Zombies Zombies Zombies

We just submitted our Grimmleigh's to be part of an exhibit at the Gray Wall Gallery here in SLC.  It's pretty exciting to think about being in a "legitimate" gallery...especially when you take into consideration that the exhibit has a theme that's right up our alley....ZOMBIES!!!
Here are some of our favorite zombies that we've made so far! Just in time for Halloween (it's closer than you think!!)  it's a Zombie RECAP!

 Lucinda the Fire Eyed Demon Zombie

 Jimmy Mike the Redneck Zombie

 Nudie Zombie!!!

 Ginger Zombies!!!

 This one reminds me of the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

 One of our most recent zombies!  The Missionary from HECK!

Zombie Firl on a hippo anyone?

aaaand our "deluxe" GIANT zombie  at almost a foot tall!!! (at last year's Zombie Walk) 

Thanks for checking out our zombie recap!

ZELDA!

In the late 1980's, I was introduced to Zelda. I was admit-ably fond of Zelda instantly; she was graceful, charming, and made great cookies. I also found Legend of Zelda that year on the SNES, which was also charming, but made pretty kucky cookies.

Zelda the first is the esteemed Mrs. Vice, mother of two of the finest friends I have ever had. If you ever get the chance to meet her, you too will be bowled over by her gracious kindness, and her unflappable good will towards anyone she comes across, stranger or not. When I met Zelda, I was a dirty-rotten punk rock kid. I had gone with my friend Scott to visit his twin brother Jeff, who was home with Zelda for the weekend from college. Zelda whisked us all in the door, punk rock and all, and offered us cookies. That, my friends, is an awesome mom!

That may be why anything Zelda related finds a warm spot in my heart. Sure, this is a post about a Link doll we made for Candice, but anytime ANYTHING Zelda comes up, I automatically think of the woman that brought up my friends, and memories of simple acceptance and tasty baked goods fill my head. We should all be so lucky to meet people like her in our lifetimes!

Candice ordered Link for her son's birthday, and was pretty specific about WHAT Link she wanted, and what kind of gear Link was supposed to have. We like Candice's custom orders! She always finds a new challenge, and the Link was no exception! Sure, we've done Grimmleighs with weapons, but a shield? From Ocarina of Time? That's something new altogether!

The final project turned out pretty cool! Here is Link in all his glory , Master Sword at the ready!

We meet a lot of great people every week, people who work hard, play hard, love their families, and try the best they can. And a lot of the time, they are pretty awesome moms. We don't think about it too terribly often, but it's funny how some of the little kindnesses that were extended to you early on can shape your life, or change the way you look at people. I don't think Mrs. Vice considered herself an Agent of Change when she offered a group of strange kids some fresh cookies 23 years ago. I'm pretty sure Candice doesn't consider herself one when she interacts with her kid's friends, either. That's just the kind of people they are... And we're all better off because of that.

The Pink Problem

I have struggled with pink my entire life. It's not a color that I have ever gotten along with; as a child I used to tell people I was allergic to it. Well, and onions, too, but I love those now. Pink, on the other hand, has never quite grown on me. It is my least favorite hue. Fuchsia and I are homies, but pink? I would pass it on the highway if it had a flat tire. I would drive through a puddle while it was standing on the corner. I would buy every issue of it's favorite comic just so I could watch it cry. This isn't a Macho thing, either; I voluntarily watched the Notebook, for crying out loud!

So, what to do when you run a craft business that makes dolls? If you've been with us long enough, you know we haven't always had cute. The word itself wasn't even in my voluntary vocabulary until our kids were born. Our earliest monsters had a lot of creepy painted into them, and even our early Squidleighs bore a bit of menace. Rachel would hand me a pink body for a Worgie Monster, knowing full well that my irrational prejudice would kick in and produce something terrifying.

But then, kids started liking our dolls.

And some kids like cute.

Baby Squidleighs were a direct answer to that situation. Our daughter, who was 9 at the time, pointed out that she would like what we do a hell of a lot more (she swears like her mother) if some of our dolls were cute. We made some Baby Squidleighs, she exploded with happiness, and the "Cute Period" of Grimmleighs was launched. From that day on, we made sure there was some representation from the cute camp at every show.

That's all well and good, but I still had a problem with pink. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make something cute out of a pink doll. Four eyed drool monster? Sure. Pink fuzzy bunny? Don't make me pull this car over, buddy!

Well, we are coming up on our third show show at Craft Lake City this Saturday. Even though we were operating as Grimmleighs for a few months before the first CLC in 2009, we consider consider Craft Lake to be our real anniversary; that was the first time we realized that we could actually make a business out of our passion for yarn and paint. I decided to challenge myself to commemorate this event, and asked Rachel to make a blank body. A pink body. A pink bunny body.

Yeah, the cute challenge was on. I needed to prove to myself that pink was not evil, that I could indeed paint something cute in pink, and a bunny at that! A cute pink bunny, you say? Is the fabric of reality about to unravel, leaving us all dangling from the delicate strands of perception? Are the Old Ones about to shamble forth, freed for all Eternity to feast on our fragile sanity?

Decide for yourself. I give you Mopsy, the Pink Bunny of the Apocalypse!