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!

Listen to your heart...

Adventures around the globe

For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to travel the world. It's always been a dream of mine to travel to every state in the country and slowly but surely I'm marking them off of the list. Cutesy but not Cutesy has taken me to states across the country I'd never thought I'd have the chance to go to. Whether it be just traveling through as a weary driver or for a few days stay for a craft show, meeting new people and seeing new places are what keep me and my business going. One of the many reasons I had for starting the company was to have the opportunity to have small pieces of me travel all around the globe to places I may never have the chance to visit myself. The monsters are extensions of myself that get to go on small adventures of their own and tell their own stories to people I may never meet. I can assure you all that my adventures with the monsters are not slowing down any time soon with a few new states to mark off the list already coming up in the near future. We like traveling, we like meeting new people, and seeing new places and nothing can keep us from following our curious minds and passionate hearts.

With all of that being said, I started to grow a little jealous of the monsters' international adventures without me, so this time it was my turn. The monsters helped me pack my bags and sent me on my way on an adventure of my very own. One of the amazing things about working so hard during the year making monsters is being able to send myself on an incredible vacation knowing that all of my hard work really has paid off. I recently returned from a whirlwind trip from Costa Rica! As far as I know, none of my monsters live there or have ever been there but at least I was able to go and see it for myself. It was a warm break from the cold weather here in the Northeast and a much needed relaxing trip before the Spring/Summer busy season starts up again. I've had the amazing opportunity of traveling all around the world but Central America is somewhere that I have never been. It was absolutely beautiful and just what the doctor(s) probably would have ordered had I told anyone I was going. It was a bit of a last minute trip and I don't think we even had our plane tickets until only 48 hours before we were supposed to fly out of the country, but well worth the last minute planning stress.

Now, as we recharge here in the monster warehouse for some more monster making madness to come, here are some pictures from my adventures in Costa Rica! Enjoy!

A furry snowy Boston weekend

As mentioned in one of the recent blog posts, Cutesy but not Cutesy was due for an adventure out to Milwaukee, WI this past weekend for the opening of the Plush Team's first group gallery show at Hot*Pop Shop Gallery and Boutique called CANDYLAND. Unfortunately, due to some unexpected (somewhat expected) weather in Boston, our flight was canceled and we couldn't book a new flight out to Milwaukee in time for the opening. We desperately tried to find a way out to the mid-west, mid-snowstorm and then diverted our minds to possibly flying someplace warm with our already-paid-for tickets in order to salvage what remained of the weekend. Despite having missed the ultimate mid-west adventure and meeting and hanging out with some of the best plush designers around in -6 degree weather, we managed to kick it in Boston in style and made the most of the weekend we had dealt to us. Below are some pictures posted from some of the people who were able to make it out for the show.




Rest assured, Milwaukee, we will see you some day.

We've also received word that the Get Stuffed show in Cleveland, OH that was up just before the holidays at the SPACES Gallery will remain up until April 1st with some new and updated pieces from some of the artists. They've also sent along some photos from the first hanging.






We're looking forward to heading over to Philly to check out the opening of the Philadelphia Art Alliance's Kickin' Back: Design for Leisure Show opening Thursday Jan 27th. Hopefully more pictures to follow!

Crazy Toys - A French Publication

I'm super excited to announce Cutesy but not Cutesy's first international publication in a hardcover book! The book is called "Crazy Toys: Les artistes créent des doudous" and is published by one of the oldest publishing companies in the world, Aubanel Publishing as part of La Martiniere. The book is a compilation of the work from plush artists all over the world with various photographs and pages for each artist. Below are some photos of Cutesy but not Cutesy's pages in the book!







The book is available for purchase on the French Amazon site or directly from Aubanel.

Being published in a book was definitely one of the biggest long term goals for Cutesy but not Cutesy and so it's extra exciting that it has happened so soon! Now it's time to mark some other things off the list!

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)!

Jump. in. leaves.

Byron, myself, and our good friend Alvaro got the chance to spend some free time outdoors a few weekends ago. Byron insisted, INSISTED, that we go play in the leaves. We certainly didn't fight him on this one.