Argus

Hey all! The Plushteam's March/April challenge is "World Mythology Plush". There are several categories including gods/goddesses, magical artifacts, magical creatures and mortals/demigods. Even though the challenge was announced quite a while back it took me a while to get in the groove. On the surface it sounded like an awesome challenge. I love mythology from all parts of the world so I thought I would have no problem finding something to make. However when I started looking on various websites I realized that many mythical characters are human or part human and I really didn't want to make a person (or at least I couldn't envision how to make a human). Then I found this site called MusesRealm.net. They have a magical creatures and beings area with tons of creatures listed in alphabetical order. I nearly looked and read every single one but settled on one of the first ones I saw, Argus, a giant with 100 eyes.

Here is his description from the site:

"Argus was a Giant with 100 eyes that were placed all over his body. He never closed all of his eyes at once, sleeping with at least half of them open. For this reason he made an excellent guard. The Goddess Hera had him guard the maiden Io, a lover of Zeus who had been turned into a white cow. Zeus sent Hermes to rescue the maiden, which the god was able to do by singing to Argus and getting him to close all of his eyes. When Argus was completely asleep and unaware, Hermes killed him. In return for his service and sacrifice, Hera placed his eyes onto the tail feathers of the peacock, a bird which from then on has been sacred to the Goddess."

This is my original sketch of Argus:

It's funny how different a plush can come out from the original sketch (at least for me). I guess he came out pretty much like the drawing except for the face. I like them both. :)

A little bit about my Argus... He is about 13 inches tall from his toes to the tip of his head. He is made from a shaggy blue fake fur and a complimentary blue fleece. He does have 100 eyes all over his body (hopefully). I have to admit he may or may not have 100 total eyes although I am pretty sure he does. Due to some confusion and a couple breaking off I did lose track once or twice. It was a lot of eyes! All of the eyes except a couple are glass (the ones that aren't are plastic) and they are all different sizes and colors. I love how they hide in his fur.

Argus has a lot of details such as a ton of needle sculpting on his hands and face. His fingers are wired and need to be bent so he can stand but you can unbend them if you want.

His nose has warts as you can see in this picture.

When he was done I decided he needed something to break up the blue body so I made him a vest. It is made from brown wool felt with misc. fur and felt patchwork added. There is also a wooden button to finish it off.

My Argus came out sweet and he even loves other creatures.

He is weighted in his feet and stands freely. His arms are jointed at the shoulder with plastic joints so they do move. His legs are not jointed and don't move.

The biggest problem I have found with working on these challenges and plush that is so different from what I normally do is that when the piece is completed I don't want to sell them. I am creating plush that I would buy...maybe that is good but it isn't so good when it comes to responsibility and the need for $.

What do you think of him?

Olympic Challenge Entry!! Yay! Finally!!

Kristen of Schmany and PlushYou is putting on an Olympic Challenge. For all the details (it is too late to enter but if you want to know the criteria) go here. I have finally finished my piece and I am really excited to share it. There are four categories and I got opening ceremonies. I had no idea what to do! The only thing that came to mind was a torch and I figured everyone in my category would do a torch so I wanted to think of something more complex. Since the olympics took place in Canada this year I tried to think of all things snow and Canadian. My list was long but I decided on a snowflake that is melting while holding the torch.... What started as a brainstorming session ended with a piece that is probably the most complicated thing have I have created to date.

Here is the original concept drawing...

I have to tell you I almost gave up. First of all a snowflake must be perfectly symetrical. Aaaand all those little legs have to turn and the bases are quite narrow (and not fun to sew and cut out). The first attempt was too small and all wonky. I enlarged the pattern and tried again....

This dude is made from white fleece. The torch is grey fleece and flame is wool felt. The snowflake himself is completely wired and can stand on his own. His face is embroidered and colored with ink.

I call him...... "The 2010 Olympics are HOT!!!"

What do you think? I want to win the GOLD!

Save Boobs!!!

Well it has been a whirlwind week so far. I officially started part time at my J O B on Monday. That in itself is the weirdest feeling ever. School started yesterday and that was pretty weird too. As I was explaining to my brother....it feels like someone died and my brain hasn't caught up with the absense. I feel like next week my life will go back to normal and I will work full time at the job I have been at for nearly 9 years. It isn't going to happen though and I have to keep reminding myself.

School is a whole 'nother weird feeling. First of all I am going to Lane Community College and when I was in my junior year of high school I transferred to Lane's adult high school program. I ultimately received my high school diploma at Lane. The program no longer exists which is a shame because I loved it! I went on to attend Lane for a couple more years taking college courses but never finishing any degree. The point I am getting at is many moons ago I spent several years at this school.

Being on campus has brought back a whole lot of memories good and bad. I remember eating in the cafeteria with my now ex-husband. I remember working out in the gym with my cousin who I rarely see any more. I remember selling Mary Kay in the cafeteria (I know crazy right). I used to wheel this giant suitcase of cosmetics all over campus...it was (and still is) slightly embarrassing. Lucky for me I am going to have two more years to create some new hopefully good memories....

On to other things.... The Plushteam is having a fundraiser through the month of October to raise money for breast cancer awareness. This is a special cause as my own Momma is in remission from this terrible illness. I am thankful every day that for now she has beat this killer. I knew I had to contribute something to this event.

My piece is dedicated to my Momma.

I brainstormed for quite some time before committing and creating what I did. I didn't really think of how I felt but after finishing the "girls" I realized my piece came out kind of angry (and maybe a little funny) which is kind of how I deal with stuff that makes me angry, like my Mom being sick. I hope you like my piece...it is available for sale in the Plush team shop along with a bunch of other awesome booby creations!