Indie Squid Kid

Where does he get those wonderful toys?

I bet you didn’t think I’d be able to figure out a way to tie Plush Week to Wednesday Comics, but with the Internet all things are possible!

Kristin Hogan is the co-creator, writer and artist of a comic book called Dead Squirrel Girl. Squids play heavily into the story, so she came up with an idea to make squid dolls. Her squids are approximately 19″ long and made of a variety of materials in a variety of colors and patterns. “Batsquid” is made from a bed sheet featuring characters from the 1992 movie, Batman Returns. He costs $38 and there is currently only 1 in stock, so if you want it ACT FAST!

Kristin’s Etsy store has several other cool squid dolls, as well some plush nautiluses. You can even get a copy of the Dead Squirrel Girl comic!

Volume 1 ($17)

Find out more about the comic and Kristin’s art at www.deadsquirrelgirl.com!

Dark Cycle Clothing is a husband and wife team from Tampa, Florida. Their Etsy shop is bursting with whimsical designs, mostly involving various animals riding bicycles. These include, but are not limited to: sharks, whales, Tyrannosauruses, giraffes, foxes, and, of course, octopuses.

All shirts are American Apparel super soft tees and are available in a wide range of sizes (from XS to XL) for $18.00 each.

The image above links to the Brown version of the shirt, but it is also availalble in Eggplant and Slate Grey. (If any of the links take you to sold out items, just go to the main page for the shop. There will be many others to choose from!)

They also have a design called “Octopus Corporate Man Explosion”…but I’ll save that for another time.

Esty seller post is the creator of both a line of elegant and sexy illustrated stockings, and an assortment of quirky stickers for your toilet or laptop (under the guise of seller Fresh Decals).

Pictured here are the small/medium, white, full-length Octopus tights/stockings ($23), but this design is also available in additional sizes, colors and styles. Other designs to decorate your gams include bats, butterflies, and snow flakes.

And even if you don’t have the figure for moderately erotic pantyhose, chances are you have at least one toilet…

This vinyl decal is 13″ by 8″ and is the perfect way to jazz up your porcelain throne (or refrigerator or window or whatever). It costs $13 and also comes in black or white. (Be sure to specify which color you want…black is shipped by default!) For $8, you can also get a smaller version (~7.8″ by 6.3″), perfect for laptops. Other available designs include sharks, jellyfish, pandas, and unicorns.

We had a marvelous Christmas here at ISK headquarters, and if you celebrate I hope you did too! This year was Kid Indie Squid Kid’s first Christmas, and even though he is a little too young to know what was going on, it was still very exciting. Family came to us, so we didn’t have to worry about traveling with the baby, and that turned out to be ideal, because I seem to have the virus and/or secondary bacterial infection that WILL NOT DIE.

It will come as little surprise that there were a number of cephalopods underneath our Christmas tree. Here’s a rundown of all the loot…

• Imaginext 3-Headed Sea Dragon Gift Set
• Imaginext Ocean Squid
• Arkham Horror: Innsmouth Horror Expansion (by Fantasy Flight Games)
• orange googly-eyed plush octopus
• Young Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks (by Xylocopa from ThinkGeek)
• polymer clay tentacle pendent/ornament (by bunny X productions)

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’ve been unplugged for a week so I got to ease back into things, you know?

I hope that this week’s shopping guide has helped some of you find the perfect Christmas and/or Cephalopodmas gift for the squidophile in your life. To round things out, here are a few products that didn’t really fit in the other categories. And in case you missed them, those categories are:

Toys | Apparel | Books | Jewelry

Gama-Go

Giant Squid Sticker ($2)

This sticker is roughly 3″ x 4″ and is printed on durable transparent vinyl.

Buy from Gama-Go!

Squid Kimono Billfold ($24)

This embossed vinyl wallet is a variation on the same theme we saw with their “Geisha Tentacles” shirt (which is still available!). It has two i.d. windows, three coin holders, and “surprises a-plenty.” Buy from Gama-Go!

Futuregirl Leah Riley

Squiddish Pouch ($15)

From Leah’s product description:

The best thing about Squiddish Pouches is their diverse capabilities -
- they can be closed using the convenient button and button hole method OR
- they can be hung on the wall using a nail or pushpin through the buttonhole OR
- they can even be attached to holiday trees or other shrubbery by running a string through the buttonhole

Each Squiddish Pouch is hand-cut from thick wool felt, which means each one is unique.
Each piece is securely sewn together, and features a lovely button eye.

Measurements:
Open: 11″h x 3.25″w
Closed: 7.75″h x 3.25″w

Other details:
Bright pink button
Rich Purple wool felt with darker purple thread design swirling through

Kamibashi Freak*O*Bags™

Squid ($20)

These fair trade, colorful creatures open up to reveal a sturdy 16″ x 16″ tote bag that can be used again and again. Bring them to the grocery store or anywhere you typically receive plastic bags. When you’re done, simply stuff it back into the attached pet and clip it on to anything so it’s always around when you need it.

Articulate Matter

Justina Kochansky’s Etsy shop is the companion site to her webcomic Articulate Matter (previously reviewed here). She sells prints, a brand new calendar, and some of the actual polymer clay sculptures from the comic!

Ariculate Matter 2010 Calendar ($15)

Articulate Matter Prints ($10)

Card Squid ($75)

Ninja Squid ($100)

Once again we turn our sights on Etsy.com, the nexus of all things creative and crafty on the Internet. A search for “squid jewelry” (for example) currently returns over 400 results, but I’ve isolated three sellers that epitomize the kind of awesome cephalopod jewelry that abounds on Etsy.

Noadi’s Art (www.etsy.com/shop/noadi)

Sheryl Westleigh creates amazing polymer clay and mixed media jewelry and sculptures, and I think she loves cephalopods almost as much as do. (OK, probably more!) Her shop has tons of great items in multiple styles and color variations, so if any of these pieces have sold, I’m sure you will be able to find something every bit as good. Not every thing in Noadi’s shop is cephalopod-related—look for trilobites, horseshoe crabs, and even a festive holiday platypus!

www.noadi.net

Deep Purple Squid necklace ($30)

Brown Nautilus necklace ($30)

Brass Steampunk Octopus necklace ($35)

Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace ($30)

Industrial Fairytale (www.etsy.com/shop/industrialfairytale)

Sarah Dungan is an illustrator, animator, and creator of some fabulous steampunk jewelery.

http://industrialfairytale.com

http://sarahdungan.blogspot.com

http://industrialfairytale.blogspot.com

She is also one of the contributors to Cephalopod Tea Party!

A Victorian Octopus ($45)

Cinnabar Octopus and Jade ($35)

The Nautilus and the Deep Blue Sea earrings ($15)

Octopus Me (www.etsy.com/shop/OctopusMe)

If you are looking for something a little more high-end, how about sterling sliver (and sometimes gold) jewelry made from real octopus tentacles? Here are a couple of examples, but there are many, many more in the shop!

Free shipping on all items until Sunday, December 7th.

Size 4-7 Tentacle Ring ($160.00)

Unmatched Octopus Tentacle earrings ($85)

This one-of-a-kind simulated Sperm Whale tooth is 4.5″ long and made of resin. The base is black walnut, and the Egyptian-styled stand is cold cast bronze. On its reverse side there is depicted a mermaid decked out in steampunk gear. Available at Tom Banwell’s Etsy shop for $79.00.

Also available at Tom Banwell Leather is a wide assortment of hand-made leather Halloween masks, and visit his blog for a look at his many other fantastic steampunk projects—masks, helmets and ray guns, oh my!

"Our Girl Pearl"

lanternfly says:

Here is my latest cephalopod creation. Fresh from the murky depths of my workroom, I present to you, Pearl. This octopus chandelier is made from sculpted arms and head, she has pink albino taxidermy glass eyes, pearl encrusted body covered with vintage and new pearls, scallop shells, pink pearl candles and painted with pearlized paint. She measures about 42″ diameter and is about 14″ tall.

Available at lanternfly’s Etsy shop for a mere $749.00 USD!

Large Plush Squid Hat/Pillow - Blue

I’ve been meaning to blog about Obey My Brain Creations for quite a while now, ever since my friend Xtina sent me the link to his Etsy shop several months ago. However, it was Leah Riley’s recent post on her blog that convinced me to get off my ass and talk about squid hats.

OMB squid hats are, to put it simply, RAD. It’s as if a squid is trying to eat your head! They also can double as pillows, so you can get a good night’s sleep after a night out on the town.

Here are the specs for the large size hat:

Designed to fit snugly to an 22.5″ head circumference, it is stretchy enough to fit an inch or so larger.
Body: 16 inches
Arms: 14 inches
Tentacles: 24 inches

Made from 100% polyester fleece and filled with clean/safe polyester filling. The eyes have fleece details.

$49.99 USD

There is a slightly smaller medium size ($34.99), and a variety of available colors in both sizes (blue, pink, yellow, and tie-died purple at the time of this writing). For a mere $6, you can get a pair of plush bulgy eyes to accessorize your squid!

He also offers a plush octopus hat, some Cthulhu-themed art, and lots of other stuff featuring sharks, robots, mushrooms and more!

This post is also serves as the unofficial start of this week’s theme…Halloween!!!

First there was the Bearsharktopus, but now we see the gentler, fuzzier side of Ursine/Cephalopod hybridization.

Ursapus by Everyeskimo

Everyeskimo posted this wonderful creation to her blog on Friday, and it was apparently for sale in her Etsy shop. However, it must have been snapped up instantaneously, because by the time I got there Friday afternoon it was nowhere to be seen!

Coincidentally, Kid Indie Squid Kid was trying out his new bear costume over the weekend!

I’m not saying you have to decide which is the cutest, but if I did, I think you’d know the correct answer…