And The WINNERS Are......

Happy New Year to everyone!

I have the results from my Giveaway to share!

I thought it would be fun to have a little ceremony, so I gathered all the things I needed -

My list of email addresses



A nice box to put them in -



And a guest celebrity to do the drawing



Unfortunately Bono wasn't available...  nor were any of a number of other suitable guests that I had in mind.  I had to lower my sights just a little.

Fortunately (or not!), our own dear Ms. Monkeepenny agreed to step into the roll as Celebrity Guest and Draw Officiator.

[caption id="attachment_1252" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Ms. Monkeepenny"][/caption]

I had to give her a bribe gift of jewellery, but then she seemed quite happy to be the centre of attention.

What I hadn't counted on was her welcome speech...



"Dear friends, we are gathered here on this auspicious occasion of the very first Fireseed Giveaway.  I graciously conceded to perform the drawing of winners names in Bono's absence."

She went on... I'll spare you all the details,



"It gives me GREAT pleasure, or it will, once I'm at the party I've been promised afterwards with champagne, choklit and I heard a rumour about some good looking male chimp that might attend...  ...where was I..?  Yes, PLEASURE....   I am almost speechless with excitement to conclude this drawing"

It was at this point that I realised she'd been into the champers already, she began gesticulating with great relish -




And I cringed as she began to list to one side - this wasn't going at all the way I had planned --



Before I knew what was happening she was on her back!



And a strange squeal emanated from her mouth as she toppled backwards off the podium --



I tried really hard to stifle a howl of laughter and went to her aid - this was not the time to upset the Guest of Honour!

Ms. Monkeepenny managed to collect herself together and with the promise of a few more perks after the event, prepared to continue -



With all the entrants in the box




Celebrity Guest Ms. Monkeepenny dipped in her hand to select the winner....   *** Big Drumroll***



She fumbled around for a while and brought forth.... (it was right about now that the camera battery died..)

THE WINNER!!

And right about now that the flash batteries died, and Raff jumped on the table and tried to disassemble my whole awards show!

Never the less we managed to proceed -

[caption id="attachment_1001" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="Stanley Starpuck, Space Monkee!"][/caption]

And the Winner of Stanley Starpuck is:

[caption id="attachment_1273" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Valentina Miletic!"][/caption]

Since I had such a great response, and since Monkeepenny was costing me a fortune, I decided to add a couple of runner up prizes to the draw

Second Prize, one of my Cold Monkee beads goes to:

[caption id="attachment_1274" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Diane Hart!"][/caption]

Here she is Diane -


And finally Third Prize, another Monkee bead to:

[caption id="attachment_1275" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Karin Wilcox!"][/caption]

Here he is Karin! - Karin, I've emailed you but haven't received a reply yet - I'm wondering if it's an address you don't use much, or if my email has gone into the spam bucket. If you read this, can you email my your mailing address ;o)

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone else who entered! I have another idea for some fun but need to think on it a bit more - maybe I'll have it ready for my next newsletter!

Some new little monkees

I've just added a few items to my Artfire shop - a Space Monkee and two Cold Monkees.
I have tried etching these beads for an experiment and I have to say I do like the way it makes them look. I could almost pinch their little pink monkee cheeks!

[caption id="attachment_1179" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Glass Space Monkee Bead"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="One little Cold Monkee!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1177" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="This little Cold Monkee has a fur trimmed hood!"][/caption]

A bracelet from Samma's Tutorial

One of the really wonderful things about my lampworking journey is the number of friends I am making along the way.

Samma is a regular on 'our' not so little Newbie thread over at the Wet Canvas forum.  It's a place where we share ideas, praise each others achievements and offer support when things aren't going quite as well.  I don't think a cross word has ever been posted in that thread, which is really something to be amazed about.  Don't even try and read it from the start!  If you visit, jump in at the end!

I noticed that Samma had published a tutorial over at Beaders Showcase for a fun bracelet made with seed beads.  Since it's been cold and I haven't been able to torch as much as I'd like I figured I'd give this tutorial a try.

I have a habit of not following things to the letter, which can sometimes get me into trouble, but this time I think it worked out quite well!

Here's my Monkees in The Jungle bracelet that is the result of Samma's Tutorial!  Thanks Samma!

[caption id="attachment_1132" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Two By Two Bracelet - Monkees in The Jungle"][/caption]

At the moment Bob is wearing it, because he thinks he's Lord of the Monkees!

[caption id="attachment_1131" align="alignnone" width="425" caption="Bob, Lord of the Monkees"][/caption]

Two items in my Artfire shop!

Yesterday I worked at getting my Artfire shop up and running. At the moment I have just two items there, but am planning on adding more today. I have to say, I do like the fact that when you add a listing all the information is on one page. Listing on Etsy involves several pages of info and often I'll have to skip back and forth between them as I remember something I'd like to add. Seeing everything on one page made the process much more streamlined.

Here's who's up there!
Baker Bill - Cake Tester Extraordinaire - (sounds better than Chef on a stick right?!)

Isn't he a happy looking fellah!

And a Monkee on a stick the Primary Primate Tester!



Up next I have a Kitchen Cat who always loves to make things from 'Scratch' - this one will be going on Artfire today (that's the plan at least!)



I was happy with the way this cat turned out.  My first one had no ears, because I figured they were inside the hat.  Well, it looked a little odd, a cat with no ears, so I like this design MUCH better.  She promises she will NOT lick the cake batter!

As Artfire are still in beta at the moment this is the link for my shop front

Monkey Treasury!

Tom Minor is being featured in an Etsy Treasury full of cute Monkey things, who can resist Monkeys on Etsy?

Click the image to visit this fun Treasury!

[caption id="attachment_846" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Primarily Primates"][/caption]

Alfy's had to make a quick return to Earth.

Alfy's a bit disgruntled that his first space walk was cut short, but excited to know that he's been hand picked for a top secret mission in New Mexico!

In his place is Space Cadet Tom Minor, of Ground Control to Monkee Tom fame!  Tom is now testing the Galactic regions of Etsy, here he is -

[caption id="attachment_842" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Ground Control to Monkee Tom!"][/caption]

First Space Monkee Heads For Etsy

Yes, that's right, Space Cadet Alfy  Centauri has made his inaugural space walk - right onto Etsy!

I'm not sure who's more excited - him or me!

[caption id="attachment_838" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Alfy Centauri, Space Cadet!  ***SOLD!**"][/caption]

An Etsy a day

They (whoever they may be), do say, that to be successful on Etsy you need to list items often, daily if possible.  So, this is my new goal - to try and list daily, or at least every other day.

I spent the best part of yesterday cleaning, photographing, processing and creating listings for the coming week.  I'm beginning to think it takes longer to do all that than it does to make the beads!

Last night I listed one of my two faced monkees - I like this design because it doesn't matter which way the bead is facing, you have a silly monkee face staring out.  I was idly thinking that they could be used like the 'Magic 8 Balls' - you know the ones you ask a question to, shake and then look at the magic answer.

You could ask these monkees a question, and depending on which one is facing you the answer might be "I don't have a clue" or "Don't ask me! I'm only a monkee!" - Could prove to be a big selling feature don't you think ;o)

[caption id="attachment_793" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Magic Monkees!"][/caption]

Best Pet of The Year!!

Thanks to Marcy Lamberson of Studio Marcy for pointing out this exciting opportunity for my Monkees!

Today's Etsy

Little Merwin wants to travel, he's my Etsy listing for today along with another destash of several assorted beads. Look for the next post in my Web Presence series coming soon - Why Do I Need a Blog?

[caption id="attachment_731" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Merwin Monkee"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_732" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Destash, assorted beads"][/caption]

New Etsy Listings

I've got some new beads coming up on Etsy, I added this cute little guy today

It will be hard to see him go, he's pretty adorable!

I also listed these dotty beads, two of which are hollow - I've been hoarding too many beads for too long!  It's time to send some of them out into the wild world.



More monkees will go into my Etsy shop in the next few days along with some destash beads.  It's funny, I never considered myself a hoarder until I started making glass beads!

Travelling Monkees

Two little monkees are off travelling, both to California, but to different locations. I wonder if they'll ever run into each other?

[caption id="attachment_559" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_560" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="SOLD!"][/caption]
Safe travels little guys!

Monkees are everywhere!

Everywhere I go I'm finding monkees,

[caption id="attachment_453" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="one of many monkees"]

[/caption]

I was trying to find a way to put an image in my email signatures on Google, where do I end up?  Greasemonkey - it's an add on for Firefox that lets you install new features.  Now I have this little guy sitting in the corner of my browser, well he's cuter than this guy actually.

So - mailchimp, grease monkey -- what next?  Driving in the car I hear a story of a monkey that escaped from a wildlife place not too far from here, I arrive at my friend's house and her sock monkey is eyeing me from the chair and when she shows me her knitting magazine I turn to a page that has not one but two monkeys on it.  I tell you they are popping up all over the place!  I was looking through Halloween listings on Etsy and found this, which didn't seem particularly Halloweenish, but it's so cute it left me wanting a new hat for the winter ;o)

Yep, monkees are everywhere it seems...

An Etsy Treasury

I'm not exactly a wiz when it comes to Etsy, but I do know that being in a Treasury is a good thing.  What a nice surprise to check my mail this morning and find that I've been included in one!  If you click the image you'll get to the treasury while it's active.



Thank you Tenneka!

In case you are wondering what 'M' for Monkee is doing in a 'C' treasury, Tenneka contacted me to say she hoped it was ok if she called my monkee a 'Chimp'.  If he's going in a treasury I don't mind what he's called!

More monkees

Here are the last three that I had cooling, I like the hats and wondering what else I can do to make each one a little different.