mr. monkeysuit

traveling art show, a free pattern

Happy first of December to you! 

(I had a sum total of three hours sleep last night, so please forgive me if I seem a bit incoherent.)

As a way of spreading a little Christmas crafting love I've decided to offer up my traveling art show pattern for free.

It's a nifty little pattern for a wrap which holds all kinds of favorite art supplies. Each wrap can hold a notepad, crayons, pens and a Dover little book or any small sized activity book. 

They are much beloved by my own children who have, at last count, three each. I have been giving lots of them as presents this year and they've been a big hit.

I keep a couple in my car and one in my handbag and I use them all the time. They have saved my sanity more than once while waiting at a restaurant for a meal to arrive. They are a breeze to make and are completely addictive. 

The pattern will be permanently in my sidebar soon, but for now you can find it right here.

Happy Crafty Holidays!

lots of new and exciting things + a giveaway

I am super excited to announce the opening of my new etsy shop, auburn studios.

 

I'm kicking it off with these two patterns. The traveling art show above and below, my moleskine notebook cover.

 

To celebrate what has been a very, very long time in the making I will be giving away this traveling art show, complete with all the goodies inside.

 

All you have to do to enter is help spread the word about my new venture.

Post a link to my shop on your blog and leave me a comment on this post letting me know about it and your in the running.

Don't have a blog but you still want to enter, go ahead and leave a comment promising to spread the word. I trust you:)

I am hoping to fill this new store with lots of new handmade goodness and some old favorites.

It would just make me so darn happy if this works out.

Wish me luck!

felt peas tutorial

Peas glorious peas! Another fairly simple tutorial for some felt food, though this time I am branching out into the world of vegetables. Radical. Fruit, then wait for it....vegetables. I'm not sure I can stand the pace.

 

Powerpoint version::

Download here

Word version::

Download here

So, yes we have been have a deliciously sleepy, lazy summer. The kids have been waking up about 8 every morning, for the first few weeks I would wake up at 6 and wonder why it was so quiet. Now it is going to take some fireworks to get me up at that time...at least we have a few more weeks before school starts.

In other news we are buying a new car. I really don't like doing this. Really. I mean honestly I am so crap at buying cars...I've had more experience buying houses than cars. (We've moved...a lot) It is the inevitable feeling of getting ripped off. Like when you do renovations in your house and the contractor comes in and sucks with breath in....you know then and there this is going to cost you way more than you thought. Same thing with cars. So this time in a somehwat radical move we are leaving the choice up to Floyd. He is going based on color. He wants a gold car with blue and yellow stickers all over it.

I think I'm going to look pretty stylin' driving round town.

matchbook notepad tutorial

While I was wasting some time on Etsy yesterday I came across some members selling some matchbook notepads. Super cute they were too. So cute in fact I nearly bought some but then I realized I might, just maybe, have the skills and materials to make these myself.

They are super simple to make and would be a good craft to do with kids, especially because you can use up all your scraps of paper, so I wrote up a tutorial for making them. Though, honestly, they are so simple they hardly require a tutorial. (Can't believe I was actually going to buy these)

Nonetheless here are the links::

Matchbook Tutorial Powerpoint

Matchbook Tutorial Word

This is part of a bigger project that I am working on for the kids. More on that as soon as the other art supplies arrive.

Happy making!!

felt strawberry tutorial

April was so hot and beautiful here but May has been cold and wet. This weekend we are expecting some nice weather and I hope we are going to manage our first barbecue this year. To celebrate the beginning of summer, here is a free pattern/tutorial for making plump felt strawberries.

The powerpoint version::
Download microsoft_powerpoint_felt_strawberry_tutorial.pdf

The word version (for those who like to have a hard copy i.e.me)::
Download microsoft_word_strawberry_tutorial_word.pdf

This is my first attempt at a pdf file and I have a few more in the works so I'd love some feedback on how this one works/looks.
 
Supplies for the felt strawberries::
felt :: eco wool stuffing :: organic wool stuffing for the very rich

These beautiful bowls were part of my mother's day gift and I love them! They are very small about 4.5" wide by 2.5" tall and are by Nicholas Mosse. I think they are perfect little summer ice cream or snack bowls and we have used them a ton already and I am pleased to say they compliment my Bridgewater very nicely. Lucky ol' me!


Hope you have a very summer-y Memorial Day weekend and thank you for all your blogging support this week.