PloesiePoesie Cat Look-A-Like Dolls

I love when friends or readers send cool kitty finds my way, and that's exactly what happened a few weeks ago when my friends from Squaredy Cats sent me a link to PloesiePoesies, a Dutch website that makes amazing kitty look-a-like dolls.

Of course, I immediately fell in love with the unique creations, and contacted the artist, Luna, telling her I was interested in doing a feature, and seeing if she would be willing to answer some of my questions. She quickly responded yes, and to my great surprise, also offered to make me two PloesiePoesies of my own for free! I was completely shocked, honored, and excited by her generous gesture, and from that point on, I came down with a serious case of Ploesie-fever.

Luna has been making PloesiesPoesies, which are Dutch for 'Plush Pussy' or 'Plush Cat', for several years, and while mine were in transit to the U.S., I asked her some questions about the unique dolls that look just like your own kitty!

Read on for more!

Lovely Luna

What inspired you to start making PloesiePoesies?

All the PloesiePoesie are numbered, and of course #001 is one of my own cats: Bruce Lee... He's my muse! I made a look-a-like version of him (he deserved it) and put a picture of the look-a-like on my weblog (not the Ploesie-blog though). I'm one of the first webloggers in the Netherlands (www.maanisch.com), so I had a big fan crowd already. When people saw this first PloesiePoesie some wanted one of their own, and after making 20 plush cats I decided to start a real company, including it's own website (www.ploesiepoesie.nl). And now I still make these look-a-likes, but also buttons, mirrors, allll catstuff, cause I just love cats! :-)

Frank Sinatra posing with my PloesiePoesies

How many cats do you have? Can you tell me a little about them?

At this moment I have three cats. Bruce Lee is the oldest, Sid Vicious is number two, and Frank Sinatra is the youngest. When I moved away from my parents to live on my own, the first thing I did was get a cat from the shelter, that was Skinner, and after him I always had cats and I can't imagine my life without them... :-) As I said: Bruce is my muse. He has cost me 6000 euro until now... but I LOVE him! Sid Vicious is from a shelter and he's... ehm... different... doesn't understand himself, doesn't understand the world, but he tries really hard. He's funny and funky... and Frank Sinatra is fat, cute and lazy! He loves my boyfriend... (he loves my boyfriend more then he loves me, and I'm jealous, yes.)

Do you ship your Ploesies worldwide?

I do ship worldwide... The prices range from 50 to 100 euro (approximately $75 - $150 USD), depending on the difficulty of the cat! The price includes post and packing. If you live in Europe, you can pay through bank transfer, and for all non-EU countries, I accept PayPal.

One of Luna's customized creations

To order a Poesie of your own, the first step is to send Luna a few pictures of your cat so she can get an idea of what they look like. She prefers a front and back picture where they're sitting "on their butt" so she can get a good look, but if you don't have that, it's ok! Just send over something cute!

After seeing the photos, she'll send you an offer, free of obligation. If you agree on the price, and decide to move forward, your kitty will go on a waiting list. When it's their turn to be 'Ploesiepoesie-fied', she starts by making the plush body and pinning the spots and stripes in the right places. You'll receive some 'work in progress' shots to check out and approve, and after you're satisfied, she'll sew everything together! The process usually takes about 1 to 2 weeks.

My Ploesie haul!

The day I had been anxiously anticipating finally came this past Saturday, when my PloesiePoesies arrived in the mail - And boy, were they tired after traveling all the way from the Netherlands!

"Look how beautiful I am!"

Priscilla loved her Ploesie right away.

I can't tell you how many hours went into this photo until he finally decided to give up and sit down so I could get the shot.

And Charlie was extremely pleased too!

I was expecting the dolls to be awesome, but was totally blown away by how amazing they are in person! She really got all of the details, including the tiny white spot under Prissy's nose, and the few white hairs on Charlie's chest. The Ploesies are sturdy and well-made, and come numbered (mine are 722 and 723). They also arrive with customized tags with your cat's picture on the front, and a message on the back declaring, "This is the original look-a-like PloesiePoesie of: (cat's name). Handmade by Electric Luna."

Another happy customer!

Luna is one busy lady, and in addition to the look-a-like dolls, she also hand designs and sells retro PloesiePoesies, Deluxe PloesiePoesies, blankets with a matching fabric cat, buttons, refrigerator magnets, catnip toys, brooches, mirrors, and postcards! (all of which you can find in her shop, here). And if all that weren't enough, in her spare time she also has a really cute cat blog, too!

I shall call him, Mini-Me!

I love my PloesiePoesies, and think they're probably the nicest thing anyone has ever made for me! They're beautiful, one-of-a-kind reminders of my kitty-babies, and I will treasure them forever!

Special thanks to Luna for taking the time to answer my questions, and for making me PloesiePoesies of my very own! If you want to learn more, click here to visit her website (English ordering information here), or email her directly at luna (at) ploesiepoesie.nl. You can also see more examples her of her work here, and on Flickr.

(Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, except in the form of the PloesiePoesies. All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own!)