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A Visit to Spain with Michelle Obama

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Michelle Obama and her youngest daughter Sacha enjoyed a European Vacation in Spain recently. I thought perhaps you might like to take a virtual trip to the land of las pampas and Paso Doble, the Reino de Espana. This first item is the perfect travel tote, whether you’re roaming the streets of Barcelona, or jet-setting in Marbella, which is where the bag’s designer, Martina Masini, resides.

Crochet is definitely one of those arts that can veer into the not-hip-at-all category of the world of handmade. A toilet paper roll cover made to look like a skirt with a plastic doll on top comes to mind. This is not the case with this cool brooch by Paz of Monicacaros.

I am a collector of brooches, old and new, and this one would be a very nice addition. Monicacaros is a made-up name, but the shop has some very real treasures—including a mouse named Roberto (he is Spanish after all).

My daughter is an animal lover, and horses are at the very top of the list. She gets that from her mom. I am terribly allergic to anything with fur, but I still ride horses whenever I get the chance. Thus, anything with a horse on it always gets my attention. I found this drawing by Olga Gal especially captivating. The colors are so simple but the composition is quite beautiful.

I am certain Michelle Obama and Sasha did some shopping, with Secret Service detail in tow, of course. Maybe if they had brought something back from their trip for the conservative media, they wouldn’t have been given such a hard time for stepping foot outside of the United States. How about one of these cute, handmade, plushies by Vega Lyrae? Seems like a good gift for the childish media personalities raising a ruckus. Seriously, Spain did win the World Cup–for goodness sake, shouldn’t someone congratulate them in person?

Skudfisher

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Cartoons! I watch tons of cartoons.

That was Mike from Skudfisher‘s response when I asked him what inspired his fun plushies. How can you argue with such enthusiasm?

Everything from Invader Zim to Rocky and Bullwinkle (both of which are responsible for huge chunks of my sense of humour). I also pretty obsessively try to absorb as much cool art as possible from the internet. Flickr has so many amazing independent artists that it kind of blows my mind sometimes. I can spend hours just going from artist or artist on flickr. I have some pretty amazing people on my contact list on there that I really admire.

Mike has been obsessed with drawing silly characters and monsters since he was little. Then 2 years ago he decided to try and make one of his monsters into a toy for his nephew as a birthday gift, lucky kid. It only took that one toy to turn sewing into an obsession and he’s been making plushies ever since. Each monster has it’s own story along with it’s likes and dislikes to ensure monster/child compatibility.

There is something very satisfying about coming up with an idea, cutting out the fabric and sewing everything together, into something you can hold in your hands, that I just don’t get from drawing. I still love drawing though!

Mike’s current favorite is Acorn! He thinks she is just so adorable and huggable and really loves working with faux fur material. And as I was working on this, my 2 1/2 year old son told me he wanted THAT monster – so I guess she’s not just Mike’s favorite!

Currently Skudfisher’s plushies are only sold through Mike’s shop, but after many years of attending craft fairs and enjoying Montreal’s great craft scene he hopes to get involved as a vendor there soon. So if you’re in the Montreal area, keep your eyes peeled.

If you’d like to keep up with Mike’s creations he keeps a blog of all his work at and updates his Flickr very regularly.