies.com.

Penguin stenciled on an apron in Crafts 'n Things magazine December 2011
Penguin stenciled on an apron in Crafts 'n Things magazine December 2011

Shout out of love to you

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I want to let you know how important you are to me…

  • To all of you who have stopped to explain something or answer one of my many questions, you’re fantastic!
  • To everyone who has offered words of encouragement, you’re wonderful!
  • To all the folks that have supported me and shared your happiness for what I’m doing, I can’t thank you enough.
  • To each of you who has taking time to show me how or to learn me somethin’ new, thanks so very much, I appreciate you!
  • To everyone that cheers along side, whether you’ve said something to me directly or not… I am so thankful for your rallying and kudos.

Without all the help, support and unending kindness of so many people, I wouldn’t be where I am today and for that, I am so grateful.

Happy Valentines Day from Jen Goode
Happy Valentines Day from Jen Goode

I love what I do and that couldn’t happen without you!

HAPPY VALENTINEs DAY!

Pink ribbon penguins support breast cancer awareness

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pink ribbon penguin by JGoodeI’ve been supporting breast cancer awareness for a number of years and I show off the support with my Pink Ribbon Penguin along with a number of other pink themed designs. Now Cafepress, one of my product manufacturers, will donate a portion of the proceeds from any of my breast cancer awareness products sold through their marketplace. Some of these products are even on sale right now.

An amount equal to 10% of the final purchase price for all products tagged with “breast cancer” and sold through the cafepress.com Marketplace during September 1, 2010 through October 31, 2010 will be donated to Breastcancer.org.

Will you share the penguin love and show your support?

I think no matter what you believe, it’s important to share with others the things you believe in. Stand up and shout it out for everyone to hear… you never know who you might touch or who might agree.

I would love to hear what causes you support and how you get involved!

Make a get well gift – Little box of sunshine full of hugs

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Box of Sunshine filled with hugs by JGoode - Sizzix Scoreboard rectangle boxHere’s another great project idea in conjunction with Eileen Hull‘s Sizzix ScoreBoards dies, the rectangle box. It’s a really nice basic shape with the added touch of a front flap to complete the box.

Beginning of a happy accident

I have to say with this project I had a complete fail of my own creation. I originally wanted to make a soft fabric covered box, but because I don’t actually own this die, I was using a single cut out version to attach my design to. So instead of attaching fabric and all before cutting the mat board (highly recommended) I was trying to use fuse-able fabric and then hot glue… unfortunately it was an utter fail! My box was entirely too thick with layers of fabric making it look bulky instead of cute. So I ripped everything off… which in turn created a complete mess of the pre-cut mat board.

Now What?? I didn’t want to throw in the towel. This particular project was designed with another designer in mind who is currently in the hospital. I wasn’t ok just giving up and not doing something, so I brainstormed and came up with the perfect solution…

When in doubt, decoupage!

If you use a tissue that isn’t coated, it works nicely as a decoupage component that makes really cool textures and patterns through overlapping, crinkling and folding. It also adds a nice hand made paper look to the piece.

You need:

  • un-coated tissue paper
  • mod podge
  • small paint brush – a chiseled edge works best when you have corners to cover
  • small bowl
  • water

Box of Sunshine filled with hugs by JGoode - Sizzix Scoreboard rectangle boxTo decoupage with tissue…

  1. First make a mixture of 2 parts mod podge to 1 part water. The consistency should be a little thicker milk.
  2. tear the tissue paper into pieces – 1″ – 3″ square or rectangle
  3. scrunch up the paper so you create wrinkles in it, this makes for some nice textures and ease of moving around while painting.
  4. paint a coat of the mod podge mix onto the surface you wish to cover.
  5. place tissue on coated surface and brush more mod podge over as you work the paper around – essentially you are painting a layer and then painting over the layer of paper.
  6. continue to add pieces of paper, overlapping as you’d like until the piece is covered as desired.

For this project I first created a layer of white tissue and let it set overnight. This helped to even out all the wacky bumps and tears in the mat board from removing the previous fabric design. Then I went back and added a few overlapping layers of a light lavender.

Box of Sunshine filled with hugs by JGoode - Sizzix Scoreboard rectangle boxOnce the tissue layers dried, I took one of my own illustrations and adapted the layout to fit this box. I printed and cut it out and then decoupaged it on as well. I chose the penguin in a flower garden, that’s one of my personal favorites and I think it makes for a great bit of sunshine.

I then added some loose lavender sequins (with mod podge) to the front flap on the box s well as on select flower.

For a closure device, I used a magnet set by glueing one magnet on the back of the flap and then cutting out a hole in the main body of the box, fitting the second magnet inside and then concealing it with more tissue decoupage.

I finished off this little box by adding a small pile of Hershey’s Hugs candies to make the perfect get well gift…

A happy little box of sunshine filled with hugs.

If you liked my project you might also like what other’s in this series have come up with.. please take a few minutes to check out their amazing creations! Love to hear your thoughts… leave a comment!

For more fun ideas, check out Sizzix craft products

JGoode Designs Now Offers Flip Minos (yes, penguins too)

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A cool new product I am proud to be able to offer.. the flip mino camcorder. My own test version of the flip mino has arrived and I Love it! I hope you will too. This particular version features multiple mini penguins as the custom art printed on these adorable flip mino camcorders. I have a variety of original designs available. Makes for a fabulous gift… all year!

You can customize a flip with your own design by visiting CafePress or you can buy a flip mino featuring a fabulous JGoode Designs image (of course, that is my first choice). If you prefer one of my designs that is not currently available on a flip, contact me and let me know!

My Penguin is a tattoo – now it's more than just a coloring marker!

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I started my day today with a fantastic email from a JGoode Penguin fan. I think I now have to dub her the penguin’s biggest fan. Yay! We actually have a biggest fan- today is a historical moment for JGD…

This is a photo from her message to me…

This is the original design:

Blue Fairy Penguin
Little Blue Fairy Penguin

I personally think its pretty darn cool that someone likes my art enough to permanently attach it to their being. That’s the whole point of the penguins… find your own penguin personality! This fits right in with my newest penguin themed site, Penguinality. Here you can find the penguin you like most and then personalize it just for you. Check it out!

Now I know, some of you may wonder, as some have mentioned.. copyright issue? Sure, could be. usually you need persmission for artist use their art… but really, is it an issue? Probably more so if the tattoo owner is planning on selling her arm – which I highly doubt she is. ha!

Special thanks to Kayla for sharing this with me. It really made my day!!

Penguin and I are in Seattle

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I have no idea where the time went, my 3 day breast cancer walk is tomorrow! With your help I’ve managed to raise $3135.00 – Besides requesting direction donations, I’ve sold mini buttons at a local shop, my little stuff pink ribbon penguin through etsy.com, pink ribbon themed gear through my website and helped sell buttons at a conference last month. As a team we’ve raised (as of today) $47,528.00.

That is incredibly amazing to me – thank you so much!

I left Denver this morning and arrive in Seattle just after lunch. The walk begins at o’dark thirty (check in starts at 5:30am) on Friday – please laugh quietly to yourself, I’m positive I’m going to be walking via out of body experience until lunch each day. If you’d like information about the walk area and route, updates on the event (there’s a live web cam, I hear), etc.

I do indeed have penguin here with me :D. That is, penguin AND my new pink ribbon penguin pal as well.

I will hopefully be able to blog a bit and keep everyone up-to-date on my own experiences with the event while I am there. I plan on trying to take as many photos as I can… So I can share the view with you when I return home on Monday.

I’m really looking forward to this experience. I thank you for your so very much for all of your support, encouragement and involvement!

Happy Monday!

Jen