History

So I thought I would share a little history of my life and plush.

The first thing that pops into mind was my incessant need to crawl on all fours. This was a constant thing to which my mother frequently had to buy me new jeans to replace the lovely holes I created in the knees. Why you may ask? What a silly question.. I wanted to be a cat when I grew up. That’s normal right?

When I was little I surrounded myself with all things animal. Every book I could find, every sticker, every plastic animal, and every stuffed animal adorned my life. Today I still lean towards the fuzzy. Fuzzy cats, fuzzy dog, fuzzy plush… There is something about the cuteness of animals that draws me near.

My mother probably knows the story better than I but.. When I was about 5 a relative passed away. Being to young to travel from Texas to Ohio, my parents decided to let me stay with a family friend. Oh joy for me! They had a German Shepard. This pup’s name was Jay; he was the most ornery dog anyone could meet. He was so independent that his trainer couldn’t even get a basic sit. I remember playing with him in the backyard constantly while I was there. Eventually he would sit, he would fetch, and he would heal. Being 5 I had no idea who cool it was, to me the dog was a big moving stuffed animal that listened and licked my face. To this day my mom always reminds me of when I trained the untrainable at age 5…

So I suppose the point is animals drive what I do and what I make. I would have 8 million pets if I had the room and I would make 8 million plush to represent each and every pet. You must find things in life that you can create, whether its writing, drawing, or making houses out of popsicle sticks! When I’ve finished my last stitch and look into the button eye of my creation, it makes me smile, it brings me closer to my childhood, and I can only hope that it will, in turn, do the same for someone else.


Photos:

1.) Me with Mr. Beaver.. I'm not sure of my age in that photo. I still have Mr. Beaver and he is actually sitting right above my sewing table :)

2.) A blue teddy bear which I got on my SISTER'S Birthday.. don't ask me why we got gifts on our siblings birthdays.. but I begged and begged for a blue bear and would not have been happy with anything less.. my poor parents.

3.) As I sorted through the photos I wanted to post on my blog, I realized something. 4 out of 5 were with stuffed animals. This one is one of my favorites. I remember my brother and I taking these photos and I kept saying: "Smile for the camera!"

Enjoy your day :)