Sock Monkey Monday: A Week of Firsts

Yay!!!

The Very First craft fair that Monkeyville has ever done!

That would be Red Sox Ninja back there, she helped out *loads*, especially with the jewelry, because I didn't know how to display that at all. She was also kept me company when things went slower than expected.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Sock Monkey.

Rudolph took me until about 3am to complete, but he came out looking just like what I had in mind, so it was completely worth it.

The metal chair and the white tree* were holding the jewelry that Mumma made. It was all incredibly pretty, and I thought for sure that we were going to that before the monkeys.

Unfortunately, it was a slow fair, but fun. I talked to a lot of Very Nice people and gave out a bunch of business cards, but sadly, no monkeys went to new homes. Some snowballs did though. In fact, the snowballs were quite popular. I think everyone who stopped by had to give them a good squish.

The end result was a nice day out, talking to lots of people, eating really good noms (cupcakes with home-made frosting--yum!) and the monkeys got lots of attention. I think the only reason we didn't sell more than the snowballs was that the monkeys were priced from $20-35 and that was just a bit too steep for the setting. It was a craft fair at a local church, so I think that more people were expecting a $10-15 price range, so $35 for a sock monkey was sticker shock.

That's okay though, because now, I have plenty of monkeys to go in the Etsy shop! Working full time still has made it hard to get everything I wanted to done, so I'm glad that I have these guys to put online. The poor Etsy shop has been Very Neglected lately. There are Several more craft fairs in the area in the next month or so, so I'm sure I'll be going to at least one of those. I have my fingers crossed that I can get into the one at the Durfee High School in Fall River. I think the larger fair will be a better setting. However, I have a few dozen snowballs left, so some of those will be going up on Etsy for sure.

Today was Craftopia in Pawtucket too, and while I wasn't there selling my monkeys, I was definitely there (along with Michelle) to go have some Fantastic(!!!) food, and do some holiday shopping. I got myself a Very Cute  Monkey Shine Studios sock monkey named Cosmo. He's now snuggling with Tobey on the bookcase next to my desk. Not only is the monkey adorable, but I got to meet the person that made Eli Monkey! Yay!!!

I will admit, I gushed and told her she's my idol. She was Very Nice, and we even did a bit of sock source discussion. Though many people suggest it, it just hasn't proven beneficial for me to buy them online. They're cheaper yes, but I'd rather spend a bit more and know that the socks feel nice and are monkey suitable.

One of the things that I really think is awesome about sock monkeys is that even if two people were to use the same exact socks, the monkeys always look different. Everyone has their own different style for the ears, or the eyes, or something just cute and special that makes the sock monkey *theirs*, and that's why even though I make sock monkeys, I have lots of monkeys I didn't make. Plus, Cosmo just looked at me and said "bring me home". He's got such a cute little monkey face, I just couldn't say no.

I also came home with some massive (and incredibly delicious) brownies, some s'mores made from home-made marshmallows (home-made marshmallows are one of the best foods ever), and I couldn't resist getting a treat for the kitties-- a little play pad for them complete with some catnip. It was an all around great weekend, though one that left everyone very sleepy.

Oh, I must share this:

Reindeer bum. Even cuter than a Monkey bum!

His antlers were hand stitched out of fleece, as were his ears (those were what took the most time). I attempted to make Rudolph's ears out of socks, but the fleece and felt just worked out much better. I couldn't give a reindeer monkey ears!

There are two more reindeer coming (though one is already sold)-- Max and Olive. Max is named after the dog from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (because I love Dr. Seuss) and Olive is a bit of a pun. There was a special a few years ago on TV about a little dog whose name was Olive. She thought the song went "Olive the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names..." Well, I'm notorious for getting song lyrics wrong, so I just had to name the girl reindeer Olive.

There is work to be done here in Monkeyville, so I best be going. I have a Zoidberg to finish!

Sock Monkey Monday: Isn't It Too Early for Snow?

Last night, it snowed here in Monkeyville. Not a lot, but enough that I was glad that I didn't have to drive to work this morning. In typical New England fashion, that pretty layer of white was gone by the time I actually got out of bed for good* which was around noon.

Count me as one of the three people in the world that *loves* Mondays. Since I have so much Monkeyville stuff to do, I managed to negotiate Mondays off at the day job. It's not an additional day off, not really, since I usually wake up much earlier and spend the entire day just doing Monkeyville stuff. Today, it was working on the reindeer, whose cute little antlers are being a cute little pain in my butt right now. I am not a fan of  hand sewing entire pieces of monkeys like that.

The rest of the time, I was doing this:

Step One:

Can you tell what they are yet? Okay, I'll admit, here they don't look like much at all.

Step Two:

 They're starting to look like the finished product here, but still need to get stuffed, and a few other details. Any guesses?

It's these guys!

Cute, fuzzy-wuzzy snowballs.

These little guys are just the first few. I was up until about three in the morning finishing these guys up. I had to stop when I ran out of eyes for them. Unlike the sock monkeys, the snowballs have black plastic safety eyes. I tried doing them the same as the monkeys and it just didn't work.

These snowballs are cute, warm (yay, no freezing hands!), and also never melt! They're just the right size of a snowball too.

However, due to the eyes, it's probably best not to throw them at anyone, or at least anyone you like and don't wish to injure. These are the big size, I have two smaller sizes that I'm working on as well. Some with hangers to go on Christmas trees, and others for something else I have planned. Ninjas are Very Good at planning things. This one is getting better on the follow through as well.

The strange thing about this, is that last year, I happened to write something about it snowing in Boston (well, Cambridge) and it ended up snowing obscenely early here. October 17th to be exact. It should *not* snow here until well after Christmas. We rarely get the pretty white Christmases here, instead it's usually just rainy, wet, and generally un-Christmas-y miserable. Then, last night I got to work on the snowballs... and it started snowing here. Better timing than last year's October snowfall, but still odd. Very Very Odd.

Okay, I promised my Mumma that I would post photos of both the snowballs and the monkeys I've been working on for her to see, since she's stuck on the Island** and can't see them in person. The toy box has gotten so fully that another monkey just can't fit in it, so I had to go out and get a basket for them to go in.

So far, these guys have joined the other ten already waiting to go to the craft fair:

I haven't named any of them yet, because I'm just not sure what to call any of them. Ideas would be Greatly Appreciated! I'm not very good at naming the monkeys. The Ninjas used the 7 Dwarf naming system after all (named after traits, not real names).

I must go finish stuffing my balls... er... snowballs of course! Happy Monday Everyone!

*I got to bed around three...ish... I haven't changed the clocks so I don't actually know what time it *really* is anymore!

**Martha's Vineyard. In my head, there's only *one* Island. Nantucket doesn't count.

Sock Monkey Monday: Hide and Seek

The memory card is still missing, but thankfully, my cell phones came with tiny memory cards and larger memory card adapters that can fit into the Monkeyville camera. This means that even though I took the house apart looking for the memory card and didn't find it*, there can still be a Sock Monkey Monday.

Remember the five pounds of stuffing from last week?

That was more stuffing than I've ever seen all at once, and since I buy lots of stuffing, that's really saying something!

Well, most of that fluff has been turned into these guys!

Ninjas!

My favorite of them all is the purple one. He's the O.o faced one, and it came out looking like that. I did these differently than the way I did the first Ninjas. These guys have felt headbands and belts, and their eyes are embroidered. Totally kid safe!

The Ninjas and one of the other monkeys that's finished joined the traditional monkeys in the toy box once they were completely done. 

 I've run out of room in the monkey bins and the toy box is getting quite crowded, so I had to get a new basket today for the five monkeys I'm working on now. That's okay though, because I really need baskets for the monkeys to go in when we go to the craft fair later this month.

Target had some great sock monkey socks this week, so I got tons of those this weekend, and I've got lots and lots of monkeys for both the Etsy shop and the craft fair. The holiday monkeys (both Christmas and Hanukkah ones!) won't just be regular monkeys, they'll come dressed for the weather in little hats and scarves... a long with a special winter surprise!

From now until the end of the year (or I get a new job), I'll be working four days a week at the day job just to be able to get lots of Monkeyville stuff done. That extra day really makes a huge difference. Today is also the start of NaNoWriMo... but with all of the monkey stuff... I don't know if I'll be able to do it this year. I'm going to try, but one Monkey Maker can only do so many things!

I almost forgot! Boo, decided to be Very Cute this afternoon. Yes, I realize he's cute most of the time, but he was a real terror last night** so I think he's being Extra Cute today.

 Boo, hiding among the stuffed animals on the couch. 

Curled up in a ball, he blends in quite well. So well, I almost put the groceries on him!

*I think I'm just going to have to give in and buy a new memory card.
**He knocked over the big trash can in the kitchen at about 3am. Guacamole *everywhere*.