Plush It

Students designs!

2009-02-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

As you might already know, I'm taking my Year 10 Textiles students through the Plush It process. Here's some of the student's designs. Most are finishing off their drawings and are just starting to sew the body of their toys Renee
Natarsha

Kelsey

Katherine

Jasmine

Belinda

Amber

To all you teachers out there!

2009-01-23T22:49:00.000-08:00

I'm currently putting together a Plush It teaching resource. I'm back at school on Tuesday and have got a Year 10 Textiles class to amuse. I'm making up a booklet which incorporates the principles discussed in the posts about making your own toys into something suitable and explicit enough for younger students to tackle. I have to run this past the artist's whose work I'm using as examples first, but if there is anyone who would like a copy, please leave your email in the comments. This is a strictly not for profit, educational only resource, for teaching young students. The text remains my property and the images remain the property of the artists. Any artist who does not want their images used, please let me know and I'll be happy to oblige. Images are used only as examples, from which students get an idea of how adult artists work

2009-01-15T14:36:00.001-08:00

Exciting news kids! Pictoplasma, gods of intellectual burrowings into what a character is, are offering a lucky punter a chance at a residency, as part of the famous Character Walk which they hold each time they have a conference. Not much of a lead time (proposals in by the 26th of Jan) and works to be there by March but a seriously awesome opportunity

"Pictoplasma and DISK/club transmediale offer young and upcoming artists the opportunity to present their character driven work to a wide, international and interested audience.
As part of the official Character Walk, running from the 17th to the 21st of March 2009 and opening the world’s largest festival of contemporary character design and art, the renown project space General Public in the center of Berlin will serve as the perfect stage for the winning proposal.
The awarded artist will receive up to 10 days of accommodation in Berlin from the 11th to the 21st of March 2009, a grant of 500,- Euros to help realize the submitted proposal, all our support to set up the exhibition in the “General Public”, as well as free entry to all of the Pictoplasma Festival and Conference events.
We are open to your wildest, most daring, stylistically sure-footed character exhibition proposals, not limited to any media or style, ranging from video work, photography, performance, installation, painting, print, drawings or sculpture.
We expect to receive a detailed, written exhibition concept, some sketches as a first reference, a selection of the entrants previous work, an artist biography and all contact information via email until the 26th of January 2009. All material should be sent to
pictopia (at) pictoplasma (dot) com
A jury panel composed by former speakers of the Pictoplasma Conference, club transmediale and Pictoplasma will select the winning proposal and inform the future resident no later than the 5th of February. Should any questions need to be clarified, entrants are requested to be reachable via email AND phone during the first week of February.
In 2009, The Character Walk will once more guide numerous international festival attendees, producers and fans through over twenty selected locations in Berlin-Mitte, showcasing different positions of artists working in the genre of reduced figuration.
Artists exhibiting at previous Character Walks include:
Tim Biskup, Rinzen, Nanospore, Moki, Shoboshobo, Juju’s Delivery, Nathan Jurevicius, Gary Baseman, David Shrigley, Derrick Hodgson, Doma, Rob Reger, Jiacong Jay Yan, Genevieve Gauckler, Ian Stevenson, Steak Zombies, Friends With You and many more…
Miro Delija

2008-11-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

The Plush It Template. You cut on the dotted lines and sew on the solid lines. If you make your own templates using Adobe Illustrator, you can easily create an instant seam allowance line using the Object/Offset path command. I used Round and 20pt as my settings

Sewing can be as simple or as complex a procedure as you like. A really basic kind of plush is what's called a pillow doll. Much the same way as the pillow you sleep on was created, you get two pieces of fabric (in the case of a pillow, two rectangles) the same size and shape. You then pin those two pieces of fabric together so they are facing in.

This is Frocoli's design when it was sketched out on two pieces of fake fur. Note that the two pieces of fur have the furry sides facing inside and the woven backing of the fur is on the outside. This is a more advanced form of starting your design, in that he's sketched his design freehand on the fabric.

What does that mean?

This means that fabric usually has a right side and a backing. Fake furs the easiest example to use. The furry side is the right side, the side that should be facing in. So once you've cut out your two pieces of fake fur in the same shape, you put the two furry sides together so they are touching and then pin around the outside. this is because once you are finished sewing your piece, you are going to turn out the piece. In other words, turn it inside out. this will mean that the stitches you used to create the piece will be on the inside of the piece, and the viewer won't be able to see them.

Hopefully you can see here that my pins for Decomposing Dave are a few centimetres in from the edge. That's where I sewed my seam. That's a seam allowance of fabric

Seam allowance. When I, and most of the artists were sewing their pieces for the Plush It Show, we cut out two of the template shapes. As we intend to sew along the outline of the template, we leave what's called a seam allowance around the edge of our shapes when cutting it out. what this means is that you can either draw about a 1cm (or more) larger outline of the template onto the fabric and cut along this larger shape, or you cut out your shape leaving a gap between where you cut and the outline. You DO NOT cut on the outline. You need a gap or seam allowance between where you're going to sew (seam) and the edge of the fabric.

So now what? Well now you sew. There's lots of different ways to do this. The simplest way is to do it by hand, with a needle and a thread and just do a straight stitch. The reasons why this can be a useful place to start is you don't need any technology (sewing machines etc) so there's low outlay of funds for you. I also personally find that my hand stitched creations are much 'truer' to the template or drawing I created (they turn out looking much closer to the original shape). Unless you're skilled at using sewing machines, it's much harder to make all the tiny little compensations and changes you do as you hand sew with a sewing machine. But for sheer time saving and efficiency, you can't beat a sewing machine, especially when you find out just how much time you're going to need sewing a piece and how little money plush is sold for!

If you have never sewn before and need help, sewing.org seems to be a good place to look for basic instructions. It's usually something that someone in your family will know how to do, so try them! I use a very basic straight stitch, which is simply the kind of 'over and under' stitch kids are often taught when very young. Using double thread (you thread your cotton through the needle and bring both ends together and knot them = a doubling up of your thread) tends to make your pieces stronger, as does making smaller stitches. You only have to look at the tiny stitches made in commercial plush to see the more stitches equals stronger construction.

Now you have two choices, to sew completely around the whole shape, or to leave a gap. I personally like to sew around the whole piece. I find again, that the shape stays truer. the problem you will note, if you actually do this, is that you now have a shape that is sewn up completely, wrong side out, and now way to turn it inside out.

At this point I usually cut a slit in one side of the piece. This is usually where the mouth will be, or some other kind of detail. In my Gimp Bunnies, it's actually in the back of the piece, there's a little bunny tail sticking out the back of all that vinyl. That was you get a seamless finish to the piece, there's no obvious closing seams.

If you leave a gap in your seam (you stop before sewing the complete outline of the piece) then you can easily turn it inside out, you have a nice handy hole in your seam to do that. But once you've turned the piece inside out and filled it with stuffing of some sort, you'll have to close this.

The decision as to which way to go is really an aesthetic thing. Shawnimals uses his closing seams as a focus in his work

You can see the little stitches down the bottom of this little Pocket Dollop? If you use a blanket stitch to close your piece up (more about that in a minute) then you declare to all and everyone that this piece is handmade, that the artist( himself in this case), made these stitches and completed this piece. It's all part of that handmade aesthetic. To be blunt, few plush makers can rival the sophistication of what's being produced commerically, so why try? There is a charm and appeal that handmade has, that no commerical product can rival, so by using a stitch like this, you're out and proud about your handmade-ness.

Or, if you make more complicated pieces and don't want to 'clutter' the piece with an obvious seam, use a blind stitch. Off to sewing.org again if you don't know what one of those is!

So, stuffing!

Stuffing is simply the materials you use to fill your plush. Plush is in a lot of ways like a 'stuffed drawing'. You start out with flat surfaces, you attach them to each other, but it's not until you begin stuffing the piece, does it become 3-D. This can be part of the difficulties of making plush. Unlike vinyl, where you can start with wax, clay, or some other modelling material, and you're able to see the form as it develops, sewing is a little less easy to control. each time you turn a piece inside out and stuff it, you get to see if it all actually worked! Sometimes even shapes that look like they should work and are not too different from things that you've made before successfully just look bad when they're stuffed. Isn't that fun!

The types of materials you can use are varied. Poly fill, a spun polyester (i think?) filament that looks a lot like clumps of wool and can be found in most craft shops is often used. Eco fill is being touted a lot in the community, it's not available where I am, so I'm pretty ignorant about it. it you want that beanie type fill, like Beanie Babies have, you can buy small plastic beads that are used to fill toys from bear making suppliers. Some people use strips of old fabric, cotton wool. Basically it's something softish to be stuffed inside your toy.

The way you stuff toys is either a simple of difficult task, depending on your own personal prejudices. I have seen a lot of bear artists who have quite specific ways of stuffing toys, to get more subtleties out of their forms. There are even tools to help you stuff. My advice is this, stuff the piece, don't use scissors to help as they tend to pierce the fabric and play around with the fill. little fine parts of a piece, like fingers for instance, often have to be stuffed first, they will be too difficult to stuff once you've got most of the body sorted. rolling up small balls of poly fill and setting them into the fingers or whatever will often make sure they are stuffed properly. You have to also be a little careful about overstuffing a piece. lumpy toys with uneven surfaces because they have had stuffing shoved into them until bursting point isn't pretty. but you can use this technique to create form if you like. the template at the beginning of this post comes out pretty flat, the usual softly rounded surface you get with most pillow dolls. If you wad up some fill and slide it to the center of the face of the template and then stuff it quite hard, you can create a pointy nose type form in the face. Experiment, see what works for you.

Stuffing don'ts.

Don't stuff til straining point and split your seams

No lumpy toys ( I hate that!)

Don't under stuff. Floppy limbs are good if they are part of a design, but not because you didn't stuff it properly

Watch your stuffing around any sharp angles in the design. If you have arms that come out of the body on say a 45 degree angle, you'll often get some creasing in your toy around this joint. stuffing fairly hard around here will give your piece a more smooth Designer Vinyl look to it

Stuffing Advice

Some fabrics have a bit of stretch in them and are much better for making plush. they stretch with the fill and make your piece look a lot smoother and more appealing. Shawnimals and Ugly Dolls tend to use fabrics like polar fleece. It's soft, it's knitted (knits tend to take forms a lot better than woven fabrics) and has a little stretch to it. Fake fur has a bit of stretch, as do lycras, stretch vinyl etc. Too much stretch (polyester lycra is often too stretchy for plush) can totally distort and ruin your form.

Finishing off your form

As I said beforehand, you either make an obvious closing seam, like the Pocket Dollops, using a blanket stitch or an overhand stitch or you use a blind stitch to close the seam so it looks like there was no closing seam there. Or you hide your closing seams like I do, behind the mouths or whatever else you sew on top of your piece!

Well, that's the basics. But right now, you'll only have a blank shape, much like a blank Munny or Qee. What do you do now with it? Well, next post will be about how to create the character you designed on the piece using a range of strategies...

2008-11-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

So you've got your body drawn, designed, sewn up and ready to finish. Now we get to the knitty gritty's. Bodies with pulled seams and puckers, unsightly bulges etc are going to detract from your work, so getting a good base form sorted is important. But, it is the next part of the plush that usually makes a difference when it comes to plush.

You're going to add the parts of the piece which make up the character: the eyes, nose, mouth, tail, horns, prehensile teeth, antenna, prolapsed colon...whatever. You've worked this out on paper already, and are confident that your character is fabulous....so now's the time to see if you were actually correct.

Jill Penney's Fimo models of her pieces for Plush It

The translation from 2-d to 3-d is a tricky one. Interestingly, plush maestro Jill Penney created some small Fimo models of her Plush It Designs before making the finished product, which is a labour intensive process, but makes a lot of sense. 2-D and 3-D sometimes seem like completely different visual languages, what is very successful in one form, doesn't always work out that well in the other. Which is why my illustrations suck and some people have the most beautiful tags, websites and promo material for their plush, but the actual object is a little meh.

Firstly: materials

Eyes: Eyes can be made from buttons (I use buttons which I embellish with dimensional paint). They can be shank buttons (on the underside of the button is a little loop of plastic with which you sew it to the piece. Benefit: you don't see button holes on the final piece. Drawback, on smooth fabrics like cotton they can flop around a bit as they don't sit flush to the fabric, or buttons with holes in them (dunno what the proper name is). Each needs to be secured pretty tightly to the piece, as this is often the thing that will come off, in transit to the gallery, in the customers hand when they buy it! I tend to use double thread and just try to sew it as strongly and as tightly as possible....and still have eyes that come loose and fall off, so I'm not the greatest advisor when it comes to this.

My piece, Floral Ecstacy. As you can see, you can find some interesting buttons which make for some out of the box kind of eyes!

Beautifully embroidered sugar skull plush by the multi-talented Geek Freeks

You can embroider your eyes on. This means using stitches to create the illusions of eyes. If you're very proficient at embroidery, you can embroider shapes and colours, much as if you were drawing on the fabric, or, more simply, you can use an embroidery stitch on the outside of some fabric which you've cut in the shape of your eyes

Nerderella's lovely piece for Plush It. If drawing's your thing, using felt can be a useful way to translate your drawing of eyes etc more truly, as it remains flat and 2-D like your sketch

You can cut out felt shapes and stick them on, or use neoprene. Use a pretty strong glue, stuff like hot glue guns and aquadhere can actually loose their bond in hot climates like mine (I live in the tropics...sigh). Araldite is often pretty tough.

Shawnimals Pocket Pork with safety eyes (I think!)

Ugly Doll OX

You can use safety eyes. A must if making plush for small children. All of the above strategies, except for the embroidered one are possible choking risks for small children. Buttons, definitely, everything else, not so much. Safety eyes are a plastic domed eye which has a long shank on the back which you feed through a small hole in your plush. they are attached very securely by a washer which you push on the shank from the inside of the turned out plush. Best to do this before putting the stuffing in. they are much more difficult for little fingers to remove and then put in their mouths, so keep this in mind when thinking of your prospective audience. Shawnimals and Ugly Dolls really have cross market appeal, they are beloved by the very small and the not so small, so Shawnimals tends to use safety eyes in his pieces (I think from looking at them) and Ugly Dolls tends to embroider theirs on.

John Knox's piece for Plush It

You can also use materials like t-shirt transfer paper which is how I think John Know of Hello Brute does his. This way, if you want your plush to ressemble very closely your digital designs, you can actually print out your faces with an inkjet printer and heat seal them to your fabric. Be careful about doing this with synthetic and stretch material. His My Pal Sooky La-La show was incredibly successful plush wise and the pieces were fairly simple, but coupled with his incredible faces which he created for each one, made a range of plush pieces that had a lot of the clean graphic and endearing qualities of his other designs.

This was a collaborative piece that Marita Albers and I did. Being a painter, she painted up some beautiful faces on canvas and then I stitched them to the body I'd made. It works best if you use some pretty felxible painting surface (canvas was maybe a little stiff) and sew the pieces (often an over stitch, a stitch you can see on the outside of the piece, before they are stuffed)

So here's a variety of approaches that are fairly do-able for most people. You can get buttons, safety eyes, felt and canvas from most craft shops and inkjet transfer paper can be bought from most printing consumable outlets. There's some interesting stuff out there as well, the imitates the complex process of dye sublimation (ink is impreganted into a synthetic fabric surface) that's even better than inkjet transfer paper, but I haven't been able to get hold of any. Next we'll look at some other more complex ways of putting together a character

plush making process: characterisation

2008-11-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

So what exactly are you going to draw? Well I guess the overarching title of this industry is what you're looking for: Character Design. You are trying to create character. Loosely defined as one of the three elements of what makes us up as people (character, temperament and personality), character is really important obviously in Designer Plush. You're not usually making toys for small children, most people who buy Designer Plush are adults/teens. So what makes then pick your piece up rather than the multitude of others out there? Things like textures and materials can obviously help, things that feel nice will often seduce people, as will pleasing colours (one of the reasons I always find my plush sells better via bricks and mortar rather than online) but character is primary.

If someone relates to the character, it pushes down on their 'cute' nerve and makes them respond to it, if the piece and buyer are able to strike up some kind of chord, then sales and success are more likely to happen. Interestingly character seems to be conveyed loosely in two different ways

Minimalism

The Japanese are masters of character design. They have companies like Sanrio and San-X who specialise purely in character design. A little different than the traditional character design process for products in the West, where graphic designer for say, Kellogs, design a character like Tony the Tiger and Kellogs retain the right to that character. In Japan many characters, like Hello Kitty obviously, are licensed to a variety of producers of goods to be placed on their products. So Sanrio isn't in the business of making the toilet paper, condoms, toasters, or vibrators that sport Kitty's image (though they do produce some goods I think), they supplement this with licencing Kitty's image to these producers to include on their products to make them more appealing and sell more. Takashi Murakami, god of Superflat Art estimated that 85% of Japanese people owned some sort of character branded goods, so it's obviously a strategy that works.

Minimalism in character design

"Hello Kitty, as well as her family and friends, is generally depicted without a mouth, especially in merchandise. Her current designer says that she should have one because without, she lacks emotion. The official position of Sanrio is that she speaks from the heart, having no need of any particular language [citation needed]. Hello Kitty was depicted as having a mouth in a segment in the series Sanrio World of Animation. However, it has been said that Hello Kitty does have a mouth, but it is not drawn, as the creators wanted Hello Kitty's emotions to be interpreted by the viewer."

Ugly Dolls, the incredibly successful Designer Plush from the US have a similar strategy. Not quite as minimal as Hello Kitty, they still keep the facial expressions in their plush to a minimum (though not so much in other character designs)

What are the Ugly Dolls expressions? Are the sad, happy, angry, wistful, melancholy, indecisive? Whilst some have tongues hanging out, perhaps giving you some sort of clue as to what they're thinking :) it's actually up to you to decide. Sanrio has discussed how the 'blankness' of some characters can be an advantage, it gives you a kind of mental sewing needle, where your brain can stitch on the expression appropriate to your current mood onto the toy and instantly feel it is in tune with what you are thinking and feeling.

Maximalism!

Okay this isn't really the right word for it, but when you make it very clear what the expression of the piece is, let's go with Overt Characterisation for the moment. This is where you deliberately try to convey to the viewer what the character is feeling.

This is Bunny Poo by the fabulous Nerderella. The piece is called Screaming Bunny, just in case you didn't get that by looking at him! I admit this is the kind of character design I prefer. I frequently feel like a Screaming Bunny, so i instantly feel approval for this design. If I only was as cute as that when I was stressed! So if this is the kind of design you choose to make, then you will be either hitting or missing with your viewer. If they don't respond to cute screaming little bunnies, then your design will be disregarded. But it's a pretty safe risk to take, with the prevalence of sado-cute media like South Park, Drawn Together etc, we, as a society, are pretty drawn to the wonderful ambivalence of the cutely insane.

So? How do you achieve either kind of characterisation in your work?

It's a little like any kind of artform, you have to get into the language of character. This beautiful exercise by the wonderful Greg Abbot is a great one to look purely at characterisation. I get kids in my Cartooning class to do stuff similar. The most minimal of shapes and just trying different faces and ways to convey expression. As a beginning exercise, this is great way to discover your style and type of character (if you don't already know)

Researching other people's work is always one way of going about it as well. Artists over the centuries have always talked about how their work came about from being influenced by those before them. Even Picasso, icon of Modernist "originality" and Artist as Hero admitted that Cezanne (and African mask making) was a huge influence on his work. Some people like and some people hate this idea. It depends how hung up on the whole "my work is a completely original and unique display of my inherent wonderfulness" thing you are. Me personally, there's nothing new under the sun, we're all just trying to recombine and mutate things as best we can.

But if you're okay with it, look at other artists work. Flickr, Mojizu, Pictoplasma are all excellent sources of character design from across the globe. Who do you like/dislike and why? How does the person who you do like create his characters? Can you reverse engineer one? This is legitimate practice for the development of style, but not a legitimate means of making characters and selling them. There seems to be a disturbing amount of plush on Etsy and Deviant Art that are direct knockoffs of Ugly Dolls, Shawnimals etc work. These people aren't making millions (yet) and it's not fair to rip off other people's work. It's also illegal, so y'know, play nice.

The important thing though is to distinguish yourself. There's a hell of a lot of plush and character design creators out there. if your stuff is derivative or an outright copy, why will people look at your stuff rather than anyone else's? The sad thing is there are so many Wee Ninja knockoffs out there, as everyone has had the bright idea to rip off someone else's design, that your rip off is out there in a sea of counterfeits. Go for your own ideas and put them out there and see if they are able to succeed in getting noticed.

So you've researched, developed a language of character design that you like, now what? Well Virginia, it's now time to sew....

Plush Making process: Drawing!

2008-11-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

Drawing!

A weird place to start perhaps, but most sculptors, plush makers, 3-D object creators, at some point in their development of their skills, start with a drawing. Beautiful full realised sketches like Henry Moore's (famous UK sculptor if you don't know) or just a quick scribble, it's usually a means to get the basics down on paper, to be sure what you're going to make has the right proportions, shape, composition etc.

I've included here a selection of the drawings from the Plush It Show.

This is a drawing by Geek Freeks. It's the kind of drawing I tend to do (though a lot nicer drawn here!). It's worked out what's going where. Proportions (how big is the heart, the nose, the eyes etc) are all sorted out here in the sketch, so in theory, if you follow these proportions when making the plush, all will be good. Importantly though, plush/3-D is not the same as a drawing, and sometimes the translation, even if scrupulously followed from the original sketch, is just not right. That means, of course, going back to the drawing board!

Cuddly Rigor Mortis's sketch for her Plush It piece. You can see that she's suggested materials to herself to use, colours etc. The trial of a few ideas is a great one, and one I use a lot myself, you can see quickly, what's going to work and what's not, without having to make each and every idea.

Robyn Fabsits completed design for her piece for Plush It. This can be useful as you see pretty much exactly what it's going to look like and evaluate it before you make it. I never do this of course, because I'm too impatient!

So these are my drawings. I did page after page of different proposals initially, just to get the ideas going, see what would come out of the ol creative faculties. Then I decided on one for Decomposing Dave. As always, the final product differed a bit from the drawing. Worms coming out the side of the head was great in the drawing, not so good on the final product

Writing instructions for yourself when making complex plush. Violet Pie had a very complex piece. It included dyeing the piece using Kool Aid, needle felting the face, using taxidermy eyes, so it's important then to give yourself some instructions to follow. It can be great when the ideas are flowing, you can see the piece and how it will look perfectly in your head, but when you come to make it, sometimes it gets a little more confusing dammit!

Design by Frocoli

Using different coloured pens can also help, draw your attention to parts of the design, or go over some of your initial lines which you've decided to change.

Michal Wright-Ward's process was interesting. She was working from the template which we all worked from, but used tissue paper/drafting film to draw her design over the design, so that she could both look at her design, free of the template to evaluate it, or put it back over the piece to match it to the template

And Jill Penney. Largely considered to be some kind of maestro in plush, here's her process below. If you find it a little difficult to read the text says

"The spiders started as little tiny sketches in the corner of my sketchbook. I messed around with them a little on paper and then added colour"

Wanna see the show?

2008-11-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

Rachel kindly posted some before pics of the show at the gallery. Check them out here

Wanna buy pieces from the show? Go here

Pieces in the show

2008-11-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

Artist Name: Bony Bunz
Country: France
Title of Artwork: Le Rat lion
Materials used: fake fur, buttons, thread, polyfill.
Price: $40

Artist Name: Bee Harris- Blood of Bee
Country: United States
Artwork: Untitled
Materials: Yarn, stuffing, and doll
Price: $40

Artist name: Chocolate log
Country: New Zealand
Artwork: The Evil Frosting
Materials: Felt, polyfill and TLC.
Price: $50

Artist Name: Nerderella
Country: United States
Title of Artwork:
Materials used: Felt glue, thread, polyester fill
Price: $50

Artist Name: Jäke Henzler
Country: Australia
Title of Artwork: 'Tibby'
Materials used: Acrylic yarn, buttons, cotton.
Price: $90

Artist Name: Serena Kuhl
Country: Australia
Artwork: Floral Ecstacy
Material: fake fur, buttons, thread, polyfill.
Price: $45

Artist Name: Serena Kuhl
Country: Australia
Artwork: Decomposing Dave
Material: fake fur, buttons, thread, polyfill.
Price: $45

Artist Name: Jennifer Novack aka Violet Pie
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Billy the Bunny-Goat
Materials used: Curly mohair hand-dyed in cherry Kool-aid, satin fabric, needle felted wool roving, glass taxidermy eyes.
Price: $200

Artist Name: Shawnimals
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Splug
Materials used: felt, and polyfil
Price: $87

Creep mouse toys- Lindsay Schmidt
Country: United States
Artwork: Root
Materials: Felt and thread
Price: $44

Artist Name: Sappy Moose Tree
Title of Artwork: Saber tooth tiger
Materials used: Polar fleece, buttons and cotton
Price: $67

Artist Name: John Knox
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Jeffrey
Materials used: felt, poly-fil,
Price: $75

Artist Name: Alison Greiner - Pepperberry Crochet
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Spider
Materials used: Yarn, stuffing, eyes and pipe cleaners
Price: $65

Artist Name: timrobot
Country: Germany
Title of Artwork: she kept my heart
Materials used: needle, thread, felt, stencil, spraycan, hands, love
Price: 200 AUS $

Artist Name: Robyn Fabsits
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Blue Fish
Materials used: Fleece, felt, poly-fil, wood
Price: $125

Artist Name: Robyn Fabsits
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Grey Fish
Materials used: Fleece, felt, poly-fil, wood
Price: $125

Cuddly Rigor Mortis
Country: United States
Artwork: Virchow
Materials: ribbon, felt, buttons$ 150

Artist Name: Brocoli
Country: Chile
Title of Artwork: Brote
Materials used: Felt, glue, thread, polyester fill
Price: $60

Jill Penney

Artist Name: Syl Hillier
Country: Switzerland
Artwork: konoha no neko
Materials: Felt
Price: $85

Artist Name: Loulou and Tummie
Country: Netherlands
Title of Artwork:
Materials used: felt, glue, thread, polyester fill
Price: $140

Artist Name: Jhoanna Monte Aranez- One Red Robin
Country: Australia
Title of Artwork: Woodland Girl-Tree sprout
Materials used: Faux fur, Wood-grain cotton print, face designed by artists and printed onto cotton, felt, vintage bird and nest.
Price: $100

Artist Name: Jellibat
Country: Australia
Artwork: rattus jellibatus
Materials: fake fur, vinyl, polar fleece, plastic safety eyes, thread, polyfill.
Price: $80 AUD.

Jared Deal

Artist Name: Golden Russet
Country: Canada
Title of Artwork: Rick Licorice
Materials used: Felt
Price: $75

Artist Name: Mariska
Country: Netherlands
Title of Artwork: Plinky
Materials used: Felt
Price: $55

Dogbone Art (has a little cupcake in his pocket)
Artist Name: Dog Bone Art
Country: United States
Title of Artwork:
Materials used: vinyl, glue, thread, polyester fill
Price: $35

Caffa Knitted (this was hand knitted to fit the template and has little felt ninja stars!)
Cafaknitted- Katie Park
Country: United States
Artwork: Ninja
Materials: hand knitted wool and feltPrice: $75

(I love this lady's stuff. She is a god)
Artist Name: Michal Wright-Ward
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Fifi-Lou
Materials used: Felt, material and ribbon
Price: $230

Artist Name: Spooky Daddy
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Vintage Halloween Black cat
Materials used: Felt
Price: $95

Artist Name: 12Punt3- Marianne Roosa
Country: Netherlands
Title of Artwork: 2sided Plush doll
Materials used: glue, thread, polyester fillPrice: $100

Fing Toys

2008-11-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

Artist Name: Fing Toys

Title of Artwork: Cactus Girl

Retail Price: $35 AUD

Materials used: Felt

As for insight into piece making process I posted the blog post at my blog

http://fingtoys.blogspot.com/2008/11/submission-for-plush-it-2008.html

Frocoli!

2008-11-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Preview the pieces!

2008-11-13T04:42:00.000-08:00

As you might have noticed, a few of the pieces are already on the blog. The show opens tomorrow at the sunny Ruban Rat Gallery. If you're in Sydney then go and check them out. Otherwise, if you're like me and stuck somewhere else, check out the pieces online! Plush It is an international experience, we don't like to leave anyone out. And don't forget, you can purchase these little lovelies over at the website

Ruban Rat has a new website!

2008-11-13T04:37:00.000-08:00

All the pieces in the show will be sold online as well as instore at the new Ruban Rat website! Check it out to buy one of a kind plushes from some of the big names in Designer Plush Toys! Prices will be in Australian dollars, so that works out very nicely for you US buyers....

Heidi Kenney

2008-11-13T04:30:00.000-08:00

Artist Name: Heidi Kenney
Country: United States
Title of Artwork: Fungus Head
Materials used: fleece, felt, and polyfil
Price: $50
As you can see here, plush artists tend to trial a few different bodies in fabrics and shapes etc. I had similar trial and errors when making my own!

Bytedust Baito

2008-11-13T04:24:00.001-08:00

This piece is by the lovely Bytedust. He describes it as" The plush name is BAITO. The Japanese text on the card stands for “Baito Dasuto” (Byte Dust)."
And also
"BAITO, the plush I made for PLUSH IT represent my style very well! He is able to take over computers with his brain!"
I just need to find my brain first...sigh :)

Artist Name: Bytedust
Country: Netherlands
Title of Artwork: Baito
Materials used: Felt
Price: $50

Geek Freeks Zoltan

2008-11-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

Artist Name: Geek Freeks (Karla Hansen and Xander)
Title of Artwork: Zoltan
Retail Price: $100 AUS
Any statement you'd like to make: PLUSH OR DIE!!!
Materials used: polar fleece, felt, cotton, ribbon, magnet, safety eyes.

2008-10-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

if you're over in Limey Land (England for those not in the know) there's a great little show happening on the 10th of October at Black Lark Gallery called Creature Feature. Here's a word from the curator herself:

"plush exhibition Creature Feature which opens Friday 10th of October at the Black Lark Gallery and runs through the 2nd of November. The exhibition space has been transformed into a monochromatic woodland scene in order to showcase signature pieces from an international selection of artists and designers including Donna Wilson, Lucy Jane Batchelor, Abigail Brown, Udder and Hop Skip Jump. We're documenting the whole process and giving sneak previews on our blog (http://www.blacklark.blogspot.com/) . The pieces will be onsale both through the gallery and the gallery's online shop (http://www.blacklarkgallery.bigcartel.com/). "

So there's no excuse for not having a look, as we can experience it virtually via the blog. Check it out!

Monster Art Rally

2008-10-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

Again, several Plush It peoples (can't bring myself to say peeps, I'm too uncool) are in the Monster Art Rally show at Gallery 1988 in San Fran

Jayson Thiessen's work

Monsters were created by... 12Punt3, 2Cents, Adrian Pina, Anna Chambers, Beastlies, Brandt Peters, Buff Monster, Bytedust, Cameron Tiede, Chet Zar, Chocolate Log Industries, Crump, Crystal Bedford, Dan Goodsell, DGPH, Doktor A, Dr. Bao-NVC Crew, El Maz & Lina Britton, Eyebone, Forestprints, Heidi Kenney, Jake Henzler, Jamous, Jayson Thiessen, Jeff McMillan, Jellibat, Jen Rarey, Jesse Hernandez, Jon Schiller, Jumble Bugs, Kano, Kathie Olivas, Koadzn, Lana Crooks, Laura Granlund, Leecifer, Little Dear, Lost Monster, Mad L, Maoma, Mister Funky, Monster Factory, Morninglori, Motor Bot, Mycryptonauts, Rebelwookiee, Serena Kuhl, Sewing Stars, Sok-O, Spasmodica, Steff Bomb, Suicide Kittens, Tapetentiere and Tim Tsui.

Dia de los Plush

2008-10-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

A few of the artists involved in Plush It are also putting their work into a couple of other shows. One is the Dia de los Plush show at Red Hot Robot in Phoenix, Arizona. My flatmate and comrade, Marita Albers and I knocked up some pieces of it very quickly (we left it all a bit late) and they will be in the company of some other excellent artworks.

Jared Deal

Me and Marita's stuff

Geek Freeks

My Paper Crane

John Knox from Hello Brute fame

me!

2008-10-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, thought I better submit myself to the same rigorous questioning process!

Your name: Serena Kuhl

Where you’re from : Darwin, Oz

When did you first get into plush?

Very first time was when I was a little girl, someone showed me how to make draft catchers from stockings and then put eyes on them. I made hundreds of the bloody things! I then got back into plush at Uni. I trained in sculpture and was finding it hard to weld, cast and model clay at home in impoverished conditions. Plush was easy, portable and didn't mean I'd lose my bond on places I was renting. I started making designer plush thingies in 2003/4

What inspires you to continue to make plush?

It cracks me up! And there is that special rush you get when something you've dreamed up comes out well and perhaps other people like it. The piece I did for the Dia de los Plush show is an excellent example. The Mamcita piece I knocked up in a couple of hours, just pure going for it, as I've always wanted to make a big piece for a Day of the Dead show, and it worked!

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?

Flickr site has pics of everything, blog has me crapping on!

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?

I have been more influenced by weird things like the Goodies, Monty Python, random comedy has had a huge impact. But just recently works by Curster, Mr Mju and Michal Wright have definitely set the bar for lifting one's game....

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?

I'd probably just sit there and make more toys, enjoying the peace....

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?

Umm... yup. I put this question in, hoping others shared my problem. I was wrong. I actually dream all the time of things like this. It's wall to wall bright tacky furs and lycras and I see stuff I could only have imagined (obviously!) and my brain starts ticking over about what I could make. I saw some pics of Yardage Town in Sappy Moosetrees Flickr account and had a waking moment similar to that, as well as when I found out there was a Textile town thingie in Japan. Ahhhh one day....

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?

The prospect is too scary to think about right now...

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?

Random Plush Girl! Stabby scissors in one hand, a snappy quip on her lips, ability to make up very odd plush ideas in a single bound. I could be like a plush Slayer, kicking bad plush butt and keeping the world safe for excellent plushies everywhere

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?

Nutfucker bunny. I made him and joked that he could be my Mr Hat (I'm a teacher) and I could freak the kids out with him. Let's just say stress is not always my friend...

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?

kuhlserena@hotmail.com
Anything else people need to know about you?

Cat-Rabbit!

2008-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Cat-Rabbit
Where you’re from:
Hobart, Australia
When did you first get into plush?
I have always pottered around with felt, but Cat-Rabbit was born in about 2003 out of a lack of money - I couldn’t afford to buy nice birthday presents for my friends so I made them instead.
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
Watching animal documentaries whilst drinking a cold glass of milk.
If you were going to direct someone to a site that best represents you work?
http://www.catrabbit.com.au/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/catrabbit/
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Beatrix Potter, Richard Scarry, Stanley Donwood, Ghostpatrol, Empire, Helen Goninon, Tara Badcock
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
A small house and some pets. I would then live in that house with my inanimate pets while I slowly and inevitably descended into madness.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Um no, unfortunately. Last night I dreamt that my best friend and I opened a fish and chip shop.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Why, I would take over the world of course.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent your style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
I am not really sure, but it would have something to do with a badger and a pipe.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
Probably the mountain goat: slow moving, enjoys cups of tea and likes Judy Garland.

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? info@catrabbit.com.au

Spok! Spok!

2008-10-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Spök-spök
Where you’re from:
Sweden!
When did you first get into plush?
Quite a while ago. The first one I actually made when I was seven.
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
It’s fun, and it’s an art form that makes people look twice.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
Http://spokspok.blogspot.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
There’s tons of them… Devil Robots, Friends With You to name a few.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
A hammock, unless I already had one… if I did I’d make a sweater.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
No, not yet.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Organize an annual plush parade!
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
Spök-spök, the Flying Ghost! He can fly!
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics)
Morot!
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
They’re more than welcome to! Just go to spokspok.blogspot.com and contactify me!
Anything else people need to know about you?
We have minis being released in the fall of 08!

Preview of entries

2008-10-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

I will be posting pics and info on each of the 50 odd pieces going into the Plush It show in November, but if you want a sneaky peak, check out the Plush It pool on Flickr. You have to search a bit, like most Flickr groups, it becomes a place where all plush works are posted, not just the show stuff. But there are some truly amazing stuff coming out of the works. I am amused and fascinated how people have managed to transform the template in different ways. Anyway, see anything you like? And feel like buying one of these one of a kind, purpose made plush pieces from some seriously talented artists? Contact Rachel, gallery owner of Ruban Rat. I suspect these aren't going to last that long....

Dogbone Art!

2008-09-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Your name: Dog Bone Art
Where you’re from? Holland Township, NJ, USA
When did you first get into plush? About 4 years ago but I grew up with a Mom who did a lot of sewing.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? That there is always one more idea coming and it could be better than the one before..does that make sense?
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
www.laurasdogboneart.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
I love the work of Paul Frank, Keith Haring and Voz from Fishcakes inspired me to try screen printing my plush since I was never that experienced with sewing. Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane was a big influence too.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
Probably nothing! I’d be lucky if I could sew the edges straight to make a blanket!
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Oh sure, discovering that secret hidden store is always in the back of my mind. It would have to have lots of rare colors of felt since that’s what I like to print on the best.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Probably freak out.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
I don’t know about this one, I guess it would have to be some kind of multi-tasking robot that does a ton of projects at once. Since that’s how I always seem to feel, like I have too many things going on at the same time.

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics)
My Injured Panda character has always quietly been known as my self portrait.

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? dogboneart@aol.com
Anything else people need to know about you? Nope. :)

Jared Deal!

2008-09-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Your name: Jared Deal
Where you’re from (keep it general. No addresses!): I was born in Delaware, but have lived in New York for the past 10 years. Currently living in Brooklyn.
When did you first get into plush? A couple of years back my girlfriend Michelle made me a custom plush as a gift because she knew how much I loved toys. After seeing her awesome plush I was inspired to give it a go myself. I had been doing the vinyl thing with our Carney toys for a few years so this was an exciting new outlet to channel my toy goodness.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? The more I work with plush the more I try to push it. I started out very simple, but recently I’ve been trying to make my toys a little more 3D. I’m starting to “build out” my toys a little more & figure out new patterns & how to achieve specific shapes. I see myself progressing & learning, so that’s always a driving force. I am also inspired by all of the other amazing plush artists out there. It’s exciting to see this whole scene catching on. Granted plush has been around for quite some time, but it’s great to see it getting accepted as the intricate art form that it is. To see artists express themselves in plush form is a cool thing!
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you? So many great plush designers. Anna Chambers & Cat Rabbit are two of my favourites!
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? A boat… just like Macgyver , haha.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
Haha, just kidding.
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? jareddeal@ yahoo.com
Anything else people need to know about you? Visit my website http://www.carnivalcartoons.com/ and my blog jareddeal.blogspot.com for more plush, vinyl, and animation goodness!!!

Creep Mouse Toys!

2008-09-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Creep Mouse Toys, Poor Lost Bread, Lindsay Schmidt (I'm sort of having a crafter identity crisis)

I'm from the Midwest, USA.

What inspires me to continue making plush is (1) I love it (2) I love seeing/receiving peoples' wonderful feedback / smiles (3) I never have nothing to hug.

The site that best represents my work is, well, my site? creepmousetoys.com or if you mean someone elses, I'm just crazy about this lady, Yeon Doojung, even though her creations are different, I like to think that we share some similarity in that seemingly childish things can be grown-up too. Or that our things could live in the same daydream together.http://www.yeondoojung.com/artworks_view_wonderland.php?no=88

If I was stuck with fabric, scissors and thread on an island I would make... a super basic / bag dress. And then a companion / doll, with a matching (but mini) super basic / bag dress.

If you've ever been to Mood Fabrics (moodfabrics.com) in NYC, that fabric dream is true. Except for the sale part, but they're FOR sale, as in, they exist, which is pretty exciting.

If I found plush power I would use it to.... end world huglessness.

Me, as a plush superhero, is already in production. It's/I'm a wool felt croissant with a red beret and it's superpowers are untainted love, x-ray vision and there is smile-inducing artillery hidden under the beret. (shh).

If you'd like to contact me about my plush shoot me an email at creepmousetoys@gmail.com or there's a "contact" page on my website (which is creepmousetoys.com).

Things you should know : I tend to tuck little presents into my outgoing orders.... + I can't wait for the Plush It! show.

It's Franken-template!

2008-08-30T03:19:00.001-07:00

Actually it's just a very crude montage of some of the finished works already made. I have pictures, I have progress shots and I'm impressed and shamed by what people have created with the template (now I'll really have to pick up my game!) I will be releasing details closer to the show, but here's a little teaser....

Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane fame!

2008-08-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

Your name: Heidi Kenney
Where you’re from : Pennsylvania
When did you first get into plush? About 6 years ago I was making plush purses, I got very bored with the purse part of it so I dropped it and have been making plush ever since. I’ve sewn plush before that too but never for selling, just for fun.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? Just the drive to create something new, something challenging.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work? Mypapercrane.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you? Mary Blair, Richard Scarry, Tove Jansson, and so many more!
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? I guess I would save the fabric at first and weave together strips of vine and such to make housing. I’ve always thought that my sewing skills could come in handy on a desert island. I think because of my love of textiles I would view the leaves, vines, and tree bark in a new way. I would see them a raw materials. I would save the fabric for clothing or things that would need something soft.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? Not dreams but I have been to a real vintage fabric sell that was pretty close to that!
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power? Hmm I guess use the power for good not evil.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be? Plush Food Girl able to thwart evil with a swing of a donut. Her powers would be donuts of steel, able to create food for the hungry with a snap of her fingers.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? Currently I would say it is my little house girl sitting with a group of mushrooms. Not because it looks like me, but because I have a strong sense of home + family, and I am currently obsessed with little mushrooms.
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? My email is mypapercrane@earthlink.net

Violet Pie!

2008-08-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

Your name: Violet Pie (Jennifer Novack)
Where you’re from : Milwaukee Wisconsin US
When did you first get into plush? About 3 years ago, though not seriously until last year.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? The reactions I get when I come up with a new thing. I want to make things that cannot be resisted!
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?www.violetpie.typepad.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you? I'm most inspired by painters of the moment...anyone featured in Hi-Frucose magazine, etc...
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? Probably a mosquito net, actually...
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? Not yet but I might now...sounds heavenly...
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power? Stop having nightmares about the poor house?
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be? A great big fluffy pink bunny named Harvey who would make everyone love each other and abolish all territorial boundaries.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics) The one I'm doing for the show, absolutely...pics are forthcoming...
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? www.myvioletpie.gmail.com or violetpi on etsy!
Anything else people need to know about you? I need to make these things more than I need to eat...but not more than I need to sleep...I love to sleep...

Golden Russet!

2008-08-30T02:51:00.000-07:00

Your name (preferred name or business name):
-Goldenrusset
Where you’re from (keep it general. No addresses!):
-Vancouver, Canada
When did you first get into plush?:
- I made my first plush in high-school. My friend and I took sewing class to learn how to make puppets. We were of course the only guys in the class. We took a bit of heat for it but we got straight A’s. I didn’t make any plush for a long time after that, until a few years ago
What inspires you to continue to make plush?:
-In the last few years I’ve seen a huge explosion of handmade designer plush toys. There are so many great designs out there and so much enthusiasm for it… how can you not be inspired?
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
-I guess you should go to my blog: goldenrusset.blogspot.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
-I love Takashi Murakami , Jim Henson of course, Dream Pets, and my wife Cutesypoo.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
-Well, I’m not crazy…to be honest if I had those materials I would make a shelter, a fishing rod and some kind of signalling device (the scissors would be the most help)
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
-I wish I could create a fabric in the computer, with the colour, texture, and pattern I want and just print it out. When I was in Tokyo with my wife, we went to this huge fabric store and they had all kinds of fantastic stuff… we bought a suitcase full to bring back. The fabric stores here suck.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
-I would build a manufacturing company that is NOT outsourced to china. Everything would be environmentally friendly and I would help up and coming plush artists get their start…in a perfect world where I’m not corrupted. Otherwise I would just try to outdo Sanrio J
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?-

I already have one I plan to make, the Golden Russet Potato. He can grow huge and fly.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?

-Not sure about this one… I made a big purple puppet with 3 eyes named Dr. Mintobeans. I worked really hard on him and it took me a while to figure out how to make it. I think it turned out well.. I’d like to think that Jim Henson would be proud. He’s not my Kermit but I think it is the closest i have ever gotten…
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
Email me at: Goldenrusset@gmail.com
Anything else people need to know about you?
I wish I had more time in my life to make stuff. My career is too demanding to keep up a steady flow of plush creations. I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. Someday I will discover that one thing that puts all others to bed and that will be my pure focus. Perhaps it will be toys.

Chocolate Log!

2008-08-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Chocolate Log Industries
Where you’re from:
Across the ditch in New Zealand
When did you first get into plush?
Since we were little but they were called soft toys back then
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
People saying that they are cute and funny
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
www.chocolate-log.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Shawn Smith, David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, Heidi Kenney
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
Underpants
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Not really, we prefer walking into the store in real life
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
We would start a plush political party and get a Chocolate Log plush voted as president of the world.
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
They can contact us on hello@chocolate-log.com or by visiting ww.chocolate-log.com
Anything else people need to know about you?
We like candy

Katie Park! Read the interview and get a free kitten!

2008-08-30T02:41:00.000-07:00

Katie Park aka caffaknitted
Boone, NC
When did you first get into plush?
About 2 years ago. I knitted my first toy, and from there it turned into an obsession.

What inspires you to continue to make plush?
Everything. It could be a person, animal, or even an ordinary everyday object, and I'll think to myself...wouldn't that be awesome in cuddly plush form!?

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
www.caffaknitted.typepad.com

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
So many. First of all, Jess Hutchison. Her Kate the kitty pattern on knitty.com was my first attempt at plush.
Also, Sewn by Blythe, Hine, and Hansigurumi.

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? Probably a tent. I'm more practical than most people think, and I sunburn very easily.

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? Every night.

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Quit my day job, open a studio, write knitted plush pattern books, and travel the world to meet other plush artists.

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
She would be called The Procrastinator! She would have the amazing ability to prevent her enemies from accomplishing any task, no matter how important.

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
Probably Fia, not so much because of her physical traits as much as her personality. I'm actually a fairly shy person.

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
katiebpark@yahoo.com

Anything else people need to know about you?
Every 100th visitor to my website gets a free kitten!

Bytedust!

2008-08-30T02:29:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Bytedust
Where you’re from :
The Netherlands
When did you first get into plush?
2005
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
I’m collecting designer toys since 2005. These limited toys, encouraged me to get one of my 2D characters on street stickers transformed into a 3D figure. The result was CLOUD-X, HAZMATE and other exclusive handmade plush toys.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
There is no one crossing my mind particularly.
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
There are many good (plush) designers on this planet and I really admire some a lot! They’re creating such a cool things. I’m definitely influenced by some of them, without losing my own style. But I cannot pick a particular name that considerably influenced me.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
I’d make an animal farm, maybe this will still the hungry?
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
I haven’t really dreamed about fabric. But I’m acting like a ‘child in a toyshop’ when I visit a local fabric, craft or art supply store!
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
I’ll probably transfer some money to a good foundation (like WWF) and create a network for upcoming (starting) artists.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
BAITO, the plush I made for PLUSH IT represent my style very well! He is able to take over computers with his brain!
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
Cloud-X is a character that represents myself the best
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
They may visit www.bytedust.nl for contact information.
Anything else people need to know about you?
Don’t hesitate to contact me if there is any interest in knowing more about me :D.

Monster Invasion

2008-08-20T03:56:00.001-07:00

Ruban Rat, the Sydney Gallery where Plush It will be held, is holding a Monster Invasion show on the 29th of August. I have a few works in there meself and the wonderful poster before you was created by the might Paul Shih. I love that the monster seems to be able to get the woman's bra off, with only his three fingers! Check it out!

Pepperberry Crochet!

2008-08-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

Your name: Alison Grenier
Where you’re from: Salem, MA
When did you first get into plush? I’ve always loved plush. I started making my own in 2001.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? I love the urban vinyl scene and the artists involved with the urban / lowbrow art movement. Even though my pieces don’t fit in with that, it’s still inspiring.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work? Pepperberry.typepad.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you? Friends with You, definitely, and 203gow http://blog.livedoor.jp/m203gow/
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? Wow, not much. :) But if I had my crochet hook, definitely an octopus.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? I’m not too into fabrics, but I love yarns...
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power? Start my own bakery. I love to cook, too.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
I’m terrible with names. But maybe a plush spring, or an abstract representation of hyperactivity? Or a giant chocolate chip cookie.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepperberry/2255762220/ My fireman. He’s sort of “take no prisoners” and deeply weird.
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? Pepperberrycrochet@yahoo.com
Anything else people need to know about you? I have a day job that I love and am passionate about, too. I feel very lucky because of that.

Robyn Fabsits!

2008-08-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Your name: Robyn Fabsits
Where you’re from: born and raised in St.Louis, MO. currently reside in Kansas City, Missouri
When did you first get into plush? About 6 years ago officially.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? Knowing my doodles can become 3 dimensional.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work? http://www.robynfabsits.com/ http://www.robynfabsits.blogspot.com/
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you? There are to many to name. I keep a list on my blog that I check regularly. I’m really influenced and get psyched about new fabric, old cartoons, old toys, anything having to do with the circus, cool fabric, funky 1950’s porcelain figures, Halloween, toys,…I’ll stop now.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make? A hammock, I can’t stand sitting in sand. It gets everywhere.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? That dream is a reality near me. There is a store locally that everytime I walk in I drool and don’t want to leave. I could live in this store. So I guess I dream that I wish I had all this fabric at my finger tips in my studio. Wouldn’t that be the most awesome studio.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power? Give new plushy makers an opportunity to showcase there work.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be? Obsessive Cumpulsive Cleaner or Neat Freak. I’d come with accessories like a broom and my blue rubber gloves. My super power would be speed.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?

I think Maisy & Daisy are a good representation of myself. Not that I have two heads. But I think I have two personalities. I’m really sweet and girly in appearance but have this twisted inner personality that comes out and shocks people now and then.
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush? robyn@robynfabsits.com

Working with ze Fur

2008-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

I dunno why, but giving advice about making plush has me tapping into my German ancestors (who were related to Colonel Klink it appears....) Anyway.... lots of people cite working with the most tasteful of all plush making materials, fake fur as a messy and difficult process. And it is! The wonder of spinning all that acrylic fibre into thin fur like filaments and binding it to a woven back seems to come with a price and that is fur mess. But never fear dear plush newbies, there are some tips you can use to alleviate the shitstorm that is making plush with fur.

Admittedly I come from a place that is tolerant of fur, I have two Huskies and two cats, so fur is just part of the decor in our place (hmmm.. I really like the Tex Mex motif you've got going here with the fur tumbleweeds, it is tres chic!). But one tip from the fab-o Mendels Far Out Fabrics in Haight Ashbury (why do I imagine everyone in there dancing and singing about the wonder of fabric?) suggests cutting your fur pieces out from the back of the fabric with an Exacto knife. This way you avoid a lot of the fur shedding-ness. You are only really cutting the backing, not the fur, so a lot less fibres are released and spread with due abandon around your house and self.

Now being a bit of a rough and ready plush maker, such cautious measures are all a bit much for me. So if you're not prepared to commit to fur cutting Exacto zen, perhaps you can try the trick I use when using long fancy furs.

If you cut the shapes out with the only the tips of the scissor blades (need to be sharp obviously), rather than the whole blade, which tends to slice through fur, backing and everything else willy-nilly and a fur explosion of epic proportions is in the making. Using the tip allows you to slide the blades through the fur, parting the pile so as to cut less of it and focus your cut on the backing itself. It works quite well, though there is always a bit of fur pile escape. When you cut fur you tend to unravel at least a little of the woven back and let a few fibres go free.

Whilst at the amazing Bartfeld Textiles in Melbourne Australia (if I am very good in this life I will die and ascend to this store for my happy fur afterlife) I saw the guys rip the fur into lengths, like you would a cotton and was completely amazed. I wouldn't have thought it possible but apparently it is! If you are trying to cut a length of fur into smaller lengths, this might be viable to try.

Fake fur, it's tasteless and tacky and comes in all the colours vomit does, you know you want to try it......

Jake Henzler!

2008-08-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Jäke Henzler
Where you’re from:
Gosford, then Newcastle, now Sydney
When did you first get into plush?
2005
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
People’s reactions to the characters I make.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
www.livejournal.com/~boyknitsworld
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Jean Greenhowe is pretty crafty.
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
A quilt to keep myself warm.
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Yes, only they’re waking dreams, because I get that feeling every time I go into a fabric store.
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Work less and make friends with Viktor & Rolf.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
I have! His name was Kid, he rode a bull-shaped sauciere and his weapons of choice were star-tipped knitting needles.
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
jakehenzler@gmail.com
Anything else people need to know about you?
Not unless they’re creepy stalkers ^_^

Fluffels!

2008-08-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

Your name : Fluffels by Mariska Vos-Bolman
Where you’re from :Netherlands
When did you first get into plush? Two years ago I got my first sewingmachine. After a simple pillow I made a star plush, then there was no stopping! And now I make plush and DIY plush kits for a living.
What inspires you to continue to make plush? I get a lot of nice reactions on my creations, that inspires me a lot to make more plushies. Japanese kawaii things inspire me a lot to. I've been to Japan once and hope to go there again. I've loved plushies before I started making them, I allready had loads! Now my house is getting really stuffed with them, but the husband hasn't complaint yet, well not to much haha.
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
http://www.fluffels.com/
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?Oh there are many inspiring artist, to name a few: Marianne Roosa, creator of Oneyes. Ploesiepoesies by Electric Luna, Cuddly Rigor Mortis by Kristin Tercek and many more :)

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?

A fishing net ;) Well and a plushie to talk to :P
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale? hahaha no. I don't really get excited about fabrics, the process of turning a piece of fabric into something that makes you smile is the fun part for me.
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?A cute, crazy funny bunny that has the power to make everyone want to hug each other!
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? Hmm I think most of my plushies are inspired by the people around me. I think I have very nice, fun and inspiring family and friends :)
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?They can email me at info@mariskavos.nl

Geek Freaks Profile!

2008-08-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Your name ?
Karla and Xander aka Geek Freeks
Where you’re from ?
Auckland, New Zealand
When did you first get into plush?
We got into actually making plush about 3 years ago. We saw all the cool stuff on the net getting made and were inspired to give it a go ourselves, but we’ve been into plush toys, like lots of people, since we were babies!
What inspires you to continue to make plush?
It’s really cool to see something that starts out as a drawing on paper turn into a fully tangible “three dimensional” object. Seeing the looks on peoples faces when they buy our toys is also very rewarding!
If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
http://www.geekbooteek.blogspot.com
Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Possibly too many to list, but the biggest influence would have to be Jim Henson and the Muppets. There are so many awesome artists out there we’re finding new inspiration almost every day!
If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
1- Hammock
2- Bungalow
3- Crocheted Pina Coladas
Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Karla: “Not that often, but when I’ve been sewing all night I then have dreams that I’m sewing all over again”
If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Create the world’s largest and friendliest craft show, where everyone, whether experienced or new-comer, can showcase their plush awesomeness!
If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
He has a name but no-one dare utter it. With the power to shoot love hearts out of every orifice he’d be somewhere halfway between the Dali Lama and Nacho Libre!
Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? Filip the slightly retarded turtle! (See attached)
If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
geekfreeks@gmail.com
Anything else people need to know about you?
It’s a really cool feeling knowing that people out there all over the world dig our toys, our hope is to just continue having fun with it… oh and be filthy rich!

Ze Making of ze Plush

2008-08-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

I see posts all the time from people asking for instructions how to make plush. There are a lot of mainstream books out there, in your local library which will show you how to make a bear, or a doll, and those basic principles will stand you in good stead, even if you want to make a plush brain eating zombie, it's all one in plush zen. What I will be posting irregularly here are the little secrets that people just don't tell you about.....

And here's one! This is from a tutorial I made up for the wonderful Plush You book, put out by super-gal Kristen Rask of Schmancy fame. It talks about how to apply blood to your toys and other bodily fluids...

Dimensional paint is a great product that is used for a variety of craft purposes. Not to be confused with the ever fun puff paint, it’s a thick acrylic paint that does not lose “body” or its three-dimensionality when it dries. If you ever painted using impasto and been disappointed when it dries at how much texture is lost, dimensional paint will make you very happy.
Dimensional paint can be found in most craft stores, or in the craft aisles of major stores. There’s quite a few different manufacturers producing it and it comes in shiny, glitter and pearl. I personally use shiny, it helps make the blood look more real and fresh!
Different manufacturers produce dimensional paint in different consistencies. I’ve had problems with some that is very thick and tends to come out of the bottle’s nozzle in a very thin wriggly line and also runny stuff that comes out too freely from the bottle and makes for very fat shapeless runnels of blood. Following the Goldilocks rule, paint that’s neither too thick or too runny is just right. Paint is quite cheap, so it can be worth sampling a few different types and finding what works for you.

The bottles of paint are usually around 1 fl. Oz in size and should come with a fine nozzle and a cap. It’s important to cap the bottle after use as it dries easily. You need to prepare the bottle before use, whether it’s a bottle you’ve used before or a new one. A phenomenon I like to call ‘Dimensional Paint Flatulence” can occur if you don’t shake the bottle’s content towards the tip. You don’t shake it like a cocktail, more like a couple of good downward motions and you should feel the paint settle in the top of the bottle. Otherwise air bubbles in the bottle will interrupt the flow of paint when you apply it. You apply the paint by squeezing the bottle and touching the paint to the fabric like you would using an icing bag on a cake. If there are air bubbles you’ll get a case of DPF, and instead of a nice fluid line of paint you get a small explosion of air and fine bits of paint splattered all over your surface. I haven’t been able to find a way to get paint, wet or dry, off fabric, so it pays to be careful. A good rule of thumb, every time you go to apply paint, is to try it out on a piece of paper first

Applying the paint

Step 1: Here we have a poor little bunny whose throats been cut. To give him a bit of dimensional paint goriness I usually start with a straight line of paint along the cut site. Don’t be too picky about this, as you can see, dimensional paint tends to come out in blobby lines, rather than nice smooth neat ones.

Starting a droplet
Step 2: I create the illusion of blood on my work by creating a series of running drops from wherever I’ve faked a cut on the piece. I start a little below the line of paint I created in Step 1 and start by creating a blob of paint. If you just squeeze a bit of paint out and touch it to the fabric you’ll create a little pointy blob that looks a little like a chocolate drop (see fig ). If you create one of these and hold the bottle there, not breaking contact with the paint and keep increasing the pressure you’ll keep adding more paint to our otherwise pointy blob and it will swell out to a nice round shape. This is one of the main precepts of my technique. It makes whatever you’re creating, blood, drool whatever, look like gravity is at work and fluids are pooling at the end of the drip. In other words, it looks more real. Now without breaking contact, move away from the blob and draw your paint up until it rejoins the line you created before. You have created your first drip.

Step 3: Essentially all you need to do now is create a series of blobs and lines back to the cut line you created in Step 1. I usually curve my lines back to the top as it makes it look more real to me. I will usually start with a blob, then move up in a line to the top and then create another line from the cut site and move down to a blob. I tend to apply the blood drips in one continual motion, not stopping to do each one individually, but I don’t think it will matter if you do them separately.

Step 4: Finished! Your blood is now applied and can be set aside to dry. It cannot be touched, usually for about eight hours , but as I live in the tropics it might dry differently in different climates. Do not be tempted to touch it until it dries, it ruins the shine of your blood and can blot your paint all over your fabric. So this means you need to leave your piece somewhere away from pets, children and your own sleeves sometimes to dry.

Now on to other bodily fluids

The same principal can be used to make other bodily fluids. If you’ve always wanted to make plush that’s drooling with boredom, nauseous and vomiting, or likes to pick its nose then you can do all of this with dimensional paint. Reverting back to your inner 5 year old has never been so visceral!
Drool
Drool is basically one blob and a very thin line of paint back to the corner or the mouth.

Vomit
Vomit can be harder, I personally find the look of big areas of dimensional paint unappealing so it’s more like creating a thin stream of bile. You can wiggle your line down from the mouth of your creature, so as to indicate the journey this unpleasantness has taken down the front of the creature. A small tasteful splash says so much more than Vomit-a-palooza… Add bits of carrot at your discretion.

Snot
Much like the splash in the vomit picture, anything lime green, blob-like and near a creature’s nose will read as snot. It you want to go overboard (like I do) you can actually apply two different colours of green together for extra gross out-ness. Essentially making a splash is much like blood drips, except now the blobs and lines meet in the centre of the splash shape, rather than follow a cut line. To make good snot, try and make more free form splash shapes, it looks more natural.
Tip: if you find this difficult doing it freehand, draw your shapes on a piece of paper and practice by tracing over them

Tears
The most benign is left for last. To create a rueful toy, place small blobs near the toys eyes and finish off the blobs with a short line. If you pull the bottle away from the end of the tear quite quickly it will make the line taper off nicely like a real tear shape.

Toy Design tips
Sometimes it’s hard to know whether any of these techniques would be ‘too much’ for the design of your toy, or even to work out where to place your blood or other bodily fluid. You can actually apply your paint to a very smooth plastic surface, like an ice cream container lid, and peel them off when they dry. You can then try out the shapes on your toy without permanently altering it. You can move your paint around until you come up with something that looks good, then apply the actual paint in the same way to the toy.

Jake Henzler Book Launch!

2008-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

The wonderful Jake Henzler is launching a book of his amazing knitting patterns called Little & Friends with Australian wool brand Panda. You can see more of Jake's amazing pieces (a knitted Yoda? Too amazing!) on his blog as well as details of the launch at Ariel Booksellers in Paddington, Sydney, Australia. Jake will be in attendance on August 1st at 6pm, so if you are Sydney side, it's worth checking out.

One Eye Plush!

2008-07-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

Your name:

Marianne Roosa / 12PUNT3

Where you’re from :

The low countries also known as The Netherlands or even better known as Holland

When did you first get into plush?
Early 2005 after seeing a website called The Month of Softies by Loobylu. My first entry was my prototype for The Oneyes. See: http://loobylu.com/softies/softies_0405.htm

What inspires you to continue to make plush?
How can I stop when so many ideas are still roaming around in my head? I still have so many things that I want to try out… combine different techniques, explore other fabrics, etc.

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
If you are interested in only visuals then check out my Flickr page. Here you can find a great amount of ‘Oneye candy’. See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oneye/collections/72157605770824733/
But if you are interested in more info and/or buying my work then check out: http://www.12punt3.nl/shop.html

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
There are many artists out there that influence me. I get my inspiration mostly from paintings and/or pop culture. Of course I do look at other plush designers work too. Some of my favourites are: Jenny Harada, Spooky Daddy, Blobby Farm R.I.P., Monster Factory, Curster and Wishes&Heros.

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
Something to protect me from all kind of weather conditions… to keep me warm, to keep me dry, to protect me from sunburn, etc. So it would make a multifunctional blanket that will probably become my best friend as well.

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
My only fabric dreams are nightmares filled with fabric monsters

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
I will transform everyone into ‘Softies’… no more war ever again. Let’s be productive and not destructive!

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
I would be known as Lady Bird’eye. With my eagle eye vision, super strength and giant wings I would fly high up in the sky. My mission: fighting crime against animals. Protect animals worldwide against those who want to harm them.

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics)
In all Oneye characters there is a little bit of me in it. I have been told that I have a complex character. There are many sides to me. In short… if you combine Lov’eye with She-Devil’eye and mix it with Cat’eye and put a little bit of Vamp’eyer in it then you have me as a Oneye version.

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
Then all they need to do is send me an email: info [at] 12punt3 [dot] com

Anything else people need to know about you?
Although I am mostly known for My Oneyes … I do plush design for other artists as well. So if you want a plush version of your design just contact me.

Syl Tapetentiere

2008-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Profile for Plush It Blog

Your name:
syl /// tapetentiere

Where you’re from:

Germany, currently living in Switzerland

When did you first get into plush?
when got my first plush ever for my birth: BIMBO. Still share my bed with him…

What inspires you to continue to make plush?
I love to take my drawings into the 3rd dimension.

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
http://www.tapetentiere.de/

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
I love the work of
http://www.marthasue.net/
http://www.mypapercrane.com/
http://www.forestprints.com/

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
First of all, a hammock, I guess… and then I’d start to populate the island with turtles, vegetable vampires and other monkeys :D

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Yes, regularly… usually when I’m stuck on desert islands. ;)

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait? (feel free to include pics)
Out of the ones I created so far: mega usagi. (He’s the one with the ice-cone on the far left of the group photo.)

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
Syl@tapetentiere.de

Anything else people need to know about you?
Miao.

Sarah Day's Profile!

2008-07-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Your name:

Sarah Day / Small Fox Creations

Where you’re from:

Iowa

When did you first get into plush?
*looks over at her collection* Is "from birth" a good answer?

What inspires you to continue to make plush?

They're just so stinkin' cute. Plus, it's fun!

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
http://smallfox.typepad.com/

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?

I'm a big fan of MollyChicken, Mimi Kirchner, Elsie Marley, Hop Skip Jump, Wee Wonderfuls and LoobyLu, among a myriad of others.

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?

A blanket. It might get cold at night and I'm sure a blanket would have similar properties as a towel and it's always good to know where your towel is.

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?

One time I had this dream where I made a garage door out of fabric and filled it with cream so it would look quilty. Does that count?

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?

Take over the world... I mean... can I think about it?

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?

Procrasta-cute, able to... well, I haven't made up my catch phrase yet, but I sure do look good!

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?

I would hug them. Because I like people.

Anything else people need to know about you?

I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue. Is that relevant?

Brocoli's Profile!

2008-07-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Your name:
Brocoli

Where you’re from:
Santiago,Chile

When did you first get into plush?
After all our computer equipment was stolen. We felt the need to find other ways of expression and development. We love toys and character and plush was a great way to start.

What inspires you to continue to make plush?
There is nothing like imagining something and then have the ability to hold it in your hands. That satisfaction and the fact that we are able to experiment with different materials and sensation and how people react to them. Also the fact that our inner child has total control.

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
A world where the vegetable are kind and they like to eat flesh especially executive meat

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Cody Thompson, Friends with You and a bunch of other people I don’t remember their names but saw in internet.

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
A magical being able to detect water and fly, after that probably die of dehydration and hunger.

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?
Not really but we dream of being able to make our own fabrics and patterns.

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Definitely a kind of park, some sort of plushy land with dangerous rides and creatures everywhere and start a religion.

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?
A giant brocoli able to fight giant evil corporations with pure imagination power hoping that he doesn’t sell out and end up selling something on tv.

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
That’s hard, We think that each of them represents a part of us from childhood dreams to reflected realities of our lives. Somehow all of them live inside us.

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?
They can do it no problem at our website or our mail brocoli@brocoli.cl http://www.brocoli.cl/

Anything else people need to know about you?
We don’t watch TV

Loulou & Tummie profile!

2008-07-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Your name: Tummie, from LouLou & Tummie

Where you’re from ? Tilburg, Netherlands

When did you first get into plush?

2004, When I started my own Illustrating business I really wanted to have products of my own characters. Because I couldn't afford to produce them I made them myself.

What inspires you to continue to make plush?

Lots of new ideas and it's fun to do.But for me the nicest part is when they are finished and became a 'living' character:)

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?http://www.loulouandtummie.com/

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?

This is always the toughest question for me! It changes all the time.The illustrator that has the most influence on me is LouLou (of course)I realy like the work of Klaus Haapaniemi and KHUAN+KTRON (Belgium)and if you are interested I have a lot of nice contacts at www.flickr.com/photos/tummie

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?

not much....I'll need a needle too....:)

Do you ever have fabric dreams, where you walk into a store and see all of the fabrics you have ever dreamed of for sale?

....no....well...I have dreams about realy big toy stores....

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?

Take over the world! :)

If you were going to make a plush superhero that would represent you style best, what would be their name and what would their powers be?

It would be a girl superhero called...Tummie (I'm not that good in giving names...) and she will have the power to make everyone laugh! (....or making up superpowers)

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?Just send me an email: tummie@loulouandtummie.com

Nerderella's Profile!

2008-07-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to preface this profile by saying that I looove Nerderella's work. Strangely enough, weird hypo crazy bunnies appeal to me. hmmmm....

Your name: Nerderella

Where you’re from: the Netherlands

When did you first get into plush?
When I had exams I made myself a plush doll for good luck.. it looked totally gross and I filled it with cotton balls but hey, it worked!

What inspires you to continue to make plush?
I just love bringing them “alive” (add dramatic tune)

If you were going to direct someone to site that best represents you work?
www.nerderella.com takes you to flickr and the bunny pool

Any favourite plush gods/artists/designers out there that influence you?
Junko Mizuno, she normally makes illustrations but now she also made some plush..she is my god.

If you were stuck on a desert island with only a couple of yards of fabric, scissors and thread, what would you make?
Bunnies.. or no, maybe crabs! Or food! I need food! Maybe I’ll give it tiny faces.. yeah. Food with faces.

If you ever become a multinational business, rivalling the market share of all other plush artists, what will you do with your newfound plush power?
Take over the world..And feed the poor!

Which one of your own plush would you describe as a self-portrait?
This is me, spot on. Weird, scary and happy.. and loving the mint tea

If someone wanted to contact you about your plush?you can mail me at info@nerderella.com

Profiles! Coming Soon!

2008-07-14T06:50:00.001-07:00

The plethora of plush artists will be spilling the contents of their fertile minds in a series of profiles to be published right here! Ever wondered what motivates a plush artist? Or how to find their work? Or what fabrics features in their dreams.... It's all coming soon (and if you're one of the artists and I haven't sent it to you yet, let me know!)

A new logo and the wonder of Robyn Fabsits

2008-04-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

The wonderful Ms Robyn has been the first of the legion of artists to have a stab at designing a log for Plush It and as you can see above, it looks mighty fine. I admit to having a little plush crush on Robyn's work, it is seriously amazing.

Probably because most plush artists are like myself: we have some skills, some quirky ideas, our own style, but it's still a daily battle with the medium to get your ideas to develop into 3-D plushy reality from the sketch or idea you intially had. And what you produce is reasonable, you're not ashamed of it (hey sometimes you're even proud!) but still a nagging little voice in the back of your mind doesn't let you fall back on your laurels and is always prompting you to keep trying to get better.

Yeah well Robyn, in my humble opinion, is there. Her work so perfectly echoes the illustrations she creates, or her 2-D style for want of a better word. A lot of technically great plush artists don't always have the same range of ideas and vibrant sense of humour that Robyn's does. But Robyn's work has it all, methinks, both in terms of imagery, mastery of the form, humour, quirkiness and individuality. When I grow up as a plush artists i wanna be just like her!

Anyway, this gushing is just embaressing. Check her work out for yourself and you'll see!

Making plush for the first time?

2008-04-15T03:33:00.001-07:00

Plush seems to be an easy way for toy designers to get into production without having to shell out the several thousands of dollars required when producing a vinyl figure. It's cheap, and if your mother or Home Ec teacher taught you how to sew at some point, doesn't require huge amounts of skill, at least initially..... Computer Arts, a British family of magazines has a tutorial demonstrating the plush-making process which I thought was quite easy to follow. Check it out if you're thinking of becoming one of us......

Recording your progress

2008-04-15T03:05:00.001-07:00

Something that I think will make this show a lot more interesting is that the blog will record each artists progress, how they deal with the template, what ideas they come up with, trials and tribulations etc. I got the idea for this from looking at the work of the talented Jared Deal.

Here are some pics of his Cajun Catfish, a piece he made for the Stuffed show at Munky King Gallery. I admit I'm seriously impressed with Jared's plush adventures. The guy creates some seriously beautiful paintings and has his own vinyl line, The Carneys, but this doesn't always mean that things are going to happen plush-wise. I saw Jared's first plush on the Kid Robot boards and am particularly impressed with how sophisticated his designs have become. The same level of detail and skill evident in his vinyl and paintings is more than evident in his plush. And the photos of the catfish on the stove are way cute!

It'd be great to have a record of all of the artists pieces for the show, sharing their struggles and I guess acting a resource for the making of plush. It appears to be an area of interest, I get requests every now and then myself, so hopefully this might help others make their own plush.

So designers, if you could post pics of your process in the Plush It Flickr group, I'd love to post them here and show the world, not just Sydney, what you're up to!

If you have any tips, queries or problems you'd like to share, please email us at plush.it@hotmail.com

Logo-ey Goodness

2008-04-11T05:58:00.001-07:00

Under the pretence of giving everyone a greater chance of exposure for their work, but really to fill the great yawning maw where my graphic design skills should be, if anyone would like to have a go at designing a logo or a header for the blog, please feel free! You've seen my logo below, it is truly awesome I do admit, but I'm sure the talented folks who have been co-opted to be part of the show could top my mighty effort. Vector, pixel or plush, I'm not fussed, and more than happy to rotate the no doubt numerous submissions I will receieve, in the blog :)

Spelling....eeep!

2008-04-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

I've already noticed that I've spelt people's name's wrong! I'm correcting it when I notice, but feel free to point this out to me so I can fix a little quicker. My brain seems to fry when I make up the spreadsheets of applicants, so if I wrote something vaguely like your name, big yays all round. I'm taking Brahmi and Gingko, but it don't seem to be working yet. Maybe I better sacrifice some small furry (plush) animals to Cerebello, god of brains and hope something starts working.
And hey, at least I've never met you and I'm getting your names wrong, I keep seeing ex-students around and can't for the life of me remember their names....
Also if you would prefer your business name listed rather than your name, again, gimme a poke and I'll get right on it (I hope.)

List of successful applicants

2008-04-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

Ohhhkay, it's been a laborious process but we have the list of successful applicants. Thank you to everyone who submitted their work to us, we appreciate the effort and amazing breadth of work we were privileged to look at. We are sending emails out to everyone in the next few days. If your name's on the list below and you don't get one, please let us know at mailto:aplush.it@hotmail.com
So the list is as follows:
My Paper Crane
Jenny Harada
Cat Rabbit
Jamous
Cuddly Rigor Mortis
Steff Bomb
Spok Spok
Beck Wheeler
Bytedust
Spooky Daddy
Jennifer Novack
Natasha Fialkov
Marianne Roosa
Loulou and Tummie
Lynette May
Dogbone Art
Erin Lynch
Bee Harris
Sarah Day
Nerderella
Bridgette Read
Nervous Onion
Golden Russet
Eulalia Mejia
Katie Park
Lindsay Schmidt
Alison Greiner
Eloole
Chocolate Log
Frocoli
Fluffels
Jared Deal
Gabby Nathan
Laura Clempson
Andricon Girl
Skull Boy Inc
Michal Wright
Adam Arber
One Red Robin
Sappy Moose Tree
Robyn Fabsits
Geek Freaks
Bony Bunz
I Heart Guts
Jill Penney
Jake Henzler
Monsters Monsters
Syl Hillier
Tim Wolff
John Murphy
Fing Toys

Cat Rabbit!

2008-03-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

Cat Rabbit is a fabulous Hobart artist (that's the little island right down the bottom of Australia - the big island) whose work is one of the many wonderful discoveries I've made whilst looking at the applicants for Plush It. She made this fantastic mascot for Ruban Rat. You can check out her Flickr here

Tone of the Show

2008-02-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I have chatted a little whilst pouring over the many applicantions for the show and I thought it might be wise to clarify our vision for the show. I didn't specify this when we first looked at setting up the show, but we're looking to make the show a "Designer/Urban Plush" type of affair rather than a general plush show. There's been a huge upsurge of interest in crafts and plush over the past few years, from knitting clubs to punk crafting and I find the whole thing both fun and amazing that we as a society are willing to re-embrace the hand made. The thing is I don't really come from a craft background (studied sculpture at art school) and Ruban Rat's emphasis is on the whole Urban Vinyl/Designer toy side of things.

What is art and what is craft? I've got no idea, but I guess we could clarify by saying we are particularly looking for more edgy, subverisve kinds of plush, and this is what will be most readily accepted by us. Not to say that works/artists that operate outside of this will not be accepted, but that is our bias (just getting that out there and up front).

The Template!

2008-02-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

I made up a proper copy of the template the other day, as we have already sent out a couple of copies of this to some of the "big names" in plush. My usual template making involves me sketching something up on a piece of card with a texta, cutting it out and trialling it and then storing it my Playstation One box for later use. Having to scan and try and render the template in Illustrator was a little interesting. The discerning will notice that it is a little assymetrical, I thought about cleaning this up but decided that was something I liked about plush, the less than perfectness. You see amazing commercial plush designs that have been created with unerring symmetry and they always look a little eerie to me. Though the head has been changed a little from my original template, and I haven't had a chance to trial that yet so it could be a little interesting!

Ruban Rat

2008-02-04T01:27:00.001-08:00

Want to find out a little more about the Gallery itself? You can check out Rachel's myspace here. There's pics of the shop and views of some of the lovely stock. Newtown, for those of you not au fait with Sydney is a pretty interesting part of Sydney, well known for funkier, quirkier shops, bars and of course galleries!

Flickr Group

2008-02-04T01:23:00.000-08:00

There's a Flickr group for the show, for artists to post images of their work. I've posted a few images of the pieces I've created myself from the template, to start people off.
Check it out here.

Plush: the new beginning...

2008-02-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to put together a plush custom show, where plush artists, much like vinyl custom shows, interpret a toy shape in their own way. Plush just seems to be expanding as a medium, I guess it's a bit easier to get in "on the ground floor" then vinyl, as you can put together a toy with little initial investment.

The premise will be for a select group of artists to put together a plush toy using a template provided as the basis(drawing above is a rough drawing I used to create the template, so it gives you a bit of an idea). The process of dealing with the template, generating ideas etc will (hopefully) be documented here, showing some of the process artists go through to create a plush toy.

This is not a new idea. Rinzen put together a plush "exquisite corpse" kind of workshop, where artists added progressively onto plush blanks to create toys (my apologies if I don't have the details completely right) for the Neighbourhood book, as part of Pictoplasma.

Luke Temby/Cupco created the United Nations of Cupco, where felt blanks of his Cupco characters were sent around the globe and customised and were returned to be sewn up and stuffed by Luke (more than I will be doing let me just say....) And all are Australian...hmmm...not sure what that says about Australian artists

Anyway, we're currently looking for entries, asking artists to submit images of their work to our email

plush.it@hotmail.com

so that the lovely Rachel Coleman from Ruban Rat in Sydney and I can begin making decisions about the makeup of the show. We're looking for a couple of small images so we get an idea about your work, any relevant websites that might give us a better idea of your work and an email that you would like the template sent to if interested.