Another MATURE sock monkey

I just finished the second in my new line of mature sock monkeys and I have to tell you, I laugh the whole time I am sewing these guys. I have actually received a few "hate mail" type letters telling me how derranged and disturbed I am and that I ought to be ashamed of myself. My response....meh..I already know that but thanks for noticing me...LOL. It is all in good fun and not meant to offend anyone.

This little beauty's name is Shane. She is a prominent member of the lesbian community but tends to be a bit of a slut! She is a fantastic hairdresser but fails horribly in the relationship category of life. In Shane's world it is all about sex....whenever and however she can get it.

the next Generation of sock monkey....

I unveiled my new sock monkey a couple of days ago and although she hasn't sold yet, she has generated a lot of stir on ETSY. She is the first of my new collection of anatomically correct sock monkeys...that's right...naughty bits and all. Destiny received over 600 views in her first 48 hours on ETSY....that is insane!!!!

Thank God it's Friday!

Well this has certainly been a very difficult week. I am feeling a lot better today after my fall last Saturday but for most of the week I have been a hurting unit!

On a really bright note, I made my second ETSY sale this week! I was fortunate enough to join the Alberta Street team on ETSY and they have a new weekly business chat to do a friendly critique on one of the member's shops and I was chosen to be the first shop critiqued. I was so amazed by how friendly and helpful the participants of the chat were. It made me really emotional to realize that there are still really great, selfless people out there, that are willing to give so much without any reward other than the satisfaction of having helped someone. I want to spotlight a couple of ladies that really made an impact on me. You can visit their ETSY shops by following these links:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5547931

and:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=95709

In addition to being really great people, these two ladies have really great handmade items for sale. Check them out!

On the production front, I am going to begin putting together some fridge magnets today. I want to add a little variety to my shop so I am going to do a pocket monster fridge magnet to start. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

A minor setback

Well, I had a minor setback with the amazing progress I was making on my ETSY shop yesterday. I fell, head first, down a flight of wooden stairs on my back yesterday. I am pretty much ok and was lucky to come out of it with only a sprained foot and some severe muscle bruising on my back but my goodness did it ever scare me. I am still a little shaken about it and it was over 24 hours ago.

Needless to say, I am taking it easy for a bit to heal up. I will continue to blog and let you all know how I am doing.

The really exciting news is that the team that I belong to on ETSY, the Alberta street team, has organized a new business chat for our team to do a friendly critique on one of the members shops each week and my shop is going to be the first critiqued! I am so nervous and excited! I will post to let everyone know how it went.

My first Etsy Sale!!!!

Well I sold my very first sock monkey yesterday on Etsy! What a great start to the new year. I ran out first thing this morning to ship Queenie the sock monkey off to California with a little extra spring in my step. This was especially surprising considering it was a brisk -30 degrees this morning.

I was very excited to find that the location that I find all of the unique socks that my monkeys are created from, had just received a new shipment of socks. I grabbed a few new pairs and I am raring to go to sew a few new "special" little buddies!

Happy new year!

New years eve was, as usual for us, very quiet. In fact I think that I had just come out of a nice little slumber on the couch when I heard the countdown begin...lol. I used to think that this was a sign of getting old but I have since come to the realization that I am happy that I no longer feel the need to go out and abuse my mind and body with booze and illegal drugs in order to have a "good time". It is nice to wake up on new years day and feel healthy.

I have managed to complete 5 new monkeys while on christmas vacation. I am going outside to take some photos of them so I can post them on etsy over the next few days. I have resolved that I will do my best to post one creation a day on my site. We will see how I make out with that.

Back to the Doctor....again...

So it is no secret ( I have it posted in my etsy profile) that I have been recently diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. I have known for some time that something was amiss in my wee little head but I didn't want to be "branded" with this label. People seem to raise a brow and turn the other way when they hear that you are bi-polar. Am I a different person, less trustworthy, less loyal, perhaps less intelligent, just because some shrink said that I have a mental disorder? I am the same person that you have always known. I haven't changed. The only thing that has changed is this F*&^ing black cloud that seems to be attached to this new label that has been been assigned to me.

So now, I am told, I need to take lithium. So now I see the doctor every week to monitor my lithium levels and I have to have blood drawn weekly as well so this has turned into a very time consuming little experiment. I hope that this will help me to feel a little more level.

Why, you ask, am I choosing to be so open about this, given the risk that it will make you think less of me? That is the reason exactly. I am a capable, intelligent, mother and wife. I lead a productive life. I am a good person and I know many other good people who also happen to have various mental disorders. We are grossly misunderstood. We need to be more open and more present in the world so that people will gain a greater understanding of all that we are. Please don't let our disorders define who we are.