Cotton Monster Plush Exclusive and Interview

This Wednesday, the latest plush exclusive will be for sale at Schmancy by the wonderfully talented, Cotton Monster.  I freakin' love the work by Cotton Monster and am so honored to have her make something SPECIAL for Schmancy.  I had the pleasure of FINALLY meeting the lady behind these wonderful creatures and she is as wonderful in person as these guys are.  Here is a little interview I did with her.  Enjoy!

S- What was your inspiration behind this exclusive? 

CM- I was thinking about (and longing for) the ocean! I chose to use a range blues and greens, colors that remind me of the sea, and designed the shape of the monsters themselves to mimic the form of waves! I picture the Sea Squirmies bobbing along in gentle waters somewhere in the South Pacific! 

S- Tell us a bit about your working space and your schedule? 

CM- My workspace is a small bright yellow room on the third floor of our house. It is filled to the gills with material, clothing, blankets, sheets, fabric remnants, always stocked with a 25lb box of stuffing, and of course...monsters!  My schedule is always changing depending on my other job (right now I'm teaching arts and crafts a few days a week at a summer camp and still working part-time at the puppet theater I've been with for 7+ years!). But a normal at-home work day starts with a big mug of tea, checking email and photo editing or updating my etsy shop, making lots of to-do lists, then as many hours as I can muster cutting/sewing/stuffing, a break for some fresh air or exercise of sorts and maybe a trip to the thrift store or post. Then after dinner I often transport one project I'm working on down a flight or two to do some hand-sewing or eyeball stuffing amongst friends or while watching a movie! I am definitely never bored!

S- I really love your color combos.  Where do you find most of your fabric? 

CM- Most of it is actually clothing and bedding that I pick up at thrift stores or that is donated to me! I go for the biggest ugliest items I can find, but with the softest touch and most vibrant colors. My favorite stores are those that organize their clothing etc. in rainbow order! It makes it so easy to find what I'm looking for. And this way I'm always using colors and materials I probably couldn't find in a normal fabric store! And despite the Cotton Monster name, most of the material ends up being cotton/poly blends!

S- Do you have any summer plans? 

CM- I already took my big summer trip to visit a dear friend in SanFrancisco where I ate amazing food and enjoyed lounging in the gorgeous parks! I'm part of a group performing a puppet variety show for grown-ups at Baltimore's giant summer arts festival, Artscape, so that has been taking up much of my time the past few weeks! Other then that I'll be aiming to go swimming and tubing whenever I can break away from my studio!

S- Favorite summertime treat? 

CM- I am in LOVE with homemade smoothies! My favorite is frozen strawberries, bananas, almond milk, oj, ice and some granola! Just throw it in a blender. Yummmmm! And when I'm feeling a bit less healthy, margaritas!