These three new deer plushies have been listed in my Etsy shop! :D
[On the left] Cherry Marshmallow loves to dream about soaring through the sky above the clouds. She thinks that she might be able to touch a star if she flies high enough. [In the middle] Miss Blueberry Pie Deer likes to go antique hunting at the local flea market. She loves buying old furniture and decorations to restore and re-paint. [On the right] Watermelon Deer loves the Spring because the flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping. Her favourite thing to do is to run through sprinklers!
This week I'm featuring the online shop Sick For Cute."Feeling ill? We've got your Pill!." They have tons of great things on sale right now, and they have a special 20% discount code (TWITTER) for those who follow them on Twitter!
[Left] Cinderella Messenger - NOW $28.00 (was $35.00) [Middle] White Rabbit Tote - $8.00 [Right] Alice Bag - $35.00
I thought I'd post a few in progress pics of things I've been working on lately. I've been super busy meeting deadlines for plush shows, commissions, consignments, and making new plush for my Etsy shop. Here are a few sneak peeks at what's to come! :)
Here's some deer in progress (some are the classic style, while others have mohawks!). These wild and bright colours were inspired by all the crazy neon colours from the 90's that are coming back. Just walk into any shoe store, and you'll know what I'm talking about. ;)
The pile of new deer grows! My kitty Lucky just yawns as he watches me do all the work and he keeps sleeping in his box. Haha. ♥
More Mini Ghosties are on the way, but Orange dosen't look too happy about the idea of new friends!
[On the left] An army of Mini Ghosties is rising!!!
[On the right] An in-progress Princess Leia for the Stitch Wars show next month at Bear + Bird Gallery (which is also where I bought my lovely Cecy Meade drawing). As you can see, I printed off some reference photos so I could get Leia's design, costume, and colours just right. Those circles will be her hair buns. :)
I just signed up for this show, and I think you should too!
A Million Little Pictures: Documentary (website) During the summer of 2009, one thousand artists from around the world will document their lives in 24 frames using a simple disposable camera with a flash. On September 25th, 2009, an exhibition housing over 24,000 photographs will be constructed to take you on an adventure through the lives of these thousand artists.
What is it? One thousand people from around the world will document their lives in 24 frames using a disposable camera. An exhibition will be held showing over 24,000 photographs.
Who should participate? In a nutshell: you. We're looking for people with different cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations, and lifestyles. This is for anyone. You do not have to consider yourself an "artist" to participate.
An exhibition in my city? We'll be organizing an exhibition at a gallery in the city that has the most participants.
The goal is simple. We are looking for a thousand people from around the world to document their lives. All you need to do is sign up and we'll send you a disposable camera and a welcome letter. Then, go out and document your life in 24 frames. When you're done, visit your local one-hour photo place, develop the film, and then send us back the prints to be included in the exhibition.
The deadline to sign up to receive your camera is July 1st, 2009. $18 for US residents, $22 for everyone else. If you're interested, you can SIGN UP HERE. If you join, you can add me as a friend here! :)
The latest issue of Stuffed magazine is out... and I have a photo in it!Stuffed: A Gathering of Softies is a new magazine all about handmade plushies. It's published by Stampington & Company and only $14.99! (You can order Volume 1 here and Volume 2 here. Apparently they're also available at Barnes & Noble bookstores.) Stampington & Company publishes LOTS of other creative magazines that look so awesome! I might pick up their magazine Where Women Create next, because I love looking at other artists' workspaces. :)
So here's the 2nd issue of Stuffed below. As you can see, there are two cute plushies and Etsy's Plush Team is mentioned on the front cover!
Inside is a 4-page article all about the wonderful team I'm a part of! I'm so proud of all the Plush Team members! This issue featured lots of awesome plush makers, so it's definitely worth picking up if you're into handmade plush. It's such an inspiring magazine to flip through.
On the last page of Plush Team's article, they published a pic of my art studio (when I was in Canada, August 2008)! I really miss that workspace a lot! :( You can also see my Etsy shop's name followthewhiterabbit.etsy.com on that page. (LOL, I'm such a dork!)
Below is my original photo. Lots of deer waiting to be made as the Fafi postcards oversee production in the background! :)
And because I'm feeling sulky about missing my old workspace, here's another photo of the whole room. My newest Audrey Kawasaki print was supposed to hang in that blank space. ::sniffles::
With an artist name like "Follow The White Rabbit", it's no surprise that I'm an Alice In Wonderland fan. :P But I'm also a huge Tim Burton fan. And now my life is almost complete because Tim Burton is directing the new Alice In Wonderland movie (released in 2010) AND some of my friends are working on it!! The movie looks gorgeous, I really can't wait to see it in the theatre!
Check out these awesome images that have been released:
[Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter & Mia Wasikowska as Alice]
[Alice in The Garden of Live Flowers. If you look closely, you can see faces in the flowers!]
Tim Burton is my favourite director of all time. He started out as an Animator at Walt Disney Studios, and worked his way up to become a Director. His resume has lots of my favourite movies on it (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Ed Wood, etc). What I love about his movies is that he's not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to artistic direction (even if his story arcs aren't that strong). I can't name another director who is either that daring or trusted to go for a super unique look. I also love his gothic twist on things. He truly is a brilliant and inspirational artist.
[Jack Skellington as Sandy Claws in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)]
You can tell that he takes a lot of inspiration from German Expressionism, which characteristically have amazing sharp bold shapes in their sets and lighting/shadows. German Expressionism portrays the emotion of a scene/situation with stylized cinematography, instead of it being portrayed through character or dialogue. Another influence I've noticed is the name of the villain in “Batman Returns” is “Max Schreck”, which is the same name of the actor who plays Count Orlok in “Nosferatu”! (Yes, I'm a total film nerd.)
[This is a still from the movie Nosferatu (1929). You can see the tone, emotion and intent in this shot just by the light and shadow cast on the wall. The German Expressionists were masters at this art form.]
A few months ago I was having lunch at my favourite restaurant Royal/T when all of a sudden Tim Burton walks in. I look over and totally had one of those movie moments where everything was playing in slow motion. Tim Burton was silhouetted in black by the bright light that was shining in from the door behind him. He walked past me and sat down at the table diagonal from us with his lunch party (with most likely his production staff). I was in shock -- I couldn't move! I couldn't think! And I coincidentally was wearing my Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie, too! lol. I've never had a fangirl moment like that with any other celebrity, but I did with Tim Burton. haha. :P
[Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands (1990)]
If you'd like to read more about Tim Burton, visit his official website (which unfortunately isn't that great) or The Tim Burton Collective (lots of great info). For those of you in NYC, he will be having an art exhibition at MoMA from November-April! He will also be releasing "The Art of Tim Burton" book soon (which I absolutely must get!!)! Also, Lenny's Alice In Wonderland site is a great resource for anything Alice (e-books, pics, trivia, etc), one that I use almost all the time!
I'll end this post with one of my favourite short films titled: "Vincent" (1982), directed by Tim Burton and narrated by Vincent Price. Check it out if you haven't had a chance to see it yet. Can you tell what film style this short film was inspired by? ;)
Mini Ghostie Plushies are now available for only $5/each in Plush Team's Etsy Shop! While you're there, check out the other fabulous $5 plush made by other Plush Team members!
Mini Ghosties are little spirits that like to help out when they can. They each have their own special attributes:
Mini Dark Pink Ghostie helps to bring lots of love and passion to a situation. Put her in an area where you need more love.
Mini Orange Ghostie helps to bring down the energy level of a situation that is too intense. Put him in an area where you need relief from something that is way too serious.
Mini Lime Green Ghostie promotes new growth in any situation. Put him in an area where you need something new in your life.
Mini Blue Ghostie absorbs all the sad feelings around him in an effort to try and make things happy again. That's why he looks so sad. Put him in an area where you need to get rid of sadness.
Mini Black Ghostie helps to stabilize a situation with his mental and physical strength. Put him in an area where you need stability.
Mini Ghosties are also perfect as office desk decorations, a gift for the adult toy collector, a toy for kids, and they also like to hide in purses. Mini Ghosties are completely hand stitched and measure approximately 2.5in/6.5cm tall and 2in/6cm wide.
I'm going to start a weekly feature of my favourite online shops. I've called it "Weekly Window Shopping", because really, that's exactly what it is. There are SO many awesome indie home decorating/clothing sites on the internet. There really is no reason to go to Sears or Macy's for home decorating anymore! With all my moving back and forth from Canada to the USA over the past 2+ years, pretty much everything I own is in storage and I don't have a place I can really call home -- yet. Once I get a home I'm going to go crazy with interior decorating like there's no tomorrow!!! So for now I will window shop and bookmark things that I'd like to buy... someday. I thought I'd blog about my findings -- there might be something you might like too! :)
This week I'm featuring the online shop Plasticland."Plasticland was started in 2002 as an alternative to the cookie-cutter fashions found at the mall." You can also follow them on Twitter.
[Left] Victorian Cameo Tea Cups & Saucers Set - $34.00 [Middle] Kings Road Dessert Plates Set of 4 - NOW $34.00 (was $40) [Right] Queen of Hearts Button Set - $8.00
[Left] Black Sparrow Pendant Necklace by Rebecca Berry - SOLD OUT $30.00 [Middle] Double Sparrow V-Neck Tee by Rock Steady - $26.00 [Right] Sparrow Salt & Pepper Shakers by Kikkerland - $15.00
[Left] Charcoal Grey Vintage Wool Coat by Tulle Clothing - $89.00 [Middle] Birds & Bones Wallpaper Tee by Loungefly - $25.00 (I actually have this top already!) [Right] Drop Dead Cute Address Book - Japananese Art - $13.95
(I can't believe I haven't mentioned this earlier! ::smacks forehead::)
Every Monday of this month, different members of Etsy's Plush Team will be selling their handmade plushies for the low price of $5 each. There are already lots of fabulous $5 plushies already listed in Plush Team's Etsy shop right now. My Mini Ghosties will be $5/each and available this Monday. I will post here again when they are listed in the shop.
One of my favourite artists is Junko Mizuno, an illustrator (list of books she's illustrated) and toy designer (list of toys she's designed) from Japan. Her work is super cute with a slightly evil edge, which is a hard combination for me to resist! I have been following and collecting her work for a few years now, so I'm always excited when she releases something new. Earlier this month she released a set of mini figures called "Pure Trance". I picked a few of them up, and here are my pics of them below. (There are still more I want to get!)
Yuki & Miki -- Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance blind-box (2/20) "When twin sisters Yuki & Miki combine their mysterious superpowers they can practice magic. If you feed the skull fresh food, their powers become even stronger."
Junko Mizuno Dunny, Series 5 (1/50) (This one looks inspired from spaghetti & meatballs, lol!)
Umeko & Takeko -- Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance blind-box (3/20) "Umeko & Takeko are artificial nurses created by the Director. Takeko has a calm personality whereas Umeko is a bit of a baby. They both have superior abilities in operations and their nurses' caps are not removable as they are part of their bodies."
Yasue the Wrestler-- Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance blind-box (2/20) "When Yasue The Wrestler was a student at the Ikebukuro School of Martial Arts she and her friends were into blackmail, assault, gambling and drugs. Now she has washed her hands of her sinful ways and works as a professional wrestler at the female wrestling bar "Power Angel"."
Above are pics of the Junko Mizuno toys I already own. They wanted to be shown, too! :D [On the left] Chika (3 versions: Peach, Mint and Grape) from Junko Mizuno's Miznotic Fantasy Series [On the right] Nurse Flash-it from the Qee Ox-Op Series 3 (5/30)
She's having a solo show at the Magic Pony in Toronto this month, so I'm going to try and check it out if I get the chance.
Plush Team's challenge for May/June was to create food -- out of fabric. The participating team members were divided into groups, each group having their own "secret ingredient" which they had to use in the design of their plush food. My secret ingredient was pom poms. I had a few ideas of how I wanted to use pom poms (blueberry pie, sushi with roe, a bunch of grapes, etc) but none of those ideas really felt interesting to me. Then I thought about making a type of dessert that would fit right in at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party! I thought that vanilla & chocolate cookies with colourful icing and pom poms on top would be cute, yummy, and go with my self-given Alice In Wonderland theme. Lo and behold, the Set of 10 Mad Tea Party Cookies was made! :D
They are perfect for children's play time, dress-up tea parties, party favours, an interesting conversational piece in a trendy apartment, or perfect for a snack if you are planning on travelling down the rabbit hole. ;) They are for sale in my Etsy shop.
