So I came home from work today and my husband had a sweet, sweet surprise for me – he’d had a 3D Trixie stuffy custom made!! He worked with a company called Budsies and they did a Fantastic job! It arrived today and he video’d the unboxing. Apparently the Budsies folks like to see the reactions from their customers who are seeing their artwork come to life for the first time. I am still smiling hours later. This company did such great work  – all they had to go by was the one image Eric had sent them. There are some cool pics on their website of the work they’ve done and the happy recipients.

I am so intrigued with this company, had never heard of them before today. In addition to creating custom plushies which resemble actual people and pets, much of what they do is turn the artwork of children into plush toys.

As an artist I love writing/drawing Trixie’s Tales, but my first love was sewing – everything about it, choosing fabrics, drafting patterns, creating beautiful dresses, draperies, and yes, even stuffed animals, over the years. I am thinking that working for Budsies must be some kind of a dream job. Imagine getting to take a very simple crayon drawing of a fantastical monster drawn by a wonder-filled child and creating a real toy from it. Then imagine the look on that child’s face when she sees her drawing come to life, to have for her very own. Just wow!

After I’d come down from my smiling high, Eric shared the process with me. The whole thing took about 2-3 weeks. The Budsies team was in constant contact, informing him about what was happening during each stage of creation and shipping. I’m not quite sure how he was able to keep this a secret. He said he had a very hard time. He’s always been such a thoughtful gift giver – somehow knowing just the right thing. I told him that he may have reached the pinnacle…it sure will be hard to top this one!