I've been a BAAAAAAAAD blogger!

Lately it seems like I can't find enough time to fit in all the things I have to and want to do, which includes spending the time to update my blog regularly. Life has gotten in the way for the past 6-7 months, and I am going to try and remedy that situation starting today! You might notice a change to the blog design- I decided to start fresh and update the look of things.

Since I last posted, I vended at my first Emerald Con, which was a blast and a feast for the eyes! Such people watching! Thanks to everyone who came out and stopped by the booth, we had a terrific time seeing you all.  Here's a quick look at our booth set-up:

It was great seeing our good friends Daniel and Dawna over at Steam Crow for the weekend, as well as meeting some new friends, like Rick and Jeff at the ZOMs booth across from us.

After Emerald Con, I was really excited to be accepted into the summer Urban Craft Uprising craft show at the Seattle Exhibition Hall in July, where I had my own booth for the very first time! It was a change from all the shared booth shows I've done in the past, and it was so much fun. A bit nerve-racking, but fun. I met some great people there, and saw some repeat customers from Emerald Con, which was awesome.

What have I been doing since July, you ask? Well, besides taking a few weeks off for family vacations, I created a piece for the 10th anniversary of Ice Bat for this year's UglyCon art show at Giant Robot in Los Angeles:

and have been doing a bunch of commissioned work, like creating mini hanging versions of my Franchesca and Franklin Frankenstein:

including creating plush for an online classroom video game learning tool (more to come on that later), as well as plush portraits of a San Francisco couple and their dogs:

As well as creating pieces for this year's 10th anniversary PlushYou! art show at Schmancy Toys in Seattle. Meet Peter and Piper Pumpkin:

I'm almost caught up on my plush-making exploits of the past few months, so I'll say good-bye for now, but I will be back next week with more updates and plush-making progress to share! In the meantime, you can always find me over on instagram, where I upload pics of my progress every day or so. See you next week!

Langdon Family Plushcatures

Wondering what I have been up to lately? ;D I was commissioned to make these plush for my good friend Abby's birthday last week, and it was a total blast transforming her family into their plush selves. Here are the real Langdons:

And here are their plush counterparts, starting with the birthday girl:

Abby loves purple and turquoise, and wears tunics and leggings most of the time. I chose this starry fabric to represent her sparkling personality as well as her love of all kinds of purple. She wears her Uggs a lot as well, so I made some in a purple corduroy. I hand embroidered the eye details on all of the family, it seemed to fit them better than felt ones.

Next we have her husband, Jason:

He wanted me to make him in a blazer and t-shirt, with the t-shirt having the bunny logo of Abby's plush company as the graphic element, and the t-shirt is made from an up-cycled t-shirt. He wears his Chucks a lot, so I added those as his shoes. His blazer is made out of wool.

Their son, Brody:

I was asked to create a Lego t-shirt for Brody, and to put him in jeans and black shoes. Both Brody and Jason have two functional pockets on the back of their jeans, too.  Teeny tiny pockets, but still pockets. ;D

Last but not least, we have their daughter, Kalli:

Kalli loves the color pink, so I chose a fun graphic pink printed cotton for her t-shirt, a pink and green polka dot for her leggings, and a light pink for her crocs. She likes to wear tutus, so I made my very first one (and did it right the first try- woohoo!) out of a bright sparkly chiffon-type fabric. She also always wears a barrette or pin to hold back her hair, so I created one out of a couple of pink flower shaped buttons and some green felt leaves to bring in the green from her shirt and leggings. She also has sparkly green rick-rack trim around her sleeves. Can't get enough sparkle at her age. ;D

Here they are as a family:

Happy Birthday to you, Abby! It was wonderful to be a part of your birthday celebration this year. :D

Corduroy lovers unite!

This Friday is 11l11l11, which if you are a member of the Corduroy Appreciation Club (or simply a devotee to corduroy) is known as the date most resembling corduroy. In honor of the big day, the NYC chapter of the Club is having a HUGE sold-out event, and the Plush Team was asked to make 11 pieces of corduroy plush to be included in the festivities. If you've been following the Plush Team's blog this month you know all about it and the 11 days of corduroy; each day featuring one of the awesome corduroy-inspired pieces created for the event. I am a big fan of corduroy myself, so it was no problem to be inspired to create a plush using the "everyman's" fabric. :D
Here it is:

"Woody Allen, Corduroy Enthusiast"

I chose to make Mr. Allen because he is a lifelong ambassador for corduroy wearers everywhere. It is rare to see photos of him not wearing at least one item of corduroy. (Although I think he's probably more famous for the almost 70 films that he's written, directed and/or starred in. :D) For my piece, I wanted to keep in mind the Club's rules: each member has to wear at least 2 items of corduroy to the meetings. So, my version of Woody Allen has on a corduroy blazer as well as pinwale (baby corduroy) trousers.

 He is also wearing a oh-so-soft flannel sweater, with cotton collared shirt. I wanted to make sure to add the elbow pads on the back of his blazer, and his oxford-inspired shoes are made with ultrasuede and faux-leather soles.

If you are interested in giving Mr. Allen a new home, my piece will be available for sale in the Plush Team's etsy shop  starting Thursday November 10th, along with all the other cordurrific plush made for the CAC event.

A Birthday Commission

I was asked to create a plushcature of Noah for his 4th birthday this month, and it was a fun project, especially since his mom was very specific about his outfit. 

He had to be wearing all black, with a black and grey striped t-shirt, and black high-top converse sneakers.

Here's the real Noah- what a cutie! 

 The most detailed aspect of this commission were the converse- it was fun to re-create such a classic shoe in plush form. It was also a trip down memory lane for me, since I wore my own converse high-tops when I was a kid, although I preferred the cream colored ones. :)

                                                          Happy 4th Birthday Noah!

Braaiiiinnnnsss...

Zombies, EEEeeeeeeek!
I was asked by the awesome Team Oddity to make plush Mother-Daughter Zombie versions of themselves. I was excited to do this commission, but a little daunted since I had never made human Zombie plush before. It took me awhile to get the designs the way that I wanted them, but after a bunch of sketching I finally got the look that I wanted, and here is the result.
The real life Team Oddity:


and their Zombie plush counterparts:


I wanted to make then look like Zombies, but not super-gory ones. I just couldn't go there. So, they have pasty gray-ish white undead skin with bags under their eyes, are missing some teeth, have weirdly discolored/rotten skin patches, and their clothes have definitely seen better days. It was fun to rip and tear the fabric and let it fray. I added the skull and heart iron-ons to Jen's t-shirt, since she wears a lot of screen printed shirts.
Zombie Jen:


Fiona is definitely more "girly" than her Mom, so I made sure to put her in a matching top and ruffled skirt with a fun glittery butterfly clip in her hair, and somehow she has only one sandal, but it doesn't bother her.
Zombie Fiona:


I had a lot of fun making this Zombie Mother-Daughter pair, and it was good to be asked to do something that I hadn't done before. A new challenge always helps me to grow and stretch as an artist.


Now onto the Star Wars plush...may the Force be with me. ;D

Happy First Birthday Chloe!

The wonderful Chris of Chris Creatures asked me to do her family in plush form as a present for her daughter Chloe's first birthday this past weekend. It was a really fun project, and my first plushcature of a one year old. :)
Since they are for Chloe, I wanted to make sure that they were made from soft and cuddly materials, and of course without buttons or other choking hazards.

Here are Chris, her husband Zimmy, and Chloe in real life:


And here they are as a family, plushed:


Chris: (made from flannel, fleece, cotton, felt, and upcycled jeans)


Zimmy: (his fleece hood functions as a hood, and has pockets on his organic cotton cargo pants that are actual pockets)


and the birthday girl: (made of flannel, fleece, felt, with a cotton skirt)


And a quick close-up of the whole family:


Happy birthday Chloe- and thanks Chris for the opportunity to plush your family, it was a pleasure. :D

Quinn Family Plushcatures

I've been pretty busy the past couple of months doing plushcature commissions, and this one was my largest to date. The extremely talented artist John Quinn asked me to make his whole family (which of course included their dog, Morris :D) in plush form as a gift for his wife Lori. Once I got the photo of the Quinns translated into my style in sketch form, it was time to get sewing. This is how they came out. First we have the actual Quinns:


and now for their plush selves:


And as individuals:
John:


Lori:


Sean Bridget:


Meredith:


And lastly but not least, Morris:


I have to be honest- I definitely felt the pressure of making these for John's family, since he is an amazing caricaturist. I'm happy to report that they were well received and Lori loved her gift. Phew! ;D


On to the next set of plushcatures... photos to come in a few weeks.