Stacey Hsu

My name is Stacey Hsu, and I'm a writer, an illustrator and a plush designer. I'm also a huge animal lover, a wife and a mom.

Would you believe it if I told you I got my start in sewing professionally at Walt Disney World? It's true--but not what you might think. In 1992, I was one of the lucky few to be accepted into the College Program at WDW in Orlando. My hope was to meet some animators and get a foot in the door. I was able to do that, despite the fact that I was randomly assigned to work in the Magic Kingdom, in a shop called The Chapeau, sewing names on mouse ears of all things. (It was actually a blast.) After hearing more about it from animation interns, I decided that Disney feature animation wasn't the career path for me. However...the internship further fueled my love of and appreciation for all things "character", and I chose to focus instead on creating appealing designs and stories on paper and as plush. The ten years I spent after college as a creative with Hallmark Cards taught me even more about the business side of being creative, and exposed me to an amazing collection of artists and artwork. (Plus, I met a really cute guy while working there...and married him!)

My Original Sock Dogs were introduced at Art Unleashed 2005, an annual live and silent art auction benefiting the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City, where I've been volunteering since January '05. They were such a hit that I decided to continue making them, and started my first etsy shop in early 2006.

Because I've grown in my plush making skills since then, I decided to move the sock dogs into a new etsy shop, under the name three red trees (which allows me to be a bit more flexible in my creativity than a store called "sock dogs".)

Visit the blog:
threeredtrees.typepad.com

To see photos of all the Original Sock Dogs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sockdogs/

Online illustration portfolio:
staceyhsu.com