Showing posts with label interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interviews. Show all posts
Friday, May 09, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Jess Hutch Interview
Jess Hutch is a lovely person. She has participated in Plush You since it began and I am pleased as punch that she is still going strong with her plush making. I had the pleasure of going out to dinner with Jess last year and it was great to be able to sit down with her and chat about her work and to get to know the woman behind these amazing creations. I can't wait until Friday when I will be able to hang out with Jess again as she will be showing her work at Schmancy. In a few hours you can visit our new Schmancy Gallery site to see what will be at the show and to purchase any work before it is up this Friday. Until then, read a little more about Jess.
S- When we met about a year ago you mentioned that you might like to stop blogging. This Jan. you made the plunge and said good bye to the blogging world. How has it helped your creative process? Is it everything you hoped it would be?
JH- It's been great in a lot of ways... using my blog and flickr to show my work to the world was hugely, hugely important for me while I was trying to work out my aesthetic and my creative direction. However, I got to the point where the number of comments or hits I got had an effect on the projects I chose to work on. I felt that as I was creating things, it was almost like I had a hundred people in the room with me. So I decided to step back a bit and create in a more silent, personal space. It's been great. However... I've also found that it's kind of hard to work without the encouragement of other people, artists and people who like my work and pay attention to it. Like I need their support to keep my motivation going. So it's mixed! But I think it's been useful and a good experiment.
S- Looking through your work, you seem to have gone through some phases. From knitting more, embroidery, screen printing and now more painted stuffed toys. Do you just go with your flow or do you dabble in everything all the time?
JH- I get bored pretty easily, at least with various media. I seem to always stay within a pretty narrow range with what I represent (usually weird serene little animal/human hybrid characters) but I am always, always thinking about different ways to go about it. I even want to try wood carving, I'm not even kidding. I think I just want to explore everything... just different ways of depicting what's in my head. Comic books, oil painting, etc. There's so much out there, and I just kind of follow my bliss with it.
S- I noticed that a lot of your work has little stories involving ghosts and spirits. Are you really into ghost stories and mystical beings?
JH- Yes. What I really love is the idea that our normal world, the one that we can study and observe, is just a shell. That unusual beings and strange occurrences occasionally present themselves, and we just have to be open and aware. I'm not sure I really believe any of this, but I'm open to it and love to contemplate the possibilities.
S- One thing I really love about your work is the color palette. It varies but seems to stay within certain families. Where do you get a lot of inspiration for your work and color combinations?
Well, my stuff is very modern and graphic. Super simple. I am always concerned that the cartooniness of what I do, coupled with really bright colors, would just completely shove it out of reality. So I like to use more natural, muted colors, because I think it brings it back a bit. It's a little more relatable (which is always what I'm try to achieve). Rust, grey-green, ocean blue, brown, etc.
Read the full interview here
S- When we met about a year ago you mentioned that you might like to stop blogging. This Jan. you made the plunge and said good bye to the blogging world. How has it helped your creative process? Is it everything you hoped it would be?
JH- It's been great in a lot of ways... using my blog and flickr to show my work to the world was hugely, hugely important for me while I was trying to work out my aesthetic and my creative direction. However, I got to the point where the number of comments or hits I got had an effect on the projects I chose to work on. I felt that as I was creating things, it was almost like I had a hundred people in the room with me. So I decided to step back a bit and create in a more silent, personal space. It's been great. However... I've also found that it's kind of hard to work without the encouragement of other people, artists and people who like my work and pay attention to it. Like I need their support to keep my motivation going. So it's mixed! But I think it's been useful and a good experiment.
S- Looking through your work, you seem to have gone through some phases. From knitting more, embroidery, screen printing and now more painted stuffed toys. Do you just go with your flow or do you dabble in everything all the time?
JH- I get bored pretty easily, at least with various media. I seem to always stay within a pretty narrow range with what I represent (usually weird serene little animal/human hybrid characters) but I am always, always thinking about different ways to go about it. I even want to try wood carving, I'm not even kidding. I think I just want to explore everything... just different ways of depicting what's in my head. Comic books, oil painting, etc. There's so much out there, and I just kind of follow my bliss with it.
S- I noticed that a lot of your work has little stories involving ghosts and spirits. Are you really into ghost stories and mystical beings?
JH- Yes. What I really love is the idea that our normal world, the one that we can study and observe, is just a shell. That unusual beings and strange occurrences occasionally present themselves, and we just have to be open and aware. I'm not sure I really believe any of this, but I'm open to it and love to contemplate the possibilities.
S- One thing I really love about your work is the color palette. It varies but seems to stay within certain families. Where do you get a lot of inspiration for your work and color combinations?
Well, my stuff is very modern and graphic. Super simple. I am always concerned that the cartooniness of what I do, coupled with really bright colors, would just completely shove it out of reality. So I like to use more natural, muted colors, because I think it brings it back a bit. It's a little more relatable (which is always what I'm try to achieve). Rust, grey-green, ocean blue, brown, etc.
Read the full interview here
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Ariana Marinelli Interview
I really try not to have favorites but I have to say, Ariana Marinelli is one of them. Ariana has participated in Plush You! every year and each year her work arrives there are gasps of delight from anyone that lays their eyes on her work. It's really a work of art with great attention to detail and the love that goes into each piece seeps out of the seams. Ariana is a true inspiration and I hope you agree. Leave a comment at the end of this interview and one lucky winner will receive two albino hedgehogs. Winner will be chosen on May 7th. At the end of the interview is another added bonus from Ariana.
S- When did you start making plush toys?
AM- I actually remember specifically what introduced me to the online craft/plush world. I was browsing the magazine section at my local library. I was thumbing through Budget Living (I still miss that magazine!) when I saw an article about Jill Bliss and her website blissen. I went straight home and looked up blissen.com, which led me to many other online craft sites. These led to other craft sites, one of which was Loobylu’s Month of Softies.
I made a couple of small plush pieces and something about it just clicked for me. I believe that was sometime around the fall of 2004. Loobylu is how I found out about Plush You. Without the Plush You show I don’t know if I would have taken plush making to the next level. The show definitely inspired me to push myself.
S- A lot of your work are really small detailed pieces, do you mainly hand sew or use a machine?
AM- I would say it is pretty close to half and half. I sew what I can by machine, but I do a lot of hand sewing. I wouldn’t be able to make what I do without all of the handwork. I am actually kind of a hand-sewing evangelist! It might be a little more frustrating at first but it really can’t be beat in terms of the control it gives you over the sewing process. I am always so surprised that more people don’t start with hand sewing and then move on to the machine because it requires so few supplies. It also builds your skills and makes you a more versatile sewer.
Go here for full interview
S- When did you start making plush toys?
AM- I actually remember specifically what introduced me to the online craft/plush world. I was browsing the magazine section at my local library. I was thumbing through Budget Living (I still miss that magazine!) when I saw an article about Jill Bliss and her website blissen. I went straight home and looked up blissen.com, which led me to many other online craft sites. These led to other craft sites, one of which was Loobylu’s Month of Softies.
I made a couple of small plush pieces and something about it just clicked for me. I believe that was sometime around the fall of 2004. Loobylu is how I found out about Plush You. Without the Plush You show I don’t know if I would have taken plush making to the next level. The show definitely inspired me to push myself.
S- A lot of your work are really small detailed pieces, do you mainly hand sew or use a machine?
AM- I would say it is pretty close to half and half. I sew what I can by machine, but I do a lot of hand sewing. I wouldn’t be able to make what I do without all of the handwork. I am actually kind of a hand-sewing evangelist! It might be a little more frustrating at first but it really can’t be beat in terms of the control it gives you over the sewing process. I am always so surprised that more people don’t start with hand sewing and then move on to the machine because it requires so few supplies. It also builds your skills and makes you a more versatile sewer.
Go here for full interview
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Jenny Harada Interview
If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting Jenny Harada then you know how awesome she is. I finally got to meet her last summer at Renegade Craft Fair and then was lucky enough to hang out with her at the Etsy Labs this past December. And as cheesy as this might sound, Jenny is seriously like a ray of sunshine. She's passionate about her work, her family and helping Plush You to be a success. I think Jenny kicks ass and I think you will too. At the end of the interview are the details of her awesome giveaway! Don't forget to leave a comment.
S- Were toys the thing that got you into sewing or had you mastered the art of sewing before?
JH- I wouldn't say I have mastered sewing yet, even though I have been sewing for 28 years. The first things I ever sewed were clothes for my dolls. Stuffed toys soon followed because my dolls (and me) needed little friends. I pretty much started sewing because my mom was doing it and I wanted to do whatever she was doing. It was fun, so I stuck with it.
S- What drew you to making toys in the first place?
JH- I was a kid when I started making them, so it was just natural that I wanted more toys! What better way to get more toys than to make them yourself? I never really stopped since then. I don't want to grow up. Then I studied toy design in college but decided to persue animation instead of toy making. Is wasn't until years later that I began seriously making lots and lots of my own toys all the time.
Read here for the full interview.
Giveaway details are:
Jenny will make a custom plush for the winner based on their two favorite colors and two favorite animals, so leave your choices in the comments! The rest is up to her. It will be a surprise! Please leave a comment on the full interview. Winner will be chosen on April 30th
S- Were toys the thing that got you into sewing or had you mastered the art of sewing before?
JH- I wouldn't say I have mastered sewing yet, even though I have been sewing for 28 years. The first things I ever sewed were clothes for my dolls. Stuffed toys soon followed because my dolls (and me) needed little friends. I pretty much started sewing because my mom was doing it and I wanted to do whatever she was doing. It was fun, so I stuck with it.
S- What drew you to making toys in the first place?
JH- I was a kid when I started making them, so it was just natural that I wanted more toys! What better way to get more toys than to make them yourself? I never really stopped since then. I don't want to grow up. Then I studied toy design in college but decided to persue animation instead of toy making. Is wasn't until years later that I began seriously making lots and lots of my own toys all the time.
Read here for the full interview.
Giveaway details are:
Jenny will make a custom plush for the winner based on their two favorite colors and two favorite animals, so leave your choices in the comments! The rest is up to her. It will be a surprise! Please leave a comment on the full interview. Winner will be chosen on April 30th
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Mr. Funky Interview and Giveaway!
Narumi Ogawa is the clever brain behind Mr. Funky! She has a recent book full of easy-to-follow tutorials for adorable dolls and accessories. You can make hats, scarves, flowers and even a water bottle carrier (my personal favorite). She was nice enough to do an interview with us, and she's even offering up her new book, Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful, as a prize for one lucky Plush blog reader. Leave a comment to be entered! Thanks again to Narumi for the interview. We loved learning more about her.
S - You've been crocheting as Mr. Funky since 2003. How long did you crochet as a hobby before you decided to make the leap to business?
MF - It probably took me 1 year to establish Mr.Funky. I had never crocheted in my life until year 2002. I started going to crochet class at yarn shop every Saturday for 2 months. I was crocheting ALL THE TIME!
S - Since you began, have you been able to turn Mr. Funky into a full time job, or do you have another profession you balance as well? Do you have any advice for people who want to make their craft their business?
MF - In 2003, I started showing my Amigurumi dolls to store owners. I also showed my creations at parties, clubs, art walk and sample sales... basically anywhere I went. There were so many events in Los Angeles, and I just took advantage of the opportunity of living in La La Land. I talked about Mr.Funky to every single person I met. At that point, I was working as a movie editor for a small company and a model scout for movies. I didn't think Mr.Funky would turn to be my full time business, but I participated in 2 trade shows in summer 2003, and I received huge orders from the shows. After that I started working with sales reps in California, Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
S - You grew up in Tokyo, Japan. A lot of the cutest Amigurami books and patterns I've seen come from there. Do you think growing up in Tokyo had a large influence on your work and style?
MF - Most definitely, and I am lucky to be born in the 70's. I LOVE 70's culture. I am inspired by the cool Japanese animations, cartoons, TV shows, and music and they are mostly from 70's. Also my dad was musician, and he's taken me to see lots of Jazz concerts and live music since I was a little kid. I often create Amigurumi dolls by listening good music.
Read the rest of the interview here, and enter to win Narumi's book!
S - You've been crocheting as Mr. Funky since 2003. How long did you crochet as a hobby before you decided to make the leap to business?
MF - It probably took me 1 year to establish Mr.Funky. I had never crocheted in my life until year 2002. I started going to crochet class at yarn shop every Saturday for 2 months. I was crocheting ALL THE TIME!
S - Since you began, have you been able to turn Mr. Funky into a full time job, or do you have another profession you balance as well? Do you have any advice for people who want to make their craft their business?
MF - In 2003, I started showing my Amigurumi dolls to store owners. I also showed my creations at parties, clubs, art walk and sample sales... basically anywhere I went. There were so many events in Los Angeles, and I just took advantage of the opportunity of living in La La Land. I talked about Mr.Funky to every single person I met. At that point, I was working as a movie editor for a small company and a model scout for movies. I didn't think Mr.Funky would turn to be my full time business, but I participated in 2 trade shows in summer 2003, and I received huge orders from the shows. After that I started working with sales reps in California, Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
S - You grew up in Tokyo, Japan. A lot of the cutest Amigurami books and patterns I've seen come from there. Do you think growing up in Tokyo had a large influence on your work and style?
MF - Most definitely, and I am lucky to be born in the 70's. I LOVE 70's culture. I am inspired by the cool Japanese animations, cartoons, TV shows, and music and they are mostly from 70's. Also my dad was musician, and he's taken me to see lots of Jazz concerts and live music since I was a little kid. I often create Amigurumi dolls by listening good music.
Read the rest of the interview here, and enter to win Narumi's book!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Mochimochi Land Interview and Giveaway
This winter I had the pleasure of meeting Anna of Mochimochi Land. If you don't know of Mochimochi Land yet, where have you been? Anna makes some of the most cleverly cute knitted creatures I have seen to date. From Tubby, to the Luvgun to Pepto, she has something for everyone. The best part is, for $5.00 you can get one of her patterns and make one of your very own and occassionally she has a FREE pattern up on her blog. And what's even better than that is if you leave a comment here you have the chance to win a $15.00 gift certificate to Mochimochi Land! I will be meeting up with Anna again in NYC in a few weeks so I think we will choose the winner on March 31st.
S- How long have you been knitting and when did you start designing your own toys?
MmL- I first learned to knit in high school, but I really picked it up again about five years ago in college, when I met my then-boyfriend, now-husband's mom, Bonney. She is an expert knitter, and encouraged me to try all kinds of projects. She also gave me tons of free yarn from her gigantic stash, so I couldn't refuse!
The first knitted toy that I made was my own design -- it was in late 2006, when my coworkers and I were getting ready to open our new gallery. The gallery logo looks a little creature-like, so I thought it would be fun to make toy versions of it to give as gifts to my coworkers. They were so much fun to make (and so well received), that I soon had a shelf full of all kinds of knitted toys.
S- How long does it usually take you to come up with a new design? What's your process?
MmL- The longest part of my design process is coming up with an idea. I like for each of my toys to have something a little unexpected about it, and good ideas are not always forthcoming.
When I finally do come up with a concept, and it seems do-able, the actual making of the toy design doesn't usually take me so much time -- anywhere from an evening to a week or so. I do a combination of writing out a pattern in advance and writing things down as I improvise. I often have to rip everything out and start again a few times, but since all of my toys are relatively small, that's not so heartbreaking.
Read the whole interview here
S- How long have you been knitting and when did you start designing your own toys?
MmL- I first learned to knit in high school, but I really picked it up again about five years ago in college, when I met my then-boyfriend, now-husband's mom, Bonney. She is an expert knitter, and encouraged me to try all kinds of projects. She also gave me tons of free yarn from her gigantic stash, so I couldn't refuse!
The first knitted toy that I made was my own design -- it was in late 2006, when my coworkers and I were getting ready to open our new gallery. The gallery logo looks a little creature-like, so I thought it would be fun to make toy versions of it to give as gifts to my coworkers. They were so much fun to make (and so well received), that I soon had a shelf full of all kinds of knitted toys.
S- How long does it usually take you to come up with a new design? What's your process?
MmL- The longest part of my design process is coming up with an idea. I like for each of my toys to have something a little unexpected about it, and good ideas are not always forthcoming.
When I finally do come up with a concept, and it seems do-able, the actual making of the toy design doesn't usually take me so much time -- anywhere from an evening to a week or so. I do a combination of writing out a pattern in advance and writing things down as I improvise. I often have to rip everything out and start again a few times, but since all of my toys are relatively small, that's not so heartbreaking.
Read the whole interview here
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Claire Chambers Interview
I have been talking with Claire Chambers for awhile and finally was able to schedule this interview. She has been busy, quit her day job, has been making awesome videos to promote her art business, started The Needle and is a member of the Etsy Plush Team. With all that on her plate she still had some time to do a little interview for us. Thanks Claire!
S- Your recent stop motion animation films are amazingly cute and a fantastic way to promote yourself. Since your first one have you seen an increase in business, etc?
CC- Thank you! They are a lot of fun to make. I've noticed a definite increase in recognition for my creatures since releasing these videos. One of my Chickenpants Limited prints
(http://www.etsy.com/shop.php user_id=5069584§ion_id=5275279) even made it to Etsy's front page recently, too.
S- How long have you been working on plush?
CC- I started in plush about a year and a half ago. One of my first creatures was one of the prince's cousins from Katamari Damacy. Followed quickly by a "French Bulldog" that looked more like a bunny. (http://flickr.com/photos/smallchick/383901335/in/set-72157600047890584)
read full interview here
And check out this awesome video made special for this weeks interview
S- Your recent stop motion animation films are amazingly cute and a fantastic way to promote yourself. Since your first one have you seen an increase in business, etc?
CC- Thank you! They are a lot of fun to make. I've noticed a definite increase in recognition for my creatures since releasing these videos. One of my Chickenpants Limited prints
(http://www.etsy.com/shop.php user_id=5069584§ion_id=5275279) even made it to Etsy's front page recently, too.
S- How long have you been working on plush?
CC- I started in plush about a year and a half ago. One of my first creatures was one of the prince's cousins from Katamari Damacy. Followed quickly by a "French Bulldog" that looked more like a bunny. (http://flickr.com/photos/smallchick/383901335/in/set-72157600047890584)
read full interview here
And check out this awesome video made special for this weeks interview
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Croqzine Interview and Giveaway!
I have been eyeing Croqzine for awhile now and finally purchased a few copies several months ago. I thought it was such a great little zine that I decided I would like to interview the editor. So I did. Heather was very gracious and said she would throw in a giveaway. If you leave a comment here we will choose three lucky winners who will get a copy of their latest zine. Croq is full of awesome interviews, information and resources written by some of our favorite crafters. It's something you will keep on your shelf to look at from time to time for information and inspiration. Thank you Heather for this awesome interview and generous giveaway!
S- How did Croqzine come together?
CZ- Several crafty people were brought together via The Sampler. We were all interested in reading a zine about crafts, but we weren't finding a lot of them, so we decided to
write our own!
S- One thing that I noticed was your recent switch over to 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper. Do you have any thoughts or good resources for other crafters that want to keep their business as environmentaly friendly as possible?
CZ- My thoughts are this: it's more expensive for us to go 100% post-consumer in terms of the cost of our paper, but it's too expensive responsibility-wise to NOT got 100% post-consumer. We love the earth and we want to do whatever we can to reduce our environmental footprint. Yes, using 100% post-consumer paper brings the cost per issue up a bit, but it is so worth it in the long run! Since we frequently write about environmentally friendliness, it made sense for us to (um, how to say
this without using a cliche?) practice what we preach and spend a little extra to buy environmentally-friendly paper. We are by no means perfect, but we would like to find other ways to reduce our environmental impact and will seek other ways to do so. Possible ways we will do this in the future: use soy ink when printing (when we start to do larger print runs), donations of a percentage of our proceeds to charitable organizations, other ways we have yet to research and discover.
We encourage all of our readers to do whatever they can to make their lives and businesses more environmentally friendly! And don't forget to recycle your CROQ zines (hopefully by passing them on to others who would enjoy reading them)!
Read the whole interview here
S- How did Croqzine come together?
CZ- Several crafty people were brought together via The Sampler. We were all interested in reading a zine about crafts, but we weren't finding a lot of them, so we decided to
write our own!
S- One thing that I noticed was your recent switch over to 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper. Do you have any thoughts or good resources for other crafters that want to keep their business as environmentaly friendly as possible?
CZ- My thoughts are this: it's more expensive for us to go 100% post-consumer in terms of the cost of our paper, but it's too expensive responsibility-wise to NOT got 100% post-consumer. We love the earth and we want to do whatever we can to reduce our environmental footprint. Yes, using 100% post-consumer paper brings the cost per issue up a bit, but it is so worth it in the long run! Since we frequently write about environmentally friendliness, it made sense for us to (um, how to say
this without using a cliche?) practice what we preach and spend a little extra to buy environmentally-friendly paper. We are by no means perfect, but we would like to find other ways to reduce our environmental impact and will seek other ways to do so. Possible ways we will do this in the future: use soy ink when printing (when we start to do larger print runs), donations of a percentage of our proceeds to charitable organizations, other ways we have yet to research and discover.
We encourage all of our readers to do whatever they can to make their lives and businesses more environmentally friendly! And don't forget to recycle your CROQ zines (hopefully by passing them on to others who would enjoy reading them)!
Read the whole interview here
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