Monday, August 20, 2012

Snuggly Monkey on the Move...

SnugglyMonkey.com has moved over to Wordpress!

To continue receiving updates on Snuggly Monkey and new blog posts, please visit:

I will be leaving this blogspot blog up for awhile, but will not continue to write new posts here. So be sure to stop by the new site!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Christmas in July Sale!


The annual Etsy Christmas in July sale has begun! Woohoo!! 
Now through July 22nd (some shops run their sales through July 31st) there are some fantastic deals to be had in thousands of Etsy shops. This is a great time to stock up on some early gifts, stocking stuffers or just treat yourself to something special from your Favorites!

A few quick tips for finding the best deals:
  • Include the terms "cij" or "christmasinjuly" in your Etsy search to find shops that are participating in the sale. So if you are looking for a mushroom pendant, try searching for "cij mushroom pendant" and see what comes up
  • Check Shop Announcements for sale information. Most shops will be posting the details of their sale (coupon codes, free shipping, etc) in their Shop Announcements, so if you find an item you like click through to the main shop page and read the announcement before you buy
  • Search the Treasuries. Treasuries are collections of items put together by folks in the Etsy community. It is a great visual way to shop for related items (some are curated by color, topic, category and some are just for fun) Lots and lots of CIJ Sale related treasuries will be created over the course of the next 2 weeks featuring shops that are participating in the sale. So head over to the Etsy treasuries and search for CIJ
  • Check out the Etsy Christmas in July Team. Etsy teams are open to anyone in the Etsy community - sellers and shoppers alike. There is a team set up just for the Christmas in July sale where sellers regularly post details about their sales. (You will find this team here.) This is a great way to get a quick overview of shops that are participation along with their sale details in one place.
Both of my shops will be participating in the Christmas in July sale this year.  Sales end Sunday, July 22, 2012. Here are the details...

At Snuggly Monkey, over 70 items from throughout my shop are 20% off including badge reels, Ouchie Pouches, Eye Pillows, Coasters and mirrors.

Stop by the CIJ SALE section, to view the already discounted items.
{No coupons necessary, prices on sale items have already been reduced}

BONUS COUPON: Free Shipping on orders over $35 with coupon code OVER35 (Valid on US shipping only)


At Snuggly's DIY Supplies, I am offering Free Shipping on orders over $50 with coupon code OVER50 (valid for US shipping only).


Happy Shopping!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Summer Sewing School Challenge

There is something so wonderful about summertime. I love the slower pace of summer days. No rushing to get kiddos to school on time (or rushing to pick them up at the end of the day). Catching fireflies in the yard before bedtime. Mornings in the berry patch picking blueberries and blackberries and the yummy pies that get baked afterwards...

Summer is also a slower time for my shops, which is actually a nice little break. This little breather before the holiday shopping season begins is a great time to catch up on things that have been neglected during busier times. As I recovered from the car accident that I had back in January, my computer time became somewhat limited because being at the computer added to the pain in my back caused by the accident. So over the past 6 months, my blog has been neglected. I am hoping to fix that this summer.

I've decided to use my summer to finish up some personal projects that I've been working on for far too long (like my t-shirt quilt that has been in the works for over 2 years now!) and to challenge myself to learn at least 1 new sewing technique/project each week. I started last week, and I had forgotten how much I like making something new. So, over the next few weeks I am planning on sharing my personal summer sewing school challenge with all of you.

First up was Fabric Coasters. I love wooden furniture, so I love coasters. I have them all over the place. One of my favorites was this interwoven one that my mother-in-law gave to me a few years ago so that I could try to recreate it. Well it has sat on my desk holding many a glass for quite awhile, until I finally got around to deconstructing it last week.

I made a few changes to the original - made it a bit bigger to accomodate some of my bigger mugs, added some top stitching, changed the batting and in the end I was quite happy with the final result.

That first set was so much fun to make that I decided to make my mom a set too, but I wanted to make something for her to store them in. So, I made a small coil basket for her to match her coaster set.

The coil basket was cute, but it wasn't a great fit. Back to the drawing board ... I started playing around with a Japanese fabric tray design, made some adjustments and voila! I came up with something I really liked.

I am the kind of person that when I find something I like I tend to do it over and over and over again. (Like when I first discovered Dave Matthews my sophomore year of college, I think my roommate was about ready to throw my CD player out the window!) So, I went on a bit of a coaster making frenzy last week and made about 16 different sets of coasters! I decided to put them up for sale in my handmade shop here. It is always fun to try out new items in my shop & if they don't end up selling very well, you can guess what everyone on my Christmas list will be getting in their stocking this year!

Up next .... Pincushions!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Vacation Notice

Snuggly Monkey & Snuggly's DIY Supplies will be on vacation from March 23rd - April 1st. Any orders placed during that time will ship out between April 2nd - 4th. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Featured on ParentMap!


Wow! What a great surprise and honor! My fabric coil Easter Baskets were featured in this great ParentMap article on adorable Etsy finds today. Thanks so much!


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Where in the World is Snuggly Monkey?

Traveling was my first passion, love, obsession... I was on my first airplane before I was 6 months old. The travel bug bit me hard, and I jump at any chance to check out a new place whether it is 15 minutes away or 15 hours.  I have lived in 3 different countries, 5 different states within the US, and traveled to over 18 different countries.

My travels have slowed down considerably since having children and I miss it. I have been fortunate to meet lots of amazing people on my journeys around the world, so I get to live vicariously through the travel blogs and facebook posts of my friends for now until I can get back to getting on a plane with a simple carry-on instead of 5 bags, a stroller, a car seat etc...

With these thoughts of travel floating around in my head today, I thought it would be kind of fun to tally up where I have shipped items to since starting Snuggly Monkey back up again in earnest last March. I put together a couple of maps and I am going to post them on a tab here on my blog and add to them as I ship to new and exciting destinations. I was excited to realize that Snuggly Monkey items have shipped out to 45 states in the US and 19 countries!
I only need 5 more states to go to have shipped to all 50 US states!

Do you know anyone in Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, West Virginia or Vermont that you can refer to my shop?

If you live there or know anyone that does and they make a purchase that ships to one of those 5 states you can earn yourself a $5 Gift Certificate to Snuggly Monkey just for sending them over. {To earn your gift certificate, just ask your friend to write your name and email address and "Referred by:" in the "Notes to Sender" at check out}

Thanks for helping to keep Snuggly Monkey traveling :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year! 
May 2012 be filled with love, laughter, good health and happiness for you and your family! 

The holidays were a very busy time for Snuggly Monkey and for me personally. It was a joy to work with so many lovely customers and to be a part of so many people's holidays by helping prepare gifts for folks around the world. I am grateful to all of my wonderful customers for helping to make my first year on Etsy a great success that far exceeded my expectations. So, I would like to start off the new year by saying thank you very much for all of your support!

After taking a bit of down time to enjoy the holidays with my family, I am back to work in the wonderful world of Snuggly Monkey - full of energy and new ideas for my shop! But before I get to that, I thought I'd share a bit about my holidays...


Aside from keeping busy filling orders, I managed to squeeze in A LOT of baking during the holidays, which made me very happy. If I could do it all over again, I think I would have gone to culinary arts school and become a pastry chef. I baked 5 loaves of bread, over 30 dozen cookies and a cheesecake! Yum. 


I managed to snap a shot of a late night visitor to our house in the wee morning hours on December 25th :)


But best of all, I got to spend lots of time playing with my girls and the many monkeys that live in our house. 

I have been busy tinkering around in my "studio" (aka the playroom) and experimenting with some new materials and techniques.  I am really excited to be adding some new product lines to my shop in the near future. But, in order to make room and time for new items and designs, I have decided to discontinue some items as well. I will be selling off the ready-made inventory of these discontinued items in the clearance section of my shop.

In addition to new designs and new items, some changes will be coming to snugglymonkey.com as well in the next few months.  My focus this year will be to share more tutorials and recipes with you all this year as well as more in depth information on the items I make.

I'm off to get started on some of the improvements. As always, I welcome you comments, thoughts, ideas and feedback!
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