Four New Monsters

Okay. Someone requested to see my new monsters, so here they are.

What a Weekend

Friday and Saturday I worked at In The Heights. This is a fun show. Recommended.

Sunday, Jon and I went to see Passing Strange. We both loved it. Another recommendation.

Yesterday, I made two new monsters. But I'm not going to post their pictures because you're probably getting sick of new monsters.

Today, we're looking at an apartment. I'll probably make another monster and then I'm working at Spring Awakening.

Mish and Mush

I promise that my next post will be something I've written rather than something I made. Seriously.

But until then, enjoy Mish and Mush. On my Etsy site, I described them as cousins with opposite personalities. Actually, I made the one of the left out of the scraps of the ones I used to make the one on the right - so I wouldn't have so much junk lying around.

All in all, the effect is the same.

Another New Monster

I spent yesterday making a stuffed dog which came out terrible. So today, I made something that I know I can make well - a cute, widdle monster.

Clops

This is Clops. He's a one-eyed monster. He loves coffee. In this candid photo, you can see Clops grasping for but not quite reaching the coffee pot. This is no doubt due to his bad depth perception.

Glip Hits the Road

I made my first ETSY sale. Glip was purchased some time between last night and this morning. Very excited, before my first sip of coffee, I ran to the store for mailing supplies and then ran to the post office to mail Glip to her new owner. She will be missed. Hopefully this is the first of many sales to come.

Goodbye Glip.

Polygamy

The story about the polygamist sect in Texas continues to be interesting. To figure out the custody of the 400 or so children that were removed from the sect's property, they are all going to be DNA tested.

I hope there are many more news hours and TV documentaries dedicated to this story.

But what is the point of the DNA testing? Why don't they just ask the kids who their parents are? Those kids are probably completely without guile.

Wouldn't it be interesting to be the foster family for one of those kids? It would be like having someone from the past in your house because they've lived their lives for the most part without modern distractions like televisions and I-pods. Cool, right? And you could turn these kids on to SO many things while they were staying with you - like Bugs Bunny cartoons or the internet or McDonald's (goodness forbid).

I think when they weren't crying about missing their many, many mothers and siblings (oh, I get the DNA thing now) they would be very pleasant to have around.

Pronk

This is from the Onion's website.

Congress Debates Merits Of New Catchphrase

Third Mother's Day Set

Just so you don't think I've been slacking off in the monster making department, I made yet another Mother's Day set but I'm going to give this theme a rest now until I get an idea of how popular they are, if at all.

Happy Passover

Tonight is the first night of Passover. We're going to my parent's house where a good part of my family will also be visiting - my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, my brother and his wife, their children, Jon and me, and of my parents of course. My nephew turned four this year, so he will most likely be reciting the four questions. Hopefully, he's learned a cute song at school that he can share with us.

When I was working at Cat On A Hot Tin Roof several weeks ago, I remember having a conversation with the bartenders about seders. When one particularly young bartender heard the word seder she confused it with the word Satyr. She'd never before heard of a Jewish seder. I let someone else correct her.

I found this odd because she was REALLY, REALLY into Jesus. I would think that someone who was that into Jesus would have known that the Last Supper was a indeed a seder. But I didn't mention it. That's the kind of nerdy behavior that always winds up making me wildly unpopular.

Tonight, I'm giving my niece and nephew these two dolls which I made using materials from the monster scrap pile. The blue one with the buttons is for the four year old. He came out really good. However the pink one with the embroidered eyes didn't come out as well. I wanted to make my niece something that was visually striking to capture her imagination. We'll see. I'll give it to her and see how she reacts.

Another Mother's Day set

It's a compulsion now. I have to make at least one monster a day if not two. Usually I finish a monster I started the day before, make a complete one and then start a new project. That's pretty good right? And that's with all the other things I do during day which aren't grand, I grant you but still. Dishes, errands, household chores, a few hours of work at night - I'm feeling productive these days.

With that said, here is another set for Mother's Day. The small doll is Poof and the big one if Poof's Mamma. They are availble together and separately at Vexillia, my Etsy shop.

Writing

I haven't been writing much lately. I've been doing a lot of sewing and that satisfies the same itch that writing used to scratch. So, I haven't been too driven to write anything.

Here's an update.
* I'm feeling 100 per cent better since coming home from our vacation.

* I've worked two new shows since I've been back - Passing Strange and In The Heights - both of which I recommend strongly.

* We started looking for a bigger apartment in the neighborhood.

* We'll be celebrating Passover at my parent's house with my family.

* We've started bike riding which has been very nice.

I think that covers everything.

Puff and His Mamma

I'm making a few of these sets for Mother's Day. Hopefully they'll catch on and I'll make a sale. I just need one purchase to break through.

Glip

Don't ask me about Glip. If you're interested in learning more about her visit her at Etsy.

Puff

Puff is cute and sweet and available at my Etsy site.

Cookie

This is Cookie. If you like Cookie and you want a Cookie of your own visit my Etsy site.

Smush Face

If you're interested in Smush Face, visit my Etsy site.

Mortimer

This is Mortimer.

Passing Strange

I am working at the Belasco Theater today where they are showing Passing Strange. I didn't know what to expect going in except that it had loud music. The show is amazing and moving and intelligent and sensitive and relevant and amazing. It's an autobiographical rock opera about the narrator Stew and his life experiences.

What truly amazes me is how much Stew sounds like the guy who sings "I'm Just a Bill", a cartoon from Schoolhouse Rock. I'll do some more research and see if it's the same guy. I'm pretty sure it's not but Stew's voice is completely familiar and comfortable.

Phil

If you'd like to make Phil a part of your household, visit my etsy site here.

Ralph

I went for a long walk this morning because yesterday, after our bike ride I spent 9 hours making Ralph. He ended up being very labor intensive because I decided he should have bumps on his back, like a dragon but not quite.

On my walk I picked up a ton of supplies from the local cheapie stores. I really like working with plush socks but the 99 cents stores are running out of their supplies - being springtime and all. If I hadn't had to pee so badly, I probably would have purchased more. I'll have to go back on Sunday to this one store that had a substantial inventory of cheap plush socks.

Anyway - this is Ralph. And if you're interested in making Ralph part of your family, visit my etsy site here.

First Spring Bike Ride

Jon and I went our first bike ride of the spring. It was beautiful this morning but a little cool. I started out wearing a sweater and a hat. Jon smartly wore shorts and a t-shirt. I ended up getting so warm, I stripped down to my t-shirt. The ride was tough. There is this hill at 23rd Avenue and 91st street in Queens that gets me every time. I am constantly struggling to ride up that hill. Today I almost threw up when I got to the top of it. It took me about 10 minutes to recover but recover I did and I made it home in one piece. We rode a little over 10 miles today.

Trip Photos

We've been back home long enough that I no longer have it in me to write about our trip. We basically went on a lot of hikes, swam in the Pacific, walked and relaxed on the beach and went on a day trip on a catamaran. So. If you're interested, I've managed to get our pictures up on my Flickr site. You're welcome to look at them here.

Jon and Valerie's Costa Rican adventure

Bright Eyes

If you're interested in purchasing Bright Eyes, visit my etsy site. here.

A New Monster

We went to Costa Rica and every day we were there I thought about making monsters. Don't ask. Anyway. I've made several little creatures since we've been back but I'm particularly fond of this one because he's got a tail. His name is Sam. If you're interested in purchasing Sam, visit my etsy site here.

Costa Rica - The Arenal Volcano

The first real attraction we saw was the Arenal Volcano. When we arrived the volcano was perfectly clear. We had a perfect view from our room.


Most of our activities involved hiking hear or looking at the volcano.

It was as cool as you can imagine.

Feeling Better

Finally, I'm feeling better. I saw the doctor yesterday who diagnosed me with something I don't want to name and prescribed a strong antibiotic. The antibiotic made me feel sicker causing dizziness and nausea.

I went for a 10 minute walk this afternoon that wiped me out if you can believe it. I bought some more polyester fiberfill for monster making.

Tomorrow, I'll start posting pictures.

I hope you like sunsets.

We're Still Here

I'm still here. I've been playing catchup with our lives. I did a major food shopping yesterday and then I had some plumbing problems both literally and figuratively that needed to be resolved.

Our building super helped resolve our literal plumbing problem. And I have to visit the doctor for my figurative plumbing problem - a little leftover from our vacation. I may do laundry today depending on the weather. I still have to sort through over 500 pictures to see what anyone would care to see from our trip. There are some good shots but believe me when I tell you they are not all gems.

I will start with our trip to the Arenal volcano and go from there.

Back in the USA

We're home.

Pout.

Yay!!

Catamaran

We're going on a 5 hour cruise on a catamaran in the Pacific Ocean. That's our last big Costa Rican outing before we head back tomorrow.

I've been eating lots of mahi-mahi. I haven't had any red meat in 9 days - mostly red snapper and mahi-mahi.

My brain moves slower at the beach, otherwise I would write more.