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. ;)

Russian Christmas Swap!

Every year the Plush Team does a Secret Santa plush swap- and we do it for Russian/Ukrainian Christmas in January, since we are all usually swamped in December. I am finally getting around to posting the great new piece of plush that I received. I was really excited to see the package at my door from Zazu Faure, aka zfla on etsy. Zazu makes the most sophisticated animals, all from up-cycled wool, cashmere, or angora sweaters. I eagerly opened the box to find this wonderful double-sided Rhino and Maple leaf pin inside! I love how he has a calm side, and a jazzy side. :D The maple leaf pin is just wonderful. Thanks a ton Zazu!!



I couldn't resist taking some "artsy" photos with my iphone:



To see what other members of the Plush Team received in their swaps, head over to the Team's Blog, more fun plush get posted every day.

The plush collecting continues...

Hooray for Christmas! Thanks to my family, I received some really great new pieces of plush for my collection.
First off I got this wonderfully huge, completely hand-sewn "Garth of Monoceros" by Diane Koss of Cutesy but Not Cutesy. I love the colors and his horn is terrific. :)


Then there's this really cool vinyl push by an unknown artist that my brother and sister-in-law found for me this past summer at Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle. There wasn't even a business card or a tag of any sort with this plush, so I don't know who created this. It's a pity not to know...


Next is this adorable Knitimal, Parmee, by Danamarie of Greenstar Studio. Hand knit and as cute as a button! Sooo huggable.


Lastly, this is a Christmas present to myself. ;D I have wanted one of Robyn Fabsits' pieces of soft plush sculpture for a long time now, and I finally got one!! This Sad Clown was made for the "Soft Served" art show at OhNo! Doom Gallery in Chicago. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. :D


I'm busy getting my studio organized from the insanity of Christmas- and boy was there insanity- and I will be back making new plush as soon as I can see my sewing table, and the floor. ;)

Got Candy?

As promised, here are my two pieces for the Plush Team's "Candyland" themed art show at Hot Pop Gallery in Milwaukee, which opens this friday at 6pm!! Tons of great candy-inspired plush is yours to behold or buy at the show, so if you are in the area, make sure to go and check it out. The show runs through March 20th.

I did a lot of brainstorming and word-listing before I found the concept that I thought would be fun to make for the candyland theme. I wanted to make sure that my pieces said "candy" without being too literal, and it took me awhile to find something that made me laugh to myself when I was doodling ideas. What I came up with was the idea of a Gingerbread Circus arriving in town, and here are a couple of its performers:

The Ring Master of the Gingerbread Circus, with her lollipop baton, top hat and tail coat:




and a Gingerbread Circus Clown, with his mini bowler hat and giant bow tie:




I am bummed not to be heading to Milwaukee to see the show in person, but I can't wait to see photos from the Team Members in the Mid-West who are headed to the opening this weekend! I'm sure that there will be photos available sometime after the opening on the Plush Team's blog, so make sure to keep checking in there to see all the great pieces the Team made for the show- I know that I will be! :)

Sneak Peek!

Here's a quick look at my pieces for the Plush Team's upcoming Group Show at the HotPop Gallery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the end of January. The theme they gave us was "Candyland," which was really fun to brainstorm and sketch ideas. I will post actual photos of the finished pieces closer to the January 21st opening of the show. For now you just get to see these. ;D



I'm taking a bit of a breather to recover from all the holiday season madness before diving back in to plush-making, so I will see you back here in a little while. I'm off to catch up on my new books and just chill for a bit. AAaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.