can anyone tell me...?

I've been on the look out for some labels for my monsters - some little ones that I can sew on with 'monda loves...' on. I've been trawling through the internet looking for soft cotton printed labels and the only thing I can find is this:
Can anyone tell me where I can buy this kind of thing?








Also, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has posted comments on my blog recently, so many lovely comments and lots of support which is really nice and much appreciated.
Next week I'm supposed to be having a week off work, but I am so busy that I'm going to have to go in for a couple of days - this really sucks because I have had no time for making over the last week and I've done more drawings of things I'd like to make and fill my etsy shop up with. Hopefully I will get a few days of making in next week and I'll be able to show you some of my new creations.

Aussie mates

A curious thing happened today.
A parcel arrived from Australia.
Inside there were two monsters called Melly and Rosie who were desperate to get out after their long journey. I don't blame them.They punched their way out of the top of the envelope and took in their surroundings.
Desperate for a better look around, Melly abseiled down the envelope while Rosie looked on cautiously.Once they had both got their feet firmly on the ground they happened on two locals. Flory was happy to see some new monsters, quite frankly she was bored of the locals. Ringo however hung back to exercise a bit of caution - he was a bit stand offish you see.
Melly handed over a note by way of an explanation as to why they had come to the strange new land. Flory, who could read better than Ringo read the card, explaining to Ringo that the new monsters we here on a swap, and that they'd be hanging around for a bit. Ringo reluctantly accepted this, and slowly but surely got chatting to his new friend Rosie - he actually fancied her a bit but he didn't want Melly and Flory to find out. Flory however was too busy being impressed by melly to notice.They became firm friends that evening and talked about all the things they could do together over the coming weeks - weather permitting of course. Rosie had remarked that the weather here was somewhat grim. Ringo and Flory couldn't help but agree.

This story was brought to you by Monda, with a bit of help from some monster friends. Thanks melly and me for my lovely monster swap - hope you get yours soon!

busy busy weekend

It's been quite a busy weekend but a good one.
I didn't manage to get around to seeing the Harry Potter film, but I did buy a stack of fabric from the Cath Kidston shop: and I have already used the green star fabric for this isosceles monster called Ringo: He's for sale in my etsy store now.
Most excitingly though, I've had my first etsy sale! So 2 monsters will be going to live in Japan very shortly.

wow, I've been featured on cuteable.com

Some most exciting news for a novice blogger such as myself. My isosceles monsters have been featured on cuteable.com. Yay.

I'm torn now. This weekend was going to be a weekend of Harry Potter. I was just passing by Tesco around midnight last night, so popped in to pick up my new HP book (sad I know, but I was just passing - honest!) and was also planning to go and see the movie tomorrow. Perhaps I should just make a few more monsters instead. hmm what do do?

woo hoo too!

Imagine this scene - you're at work, you have a project that is over deadline (out of your control) and everyone is telling you, 'you can't do that' or 'this won't happen until that happens' and it feels like the world and his brother are really doing their best to mush any morale and enthusiasm you have left well and truly into the ground. Well today I had quite a sucky day which pretty much resembled this.
So what gets you through a day like this?
Grit and determination? yes it's true I had a bit of this
The thought of your potential year end bonus? well this was an unconscious thought
An envelope arriving on your desk with a nice freebie in (thanks Sarah) and some stuff you ordered all accompanied by the calming and relaxing fragrance of lavender? TOTALLY!This couldn't have come at a better time and I kept sticking my nose into the envelope periodically throughout the day to make myself feel better. It worked.

Also, I wanted to mention a designer whose work I found on ebay a while back. She is Jane Foster, and below you can see a pic of one of her bags I bought a couple of months ago now. She has some lovely prints and hand made items incorporating her prints too. She was happy for me to post about her stuff which you can also find on ebay hereShe said that there is not so much going on in her shop right now as she is taking a break, but I've added her to my fave sellers so I can check when she adds new items.

something cool for your blog

I have just found out by reading print and pattern's blog that you can get a free hit counter for your blog.
I really like this because I often wonder how many people see my blog and lurk around on it. I usually only know if someone posts a comment for me. You can get a free counter here
There's only one problem with this though, I've just added a counter to the bottom of my page, and I don't actually like the style of it - I should have gone for something much simpler. I'm now trying to find out how to change it. grrr. Blogger should have a counter built in, or perhaps it does and I just haven't found it yet.

I thought I might post about a card designer that I really admire Most of you probably already know or have seen cards by Caroline Gardner. I buy her cards for inspiration and for sending to people if I'm too short of time to make my own.
If you don't know her work, then you can find it here

bits and bobs for cards

A delivery of bits and bobs for cards arrived today. I'm like a kid in a sweetshop when I go into craft/scrapbook shops, and almost always have to buy something, it could be an obsession. eek. I mostly buy ribbons, buttons and papers and here are just a few of the bits and bobs from todays delivery. The cat didn't come in the delivery, she is mine, but she has this strange/cute thing of having to sit/lie/sleep on something that belongs to me or Mr Monda. Here she is sleeping on a craft book I had put on the end of the bed. I think it's a security thing, like if I can't sleep on my people, then something belonging to them will do. We love our baby cat.

etsy store is now up

take a look over there... just to the right, Can you see it? It's my etsy store and it's full of monsters.

more monsters and an etsy store on the way

A couple of people have suggested getting an etsy store, so I've given in to the pressure (thanks) and have set up my store this weekend, although have not had the time to list anything for sale yet. I think that will probably happen at some point this week though. Watch this space. In the meantime, another couple of monsters have emerged. and finally after a busy but productive weekend, all I can say is 'roll on next weekend!'

monsters and frogs

Today consisted of a lie in (ahh finally), reading harry potter - refreshing my memory before the next book comes out, going around my back garden looking for baby frogs, and making monsters whilst watching/listening to live earth (best thing was the foo fighters who quite literally rock!) Quite a nice day all in all.
Here are my latest monsters, and I might just be making a few more tomorrow. The grass has probably not been cut for 2-3 weeks due to the excessive rain, so it needed a cut, but yesterday we found baby frogs all over the grass, and lots of them (at least 50). We couldn't bear the thought of kermit style carnage when baby frog met lawnmower, so we spent the best part of an hour collecting the baby frogs in the trug. We can't be sure we got all the frogs before the mowing happened but we gave it a pretty good go. The frogs were happily released into our neighbours pond, where they had come from in the first place.

baby shower?

Someone I work with asked me to make them a card for a baby shower. I don't really think baby showers are big business in the UK and come to think of it I'm not sure if I've ever seen a baby shower card before, so I took a rather literal approach to it, and fortunately the person I was making it for loved it. I'm really looking forward to the weekend, no work, some sleep, and some making afoot. Yay.

feeling fruity

I can't really believe that a full week has passed since my last post. eek.
My day job is pretty full on right now, and I've been feeling totally exhausted when I get home everyday, however I have managed to make a few bits and pieces this week.
I've been seeing lots of fabrics and prints recently in fruity designs and because I needed to make a batch more cards I decided to try out a few fruits as card toppers. They haven't made it as far as the cards yet sadly but hopefully they will in the next couple of days or so, that is, if I stay away from facebook - its totally addictive (if you haven't already registered on facebook, be warned, you will become addicted!)

Here's a few of my fruity treats