siansburys

Please re-subscribe to my new blog

2012-02-11T16:01:00.000Z

Hi everyone, just to let you know that I have moved my blog - please update any feed readers and re-subscribe to my new blog here: http://siansburys.net/blog/

RSS: http://siansburys.net/feed/

I've decided not to export old blog posts, so they will remain archived here if anyone wishes to read them.
Hope to see you in the new place! :)

Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2011

2011-12-04T15:46:00.001Z

Siansburys Sock Monkeys
Last Posting Dates for Christmas 2011
Please make sure you leave enough time for me to pack your monkey up and get to the Post Office!

UK
Tue 20th December - First Class and Recorded Signed For
Thu 22nd December - Special Delivery

International Airmail
Mon 5th December
South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand

Fri 9th December
Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Mon 12th December
Western Europe

----

Shop on Etsy
Shop on Folksy

Whimsical Whalt

2011-11-15T21:47:00.001Z

Today I arrived home from art class to find a beautifully addressed Do Not "Bend" envelope containing a new friend and I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you and welcome him into my home.

Whalt is* a stick of rock from Whitby (*EDIT: was). Here he is with Half Eaten pack of Tucs. I think they'll get along* just fine (*EDIT: they got along fine for several minutes. But you know what they say, all good things must come to an end).

I couldn't find any googly eyes so I had to draw some on so he could gaze wistfully at/around this emotive photograph of his homeland contained within his jacket. Which distracted him while I ate his.. um.. well, while I ate him. I don't think he noticed.

Thank you very much Sal! I have saved your note on the fridge, see (censored). Stalk you later! :)

Fiery Friends

2011-11-05T16:24:00.004Z

Tonight is the night we celebrate the foiling of a plot to blow up the House of Lords on 5 November 1605 by setting fire to stuff and eating toffee. Have a great evening everyone*.

1st Row (left to right):
CheekyLittleBeast - Fire Flame 8"
plushinator - Plush Fire - Fuming Flames

2nd Row (left to right):
furwillfly - Scientist
Kklaus - Felt Campfire Plush Playset- flames, logs and rocks

3rd Row (left to right):
PterodactylPants - The Atomic FireHawk - Comet Plush
scrumptiousdelight - Bomb

-----

*Please check bonfires carefully for sleeping hedgehogs before lighting
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
Help a Hedgehog Hospital

Tiny Giveaway WINNERS

2011-11-01T11:17:00.001Z

Thank you very much to everyone that entered my tiny giveaway. I really enjoyed reading your lovely comments and perusing your favourite shops, you've all got great taste! I'll certainly be adding many more beautiful things to my wishlist :)

So, down to business. All names were placed in the Special Halloween Pumpkin Face Bowl:

In the absence of a glamorous assistant, I flipped them all around a bit...

I flipped them all around a bit more, just to be sure... (look how HAPPY he is)

And then... the first name out of the Special Halloween Pumpkin Face Bowl was....

JENNIFER ROSE

Jennifer said she would spend her £500 on this Vixen Pirate Coat! You win the tiny monkey! Well done :)

Second name out of the Special Halloween Pumpkin Face Bowl was....

KAREN in FL

I'm afraid it's not as beautiful as Maisy's work but you win the first of the ACEOs :)

And finally, third name out of the Special Halloween Pumpkin Face Bowl was...

FIONA

I look forward to your bribe. In the meantime you win the second ACEO :)

Many congratulations to the winners - I will be contacting you very soon!
x

Killing me Softly

2011-10-24T22:12:00.002+01:00

What better way to celebrate Halloween than to add a little squishy someone to your plush/folk/art/doll collection? There's absolutely tons of fantastic stuff out there but, as a little taster, here are some of my most favourite dreadful spooky Halloween plush and soft finds for your viewing pleasure. I hope you like them!

Please do go and visit the very talented makers' shops (links below) for more information and to perhaps make one of these beautiful creations your very own:

1st Row (left to right):
Kittypinkstars - Kitty's Little Halloween Pumpkin Puff
Cart before the horse - Halloween Skeleton Doll

2nd Row (left to right):
ScrumptiousDelight - Feeding Time: Zombie Worm
asherjasper - Needlefelted Halloween Egg Set

3rd Row (left to right):
themdollz - Sam the Pumpkin Monster
Squirrel Momma - Halloween Pumpkin Earl

The Big 500 Tiny Giveaway!

2011-10-23T14:30:00.002+01:00

Tiny prizes made special-like for a tiny giveaway!

First Prize is this teeny sock monkey. Standing at just 15cm tall, he's the 2nd smallest sock monkey I have ever made (actually the smallest was technically a bear so this probably IS the smallest monkey I've ever made *EXCLUSIVE*). Please remember that my monkeys are not toys and are intended for adult collectors over 14 years of age.

The 2nd and 3rd names out of the hat will each win a hand drawn ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals). ACEOs are tiny art works. At 2.5"x3.5" they are the same size as trading cards and are extremely collectible. These ones are drawn by me with fineliner and painted with watercolour and gouache in an exclusive fashion to match the exclusive giveaway colours.

HOW DO I ENTER?!?!?!?

Simply leave a comment on this blog post in answer to my question.
Comments left on Twitter/Facebook/Flickr etc., are not guaranteed be counted.
Please leave your contact name and email address in your comment so that I can contact you for your postal address if you win.
You can comment as many times as you like, but your name will only be entered once.
Entries must be in by midnight on Sunday 30th October
I will pick winners names at random from a hat. Or bowl. Or something. Probably on Monday 31st October, but don't quote me on that in case I forget.
My decision is final.

And the question is this:
In the UK, "Monkey" is slang for £500. If you were lucky enough to have a spare £500, what lovely handmade goods would you spend it on?

You don't have to say you would give it away to charity, or buy nice things for your loved ones (and you don't have to say you would buy my monkeys, I won't be swayed by flattery.. haha), we're talking selfish purchases here. And I'm kind of interested to see your favourite shops ;)

FYI: I would start (and possibly finish) by buying a couple of things from this shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jimbobart

GOOD LUCK!
x

P.S. If you aren't already a FB fan, you can join me here: https://www.facebook.com/siansburys.net

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T18:06:00.001+01:00

Kittypinkstars' honeybadger puff!

2011-10-11T22:19:00.001+01:00

I don't know if you've heard about the Honey Badger, but it's pretty badass. Wildlife narrator, Randall, tells us that "the Honey Badger has been referred to by the Guinness Book Of World Records as the most fearless animal in all of the animal kingdom. It really don't give a sh*t".

You can thank Christina Ward plush-maker-extraordinaire off of the Plush Team for my obsession with this video as it was she who first drew my attention to it after creating this masterpiece:

So when fellow Plush-Teamer Kittypinkstars ran a blog competition to Design a Puff, my mind naturally turned (I say 'turned'. Frankly it was there already) to the Honey Badger and I did a little drawing just for Fun:

There were so many amazing entries and I am just astounded and honoured to have won the BIG KIDS section, so thank you to everyone that voted! Because LOOK what I won!!!!!

Isn't he perfect?! The bee! The claws! The snake! The NOSE! Thank you so much, Kitty - this is the best prize in the History of All Time :D :D

Please go and check out Kittypinkstars Facebook page for all the latest news, because I just can't put into words how amazing she is x

The Girl from Fifteen Years Ago

2011-09-24T21:18:00.003+01:00

Bad week, brace yourself for a miserable post. I'm going grey. As if I wasn't already feeling old enough....

Last weekend we went back to school for its official re-opening after a reported £27M refurb. It sure as Hell needed it, it was a crumbling wreck back in 1996. This is us outside the new block (there I am, in the middle, hello!), which is flippin' amazing. I'm quite jealous it wasn't here when we were. And they're sure to turn out a few X-Factor wannabes with all the fancy new 'Performance Arts' facilities.

Incidentally, the last time I was here, everything was about 'The Sciences'. The Head of 6th Form was congratulating me on my terrible A Level results and I was making snarky remarks that I was surprised I'd passed them at all, yeahthanksverymuchfornothing. Two years previously I'd been a model student and a contender for Oxbridge, apparently. LOL. (That is, until I dropped Biology for Art and they lost interest in me). Anyhoo. Here we are, not bitter. Oh look! Is that Tom Ellis planting a tree?

Look closely, he's amongst a throng of screaming teenage girls. Not to mention the member of staff who was hanging onto his arm as if she was imagining she was Tamsin Outhwaite or something. Loser.

What? You want to see the tree? I knew you'd ask, here it is. David Blunkett was there too but nobody really cared about that, except my friend Ali who wanted a photo with his dog, but my camera was too slow.

Fifteen years, eh? Maybe I should put a bit more thought into the next fifteen... ;)

Foxy Friday

2011-09-16T11:00:00.001+01:00

Just our friendly local neighbourhood fox and a little idea I am working on

10/9/11: Sketchcrawl - Yorkshire Sculpture Park

2011-09-14T11:00:00.000+01:00

Spent the whole of Saturday sketching at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I tried to pack in as much as possible so my sketches are very sketchy...

Sketch Point 1: The Underground Gallery: Jaume Plensa Exhibition
Lovely stuff, also very interesting video interview with the artist below.

Jaume Plensa at YSP from Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Vimeo.

During this hour I also managed a quick run around the fun Emily Speed exhibition at the Bothy Gallery (which made me smile a lot) and took a couple of photos of the other sculptures in the grounds. For my whole set of images please see my Flickrset here: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Sketch Point 2: Bretton Country Park
Lots of lovely voluptuous Henry Moore pieces here in the park, tried to capture the deep golden browns and blues and shiny bronzey-ness of this one, but failed.

Sketch Point 3: Lower park/Bretton Hall
Made it to this sketchpoint a bit late, after a delicious lunch at the gallery restaurant. Most sketchers had already set up in front of the hall, so I had another run around the park. This sculpture by Michael Zwingmann is called 'Invasion' captured my attention. From a distance it looks like freshly baled haylage strewn about the field, but is made from liquid asphalt poured into moulds. From below it is reminiscent of a scene from 'The Prisoner'. Had time to do a quick 10 min sketch of the hall as well.

Sketch Point 4: The Boat House
This was quite a horrible subject to take on - I've been meaning to draw some silver birches for ages but I knew I'd be terrible at it so have been putting it off. I will go back up to Froggatt Edge and practice some more one day! This part of the park is basically a stagnant pool and stinks of Himalayan Balsam, mainly attracting bugs and reminding me of all those nasty damp Fridays I spent with BTCV pulling the damn stuff out!

Finally, we walked back up to the Cafe at the Kennel Block to have a look at everyone's sketches - some really amazing work. As usual, check out Lynne's picture gallery to see images as they come in!

9/9/11 Chester Zoo

2011-09-13T11:00:00.010+01:00

Well it took two hours to get there and we had a mere four hours to get round it all, but we just about managed, despite rushing a bit. We also missed out a couple of areas in the middle, and a few exhibits were closed for improvements.

Lots of things to see. LOTS.

Great monkey enclosures - loads of space and swinging aparatus

Top 5 Highlights:

The FRUIT BAT FOREST in the dark at feeding time! Crikey those fellas like swooping about for melon. Just amazing. Definitely Numero Uno Top Primary Highlight.
Seeing the BUSH DOGS walk in formation around their pond, like a troupe of tiny bears. Then witnessing frustrated bush puppy trying to reach the water for a drink but, because mummy bush dog grabbed onto his hind leg (with her teeth) to stop him drowning (?), his tongue wasn't quite long enough.
GIANT OTTERS! Two of them, squeaking, and splashing about. Not like that invisible one at the Chestnut Centre, although that one is, admittedly, a lot closer to home.
CHEETAH CUBS - Very cute.
The ASIAN ELEPHANT enclosure. Loving the naturalistic fencing - they didn't have a lot of space, but even their indoor enclosure has had some thought put into it with regard to the animals needs. This would have come higher up in my list but it was also a lowlight as we got to them last and they'd already gone to bed so we didn't get to see them playing outside :(

BONGOS!

He may have been doing something rude. I censored my sketch though, don't panic.

'Realm of the Red Ape' Orangutan Nursery - gorgeous

So in conclusion I am generally very impressed with the leap forward in the quality of animal enclosures and the general happiness-factor of the animals since my last zoo visit (admittedly, that was 10 years ago). I would definitely recommend it, but I would advise that you get there first thing in the morning as there is just so much to see (although it's a looooong day if you have far to travel!) and TOP TIP: If you are just there for the afternoon, see your favourites first - the elephants, giraffes etc., get put to bed an hour before closing.

8/9/11: Haddon Hall

2011-09-12T11:00:00.004+01:00

Oh my goodness, look how pretty Haddon Hall is.

Look at it. Look at its pretty flowers. The inside of the house is absolutely beautiful as well, obviously, but all my photos were rubbish. You'll just have to visit it yourself. Or Google it?

15th Century fresco seccoe in the Chapel. Thinking about doing something like this to one of the walls of our 1950s semi.

This house is just too pretty. Imagine living there though, with all those people outside taking photos and blogging about it. Annoying.

'Do you come here often?' Not often enough, my friends! (They didn't have a 'Vernon' keyring in the gift shop, can you believe it?!). Good hommity pie in the restaurant though (also the best toilets. For reals... I was going to take a photo but I'm not quite that weird. You will have to visit to appreciate them. Go to Chatsworth, Hardwick etc., first though so you have a frame of reference).

I did a little sketch in the garden. It's not as pretty as the real thing. How could it be?
More info on Haddon Hall here.

SHEEP! By the river at Grindleford on the way home. Always good to get a photo of the local sheeps. They're quite chunky ones.

5/9/11: Burbage Valley

2011-09-05T19:16:00.005+01:00

Love this place...

(click images to view larger - I stopped by the stream to shelter from the sideways rain, and took a thousand photos)

Higger Tor from Carl Wark - purple, green, the other green, grey. Ahhh. And sky. Rain filled sky.

Here's what is is so I don't have to bother explaining it to you.

view from Higger Tor towards Hope Valley, rain looming, crows circling

lovely purpley heather - lovely

I'm on holiday this week (Yeah, I'm on staycation, but am lucky enough to live near Jane Eyre country and I'm a sucker for a gritstone edge) so expect some more random (but not very worldy or wordy) posts/photos/drawings over the next few days.

My Folksy and Etsy shops remain open as usual :)

Y'know, say, if you wanted to buy something. Like a sock monkey?

Sketchcrawl Sheffield, August 2011

2011-08-29T19:08:00.003+01:00

Sketchcrawl at the Sheffield Fayre, Norfolk Park, Sheffield - 28 August 2011

The Confederate Army. Quite far away.

The Roman Army. Reserves.

Wouldn't stand still (how do you spell medieval?)

The Archers.

The Targets

Quick, Fiver. Make a run for it.

The lady gave us some advice about growing vines and I can confirm that the grapes were tasty.

The winner of the First Prize for Onions (Novice Class) was over the moon.

Baldrick?

Roman & Medieval encampment

Lynne sketching (while a group of impressed spectators gathers behind her)

BANG!

The Union, shortly before they all dropped dead.

Lynne sketching the Army Wives - the crowd gathered again to look over her shoulder

Leaning

Lots of leaning

In the Confederate encampment

Confederate soldiers catching 40 winks

(a bit sick of Blogger's image treatment, sorry about that - click on the images to get a better view)
The End x

Apple Cake

2011-08-15T23:09:00.004+01:00

This month we have mostly been dealing with apples. This recipe is the most super easy and tasty remedy so far, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's taken from the mighty Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking (ISBN 0-7553-1211-2), so all kudos to her. This is a brilliant book by the way, if you are a fan of baking, which I am, obviously. Look away now if you have OCD, this book is covered in cake. All the best cookbooks are covered in cake.

GERMAN APPLE CAKE
Serves 6 (or probably less, if you like cake)

100g/3.5oz/1 stick unsalted butter
100g/3.5oz/scant 1/2 cup golden granulated sugar
200g/7oz/1.75 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 large free-range egg
500g/1lb (about 3-4) cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used 8 of our smallish Discovery apples)
55g/2oz/0.3 cup raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
55g/2oz/0.25 cup demerara sugar

Preheat overm to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and butter an 18cm/7" springform cake tin.
Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave or in a pan over a low heat.
Remove from the heat then stir in the granulated sugar, flour, egg and a pinch of salt. Mix together to form a stiff dough. (That's IT?! Like I said, SO easy)
Place two thirds of the dough into the base of the prepared tin, pressing out gently with yout fingers to cover the base.
Mix together the apple slices, raisins, cinnamon and demerara sugar, then tip this into the tin, pressing down gently.
Place the remaining dough over the top in little clumps by roughly crumbling it between your fingers. Lightly press down with your hands.
Bake for 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through; cover lightly with foil for the last 10 minutes or so.
Cool in the tin for roughly 20 minutes then carefully transfer to a plate and serve warm or cold.
Omnomnomnom.

Mine's slightly overcooked (still trying to figure out this damn oven), but still tasty. Sue also says you can make this cake with other fruits including gooseberries, plums and rhubarb. Yum. Nice one, Sue.

*5 thumbs*

Tomorrow I'm going to make some apple butter and google how to make dried apples.

Custom Sock Monkey: Captain Kirk

2011-08-13T14:36:00.001+01:00

This has been a long one in the making, but my latest sock monkey has just set off on an epic journey through time and space to his new home on a distant moon (Dorset).

Captain James T. Kirk sock monkey was commissioned by my lovely friend Maisy from One Little House and comes complete with coiffed hair, phaser, communicator thingy (no it's not an iPod) and tight fitting uniform.

Accessories

Working sketch

I'm not taking any new custom orders at the moment but if you would like to register your interest or get a quote, please see my FAQ's and then email me at siansburys@gmail.com

I've faffed a bit with my website siansburys.net this week, so hopefully it's a bit nicer to look at, and easier to find the right information- do let me know what you think!

Hope you've had a great week
S x

How do you like Them Apples?

2011-08-05T23:56:00.002+01:00

Love and a Sandwich on Dawanda, Karen Hilton on Folksy

Sighfoo on Etsy, Kittypinkstars on Etsy

Anna Chambers, MonikaDesign on Etsy

Woolly Duck on Folksy, CelentanoWoodworks on Etsy

Quernus Crafts on Folksy, Siansburys - that's me!

Today's selection of lovely handmade wares inspired by:

just part of our apple harvest so far this year.....

Craft Candy Mini Fair, Tomorrow!

2011-07-08T20:37:00.001+01:00

If you're in Sheffield tomorrow, why not pop in to the last ever Craft Candy Mini fair at Bungalows & Bears on Division Street from 1-5pm.

Grrr, Bears! Bungalows & Bears decor.

There will be 9 stalls of handmade wares for you to peruse; I will be there with my sock monkeys and my Dad's prints and cards. If that's not enough, it's free entry, you can have a tasty beverage while you're there and if you fancy a spot of lunch, I can recommend the fishfinger sandwich (and actually pretty much everything else on the menu) :)

You can also see (and buy) some of my Dad's original work at the Great Sheffield Art Show at the Octagon this weekend (£4.50 entry). Or you can catch him sketching LIVE as part of the Sketchcrawl at Walkley Festival tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Catchup

2011-07-01T21:47:00.004+01:00

Hello all, and welcome to your Friday roundup. So firstly, RIP Peter Falk. In his honour, here is an artist's (cough) impression of how Columbomonkey would have looked if I had ever got round to making him. Actually I probably will make him one day, so this is how I see that panning out, yes/no?:

Columbo Sock Monkey, Siansburys style

Sunday was a scorcher here in the UK (in UK terms at least). I opened the back door into the garden and it was like stepping off a plane onto a Greek Island, nearly. I spent all day under cover, yet annoyingly still got burned in the five minutes I spent hanging the washing on the line.

Monday was even hotter. After spending all day in an air conditioned office, I got home to find that the fishtank overheated and we lost Fido, along with some corals, sad day :(

Bye Fido x

Monday was also the last ever Craft Candy committee meeting. The group is folding which is an awful shame, but it'll be good to see it going out on a high. The last mini and summer fair should be excellent and I'll tell you more about those very soon.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful, but I went for a few walks and saw some livestock:

Some cows, a calf and one lamb

Some young sheeps

Some tarmac

I made a few mini monkeys for the upcoming fairs:

Meep

and finally, Eugene found a new home! Bon voyage Eugene! x

Eugene flew the nest

Apologies for the photos by the way, I've started to get too lazy to take a proper camera out, so these are all off my phone. Anyway, I hope you all had a nice week, do tell me what you got up to!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T18:27:00.000+01:00

Plush Team: Circus Challenge

2011-06-28T23:08:00.000+01:00

The talented members of the Plush Team have been working hard on their entries for the May/June Challenge, "Under the Bigtop; A circus of Misfits". As ever, all of the entries were fantastic, but here are my four favourites:

1. Plush Team May/June Challenge, 2. Madame Clofullia and Pierre Gasnier, 3. Christopher the Ringmaster, 4. pony with plumes ...

Part 1 of the voting is over (see here for all of the entries: Plush Team) but voting for the overall winner of this Challenge starts today, June 28th. Voting is open until July 1st, with the Challenge Winner announced July 2nd. The Grand Prize winner will receive a signed copy of 'HANDMADE NATION: The rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design' by Faythe Levine and Cortney Heimerl.

Two of my favourites, 'Christopher the Ringmaster' and 'Pony with Plumes' have made it to the final, so go and vote for your favourite NOW, here at the Plush Team blog!

All of these one-of-a-kind pieces are available for purchase through our Plush Team shop

The Week

2011-06-24T23:36:00.002+01:00

Okay I was going to start writing a weekly blogpost of a Friday, informing you of all the Things That I Have Done, like anyone cares. But hey! Lucky for you, I've done b*gger all this week, just for a change. Not even anything remotely interesting. I was thinking earlier that I should probably try moving off the chair I have been sitting on for the last 48 hours and look away from the screen as my eyeballs are starting to fuse to it.

So, let's see. I had a few days off work at the weekend, which was excellent. Again, I did nothing. But doing nothing on your days off is OK, right?

Oh, wait - on Saturday I got itchy feet so went for a drive up to Stanage with the intention of going for a walk. However, it absolutely tipped it down with rain so I sat in the car with the window rolled down and drew for a bit. I saw curlews in flight and heard a sheep go baaa in it's sleep. I then drove over to Hathersage and back, by which time the rain had eased off so went for a little walk over the moor. Someone had carved their initials into one of my favourite places which made me really sad, so I tried to uncarve it off, grr. Walked back through the woods, which haven't been managed for the last 50 years, and now the council is trying to make up for it by clearing massive swathes of it. The result is sort of like a cross between Narnia and Glastonbury.

Snoring Sheep, before she fell asleep

Forest Operations gone bad

We both had Monday off too, so we went to the cinema 3 times, THREE. We have these unlimited passes which means we can go to the cinema an UNLIMITED number of times (see what they did there) and *only* (ahem) pay £15 a month or something, which is great except if you only go three times in one day every 6 months (and you have to pay extra to see stuff in 3D as well, which is sort of cheeky), but anyway.

Oh, look so I did do something vaguely interesting. I don't remember much about the films though, but let's have a go:

Green Lantern - Ryan Reynolds aka Maverick from Top Gun gets picked by a green blob of light to become an intergalactic spaceman who has the power to make anything from willpower, as long as it's green.
X-Men First Class - James McAvoy putting on a weird voice and touching his temples a lot. Explosions.
Nandos - we had the chicken
Pirates of the Caribbean 3?4? Who cares - Jack Sparrow, check. Some sort of quest for treasure, check. Lovejoy, check.

On the way to the cinema

Other stuff:

We went out for a lovely meal with my Dad for his beeday one night. Noms
I've started using Pinterest (click over there to follow me ----->)
I went to work, I rode on a bus, I listened to some Bright Eyes and some They Might Be Giants off of the 90s
I put *thumbs* on the bottom of my blog posts, look!
I noticed that the back of my shoes look like a surprised sloth:

A bit more wrecking just for funs

Aaand that's my week. What did you get up to? Anything nice?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T23:26:00.000+01:00

Happy Father's Day! Bryn Hughes

2011-06-19T10:59:00.003+01:00

Not only is my pops a great Dad, he is also an incredibly talented artist. He's currently down in That London reuniting and touring with "27 architects vintage Sheffield Uni 1963", but to honour him on Father's Day I'd like to share with you this interview, which was originally written in 2010 for UK Handmade Magazine.

MEET: Bryn Hughes

Please tell us what do you do and how you started

I draw and paint (in that order). I knew I was going to be an architect when I was just 10 years old, which is strange really since I was born in a small village in South Wales where my father was a coal miner and my mother a nurse.

After years of threatening to produce a sketchbook of buildings which inspire me to stop and look, the gift of a small box of watercolours from my eldest daughter in 2001 was the spark which led me to start sketching.

Were you taught to draw and paint?

I did Art at ‘A’ Level and a degree in Architecture but I was left to develop my own style, which was really good. The only formal advice I was given was how to put on an even watercolour wash over a large area and how to set up one and two point perspectives. I do love to buy books on watercolour techniques which I’m sure have influenced my style.

Sheffield Town Hall and Peace Gardens

Tell us about how you work

I am always accompanied on my wanderings by my rucksack containing my box of watercolours, a 0.1 Pilot DR pen, sketchbook and a stool.

My personal technique is to sit facing a building and draw directly in pen, normally without pencil pre-drawing, onto rough A4 size watercolour paper. This method gives spontaneity since mistakes cannot be corrected and the adrenaline produced speeds up the whole process. Then, to keep the mood going at a fast pace, I immediately start watercolouring by painting in the dark windows. I find putting the first strokes of paint onto paper the scariest step so I always start in this way. I then continue with the rest of the watercolouring dropping in yellow ochre, ultramarine or magenta to give those “happy accidents” that mixing watercolour directly onto the paper can give. Working quickly and with a light touch gives a sense of immediacy and the best results.

What memorable responses have you have you had to your work?

The most memorable response was being invited by Buxton Museum & Art Gallery to give a one-man, seven-week long exhibition of my drawings. I will also never forget winning the Stephen Welsh Prize for Draughtsmanship at the University of Sheffield in 1965.

What is your favourite piece?

A fisherman’s cottage in Puerto Soller, Mallorca

Fisherman's Cottage; Puerto Soller, Mallorca

What themes do you follow and where do you get your inspiration?

My usual subjects are frontages and facades of buildings. My draughtsman’s eye draws me into painting detail of shape, shadow and texture. I’m always amazed at how clever humankind is at creating buildings, works of art and works of use (I try not to dwell on its faults).

London, St. Pancras

Favourite artists include Constable, Van Gogh, JMW Turner, John Singer Sergeant, Sturgeon, and the watercolourists John Blockley, David Bellamy, David Curtis and Nita Engle. I also just love the work of Ronald Searle and Quentin Blake. My favourite architects are Frank Lloyd Wright, James Stirling, C.R. Mackintosh, Peter Aldington and Richard Rogers. I admire the builders who work in all conditions to construct the edifices dreamt up by designers. I think modern architecture is going through a good period, designed by architects who are a small part of vast teams head by the accountants of modern construction – the quantity surveyors.

I’ve also recently discovered Urban Sketchers, which has inspired me to get out there and sketch, and I am really enjoying producing quick sketches on my new iPad.

Denver Airport

Your work is extremely detailed - you must have a lot of patience.

I think detail is a relative term. After practising mainly as an architectural draughtsman for the past 26 years, my work is not that detailed. I don’t have great patience – just a will of iron! My drawings nowadays are usually a fast sprint and not a marathon. The faster my pen moves the more satisfying the result.

Venice Canal

What is your favourite or most inspirational place?

Venice. I would like to visit Seville/Cordoba area of Southern Spain. Castellon de la Plana (north of Valencia) is the place where I reinvented my drawing style in 2001, France has the most beautiful old villages but Spain has the colours.

Castellon, San Felix

You’ve just retired, congratulations! What are you excited about doing next?

Everything! I’m finally living my preferred lifestyle. Now I’ll have more time, I hope to use my weird imagination a bit more and increase my repertoire of artistic technique other than watercolours.

What's your definition of the perfect day?

Waking up without the alarm clock, a quick burst of sketching/drawing, a speed walk or slow jog across the heather moors opposite our family home on the outskirts of Sheffield, then to end the day, a glass of red wine and meal with family and/or friends.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Don’t be an architect. But it was my ‘calling’ and I didn’t (still don’t) know any better!

Sheffield Skyline

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

My website www.brynhughes.co.uk
Blog http://brynhughesart.blogspot.com

All images in this post Copyright Bryn Hughes

Doodle video

2011-06-17T20:44:00.000+01:00

Had a day off today so, being the hellraiser that I am, I stayed in and fixed my webcam - and then I thought it was a good idea to update all my software and film a doodle:

File under: procrastination

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T14:46:00.002+01:00

Sheffield Sketchcrawl 7: General Cemetery & Botanical Gardens

2011-06-13T20:42:00.013+01:00

Well, the forecast wasn't good, but we merry Sketchcrawlers gathered with our sketchbooks (and waterproofs) in the General Cemetery at 10am. I had a good mooch about the place, reading inscriptions and panicking about trying to draw vegetation, before I decided to just choose the best place to sit. I sat on the steps to the Old Chapel and draw the Monument to George Bennet, which is Grade II listed, and seriously decayed. It looks like his whole portrait has been chipped off deliberately.

View from the Old Chapel

I got a photo in case you didn't believe me. Look, poor fella:

George Bennet Monument

As it seemed such an important-looking object, and knowing nothing about this man, I wrote down the inscription from the reverse. George Bennet was a Missionary who spent eight years travelling the world and founded the Sheffield Sunday School Movement; he isn't buried here but this is a monument to him and his work.

Inscription on reverse of Monument

George Bennet's story from the Cemetery Trust's website

Some other interesting graves I saw included Leopold Lichtenthal of St. Petersburg, who was killed from a fall from a horse in 1879. Showing off, apparently. He was 17.

Leopold Lichtenthal

And John Burch, Gentleman, who died aged 80 in full hope of a joyful Resurrection. I hope he wasn't disappointed. For more history, please go to the General Cemetery Trust's website: http://www.gencem.org/

John Burch, Gentleman

We managed about an hour or so before the weather started to turn, so we quickly departed and reconvened inside the pavillions at the Botanical Gardens. We were just in time, because it started to absolutely tip it down for the remainder of the day. Here's a sketch I did of the agapanthus in the "South Africa" pavillion, and the view through the door into "South & Central America":

Inside Botanical Gardens Pavillions

I then tried to draw the cacti in the South & Central America beds, but there was too much information! I may have made some of this up, but I think it looks pretty! Those tall things on the left were actually really fluffy. Well, they looked fluffy but they were probably very stabby:

Cactus bed in "South America" Pavillion

And still it continued to rain and everybody got very cold, so most people went home. Only an intrepid few braved the trek up to the pub for the de-brief and sketchbook swap but a good day was had by all!

As usual, click on the images to see larger and keep an eye on Lynne's Picture Gallery to see work from the day from the other sketchcrawlers!

Sx

Wreck This Journal (some more)

2011-06-11T16:15:00.001+01:00

Inspired (as always) by my wonderful and excessively talented friends at Kittypinkstars, Oddsox and Little Black Heart, I've spent the last few days wrecking my journal, again. It's sort of like group therapy, but alone (but together) with pens and knives and ANGER and drawing and water and HORROR and gluestring and PENCILS and sadness and happy (yay!), all wrapped up in a little book with googly eyes. He didn't have googly eyes before, but since I welded them on with hot glue and lowered him into a sink full of lovely warm bubbly water yesterday, he and I have become a lot closer.

If you haven't already got yourself a WTJ, I would heartily recommend you get one and start destroying it immediately. It's by an ~~evil genius~~ author called Keri Smith and you can find it on the internet, which I know is where you all do your shopping because you're scared of going outside. AMAZON (click, buy)

You can see my full photoset as I add them over on my Flickrstream (click)

And tomorrow, TOMORROW! It's Sketchcrawl Day! Fingers crossed for the rain to hold off this time :/
x

Life Laundry

2011-05-24T23:02:00.002+01:00

Hello! You may or may not have noticed but I've been On A Break.

I'm all in a muddle! I've merged together my two blogs in the hope that it will at least confuse me less. I'm sorry for spamming some of you when I imported my other blog over here; I didn't mean to break the interwebs, I pwomise! Apologies also to those of you who are following me for the sock monkeys if you are not interested in my doodling/blathering, and vice versa. Hopefully seeing the two things together will help me (and you) make more sense of things!

Spending Time

So now I've just got to decide what to tell you here on the blog. I'd like to make it a bit more meaty and less self-centred (ha) than it has been, as you can get your quick updates on and shop pimpage over on my Facebook page and/or Twitter, and you can see my sketchbook/daily out-and-about snaps and inspiration on Tumblr. However, I'm not all that interesting or great at pulling content together so we'll see how that goes, eh?

ACEOs in progress

I'm also merging my shops (eventually I'll do the websites and all the other bits and bobs too...), so the sianhughes shops are empty and everything is now on siansburys.etsy.com and siansburys.folksy.com - I've just started making some ACEOs and they're heading over to Folksy; the majority of the sock monkeys will probably continue to be listed on Etsy but again, I'm playing that by ear. The custom order book remains closed for the moment; I'm so sorry for disappointing anyone during this 'down-time' but I'll be back to full speed as soon as possible!

Meanwhile, I'll be spending some quality time with the woods x

Bank Holidays! Two weeks in photosnaps

2011-05-06T22:30:00.004+01:00

Sunshine
Weddings ('Scuse the mess, living room is still a work in progress)

Woodland Walks (Limb Valley, Sheffield)

Bogs (dry)

Mansions (Whirlowbrook Hall, Sheffield)

Stately Homes (Hardwick Hall, Chesterfield)

N.B. Hardwick has a lovely dining room. Very modest. Not like my favoured State Dining Room at Chatsworth. Jim never did fix it for me to have my birthday party there. Mum said the Duke of Dev (Rest His Soul) probably wouldn't have minded me using his Pink Crystal for jelly and icecream if I'd have asked him nicely.

Gardens

Why is this woman measuring a decapitated head?

Gardening (plants survived the frost - next: slugs)

Voting

Doodling in front of the TV (Yes, I took my sketchbook out with me to The Interesting Places but I didn't dare get it out. Grr).

Sketching in the garden, catching the evening sun.

Hope you all had a lovely couple of weeks.
More images on Flickr and Instagram (@siansburys)

Drawing on the iPad

2011-04-27T18:17:00.000+01:00

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to go back to Art Skool for a day with my lovely friend Sarah Waterhouse and my pops, Bryn Hughes. We were invited to Chesterfield College to attend an event aimed at "highlighting the opportunities for integrating Apple iPad technologies within the Creative sector". Well, Sarah was, and we tagged along for a Nice Day Out. (Click images to go large)

After a brief briefing, we spent the rest of the morning in the studios, where we had a quick lesson on drawing proportions, and ran through a few exercises (drawing with eyes shut, etc., hence the drawings of floating dungarees). This was actually pretty funny bearing in mind 90% of our group were (are) Art Teachers.

Lunch in the college cafeteria was followed by a return to the lecture theatre. The afternoon was dedicated to drawing on the iPad using the 'Brushes' app, some of the college Fashion students (and speakers) kindly stepping up to model for us.

Drawing on the iPad was certainly fun, but clean. Too clean! Call me old fashioned, but I'm definitely a pencil and paper and pens and paint and mess kinda gal. I could have spent all week/month/year in the studio. Look at all that grunge! Lovely :)

The Doodle Book

2011-04-26T13:48:00.000+01:00

Half way though the SketchCrawl at the weekend I had to start a new sketchbook, which was pretty scary.

I read somewhere that it helps remove the fear of drawing on a shiny new page by wrecking your paper before you start, so I trashed this sketchbook a while ago with inks, and I enjoy using it for doodling in. I keep going back to old doodles and working over them - its got a really nice colourful, wobbly, layered texture now (Well, I think so). Rubbish, but fun :)

Perhaps I should pre-wreck all my regular sketchbooks too.. hmm..

SketchCrawl 23/04/11 - Graves Park, Sheffield

2011-04-25T21:41:00.000+01:00

More images from Sheffield SketchCrawls
Sheffield SketchCrawls organised by Lynne Chapman

SketchCrawl worldwide - find one near you!

SketchCrawl concept invented by Enrico Casarosa

Spring Fair, Saturday 26th March

2011-03-24T15:02:00.002Z

Thirty+ stalls. THIRTY! (PLUS!)
I will be behind one of them :)

ACEO - Rainy Field

2011-02-10T20:01:00.000Z

New little ACEO in my Folksy shop here

Based on a view of the Peak District over the Mayfield Valley from the outskirts of Sheffield. Actually its the view from my old house - much daydreaming happened here, I loved watching the clouds coming over. Hope you like it!

Painted in watercolour then embellished with polychromos crayon. Only £4.50 - bargain.

Art Class - Colour Theory

2011-02-07T15:35:00.000Z

Fun with colours in art class today (click for larger images), made a lovely chart:

Marion demonstrating how to play with watercolour:

My efforts with colour mixing (below) and those of Dad and others (below below):

Taking inspiration from Callum Innes:

And I always enjoy my walk home through the coppice tunnel:

Linoprinting!

2011-02-05T17:06:00.000Z

Well I have sort of tried linoprinting before with little success. Teaching yourself how to do the inking and printing bit is fairly impossible I think. Anywho I've been meaning to learn properly for ages, and today I got the opportunity to attend a brilliant workshop with James Green off of James Green Printworks (take a look at his Folksy shop, he's a talented fella). I done a picture of ... guess what? A sheeps! I think he's rather fun, I hope you agree :)

James is an excellent tutor - we had a great time, and we were all pleased with the results of our efforts! James says he will put some more pics on his blog, so please go and look there later!

If you're interested in one day craft workshops in Sheffield, check out Craft-Candy.org and join the mailing list :)

Sheffield Sketchcrawl! #4 22/01/11

2011-02-03T22:18:00.000Z

Happy Belated 30th International Sketchcrawl Day! I hope you had a sketchful day. Here's what we got up to in Sheffield:

First stop (after stocking up on supplies at Blackwells over the road), Sheffield Central Library, an Art Deco delight. After I'd spent the week reading about the Wiener Werkstatte, it seemed apt:

All that architectural detail of the facade wasn't working for me in pen or pencil, so I looked the other way. Only nearly got trampled on a couple of times:

It was a flippin' cold day, let me tell you. After 20 mins I'd had enough (although I sort of liked the wobbly effect my shivering hands gave my drawing!) so went indoors to find everyone else sketching in the foyer:

Then, after lunch, on to The Cathedral Church of St. Marie on Norfolk Row, very quiet - lovely! Can you spot Lynne sketching in this one?

Plenty of interesting doors here:

Stained glass is difficult to draw:

Finally, to the pub for debriefing! Some brilliant work produced - go and see Lynne's picture gallery to see what everyone else got up to!
x

Yellow

2011-02-01T22:50:00.000Z

Bear with me, I think I'm moving back to Blogger...

Moving (blog) house

2010-12-30T19:58:00.000Z

Hello! I have moved. do hope you will continue to follow me over on Wordpress: sianhughes.co.uk

x

Art Class - Drapery with Model, 3

2010-12-28T21:27:00.000Z

Hello, Happy Christmas! Hope you're all having or have had a nice break.

Final week of art class (drapery). Sorry I've taken so long to upload these, been busy with Christmas orders for Siansburys, and then with general feasting :)

Art Class - Drapery with Model, 2

2010-12-14T20:05:00.000Z

Apologies for the shoddy photography! Click images for larger as usual.
Lots of quick sketches this week - timescales approximate, 3 hours in total including break:

15 mins, pencil - A3

5 mins charcoal - A3

Single line, 2 mins - A3

Single line, holding the end of the pencil, 2 mins - A3

Single line, using wrong hand, 2 mins - A3

Single line, 5 mins - A3

15 mins, pencil crayon - A3

40 mins(ish) acrylic on paper - A2

Fun! Not used my paints for y'ages and we were in a darkened room so the colours are.. interesting! Could have done with another hour, haha. Also made Kirsty look much more pregnant than she (apparently) is ;)

Not hugely happy with the result but really enjoyed it!
Only 1 week left! Sad times

Sheffield Sketchcrawl! #3 04/12/10

2010-12-07T21:49:00.000Z

Cold day started with a vanilla latte at Starbucks on Devonshire Street and turnout was excellent considering the lingering snow and flipping freezing temperatures. I was immediately concerned I'd not applied enough layers but luckily, apart from walking between venues, we remained inside for most of the day.

I drew a car! I can't draw cars.

A hop over the road to the Forum cafe. The soup special was cream of tomato and there was a be-hatted man behind the bar.

After I'd collected Dad from outside the Forum where he was sketching on Devonshire Green (mad), we had a quick half hour sketch inside the City Hall foyer - the ceiling is beautiful but too hard to draw ;)

Can you spot Michael, Martin and Bryn? This is shortly beofre we got kicked out for being ROWDY (joking: see Lynne's blog).

After lunch and chat at Bank Street Arts, we moved up to the Cathedral. You might be able to see the silhouette of my Dad sketching in the chapel in the distance, and a lady lighting a candle in front of the statue of M, J & the baby J.

Some sort of angel/crusader and flags. Lots o' flags.

Then onto the Grapes for a beverage and de-brief. Managed not to take ANY photos again (gah!), but hopefully Lynne will collect any that were taken over at the Flickr group or on her picture gallery blog :)

Art Class - Drapery with Life Model

2010-12-06T14:47:00.000Z

Lots of quick 5 min drawings - not enough time to get the feet in the right place on this one ;)

More 5 min sketches, above.

15 min study, above. Did this twice because I was getting annoyed at not getting legs in proportion! Below is just bigger version of the 2nd drawing above. Had intended to use some paint today but got stuck in my comfort zone with pencil. Shame as the robe was a lovely turquoise-y colour against Kirsty's gorgeous mocha-y skin :)

And finally a reductive charcoal drawing - this looks loads better in the photograph than it does in real life, hah :D

Haven't done any life drawing since we did our last course with Marion in 2001. Kirsty did an amazing job sitting for us!

Went on the 3rd Sheffield Sketchcrawl on Saturday - will upload images and blog later or tomorrow.

Art Class - Drapery with Still Life

2010-11-29T15:50:00.000Z

Only five of us made it through the snow to Art Class this morning. It was actually quite a nice walk for me up the hill in the snow and, now I know it only takes me 15 minutes, I'll be doing it again if I haven't got too much to carry (and if it isn't raining)!

Warmed up with a pencil drawing. Working on A3 today (previous weeks have been on A2, if anyone is interested in the scale!).

After a cuppa, I moved on to charcoal reductive drawing - I'm finding this method good fun to use, and the results are definitely better the second time around! This is actually the final drawing I did (explanation below). Not sure I like the orange right in the middle, but I wasn't really thinking about composition. Alright, I didn't think about composotion at all.

entire drawing

detail

The images below show the second drawing I did, which I was going to do some watercolour over the top of, but Marion wouldn't let me, so I drew the third one (above) specifically to paint on. I actually preferred that one as a drawing so painted on the second drawing which I'd already fixed! Oops.

entire drawing

detail

I'm happy with parts of this drawing (like the apple detail above) but generally felt I made a huge mess of it. Not that I am precious about these things, I just felt like i didn't know what I was doing, which I suppose I didn't - I've never painted over charcoal before. Hopefully I'll be better at that next time!

:)

Shop Updates

2010-11-28T22:23:00.004Z

Hellooo
Thanks to everyone who came down to say Hi at Candy Cane yesterday - we had a brilliant time, hope you did too!

So, a couple of updates:

I have changed my Etsy shop currency to £GBP, which has made my life about 20 times less complicated. You can still view prices in your local currency and Paypal converts it all for you at checkout, so it shouldn't be too confusing for buyers (I hope). The change has also meant that my prices have come down a little bit, so do have a look!

Hoot is the latest Etsy listing:

The major factor in making the decision to change currency was adding stuff to my Folksy shop, which has been laying empty for a while now. I've just started listing a few things - and now the prices are the same as Etsy, everything is all neat and tidy which makes me happy.

If you want Frank in your life, you will find him there!

Enjoy x

Candy Cane Christmas Fair - this Saturday!

2010-11-24T18:19:00.006Z

Saturday 27th November 2010
10am-4pm Millennium Galleries, Sheffield
Craft Candy Best Fairs Of All
Be there or Be Square.

Art Class: Reductive drawing

2010-11-22T16:09:00.000Z

I had completely forgotten how to do reductive drawing, I was putting nowhere near enough charcoal down at first. Also I'd forgotten to take any charcoal or a putty rubber so had to borrow some off Marion. Oops

Anyway. Did two quick pencil sketches then this charcoal drawing, which I had to go over a couple of times with more charcoal to get dark enough!

Detail 1

Detail 2

Zoomed in for a final half hour drawing. I was much braver with the charcoal but, because I hadn't taken any fixative, when I rolled up the drawing to get it home, I created these weird stripes...

As usual, click for larger images.

Art Class!

2010-11-15T13:27:00.000Z

Ten years ago, Dad and I took an evening art class with artist Marion Thomson, which he cites as the reason he found his 'new', quicker painting style. She had us doing all kinds of exercises including making drawings in 15 mins, 10 mins, 5 mins; painting/drawing with our left hand or without looking at the paper, etc. Dad has looked into doing another of Marion's classes a few times over the years but they have always been during the day, and with us both working it was never possible.

However, now Dad has retired (rah!) and I work part-time, we've just enrolled in her winter class and today was our first session.

This time we're looking at drapery and the figure. To begin, we took three pieces of paper: crumpled the first, folded the second and pleated the third. We then placed each on a sheet of white paper and drew studies, paying particular attention to shading (I remember doing this at school with a metal objects that we smashed up with a hammer, but it was interesting to look at white on white). My photos are a bit blown out, but you get the idea hopefully.

Pleated sheet:

Crumpled sheet:

Folded sheet:

Homework: Look at the work of Scottish painter, Alison Watt

Look at the size of those things!

Last Posting Dates for Christmas from the UK, 2010

2010-11-13T16:38:00.005Z

Good Evening to you! Well, the clocks have gone back, the nights are drawing in, the heating's on, and its time for The Last Posting Dates for Christmas!

If you are shopping handmade this year, Well Done You! Please, please make sure you give us plenty of time to make and post your very special order!

Take note:

International Airmail:
Mon 6 Dec - South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (incl. Japan), Australia & New Zealand
Fri 10 Dec - Eastern Europe, USA & Canada
Mon 13 Dec - Western Europe

UK:
Tue 21 Dec - First Class and Recorded Signed For™
Thu 23 Dec - Special Delivery™

Birdhouse, originally uploaded by siansburys.

Happy shopping :)
x

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-10T20:02:00.000Z

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-10T19:59:00.003Z

Horse

2010-11-09T18:02:00.000Z

Horse, originally uploaded by siansburys.

Had a massive urge to draw all day yesterday but was busy with monkey work so sat down after tea and drew this while Andy watched Iron Man 2 :)

View Large here

Reference: Stock image 'Trick Horse 12' by greenleaf-stock @deviant art

Test

2010-11-06T23:12:00.000Z

Just testing

Result: Blogpress is no better than Blogpresslite

Sock-crates

2010-10-24T19:04:00.005+01:00

Hello there! Sorry I've been AWOL again, I've been off stripping wallpaper, doing sketchy things, adding a monkey or two to my etsy shop and of course working my way down my list of custom orders. I don't suppose anyone wants to read little updates like that here anyway, that's what Facebook is for, right?

Just thought I'd share with you this recent custom order. It was unusual because it wasn't a monkey in character, but a different beast altogether! The brief: "awesome lobster sock monkey" (actually the etsy-mail was a lot more interesting than that, but that's all you need to know). Unsure exactly what this meant, I sketched out a few ideas that immediately came to mind. I don't often sketch monkeys unless they are particularly complicated or if I am trying to get my ideas across to my customers, because I am not that great with words :)

Here's the images I sent across. They're not very detailed, but you get the idea:

1. Sock monkey with lobster claws
1a. as above with lobster-style end on monkey-tail
2. (back view) as above with full-on lobster tail (plus monkey legs) no idea how i'd do this but would find a way!
3. Monkey-head and thorax with a lobster tail instead of legs
4. Just a Sock lobster

After a bit of secret detective work on the part of my customer, we decided on option 3, and now that he's safely at his destination I can reveal the result:

I promise I didn't cook him.

This was such a fun one to do, and as an extra bonus (you know I hate to blow my own trumpet, but had to share this) I got some really lovely feedback:

"We cannot express how much we LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE our sock monkey lobster, Sock-crates!!!!!
When we only thought the sock monkey lobster would remain only an imaginative being, you made her wish come true! We owe you an infinite amount of thank yous for the beautiful work you have crafted. You have made a customer for life!
Thank you so much!"

Hope you enjoyed reading a bit of an insight into how I approach custom orders!
S x

29th International Sketchcrawl Day - Sheffield Edition

2010-10-18T13:06:00.000+01:00

The First Sheffield Sketchcrawl went so well last month that Lynne organised us another day out to coincide with the 29th International Sketchcrawl Day on Saturday 16th October at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield.

I don't know what the official figures are, but turnout seemed at least as good as, if not better than the first crawl. Dad and I arrived at 10.15am to find a gaggle of sketchers chatting over coffee at the museum cafe. This time many of the faces were familiar which was a good feeling, and it was great to catch up with what artistic endeavours they've been inspired into since last time!

Lynne had managed to secure us a lockable room to dump our many layers of outdoor clothing (on the special horseshoe of chairs that had been laid out, not near the tables! *slaps wrists*) before we dispersed into the museum's galleries - most of us opting to mill around the 'What on Earth!' room (the one with all the stuffed animals), and most of us drawing the Woolly Rhino at least once.

My Dad and Jane had both brought their iPads so there was a lot of interest in what they were up to! Jane produced some lovely sketches of the rhino (see them on her Flickr stream here) and shared her tips on which apps give the best results.

After lunch we ventured out into Weston Park proper, and immediately got stranded under various trees, shelters and against the museum buildings as the heavens opened! Unwilling to risk getting soaked through, I opted to head back to the shelter of the building while Dad positioned himself right out in the open to sketch the opposite direction. You can (perhaps, how good is your eyesight?) see Dad as the small seated figure in my sketch. You can see my Dad's work over on his blog, here.

An hour or so later everyone (except Dad, who wasn't giving up) was wet or freezing cold or both, and had started to congregate back inside the museum, so we spent another half hour sketching more of the exhibits to warm up before heading off to the pub to have a nosey into each other's sketchbooks and have another play with the iPads.

I'm finding it really interesting seeing how other people work, and the different results. Also saw a waterbrush in real life (I've wanted one since seeing one on the DVD extras of 'Up' where they'd sent the animators off up a mountain in South America to do some proper sketching - well worth a watch!) so thanks to Ellie's Mum (whose sketches were also very absolutely beautiful by the way) I am now the proud owner of one. Okay, two.

This one is made by Pentel, has medium sized tip, and is the only type I could find in Sheffield. I was trying to avoid buying one online, but seems I may have to if I want other makes/sizes! Anyway, from the brief play with it I have had so far, I can really recommend it. Just looking forward to taking it out and about now to try it out properly!

You can see the rest of my sketches and photos from the day on my Flickr stream here.

Postcard from my Dad

2010-10-08T12:29:00.000+01:00

Postcard from my Dad, originally uploaded by siansburys.

Mum and Dad have just got back from visiting my sister in Colorado, looks like they had an excellent time.

I love this quite a lot :D
Thanks Dad!

http://www.brynhughes.co.uk
http://brynhughesart.blogspot.com

Ruskin and Red

2010-10-02T19:02:00.004+01:00

Ruskin just listed today on Etsy along with the first of my little Wasters - its going to be hard to part with those little fellas :)

I've also uploaded some photos of some recent custom orders to Flickr. I didn't upload these at the time as they were surprise gifts, and then I got bogged down in other stuff. A couple more of those waiting to go public in the next few weeks.

Currently working on a stack of Christmas orders so if you had something in mind for Chrimbo too, please get in touch ASAP as my schedule is almost full! Also doing a few sketchy things over on my other blog.

Cheers
S x

Under Over Owler

2010-09-28T21:38:00.000+01:00

From Ringinglow Road at Hathersage end, I think this is Over Owler Tor on the left and Millstone Edge to the right. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Click to view larger

This is a sketch I did on Saturday afternoon to check I could still draw for Sunday! I wanted to include a lot more of the landscape to the right, but I just couldn't draw any smaller. I had chosen this A6/portrait sketchbook on purpose, to be small enough to fit in my bag and also small enough to hide what I was doing when sketching out and about as I am really self-conscious. This worked brilliantly on Sunday but not so much from the safety of my car - funny how my scale increases with confidence?!

The kestrel was really hovering just there at that moment.

Pencil and watercolour pencil

Sketchcrawlin'

2010-09-27T09:21:00.000+01:00

Spent yesterday out with about twenty other people wielding sketchbooks on Sheffield's first ever sketchcrawl, organised by the amazing Lynne Chapman and Tim Rose.

I was slightly terrified at first as I haven't really drawn in front of anyone for about ten years and we were clearly amongst some extremely gifted and accomplished artists, but luckily there were a few other people were in the same boat and the pressure soon lifted.

After a few dodgy, spidery pages which I won't subject you to, here's what I drew (click images to see larger):

Michael sketching @ Peace Gardens

Pinstone Street from Peace Gardens

Winter gardens

Winter Gardens

Bustkin Ruskin @Millennium Galleries/Ruskin Gallery

Sketching Vicki sketching me @Millennium Galleries

Made-up scene from the Hubs/Hallam Union

Slightly less made-up scene from the Hubs

All brilliant fun and am looking forward to the next Global Sketchcrawl on 16th October! :D
I'll take some actual photos next time, ha

Lynne's Blog
Sketchcrawl Site
Drawings from fellow sketchers on Lynne's Picture Blog

Yeahs, I ams in dizguise

2010-09-24T16:36:00.000+01:00

1999
Weirdness

Roofs and things

2010-09-22T19:08:00.000+01:00

Practising drawing things that aren't people.
Roofs:

Also practising drawing people quickly (still from a photo though).
Chloe Moretz:

Finally, LOOK! A Fox! :D
She's getting really brave now. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but at least she's getting a decent feed.

Wonky Julia Roberts

2010-09-08T21:13:00.000+01:00

Well, Rachel Weisz ended up looking nothing like her. So I coloured her in using pencil crayons, which was so much fun that I bought more pencil crayons and tried to draw Julia Roberts. Here's what happened. Its like Julia Roberts' wonky, boss-eyed sister!

I'm hoping I will be able to grasp back the 'catching someone's likeness' part of drawing really really soon. In the meantime, I'm enjoying colouring in :)

Rachel Weisz in progress

2010-09-04T18:25:00.000+01:00

Rachel Weisz is too damn beautiful! Another pencil sketch in progress:

NB: Blogger is doing something weird to the image quality - please click on image to see it properly!

Been to Art in the Gardens in the Botanical Gardens today - Mum bought me this gorgeous leaf necklace made by textile artist Nicky Dillerstone for my birthday. Photos don't do it justice! Its all green and shimmery :)

Again with the faces

2010-09-02T09:21:00.000+01:00

This one of Aaron Johnson from May this year:

And some yellow wibbly men from 1996 :)
(Click on the images to see larger)

Another portrait

2010-08-31T23:51:00.000+01:00

Detail from another practise portrait. Drew this a couple of days ago. Pencil and a bit of blue w/colour.

*Edit: Slightly better image!
- Posted using BlogPress

1997: I never could get the hang of Thursdays

2010-08-29T22:10:00.000+01:00

Haven't drawn anything today so here's a peek into an old sketchbook. This one from 1997 is just full of crazy doodles, haha... hmm.

('Thursday' quote from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams)

*err correction! 2007? NO 1997... blimey
It probably wasn't a Thursday when I drew this either.
Happy Sunday!

Blooberrehs

2010-08-28T22:34:00.000+01:00

In the spirit of drawing/painting and posting something every day, here's some blueberries.

Pencil, watercolour, calligraphy ink, promarkers, pencil crayons... Anything I had to hand ;)
Must stop posting phonecam photos, they're just rubbish...

*Edit: slightly better pic:

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Pongy

2010-08-27T22:42:00.000+01:00

A pongy. I drew it with a pencil

Fayce

2010-08-27T20:24:00.000+01:00

Detail from another drawing that went wrong

But practise makes perfect, right?
:)

Crayons!

2010-08-26T22:56:00.000+01:00

Bought some new 'uns for the first time in about fifteen years. They're not as nice as the waxy Berol ones I had, but still... Shiny!

Some doodles:

:)
- Posted using BlogPress

Plush Vegas

2010-08-23T20:46:00.004+01:00

"The Plush Team's July/August challenge was Plush Vegas and team members have been busily preparing pieces to compete in the following three categories:

Show Biz - Entertainers, showgirls, magicians, animal acts etc.
Gaming - Slots, blackjack, poker, roulette etc.
Neon - Signage in all its gaudy glory

The entries are in and now it's your turn to tell us which Plush Teamers know how to "do Vegas" right. Check out the entries on the Plush Team Blog and vote for your favorite entry in each category. And don't forget -- many of the Plush Vegas entries are still available in the team shop, so we invite you to stop by and check 'em out once you've cast your vote!"

Text taken from Plush Team Blog

**********

Here's my entry into the 'Show Biz' category!

The Blue Monkey

Sacked from Blue Monkey Group for his refusal to remove non-regulation ears, Blue Monkey spends every evening at the card table, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Show Girl Miss Toastee but is continually outclassed by the infinitely more personable croupier, Mr Dice Head, with whom he once shared a room at college.

Blue Monkey is for sale here :)

Drawin

2010-08-23T18:19:00.000+01:00

Drawin, originally uploaded by siansburys.

I really enjoy drawing portraits from photographs. That makes me a bad artist, but I'm comfortable with that (for today). This of course looks nothing like the photograph (who I can't find the credit for) of Ryan Adams but I told you I'm re-learning right?

Doodling

2010-08-23T11:22:00.000+01:00

Doodling, originally uploaded by siansburys.

Hi there. I am starting this blog again. Hoping to teach myself to be able to draw and paint again, and this is where I'll collect all that gubbins to keep it separate from the monkey business ;)

Quick charcoal and watercolour sketch of my cat. Had to draw it a line at a time because she kept moving, ha.
:)

We have a winner!

2010-08-21T13:48:00.005+01:00

Thank you for all your entries into my little giveaway! All your names were put into a hat (very beautifully made by Mumsburys - not specifically for this purpose, but handy all the same) and a winner picked at random.....

And....

The winner....

is....

Congrats to MisoFunky!! You will be receiving this BANANAS bag in the post realsoonokay ?!

And now, back to the custom orders :D
Thanks again for entering everybody, it was muchos fun!

Sian x

Blog Award!

2010-08-20T14:50:00.006+01:00

Yay! Kittypinkstars gave me an award!
To accept I am required to answer the following probing questions:

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I don't blog anonymously for obvious reasons, and am happy doing so, but I can see the benefits ;D

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
Inner?! Ha... OK, one incident... Actually I can't think of an example but I really am stubborn.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the face in the mirror?
I try to avoid it. I have no clue who I am, how I got here or who I want to be. Is that weird? Probably.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Kopparberg pear cider.. mmm

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
I love drawing, painting, making stuff, reading or just pottering about in the garden if its a nice day. Sometimes I'll take myself off for a walk on the moors but I don't do that as often as I used to since we moved house...

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
I am awful at decision making. Really. I would love to be able to go "this is what I want" and go for it. there are so many things I want to do, its deciding where to start that's the problem. Oh and fear of failure. Ha.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the class shy person, or always ditching school? Describe who you were if not one of these.
All of those things at different stages in my life, but mainly I'm the shy one! There was always a comment about needing "come out of her shell" in my reports. I remember thinking I was quite happy IN my shell, thank you very much.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?
Well I don't want to remember this and apologies for bringing the mood down but I see the day before my pony was put down when we said goodbye, leaving him grazing happily as the sun went down, completely unaware that he wouldn't see another day... I'm still utterly, utterly heartbroken 9 years later.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I am deeply uncomfortable about writing about myself. Thanks for asking.

10. If you had the choice to sit and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
I would read! I love reading and I am rubbish on the phone.

So my 6 blog awards now go to...

Maisy

Sakura

Cow

Sarah

Janine

Clare

Open for (monkey) Business

2010-08-13T17:05:00.008+01:00

Ok at the risk of getting completely inundated with custom orders (lol), after my brief internet/craft hiatus, I am now taking custom orders again.

I've cleared down my whiteboard and its quickly filling up again so if there's something you would like made between now and Christmas, do please get in touch for a quote! I'm currently working on a few really fun and secret projects so keep your eyes peeled - its been great getting back into the swing of things!

Look, here is my clean whiteboard! How lovely - it didn't stay this way for long but I won't post a photo of how it looks now, its covered in HIGHLY confidential info ;)

In the meantime I've been listing a few more things in my etsy store including mini-canvasses and tote bags.

To celebrate, I am giving away one of my BANANAS cotton tote bags. To win, simply find this image (pictured below) which is hidden in one of my listings somewhere in my Etsy shop! Underneath the image there is a code - email the code to me at siansburys@gmail.com and tell me which listing you found it under, then leave me a comment here to let me know you have entered!

You've got a week to enter - my little giveaway closes at midnight BST 00:00 Saturday 21st August 2010 when all entries will be put into a hat and the winner chosen at random. I will then email the winner to ask for their postal address.

You can enter my giveaway no matter where in the world you live, its free and postage is free!

Good luck!
S x

For all the latest up-to-date info, please follow me on Twitter or 'like' my Facebook page

Craft Candy - 2nd Annual Candy Floss Summer Fair

2010-07-17T21:00:00.008+01:00

Dad and I had a great day at Craft Candy's 2nd Annual Candy Floss Summer Craft Fair today. Its always a really good atmosphere at Craft Candy events - Sarah, Kati & the Team did an amazing job once again; the Millennium Gallery is a brilliant venue and it remained busy all day.

We met loads of fantastic people, so thank you very much to everyone who came along to see our stall - we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! If you have any enquiries regarding our work which you didn't get the opportunity to discuss with us at the fair, please email me at siansburys@gmail.com or Dad at enquiries@brynhughes.co.uk

Here's our stall during a rare lull (shortly after lunch!). Excuse the weird splicing action, didn't really think that through when I was taking pictures! And, below, Dad doing a bit of Urban Sketching. View his sketch here.

It was also really nice to catch up with lots of Craft-Candy members (past and present!), and match more Etsy names to faces, as I finally met the uber-talented Gillian aka Gilfling! Her work is absolutely stunning, so please go and have a look at her Flickr photostream and her Etsy shop when it reopens tomorrow.

I'll make up another mosaic in the next few days to show you some of the great artists/designers that were there in case you missed it!

S x

P.S. Applications for the next Craft Candy Fair in November are now open!! Click Here

Get Your Plush Team Annual!

2010-07-17T17:00:00.002+01:00

The Plush Team is ecstatic to present to you our first ever Team Annual, containing 120 pages of plushy goodness!

What is in store for you upon opening this marvelous book:

An opening by our team founder, Megan Green, describing how our team came to be.

An insightful, informative, and all-around fascinating account of the history of plush craft by our team co-founder Christina Ward.

42 two-page, full color features of our Plush Team members. Each includes photos of the artist's work, and text written by the artist explaining motivation, process, and inspiration.

A time line of Plush Team activities through over the years.Profile pages providing a comprehensive list of Plush Team artists, including artist head shots and Etsy shop addresses.

Photos of PT Stitchy, the team mascot, scattered throughout the book in his various incarnations as interpreted by our team members.

The book is full color, professionally printed, and soft cover. It measures 6.75"x6.75" (or 17 centimeters square). This is volume 1 of our Team Annual, featuring the artists from 2009. Our intent is to make this a yearly publication, updating it each year with our newest members and their incredible work.

Visit the Team Shop today for your copy!

Woodland Wonderland

2010-07-15T22:07:00.010+01:00

This is Henderson. A while ago, we took a walk out into the beautiful Ecclesall Woods to see (and sniff) the bluebells before he moved with his new family, away from their beloved Sheffield.

Anyway, I was reminded I'd not shared his photo here when I was looking through some of my favourites on Etsy and noticed a familiar theme:

Gorgeous things, aren't they? Most of these have sold now because I am rubbish at blogging stuff when its new, but please click through to the sellers' other items via these links!

Clockwise from top left:

Shootling the Jacabunny wool felted bunny by KitLane
The Tallest Bee Hotel by Wudwerx
Little Bunny Sculpture and His Little Nook by prettyrandomobjects
Where the Wild Things Are Max Pajama by PaulaAndErika

S x

Craft Candy - Candy Floss Summer Fair

2010-07-07T21:10:00.004+01:00

Another date for your diaries:

Dad and I will be once again at Millennium Galleries in Sheffield for Craft Candy's summer spectacular! Candy Floss 2010 will be held on Saturday 17th July 10am-4pm and, like all Craft Candy fairs, you can expect to find loads of high quality contemporary crafts and get to meet the artists and designers behind all the wondrous goodies on offer!

The team at Craft Candy are sure to have put together another fantastic event, and we do hope you will drop by and visit our stall - we'd love to see you!

For more info on the fair together with this year's diverse and talented stallholders, please visit Craft Candy's Fairs page

Helloooooo

2010-06-21T15:36:00.004+01:00

Hi Blog! Remember me?

I've been thinking about you for weeks but I've not had anything interesting to tell you monkey-wise. We're still in the land of DIY (and will be for about the next 15 years) which means less time for making and listing monkeys for sale on t'interwebs but I am working on some new stuff for Candy Floss at Millennium Galleries on 17th July including these little fellas.

I'm also just taking a bit of time out to rethink my shop/art and which direction I want it to go in, so if there's anything you'd like to see from me, now's the time to speak up!

In the meantime I might be posting some random stuff about what I'm up to. I do hope that's OK :)

S x

Lakeland Retreat

2010-03-24T20:07:00.001Z

I recently met up with a few of my Etsy friends for a brilliant weekend in the Lake District and, thanks to a great write-up by Maisy, we were lucky enough to be featured by Amity in Etsy's blog 'the Storque' today! Click here to read the article and see more photos!

(Left-right, Back Row: Ali aka AliBaliJewellery, Su aka QuercusSilver, Caro aka Caroline Hardy/Overspill, The Moo aka Moocowhandknits, Clare aka Clarebears, Deepa aka Lazygiraffe.
Left-right, Front Row: Mel aka Feltmeupdesigns, Jeanette aka Maisy aka OneLittleHouse, Me aka Siansburys
Photo: Clarebears)

I've never been to the Lakes before and it was an absolute treat - the mountains are so beautiful and we stayed in a gorgeous whitewashed cottage, tucked away in a secluded hillside near Broughton in Furness (there's only one taxi driver in the village. Sadly his name isn't 'Babs'). The nearest lake was Coniston Water (pictured below) which was breathtaking (and not just because it stank a bit). Luckily no smell-o-vision here.

We all had a lovely time chatting and eating cake while somehow managing to get loads of actual crafty things done. Most of us got the opportunity to try new disciplines too, which was great. Mel generously donated some of her materials and I had a go at needlefelting (spent a good 4 hours prodding fleece until it was sort of monkey-shaped). Mel also showed me and Clare how to use a Gocco Machine (really want one of those now!) and Clare taught me that I haven't the patience for crochet, hah.

My attempt at needlefelting - Renaldo's effigy 'Paulo'.
Renaldo came to the Lakes too but, um.. we forgot about him.

This *stamp*ing had nothing to do with wine intake, no.

So thanks ladies for a fantastic, inspiring weekend. In your honour, here are a few of my favourite picks from your Flickr streams in a mosaic-stylee arrangement.

1. blush silver bracelet, 2. new jumper thing, 3. IMG_9486, 4. Spring Flowers Copper Necklace, 5. new earrings, 6. titmice , 7. Fluffy Bunny, 8. RAD 68 Painted Ring

Go check out their shops:
OneLittleHouse
Moocowhandknits
CarolineHardy
AliBaliJewellery
Lazygiraffe
Felmeupdesigns
ClareBears
QuercusSilver

Smalls

2010-03-23T17:36:00.005Z

I was hoovering under the sofa earlier when this herd of smalls suddenly appeared. I must have disturbed their nest!

They seemed quite cheerful about it though, so I asked them if they wanted to come to Spring Fling with me. They just looked at me with those big eyes and twitched their button noses. I took that as a yes...

In other news, if you have a Flickr account, why not join my Flickr Group. If you have one of my monkeys, you can add photos to the pool and they will come up in the slideshow on the right hand side of my blog, share your stories and I may feature you in your own blogpost!

S x

Terry and Mocha

2010-03-22T17:40:00.007Z

You'll remember Terry as the sock monkey who was interested in the medical applications of Marmalade. Well, back in November he teamed up with Mocha at Candy Cane, to join an even bigger monkey family in Sheffield.

Well, I recently got this lovely email from Katrina:

"Here is a little picture of Terry and Mocha on holiday on the Isle of Arran this February. They had a lovely time. Terry is keeping up with his Orange studies and Mocha now works at a Monkey Coffee Tree in Graves Park."

I love Mocha's headphones. And did you know there were Monkey Coffee Trees? I didn't, but it explains a lot, I always wondered what sock monkeys get up to while their owners are at work. I bet they do an excellent banana cake in those places too, I'll have a closer look next time I'm in the park...

What's your monkey been up to since they left Monkey Central? Let me know! Email me at siansburys@gmail.com

S x

Shop Update, Easter Bunnies, Disco Cow & Other Things

2010-03-21T22:16:00.006Z

I've added a few new things added to the shop today including a couple of sock monkeys, Easter sock bunny and Disco Cow (special care required, experienced home only). These things are on-Etsy only and won't be availbale to buy at Spring Fling.

1. Sock Monkey - Disco Cow, 2. Sock Monkey - Felicity, 3. Sock Monkey - Coniston, 4. Sock Bunny - Binky

Also going to a new home this week is Wordsworth, he wanted a little mention before he sets off!

Bon voyage Wordsworth! I hope you are inspired to send us some poetry!

Talking of voyages, I also got a nice email from Terry and Mocha recently, having just returned from a trip to the Isle of Arran. I'll post up the pic in the next few days, along with Renaldo & Mumsburys' news from Finland.

Has your monkey been on hollybags with (or without) you? Send pics and stories to me at siansburys@gmail.com and I'll post 'em up here!

Right, back to it!
Sian

Craft Candy - Spring Fling 2010

2010-03-20T20:55:00.003Z

Its only one week to go until Craft Candy's 2nd Annual Spring Fling! For more info on the event and a list of stallholders, please see the Craft Candy Fairs page.

I will be there, sharing a stall with my Dad who will have another fantastic selection of his art, cards and prints. He will no doubt be creating more brilliant sketches on site too!

Please come down and see us if you are in Sheffield on Saturday 27th March - should be another great day out.

S x

Arctic Monkey

2010-03-01T11:42:00.002Z

Spurred on by Cousin Monkey's trip to Vancouver 2010, Renaldo has stowed-away with Mumsburys on her trip to Lapland this week.

Dadsburys said it's probably the closest Monkey and Renaldo have been to each other since Monkey flew the nest, and that he might even be able to see Canada if he jumps up high enough.

More news on his return, but he's all togged up and is hoping to meet the Actual Real Santa. Fake Santa for illustration purposes only.

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SALE! Christmas Monkeys

2010-01-14T23:24:00.002Z

Sock Monkeys are for life, not just for Christmas! These lonely monkeys deserve a loving home. Can you help?

Reg and Holly are both now on SALE in my etsy shop SALE SECTION at $30 each.
S :)

Happy Christmas

2009-12-24T12:35:00.006Z

Happy Christmas everyone!

A huge thank you to you all for your custom in 2009. I hope you all have a lovely wintery break and may your 2010 be brilliant in every way!

* * * * * * * * * *

Happy New Year!

10% off every purchase in my etsy shop until midnight GMT 31st December 2009 - just quote "Happy New year" in the message to seller at checkout and I will refund your discount via Paypal ;D

Next Post Office run will take place on Monday 4th Januray 2010

More new monkeys

2009-12-11T21:58:00.004Z

Hanne, Tara and Violet, all listed on Etsy now!

Last Chance Saloon for US and Canada

2009-12-08T22:04:00.004Z

US and Canadian customers you have about 12 hours left to place orders in my shop to make the last recommended posting date for Christmas!

If you would like to see what other monkeys are available other than what is in my etsy shop, please drop me an email at siansburys@gmail.com

Thank you!
S x

Christmas Monkeys Online

2009-12-06T15:11:00.002Z

Alex, Holly and Reg are all up on my etsy shop now at $45, please go and take a look!

In addition, every monkey purchase from now until Christmas will come with a free yellow fleece fauxbanana! Hurrah!

x

Two New Monkeys

2009-12-04T15:57:00.005Z

Callum has worked for the family raspberry business for as long as he can remember, but plans to take a gap year in order to track down his long lost snow leopard relatives in the mountains of Nepal.

Arthur claims that his unusual markings appeared spontaneously after he was abducted by an alien life form when he accidentally stumbled across a crop circle in rural Barnsley.

Please visit my etsy shop for available monkeys!

Alternatively, if you have you heart set on one of the Julefest Eight (see below) and you can't get to the fair tomorrow, please let me know because I can swap them!

S x

Julefest Fair - 5th December 2009

2009-12-03T22:46:00.006Z

Come down and see me and the fabulous Sarah off of Plain Jane Textiles, Sarah Waterhouse Textiles and Craft Candy, along with many other uber talented makers down at Clifford School on Psalter Lane. A fun-filled Scandinavian style Julefest, this Saturday December 5th 11am-3pm. We'd love to see you!

S x

The Julefest Eight

2009-12-01T22:08:00.010Z

Some of the monkeys set to join me at Julefest on Saturday:

Holly
Likes to warm her toes by an open fire.

Alex
Lead singer in the Antarctic Monkeys.

Benny
Easily distracted by shiny lights and baubles.

Reg
Santa's chief reindeer groom, Reg recommends beeswax for the ultimate nose-shine.

Fizz
Her's is a champagne cocktail, cheers!

Hanne
Likes to escape to her lakeside log cabin.

Tara
Co-owns a Swiss Chalet where she is known to enjoy a schnapps or two.

Violet
Works part-time in a florists.

Thank You!

2009-11-29T22:22:00.024Z

Dad and I had a great time at the Candy Cane fair this weekend. We met so many nice people and the atmosphere with the visitors and stallholders was fantastic.

So a huge thank you to everyone that stopped by to say hello, and thank you to Sarah and Kati and the team at Craft Candy for organising another great fair, we really appreciate it!

--------------

Quite a few monkeys found new homes, which was a bonus! Here's a rundown:

Anja
Loves gardening and sampling the fruits of her labour.

Mocha
Prefers her caffe latte with chocolate syrup, cinnamon and marshmallows (and has gone to live with Terry sock monkey).

Snowflake
Enjoys sledging and building snowmonkeys.

Shortbread
Best served with a nice of pot steaming hot Earl Grey.

Tony
Into 70s disco, soul and funk.

Smartie
Was once a finalist on Mastermind (Ape Edition)

Plus Jenny Sock, star of The Unfortunate Incident's video for 'One Small Step' (adult content ;D) also found a home (and her own facebook profile) this weekend.

All have gone to utterly brilliant homes, and I hope they and their new keepers are very happy together!

------------

In other news, along with doing much of my Christmas shopping in the last half an hour of the fair, I managed to fill the huge monkey-sized gap in my heart with a small bear called Cecil, from Lucia of Betty Joy!

Meanwhile, Dad managed to attract much attention and get lots of drawing done at the same time!

Thanks again everybody - next stop for me is Julefest at Clifford School, Saturday 5th December where I will be sharing a stall with Sarah from Plain Jane Textiles! Should be a fun event. Watch this space for more info.

S (&B) x

Candy Cane THIS WEEKEND

2009-11-27T13:57:00.006Z

Helloooo

Well time is finally upon us! Craft Candy's Candy Cane Christmas Fair is THIS weekend!! Promising 30+ stalls of handmade awesomeness, there will also be mince pies, mullered wine, Christmas music etc as well as FREE GOODY BAGS for the first 200 through the door AND a raffle to win tons of cool stuff.

Its at the Workstation, which is next to the Showroom Cinema on Paternoster Road, just across the road from Sheffield train station so its very handy if any of you from outside the city fancy a day out to see us! It is also in easy walking distance of many fine ale houses and eateries.

Dad and I will be there with our stall on BOTH DAYS so please come along and say hi!

I will have lots of monkeys at a special price, so don't miss out!
And Dad will be selling his brilliant prints and cards.

We can't take credit/debit cards a the fair but there is a cash machine at the Hubs/Sheff Hallam Students Union over the road should you need it ;D

Hope to see you there!

S (& Bryn)
x