If you've followed the crafting trend, you already know about and probably own a couple of homemade stuffed toys. But, whether you're already a fan of the niche or want to be, "Plushed: Art Gone Soft" is worth a drive to Purdue University.

Curator Liz Erlewine, an MFA candidate at Purdue, was inspired to put together the "Plushed" show after participating in Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair. While at the fair, selling her own plush toys, Erlewine found several other crafty people doing the same thing. "There are tons of people stitching up wacky things day and night, all over the globe," she said. "So, I figured it would be great if I could share some of these goodies right here in West Lafayette."

Erlewine combed the growing number of craft Web sites (like www.etsy.com) to assemble work from 24 artists from around the country, each exhibiting one to seven pieces. "The work in 'Plushed' is just as at home in a gallery as it is in a retail shop or on a living-room sofa," Erlewine said. "(It) is perhaps art disguised as craft, more than craft functioning as art."

The exhibit runs through Feb. 1 and can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. At 7 p.m. Jan. 24, there will be a reception with a few artists in attendance. All works are available for purchase, and prices range from $25 to $600, with most costing about $45. If you can't make it up to West Lafayette, all items also will be available for PayPal purchase at www.boxwonder.com.

'Plushed: Art Gone Soft'

Where: Patty and Rusty Reuff Galleries, Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts, Purdue University, 552 W. Wood St., West Lafayette.
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Through Feb. 1. Reception Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
Info: (765) 496-7899.