Six Spooky Halloween Ugly Dolls! Plush Loveable Universal Monsters.

Dracula. The Frankenstein Monster. The Bride. The Wolfman. The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The Mummy. Famous Monsters from Universal combined with David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim's Uglydolls and made into 11 inch tall Gund Plush loveable beasts are the perfect cuddly spooky Halloween item. And frighteningly affordable at $19.99 each.

Dracula Uglydoll Ice Bat:

$19.99, buy it here

Monsters Wolfman Uglydoll Ox:

$19.99, buy it here

Frankenstein Uglydoll Wedgehead:

$19.99, buy it here

Bride of Frankenstein Uglydoll Tray:

$19.99, buy it here

Mummy Uglydoll Babo:

$19.99, buy it here

Creature from Black Lagoon Uglydoll Big Toe:

$19.99, buy it here

All six as a set:


This case contains 6 individually packaged plush, and includes the following:
1x Dracula
1x Frankenstein Monster
1x Bride of Frankenstein
1x Wolfman
1x Creature From the Black Lagoon
1x Mummy
Price: $119.99, Buy it here

IndyPlush - Endangered Species Plushies and Cool Stuffed Toys With A Conscience.

IndyPlush, who creates imaginative, adorable and hip plush toys made in Los Angeles, has just launched their Endangered Species collection (some shown above) from which a portion of all profits goes toward educational or wildlife protection organizations. But before showing you that collection, first a little background on the company and their original line of plush products.

IndyPlush Original Collection:



It all started with Plinio Garcia and Andrew Ruesch's son Luke, who was in Franceil Masi’s kindergarten class. Masi, who is not only an elementary school teacher, but also an artist as well as an author and illustrator of children's books, annually asks her students to draw a picture of an animal at the end of each school year. She then turns them into plush toys as a remembrance.


above: Luke's dog is now one of their best sellers.

When Luke brought his plush dog home, Plinio Garcia and Andrew Ruesch loved it. At the next teacher conference, they asked Franceil if she wanted to start a business and that’s essentially how IndyPlush started. Now, Luke’s Dog is one of their best sellers.


above: the Large Owly is their priciest plush at $99

Cute, cuddly and cozy with an edge (moustaches, skeletons and pirate patches), the toys are made with sustainable and eco-friendly materials in Los Angeles. They presently offer 26 different plush toys with prices ranging from $30 to $99 depending upon style and size.

Bunny Skelly in various colors:

Long and Short-haired Wooly Cats:

Spiny Monsters in various colors:

Pigwy:

Skelly Cats and Señor Cat:

Señor Pigwy:

Owly Pirates in various colors:

The pink, bald Love Monster shown in the first image is also available.

The Endangered Species Collection
Now, their newest collection, The Endangered Species consisting of 13 lovable characters from which a portion of the proceeds benefits educational and wildlife protection programs:














Just look how good my own Indy Plush Endangerd Species Tiger looks in my home:


Franceil, Plinio and Andrew now design, create and construct their adorable and hip plush toys in Los Angeles, California and they can be purchased here at their online store.


For other purchase inquiries or questions, please contact rick@indyplush.com

Incredible Sound Mix and Editing Give New Life To Pixar's Monsters, Inc. in Boo Bass

This three and a half minute visual and audio re-invention really impressed me. Boo Bass, an awesome remix by Nick Bertke, is a catchy composition using sounds from Disney Pixar's 'Monsters, Inc.' with fantastically edited footage from the 2001 movie by David Kabisch.





Nick, known as Pogo, records sounds from his favourite games and movies and pieces them together like a jigsaw puzzle to create completely new music. His videos have collected over 40 million views on YouTube, and he's produced remixes for Disney Pixar, Microsoft, Showtime, the United Nations and more. See his work here.

And check out more of the editing work of David Kabisch aka goldpikpikcarrots on his YouTube channel here

You can download this great remix here

Creature Comforts. Cute Cozy Hot Water Bottle Covers By Janice Yan-Yan Wu

Artist and designer Janice Yan-Yan Wu of Montreal has turned recycled fleece and vintage fabrics into fun and functional hot water bottle covers she calls Hotties.



The line of products has one of those annoying names that requires lots of punctuation and only serves to confuse people, [from:to:from], but the products are adorable. An earth-friendly way to keep warm, ward off muscle pain and cramps or just cuddle with a cozy creature.



Each hottie is made from a mix of first hand fleece fabric and recycled cotton and vintage prints collected from her community in Montreal. Each comes with the rubber hot water bottle insert and can be easily, filled, cleaned and stored. The covers can be removed and stuffed and used as pillows if you prefer.









The unusual photos shown above were shot by photographer Michael Abril.

She sells them on Etsy as well as at the following Montreal stores:

Arterie Boutique
176 Bernard Ouest
Montreal, QC H2T 2K2
(514) 273-3933

Galerie Zone Orange
410 Saint Pierre
H2Y 2M2
Montréal, QC
Tel) 514-510-5809

Other hot water bottle covers worth checking out are:



•Disaster Designs Hot Water Bottle Covers

•Heal's luxury fur hot water bottles

•Beautifully woven hot water bottle covers are designed and produced by textile designer Angharad Mclaren, in Shetland.

Welcome To Longoland! The Curious Creations of Joshua Ben Longo

Well, there truly is no lack of unique talent to be found out there in cyberspace.
Meet artist/designer Joshua Ben Longo and Welcome to Longoland





I stumbled upon this site (not literally using Stumble Upon, however) and to my delight found some of the most curiously cuddly creations; fun furry monsters - complete with anatomically correct poopers and some radically whimsical furniture and clothing done in brushed woven wool and cashmere.

Apparently many of the items shown here are available for purchase upon inquiry, but Longoland plans to open an online store soon. Yay!

"Brooklyn Designs 07"
To successfully portray the Longoland world, Joshua had to not only make the monsters but design and build an evironment to house them. Everything in the image below was designed and built by Longoland.



Some more images from Longoland at brooklyn Designs 07:






"Monster Skin Rug"



Materials: Brushed Woven Cashmere & Wool, Polymer Clay
Dimensions:
Small: (approx 18in x 26in)
Medium: (approx 36in x 50in)
Large: (approx 50in x 70in)
Price: Available upon request.

"Monster Skin Chair"

Materials: Brushed Woven Wool, Antique Wing Back Chair
Dimensions: Available upon request.
Price: Available upon request.

"Beau"



Materials: Faux Fur, Wool, Polymer Clay, Polymer Stuffing
Dimensions: Approx.15in x 11in x 10in
Price: Available upon request.

"Macho"




Materials: Faux Fur, Wool, Polymer Clay, Polymer Stuffing
Dimensions: Approx.15in x 11in x 10in
Price: Available upon request.

"Grumpus"


Materials: Faux Fur, Wool, Polymer Clay, Medium Density Furniture Foam, Wood
Dimensions: Approx.15in x 11in x 10in
Price: Available upon request

The following fabulous pieces are sold:

"A Dictat on Etiquette"


Materials: Faux Fur, Wool, Polymer Clay, Polymer Stuffing
Dimensions: Approx. 36in x 20in x 20in
Price: Sold

"Mano Efferus"


Materials: Faux Fur, Wool, Polymer Clay, Polymer Stuffing
Dimensions: Approx. 15in x 11in x 18in
Price: Sold

I spoke briefly to Joshua via e-mail and asked him if there was anything else I ought to know about him. Amongst some other information, he had a comment that really stood out.

"I make art and design objects that make noises and speak to there owners. I talk to every piece I produce and when they talk back I know the piece is alive and ready to go their new owner." –Joshua Ben Longo

How wonderful is that?
There's a lot more to see on his fun site, be check out his archive of past work.

Joshua Ben Longo is also an Industrial Design Drawing instructor at the Pratt Institute & NJIT and home design consultant. He has an upcoming exhibition in May of 2008 at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.

You can reach him here.