#Also can the 'oh no faux fur plastics' people chill? I make like two dozen plush per year tops

[purringfayestudio]

Just a little note about my art materials.

I DO NOT use real animal fur in my art plush.

If you are already aware, great! You can go about your day. For more info or the reasons for this announcement, read more. (CW frustration, rant. Discussion around real fur vs fake fur and people attacking before they read.)

I am not vegan, but I feel a special level of frustration when people immediately assume I'm using real fur (or worse "dead animals") to make my plushies. Especially when I clearly say I'm using "faux fur" and "fabric" in my posts/captions. Faux means "fake" and real fur (i.e. pelts) is not fabric.

Ignorance is totally fine. Not everyone has access to the knowledge or experience to differentiate real vs fake fur. BUT I expect everyone who comments to be capable of reading the caption first.

Beyond people not reading, though, it's the immediate assumption that I'm a murderer or something, as if realistic things can't possibly be fake. And then sometimes jumping straight into attacking me over it instead of taking four seconds to read what I already wrote about it.

It creates drama where there is none. It's unnecessary, manufactured outrage for no reason. I'm just here to chill and share my fiber arts that I work incredibly hard to make look real, but very much aren't.

I make realistic, FAKE animals so that people who don't want to be irresponsible by cuddling a living (or dead) exotic can still experience holding a realistic replica. Since they're soft and weighted, they are also immensely comforting for anxious or neurodivergent people.

Faux fur gives me the freedom to make any animal, real or not, in virtually any color. Real fur, on the other hand, is prohibitively expensive, limited in "design" and color, and terribly, woefully difficult to sew (it's literally leather under the hairs). Besides I have a moral objection to cutting up pelts to be used for fashion or other non-essential items, except for indigenous or extreme climate cultures.

That said, not all my plush are 100% vegan. Some contain horse hairs as whiskers. These are ethically collected and sourced from a Native American small business. If needed, I can remove them upon buyer's request. At least until I find a synthetic alternative.

So from here out I'll just be weeding out people who act before they read because I'm getting very tired of it across every social media site I'm on. It's like 3-4 comments on every post now, everywhere. I'd assume it was trolls except for how sheepish people act when I reply that it's fake. I should be flattered they think it's real but mostly I'm just tired of fighting drama fires.

Anyhow. Thank you for your time. Let me know if y'all want to see a real vs fake fur educational post. Even if you are vehemently against real fur, it would serve you well to know the difference so you can make educated decisions.