We’ve always enjoyed those “ones-to-watch” features in magazines so this year we decided to do our own, right on!!! Today I’m thrilled to announce a new series here on BFF called 7 IN 2007, seven New Yorkers to watch in the coming year. More AWESOME interviews coming soon so defs stay tuned!!

We’re kicking off the fun with MARILYN PATRIZIO. Cute-a-holics beware! This megatalent can transform nearly any object into one of tear-jerking adorableness! She’s an incredible illustrator and graphic designer – we sell her lovely pear notepad here on the site – but she’s also an accomplished painter and creator of the cutest crocheted characters you’ve ever seen. To learn more check out mpatrizio.com! Lastly, if you’d like details on the bag Marilyn is modeling, please click here. We heart Marilyn!

2006 was big for DIY & CRAFT. What do you consider a highlight?
2006 has had so many highlights it is hard for me to determine which is the brightest. Generally, the greatest thing for me was the massive turnouts and positive response from the customers at the major craft shows. I was a vendor at Bazaar Bizarre Boston and I was blown away when a record 4,000+ craft hungry people showed up!

You majored in illustration at SVA but many of your creations are 3-dimensional. When did this transition to 3D occur?
It first started when I came across the online monthly challenge A Month of Softies. The little girl inside me screamed, “I want to play too!” So, after my first submission in March 2005, I got hooked on yarn, literally, and have been making toys ever since!

How did you come up with the character Timmie?
I’ve always sketched little funny creatures in my sketchbook, but never thought anything would ever develop from them. When I started crocheting my designs my cousin requested a frog. Unfortunately for her, I was still new to the art of crochet and instead of a frog she received a mutant tadpole. Timmie was born! A bouncing lime green creature trapped between being a tadpole and an adult frog. Sort of like myself but without the reptilian ancestry!

Do you still have any of your childhood toys or stuffed friends?
I don’t remember having many toys as a child. Although, I do remember that I had stolen a peach scented Barbie from a little girl that came to play at my house. My parents never bought me a Barbie so I had to get one somehow, right? To this day I still feel bad about “The Great Barbie Heist of 1984”! The only stuffed friends that I have in my possession these days are the handmade ones that I’ve acquired through my crafty internet friends (and my own).

Can you tell us what exciting plans you have for 2007?
My main goal is to bridge the gap between my paintings/illustrations and my softies by painting more portraits of my softies. I am also collaborating with my boyfriend on a Timmie children’s book, and I would love to do some other collaboration work. My softies are appearing in a show in February in Japan (!) and hopefully I will have more shows in the future. Maybe a solo show…(ahem) I definitely want to continue to expand my small product line with some new t-shirt designs, stationery and softies. I plan on taking some printmaking classes and learning more about textile design. Most importantly, I am going to eat more cotton candy and drink less water (or the reverse, I get confused sometimes).

OKAY! It’s a year-end-review SPEED ROUND!!
FAVE DISCOVERY OF 06: Zakka designers, especially Shinzi Katoh
MUSICAL HIGHLIGHT: local Brooklyn musicians KaiserCartel
MEMORABLE MEAL: food-poisoning-causing Babaghanoush:(
2006′s VIBE WAS SO VERY… Berry!
2007 IS ALL ABOUT: Production, Production, Production and Pears!

7 IN 2007 INTERVIEWS:)
designer Alison Kelly
musician Erika Forster
retailer Stephanie Deleau
mag maven Samantha Moeller
artist Chris Uphues
blogstar Grace Bonney