The beans are ready to eat

After simmering in my studio for quite some time, the beans are soft enough to head out into the world via Etsy. I had a few in the shop before and they sold so I made a bunch more.

I would have had them up sooner but it really takes a certain kind of day for perfect lighting. It needs to be very bright but overcast. Even then, my camera still sometimes does a hack job with a couple of the brighter colors. I'll be getting a new camera soon but until then, I gotta work with what I got.

Since Baby Lemon is first priority, I won't ever have a big enough chunk of time to put these all up at once so look for these throughout the week. I've got one of the Joel Dewberry fabric that was featured in the onesie in Parents Magazine. It has a bright yellow dotted swiss back. I have a few of this gorgeous red satin brocade Asian print fabric with teal backs. There are striped beans and corduroy number print beans and kitty alphabet beans one last green woodgrain bean from that amazing Alexander Henry fabric that I love so much.

Softies Central Holiday Softie Awards

I mustered up the courage to enter this year's Holiday Softie Awards sponsored by the amazing folks over at Softies Central. I've mentioned this blog before. They feature plush -- all day, almost everyday, on their blog.

I don't remember how I found out about them -- just clicking links, I think. Every year they have cool contest categories so I entered this bean into the Let It Snow category.

You can view all the entries in the flickr pool and more pics of my bean here. There's some really really really great stuff so I'm not expecting to win but it sure would be cool to get a mention, huh?

The front of the bean is the same amazingly soft faux fur that makes my yetis. The back is some super soft fleece that I picked up just for this. As always, he has a little Lemon Cadet label on the back. The rules for the category specify that the item had to be mostly white but you could use some color for accent. My favorite holiday colors are white and silver and metallic blue so when I saw the category, this is what came to mind. You know I gotta sport my Jewish heritage every now and then.

In a week, they will be announcing the top 5 in each category and I'll let you know when you can vote.

I'll post the winners as soon as I hear. And I'm sure you'll hear my shouts of joy if I'm one of them!

Beans and brooches

A few of the new bean dolls are finally in the shop. I also decided to list the brooches. Instead of listing them individually, I just made one listing and you can choose the color stitching on the face. This one is pink.

I've finally been able to get back to working on new stuff. I have a nice stack of bean dolls ready to stitch. I have more of the Asian print brocade that sold out at Crafty Bastards, some new stripeys, a couple from the Joel Dewberry bud print, and even a couple out of that cool black and white fabric that I used to make some guys a while back. I didn't realize until just the other day that it was designed by Alexander Henry. Go figure! I was buying his amazing work before I even knew who he was.

My My!!

On our way home from the Brooklyn Indie Market, my trusty assistant and I stopped by the fabulous shop, My My, run by the charming Taryn. It was super easy to find (once we realized that New Jersey had two Interstates 95 (why? why NJ? why? the reason roads have unique numbers is so that people can get to places easily and without confusion).


I have some items there and since I had just spent weeks preparing for the craft show, I had lots of new loot for her to choose from. So up there is a picture of my onesies hanging out with all their new friends. Just above is my stuffed beans with their new friends including that adorable little creature from Cornflake Girl. From what I understand, My My has hired a new employee to be Plush Department Manager so things will really start looking nice.

Taryn is super sweet a runs a nice shop. The colors are perfect and she has a great selection of indie goods including zines. There is a picture of Lemon Cadet with personal assistant here on flickr.

In recent My My news, Taryn's sister Jennifer and her daughter Annabelle caught some crazy virus and both were sick for days. Jennifer was even in the hospital. Now they have tons of bills. If you'd like to help out, read this blog post. They are working on an Etsy shop to raise some money.

Plushie Softie Stuffie Pillow Bean Love

So finally I added my brand new bean dolls to the Etsy shop! I've had a couple finished for a while now but I wasn't ready to part with them.

Yesterday I shot a bunch of photos and got the images all ready to go. These beans are really big. They're about 14" tall and super stuffed. I'll start making some smaller ones after the Eastern Market.


I also made two striped bean dolls but with new stuffing. The new stuffing is all lumpy and I don't like it so I'm going to pull it all out and fill them up with the same kind of stuffing as the first two guys.

Soon, I'll have a listing for a matching set (onesie or tee). I think that will be really awesome -- a bean doll to match your kid! I'll be able to make the bean dolls in almost all of the fabrics that I have (and I got some great new prints last weekend). In the meantime, if you want a matching set -- or if you have a onesie and you want a bean to match, just send me an email and I'll get started.

A little note: Since these beans have no removable parts (i.e. no button eyes or other loose appendages), I would let my baby play with one if I had one (a baby, that is -- I have beans). That said, these bean dolls aren't designed to be used with babies or as children's toys. And never, ever, ever put your baby down next to a pillow or in a crib with a pillow because babies can get suffocated. So be careful.