Feature Friday: ParamiPanda

In case you hadn't heard, tomorrow is Halloween. Sadly, this year, I won't get to do much celebrating, or enjoy handing out candy, because I have friends getting married on Saturday, and Friday is the rehearsal. (Though, I will get to dress up. That's right, their wedding rehearsal is a costume rehearsal.)

So, in celebration of Halloween, I've got some cute Halloweeness coming at you! Today's feature is Parami Panda.

{Awww...It's a Mummy Bunny!}

Tell us about yourself, name, location, what have you:
My name is Alix, I am 22 and I am currently based right outside of San Francisco.

What inspires you?
My work has a lot of Japanese influences - it is Amigurumi which is a Japanese art in itself, but beyond that I really believe in the Japanese ideal that nothing has to be boring or merely functional - everything can be kawaii and unique.

How did you get into crafting?
I have been crafty all my life, making clothes and painting/drawing, but I always got bored, because what I was creating didn't have it's own personality. I would make one hat, and then be over making hats, but when I discovered amigurumi about a year ago my world changed. I couldn't get enough of it, the creatures I was creating were so much more than just yarn and stuffing, they had expressions and feelings, and I just kept making them and making them, and haven't slowed down yet.

{Bah haha. This one just cracks me up}

 What do you do for your full time job?
I graduated from college in June, spent some time in Japan, and then some time at a Buddhist retreat center in Colorado, and now I am back where I grew up in California madly applying to internships in social justice and environmental responsibility nonprofits, and gearing up to be a substitute teacher.

Would you rather have a peg leg or a hook hand?
hmmm...well I was going to say a peg leg, because I need my hands to make my plushies, buuuut if it was a crochet-hook hand, I suppose that wouldn't be a problem.


I'll allow this answer, just because the idea of a crochet hook hand is pretty much the funniest thing I've thought of all day.

What are the last five songs played in your itunes?
"Last Night on Earth" -Green Day
"Soda Shop" -Jay Brennan
"Brand New Day" -Ryan Star
"Hey Jude" -Across the Universe Soundtrack
"Boston" -Guster

How do you come up ideas for all the wonderful plushies you make?
I just sort of let them come to me. When I get some new fabric or a new yarn, I wait, and sooner or later I just know exactly what I have to make with it. And then I of course make that same critter in fifty different color combinations

That's Parami Panda! You can also check out her blog at: Paramipanda.blogspot.com. Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone!