The race is on! Help me People!  :D  Click here to visit my balloon ( where ever it is on the internet ) and give me a buddy boost! Thank you thank you Nicky xx

Lots of people have asked for tips on how to get going with their own exciting monster creations. So here’s a 1-2-3 ‘How To’ poster to download that i made for the Workshop at Shunt. It’s A3 format so you can see the details. Most important tip is to remember to leave a hole in his arse to stuff him through! If you do make anything, i’d love to see photos - mail them over Monster Makers.

These were my first customers the other day, a lovely bunch of Irish fellas. They got well into it and started the ball rolling for fellow chap monster makers to join in. We had mostly boys on the second night, about 30 people in the end. And some wild and crazy creations were flowing out of the Shunt bunker. Cheers to Lee ( top left ) for snapping these, who gets the Thursday night award for most sinister monster, Legless the Rabbit. I hope your sister wasn’t too freaked out by it when she unwrapped it for her birthday! The nappy accessorization took off in a big way, inspiring a plethora of bloody weird outfits, as competitive sewing began to ripple around the room.

Drop me a mail here at Monster-Munch if you fancy coming down to the next Making Things Club : ) Thanks everyone who had a go. It was brilliant fun, and really nice to meet you all.

Thanks so much everyone for coming down to Shunt last night to take part. I stopped in my tracks part way through the night and looked up to see about 30 people had accumulated behind me all frantically beavering away, scissors and felt teeth a-flying with a full club going on in the background. Such a funny sight. We even had a crowd of spectators. Brilliant evening! Pictures coming very soon ( or as soon as Marc gets in ).

Rex’s MTV animated series was on show, and by the end of the evening we were all sporting genuine one off Rex monster marker art all over our bodies. Brilliant!

Jay’s awesome badges for the participants.

I’m having an exhibition! Come down and oggle the monsters.

The creatures have been gathered from miles around, preparations are being made… and here they are tucked up in my suitcase ready for the big day out. An exciting trip to Art in Industry!

Come down and get your hands dirty - along with the chaps from Making Things Club we’re doing a Sock Monster Workshop. So don’t miss it! Wednesday 16th 6pm onwards, at SHUNT - a bar, club, theatre space in some creepy creeeepy catacombs.

Artists’s on their day off….
It is a week showcasing the art of professionals in the creative media industries. Participating are over 25 artists from the worlds of video games, web design, film and tv, illustration, motion graphics and design. The only stipulation for the artists was to contribute pieces not created in their day to day work. The work presented ranges from fine art to nu media; images and sound; analogue and digital: presented on amongst other things canvas, screen and your body.

Showing are creatives from Poke, Framestore, Iris, Sony, Kuju London and loads more. And of course the highlight - Rex will be revealing for the first time his top secret animation series for MTV - Nice one! Here’s a video of the space, it’s reminiscent of the Titty Twister bar from From Dusk til Dawn ( but with less vampires ). I’m quite excited.

Gibson - ready to rock. Turned out better than i thought. From this distance you can hardly see the magic tape, foam board, stickers, cardboard knobs, and felt! Those knobs actually twiddle. Sweet!

Now, you might be thinking that it’s quite a weird thing to be doing… And yes in a way you’re probably right! But in fact it’s all action here at Poke Towers, where some of the team have gathered from Making Things Club to prepare for the party of the year next Wednesday. If you fancy popping down to join us, it’s the last ever ClubPub party, and it’s fancy dress, Acid Rock theme! Awesome. It doesn’t get better than that for a theme does it. You’ve got everything from Glam Rock, to Punk Rock, Grunge to Marilyn Manson, Kiss to Ziggy Stardust, Europe and Van Halen to the White Stripes… its endless - oh and with a dash of 90’s Rave thrown in for good measure. Our good mates CRANK will be playing their first ever gig. Extremely excited about that. I saw them rehearsing at the Premises the other day, and they literally are the loudest band in Britain So if you’re up for experiencing amps that go well past 11, come down to On The Rocks in Shoreditch on Wednesday night….

Tired of waiting year on year for that prestigious pencil? Yearn for the glory, a shiny yellow piece of wood on your mantle-piece, can bring? ……. Screw it, why hang around - make your own! ; ) This is my latest ‘sweding‘ of everyday objects ( i wouldn’t mind owning ) in a felt stylie. Now available in Yellow ….

My latest sock-creation …

This is Eddy. I made him a while ago. He’s made from a dogtooth tweed, finished with a felt mouth and Olive Wood buttons from Loop. He’s about a foot wide and comfy to sleep on ; ) I’ve just bought my exciting big camera to take a proper photo. If you want a new camera get a Canon G9 - it’s the nuts!

I’ve missed a couple of posts this week. Mainly do to with having the Poke Plague + celebratory hangover combo! But on Tuesday night one of my projects was lucky enough to win a Commendation at the Design Week Awards - Whoop! So i’m well chuffed ; )

While i’m on the subject am i allowed to say ( ? ) that it’s also on display at the Design Museum at the moment as part of the Designs of the Year competition… stay tuned for the results on that one, but i’m not holding my breath as apparently we’re up against the Wii and the new Fiat. Which is pretty darn mental for a website about dancing monkeys, doodle machines, infinite birds, mutating monsters ( of course my favourite ) and much more ‘Unlimited Stuff’. Yeh!

I worked with literally swathes of people worked on pulling this mammoth together including the mighty Rex, Knotty, Julie, Roope, Dezza, Caroline, RichDee, Marrius, Alex, Karen, Will, Marc. It’s a Monster for sure …

To see a couple more of my Lomos from Thailand, look here : )

Just to remind you that there’s no zoom on a Lomo - I really am that close to the Croc!

I’ve been trying to be good recently and leave those plastic bags alone when i nip out and buy dinner. It’s remarkably hard to change the habit of a life-time and remember to take a bag out with you, especially for those spur of the moment drop-in’s to the corner shop. So i thought i’d encourage myself by making my own Veg Bag! And it nicely doubles up as a visual shopping list

It’s the width of a supermarket bag but slightly shallower, and has the expandable flappy bits at the side, ( in case i fancy veg of the larger variety one evening ).

How To Make:
Simple really. Grab a plastic bag and carefully slice along the seams to let you open it out flat. Use as a template over your favorite fabric, ( be it camo or floral - i won’t judge … ) leaving enough extra space for the seams ( eg 1.5 cms ). Sew back together. Cut out veg and sew on. Easy!

If you make one i’d love to see it! send me a pic

You can see a few more of my little creations over at Flickr. I need to add a few more chaps in there. But i’m thinking of treating myself to a camera that can actually focus first … So watch this space!

Ps. For all you Sock Monster fans, there are some great ’spooky’ inspiration over here at Sock Monkey Drawer’s One of a Kind Primates