I was reading Cheri's blog tonight when I saw her post about a quilt she is planning. Cheri went on to say that her mental quilts are always far more stunning than her actual quilts. I can totally relate to Cheri's thoughts because I have this same problem too. My projects always look better in my head than they do in reality! Today I worked on a few projects for swaps then started work on this little rabbit softie. In my head he's the cutest thing but in reality he looks like a sad little ragamuffin! 
My favorite part is the back of the bunny. I love the little heart and tail. It's hard to see in the photo but the tail and heart are on a pocket. Nature Girl likes to stuff things in purses and pockets so I thought a pocket would be cute. She's already in bed and hasn't seen the finished project yet. My guess is that even if he is a little sad looking, she'll happily carry him around for a few days, stuffing his pocket with treasures.
The picture quality is poor but here is a little doodle of what I wanted him to look like. Even the doodle is better than the reality! I think the proportions are off on the softie. The top should have been wider, his nose a little smaller and eyes further apart. So the reality of this little ragamuffin and the mental vision just aren't the same. It makes me wonder how do other crafters make their stunning craft visions into a stunning reality? Have you ever seen I'm a Ginger Monkey's toys or Lucy Kate's owls? They're original designs and look amazing! I'm not up to crafting a stunning reality yet, but I'd settle for something that looks close to my vision!
Speaking of craft vision. . . this is a mermaid outfit I envisioned. I made it for Nature Girl when she was two only to find that she doesn't like to play dress up. She loves to pretend but has never felt like she needed a costume to do that. I made the length adjustable by placing elastic string down the sides if the fins. To adjust it you just pull the strings tighter or looser and adjust the toggle to hold the string. Tonight was the first time in almost 2 1/2 years that I've seen her wear this outfit. I was excited to see it on her! She was pretending to be a mermaid who was going to get married. There was one problem. The only boy to marry was already married to me! I told her she could borrow my prince for one day!
