Wednesday, May 26, 2010

ALMOST there...

still plugging away on my last few custom orders but I'm almost caught up. Today I started working on an order for a friend who asked for something for her son, but didn't specify any one particular monster. I LOVE THAT! It means I get to pick something new to try out! I have a little book I keep on my desk where I sketch out  all the new monster ideas that pop into my head. But for this little boy, I decided he needed an alien. I already had sketched it out in the book a while ago but before I started working this morning I added a third eye and another set of arms. And I LOVE the final result! I think that starry sock was especially perfect for my little E.T. ;) 


Once I finish these last couple orders I have a bunch of birthdays coming up! My sister already got her birthday present earlier this month...


As soon as she opened it all the kids asked if I would be making them for their birthdays too. SOOO 5 sock monsters for the nieces/nephew are next on my agenda. I know for sure one of them wants a giraffe, and I think one or two of them wants a dog. Good thing the birthdays are spread out over the course of a few months! It'll keep me busy that's for sure. :)

And now on to today's linky parties. I LOVE these! Being pretty new to the blogging world I wasn't sure how to search for other crafty blogs, I tried Google at first and I found a few but that definitely wasn't cutting it. Now I can just jump from blog to blog off of one main page! I've bookmarked so many cool projects just in the last few days and now I'm dying to just paint and re-purpose and thrift shop EVERY DAY! There are SO many talented crafty women out there in blogland! It's great! ;)

 
NightOwlCrafting           
 
Show and Tell Green

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lens Pets™ now available in my Etsy shop...

I just posted my first three listings for Lens Pets in my Etsy shop... I was planning to make a bunch of individual Lens Pets to put up, but in the mean time I figured I could put up a few 'custom' listings (where the purchaser gets to choose which Lens Pet they want) to get things started! :) I only have a couple orders left to finish before I can start making sock monsters for my shop as well. I'm super excited to officially get this thing off the ground and running!!

I had a customer ask for two Lens Pets that I hadn't made before, a spider and a PIRATE of all things... so I gave it a shot and I really liked the results! I'm definitely looking forward to having more customers making special requests. Even though I've made over 30 different designs so far (and I have ideas for a few more), I love the challenge of designing something new!










   All Thingz Related
 
Photobucket       

Sunday, May 23, 2010

kids... and bugs

Yesterday was just FULL of fun around here! (where's that eye rolling smiley when you need one?!) My youngest son, Carter (he's finishing up 5th grade this year), went to Cedar Point with the choir... WITHOUT MOM! He was thrilled, I on the other hand, was a complete wreck! I couldn't sleep the night before with all the terrible scenarios running through my head... rides breaking down, roller coasters flying off the tracks, him wandering away from his chaperon and getting lost or stolen. Thankfully he came home unharmed, short only by one sweatshirt that he had apparently tied around his waist and then lost somewhere. Most of the day I spent my time sewing, working on some custom orders and watching movies. But late last night we had a bit of excitement to take my mind off the worrying for a few minutes... my 12 year old came up to me asking "what is this?" and pointing to a tiny black speck of something that seemed to be stuck to his chest just under the collar bone. It was seriously TINY, I have terrible eyesight and I just could not tell what the heck it was. So I drag over my nice bright daylight lamp reserved for scrapbooking and sock monster sewing. After inspecting the spot I decide that I think it just MIGHT be a tick!! EW! A TICK?!? GAH! (and people call me crazy for thinking WINTER is the best season. NO BUGS IN WINTER PEOPLE!) I've never actually seen a tick before, somehow we've managed to go all these years without picking one up. (knock on wood) And even though I can't actually SEE any legs or anything, I'm pretty sure at this point that it's a tick. Next logical step, of course... google "how to remove a tick". (what the heck did people DO before the internet?!?) So I drag Connor (and the daylight lamp) into the bathroom, get out the tweezers and tell him I need to take it out. Now, he didn't actually freak out or anything, but I think he may have been a little scared because he was downright adamant that it was NOT a tick. And no he didn't need me to take it out because it was nothing... nope, not a tick... nothing. Um yeah... I don't think so. I can just see me trying to figure out what to do about Lyme Disease! NOT HAPPENING! So I force him to stand in front of me and hold the lamp above my head so I can see the damn speck. I grab hold with the tweezers and pull it slightly away from his body like the instructions directed. Then I held it there... and we waited. It seemed to take FOREVER, though in reality it was probably only 2 or 3 minutes. And FINALLY the tick backed out and let go. Captured in my tweezers I popped it into a ziploc baggie and made sure it was well sealed (just in case Connor should get sick or anything, so we can take the culprit to the doctor with us). We washed the bite spot and both of our hands with soap and water then I proceeded to check the rest of his body while the boy tried (and failed) to escape the bathroom. After I dropped the tweezers into a pot of boiling water for good measure, I held the baggie up to the daylight lamp and sure enough... I could see microscopic little legs, the critter was squirming around in the baggie, probably wondering where his dinner had gone! After showing the boys (because you know they like that creepy stuff), I delivered the baggie to the freezer for safe keeping and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Yep... things are always fun around here with three boys. ;) 

On a MUCH happier note... I am finally getting caught up with my custom orders (only 4 more to go now). I made this guy late last night and he is definitely one of my favorites! I just LOVE the rainbow sock and his face totally looks like a frog to me with the green and yellow. :) 


Hopefully today is completely uneventful! ;)

Friday, May 21, 2010

thanks to a fellow blogger...

My very first day of blogging and I've already bumped into some wonderful fellow bloggers. Michele of The Scrap Shoppe gave me a heads up on another fun link party happening over on the Oopsey-Daisy blog. She suggested I post there with my Lens Pets™ since they're specifically made to capture the attention of babies and toddlers who might otherwise not want to look at the camera. SO I posted my link, now to jump over to some of the other great blogs linked there...




I definitely see how this blogging thing can become an overnight addiction! I've already posted here 3 times today and I've spent way more time surfing from blog to blog today than I should! Better get back to the sewing table now! ;)

New Friend Friday...

In my quest to find other crafty bloggers to follow and link to and whatever else it is that bloggers  are supposed to do, I stumbled upon The Girl Creative. Oddly enough she runs something called New Friend Friday.

The Girl Creative

From The Girl Creative I followed a link to Trendy Treehouse where she does something called Follow Me Fridays!


FollowMeFridays

SOO I posted my link (though I accidentally misspelled it on the Treehouse blog... OOPS!  That'll teach me to pay better attention from now on) and now I'm off to surf around the other blogs linked in both places. Hopefully in the process finding myself a reader or two. ;) Wish me luck in my first ever blogg-y endeavor! ;)

Joining the big bad blogging world!

I never thought it would happen. I'm ANYTHING but a writer. And yet, I've decided to start this blog. It will (hopefully) be a useful tool in updating anyone interested in the goodies I am creating for my Etsy shop as well as the custom orders I've been working on. After inquiries from a number of people wondering if I had a blog and a few ideas for contests/giveaways racing around in my head, a blog just seemed like the best way to get the word out. The blogging world is SO insanely huge and connected, frankly I find it a bit frightening! But here I am, jumping in with both feet. :) I don't claim to be a writer (did I say that already?!)... but hopefully I can keep it interesting. I'm almost caught up with the overwhelming rush of custom orders I've had and I will hopefully be working on things for my Etsy shop starting sometime next weekend. If anyone has suggestions for something they'd like to see here or in my shop feel free to let me know. And just in case some new friends happen to stumble upon this blog.... here are a few examples of my work. Enjoy!

sock monsters:



Lens Pets:



If you're interested in seeing more of my creations check out my FB page: MandeeFranee Designs