a history lesson: the evolution of monsterami

I was cleaning my apartment tonight and I came across the FIRST MONSTERAMI EVER MADE!  I can't help but laugh...I read the Crochet for Beginners book wrong and instead of doing single crochet in the round, I did slip stitches for the entire thing. That's why his head is so misshapen.  haha  Well, that and I didn't know how to decrease stitches properly...

I cleverly thought to pose him with a bunch of martini glasses to make him seem more interesting....

The next day I decided to get off my lazy ass and google amigurumi.  I actually found some videos online and learned how to do it "the right way". My second amigurumi creation was a frog - and I followed a pattern and everything!

[I realized later I was still doing it the wrong way...I was crocheting in the back loop only instead of thru both loops.]

My third creation combined regular crochet with crochet in the round. I bought some more yarn colors (you can only make so many green and white things) and found another easy pattern online.  I posted this pic of him on my facebook page...

His pic got the following comments:
"looks like he had a few already"
"man, you look goofy when you drink wine"
"what you made it? what is it? a sponge?"
And Voila! The first monsterami with a name was born... Little Drunky!

So there you have it... for all you history buffs out there.  haha (And before anyone asks, no, I cannot recreate that first one. He was one of a kind...)

p.s. All three were stuffed with cotton balls. haha I was too lazy to go to the store to buy polyfil and I wasn't sure I would stick with this new hobby. 

Fabio

My name is Fabio. I like to eat pickles at the movies. I roll my own cigarettes.

Richard and Carl

Richard and Carl are best friends. Richard wears his swimmy suit when he runs out of clean underwear. Carl likes to chase badgers and eat bologna sandwiches.

Lars

My name is Lars. I have an outie belly button. Sometimes I grind my teeth at night.

a wonderful evening and The WonderCraft

I went to an Austin Babes in Business meeting last night (my first meeting). I was nervous about going because I'm shy talking to new people and this was obviously a group that knew each other well. Everyone was really nice and I got a lot of positive feedback about my monsteramis. We were told to bring samples of our stuff (most of the members make handcrafted goods, lots of Etsians, etc.) but I think I was the only one who brought a HUGE bagful. haha  I think it looked like I was guarding my bag all night, but in actuality I'm just not a mingler. I find a place I like and I stay put. 

We had a roundtable meet and greet and exchanged business cards and talked about our crafts. We ate and drank (I drank more than I ate, as usual) and had a gift exchange (I took home a really cool handmade glass business card holder from Third Coast Art Glass!).   

Afterward, Beth H. and Beth A., two of the girls who own The WonderCraft [www.thewondercraft.com] asked if they could sell my monsteramis in their shop on consignment!  I was so excited!! I left them with 12 monsteramis. 

I was drunk and forgot I had a camera with me so all I have is a pic of the receipt I got and a flier. 

"F you, William Hung!"

Franklin's favorite song is She Bangs. He credits himself as being the inspiration behind William Hung's performance of the song on American Idol and his subsequent rise to fame.  Please don't mention William Hung's name around Franklin as it is still very much a sore subject... he firmly believes he was cheated out of his 15 minutes of fame. 

Marty

Marty is a cheeky little monsterami monkey. His favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. He's been spotted lurking around cookie jars across the great state of Texas...but his lightning fast speed has so far prevented him from being caught.  If you see him, proceed with caution. He WILL bite.

Whatsa happening, hot stuff?

A few exciting things have been happening in monsterami-land lately.

First, I had a meeting with a potential investor a few days ago. He's really interested in working together, but we have to overcome a few obstacles...mainly how to mass produce them by machine (if a machine exists that can crochet stuff like this). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can work something out.

Second, I was just asked to be a vendor at Garbo Salon's 25th Anniversary party on March 11, benefiting Safe Place. My friend Lauren Collins is an esthetician at the salon and she showed the girls in the salon my monsterami pics on facebook and she said they all loved them.  Thanks, Garbo girls!
www.garboasalon.com

Third, I'm considering applying to be a vendor at the Renegade Craft Fair in May. It's a well known craft fair in cities like Chicago, Brooklyn and San Francisco, and this will be the first year it's held in Austin! I have a couple of weeks to decide...  (I am maid of honor in my friend Terra's wedding in May so I don't want this craft fair to interfere with my MOH duties.)
http://www.renegadecraft.com/

Lastly, here is a pic of my latest monsterami. I am only posting this pic because I think the socks are cute. (This was a custom monsterami and the buyer paid double to have a Texas A&M monsterami made.)

HOOK 'EM HORNS

Good luck tonight, Longhorns!!!

Let's kick some Bama ass and win the BCS Championship!!!

Hurt

Looks like I'll be taking a break from making monsters... I hurt my finger somehow. The good news is the nail's not infected and there is no need to amputate!  PHEW!

I was going to make a UT monsterami before the BCS Championship game tomorrow but now I can't... BOO!

Happy New Year 2010!

I hope everyone had a fabulous and safe New Year! Here are a few pics of monsteramis at New Years day brunch (Bunny loves mimosas!) and also recovery Sunday (Pirate likes a nice wheat beer). I suggested that they may want to lay off the sauce for a while, but by their growly snarly reactions, I gather they don't think they have a problem...