My custom order plush World of Warcraft Tauren is done

After many long hours of work, my custom order World of Warcraft plush Tauren is complete and has been shipped to her new owner.  I must admit, I'm rather proud of this creation.  I put so much work into this piece- I wanted her to be perfect.  She's meant to resemble the character Chirose, and I was working off of a picture the customer sent me.  I tried to capture the Tauren's sweet nature, and making her pretty brown eyes more realistic really helped.  I painted the iris and pupil onto acrylic beads and then sealed them with gloss glaze before sewing them on.  I also added eyelids from bits of fur fabric.  That really allowed me to control her expression.  I also needle sculpted the head as well.

I made the bracers on her arms and the legguards on her legs from polymer clay, baking the armor right onto the arms and legs before attaching them to the body.  I discovered that you can actually bake fur fabric and polyester fiberfill safely at 275 degrees. I tried it on one of my earlier Taurens, and have baked clay and fabric together with other projects in the past. Her outfit is a combination of imitation and real leather, gold trim, and embossed felt.

The rose was also made out of polymer clay and was the customer's idea.  I think it adds the perfect touch.  The staff was made from polymer clay as well and has glass beads and glow in the dark accents (that's my way of representing the magic of the staff).  It attaches to her hand with a snap.  And since this is a combination birthday/ holiday gift, the customer requested the addition of a Santa hat.  That fit my taste for whimsy just perfectly!  And the really funny thing is that I was thinking she'd look really cute in a Santa hat, a full day BEFORE I got the customer's email requesting that addition!  I do love working with creative people- we tend to think along the same lines.
All in all this custom order was a great success, and I learned a few new things along the way.  I'm constantly trying to improve my work and create even better pieces.  I really like the way the eyes turned out, and intend to use that method in the future.  All of my World of Warcraft plush characters are created using my own original pattern, which I tweak every so often to make it better.  I made a new ear pattern for this one, and changed the head pattern slightly as well.  These are all definitely one of a kind creations. 
Don't forget, Christmas is not far off, so if you're looking for something extra special for that certain someone on your list, stop in to CreativeCritters and see all I have to offer.  If you'd like me to create something just for you (or your loved one), simply send me a message from my studio.  Thanks for stopping by!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters