Tapping into geek culture and fans' love of gaming and comics is giving a young Sunshine Coast woman the chance to do work she loves and make enough to buy her first house.

Sarah Blakey, or Nazegoreng, is far from your ordinary 22-year-old.

Armed with an animation degree and a creative mind, Ms Blakey has turned her love of My Little Pony into a career.

"I make elaborate stuffed animals for a living, which are plushie sculptures for adult collectors," she said.

"If you think of stuffed animals, you probably think of a teddy bear or a little dog or something like that, but these are more like fantasy animals, so think bigger, more colour, more detail."

Ms Blakey said she felt like she had "cheated the system" being able to work from her Sunshine Coast home on something creative, and having the capital to purchase her first home at the age of 22.

"My base price for a medium plushie would be around $500, but if you want a giant life-size unicorn it might cost up to $5000, but you're paying for a one of a kind, handmade item," she said.

Sarak Blakey working on a plushie in her Sunshine Coast home. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Harriet Tatham )

Plushie making started as a hobby

Ms Blakey said her business was born out of personal interest.

"I saw lots of girls in the States making My Little Pony plushies and just thought that was so fantastic, and having an artistic background I thought, 'Oh, it can't be that hard'," she said.

"With the internet it was quite easy to teach myself, and I've been doing this for about four years now.

"It's a niche market, but if you have a large following you can definitely make a living off it."

Her business is based entirely on commission, with clients contacting her with designs or ideas from around the world.

"Someone might design a unicorn or a dragon and they'll come to me to bring their designs to life," she said.

Plushies made by Sunshine Coast artist Sarah Blakey. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Harriet Tatham )

Petite and softly-spoken, Ms Blakey said most of her business came from young Americans who were interested in gaming and comics.

"I just think there's more people over there, and with more people comes more nerdy people," she said.

"I say that in the most positive way possible, because me and so many of my friends are all like that, and we love that video game culture."

While Ms Blakey said her profession was not rare in the United States, she only knew two other girls who ran similar businesses in Australia.

"Everything is one of a kind, so every single day I'm creating different shapes, and different patterns for different jobs," she said.

Putting the pieces together

While her job is creative, Ms Blakey said making plushies could be very technical.

"I have about 100 colours to choose from, so I'll select my colours and then I do most of my work on Photoshop," she said.

"I'll get as many reference images of the character as I possibly can, so I'm essentially creating a flat jigsaw that will be sewn together to make this 3D shape."

Designing a plushie is a technical job, says artist Sarah Blakey. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Harriet Tatham )

Size can be tricky

The most complicated plushie sculpture Ms Blakey has made is a Pegasus that was taller than a Shetland pony.

"I've made a Pegasus which was 4-foot tall and she was almost like making a building with a plush on the outside because she was so big and heavy," she said.

"When you're working in those very large scales it's very challenging because you're not only making that plushie, you have to support a giant amount of weight."

As technology advances and international trade becomes even easier, Ms Blakey said the biggest change in the industry would be the upskilling of her competitors.

"It's such a new industry, and without technology, and without that sort of geek culture, my job would never even exist, but overall I think the industry is just going to keep getting more skilled," she said.

"We all push ourselves to make bigger, more elaborate, more colourful [pieces], so I think it's going to bring people with more and more talent."