JULY COLLECTION 2011

Elliot retaliating after being bit by one of the Sock Monkeys....

Elliot and the July collection.

This month was a bit of a "rushed" month. I left for holidays on the 15th and only back today. Therefore, I had to have the entire July collection finished BEFORE I left....talk about monkey assembly mayhem! Not only have them finished, but tags and pictures done as well -not to mention talking my son Elliot into being the July model, not an easy task... I (being "technically challenged") managed to put them on a "jump drive" so I could blog while I was away - that in itself was a miracle! I would have loved to have been able to do them at my leisure while on holidays, BUT, the airlines only let you have one piece of luggage and under a certain weight - no chance of packing these guys with me! I did get a ton of sock shopping in while I was away though - some cool monkeys coming up!

I am happy to say that I successfully finished in time and blogged whenever I could get to a computer while away. Now it will be a mad dash to get ahead for the month of August. Oh well, no one said this project was going to be an easy one....

Once again, thank you to all who read this blog and all who continually encourage and support me on this project. Keep reading and commenting - we (Sock Monkeys and I) LOVE it!

HANES, SYD & BUCK

HANES: Born - July 29th. Hanes is an Astronaut. He has been in space so many times he has now lost count. How is that possible you might ask? Well, the SMSS. has a secret island base where they send all kinds of satellites and spacecraft into space almost every day. Why? Unbeknownst to us fickle humans, the SMSS (which stands for "Sock Monkey Secret Service) plans to one day rule this planet. Believe me, then you'll truly understand the meaning of "Monkey Business"....
SYD: Born - July 30th. Syd is an engineer for the SMSS and makes a s**tload of money! He can put together a Sock Monkey spacecraft in under 10 days and have it operational and ready for lift off in 20. He invests his money wisely and is the secret owner of all Starbucks franchises. He is slowly taking over the world one cup of coffee at a time.... Another diabolical SMSS plan well underway.
BUCK: Born - July 31st. Buck is clueless. Seriously. He really has no idea about what goes on around him and believes that Sock Monkeys and humans can co-exist peacefully. The SMSS uses him as a cover-up and  feeds his idea of peaceful living in order to throw the innocent humans off their trail. Some of us know better though and are working to shut the SMSS down.... Maybe Buck is a spy for our side and he's just a really good actor. Guess we'll never know....

WONG, LING & CHANG

WONG, CHANG & LING: Born - July 26th, 27th & 28th respectively. These three characters may look harmless to you BUT, don't under estimate these sweet Sock Monkeys. Born in China (where most socks are made), these three are lethal weapons. They know about 14 different types of Karate, Kung-fu and Judo and will not think twice about kicking your ass should you piss them off.  Wong, Ling and Chang all work with the government and are called on duty when humans just can't get the job done. Which, I might add, is almost all the time. When they are not on active duty, these three Sock Monkeys own a Gelato Shop in the sleepy town of Snorseville, England. If you get a chance, check it out and try their "Ginger Coconut" gelato. It's to die for....

MILLIE, RILEY & GAVIN



MILLIE: Born - July 23rd. Millie lives down the road from me and can be seen walking everyday along the airport trail. As she walks, she makes sure not to step on ANY living creatures. That's right, she will walk over the smallest critter in order to avoid possibly squashing it. IF, by unfortunate chance she happens to step on something and kill it, she will hold a small ceremony for it's little "too soon over" life. As there are thousands of critters crawling around that you can't always see or miss stepping on, Millie is STILL on her walk - that's why you see her everyday....

RILEY: Born - July 24th. Riley sleeps in the basement of strangers houses. Most people don't even know there is a sock monkey in their basement but I guarantee, if you have a basement, Riley has slept in it. So, how do you tell if he's been there? Well, have a look under the stairs and you'll find banana peels and double bubble wrappers. If you don't find them today, he just hasn't slept there yet but he will...oh he will...
GAVIN: Born - July 25th. Gavin is a very "special" Sock Monkey. He runs around willy-nilly like and has a hard time stopping but walls usually work.... One time, at band camp, he ran into the stadium wall and was out for 3 hours. This in turn caused nothing but problems as he was the main Oboe player that was set to go on while he was knocked out. The concert was postponed, monkey's were ticked, money was lost and Gavin was booted out. Gavin no longer plays the Oboe but he still runs into walls....

BIRDIE, FLOWER, GOBO, BOOBER & CUTIE

BIRDIE, FLOWER, GOBO, BOOBER & CUTIE: Born: July 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd respectively.
These sweet, tiny Sock Monkeys are so small that you can hold them in the palm of your hand OR carry them in your back pocket OR put them in a small wallet OR small Ziploc bag. Wait, the Ziploc bag may not be such a great idea as they can't really breath too well in one of those. You could always poke holes in the bag...
ANYWAY, as we know, tiny Sock Monkeys are able to squeeze into tiny spaces therefore making them very handy in the Spy world. Birdie, Flower, Gobo, Boober and Cutie are all spies. They were very involved in the "Banana Daiquiri" Conspiracy that went down 3 years ago at the Dole plant in California. Not only did it involve the arrest of 7 high ranking Banana officials, but it also set the standards for today's favourite Sock Monkey drink, "Banana Daiquiris".  
So, every time you sip on a Banana Daiquiris, remember these five tiny Monkeys and the risks they took to bring a delicious Daiquiris to your home.
As for the 7 high ranking banana officials, I hear they are out there tallying the bananas and come daylight, they want to go home.....

MEAGHAN, JESSICA, MARISSA & CARRIE

MEAGHAN, JESSICA, MARISSA & CARRIE: Born - July 14th, 15th, 16th & 17th respectively.
These fabulous four Sock Monkeys are named of course for the four fabulous women who ran Emmanuel's coffee shop for two years. Like their human namesakes, these monkeys run a coffee shop called "Emonkuel's", serve soup and sandwiches, lattes, smoothies, Italian sodas and generally harass all patrons that walk through their door. They absolutely LOVE it when Al and Sam walk in - nothing like opinionated monkeys to make the day go faster. AND, let's not forget "crazy bearded monkey" and all his conspiracy theories - very entertaining... The BEST part is when Effram walks through the doors everyday to pick up his soup and slice of fresh bread (insert heavy sigh here). Meaghan, Jessica, Marissa & Carrie all go a little silly when he enters and sad when he leaves. Yup.....Effram....
ANYWAY, this has been a tribute to my days at the coffee shop - probably some of the most memorable and hilarious moments in my life. Miss you ladies!

ABE, GUS, EVE & ZOE

ABE, GUS, EVE & ZOE: Born - July 10th, 11th, 12th & 13th respectively. These 4 Sock Monkeys are distant relatives to Abu who was the actual star of the Disney movie "Aladdin". We all know that even the Genie - played by the amazing Robin Williams - didn't make the movie as much as Abu did. AND, let's not forget the amazing part where Abu was transformed into an elephant and had to play that part for over half the movie - totally cool! Abe, Gus, Eve and Zoe LOVE the Aladdin series and can repeat all of Abu's lines word for word. When ever they get the chance to hang with Abu at family gatherings, these 4 monkeys make it very clear who their hero is. Of course, this annoys the crap out of Abu who now refuses to come to the family dinners unless these 4 get their obsession under control. Good luck with that. Once a Sock Monkey has an obsession, it's there for life. I think therapy might be an option.....

LILAC & FRITZ

LILAC & FRITZ: Born - July 8th & 9th respectively. This young Sock monkey duo are the co-creators of an environmental group called "Monkeys Against Stupid Humans". When you use the acronym, it spells out MASH, which is what this group would like to do to the humans that destroy habitat. Did you know that since the early 1900's when we really started destroying natural habitats, over 3,733,950 species of bird, animal, mammal & insect have become extinct?! This is insane folks!! I think Lilac and Fritz have the right idea. We should all work on less extinction and more protection for the animal kingdom of this planet. Could you imagine what would happen if Sock Monkeys became extinct?? Everyone LOVES sock monkeys! Support M.A.S.H. and let's stomp out extinction. Who knows, maybe one day it will be the human race battling for their lives...

CHERRY & JOANNA

CHERRY:Born - July 6th. Cherry grows cherries on her orchid farm in sunny southern B.C. These cherries are not only the BEST tasting cherries you'll ever taste but, they are also the largest. One cherry alone can feed a family of 4 and still give you leftovers. No one knows how Cherry managed to produce these giants and she's not giving away her family secret, but I think she stole DNA from a giant and rigged it to work on her cherries. That's my guess....
JOANNA: Born - July 7th. Joanna likes scissors. She has massed a HUGE collection of scissors that date back to the early 1600's. Brass, copper, silver and gold - she has them all. You seriously can't move in her house for fear of being impaled by a pair of scissors - not even joking! THEN, she actually RUNS with scissors, several pairs at a time!It's crazy! We call her "Joanna Scissor hands"...that's usually when she starts chasing us...with scissors...


BANJO, STEWART, BETSY, PIPER & MALCOLM

BANJO, STEWART, BETSY, PIPER & MALCOLM: Born - July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th respectively.
These five Sock Monkeys were sent to me from Okotoks, Alberta from the Stewart family - Dena, Jim, Kaelen & Jaden. Not only did they find some of the longest socks I've had the pleasure of working with (knee highs) but, they were also kind enough to give each pair a name.
So, a HUGE thank you to Dena for shipping them my way and thank you also to Kaelen & Jaden for coming up with cool names - they totally match the socks!! These Sock Monkeys also mark the beginning of my second half of this year. Only 6 more months to go!

TOY RUN 2011

The garbage bag stuffed with 70 Sock Monkeys!

Thumbs up with organizer Lionel Gagnier and "Harley & Oliver" - the two Sock Monkeys sitting on top of the bag! 

Well folks, this was a most excellent day! I handed over another 70 Sock Monkeys to a very worthy cause, the "Toy Run". After a few calls and e-mails, we were able to get the monkeys to the Fisherman's Wharf where all the bikes were parked for the "Show & Shine" part of Canada Day. Keith Loutit was kind enough to let us set them on his bike and take a picture. The HUB was there as well and interviewed myself and Lionel, took some pictures and this week there should be an article in the paper. Exciting!
HUGE thank you to Lionel for agreeing to all this, to Duane for getting the ball rolling, to Keith for letting his bike be our model and Angele from the HUB for coming down to chat with us.
Here's to making a childs face brighter when they receive a Sock Monkey this year from the Toy Run.