I love Halloween! This month's wallpaper calendar features my special edition zombie narwhal toys. Last year, I made 10 in lime green. This year, I'll have 10 more in kelly green. They will be available at the Salem Open Market on the 13th and 14th and at the SoWa Open Market "Market of the Living Dead" on the 28th. You can also enjoy them all month long on your desktop! Download the free calendar on the Zooguu Free Stuff Page.
Aaaaaand they're off! Sloth takes the lead in the slowest race you'll ever see.
For your Thursday evening viewing pleasure, I am proud to present a sloth riding a tortoise. You're welcome. These guys are headed to Seattle, WA for Plush You!, a gallery show at Schmancy Toys.
Yes, I live in New England, and I make plush toys. It's about time I made a lobster!
Be the first to own a Zooguu lobster toy by coming to the Greenway Open Market in Boston this Saturday. If he doesn't find a home on Saturday, I'll be at the SoWa Open Market on Sunday.
There are great white sharks in Cape Cod, shark week is coming up, and I have a new shark plush toy so I thought it would be nice to have a shark themed calendar for August!
You can download it from our Free Stuff page!
People purchase our ornaments all year long. Sure, during the holidays, they make excellent tree ornaments, but there are other ways you can use our tiny animals on a string. Lots of kids use them as backpack zipper pulls. Many of the ornaments live on rear view mirrors in cars, others ride on bicycle handlebars. Often, people just like to collect things that make them smile. One of the most popular ways people use them is to make a mobile. I've just started to offer finished mobiles at craft shows. Here is an example of a finished mobile using an embroidery hoop and ribbon. I'll have some this weekend at the Greenway Open Market in Boston and at Bazaar Bizarre's Union Made event in Somerville.
Hot off the sewing machine! I'll have a few different colors available at this weekend's Greenway Open Market (Saturday 11-5) and SoWa Open Market (Sunday 10-4) in Boston.
I'm a member of the Etsy Plush Team, and every month or two there is a team challenge. This time, the challenge was to create a plush that would be perfect for Father's Day. One of the categories we could choose from was "geeky", so I was very happy to have an excuse to make an Admiral Ackbar plush. He's one of my favorite characters from Star Wars, and I've been wanting to make one of these for some time now. Here he is in all his glory (standing & sitting):
2012 is the year of the Dragon. This Red and Gold Dragon was a custom order for a new baby. I'm hoping it brings lots of luck! This design is definitely going to be added to our line of regular toys, but only available in size medium, large and xlarge due to the complexity of the design. Sometimes, when a toy has a lot of little pieces, it actually takes more time to make it smaller.
Our latest custom order is for fellow SoWa vendor Cody's Creations! Kerrie wanted a custom dog collar mannequin that resembled her beagle and her company branding. Standing at 14" tall, this guy is the perfect size for a table top display.
Here at Zooguu, we do a lot of custom work. We decided to showcase all of these unique projects into a brand new section on our web site, the Gallery. In the Gallery, you can browse through four years of our one-of-a-kind plush creations - Have fun!
This month's free desktop wallpaper calendar features my latest series of plush that combine mermaids and animals! I thought a bunny would be appropriate for the upcoming Easter holiday. You can download it free on Zooguu's Free Stuff page. Enjoy!
Introducing MerBunny & MerFox!
Gubicza & I have been collaborating on some sewn fabric wall art based on his illustrations. After completing this recent mermaid shown below (20" x 24"), I couldn't wait to combine some of my animal toy designs with a mermaid tail. I've been using upholstery remnants that I received from a local business to create the colorful, patterned tails. I love the way the bunny & the fox came out. I'm planning on adding a MerMonkey and MerBear to the lineup soon.
I just finished this custom plush toy for Rhino Accounting, a Canadian company that develops small business accounting software for Google Apps. They asked me if I could turn their logo/mascot into a plush toy. The most challenging part of this project was creating the head. It took a lot of thinking and drawing on fabric to decide where to place the seams to get the best results. Here is the finished product:
It helps that I had a fun character illustration to work from. The finished rhino guy can stand up on his own and has jointed arms.
Ever since I've been making my shelf-sized, 10" jointed dinosaurs, I've wanted to create one that was much larger. I use little buttons inside each of the limbs on the smaller dinosaurs, so I had to order bigger doll joints for this upcoming project. The day before the joints were scheduled to arrive, I get a message from someone asking if I can make one of my dinosaurs in a larger size, about 2' tall. The timing could not have been better! I love when these things happen! The recipient of my largest jointed creation has already named him Eugene, and he is so happy to be going to a loving home.
If you're going to Toy Fair, stop by booth 5688 to visit with the Cooper family and hear all about their invention, the Doodle Roll®: a roll of paper and crayons contained in a compact, portable kit. It's simple, brilliant and has been very successful. It's small enough to fit in a purse so kids can have creative fun anywhere they go.
This will be their second year at Toy Fair, and they asked if I would take some of the characters they had created for them called "The Doodles" and turn them into large plush mascots to make an impact in their booth. If you can't make it to Toy Fair, you can see the results here:
Li'l Dweek loves to give hugs.
Kevin loves to ride on swings.
I met Launchpad Toys during the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco, and we had a great time talking about games, apps, plush toys & huge, jointed dolls. Fast forward a couple of months, and I've finally finished some of the largest and most complex plush I've attempted. The arms, legs & heads on these 18"-24" characters are fully jointed, so they can be posed like action figures. They are based on characters created by Launchpad, and go along with the app that they created. Toontastic is great, because it provides kids with jointed characters that they can animate and tell stories with. It's like a digital puppet show that can be shared with family and friends. How cool is that? Now, it's time to check out the final plush toys below.
This is their logo.
I love his little rocket booster feet!
And here's a character called Mr. Jinx:
I added elastic bands to the back of his hands so that he can hold things like plush bananas:
They're finally here! I've been dreaming about making jointed dinosaurs for a while now, and of course I have to choose one of the busiest times to try out a new design. I think it might be all of the creative energy flowing here in the studio and the excitement building around another Renegade Craft Fair. If you're in Brooklyn this weekend, come by Booth #22 to be the first to check out these new T-Rex toys! There will be a couple of other color combinations as well.
They Stand!
And they sit, too!
I'm excited to announce that my first pattern for sale has been listed in the Zooguu Etsy shop! Thanks to those who helped read things over and test out this step by step tutorial. It has been a lot of work to put together, but I can't wait to see the narwhals that people make using this guide.
This 14 page PDF pattern includes instructions, pattern pieces, diagrams and photos to make a narwhal in three different sizes. It also includes instructions on how to turn it into an ornament!
This pattern is for intermediate sewers & toymakers. Experience in making a flat or pillow type toy is recommended.
I can't stop making these. They're too much fun. This one is probably the girliest thing I've ever made, but I love it!
Available in the Zooguu Etsy Shop
