Pimp Stitch : Guest Artist - Kristen Rask of Plush You!

Our first Guest Artist is the incredible Kristen Rask of Plush You! and Schmancy Toys. She granted us a Pimpalicious interview and even supplied you guys with a free pattern she designed.

Kristen Rask owns a shop called Schmancy which she opened in 2004. She runs the daily life of Schmancy, runs a blog called Plush You which features plush artists and talks about the show she does once a year called Plush You. Last year she came out with a book called Plush You: Loveable Misfits to sew and stuff. This year Plush You will be at Schmancy (Seattle) October 10th and
Double Punch Gallery (San Francisco) November 7th. She is also working on 2 books at the same time because I am crazy.

She just teamed up with the Bizarre Bazaar folks to bring you "You Bazaar" on Nov. 2nd. You Bazaar will feature 30 vendors of the plush type as well as other crafty friends. They will also have rotating workshops with some plush artists such as Heidi Kenney and Moxie.

Kristen is trying to make things and do craft shows when she can. She would like to have a social life as well which seems to be less and less these days. She tried to start a ping pong league this summer but it hasn't really worked out the way she wanted it to. She'll keep trying.

Here's Kristen's answers to our famous Pimp Stitch Interview questions...

1: What do you do when you're not (doing your day job)?

I like to go out to dinner, see my friends, meet for coffee (i do live
in Seattle after all), make craft things, watch movies, read books and
I really like ping pong.

2: What inspires you?

Oh man. A lot. My friends, my family, my environment, the crazy
crack heads I see every day. Art, flickr, etsy, craft magazine, the
water, vacations, memories, children, blogs, movies, old photographs,
the grocery store, trash. I can get over stimulated a lot.

3: When you were 6, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don't really remember but at some childhood points I wanted to be a
vet, a nurse, an Olympic skater (i really thought I had that one in
the bag), a crafter, maybe a librarian.

4: What do you want to be when you grow up now?

If I could muster up the courage I might like to go back to school to
become a librarian. I also think it would be awesome to make stuff
all the time. I guess I have one of my dream jobs...I just want to do
more of my dream jobs in my lifetime. BUT for now I am happy doing
what I do.

5: What's your favorite song?

I don't really have a favorite song. That is the hardest question.
And it would depend on the hour. I guess one of my all time favorites
would be I Found a Reason by Velvet Underground.

6: And what's one wierd habit you have?

When I do a craft show I make this crazy obsessive list of what I want
to make and how many. Then I make a calendar and write how many
pieces I need to make a day to reach my goal. And I LOVE to cross
things off the list, rewrite the list and whatnot. It's weird.

7: Where are you on an average Tuesday night at 9pm?

Most Tuesdays at 9pm you can find me at my apartment slightly
intoxicated by then with my friend Pamela. We try to have craft
nights every Tuesday. Crafting with cocktails is awesome. I think
Amy Sedaris and I would be great friends :)

8: What's your greatest phobia?

I am claustrophobic a bit. I really hate crowds of people. It makes
me anxious.

You Bazaar is still taking applications until August 15th. It is going to be super fun so don't delay!