Frogs

Here's a few frogs I just finished in preparation for several winter craft shows:

I decided to take some WIP shots of a few others:

I don't know what made me to decide to pose a few holding their own heads (they're not attached), but it totally cracks me up. So much so, I may just leave one or two this way. What do you guys think: creepy cute, or just plain weird?

Chimera

Amy and I decided that one of our Plush You 2008 pieces would be a collaboration. The first thing we thought of was a two-headed monster, as it would be easy for each of us to do whatever we wanted creatively, while still being able to join the two halves in the middle.

Amy sketched out her half, a goat-like creature, before I had even begun thinking of my half. So I started thinking about what I might like to make that would look cool attached to a goat. It didn't take long for me to think of a chimera, and thus our "simple" two-headed monster quickly grew more complicated.

The Greek chimera was a fire-breathing, three-headed monster. As with most Greek myths, specific details of the creature vary. Some authors portray a dragon rather than a snake, some put the goat's head in the middle of the creature's body rather than next to the lion's head.

Amy and I decided that our chimera would have a lion head on one shoulder and a goat on the other. The chimera's upper half would be lion while the hindquarters would be goat, and the creature's tail would be snake.

I am super pleased with how our chimera turned out; it was very hard to part with her (despite the mane, the Greek texts always referred to the chimera as female)!

Mythology has always fascinated me (my undergraduate work focused on mythology and folklore), so it was only a matter of time before I started exploring these old tales in plush form. I can't wait to bring more of my favorite tales to life!

Beware!

Little fishy,

don't let this

happen to you!

This frightening monster is off to Plush You 2008!

Chihuahua

This cute chihuahua is my latest canine creation. A petite little gal, she stands about 7 inches tall (9 inches at the very tip of her tail) and is about 8 inches long snout to tail. She's made of 100% wool with faux microsuede ear interiors and feet and acrylic safety eyes and nose. Her white patches were needle felted onto her body by hand.

Making this gal was especially fun because the request was so open-ended. So far, all of the custom dogs I've made have been plush versions of someone's pet. But this request was just "make me a chihuahua. Any color, any size."

My next canine custom is a whippet, so stay tuned!

Alpaca Giveaway!

To celebrate the grand reopening of our website and web store, Crabtree Studio is hosting a giveaway of this adorable alpaca family! Just leave a comment anywhere on our blog by July 20 to be entered in the drawing. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on July 21.

Custom Camel

I recently completed a custom order camel for a woman finishing her dissertation. It seems she's been laboring at it a rather long time, so to entice her to finish, her parents told her they'd take the family to Egypt once she finally completes the dissertation (how cool is that?!). To further inspire continued academic progress, the woman wanted a physical, visible reminder of the pyramid-shaped carrot her parents are dangling in front of her. Enter this cutie, with blankets in her university's colors:

The recipient plans to place the camel on her desk , and move him closer to the pyramid (and farther away from the university) as she progresses with her dissertation. Best of luck to her!

Sigmund the Sea Monster

I have been a bad blogger lately. I've participated in a few craft shows, but mainly I've been buried under custom orders, like this one:
Some of you may remember this guy from the 70s cartoon Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. The show was on-air a few years before I was born, so I never watched the show myself. And, after having watched a few clips on YouTube, I can't say I feel I missed anything. :)

But making a plush version of Sigmund was a ton of fun. I basically adapted my monster pattern, making the body a bit wider and longer. Then, I added eight tentacles and a smattering of wool felt leaves tacked together one by one.
I'm very proud of Sigmund, and even though he's probably the most time-consuming plushie I've made to date, I can't wait to adapt the pattern for various other sea creatures.

New Plush Team Series

As I am watching my little plush business grow I have seen a change in my home. Little plush friends shining cute happiness, beautiful colored threads and fabrics, piles and piles of remnants, fluff bags, ribbon, paper, pins, scissors, half finished projects, packaging tape, string and the list goes on and on. It can get very overwhelming and I find that my creation is actually a big crazy mess of supplies and not a lovely plush creation. So I decided to go to my fabulous Plush
Team for tips on how to get my mess organized. Which has led to the newest Plush Team series... Creative Ideas for Creating a Creative Workspace.
First up is... Squirrel Momma



She stores her felt in a large expandable file folder that she got at Staples (it's red and pink and cool!). She likes it because she can see all the colors (which helps her little squirrel brain think), but she can still close it up and carry it around. She has nearly outgrown this, though, so she is probably going to add a second one.



Another thing Squirrel Momma has is one of those storage units they make for nuts and bolts. Hers has about 25 drawers of various sizes and she uses it for pinbacks, tags, sequins, etc.--stuff she needs, but not every day.

AND she has about 4 gazillion Plano cases that she uses for things like embroidery floss and little body parts. Also nice because she can carry them around in her WIP bag.


My favorite creative tip that Squirrel Momma has for us is that she clamps her folded cotton fabric pieces together with black metal binder clips. Then she can root through it and it doesn't all come unfolded. Such a great idea!

She says she might be a little OCD with the containers. But I say she is very creatively organized!
Plushie Love- MayaBella

Favorite Color Swap from Effunia

My swap arrived today! Well, actually two days ago, but I was unable to get to the post office to pick up the package until today--such torture! I was so excited about this package that I ripped it open on the way home. I was beyond thrilled to discover that Eva of Effunia (whose work I've admired for some time now) had sent me Sky the Rabbit!

Sky came with a cute note explaining that "he's a very friendly creature who likes to save snails and earthworms when he sees them on his path. And he loves nothing more than sticking up his little nose in the air and taking in his surroundings. He makes a loyal friend."

Indeed he does; he's already cozied up to San, the alpha dog in my little pack:
I heart Sky the Rabbit a ton. Thanks, Effunia!

Owls!

Owls are everywhere lately, and while I tend to shy away from proliferating items as popular as they are, with owls, I can't help it. Owls are cute. Owls are fun to make. I recently finished a new batch, and as luck would have it, today was the first warmish sunny day in more the week, offering a nice opportunity for a quick outdoor photo shoot.

What a difference outdoor photos make! I like them so much better than the owls I photographed indoors:

Seeing the difference reminds me that no matter how many bizarre looks, strange questions, and snide comments Amy and I get while photographing our plushies outdoors, the effort is well worth it!

Squirrel Invasion

I have finally finished the last of my squirrel commission from a coworker. It started with a request for an "evil Loring Park" squirrel. For those not in Minneapolis, Loring Park squirrels seem mangier and crazier than the citywide population as a whole. But I couldn't bring myself to make this guy mangy; he was just too cute. He does have quite an attitude, though. He never stays in one place too long, preferring to hit the open road on his Harley.


This tough guy was a hit with my coworker, and he immediately requested an albino squirrel and a zombie squirrel. That was months ago—before Halloween, I'm afraid—but they're finally finished after a long hunt for zombie-colored fur and some tweaks to make the pattern more squirrelish:

Thank goodness the zombie squirrel has a taste for acorn brains only! This one was really fun to make. I was disappointed I couldn't find maribou in the right color (anyone know a good source for that?) for his tail, but I'm pleased with the outcome nonetheless. I had no qualms about making this guy mangy, but you should see the number cutting patches out of his fur did to my craft room floor! It was well worth it, though, as the recipient of both these pieces is ecstatic about them. I think he's already scheming on future crazy squirrel commissions and other zombie animals as well. In the meantime, I think I'll craft some regular old grey, red, and brown squirrels!

Hello from Crabtree Studio!

Hello everyone! This is my first post, and I am super excited to be part of such a talented, creative group! My name is Jessica and I live in Minneapolis, MN.

I have always dabbled in crafty things, but I started sewing plushies in earnest about 2 years ago simply because I couldn't find any nice plush versions of my favorite animal, alpaca:
At about the same time, my best friend, Amy, was also dabbling in plush (and handbags). We joined forces and started our venture, Crabtree Studio, pretty much on a whim. We're having tons of fun, and continually create new critter patterns for any creature that catches our fancy.

Stop by our Web site and blog, or check out our flickr pools for more photos:
Jessica's Flickr pool
Amy's Flickr pool

Amy and I look forward to being part of this community!