Little Brass Bird - Handmade Plush Toy Show

Little Brass Bird is a fledgling animated show made with handmade plushies. How cool is that?

From their site:
"The story revolves around our line of plush toy characters. Robin and Rhodrick are new owners of an old clock shop in the middle of a growing city. As coffee shops fuel towering corporations and modernist buildings erect in record numbers, these two entrepreneurs are fighting harder than ever to keep their humble store from going under.

Their lives become even more troublesome after they stumble upon a forgotten room built by the last owners. Lost within a pile of mysterious broken old cukoo clocks lie magical creatures, distortions of reality and time bending adventures."
To see more, check out their site at http://www.littlebrassbird.com/

Really good article about CPSIA

I'm sure many of us are already in a lather about this. I know I am. Just in case you haven't heard, the CPSIA is introducing stringent new laws for lead testing children's products...even things which obviously contain no lead, such as fabric. And, interestingly enough, it has turned the plush art and crafting communities into political battlegrounds.
Here's a really good article on it from the Etsy Storque, for those of you who haven't seen it yet. http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-updates-and-calls-to-action-3157/ It has lots of good links to more information.
If you have something to say about this, hop to it! The deadline for comments to the CPSC is JANUARY 5th. You know, tomorrow. Here is the link to the CPSC forms.
Any additional links/helpful comments will be greatly appreciated, I'm sure!

A new book...starring plush!

Another one for the "plush creatures are slowly taking over the world" file...
A new book called The Woolyhoodwinks vs. The Dark Patch was sent to the Needle inboxes recently to review.

Here's the lowdown: The book is uber-charming. It's a mixture of plush & photoshop acting out the narrative. The design is just lovely. The creatures are designed by Jeff Root, and Scott Runcorn works on the illustration, too. It's written by Asa Sanchez and Phil Dumesnil.
In the book, the Woolyhoodwinks (often shortened to just "'Winks"- too cute!) try to rid their homeland of a mysterious dark patch that starts absorbing everything.
Did I mention how charming the whole book is?
The Woolyhoodwinks were created by Jeff Root. Here's his page: http://www.woollyhoodwinks.com/
If you'd like more information on the book, check out the Immedium page.

The Toy Society

Think of it as guerrilla art- plush style.
The idea is a simple (but brilliant!) one, best described in the artist's own words, I think: "It came about from a love of "street art" but a recognition of my lack of artistic skills. I really wanted to contribute something to the street scape. I'd watched a friend put his work up about the place and got such a buzz walking past random walls in the city and seeing his work. I thought maybe I could sew something instead. And so The Toy Society was born.
I planned to leave toys around the streets to brighten up the place and give people something interesting to look at. And then I imagined what they might look like if they were still sitting on a light pole 5 weeks after they were put up...all faded and manky and rotten. So I thought I should invite people to take them home, share the love and all that."

Hop on over to their blog for more information.

Another example of plush taking over the world

One indie rock album at a time!
The new album from The Smittens features plush representations of the band members:

Who made these little cuties? The band's bass player, David.
Pretty neat, huh?