Crazy Sock Creatures and Silly Sock Pets - My Saturday

This Saturday I ran a workshop day at the local quilting and sewing shop.  It was "Crazy Sock Creatures and Silly Sock Pets  " and - guess what - we made Sock Creatures!

Jo-Ann made "worms"!

Also a rather adorable dog....

...with a very appealing look in his shiny eyes.

Marie came up with a wonderful pink lady bunny, with loooong eyelashes - very glam!  She also had a go at the 2-sock dog, like Becky.  Hers was quite different, with the big roses splashed over it, googly eyes and sparkly glitter-glue eyebrows. He also had a knotted wool tassel for a tail.

Leah, aged 11, came with her grandma, Chris.  They made a couple of lovely sock rabbits.  This is Leah's, which she made for a baby family member.  She was very careful with her sewing and embroidered the features, so there was nothing dangerous to the baby.   Leah also started a sock Monkey.  It was about half done by the end of the day.

Sadly, Chris didn't want me to photograph any of her items, because she hadn't finished them yet.  She made a baby rabbit too (which still needed its face), and was part-way through a very bright yellow spotted dog. 

June made a great striped cat, then a really funky rabbit.  Although they were obviously made from the same pair of socks, they look so different.  I loved them!

Last, but by no means least...  Becky first made this wonderful leopard-cat.  I love his felty nose and the pattern of the sock on his tummy.

She gave him embroidered eyes, which are so well camouflaged, but work extremely well.

Becky's next project was a dragon, which she found in one of the books I had brought along for reference and ideas.  The one in the book was green...  But Becky had 2 pairs of socks, one pink, one black, so she decided to combine them, to make this truly fabulous creature!  She split the pink sock for his head, so that she could use the black one as a mouth lining. 

She gave him toes on his feet and fingers on his paws.  Her plan was to make big teeth from white felt, plus claws for the fingers and toes.  I hope she finished it at home - it would have looked amazing!

I think the day was a success.  Everyone seemed fairly happy with their sock creatures and all had more than one project to take away with them.  They all seemed to think they would have another go at home too.  I hope they enjoyed it - I certainly enjoyed seeing the wonderful variety of creatures they came up with!

* * *

Oh, a commenter has reminded me that there are two tutorials here, on my blog, for making your own Sock Creatures!  Look here: for a cute little one-sock Bunny Rabbit and here: for instructions to make a traditional Sock Monkey.  Have fun!  

Odd Sox Rox - Totally!

Hello Blog Friends,  sorry I've been away for a while. I have been pretty busy, but also had one of those blog-breaks that happen from time to time... No lack of material, but a definite lack of inspiration!

But here I am, back again, like the provervial Bad Penny!

To tell you about an Event that Happened this morning.

For a bit of background...  You may not know, but I have a Page on Facebook - called, funnily enough, "LizzieMade" (you can find it here, if you fancy a look - feel free to "Like" my page, it will make me smile anyway!) .  Sooooo.... Anyways, I follow a number of other folks' Pages from my own, including a lot of artists and crafty folks, who make fab and wonderful stuff.  A few times, I have bought something from one or two of these people - either from their shops on Etsy, Folksy or BigCartel etc, or direct through their Facebook Page. 

One of these people is Louise, proprietor of Odd Sox Rox, maker of  "Original stuff made from socks."  - she has a shop here. 

Odd Sox is not the place to find a cute sock bunny (though, as you will see, Cute does occasionally happen there).  You won't find a monkey or a giraffe, elephant or bear... But she makes and sells the fabbiest Sock Creatures in the whole world, so it doesn't matter if the traditional toys are not featured!

So, to return to This Morning:

The doorbell rang and the Post Lady was there, with two dark pink parcels for me.  Cue happy dancing, as I had forgotten!

Once I had (nicely!) got rid of the post lady, I hurried to open them and then to find my camera, to record the Event:

What was Inside the packages...

This adorably cute little person, is a Bug.  She is my very own - I chose her from a basketful - and she is the Best Bug in the Basket.   See the note on the back of that postcard in the previous picture?  That shows how Important my Bug is.

She has cute little Buggy Wings....

...and a little heart-shaped pocket, just right for tucking a note inside - or holding a folded-over notice like the one above.

That was the first parcel.  There were also some very nice cards, with envelopes, as I had paid for two lots of postage (2 orders on the same day), but Louise felt I should have only paid for one; so she sent me a pressie (or two... wait and see!)

Parcel Two

First of all, out fell this sweet little heart.  He says his name is Clive - who am I to argue? Welcome Clive, to your new home!

Then this Person! 

This is a Grump.  You can tell because he looks like one.  He is a Grump and Proud of it!

I don't know his name - he doesn't seem to have one.  DS will help him to choose one later.

The trouble with being a Grump, is that grumpiness is your natural state.  But, hey! I know other people who don't like having their photo taken (in fact, I have an excellent photo somewhere, of my mum and grandma, at my sister's wedding... point a camera at them, and they immediately began to look as if it was a funeral, rather than a wedding - yet they were all smiles before and afterwards. Hey-ho! )

So, anyway, grumpy being his version of Normal, this Grump found it hard to pose for a photo shoot.

He did try - I'm sure he did...

I thought it was time to introduce the new members of the household to the Studio and its other inhabitants.  I started with Zombie Monkey.  He's been a bit lonely the past week, because all his friends - Bella, Elvis the Teddy-Bear, Apres-Ski Bunny, White Bichon Puppy and Doggy - are at Tudor Rose (the sewing shop), being "models" for my Sock Creatures workshop day in January.  They are supposed to look cute and drum up trade.  Zombie Monkey isn't good at being cute.  Besides, he had work to do last night, so I couldn't let him go away. 

I thought they would like to meet each other.

In spite of the challenges he faces, Zombie Monkey is primarily a kind and friendly creature.  He doesn't like to see anyone else feeling sad.  He tried a kind word or two, a friendly gesture.

Mixed results, I think.  Our Grump didn't run away, but he seemed a bit bemused. 

I introduced him to the Shelf, where Zombie Monkey lives and works. 

You can see that Zombie Monkey is doing his best to be welcoming.

The Grump seemed less unhappy after being reunited with Clive.

The meeting between Zombie Monkey and Bug was more successful. I think they like each other.  Bug just needs to be loved - and Zombie Monkey does his best to be kind to those smaller than himself.

I think, in time, they will all settle down happily together... 

Thank you to the wonderful Odd Sox Rox, for my fab new Sock Things! 

Monkey Mania

You all must know by now, that I love Sock Creatures - especially Monkeys. 

Sock Monkey Family Portrait - Family Monkeys, Mon, Bro' and Bella...

Sock Monkey Family Portrait - the Class Monkeys - Teddy Bear, Zombie and Bella

(that Bella gets everywhere y'know...)

Socks are just so cool; they are ready-knitted little bodies and heads, for a whole selection of amazing creatures. 

Socks are wasted on feet - they're far more fun, if you turn them into something! 

People have devoted whole books to what you can make with socks. Some people make their living by creating things with socks!

So back in March, I taught a workshop day at the Saturday club my son goes to.  We made Sock Creatures and the students came up with some fabulous results:

The Fabulous Results!

Last Saturday, I taught a second workshop. This time we made Sock Monkeys - yay!

I had eleven students, aged from 9 to around 15 years.  Three had been to the previous Sock Creatures course - which must mean they enjoyed themselves!!

We spent the day working through the various stages of Sock Monkey construction (see my Tutorial to find out how we made them).  

We started with these...

We stitched, snipped and stuffed...

...prodded and poked...

...tweaked, tidied and tied...

Eventually we got to the end of the day.  Everyone worked very hard, but we didn't quite have enough time to complete our monkeys. 

Here is the Almost-Finished Result:

Monkeys... well, nearly!

Everyone went home with a little plastic bag, containing their selection of buttons, beads, trim etc, to give their monkey a face and some sort of decoration. 

The students all seemed happy with their Monkeys. I think it was just me who was really disappointed - because I won't get to see those cute Monkey faces...  We just needed another half-hour really...

I asked the students how they'd feel about a longer course, of two or three days, where we would make simple creatures first, followed by monkeys with clothes (and faces!).  They were very enthusiastic and said they wouldn't mind going back over the same steps again, to make their monkeys and that they'd like a longer course.  I will suggest it to the Club. 

We also discussed the idea of "Creatures for Christmas", during the Christmas term.  We could make santas, 

snowmen,

pets with woolly scarves...

The students had other ideas for Christmassy creatures too.  I am going to suggest this to the Club, along with a workshop to make simple books, as Christmas gifts, since that idea was also received with some enthusiasm.

I had a great day on Saturday, though I was very exhausted afterwards, from all the preparation work and the long, long day.  I could hardly talk on Saturday evening - my throat was dry and sore and I was just so worn out.  Needless to say, I was in bed disgracefully early and out for the count before 10pm!

I think I'm learning a lot from these workshops too - such as what can be fitted into a day, and what can't!

The next teaching I will do, will be a bookbinding course, at my local needlework and patchworking shop.  There is a shop in Oakley called Tudor Rose Patchwork, who have a classroom behind the shop.  They have various crafting clubs going on weekly or monthly and also bring tutors in, to offer a whole range of courses.  They've concentrated mostly on sewing-based courses up to now, but decided to try introducing some different things. 

I was asked if I would like to try a book-binding workshop, so I will be teaching "Simple Books with Fabric Covers" on Saturday 16th July:

My samples, which are on display in the shop. 

I'm quite excited already!

* * *

And Finally... Sherlock has a new job...

C.S.I. Monkey...

Watch out for the new TV series, starting soon!

Fun on Fursday 4

Well I took the sample books to the shop today.  The lady was very enthusiastic and gave me a shelf of my own, in the glass display cabinet, where the books are now arranged on a piece of black velvet (!).  They all look very nice. Her colleague is going to make nice labels for them, to say what they are and also a label with the course details.  Who knows, I may even get some students!  The brochure for the summer courses is at the printers and due in the shop any day, so they are ready to sign people up (she seemed to think they'll have sign-ups completed in June... )  Exciting!

So, yesterday afternoon, this is what was on my Workdesk:

A box of socks...

...which made quite a mess on my desk!  This is my Sock Stash, which I am using to make samples etc for my Sock Monkey course.

Another boxful on the floor - this is the "after sorting out" picture.  These socks belong to the students.

So yesterday afternoon and also this afternoon, I have been Making Monkeys.  Pictures to follow, as they are "in progress" and I don't want to spoil the surprise. There are two just now, maybe three by tomorrow afternoon...if I have time!

Also today, the postie brought this:

My paper order! 

Five sheets of my Favourite Paper - and my customers' favourite too.  More books can be made!

I ordered these two papers too, to see if they would appeal to anyone.  I've added them to my Facebook album full of Paper Choices!  I like the red birds & birdcages one - I may have a use for this very soon! 

All these papers are made by a company called Cavallini.  The quality is wonderful and they have a fine, slightly ribbed texture, which makes them very nice to handle. 

I also ordered this!   I thought I would put it on the wall of my studio, so I can see where many of my Blog Friends live - and also where my books are going to  (those that go to the USA of course).  I will see if I can find a World Map also.  Such fun!

And I looked out of my Studio window this evening - this is what I saw:

Floating right by my house!!

Finally, something I've been saving for today - a favourite "Cheezburger" picture -

Made me smile... it's so true.

Happy Thursday, everyone!