Happy Blogiversary to me!

Well, I would have let this day go right on by had it not been pointed out by Teena in Toronto! And I really wish I had been keeping track ahead of time, because I'm not prepared to "celebrate" properly! So I guess I'll just say Happy Blogiversary to me! I started this blog 2 years ago on this date. A lot has happened in those 2 years, both with "My 3 Lil Monkeys" and with me. It's been quite an adventure! Thanks for being on this journey with me, my friends :-)

Getting my act together.

Ok so we've now lived here for almost 3 months. I can't keep using the "we just moved" excuse to get me out of making new screens for screen printing. So today - I got my act together.

Over a month ago, I purchased the wood to make new frames.

A couple weeks after that I finally got around to cutting the wood.

Now, weeks later, I finally got around to piecing the wood together to make the actual frame. I'm hoping I can keep my mojo long enough to actually put the mesh on the frame by today. I have tomorrow off {shock! 2 days off in a row! I haven't had a day off in a LONG time!} so I'd love to get a screen completely made (with emulsion on it, and if I can get a transparency made up, hopefully burn an image onto the screen) by the end of tomorrow.


In other news...

I've been listing more in my shop - finally! And somethings working, cause I've been getting a few more sales! I'm anxious for the day that I can have enough extra funds to have a small inventory of my most popular shirts (ie: black, and white Ts, size 2, 4, and 6). As it is, I have to order each shirt as I make a sale - which, if I were making multiple sales in a day, it would be ok. However, with one sale one day, and the next one 2 days later - I end up having to place 2 orders, which means i have to pay for shipping twice {thus making my actual profit way less}.

Anyway, it all works out in the end. And for now, I'm just having fun with it!

New Look!

I was SO happy to have stumbled across Leelou's blog today! She's created a TON of adorable {FREE} blog layouts! Of course eventually I want a blog layout completely customized just for me, but in the meantime, I am in love :-) These are colorful, fun, bright, cheery, and just my style! I had a little mishap when I switched the family blog and I lost all my widgets, but I'm rebuilding, so it's ok ;-) My next course of action is to figure out how to make this layout a 3-column. I was looking through my old code to find where it was that I added the 3rd column last time (the original layout was a 2 column that I changed) but it wasn't working when I tried changing it, so I'll get back to it. I just don't like having ALL my widgets, buttons, blog lists, etc on one side. Seems too cluttered and easy to miss the stuff at the bottom if someone's just stopping by and not scrolling down to read much further than the main screen area.

Anyway, thanks so much to Leelou Blogs for the BEEYOUTIFUL (and {FREE}) layouts :-) I have a slightly different one on my Monkey blog, my Family blog, and my Me blog!

*Oh, also have to make new headers for all the blogs... Any takers? {wink}

Knock Knock

{Who's there?}

Me! I'm here! I really really am!


So I've been a little pre-occupied after the move, with the start of school, and with homecomings and preparing for goodbyes... The end of summer is a busy time, but I don't see my school year getting much easier. I'll just have to learn to adjust and keep on multi-tasking.

As for the business, wow. I've completely slacked off. Which is sad because I've started to get a handful of requests for custom orders, so I know if I were to get my butt in gear and actually LIST all the stuff I have to list, I'd get some sales!


I kid you not, I have probably over 15 shirts (pre-printed) that I have waiting to be listed (they've been photographed, but I hung them on a branch and am not crazy about the leaf shadows on them... still deciding if I want to re-photograph) not to mention all the Key Fobs I made that are waiting to be listed, and mini-wallets, and some zippered pouches AND some adorable diaper/wipes holders.


Yeah. I look in my closet (the craft closet) and see all those shirts, and I look at my "stash" of sewn goodies, and all I see is money. Money just sitting there. Normally I don't look at my stuff and see dollar signs, but lately money has been crazy tight (or in the red) so I've been trying to find little ways to make extra money or save money... so it really has me kicking myself to see all this "merchandise" just sitting there where nobody can even look at it.


Anyway. Enough of that. I just wanted to say that I was here and I hope to be posting here more again. I've been posting on my family blog and my new "me" blog, so I really have been around... just not on this loverly blog.

Newsletter

If you would like to sign up to be on my newsletter, simply email me at {my3lilmonkeyshop @ gmail.com} (without the spaces).

I won't email often, mostly for contests or sales. Also, if someone has a website where I can MAKE a newsletter and have a widget on my sidebar where people can sign up - would you mind sharing that info with me? Right now I just plan on making a group in my email contacts and emailing out to that group. Which will work fine, but I'd like a more official way to do it. And I know there are newsletter things out there. Anyway, that's all!

Family Fest {fun?}

This weekend my boddy Caitlin {over at CarmelTurtle} and I had our first "outing" with our goods. Months ago, Caitlin was approached by the woman who was putting this "Family Fest" together, and she/we were under the impression (based off of how this lady described it) that it was going to be like a giant craft fair out at Bandshell Park and we wouldn't have to pay for a table and we could sell our goodies. So Caitlin talked to me about it and we decided that it would be way fun and a great way to get our names out there in our town!


Fast forward to the first {and only} meeting that all the "vendors" (or so we thought) sat in on to discuss the goings on of the Family Fest day. We quickly realized that not only was this NOT a craft fair of ANY sort, but we were going to be the only two people even selling anything! We later found out that yes, there would be food vendors (hot dogs, pop corn, etc) and there were a couple tables like {for example} realtors, so technically we weren't the ONLY people selling things... But still.


We got a fairly good spot in the shade, in a pretty corner, and next to a small chuch (table/spot of people representing their church. In fact, there were a LOT of churches there represented) that was giving away free balloons - which meant we got a LOT of people over by our table just because we were near the popular table *wink* {Location - Location - Location!}


The overall vibe that we got from that day was... it was NOT a buying crowd. It was a crowd of people (the whole day was aimed at families throughout ALL of Ames) that was there to play the games, get the free candy (which we thankfully had, and that actually did bring people directly to our table) and get whatever other freebies the tables had to offer.

Caitlin sold one thing right away - we got our hopes up and thought it would be a great selling day. I sold another thing awhile later to a friend of the family (she paid full price, so it still counts! lol!). I later had one more sale.

That was it. Well, and we gave away a lot of business cards (which is always a good thing).

We both had put a LOT of time, energy, and even extra money from our personal accounts just to make sure we had enough to sell that day. We were both up till 3 the night before getting ready. We were up and getting things together by 8:30 and we set up our table before 10. We stayed till after 5.

All in all, we made a couple sales, we made some friends (yay for the balloon church people!), we gave out lots of biz cards, we got some sun (ahem... I got some sun {read: burn} and Caitlin got a nice tan, as always), and we had fun hanging out together. It was not the day we were expecting, but we actually did learn a lot about having a booth/table to sell our goods, and it prepared us for the next time we do a REAL craft fair {yes, there will be a next time!}. Oh, and for quite a few hours we both felt really rich carrying around the wad of cash that we'd gotten from the bank to make change :-P

Anyway, I guess it did make my day that I got a picture with all the "characters" that were there that day ;-)

Me with Silly Sally the Clown {yes, I know I would probably make a natural clown}

What? I have something on my face?

Smyles the Dog - the Library dog

McGruff the Dog and the hottie police man!

Me with Cy - the Iowa State University mascot

Me with Sparky {from Sparks - AWANA mascot}

My niece and nephew (oh and their mama ;-)) came for awhile to check things out - they enjoyed the Kindermusik booth.

Caitlin and her awesome little man Ki who looks super adorable in the nose {grin}

My new friend {who's name escapes me at the moment} from the booth next to us - the church group giving out free balloons.

The noses brought some great entertainment {wink}

So that was our day. It wasn't a bad day, just far from what we were expecting. We probably won't do it again, but we are on the lookout for an actual craft fair - THAT will be fun :-) This day was our learning day :-) And everyone needs one of those every so often *wink*

Today

Today is the day I unpack my craft room and unearth my sewing machine (etc)! I'm excited, I'm tired of looking at boxes and not being able to sew - especially because I have a LOT to sew before August 9th! And of course I can't wait to get it all unpacked so I can start thinking about re-opening my shop and inviting people over to my new house :-) We LOVE our new place so much. I'll be posting pictures soon, I promise!! Thanks for being patient with me :-)

It's official.

Shop's closed till after the move! (and it looks WEIRD empty!)

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Big Give - I will still draw a name by the end of the week and I will show off all the goodies that the winner will receive :-) But before I do that, I need to make sure I have most of the house packed up (minus my sewing stuff). In all honesty, I might end up drawing a winner BEFORE I have all the prizes completed.

Or... I'll just extend the Big Give to end after we move? Like August 1st? What do you think? That would take some stress off of me and it would ensure that the winner (I'm leaning towards a 2nd place winner too) would get a really rockin' package. Cause I'm really excited for this contest, and I'm worried that I'll end up jipping the winner if I try to get it all done BEFORE the move.

{So let me know!} Finish the contest BEFORE the move? Or AFTER the move? We move this Saturday so it would most likely be the following week, like maybe drawing a winner on Friday the 1st? Please comment and let me know your thoughts!!




*Yeah, hindsight is 20/20 and I probably should have held off on the Big Give in the first place... but I was/am just SO excited for it! lol! I'm like a kid, I just couldn't wait, and I bit off more than I could chew!*

In progress...

I've been making more monkeys lately, but with the impending move, I've had a hard time finishing them. But once they get to this stage, all it is is sewing them together! I've got the arms and legs stuffed and face sewed on. I just have to decide if I want to stitch on a face or not... But I can decide that later! So here's some of my monkeys (and a couple dolls!) that are in progress, but will be done soon!

3 monkeys ready to go, 2 monkeys needing stuffed legs and 2 dolls ready to go.

Black with sweet white flowers

Girly butterflies and pinks and purples, and orange and yellow awesomeness.

From my favorite line - the dots!! Patriotic and brown with fun colors.

And a boy doll and a girl doll! I should get on the ball!

Poepee

Yup. That's the kind of name that results from letting your 3 1/2 year old son name your new stuffed friends ;-) I actually have no idea how to spell it, but that's how it's pronounced - "Poe-Pee". This is a frog I made that was inspired by Bit of Whimsy's dolls and monkeys. The body is the same but I altered the arms, legs and a bit of the head. He's way cute, but totally wonky, which is so typical of my creations, lol! I'll just have to tweak a few things for the next time. And there will be a next time cause I think he's freakin adorable, especially his little legs. Oh and yes this one has a yet-to-be-made face as well. I'll probably end up doing all my faces (doll, monkey, and now frog) at the same time... when I HAVE the time.

So let me introduce to you, Poepee the Frog!

He's just chillen' *wink* When I do his eyes, he'll look a lot more normal :-P

**Don't forget to read the post below this for a chance to win a FREE Tshirt!**

New addiction.

I. Love. These. Monkeys.

I love them. I am in love! They are so cute and fun to make!


I was riding in the car yesterday, going to Des Moines (about 45 minutes away) and I had to wait in the car while my hublover went into a hobby store to pick up a couple parts for his car. During the drive and while I waited, I ended up cutting out the pieces for 2 more monkeys! I think I'll do a bunch in an assembly line... I'll cut pieces for a few more monkeys, then I'll sew up all the pieces to all the monkeys, then I'll stuff them all at once, then I'll finish them all at the same time!

Thanks so much to Bit of Whimsy for being SO very generous and sharing her patterns. She's even inspired me to sketch out my own patterns for my own cute little made up critters!!

More pictures (with captions and notes) on my flickr.

productive evening!

I spent the evening sewing with my Boddy! I ended up making a little tote (that I'd had pieces cut for a couple months now) and I got to make a little doll from a pattern by Bit of Whimsy! I am so in love with her dolls, I have loved them for awhile now, so I was ecstatic to be able to sew one myself! Of course there are a couple quirks that come from sewing your first doll EVER, and I haven't done her face yet, but aside from those things, I am VERY pleased! I think I am going to name her Penny (short for Penelope of course). Anyway, here are a few pictures of my new little treats!

Purse/Tote

Penelope, AKA Penny

Penny hanging out in the new purse.

There are a couple more pictures on my Flickr - including the picture of Tanner "playing with a doll" and Cody showing me that "mama! The doll has LEGS!!" When I came home with my little loves last night I was teasing Ryan by telling him that I had made the boys a doll to play with. He scolded me and told me that I need to be sewing them TRUCKS and MANLY things :-P Lol.

Oh, and right now Penny is apparently taking a nap in my son Cody's bed. Cody told me that she was tired and needed a nap. I guarantee you if I checked, she'd be all tucked in with her head on a pillow and everything. What a sweetie ;-)

Following the lines...

A couple weeks ago I sold one of my favorite zippered pouches (lol, of the what, THREE I've listed? *wink*). I was all excited, I told Ryan right away that I sold something! As I went to check the details of the sale, I noticed the name. I thought "well hmm, that's interesting, I know a _____ _____". Then I looked at the address... Well come on, how often is it a coincidence that someone has the same name AND same address of someone you know?

Yeah, so I figured out that a friend had bought the pouch! I was happy, and I tucked in a sweet little onesie for her little unborn baby girl.

Not long ago her husband called and was teasing my husband, telling him to tell me to "stop selling my wife stuff online!" So I took the phone to assure him that she bought it all on her own, I did no advertising - and that in fact, I was wondering how she remembered my shop name - an email (links in my siggy) or myspace or facebook? Well, come to find out, she DIDN'T KNOW she was buying from me! She had just searched for a little purse/pouch and decided on mine - she didn't make the connection until she opened the package and was wondering how the heck "that seller" knew she was pregnant! Then she looked at the return address and that's when SHE made the connection!

I just thought it was funny and I felt pretty darn cool that I was "found" randomly on the internet and someone "chose" me *smile*.

**Poll below this post, please read and respond!**

Question?

What would you like to see more of in my shop? More variety of designs for screen printed items? More baby blankets? More zippered pouches? More diaper/wipes holders? Something I haven't mentioned? Something that's not even listed in my shop?

I'd love some feedback.

I'm the type of person who has so many ideas and so many good intentions to do something... but it doesn't always get done. I have many many patterns that I have plans to make and list, but they just sit (I've even got fabric for a lot of them!). I have materials for things that I don't always get around to making (I have materials for Key Fobs - which I'm really excited about - that I still need to sit down and put together and list). So I guess I am looking to see which one of my many "projects" I should start with first. Because I bet whatever idea you give me (of something you want to see in my shop) I probably have plans for, I just keep procrastinating on making it.

So you tell me. What would you like to see?

Advertising!

I got my cute little vinyl decal monkeys in the mail on Saturday and was SO excited, but wanted to wait to put them on until my website decal came! Well, it CAME! So now my car is decked out and I love it! It's so much fun! Thanks so much to Vinyl Wall Art and WallWords for pimping my car!

Party favor totes

We had my son's 2 year birthday party in the park this past weekend. There was a Pinata, which I'll admit was my favorite and what I was most looking forward to :-) I made up these cute little simple tote bags for all of the kids to collect the candy in and they were a hit!

In action

Inside filled with candy

The whole set... I made a couple extra just in case, I wanted to make sure I had enough. That's why there's a random orange one - I ran out of the Hawaiian print.

Ribbons for handles

Squared bottoms made them perfect for packing with candy!

Anyway, I'll be making up a set of these hopefully this week to list just to see if it's something people are interested in. They were perfect for what I used them for, but you could also pre-stuff them with party favors or as little gifts for the guests, or... lol, ok so I'm all of the sudden thinking of a TON of uses for these. I will definitely be making them for my son's (my other son) 4th birthday party!

Productivity

I was actually productive today! This "summer break" I've been telling myself that I was going to get SO much stuff accomplished and listed for my shop. Well.... easier said than done. But today I fulfilled 2 orders (would have been 3 but forgot I didn't have the shirts yet to print on), I mailed stuff, I paid bills, I cleaned (although it doesn't look like it, my house was that much of a disaster) and I printed extra shirts! Here's a little peek at the shirts I printed and got listed in my shop. I'll list more tomorrow and I'll print even MORE tomorrow (I have lots more to print, I'm super excited!)

He's still workin' on me.
White text printed on black onesie.
Fully customizable.

My mom shoots people.
No guns allowed. *wink*
Fully customizable.

Word yo!!!

It's official! Ladies and Gentlemen I encourage you to type in the following up in your toolbar:

www.my3lilmonkeys.com

That's right! I have a domain name!! (Well, I've had it for a few days, but I couldn't find where to redirect it, so it looked pretty silly for awhile!) Yay!! Now everything else can fall into place. I can get a business card designed (thanks to MiKE over at MiKETHiNKS on Etsy) and I can get a new sticker for my car (might just get my dad to make me one and turn it into a magnet for my car) and all that good stuff! I'm SUPER excited!

My dot obsession

I don't know if I ever showed pictures of my completed "set" that I made after making my very first messenger bag. I ended up making a matching zipper pouch that I use as a pencil case, and a matching mini wallet that I actually use exclusively now - I love it. I feel pretty geeked out with all my matching (coordinating) dots gear, but I feel wicked sweet at the same time ;-)


There it is! My dot set! As you can see by comparing the link to the messenger bag to this picture, I did add some awesome big purple buttons for a bit of flair ;-) I'm very glad I did it, I think it adds a lot to it.

Anyway, I just listed the mini wallet in my Etsy shop - I made 2 when I made mine. I seriously think they're great! I have a few more cut and ready to sew, but with the end of the semester just 18 days away time has been a little short around here... Hopefully I can be super productive during my 3 week break before summer classes start up.

Finally, it's in the bag.

I know I've mentioned it before, but I've been trying to get around to making myself a new purse/bag. I'm just tired of those tiny "have to act like a lady" purses. Anyway, I finally made myself a messenger bag!!! Oh and I love it so much. It needs a strap still, but I hope to figure something tomorrow so I can take it to class on Tuesday. Anywho - here it is!