Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season!

xoxo Jennifer

And the Winner Is...

Big thanks to everyone who entered and posted the giveaway on social media. It was fun to see some old friends and to meet new friends too. So now it's time to pick the winner of the giveaway!

Sophie will have the honor of picking the name from the basket.

Without further ado, the winner of the dollhouse miniature sewing box is:

Dark Squirrel Victoria

Congratulations to the lucky winner! Please contact me to send me your address, Victoria. Again, thank you to everyone who participated. Big hugs, everyone! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Five-Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

Thank you, everyone, for your lovely comments on my last post. It's good to know that there are still dedicated bloggers out there. Since that's the case, it's finally time to celebrate the five-year anniversary of this blog, which happened back in February - oops! 😃

Flossy and Sophie are modeling the prize:

I had a giveaway a few years ago that featured a sewing box like this one. That giveaway was very popular, so when I recently found this second one, I decided to give a sewing box as a prize again. Hope you like it! It is 1:12 scale and has a lid that opens and a drawer that pulls out. The box is made from wood.

To join this giveaway for a chance at the prize above, just:

1) Be a member of this blog or become one now using the Google Friend Connect gadget on my blog's right-hand sidebar.

2) Leave a positive comment on this blog post stating your intention to participate.

3) Not required, but very much appreciated: Please post this giveaway (with a photo and link back to this post) on your blog and/or Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc. For help in how to post a giveaway photo on your blog's sidebar, there are instructions here.

This giveaway will end Thursday, November 10, 2016, and I'll announce the winner on Friday, November 11, 2016. Thank you, and good luck everyone! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Hello, Hello!

Hi All! I've missed each and every one of you. Sadly, just as Facebook has taken many people away from blogging, Instagram has done that for me. I've been creating stories with Blythe dolls there, and I'm starting to work Flossy, Sophie and Bluebelle into the stories now too. In case you're interested, I'm at www.instagram.com/blythegrl.

This blog allowed me to express an interest in plushies and miniatures that has now turned into a successful greeting card business. Along the way, I met amazing, sweet, and generous people and had a ton of fun. I'm grateful for all of it.

Back in January, I promised a blog giveaway. If there are still readers of this blog, there will be a giveaway. :-)

But first, Flossy and Sophie want to say hi. They're busy as always, having fun baking goodies in Cupcake Cottage. Here, they're taking a break from baking for a yummy snack, including bubble tea.

You may have noticed that there's been a change at Cupcake Cottage too! Sophie no longer hides the fact that she eats her natural diet alongside the amazing cupcakes and cakes that she and Flossy bake together:

Let's face it, we need both! Healthy with a sweet treat go hand in hand. Maybe Flossy will eat more salads now too! ;-)

I hope you're all well and having fun. Blogland is a wonderful place full of friendships that can last a lifetime. Big hugs! xoxo Jennifer

Two New Plushpussycat Birthday Cards!

Hi All! I've been working behind the scenes on some new greeting cards, which I'm really excited about. The first is called "Bluebelle's Birthday Party!" It features Bluebelle and Flossy with a homemade-style cake, balloons, party hats, and gifts. There's even a frog pillow on the chair! I had fun making the diorama box and some of the props, setting up the scene, and photographing the whole thing. Of course, Flossy and Bluebelle are my own critter creations too, needle felted a while back.

The second new birthday card is called "Sophie the Birthday Bear." It features my very own Sophie the bear wearing a beautiful dress made by my friend Agnes. Agnes also made the beautiful backdrop that Sophie is sitting in. I added many of my own touches, including the rabbit pillow, gifts, balloons, cake, and more. Styling and photographing this card was really fun too!

These two new birthday cards plus several updated blank and birthday cards are in stores now. You can see my whole line of greeting cards here or by clicking on the Greeting Card Gallery button above. To see the stores where Plushpussycat cards are available, click here, or click the Stores button above.

It's tax season again, and I am beginning to prepare for that, but it's also nearing another special time of year: February is my blog's five-year anniversary! I know, we just celebrated the four-year anniversary, lol, but in February we will have a fun giveaway to celebrate five years of blogging. So keep an eye out for the giveaway, OK? ;-) Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

New Shabby Chic Miniatures Book!

Hi Everyone! I recently received an advance copy of Monica Castillo's (Kitchen Miniature blog) new book, Kitchen Miniature: Kitchens With Soul, and I highly recommend it. Not only is the book full of adorable photos inside several of her miniature kitchens, but it also includes helpful advice for achieving the same effect in your own miniature kitchen scenes.

In her latest book, Monica advises the use of a number of elements for achieving that adorable shabby chic look that she is famous for. She also includes some delicious real-life recipes for making some of the tasty-looking miniature treats featured in her kitchen scenes. Yum yum!

I found her book to be both an enjoyable read and a visual treat. Check out Monica's new book in her Etsy shop, which also features yummy-looking mini foods for sale.

Next post I'll show you two new birthday cards that I recently designed. They're already back from the printer - yay! Until next time, keep it fun!  xoxo Jennifer

And the Winners Are...

I used Random.org to pick the lucky winner of my 4th blog anniversary giveaway, and the grand prize winner of six of my greeting cards is:

Kikka N!!!

But hold on! There were so many dear, sweet comments from dear, sweet people, that I decided to use Random.org to draw 

5 more names!

That's right! Five more names! And the next five winners were:

Jane Smith!!!

Hannah!!!

Cori!!!

Victoria Stitch!!!

Sanne!!!

Congratulations to all of the lucky winners. I wish I could have given a prize to everyone who entered, because you are all so sweet and deserving, but six prizes is all I can do right now. My 5th blog anniversary will be in February, though, so there will be more chances then. To all the winners, please email me your addresses. I will send out your cards as soon as possible. And until next time, keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer

Season's Greetings From Cupcake Cottage!

Hello! The giveaway has closed. I will announce the winner tomorrow.

The title of this post is the name of my latest greeting card. I finally made a holiday greeting card at the request of several store buyers and individual customers. Flossy and Sophie are in their element, baking goodies for the holidays in Cupcake Cottage's kitchen:

It was fun putting this card together, setting up the scene, getting the elements and lighting just so. I made a lot of the miniatures myself, but some special people contributed some of the holiday decor that you see too. Inside, the card reads "Season's Greetings." I've made the card so that it is appropriate for Christmas, solstice, the new year, and so on. I hope you like it!

Life and card selling have kept me so busy lately that I haven't had time to write a new post, visit other blogs (so sorry for that), or hold my promised 4-year blog anniversary giveaway from around April of this year. Now it's finally time to announce the giveaway! The prize is any six of my greeting cards, you choose which cards and how many of each, for a total of six cards. The cards retail for $5 each, so the prize is worth $30!

How to enter the giveaway?

1) Go to my Greeting Card Gallery page and pick the six cards you would like to win. Remember, it can be any combination of cards, six total.

2) Come back here and leave a comment telling me which six greeting cards you've chosen.

That's it! The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere, follower or not. I'll do a random draw and announce the winner Sunday, November 29, 2015. Good luck everyone, and keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Flossy and Sophie Celebrate Halloween

Hi Everyone! I hope you're having a super-fun Halloween! Here's an updated version of a photo from a while back that I felt like showing again. Flossy and Sophie just LOVE dressing up in costume AND eating delicious treats! Happy Halloween from Cupcake Cottage!

Hope you're having lots of fun and collecting lots of candy! Until next time, keep it fun! ;-) xoxo Jennifer

Instagram, Petite Blythe Dolls, Gifts, and Giveaway

Hi y'all! What a beautiful summer we've been having! A good friend of mine suggested I try Instagram, given my interest in visual images. I'm finding that it's a lot easier than blogging, because you can load photos from your day, life, and interests with or without text. Since it's all done with your cell phone, it couldn't be easier! So here's my Instagram link, in case you're interested in seeing what I'm up to: www.instagram.com/pdxjbear/.

I have a new interest as of the last few months: Petite Blythe dolls. I love how they have a bit of a Japanese manga look to them, and they fit in 1:12 settings beautifully. It's fun to make clothes for them too. :-) Speaking of clothes, a dear friend sent this darling outfit for my dolls. To see all of my dolls, look here.

See the tiny green plush bunny in the photo? Pepper of MitchyMooMiniatures  sent him, along with four other adorable mini plushies, to thank me for a small gift I sent her. What a generous and talented person! If you want to see some amazing miniature scenes, look no further than Pepper's blog.

Speaking of gifts, I received some lovely surprise gifts at Christmas from Monica of Kitchen Miniature blog, Birgit of BiWuBaren on the Blog, Fabiola of Miominimondo blog, and Kikka of  Pieni Sammakko blog. And the Christmas before last I received some lovely surprise gifts from Irina of Narina Napertaa blog that I completely forgot to mention. How embarassing! As they say, better late than never! Simona of Soft and Malleable blog also sent me some beautiful gifts. Thank you, one and all, for your very thoughtful presents!

I notice that a lot of bloggers are away this summer, so I plan to host my giveaway celebrating four years of blogging in September, when people are online again. I hope you all are enjoying your summer or winter, whatever it may be, and I look forward to seeing you here, on Pinterest, and on Instagram. Until we meet next, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Bloglovin' and Giveaway

Hi everyone! Just a reminder from Plushpussycat and friends that you can follow my blog with Bloglovin', if that's convenient for you.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

In other news, I'm working on a special four-year blog anniversary giveaway for all of you. Stay tuned for more info when the giveaway is ready! Hope you're all having a fantastic summer (or winter, depending on where you live)! Keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Still Here!

Hi dear blog friends! Long time no blog post! I was just organizing my photos ( a big project I've wanted to tackle for a while) and realized that I missed celebrating Plushpussycat blog's anniversary back on February 16. It's been four years since I started Plushpussycat, and I definitely want to celebrate that milestone. More on that later. :-)

Flossy is ready to celebrate Plushpussycat's birthday. :-)

Where have I been? I've been busy with home projects, spending time in nature, and selling my greeting cards locally. Here's what happened: I started spending a lot more time in nature, away from my computer. I noticed that my long-time back pain improved greatly as a result. Turns out that too much blogging can hurt you! ;-) So, as a result, I've had to simplify my online life dramatically, reading fewer blogs, blogging less often, and so on.

And now I'm trying to carve out some time in my busy life for more creativity, such as designing some new plushy characters and greeting cards and making minis and doll clothes. I haven't succeeded in finding much free time yet, what with tax season and all, but I'm still trying, and tax season is nearly over. :-)

So, I'm still here, I still leave comments on your blogs when I have a chance, and there'll be some new characters AND celebratory fun here soon. I hope you'll stick around to see what happens next, my friends. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Candy Floss Cart for Flossy!

Our dear friend Monica of Kitchen Miniature blog (with so many delicious miniature foods!) said she'd like to send us a little friendship package and what would we like? I mentioned that I would love a mini cotton candy cart / candy floss cart for Flossy (she's named "Flossy" because she looks like candy floss, after all!).

Monica, being the sweet and dear friend that she is, willingly and lovingly made it, even though the project was a lot of work. Then she sent a package with even more special gifts, including all of these beauties:

Even the packaging was so lovely that Flossy wants to use the pink with white polka dot container on the floor as a dressing table seat! There's some of Monica's famous mini food (lollipops in a jar and Halloween treats), a gorgeous clay jack-o-lantern, a tiny key with a beautiful knotted key chain, a tiny Blythe doll box that will go straight to the Hello Kitty dollhouse with the LPS Blythe dolls, a couple of darling tea towels, a beautiful locket on a chain with a cupcake motif inside, and a bag full of delicate fall leaves. Monica's daughter Neus sent a beautiful handmade card too (not pictured).

Flossy and Sophie want to show you the cotton candy cart now. Here's the front:

"Life is Sweet"

And here's the back:

Wow! The cart, and all of these precious gifts, fit so well in Flossy and Sophie's world! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Monica! You're so generous with your time and talent. Forgive me for taking so long to post about your gorgeous and generous gifts. Monica's gifts arrived just before Halloween, but I had other gifts that arrived first, and other things got in the way. Thank you so much for your patience! You've made Flossy a very, very happy bunny!

Next time: someone new! Until then, keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer

French Gifts for Flossy and Sophie, Part 2

Last time I showed you the gorgeous handcrafted dollhouse miniatures that Capucine sent Flossy and Sophie all the way from France. Now it's time for Sophie to show the amazing gifts that Capucine sent just for her.

Flossy was sipping a cup of hot chocolate when she received a telephone call. Who could it be? Of course! It's her good friend Sophie calling from Brambleberry Cabin on her new Rilakkuma telephone made by Capucine!

Sophie has invited Flossy to visit to see the gorgeous gifts Capucine sent her. While Sophie waits for Flossy to arrive, she'll give us an exclusive first tour. Sophie models the new Hello Kitty sleep mask that Capucine sent. It fits Sophie perfectly, and it helps her get good quality sleep too!

The Rilakkuma pillow under Sophie's head and the Hello Kitty slippers were both gifts from Capucine too! Aren't they all adorable? Sophie loves them all! Now it's on to some tasty food! This darling Re-Ment Rilakkuma Home Made cooking set was sent by Capucine.

Sophie will save this to share with Flossy when she arrives. The two tarts look delicious, and we know how much Flossy loves sweets! Sophie will eat the one shaped like a bear, and Flossy can have the one shaped like a chick! Before Flossy arrives, however, Sophie cannot wait to eat this yummy Re-Ment ALOHA Hawaii hamburger with slices of fresh avocado:

Mmm, it smells heavenly, and it has lots of good protein for growing bears like Sophie! Sophie will drench the burger in ketchup and wash the whole meal down with the yummy cola drink that Capucine included. OK, it's good-bye for now, while Sophie enjoys her lunch! Thank you so much for all of these amazing and thoughtful gifts, Capucine! You are a very talented, dear, and thoughtful friend!

To see Capucine's other gifts to us, see my two previous posts here and here. Visit Capucine's darling blogs at Capucine and Ninour and Cherie et sa fine equipe. The stories will make you laugh out loud, and her cheery images will make your day brighter! You can also see what I sent to Capucine on this post.

Next time, I'll show you some sweet and special gifts from another dear friend, plus there is "someone" new in my life. I hope to show it all in my next post! Until then, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

French Gifts for Flossy and Sophie, Part 1

Last time I showed you some amazing gifts from my new friend Capucine in France. She sent gorgeous kawaii Halloween treats and dresses for my Littlest Pet Shop Blythe dolls. Now it's time to see what Flossy and Sophie received from Capucine. Flossy invited Sophie to Cupcake Cottage to play with her new dollhouse with its resident rabbit family!

Look at the dollhouse's beautiful strawberry design:

And look inside! This house will provide hours and hours of fun for the girls. And did you notice Flossy's new skirt with matching bow and bag? It was hand sewn with hand painted flowers on the skirt by Capucine too! Flossy loves her new outfit! :-)

While Flossy and Sophie play, you can see the Mini Flossy and Mini Sophie that Capucine's daughter made. Their arms and legs move just like the Big Flossy and Big Sophie too! Thank you for these precious gifts!

We look just like the Big Flossy and Big Sophie! 

Wow! After all of that fun play, Sophie the bear was getting VERY hungry. No problem! Flossy has a selection of French desserts for Sophie and Flossy to share:

Mmm, look at the details on those yummy treats, all made by Capucine! Even the croissants look flaky and realistic. My mouth is watering looking at them again!

Ahh, dessert finished, there's another gorgeous addition to Cupcake Cottage. It's an amazing hand painted grocery list chalk board. Flossy will walk to the kitchen window to show it to you:

Carrots, honey, salad, fish, milk, radish, bonbons!

The grocery list is perfect, with some tasty treats for both girls on the list! And now one final gift to show you today, it's a beautiful hand painted box:

Jouets de Paris--Paris Toys

But look, when Flossy and Sophie hold it open for you, you can see what is inside the box:

It's a bunch of cute, handmade by Capucine, Kawaii pencils with characters such as Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma! Already, Sophie has picked her favorite pencil:

And speaking of Sophie, she has her own gifts from Capucine to show you, in Part 2 of this post, coming soon! Please check out Capucine's two blogs, Capucine and Ninour and Cherie et sa fine equipe. Both blogs have laugh-out-loud funny stories with her wonderful characters, and she has Google Friend Connect gadgets on both blogs, so you can be sure to never miss one of her darling posts. :-)

Thank you for all of these precious gifts, Capucine. You are very talented and very thoughtful, and Flossy and Sophie love everything you sent! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Halloween Party!

Strawberry Shortcake and friends went traveling over the summer and never returned. So now some Littlest Pet Shop Blythe dolls have moved into the Hello Kitty dollhouse. Tonight they're having a Halloween party to celebrate the holiday and new friends.

One of our new friends, Capucine of Capucine and Ninour blog and Cherie et sa fine equipe blogs has given us some amazing Halloween gifts, just perfect for the Halloween party. First, look at this adorable Rilakkuma Halloween cake with matching chocolate pumpkin lollipops:

Mmm, everyone agrees that everything looks really tasty. Then one girl thinks she has seen something across the room:

Ooh, maybe she saw a ghost? Or a zombie? ;-)

Meanwhile, upstairs the other girls are preparing their costumes for the party, all handmade by Capucine. They look so good in these cute outfits that one friend insists on taking a group photo:

Happy Halloween!!! Thank you to Capucine for providing the delicious food and costumes for the party. Visit her two blogs to see darling, funny stories in miniature. Next time I'll show you the other amazing minis this talented artist sent. Until then, keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer

Bluebelle and Sophie Give Thanks!

Poor Bluebelle! She was working all day in her cake shop with nowhere to sleep after a hard day's work! Now she finally has a sleeping nook in the rafters of her shop where she can sleep at night or even take a cat nap in the middle of the day, when there are no customers, of course. ;-)

Look how peacefully she rests on her perch in the rafters! I think she's snoring! tee hee!

And then she can fly down to the cake shop to start another day! Bluebelle is definitely doing a little happy dance and giving thanks for her new bedroom, and it wouldn't have been completed nearly as quickly if I hadn't seen Jane's post on using foam core board in miniature building. (Shh! I didn't even have to glue in the loft, since I cut the foam core board slightly large and squeezed it between the walls of the cake shop! It's very stable and so simple! ;-))

Next, Sophie is giving thanks for two things. First, we won Lisa's amazing autumn "Give Thanks" giveaway over at Mini Addictions blog, and Lisa wrapped everything so beautifully and sent so many gorgeous prizes and extra gifts! Mmm, look at that tasty pumpkin pie and those gorgeous Georgia peaches in a handmade basket!

But that's not all! Lisa also sent all these goodies, including this incredible dollhouse miniature Halloween rug:

Can you believe how tiny the stitches are?! Lisa used a magnifier to make it--what a very generous and thoughtful gift! Thank you so much for all of these autumn treasures, Lisa--we love everything you sent. Check out Lisa's blog, Mini Addictions, if you haven't already. She's a very talented miniaturist with a fun blog and amazing giveaways!

There's one more thing that Sophie is giving thanks for: my husband cut some extra windows in Sophie's house:

Now I can get better light in Sophie's cabin for taking photographs. Sophie loves her new windows and is planning to put some pretty curtains up next. Where's Flossy? She's ecstatic with the gifts she received in the mail from a very talented artist. One of the gifts is a pretty new outfit, which Flossy is trying on right now. :-) You'll see Flossy in the next post! Until then, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Flossy and Bluebelle Beat the Heat!

We've been having a heatwave again here in Portland. It feels like the summer has been one long heatwave. Luckily for Flossy and Bluebelle, they've got yummy tropical drinks to help them beat the heat.

The coconut drinks are so cooling, in fact, that Flossy and Bluebelle feel as if they've been transported to a tropical paradise:

Meanwhile, Flossy has been baking again. This time she made chocolate chip cookies and strawberry waffles...

...AND two kinds of cake!

Mmm, if the drinks aren't enough to take their minds off the heat, these tasty treats will do the trick! Bluebelle makes a mental note to come visit Flossy's Cupcake Cottage more often. ;-)

Hope you all are doing well! Making mini food is a lot of fun! Until next time, keep having fun, whatever you're doing! xoxo Jennifer

Fun New Blog Friend!

I felt really lucky the day I found Ann Sanz's fun blog, El arte de Angelina. She makes beautiful miniature foods and more, and I love looking at things like that, so I was happy.

Look at that yummy whipped cream!

Soon I became a regular commentor on Ann's blog, and then I received a wonderful surprise. Ann wrote me that she was so grateful that I was her first follower that she wanted to send me a gift. Then Ann sent me the gorgeous mixer above plus these Re-Ment donut set goodies:

Ice cold drinks on a hot day!

And all of these treasures too:

So many yummy things!

Wow! So many cute Re-Ment minis plus sweet handmade miniatures made by Ann herself! I was in the middle of sending a thank-you note, when I decided to go through all of Ann's blog posts. There I found the sweetest little brownie scene. The brownies were luscious looking, and the heart-shaped table was so adorable. Then I noticed that the whole scene, including the table and chair, was available in Ann's Etsy shop.

For sale NOW in Ann's Etsy shop!

I made my order quickly, before anyone could get to my prized set, and when it arrived, it came with the sweetest gravy boat filled with chocolate and an extra pink tablecloth (equally adorable). Plus, just as I had imagined, this set was the perfect pick-me-up for Flossy's little Cupcake Cottage sitting room--yay!

Mmm, look at those yummy brownies! Flossy is taking a well-deserved break from baking cupcakes to sit back and enjoy some fresh brownies for a nice change of pace. :-)

Thank you so much for everything, Ann! It was already enough to follow your sweet blog, but all of your gifts are wonderful icing on the cake! ;-) I'm so glad to have met you, my fun new blog friend!

If you haven't seen Ann's blog or her Etsy shop, I highly recommend them. She's got that homemade, shabby thing going that's so adorable, plus she regularly has tutorials on her blog for how to make mini foods! And she's selling some fantastic Halloween items in her Etsy shop right now--check it out! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer