the whole family - i am sure it will grow soon!

above: fauna, tipi (tee-pee,) ledger, zinger (hiding his face,) geena, stan lee, cinereal, burgeon, baby, and sweetie. (not pictured are lori littleman, big mac, tatter tot or daryl the sock dragon.)

stan lee

stan lee is my first attempt at putting together a monkey. (yes, he was before ledger.) i was on the phone with my friend sherri last night and i was like, "look at that blue monkey." and she answered, "there is no blue monkey." i thought for sure she was being silly but she was right, somehow i had over looked blogging about stan lee. stan lee is a meatball of a monkey and upon his arrival he was quick to get the ooohs and ahhhs of the two banana hill hotties, geena and cinereal. he is an old soul and loved 80's rock and kiss (hello, paul stanley.) while stan insist on playng the cool single guy he seems to be spending more and more time with cinereal; which makes me happy because i see a lot of myself in cinereal and a whole lot of amber in stan!

above: stan lee striking a yeah-you-know-i-rock-and-you-want-me pose! stan's bulk comes from polyfill stuffing in contrast to the smooth easy look you get from cluster stuff. oh, well, you live, you learn!

sock monkey atc's

i hosted a sock monkey swap (that i mentioned on here a while back.) and these are the cards i made and sent to my partner:

more adoptable friends (adoption fees under $20)

i took some time again and i strolled through the etsy.com sock monkey sales and come up with a few friends who need a home AND have very reasonable adoption fees. i can not give all these great monkeys a home. so here we go:

above: from pinxit, ed the art student. another breeder i have noticed before and will one day own a monkey of. ed is like, made for me. i would like to mention here that pinxit is an etsy breeder i have mentioned before on this blog. i plan on owning a pinxit monkey oneday, though i am aware that i will probably own many after i get my first! they are all so cute and have such personality! often her monkeys are clothing and tool trained. i mean, hello, ed is an art student for cripes sake! while going through the lower cost adoption fees i was amazed at pinxit monkeys and kept thinking that her monkeys were low priced monkeys who were just as good AND better than most high priced breeds. PINXIT - amazing breed and a fine breeder!above: no longer available! from roadtripdiva, icey blue sock monkey. aside from being bright and blue i like this guy because of his friendly smile and happy feel. above: from cgower14, hans the sock monkey. i adore these little monkeys. small - sweet - darling! also, they come is such lovely, soft, colored fur!

above: has been ADOPTED!!!! from cloud9critters, furry pink sock monkey. aside from being furry and cute this little monkey seems very inspired and high spirited. above: from radicalandretro, charlie the sock monkey. there are some larger monkeys that have this look and i have really liked them, so when i found this little guy at such a good price i thought i should list him!

side note: these photos were taken buy the etsy store owners, not me. these monkeys are all cute and seem to be of high quality and good spirits - i do not own any of these or monkeys from any of these breeders. when adopting a sock monkey remember the commitment and love involved in a pet and adopt responsibly. let me know how it goes and if you adopt one of these, or any other, monkeys send me pictures and links and i will be glad to post them on banana hill.

monkey photo shoot

so tipi (tee-pee) arrived yesterday and he is stunning in person! completely fabulous! and so sweet it's sick, though he is also a bit shy. i am in a used film swap on swap-bot.com and i decided to do a 12 exposure roll of the growing monkey family. it's crazy because we really haven't done a group shoot in a some time and getting them all together really was a lot. (oh, as it is i have to remember to bring home lorie and big and take a picture of those two plus tater tot. i mean, they are part of the family, too.) anywho, doing that for the swap made me think that i really need to do it for the blog and i will so new family photos will be coming in about a week.

subversive seamster - more extensive monkey care (and maybe an outfit or two)

i mentioned the book sew subversive once before and i just wanted to revisit that for a moment. the girls who wrote that wonderful book have put ot another book, subversive seamster: transform thrift store threads into street couture. (while the ideas here are more than the basic you will need for simple monkey mending you will probably like the ideas. none of them were exactly me BUT after reading the book i was really thinking out side the box and feeling truly creative!) check it out and you might wind up with the chic-est monkeys in town.

above: subversive seamster, by two melissas and a hope

siansburys - an etsy breeder

okay, this weekend in my adoptables post i mentioned blue, a beautifully patterned little guy from siansburys. well in searching for more adoptable friends i came across the most DEVINE red heeled sock monkey, and who was the breeder? siansburys! i mentioned that i would like to adopt a red heeled as soon as i found one that was well bred and i have found my dream monkey red heeled! then i started to look into the siansburys and i was just so impressed. (this is very surprising also because siansburys also breeds other sock animals, and i like them!) so here are some babies from siansburys. don't get too excited - i am probably going to put a hold on the red heeled and blue!

above: punk, a very indiviualistic monkey. probably a tough nut to crack, but once you let her chill i am sure she'll be your best friend!

above: lofty, this monkey is an example of what i mentioned in an earlier post. sometimes a breeder stays true to health and style and still gets an unique monkey who has a surprising look. lofty is lumpy, still healthy and still lovely!

above: archie, sooooo cute!

above: monty, a red heeled monkey. the finest i have seen. i really want him. i am not sure what i will do if i have to choose between him and blue. i might die!

above: a painting by siansburys

siansburys on etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5113762

adoptable friends

i took the time today to comb through the etsy.com sock monkey sales and come up with a few amazing friends who need a home. i would give them a home if i could but as i already have zinger, geena, fauna, sweety, burgeon, cinereal, lorie little man, tatter tot, big mac, ledger and stan lee (plus we have the newest monkey expected in the next week) i can not give all these great monkeys a home as well. so here we go:

above: has been ADOPTED!!!! from friedokra, elwood. elwood is a toesock monkey which results in his head being sort of thin and having a faux-hawk like top. (friedokra also has a monkey who looks beautiful and super friendly BUT is a special needs monkey whose limbs make her need 33" long. if you or someone you know has the time and love for a long limbed monkey please adopt from friedokra.)above: has been ADOPTED!!!! from iamsunshine, sock monkey friends for baby. SOLD!!! love it, love it, love it! these are great little friends, which are easy to care for and super fun to train. plus, start a baby off with a sock monkey and they will be a sock monkey fan for life!above: has been ADOPTED!!!! from thewillowtree, bananas 4 u. i don't usually like button eyes on monkeys, however this monkey rocks and has bananas on his chest, heck yeah!
the willow trees also has another monkey, blue eyes, who seems to be very well bred.above: has been ADOPTED!!!! from siansbury, blue. they just don't get much cuter. i am so in love with this monkey and while he is priced well for his quality he is a bit out of my range right now. but, honestly, it almost hurts me to list him here and think of someone else buying him up. :(above: from puncezilla, brown and blue sock monkey girl IN A DRESS!!! i have mentioned her monkeys before and i am waiting to adopt. very well priced and clothing trained, this monkey is amazing! she'd be a steal!

side note: these photos were taken buy the etsy store owners, not me. these monkeys are all cute and seem to be of high quality and good spirits - i do not own any of these or any from these breeders (other than iamsunshine, which i love her monkeys.) please, when adopting a sock monkey remember the commitment and love involved in a pet and adopt responsibly. let me know how it goes and if you adopt one of these, or any other, monkeys send me pictures and links and i will be glad to post them on banana hill.

woot! woo!

so, i was a really good girl. i have been kind of hard to deal with and angry (the boot-stompin'-i-don't-give-a-f-bomb kind of angry girl.) i dyed my hair blue, which really helped me improve my mood, only to find out the perfect blue i have searched for all my life is DISCONTINUED. yep, that's right. i have been really hard on amber, almost unbearable. i have let house work suck and my job suck. i just checked out i guess. now i am clawing my way back and trying to meet the people in my life half way. so today i made some big compromises and i thought, "i am sure this will work out." and then i jumped online to etsy and found a darling new sock monkey baby! i am not sure, but his name may be tipi (teepee.) i am in love and i tell you this, he is coming to alabama with me. me, tipi, my magazines, my camera, my cell phone, my atc supplies and a book.

above: the newest member of the banana hill family. he should arrive in the next week.

ledger

i was devastated when i learned that heath ledger died, for two reasons. one - i was really looking forward to the day he realized that he was in love with me. two - if i couldn't be with him i really wanted michelle williams to be with him. i liked them together and wanted them to work out in the end. i was also sewing up a d.i.y. sock monkey kit at the time and decided that the monkey would be my little tribute to heath. so, here he is. ladies and gents i would like you to give a warm banana hill welcome to ledger! ledger is a happy monkey who is simply full off umpf! he is a smiley guy and is constantly laying it on thick for all the girl monkeys here!

above: ledger chillin' on the couch...