Thursday, April 30, 2009

Ennui

Ennui cat


That's what this guy is feeling right now. Poor little Bigfoot tried everything he could think of to snap out of his funk. But nothing can cheer him up. Not even eating the cat.


Ennui dandelion


This guy is my final submission for Mortal Plush. I'll show you my finished sea monster submissions tomorrow, when I can snap better pictures of them.



Monday, April 20, 2009

Watch <em>That's Clever</em>? Looking for Alpaca?

Alpaca_pattern_sample


Then look no further! If you want to try your hand at making the alpaca demonstrated in the show, you can buy the pattern in my Etsy shop, on sale for a special price for the rest of the month.

I know my segment of That's Clever aired this morning; unfortunately I didn't know
this beforehand, so I couldn't set my DVR to record the show. If you happened
to tape this particular episode, please let me know; I'm dying to see how it turned
out!

HGTV 004

I actually taped this segment way back in April 2007—back before I went solo and was still creating with Amy under the name Crabtree Studio. Amy taped a segment too (as did a bunch of other talented Minnesotans!), but HGTV has no info on her episode yet. Though finding our air dates has been an exercise in frustration, taping the show was a blast! The film crew were super fun to work with and if any of you are reading, thanks again for the great experience!

HGTV 010



Sunday, April 19, 2009

New Frogs

I finished these sweeties last week, but just got around to photographing them this weekend:

Frog three

I have dubbed them (from left to right): Chester, Cecilia, and Arthur. All three will be appearing in my Etsy shop this week.

In other news, I Like You opened yesterday in it's new location, and they have oodles of Plushroom Soup critters (among many other super awesome locally-made goodies)! Head over to the new shop and give them some love.

And here's a super tiny sneak peek at what else I'm up to:

IMG_2753

Both of these creatures are submissions for the Mortal Plush toy exhibit. I hope to complete two more before the May 1 deadline as well, but we'll see!

 


Friday, April 17, 2009

Etsy Treasury

Whoo hoo! I'm in an Etsy treasury today!

Picture 1
On a lark, I decided to search for myself at Craftopolis (a really cool site that lets you search to find out if you're in any current treasuries or gift guides). I've searched several times before, but today was the first time a match actually came back. Thanks so much to Meghan of Mepottery for including my work!



Sunday, April 5, 2009

Setting Goals

I've been daydreaming a lot lately about all the cool things I want to do with Plushroom Soup, but feeling disgruntled by how the day job and other life consistently gets in the way. My creativity has been soaring and I have so many ideas, but never enough hours in the day. But I may have found a partial solution: the brilliant Jena from Modish and Modish Biz Tips fame has started a Monthly Goal Meetup for small business owners to share their goals and encourage each other. This couldn't have come at a better time! Maybe if I set small, realistic monthly goals for myself instead of always jumping into things feet first, I can begin to accomplish everything that I want to do.

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(image: Modish Biz Tips)

So, here are my goals for April:


  1. Research galleries and shops that may want to carry my plushies and reach out to at least 3 of them.

  2. Research online ad venues.

  3. Purchase accounting software and begin to use (I'm actually embarrassed that I haven't done this yet).

  4. Purchase color printer/scanner. Suggestions, anyone?

  5. Make at least two pieces to submit for consideration to the Mortal Plush exhibit.

  6. Make at least two pieces to submit for consideration to the Lock, Coif, & Barrel show.



Whew—I better get crackin'!



Friday, April 3, 2009

APW Gallery Opening Reception Tonight!

Just a reminder that if you live in or near New York, you should check out the APW Gallery tonight from 6 to 9 pm for the opening reception of the first annual Custom Toy Exhibit. The exhibit features over 300 artists worldwide and is also a viewer-judged contest, with first prize being a solo exhibit. I am super stoked to have one piece in the show (and maybe the only plush?), Octozombie, which you can see at the bottom of the picture below.


APW 


Unfortunately, I am unable to go to New York and see the exhibit myself, so if you go, please snap a picture or two for me, and don't forget to vote for Octozombie while you're there! If you can't make it to the opening reception tonight, the exhibit runs through April 27.


APW Gallery
48-18 Van Dam Street
Long Island City, NY, 11101