FrankenSquirrel and a new Buckaroo

Well it's been a hectic few months of settling into the new studio- which is mostly organized- at least enough to get me sewing again. ;D Between unpacking/organizing and the visits of family and friends, it's been tough to get time to blog, but here I am, finally getting caught up.

First off is the plush that I created as part of a thank you for the awesome JMonster of I Only Like Monsters fame- she was the judge of the Plush Team's last Challenge, which was fairy-tale themed.
I decided to make JMonster a FrankenSquirrel, which is the first one that I've made, and appropriate for someone who loves monsters, don't you think?

Next: I am very excited to announce that I was invited to take part in Ugly Doll's art show, UglyCon, at Giant Robot Gallery in Los Angeles that opens June 15th. Tons of awesome plush-makers were invited to do their own interpretation of the Ugly Doll character, Babo.
It took me some time to figure out what I wanted to do with Babo, but after doing some thinking and sketching, I decided to do an homage to the summers in my hometown. Every July, Calgary puts on a HUGE outdoor rodeo called the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. Everyone in the city, and a ton of people from all over the world get dressed in their best cowboy gear and come downtown to see the parade, have pancake breakfasts, and watch the rodeo events. Not to mention play games and ride rides on the midway, as well as eat all sorts of carnival-type food (i.e. mini donuts, cotton candy, candy apples etc), go to concerts, (if you're an adult- you get to drink LOTS of adult beverages and for 10 days your employers will mostly forgive you if you take off early or come in late ;D) and look at all the stuff on exhibit and for sale in the various outbuildings. As a kid, it was one of the best parts of summer. So, after that long preamble, here is my Buckaroo Babo:

                                                                        Howdy Y'all!

It was a ton of fun getting Babo's cowboy on: his jeans are made from actual jeans, his shirt is made from bandanna material, and his chaps (pronounced "shaps") are made from faux-leather with a faux-suede fringe. His belt buckle and cowboy hat are made from felt. Black cowboy hats are usually worn by those considering themselves tough, and this Babo is one of the toughest cookie rustlers in the Wild West. (Babo loves cookies.) If you are in the LA area next weekend, head on over to Giant Robot for all the UglyCon festivities- it looks like they've got some great fun planned. :)