Claudine Clodhopper

As promised, here is the plush that I made for the awesome AC of Hibou Designs for the Plush Team's Mardi Gras themed Secret Santa swap.

Meet Claudine Clodhopper:

The Clodhoppers are a species of BigFoot that love to wear mis-matched socks. Claudine is a big fan of Mardi Gras, and gets out her mask and fleur de lis brooch every year, along with her beads and coins, and heads out to have fun with her friends.

She is made from a super soft and cuddly shaggy plush minky, which makes her great for snuggling with. The mask is removable and made out of felt, with gold trim and feathers - it's not Mardi Gras without feathers, right? ;)

You can find a few of Claudine's cousins hanging around in my etsy shop- they are eagerly waiting to go off on new adventures. :)

Plush Mardi Gras!

I received my awesome "Mardi Gras in a box" from the terrific Patti Haskins last week, which was part of the Plush Team's yearly secret santa swap this year. I was really excited to open it up, and here's what I found inside:

Besides the fun Mardi Gras bling in the box, the star of the show was this amazing handmade plush Mardi Gras Crown! So awesome! It was so fantastic that some of my new plush snuck it out of the box along with some bling, and decided to have a Mardi Gras party of their own while I was out of the house on Tuesday. It seems that Merv the Muppet Reporter was named King of this Mardi Gras celebration, and, as you can see, really enjoyed having that crown on! (I think that they opened up the bottle of Yermit wine that Santa had, and this was the result. ;D)

Thanks a million Patti for the awesome plush crown- as you can see, it's being put to good use already.

If you're wondering what I made for my secret santa, here's a teaser of the plush all wrapped up. I'll be unveiling it after my swap partner has a chance to enjoy it for a bit. :D

Woohoo! New plush...again. :D

As promised in my earlier post, I have finally taken the time to snap some photos of the awesome collection of plush that I received for Christmas this year. I was seriously excited to open up the boxes containing these guys, let me tell you!

Here's the most awesome Santa plush from the amazing Yermit, complete with Santa toque and the bottle of wine from the Yermit Winery: (I loooove his face and those great ruffled cuffs on his shirt)

The fantastic Orson the Space Crab by the talented and eco-friendly Cotton Monster: (the teeth kill me- so good!)

The adorable Flower by SukiSuki: (the patterned fabric used for the leaves is just too cute)

And, last but not least, I got this guy from the Plush You! Show this year- A Highland Bull by AndaPanda, who is from Spain. I'm a sucker for corduroy, and this guy is so full of character:

I'm working on a special Mardi Gras plush at the moment, since the Plush Team is having its annual swap, which is of course totally fun and is getting everyone in the mood to "laissez les bon temps roulez!" Check out the plush created for the swap so far (along with other fun topics) over on the Plush Team's blog. I received my swap in the mail yesterday, and I'll be posting the photos over on the blog soon. :D

A New Year, and new plush for my collection

Happy 2013 everyone!
I am busy getting my studio re-organized and tidied up, so I don't have any new plush created to show you yet, but here are a few of the newer pieces that I've added to my collection just before the holidays. You might say these were gifts to myself. ;D

This is "Fuming Flames" by the awesome Lana Crooks. He doesn't look too happy to be in my collection, but he'll get over it, eventually.

Here is the "Masked Monster Bandit" by the talented and eco-friendly Sweet Poppy Cat.  He is so cuddly and I love the way that she makes the legs. He's made from upcycled cashmere and wool sweaters.

This cool creature is a "Woodland Friend" from the lovely Let's Be Friends. The fabric combination on this guy is awesome, and I love the feathers and his expression.

Of course, my family also surprised me with some amazing new plush for Christmas, and as soon as I get them photographed, I will share them with you all.

I hope to get back to the sewing machine in a few days time, so stay tuned for new Plush Goodness in the coming weeks!

New holiday Plush in the shop!

It's one of my favorite times of the year- that transition from Fall into Winter, with all the lovely warm sweaters, cozy blankets, and cold weather that comes with it.

I have made a few new items for the holiday season, which are now available in my etsy shop. They join a bunch of holiday and wintery plush that are already there waiting for good homes.

It wouldn't be winter without a snowman, and since I live in California, I have to make a snowman plush in lieu of making the real thing. ;D

This snowman is all dressed for the weather in his warm flannel sweater, flannel scarf, and felt top hat. His body is made from cuddly white minky.

It wouldn't be Christmas without Santa and his loyal reindeer, Rudolph; Santa takes the form of a pillow for your home, and Rudolph is ready for the holidays in his festive saddle blanket and red jingle ball collar.

and you can also find two of my Santa Head Ornaments in the Plush Team's etsy shop.

Just waiting to help add some holiday cheer to your home or as a holiday gift are these guys:

A snowman head pillow with a festive red minky scarf:

And winter isn't winter without Snow Angels- meet Freddy:

If you are looking for ornaments, there are a string of stars and a set of ball ornaments available:

and there are holiday Rabbits just waiting to be invited to a Christmas or holiday party at your home, a pair of holiday bears, a gingerbread clown, and if you are in a yeti mood, there are still a few of the adventurous Mini-Yetis hanging around as well!

If you are like me and like to decorate the tree with a collection of hand made ornaments, you're in luck! Check out the Plush Team's etsy shop every day from now until Dec. 7th, when various members of the Team will be adding new ready-to-hang creations.

Miles the Pug

Miles was a commission from the lovely zfla as a wedding present for her niece; who had the real Miles participate in their wedding this Fall. How cute is that?! 

Miles is made from super soft and cuddly "camel" colored minky, with chocolate brown minky muzzle, eye patches, and ears. He is wearing a bright fall orange cotton bow tie like the one that the real Miles wore on the wedding day. Making a pug plush turned out to be more challenging than I expected- it took many, many, sketches and about four tries during prototyping to get the body shape the way that I wanted.

Long time no blog...

Well, things have been pretty crazy around here for the last month, what with trying to get as many of my commissions done as possible, as well as get some Christmas themed plush made. Here are a few teasers of what I have been/am currently working on to whet your appetite for all things wintery. :D

I am currently on a bit of an enforced break as I recover from arthroscopic surgery, so I will hopefully post more photos of finished work after American Thanksgiving/ beginning of December.

Stay tuned to the Plush Team's blog starting Cyber Monday- the Team is doing a fun holiday themed promotion that you won't want to miss. :)

Also- if you are interested in taking a look at or purchasing Hansel, Gretel, or Wilhelmina Witch; the plush that I made for this year's Plush You! art show, you can find them for sale here on the Schmancy Toys website, just scroll down until you see them.

It's time for Plush You!

I would loooooove to be in Seattle for the opening of the Plush You! art show at Schmancy Toys this Friday night at 5pm, but no such luck for me this year. My plush will just have to enjoy the opening for me, I guess. ;D

I did a bunch of sketching before I decided what I wanted to make this year, and I finally came up with the idea to do my take on Hansel and Gretel, and their nemesis, the Witch.

Hansel

Hansel and Gretel find themselves lost in the woods for days, and then suddenly come across a cottage deep in the woods that is completely made of candy! 

Gretel

Unbeknownst to them, the delicious looking cottage belongs to Wilhelmina Witch, who has an unusual favorite food...

Wilhelmina Witch

In my version, Wilhelmina is a lot like the sharks in Finding Nemo: she is a recovering child-eating addict, who is trying to mend her ways. Will she be able to resist Hansel and Gretel? I wonder...

These were a lot of fun to make, and I really had a good time finding a bunch of cotton prints that coordinated but weren't matchy-matchy. Playing around with combinations of prints is one of the most enjoyable aspects of plush-making, I think.

I also wanted Hansel and Gretel to relate to each other but not use the same fabrics, so I chose yellow as the common element, and worked with that to choose the differing fabrics for each sibling. Both Hansel and Gretel have freckles, and are wearing the same shoes. I wanted to get the candy feel into them without it being too obvious, so I used rick-rack to add a "gingerbread" element, and the flowers on Gretel's apron kinda look like lollipops to me.

For Wilhelmina, I definitely wanted her to shout candy and treats, so I found a cotton print with all sorts of ice cream desserts on it for her skirt, and then I used the colors from that pattern to help choose the rest of the fabrics, keeping the candy theme in mind. She has a witchy light green fleece for her face and hands, and a definite candy pink for her hair. I made her witch's hat out of brown felt, with a lighter brown stitching over top to create the "waffle cone" effect. To add to the candy/treat elements of her look, I made her a large lollipop to hold, as well as mini donuts for the buckles on her shoes, and a pink shortbread cookie, chocolate chip cookie, and ice cream pop resting on her hat brim. To add some sparkle, she has a sparkly button brooch on, her dress has sparkly green rick rack trim, and the icing on the donuts is made from white sparkle felt.

If you are in the Seattle area this Friday, head on over and check out the show at Schmancy Toys. There are always amazing plush made for this show, and you won't be disappointed! If you can't make the show, but still want to see photos etc, look for #PlushYou! on twitter, and you can also see photos on Schmancy's pinterest, and facebook pages.