Meet The Artist: Liz Urso

My first internship and fulltime job was at a plush and novelty toy manufacturer as a graphic designer. This is where I met today’s guest poster. She was a quiet, smiley designer who could add a cuddly personality to any item, whether it was breathing or an inanimate object! I recently reconnected with Liz as we are both bridesmaids in Vanessa’s upcoming wedding and she ~~finally caved~~ agreed to be a guest poster at Spotofteadesigns.com. Read on and meet Liz Urso:

Hi there! First off, I just wanted to say thank you to Tara for giving me an opportunity to be a guest on her blog! I am so excited to be doing this and I will try not to get too carried away.

I wouldn’t say I am a Jack-of-all-trades, but I do have a handle on few different things. I am currently a graphic designer/ illustrator in the scrapbooking industry as my day job. I basically make a lot of cute patterns and stickers. as evident of the summertime collection above.

The rest of the time you can find me doodling away in my sketchbook, drawing, card crafting and making toys. I love to collect patterned papers, buttons, ribbon, shiny glass bits, small trinkets, whatever I can find that would be good for altered art crafts and card crafting.

I have made it a point to card craft for almost every occasion or holiday because I enjoy doing that and most of the time a handmade card just seems way cooler than a store-bought one. I love being crafty!

Recently, I have been killing my colored pencils to make my wood drawings, like this “Return to Sender” design. I just love drawing on wood more than paper. I am not really very quick with acrylics paints and I have a better handle with colored pencils. I really like the way they blend! I would eventually like to try out oil paints, but I think the drying time would bother me! I’m always open to trying new techniques and mediums, but wood and colored pencils is where it’s at right now.

As an alternative to drawing, I also do digital illustrations or computer-rendered drawings. This is a design I call “Silence”, which you can find at my Society 6 Store.

When I am not drawing or being paper crafty, I’m sewing. I call myself the cute critter maker. No, I am not making little Frankenstein creatures, but I do make my own line of plush called Lizlings.

Say hello to some of my Lizlings: Monkey, Fox, and Owl. I have been sewing up my own toys for about 10 years now. It all started out in college when I was becoming very anti-graphic design. I was never really into making art on a computer or being a person that works in a corporate environment. I kind of had a limited idea that graphic design was just brochures and magazines. I was definitely wrong! However back then, designer toys were becoming a trend and an expensive hobby of mine. Eventually it got me thinking about making my own toys and designs to go with it. Now I make toys for friends and family who want to give or get a unique handmade plush. All of my designs are original. I usually always sketch out my design first, then bring it into the computer to create a template where I will then print out and use the shapes to make a 3D plush design. Oh, I forgot to mention that all of my toys are not just handmade, they are hand-sewn. Yes, I sew each toy with sewing needle and thread. I do not use a sewing machine, mostly because of my lack of experience with them. I just feel like I have better control with a sewing needle than I would with a sewing machine. I promise you that these little guys are durable and built to last as long as you’re not throwing them around and running over them with your car!