Woah. Can you believe it's December already? Where did the year go?
As usual, the past month I have been busy busy busy prepping for the No Coast Craft-o-Rama. This year marks my seventh year at this great event (also WOAH). I'll have a dual booth this year, presenting both Plushroom Soup and Stardust Stitches goods. I'm still working out how I'm going to do the display, but whatever happens, I'm excited as always!
Here's a sneaky peek at some of the goods that I'll have available. . . .
Oh, hai Interwebz! I have returned with splendid tales of offline adventures!
The most exciting bit of news: I launched a second business last week! The new biz is Stardust Stitches, and it's lots of handmade little lovelies to help you have a more relaxed and serene life. Slippers/house shoes, rice therapy pillows, sachets, lap/receiving blankets, etc.
Check out the Etsy shop or the Facebook page for all the goodies. I might be crazy, what with Plushroom Soup, the day job, the 5 pets, the farm plan, and trying to have a social life too. But I'm super excited about the new biz!
I'm also excited to announce that Amy, my BFF and favorite crafty partner in crime has revamped and relaunched Crabtree Studio. She's making utterly AMAZEBALLS heriloom-quality childrens clothing, so if you've got a little munchkin in your life, you should check out her stuff.
Last Sunday, we shared a booth at the innaugural Summer No Coast Craft-o-Rama in Silverwood Park (reunited and it feels so good. . . .). But holy hell, people, was it HOT. And STICKY. I felt like I was standing in a swamp all day. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my entire life. But the park was gorgeous, the crowds were pretty steady, and we got lots of positive feedback about our work. I even made a few more sales than I had expected for both a first-time show and the first event for Stardust.
I didn't have much of a chance to check out all the other vendors, but our neighbors Oh Dier were really sweet and lovely people. And they make highly-covetable, beautiful objects to prettify your home. I think this sign in red would make a perfect addition to our reading room.
They also had one that said "Library," but I can't find an image of it. Tough to choose which I'd want more, but I better decide before Winter No Coast!
In other news, I started a new day job in mid-June. I've once again picked up the red pen after my brief erroneous stint in IT. I'm VERY relieved to not be part of that madness anymore and am loving the new job so far.
The farm dream is also going strong. My local NRCS rep came out to the farm in June to help me assess the pastures and develop a rotational grazing plan for my future critters. Turns out I have abundant and species-diverse (if a bit overgrown) pastures, including awesome native prairie.
Sadly, all this activity has left little room for plush making. But I do have lots of fun ideas and the Plush You! 2012 deadline is starting to loom, so expect to see some fun stuff soon.
Also expect to see some changes around the blog in the next few months. I haven't entirely worked out what it will look like, but I know I want one cohesive space where I can write about Plushroom Soup, Stardust Stitches, and the soon-to-be-named farm. I'm toying with lumping them all under one blog called Farm Sewn (see what I did there? See? Yes, I'm a dork.). I know many of you run several businesses. Any advice for juggling their web prescences gracefully?
Last week, I had the pleasure to attend the Plush You! show for the third time. I think the collection of plush on display, from about 60 different artists, was the best yet!
I helped Kristen set up the show on Thursday night, which meant I got first dibs on buying a plush. I had such a hard time choosing which one to take home, but I finally settled on this handsome viking dude by Pepper Stitches:
The Plush Team was, of course, very well represented, including Cutesy but Not Cutesy, Plush Goodness, Hibou Cards, Weird Bug Lady, Moons Creations, Yummy Pancake, Talkproof, Pterodactyl Pants, Green Elevator, Yermit, Scrumptious Delight, Chris Creatures, ThEm DoLLz, Green Star Studio, Needlings, Cretur Fetur, Squirrel Momma, Lowell and Son, and Out of the Frame (I think I mentioned every teamer in the show; apologies if I've left anyone out!).
My dudes looked pretty awesome in their little cubby, keeping good company with Moxie's awesome e-textile monsters.
I even got to chat with Moxie for a spell, and she is as supremely awesome as her critters are.
I also met Anisa from Nonsense Institue (she's so sweet!):
And another plush-maker from Minnesota! She even lives in my neighborhood! Meghan and her husband were so fun to chat with, and I can't wait to get my craft on with Meghan sometime. Her toys are not only cool to look at, but they're interactive too!
Aside from the show, I also visted the Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park, Bainbridge, the Asian Art Museum, the conservatory in Volunteer Park, the Japanese Gardens, the Arboretum, Fremont Market, and Pike Place Market. I would say Bainbridge and the Japanese Garden were the highlights for me this year.
You can see many more photos of the show and my adventures around Seattle on Flickr.
It's finally time to reveal my finished plushies from the last post!
First up is my interpretation of the La Catrinas from Dia de los Muertos festivals. She's heading to the Starkweather Arts Center in Romeo, Michigan for a Day of the Dead show. The show will run October 7-29, and there are lots of amazing artists participating (I think the Plush Team may have a slight monopoly on the exhibit!), so if you're in the area, be sure to check it out!
I really enjoyed making this catrina, so I've cut out a few more and hope to put at least one in the Etsy shop soon.
I'm even more pleased with how my pieces for this year's Plush You! turned out. As I mentioned, I decided to continue with the fractured fairy tale theme I employed last year. I decided to take popular women characters and turn them into men instead. First up, we have Cinderfella, who of course couldn't even conceive of leaving the party before midnight, so he lost a slipper and his stagecoach turned back into just an ordinary, if rather large, pumpkin:
I don't know what possessed me to make him a gored doublet (okay, yes I do—George R.R. Martin, I'm looking at YOU). Because I don't really make clothes. I've tried in the past to make clothes for myself and the results have been fairly disastrous. So making them even tinier? With no prior experience and no pattern? But thanks in large part to all things Game of Thrones, I just had to dress my little dudes in fancy medieval/Renaissance/Tudor costumes. On top of that, I've always been a jump-right-in-and-just-figure-it-out sort of gal. Luckily, things turned out well. For the most part. I did have to re-sew Cinderfella's and the next guy's coats, but that was only because I miscalculated measurements and they were too small the first time.
So anyway, a lot of work. But I'm so, so happy with the result.
Which brings us to Alex . . . in Wonderland. 
Last but not least, we have Sleeping Brawny.
All three of these guys are packed up and ready to head to Seattle. Plush You! opens on October 13 this year, with an opening reception from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. Hope to see you there!
I'm entering into my second busiest time of year (second only to the frenzied activities leading up to No Coast each year): Plush You!, Halloween, and Dia de los Muertos.
I've always wanted to participate in a Dia de los Muertos show, and this year I finally have the opportunity to do so.
I was inspired by the wodden la catrina dolls common in Day of the Dead festivities, and immediately started picturing elegant plush versions.
I've drawn out the pattern, and selected a few fabrics.
Once I got started, though, I couldn't stop thinking about Game of Thrones (I've been reading the books and watching the HBO series). In the books, the author is consistently mentioning women wearing dresses with dagged sleeves. So I knew I had to incorporate them into my catrina.
And the Game of Thrones influence didn't stop there. I've also been simultaneously working on my Plush You! pieces: three fractured fairy tale dudes, all dressed in costumes inspired by the books, the show, and my general love of tudor/renaissance/medieval period dramas. Here's a sneak peek of all them sewn up, but not turned right side out yet:
Can you guess any of their identities? Here's a few hints:
I'll show you all four finished pieces later this week, and we'll see how many of you accurately guessed my Plush You! pieces. :)
I will be a vendor this June at the first-ever Unraveled DIY Festival, an event presented by the MN Textile Center, in conjunction with this year's Surface Design Association Conference. I have no idea what to expect, since this is the first year, but given the narrow focus of the show and the built-in audience of all the conference attendees, I'm hopeful that this will be a good show. If nothing else, it will be an excellent networking opportunity. Hope to see you there!
Details:
Friday, June 10, 2011
6 - 9 pm
Rapson Hall (University of MN)
89 Church Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
You can park in the Church Street parking garage is located across the street from Rapson Hall.
Festival Admission: $3.
Also, I will once again be teaching regularly at Crafty Planet. I'm really looking forward to teaching others how to craft, and excited to stretch my skills a bit and hone my teaching techniques. I'd love to see you in one of my classes! More details to come soon for each class, as I'm still working out my syllabi.
Beginning Needle-Felting
Sunday, June 26
11 am - 2 pm
Make Your Own Plushie
Tuesday, July 19
6 - 9 pm
Beginning 3D Pattern Drafting
Thursdays, August 25 & September 1
6 - 9 pm
Beginning Needle-Felting
Sunday, October 2
11 am - 2 pm
Plush Monster
Sunday, October 30
11 am - 2 pm
This weekend, the first ever Plush Team group show opens at Hot*Pop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The show's theme is Candyland, which we were all allowed to interpret any way we saw fit.
For some reason, the very first thing that came to mind when I heard the theme was "Candy Mountain, Charlie! Charrrrrrlieeeeeee." If you're not familiar, go watch the video first, then look at the plush version I created below.
I also love the way Charlie the Unicorn turned out, though I wish I had made Candy Mountain to scale.
The second piece I made for the show is Grandma Sugarsweet: 
Again, the candy pieces, as well as Grandma's tray, were sculpted from Fimo. The candy ribbons were fun to make also. My grandpa always had a tin of these by his chair when I was growing up.
The show opens Friday, January 21 and runs through March 20. So if you're in or near Milwaukee, make sure you pop in and see the show! Many talented plush creators contributed awesome designs to the show.
