fight the masses!

Parents Magazine - August 2010!

2010-07-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

That's right, I'm featured in the August issue of Parents Magazine! My monster pouch, that is. If you get a chance, check out the larger scan here, or pick up a copy at your local bookstore and flip to page 26!

It says:

Monster Mash

It's the cutest way to carry crayons and pencils.

I agree. Okay fine, maybe I'm just slightly biased! :)

Make It - A Show & Sale of Stuff We Do!

2010-06-01T14:20:00.002-04:00

Make It - A Show & Sale of Stuff We Do is this Saturday, June 5th at the Beaver Hall Gallery (29 McCaul Street) from noon till 6 pm! If you're in Toronto, try and drop by to check out a bunch of great local crafters and artists.

The Facebook event is here and you can see the complete vendor list as well!

I will bring along pinback buttons, tote bags, and monster pouches big and small! :)

A Quote

2010-05-06T15:59:00.000-04:00

Miranda July is my favorite contemporary artist.

Here is a quote from her website Learning To Love You More that I keep in my Inbox and read every once in a while to feel inspired.

"The best art and writing is almost like an assignment; it is so vibrant that you feel compelled to make something in response. Suddenly it is clear what you have to do. For a brief moment it seems wonderfully easy to live and love and create breathtaking things. In a sense, these are assignments -- in the same way that the ocean gives the assignment of breathing deeply, and kissing instructs us to stop thinking."

Bazaar of the Bizarre

2010-04-20T14:39:00.001-04:00

BAZAAR OF THE BIZARRE! I love the name - but I always type Bizarre of the Bazaar by accident. Hahaha.

Come check me out at this awesome show this Sunday in Toronto. I'll have 20 or so large monster pouches, 10-15 small ones, and pinback buttons!

http://www.thebazaarofthebizarre.org/

Monster Pouch Giveaway and More!

2010-01-24T16:48:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! This awesome blog, The Dress-up Drawer, is having a great giveaway! Followers of the blog suggested shops they would love to win stuff at and I was contacted. So, a nice large orange monster pouch will be up for winning soon. Check out the link for now and... good luck!

Vote for Zomb!

2010-01-21T08:14:00.003-05:00

Hi folks! True, it's been a while since I've posted. I'll get better, I swear!

Anyway, Zomb has been nominated and is in this nifty crafter competition called The Poppies! Please take one second out of your day and come here to vote! I'm the second last one on the list (Zomb). Voting is up for another 6 days but I have some catching up to do. ;)

www.monsterpouch.com

2009-10-15T11:50:00.003-04:00

For a while I've been thinking about taking www.monsterpouch.com because the domain name was available. I didn't want to spend too much money on getting the domain name and getting someone to host it, but I came across justhost.com. After I "almost" checked out I decided, forget it, I'll wait. But then they sent me an email saying, "hey! you almost checked out but didn't so we're giving you 50% off!" Well, not in those exact words but something along those lines. So yay! There's really not much on the website (for now) but I'm hoping it gets some search engine hits and diverts traffic to the Etsy store. I'll probably develop it more extensively later on when I get the time. Take a look!

Vogue Ninos Espana

2009-09-30T19:13:00.001-04:00

There really are no words to explain my excitement. Monster pouches are featured in the fall/winter Vogue Ninos Espana (Vogue Kids in Spain). No words. Come check out the scans.

Busy Bee

2009-08-26T08:57:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone! That's right, I've been a busy bee - summer has been more hectic than the school year! Recently I've been sewing a lot of custom monster pencil cases and keeping them in stock has been difficult. But, Wendell is still looking for a home (and she wants you to know that she's pretty awesome). The cool thing is that I bought over a hundred GORGEOUS zippers in every color imaginable so making these monsters has been more fun than ever before.

Summer is also coming to an end (boooo!) and I think I'm done with craft shows for the summer season. Here I am at P.S. Kensington in Toronto, which was my last show that took place in a huge thunderstorm:

Thank goodness it cleared up a bit in the afternoon! And no, that tent is NOT sturdy! I'm looking at some shows in October and December, but I have to make sure my school schedule doesn't clash.

Random tidbit: my 2009 year-end goal is to hit 400 sales. Right now I'm at 328 so maybe it's a bit of a stretch, but I am hoping the holiday season kicks sales into high gear!

Alexis and Hugo - HUGE monster pouches!

2009-07-27T19:30:00.005-04:00

Two new monster pouches have been listed! Hugo and Alexis. These two are special though because they are HUGE! No longer meant for mere pocket change, these two eat pencils, pens, markers, erasers, rulers, etc. They are ready to go back to school and keep the kids entertained. Of course, they also make for great funky clutches!

Photos: Big on Bloor & Rolly's Garage!

2009-07-15T12:42:00.006-04:00

Check out the full album here!

Giveaway Alert!

2009-07-13T15:25:00.003-04:00

Hello again! I am sponsoring a giveaway over at IndieNorth, one of my favo(u)rite Canadian blogs! It is open to the entire world and up for grabs is Earl the monster pouch! It's super easy to enter so what are you waiting for? GO GO GO and good luck!

Rolly's Garage: July Day Market

2009-07-09T08:29:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone! Yes, it's true, I haven't uploaded Big on Bloor pictures yet, but that is because I am down with a cold/flu so I have an excuse. However, despite the fact that I am still somewhat sick (and scaring the people at work), I have committed myself to, a) getting better by tomorrow, and b) being a vendor at the July Day Market in Toronto!

July Day Market is held at Rolly's Garage, which I hear is a fantastic venue for arts and music. They held a night market a few weeks back (read blogto's coverage here) that was really successful so it's being done again - this time on a sunny Sunday afternoon! The deets:

When: Sunday July 12th, 2009, from 2 pm - 8 pm
Where: Rolly's Garage, 124 Ossington Avenue (close to Trinity Bellwoods Park)
What: Mimosas, music & art... the way Sundays should be spent
Checkout the Facebook event and invite your friends!

I will have monster pouches (with the popular colors replenished), tees, totes and pinback buttons! This was totally a last minute thing for me but I'm super excited - second ever show for zom-b! Tomorrow and Saturday I have to draw up some new signs and find a way to transport all my stuff to the event (I'm thinking lugguage with wheels/really nice dad with a car). Come back soon for pictures from both Big on Bloor (really, I promise!) AND from Rolly's Garage!

Big on Bloor is Tomorrow! :O

2009-06-19T19:28:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that Big on Bloor is already here! The Weather Network is predicting light rain for tomorrow but I bought a tent for only $29 so I will be completely covered! Whew. I'm still thinking positive and hope that it clears up.

In terms of products I have prepared over 55 monster pouches, over 300 pinback buttons, my leftover tees, and some new tote bags! It's true, I'm pretty tired of sewing, but am really proud of all the pouches I managed to finished, and I absolutely love the array of colors. These pictures are just a sneak peak - I will be sure to take lots of pictures of the festival itself and my table! SUPER EXCITED! I'll be checking in soon! For now, meet all these monster babies:

Meet DJ Tanner

2009-06-06T11:59:00.004-04:00

DJ Tanner is the newest monster pouch in the Etsy shop and so far he's my favorite... not to play favorites. Hmm. Anyway, I'm really happy with how the photos turned out and I love this new navy blue vinyl color. I also got more new vinyl colors including burnt orange, brown, eggplant purple, and a dark gray. Next week I hope to purchase some GOLD and COPPER vinyl!!!

In other news, I've sewn 30+ pouches for the upcoming Big on Bloor show but that's hardly enough (I hope)! I really need to kick it in high gear!

Photos from my vacation STILL aren't up yet because between my dad and I we took around 2000 photos! I need to collaborate with him first and choose the best of the best!

Vacation: May 10th-24th

2009-05-04T09:06:00.004-04:00

That's right, I'm going on vacation to GREECE and TURKEY! :D I absolutely can't wait to finish exams and get out of here to enjoy some sun and good food and beautiful islands. I'm away from May 10th-May 24th but I am keeping the shop open.

If you order before May 10th mention "10" in the notes to seller and get 10% off before shipping! Any orders placed while I am away will be shipped as soon as I get back. I also hope to have some internet connection along the way so I HOPE I can stay in contact and answer emails/messages. No guarantees!

Lastly, as you can see in my shop, monster pouches are coming back in stock. Before I leave I will list another few!

Giveaway #1 WINNERS!

2009-04-30T23:59:00.007-04:00

Thank you to everyone who entered my first ever giveaway!

I used random.org to generate three numbers - each person was assigned x amount of numbers according to whether they Tweeted, bought, etc. The winners are................

#1 Patricia from Verre Designs

#2 handknittedthings

#3 RetroReDesign

I will contact the winners through email/Etsy and thanks to everyone again for entering and looking and promoting! Check back soon for my second giveaway (probably through the awesome site IndieNorth) featuring a monster pouch! :D

I HIT THE JACKPOT!

2009-04-27T11:57:00.008-04:00

That's right, I hit the jackpot! Well, my aunt hit the jackpot FOR me. She went to a flea market/bazaar type thing over the weekend and found this HUGE bag of thread. Thread of beauuuuutiful colours. Maybe it's a little nerdy to enjoy colourful thread to such a degree, but laying them out of my table and taking photos... too gorgeous! I absolutely can not wait to use all of these colours for my monster pouches. They almost look like bottles of paint!

Did I mention that this bag of thread cost $6? Canadian dollars too. Haha - like I said, JACKPOT!

Small update

2009-04-26T10:54:00.005-04:00

Hello all! I've been missing in action from the internet / Twitter / blogging world for a little while due to studying.

A small update:

1) This morning I woke up and rikrak emailed me saying I had won her giveaway! There's probably no better thing to wake up to! You should check out her shop if you haven't already - filled with gorgeous eco-friendly stuff like wallets, iron-ons, clutches, coasters, etc. I chose a custom wallet for my new business cards (that are on their way) and two iron-ons!

2) My button giveaway is ending soon and I AM keeping track of everyone's entries! Enter before May 1st and have a chance to win!

3) I have started sewing for the Big on Bloor Festival and have done 8 pouches already (in between the textbooks). Stay tuned for a blog entry about my progress! I think my goal is to have 70-80 pouches for the festival in June! Any unsold ones will go into my Etsy shop.

I will be back soon! :D

Giveaway #1!

2009-04-19T10:48:00.005-04:00

I'm suffering from pre-exam stress and what better way to battle it then hold a giveaway! Actually, I'm not sure how that works but I figure giving away fun buttons to fun people = happy people = happy! Yay!

To enter the giveaway:

1) Visit my shop

2) Come back and comment on which is your favorite item, and be sure to leave your contact info (Etsy shop/username, email, etc.)

3) For 1 additional entry Twitter/blog about this! For 3 additional entries purchase anything from my shop! Mention any of these in the same comment - no need for a new one! :)

Three lucky winners will be chosen as soon as it is May 1st and will win their choice of three buttons from my shop! If buttons are sold as a pack you can still choose just one or two or all three!

Yay! Good luck!

School versus crafting!

2009-04-16T14:25:00.006-04:00

It's a classic match up - SCHOOL versus CRAFTING. I found one of my plushie stencils on my desk and it shows EXACTLY what's happening with this battle.

Here we have a cute little stencil of my miniature plushies. I put the paper to the fleece and cut accordingly. Anyway, what paper did I use for it? Those are slides from my accounting class. "Financial reporting under ideal conditions" is one of the slides. Haha.

What's even greater is the back of the stencil. I was scribbling things to memorize for my marketing test. A lot of it seemed like "common sense" but when you list things out you do actually apply it to your own business. Here's a lesson:

THE FOUR P'S OF MARKETING:

Price / Place / Product / Promotion

THE THREE C'S:

Consumer / Competition / Company

What do you do with the market?

Segment the market, target the ones that are valuable, position yourself within those markets

Business strategies (which one do you use more of?):

Production - lots of quantity

Product - quality products

Selling - push products through first-degree selling techniques like craft shows, etc.

Marketing - push products through marketing such as online ads, etc.

Societal marketing - a marketing concept to make good marketing decisions based upon consumers' wants, company's requirements and society's long-term interests

Obviously in class we were taught that the "societal marketing" strategy was the best combination of various factors. As I said, pretty common sense, but it's good to know the terms nonetheless.

So you see, this plushie stencil actually contains some valuable information! Not only the dimensions and shape of my plushies, but boring school stuff too. :)

A new monster baby is born!

2009-04-15T10:04:00.004-04:00

Since it's exam time in two weeks, I haven't had time to do any sewing. But, last week my little cousin calls me up and says, "I have a friend who wants to buy a monster pouch" and lo and behold, a twelve-year old emails me his monster pouch color & style choices. It was quite hilarious because he gave my little cousin cash at school, and my cousin had to give him some change back. A few days later and the cash ends up in my hand - but of course I owed him the change he gave his friend. So instead, I just gave him five bucks and told him to keep it - middleman fee! It's like some bizarre shady transaction with twelve-year olds. Haha. Another few days later and my cousin calls me and says, "are you done yet? My friend really wants it..." but NO, I have SOME sort of self-control and had to study.

But today, the pouch is done! It's the white one with the green mouth. The other two are the only remaining ones I have in stock. Until May 5th my hands are only busy flipping textbook pages. :(

Anyway, I hope my cousin's friend likes it! You can also see this pouch in flat form under my previous post.

Run-ins with snail mail

2009-04-13T21:14:00.009-04:00

So, I was on Twitter tonight and up came a post by needlings, a fellow awesome Canadian Etsian complaining about, you guessed it, Canada Post. Prior to being a crafter/selling online, I had at most sent 2 pieces of snail mail in all my life. I mean... paper? Pen? Write? With a hand? I'm a part of the online generation (whether that's unfortunate or fortunate). Anyway, a bit over a year of selling online and by now I've had a lot of experience with shipping. Trust me, when we Canadians complain about Canada Post we are not exaggerating. It's the ridiculously expensive price (compared to other countries), inconsistent service, and did I mention ridiculously expensive price?

I think this sums it up quite nicely:

That led to a conversation about trying to shove our packages into those tiny 2 cm slots in order to save on shipping costs. Anyway, that also led me to remember the time I sent three pinback buttons to a buyer in the States and THIS HAPPENED:

THAT IS MY ENVELOPE! With cuts and holes and yes, BURNS. Two of the three buttons had completely disappeared and the last little guy was bent up. Apparently the US postal service shoved it into another bag and slapped on a "sorry" note. First time something like that has happened and it's pretty insane. Godzilla ate my packet!

Last example - a few days ago I had an small envelope packet returned to me with a "Return to Sender" sticker with absolutely no explanation (despite there being checkboxes and a comments space). The person had scribbled I needed double the amount of postage that I had put, which was completely wrong.

More than ever I wish I had teleportation powers.

Big on Bloor festival!

2009-04-12T20:46:00.010-04:00

It's the 2nd annual Big on Bloor festival!

When: June 20th from 1-9 pm.

Where: Bloor Street West, from Christie to Landsdowne

Guess who is going to be there? ME!!!!!!! No, not me as an attendee, but me as a person who rented a table & will be selling various fun things! I'm especially excited because of these reasons:

1) This is my FIRST show/festival I will attend as a seller. Big on Bloor is fantastic because it's affordable, fun, and attracts a large crowd in the wonderful city of Toronto in the summer! I'm hoping that this will be the first of many and am definitely looking for more craft shows to attend. A lot of time school gets in the way (such as the One of a Kind Show is during exams) but the summer is perfect!

2) I will be sharing a table with an awesome designer/crafter - modernemotive. Her stuff is absolutely fantastic and wonderful and I love it. This way I will also feel less intimidated because we are both festival/show noobs! I might also get to meet serenadraws & mchenwears!

3) I will get to MEET fellow crafters and buyers in person! I mean, that's pretty awesome because I only sell online and yes, it's fantastic, but there's a special magic in seeing/meeting your customer and knowing that they will use your product. For example, a friend told me they saw someone downtown wearing one of my t-shirts. THAT is cool. I wish that could happen more, and it might if I sell at Toronto craft fairs!

Anyway, I actually haven't gotten the confirmation from Big on Bloor yet so it's not even 100% set. Haha! But I got kind of too excited. When I know my exact table location I will tell the entire world and I expect anybody in Toronto to visit me! So, stay tuned! :)

A tour...

2009-04-11T23:42:00.023-04:00

Welcome! I have decided to give a tour of my "workspace". Now, I put "workspace" in quotation marks because as you can see, it's more of a post-hurricane area or a pigsty. I'm thinking/hoping that many of you out there may also be the absent-minded messy types and also have ridiculously messy work areas. That's just what I think to make myself feel better!

First picture - this is actually the corner of my bedroom. In this photo you can see such things as: a wobbly easel, various paintings (cupcakes! abstract! feet!), a heat radiator fan thing that keeps me cozy in winter, acrylic paints that I never remember to put the lid on, my beloved button maker that cost me an arm and a leg (picture 2), vinyl (picture 3), multi-colored zippers, blue cardstock my company (where I work part-time) wanted to throw out, etc. It's not exactly easy to vacuum that corner of my room but I think I might do some spring cleaning soon!

This is a shot of a monster pouch in progress! He's being made for my little cousin's friend and is still laying flat! I also love my funky pin cushion which you can see at the top. I received it pretty recently from Etsian Spoolofplenty and prior to that, I would always put my needles on the floor, stuck in the carpet, on my bed, etc. NOT a good idea! I'm usually sewing these pouches on my work desk or even while I'm sitting in front of the TV.

I'm already really lucky that my room is quite large and I have the SPACE for all these things! So, what's your workspace like? Are you as messy as I am? Do you have any good organizational tips?

My first post ever!

2009-04-11T10:57:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone! This is officially my 1st blog post ever and yes, I'm quite excited. So, what sort of things will I blog about? Let's see... my Etsy shop (www.zomb.etsy.com) updates, pictures of projects in progress/what I'm working on, other shops/websites I like, giveaways and contests, rants and raves relating to art/design/crafting/life, and anything else of interest to those creative awesome individuals out there.

Mainly I wanted to start this blog so that it would drive me to document things - I've always wanted to take more photos, not just of finished projects, but of things in their messy unfinished state, or of interesting things when I walk around the city. I'm thinking that this is a great networking/traffic driving tool as well. I hope so, at least! And also, I promise to keep this blog updated!

I'm going to stop rambling for now. Please say hello or subscribe to my blog! If you have any suggestions, comments, or pieces of advice (because I AM a blogging noob), please feel free to comment/contact me!

Lastly, wooooo! Blogging!

Other ways to say hello: