Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Nice Ass, Donkey that is. {Softie Pattern Giveaway!}

Donktober
Welcome Donktober 2012 Guests!  
I hope you are ready to handle a little MRL because I am psyched to be a first stop to help kick off the Donktober festivities!
When I begged to participate in Donktober 2012 I immediately jumped on the chance to create a Donkey Stuffed Animal.  [Some of you call this a "softie," others "plush," personally it is a stuffed animal to me. :p]  As the mother of three small children I pretty much knew this was going to be a win win no matter how what.

This is the mascot of the free softie pattern from Etsy's How Tuesday.  Now come on...let's be honest, this is one pert little donkey, a bit preppy (pink, polka dots, and gray?  yeah = preppy), a svelte athlete perhaps, but definitely perky.  Is that the smile of a smug over confident jock or just the good natured grin of a down to earth happy guy...well, you decide for yourself.

Personally I took one look at this guy and knew that wasn't happening.  Uh unh, no way, not in the MRL household.  My donkey was going to need a little something special to make it different from the other donkeys.  
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So...I aimed for shabby chic and came up with Damien.
Need I mention that following the instructions exactly isn't quite my thing?
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I made a few key changes to make Damien a bit rough around the edges, literally.  For the scruffy look I used osnaburg and left some exposed seams to create the fraying edges, for the eyes I layered them to achieve that shabby chic homemade look, and one of my favorite parts is the mane which I used the selvadge from the osnaburg to create.  I shifted his eye placement and positioned his ears down reminiscent of a Disney Donkey we all know so well.  These design choices combined with the osnaburg, Denyse Schmidt's Posie in Gray and Charcoal Kona fabric choices made one soulful brooding little donkey.
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In case you were wondering, yes I leaned more towards the Grunge/Goth category in High School.  Hey it was the 90s!
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<<<PATTERN REVIEW>>>
I'd say that overall the pattern was pretty easy and very forgiving.  Once you cut out the template pieces you could really have creative license, it allowed me to play around and do my own thing.  The hardest part, in my opinion, was getting those skinny little leg pieces done correctly!  Otherwise it was smooth sailing.

SOFTIE PATTERN GIVEAWAY!!!

Reuben the Donkey softie pattern by Ric Rac

Generously Donated to Donktober 2012 by Jodie Carleton.  Win this beautiful pattern right here!!!

Three Chances to Enter Giveaway
  1. The Blatantly Easy Entry: Softie, Plush, or Stuffed Animal - what do you call yours?
  2. The TUI [Total Useless Information] Entry: Tell me a Donkilicious Fact!
  3. The Entry Purely Meant for Ego Inflation Purposes Only: Follow me, Follow Erin, or Follow us Both and leave me a comment letting me know!
Giveaway will end Wednesday October 10, 2012

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"Bye...have a Donktastic Day...if that's your thing anyway..."  
-- Damien Donkey

- rebecca lynne

55 comments:

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

Hehe love it! Damien is a very soulful looking donkey! The selvage mane is fantastic! Love!

tartankiwi said...

Awww, Damien is the cutest shabby chic donkey I've seen...
To me he's a cuddly toy so none of the above ;-p

Kelli Fannin Quilts said...

Adorb! Damien is going to be well loved in your household, I just know it. :o) Look it's REUBEN!!! I will make Reuben one day.. I kind of want to make him in girl colors.. Reubenita... I just love Damien! xo

Gill said...

I follow you and Erin!

Gill said...

I would call him a softie!

Gill said...

Did you know that a donkey can hear the call of another donkey up to 60 miles away????

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Oh I think I say cuddly toy too!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

There is a donkey sanctuary in Manchester! I've not even been but I did go to one in Devon!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

I follow you both :) and I love your grungy donkey ;) so cute!

tartankiwi said...

Donkeys do not have natural ‘waterproof’ coats like horses and so must have access to shelter, so make sure you look after Damien when it rains!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Hello, Damien! I'd call you a cuddly toy...

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

The spinning mule (invented in 1779) got its name because it's a hybrid of a spinning jenny and a water frame, just like a mule is a hybrid of a female horse and a male donkey...

Yes, it's tenuous but it's all I could think of! (Thanks to my secondary school history teacher for the fact - some things seem to just stay in your memory bank forever!)

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

And I follow both of you!

Marla's Crafts said...

Cute little donkey. I am a follower.marlaruthnelson@gmail.com

Snoodles said...

I happily follow you! And now I follow cute lil Damien! LOL

Snoodles said...

Hmm, it used to be "stuffed animals" around here, but now we call them softies!

Lisa said...

Answer to #1. Bear 45 yrs old Pinky in the hutch!

Lisa said...

I follow you both and get great laughs! Love donkey, he is so cute. We have always called them babies!

Wendy said...

I'm going to have to be different and say cuddly toy! How cute is Damien!!

Wendy said...

A mule won't sink in quicksand but a donkey will...

Strawberry Patch said...

I follow you and Erin

Strawberry Patch said...

He is a stuffed animal in my house

Strawberry Patch said...

I've been to the sanctuary in Devon that Lucy's been too - because I live n Devon, and my friends donkey used to come in the kitchen during breakfast when we were having sleepovers at her farm!!

LoBo333 said...

We call these stuffed animals at my house.

Lisa Cox said...

It is a stuffed animal of course.

Lisa Cox said...

Donkeys vary in size and can range from 31 inches to 63 inches at the withers and weigh anywhere from 180 to 1060 lbs.

Erin Quinn said...

First I follow you AND Erin. I give myself props for this :-)

Erin Quinn said...

Second I am in the habbit of calling every soft toy a teddy. I know they might be rabbits or tigers or donkey's but to me they're teddies.

Allison said...

definately a stuffed animal :)

Allison said...

i follow you! :)

Allison said...

apparently, if you have a mom & baby donkey confined by an electric fence, mom will push baby into it within the first couple days of life to teach it not to touch the fence. It has something to do with baby's nervous system not being fully functional yet at that age. or so they told us years ago in college :)

Anonymous said...

A stuffed animal!

Anonymous said...

Donkeys groom each other just like monkeys!

Anonymous said...

I follow by GFC!

Farm Quilter said...

Damien is an adorable stuffed animal!

Farm Quilter said...

The donkey does not have natural ‘waterproof’ coats like horses and so need access to shelter. I only have horses and did not know this!

Farm Quilter said...

I am a follower!

Jodes said...

I call them softies... probably because that seems to be the "in" term at the moment :D

He's adorable!

Mhairi said...

I definitely call them Softies. Teddies brings to mind bears so I use softies for all other toys that I make.

Mhairi said...

I am following you. I love your damien donkey - very cute!

Mhairi said...

While you might think that there are only a couple of different breeds of donkey, here is the list from Wikipedia - I stopped counting!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_donkey_breeds

Kerry said...

Well, I usually call them stuffed animals, but that just doesn't seem right anymore! Perhaps a softie- that's cute.

Kerry said...

My fact-I actually rode a donky when I was a kid. Not a donkey fact, but a fact about donkeys.

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

Cute pattern! I think it's funny you said you leaned toward Goth--my six year old daughter does too, and that is totally not anything she sees at home, but it's just her style. Too funny! I won a fat quarter bundle with some Tula Pink Nightshade in it and I have to say those ladies kind of creep me out, but she was all over it begging me to make her a quilt. And for Halloween, she's going as a "Goth fairy." She even has black boots.

Needled Mom said...

That is just darling. Love the shabby look!

Needled Mom said...

I usually call them stuffed animals.

A donkey fact???? Hmm. How about that they represent the democratic party? Does that count?

Needled Mom said...

I just became you 200th follower!

HouseManagerLady said...

I've always called them stuffed animals, but I love the term "stuffies" and plan to use it with my own children.

HouseManagerLady said...

A donkelicious fact: the animals used for "donkey" rides into the grand canyon, are actually mules.

HouseManagerLady said...

I am LOVING Donktober and am a follower of you and Erin. Thanks for the giveaway!

Arabella said...

He's gorgeous! I love your shabby chic version!!!

I call them soft toys or softies...

Arabella

Janet said...

I always called them stuffed animals, but my grandkids call them "stuffies" so I'm learning to be softer and a little less "stuffed up". :)

Janet said...

Jacks and Jennys can be such asses. :)

Janet said...

I follow.... I love the donkey.... so cute in all its versions.

Anonymous said...

I always used to call them stuffed toys but softie seems to the more common usage in blogland.

Thanks for the great giveaway. I adore all of RicRac's softies.
(supermomnocape at yahoo dot com)