This month’s Plush Team Challenge is to create something inspired by Las Vegas. So naturally, I thought of lobster. It’s pretty obvious I’ve never been Las Vegas.

I thought to myself, people eat lobster in fancy restaurants in Las Vegas, don’t they? So, just to be sure, I googled it and found this disturbing phenomenon. The Lobster Zone.

I in no way condone this practice. It seems a bit gross and a bit cold to me. But I’m no vegetarian, and neither is this Crustacean Critter. Thems the breaks.

I present to you, the Lobster Eating Lobster! Love it or hate it, you can snatch it up while it lasts in the Plush Team shop.

A Cannibalistic Haiku:

My friendships are few.

But when I feel lonely, I

Just fill up my plate!

I took Latin in high school, while the practical students were in Spanish class. I took Latin for four years straight, a Classical Marathon culminating in the translation of Virgil’s Aeneid.

Fast forward . . . uh . . . 9(!) years, and that epic work is still taking its toll on me. So it was only natural that I steer from my failed Sea Serpent attempts directly to Laocoon.

But who was Laocoon? you ask. He was a smart dude. The kind that the Trojans should have listened to when he said, “Hey, don’t bring that big wooden horse in here. Something’s fishy.” It’s thanks to Laocoon that we have such pithy phrases as, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” We all go around saying that all the time, don’t we?

He was a priest of Poseidon, and the Gods were pissed at him. They were not going to let him stir up trouble among the Trojans – oh, no. Minerva sent two giant and horrifying Sea Serpents from the nearby island of Tenedos to crush Laocoon’s insubordination! They appeared on the horizon of the sea and slithered towards the crowd of Trojans on the shore. Then they strangled Laocoon and his sons on the spot in a most gruesome fashion.

Wicked.

My Laocoon comes with two posable serpents – so they can be removed and made to attack again and again! Now you can spend hours reenacting the Aeneid in the comfort of your own home.

You may recognize this famous piece of Hellenistic sculpture:

It was a great inspiration for this plush piece, which I hereby humbly submit to the Plushteam‘s Mythology Challenge. It will be available in the Plushteam shop this Sunday, April 12th, and voting will open up to the public shortly thereafter. Vote for my little fuzzy Laocoon to win the Demigods and Mortals category. The competition is fierce, but Laocoon is bold enough to stand up to the most daunting of challenges. Wish me luck and vote vote vote!

A Tragic Haiku:

I’ll speak my mind clear,

Then succumb to grisly death,

My fist in the sky.

You’ve seen my stellar entry in the Schmancy Olympic Challenge – now you can see what I’m up against. So much talent!

I finally finished my piece for the Schmancy Olympic Challenge! Hooray! As you know, I had the skiing category, a challenge for this plushmaker, as I’ve never skied in my life.

Skiing comes naturally for this little guy, though, since he brings his own skis with him wherever he goes!

And he always remembers to bring his protective eyewear, lest he get a shard of ice to the face! Or a rogue tree branch.

And from the back, he proudly boasts the Olympic Rings of unity and sportsmanship, and whatever good things they are supposed to represent.

A Canadian Haiku:

I careen down slopes

With my head held high and my

Proud horns in the snow!

What does a Baby Cubicorn want more than anything else in the world?

Another Baby Cubicorn to play with! I obviously had no choice but to whip up this little winged critter:

So happy together!

So what’s new in the world of PterodactylPants, you ask? Well, I just sold an awesome outlet keychain to Australia.

I have officially entered an Olympic Challenge of Plush. This contest is going to be HUGE! Kristen Rask, the owner of the Schmancy Gallery in Seattle is putting it on – and she does great things for the Indie Plush community. There are over 180 plush artists participating, and the judges are pretty impressive, too. I’ve been given the category of skiing – it’ll be interesting to see what I come up with, since I’ve never set foot in a pair of skis in my life!

I am also applying to be in the first annual Plush You! Show in LA. Plush You! is a big deal every fall in Seattle, and they’re branching out this year. I didn’t quite make the cut last year, but you know what they say about getting back on that horse . . .

Oh! And I sold a mini maggot for Haiti. There are still some other Plush Team members’ goodies left in the Plush Team’s Etsy shop – all proceeds go to the Red Cross. Head on over and peruse the merch.