Ahoy, Mateys!

More additions to my ever growing plush collection, hooray! Welcome Captain Jack Sparrowpants made by the talented Claire of absolutely small, and his first mate, Surly Starfish. Surly was made by the wonderful Lana "Plushinator" Crooks.

 Jack and Surly seem to be land-locked for now, but I'm sure the devious Cap'n Jack has something up his sleeves to somehow get them on the ocean again...

I love Surly's head scarf and his expression is awesome. The details on Jack are fantastic, right down to the twisted wool for his dreads and messy hair. I'm really happy to have these great plush in my collection! If you want get more info on the latest from Absolutely Small, click here to find her blog. To find out more about the about the world of Lana Crooks, click here.

Only a few hours left to bid on this guy:

Keyrock the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer!

The winning bidder in the auction not only gets my plush (which comes with a certificate issued by Phil Hartman's estate), but helps to raise money for Heal the Bay, a cause that was dear to Phil Hartman's heart. Here's the link for the auction, and to find out more about this cause, click here.

Let's make some burgers, shall we?

Tomorrow the Super Button Masher's show opens at OhNo! Doom in Chicago, and my plush version of Peter Pepper from the classic 1982 arcade game, BurgerTime will be there, as well as some smaller pieces.

Peter is made from cottons, with pixelated corduroy pants, and green flannel shoes. His face, hands, and hair are fleece, with felt facial details, and a hand embroidered mouth. His burger is made from fleece and felt, with hand embroidered "sesame seeds" on his bun.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the game: Peter Pepper is a chef, who has to run up and down ladders, dropping ingredients to make complete burgers, while avoiding the likes of these characters: Mr. Egg, Mr. Pickle, and Mr. Hot Dog.

These smaller plush will be in the "prize wall" section at the show, and are made from fleece, with felt accents.

I had a blast making the pieces for the show, it was a trip down memory lane. If you are in the Chicago area for the next few weeks, head on over and check out the amazing art created for the show. If you're a video game fan, you won't be disappointed. Here's a list of some of the artists participating in the show:

Super Button Mashers Show - Sneak peek

This Saturday, March 11th, is the opening of Super Button Mashers: A Gamer Tribute at OhNo!Doom Collective in Chicago.

I was super excited to be asked to participate in the show, since I've been a Nintendo gamer from the beginning. It took me awhile to decide on what game to pay tribute to. In the end I went back even further to get my inspiration; old school arcade games. Here's a peek of what I made for the show- anybody take a guess as to what game and what characters I made?

The Plush Team was also asked to create small plush pieces for the Gallery's "prize wall" at the show, check out the Plush Team's blog to read more. I'll be posting photos of my pieces later this week, so stay tuned. :)

Phil Hartman Charity Auction for Heal the Bay Feb. 4 - 14

As promised, here's the video with all the info you need to help out Heal the Bay and bid to win my Keyrock the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer plush. :D The auction starts today, and don't forget to nominate Mr. Hartman for Canada's Walk of Fame.  The link to the auction can be found here.

Win this Plush and help Heal the Bay at the same time!

Remember back in December when I posted photos of a Keyrock the Unfrozen Lawyer plush that I created? Well, I didn't have all the details to share with you at that time, but I was asked to make this plush by a representative of the Phil Hartman family for a charity auction to benefit Heal the Bay. I am very excited to be a part of this charitable effort! In addition to auctioning off my plush, the Hartman family is also trying to get Mr. Hartman's name on Canada's Walk of Fame, (Phil Hartman was Canadian, in case you didn't know. :D) and they need your help. If you are a fan of Phil's, please head on over to the Walk of Fame link and nominate him for the award.

The auction runs from February 4th to February14th, and you can get all the details by watching this great video created by Mike Scott, he's the liaison that commissioned me make the plush for the auction. I'll be posting the actual video on February 4th, so stay tuned!

Be My Valentine!

In the mood for love? I made two sets of heart ornaments joined by one red ribbon this week, since I realized that the annual love-fest is just a little over two weeks away- can you believe it? All you guys (and girls) out there with sweethearts better not forget the big day! You don't want to be in the dog house, do you? ;)

These are made from fleece with hand embroidered faces, and they also have small felt heart accents.

"Will you be my Valentine?" Red Bear asked White Bear. "Why yes, of course I will!" White Bear exclaimed happily, as Red Bear gave her the Valentine he had hand-made for her.

You can find Red and White Bear happily waiting to be adopted in my etsy shop along with their heart shaped friends, here.

Hooray for vintage shops

One of the things that Ben loves is to check out thrift and antique stores in his never-ending search for more and more crewel embroidery pieces for his office wall. (More about that another time.) We usually end up in at least one or two stores in every city or town that we visit or are driving through. While he's on his crewel quest,  I wander around the shops searching for unusual sewing items or plush.
One of the great towns for antiques is Medford, Oregon. They have quite a few large antique "mall" shops and we usually find great pieces when we are heading through there. To make a long story short (too late! ;D) I found this baby in my wanderings- a vintage sewing case!

It's made completely out of wood, and each side telescopes open to reveal drawers. I couldn't resist having this- the only other old sewing cases I have seen are made from wicker or fabric, and aren't really my thing. I'm a sucker for cool wooden pieces, whether it's furniture, toys, etc.

Here's a photo of what it looked like in the shop with both sides open. I'm looking forward to cleaning it and loading it up with supplies.  :)