Plushroom Soup

I Heart All of You

Thanks to all of you lovelies, my yeti won the HandmadeMN January team challenge! You guys rock! I have now earned a month  of free advertising on the HandmadeMN blog. Yay!

Thanks also to everyone who has voted for me so far in the Poppies. I can't say enough kind words about all of you! Please know that I truly appreciate everything you do to support me and my work.

Speaking of work, I've added four new plushies to the Etsy shop. Two froglets and two giraffes. More frogs, froglets, owls, and owlets to come later this week or early next!

The Poppies

I've been nominated for Poppytalk's first ever handmade awards, The Poppies! My nomination is in the Crafters category. I have some outstanding competition in this category, but I sure would appreciate your vote! Click the Crafters link above for details and to vote.

In other news, I've been sewing like a madwoman so that I can bring you a sizable shop update; frogs, froglets, owls, owlets, and giraffes. Stay tuned; I hope to have them all in the shop within a week.

Handmade Olympics

The Winter Olympics are right around the corner. Not all of us get too excited about sports, but if you're a lover or maker of handmade, there are several fun ways you can get involved.

First, the lovely Kristal from RikRak Studio has put together a fun event that even non-makers can participate in. She has a whopping $2,000 in prizes to give away to winners of eight different events (including a $50 Plushroom Soup gift certificate!). Head to the RikRak blog for details and to nominate your favorite shop, item, or blog in each category.

Next up, the always awesome Kristen of Plush You! and Schmancy fame has come up with an Olympic Challenge for plush makers. She's assigning all participants a particular sport, and they'll each make a plush inspired by that sport. Think your plush could take home a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal? Click the Olympic Challenge link above for details on how to enter what is sure to be a fantastic event!

Win a Custom Plushie!

Yes, you read that right! I'm giving away a custom (i.e., you pick the colors and details!) owl or wee imp plushie. Head over to the Handmade MN blog for details on how to win a little post-holiday gift for yourself! You have until December 26 to enter.

Here's just a few owl and wee imp examples to whet your appetite.

Quickie Recap: No Coast Day 1

The first day of No Coast was a huge success! It seemed a lot more crowded than Friday night last year. Business at the booth was really steady. I'm so glad I made ornaments this year, because it seems that you guys really love your ornaments! All yeti ornaments sold out in under an hour, and almost all of the owl ornaments sold too. I whipped up a scant few more of each tonight.

Zombie critters were also very popular; there's only one left (zombie yeti)!

I was so busy tonight that I didn't get a chance to look around at any of the other vendors' wares, but I have some helpers for the booth tomorrow, so will be able to do some shopping of my own.

See you there!

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.

Introducing Owlets and Froglets!

Two of the items debuting at No Coast this year are owlets and froglets. I shrunk my usual owl and frog patterns by 30 percent for the new critters. Not only because shrinking my imps and yetis by 30 percent last year was so successful, but because tiny things are endlessly adorable, no? Also, given the still less than stellar economy, I figured the more items I have at a lower price point, the better.

Well, enough rambling, on with the pictures!

 

 

So, how much smaller is 30 percent, exactly? For comparison:

 

Busy Bee

There are only 16 days until No Coast (ack!). Which means it's officially the time of year when I put most of my life on hold to sew pretty much every spare moment. My sleep, house, and social calendar all suffer. This year is a little extra stressful since my pieces for the Go Ask Alice show are due close to the same time as well. Yikes!

I've been carving out windows of time wherever I can to get some sewing done. I sew in my craft room

at friend's houses

even during my lunch break at work!

It's amazing what just an hour here or there can do for both my sanity and my productivity. Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures of what I've been cranking out. For now, here's a sneak peek:

No Coast, Here I Come!

So last week I was happily (and very thankfully!) un-wait listed for No Coast. Which means my typical month of manic stitching sessions begins. I will make as many plushies as I possibly can before the big event. Which brings me to the real reason I'm posting today. Given that I have limited sewing time (22 days! Ack!), where should I focus my energy? Which critters do you like best? If you were coming to the show to buy a critter (and I sure hope you are!), what would you most hope to see on my table? I've installed a handy little poll below, so you can anonymously let me know what you think. If you choose "other," please do leave a comment on the post explaining what the "other" should be.

Thanks so much for your participation!

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