Why Handmade?

I'm going to talk about something that does the equivalent to giving me thought hives. It's something that's gotten into my head and bothers me on a minor level for a pretty significant amount of time. Sort of like the thought equivalent of me petting a dog. I touch a dog, and then for the rest of the day, whatever part of my body came into contact with that cute, fluffy doggy fur will itch. Some ideas are like that for me, and this is one of them.

Not too long ago, Etsy made some "clarifications" to their handmade policy. Etsy is often thought of as *the* place for handmade things, and for the most part it does an okay job at that. The rules a few years ago were that everything needed to be handmade by the person selling, and if they had help by family or friends, this had to be disclosed, and those people listed in the shop info. Then this changed to handmade by the person selling or someone in their immediate employ-- not a factory, but a handful of employees. This has changed even more, to now being the person owning the shop must design the things, but they can outsource to a factory if they wish (and as long as they disclose that in their shop info somewhere).

I can kind of understand this. For all of those people custom designing wedding invitations, T-shirts, etc. and having them printed somewhere else, then selling them as an original design-- that makes sense. What customers are paying for in those instances is the work that went into the design, not a hand sewn shirt or handmade paper. Sort of like the coloring books that Melanie and I made. She did all of the illustrations herself, I did all of the text, but neither of us were capable of printing and binding them on our own, so we got someone else to do that bit. Not knowing if that actually counted as "handmade" by Etsy standards, I never listed them on Etsy before, but such things also sell better in person, so I bring them to fall craft fairs with me.

I'm completely okay with all of that. What bothers me, and what's giving me the brain hives is that this is the same rule across the board. I'm sure it would be a nightmare for the Etsy staff to try to separate out how this rule would apply to the different categories (and I have no clue how the new rule applies to vintage things at all). So it's a blanket rule for everyone. This, I'm not fond of.



When I started making sock monkeys, I didn't intend to start selling them, I just needed more monkeys to do a photo challenge. When people started asking to buy them, I started selling them, and to me, part of what makes them special is that they really are handmade. I mean handmade in every sense of the word-- there aren't a dozen (usually underpaid) people sitting in a warehouse somewhere stitching together Monkeyville Sock Monkeys. There's me.

This is George, the very first sock monkey I ever made.

I really do make each monkey by hand. I sew the bodies on a regular sewing machine (I got it at Target, it's not anything special, but it has a stretchy fabric setting), I stuff each monkey, and I assemble them. The limbs, ear, tail, mouth, and all of the facial details are hand stitched, the felt for the hearts and other tummy adornments is cut by hand (freehand too most of the time) and that's attached by hand too. On very rare occasions, I have a bit of help stuffing them, because when things get busy, I'm often not physically capable of stuffing all of the monkeys. I have arthritis, so I occasionally have friends and family help me with that. I also always ask for help with names, because I've made so many monkeys now, that I just can't think of anymore, and everyone I know people with really good ideas.

I could completely outsource monkey manufacture. Just write up some schematics and send them off to some factory somewhere and say "make these guys, and make them all look like this" and I could sell them on Etsy if I wanted. It wasn't a strict adherence to Etsy's rules or some kind of loyalty to that particular site that has stopped me from outsourcing the monkeys.What stopped me, was that to outsource the monkeys would defeat the whole purpose of making them.

This is where the fact that I never set out to sell the sock monkeys is a factor. I started out making them because I needed something that would distract me from everything else in my life being broken. I gave away a bunch of monkeys, but I needed something else to do with them, so I started selling them. When things got hard again, the monkeys saved the day again, providing much needed income when I was unemployed, and a much needed distraction from the constant "OMG! I MUST JOB!"

An old photo of in progress monkeys. The technique is different, but the process is the same.

If someone else was making the monkeys, none of those things would have been there. I'd like to think the fact that each one is unique and made by me makes a difference in the monkeys too-- at the very least, they don't get ruptured stitches that require intensive surgery the same way. My concerns aren't producing as many sock monkeys as cheaply as possible to maximize profit, I make the monkeys because I like to. I love sock monkeys, and as I've said before, they're my way of making the world a bit better. Paying other people to make them just doesn't do the same thing.

The current Monkeyville Fall/Winter Flock, waiting for adoption!

Each one of those little guys takes me at least a couple hours to make. The more complicated the details (more than one heart, the skeletons) mean more time. Am I ever going to make hundreds of these guys a week? Not likely, but I make as many of them as I can, because I like to make things, and I like making things that make people happy even more.

*Happy Dances*

I know I haven't done Sock Monkey Monday for a couple weeks now, but I have a good reason! I have a job now! I am no longer a bum, hanging around the house, I am once again a productive member of society! *Snoopy dances* This also means that I don't have a lot of free time anymore, so it's going to be a bit tough getting the sock monkey entries (and the sock monkeys themselves) done.

I started the new job last Monday, so clearly Wee Ninja Muse is a good luck little ninja, because the job that I brought her along on the interview for is the job that I got. I made a Lucky Ninja for a friend, and I have to make another Lucky Ninja for another friend so that we can ALL have jobs.

To those of you who know me as a monkey maker, what I do is probably NOT what you'd expect. My last job, I made hematology controls-- that basically means I did a lot of things with a lot of blood. I think my primary job was to scare the temps though. With this job, I'm once again in the lab, but doing a MUCH less gory job-- I'm an Analytical Chemistry Technician. Mostly that means I test stuff. Which means that for the past week and two days, I've spent most of my time moving REALLY tiny pieces of product around with a pair of tweezers.

The main requirement for this job was the successful removal of the "Writer's Cramp" in the game Operation. Once I proved that I rocked at Operation (I have two different versions), I was a shoe in. Okay, so it wasn't QUITE like that, but I do really like where I work. I came up with a few things that sort of show what kind of company I work for now:

• I have a toy moose on my desk. Pretty much everyone does. They're standard issue. 
• My first day, my new boss brought me and the rest of the team (there are four of us total) out to lunch at a local pub. 
• There's a HUGE couch in the middle of the office area. This couch is comfy and no one gets mad if you sit on it. No one times you when you're sitting on it either!
• There are SNACKS, lots and lots of snacks! Gummy rats, pretzels, yogurt, bagels, and drinks to go with them. And not just coffee, but juice and seltzer too!
• Last Friday, we had a JUGGLER who juggled and made balloon animals!

 The only downside is that the commute is long, but now that I'm used to it, I don't mind the commute at all. I can sleep on the train, and I haven't used almost any gas for the car. I also haven't really spent any money on breakfast or lunch stuff beyond some stuff to make a sandwich because we have it all there.

I have to admit, I didn't think jobs like this existed. Sure, I've had jobs where they were okay with you taking an hour for lunch as long as everything got done, but that was about the only "perk" I've ever had, and I lost that when I went to the last company I worked for. This new job is a bit of a culture shock for me. I think I've said about 20 times my first day "we're allowed to do that?"

I'm used to being watched constantly, I'm used to being punished for punching in just ONE MINUTE late. I feel guilty when I go in and eat breakfast while sitting on the couch... even though that's what the couch is for. I'm used to scarfing down my lunch as quick as possible because 30 minutes isn't a lot of time if you have something that needs to be microwaved for 5 minutes, and having to count that time it will take me to walk to the time clock, etc.

None of those things apply at my new job. People don't grunt when you say good morning. People don't look at you like you have three heads when you say good morning. People are HAPPY there, and I know for sure that this company is far more productive than the other company I worked for. It's the little things, like free bagels that actually matter a lot. My last place didn't understand this. They were... all "stick" and no "carrot". For whatever reason, they never realized that it's easier to do something small, and make people HAPPY to work for you, than it is to FORCE people to work for you*. People will volunteer to take on extra work without extra pay, and things like that if you give them those little incentives. I know that for sure, I tend to recruit family and friends as monkey making assistants, and they do good work in exchange for pizza!

Speaking of which, Haunted Monkeyville will be debuting this week! Starting September 1st, there will be Halloween themed monkeys in the Etsy shop. Due to Irene, this will have to be a rolling debut, as the sewing machine doesn't work without electricity and we lost it here for most of Sunday. Also, I am COLLABORATING on a very, very exciting project that was set to debut at the same time, but while I have power, the wonderful and talented Melanie does not. Without her, the project will be *slightly* postponed.

We were lucky here in Monkeyville, all of the towns around us lost power from Sunday until sometime today. Other towns, not too far away STILL don't have power yet! I hope that everyone else has made it through the storm without any major tragedies.


*That job even had enforced merriment! The Christmas "party" was in the MIDDLE of the day, attendance was mandatory or you didn't get paid for that time, and it was just a really bland buffet lunch where we were only allowed soda or water to drink. It was also NOT friendly to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas (or vegetarians), as the only foods there were salad, pork with some kind of fruit, and cold pasta with shellfish. I ended up having salad and rice for lunch two years in a row because the first year I was a vegetarian and for the second the party fell right in the middle of Hanukkah! I don't eat Kosher most of the time, but around Hanukkah I do my best to.

Ninja Thursday: The Adventures of Wee Ninja Muse

Subtitled: I go to Cambridge looking for a job

 
 Yesterday was a BIG day here in Monkeyville! First, I had a very exciting interview at a company in Cambridge. The application on Monster had the question: "What are your current goals in haiku form". How can you NOT want to work for a company like that?!

Of course, the first thing I did when I found out I had an interview for this job was to tell THE Ninja Muse, who was quite excited for me, though rather jealous that I would be going to such a pretty place without her. We tried the teleporter, but our prototype still isn't up to snuff. I teleported Ninja Muse's socks back to her (the only items that made it through-- coincidence? I think not!) and we sat and thought. Ninja Muse then mused "I wish I could shrink myself down and tag along in your bag".

Ah-ha! I set about to work instantly, and in under an hour, Wee Ninja Muse was born! Wee Ninja Muse was just the right size to fit in my bag or coat pocket without it looking like I was trying to smuggle puppies into Cambridge. This by the way, is why it's so good to have a Ninja Muse. Without Ninja Muse, there would be no Wee Ninja Muse, and my photos of my trip up to Cambridge would be much, much more boring.

Wee Ninja Muse with her ticket. Only pirates get smuggled aboard trains. 

"Is it here yet?" Nope, sorry Wee Ninja Muse.

"Yay! It's here!" Wee Ninja Muse traveled via coat pocket for safety.

"This... is not very comfortable...."

 "Ah, that's better. Wake me up when we get there." Even though I had only 10 minutes sleep the night before, the train was too loud for me to sleep. So while Wee Ninja Muse snoozed in my bag, I went over the notes I had made for my  interview. I was excited, but NERVOUS.

Finally in Boston, it was time to hop on another train. 

Wee Ninja Muse tried to be patient. 

"Is that it?" Nope, right color, but wrong side of the tracks.

First stop in Cambridge? Breakfast! 

Wee Ninja Muse was starving, she ate half my lemon square! That's okay though because I was hiding a brownie in my bag for later.

After that was the job interview (sorry, no photos of that) and Wee Ninja Muse was very good about sitting quietly in my bag for most of the interview. Little did I know this was because she was nomming my brownie!

However, she's adorable, so I forgave her... but not before threatening to feed her to the weird graffiti monster. 

Wee Ninja Muse in front of a well known Cambridge landmark.

This was right up the street from the company I interviewed at. Any guesses?

Eli Monkey goes to Harvard, but Wee Ninja Muse and I agree that MIT is WAY cooler.
Of course, Wee Ninja Muse wanted to see Harvard too, since she prefers the old brick buildings. We were in Cambridge already, so we hopped on the train again and went two more stops to Harvard Square. 

Sadly, we couldn't go to a few places that Wee Ninja Muse wanted to go, because I had stupidly worn boots expecting it to rain. It didn't rain, so I was stuck in big heavy boots with thick socks in 80-something degree weather. This resulted in a blister right on the heel of my left foot.

We stopped at Cambridge Commons for a while so I could sit and get my bearings (I was also kicking myself for not getting directions from Eli) and so that I could take my boots off and let my socks dry out. Yeah, yeah, gross I know. However it was hot out so they dried fast and we were once again headed for adventures.

With the help of the Mildy Intelligent cellphone, we found a quick way to get to where we were going. 

Sorry, you can't read the text on the banner. The camera chose what it focused on based on cuteness. 

Same problem. 

We went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. 

Wee Ninja Muse studies the Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt list in preparation for our tour around the Museum, while I drop off my coat and bag. 

The first thing Wee Ninja Muse saw made her sad. 

It's a display of birds hunted to extinction: the Great Auk, Dodo, and Giant Moa. I could only fit the moa's foot in the photo.

Then, we saw some funky looking pigeons (everything is stuffed and in a display case here).
 

And then it was on to what was probably Wee Ninja Muse's least favorite part of the trip:

Wee Ninja Muse posed very unhappily on a photo of a spider.
"These are all dead right?"

Um... sure... don't move Mr. Cockroach!
There were a few living animals in the insect area, including these guys-- Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Wee Ninja Muse was starting to get nervous, so we moved on to the next area quickly. 

For now, it's a display of all the cool things that grow out of animals noggings. There were lots of displays of various antlers and other animals horns. It was a museum/hunting lodge hybrid area.

*touch*

After that, it was off to see some older horned (and some not horned) animals. 

Triceratops.

Big... thing... I can't remember what it's called. It was so huge I could only get it's head in the photo, no matter how far away I stood. 

Moving forward in time:

This is a giant ground sloth, with a Wee Ninja Muse in front of it.
"The isolation of South America for about 75 million years led to the evolution of bizarre animals"

Yes, yes it did. 

Wee Ninja Muse and I agreed this guy was VERY bizarre!

And look! in the next display, we found one of the scavenger hunt items!

I'll admit, our finding these was largely by accident, as there was so much cool stuff to see we forgot to specifically look for them. Well, I forgot. Wee Ninja Muse kept pointing them out to me. 

Birds! Right to left: kiwi, puffin, ostrich chick. I always thought puffins were bigger. 

Off to the next room.
Look out Wee Ninja Muse!

 "Don't worry Ninja Writer,  it's not like it can swim through glass!"

Um...

Tiger: *nom*

Me: *saves Wee Ninja Muse*

Wee Ninja Muse: "It's stuffed silly".

We then walked through the ocean mammals room (skeletons mostly). And then took a turn into...

"Can you see me?"

Okay, it looked like a forest, complete with trees growing mushrooms, but we were still in the building. 

"You're SURE this isn't alive RIGHT?"

This was the North American Forest display, and the arrangement of everything was very cool.

We found lots of things on the scavenger hunt list here, including Snape's Patronus:

Aw, Snape had a cute patronus!

Wee Ninja Muse and I giggled over how dirty that sounded. 

When we left the forest, I happen to take a break on a bench to rest my hot, sore feet, and Wee Ninja Muse found another item on the list!

*Snarl*

Up and moving again, this time it was my turn to find an item:

Wee Ninja Muse was starting to get tired too, so we skipped the glass flowers and the rocks and minerals (meaning that we did not complete our scavenger hunt mission) and headed back to the train.

We used the Mildly Intelligent phone to find the nearest T stop, which resulted in us walking through Harvard Yard. We took the red line to South Station, and got there just in time for the 3:45 train home.

Sock Monkey Monday: From the Desk of Eli D. Monkey

Hello Internets! For those of you who aren't following me on Twitter, this is Eli Monkey. I'm giving the Monkey Maker the night off, and doing the Sock Monkey Monday entry this week. Last week, Sirus and I went on vacation (we were nice, and brought the Monkey Maker with us too) so I have lots and lots of photos to share.

Sirus and I posed on some fake people at the Providence Airport

We left Friday afternoon, which Sirus and I spent IN THE SUITCASE, because the Monkey Maker said we were luggage! At first, it wasn't fun (we were in with the shoes, gross!) but then we were granted reprieve from the stinky shoes, while we waited for the plane to arrive.

 Potato chips would be our traveling companions for the rest of the trip.

I told Monkey Maker that if I HAD to be in the bag with the chips, then I wanted to go to Starbucks before we left. I needed something to go with all those chips after all! Sure, Monkey Maker SAID that it was the cabin pressure that opened the bag, but Sirus and I were hungry and the stewardesses don't offer snacks and drinks to those of us traveling in the OVERHEAD COMPARTMENTS.

Nope, no plane yet.

It was a bit cramped in the overhead compartment, but once we got to Wisconsin, Sirus and I got to roam free around the house. Sirus relaxed, while I made friends with a giant white kitty. The kitties are MUCH bigger in Wisconsin than they are in Monkeyville. 

Mostly, Sirus and I spent our vacation eating some REALLY good food cooked by chef Tria. Way better than the foods we normally eat (the Monkey Maker always says there isn't time to cook-- blah!). For example, on Saturday, there was "Luketacular 3" which was a really tasty crawfish boil. 

Mudbugs-- yummy!

This is a seriously awesome way to celebrate a birthday, and maybe next year, we'll do it for Sirus's birthday. One morning, we woke up to homemade WAFFLES (imagine that in Donkey from Shrek's voice) another it was homemade, warm blueberry muffins. We were spoiled little monkeys for the whole weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained a few ounces!

It wasn't ALL delicious food, one day, we went to the zoo. We saw lots and lots of animals, including snorting seals, lions, snakes, and some monkeys that weren't made out of socks! HOWEVER, I need to talk to you "people". What's with putting the monkeys behind big, huge fences?! Don't you know that monkeys like to roam free???

Poor guy, I feel for him. There aren't even any chips for him to snack on.

I had a strict talk with the Monkey Maker about this, but apparently it was for our "safety" because only sock monkeys are able to roam free. After that, I did my best to look especially "socky" so no one would try to put ME in a big cage. 

 

When we got to the snakes and other reptiles, I was glad there was glass. I'm not noms!

 

Hey look! Escaped humans! Get them, quick!

We flew home on the Fourth of July, which was pretty cool, because we got to fly over all of the fireworks. Also, because there were no chips in the bag, Sirus and I didn't have to go in the overhead bin, we got to sit in a seat like all of the humans!

I think the Monkey Maker was trying to make up for the whole zoo thing, but as we were flying over all the fireworks of people celebrating their freedom from England's oppression, I couldn't help but think of my monkey brethren being oppressed at the zoo. Sirus said I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but I was still irked. I started a hashtag on twitter about it even-- #Freemonkey. Maybe it was all that time I spent in the suitcase, or maybe Sirus just isn't as willing to fight for primate rights as I am. He says things are different once you're not in college.

We had a lot of fun on our vacation (even the zoo), and hopefully, we'll be able to go back soon. The Monkey Maker made cheese toast for dinner tonight. Cheese. Toast. What kind of dinner is that?! We miss Tria's cooking, watching Misfits, and hanging out with friends. The Monkey Maker misses it a lot too, so hopefully, we'll go back soon!

Sock Monkey Bonus Day: Mystery Solved!

There have been a lot of Sock Monkey Monday entries this week... let's just call it make up for all of those Sock Monkey Mondays I missed when I was sick. I'm feeling much better now, and working very hard on catching up. So far, I have about three done, and about seven (possibly more) to go.

However, Sherlock* has finally made a break in his case!

The line of paint on the wall led here... Sherlock pondered this for a short while, giving the monkey maker time to work on other things.

Things like getting the monkeys situated on those new shelves!

Ah! That's where the missing monkeys went!


They're trying not to make mischief while they wait to be adopted.

I wanted to wait until the shop-- The Artful Phoenix** was fully opened before I posted photos of where the monkeys all disappeared too.

More of the shop, looking from where the monkeys are located.

It's a fantastic shop, full of lots of really great things from local artists, and my monkeys are there too! Squee!!!

Mumma has some of her jewelry there as well!

I put those shelves together (with some help, but I did the heavy lifting).

The Artful Phoenix will have an online shop as well, and as soon as I find out the info for it, I'll post that too. This is what I've been spending a lot of my days working on when I'm not at home working on making more monkeys or at job interviews.

SQUEE!!!

Also, the shop now has it's sign up, and it's fantastic!

The door:

The shop is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

A photo of my neighborhood at twilight:

I love this town, it has a wonderful feel to it, and it's so pretty here!

*Sherlock is actually on his way to Canada right now, but he made sure to solve the case before he left. He's a good detective like that.
**The shop is owned by two local women-- Melissa and Jan. I only found out what it was called after a Meetup event I went to. When I found out the name, I just *had* to join!