Been a busy bee lately. Lot’s happening in the day time at Poke. And lots of nice things to keep me busy in the evenings too. The above is a work in progress identity design for the lovely Elaine of Lainey’s Cakes. ( They are damn good by the way! The cakes i mean ;) ). A favour for a friend type-of-project. It’s been a great typography challenge so far. And hopefully when i’m done i’d like to share with you my creative process from sketch to finished printed items. ( This is just a photoshop mockup to show how a screen printed cake-box tag might look ). Let me know what you think, and if you have any cunning ideas i could incorporate in to Lainey’s wonderful world of cupcakes!

Sunny enough for a walk. Chilly enough for a scarf. That’s how it is at the moment. So here’s a couple i happened across yesterday, to keep you warm on the walk to work. The Bacon Scarf is crying out for a fried Egg Head woolly hat no ? That’d be a sweet combo ;) And a topical one for the Poke peeps here, the Police Line scarf! Always handy to have on you should you come across a crime scene.

Cheers @nikroope! Love these wooden sunnies from Schwood. Made from East Indian Rosewood colours vary from “very dark brown to black with fine, closely spaced dark veins and white lines”. I really need to get some new glasses, maybe i can fit proper lenses into these ? Very nice.

And in a similar vein these Nest Egg money boxes by Mud Puppy. Lovely! Although a  shame to smash em’ ;) So tempting to draw eyes on them no ?

No need to smash this little fella when the time comes. Just pop the cap out’ his ass - well ‘face’ actually, but ass sounded better ; ) - and you’re in the money. Is it ok to buy something when you’re saving up if it helps you save up ? It is isn’t it, yeh…. ;)

Piggy will soon be available at Gorrinucha. Mini review spotted over on Grass Roots Modern.

I know. At first glance that seems kind of coo coo. And maybe it is, but, how much fun would that be ? Cookie and i have a dream to make a documentary about New Zealand. And to do it we’re going to walk from the nothern tip aaaaaaaall the way down to the southern tip. Mental eh ? Yes! We are hoping to do it in about a years time. To help us save up the funds to get there and pay for equipment, and porridge to eat on the road we looking for people to sponsor us. It’s a bit of a challenge! We’ll be camping wild so there’d be no luxuries on this trip. But every penny counts when it comes to making the DVD’s etc as when we get back we’ll be penniless :)

It’s a pretty special trip as the route won’t officially open til next year so ( if it all comes together ) we’ll be some of the very first people to do it. Proper adventurer stuff!

SO! If you’d like to see the documentary of a boy and girl struggling against the elements ( and their will power ) to quite literally walk to Mordor in a Frodo stylie then your luck is in! If you’d like a DVD or want to help us then read all about it here and you can Donate a small amount if you wish towards to costs of the film. Thanks so much Monster-Munch followers! And if we raise the monies you will of course hear all about the trip live here on Monster-Munch :D

Help us :)

Kickstarter are kindly helping us with a donations page - but we only get paid if we raise the whole amount! So we have only less than 90 days to see if we can…. You know we love you! ;) xx  Nicky & Cookie

Get cool stuff made by us

Kind sponsors will receive a selection of things designed and made my me and Cookie ( of Made-In-England.org ) including the DVD, Specially designed A2 Posters, route planners and the right to give us very special challenges to complete on route! Read all about the Pledge Prizes here.

As some of you know, the other special thing about this trip for me is that i’m not, lets say, the most athletic person in the world ;) So this is going to be a mission and a half to say the least! And more than a mountain to climb. In fact you might know that a little while back a was rather ill, and to even dream of something like this would have been unimaginable. So in a way, that’s something that’s spurring me on to try and confront and conquer the impossible :) It might be a bit crazy but i’m damn well going to give it my best! Thanks for listening Monster-Munchers. x

Brilliantly made mini Where The Wild Things Are characters here. Made in the japanese character crochet style, Amigurumi. Very technical stuff! And impressive likenesses. Big thanks to the Beddard who sent me this. You can see more details and buy the patterns on CraftyisCool’s Etsy here. Can’t wait to see this Monster movie!

Oh yes! These will be mine ;) Only available in Japan at the moment as far as i can see. Hope they head to Europe soon. These very tasty vans come in a few neon colours. All good.

Sold out right now at Joanna Rutter’s Etsy shop but i wanted to show you anyway. Incredibly fiddly to make but very sweet result. Hope she makes some more soon.

Bottle opener family featuring “Uuuuh?” “Waaaaa!” and “Yeeeeeey” responses, depending on what you think of the beer. Simple and cute. From Poketo spotted over at HoveringCat. Cool tshirt here too.

For the lover of the WaterMelon Shoes, here come the Meat Feet! Also - don’t miss the Meat Man-Bag, the Cheese Bag, and Bacon Briefcase plus the Bacon Wallet. You could probably get a whole outfit … but you might look like some kind of crazy butcher. Via Allee Willis.

Another sweet link from Emma Beddard the crafty/chutney/jam making master. This awesome pencil scarf. I think that might be a knitting project for the winter! Great idea.

Spotted this Ghostly Monster fella over on Ffffound and i just had to show you. Traced it back to an article on the consistently excellent Kitsune Noir and here’s the link to the band in question’s site so you can have a little listen. I don’t know for sure but this looks a little like the work of Supermundane ? Had a rummage and indeed it is. Check out his other lovely stuff here. I think i’m quite liking that band too. What a nice double find.

And it’s at this point i break away to tell you about my new jumper. Yes! It’s all hot news down here at Monster-Munch ;) It’s cold and drizzly today and happily my jumper arrived bang in time from Lazy Oaf. There is a questionable fella wearing it in the demo shot so i have removed his head so as not to scare you off. It’s reversible, and suits two moods both joyous and grumpy, or sober vs drunk perhaps, or time for bed vs time to get up. Whatever suits you. Anyway. I am very much looking forward to utilizing this double sided messaging. Watch out for grumpy face - if you see it, a cup of tea wouldn’t go a miss ;)

Cute vs Dark. La Boite A Monstres makes both fantastic jewelry and sweet plushies. Her lollies, cupcakes, and mushrooms are full of warmth and character. In contrast below there’s the Jack The Ripper pendants, and Pirate Jewels. Both are gorgeous! She makes an huge amount of original and unique necklaces, bracelets, and cufflinks. Flick through pages of great stuff over at her Flickr and check out the latest pieces on her Blog. I am SO tempted by the Pirate bracelet! I hope it’s still for sale.

That’s more like it. Fair Trade tshirt here from People Tree. Vote for the best one over at Cadbury Fairtrade. Cheers for the link Asi!