Hello everyone!
Wow, I can’t believe it’s already July! June was a real whirlwind for me, between preparing for Metrocon in a just over a week and running the aviator cap giveaway to celebrate 100K pageviews on DeviantArt ^-^ The giveaway went fantastically thanks to all of you and Metrocon is still on the horizon, so it’s no wonder I barely remember anything from June x3 While I’m on the subject, you all should know that while I’ll be attending Metrocon in Tampa, I’ll be taking all of the physical stock from my Etsy store with me. I’ll be leaving up the listings for .pdf patterns, since those allow instant download. So if there was anything you wanted to order from my shop, now would be the best time to jump on it before it gets sold in Tampa!

It also looks like it won’t be too much longer before I’ve got another giveaway going! I’m incredibly close to my next pageview goal; it’s probably my own fault for picking such a small goal, but I couldn’t resist the number :B
DeviantArt pageviews: 110,940/123,456 = 90%
DeviantArt watchers: 4,258/5,000 = 85%
Facebook likes: 1,380/2,000 = 69%
Tumblr followers: 755/1,000 = 76%
Wordpress followers: 1,269/2,000 = 63%

Onto the fun part, though! The next leg of the monthly crafting challenge! This month’s prize is for a fat little takoyaki plush ^0^

This one is definitely one of my favorite patterns of the bunch ^w^ Takoyaki are little fried balls of batter, filled with a bit of octopus. The finished ball is slathered in sauce, then topped with various things like bonito flakes. The real deal doesn’t have octopus legs like these guys, but what better way is there to show what’s inside these adorable and delicious balls of dough?
I’ve only had takoyaki at my local Japanese restaurant so far; they’re quite delicious though I hope to try the real thing in Japan one day. However, making them for myself might also be in the cards, since a few months ago I scored a $3 cast iron aebleskiver pan (the kind used to make Danish filled pancakes – I hear the pan works perfectly for takoyaki too) at Goodwill – I’m pretty proud of that find :3

You can get the pattern for this plush by signing up for email updates (found in the submission box on the right side of the page below the search bar). If you have trouble signing up, you can check out more info at the main Monthly Crafting Challenge page, the FAQ, or by emailing me. Also, bonus! for today only I’m offering both this pattern and the one from June when you sign up. After today though, the prize is just this guy 🙂 Though you can also purchase the older pattern through my Etsy if you’re too late.
If you’ve already signed up for emails, that’s where the challenge comes in. You can get this pattern if you make one of the projects from this blog, my books, or my Etsy then email me or message the finished project to my Facebook where I have a really awesome collection going of your creations! Keep it up every month and you’ll get a new free pattern, so don’t forget to check back during August to see the newest creation!