Etsy's Plush Team: Get Stuffed, Volume One

Plush Team's first book is out now! You can pick up a copy here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/plushteam The softcover book is 120 pages and features the team members from 2009. My spread is below: :)

Etsy's Plush Team: Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to raise funds and awareness about this insidious disease, the members of PlushTeam have created mammary and pink themed plush. 80% of every purchase goes to the Susan G. Komen Institute, an international fund dedicated to raising money for Breast Cancer Cure research. My pink deer and more handmade plush are now available in Plush Team's shop! Support the cause and help find a cure! :)

Etsy's Plush Team: Stuffed Magazine - Volume 2

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::

Etsy's Plush Team: Mini Ghosties now available!

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.

Etsy's Plush Team: $5 Plush Monday

(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.

Etsy's Plush Team: Iron Plush Challenge

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.

Etsy's Plush Team: Plushpalooza in the Virtual Labs

Tomorrow from 3-4pm (EST) Etsy's Plush Team will be hosting a live trunk show in Etsy's Virtual Labs (in the Gallery Room)! They will be showcasing the newest softies for Spring. Many of Plush Team's artists will be there to chat with and answer questions (unfortunatley I am unable to make it). It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun! For more information, please see this post over at Plush Team's blog.



1. Crazy Critter Bunnie Line, 2. Chickenpants Cafe, 3. Raggy Rats baby colours!, 4. Lillebitte, 5. Untitled, 6. Simon, 7. The Ornithopter Finger Puppet, 8. Lime Soda Deer Plush, 9. stuffie, 10. cathead ornament, 11. Annabelle the Aphid, 12. Roquefort the Mouse

Etsy Plush Team: Renegade Chicago Part 2

Plush Team was a big hit at Renegade Chicago this past weekend, despite enduring massive rain storms. Take a look at some of the incredibly talented artists in Plush Team's booth:


[Plush Team at Renegade, originally uploaded by PterodactylPants Plush.]

And here's a pic of my plushies saying hello, all the way from Chicago! ^_^


[Follow The White Rabbit at Renegade, originally uploaded by PterodactylPants Plush.]

If you would like to see more plush art that was featured at Plush Team's booth, please check out more of PterodactylPants Plush photos.

Etsy Plush Team: Renegade Chicago

If you are in the Chicago area this weekend, please stop by Renegade Chicago. It is one of the biggest DIY craft shows in America, with over 300 artists! I will have my plushies for sale there (along with other amazingly talented artists of PT) at Plush Team's booth (#70). Please come out and support indie artists! ^_^

Location: Chicago / Division St. between Damen & Hermitage in Wicker Park
Time: September 13th - 14th from 12 noon - 10pm
Cost: Free

Etsy Plush Team: State Fair (Sideshow)

The theme of Plush Team's current challenge is "State Fair", with three categories, one being "Sideshow Creatures". I was attracted to this category immediately, because I felt I could have the most creative freedom with it. I thought of conjoined twins right off the bat, when two French girls suddenly appeared in my head. Although Sideshows are in very bad taste, it was often the only line of work for people who were disfigured. Instead of making conjoined twins as part of a freak show type environment, I decided to give them a very fortunate upbringing. I would like to introduce Georgette & Lisette:



Georgette & Lisette are heiresses to a very large French fortune. Their parents have made sure to bring up their conjoined girls in a proper and civilized manner, therefore they must have perfect hair, perfect manners, and they must dress in frilly things at all times. After all, they must be presentable for their parents' frequent dinner guests. Although Georgette & Lisette have been showered with more gifts than they know what to do with, their favourite toy in the world is their black stuffed bear, Sébastien. They squabble over who gets to hold him, which once resulted in an unfortunate incident where Sébastien lost an eye. The girls are quite well-mannered otherwise, although they still will not reveal to me which one is Georgette and which one is Lisette.




They are available in My Etsy Shop.

Etsy Plush Team: Scavenger Hunt Contest

Plush Team is celebrating its one year anniversary by hosting a scavenger hunt contest! The goal is to find "PT Stitchy", the Plush Team mascot hidden in participating Plush Team Etsy shops. There are 16 hidden PT Stitchy's in total. Once you've found them all, email Redmag with each item listing number.

The game starts today, and ends on June 6th. The winner will be announced on June 9th, in Plush Team's blog.

These are the participating shops:

abbydid
absolutelysmall
beetlegirldesign
casienipper
christinaward
followthewhiterabbit
furwillfly
moogancreations
moonscreations
pattihaskins
siansburys
slcstudio
squirrelmomma
weirdbuglady
yummypancake
zzbeadz

This is what PT Stitchy looks like:

And this is the grand prize!

[My Blueberry Deer is a prize, too! ^_^]

Etsy Plush Team: Favourite Childhood Plush

This was my second project with Plush Team. We had to create a plushie based on our favourite childhood plush. This was a very fun challenge because it gave me a chance to pull out my old toys that have been stored away for far too long.



My most favourite childhood plush was a rabbit puppet. As you can see (in the pic below), she has been well loved. I loved her because she was a rabbit (my favourite animal as a child), and she was a puppet so I could easily bring her to life (foreshadowing a future career in animation, perhaps!). I named her Jessica Rabbit (*not* after the curvy lady in Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- I named her at least 5 years before that movie was released!), but rather she was named/inspired after my brother Jesse. I was almost 3 when my baby brother was born, and I guess either by jealousy or love (or both!) shortly afterwards I took on the persona of a rabbit -- "Jessica Rabbit" that is, for the duration of a year when I was a little girl. I would *only* answer to the name "Jessica"... at home, school, etc. I was quite adamant that I was Jessica Rabbit (I was really a bunny living as a human), and I would even sign my paintings as "Jessica Rabbit" (while some kids in my preschool couldn't even write their own names -- I bet the teachers loved me! lol). So, my childhood plush Jessica Rabbit is quite a meaningful toy to me, and now, years later I'm still finding that rabbits are influencing my life to this day! ^_^



Anyways, why don't I show you what I made! ^_^ This is Baby Rabbit. I tried to used the same colours on her body that were in the original plush, and I wanted to make her look handmade, so I added obvious stitching with dark brown thread where I could. I wanted the design of her face to be similar to the original, so I gave her a prominent nose, with a stitched nose and frowning mouth. I didnt't have eyes like the original plush has, but I thought these red button eyes were really cute for her. I thought about making her ears fall backwards behind her head, instead of forwards, but I like her ears perked up, and her ears are flexible enough that they can be folded backwards, stand up at attention, or folded down in a relaxed pose.



Jessica and Baby Rabbit meet in a momentous occassion. They instantly become friends, and Jessica assumes the role of mother. ^_^



She is now available for sale in my Etsy shop. Wooden mushrooms can be purchased at Craftsty's shop.

Etsy Plush Team: Fairytale Project - The Little Mermaid

This was my first challenge with Etsy's Plush Team, and it was a lot of fun! I was partnered up with the very sweet Area Thrifty One, and she chose The Little Mermaid as her favourite fairytale. She's a big fan of the Hans Christian Anderson version, and has never seen the Disney version of this story, although she loves a very tragic anime version of the story that premiered in 1979. So, I wanted to try and make my plush capture the emotions of the original fairytale, stay away from the one that is heavily merchandised, but possibly keep her animated looking. After several sketches, this is what I came up with:



Area Thrifty One said that she really likes the darkness that fairytales have (I have to agree with her!). She loves The Little Mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen, because she looks so sad as she stares out at sea, since she is not really part of the land, and she is no longer a part of the sea.



At first I thought of giving The Little Mermaid legs and feet, try to show her sadness of being removed from the sea, but then I thought she wouldn't really look like The Little Mermaid upon first glance (and there's no way I could come close to replicating the famous statue in Copenhagen!). So I decided to keep her in mermaid form, but to make her sad, and to definitely stay away from the identifiable Disney colours. ^_~



This was my first sketch for The Little Mermaid plush. It captured her sadness, but this design was way too complicated and time-consuming. But, I still like how this sketch turned out. ^_^



This photo shows the progress of The Little Mermaid plush.
#1 - First I sketch out my plush designs on small scraps of paper. I decided on the one on the bottom right-hand corner. I liked the simplified shape, and how her hair looked like water.
#2 - Next I sketched out the plush design in the actual size I wanted it to be. I tried to keep the shapes simplified.
#3 - Then I cut my pattern out of plastic tablecloth (a little trick I learned from my Mom -- it makes the pattern last a long time). This is my "master pattern". From this, I made more patterns of just the skin, then the tail, the hair, etc.
#4 - Then I cut out the felt, and place everything together. At this point I had already sewn blue thread into the hair.



I added netting on the blue background to symbolize her feeling of being trapped. There are a couple of starfish trapped in the net, too. ^_^

The Little Mermaid has been made with felt, mesh, and she's been both machine and hand sewn. She will be available in my Etsy shop. Thanks Plush Team & Moons Creations for a very fun challenge. Area Thrifty One, I hope I did your fairytale justice! ^_^;

Etsy: Plush Team

I am very pleased to announced that I have been accepted into Etsy's Plush Team! EPT is a group of Etsy's plush artists who gather together at their blog or their Flickr group to share ideas, promote each other's shop, and also participate in plush themed challenges. I'm looking forward to getting to know all these amazing artists who are part of the Plush Team. ^_^



(I hope they don't mind that I knicked their logo...)