A P.T. Stitchy Afternoon

Recently I received a couple Plush Team kits in the mail and today I decided to sew and put one together. The kit is for creating a plush toy of the Plush Team's mascot, P.T. Stitchy. The team put these kits together for the Maker Faire a while back when they taught some plush making classes. I have a doll show coming up in September where I will be teaching basic sewing skills as well as how to get starting making plush and dolls. I will be offering instruction, skill sheets and simple plush kits. I thought I might bring along these Plush Team kits in case any one would like to make their own P.T. mascot. If you are interested in your own kit you can find them for sale in the Plush Team Etsy shop here.

I would definitely recommend this kit for beginners as it was super simple and quick. I believe these guys were printed by Spoonflower which is a place I have wanted to try for a long time. I like how the design is printed on the fabric and ready to sew. I'm thinking it might be fun to print up the BeBe Babies bunny mascot and turn her into a plush!

I think it took me about an hour to complete him and isn't he cute??! He quickly found his way into bed with Maisy. She isn't so sure about him yet.

Another thing I did this weekend to get ready for teaching at the doll show was I put together my first skill sheet and video. The skill that I find the most useful when creating plush is the ladder stitch. I know from recently trying to teach it to my Mom that it isn't easy to get or remember if you don't use it often. Because of that I made a sheet but also a video for my Mom, and anyone from the doll show, that needs help at home. You can view the video on my website here or watch on YouTube below.

I hope you find it helpful!

Summer Happenings!

Well I finished spring term yesterday and even though summer is still slow in coming around here it is officially summer break. I spent the day today relaxing and working on finishing up a couple of projects. It was a wonderful first day of freedom. It started with checking out all of the pretty things happening out in the yard.

Then I was able to finally get pictures of my entry into the Plush Team May/June challenge. The theme of this challenge is circus. I decided to finally make a BeBe bear clown, which is something I have always wanted to do. It seems when I doodle, I doodle circus bear clowns. I thought I might make another one but after how difficult this one was I'm not sure.

He has shiny red shoes and a wool felt hat. The balls he is juggling were made by me out of clay and they are on a white wire. The ball he is standing on is weighted and he is attached to it. He doesn't stand perfectly on his ball but takes a little coaxing (or lightly leaning against something).

And lastly I made a birthday gift for my friend Sarah. She really likes polar bears and I decided to make her a polar bear pillow that is happy on one side and mad on the other. I call him the good day, bad day polar bear. I actually traced the pattern from a picture of a real polar bear which I am not sure translated well into plush. I think next time I would make his head more symmetrical. What do you think? My Mom kind of likes his kooky ears. I don't know what Sarah thinks yet.

Merry Russian Christmas!

It is that time of year again when the Plush Team draws names and sends each other plush gifts for the holiday. Instead of celebrating at the "western" Christmas time we choose to do a Russian Christmas because it is celebrated a little bit later in the season (January 7). This gives us crafters a little more time because most of us are the busiest during the holidays. In addition it is a secret swap so no one but the person in charge knows who has who. It is so much fun to anticipate what kind of plushie goodness you will be receiving.

This year guess who was in charge of the swap? Meeeee! Unfortunately because I drew the names I knew who got me but the good news was I couldn't have been more pleased with who it was. I almost felt guilty because if I was going to cheat she is probably who I would have picked because I have been a huuuuuge fan of her plush for a loooong time. Luckily my Mom has pounded a guilty conscience down deep into my soul and there is no way I would do something like that! It is better when it works out honestly anyway right?

Before I show you what I got let me tell you what I gave. My swapee partner was Anne-Claire of Hibou Cards. I was so swamped leading up to the send date that I didn't really get a chance to make something special but I had a couple octopodes sitting around that have really really wanted a home. I decided to send her this guy because he was/is my personal favorite. Luckily she liked him!!!! Read all about how he is settling into her home here. Here is one of her pictures in case you don't want to click over. She has an awesome pirate parrot that is his buddy now.

Now on to the present I received! Like I was saying I have been a huge fan of Becky aka Scrumptious Delight for a long long time. I received my package from her yesterday and had been sitting on pins and needles waiting for it because she had told me she was working on something special. I spent my time waiting wondering if it would be a cotton candy or perhaps some pickle preserves. I received a hint from Becky's husband because him and I have been working on a super secret project. He said that it was special and awesome and I would love it. Errrr I was stumped.

As you can imagine I ripped the package open as soon as it arrived. I took the time to read Becky's adorable card and then ripped the paper off the plush! I never could have imagined something so clever, amazing and thoughtful. I really think she should make more because everyone will want one! Here it is!

Becky used small rectangles of velcro to give the "wall" a brick look. Not only is that a clever use of velcro but it serves the purpose of holding up the felt graffiti and the totally awesome spray cans. All the pieces are removable and can be stuck on where ever you want!

I know that the graffiti lettering was done by her talented husband Aymeric so I really appreciate his contribution as well! Now I am going to have to work more on some felt graffiti so I can add to the wall! Did you also notice it says "Boom" which stands for my other shop Boom! Plush!? So personal and sweet!

Well what do you think? Is it not the most awesome plush ever!!!?? A big thanks to Becky for making my day/month/year.

Hot Pop Gallery Show

Hello everyone! The Plush Team is doing a group gallery show at Hot Pop Boutique & Gallery in Milwaukee. The show opens on January 21 and runs through March 20. The exciting part is the theme.......Candyland! I was really excited about the theme because I love candy/treat themed plush. Originally we were scheduled to have the show in May but got moved to January. That is the downside. It was really hard to find time to work on plush for the show with all the Christmas crazies but I was able to get 5 pieces done (which what was asked). Since the show goes through March we have been told that as things sell (hopefully) we can send stuff to restock. Soooo there may be more candy plush from me in the near future!

Because I am still trying to promote both of my shops (Boom! Plush! and BeBe Babies and Friends) I wanted to make pieces that would represent both. I decided to make 4 Ice Cream BeBe Cones and one candy monster. The monster is a spin on the Lemonheads candy character. I made him to look very similar to the actual character but made him furry and gave him horns. I really think he is cute!

This is the original character in case you don't remember.

And my monster!

I had a needle felted lemon sucker that I made a long time ago so I stuck that in his hand.

Doesn't he have a sweet face!? This is another one I kind of hope comes home to me hee hee.

Last but not least here are the little BeBe Ice Cream Cones! It's funny because a couple people have pointed out that they are scary which took me a little by surprise. It's weird when you make something and you see it one way and then someone points out something about it that you never would have thought before. Depending on what is said it can be a little alarming. I have to admit hearing that they are scary did kind of shake my confidence. Mostly because I didn't mean them to be, or think they are, scary at all! I can only think of one thing that makes them scary and that is if you literally look at them like you are eating a baby...which is not what I meant at all! I sort of thought in my head that the babies are so sweet...like ice cream! I'm really not the first one to make plush ice cream cones..I mean look at this, this, this and this.

If you live in the Milwaukee area be sure to stop by Hot Pop where you can find all of these guys as well as a bunch of other awesome plush by the Plush Team!

Plush Team Happenings

Lot's of Plush Team stuff happening around here today. First I was super excited when I saw that Leeanna (Plush Goodness) was having a giveaway on her blog Meet Sam and Pete. Leeanna was giving away one of her super adorable plush mini yetis and of course I just had to enter. Leeanna is a member of the Plush Team and I have coveted her plush for a long time. Oh she is also super nice! And guess what? I won!!!!! Yay me! Little Yardley arrived today and he is so freaking cute and soft. Thanks sooo much to Leeanna for brightening my day and giving me a plush gift. It means a lot to me because times are tough this year and it was looking like I wouldn't get any plushies for Christmas. It makes me happy!

Also I ordered a PlushTeam t-shirt from Skreened the other day and it arrived. Everytime I order an American Apparel shirt I order a large and it is a little snug (this is also a source of shame and embarrassment that a large shirt is too tight). Every time (I have probably 3 American Apparel shirts) I order I think I should just get an x-large and get over it because my shirt would at least fit. So I finally did it when I ordered the Plush Team shirt because I convinced myself that if it was too big I would use my super sewing skills to resize it. I'm not sure why I never thought of that before. Well I got the shirt today and it is huuuuge so now I am going to have to figure out resizing it..or make a dress! I like the shirt though.

WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEee!!!!!!!! Look at my crazy messy workroom!

Ok that is all for now!

Y is for Yummy

The fabulous Plush Team will be doing a group show at the HotPop gallery in January and the theme is Candyland. What a great theme!! For the show the team decided to create plush letters that would make up candy themed words. The words would then be strung around the shop amongst the plush pieces. Well you know how I like making plush letters/words so I of course signed up. I was chosen for the first "Y" in Yummy. There were some really great letters being made like this one, this one and this one and I was feeling like I couldn't compete! I decided to look at candy online and I found these rainbow twist lollipops that I thought would be cool in plush.

And here is what I came up with! What do you think?

mmmmmm...yummy

Now I have to come up with what I am going to make for the show itself. Perhaps candy babies....monsters eating candy...I guess I better get cracking.