Secret Santa Plus Giveaway Updates

Do any of you remember Houndstooth Pup? He and Raccoon had a few adventures together. This year, Houndstooth is helping out Santa as an elf. He's busy making presents for Santa!

Houndstooth is here to tell you that Yoshi at Sweets and Dreams is holding a Secret Santa game on her blog. It is open internationally for all bloggers, and you can join until November 20, 2011. Yoshi is a new friend of Plushpussycat blog. Unfortunately, Plushpussycat is too busy to play Secret Santa this year, but it looks fun! :-) You might want to check out the Secret Santa game AND Yoshi's cute blog.

Speaking of cute, this is the last week to join Plushpussycat's cute kawaii giveaway! Friday, November 18, 2011 is the last day to enter, and the two winners will be announced on Saturday, November 19, 2011. Then we'll start our next giveaway, a miniatures giveaway! So keep your eyes on Houndstooth and Plushpussycat to stay on top of the latest news! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Here's to Friendship!

Remember this photo? If you've hung around Plushpussycat from the beginning, you may remember the story of Houndstooth Pup and Raccoon. After an initial misunderstanding, the two critters became best friends:

As I was lying in bed early this morning, I thought about how grateful I am for the friendships I've made since starting this blog. Every time someone becomes a new follower of this blog or leaves a comment on one of my posts, I feel so touched. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to each and every one of you who is reading this post now and who stays in touch with this blog. Thank you so much! I'm sending a big hug to each one of you!

Some news:

If you follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter, you know that my handmade plush critters regularly get featured in Etsy treasuries. Right now, Plushpussycat is featured in a cool treasury called The (Cat) Eyes Have It!

I have so many miniature story vignettes in the works, so please continue to be patient as I develop the scenes and stories. Upcoming: more about the bunnies, including some twists and turns; a frog story; a bear story; another story with Raccoon; and many more! I recently simplified some other areas in my life so that I could spend more time creating my miniature story vignettes.

The other thing I want more time for is making miniatures. Caterina's Holiday Swap was so much fun, and I got a taste for making minis then. I want to make more! Once I've carved out time for that, I'll be able to participate in more mini swaps AND to hold another *giveaway*--yay! So hold on tight and invite your like-minded friends, because there is much more fun coming in the next weeks and months.

Thank you again for your friendship. I love following your blogs too! Without all of you who read this blog, I would just be talking to myself! I look forward to getting to know you all better over time. Here's to friendship! :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Big News!

I have some big news, something I finally did that I've been meaning to do forever! Yesterday I finally listed some critters in my Etsy shop! It took me six hours to list nine plushy critters, but now it's done--whew! Am I glad that project is finished!

Only two of the stuffies in my Etsy shop are pre-made: that's the banana slug and the pair of love worms(!). The others are all made to order (I'm keeping my originals, since they are ongoing characters in my miniature vignettes). Each critter takes me approximately four hours to make, and that doesn't include the time it takes me to source and process my (mostly recycled and vintage) materials (or all the time it takes me to list items--just kidding!).

There will be more big news tomorrow or the next day. I will have something more to tell you all. Hope you have a beautiful and lovely day. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Fun Outing!

There's no doubt about it: spring is in the air! This is a view from my livingroom window. The neighbor's plum tree is in full bloom.

Whenever it's this time of year (first spring flowers, green everywhere, birds singing, rays of sunshine peaking through the clouds), I get the urge to get in the car and go on a fun outing. Yesterday all of my original plans fell through, so I had some time on my hands. I decided to go out to Beaverton, just a few minutes from my home in Portland, Oregon, and hit a few fun places. Hey! My birthday is just around the corner, so birthday money is burning a hole in my pocket too, OK?!

So first I picked up a used book on blogging at Powell's. While there, I came across the cutest section full of Japanese cute kawaii items. You know, things like notebooks, stickers, AND this cute kawaii lunch bag I found! It is woven from 95% post-consumer material (used grain sacks) by BlueQ.

Actually, I'm going to use it as a craft bag that I'll take with me when I attend craft circles around town. Thrill!

OK, next I went over to the Beaverton Goodwill and picked up a 1980's craft book, this surfboard (shown here with one of my handmade frog plushies) for one of my vignettes,

and this ceramic car for another vignette. Check out the fun license plate on this baby! And watch Houndstooth Puppy behind the wheel!

Finally, I stopped over at the Kinokuniya Bookstores (the one inside the Uwajimaya in Beaverton). I looked at so many cute things but finally settled on these fun erasers to add to my collection. I'll use these in upcoming plushy vignettes too!

It ended up being an awesome few hours, and I spent only $21 on the items I show here. Not bad! This spring fever thing only lasts a couple of weeks, so I might as well enjoy it while I can. :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Conclusion: Houndstooth Puppy and Raccoon

Why did Raccoon steal Houndstooth Pup's bicycle? And where did he take it? These are a couple of the unanswered questions from my previous post, New Puppy! Here's what really happened. Raccoon thought he was just borrowing the bicycle for a little joyride. He hopped on Houndstooth Pup's bicycle and rode around and around the park. What fun! He didn't have a bicycle of his own. He felt so free!

After a few minutes, though, he started riding back toward his new friend Houndstooth Pup. His new friend looked so sad. Why was he so sad? Raccoon wondered. He stopped right in front of Houndstooth Pup, jumped off the bike, and said, "That was great! Thanks for loaning me your bicycle, Houndstooth!"

At that moment, Houndstooth and Racoon were happy, feeling that everything was OK between them again.

Here's a photograph showing the two friends arm in arm:

How lucky they feel to have made friends. Now off they go to make some mischief. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

New Puppy!

I made a new puppy! He's Houndstooth Pup! He's oh-so-soft, made from a felted wool and cashmere (yes, I said cashmere!) jacket for his body, soft felted wool for his ears and tail, and ecofelt for his nose and heart. Embroidery floss and bamboo fiberfill add the finishing touches. He stands at just under 5 inches tall:

Here's a view from the back:

Recently, Houndstooth Pup got into a little trouble:

Here's what happened: He rode his bicycle to the park. He was having fun romping with a new friend, Raccoon. Then Raccoon ran off with Houndstooth Pup's bicycle! Oh, No! He got tricked by that rascal Raccoon. Look how sad Houndstooth Pup is now! Will he ever get his bicycle back? Stay tuned for the next chapter in this saga. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer