** update: This pattern is now available as a free download! **

This is Octophrost, the ornament I made for my ornament swap. Every time I say "Octophrost" out loud, I giggle and Andrew looks amused.  Especially when I add, "Santa of the Sea." I find it so funny and ridiculous.

I've been dying to make felt stuffies for a while, so when the ornament swap came up, I looked my stack of not-used-yet Japanese craft books.  I was looking for something appropriate for an ornament ...  and then I saw Sigmund sitting on my desk.

I loved Sigmund perched in the fake seaweed and it clicked that an octopus would be super cute snuggled in the branches of a Christmas tree.  Since I designed the octopus pattern myself, my poor, neglected Japanese craft books are still staring at me from the shelf, accusingly.

As I was making them, Andrew kept asking me questions, like, "What do you mean, 'Santa of the Sea'?" and "You are going to make him ALL white?"  I realized I had a whole little story going in my head about how Octophrost is made of snow and ice, that instead of shooting out ink clouds to hide he shoots out a mini blizzard of snow, that he makes all the toys himself because he's got eight arms, and other stuff like that.  I do that a lot - I'll think about something a whole lot and then just share the last thought and get confused stares from everyone.  I thought it might be a good idea to let everyone in on the magic of Octophrost, so I drew a mini poster that illustrates what I have in my head.

I was going for "Victorian Circus Poster" with the postcard.  The postcard cracks me up almost as much as saying (and typing), "Santa of the Sea."

I made the Octophrosts with 4 different frosty eye colors: blue, pink, mint, and lavender.  Each postcard was color-penciled to match.  Since I had to make these in the most efficient manner possible, I learned a lot about mass hand-producing stuffies.  I'll share all those tips in a later post.

The other crafters in the ornament swap are amazing. I've been totally freaked about whether my ornaments will be even half as awesome as theirs ... but my insecurities have been totally overwhelmed by my excitement about getting their wonderful creations.  The other participants are:

Michelle from Green Kitchen (organizer extraordinaire)
Bethany from Bitter Betty
Stephanie from Ruby Crowned Kinglette
Tricia from Frizzelstixs
Meg from Pixiegenne
Cassi from Bella Dia
Kristin from Kleas

I can't wait to share all their goodies with you, too!



I've entered Octophrost in Whipup.net's current Whiplash in the decoration category.