Hi I’m Lily and I’m the founder and designer of Fluffnest! I grew up in a beautiful city called Guilin in China before moving to the USA when I was 12 years old. I’ve been drawing ever since I was little and I wanted to continue being an artist as I grew older so I went to art school hoping to become a concept artist! ...Well, that kind of worked out!
I dropped out of art school in my third year after realizing that a career in concept art just isn’t for me. I felt very lost and unhappy. In search of happiness, I looked back for things that I used to love. I have always loved plushies but having to move a lot for school, and leaving behind all my childhood plush toys in China I just couldn't keep a collection anymore. I thought maybe I can try to bring it all back and do something meaningful.
It all started with my determination to bring this sheep plush of my dreams to life. The Fluffnest’s lil mascot sheep actually means a lot to me, which was why Winston had to come first! My mother’s and grandpa’s zodiac is the ram; my last name is the same pronunciation as sheep in Chinese and I lived in the wonderful little neighborhood called Ram Horn Hills. When I was in elementary school I received an adorable sheep plush. I loved him so much and started drawing him everyday when I was in class (don’t draw on the tables like I did). I imagined that he had wings and he lived in the clouds where he had many sheep friends and cloud islands to explore.
Making Winston was not easy, I searched for many manufacturers to help me create Winston, the process took nearly a year. From the shapes to the fabrics to the way they stitch his horns and wings… He had to be perfect. As I waited for my first born child, I created a small pin business where I had the most fun and freedom exploring drawing my favorite shows and characters.
I never imagined that people would love my cute little creations, but it made me very happy that people would spend their hard earned money to purchase my PuffPals and pins. Making the Kickstarter was very nerve-wrecking since it had so many plush designs. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage all of it alone so I approached my brilliant, talented roommate and friend David to help me with the project.
Fluffnest couldn’t have existed without all 2000 backers on Kickstarter plus this superhuman I call David. David did so much for our project such as logo, photography, website, 3D, animation, arranging a warehouse...etc. After the Kickstarter ended I asked him if he’d want to continue building Fluffnest with me. Luckily he said yes~
Fluffnest stands for the “nest” for all that is “fluff'' and full of “love”. It symbolizes a new home I have made for myself, my family and my friends. It’s a celebration for reclaiming parts of my childhood’s memories. Now, a year later… We’ve brought so many more PuffPals to life and hopefully there will be many many more to come! Thank you for reading :D
