Phew! Where did the time go?

It's hard to believe it's been over a month since I last blogged. There has been a lot going on in the past month, that's for sure!

I'll share some of the highlights with you, one of which was the trip out to Cincinnati in mid-October with some of my Plush Team peeps for Cincinnati's first ever Maker Faire, and there was Halloween plush, and Wizard of Oz themed plush made somewhere in there, AND a trip to LA for the opening of Ben's solo art show as well. Hmmmm... I think I'll restrict the size of this post by limiting it to the events of Maker Faire weekend in order to spare your eyeballs. ;D

The trip to Cincy was a blast, and even though the weather was uncooperative (cold and rainy), we had a great day of sales, classes, and promoting hand made. A HUGE thanks to Abby of Abbydid for being our Team plush wrangler and supply depot, and for being our tour guide. I'd also like to thank AC of Hibou Designs, Diane of Cutesy But Not Cutesy, Zazu of zfla, and Stephanie of Little Critters for traveling out to Cincinnati to help run the booth and teach classes. You ladies ROCK! :D
Here are a few of the images from the weekend:

Washington Park the day before.

Washington Park on the actual day of Maker Faire. Of COURSE it had to rain.

Doing prep-work the night before the big day (Friday October 18th):

From left to right: Zfla, Abbydid, Hibou Designs, Cutesy but not Cutesy, and Little Critters.

Plush Team booth set-up happened on Saturday at a very windy, rainy and chilly 8:30 am on October 19th- we were cold and wet, but got everything set up just in time:

Here's our booth all finished and ready to go, and filled with all sorts of plush created by 20 different members of the Plush Team from around the globe:

The Art Gallery and classroom side of the Team's booth:

These are art pieces created by various Plush Team members, which are created for Team Challenges, or for gallery shows, and show the wonderful skills of the members of the Team.

This is the quilted world map showing where all our Plush Team members are currently living and creating their plush; which hung above the very busy "make your own upcycled stuffed animal class" table. Classes that went all day long, and were taught by Zazu of zfla, shown here in her bright blue coat amongst all her students:

It was a whirlwind weekend in Cincinnati, but we had a great time and the people we met were really great and made the day a good one. Thanks Cincinnati! 

I also had the good fortune to stay a few days longer to do a bit of sight-seeing, and to step inside one of the icons of my childhood, which was the Hall of Justice from the Super Friends cartoon (OMG!!), which in reality is the amazing Art-Deco designed Union Terminal in Cincinnati. I was like a little kid clapping my hands with glee as we walked around the building! It was amazing, and photos don't really do it justice (pun intended ;D), but here are a few anyway:

The terminal now houses a bunch of different museums, as well as Amtrak, making it a must-see if you are ever in the Cincinnati area. Abby was kind enough to show me around this amazing building, and I have to say it was one of the highlights of any trip I've taken so far. :D

That's all for now, and I hope that you all had a great Halloween, and a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday to come if you are American. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again... See you soon!

Works in Progress, and Mini Maker Faire happening soon!

I've been a busy bee the past few weeks trying to get all my plush done for all the Fall happenings going on, and I'm only going to give you a tease, since I'm not done with them all yet, and I shouldn't be on the computer when I need to be sewing. ;D The first couple of images are pretty self-explanatory:

This year I am in a ghastly, I mean ghostly mood! Getting my Halloween on has been fun, but I am also getting plush done for the most fun plush show of the year: PlushYou! at the awesome Schmancy Toys in Seattle! The show opens Friday, October 11th, and I'm lucky enough to be going this year. I promise to take tons of photos, and do a post here to show all the great pieces created for the show. There are a ton of great artists in this show, and you will find interviews with many of them up on the PlushYou! blog.

Okay- here's a sneak peek of my pieces- I will do a blog post next week closer to the opening to reveal the finished product. 

Okay- back to the sewing machine I go!

Oh yeah- one more thing! The Plush Team is having its own booth at the first ever Mini-Maker Faire in Cincinnati, Ohio in a few weeks! If you are in the area, come on by and say hello on October 19th at Washington Park! I'll be there helping to run the booth with a few other of our Team members, and we will have various plush activities going on all day, as well as a bunch of plush awesomeness to see and buy from our members from around the globe. It's going to be a great day. :D

Wearable plush!

My first foray into wearable plush is for the Plush Team's "Wearable Plush" project, over in the Team's etsy shop.
I decided that since it's the start of the Fall season, that my plush should be something that incorporates a fun fall element into it. The result was my first ever mini plush Jack O'Lantern headband:

The plush pumpkin is made from fleece, with sparkly felt facial details. I also decided to add some wool felt pumpkin leaves with machine stitched veining in fall colors, to add more fun to the headband. The headband is one that I picked up at my local Michael's store, and it will fit babies up to 6-8 months or so. Since I didn't have any babies on hand to model it for me, I was lucky that the gracious Peas in a Pod volunteered to be my model for the photo shoot. ;D

You can find my headband, as well as a variety of fantastic wearable plush, in the Plush Team's etsy shop. Here are just a few examples of some of the other pieces made by the talented members of the  Team:

Octopod brooch by oopisnein

Owl brooch by Vagabond Artistry

Amigurumi Pencil brooch by Moons Creations.

Oh- and if you are in the mood for some "Back to School" themed plush, the Team has a section of the shop devoted to that as well. :D

I am busy as a bee getting ready for a bunch of art shows, as well as creating a bunch of plush for the Plush Team's booth at Maker Faire Cincinnati next month, as well as trying to get some fall/halloween plush into my shop, so there will be more to come soon! :D