AND... SPRING COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN.
I've got a couple more commissions after this one but there are still some spaces open for the Spring batch.. so if you've been thinking about requesting a custom plushie, now is the time to get a quote!
~Seth
Where to even start reviewing 2014... there was a lot going on this past year. Definitely. It was not necessarily an easy year by any mark, but the year brought an abundance of learning and new understandings.
I discovered so many new things:
Welcome To Night Vale – If you haven't heard of it yet, it's this brilliant and creepy podcast about this little town of Night Vale in the desert. It's... kinda hard to explain, really. But it fast became an addiction in my house and it's sparked a lot of new creative ideas about writing, artwork, plushies..
Cards Against Humanity – Which is such a wrong, messed up, hilarious game. We have taken the original cards and added tons of fandom-inspired cards we've found online, plus added in a bunch of personal jokes. We die laughing every time.. and lose way too many games to the Faceless Old Woman..
Pirate Sentai Gokaiger – The original Japanese version of Power Rangers. (I know, right? lol) We were introduced to is ridiculousness by some friends we made at Nijicon in October and we're totally hooked. The Gokaiger season is actually the 35th anniversary season and we're probably going to end up searching out a bunch of the other seasons because the team has the power to transform into all the older teams and we keep wondering “Oh what team is that? They look so cool” or their leader will show up to teach the team something and then we want to know more about his team.. Also the 35th anniversary coincides with the 10th anniversary of “One Piece” and the team members were inspired by the OP crew members, so we were predisposed to love it.
I also celebrated this year the return of one of my favorite bands after a 3-year break up, Fall Out Boy, who came back with the best album they've made yet and a whole new energy. They've got another new album dropping this month and I can't wait! So inspiring to see a band you love come back so much more alive and seeing what happens when they really come together as a band and give respect to what they all love to do.
Speaking of music, I love all these crowd-funding sites where I can help some of my favourite under-appreciated bands and musicians make the album that they want to make and enjoying hearing that love and freedom in their finished albums.
It's been amazing watching all the victories in the Marriage Equality fight add up, for me and especially for my best friends. Seeing so many stories of couples who have waited years, lifetimes even, to have their life together respected and recognized. I just pray that we can keep the momentum moving in the right direction.
I finally worked my first convention this year (two actually) which I was so excited for. While I did enjoy part of the experience, I'm still left with mixed emotions about whether it's something I want to do on a regular basis.. It seems like the convention environment is changing and maybe it's not as good for independent, small business artists as it used to be.. which is really a shame.. But there are other ways to be seen and I'll keep working at it
Creatively speaking, I learned to embroider eyes for my Deluxe Cuddle Buddies this year and they just look incredible. I'm so proud of the work I've been doing. I love comparing my creative progress to where I started, old plushies to new. Hard to believe I've only been making them for four years.. like this – the first Dr. Stein plushie I made to the one I made just a couple months ago.
Wow.. the difference is just crazy to me. And I tried something really new for me – my Usagi and Misaki plushies are made totally out of felt, clothes and all. They turned out SO CUTE! I think I'm gonna keep that style with the button eyes because it really suits them. Unless, of course, someone requests the embroidered ones. Gotta make some more baby ponies so I can see what they look like with the embroidered eyes.. so, so many things I want to work on!
Like I said.. it's been a very busy year! I'm sure that I've left something out but there was just too much going on.. and I'm hoping that 2015 will be just as busy, amazing and enlightening!
So how was your 2014?
Just a little heads up. I got schooled by senpai at Nijicon. This and other revelations I had this weekend about my craft have inspired me to change the pricing structure on my plushies – including what I am now calling plush art dolls, due to the technical difficulty of their construction and the time spent working on them. I have updated my Commissions and FAQs to reflect this change.
I will be posting new plushies and plush art dolls to my Etsy shop in the next couple of days, once I sort out my inventory from Nijicon.
I am looking forward to having the winter (because I’m so not traveling very far in the snow) to work on more plushies, my Schwoopie Towne art and trying out some new ideas. I have so, so many ideas running rampant in my head. lol
Curse that glare! Our booth looked awesome! This is a shot of our Day 3 set up. So proud of this! We learned fast after the 1st and 2nd day and adjusted the set up each day to show off more prints and plushies - though, as you can see, I didn't have many plushies left by day 3. Maya - who I hadn't even had a chance to post here before the convention - went home with a Doctor Who #11 cosplayer (how cool is that?) and Janky was adopted by this adorable lady in a cute little black hat who's going to teach him to crochet. I love it! I've still got a few little plush friends who need homes but maybe they will find them at NijiCon next month..
I handed out tons on tons of rack cards and business cards so, with luck, maybe I'll be drowning in commissions soon. lol
Everyone was so much fun and seeing all the cosplayers was a blast. Some of my favorites characters and I was really impressed by the quality. Loved talking to all the people as they stopped at the booth and chatting with our other neighbors in Artist Alley as well. We were lucky enough to be in some really fun company! The two ladies next door to us especially were great. They're called "Toon Twins" because they are in fact twins who draw adorable little fanarts for badges and keychains and such. So cute! (I went home with and Undertaker badge - from Kuroshitsuji - that said "Got jokes?" and the besties got matching "Got yaoi?" badges for Junjou Romantica.) I also bought a couple of necklaces from the booth across the aisle - they were fun too - but sadly they don't have a website for their killer steampunk jewelry...
We worked our butts off this weekend but I think we can all agree that this is definitely the life that we want - going to conventions, sharing our work, meeting people. Building our brands has become a much more serious focus. It was kind of surreal getting up and going back to work on Monday. It felt like we had an amazing adventure and then had to somehow just go back to our normal every day life.
I couldn't have been happier with how my Cuddle Buddies were received. And it was nice to finally have my work appreciated and not hear people saying that I was charging too much - actually had a few who thought I wasn't charging enough! Unfortunately my brain just never stops taking in inspiration and churning out new ideas so I have so many things going on in my head right now. If I get even half of what I'm thinking of in the works I will definitely need my own table when we start conventions again next year. BUT we've still got our table at NijiCon next month before I start gearing up with new ideas for future merch and conventions that we haven't even applied to yet.
~ Seth