Kickin' Back - Design for Leisure at the Philadelphia Art Alliance

The other day I finally has the opportunity to visit the show Kickin' Back - Design for Leisure at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in Rittenhouse Square where Cutesy but not Cutesy was amongst some of the finest designers in the Philadelphia area. It's so nice to be in such good company in our very own home city!

Fabric Horse makes some of the most awesome bags we've seen throughout our travels and they're based right here in Philly! We've run into them a couple of times at various craft shows but finally met them out in San Francisco for the Renegade Holiday Show. We laughed at the irony of both being from Philadelphia and finally meeting on the west coast!


These wooden toys also caught our eye by Holgate Toys based out of Pennsylvania. They've been in business since 1789 which is incredibly mind-blowing. It's hard for me to resist any vintage looking toys these days and I just fell in love with these instantly. It took me a while to wrap my brain around sharing a gallery space with a company that has been around that long!


And here's a peek at the monster display! They had the wall directly across from the entrance and staircase so their bright colors were immediate eye-catchers!




Thanks, Philadelphia, for inviting us to take part in yet another amazing show!

Starting off 2011 with a bang!

There's been a severe lack of posts here and news updates since the holiday rush of 2010 began and we really apologize for that. Caravans of monsters were making their way all up and down the east coast and even a plane-full made the journey out to San Francisco this year for the last show of the season! While the journey was exhausting, every last mile was more than worth it to meet our customers in person and to see the smiles the furrybeasts bring to people's faces all around the country.

We've been taking a bit of breathing time to recover from the non-stop traveling but we're slowly coming out of hibernation and hitting the ground running with some new exciting projects for 2011! Cutesy but not Cutesy already has two gallery shows lined up for January. The first is in Milwaukee, WI for the Etsy Plush Street Team's first ever group show CANDYLAND at Hot*Pop Art and Design Boutique. The grand opening is January 21st and many of the Plush Team members will be making an appearance, including Cutesy but not Cutesy! It's so exciting to be able to make the trip out there to see Milwaukee for the first time and to meet some of the Plush Team members I've never met before! Here is a sneak peek at the monsters that will be making an appearance at Hot*Pop.







The second show Cutesy but not Cutesy has been invited to participate in is Philadelphia Art Alliance's Kickin' Back: Design for Leisure show. This is a juried and invitational show showcasing the work of designers and architects from around the Philadelphia region and their interpretations of leisure in contemporary states of rest and play. We're honored to be amongst so many talented Philadelphia designers in this show opening Thursday January 27th to the public. We'll post pictures just as soon as we see the monsters in their new temporary home at the Philly Art Alliance!

Finally, we'd like to thank all of our friends, fans, and loyal customers for making 2010 the best year yet for the monsters and I. We're hoping it only gets better from here with the new ideas and projects we have in mind and can't wait to have all of you along for the ride!

2011, we welcome you with open arms (and furry paws)!

Plush You/Schmancy Olympic Challenge

I've had the great honor of participating in the wonderful plush Olympic Challenge being held by Kristen of Plush You fame. You can read up more on the details here. Over 180 artists have entered and were assigned a competing category. I was assigned opening ceremonies and after much frustration I came up with what I think was the best solution.... the Vancouver Olympic Torch Monster!!! I've named him Vin and he's 52" tall! Holy smokes!!!






Please wish Vin and I luck as we head into competition for gold, silver, and bronze plush metals!

Stuff This! at Rivet Gallery in Columbus, OH

It was a wonderful surprise to be invited to participate in this year's Stuff This! group show at Rivet Gallery in Columbus, OH! I had the great honor of making my first trip out to Columbus (and to Ohio, for that matter) for the Tiny Canary Indie Design Market. What a wonderful show that was and what a great energy the people of Columbus have! I had an amazing time at the show and Megan Green of Stinkybomb soap, formerly a Plush Team Member, was generous enough to offer me a comfortable place to stay and a good taste of Columbus eats each night I was there. I am looking forward to sending my work there for the Stuff This! show and only wish I could make the trek out there again to see it!

Without further adieu I bring you...

"made for each other."

Luv-able and Hug-able Show at Gallery Hanahou

We're happy to announce that our pieces for the wonderful Luv-able and Hug-able group show at Gallery Hanahou are finally complete and ready to be shipped off to NYC! The show runs from Dec 3rd to Jan 9 so if you're in the area and looking for adorable gifts for very special people, stop in and see the work of many amazing artists from all over the world!

Cutesy but not Cutesy and satisfied monster lovers

Now that Cutesy but not Cutesy has some down time between the end of the summer season and the start of the fall and holiday seasons, we finally have time to sit back and really think about all of the happy homes we've supplied with monsters this year (so far)! This is something that is sometimes easy to forget when traveling from place to place and state to state, weekend after weekend. But... sometimes these reminders show up right at our doorstep (or in our inbox) right when we need them the most...



This is a photo taken at Artscape of myself and Vanessa Petersen, of Churchton, MD, with her new monster companion. Vanessa first saw my work featured in STUFFED Magazine and was thrilled to discover them on the very streets of Artscape in Baltimore! It was a tough decision, but I think Vanessa made a good one! I think we may have a future plush designer on our hands... :)

And with that, if YOU have any photos of yourself with any members of my monster family, I'd love to see them! Please send them along!

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

Mortal Plush at Art Whino Gallery

Cutesy but not Cutesy is very excited to be a part of the Mortal Plush show at the Art Whino Gallery in D.C. The opening is tonight and they've just posted some pictures of the work all hung.





Also, if you're in the Anaheim area, the grand opening of Rothick Art Haus is also tonight. Looks like they have some really awesome artists for their opening and my monsters will be available for purchase in their gallery, as well!

And if that's not enough, if you're in South Jersey you can come see me and my monsters on display at theHaddonfield Arts and Crafts Festival!

The American Dream - I am not your toy.

I have been feverishly building up inventory for more upcoming shows, but in the mean time I took a break to create a piece for a gallery submission upcoming in July. The theme is emotion... This was my first attempt at joining two monsters with one antler... and it sure was quite the challenge! This piece is 33" tall and 29" wide and is titled "The American Dream".