What happens in Mexico...

For the May/June Challenge, members of the Plush Team were asked to create plush pieces that illustrated a vacation nightmare. At first, I had NO idea what to make, and then I started thinking back to my family vacations, and volia! I had my idea.

These plush are based on a true event that happened to my family as we were playing poolside on Christmas morning, 1982 in CanCun, Mexico.

My sister (4yrs old) and I (8yrs old) watched in horror, alongside a bunch of other families next to the pool as a group of "orderlies" headed up by a truly ugly "Nurse" (on closer inspection we realized that the "she" was actually a "he" in full drag, with seriously hairy legs and stubble and chest hair) carried on a stretcher a sprawled out Santa towards the edge of the pool. 

Santa seemed to be drinking blood (THE HORROR!) out of an IV Bag on the stretcher. All the orderlies and the nurse were laughing their butts off, and were clearly drunk themselves. 

Without any warning, the orderlies heaved Santa into the pool, and then they all jumped in after him. Needless to say, my sister was HORRIFIED that they'd tried to drown Santa, and it took my parents a loooooong time to calm her down enough to where she could listen and understand that it was someone else dressed in a very tight and too-small Santa suit pretending to be Santa, and that he wasn't drinking actual blood, it was an alcoholic drink called a Bloody Mary. 

I will spare you all the visual of what the tight, white uniformed "nurse" looked like getting out of the pool, but I did make sure to add on to my Santa plush the butt-crack that we all saw as he was helped out of the pool:

You can imagine how many complaints the hotel management got from all the other parents with small children who were traumatized that morning by seeing this crazy stunt. 0_o  
We got over the shock and enjoyed the rest of our vacation; had some great times and saw some amazing things that trip, so it all balanced out in the end. :) 

If you'd like to see the other entries into the Plush Team's Vacation Nightmare Challenge, you can find them in the Plush Team's etsy shop. There are some great plush by the Raggy Rat and KittyKitty Crafts depicting their own ideas of vacation nightmares. 

WIPS: Coming soon...

A couple of work-in-progress shots of a few new plush. I hope to have them finished up today and then do a blog post sometime next week. Here is just a sneak peek:

A couple are for the Plush Team's July/August Challenge, and a couple are for my own etsy shop. They should be in each shop by the end of next week, if not earlier. :)

Still Life: Afternoon Tea

I created this piece for the Plush Team's March/April challenge. The theme of the challenge was The Artful Stitch: Plush Art, and we could chose to either make a still life or a self portrait.

I decided to try something new and break out the wool roving and my needle felting kit. Everything you see here is needle felted by hand. It was a ton of fun trying something new, and the colors of roving that I had just called out to be made into a plate of macaroons (Mmmmm macaroons ;D), and the rest followed.

You can see the rest of the Team's creations on the Team's Facebook page, and they will also be available for sale in the Team's etsy shop starting today.

Don't forget to enter my Catwoman Rabbit giveaway- you have until Saturday to enter if you haven't already. :D

Vote for the Finalists!

Starting today you have 6 days to vote for your pick for the overall winner of the Plush Team's Steampunk Challenge. Voting ends on Saturday, April 30th, and the two finalists are:

From Category A) Steampunkers: Steampunk Goat by Raggy Rat


and from Category B) Steampunk Gadgets/Accessories: Steampunk Blimp by Scrumptious Delight


Congratulations to the two finalists! To vote for your favorite, head on over to the Plush Team blog.

Come on over and vote!

Happy Monday. ;D Just wanted to let you know about the Plush Team's latest Challenge: Steampunk!
We are throwing the voting open to everyone over on the Plush Team blog, starting today. So why not head on over and vote for your favorite Steampunker and Steampunk Gadget?

Here are the entries in both categories:



The winner of each category after this week of voting will go head to head next week, with the winner announced May 1st on the Team's blog. What does the winner get, you ask? Well, besides bragging rights, the winner will receive in the mail this fun collaborative piece of steampunk themed art created by myself and the awesome Susan (Susarto). My half was the plush part, and Susan did the rest. Talented lady, isn't she? :D



All the pieces that you see here (except the prize) are available for purchase in the Team's etsy shop, should you fall in love with one and have to have it for your very own. Happy voting!

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. ;)