It was beautiful in Edinburgh this past weekend and Ry and I braved the cold to walk about the open-air market they were having on Prince’s St. It was really fun and very different for me to experience “real” winter (so different from Phoenix) and such a lovely backdrop to have as well. The Ferris Wheel + the Scots Monument made a picturesque image, truly.  I took this photo with my iphone as well, so I was fairly impressed with the quality! We also wandered around Prince St Garden area so we could get a better look at the outdoor ice skating rink, which I’m hoping my friend Sara will want to brave when she gets her in a few days!

Also wanted to mention that I was featured in the Dooce Holiday Gift Guide, check it out here or click on the image!

Items from the show are available for purchase over the internet here, but if you’re in the area definitely go check out the show, because as you can see.. it’s awesome! Lot’s of great work from a huge variety of plush artists. 

Just wanted to share this wee squid drawing Ryan did that I finally colored. This is eventually going to make it’s way onto fabric, just haven’t decided exactly how yet. I’ve got my mind on vintage fabrics at the moment however! I really miss knowing my way around MY city:  Tucson, Arizona. Since I moved to Scotland I don’t know where anything is… and most importantly that is the good thrift shops and antique stores. I’d love to get my hands on some vintage fabrics that I can use to make my tripod monsters. This was one of my favorite things to do and it’s sadly dried up since I don’t know where to source these materials. If you have a suggestion for a charity shop or antique market I should check out in Edinburgh, please leave a comment!

The shop is totally cool, full of amazing stuff and right in the heart of Edinburgh. I wanted to share a few photos they recently posted which included my stuff.  Hope to pop in again this weekend with Ry.

I had a great time yesterday at Magpie Market, my very first craft show ever, and I thought I’d share some photos from the event. I wish I had taken more… of the other booths and the incredible location (The Lot, in the Grassmarket… really beautiful building). There was so many awesome vendors there, it was SUPER hard not to buy stuff from everyone. I think I saw something I wanted at every table! I caved and bought one thing though, a really cute necklace from Emily.

Here are some of the photos of my table and of a few of my neighbors (with some photos featuing Claira.. )

Here’s the left side of my table featuring three gangly squids and two octopuses!

Here’s the right side with my tripod monsters, squid brooches, and zippered pouches. Ry’s uncle made me the awesome mini-staircase to display all of my critters and it worked perfectly. You can also see in the above photos my super cool squid sign, which Ry drew himself, cut out, spray painted and then finished with black line work. It is totally awesome.

Vertiline in Love was my table mate to my right (seen in photo above with Claira having a wee chat with Emily before she dashed off to do more flyering!) Not pictured, but super awesome table mate to the left was Glittery Sah who came down to the ‘burgh from Glasgow.

It was a lovely time all around, with lots of beautiful art & craft.. thanks to everyone who stopped by and admired  or bought my plush. Emily did a super job on the whole event.  It was a great first experience me for, though next time I need to remember to bring snacks, ha. I think I drank like three coffee’s while there and it should be known: coffee is an essential part of craft fairing.

For more info on the show & to check out links to all of the other vendors sites please visit Magpie Market.

I’m getting super excited about Magpie Market this Sunday, but I have SO MUCH to do. Here are the rest of the pouches, all complete and ready to go. I think they came out adorably. And hopefully they are a hit. I’ve been making Squid Badges (brooches) all morning (and last night) so I should have a nice selection of those as well. Saturday is going to be crazy for me trying to get everything else finished, but I should be able to make it happen. Ry’s making me an awesome sign for my booth and I can’t wait to post photos of it. I’m sure you can guess, but it’s a giant squid with my logo beneath it! Also, pretty exciting, my new tags arrived today JUST IN TIME to get them sewn into all of my monsters and cephalopods before the craft faire. Hopefully I’ll be seeing all the Edinburgh folk I know there and many many more! I’ll be giving out postcards, so even if you don’t buy something you can take away a little orangefishy plush anyway!

I’ve been so busy these past few weeks it’s hard to believe! My adorable custom fabric from Spoonflower arrived yesterday and I’m now in the process of making it into pouches which will be for sale at my booth at Magpie Market (whatever is left over will pop into my etsy shop).  Besides these squid love pouches, I’ll also have squids with submarines and a squid & sperm whale duo… They’ll come in three sizes! I’m totally stoked about them and can’t wait for them to be a regular fixture in my etsy shop.

The market is just 3 days away, and I’ve got SO MUCH to do so i’ll keep this blog short. Be sure to come on Sunday and also head down to Princes Mall to check us out in the Go-Reborn shop.

Also a quick reminder that the Luv-able & Hug-able Show at Gallery Hanahou is opening tonight in New York city, so drop by if you’re in the area. If you’re not you can shop for all the awesome plush toys online as well! Cheerio!

Orangefishy Plush will be available this Christmas season for purchase in an awesome new venture right in the heart of Edinburgh! Go-Reborn is a unique pop-up store during the month of December which will feature local artists and designers.  The location for this sweet collection of local goods is Princes Mall (on Princes st) in the upper level.

Not only will you be able to snag a tripod monster or a gangly squid, there will also be a plethora of other awesome items from a variety of designers.  Shop local + handmade! Our items will be available the last three weeks of December, however the shop opens tomorrow, so go check it out!

Please visit the go-reborn site for more details!

We are here today to celebrate the life of Richard Leon Burks. Richard was born in Shawnee Oklahoma on September 29, 1919 to Leon and Lilly Burks. He lived most of his youth in Texas and Oklahoma and was one of four children including his brother Bill and sisters Nancy and Dovie. Early in his life he became interested in automobiles and worked in that industry most of his adult life.

In 1940 Richard joined the army and served until the end of World War II. He was trained in San Louis Obispo in California then shipped to Wales to await the D-Day invasion. Even though he participated in five campaigns, landed on Omaha beach on D-3, and was part of the team that liberated Buchenwald, Richard never liked to talk about the war except for the funny things that he did. Once he sold a motorcycle and spent all of the proceeds on two women in Paris. Another time he packed up one of the huge Nazi banners that hung in the Berlin stadium and shipped it home. We are sure he planned on making some money selling it later but when he returned he found that his uncle had burned it. You can imagine how well that went over with him.

Richard loved the ladies. He proved that by marrying four of them. The first lasted less than a week when he was just 17. His father had the marriage annulled. He was married during the war to Evelyn and then after the war Richard married Mary Cowan. They had two children, Mary Antoinette who he called Toni after one of his “friends” from the Paris adventure and Nancy Christine who was named after two of her aunts. The family lived in Lubbock Texas until a divorce in 1961. Never one to stay single for long he then married Lois Irene and adopted her daughter, Cheryl. Richard decided that Irene needed a new name and he called her Rusty.

Dick and Rusty were married for 36 years until she passed away in 1997. They moved to Arizona in 1967 and were a great couple who entertained often. One of the family traditions was the champagne breakfast. Dick would grill a pork roast, melt longhorn cheese and cook biscuits. Rusty would scramble eggs and make “stuff” a sort of salsa to go on top. The family would drink champagne, mimosas, or red beer, eat like crazy and then sleep half of the afternoon. He was known for his barbequed ribs and his ability to put together a delicious dinner when it looked like there was nothing in the kitchen.

Richard was able to guess what was in his gifts before he opened them. He could do it even without even picking up the box. He would close his eyes and say, “um socks, blue and black ones” and be right or “it is metal and glass, it is a blender.” He liked a good steak and grilled salmon and any dessert that had lots of whipped cream on top. But only give him the real thing, none of that canned stuff.

Richard was a 32^nd degree Mason and was active in the Kiva temple of the Shriners while he lived in Lubbock. He was a fan of football and Nascar. His favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys and his favorite driver was Jeff Gordon. He enjoyed baseball, became a D-backs fan and got to attend game six of the 2001 World Series.

Richard lived a long happy life and will be missed by his friends and family.

Here are my pieces for the Luv-able & Hug-able Show at Gallery Hanahou!

The show opens on 3 December in New York! Pop in and say hello for me if you’re going to be in the area.