The Phina Project 101.

 "The Phina Project" (Phina- \fee-nuh\ 1: the act attempting to achieve awesomeness 2: a possible superhero secret identity i.e.: SuperPhina 3: an apparently bored girl's quest to craft, brainstorm, and create.  i.e.: The Phina Project). 

I originally decided I was going to Craft My Way Through College, so you may have to forgive some posts that talk about school and finals and the like. Unfortunately, the crafting through college was more of a hobby, rather than any source of substantial income that my over zealous mind dreamed up and thought possible. I started an Etsy shop, but as it turns out, custom made dolls don't get quite the hype on Etsy as one would have hoped.  The Phina Project does, however, have her very own Facebook page.  There were some hiccups trying to get the word out and about via word of mouth, carrier pigeon, message in a bottle, and other such means my little ambitious mind was been able to conjure up. So I have settled on blogging, Pinning, and my good ol' pal: Instagram as I craft my way through life instead of simply through college.

I have recently discovered that 'crafting' isn't quite as scary of a word as I had previously assumed.  My mom is the crafty type, but for whatever reason the word 'crafts' created the image of 80's hair, 40 cats, 20 doilies spread throughout a musky living room, 10 whiskers on a decrepit chin, and 5 reading glasses hanging around a wrinkly neck. Where that image came from is beyond me.  I know plenty of creative and crafty women who are none of the above, and I would like to imagine I don't fall in to any of the aforementioned categories either.   Where do I fall in on the crafting spectrum you may ask? I tinker.  I'm an optician by day (I work with eye glasses), and when I come home, my mind wanders, and I like to create.  Primarily, I have been making cloth dolls (as my roommates, boyfriend, and friends point out: may make me sound slightly psychotic, but please, lets just look over as many stereo types as we possibly can here), for the past 4 years, and it has been fun to see their evolution and how far I have come since the first time I decided I was too broke to buy a Justin Beiber doll for my niece and decided to make one instead.  I have pretended to paint, and attempted book binding.  And now I am currently undertaking the challenge to learn how to quilt.  I plan on working on other wonderful projects as soon as I know what they are. I like the idea of seeing, or thinking up some grand project and being able to somehow make it happen. The sky is the limit I suppose.  Wouldn't it be nice if The Phina Project  became a world wide epidemic?



To help get word of The Phina Project out there, please spread the love and news about 'The Project' to friends and loved ones.  It would be especially helpful if you were to 'Like' The Phina's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/pages/The-Phina-Project/124131677676987

Salt Lake Comic Con

I'm not entirely sure how I went from making these silly little dolls for friends and family, to making these silly little dolls for a comic convention...If I had to guess, my money is on that incredibly supportive (and cute!) guy I call my husband. 

Today I embark upon day 2 and I'm excited to see what adventures are yet to happen. Yesterday I had a lot positive feedback about the dolls (which is nice, since I'm still strangely self conscious about them). I had one guy tell me he loves them but they would look out of place amongst his Chinese manufactured collection. Batman's cuteness made a girl cry. Leia was hugged, foxes were adored, and The Doctor had a lot of photo ops. All in all, I count the day a success. 

Bo the Reverent Sheep

My father-in-law (still weird to say) has taught primary for years. He has a reverent ladybug for his kids to pass around to whomever is being the 'most reverent'. I was recently called to be a primary teacher (also weird). Nine 4-5 year olds can be a little overwhelming coming from 13 years of singles wards. Last week they were all over the place.  Crazy little monsters. Kevin suggested I try some kind of reverent something to help. He shot down my great idea to do a Reverent Reverend. I thought a line of religeous dolls would be funny. A Rabbid Rabbi. Profitable Prophet. Funky Father. Alas, I decided a Reverent Lamb would probably be the most appropriate. The kids named him Bo and he was quite the hit! Each child took turns passing Bo around to the next. Competing in reverence, I'll take it. 

Craftiness at Christmas

I feel as though I can divulge all my secrets as it has been quite some time since I have updated my blog.  As it is, I shall be smart and not post the Christmas creations I am currently undertaking until after the holidays.  However, there are some presently presents that are not so secret, such as my mom's new Elf on The Shelf for her kindergarten class.

Elfie

Last year I made Santa (you can't have and elf if there is no Santa).

And then, of course, I have to have gifts for the little girls in my life:

Raggedy Anne

Dr. Who (11th doctor), Lynsie, Casey, Elliot, and Jo

Cinderella

Kaidence

And I can't forget about the men in my life:

Captain America

A doctor

Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Who (of the Matt Smith variety)

Loki

Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk

Bob the Builder

Now that I use a sewing machine they are so much easier to crank out!  But there are still places that need hand stitching because it either gives them a little more character, or quite frankly, I have no idea how to do some things on my machine yet.  Each doll used to be made strictly by hand and took 4-5 hours to make.  Now that I have my sewing machine all set up and mom was nice enough to get all the settings right for me (after a near melt down from her 30 year old daughter), I have cut my time in half! 

October Madness

A few months ago, my genius of a mother suggested I make Phina dolls for weddings.  I have been excited about that opportunity since beginning.  I mean, how stinking cute would a little bride and groom doll be of the happy couple?! Just as luck would have it, one of my all time dearest friends got married in October, and I knew that she, of all people, would appreciate the magic of having a mini bride of her own.  I did not, however, realize that her new husband would be just as excited about the dolls, if not more.  During the pre-wedding dinner with his family he had to go get the dolls from the car to show them to everyone at dinner.  All during the reception I kept randomly hearing my name, when I would turn to see what was going on, the groom would be holding the dolls and pointing to me.  So, without further adieu, I present to you The Bride and Groom:

Showing off the rings!

And yes, due to the brilliance of a friend, we recreated some of the couples' engagement photos.

The bride and groom are most definitely some of my favorite creations so far.  I had so much fun with the little details (the bride is taller than the groom in real life and with the dolls).  


When I returned to Denver from being the secret Maid of Honor (or so I pretended to be) at my dear friend's wedding, I had another friend ask me to make her guest sign in book.  I had grand plans and it was going to turn out absolutely amazing!  After late nights at Kinko's, more late nights watching the Vampire Diaries while working on the book, and it not turning out exactly how I had envisioned, I was relieved to find that I am pretty pleased with the final outcome.

 Sorry it has taken me so long to post the latest madness.  If these caught your fancy please take a minute to pass the magic along to someone else, or let me know your thoughts!

Finals.

I am finally settled in from my 'big move' (a whopping 2 buildings away) and find myself working like a mad woman to keep up with final exams, presentations, papers, and, of course, projects.  The last couple of weeks have been a whirl of moving boxes, Adobe Illustrator and Loteria.  I just kicked one project in the seams that has been tormenting my life over the past three weeks: my first ever infographic.  "What", might you ask, "is an infographic?"  Well, let me tell you.  It is a way to convey information through the use of graphics.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Pssh.  I wish.  I decided to do my infographic on the Evolution of Eyewear, seeing how I have been a crafter of lenses for the past few years.  Considering that all I know about Illustrator has come from just playing around with it and begging friends to help me out from time to time (for which I am so incredibly grateful!) my little project turned out pretty okay.  There are some changes I would love to make if I had the time, patience, and experience, but all things considering, I'm pretty proud of myself.

 There is always room for improvement, but like I said, I'm pretty okay with it as my first attempt at an infographic. 
  Though there hasn't been much chance to work on anything Phina related I have some pretty exciting projects coming up in October and I will post more of my final projects next week, and then hopefully be able to report back regarding my super awesome grades in a few weeks.  For now, I hope this will suffice any Phina fix that has been needed out there in the world.
  As always, please feel free to give me any feedback regarding The Phina Project, my infographic, final projects, whatever area you feel feedback is needed in my life.

Marvelous happenings.

  Sorry for the absenteeism Phina folks!  School has been crazy crazy crazy lately!  The good news:  Thanks to The Phina Project, my next quarter of school is paid for! woot. woot.  I have also recently discovered that I am on the Dean's Honor Roll.  I don't think I have been on any kind of Honor Roll, let alone the Dean's, since I was a freshmen in high school.  Again with the woot. woot.  I do love finally being back to school, and the craziness is pushing me more creatively than I have ever been pushed before. 

  Now, for what you have all been waiting for.  It is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to the most recent additions to The Phina Project.

The Mr. Monkey Doll.  Mr. Monkey is playful, and always fun to be around.  He is my first animal attempt and is for my nephew's first birthday.

The Spider-man Doll...er...'Action Figure'.  He is a lover at heart and a hater of all evil doing.  Another experimental Phina doll, The Spider-man is for my other nephew who is a Spider-man addict.

The Lady Monster Doll has a sweet innocence about her.  I have been wanting to make some monsters for quite some time now, especially after watching the Weepies - the World Spins Madly On video. 

For those of you who have not seen the music video...Enjoy:

  As I mentioned earlier, school has had me running and slightly insane lately.  So far this week I have had a night of 3 hours of sleep, 4 hours of sleep, and 5 hours of sleep.  Two of those (extremely) late nights were due to homework, and one was due to The Phina Project (I just got caught up and lost track of time...that's when you know you love what you do).  Today (after a full 6 hours of sleep) I spent 9 hours in the screen printing lab printing my second project for the class.  "Why" you ask "would you spend NINE hours at the school on a precious, precious day off?"  Well, I'll tell you.  I spent the first few hours finishing up my homework and the rest was spent on.....wait for it......

                  ..........wait for it..........


                BUSINESS CARDS!

Each card has the same front and come in four different colors: Orange, Green, Pink, and White.

The green doesn't show up very well in the picture, but trust me: it looks pretty sweet!  This is one back.

Another back to represent The Phina Project (each has the blank space to write down my phone number or email address).

The third back.  Her registration doesn't line up exactly, but we'll just call that 'added personality'.

 If you don't know much about the screen printing process, let me just tell you: no one does.  Everyone I have ever talked to that does silk screening has just kind of figured it out and made it up as they go.  A couple weeks ago my Design Layout assignment was the make a business card.  Thinking it would be fun to actually make my own business cards, I started to screen print them.  Sadly, I was unable to get them finished in time for my Design Layout class, so I just printed them off (boring, I know) and turned them in.  My teacher said he really liked them and wants me to bring in some when I have finished screen printing them, he even asked if he could keep the three I printed off.  That may not sound like a big deal, but to have an art teacher ask to keep your work is kind of a big deal (at least for me it is).  I like the idea of having different colored cards with different backs to them.  It adds just a little more variety and personality.  The registration (lining them up) was a bit of a beast for the backs, as you can tell on the little monster.  Registration on the front, and getting it to line up with the back, was a lot easier than I had anticipated...a LOT easier.  I like them.  They were pretty time consuming, so I may not screen print many, I'll just take the file to Kinko's and have them do the hard work.  So far I have been told there is a couple local businesses in the area that like hand made items and will display business cards, including Meininger's (a hot little art store a few blocks from me), who actually asked me to bring the cards in when they are ready.  Hopefully I'll get some more orders and be able to pay for future quarters of school (finger's crossed)!  I can then bobble my head and declare: Mm, yes. Business. Business. Business.  I may even be tempted to say, 'It's business time'.

(Oh, Flight of the Conchords.  You are delightfully funny though slightly inappropriate)