My 3 lil Monkeys

Pupcakes!

2009-05-13T22:50:00.003-05:00

My son's birthday was this past weekend - my BABY is 3 now! I just can't believe it! Anyway, I wanted to share really quick about his birthday {pup}cakes! I love love LOVED them, they were so adorable. My friend Christy, who also made my older son's 4th birthday cake, made these sweet little pups, and they were the talk of the party.

If you're in the Central Iowa area and you're looking for someone to make you a fantastic cake (or cup cakes!), I HIGHLY recommend Christy. She is my go-to girl for bakery goodness from here on out!

Thanks so much Christy!! Ooh, did I mention that she made these while on BEDREST for pre-term labor?! What an amazing woman she is!!

Happy Blogiversary to me!

2009-04-03T11:40:00.003-05:00

Well, I would have let this day go right on by had it not been pointed out by Teena in Toronto! And I really wish I had been keeping track ahead of time, because I'm not prepared to "celebrate" properly! So I guess I'll just say Happy Blogiversary to me! I started this blog 2 years ago on this date. A lot has happened in those 2 years, both with "My 3 Lil Monkeys" and with me. It's been quite an adventure! Thanks for being on this journey with me, my friends :-)

Obsession

2009-03-21T18:36:00.002-05:00

Any of my "long time readers" (whom I apologize to for neglecting this blog so much) know that I have a *slight* (read: insatiable) obsession for chap stick/lip balm. It's not that I WEAR it all the time, I just love it, I love buying it, I love finding new hand made lip balms, I love it all!

I have been a reader of flipflopmamma's blog for quite awhile now (sorry for not commenting!!!) so I knew when she opened up her Etsy shop, and I put off making a purchase until last week.

Um, I am SO sorry I waited this long! I purchased one of her lip balms in my favorite flavor - peppermint! Not only did it smell yummy, but it tasted yummy (you lip balm lovers know what I mean :-P No, I did not EAT the lip balm!), and my favorite part? It made my lips tingly!! Oooh, I love me some tingly lip balm!

Anyway, I just love to share a good product when I try one - so here is one! If you're not a lip balm addict like me, perhaps you're a caffeine addict (like me) and would like some coffee body scrub? Mmm... I love the smell of coffee. I wonder if I would love smelling like coffee? I think I would. Oh, my next purchase from flipflopmamma might actually be the Spiced Chai - I would love to sit with a friend (or my lovely mother in love who shares my love for Chai) and sip on some hot chai. Mmmm... I've read some really good reviews on it too!

So go check out Bee Simple/FlipFlopMamma! She's a rockin' mama, sporting some Sa-Weet dreads (jealous!!), and she's crafty! She's one cool mama!

Jewllori sale!

2009-02-27T10:44:00.002-06:00

Get 'em while they're hot! Oh, I am SO excited to announce that my good friend - and one of my favorite jewelry designers - is having an earring sale right now!

I own a gorgeous set of Jewllori - a coordinating necklace and earring set that is my favorite!!

And like I told Lori, had I not just wiped out my bank account purchasing my new camera, I'd be totally taking advantage of this sale!

So, since I can't, I thought I'd give YOU a heads up so YOU CAN!
Do it, Lori is such a wonderful woman to work with, and you won't be disappointed with her work!

My first finished quilt.

2009-01-10T18:56:00.002-06:00

Well I finally did it. I started AND finished a quilt.

I've loved blankets and quilts for as long as I can remember. I fell in love with quilting itself about 4-5 years ago. Ryan was deployed, and I was convinced I would spend my time making quilts. I've gotten books, supplies, fabric, everything I need to complete a quilt.

And yet here it is, 4+ years later and I have ONE quilt to show for myself.

Don't get me wrong. I've had many quilt tops and partial quilt tops made with the intention of finishing them... But a good intention is just that - an intention.

Unfortunately it was a tragedy that spurred me onto making and completing this quilt.

You see, a dear sweet military wife had to ring in the New Year hearing the news that her husband of less than a year (and daddy to their 10 month old) was killed in Iraq.

It was my greatest honor to be able to make this quilt for her and her son. I was so proud of it, and so proud of her and her husband and their sacrifice. I long for the day when we stop hearing news of soldiers dying, but I am so incredibly proud of what they're doing over there.

One really good thing that came out of this quilt is that I learned that I am capable of completing a quilt (start to finish!) in 2 days! That includes hand stitching the binding on!

And I know I've promised probably every year that I am going to make quilts as gifts, but this quilt was motivation to actually follow through! Knowing that I CAN do it, and that the binding isn't as hard as I thought (just time consuming). Honestly, the only obstacle would be money - I REALLY prefer quilt shop fabric (as opposed to Jo Ann fabrics or Hancock) and it's significantly pricier to get fabric there. This quilt cost roughly $60, not including batting (which I discovered I already had, so I don't remember how much it cost). I do have a lot of great scraps left over though, so I plan on making other fun things with this awesome material!

Vintage Priddy!

2008-12-31T16:23:00.003-06:00

The Vintage Pearl is having another great give-away! PriddyCreations is allowing her to give away a GREAT camera strap and lens cozy set and it's oh so cute! Head on over to leave a comment for a chance to win! I would LOVE to win this!!

A Portrait... of me?

2008-12-15T17:01:00.002-06:00

Mer Mag is having a pretty amazing giveaway on her blog right now! Here's a snippet from her blog regarding the giveaway:

In the spirit of giving this season, I want to give a gift to YOU! I'm offering a personal portrait drawing of you (or someone else of your choosing) as a Christmas giveaway this year. All you have to do is make a comment on this post stating one of your favorite things about Christmas, along with your email address. It's as simple as that.

Isn't that awesome!? I mean, check out here work!

If I were you, I'd enter this one. How cool would it be to get a portrait of yourself like this - or get it for someone else! Plus, check out the post for a way to win something EXTRA awesome!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-05T20:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, so God didn't give me a daughter, but He did "give" me a niece and I think being an auntie to a precious little girl has it's own set of responsibilities! Like making sure she has an ADORABLE little evening dress for a dinner party! I mean come on, how cute is this?! I'd love to win this Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! for my niece! Check it out, you could win too!

Wind.

2008-11-27T22:35:00.003-06:00

So the winds are changing, blowing in a different direction.

I have loved My 3 Lil Monkeys. I have loved learning how to screen print, and I have loved re-discovering sewing. I have loved creating and I have loved putting a smile on people's faces.

But as I said. The winds are changing. The fact of the matter is, I really do love screen printing - but right now, the only way I am able to do it (order blank shirts as I make a sale) it is not profitable. Which makes it a VERY time consuming hobby. Again, a hobby that I love, but a hobby non the less. And being a full time nursing student, I don't have a lot of time to spare for non-profit hobbies (especially when we're so broke - but they again, who isn't broke?).

So here's where things sit. I have started my photography business {and am loving it WAY more than I ever imagined}, I am finishing up this semester and am about to start my final semester of nursing school, and as always, I am enjoying my family as much as I possibly can. Financially, things are tough, and for as much time as it takes to make custom shirts, it is not profitable, which is very frustrating. So, I am backing off from My 3 Lil Monkeys a little.

I am no longer offering custom shirts, only pre-printed shirts. My focus is elsewhere and it's not fair to my customers to make them wait for shirts because my life is too busy. Life is a balancing act, and I'm just leveling the scales.

I'll still post here, and I'm still going through with Duncan the Traveling Monkey. I will still post feature posts, and I still LOVE Etsy :-) I'm just scaling back a bit.

I just wanted you all to know. :-) Cause I love you muchos.

Thank you for your support and love!

'Gotta Pay Rent' SALE!!

2008-11-22T15:39:00.002-06:00

I know, I know, it's a recurring theme in today's society. "The economy is hurting, people are hurting".

*sigh*

We're hurting. It's the classic struggle of 2 full time college students trying to stay afloat till they graduate (while raising 2 handsome boys).

So I'm having a sale. I know, I know, doesn't make sense. We're desperate for money, so I sell my goodies for LESS? I don't get it either. But it's happening. and I do have more things available to list in my shop, but they're stuck on my computer - and the monitor is on the fritz so I can't get to them. I'm not sure how long the sale will last, but it's for anything that's "ready to ship" in my shop. So, like this shirt. Or this Diaper Bag Jr. All prices are already marked down with a great discount! I hope to be able to list more, but that depends on my monitor situation. I don't currently have an external hard drive, so all my pictures are on my computer (I know, I know, naughty!!)

Let me know if you have any questions!!

Update on Duncan!

2008-11-22T14:41:00.002-06:00

Who's Duncan? Why, he's the traveling monkey, of course! And he's about to be sent off to start his very first adventure! Where is he going, you may ask?

To visit my good friend Addy in MALAYSIA!!!!

She's the furthest away, and she's agreed to cover shipping costs when it comes time to send Duncan on, so I figured I'd start there, then the rest of his trip, his hosts wouldn't have to spend as much to get him to his next destination.

For those of you who volunteered to host Duncan, I'll be sending out an email (providing I can do what I need to do on Ryan's computer, since mine - with all the Duncan information - isn't in service right now) so you will have more of an idea of when to expect this adventuresome little monkey.

Thanks for your patience - Life has been crazy busy around here, much busier than I had anticipated. Between school, family, photography, and My3LilMonkeys, I have a lot on my plate. But Christmas break is in a few weeks, so I just need to get through these next few weeks and I can breathe again :-)

{Open for Business}

2008-11-08T17:33:00.003-06:00

I realize that I have a lot on my plate right now, but I am very proud to announce my newest adventure. It took me awhile to get the ball rolling because I was stalled trying to come up with a name. I made the name decision today and I'm very happy with it! So I am officially open for business! Website (and more) to come as I get funding!

Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

No WAY! I'm SO in love with this adorable costume!! On my goodness, I just ooh'd and ahh'd over the pictures, I'd LOVE to see my little man in this little frog costume! Check out this Tropical Tree Frog Costume GIVEAWAY and see how you can win it!

Getting my act together.

2008-10-15T13:49:00.004-05:00

Ok so we've now lived here for almost 3 months. I can't keep using the "we just moved" excuse to get me out of making new screens for screen printing. So today - I got my act together.

Over a month ago, I purchased the wood to make new frames.

A couple weeks after that I finally got around to cutting the wood.

Now, weeks later, I finally got around to piecing the wood together to make the actual frame. I'm hoping I can keep my mojo long enough to actually put the mesh on the frame by today. I have tomorrow off {shock! 2 days off in a row! I haven't had a day off in a LONG time!} so I'd love to get a screen completely made (with emulsion on it, and if I can get a transparency made up, hopefully burn an image onto the screen) by the end of tomorrow.

In other news...

I've been listing more in my shop - finally! And somethings working, cause I've been getting a few more sales! I'm anxious for the day that I can have enough extra funds to have a small inventory of my most popular shirts (ie: black, and white Ts, size 2, 4, and 6). As it is, I have to order each shirt as I make a sale - which, if I were making multiple sales in a day, it would be ok. However, with one sale one day, and the next one 2 days later - I end up having to place 2 orders, which means i have to pay for shipping twice {thus making my actual profit way less}.

Anyway, it all works out in the end. And for now, I'm just having fun with it!

This is a Sign!

2008-10-10T14:39:00.002-05:00

My friend Jen is a phenomenal artist when it comes to metal work and jewelry. She has recently come out with a new "line" of sign language necklaces! Oh my goodness, I am giddy with excitement, they are so fun and I LOVE sign language!

The cool thing about these necklaces is that they are almost like a "3-in-1" necklace concept. You can wear the whole set together, with the inside and the outline together.

Or you could just wear the inside piece.

Or you can wear the outline! OR you could use it as a "best friend" piece and share the other half of the necklace!

You should really check out her shop, JMW Jewelry is full of beautiful, unique and creative pieces that Jen makes herself in her own home studio. Check out her blog too! Sometimes she gives insight into what goes into making a pendant, which I always love.

Pleated Poppy Giveaway!

2008-10-10T13:50:00.003-05:00

Not long ago I came across a blog that I subscribed to almost immediately. The blogger's name is Lindsey and soon after I subscribed, she branched her personal blog off into a business blog called The Pleated Poppy -- she makes some of the cutest little posies! Like adorable little fabric broaches that you can do so many things with! She also makes fabric headbands and zippered pouches, and really cute clipboards! So now she has a really fun crafty blog AND a shop where she is selling her goodies.

What's more?

Natalie over at Natalie's Sentiment is hosting a giveaway through her blog in which we have a chance to win a set of 3 of those adorable posy pins! So go check out Natalie's blog too - and while you're there, go back a few days and read all about her Fall Giveaway Soiree!

Sunday Sale!

2008-10-04T15:45:00.004-05:00

Because my husband is a DIE HARD football fanatic and I am a sad and lonely football widow (only on Sundays, don't worry) I decided tomorrow would be the perfect day to hold a SALE!

So. For tomorrow only (12:00AM-11:59PM) EVERYTHING in my shop {yes, even the sale items} will be 12% off.

12%? What an odd number, you say?

Well Ladies and Gents, My hubby's favorite football player, Mr. Tom Brady, has the #12 adorned on his jersey. And after all, this sale IS in honor of my husband's love for football.

So how does this work? All you do is purchase the item as normal, but DON'T PAY. Make sure you put "FOOTBALL12" in the message to seller or you will NOT receive the discount. I will then send you a revised invoice and you can continue from there! I ship everything priority unless you prefer otherwise.

I am working to get some of my pre-printed shirts and onesies listed, as well as some of the other sewn goodies I've had sitting in my craft room waiting to be listed.

Spread the word, the more the merrier! AND it's for a good cause (proceeds go towards helping us pay rent {wink})!!!

For the Love of Baby giveaway!

2008-09-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

Jenna at For The Love of Baby! has had a very busy September! She's gotten married, her daughter Kelsie became a big sister to Aubrey, and alot more! She will be celebrating with all of us beginning October 15th! But right now, she is giving you the chance to win ten bucks for a giftcard of your choice! So long as she can purchase it online-you can have it!

Duncan: Monkey for Travel

2008-09-28T12:50:00.003-05:00

Meet Duncan.

Duncan came to me in a Priority Mail mailer. He was lovingly created, dressed, packaged, and shipped to me by the overly talented Glitzconcepts (currently making the move to FunnyFinn).

The moment I laid eyes on Duncan, I fell head over heels in love.

True love, I tell ya.

Right from the get-go, Duncan was created to be my Traveling Monkey. He was made to explore the world. The whole idea is to have Duncan go from place to place, staying with a "host family", experiencing life as they (the host family) know it. Duncan came to me the very DAY that we started taking stuff to our new home. So it's been a little crazy. Then school started. And let's face it, I love him.

But it's time for me to let Duncan spread his sweet little monkey arms and see the world.

He's ready.

He even came with his own little suitcase.

Don't you love him too?

So here's my proposition. Duncan is itching to see the world. I already have a few people who have voiced an interest in "hosting" him for a short while (I'd say a few days to a week at a time). He's already unofficially "booked" to see Canada, Malasyia (right Addy?), and hopefully Spain (Julie? Yes? He REALLY wants to visit!). And if I can convince my brother, possibly Iraq. Possibly.

I would love to get a list going of willing "hosts".

What do you have to do to "host" Duncan?

Hosts must be willing to:

Love Duncan. Which means, taking care of him, not letting any nearby pets use him as a chew toy, not letting any body parts rip off, and not losing his detatchable hat.
Expose Duncan to the world as you see it. Take him to your favorite places. Introduce him to your friends (unless he's feeling shy that day, don't force it).
Photograph his travels. Take a picture of him soaking up your life. Whether it be in your home, or out at the local tourist trap. I want to share his travels on this blog.
Send home at least one souvenier. Even a postcard would suffice. I would LOVE to put together a box and a scrapbook of Duncan's travels. I personally LOVE to travel and want to travel myself someday. For now I will live vicariously through Duncan. {wink}
Be willing to ship Duncan to his next host family. Go ahead and ship him using the cheapest shipping route. Just don't let him get lost. For those of you interested, I'll make sure to give more detailed instructions about shipping and such.

So. Do you want to be a part of Duncan's adventures? For those of you in "business" (my fellow Etsians, for example), know that if you choose to host, you will get your business exposed here on my blog as I will do features on Duncan's travels and his host family - giving plenty of links.

Duncan's ready to go. I'm not ready to let him go, but there comes a time in every Monkey Mama's life........ *tear*

I know it's time.

So if you're willing, and you think you can comply with the "list", please contact me! I want Duncan to see as much of the world as possible!! I don't care if you live down the street from me or across the world from me, Duncan wants to EXPLORE!

Please email: my3lilmonkeyshop {at} gmail.com

Must. Resist. The. Urge!

2008-09-23T21:23:00.003-05:00

Ok, I JUST got done paying a crapload of bills (yes, as a matter of fact, that IS a unit of measurement) but boy oh BOY do I want this mug! It's funny, it's cute, and dang it's unique!! Everything I love!

I was on this site cause I've had these in my favorites for the longest time. Well, I just realized that they had long since sold, so when I see things like that, I like to delete the favorite usually ONLY if I can find another goody from that shop to replace it. Weird, I know. But that's how I roll, homes.

The point of this ramble is to say that I didn't realize how many other amazing mugs this seller has!!! Mud Fairy is like my new favorite Etsy shop! And of course, I'm flat broke right now, otherwise I'd be snatching up a mug faster than you can say "Mandi doesn't need another mug"!!

Oh yeah, I want to have a mug collection. Did I mention that? It's true. Not just any mug. And not "sets" of mugs (like the ones that come with a dish set - ie: Correlle) I want to collect cool mugs. And I want to collect mugs from local coffee shops that I visit. I LOVE local coffee shops. Heart them! ♥ I have a ton of mugs right now, but only a select few of them I would say are a part of my "collection". In fact, when I do add more to my collection, I will be getting rid of some of the mugs that came with my dish sets. I want all my mugs to be different.

Bottom line: I ♥ heart ♥ MudFairy.

Writing on the Wall

2008-09-21T21:18:00.003-05:00

Since we've moved, I've been constantly trying to get all settled in, which includes hanging pictures on the wall and decorating {who am I kidding, I don't have a decorating bone in my body}. I've been ITCHING to get some of those vinyl wall words to put on my massive walls, my walls are SCREAMING for some quotes, text, and inspiration! And of course I have a ton of ideas to choose from, I've found so many great sites on Etsy that I can pick from when the time comes (hopefully soon)!

Here are a few of my favorites. For more wonderful vinyl wall art or words, simply search Etsy for "vinyl wall words" or something of that sort.

Sticky Graffiti has quite a few that I would love to put on my wall. One of my new favorites is this one I would like for the outside of my sons' room.

SingleStoneStudios also has lot to choose from too - and not all words (quotes, etc) they have some really cute and cool designs as well!

EnoughSaid is yet another site that I love and would love to purchase from. And there are multiples that I would love to own, but the Laundry Room one is probably on the top of my list. My laundry room walls are BEGGING me to decorate them with this {wink}

So, does anyone else decorate with these vinyl stickers? Care to share your stories or your photos?

12 days

2008-09-13T09:23:00.002-05:00

That's how long it's been since my last post.

My goodness, now that I have my other blogs {helps me organize and separate from business, family, personal and weight loss} and school has started, I find myself blogging here less and less. I haven't done much with My 3 Lil Monkeys lately because I've been busy with school and life in general. I still have all those shirts and sewn goodies to list in my shop and I haven't done it yet. But I've had a few orders come through that I will be finishing today {I would have had them done sooner, but I was trying a new dye [only because I couldn't find the color I needed in RIT dye] and it didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I had to wait till I went to Ames yesterday to get the color I needed in RIT}. They're just more My Mom Shoots People shirts - I REALLY need to list the pre-printed ones I have, I've got some really cute ones.

Anyway, I'll get back in the game here soon. And soon I will be doing/getting Christmas gifts and I hope to either hand make {myself} or BUY handmade all of the gifts for everyone - which means I'll be showcasing them here! I love giving out the Etsy love, so hopefully I'll get back in the game with that too.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend - my family and I are loving just kicking back and relaxing after a tiring week. See you soon!

New Look!

2008-09-01T17:08:00.002-05:00

I was SO happy to have stumbled across Leelou's blog today! She's created a TON of adorable {FREE} blog layouts! Of course eventually I want a blog layout completely customized just for me, but in the meantime, I am in love :-) These are colorful, fun, bright, cheery, and just my style! I had a little mishap when I switched the family blog and I lost all my widgets, but I'm rebuilding, so it's ok ;-) My next course of action is to figure out how to make this layout a 3-column. I was looking through my old code to find where it was that I added the 3rd column last time (the original layout was a 2 column that I changed) but it wasn't working when I tried changing it, so I'll get back to it. I just don't like having ALL my widgets, buttons, blog lists, etc on one side. Seems too cluttered and easy to miss the stuff at the bottom if someone's just stopping by and not scrolling down to read much further than the main screen area.

Anyway, thanks so much to Leelou Blogs for the BEEYOUTIFUL (and {FREE}) layouts :-) I have a slightly different one on my Monkey blog, my Family blog, and my Me blog!

*Oh, also have to make new headers for all the blogs... Any takers? {wink}

Knock Knock

2008-09-01T11:22:00.003-05:00

{Who's there?}

Me! I'm here! I really really am!

So I've been a little pre-occupied after the move, with the start of school, and with homecomings and preparing for goodbyes... The end of summer is a busy time, but I don't see my school year getting much easier. I'll just have to learn to adjust and keep on multi-tasking.

As for the business, wow. I've completely slacked off. Which is sad because I've started to get a handful of requests for custom orders, so I know if I were to get my butt in gear and actually LIST all the stuff I have to list, I'd get some sales!

I kid you not, I have probably over 15 shirts (pre-printed) that I have waiting to be listed (they've been photographed, but I hung them on a branch and am not crazy about the leaf shadows on them... still deciding if I want to re-photograph) not to mention all the Key Fobs I made that are waiting to be listed, and mini-wallets, and some zippered pouches AND some adorable diaper/wipes holders.

Yeah. I look in my closet (the craft closet) and see all those shirts, and I look at my "stash" of sewn goodies, and all I see is money. Money just sitting there. Normally I don't look at my stuff and see dollar signs, but lately money has been crazy tight (or in the red) so I've been trying to find little ways to make extra money or save money... so it really has me kicking myself to see all this "merchandise" just sitting there where nobody can even look at it.

Anyway. Enough of that. I just wanted to say that I was here and I hope to be posting here more again. I've been posting on my family blog and my new "me" blog, so I really have been around... just not on this loverly blog.

Speaking of winning...

2008-08-21T22:15:00.000-05:00

I would love to win one of these camera straps!
{The Vintage Pearl} is hosting a give-away for her new bloggy friend Shealynn who just opened up her Etsy shop! Her straps are so adorable (and I've been wanting one so bad, but procrastinating making one for myself) but I especially love the Farmer's Market strap - adorable!

Anyway, check out the contest, sign up, maybe you could win!