While snuggled up on the couch with a fleece blanket last November, Elliott Ingles turned to his girlfriend鈥攚ho happens to also be his crafting partner鈥攁nd said, 鈥淲e should make a mountain out of this.鈥�
And within minutes the scissors were out and Ingles was turning the blanket into the first-ever Mountains and Monsters pillow, roughing out a design and handing it off to his partner, Megan Vicente to sew and perfect.
Before that moment, the couple had made all kinds of toys and dolls out of felt, fabric and polymer clay, but they always kept those creations to themselves, displaying them in their home or giving them away as gifts.
It wasn鈥檛 until they created their dopey eyed, smiling mountains that they shared their work with the community, debuting Mountains and Monsters at the Coco鈥檚 Cafe Craft Sale late last year.
鈥淲e wanted to make something for the sale,鈥� said Vicente, 鈥渂ut we weren鈥檛 sure what.
鈥淲e wanted something relevant to Jasper, so we made little mountain Christmas ornaments.鈥�
The ornaments, like the full-sized pillows, featured the couple鈥檚 signature sleepy eyes and shy smiles, and became an instant seller.
Following that success, a Friends of Jasper National Park employee asked Ingles and Vicente to sell their creations in the Friends store. So the couple got to work, whipping up a whole new batch of the fleece pillows.
鈥淲e got a big push from the Friends of Jasper; all the ladies at the Friends鈥擲ue, Heather and Nancy鈥� they are our biggest fans and they support us a ton,鈥� said Ingles, who also credits Lee Ann Cross and fellow artist Tristan Overy for inspiring the creation and continuation of Mountains and Monsters.
鈥淚 think the first doll we ever made we gave to Tristan, and he was like 鈥榯his is the best thing ever, you guys need to make more.鈥欌��
For Vicente and Ingles, that support is one of the biggest compliments they could receive, not only because Overy鈥檚 a successful artist, but because he and his wife are their best friends.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice when your biggest fans are your best friends,鈥� said Ingles. 鈥淭ristan鈥檚 always been pushing us to do more and more.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been so encouraged by people liking [our creations] and buying them; we hope it encourages other people to get out and make stuff.鈥�
The couple doesn鈥檛 know where Mountains and Monsters will take them in the future, but for now they鈥檙e enjoying the ride and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes their way鈥攍ike making a special mountain with a rainbow for Mr. Gay Canada.
鈥淪ue from Friends of Jasper requested we make one for Mr. Gay Canada, so we made it and donated it to Sue to give to him.鈥�
And last week that gift arrived in Christepher Wee鈥檚 mailbox, along with a bunch of other goodies from the Jasper Pride Festival Society.
On Facebook, Wee shared a video of himself opening the package and when he discovered the Mountains and Monsters pillow, his face lit right up and he immediately gave it a hug, saying 鈥淚t鈥檚 the mountains and a rainbow. I鈥檓 so touched.鈥�
Ingles and Vicente created eight more of the rainbow-style mountains and dropped them off at the Friends store last week.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to sell them and they鈥檙e going to donate some of the proceeds to the [Jasper Pride Festival Society],鈥� said Ingles.
To see the plush pillows for yourself, visit the Friends store or follow the couple on Instagram at Mountains_and_Monsters.
听Nicole Veerman
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