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Last Saturday I packed all my new sock monkey and took them on a bus ride to Freshy’s Coffee in West Seattle for a cute craft event called “Homemade Brigade”. This seemed like the perfect spot to reveal the new batch of Spring inspired sock monkeys, which I’ll talk about more in the next post.
It was also great meeting talented folks like Julia from Pixel & Post, London from Such Sweet Tierney and Catherine from Modern Little Ones. They all had such cute items (want)! I had a really good time and it was nice to get feedback from the coffee shop regulars and even their little ones. Oh the breakfast sandwich and the white chocolate mocha were tasty!
Stay tuned to meet the new Spring Mars Sock Monkeys: Jenny, Tyler, Esther, Terry, Davina and Tim. They’re pretty cute. :)
New Moo cards.
And new Mars Sock Monkey Postcards from Zazzle.
Freshy’s Coffee Homemade Brigade
Julia from Pixel & Post makes very nice stationary and lovely posters.
Such Sweet Tierney makes cute handmade buttons and accessories!
Tags: brigade, cafe, chocolate, coffee, event, food, Freshy''s, homemade, mars, mocha, Modern Little Ones, monkey, Pixel & Post, sandwich, seattle, sock, spring, Such Sweet Tierney, west
I’m back home from a great vacation to two of my favorite destinations: London and El Paso. I picked up some yarn and trim at Liberty in Oxford Street, craft bows and satin roses from The Make Lounge and socks from TOPMAN and the Camden Lock Market. In Texas, I visited Hobby Lobby for some stationary, stickers and more bows.
I had so much fun while I was away, but it feels good to be back home with all my supplies! I was also happy to see Anita, Andre and Bunny patiently waiting for my return. They too want to travel so they can’t wait to find new loving homes. Hopefully they get to go far and wide in their lifetime. :)
To purchase one of these sock monkeys, click on their photo or visit Maribel Made on Etsy.
Anita Mars Sock Monkey
Andre Mars Sock Monkey
Bunny Mars Sock Monkey
Tags: Andre, Anita, bows, bunny, Candem Lock Market, craft, el paso, etsy, Hobby Lobby, liberty, london, mars, monkey, oxford, roses, sock, stationary, stickers, supplies, texas, The Make Lounge, Topman, trim, vacation, yarn
My newest Mars Sock Monkeys come with a bit of a Holiday flair and animal cuteness! There’s a sock monkey with a bear, bunny, piggy and a panda. I’ve done some of these cute animal designs on hoodies for my custom sock monkeys so I wanted to bring this nice detail to the sweatshirt hoodie. Included are some new colors: red and a Japanese piggy print fabric.
I used a technique called needle felting to add the small detail like the eyes and nose to the animal faces. I then embroidered their little mouths and attached the final pieces to the hoodies. I also tried something different by switching the heel part of the sock on some of the sock monkeys, which gave them different colored mouths.
This group of sock monkeys was fun to make. There were so many ideas that didn’t make it, but I’m sure I can incorporate them into next year’s sock monkeys! This Winter 09 batch of Mars Sock Monkeys are for sale on Etsy. As always, each of my Mars Sock Monkeys are one of a kind and handmade. Have a look. :)
Tags: 2009, animal, bear, bunny, colors, cute, embroidery, etsy, fabric, felt, felting, handmade, holiday, hoodie, inspired, japanese, kawaii, mars, monkey, mouth, needle, panda, piggy, print, release, sale, seasonal, shop, shopping, sock, sweatshirt, unique, winter
Lately I’ve been taking my knitting from my desk to the couch where it’s warmer. Doing this made me think of all the different tools I take with me so I thought it’d be fun to do a post on them. When I knit a Mar Sock Monkey Hoodie these are the five essential tools I need (left to right): Knitting needles, crochet hook, tapestry needle, stitch holder and thread cutters.
Knitting needles: One of my favorite tools are my Addi Turbo circular needles. I love them. I use size US 3 needles, which allow me to do some of the color work on the front of the sweaters. I also like that they’re circular because they don’t fall and there’s no hassle switching between them. My needles were bent, but they still get the job done! :)
Crochet hook: I saw a lot of these while growing up since my Mom is an avid crocheter. She uses some pretty small sizes for her work! As for me, I use a Clover aluminum crochet hook size C. It’s perfect for picking up stitches, adding finishing to the edge of knitted fabric and tidying those loose yarn ends. Also nice for making winter hats. The crochet hook has become such a useful tool for me.
Tapestry needle: Once all my pieces are complete I use a tapestry needle to sew the seams together. It has a curved tip which is nice for sewing knit fabric; the tip peaks out from the puffy stitches. The large eyelet works great on double knit (DK) worsted yarns. I own a set of Clover Chibi jumbo darning needles. They’re nice and big and come in a little capsule so I don’t loose them easily. ;)
Stitch holder: I used to use stitch holders to put my projects on hold, but these days I get some proper use out of them. They work like extra needles which secure knit stitches in place. I use one to hold stitches at the top the hood. While one half of the stitches are on hold I knit the other half of the hood using my circular needles. After both ends are done I connect them at the top using the kitchener stitch. I have a set of 6″ and 7″ extra large Clover aluminum stitch holders.
Thread cutters: I fell in love with these cutters as soon as I got them. They’re cute and they’re the tool I use the most besides my knitting needles. They work great on thread and even thick yarns. I use them when I sew on the sewing machine because they’re not bulky like big scissors and they’re quick to grab. I bought these from an old Edmund Scientifics catalog but I recently ordered one and they’re nowhere to be found. :( I’d like another cute pair like these…I also have a pair of these. :)
Yarn: I wasn’t going to forget about yarn itself. It keeps my sock monkeys nice and warm. I’m still learning about weights and types because there’s lots to know about yarn. I use double knits. They’re somewhere in between baby yarns and yarns for adult clothing. I also like to use cotton mixes and I prefer strong bright colors! I keep my yarns in a large clear plastic bag so I can see them when choosing color.
I hope you enjoyed my knitting tools write up! If you’re a beginner or advanced knitter, I’d highly recommend the tools above. Knitting is like many trades when it comes to using the right high quality tools. I’ve bought some cheap stuff and it doesn’t work as well as the higher-end stuff. :)
Thanks to Toby for taking some of these photos!
Tags: brand, clover, craft, crochet, cutters, darning, diy, essential, holder, hood, hoodie, hook, jumper, knitted, knitting, maribel made, mars, monkey, needles, product, shopping, sock, stitch, supplies, sweater, sweatshirt, tapestry, thread, Tools, trade, yarn
Earlier this morning, I released the new batch of Mars Sock Monkeys I’ve been secretly working on for the past month. One noticeably big change about these new monkeys is that they wear sweatshirt fabric hoodies, which I spent a lot of time perfecting so that they kept their original appeal. To celebrate the Fall and Halloween seasons, I chose warm and earthy colors for them to give these new sock monkeys a nice festive look.
These 10 hooded companions are the beginning of a new era of sock monkeys for Maribel Made! Just like their original ancestors with knitted hoodies, these little guys are also handmade by me so you know they’re made with great care and quality products. :)
These and more Mars Sock Monkeys can be purchased online on Etsy. Remember, not one sock monkey is alike so if you see one you like grab it before it’s gone!
Tags: ancestors, appeal, autumn, beginning, care, celebration, change, color, companion, earthy, era, etsy, fabric, fall, festive, generation, halloween, handmade, hoodie, knitted, launch, maribelmade, mars, monkeys, new, original, product, purchase, quality, realease, season, shop, sock, sweatshirt, warm
The first Urban Craft Uprising show I went to must have been December 06. I wasn’t doing much crafting at the time, but having the urge to made me curious about the Seattle craft scene. This year’s first Summer 09 Urban Craft Uprising was great. I guess I couldn’t get enough because I went both days! Meeting people opening day Saturday was fun and the 3d felting demo given by Moxie on Sunday was pretty cool.
There were also a ton of things I really, really wanted (in no particular order):
Maluhia Designs Japanese fabric purses, covers, etc!
Fox & Clover necklaces
Amy Hevron art
Wooly Bison bags
Spooky Mama Creations jewelry
Manmade Monsters t-shirts
Polymath Design Lab jewelry and home
Population One bags
Thea Starr Kanzashi hair accessories
Devout dolls and oddities!
Chikabird fabric pencil notebooks
Hasenpfeffer Incorporated dolls
Friends of Socktopus toys
Jessi Taylor jewelry
Cake spy illustrations
Berkley Illustration! art
Orange House Press. I think you get the idea. :)
These are only a few of the great products designed and put together by some very talented and dedicated people (some of whom I met)! The photos I took on Sunday are some of the vendors and artists that day. I know I missed many faces so sorry about that, but feel free to fill in the gaps by commenting or adding notes on the photos. Oh yeah, I was asked if I was selling at the event, but not this year. Hopefully I can showcase some Mars Sock Monkeys at an Urban Craft Uprising show in the future. I’m looking forward to December’s show!
Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching!
Kristen Rask from SCHMANSY
CJ (middle) from Lunaversoul
Libby from moth and squirrel
Creation Station
Scrumptious Delight
Fox & Clover
Little Black Rabbit
Maluhia Designs
Made by Moxie
Tags: 2009, Amy Hevron, author, Cakespy, chikabird, craft, Creation Station, demo, demonstration, Devout, dolls, event, felt, Fox & Clover, friends of socktopus, hasenpfeffer incorporated, indie, Jenny Hart, Jessi Taylor, Kristen Rask, Lunaversoul, Made by Moxie, Maluhia Designs, Manmade Monsters, maribel made, moth and squirrel, needle, Orange House press, polulation one, polumath design lab, schmancy, Scrumptious Delight, seattle, show, Spooky Mama Creations, summer, Thea Starr, toys, ucu, ucuLittle Black Rabbit, uprising, urban, Wooly Bison
A few months ago I found a great artist on deviantArt. Valentina Crespo from BleuhMeuhDesign creates amazing super kawaii illustrations (including ice cream cones)! At the time I was making a logo for my friend and up-and-coming crafter, Laimee, based on her original ice cream cone design. With all these cute works of art, I felt inspired to imitate Valentina’s style into the design. It’s no match to her work, but it was really fun to make!
Laimee makes adorable ice cream cones and doughnut pin cushions! I personally own an ice cream cone and it’s super cute. Soon I’ll be using it as a prop for a sock monkey photo shoot. :)
Tags: BleuhMeuhDesign, cone, cream, cushion, design, donut, graphic, ice, Illustration, laimee, logo, pin, Valentina Crespo
Yay! I managed to put together the sixth Maribel Made Twit Finds. Things are a bit hectic over here because I’m moving. Country moves are epic, but it’s a good thing our flat came furnished. You might see a bit of a change in my blogging in the next month or so until things get a bit settled, but I’m going to try very hard to keep you all up to date on what’s going on. For now, I hope you enjoy my Twit Finds. :)
This week’s Twit Finds:
- How to Make a “Bloomin’Box” for Spring by Jeffery Rudell of CraftStylish- I’m totally going to try this tonight. I need a break! (via @dudecraft)
- Cinnamon Copper Cushion Pillow Cover by Hand Knitted Things on Etsy- It may look simple, but it’s chic and very nicely done. :) (via @timothyadam)
- Easter Egg Radish Scarf MULTI scarflet lariat necklace crochet amigurumi by TWiNKiE CHAN on Etsy - This scarf is so fun and super cute! Kyaa!! (via @twinkiechan)
- Chair by Andrea Joseph’s Illustrations - I love this illustration. Andrea’s work is very pretty. :) (via @michaelnobbs )
- Tiny Earring Tree by Timothy Adam Designs on Etsy - I think I could use one of these with two more branches. I like it! (via @timothyadam)
- Chickenpox (Varicella-Zoster virus) by GIANTmicrobes - Killer plush! So cool. (via @neatorama)
See you again next week!
Tags: Andrea Joseph, blooming, box, chair, chickenpox, cinnamon, cover, cushion, display, Drawing, Dude Craft, earring, easter, egg, etsy, feature, finds, GiantMicrobe, Hand Knitted Things, howto, Illustration, Jeffery Rudell, killer, maribel made, microbe, moving, origami, pillow, plush, radish, scarf, spring, Timothy Adam, tree, Twinkie Chan, twit, twitter, virus
On my sixth week of being a Twitter and I’ve gained 390 @maribelmade followers. Yay!
I’ve made a lot of new friends in the past five weeks and I thank all these new friends for the yummy content they feed me on a regular basis. In turn, I present some of the most interesting content be it handcrafted, artisan made, finely instructed or uniquely designed works in a weekly blog post I call Maribel Made Twit Finds. I hope you enjoy the goodies. :)
This week’s Twit Finds:
- Corsages and boutonnieres by Laurie Cinotto of La La Laurie - These are so pretty! (via @crowandcanary)
- Extra Wide Cool and Warm Neck Cowl by Emma Charles Photo Plus on Etsy - For your puppy! This little guy looks adorable. Makes me want a puppy even more if it can wear these fashions. (via @Etsy)
- Steampunk Ring by Catherinette Rings on Etsy - Stunning piece of jewelery. (via @SteampunkRings)
- How to Make an Apple-Print Tote Bag by Kayte Terry of CraftStylish - This looks like so much fun. I like the idea of stamping with organic or found objects. Makes things even more interesting. :) (via @CraftStylish)
- “Junior Space Commander” Letterpress Print by Candykiller - Slightly bizarre and imaginative characters by artist Brian Taylor. Very very nice works! (via @tommmykane)
- Hibiscus Wrist Purse by Kathleen Dustin - Exquisite evening bags become wearable art. Magnificent! (via @papercrave)
See you again next week!
Tags: apple, art, article, artisan, bag, blog, boutonnieres, Brian Taylor, Candykiller, Catherinette Rings, column, commander, corsage, cowl, Craft Stylish, design, diy, Emma Charles Photo Plus, etsy, evening, finds, handmade, hibiscus, howto, instructables, interesting, jewelery, junior, Kathleen Dustin, Kayte Terry, La La Laurie, Laurie Cinotto, letterpress, maribel made, neck, post, print, purse, ring, space, steampunk, tote, tutorial, twit, twitter, weekly
