The Softie Awards:

More softies...

Tempura shrimp by stumpytown

Field mouse by wattlebirdies

Old man by rubycrownedkinglette

Pippy by littlemunki

Needle felted soft sculpture with removable hat by Glorious Hats

Posted at 09:07 PM in Submissions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

More softies...

Nekkid Lucy by Kitty Vane

Family of squid by cleo.decepticon.

Louis the chicken by Beeper Bebe

Galo by Marisa Maia

Yldau by mimpies

Posted at 12:00 PM in Submissions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Some more softies...

Cupa joe by made by moxie

Sirena by anapaulaoli

Joy by jezzee

Lipstick by oh frau liebe

Owls by seepingsound

Posted at 09:39 PM in Submissions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Heidi Kenney, the creative force behind My Paper Crane, needs no introduction. She is one of the first softie makers whose work I fell in love with, and one of the most well known in the crafting world. Her wry sense of humor and original vision comes through with every new design. I'm particularly fond of these ice cream sandwiches. Heidi is the judge for the Best Bunny or Bear category. Heidi knows cute, so all you bunny and bear makers be warned! :-)

If your interest lies more in functional softie art, then you'll be glad to know that Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls will be the judge picking the top 5 in this category. Hillary makes softies, beautiful quilts (quite functional!),she knits and crochets, creates original embroidery Stitchettes, AND she publishes some softie patterns. Plus her blog is chatty and interesting and if you haven't read it, you're probably in the minority. Her famous Pointy Kitty softie is really fun, as are her dolls, but these pincushions are the first thing of hers I saw and I still love them - simple and colorful. Here's her flickr pool so you can see everything else: http://flickr.com/photos/hillarylang/

Finally, if you make great things for kids or want to buy great things for kids, please bookmark Mahar Dry Goods. This web store is the brainchild of Robert Mahar, Proprietor and Curator. Robert is the judge for Best Amigurumi. I check the store weekly for sophisticated, vintage and artisan created goods, then I convince myself to buy stuff for the kids, but keep it all for yourself! Several of the artists whose work is sold here have entered the Softie Awards too. Here are some things for sale in the shop right now:

Posted at 09:44 AM in Judges | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Some more softies...

Gilhi_du by niskierski

Green bird by Pookie&Fig

armchair by tatters ri

Chicken family by nelesrdjakeva

Animal jigsaw puzzle by little miss scruffy

Posted at 09:23 PM in Submissions | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Some more judges

Marie Kare is judging the Best Rest of the Animal Kindgom category along with Jenn Docherty. Marie is the creator of The Sampler - a really cool monthly subscription that matches independent designers and crafters with the rest of us wanting to get our hands on some of their cool stuff! Each month, indie crafters, artists, shops, zines and record labels send samples to a contribution pool. Photos of the samples are posted and then put in little packages and sent off to Sampler Subscribers. If you're on the design side, it's a great way to get the word out about your product, and if you're on the shop-til-you-drop side, it's a fun package to get in the mail. Below are a couple of items that you missed if you weren't signed up for the February sampler!

Jef Kaminsky is the judge for the Best Creepy Yet Cute category. Jef is a development executive at Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic, Inc., which means he works with animators to develop TV show ideas for Scholastic. He also knows the softie world quite well. Some softies may lend themselves to becoming the next SpongeBob, who knows...

Leah Kramer is a name known to most everyone in the crafting community. She is the founder of Craftster, a community site with millions of members and millions of cool projects to look over. Whether you're looking for advice, encouragement or a new craft to try, Craftster has something for you. Leah is also the author of The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts: Fifty Fabulous Projects from the Fifties and Sixties . Leah is judging the Best Cozy category. Here's a photo of her fun book chock full of cool projects.