Hillary Lang

If you are a crafter and/or read various craft blogs you must know who Hillary Lang is. In fact, if you don't...where do you live? Well Hillary is the mastermind behind the adorable site Wee Wonderfuls where you can purchase plush patterns of various characters, you can drool over the various projects she seems to always be working on or you can just go there for a little pick me up when your day is grey. Hillary has mastered the art of cute and took it to another level. I have been a fan of hers since I discovered her on the web and continue to love seeing what she is up to. I picked her brain a little in the hopes that more cute power would run off on me...along the way I might have embarrassed her by my super fan questions...I swear I am not creepy :) Enjoy!



S- I basically think you are a genius. You have mastered the art of making everything so cute. The product, the packaging, etc. Do you have a background in design?

HL- Ha! An evil genius I hope. Thanks :) I don't have a background in design, but I've always been a fan of cute.



S- I read on your "About" page that you just started making these cute little toys about three years ago after getting some books out of the library. I love hearing all the trial and error stories as it always makes me feel "normal". What are some of the horrors of your trial and error experiences?

HL- Well I look back on the earliest dolls I made and am pretty horrified. There's an unpacked box of misfit toys somewhere around here. The 3D concept was one I couldn't figure out for quite a while. A toy would look so cute and then I would stuff it and yikes, lots of skinny minnies in that misfit box.



S-You also happen to be an amazing quilter. I have really wanted to get into this quilting thing but I am scared. Any advice to those of us interested in taking a crack at quilting?

HL- Oh geez, thanks! Hardly amazing. I really consider myself a novice quilter. Even after taking a quilting class I still feel like I know nothing about quilting. I think that may be the secret to it, you never feel like you know what you're doing? So maybe it's not something to be too scared of? The trickiest part with making quilts for me is the quilting. You can piece anything together on the sewing machine but to machine quilt a bed size quilt on a sewing machine is a nightmare. So I guess my advice would be start with something small, a crib or lap quilt or even a table runner or placemats. Get a handle on the concepts and work up to tackling a larger project. Of course this is hindsight advice. The first quilt I ever made was queen sized and is still sitting in the guest room at my parents' house with stitch witchery holding it together!



S- I am not sure if you remember but for the second Plush You! show Blair did a tutorial on making your wee wonderfuls for the pre Plush You event. It was such a fun project for many as you really could put as much or as little into it. Was this one of your first masterpieces?

HL- It was something I did early on. I was trying to come up with something more abstract, something just blobby cute. It is a really fun shape and it feels very satisfying with some beans in the bottom. I love checking out the wee gallery. The creations are really all over the board.




S- Your patterns are really great. They all seem very simple to follow, have super cute packaging and are adorable end results. How did you start doing the patterns and what is your process?

HL- Thanks! Well I'd started out trying to sell dolls I had made and then soon realized that wasn't for me. I don't enjoy making the same doll over and over and I'm kind of a freak about my workmanship. I never feel like anything is good enough to sell. So then I started thinking patterns and it's been such a great fit for my husband and I. Process is funny because I don't think I've yet to design a pattern specifically to sell. Wait, our latest, the gnome, I did. Everything else was just something I made and then later decided to do the pattern. So my process is to fish through all the scraps of tracing paper I keep in a bag searching with fingers crossed for pattern pieces, finding what I think is right and trying to recreate the toy, realizing that was a first draft and nowhere near the toy I have in my hand, racking my brain trying to remember what I did to get where I did. Once I've finally recreated the pattern I work on the instructions and drawing the diagrams while Tim works on the design and making everything pretty in Illustrator. Voila! Piece o cake ;)



S- I really still do not see how you have the time to make patterns, blog, flickr, have two kids, a husband, a life, make tons of plush, quilts, etc. How do you do this? Are you just an amazing time management lady, drink 20 cups of coffee a day and not sleep? Any advice for those of us that might need a little help in the time management arena?

HL- It's so hard to find the time. So so hard. I'm really crunched for it now so I find it hard to give any advice. We're always working on new time management schemes. Thing is, it's part of our living now so it is prioritized as such. It's no longer crafting as hobby around here that gets fit into spare moments but rather a hire a babysitter, enlist all the help you can find to keep the small business up and running type of thing.



S- How much time would you say you dedicate to all of your passions. Like plush, embroidery, quilting, etc.?

HL- Well right now plush seems to be pushing the others out except embroidery which is holding it's own. Quilting is making a comeback soon but knitting, oh poor knitting...



S- I feel like a lot of people get really nervous about sharing their patterns, ideas, etc. Not as much as the art world; the craft community is more open to sharing but still. How did you decide to share your work and does it ever make you feel vulnerable?

HL- I used to get really worked up about this sort of thing but at some point I just decided to have faith that I will always have new ideas so I don't have to cling to the old ones so tightly. That doesn't mean I don't get peeved when I see people have modified ever so slightly my patterns to be the basis for their 'original' designs or that I don't get panicked that I'll never have a new idea, but I came to the realization that I couldn't really move forward if I was too uptight about putting my work out there in the world.



S- I am very excited to hear what plans you have for the future? Any you would like to share with us?

HL- Ooh plans! I love plans. Short run, I have lots of fun projects I'm dying to get to for Christmas... glittery felt stockings for the family, a gumdrop quilt, hot air balloon ornaments, and hopefully lots of craft projects with Oscar. After the new year, I don't even know! I keep getting distracted by dreams of doing a book and I love thinking of ideas but the reality of it seems like a giant homework assignment that I just can't imagine committing to. I'd love to do a book diy style, maybe PDF or Lulu. I want to start a new make-a-long story (after finishing the old one of course). I'd like to work on doing some patterns for quilts, also have been kicking around some ideas for illustrated cards, I have dolls sitting around waiting for photo shoots, I've always wanted to do kits with vintage/recycled fabrics, maybe design some fabric, make lots of cute outfits for Phoebe, ouff ok, now I've exhausted myself.

S- How has this overall craft experience, exposure, etc. been for you? What do you see for the craft movement's future?

HL- It's been awesome! Crafting for living? Are you kidding? It's more than I could have ever hoped for. I have no idea what the future has in store for the craft movement. Crafters take over the world? That's where my money is.

Aimee Ray

Aimee Ray participated in last year's Plush You! show and just came out with her new book Doodle Stitching. I thought this would be a perfect time to interview her to learn more about her and her book. Congrats to Aimee on this recent accomplishment! It looks like a wonderful book to add to my craft bookshelf.



S- You just came out with your book titled 'Doodle Stitching'. How long have you been doing embroidery?

AR- I learned to embroider when I was about 5, but just picked it up again a few
years ago and began designing my own patterns.



S- I get a lot of questions about doing a book and it's weird to give advice since I just did one and worked with one publisher. What was your experience putting together Doodle Stitching?

AR-Well, I was lucky, Lark (my publisher) actually contacted me after seeing my
work online and asked if I'd like to write it! I was stunned but of course I
said yes. It took about a year to write, illustrate and design and make all the projects. It was a good experience, they were very helpful since I'd never written anything before, but not overpowering.

S- What do you think makes your book unique to all the rest?

AR- It has basic instructions and an introduction to embroidery for beginners, but it also has patterns and projects that would appeal to any level of embroiderer. My original artwork and pattern designs make it unique.



S-I am a huge fan of Blythe dolls. I noticed you make some super cute little outfits and friends for Blythe. How long have you been making clothes for her and do you have any advice to those of us that might be interested in making our own clothes for her? ie. resources, etc.?

AR- I started making Blythe clothes when I got my first Blythe in March! Sewing
tiny patterns is not really my strong point, mostly I make clothes just for my own dolls so I don't have to worry if they're not perfect. :) The online Blythe community is awesome! There are some great free patterns and resources at Puchi Collective and lots more at This is Blythe



S- You are also a very talented painter. How do you think plush making has helped foster your art career?

AR-Thanks! I've always been interested in lots of different artistic outlets. I
think branching out into different areas like plush making has definitely helped a wider range of people see my paintings and illustrations who otherwise may not have found them. Plus, plush toys are an art form in themselves. There is a lot you can do with fabric that you can't do with paint. I just love trying new things and I think overall that helps me grow as an artist.



S- I also love your embroidered canvases. How long would you average working on each piece?

AR- The smaller canvases (around 5 or 6 inch square) take a few hours. The larger art pieces (around 11x14) can take weeks or even months to finish. I usually have several projects going on at once, so embroidery is great, you can set it down for however long you like and pick it up again in the same place later. I work on embroidery a lot sitting on the couch watching movies.



S- I have always been interested in contributing to Home of the Sampler. How do you think participating in this amazing project has helped your career?

AR- It's hard to say exactly since I don't know how most of my customers find me. But I definitely recommend submitting! It is a great way to get actual samples of your work out there, which I think makes a much bigger impact than just seeing a web or magazine ad. Plus it's free, and any advertising and promotion you can do for your business is beneficial. The ladies at the Sampler are super cool to work with and they have lots of great contacts, so you never know who could end up with your sample.



S- What advice would you give someone interested in starting to do more embroidery?

AR- Just go for it! Embroidery is cheap, easy to learn, and there aren't many
rules. You can be totally creative and make it up as you go along, or if you don't want to think too hard, find any image you like, make it into a pattern and turn it into stitched artwork.



S- Are you participating in any craft fairs for the holiday season?

AR- I actually have never done a craft fair but I would like to sometime in the
future.

S- What are you looking forward to the most during this year's holiday season?

AR-Seeing my family of course, and having time off of work to work on my own
projects!

Flying Star Studios

I can't really remember the first time I stumbled upon the work of Florence Forrest of Flying Star Toys but I do remember how her work made me feel. I was immediately in awe of how pretty her work was, how you really could see how much care she put into each piece and how it would appeal to a large audience. With that being said, I decided I needed to spread the good word and asked her to do an interview. It was really fun thinking of questions for her and I am so glad she had fun answering them. Thank you so much for taking the time!



S- It's ironic to read that you grew up in a puppet theater as the last woman I interviewed, Jennifer Strunge, currently works for a puppet theater. I've never thought so much about puppets before! How do you think that growing up in this kind of environment influenced your work today?

FST- I believe that time growing up in the environment of the Queensland Theatre of Puppetry to have had a significant influence on me as a toy designer. The characters from the puppet theatre were characters imbued with stories and I got to see them act out their stories in their soft fabric flesh within the magic precincts of the theatre. The theatre is still a place I'm very much intrigued with today and hence my work with OzFrank Theatre here in Brisbane as design dramaturge.

It certainly has aided my close relationship to toys and characters and the imagination of stories - they were my first friends.


S- Back in 2004 you started making plush toys by making 20 miniature cloth dolls that represented the creative community of Brisbane. That resulted in you making two life size dolls which you named, Lilli and Tom. You continue to maintain a blog about the life and the adventures of them. How has your plush changed since their creation and how has their life helped to broaden your work within your community?

FST- Lilli&Tom miniature series and Lilli&Tom life-size were a great opportunity to take art into the community, into the lives of people. Like many artists today I'm a big believer in the magical, transformative nature of art and that transformation and magic is best when it intersects with people in unexpected places and within the ordinary day, not just housed off in special places like a gallery. I think of my toy designing as type of folk art in the sense it is an art people can associate with everyday and is a common type of object, though this is not strictly the definition of folk art I feel that generally people can more easily relate to a toy than they can to say Abstact Expressionist painting. For me I'm looking at the gentle communion of story and experience of vision and the poetry that lies inside the human being - toys are a perfect medium for that journey.

Lilli&Tom life-size go to places you and I might go, they turn up and I photograph them picnicking by the sea or having coffee at the weekend markets. They enter the arena of life and enliven that place for others; something is happening, something unexpected, additional and other is happening in that environment. I'm creating a direct individual act upon my society and by doing so it becomes part of the culture of the city, it's very exciting. Lilli&Tom stand for honest contentment and natural piety. They are a reminder to enjoy the peace and security we have, for as we have it here in Brisbane it is indeed like a paradise. Lilli&Tom are not obsessed by anything, they are however self-posessed meaning that they act and enjoy and that their clear minds do not create mischief or distubances. This is the image I want reflected into people minds when I take them into the world and when people see their photographic journey, at least at the unconscious level.

When I first made Lilli&Tom minature series they were an art piece mascarading as a product. They are individual, completely handsewn each having its own outfit made from vintage kimono fabrics and story of what they do in Brisbane with the overall intention of an installation to be seen by Brisbane people. They are very specific to their region, infact you might say they are more akin to native costume dolls. My work in toy designing has over the years, since then, developed toward a product orientated approach which has taught me a great deal and has rather improved my toy designing rather than restricted it.



S- You say in one of your blog posts that wholesome is a good word to describe your toys. Can you explain more about this to the readers here?

FST- When I started making toys in 2004 the Plush revolution had just started. Mostly the toys were of the ironic kind or monster plush, my work is, in contrast, poetic and rooted in the skills of the embroiderer. So for a long time I felt my work to be outside the trend....not that I let that stop me :) But Plush has evolved to include so many more sub-genres. It really is an exciting area to be a part of because we are making it happen as each designer develops their own style and contibute to the scene as a whole. I think that there is room for all original toy designers now not just the ironic or the odd.

Wholesome is a one word description that encapsulation what I have called The Flying Star Toys Manifesto: To bring joy the the weary heart, to be a light in the darkness, and to be a vision of compassion is what it means to be a Flying Star. This guides what I develop and what finally becomes a Flying Star Toy design. A Flying Star Toy develops in a relationship to the purpose stated in the Manifesto so, that is to say, that a Flying Star Toy is a manifestation of wholesomeness. It is also another reason why I take great care with all the materials and construction of each toy because it must be a worthy vessel to carry such intentions



S- What I find so interesting about your work is that you seem to think a lot about the world, our environment and how we view our connections to both and then you translate that into each piece you make. It is almost as if every piece you make is a sociological experiment or something. How do you see your work fitting into our environment and surroundings?

FST- Toy making for me is an extention of my curiousity into areas of story creation, mythology, human relations, imagination and the intersection of objects with the mind. That said it is a personal artistic journey of process, myth making and creation. The curious way in which I must come into a relationship with something for a toy design to be born. To let you in on a little secret I rarely ever sit down with a piece of paper and try to come up with a toy. People sometimes ask me, can you make me a duck or a dragon? I say no, that I haven't designed any of those yet and I don't know if I ever will. I simply haven't come into a personal relationship with them yet and so they have not appeared. It is the witnessing of life and thoughts, and one's surroundings both big and small that end up generating my designs.



S- You seem to be a big art collector, critic and one who supports your local artists. A lot of people ask me why I think plush has become such a popular medium with artists these days. I believe it has been a great way to get your art out there, and your name, for a bit cheaper than canvas art. How do you think plush has helped artists to get into the world?

FST- Plush is a legitimate medium in its own right with its own rules and restriction, its own freedoms and natural subjects. Exhibitions such as Plush You! are doing a great deal for the respectablity of Plush as a craft/arts form and its popularity will only increase with time as it builds its own momentum. Making Plush is still a very new thing too and so there are still far fewer people making Plush that say painting or illustrating, perhaps it's easier to get noticed as a point of difference.



S- Birds seem to have been a popular thing to plush in the last few years. I really love your interpretation of finches and other birds. I have been thinking lately about how I see so many amazing plush pieces and in a way it seems to be inhibiting me from taking a crack at things because I think I can't do it as good as so and so or think that it's been done so many times why bother. Do you ever battle with similar issues and how do you deal with them?

FST- I too marvel at the work that's being done by the many other amazing plush artists. I feel we are all spurring each other on by taking ourselves and the work of our peers seriously. It is hard sometimes not to feel intimidated but these are the gifts of creativity born in humanity and the expression of it in the hands of true artists is always an individual journey that should be enjoyed for its variety. Having one's own journey with Plush is what it is all about. This is the same for any artist and their medium.



S- With that being said, how do you think your work stands out from all the other plush out there?

FST- Aside from the aspects I've already discussed, Flying Star Toys are not based on one particular character family that is then elaborated. Having one character family is an excellent way of exploring Plush but my journey takes me to various waters creating many character families brought together under the manifesto of the Flying Star Toys. I often think that I have selected a difficult route but it is the one that is open to me and is the one I must follow.



S- I have also been thinking a lot about my process and one thing I always go back to is how when I am making something on a daily basis and then look back at them, often times I have a certain color palette I was drawn to on a particular day and how that seems to reflect my mood or feelings. You make a wide variety of plush toys that seem to change from time to time. How does your work reflect you as a person and what is currently going on in your life?

FST- Currently I have about 8 new designs yet to be released created in my last design period, which included work like Ishmael's Whale and Red Finch White Finch. This design period bought me closer to forming my signiture style that represents the core nature of Flying Star Toys. The process of maturation has been both exciting and painful. The development of Flying Star Toys could not have happen without my dedication to that process. One of the hardest lessons for me was to understand were the line between art and design was. Learning how each could serve the other and learning when the art needs to butt out and knowing where designing for a commerical market needs to take the back seat.

S- As you continue to market your work "in all seriousness", what else do you see for yourself in the future?

FST- One of the benefits of having a complex toy world is the number of avenues I can take them. Mostly I'm aiming for the high end retail market that appreciates high quality, limited edition design. I'm also planning ranges that are more one-of-a-kind art pieces, which now that I've established a solid base I can go back to. And as story is such a large component to what I do, in the long term I'd love to develop books having the toy as its subject. Finally, of course, exhibitioning as much as possible.



S- With the holidays approaching, what are you expecting to be your hot sellers? What are your big holiday fairs?

FST- I have work going to a toy Exhibition in Cairns called "Toy Box" - 23rd Novmber to January 5th. The Umbrella Collective (http://umbrellacollective.blogspot.com) is holding our annual Christmas show on November 17th and Flying Star Toys will be at the Makers Market at the Gallery of Modern Art here in Brisbane on the 25th of November so its all coming up very quickly. The main toys I'll be selling this year will be FlockA2s, Ishmael's Whales, Red Finch White Finch, Biscuit Bunnies, Katkin Rattles and Fruits of Eve (launched this month). Yikes! I'd better get to it!



Thanks again Kristen for giving me such researched interview questions. I really do appreciate your interest in my work.
I'm looking forward to Plush You! 2008 :)

Warmly Yours,

xx Florence