Plushroom Soup

Creature Collaboration

What happens when you combine two monster makers, one pattern from each maker's repertoire, and no instructions? A pretty fantastic collaboration.

Daniel Allyn Lee of Happycloud Thunderhead contacted me a while back and suggested we collaborate in some way. We decided that we would each cut out two of the same pattern, make one ourselves while sending the copy to the other person with no instructions, and see what happened.
It turns out that Daniel and my husband share the same hometown (they were even in the same graduating class—small world!), which we visit quite often, so I suggested Daniel and I meet up this weekend while I was out there.

Daniel is just as awesome as the fantastic plush he creates. We had a great time chatting and playing with our monsters. It's probably fairly obvious whose is whose, but just in case, here's what I made: And here's what Daniel made: I can not stop giggling over what Daniel did with my imp pattern. The hat! The britches! But most of all, the jaunty little bow tie! I think bow tie-bedecked plushies might become my next collection obsession. . . .

It was so much fun seeing Daniel's take on my patterns, and how different the "same" creature could look when our own style was applied to it. I'd definitely do this kind of collaboration again!

Plush Exclusive

I'm thrilled to announce my first-ever exclusive plush design: zomberries! I only made 17 of these sinister fruits, and I made them exclusively for Schmancy Toys in Seattle.

If you're not familiar, each month or so, Schmancy's owner, the stupendous Kristen Rask (also the gal behind the annual Plush You! show), asks a different plush artist to make an exlusive toy sold only in her shop. I was beyond excited and extremely flattered when she contacted me to participate, putting me in the company of such plush superstars as Robyn Fabsits, Michal Wright-Ward, and Leeanna Butcher.

I made two different sizes, with varying levels of decay. You can read more about my inspiration behind the design in an interview on Kristen's blog, and you can buy your very own zomberry in her online shop. But don't delay! Once they're gone, they're gone!

Crafty Planet Underwater

The large sea monster I made a few months ago now graces Crafty Planet's window, along with a bunch of other fantastic underwater-themed plush. I think Adrienne's totally amazeballs display is her best yet!

The window also features plush from a few fellow Plush Teamers—the sea turtle is by Hibou Cards, the star fish, rocks, and plants are by LeftZ, and the sea horse is by Chris Creatures. The rest of the creatures were made by the talented staff at Crafty Planet. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

The display should be up for at least the next few months. If you live in or are visiting the Minneapolis area, be sure to check it out!

Largesse

Last month, the ever awesome Adrienne at Crafty Planet asked me if I'd make a critter for another window display (you may remember she designed a yeti-themed window last winter). This time, she requested a giant octopus. I'd been wanting to make a large version of one of my critters for quite some time, so I was especially excited about this request. Here's the finished result, hanging out in Crafty Planet:

Isn't he fun? He's 24" tall and made of super soft fleece (my first time using fleece for a plush), with a wool face, wool suckers, and wool fish prey (who all have needle-felted wounds). His tentacles are wired for posability.

I had so much fun making this guy, I already cut out another larger octopus. And I'm definitely going to make time for a large yeti before No Coast this year as well. I'm thinking about 4' tall. . . . Frankly, I don't know why I haven't gone large before. The larger the plush, the easier it is to make. It seems counterintuitive, but I often have to fight with tiny parts to turn them right side out and get the stuffing just so. Especially with tentacles. Unfortunately, plushies are a bit of niche market as it is, and I'm not sure there's much of a market for supersized plush. Partly due to the expense, but also, what does a person do with a 2-foot octopus (other than display him in a window, of course)?

Anyway, I'll post pictures as soon as the window is complete. Adrienne has some super fun stuff up her sleeve for this one, and I think it will be the best Crafty Planet window yet. I even got a few members of the Plush Team to contribute, so it will be loads of plushie fun!

Plush You! Seattle

The 6th annual Plush You! show opens tomorrow night at Schmancy in Seattle. I'm super stoked to be attending the show for the second time (though it's my first time representing Plushroom Soup). I can't wait to meet many of my fellow Plush Team members in person, as well as many other plush superstars.

This year, I decided to send a fractured fairy tale: my own twisted version of Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Dead Riding Hood, the Woodsman, and the Big Bad Werequatch (or Werefoot, if you prefer).

Little Dead sports the epitome of zombie girl fashion: a completely removable cloak made of soft buttersuede and lined with cotton canvas, a skirt featuring creepy spiders and spiderwebs, striped tights, black boots, and fashionable little pigtails held in place with coordinating ribbons.

Little Dead carries a basket of moldy bread and rolls, with a stow-away black rat. Eeeww!

Little Dead keeps some pretty questionable company, in the form of a Werequatch. The werewolf that encountered this bigfoot definitely bit off more than he could chew, and never lived to tell the tale.

The Woodsman sure has his work cut out for him with this pair! Fortunately, his wool pants, hiking boots, flannel shirt, and knit cap keep him toasty while hunting, and he's very well-armed. In addition to the traditional hatchet, he carries a special double-headed axe and a special rifle as well.

His axe serves him well when fighting zombies, as long as he remembers the cardinal double-tap rule (kudos to the readers who get this fairly nerdy reference).

The Woodsman's rifle is loaded with special silver bullets, the only weapon known to effectively dispatch Weres.

I had so much fun crafting this trio, despite a couple of challenges while doing so! Clay is not really my forte, so the weapons and Little Dead's basket gave me a few fits and aren't 100 percent the way I wanted them to look. But I'm proud of myself for continuing to refine my people-making skills, as I've been wanting to do fractured fairy tales for a very long time. I hope this bunch enjoys their time in Seattle and can hold their own next to all the amazing plush talent that will be present.

If you're in or near Seattle, go see the show! It's on display until November 8 at Schmancy, Fancy, and Nancy. But if you can't make it, don't fret. I'll be sure to post a recap of the show when I return from Seattle!

In Which You Clamor for Yetis

The results of my little poll are in, and yetis beat out the competition by a small margin:

You asked for it, you got it! Introducing Cotton Candy Yetis!

These guys will be available at No Coast, but there's only six of 'em, so get to the booth early!

And for those of you who were really hoping for more frogs and owls, no worries. I have plenty of both of those as well.

See you at No Coast! I'm booth D-2 this year, in the main hallway near the security desk.

Go Ask Alice

I'm finally ready to reveal the pieces I made for this awesome show! I decided to make the Queen of Hearts, Alice, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I envisioned the Queen of Hearts as a nasty sea monster who captured Alice:

The Queen herself is vaguely heart-shaped, and she has heart-shaped pupils and suckers, as well as heart-shaped jewels on her crown.

I based my Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum on the John Tenniel illustrations from Through the Looking Glass.

 
I actually used my owl pattern, enlarged, for their general shape (Alice also uses my owl pattern, but much smaller), and then I just added arms and legs. I was really nervous about embroidering the faces since I've never made anything remotely human-looking before, but I am rather pleased with how they came out.

I decided to also make sailor hats for Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, to more closely tie them to the Queen of Hearts piece.

And here's the whole gang together:

I've long been a fan of Alice in Wonderland (I even wrote my undergrad thesis paper on the tale, because I'm that nerdy), so I'm more excited than usual to be participating in this show. Many, many thanks to Cimmi for curating! If you're in the Santa Barbara area, please go check it out (and take lots of pictures!). Visit the Paul Cumes Fine Art Gallery website for more info.

Buy Zombie!

Ah, the power of Twitter. This afternoon, someone I follow reposted a Tweet (retweeted) from a user named BuyZombie. Since I craft zombie critters and generally like most things zombie, I was intrigued and clicked over to their profile. BuyZombie.com is an awesome Website that is "an ever-growing database of everything Zombie related you can buy or do on the Internet" and has "grown to be a hub for zombie news, media, reviews, and announcements!" Naturally, I had to follow someone who runs such a cool site and I swear, not even an hour later, I saw this Tweet from them:

How cool is that?! Thanks to Stuart for such a nice write-up of my zombie critters!

Thoughtful Thursday - On Halloween and the Zombie Scourge

Yep, it must be October all right—zombies have shuffled their way into my Etsy shop! There should be a zombie critter to satisfy most souls, and I plan to add one or two more in the next week.

If zombies aren't quite you're thing (is that even possible?!), there are a few other "dark" critters as well, like this undead dragon:

Aside from Christmas, I think Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love playing dress up and seeing all the creative costumes others make. I also love the typical Halloween themes—skeletons, zombies, ghosts, wizards, witches, and so forth. It's the one time of year you're not considered a super nerd for enjoying or displaying items with these themes. So, here's to a fun and festive holiday this year, and no matter what others may say, zombies are always in fashion!

The Waiting Game

I did it. I just submitted three pieces for consideration to the Mortal Plush show in DC this summer. The theme of the show is plush that convey emotion. You saw bigfoot yesterday, exhibiting ennui. I also submitted two sea monsters.

This one with the jaunty little top hat is excited:

While this meanie is displaying fury:

I cut it very close to the deadline (today) like my typical procrastinating self. This time, it wasn't because I was sewing up until the final possible moment, it was the weather. Seriously! Because I haven't yet built myself a little light tent, I have to rely on the sun for nice photos, or haul my creatures into my day job to use the photo studio there. Can you guess what's going to be at the top of the list for my May goals (which I'll be blogging about later this weekend)?

Anyway, I really hope I get accepted to the show. Keep your fingers crossed for me!