Plush Valentine's Day Goodies

So, since my O.H. (Other Half) was on a business trip to New York City over Valentine's Day and beyond, he managed to find the time to grab these awesome plush made by danimals, from the Peoria Emporium. An excellent way make up for being away from home, I must say. I wish that I had been there to browse this store with him! It looks fantastic- and it sounds like an up-cycler's dream store. Next time I am in NYC, I am definitely going there to browse for an hour or two.
This cute dog plush is made from up-cycled knit sweaters, and the awesomely crazy daschund is made from that crazy faux-velvet material that was so popular in the seventies for couches and chairs. My grandparents had a whole living room set made from this stuff- not this pattern, but the same material. Brings me back to my childhood. I remember feeling like the material was trying to push me off the couch if I sat on it against the grain.



If you are in the NYC area and haven't been to this shop, you definitely need to go. If you're like me and don't live close enough, (*sigh*) you'll just have to be satisfied by checking out the Peoria Emporium's website, here.

Plush Collecting... Again

When I saw that Mary of ArtTales/LEFTZ was creating a whole line of dinosaur plush, I was excited. The fact that she started making adorable Stegosaurus plush was more than I could handle. I HAD to have one, and this guy with his green accents just called my name as soon as I saw him. Besides just being a great plush artist, Mary makes all her plush out of completely up-cycled and recycled materials, right down to the stuffing. She uses plastic bags to stuff her creations, and my stegosaurus alone helped to recycle 24 bags. How cool is that? This guy is made from an old wool suit jacket, which gives him a fantastic herringbone pattern and texture, which I love. I just had to have some fun taking photos of my new addition, and if it wasn't raining outside I would have photos of him in the garden. Next time.




If you haven't checked out any of Mary's great plush before, you should wander over to her etsy shop and have fun browsing through all the great stuff she has there, and who knows? You may just have to get your own wonderful up-cycled ArtTales/LEFTZ plush. I'm warning you in advance- once you have one, you'll want more! I'm already thinking that my Stego needs a brother or sister... ;)

Calliope Clodhopper

Calliope Clodhopper loves the rock beaches and beautiful forests of British Columbia. Calli is a Clodhopper, a species of Bigfoot that love to wear mis-matched socks.


I made Calli for the Plush Team's Russian Christmas Swap, for my super-talented and good friend Becky of Scrumptious Delight. I was really excited to have Becky's name in the draw, and it took me awhile to figure out what to make for her. I decided that she needed a Clodhopper to hang out with in her studio, and Calli definitely needed to have a pink and green color scheme, since those are Becky's favorite colors. If you haven't seen Becky's work, you definitely need to check out her etsy shop and her flickr page. She is a very talented lady, and you won't be disappointed! Here are just a few of her latest plush pieces- the hearts were made for the "Plush Team has Heart Challenge" and the graffiti wall was made for her Russian Christmas swap partner, Casie of BOOM! Plush.

Cora Valentine

Cora Valentine is a Fairy with a full heart. She inspires joy and love in everyone she meets.



I made Cora for the Plush Team's January/February Challenge, which is called "Plush Team Has Heart." The Team is doing a fundraiser to benefit the International Children's Heart Foundation, an organization that works to bring aid to children in developing countries with congenital heart conditions. Our challenge was to create a heart-themed plush for this great cause, and I am very happy that so many of the members of the Plush Team have participated already, and more are putting their items in the Team's etsy shop every day.
There are some great heart plush to be found in the shop- so if you want to get something for yourself or someone you love for Valentine's Day and support a great cause, I urge you to go and check out all the cuties on offer.
Tell them Cora sent you. ;)