If you’re a long-time reader, you may remember the R2-D2 sculpture I completed in 2009. Ever since I saw The Force Awakens, I’ve been wanting to make my R2 a little BB-8 buddy. I bought the polymer clay in May (it turns out FIMO Soft is available in the perfect orange colour – very convenient), and I’ve been waiting to find some sculpting time ever since. And here’s the result:

This was not an easy project. It didn’t occur to me at first how much more difficult BB-8 would be to make than R2-D2. The detailing I did on R2 was incredibly small, and, as BB-8 is only two-thirds the size of R2, that means all the detail is even smaller.

And then there’s the real problem: circles. (Yes, this should have been obvious from the start…) BB-8 is a ball, where R2 is a cylinder, and all the details are based on circles, whereas R2’s are based on rectangles. Freehanding circles is hard. Freehanding rings is even harder. And then try shrinking all those rings down to fit on a ball that’s only 4cm (1.5″) tall..!

So yes, the circles aren’t perfect, and I had to leave out the finest level of detailing. But it’s part of the joy of a handsculpt that it’s clearly handmade – if I wanted exact perfection, I could have just bought a model BB-8 from a toy shop, but where’s the fun in that?

And now for your reward for reading this whole post: BB-8 and R2-D2 both have hidden magnets embedded within them that allow their heads to rotate! Just watch this:

See my R2-D2 post to see how I achieved this!

It’s such a pleasure to make things just for the fun and challenge of the making. R2-D2 is very pleased with his little brother, and so am I 🙂

I’ve started a new hobby: setting up themed photos that cram in lots of my crochet designs for my Instagram account. It takes a while to set them up, but I’m really enjoying the results! Here’s my latest one, featuring over a dozen of my Christmas designs:

A plethora of seasonal PlanetJune designs – find all the patterns here

I’m planning to make more of these crochet scenes next year – follow me on Instagram (@PlanetJune) if you’d like to see them 🙂

And, if you’re crocheting Christmas decorations or presents, please join the Christmas CAL in the PlanetJune Ravelry group and share what you’re making from my seasonal patterns (or any other PJ patterns as Christmas gifts).

Review and Win contest

You’re automatically entered in the next monthly draw every time you write a review for a PlanetJune pattern you’ve enjoyed – and you’ll also be helping future customers make an informed decision about patterns they are considering buying.

October’s winning review is Holly M‘s review of my Koala pattern:

I chose this pattern for a group project in which my office-mates and I all made a bunch of koalas and attached them to the trees at our workplace. I wanted it to be closer to koala size, so I used this exact pattern, but used a heavier yarn and bigger crochet needle, and it still turned out perfect and adorable! Everyone loved that the arms were poseable. A great, easy pattern to follow, and a true joy to make!

And November’s winning review is Heidi W‘s review of my Guinea Fowl pattern:

Although this looked difficult to make it was very well explained by June’s pattern instructions. I absolutely loved the body and neck technique and the finished product looks exactly like her photos! I will definitely be purchasing more patterns from June.

Congratulations, Holly and Heidi – I’ve emailed you both to find out which pattern you’d each like as your prize!

What’s next?

In preparation for my 11th year in business(!) I’m planning some changes for next year. I’m trying to cut out any tasks that are neither important nor enjoyable, to leave me with more time to concentrate on the important and fun parts of my business, and to have more time away from work.

As part of that plan, this will be the last of these ‘monthly update’ posts (I don’t think many people read them, and I can probably spend the time more usefully):

• Any news that’s blogworthy will get its own post, and I’ll save the smaller updates for social media
• For CAL news, follow me on Facebook or join the PlanetJune Ravelry group
• You can see the winners of the monthly Review & Win contest (which is continuing!) on the Review & Win page

I’ll be sharing more about my future plans in my Year in Review post – I think they’ll make a positive difference in my life and in the operations of PlanetJune 🙂