“My work is a bit retro, twisted, fun, colorful, nerdy, and cute (but in questionable taste),” she relayed in an interview with Frankie. “Luckily I usually make what I want. And I hope my work can make people smile!”

Amongst her more notable creations are her soft sculptures (but don’t call them toys!) featuring realistic and imagined creatures. Those have been exhibited in galleries in the US, Australia, and Japan, and are featured in books and magazines, as well as commissioned for Adobe Creative Cloud event in NYC, and a New York Times web campaign.

“It takes a long time to make a needle-felted piece,” Mizushima admits, “especially for me (I’m a slow crafter). It has also crippled me! (Seriously, I have been having a problem in my shoulder and arm for months!)” Some of her felt creations and prints can be found on her Etsy shop.

Other than her sculptures, Mizushima has also been commissioned for many music videos for the band They Might Be Giants, and has made miniature collages for several book covers in Japan. “When I started to work on my second stop-motion music video for They Might Be Giants in 2007, I needed to make needle-felted characters and props for the first time,” she recalled. “That’s when I found out that I really love to make 3D stuff with wool fibre, so I started making more, and then I opened my Etsy shop. If I hadn’t got the video job, I probably wouldn’t have started needle-felting.”

Take a look at some of her work in the gallery below:

The post The Soft Sculptures of Hiné Mizushima appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Carolina is an embroidery artist based in New Mexico. Unlike most embroidery artists who’ve learned the craft from an older family member, Carolina was introduced to it only four years ago. She might have had less time to practice than others, but it has also given her the freedom to play around with the craft and find her own style.

There are all sorts of embroidery techniques. Some follow rigid lines and rules, some are more free-form. Carolina’s style is as free as it gets. Instead of following strict traditional working methods, she creates what she wants to create. She embroiders landscapes on canvas, and her ability to think outside the box helps her to use the threads almost like paint. She can embroider flowing rivers and flowering meadow in a way traditional embroidery artist could never achieve.  And through her unique style and eye for color and texture, she makes nature feel closer and more alive than ever.

The post Carolina Torres Paints Landscapes with Threads appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Ashley’s journey started in college – or, anyway, at the end of her college days. She was starting her junior year in art school when she decided it just wasn’t for her. She wasn’t sure a career as a graphic design was for here, and spending any more time working towards a degree she wasn’t sure she even wanted, made her feel lost. So against her parents’ wishes, she took a break she never came back from.

At first, she was lost. She tried to make a living as a freelance graphic designer but realized it really wasn’t for her. She moved around, leaving Virginia for Texas, and worked all sorts of odd jobs she didn’t really like. Eventually, she decided she needed to finally do something, and started Sugar and Cloth, a DIY and crafting blog.

Finally, she found her muse. The blog was just what she needed to get her creative juices flowing, and she just worked on project after project. Other DIY lovers slowly discovered her, until she was finally able to turn her blog into a full-time job.  

Today, she shares her art projects as well as glimpses from her family life with her 270 thousand followers. She gets to meet and work with amazing creative minds and enjoys every moment of her life. It’s pretty safe to say that leaving college wasn’t such a bad idea after all!

The post Ashley Rose Found Her Calling in DIY and Crafting appeared first on PlayJunkie.

In college, she studied photography and became a professional photographer. She eventually decided to try something new and applied to a graduate program in marriage and family therapy,  which led to an internship in a rehabilitation facility. There she learned the true power of art: she helped her patients express themselves with colors and lines. She learned how therapeutic art really was, so she decided to share her discovery with the world, through her IG account, The DIYDay.

On her account, Renee shares crafting videos and tutorials, and pictures of her own creations. She knows the process can be as fun and relaxing as the final outcome, which is why she often shares pictures of her process as well as the results.

Her colorful creations have gained her over 250 thousand followers who enjoy seeing art being made as much as they enjoy the finished products. Today she focuses on spreading the gospel of crafting around the world and giving as many people as possible the gift of creating with their own hands.  

The post This Photographer Has Discovered the True Power of Art appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Katie is a professional florist Based in Salem, Oregon. She’s also the owner and founder of Ponderosa and Thyme, an award-winning flower arrangement studio.

Katie’s flower arrangements are special for several reasons. First, her designs are beautiful – they almost seem like statues. But it’s not just the way she arranges flowers and plants, it’s also where she gets them. Katie uses locally-grown flowers and works with Oregon-based farmers to create arrangements that represent Oregon. The arrangements change from season to season, as the seasonal flowers change, so now wreath or bouquet is like any other.

This can be a challenge, of course, as Katie is limited to whatever is available in her home state, but it is also an opportunity to create a community of farmers, florists and flower enthusiasts, who all share a deep love for nature. We can’t all visit Ponderosa and Thyme, unfortunately, but Katie’s IG account does provide us a pick to her wonderful world of plants and flowers. Take a look and maybe you’ll be inspired to create your own bouquet.  

The post This Bouquets Will Make You Want to Pick Flowers In the Nearest Meadow appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“When we met, part of getting to know each other was through playing drawing games and doing craft projects together,” recalled the artists in an interview with Art of Choice. “We started to take this play more and more seriously, and realized that there was an audience for what we were doing.”

But what began as a playful experiment turned into something much bigger when a couple of years later they received a commission for a public art project at The University of Florida. It was then that they were able to quit their day jobs and focus on developing their practice full-time. “Ultimately, we continue to work together because it’s fun, we love spending time together, and it feels rewarding and meaningful,” they say.

And judging by their work, it indeed seems like great fun. “Play is one of the most important foundations of our practice together,” they say. “Play is a tool for working together within a loosely structured arena. When we play, we enter into a realm that acknowledges reality and knowingly diverts it. Play forces us to constantly shift our perception into a realm that brings to light the wondrous, the magical, and the humorous in the everyday. Play questions what’s possible and explores new potentials. This experimental attitude is what drives new discoveries. We take our play very seriously, and we apply a rigor and a focus to playful ideas that help projects realize a different potential.”

Enter their playful worlds in the gallery below.

The post Artistic Duo CHIAOZZA Takes Play Time Seriously appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“My work is a bit retro, twisted, fun, colorful, nerdy, and cute (but in questionable taste),” she relayed in an interview with Frankie. “Luckily I usually make what I want. And I hope my work can make people smile!”

Amongst her more notable creations are her soft sculptures (but don’t call them toys!) featuring realistic and imagined creatures. Those have been exhibited in galleries in the US, Australia, and Japan, and are featured in books and magazines, as well as commissioned for Adobe Creative Cloud event in NYC, and a New York Times web campaign.

“It takes a long time to make a needle-felted piece,” Mizushima admits, “especially for me (I’m a slow crafter). It has also crippled me! (Seriously, I have been having a problem in my shoulder and arm for months!)” Some of her felt creations and prints can be found on her Etsy shop.

Other than her sculptures, Mizushima has also been commissioned for many music videos for the band They Might Be Giants, and has made miniature collages for several book covers in Japan. “When I started to work on my second stop-motion music video for They Might Be Giants in 2007, I needed to make needle-felted characters and props for the first time,” she recalled. “That’s when I found out that I really love to make 3D stuff with wool fibre, so I started making more, and then I opened my Etsy shop. If I hadn’t got the video job, I probably wouldn’t have started needle-felting.”

Take a look at some of her work in the gallery below:

The post The Soft Sculptures of Hiné Mizushima appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Carolina is an embroidery artist based in New Mexico. Unlike most embroidery artists who’ve learned the craft from an older family member, Carolina was introduced to it only four years ago. She might have had less time to practice than others, but it has also given her the freedom to play around with the craft and find her own style.

There are all sorts of embroidery techniques. Some follow rigid lines and rules, some are more free-form. Carolina’s style is as free as it gets. Instead of following strict traditional working methods, she creates what she wants to create. She embroiders landscapes on canvas, and her ability to think outside the box helps her to use the threads almost like paint. She can embroider flowing rivers and flowering meadow in a way traditional embroidery artist could never achieve.  And through her unique style and eye for color and texture, she makes nature feel closer and more alive than ever.

The post Carolina Torres Paints Landscapes with Threads appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Ashley’s journey started in college – or, anyway, at the end of her college days. She was starting her junior year in art school when she decided it just wasn’t for her. She wasn’t sure a career as a graphic design was for here, and spending any more time working towards a degree she wasn’t sure she even wanted, made her feel lost. So against her parents’ wishes, she took a break she never came back from.

At first, she was lost. She tried to make a living as a freelance graphic designer but realized it really wasn’t for her. She moved around, leaving Virginia for Texas, and worked all sorts of odd jobs she didn’t really like. Eventually, she decided she needed to finally do something, and started Sugar and Cloth, a DIY and crafting blog.

Finally, she found her muse. The blog was just what she needed to get her creative juices flowing, and she just worked on project after project. Other DIY lovers slowly discovered her, until she was finally able to turn her blog into a full-time job.  

Today, she shares her art projects as well as glimpses from her family life with her 270 thousand followers. She gets to meet and work with amazing creative minds and enjoys every moment of her life. It’s pretty safe to say that leaving college wasn’t such a bad idea after all!

The post Ashley Rose Found Her Calling in DIY and Crafting appeared first on PlayJunkie.

In college, she studied photography and became a professional photographer. She eventually decided to try something new and applied to a graduate program in marriage and family therapy,  which led to an internship in a rehabilitation facility. There she learned the true power of art: she helped her patients express themselves with colors and lines. She learned how therapeutic art really was, so she decided to share her discovery with the world, through her IG account, The DIYDay.

On her account, Renee shares crafting videos and tutorials, and pictures of her own creations. She knows the process can be as fun and relaxing as the final outcome, which is why she often shares pictures of her process as well as the results.

Her colorful creations have gained her over 250 thousand followers who enjoy seeing art being made as much as they enjoy the finished products. Today she focuses on spreading the gospel of crafting around the world and giving as many people as possible the gift of creating with their own hands.  

The post This Photographer Has Discovered the True Power of Art appeared first on PlayJunkie.

Katie is a professional florist Based in Salem, Oregon. She’s also the owner and founder of Ponderosa and Thyme, an award-winning flower arrangement studio.

Katie’s flower arrangements are special for several reasons. First, her designs are beautiful – they almost seem like statues. But it’s not just the way she arranges flowers and plants, it’s also where she gets them. Katie uses locally-grown flowers and works with Oregon-based farmers to create arrangements that represent Oregon. The arrangements change from season to season, as the seasonal flowers change, so now wreath or bouquet is like any other.

This can be a challenge, of course, as Katie is limited to whatever is available in her home state, but it is also an opportunity to create a community of farmers, florists and flower enthusiasts, who all share a deep love for nature. We can’t all visit Ponderosa and Thyme, unfortunately, but Katie’s IG account does provide us a pick to her wonderful world of plants and flowers. Take a look and maybe you’ll be inspired to create your own bouquet.  

The post This Bouquets Will Make You Want to Pick Flowers In the Nearest Meadow appeared first on PlayJunkie.

“When we met, part of getting to know each other was through playing drawing games and doing craft projects together,” recalled the artists in an interview with Art of Choice. “We started to take this play more and more seriously, and realized that there was an audience for what we were doing.”

But what began as a playful experiment turned into something much bigger when a couple of years later they received a commission for a public art project at The University of Florida. It was then that they were able to quit their day jobs and focus on developing their practice full-time. “Ultimately, we continue to work together because it’s fun, we love spending time together, and it feels rewarding and meaningful,” they say.

And judging by their work, it indeed seems like great fun. “Play is one of the most important foundations of our practice together,” they say. “Play is a tool for working together within a loosely structured arena. When we play, we enter into a realm that acknowledges reality and knowingly diverts it. Play forces us to constantly shift our perception into a realm that brings to light the wondrous, the magical, and the humorous in the everyday. Play questions what’s possible and explores new potentials. This experimental attitude is what drives new discoveries. We take our play very seriously, and we apply a rigor and a focus to playful ideas that help projects realize a different potential.”

Enter their playful worlds in the gallery below.

The post Artistic Duo CHIAOZZA Takes Play Time Seriously appeared first on PlayJunkie.