FAQ - about (Updated 11/7/17)

Who are you?
My name is Jessica.

Tell me about yourself.
I make my home in the Pacific Northwest. I am in my early thirties and am happily married. I like to read, write, and cook, aside from the crafting, of course. Honestly, I'm kind of a boring busybody.

Why are your commissions currently closed/limited?
I'm going back to school, while working, and I've got a full plate. I refuse to stress myself out by taking more commissions than I am comfortable with.

Do you sell/give out your patterns?
No.

Why?
Because I don't want to.

That's selfish.
Okay. That's your opinion. There's no rule out there saying I have to share what I spend my own time and money creating. I'm sorry you feel that way.

What are you going to school for?
Bachelor's of Fine Arts. I'm hoping to pursue it all the way to fashion school, but we'll see where it goes when I get there.

Why don't you post up things you make for school/other art?
Because I have anxiety issues regarding the art I create for art purposes. Creating art is different from creating costumes or plush to me. My art comes from a personal place. If there is something I'm particularly proud of, I might share it, but don't count on it. I have a hard enough time showcasing my works in galleries.

What about your plush? How many have you made?
I don’t have an exact count. I make many plush that I don’t post pictures of in my gallery, because I give them to my friends and family as gifts, or as a means to repay a favor. Last time I took an estimate, it was 300+ from 2012 to 2017.

How long have you been making plush?
That’s a bit of a loaded question; I’ve been involved in the crafting world for as long as I can remember. Almost everyone in my immediate family is creative in some way; my mother is an artist, as well as an interior decorator, my father a carpenter, one of my older sisters has her own cake decorating business, and another is a professional bead artist. It’s in my blood. I've only been making plush to sell for the last three or so years, even though I've been making my own stuffed animals and costumes for them since I was about ten.

What else are you involved in?
I cosplay when I have the time and the funds. I like to write - I'm working on several original novels - and play video games.

What games do you play?
More than I am sure is healthy, provided I have the time for it. I greatly enjoy the Final Fantasy series, primarily VII, IX, & XV, the Rune Factory series, and various Pokemon titles, including the Mystery Dungeon branches. Some of my absolute favorite games include Threads of Fate and The World Ends With You. Occasionally, I can be found playing a friendly round of TF2. I play for fun, however, not competitively. I like just about anything that has a good story and likable characters. To me, it's all about fun.

Have you won any awards/contests?
I’ve won several competitions with my plush, yes. I've also won awards for some of my short stories, and several hallway and online awards/contests for my cosplay. I used to be fairly active in several icon-contest communities over on LiveJournal, back when it was relevant. I don't really keep track of stuff like that, though. Unless I'm presented with a physical item in recognition of the award, like a certificate or ribbon, I tend to forget about it. I enter contests for the fun of them, not necessarily for the recognition.

Where can I find your written works?
The only pieces I have available online are my fanfics. Some of them are old, some newer. Here is a link to my ffn account..
I do have several ongoing pieces of original fiction in the works, but they are not available to the public at this time. I'll let everyone know when I publish them, though.

Will you make me a plush that looks like [some-other-artist's-work]?
No. It's fine if you'd like to show/link me pictures of finished pieces as references for what you're looking for, but I won't copy/ripoff another person's style. If you're looking for someone else's style, but found their prices too high for you, and are coming to me in hopes of getting a plush like theirs but at my prices, I'll kindly tell you where to shove it. I know that might come off as a little mean, but, well, think of it this way - you wouldn't go to your favorite fast food restaurant and ask them to cook you a steak just like your favorite steakhouse, right? Then why would you ask an artist with their own style to copy someone else's? It's really not cool.

Can we be friends?
If you're ordering a plush from me, you're my customer. It's not that I have anything personal against you, it's just that, to me, business is business. If you're not ordering a plush from me and you just want to drop me a line, you're free to do so. I have to forewarn you, though, that I'm a bit of a shut-in, a recluse, and I don't really have anything interesting to share with the class. Like, I'm weird and stuff. Kind of boring. Mundane.

You're cute. Date me?
Happily married; no thanks.

What does your husband do?
He's a video game designer and programmer with a specialty in artificial intelligence and level creation. He's also a video game historian. At the moment, he's working on a personal project with a small indie team.

Do you do requests?
No.

Do you do art trades?
Unless you have or are capable of making something that I want, I don't really do trades.

Will you teach me how to [do this] and/or will you edit [writing] for me?
Sorry, but no. Everything I learned about crafting/plush-making, I did so through trial and error, and when that failed to work, I looked stuff up on Google or watched tutorials on YouTube. I have a few tutorials of my own in my gallery, but it's for cosplay-related stuff, and they just exemplify the methods that worked for me for things that, at the time I made the tutorials, weren't really that easy to find instructions for otherwise. I don't really think I'm going to ever make a tutorial for my plush simply because I don't think I will ever share my patterns. As for the writing? I'm gonna be honest; I just don't have the patience. My best advice is this: find someone you trust to read what you write; that way, when they are honest, you can take it. My editor is one of my absolute closest friends, and I trust him to tell me when my work is well-written and thought-provoking, or when it's a hot dumpster fire, and to deliver either verdict to me in a way that doesn't make me want to punch him in the face. That's important.

What patterns do you use?
Nearly all of my patterns are of my own design. If they aren't, I'll credit the original artist/designer/work.

Where are you from?
I'm a Pacific Northwest native, but I did live in Texas for a short stint while my husband finished his Master's Degree. Because of various health issues, it's hard for me to travel, so most of the places I've visited have been on the west coast.

Do you visit cons/what ones?
I frequent SakuraCon in Seattle, & KuroNeko Con in Spokane. Traveling is very hard for me because of health reasons.

Health reasons? What's wrong?
I suffer from Chronic Migraine Syndrome that often likes to manifest itself in debilitating bouts of vertigo. Long story short, I get motion sickness at the drop of a hat. I can't fly in planes, and long car rides are extremely difficult. In fact, I can stand up too fast, or lock my knees too long, and end up in the hospital. It sucks. To be fair, though, nothing that I deal with will end up killing me, so I've just leaned to live around it all. It's slightly inconvenient is all.

What else have you done?
I'm a jack of all trades, I suppose; I've been a journalist, a freelance writer, a photographer, social media lead at a real estate office, seamstress, I've managed my own retail outlet, and I've worked as a model. I do what I like, provided it pays the bills.