Oh Noes!

This week, the flock* of Ninjas has been completed. Yay! Hopefully they'll all go to new homes when we do the craft fair in a couple weeks. These ones are a bit different than the first Ninjas I've done. They have all felt details and embroidered, anime style faces. They've been dubbed: Sleepy, Happy, Lefty, Righty, Normy, and O.o**.

I'd love to show pictures of them... except I can't find the memory card for the camera! Oh no! I have a suspicion that it fell behind the nightstand, but I'll have to look all over the house this weekend. A week without Sock Monkey Monday just doesn't feel right! Thankfully, next week the new day job schedule starts, so I'll have lots more time to not only make sock monkeys, but to photograph them as well.

It's not yet Halloween, but my mind is already focused on December and Christmas. December is Sock Monkey Month, and I have to plan what we'll do for that. Hopefully, something Really Good. Hanukkah is Really Early this year, and I definitely want to do at least a couple Hanukkah monkeys. However, Christmas orders have been coming since August, which means unfortunately, I can't take anymore Christmas orders. At least not right now. We'll have to see after we get a bit further into November. For right now, I have to stop taking custom orders or I'll never have time to sleep! A sleepy monkey maker isn't a very good monkey maker. Fingers get poked with needles when I'm too tired***.

Speaking of which, I should go to bed now.

*Well, what else would you call a bunch of Ninjas?
**I've been pronouncing that "whoa" (imagine Joey Lawrence on the show Blossom).
***And more than once, my nose.

Christmas in October, Halloween in February

One of the few specific Halloween memories I have from when I was a Wee Little Ninja Writer is of my mother asking me after trick or treating "so, what do you want for Christmas?" Back then, I laughed and teased her that Thanksgiving hadn't even arrived yet! How was I supposed to know what I wanted*.

Now, I'm no longer a Wee Little Ninja Writer, I'm Full Sized Ninja Writer and I've been thinking about Christmas since August. August! Should my mother find out about this, I'll never hear the end of the teasing! However, I'm willing to take that risk, to deal with the laughter of my family, because if I didn't start thinking about Christmas back in August, I'd have some major issues.

I can see why Santa needs the whole year to make stuff for everyone**. I don't have billions of people to make toys for, but I have quite a few, and I'm going to need all of the time that I have to get everything done. Sock monkey making has ramped up to Extreme proportions, because November 13th, we'll be at a craft fair at the Epworth Methodist Church in Pawtucket from 9am-2pm.

This will be the very first craft fair that I've gone to as a seller and not a buyer, so I'm not exactly sure how many monkeys or what kind of monkeys to bring. I'm excited, but we don't have a lot of time to get everything ready. Eek! I have lots of Ninja Monkeys in the works (a Monkeyville Specialty) along with lots of others. Including these guys:

I haven't named them... I'm not sure if I should, but it feels wrong not to. These guys are sitting in the Monkeyville toy box right now, waiting for hang tags. Ninjas, reindeer, babies, and a few other monkeys will be joining them soon I hope!

It feels like the holidays are next week, but thankfully, I have a bit more time than that to prepare for them. The preparations for Christmas have taken over the ones for Halloween, but that doesn't mean that the Halloween monkeys won't be done.

Once Christmas is over, the next big holiday to look forward to is Valentine's Day. I've never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day for numerous reasons, so this year instead of hearts, flowers, and little kids in diapers shooting arrows, it's going to be zombies, skeletons, and more zombies.

I like zombies. I like zombie sock monkeys even more. They're cute, they're gory, and they're snuggly. What could be better?

It's going to be Valentine's Day for those that don't like Valentine's Day! Sure, candy and flowers are okay (I guess, I've never actually received either for Valentine's Day) but zombies are just all around... cooler. Skeletons too. Plus, it's hard not to love a sock monkey who wears his heart on the outside of his chest. At least it is for me. It's hard for me not to love any sock monkey. No, I don't have a problem. I am not a sock monkey hoarder... really... *looks innocent while hiding over 35 monkeys from view*.

Eli Monkey tried to give me a hand the other day. Though neither of us realized exactly how much five pounds of stuffing really is. The box is about a foot and a half square... not so bad really. However, I wasn't expecting the stuffing to expand to at least twice that size once the box was opened. Eek! Five pounds of stuffing is A LOT!

Eli Monkey tried, without much success, to contain the stuffing. That will end up being a lot of monkeys! Sirus Monkey, intelligently, watched from a far, while Eli made a bit of a monkey of himself***.Eli joined Sirus pretty quickly, once work was started and fingers were required. Soon, I will have my very own mini-army of Ninja Sock Monkeys. 

I won't use them to take over the world. I swear. *Innocent look*.

 

Okay, we're ready. Bring on Christmas!

*I'm sure it was, depending on the year: a typewriter, word processor^, or computer.
** I would like a new full time, non-contract job this year please.
***Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
^Imagine the screen of a Really Old computer attached to a typewriter. Exciting new features included: spell check, cut, copy, paste, and the ability to delete words without retyping an entire page. Life was good.

Sock Monkey Monday: So Much To Do!

I think every week I say that it's been an incredibly busy week here in Monkeyville. This week was no different. With Halloween closing in, there's lots of Monkeys to work on, some special order monkeys to finish, and I had a couple experiments I wanted to fit in too.

I didn't get as much accomplished as I thought I would, but I still got a fair bit done. First, there was the new Sock Monkey Photo Studio to set up. The new area is Excellent! It's finally possible to take photos of the monkeys when it's raining!

Ezra and Phrixus decided to be the first monkeys to pose. The new area is so much brighter that the details on both monkeys is easy too see.

It's even possible to see the gears that are on Ezra's chest. I've tried to get decent photos of these before, but it's tough to photograph the different layers.

This is my favorite shot of the day. I love the Gratuitous Monkey Bum shot, and with Phrixus, it's even better because of the wings.

Laertes and Earl got their photos taken again too. I'll have to update their Etsy pages soon. 

 I have to say, I love the new Photo Studio as well as the camera. 

It hasn't been all photos here in Monkeyville though, the Magic Monkey Making Machine has been going steadily all week too, and while most of the orders are in progress, I did get the third (!) Phantom of the Opera Monkey completed. 

This phantom is for a two year old, so he's specifically made to stand up to lots of cuddles, and without all of the easy to swallow parts that the original Phantom has.

The cloudy, moonstone eye has been replaced with a light blue felt eye, and the expression is much happier as well.

After the Phantom was done, it was time for a break from Monkey Making and to try something a bit different.

It's a glove bunny! While this little guy wasn't too hard to make, I think I'll stick to using socks. The gloves are much hard to sew well, and to get all of the limbs the same length, etc. The gloves just don't make good stuffed animals the way the socks do.

However, today during my monkey break (Leela the sock monkey was being difficult), I attempted to make something out of actual fabric. Not t-shirt, gloves, or socks, but fleece.

It's a Boolet! Compared to the bunny, this was Really Easy to make, the hardest part was getting the face right. I'm glad that the Boolet worked well because I have plans for some holiday things later that pretty much require me being able to make things out of regular fabric like fleece instead of socks. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to those things, I have lots and lots of orders to fill, so time will tell.

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.