Chicago, Crafty Bastards, and London, Oh My!

Now for a long overdue update from the Monsterworld! We've been traveling all over the place having a great time meeting new people. We road-tripped out to Chicago for our second Renegade Craft Fair Chicago. We had such a blast! Chicago is filled with tons of monster lovers and friendly faces. I also got to meet some fellow Plushteamers and to go to the Threadless meet-up with my good friends Alvaro and John from Fuzzy Ink. We had a great time hanging out with the Threadless crew and I finally got a tour of the new Threadless Headquarters.


Me in the new Threadless Headquarters (photo courtesy of Randy Aquilizan)

We love Chicago and can't wait for our next excuse to go back!

After Chicago came Crafty Bastards, in D.C., quite possibly one of our favorite shows of the year. Despite the construction around the venue and the slightly unexpected continuous rain, it was one of the best Crafty Bastards yet! The people of D.C. show us so much love and have such a great energy about art and creativity. The organizers of CB also work so hard and do an incredible job at it! Here is a video we made for the Craftiest Bastard of 2011 contest...



Next up and most exciting for us, was our very first trip overseas with the monster gang! Myself, the monsters, and the Fuzzy Ink duo packed up our bags and headed to London for the first EVER Renegade Craft Fair London. We love the Renegade shows more than anything so decided to follow them over the pond, because... why not? What an incredible adventure! The show was on the second floor of the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in East London. It was so much fun meeting so many new vendors from all over Europe! I finally had the amazing honor of meeting fellow plush artist Ninon from Berlin, who's work I've coveted for quite some time. She's as lovely as can be and her work is even more beautiful in person! I also met Jess Quin from Bristol, whose work I also love. I also met the amazing man behind Mr. X Stitch, Jamie. We chatted a bit about art and craft in London and he gave me a few laughs. I had met his counterpart Bridget, a.k.a Beefranck last year in Chicago. And last but not least I met the incredible fellow Plush Teamer, Sian, of Siansburys. I've only ever known her online and in forums so it was so amazing to travel so far and to see someone I 'kind of' knew! Here we are...



After the show we had a few good days in London to be tourists and we had a blast running around on the Tube trying to see as much as possible!






Taking the monsters to London had to be one of the most stressful yet rewarding adventures we've had thus far and we're so happy and have had such an awesome opportunity! The monsters really are taking us all over the globe, those little jet-setters!

Now we're gearing up for some holiday adventures so stay-tuned for and update on all the chances to see the monsters live and in the fur before the holidays are over!

Crafty Bastards Round-Up

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to participate in Washington D.C.'s largest indie craft festival, Crafty Bastards. It was truly an amazing event and I am in awe of how well organized and incredibly well attended it was. The weather was beautiful, though there were threats of rain earlier in the week... I think we all did our best no-rain dances to fight it off together. I met a lot of really wonderful people and saw a lot of fellow craft friends that I always enjoy seeing at these events.

I made some great purchases myself. I bought an adorable ring from Figs and Ginger whose work I always love to peek at. I also took home another creature from fellow Push Team member Phil Barbato... Thorgrimm the Defeated. And my mom brought me a sweet little surprise from Lumpkin.

And now for some pictures!

I made a giant monster to hang from the top of my tent beckoning monster lovers to come in my direction...


I promptly sold said monster 3 hours into the show... but the monster lovers seemed to not need any beckoning...


There were a lot of awesome people wandering around!


A better view of my collaborative prints with my sister Robin Koss of Wind Up Bird Studios.


A monster lover caught in the act of making an adoption!


A close up of some of the handsome fellas...

The last four photos courtesy of Dots, Lines, and Polygons.

Thank you, Crafty Bastards!

Bring on the holidays!

Cutesy July round-up and other updates

As we wind down our six-show-in-a-row whirlwind tour with one show in Collingswood, NJ left to go and gear up for some much needed rest before the hectic fall and holiday season, here are a few snippets from our time on the road.

First, as mentioned in a previous post, we were at the Manayunk Fine Arts and Crafts Festival in late June. Here are some delayed pictures...

The booth


The EMS on segways


Area Chef's getting some air


One very cool customer


And the Fiber Arts Award


From Manayunk we moved on to Haddonfield, NJ where we met many wonderful people. Unfortunately, we have no photos of this show... but you just have to trust that it treated us kindly :)

The next week we made our way to Baltimore for ARTSCAPE with Wind-up Bird Studios. Three 10 hour days in a row with hundreds of thousands of people. This had to be the most exhausting show we've done but fantastic nonetheless. And we were in good company, I saw a lot of familiar fellow crafter's faces as well as met some new ones! We had the honor of sharing our tent with Chelsea of Lola Miren. She has some of the most adorable baby products I have seen! We also met some great people who attended the Mortal Plush show in DC where we have "The American Dream". What a great weekend!

Soon after getting in from Baltimore and after only a couple days of hectic stitching to restock, we headed on the road with mom to Asheville, NC for Bele Chere. Mom had never been to North Carolina, let alone West Virginia and Tennessee, both of which we had to travel through... so it would be a true adventure for all! Asheville truly is an amazing place and this festival was a great event. We had so much fun meeting people from Asheville and the surrounding areas and meeting new vendors. It was nice to be so far away from home because it meant meeting that many new people! We had a booth across from Raimbow Tree who relocated to Asheville from Alaska a few months ago. Her work is amazing and I ended up buying a skirt from her and she purchased my favorite monster, a fair trade in the end if I do say so myself! :) We also met Yvonne Miller of Atlanta who we ended up trading with for some awesome wall art, as well. Overall, the Asheville show ranks above all the rest... it had the best music, the best food, and the most amazingly appreciative and supportive vendors and customers. I think mom never wanted to leave!

We don't pump our own gas in New Jersey


Some new top-secret products?


Street performer


Day 2 exhaustion and Barley's Pizza


Another happy customer!


And that brings us to this past weekend at the Stone Harbor Arts and Crafts Festival. Despite having to wake up at 3:45am each day to drive down to the show, the drive into the sun-rise sure was a beautiful one. We had never been so close to the beach before and what an adventure for the monsters! We ran into the wonderful couple behind Clay Monster whom we first met in Manayunk. They're work is too awesome, great minds think monsters! Unfortunately, there was a huge storm on Sunday and being solo this weekend, I decided to pack up the fellas early just before the downpour and lighting showed up. The tent wasn't as lucky, as it had to be the last to go into the car. I ended up having to hold it down from the wind gusts while trying to take it down at the same time. I'm sure it wasn't a pretty site at the time, but looking back at it... it might be mildly comical. With the sopping tent finally in my car, I ran in bare feet (the shoes were too soaked to wear) to gather the rest of the goods... and the monsters and I were safely on our way home.

Everyone hiding in their tents


Stopped traffic on the drive home


And as if that's not enough to take in... we're super excited to announce that we'll be participating in this year's Crafty Bastards in October and the Luv-able and Hug-able show at Gallery Hanahou in NYC in December!

Finally, our submissions are on their way for the Plush You show at Schmancy Gallery in Seattle in October. Here are our submissions...

The Keepers of the Mountains


Summer Mountain Keeper


Winter Mountain Keeper


Spring Mountain Keeper