Squee!

This weekend has been a Very Good weekend here in Monkeyville. In fact, it's almost as if someone is listening to my thoughts and decided to at least make the sock monkey related ones come true. I put the very first Halloween monkey up in the Etsy shop on Friday. It's a ghost monkey named Elvis.

Technically, Sirius was the first Halloween Monkey, but he was snatched up too fast to make it to the Etsy shop. Elvis made it, and just like his namesake, Elvis the ghost made a big splash!

Under the sheet, Elvis is both gory and cute.

First, Elvis the Ghost Monkey wasn't just in one treasury, he was in *two*! Then, this happened:

That's a screen capture of the front page of Etsy when I opened it Friday night. Holy Super Squee!!!

Elvis was on the front page of Etsy!!! Yay! That's Incredibly Exciting! There aren't enough exclamation points in the world to express how happy this had made me, because sock animals don't frequently make it to the front page of Etsy (it's more artistic things/clothing) and I never thought *I'd* have something that made it there!

Of course, now I have to work Really Hard and get more than just two monkeys up in the Etsy store. That's okay though, because last night, I finished Earl.

Freshly risen from the grave, because he's a bit mad at the way the Dixie Chicks treated him.

No brains this time, just a bleeding heart, some drool, and a hungry look in his bloodshot eyes.

Detail on the bleeding heart. I really liked the way that turned out. The bloodshot eyes were totally Ninja Muse's idea.

 Those socks just screamed to be made into a zombie sock monkey. They're quite fuzzy and cuddly too. Earl really isn't a bad little zombie. In fact, he's a really nice monkey just looking for some love.

Why is he named Earl?

Of course, Earl the Zombie Monkey isn't anything like the Earl in the song. He's a nice little monkey, and getting along quiet well with the other monkeys in the house.

Earl is up on Etsy now too, keeping Laertes and Elvis company. I have lots of other Halloween monkeys in the works, so I should really get to work.

Halloween is Soon!

Now that I don't have to go to school every fall, I've found that it's my favorite time of year. Here in New England, it's the perfect time of year. The weather isn't too hot or too cold, all the tourists go home (at least where I'm from), and Halloween and NaNoWriMo are both right around the corner. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the apples! There are loads of fresh apples this time of year.

It's a great time of year, especially to be living here in Massachusetts, and for me, to be living not so far from Salem. Friends were visiting, and I had never been to Salem before (despite being descended from one of the Salem Witches). After a bit of playing with Boo, okay, a lot of playing with Boo, it was off to Salem!

Now other people, they would have researched where they were going and what to do there. Not me! Honestly, having grown up in a tourist-y spot, and been to a lot of tourist-y spots, I just figured that there would be signs to the interesting stuff.

Unfortunately, there weren't really any signs, but there was a big red line in the road, which led us here:

 We all agreed that looked nice and tourist-y as well as interesting, and maybe a bit gruesome. Well worth purchasing tickets for.

Unfortunately, the inside of the museum was very dark, and not very photo-taking friendly. It was also Really Creepy and musty smelling. I'm still not sure if that was an authentic musty smell or an artificially created one. I'm going with authentic because it gave me the sniffles.

We got combination tickets for the Witch Dungeon, another witch museum, and a pirate museum too. The second witch museum was far more conducive to photography.

Tituba and her husband John Indian telling some girls about Voodoo, and other such things.

Blast, you can't see that as well as I hoped. It's a hanging of George Borroughs I think.

Fake graves, with the names of some of the victims of the hysteria. There was a cool ghost effect, but alas, that didn't photograph well either. Blast again.

Everyone agreed that with time running out, that we'd skip the Pirates and go to see the Real gravestones. That meant time for SoMoPhos!

 

 Sirius trying to look threatening against the spiked fence. 

Phrixus, in one of a skeleton's favorite places. He looks quite happy there.

Phrixus and Laertes sit together at the base of a stone. The skeleton at the top was quite fitting.

This was intending to be a much better shot. Height and climbing skill issues prevented that from happening.

All three monkeys pose in the wonderful, end-of-summer sun. It was a gorgeous day, and the perfect day for wandering around in a grave yard.

This is Halloween

It's Monkeyville's first Halloween! This is Very Exciting, because there at lots and lots of great monkeys planned. It's a bit hard around the day job and all of the orders, but the very first Halloween monkey is finished, and there are lots more to come.

Sirius the werewolf!

Sirius is wearing little pants and a T-shirt sewn by me. His chest fur is soft, and the rest of him is cuddly. He's child friendly for kids three and up (wouldn't want anyone to get a hairball from all that fur!). The details of his face are eco-fi felt and embroidered. Sorry, but the pumpkin, chair, and cobwebs aren't included with him. Sirius will be making his debut in the Monkeyville store fairly soon. Hopefully along with a few friends, because the Monkeyville Etsy shop is quite empty right now. Zombies, werewolves, skeletons, oh my!

It's not just Halloween Monkeys that are on their way though, special Christmas Monkeys are coming too! I have to start work on those now, so that they'll be ready in plenty of time for the holidays.

Sock Monkey Monday: Monkey Love

Eli and Sirus were the first two sock monkeys I ever owned, and they've always been a pair, so it was nice to know that they took advantage of the Very Understanding laws here in Massachusetts and got married. We're not entirely sure if the law applies to sock monkeys, but everyone has agreed that for Eli and Sirus, it does.

I had intended on doing a series of Sock Monkey Wedding photos, but Eli and Sirus chose to have a private ceremony, one for just the two of them. However, they did allow the sock monkey photographer along on some of their honeymoon!


The happy couple posing on their way to the Island. Eli thought it would be romantic to have their honeymoon on Martha's Vineyard.



Snuggling in the warm summer sun. Sadly, at this point, it was noticed that Eli's going to need surgery soon. He has some ruptured stitches around his mouth. Sirus promised to hold his hand and be there to help Eli recover. Awww!

Last time Eli and Sirus were on the Island it was Christmas time, so everything was closed. This time, it's summer so they got to go lots of fun places.First up, the Flying Horses!


Eli took a spin on the Love Tester.


Hm... both Wild and Clammy.... interesting combination.

It was Sirus's turn next. Despite the fact that Blah is lit up in the photo, Sirus actually got Sexy.
After the Loooove Tester (you have to say it that way), it was time for some ice cream at Mad Martha's.

No joke, the sundae they got was called an "Oreo Cookie Nookie".

Seems appropriate for a couple on their honeymoon.

Aw, complete with a kiss! Also, incredibly delicious.

With Very Full Monkey bellies, Eli and Sirus sat together while the humans finished up the rest of the sundae.

Most. Uncomfortable. Chairs. Ever.

Then, Sirus (with help!) relived a bit of his childhood, Miss Pacman style!

It was such a gorgeous day that Sirus thought it would be nice to bring Eli somewhere that tourists don't know about. A Super Secret little park behind the touristy shops!

More snuggling

I love how happy Sirus Monkey looks there.

Some canoodling.


Boys don't do flowers!

They say "I love you" with fungi! Okay, so I thought it was a really cool, really tiny mushroom.
Even more canoodling on a pretty cool bench covered in vines.


That's all the photos that Eli and Sirus will let me post. I think they had a very nice honeymoon, both of them have been quite happy since they got back. 

Sock Monkey Monday: SUPER SQUEE!

It was an incredibly busy weekend here in Monkeyville, and I have lots and lots of good stuff to share. So much so in fact, that I have to split it up otherwise I may make the internets go squish from all of the awesomeness.

I realize that last week, Sock Monkey Monday was late... oops. My apologies on that, see, I was working on some incredibly special monkeys that absolutely had to be done and in the mail, along with a bunch of orders. In fact, I can't believe how many orders I've received recently, for all sorts of cool monkeys! Scientists, characters from one of my all time favorite shows-- Futurama (so good, Fox brought it back), Ninjas, frogs, and moose (oh my!). I have to say, that when I first started making monkeys I kind of wondered if I'd run out of ideas or if I would get bored of making the same basic thing... it hasn't been that way at all though! How could I get bored when I get asked to make such cool things?

Since I missed a Sock Monkey Monday a couple weeks ago, I never managed to put an entry here with the details of the Very Special Monkeys I was making. I was so busy working on the monkeys themselves that I never actually got to put anything about them here.

I used to live on Martha's Vineyard, and ever year there's a completely awesome fair, the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Fair. There's the usual carnival type of stuff there-- rides, cotton candy, lots of deep fried foods on sticks, but the real reason that this fair is so great is that it's mostly a Very Traditional, agricultural fair... with an Island twist. There's a huge barn with all sorts of farm animals, draft horse pulls, antique tractor shows, oyster shucking contests, a woodsman's contest*, skillet throw competition**, and then there's the Hall Exhibitions.

The Hall is filled with all sorts of awesome handmade things, everything from pottery to jelly, bread to dolls. For whatever reason, the Islands (Nantucket too, though I don't know if they have a fair like ours) are like little concentrated pools of talent, and there are amazing artists there of all ages. Yep, kids get to compete too in almost everything. In fact, most of the two-ton draft horses were shown by 11 year olds.

I've always wanted to enter something in the Hall. I don't have a horse, don't have any goats, chickens, or other farm animals, but I've always wanted to have something I made in the Hall. Well, this year was my year. I made two Very Special Monkeys just for the MV Ag fair-- a steampunk one that I've been dying to make since I very first started making sock monkeys, and a winged monkEmo, a bit like Voltaire. I named the steampunk one Ezra (after a character in a novel) and Ninja Muse suggested Phrixus for the winged monkey.

The monkeys were mailed last Friday and Saturday, then it was just sitting and waiting until I could get to the Island Thursday afternoon to see if they placed. That was a Very nerve wracking wait! I was pretty certain that there would be someone else who would enter a handmade toy and blow me out of the water. Not only that, but because I sell my monkeys, I had to enter as professional/commercial. Knowing how talented people are there, I was hoping that my monkeys would at least place, and maybe win something for originality.

This was so important to me, that I took both Thursday and Friday off from work for the sole purpose of traveling to Martha's Vineyard and going to the fair (well, I also wanted to have a mini-vacation and have some fun too). Thursday everything was packed into the car, arrangements for kitty-care were made, and I was a bundle of nerves as we made our way to the Island.

The very first stop after dropping suitcases off at Mumma's house was the fair. Mumma had entered three pieces of jewelry she had made, so she was eager to see how she did as well. Once at the fair, the very first stop was the Hall. I was thinking that the monkeys would be harder to find, but when we walked in, Ezra was immediately to the left:

He was very hard to photograph because he was right in a pool of sunshine.

I was so thankful that his little hat didn't get crushed in the mail. He was seated right between to sculptures, and all three items in that area had First Place Ribbons!!! I think I scared someone next to me when I yelled "he won! he won! Ezra won first place!"

The jewelry case was in that same area too, and Mumma found all three of her pieces with ribbons too!

Mumma got two first places and a second for her jewelry!

Phrixus wasn't anywhere near Ezra (they were different categories), but after a minute, we found him too.

Not only did Ezra win first place, but Phrixus did too!!! I chalk it up to beginner's luck. This is the first time I've ever been able to enter anything in the fair, and both monkeys did amazing!!! Mumma is old hat at entering things and winning. She's won first and second for her jellies before.

I was dying to tell someone, but Mumma's house doesn't have internet, and my cellphone didn't have any signal there, it was torture! I'm still in shock that my Monkeyville Monkeys actually won first place. Ezra won first in the Dolls and Stuffed Figures (because he's NOT child safe at all) and Phrixus won first in Stuffed Toys, both were entered as commercial, and that's why they have yellow tags on them.

A better photo of Ezra:

You can't see it, but he has a metal plate on his stomach and under that clock gears and a red felt heart.

I can't explain how much this means to a small time sock monkey maker. I do sell a lot of monkeys, but there's just something about having won there that's very, very special to me. I lived there for a very, very long time, and no matter how much I love it here in North Attleboro, no matter how much time I spend away from the Island, that Island will always be a huge part of whoI am. It took me years to stop saying that things were "off island" for example.

Not only that, but even the kids who enter things in the fair there are amazingly talented. You can spend hours in the hall looking at everything that people made. There's walls and walls of paintings, photos, and everything else that could possibly be made by someone. The sculptures are truly amazing. The one to the left of Ezra was a granite fish, it won a Special Award (thus the Really Big ribbon). The one to the right was of an osprey (type of bird) holding a fish, and it had won a Special Award as well.

All of that super concentrated talent, and my monkeys both won first place... I'm still in shock.

There will probably be a Sock Monkey Bonus Day this week, because I have loads of photos from the fair, and some photos of Sebastian, and of Eli and Sirus Monkey's honeymoon. The bits that they allowed the humans to tag along for. Not only that, but there will be lots and lots of typically Island stuff too. Because I have lots of non-sock monkey photos that are cool too.

*Though completely open to both genders, not just the guys.

**Open only to women.

Sock Monkey Monday: Eli Tries to Bake

 Sirus Monkey had a birthday not too long ago, and instead of buying a cake for him, Eli Monkey wanted to show just how much he loves Sirus by baking him a cake, with a little help from the sock monkey maker.
**I didn't make Eli Monkey. He's a Monkeyshines Monkey, made by another sock monkey maker in my state.**


I think he had fun with the big mixer. Just look at the mischievious smile on his face!

 Next, was an important, but often forgotten step:

You have to grease the pan well, or the cake will never come out.

I really, really, really should have helped Eli with this step.

It looks so fake, but that's because Eli was making a red velvet cake for Sirus.

For a little monkey, he did a pretty good job getting the batter in the pan. Of course, not all of the batter went in the pan.

 The cake maker gets to lick the spatula of course!

 Oh Eli, someone's going to need a bath!

*Insert time passage music here*

Cake cooled, it's time for the frosting!

That's a pretty good job for a monkey! Um... we had dinner while we were waiting for the cake to cool.

Hmm... what kind of decoration for Sirus... oh, of course!

 An Octopus! Um... neither Eli Monkey nor the Sock Monkey Maker can actually draw.

I think we did a pretty good job though!

Sock Monkey Monday: Belfry Gets His Day Out

I brought Belfry out this past week to get his adoption photos taken. It took a while because it was either pouring or 100 degrees out, but Belfry stayed in the car, advertising Monkeyville until the weather was nice enough for him to pose in.

Now, with a name like Belfry, I couldn't just bring him to the park to get his photos taken. No, I had to bring him somewhere better, somewhere more interesting, somewhere that looked a bit like a belfry.

There works quite nicely.

This location may look familiar. It's the same place that I brought Yorick.

Though Belfry is a monkey that just begs to be in color.



I don't think he agrees this looks like a belfry. I tried, I wasn't about to break into the local churches!



Detail of the skull design on the socks he's made out of.


Detail of the bat on his tummy. All done by hand.

Gratuitous Monkey Bum!

Also a bit more detail of the skulls on the socks. They wrap around his arms, so it's hard to get them all in one shot.

Belfry is already adopted. However, I do have enough of these socks to make one more monkey.