Penelope the Party Panda and a Plush Flower

It's a special time of year- the Plush Team is celebrating it's 5th anniversary, woohoo! In honor of this milestone, we decided to have a secret plush swap. I was excited when I received my swappee's name, since this meant that my plush would be traveling all the way down to PATAGONIA! How cool is that? I drew the name of Nuff Nuff Toys, who lives in this beautiful corner of the world, and makes the most adorable hand-sewn mini-plush.

It took me awhile to decide what to make her; and then I thought, why not a party panda? A panda was an animal that I hadn't made before, and it was definitely a lot of fun designing this one.  Here is Penelope the Party Panda in her best party dress.

I found this great cheery and fun cotton print for her dress, and decided it would be even more festive if she was wearing a flower in her hair, so I made one out of purple, pink, and orange felts to tie in the colors in her trim and her dress. Here she is in a fun photo I took using the hipstamatic app- very psychedelic! ;D

Now we get to the fun of what I received from my swapper, Careful it Bites- who makes awesome cats and yeti head plush, among other fun stuff:

I love how she used the fly-away faux fur for the grass/moss! Very clever idea. Thanks so much Kelice for this great new house plant; it's one that my black thumb won't be able to kill, which is awesome. :D

Now, it took a hint from Kelice to make me check what was hiding in the pot,  and guess what? This is not just some cute little flower my friends! No siree! Take a look:

Hahaha! I love it! Looks like he's not too impressed to be out of his pot though. Thanks again Kelice, he is terrific. :D

Happy 5th birthday to the Plush Team! To see more of what each member of the team got from their swap partners, head on over to the Team's blog, where our members are blogging as their plush goodies arrive.