It's been a little while since our last update, so I wanted to pop on here really quick to let you guys know what we've been up to and what we have planned for the next few weeks! c:

Right now, we are currently working very hard to complete an Osprey partial by next weekend. Right on the heels of that suit is a dragon fullsuit, followed by a lion fullsuit to be ready by March and, should we have time, a husky partial fursuit to sell at Furry Weekend Atlanta (FWA) in March. We also have various smaller commissions to finish, a couple of refurbs to complete, inventory for FWA to create, and some new ideas to explore as far as products are concerned. So needless to say, we will be very, very busy (and likely quiet) until we get back from our first con of the year!

Speaking of cons, there is a good chance that FWA may be our only convention that we attend this year. Anthrocon (AC) last year, while fun as always and all the past six years we've gone, was not as lucrative financially and ended up putting us in the red. A few years ago, very few people were making and selling fursuit parts at cons, which made us and our work stand out. Now fursuit items have become quite popular to sell at tables, and combine that with the dealer's den expansion at AC, it's pretty hard to wrangle in good sales to new customers (the den was seriously way too big to even casually wander around in under an hour and actually see everyone's merch). Until we can make the time to create new products that help us stand out again, larger conventions like AC may need to wait until next year. :( MFF is a possibility at the end of the year, but that's only because we have family up there that could put us up rather than we stay at the hotel. We'll keep you guys posted!

And as far as new commissions are concerned, we will not be open for larger work (partials and fulls) until probably April, just fyi for those interested!

We should be able to post up some WIP images of some of the things we've been working on around our little shop later tonight. We're excited to share some new stuff with you guys! c: We hope you've all been having a nice start to the new year.

We've chosen our two newest projects and received the deposits for both, so commissions are now officially CLOSED once again! We will reopen them towards the end of the year once these are done. c:

We decided that we would stick to building only one fullsuit and one partial suit at a time -- plus smaller projects on the side--as again, we like to keep our queue very modest and wait times much more appealing to our commissioners (1-3 months). We're very excited about being chosen to build these next two suits, as we will be working with a dragon and an osprey for the very first time. Two new creatures to add to our portfolio!

Also, we're selling some furs and other fursuit-related things over on Livejournal. If you're interested, check out this post by clicking here!

If you've not heard of it before, you can check out the account here: fursuitmakerreviews

We'd forgotten about that account and the fact that we've yet to have any of our suits reviewed over there, so we encourage our past commissioners to participate if you have the time and interest. I'm sure it could help us out for others to know your experience, as well as help us improve if you have any critique or suggestions. c:

And just to be clear, we do have a couple of reviews over on LJ's fursuit reviews account for those who are interested. sammiespaniel reviewed her suit here and sithyfox reviewed the head we made for her here.

If you DO decide to post your reviews, good or bad, we thank you in advance! :D

Just a heads up that we have not emailed ANYONE with quotes just yet!

We had a few setbacks the past week or so and had to put everything on hold. However, we're back to work on suits and should have some new WIP images to share very soon. The commissions left in our queue will be finished before the new queue is started, just FYI to our current commissioners! c:

Speaking of which, we have chosen the projects we would like to work on next and will be emailing those people in the next few hours. Even if you don't hear from us, we want to thank everyone for your interest in our work and for sending something in! We could only chose a small handful of you this time, unfortunately, and we wish we could work with everyone. But we like to keep our list small and manageable so people get their suits in a reasonable amount of time and for their events.

We'll have more to share soon and look forward to seeing what we will be working on over the next few months! <3

Commissions are officially OPEN!

***If you would like to receive a quote, please fill out our quote request form by clicking here!***

- Partial suits start at $1000
- Fullsuits (plantigrade ONLY) start at $1500

The form will remain open for one week and will be taken back down on September 24. These commission slots will NOT be first-come, first-served! We will choose projects based on interest and what characters we feel we can do the most justice based on design and style. We would like to have these projects fill up our queue for the remainder of the year, and ideally we'd like to complete them around the same time. So please be able to pay off your commission within that time frame. :)

Next week, we will contact the people we'd like to work with individually with a quote. It is important to note that not everyone will hear back from us! Once we've chosen who we'd like to work with, quoted them, and received the deposit, we will make an announcement here on FA that we've filled our slots.

Please check out our website for more information, as well as our TOS.


What we'd like to work on:
We're always after more unique species and things to enhance our portfolio, and since our slots are not first-come, first-served, here's a list of things we've been wanting to try out.
- Non-owl birds
- Dragons
- Rodents
- Tigers
- Snow Leopards
- Bats
- Badgers
- Lemurs
...just to name a few!



If you have any questions or concerns, please email us or comment below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks so much you guys, we hope to hear from you! :)

I just wanted to pop on here real quick to give a few updates for our commissioners! c:

Currently, we are working on kyotsu's lion fursuit. His bodysuit and paws are complete, the feet and head are 90% sculpted, and the tail has not been started yet. We'll get you some WIP pictures very soon, kyotsu, so keep an eye on your inbox!

We've been working on a new method of 3D eyes for hookahfox's owl partial, so that slowed us down just a little. Sculpting will resume on the head as soon as the eyes are finished. The other pieces have not been started just yet, but are next in line after kyotsu's feet are finished.

We should have some time this week to work on tatergator's new eyes as well. Thanks for being patient, naynay!

Also, we've been working on a somewhat secret project that may interest some bronies people in the near future. More on that later as we make progress! c:

If you guys have any questions or concerns, as always, don't hesitate to hit us up. Thanks everyone!

I've been rolling an idea around in my head for a little while now, and I wanted to get some feedback to gauge interest.

Streaming fursuit-building classes. Basically, I would announce ahead of time what the date and time is (probably on a weekend), and give a list of supply items that you will need to complete the project. When the day comes, I get on ustream and walk the group through the process, start to finish, and you build the pieces along with me. I'd stop periodically to answer questions and such.

Would you be interested in participating if it were free and geared towards beginners?
What about more advanced classes?

Would you be interested in participating if you had to pay to 'attend?'

EDIT:
One other question: If you'd be interested, what sort of things would you be most interested in learning?

Just letting people know that I'll be doing some streaming this afternoon. I'll be working mainly on feet. Stop by if you'd like to see some WIPs.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/savageturtlestudios

-Jakejynx

Real quick, I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who took the time to comment on our last journal with your opinions. We read every one of them and appreciated your feedback. It'll help us in the future when building our heads, as now we have a better idea of what you all expect regarding comfort and visual accuracy!

And just so everyone knows, we have chosen the two people to fill our partial and fullsuit slots, and they have accepted! So expect to see a lion and another owl soon. :D Deposits have already been sent, furs have been ordered, and work has begun. Our partial/fullsuit slots are now full and will not reopen until these two costumes are complete (ideally in the next 4-6 weeks). A big thank you to those of you who requested a quote and expressed an interest in our work! We would have love to have chosen everyone to work with (we got some cool designs this round), but we could only take two. :c

We've been a little quiet lately due to both of us running off on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas (first vacation ever and it was awesome), as well as trying to organize our work room and replying to quote requests and things. It's been a lot of the lackluster "busy work" that's been keeping us silent, but not a lack of production! We're currently working on foaming some heads, refurbishing older heads/parts we've had laying around to prep them for selling, as well as smaller commissions.

We should have some things to sell soon. Possibly refurbs, fabric, misc. things, etc. We reorganized our work space in an effort to improve the ergonomics of the room AND clear out clutter. It's a bit of a mess right now, but once we have a good pile of stuff we'd like to sell, we'll post here with what we'd like to part with. c:

Other than that, just trying to stay cool and get through the summer. Our next con will be MFF in November, so we've got some time to prepare. Hope everyone's doing well!

PS: I forgot to mention that I've updated our commission list with everyone who has paid us either in full, or their deposit. Small commissions, big commissions, whatever. If you're paid us for something, your name should be there as well as a small status of what's been paid and if we've started working on your item(s). The list is in our profile and I update it pretty frequently when projects are being worked on. So check there periodically if you want some general status updates about your commission!

I (Quaylak) am genuinely curious. How do you all feel about sacrificing your comfort or ability to see for a costume to look "cool" or "accurate?"

I ask because we had the unique opportunity to chat with a suiter who had their costume made by another maker who is considered "well known" (if you are the suiter we spoke to, please do not say who the maker was -- this post is not about bashing anyone's construction styles or techniques). We were able to hear their thoughts about the vision in their head and how impossible it was to see, despite how nice and clean and otherwise beautiful the head was. I was even able to try the head on for myself so I could understand the complaints (it's important to note that the owner of the suit shared this information with us on their own accord--we didn't approach and ask them about it).

I was in shock after I got to see it for myself. I honestly believed it was a hazard to A.) have the eyes so far apart and B.) having the buckram quality be so poor (and painted over in areas) that you could hardly see out of them at all. I honestly felt it was dangerous to give someone a head with vision like that, as I'd be too scared to even walk down the hall of my hotel, much less go down stairs, into a dance, out on the street, etc.

As AC photos start to come in, I'm noticing that this trend is becoming more popular. As a builder of heads, I feel it's my job to ensure two things; comfort and quality. Comfort includes your ability to wear the head comfortably, meaning you don't have anything poking you in the face or in the eye or anything. That also means you can breathe well and see well. Quality covers sturdy construction methods and the head's ability to be stuffed in bags, toted around by the ear, mashed, yanked, and so on.

I'm wondering, though...do people not care how easy it is to see? Do you prefer a head that looks good over vision and your ability to breathe? What are the average fursuiter's priorities when it comes to costuming?

I think some of our heads would have looked better with smaller eyes, or eyes located further apart. But I sacrificed the look and style in order to have the vision be better for the wearer.

What do you guys think? What's important to you when it comes to vision/comfort VS looks? Do you not care as long as it looks good, or would you rather be comfortable?

Just a note, but quote requests are now closed for partials and fullsuits!

We will be replying to the two people we've chosen with quotes and instructions on what the next step will be. If you do not hear from us, you may still hear from us a couple of days from now, depending on who gets back to us and how quickly. The two people we've chosen need to confirm they want the slots and send us a deposit. After that, they will be locked into our queue and we will announce here that the slots were officially filled!

If you didn't make it onto our list this time, try hitting us up again in the future, as we had a tough time choosing projects this round and wanted to work with way more characters than just two. But we're being responsible and not taking more work than we can handle, so try again in a month or two once these projects are complete! c:

And it was not announced here (oops!), but we have reopened for a batch of small fursuit commissions temporarily. Small fursuit commissions include things like ears, handpaws, feetpaws, and tails. If you are interested in getting a quote, CLICK HERE!

Thanks everyone!

Commissions are officially OPEN!

***If you would like to receive a quote, please fill out our quote request form by clicking here!***

- Partial suits start at $1000
- Fullsuits (plantigrade ONLY) start at $1500

The form will remain open for one week and will be taken back down on July 2nd. These commission slots will NOT be first-come, first-served! We will choose projects based on interest and what characters we feel we can do the most justice based on design and style. We will take only one partial and one fullsuit to be completed within a month or so. Ideally, we would like to try and complete them both within 4-6 weeks of receiving the deposit, so please be aware of that and be sure you can have your costume paid off (and have a DTD done soon if you get the fullsuit slot) within that time if you are interested in working with us!

Next week, we will sit down together and discuss all of the quotes we've received, then contact the people we'd like to work with individually with a quote. If they decline, we will move on to the next person. It is important to note that not everyone will hear back from us! Once we've chosen who we'd like to work with, quoted them, and received the deposit, we will make an announcement here on FA that we've filled our slots.

After we get through those two projects, we will open again. We're not the types of makers to fill our queue beyond what we are comfortable with, so we need to assess how long these two projects take and plan accordingly. Ideally, we'd like to open up once every month or two for new work, but we're not rushing into that.

Please check out our website for more information, as well as our TOS.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us or comment below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks so much you guys, we hope to hear you! :)

We're back from AC! The trip had some bumps along the way (literally) and we didn't sell as much as we would have liked, but all that leftover inventory came home with us and is currently available for sale online via our store: click here to check it out! We have a bunch of premade tails and paws that are ready to go. c:

And with our commission queue nearly cleaned out completely, we're almost ready to take on some new projects! We will be taking fullsuit and partial commissions ONLY. No small parts or head-only commissions this round (unless we previously discussed a project with you, or you are a returning customer/commissioner in need of new parts).

We should be opening up our quote request form on Monday, June 25th. The form will remain open for one week and will be taken back down on July 2nd. These commission slots will NOT be first-come, first-served! We will chose projects based on interest and what characters we feel we can do the most justice based on design and style. We will take only one partial and one fullsuit to be completed within a month or so. Ideally, we would like to try and complete them both within 4-6 weeks of receiving the deposit, so please be aware of that and be sure you can have your costume paid off within that time if you are interested in working with us!

Partial suits start at $1000 and fullsuits (plantigrade ONLY) start at $1500. For examples of our work, check out our gallery here or our website (which needs to be updated, oops).

After we get through those two projects, we will open again. We're not the types of makers to fill our queue beyond what we are comfortable with, so we need to assess how long these two projects take and plan accordingly. Ideally, we'd like to open up once every month or two for new work, but we're not rushing into that.

If you guys have any initial questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise, we'll announce here on Monday when the quote request form is live and ready! c:

We'll be at Anthrocon this coming week and will be arriving Thursday afternoon and leaving Sunday night. We're staying at the Westin and have a table in the den (A16), so stop by if you're interested in checking out some premade fursuit bits to buy or looking to get a sketch! We won't have a new partial for sale at this con, but we'll be bringing the rabbit partial we made a while back and placing her up for cheap. She's been around long enough and we need to get her sold, so stop by if you're interested in seeing her in person!

And do we have any SavageTurtleStudios suits that will be attending the con? I'd love to get another photoshoot together, as the one last year was awesome and we got some great shots. We're not sure how many of you will be there and willing, but if you are, drop a comment and let us know and we'll secure a time/place! It'll likely be right after the fursuit parade, as that's when we should all be in suit already.

And just FYI, but aside from posting a couple of very quick WIP posts, we will be extremely quiet the next few days and until AC is over. We've got a lot to do and no time to respond to emails/notes, so please don't be worried if you don't hear back from us immediately!

For those of you attending, have a safe trip and loads of fun! We'll see you there. :D

Yep, we're chugging right along and sitting smack dab in the middle of con-crunch week! I'll have some WIP photos of a new Owl head and its wings tonight. We've got a ton of fursuit work left to do before we leave, but this Owl is priority for now. We'll be working on the secret suit between Owl work and inventory during the week and will hopefully have it done in time for AC.

I should have plenty more updates to share this week, as well as the AC meme that's floating around AND a call-out to any SavageTurtleStudios suits that will be in attendance and available for a possible photoshoot! More to come soon. c:

Streaming Quaylak working on trimming a head, and Jakejynx working on a pair of owl arm wings.

This will be updated when the stream is complete. :3

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/savageturtlestudios

We'll pretty much be working for the rest of the weekend and late into tonight. The stream may go down when we take breaks for food and such, but we'll put it back up as soon as we return, so check back later if it's down! I'll try to remember to edit this entry when we're totally done for the night.

We'll be working on furring a kangaroo head and finishing the bodysuit for it. Drop in if you'd like, ask questions if you'd like, but just know it may take us a bit to respond since we're working on a tight schedule and actually need to work and not chat, haha. We'll take breaks and respond when we can, though. c:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

It's been a while since we've streamed!

Tonight, we're working on a kangaroo head and bodysuit. Drop in if you'd like, ask questions if you'd like, but just know it may take us a bit to respond since we're working on a tight schedule and actually need to work and not chat, haha. We'll take breaks and respond when we can, though. c:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

As I may have warned, these past couple months have been very busy for us, hence our silence. No matter how quiet we may be, we always have something going on behind the scenes, as we never truly stop working! So rest assured, we'll have plenty to show very soon. A kangaroo fullsuit, a new owl partial, a pig fullsuit, and hopefully a pitbull partial are some of the things we have in store to share with you guys! Very exciting. :D

Our priority for right now, though, is jakejynx's graduation from college this Saturday! After four long years, he'll be receiving his Bachelor's of Science in General Biology. Work and updates have been slow since February because of this, as finals and projects have completely dominated his time. And oddly enough, his last final ever is next Tuesday (after he walks on Saturday...weird, I know). Once that test is out of the way, he's done, and work will REALLY be ramping up as we prepare for Anthrocon next month!

Which leads right into my next point. Yes, we will be there again this year! We have a table in the Dealer's Den again, and this time, it's wall space (table A16). I'll make another update as we get closer to the con, as I'd love to have another STS photoshoot this year if enough of our suits will be attending.

Anyway, just a quick update for you guys so you know we're still around and still working. More to come soon! C:

FWA is coming up in a couple weeks. Who can we expect to see there? :D

Any of our suits planning to attend?

(We'll have an update here in the next couple days regarding our attendance and where we'll be, commission update, and what we'll have to see at the con.)

Just one final reminder for anyone interested that our auction for our cute little bunny gal ends TONIGHT at about 1am EST!

So far, there are no bids. And there is NO reserve!

If you're interested and need a new suit for the upcoming con season (or Easter, as some friends suggested!), check out the auction by clicking here!

Questions or concerns? Just comment below! :D

We received both of the deposits from the two people we will be officially working with the first half of this year, and we are very excited! We will be building a kangaroo fullsuit and a eurasian eagle owl partial that will most likely look like Bubo's cousin. C: A lot of what we learned from building Bubo will go into how we build this next owl, so it'll be nice to already have that experience. And a roo? I've always wanted to make one! Their head shapes are challenging, sort of like the possum's, and I'm always up for a sculpting challenge. jakejynx has some experience making the parts for both of these creatures, so whatever he builds will look amazing no matter what.

Anyway, just wanted to announce publicly that we've filled our slots and really appreciate everyone's interest in our work. Thank you all for submitting quote requests and we're sorry we couldn't chose you all to work with! If we finish these guys ahead of schedule, we will announce new commission slot openings. :D

Thank you everyone! We'll have new work to share here soon. And with con season just about to start for us, you can definitely expect a bunch of WIP updates and things to be posted in the next few weeks. We've nearly cleared our entire list from last year, so we're looking forward to starting a fresh batch of commissions!

Oh, and we'll likely have a girl bunny up for sale in the next few days. D: More on that later!
- Quaylak

Quote requests are now closed! Thanks so much to those of you who sent something in. The plan right now is for us to sit down together to discuss which projects interest us the most. Whichever ones we think we'll do the best job on or have the most fun with are the ones we'll chose, then we'll contact those people with our price. If they agree, we'll move on with the process. If they don't like the quote, then we'll pick the next project and contact that person.

Just in case anyone who e-mailed us was wondering why they have not heard back yet, that's why! We'll be reviewing all the requests over the next couple days, so expect to hear from us soon if you've been chosen. c:

Thank again everyone and happy new year!

For the first time ever, we are officially opening for partial and fullsuit commissions! We've only ever taken commissions privately in the past. :3

Unfortunately, with the limited time we will have in the first half of 2012, this will not be first-come, first-served. We will be accepting quote requests until December 31, and will then choose one partial and one fullsuit to be completed before Anthrocon 2012 (which is in June).

Partial suits start at $1000 and fullsuits (plantigrade ONLY) start at $1500.

Please check out our website for more information. Our fursuit gallery is full of plenty of examples of our work.

If you would like to receive a quote, please fill out our quote request form by clicking here.

Thanks so much you guys, we hope to hear you! :)

Oh, and happy holidays from SavageTurtleStudios!

 xxbridg3tt3

xxbridg3tt3 will be receiving a free tail of her character this holiday season. Congratulations!



Thank you to everyone who decided to participate and give us a +watch. And even if you didn't win this time around, that's no reason to give up hope! We do really enjoy giving away free swag when we're able, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for future opportunities.

Thanks again everyone, and happy holidays!!