Parents Magazine - August 2010!

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

Check out the full album here!

Giveaway Alert!

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!