egg-cellent!

Woo hoo! My Fluffy Flowers world just got a little brighter. My Plush Team Russian Christmas exchange has arrived!


The lovely and talented Brigette of Weird Bug Lady sent me this awesome egg. It's actually a lot larger than it looks and is a fabulously soft and colorfully beautiful plush. Thanks so much Brigette!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Plush?

When I first saw RaggyRat's amazing Hamster Car of Flickr, it was love at first sight.

A moving plush! I must film him!
She's kindly allowed him to come visit the Chickenpants here in California...and now he's here!

I don't know what happened with the uploading process, but things are all grainy. That's what I get for trying to film at night, I guess. Anyway! Working on some new Hamster Car related fun right now. You haven't seen the last of him!

Hamster Car's Creator: Raggy Rat. Check her out, she's awesome!

Me: Absolutely Small Check me out, too. ^-^

It's Partaaaaaay Tiiiime!!!

I had been having a bit of a down day, feeling under the weather for a few weeks now and can't seem to kick this cold... so as I struggled to get on with my day yesterday, I made my way out of my apartment and there waiting for me was this mysterious package! I have been ordering a bunch of supplies, stocking up for the upcoming season, but I picked up the package and saw a customs form. "A customs form?", I thought, "Did I order something from overseas in my sleep and not remember?" (I wouldn't put it past me...) Then I remembered I had patiently been waiting for my holiday plush swap item to arrive! Could it be? My plush bundle of joy flew all the way from Australia to meet me? I tore open the package and quickly ripped open the lovely gold paper that was protecting my new best friend within... And there he was... Mr. Minsky!



Mr. Minsky hopped out of the envelope, tore off the remains of the gold paper he was wrapped in, and immediately started dancing. He was beeping and talking and trying to communicate with me but he was moving so fast I couldn't understand a word he was saying! Apparently the postman found out how much Mr. Minsky here loves chocolate cake and gave him a piece on the ride over which, naturally, sent him into a sugar dancing craze! But I didn't mind a bit, Mr. Minsky, the Partybot, is exactly what I needed to lift my spirits. And there we stood, on my front stoop just dancing the day away and dreaming of the chocolate cake we would share when the celebration moved indoors. Sure my neighbors think I'm crazy... so what else is new?

Thank you Rachel of Redmag, Mr. Minsky and I are celebrating life in a whole new way!

Love and a Sandwich Goodies for the PT Swap

Heather of needlings.etsy.com here to share the amazing goodies I recieved from Chelsea ofLove and a Sandwich for the Plush Team holiday swap!

Not only did I get this amazing little monster who is completely adorable in a yummy fuzzy rainbow sherbet way in a happy christmas parcel with a little monster drawing on the front...

Chelsea did this amazing drawing of both our owls hangin' out, that I just love!

AND

monster buttons!

I'm pretty sure we can all agree my swappee is totally awesome.

Thank you so much Chelsea!

A Russian Raggy Rat for Me?

Round the Rugged Rocks

the Rascally, Russian Raggy Rat Ran

to the House

of the Country Mouse

But she wasn't home.

Luckily, the Rat's old chum, Mr. Hamster was sitting house for the mouse.

Kiss, kiss. A warm welcome my friend.

Can you join me for dinner? I'll set another place.

Oh, what a marvelous hat, Rat. May I try it on?

This lamb smells divine. When do we eat?

The two old friends reminisced about old times back in Dorset at the house of Cat while enjoying the southern California sunshine. . .

Many thanks to Cat (aka The Raggy Rat) for the wonderful Russian Christmas Rat.

Plush Team for Haitian Relief

In an effort the help raise money for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti, many Plush Team members are donating plush sales at the Plush Team store on Etsy. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross.

Teeny Tiny Mini Mallow by Scrumptious Delight

There are already many wonderful plush pieces available!

Owl Baby Pin by Needlings

And more are being added every day!

If you'd rather donate directly to the American Red Cross, you can do so through this link or by texting “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 (USD)

Seasons Greetings from SamariaProject!

Cheers all, from The Itsy Bitsy Spider,

I've been a little amiss on getting my Russian Christmas swap gift posted, but I like to call it "saving the best for last." My gift from Jess, the sparkling genius behind SamariaProject was a beautiful felt Russian nesting doll.

I say "sparkling" because all of Jess's work has a magical little sparkle to it -- just like Christmas morning. Whether it's from the lovingly hand-stitched eyes of her cuddly animals or the cheerful colors of her mini owls, there's just a little something extra that draws me to her work.

My swap gift also included a pair of buttons -- one of which features her ADORABLE little bird design. These things are literally so sweet that I'm going to have to make a dentist appointment to check for cavities!

If you don't have your own buttons from Jess's collection, you can treat yourself to a three-pack in her shop or pick out one of her beautifully painted little "rockies." For my part, I know I'll be visiting her soon!

plush team plush swap - what i got !

we went out to play today and when we came home we found a small box in the porch ...



so we came inside with it and i made lots of toast, then opened the box - i spy fabric, a wrapped present and some little green frogs ...



i love the message on this sticker !



and all wrapped up, a special hedgehog pincushion made by amy, aka squirrel momma, just for me! and now mary can say hedgehog ! thank you amy, i love it, and thanks for asking about my poorly babies too ... xxx



there were also some small frogs to play with, one for daisy ...



one for matty ... we like frogs, she says !



and one for little mary ....

My Swap Has Landed

And it's a cute little hand sewn owl ornament from Anne-Claire of HibouCards. The package was decorated with sparklies which almost prevented my from opening it. I didn't want to disturb the pretty package. So I carefully cut it open, leaving the sparkles undisturbed. Inside was filled with such loveliness, the fabulous mini owl, so cute, and pretty postcards and clouds and stars and moons and hearts. Just fantastic. Now I'm going to find the perfect place to display the owl year round. Thanks so much to Anne-Claire. Plush Team Rocks.

I Feel all Pixeley...

Yay, what could be better than starting my membership off with a secret santa swap.

I have grand plans of collecting at least one creation from each member of the Plush Team so I was definitely looking forward to this swap. I am a bit of a computer geek deep down so when I received my package and it was from The Pixels I was excited. My son and I tore it open and out popped some Pixel Christmas goodness.

Thanks so much Kasia, we appreciate the work that you put into the details of this guy. We love his hat and candy cane and he is also very soft and cuddly.

Now we just have to decide who gets him. We might just have to share custody between my office and my son's room.

To see more of her creations check out Flickr

A happy New Year to everyone!
Leslie & Vaughan

Yippeee for Holiday Swap!! Thanks Fluffy!

If you couldn't tell by now the Plushteam did a holiday swap. I received an awesome box from Fluffy Flowers. My favorite part of Plushteam swaps is finally getting to see (and own) other member's creations. So I was really excited to find out what Fluffy had sent me as I was already a fan of her work. I was so overjoyed and blown away by the contents!

First of all this little gal jumped out before I could see anything else. It was surprising too because everything was so well packaged but I think she must have been extra hungry from her trip. Look at that innocent face...

That was when I realized she was not so innocent. Poor Gingy got a bite out of his head and arm before I could jump in and save him. However she promised to stop eating him and was too cute to tell no. Plus Gingy decided he liked her because she had other Gingys all over her dress.

Also in the box was a little Fluffy and a really really awesome pouch. I shrieked when I discovered this pouch as I loooove collecting pouches. This one looks like snow falling on a hill....just awesome. Thanks Fluffy and the Plushteam!

Happy Kitty Day!

When I got home yesterday I found a cat on my porch. He said he was the long lost twin of our little furball, Jasper. I could not deny the resemblance and he brought catnip fish for Jasper and Kitty, which convinced them that he should stay.


Look at that nose and those eyes! They took an immediate liking to each other.



Jasper greatly appreciated the little black fish.


And Kitty liked his little leopard fish so much that he tried to eat the whole thing.


Thanks to Leslie and Vaughan of Lowell and Son for making such a great Jasper and sending along the fishy presents!

happy happy swap day!

woo-hoo!!!!!
i JUST got my swap gift in the mail today, and i had to immediately post it because i LOVE it so much!!!!

i sorta guessed who it was from by the little drawings on the box...


see, i had already torn the tape off because i was so excited to see what was in there!!!

and look how cute! i was almost afraid to open it!


well, almost...



her name is ivy rabbit!!! and she was made (with fantastic detail) by leeanna at PlushGoodness
it says on her tag that "ivy lives with her roommate holly and they both work at the lapin botanical gardens. ivy's botanical specialty is climbing vines. this party girl is ready to wow everyone at the holiday party in her retro-ornament print dress."

i know she'll fit right in here! but i'll leave her to the climbing, cause i'm afraid of heights ;)

i recently just had to buy these little snowmen head ornaments from leeanna, just because she's one of my favouritest plush makers in the whole wide world! and i absolutely adore them too!

they spent christmas here with us, and i think they had a pretty good time :)

thanks so much leeanna!!!! ivy is fantastic! she will be taken good care of! :D

A gift good enough to eat...

Hi, all, this is abbydid -

I received my Russian Christmas gift from my Secret Santa yesterday, and just look! Aren't they fun? Aren't they adorable? Oh, I KNOW. I introduced them to the new batch of knucklebiters , thinking they would all play nicely...

...but much to my horror, they closed in on our newcomers, and one began to EAT the little, red, fuzzy dude! I was mortified, to say the least.

I rescued little, red, fuzzy dude, and then reprimanded nubby, orange knucklebiter, who has since been sent to live with a new family in Pennsylvania. Honestly, the nerve.

My undying gratitude to LittleCritters00 for my amazing gifts. I promise you I appreciate them to no end, and have put them up high where no one will nibble on them.

And as they say in Russia on Christmas Day (which just happens to be today, January 7th), 'S Rozhdestvom!'

YAY!

Today I received my Secret Russian Christmas Santa Plush. I was so excited when I saw the box when I went to go check my mail today, and then who is was! It turned out to be the lovely and talented Dkoss2 of Cutesy But Not Cutesy. I love Diane and her work very much and had the opportunity to actually meet her in November at a Craft show here in Columbus, Ohio called Tiny Canary.



I actually was lucky enough to grab one of her awesome Christmas ornaments at the show and talk to her for a little bit. Seeing all her plush together is very inspiring as she still makes everything by hand and is a full time artist. I am always amazed at how many places she is traveling because of shows and hope to do that one day and be very successful at it without having a full time job.


YAY!

I do love it very much, and now I am even happier that I have more work from Diane.



The newest member is getting along great with the rest of the family. I can't wait to add more.


Thanks Diane! Your the best. Lots of Chai Tea will be drank from the lovely coffee cup you gave me.

Secret Santa- revealed!

So I was totally thrilled when I got this package in the mail from my Secret Russian Christmas Santa- (is it just me or does that sound a little like a bad Christmas spy movie? :D) who turned out to be none other than the talented Danamarie of greenstar studio! I loved it all- from the sketch on the envelope, to the great card, and the piece de resistence- the 2nd ever made of this new type of knitimal! Boy do I feel special! :D He is fantastic, and I LOVE the fact that he can stand all by himself. So thanks a ton, Danamarie!

Spasibo!

That means 'Thank You' in Russian!
I am thankful that it is that special time of the year again - the annual Plush Team plush swap. This year's theme is Russian Christmas. The holidays never end! I got a package of super-awesome goodies in my mailbox on Saturday. Want to see?

I have been drooling over these pickles by Ms. Becky Gould of Scrumptious Delights for AGES! And that is not the only plush snack that came along with this guy . . .

Here's a Scrumptious Monster with his very own Gingerbread Man (posing with a posse of his new friends - the Lumberjack Grizzlies). Doesn't he look excited? Pickles and Gingerbread? I'd be excited, too!

Here's a haiku a whipped up inspired by these Russian Xmas Plushy Surprises:
My fuzzy tootsies
Crunch through freshly fallen snow
Like teeth through pickles!

Merry Russian Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!