A peek inside the crafty life of Raggyrat

Today we get to sneak a peek into the creative process of Raggyrat. In addition to making ah-maze-ing plushies, Raggyrat also is the mother to an adorable brood of little 'uns:

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
i am the raggyrat lady and i make all kinds of things, from puppets and soft toys to full costumes and masks ... i work out of my dining room and home educate my three youngest children. I began sewing seriously in 1996 and it remains my favourite creative outlet mixing quite nicely with all the mummy things that i do each day!


What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
i should be getting on with a full sized edward tulane doll, 2 of my rat rucksacks, and some small plush for a vintage valentine faire in dorchester in february the 13th! i love making the big edwards. as they take shape and i dress them its like having a small son in the house - all my human children are girls!


Where do you primarily create?
i very the setting a bit, sketching here and there, pattern cutting on the living room floor, sewing on the dining table and closing seams sitting on the garden bench ....

Where do you find inspiration?
i love being part of the etsy plush team, i get inspired and challenged on a regular basis. sometimes i pick up commission work and enjoy doing research for that, eg my recently completed tiger head mask!

Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
i cant wait to see the czech movie about the lost little bear - he looks like a sweetie, and i love the flavour of the trailers! i could watch jim henson creations all day, and enjoy oliver postage productions with my children on sofas and bean-bags. The Clangers are a hot fave at the moment!


Where can readers see more of your work?
http://www.raggyrat.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Raggy-Rat/352336335045
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raggyrat/

Thanks for sharing a bit of your crafty life with us, Raggyrat!

A peek inside the crafty life of Jessica Puckett of Plushroom Soup

Today we get to talk to Jessica Puckett, the artist behind Plushroom Soup. She's the maker of a whole menagerie of original plush. Behold:

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
Hi! I'm Jessica, the creature creator behind Plushroom Soup, and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yes, it's cold here, and it snows a lot (especially this winter! 35 F and counting), but it also gets unbearably hot in the summer. So hot that I often fantasize about moving to Alaska, or Iceland, or northern Finland. Am I crazy? Probably.
Anyway, in this land of ice and snow and mosquitoes, I make strange little softies, ala zombies, dragons, yetis, fractured fairy tale characters. If it's bizarre, I want to put it in plush form. I like challenging popular notions that plush needs to be cute, or that it's only for children. Embrace the quirky, because we're all a bit odd in our own way!


What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
Oh, so many. I have several outstanding custom zombie orders; I need to put the finishing touches on my pieces for Candyland, the Plush Team group show at Hot*Pop; I should get around to putting some V-Day themed items in the shop if I'm going to do it all. Oh, and unrelated to plush, I should also be ironing out the final details for my upcoming wedding reception, like ordering the keg or making sure there are enough chairs. . . .


Where do you primarily create?
I am lucky enough to have a dedicated craft room. This is a blessing (space! for fabric! and yarn! messes that I can close the door on instead of cleaning up!) and a curse (extra space means I can buy more fabric! and yarn! messes that I never clean up because I can just close the door!). All of my scheming, cutting out, and machine sewing takes place in this room. Most of my stuffing and hand finishing, however, takes place in front of the television. But I'm not rotting my brain on all that TV, because I'm still being productive. Right?

Where do you find inspiration?
Pretty much anywhere. I studied mythology and fairy tales in college, and both are continuous source of inspiration. I'm also inspired by nature, bits of conversation with friends, pop culture. Some of my ideas also come out of custom orders. My customers have awesome ideas for their custom orders (a unicorn horn on a zombie giraffe, for instance), and some of these details become regulars in my designs, or form the seeds for larger ideas.


Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
This is a hard question to answer, because I have soooo many favorites. I'm a huge book nerd. HUGE. (No, like epic. I'm suge a huge book nerd that when I was younger, my parents punished me by taking away my books, because having my Barbies taken away wasn't really effective punishment.) So, for book recommendations, I'd say check me out on Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/691384). For blogs, all the usual crafty suspects, plus right now I'm really digging everything Paul Overton is writing on Every Day Is Awesome (http://www.everydayisawesome.com). Very deep food for thought.

Where can readers see more of your work?
Etsy: http://plushroomsoup.etsy.com

Blog: http://www.plushroomsoup.com

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87199759@N00/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PlushroomSoup

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlushroomSoup

And if you're the knitterly sort, I'm also on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/Pucky

I love the above photo so much. It's not often that we get to see the middle of the process of making plush art. It's messy and fabulous! (And yes, of course there is coffee involved.)
Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your crafty life with us, Jessica!

★☆★☆★☆Pssst! There's still time! Be sure to leave a comment on the Pug Pattern giveaway post: http://www.absolutelysmall.com/blog/2011/05/12/pug-pattern-and-giveaway/ ★☆★☆★☆

A peek inside the crafty life of Amy Cluck

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
Hi! My name is Amy Cluck. I am a writer, web designer, baker, lover of all things pink and covered with sprinkles, hostess-with-the-mostess, and all around crafty gal.
I was inspired to start Peptogirl Industries in 2005, after finding an amazing and supportive community of crafters on the web. Peptogirl comes from a nickname I earned while working as a student assistant (during college). You could say I was crazy for the color pink — and still am!
Today I create one-of-a-kind jewelry, accessories, craft kits, and embroidery patterns under the name sweet&salty. I try to incorporate a little bit of humor into everything I make. My products never take themselves too seriously!

What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?

I changed my shop name recently (to sweet&salty) so I should be working on my new website and branding. Or making Christmas gifts. Or stitching new embroidery patterns.


Where do you primarily create?
At home – on the couch, on the kitchen counter, at the kitchen table, at my desk, on the floor…pretty much anywhere I can cover in craft supplies, I do.


Where do you find inspiration?
Flickr, blogs, magazines, changing seasons, everyday life


Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
Daily blog reads: Thompson Family Life: http://thompsonfamily.typepad.com, A Beautiful Mess: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com, Style Me Pretty: http://www.stylemepretty.com, Bakerella: http://www.bakerella.com, and My Girl Thursday: http://www.mygirlthursday.com

Movies: Pretty much anything with Zooey Deschanel. ELF is one of my favorites this time of year and I'm also loving 500 Days of Summer.

Books: To Kill A Mocking Bird is my all time fav.


Where can readers see more of your work?

My blog: http://www.peptogirl.blogspot.com , My Website (currently in-progress): www.sweet-n-saltyshop.com, and my etsy shop (It’s looking kind of bare these days): http://www.sweetnsaltyshop.etsy.com

Thanks for letting us peek into your crafty life, Amy!

A Peek Inside the Creative Life of Michal Wright-Ward

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
My name is Michal Wright-Ward, I've been making plush for about four years now. I make plush monsters, animals, and other silly creatures. I also draw, design and illustrate - cute/silly critters, of course.

What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
Oh, there's always something cooking up in the studio. Right now I'm making plush and Christmas ornaments for my new online shop Mystic Forest Dwellers (www.mysticforestdwellers.com), and working on plush a gallery show I'm participating in this December. The sewing machine beckons (oy...).

Where do you primarily create?
Everywhere, in our little half-room studio, on lunch break at work, in the living room... Pretty much everywhere except for the loo. Don't ask what my husband said when I was hand sewing in bed one time.

Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere, mostly in children's books and in nature. I find that my fellow plush makers friends inspire me a hack lot too. There's just so much imagination at work out there, so cool!

Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
I love theneedle.org, seeing what people are up to. Also Craft Magazine's blog and Whipup.net and Craftster.

Where can readers see more of your work?
I always post stuff on my blog http://yarn-n-coffee.blogspot.com, and flickr, but mostly lately - on facebook.

Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your creative lie with us, Michal!

A peek inside the creative life of Eerika Valkonen

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
Hi, my name is Eerika and I'm a toy making elf. Well, the elf part isn't strictly true, but among other stuff I make Rag Pets, soft toys that are filled with rags and personality. I also do a bit of illustration every now and then.
I'm 33, even though most of the time I feel more like I'm 13 and I live in the city that sleeps at night, also known as Helsinki, Finland. I like chocolate, Batman, sleeping in late, Tom Waits and a lot of other things too.


What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
Instead of answering these questions I'm currently supposed to be working on my line of storybook themed Rag Pets, which is coming along slowly... very slowly. I'm also attending a short course on making antique style teddy bears out of recycled materials, and it's a lot of fun! It's nice to do something in a completely different style compared to what I usually do.


Where do you primarily create?
I work from home, spending the majority of my time at the workroom (our apartment includes a separate workroom) where I'm free to make as big a mess as my little heart desires and listen to soppy audiobooks, musicals and Disney soundtracks without anyone complaining about my choice of listening material. I also do a lot of hand sewing (often aided by my cat BooBoo, who really isn't very good at actually helping) in the living room, parked on the sofa in front of the telly. I am not ashamed to admit that day-time television is a big part of my working day.


Where do you find inspiration?
I wish I knew where inspiration came from, and why it usually comes at the most inopportune moments, like when I'm in the shower or just about to fall asleep! If inspiration isn't spontaneously foisting itself on me, I derive it from things I've read, seen, heard or even the people around me. Sometimes I see a piece of fabric that's just begging to become something or other and I find books to be an endless source of ideas and inspiration too, mostly because I read a lot!



Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
I have several! But in the interest of this not becoming simply a long list of Eerika's Most Favourite Things, I'll list just the one of each.
My favourite book (right now, since this tends to change depending on what I'm currently reading) is "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audery Niffenegger. Being one half of a pair of twins (I have a twin brother) myself, all things twin fascinate me, and all the bits about twin identity and descriptions of twinship in the book are wonderful. That, and it's a jolly good ghost story too!
I'd like to recommend a thousand blogs for people to discover and be inspired by, but I will restrain myself and simply urge you all to check out "Hyperbole and a Half", because it's hilarious and really entertaining and there's even a post that goes a long way into explaining why I'm more like a 13 year-old than a 33 year-old.
My all time favourite movie is actually a whole bunch of movies, since I can't pick just the one, no matter how hard I try to narrow it down. So, to rattle off a few, in no particular order: Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy (that'd be: Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge), Amelie, Ghost World and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
And now that flu-season is here, I'd like to share my "flu buster"-tea recipe: brew a strong cup of your favourite fruity tea (I use a summer fruits + rooibos tea blend), add to it a squirt of lemon juice, a big dollop of honey and a slice of fresh ginger. Wrap yourself in a warm blanket and enjoy your cuppa with your favourite biscuits. :)


Where can readers see more of your work?
You can see more of my work in my blog: http://www.ragpets.com
On Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitty_vane/ where I post lots of pictures of my everyday life,
and on DeviantArt: http://kittyvane.deviantart.com/ where you can see more of my drawings and such.


Thanks for giving us a peek into your creative life, Eerika!

A peek inside the creative life of Karla Fitch - Itsy Bitsy Spider

First off, a little backstory. Who are you? What do you make?
I'm The Itsy Bitsy Spider and I specialize in amigurumi crochet critters. I'm a mom, a wife, a writer, a crocheter, a kisser of boo-boos, and a lover of touchable, colorful art. My daughter, Kaia, is one of the big reasons I got into amigurimi crochet. After making afghans (and just about everything else) for more than 15 years -- I fell in love with a baby girl and have been making dolls to delight her ever since. She is my muse and my inspiration.
My original amigurumi designs are 100% hand made with the same quality and attention to detail that I would want for my own daughter. And, each stitch I hook in each piece I make holds a story. You'll find some of the stories right in the item listings on my shop -- for instance, did you know that the tooth fairy turns stale gumdrops into colorful mice so people won't accidentally have dental emergencies?

But, it is my hope that my creations' best stories are yet to be unlocked by the people who eventually receive them.

What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
Right now, I'm working on several different projects -- it's actually rather NOT like me to be involved in several projects at once... but I guess I've been a little schizophrenic since my last show. I'm knitting a pair of socks for my husband for Christmas (*shhhh! Don't tell him!). For the shop, I'm working on a new baby dragon ( http://www.etsy.com/listing/59613957/pattern-baby-dragon-amigurumi-pdf ), an "Itsy Bitsy Spider Monkey" for a special order, and a little crocheted tea set pattern. I'm most excited about the tea set pattern -- so far I have the cup, saucer, spoon, and tea bag finished!

Where do you primarily create?
I have a "craft room" made out of a bedroom that is really too small to be a bedroom. Mostly I hang out in there because the little one likes to get into my yarn. But after she goes to bed, I occasionally like to crochet in front of a good TV show in the living room!


Where do you find inspiration?
Mostly stories. I have always loved reading (although with a two-year old, my reading now-a-days is mostly limited to kids' books). I also get inspired by toys that I see that I want to give my daughter and by my amazing colleagues on the Etsy Plush Team!

Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
I absolutely loved The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket. She also has a wicked cool and BEAUTIFUL blog called Yarnstorm ( http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/).

Where can readers see more of your work?
My shop ==> http://www.etsy.com/shop/theitsybitsyspider
My blog ==> http://itsybitsyspidercrochet.blogspot.com/
Flickr ==> http://www.flickr.com/photos/37539972@N06/

A peek inside the creative life of Mary Casher

***Special note! It's not too late to enter the Road to 500 Giveaway!***

Today we get to talk to Mary Casher, the creator of LEFTZ plush creatures, and owner of one amazingly organized studio.



First off, a little back story. Who are you? What do you make?
My name is Mary and I punch stuffed animals... As a child I was a collector of all things fuzzy.
It wasn't until I was laid off from my job as a baker that I discovered sewing. After the initial shock of losing my job, I realized that it had given me a great opportunity to freely express my creativity. My mother helped the process by cleaning out her craft room and giving me bags of fabric. Previously, I had tried sewing quilts and a few pattern dresses. I failed horribly, so the thought of sewing was far from my mind. But I gave it another shot, this time without patterns. As I let the designs freely flow I become intrigued with how creative I could be. During the time I was testing the waters of design, I started shopping at the local thrift stores for fabric. To give a little more spunk to my designs I decided to "punch out" all of their left eyes and stuff them with recycled plastic shopping bags. Thus, LEFTZ was born.


What projects are you in the middle of right now that you should probably be working on instead of doing this?
Ha! Well I just finished up a large order for the Young Blood Gallery & Boutique. I'm also working on plush for the upcoming gallery show at HotPop in Milwaukee, while trying to stock up new designs for Christmas. Then before I can relax I plan on submitting to Stuffed Magazine & Green Craft. So, I should be doing a lot of things at the moment, but this is a welcomed break!


What do you primarily create?
Animals are my primary plush. I did create a limited edition collection called Tribals, which consisted of  plush tree people with various accessories such as spears, fish, or fire pits. There are such a variety of animals to choose from, that I am never lacking inspiration. My new collection is called Mini Monsters, they are mainly created with faux fur that I have cut from thrift store stuffed animals. I must admit, I do feel a little bad cutting them up but I love bringing new life to something old.


Where do you find inspiration?
Everything and anything can be inspiration but nature is my biggest inspiration. The colors are always changing and the slightest thing can spark my imagination. Other times I will be standing in front of a rack of clothes at the thrift store and a pair of pants are instantly transformed into a plush cat.

Do you have a favorite book/blog/movie/etc you'd like to recommend?
My favorite blog is www.forgottenbookmarks.com Michael owns a used bookstore. Through his purchases of books he's discovered a lot of fun and interesting things that have been left inside. The photos, notes, and documents left behind are priceless glances into the history of the book's owner.

Where can readers see more of your work?
You can find more of my work in

• my Etsy shop www.arttales.etsy.com

• my blog arttales-leftz.blogspot.com

• or in the July 2010 issue of Stuffed Magazine.

Thanks for giving us a peek into your crafty life, Mary!

Don't forget to look for a selection of Mary's plush in the Winter 2011 issue of STUFFED Magazine!