1000 view freebie!

1000 views means a monda loves... Giveaway!
But what is it? Michael Caine? Harry Potter? Buddy Holly? Chris Evans?


No, it's the lovely bespectacled blockhead monster 'Austin'
If you would like to get your hands on Austin and this really sweet Japanese bag all you need to do is write the last 2 lines of this verse and pop them in the comments box. The one that wins is the one that makes me laugh the most. I'll announce the winner next Wednesday (5th Sept). So here it is:

A green blockhead monster called Austin
was secretly fond of cake frosting...

when gloves become dogs

from this:came this:
Now I'm not much of a fan of following instructions - I always prefer to 'do it first and read how to do it properly afterwards' method, but this time round I did read the instructions and now I have a lovely long and stripy dog as a result. I made him yesterday and I was nervous to say the least when I cut up the gloves - they were a really nice pair of 'Matthew Williamson' for Debenhams gloves too - so this little pup is a posh designer doggie.
I can't put him in my shop for sale because he's just so lovely I have to keep him, but I will definitely be making a few more of his friends - I'll be on eBay looking to gloves to convert later.

I'm nearing 1000's views on my blog which is an exciting milestone for me (I think). By way of a mini celebration I'll be giving away a surprise gift - you'll have to keep checking back over the next few days to see what it is and how you can get your hands on it - but here's a sneak preview.Au Revoir for now.

Perkins!

remember this? (from a post further down)well this is what happened to some of it.
As the fabric (well tops) came from Dorothy Perkins, I'm calling him Perkins, as he doesn't look much like a Dorothy to me.
He'll be in my etsy shop when I have 5 mins to put him in there.

love is all around

It's definitely wedding season right now - I've been asked to make loads of cards for weddings lately, and the ones below are a few examples of things I have made this weekend. On Sunday I went to a wedding of a work colleague - it was an Indian wedding, and I had been told that 'bling' was the order of the day :o) There were many bright colours worn, and the bride was wearing bright pink, so this heart that I made for the card suited the theme perfectly The next wedding was again for work colleagues, this time a bit more traditional - the cake was machine sewn and hand finished and the hearts were sewn by hand (whilst watching TV!)And the last card topper I made was for an engagement card (again made whist watching Sunday morning TV) I also found a small window of time at the weekend to use some of my new fabric/tops and I have a half made monster sitting waiting for me at my desk. Perhaps I'll get time to finish him after work tomorrow, and if i do, he'll be here for all to see.
Watch this space...

bargains galore!

I had to pop into town today, as I'm going to wedding tomorrow and need to get some last minute things like tights, mascara, accessories etc. The sales were still on so I had a look around in a few shops and ended up buying a few bits that were not on the list (always happens) but everything I bought was a bargain. First I bought a pair of spotty socks for £1 and a pair of long stripey gloves for £3, and thought I'd try to make a few new creations from my new book.Secondly, this lovely fabric is actually 3 tops from Dorothy Perkins. These are not for wearing though - I bought the biggest possible sizes to get the most amount of fabric so I'm going to cut them up and make them into something (not sure quite what yet but I have a few ideas), and the best part was that they only cost £8 - Bargain!
I'm really desperate for some time to start making things again - I have to make another stack of cards to take into work, people just keep buying them which is a good thing, I just wish I had a time turner (harry potter fans will know what this is) so I could double up the hours in the day. It's quite late in the day already but I'm feeling quite inspired so I'm off to the sewing machine now...

slow progress

The day job is still eating up most of my time, so not much time for sewing or blogging or monsters or anything other than work really :o(
I have made a couple of cards though. This one was for a card for a friend of ours who has recently had a baby, and I liked the colours (kind of reminded me of battenberg cake) so I also made a smaller card topper which I think will probably end up as a thank you card.Oh and this is my feet. No matter how busy you are, you still have time to paint your nails - or is that just me?I've had another sale on Etsy (that's 3 now, woo hoo), so here it is wrapped up and ready to go, I won't say who it was for though - don't want to spoil the surprise.

nice surprises

look what I got today! This is a book called 'sock and glove' and it is a story with making instructions at the back (everything in the book is made out of old socks and gloves). I've included a few of the pics from the book here


I didn't buy/order/swap/steal this. It was such a lovely surprise free gift which Mr Monda was given at work today as a freebie for me - he's been pimping my monsters and my blog around his workplace you see. A bit of shameless promotion really does no harm, and sometimes it even brings lovely books!

long time no blog

well it's only been a week but it feels like such a long time no blog because I've been so busy with the day job (working many extra hours) that I have barely even had time to enter blogland to read blogs let alone post on my own.

I had 2 days off work last week, and really did just use the time for a much needed relax and recharge of my batteries. On Thursday I read the new Harry Potter book all day (yes all day!) and I finished it. It was one of those, I'm desperate to read more but don't want to finish it, kind of things. On Friday I went to see the Harry Potter film. I'm now totally pottered out, but happy nonetheless. JK Rowling writes so brilliantly that it really does make you feel part of the story and removes you from your own world (albeit temporarily).

In craft news, I have decided to try and make my own labels - more about this in coming posts though. Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions of where to look, It was most useful.
Today I have made a monster (zach is in my etsy shop right now) and I have received my felt order from paper and string so expect to see more (and maybe different) monsters on the horizon.