Pinky goes to a business meeting

"Hi Pinky, how are you today?"

"Oh, you know, I'm okay, but Melanie could use some help growing her online presence."

"Is that so? Well I have a suggestion for her."

"Ok, let's hear it!"

"You should take photos of yourself and all your furry monster friends, in fun situations."

"Oh! That's a great idea! Thanks Doug!"

"You're welcome. I hope this will help your customers to interact with you, your products, and even inspire them to post their own situational photos with their own Curious Little Bird monsters."

"Great! Let me just use your computer for just one second....."

"Hey!! Hellooooo? Can I be part of this photo project, too?"

Salon De L'enfance - Holiday Fair Nov 16-17

The second SALON DE L’ENFANCE is happening this weekend, and this is a gentle reminder! Curious Little bird is going to be there with some fun monsters! I hope you can stop by. Even if you don't have a kid, it's a great place to find holiday gift ideas for your friends and family who are or have children.

It's a great place to bring your kids, nephews and nieces for some kid fun! There will be FREE workshops throughout the day, such as colouring books, and other stuff. You can check out the event at facebook.com/collectifnene

SATURDAY NOV 16, 2013 : 11pm - 5pm 

• Vernissage - Saturday from 3pm to 5pm 

• SUNDAY NOV 17, 2013 : 11am - 5pm

IT'S FREE ! WELCOME TO ALL !

#SALONDELENFANCE  #COLLECTIFNENE

Salon de l'enfance - Fair showcasing items for children

The second SALON DE L’ENFANCE is brought to you by Collectif Nënë, and is a sort of fair geared towards children, and will be held in November on the 16-17th! I will be there with my monsters! Your kids will have a chance to come in and even play with a few monsters in the play area. Not to mention there are colouring books as well.

Imagine a show that is a mix between a fancy gallery event and a huge kid’s party! Yeah! There will be workshops for the kids, film projection, delicious treats, even Stroller Valet Parking! 

This show also acts as the official launch of the collective and friends and members of the press are welcome to join us at the vernissage to celebrate with us.

THE PARTICIPANTS : Bellemine, Curious Little Bird, Dinette Nationale, Electrik kidz, English Muffin, Fidoodle, Gredin, Instant Crimson, Jules mon poisson bulle, La fée raille, Lemo Lemonade, Les Girouettes, Les Créations Mayukori, miniMACHIN-MACHINE, Moa Pô, Moon and Sparrow, Poids Plume, Pompon, Pskdpenbox, raplapla and ToyToy.

SATURDAY NOV 16, 2013 : 11pm - 5pm • Vernissage - Saturday from 3pm to 5pm • SUNDAY NOV 17, 2013 : 11am - 5pm

IT'S FREE ! WELCOME TO ALL !

#SALONDELENFANCE  #COLLECTIFNENE

*VERY IMPORTANT* 2013 Holiday Season Shipping Information!

As you all know, the holiday season is fast approaching, and with Christmas coming soon, I need to make sure that everyone knows my shipping policies for 2013.

My shops will stay open all through the holiday season, but please keep in mind that any order put in AFTER December 2nd, will NOT be shipped until AFTER January 5th. The reason for this is that my items are usually made to order, which means they aren't ready to ship, and can take up to 3 days to be made before they are sent in the mail. The US shipping deadlines end on December 10th, but international orders end on December 2nd. It's for this specific reason I have put a shipping deadline for all holiday orders.

Let me give you a for instance....

You live in the United States, it's December 12th, and you want 2 monsters for your kids. You want to get them before Dec 24th, so you can put them under the tree. You buy them on Dec 12, pay regular postage, but I can't ship them until Dec 15th at the earliest because I have a 'will ship in 1-3 days' policy. However, Dec 15 is a Sunday, and no postage goes out. The package doesn't get picked up until Monday Dec 16. But there's a problem...  Parcels sent as regular mail have a Christmas deadline of Dec 10, and you will be receiving your package most likely in January due to the post office's overwhelming packages they have to sort.

I would love for everyone to get their monster on time for that special day. It's for that reason I suggest shopping early! If you order in the next 2 weeks, I can almost guarantee you'll get your monster on time! ;)

Thanks for your understanding!

Happy Holidays!!

Holiday Artisan Fair To Support SPCA

On November 9th, I'm attending my first holiday fair, and it's all to benefit the cats and dogs and other animals that sadly live at the SPCA. It's located in the Lord of our Resurrection Church in Lachine. I'll be selling lots of brand new monsters, and some pillow monsters too. If you can't make it to this, there are two more events this month I'll be at.

Come on by and support local businesses! Shop handmade this holiday season for all your gifts! Your support means we can continue to create new things for you!

I hope to see you there! Please share this flyer with your friends and family!

More new monsters in my shop

Just a small collection of some new monsters. They're not yet up in my shop, but soon they will be! The last two monsters (grey & white, and the wolfish & red one) are OOAK (one of a kind) monsters, and will only be added to my shop if I don't sell them in the upcoming holiday fairs.

Stay tuned to find out more information regarding that!

New monsters in my shop!

Hello everyone! I have a few new monsters up for sale in my shop. They're brand new, as in brand new pattern, never made before by me.

The first batch are my bearded monsters. They're all very awesome....

Ag - LIMITED EDITION!!

Brownie - LIMITED EDITION!!

Coralie

Lemmy - LIMITED EDITION!!

Leopold

This next monster is a one of a kind monster that is shaped like a loaf, and he's big enough to be used as a pillow!

Loaf Monster - ONE OF A KIND - only one for sale!

Loaf Monster 360 degrees

Finally I have monsters I've named Wabbits. There are only 2 in existence, and that makes them extremely rare...

Wabbit

These are all available in my shop: www.curiouslittlebird.ca .  Stay tuned because I have more new furs that I'll be making monsters out of, and as soon as I can, I'll be posting them here ;)

Chinese labour for pennies is not okay - Buy Handmade!!

Have you ever wondered what it's like in a Chinese toy factory?? Here's your chance to check it out. These people live in the same building they work.

 They're getting paid about $240 a month. If they work 10 hours a day like the Japanese/Chinese that work for Apple, then they're making $1.20/hour. That is INSANE!!! Sure, these toys are cheaper, but only because the corporations that are hiring the Chinese are so damned cheap, they want their profit margin as high as possible. They don't care about the worker. 

I, on the other hand, pay myself just a bit over minimum wage, and yet I provide you with more quality, but less quantity. It's the quality of the product that matters, right, and not the exploitation of another race just because we can.

Please share this link with your friends and families who are part of the world that shops at stores like Wal-Mart or Toys R US. Tell them, encourage them to shop HANDMADE because in doing so, we can hopefully make a difference. That, and you are helping your local artists to make a living from their art. 

You can read about Chinese labour here: http://imgur.com/a/wrIds

SACOM is a Hong Kong-based NGO which highlights abusive working conditions in the mainland and fights for labour rights in Chinese factories: http://sacom.hk/two-journal-articles-on-apples-foxconn-factories-in-china/

New furs for some limited edition monsters

Hello everyone!

Sorry again I haven't posted anything lately. I've had my head in the clouds this past year. Working alone in your apartment without a boss, or coworkers can be a challenge. Last year I was going to an entrepreneurial class almost daily for 12 months, and this year I'm again on my own. Sometimes I forget things, and pushing myself can be really arduous. But, I have finally managed to find some time to sketch up some new monster ideas to add to my collection, as well as make a trip to the fabric store to purchase some rare/limited edition furs (as well as some that will make more than 3 monsters). So without further ado, I give you my photo list of rare/limited edition furs:

Blue, pink & purple zigzag

Rusty orange fur

Hot hot pink with deep purple

Ivory & brown spotted fur

Light & medium brown striped fur

Hot pink long pile fur

Deep olive green fur

Plushy hot pink fur (short pile)

Rusty orange muppet shag

Black & white leopard print fur

Lemon yellow shaggy 

Charcoal grey fur

I won't be posting these on my website under the custom furry monster listing, so if there's a colour that you're in love with, and would like to see it turned into a monster, please don't hesitate to email me from my contact page with your fur colour choice after you've paid for your monster here: http://www.curiouslittlebird.ca/product/custom-cute-monster-furry-monster-in-your-choice-of-colors

NOTE: don't wait until Christmas to put in your order for these furs. These are very small quantities, making only 2-4 monsters each, and they will be gone before December even gets here.

What do I in my spare time? I'm in Roller Derby boot camp!

Hello friends!

Today's post is about roller derby, and more precisely, the boot camp in which I've joined. A few times I've thought about joining the league, but never really knew how to go about it. The Montreal Roller Derby website didn't have any information on that. One day I met someone who actually played roller derby, and I told her I wanted to play and she told me boot camp was starting in a few weeks. My next challenge was to find decent skates and gear without breaking the bank. When I checked out Montreal's skate shop Neon Skates, I was floored by the prices of their rookie packages. All the gear AND skates for the low (but not really) price of $280. Lucky for me, there was a girl in the league on the same team as my friend who was quitting, and she was selling her gear. Thankfully her skates fit (yay!!) and they're actually decent, going for $320 brand new. I was able to buy her entire gear for $150. Now that's a price I can live with. :)

Next is boot camp. Boot camp is a grueling 2.5 months of drills, practices and so forth, and there are 4 levels. Each level is tested, and a girl must pass the test before continuing on.

Right now we've started Level 1. Here's what we have to learn...

– Skating posture and stride
– Crossovers
– Speed and endurance (27 laps in 5 minutes, 1 lap within 13 seconds from standstill)
– Complete stops (T-stops and snow plows)
– Single foot glides (balance)
– Sticky skates
– Quick lane changes (slicing and crossovers)
– Backwards skating around track

I'm finding keeping the proper stance difficult, because it requires constant reminding on my part. I have to bend a lot because I'm tall! Of this entire list in Level 1, I'm able to do everything but 2 things well. When it comes to slicing, I can do it going right, but as soon as I have to turn and use my left side to propel me my skates get stuck on the track! Haha. One of the trainers suggested I use my boobs and my pointers, and turn them and I should go with them. It's a very amusing way to say turn your shoulders in the direction you want to turn Quick lane changes involving slicing, and the endurance test of 27 laps in 5 minutes. The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) changed the rules from 25 laps to 27 laps. I believe that was done this year (or last). This is probably the scariest thing I have to do in all the tests, and the one thing that most people fail. Yesterday we did our first time trials to see how we did, and I managed to do 22 laps in 5 minutes. I'd say that's not bad for my first time skating around the flat track! If it wasn't for my left leg getting so exhausted, I might have been able to get 24 or even 25 laps. Today I'm resting, and tomorrow at practice I'm going to give it my all again, and then again on Thursday then Saturday! :) I shall pass Level 1 if it kills me (not literally).

Yesterday after the grueling lap runs, we did what the trainers called "happy fun time" pyramid races. We each had a partner, and we had to skate (on the track outside of the derby track - which is way bigger) each 1 lap, then 2, then 3, then 4, then 5 and then back down... 5, 4. 3, 2, 1 taking turns. Whoooo. The stops coming out of the lap at full speed can be tricky. I 'took a knee' which means I fell on my knee pads, but ended up skidding a good 10 feet in the process, and almost always turning onto my left hip. Let's just say without padded shorts, this consistent impact has bruised my pelvis. It is not happy with me. But right now I'm not going to buy padded shorts unless I make it. No point in wasting dollars I don't really have on gear I may not use. The best I can do is ice my spots, and take it easy and rest in between practices. :)

I'll keep you all posted on my progress. My level 1 testing is happening on September 10th, and there's a retest on September 15th for stuff I failed during the first testing. I'm going to push myself as hard as I can so I won't need it (cause it's the last day of Comiccon, and that means my buddy Luca will have to pack up my stuff for me), but I may very well need to go. 

Wish me luck, and have a great holiday Monday!!

Not the best hair! :) haha