Plush Team Virtual Book Tour

Rusty and Playboy are best friends. They spend oodles of time playing outside together and getting into mischief, as foxes do. On this particular day, however, it began to rain… and rain… and rain. The two little foxes high tailed it inside to look for something else to get into.

Maybe something tasty in the pantry… nope.

A conversation with Wilbur the crab… senseless, he’s all shell.

O won’t it stop raining outside.

“Hey Playboy, c’mere!” shouted Rusty from the living room “I found something totally awesome!”

They stuck their noses into the Plush Team Annual, their newly found prize that sat right out on the coffee table, and began perusing the plush. Totally enamored they ooh’d at all of the tentacled, tusked, antlered, and fanged plushies. They aah’d at the squishy soft, furry, and huggable softies. And they drooled a little at all of the plush food. Dinnertime came and the book got a little spaghetti sauce on it.

That night as they snuggled into their beds the two little foxes clutched the Plush Team Annual in their paws and dreamed of the happiest rainy day they ever had.

My process starts with lots of doodling, sketching, messing up (lots of messing up, it’s great!), and seeing future stuffed creatures in everyday shapes. As I assemble and sew I imagine who this little creature I am making is. What does it like? Is it nice, shy, grumpy, vicious? By imagining life and personality in these little guys I feel that I can capture some emotion in their eyes, their expressions, and their body positions. This makes them more than just the sum of their parts. Then I make up little stories about them like the one you just read. Sometimes even just a word or a curve spawns a whole new creation.

I joined the Plush Team just a little too late to have my own plush featured in the Annual. You will find Rusty and Playboy in ‘The People’ section though with my shop info. What a treat to get the book in my hot little hands and be able to read about such a fantastic and diverse group of plush artists! I highly recommend visiting the Plush Team Shop on Etsy and picking up a copy. While you’re there check out the Tiny Tuesday and holiday themed plush made by Plush Team members. There’s so much cool stuff in the shop and in the book, it’s kind of like a plush-gasm!

Tune in on Saturday for the next stop on the Plush Team Book Tour, Moon’s Creations!