Kali- Goddess of Death

A bit of a change of scene for me with this little lady! Our friend Sanjay of Ghee Happy asked me to translate his new version of Kali into plush form. I was happy to accept and do something a little darker than usual. It took me about 2 weeks to get all the little details done (the sickle, skulls, severed arms and head), do the embroidery (a lot of fun, but a wee bit hard on the hands after awhile), sew her together and stuff her. It was more pressure making someone else's design than my own, that's for sure! I had A LOT of fun making the severed head though- maybe I'll make some more in the future. So look out- it could be your head next! :D
I'm taking a break for a day or so to let my hands rest up, then it's back to the sewing machine for me.
For more pics, head over to my flickr page.

KALI UPDATE: August 13th, 2008

First, I want to say thanks to the folks over at boing boing for their post of the Kali plush!
Sanjay and I are so happy that you all like our experiment. We did this so he could get an idea of what one of his designs looked like in plush form- just for his enjoyment, and as a chance to do some artistic collaboration. Sanjay liked how she turned out so much that he is now in the process of trying to get her manufactured so that everyone can enjoy her. Since this is his baby, I can't do any Kali commissions at this time. (Sorry!)
I promise to update you all on the manufacturing progress and when/where she becomes available for purchase. Thanks again for all your Kali love! :D
-Leeanna and Sanjay

Comic Con 2008 Goodies

Ben just got back from a "business trip" :D at San Diego's Comic Con, and he found all sorts of fun treasures to add to my collection.
First off we have the ultra cute "Pea" from Conduct Happiness, a favorite of mine since I saw their booth at Wondercon a couple of years ago. I'm so glad they did a plush!
Next we have "Memo Wee", (designed by Goran Lelas) a doctor of memory retrieval, who plays sax in a jazz band. I love the nose/snout! Produced by StrangeCo.
Thirdly there is the awesome Vampire Toast-hiding from the sun in the darkest room of the house while he waits for nightfall... I can hear the "normal" bread quaking in their bag right now! :) From the Mr. Toast family.
Last but not least is the very fun one of a kind monster handbag, "Bur" from Steam Crow Plush, the other half of Steam Crow Press. I love that you get an extra little monster clutch inside the big main monster bag.
It's a good thing that I organized my sewing studio last weekend, now I have room for these new lovelies! :) Have a good week everybody!

My current project

A few of the small pieces to attach to the principal piece of my current project, a commission from a friend. I'm almost done working on it, and will post more images/details when I'm finished. It's his design, which is a nice change for me, as well as the subject matter being on the darker/macabre side of things- definitely not my usual aesthetic! If anyone can guess the subject from this post, you win the gold star! :)

Organizing!

I spent part of the weekend doing some much needed organization of my sewing studio. There were plush everywhere and they needed to be corralled somehow. I enjoy having my plush collection out where I can see it because it helps inspire me, but they were starting to take over the room and crowd the sewing machine. (I suspect they were having rowdy parties when we were out... or maybe that's just me trying to justify why I let things get so messy!) Thanks to Ben's quick eyes at ikea who found these great lightweight shelves perfect for plush displaying. Now I just have to decide what color to paint the walls, always a tough decision! Too many great colors out there. White is a bit institutional for me, but at least for now having the plush on the walls will add some color and lessen all the white space.

Totoro Forest Project

Just a quick update on the Totoro Forest Project. They have the website up and running now, so you can see all of the fantastic work that each artist created for the show. The show will be at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, CA on September 6th. There will also be a select group of work (some 60 - 80 pieces out of the 200) in an exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco this fall, from September through December. I hope you check out the website and maybe do some donating! Hooray for Totoro. :)

Renegade Plush Finds

Hey there! Here are my finds from the Craft Fair this weekend. It was a good fair, although a little small- but that's to be expected since it's the first one here in SF. Let's hope it's successful enough to stick around for years to come! I saw lots of cool screen prints and letterpress art, really fun stuff. There wasn't as much plush out there as I thought-but as you can see I managed to find some new pieces for my collection! :)
The first image is "Shuup" from Hilary's Dolls, all her creatures have these insanely long legs- this one was Ben's favorite. Hilary also does great screen prints and paintings. The next image is a cute monkey(?) guy from LolaBee, a familiar name to some. The amirigumi whale is from Tart Heart who does all sorts of cute stuff besides plush, and lastly the great snail is from rock scissor paper who do all sorts of great screen printed designs as well as plush. If you see anything here you're interested in, check out their websites. :)
Enjoy the week everybody- it's back to the sewing machine for me!

Renegade San Francisco!

Woohoo! We're off tomorrow to see all the crafty goodness at Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco. It's the first year they have come out this way, so I'm hoping there will be enough interest to keep them coming back. If so, Ben and I are thinking of getting ourselves a booth next year. There should be enough cool stuff to see, and I'll be taking along the camera. I'm really looking forward to this, as I am always reading about the Renegade Fairs on all the East Coast and Chicago people's blogs. For a list of the fantastic vendors at the fair, click here.
I'm working on an involved commission from a friend right now, so I'm not sure when I'll have enough stuff to post over the next few days. It involves me turning one of his book characters into plush form- it will be fun working with someone else's design for a change. So have a good weekend everybody!

Anniversary gift

I decided to send our friends Ken and Jen a gift to mark their 1st wedding anniversary, and after a few rounds of sketching came up with this concept. The lovebirds are made of fleece, with felt accents for their eyes, beaks, cheeks and the flower, and printed cotton for the chest. I wanted to make it more than just a pair of lovebirds, so I incorporated their names and the wedding date by hand embroidery on the chest of each bird. The embroidery was fun, and I definitely want to do some more-add another creative outlet to the mix!

A small peek

Here's a quick look the piece I'm doing for a show in LA next month. It was complicated to complete due to my piecing together the strips of fabric to make my own patterned fabric, but the end result was worth the effort. I don't know if I would use the same technique again, but never say never! I will post more details on the show as soon as I'm able.

Goatees, beards, and mustaches, oh my!

We just got back from the 4th annual "High Sierra Beard and Mustache Competition" in Lake Tahoe, and it was quite a sight! I don't think I've ever been in the presence of so much facial hair in my life. It was a fun event up at the Village at Squaw, and Ben did okay for his first competition- but you can see how much of a no brainer it was for the judges on who was the clear winner. His name is Jack Passion, he's 24 years old and has been growing his beard for the past 5 years. It's crazy how red his beard is! The 2nd photo is a picture of Ben and Jack, and obviously Ben has a long way to go to be able to compete at Jack's level. There were 3 categories- Full Beard, Mustache, and Partial Beard. The winner of the Partial Beard group is the gentleman in the 3rd photo, he goes by the name of "Toot" - go figure. :D
It helps to have a persona and a costume as well as a great beard/mustache, so Ben has to figure something out before he competes for "Beard Team USA" in the World Championships in Anchorage, Alaska next summer. There was a monk, bikers, a hippie, Old West costumes, an FBI agent, a miner, etc. The event even had a booth where kids could make up their own beards etc, and it was a hoot to see the little boys and girls in their beards and mustaches strutting down the catwalk! For more pictures and Ben's take on the whole experience, head over to his blog sometime after the next few days and he'll have something posted.

Happy Canada Day!

I was feeling patriotic yesterday and decided to whip up a tribute to the flag. Hope all you Canucks out there are enjoying celebrating the day we declared ourselves our own country. I'm off to listen to the Tragically Hip while eating some poutine and enjoying "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Hockey" vol. 150... :)
For our American neighbours- Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll post more next week. We're off to Tahoe for Ben's first Beard and Moustache Competition! I'll be surrounded by extremely hairy men... eeeww! :)