Monster and The Squirrel

Patchwork Long Beach, Rained but it didn't bring us down!

2011-11-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

Our Set up this year. I Heart the monster cake Bobby Saldana made.

Monster's Bunny's.

Monster and her bunny party

Donut hairclip by Squirrel

Hair Clips, Rings, and such.

Sunday 's Forecast : RAIN ! The forecast didn't look so great and we didn't know how it would impact potential Patchwork goers but we didn't let that bring us down! We kept working and working on our latest collection of felties, ornaments, rings, gloves, hair clips, and other cute things. The Saturday night before I stayed up late working on bags and finishing up all my projects while watching tons of movies like : 500 Days of Summer, Christmas Vacation, BabyCakes, and Elf. After I woke up from my 5 hours of sleep I could hear the rain just pounding my roof. My first thought hmmmm, this is going to be a challenge keeping all our soft plushies dry. Second thought I hope people don't get afraid and stay home... Especially some of our friends, they hate rain. That morning our friend Bobby met us at our place to help out , also he designed our awesome monster cake display. Once we got to Marine Stadium we immediately put our heads together and got our table set up in a inch of rain. The rain lasted throughout the morning but cleared up in the afternoon. Thank goodness! And the crowd started coming. We met many nice people and saw lots of good friends and family! It was a brilliant chilly day. Delilah and Nicole are just awesome and always put on a excellent show. We look forward to the next one .....maybe Spring.

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival is the place to be Nov. 6th!

2011-10-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Last holiday show, the Christmas pickle was a hit!

10 more days till this Super duper cool show! Monster and I are so excited to be a part of it again this year! So many Talented people vend at this event and the ladies that put this show on always do an excellent job! We have been busy since August preparing for this show and I think our ornaments are the best we've ever made! Please stop by our Booth and check out our pink Christmas tree.....it will make your heart sing!

See you at Marine Stadium in Long Beach , Ca.

Nov. 6th
11-5 pm!
Bayshore @ Appian

this is a photo from last years spring show.

New Song By Wild Flag

2011-10-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Listening to them a lot while I sew and get ready for Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival in Long Beach, Ca Nov. 6th!!

Mr. Bojangles -Special Edition- Holiday ornament

2011-10-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

All Proceeds go to Mr. Bojangles vet care

This special ornament was created for our beloved kitty cat Mr. Bojangles. Our sweet kitty was diagnosed with diabetes a few months ago and has been undergoing treatment. All proceeds go towards Mr. Bojangles insulin, syringes, special food, and vet visits. It has been very hard financially and emotionally on us. We have sold a lot of our stuff just so Bojangles will have his medication and special food. They will be on sale at Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival in Long Beach, Ca. They will also be available monsterandsquirrel.etsy.com.

Sew excited to post pics of new stuff!

2011-09-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Delicious donuts for your hair....These are good enough to eat! Made by: Squirrel

Little Red bear has a heart full of love! Made by: Monster


"Meow Meow" says the little gray kitty! Made by: Monster

Wild Flag - Romance

2011-09-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

We Love Wild Flag!

Christmas Pickle Making Has Begun

2011-09-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello boys and girls! Monster and I have begun working on holiday goodies.

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival.....Coming Soon!

2011-08-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

We are looking forward to this awesome show! Save the Date!

Mustache Pin Giveaway.

2011-07-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

And the winners are......Francine Hernandez, Jeni Dow, Rebecca Katherine Giesking Quiroz, and Sheri! Please email us your address so we can mail u your prize. Monsterandthe squirrel@gmail.com And thanks for participating! We are excited for our next giveaway.... :)

Mustaches + sweet little things= Precious

2011-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Loving Sleater-Kinney this Awesome Friday!

2011-07-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

What's your favorite 4th of July Memory from your childhood?

2011-07-04T12:36:00.000-07:00


We are giving away 5 awesome mustache pins to our favorite 5 memories!

Happy 4th of July friends of Monster and the Squirrel! We have been in hibernation mode since Christmas and in honor of our awakening from our long hiatus we are giving away some awesome NEW mustache pins that Squirrel created just for u! All you have to do is tell us ur most awesomeness childhood memory!

Mine (Squirrel): When I was a kid our family use to have huge 4th of July parties and all my cousins would come over to my grandma's house . My family would be BBQing and there would be crazy illegal fireworks blasting into the sky. Some fires but nothing too major! My sister and I would get so excited when our cousins from Bakersfield would come down because then we would have kids to play with! We played crack the whip, freeze tag, hide & go seek and made our own Slip and slide with trash bags! I just remember how awesome it was to be with all my family... together having fun. It seems as the years passed and everyone got older, everyone grew a little distant and those days don't exist anymore. Awwwee the good old days in Placentia.

This is Monster's Favorite memory of her and her nanny celebrating with sparklers

Super fun cute bags- NEW

2011-06-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

I started making these little bags last Christmas and they have become a hit among my family members and friends. These fun little bags are perfect for storing your cosmetics in, hair accessories, your fancy phone ( to keep it from getting harmed in your purse) , or your hard earned cash/credit/debit card. Bag is made with high-quality fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, vintage buttons, inside of bag is lined with cotton material and zippers shut. I sew them all by hand with love. Will soon be available at Songbird in Long Beach, Ca. and monsterandsquirrel.etsy.com

christmas time is here!

2010-12-01T22:51:00.001-08:00

First off Patchwork was pretty amazing this year.....It was a miracle it didn't rain! The wind kept trying to blow our tent over but besides that it was super cool! We met a lot of nice people and had a busy tent all day long! It was Rad! We can't wait till the spring shows! We love love love Patchwork, Delilah Snell and Nicole Stevenson know how to throw a kick ass craft festival! Kinda bummed I didn't get a chance to check out the other vendors.....my friends bought some awesome Jewelry at the show! Oh Well, next time!

We had the Best Thanksgiving in a really long time...Hung out with family, watched Toy Story 3, and ate lot's of yummy food. After staying at my mama's place far far away we came home friday and decorated our apartment for Christmas , OH our cats are in hog heaven. It's soooooo crazy that christmas is almost here. This year has gone by way toooooo fast! Anyways, we listed a few things on our Etsy shop, I'm hoping to get a few more up this weekend! Blog to you later! ;)

Love ,

Monster & The Squirrel

P.S. Enjoy a few pics of our trees and our kitty Bean.

For your eyes only! 0 _ 0

2010-11-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

HERE'S A PEEK OF WHAT WE'LL BE SELLING AT THIS YEAR'S HOLIDAY PATCHWORK FESTIVAL IN LONG BEACH NOVEMBER 21ST...THERE WILL BE A LARGE SELECTION OF VINTAGE INSPIRED PIPE CLEANER ORNAMENTS,PICKLES,DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FELT SKULLS AND MORE ORNAMENTS DANGLING FROM OUR TREE...FELT DOLLS,COIN PURSES,BAGS AND LOTS MORE!

Patchwork Long Beach here we come!

2010-10-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

Monster and the Squirrel are very excited to be a part of this awesome indie arts & crafts festival!
This Holiday season we will be showcasing:
Adorable felties, Fantastico vintage inspired pipecleaner ornaments,
Felt pouches,the very popular felt pickle ornaments and more!

Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival will be Nov. 21st from 11-5pm
All local crafters , artists and designers! They are all amazing!
This is one festival u won't want to miss!

So.....I started working on Rings!

2010-07-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

How can anyone resist a mustachio ring??? They are going to be available on Etsy starting today! I'm also making some really cute hair clips!

Ok.....Now back to work! :)

A Special Special Order

2010-07-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Our friend Miss. Sweet asked us to make her these adorable bags for her Brides Maids. The Owl's are from the wedding invites that she mailed out to their friends and family. She loved em alot! On the back side of the bag it says I <3 Justin & Shandra with a red felt heart for the love.

I was so excited to give her the bags I forgot to take a picture of the back of them. :( but I did take a pic of the Invite and the front of the bags.

We love Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival

2010-07-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Monster and I had the best time at Patchwork....Here are few photo's from the event!

Christina and Chris .....Corazones Table

Andrea and all her beautiful handmade pieces.

WE'RE GETTIN' READY FOR PATCHWORK

2010-06-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

PATCHWORK INDIE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL LONG BEACH, JUNE 27TH!

2010-05-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

Lots of coooooool NEW stuff from Monster and The Squirrel! We'll be at Patchwork LB!
See you there!

****p.s. Santa Ana is going to be awesome too! Sad we couldn't do both. :(

She & Him - In the Sun.

2010-03-22T15:20:00.001-07:00

WE HEART SHE & HIM

Long Time..... No blog

2010-02-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry friends things have been kinda hectic in Monster and the Squirrel land. Regina has been super busy with her day job, getting ready for a Huge event happening at the Art Store in the next couple months and Monster has been feeling under the weather. But things are slowly getting back to normal, Monster is feeling better and Squirrel is counting the days till the Event is over. We have lots of new stuff coming soon. In the moment we are working on a new series of felt creatures......I'll tell you more later when they are ready to shown to the world. With that said, I will be posting more updates more often. Take care! And have a Happy Day!

Cat Power- Lived in Bars <-------brilliant song

Things that inspire Squirrel.....

2010-02-01T18:08:00.001-08:00

my bestfriend

Mi Familia

Bjork

Japanese Street Style

Zooey!!!

Blythe

Yoshitomo Nara's art

Strange pics

Cupcakes

Bean

Christmas with my papa

Pinky

US
Monster

clouds

Mr. Bojangles

Meow Meow

The Sea

Happy 2010 Friends!

2010-01-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

Molly the Monster and I super excited for the new year, new decade. It's a fresh new year and my number one resolution is to be on top of all of our Monster and The Squirrel stuff......Like I just finished sewing a few super sweet new felties! See pics Below.....

This guy is going up on our Etsy tonight!

Another Sneak Peek!

I have a feeling this year is going to be AMAZING !

9 more days............

2009-12-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

Till Christmas!!!!!! I can't wait to see my family and see if Santa brought my Wii fit. I'm gonna start working on my Christmas gifts now. More later but until then....Here's A few clips from some of our favorite Christmas Movies.

Enjoy!!!

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

Latest custom made stuffies!

2009-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

The Smiths Loving Owl custom made for Bianca and Mustachio Angel Tooth Tree Topper Custom made for Shandra Sweet and Super cool Justin!

Sale Sale Sale!

2009-12-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

Don't miss out on our Holiday sale....... 25% off everything now until 12-22-09 midnight Standard Pacific Time........Handmade gifts rule!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
monsterandsquirrel.etsy.com

pics from disneyland.....

2009-12-11T21:13:00.001-08:00

my sister got married and it was her New hubby's birthday.....Fun times!

Hair Clips and pins Made by Regina Lopez

2009-12-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.....

2009-12-08T07:50:00.001-08:00

Another happy fan!!!!! :)

Finished Stockings.....made by Molly the Monster

2009-12-05T14:07:00.001-08:00

SPECIAL ORDER FOR ONE OF OUR FRIEND'S EVA MARIE .....MOLLY DID A WONDERFUL JOB! MOLLY IS FINISHING THE REST OF EVA'S ORDER AND THEN OFF TO THE SALON TO DROP THEM OFF AND AFTER WE ARE CAT SITTING SO WE MUST GO FEED AND PLAY WITH BASIL AND AFTER BELMONT SHORE CHRISTMAS PARADE!

The first Saturday after a long series of craft shows.....

2009-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

So I woke up at 7:30 am this morning after a long nice sleep....bed at 9pm is always nice! I had big plans to work last night on my special orders with Molly the Monster, but of course I went to dreamland instead. Molly stayed up late working on her awesome stocking , which she's almost done with! And then she'll move on to her next project. I myself has an order due next Friday and one due ASAP...the ASAP one is a angel tooth tree topper, which sounds soooooooo spectacular already! I will take pics of it once it's done and on the tree next door, it's for our neighbors. Well, I better get started....It's almost 9 am!

We heart Custom Orders....Just check out these AMAZING stockings made by Molly the Monster

2009-12-02T09:08:00.001-08:00

These are a special order item for our friend Eva Marie.....In total she wants 4 stockings, all set to fit each personality in her family, Mod, Skater PUNK, Sweet, and adorably cute.....More pics to come! By the way, these are still in the works and not even finished! They are brilliant I must say! Good job Molly!

xoxoxo,
Monster and the Squirrel

Monday Monday Monday

2009-11-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

Patchwork LB was amazing!!!!

2009-11-29T22:00:00.000-08:00

We had the greatest day hanging out at Patchwork.....It was an amazing event. Sadly our last event of the year, we are going to get some much needed rest. We Will keep you updated on our holiday adventures....I will be updating our Etsy this week and remember, we heart custom made orders! Here are a few pics of the day....We forgot our camera so don't mind my crappy phone.
Goodnight for now. xoxoox, Regina

One of our fans Marla and boyfriend , very sweet couple.

A Sneak Peek for all you Monster and the Squirrel Friends!

2009-11-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

We hope to see you there!

xoxoox,
Monster and the Squirrel

Adorable pickings is what you'll get at SongBird!

2009-11-17T20:02:00.001-08:00

Stop by and check out this adorable treat of a store! Monster and the Squirrel are happy to be selling our handmade creatures there! One of a kind Kitty's , red Devil bats, and cuddly birds await you! Check it out!

SongBird
2240 E. 4th St.
(562) 439-4444

Monster and the Squirrel are now at Underground Salon and Skin Care!

2009-11-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Our Ornaments , hairclips, and pins are now available at Underground Salon and Skin Care! Get your hair did and buy a cute clip to top off your new look!!!!!

Underground Salon and Skin Care
2172 N Bellflower Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90815-3126
(562) 594-4035

http://iloveunderground.com/

OUR ORNAMENTS WERE SHOWN ON GOOD DAY L.A. ON FOX 11!!!!

2009-11-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

Friday morning I was doing my regular morning routine before work and watching Monster and the Squirrel's favorite morning Show Good Day L.A. on FOX 11 , when Jillian Reynolds announced that their show needed ornaments to decorate the studio Christmas Tree. So Monster and I got this brilliant idea to send Jillian a couple of our fresh batched ornaments. Secretly hoping that maybe Jillian would love them so much, that she would show them off. I mailed them off on Monday morning with a couple of our business cards and a postcard for Patchwork Long Beach coming up late November. On Wednesday, i immediately turned on Good Day L.A. with hopes that she may mention them. When low and behold I saw our ornaments sitting on her desk next to her. I shook Molly awake to show her that Jillian had our Ornaments!!!! We watched and watched and waited till after the weather she mentioned again how they needed ornaments for the tree and then she said "I just got my first ornaments!" She held up my owl and molly's Uhhhh....she really didn't know what it was. Doesn't she know a monster cupcake when she see's one???? So through out the show that day they showed our ornaments and On Friday's show her daughter Little Ruby was hanging out in the studio and they showed her by the tree that had all the ornaments hanging on them and she had Molly's monster cupcake in her grip. She must have loved it, she held onto it for a WHILE.....So Cool!!!! It was a great way to end the week. We hope to see you Sunday for Patchwork!

PATCHWORK INDIE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL IN LONG BEACH!

2009-11-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

Molly the monster and I will be selling our handmade goodies at Patchwork Long Beach!!!!! We are jumping for joy!!!!! We are super Duper BUSY, so we'll try to post More Later!

THIS IS HALLOWEEN......

2009-10-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

Molly and I are getting the apartment clean for the few friends we are having over for Halloween. We ran out of time last night to put our candy bags together, so it must be done today. I wish we could dress one of our cats up and head down to the dog parade. I seem to miss it every year. :(
I'll post pics from our goulish night tonight. WE HEART Halloween. We are taking the night off from sewing :( . I Love spending my nights being crafty with molly the monster, together we get stuff done! Well, I better get back to cleaning.

Halloween Eve 2009

2009-10-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's almost Halloween......Monster and I are about to get our pumpkin painting on. And after we are getting all the goodies together to make little treat bags for all the kiddies. Last year we ran out and we had about over 80 bags to hand out . This year we doubled it. Hopefully that will be enough for this Halloween.

So I'm going to try to keep this updated with all our events and daily adventures.

2009-10-30T18:49:00.001-07:00

Monster and I are super excited to be a part of Patchwork. Please stop by and show us some support.........We will love you for it!

2009-10-30T16:53:00.001-07:00

2009-10-30T16:51:00.001-07:00

THANKSGIVING IS COMING TO AN END...WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO WORK!

2008-11-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

SO THE BIG 4 DAY WEEKEND IS SLOWLY
COMING TO AN END. WE HAD THE BEST 4 DAYS EVER. WE CELEBRATED EARLY WITH THE FAMILY THE SATURDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING, WHICH WAS FUN AND YUMMY. WE GOT TO SEE OUR SWEET NEW NEPHEW.....HE IS SUCH A DOLL, AND MY NEPHEW DREW AND MY NIECE STEPH. I ALSO GOT TO HANG OUT OUT WITH MY ADORABLE SISTERS AND GRANDMA. IT WAS SUPER FUN.....AND I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE THAT BABY.THANKSGIVING DAY MONSTER AND I WENT TO OUR REGULAR RESTAURANT TO HAVE THANKSGIVING TURKEY. FABULOUS! WE ALWAYS SAVE HALF FOR LATER, BUT NOT THIS TIME WE ATE THE WHOLE MEAL. AFTER LUNCH WE WENT HOME TO PUT UP THE REST OF OUR DECORATIONS AND LATER OUR FRIENDS JOEY AND CORY CAME OVER FOR COFFEE AND BOARD GAMES. WE PLAYED TABOO FOR HOURS AND AFTER WE TRIED SCATAGORIES, MONSTER AND I COULD NOT GET ENOUGH OF THAT GAME( NOW WE ARE ON A QUEST TO OWN IT). IT WAS A GOOD TIME, LOTS OF LAUGHS! ON BLACK FRIDAY MONSTER WAS DIEING TO CHECK OUT THE SALES, I ON THE OTHER HAND AM NOT FOND OF LARGE CROWDS OF CRAZY PEOPLE TRYING TO FIND A GREAT DEAL, AND WANTED TO STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THAT AS POSSIBLE. EVENTUALLY, I ENDED UP TAKING MONSTER AROUND EVENING TIME TO SEE WHAT WAS LEFT , I GOT MY NEW NANO FROM MONSTER , AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT....YAY! WE LOOKED FOR OUR NEW FAVORITE GAME, THEY WERE ALL OUT! DARN! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE FOR THE SALES. BUT ALL IN ALL IT WASN'T AS BAD AS WE THOUGHT. SATURDAY I SPENT MY WHOLE DAY IN BED WATCHING THE NEW HBO SERIES TRUE BLOOD, 12 EPISODES!IT WAS SOOOOOO GOOD. I STOPPED TO EAT DINNER, STITCH A DOLL AND PRETTY MUCH THAT WAS IT. SADLY, THE WEEKEND IS COMING TO AN END, I HAVE TO GET BACK TO WORK. I NEED TO GO HUNTING FOR SUPPLIES AND START WORKING ON DOLLS FOR FARMERS MARKET DECEMBER 14TH AND GO BACK TO MY DAY JOB AT THE ART STORE. WE HAVE LOTS OF WORK TO DO! SO DON'T FORGET THE DATE DECEMBER 14TH, FARMERS MARKET IN LONG BEACH, AT THE MARINA :) AND REMEMBER HANDMADE GIFTS ARE THE BEST!!!!!

ART WALK OCT. 11TH.......BRRRRRR...IT WAS A COLD NIGHT!

2008-10-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

LAST SATURDAY NIGHT WAS OUR 4TH MONTH SELLING OUR CREATIONS AT THE LONG BEACH 2ND SATURDAY ART WALK. LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT WE WERE GOING TO FREEZE OUR BUTTS OFF! BUT MOLLY AND I HAD SOOOOO MUCH FUN DECORATING THE BOOTH IN HALLOWEEN DECOR,AND CHATTING WITH THE LOVELY LADIES OF ZOMBIE FACTORY AND THE ROCKADEADLY GIRL, WHO IS A DOLL, THAT IT DIDN'T EVEN MATTER. WE SHARED BOOTH # 24 "THE PRIME CORNER" WITH RANDY TOOTH , HIS BOYFRIEND TIMOTHY, AND JOANN (WHO MAKES BEAUTIFUL JEWELERY). WE THOUGHT WE WOULD TRY A NEW SPOT SINCE THE SUN IS ALWAYS IN OUR FACE OVER AT OUR REGULAR SIDE #38. I THOUGHT IF WAS A NICE CHANGE BUT I MISSED THE OLD #38. THE EVENING WAS VERY QUIET AND IT SEEMED LIKE EVERYONE WAS HOME WHERE IT WAS WARM.BUT EVEN THOUGH THE AIR WAS COLD AND WINDY, A FEW OF OUR SWEET FRIENDS CAME OUT TO SHOW THEIR SUPPORT!. A COUPLE OF THEM EVEN BOUGHT SOMETHING!!! SARAH JEAN, CHRISTIE'S AWESOME GIRLFRIEND, LET US BORROW HER GLOVE'S AND SCARVES, IF IT WASN'T FOR HER KINDNESS WE WOULD HAVE FROZE TO DEATH OUT THERE. WE HAD THE BEST TIME MEETING PEOPLE AND WATCHING THE CROWD AS THEY WANDERED DOWNTOWN. CONSIDERING THE WEATHER AND THE ANNOYING LITTLE SKATEBOARDERS EARLIER IN THE DAY AND THE STINKY DRUNK GUYS ROAMING THE STREETS, IT WAS ANOTHER AMAZING SATURDAY.WE LOOK FORWARD TO NOV.8TH! WE'LL BE AT OUR REGULAR BOOTH # 38 AND WE WILL BE SHARING IT WITH ANDREA A.K.A SCIN JEWELERY AND NORMA V. WHO WILL BE SELLING ALTERED HANDBAGS. SEE YA THEN!

we tried to be festive for halloween by wearing these funny little mustaches.

Mr. Tooth(ache) is so sweet .

Mr. Tim looking dashing in his long trench coat.

HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREAT ON BROADWAY

2008-10-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE SOME CREEPY CUTE STUFF FOR SALE AT THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT ON BROADWAY IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

SOOOOO CUTE!

AND WE WILL HAVE LOT'S OF NEW CUTE STUFF AT THE NEXT ART WALK IN DOWNTOWN LONG BEACH, CA. ON OCT.11TH. WE'LL BE THERE FROM 4-10 PM!
WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YA!

Long Nights...................

2008-09-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sooooo we've been staying up past midnight making lots of neato stuff for Art Walk Lb October 11th 2008......It's a lot of fun creating little creatures but very exhausting. My hands are a little tired. Well, it's 12:12 am and I am heading off to sleep. I have a million things to do at my day job. And I need my beauty sleep....Good Night. More later.

xoxoox,
Squirrel.

KOO'S CAFE HALLOWEEN ART SHOW

2008-09-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

WE WILL HAVE A PIECE EACH IN THIS SHOW.

cool article on Monster and The Squirrel!

2008-09-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Staff Infection

BUY THIS NOW: MONSTER AND THE SQUIRREL MAKE CUTE AND CREEPY CREATURES

Vy PhamThu. September 18

During the East Village’s recent Second Saturday Art Walk, one tent stood out from among the others. Manned by local Long Beach couple Regina—“The Squirrel”—and Molly—“Monster”—a lively setup of felt creatures drew me to their table, where cardboard boxfuls of wild-eyed, crayola-colored faces stared back at me.

Do-it-yourself craft-dom is flourishing rather quickly—knitted and handmade things are popping up everywhere, and the sewing machine is the new apparatus of choice. For Monster and the Squirrel, making things with their hands has become a big part of their lifestyle.

The two women started not too long ago. In April of this year, confined to her bed after getting her wisdom teeth removed, Regina/The Squirrel began to sew. Five months and a ton of felt, embroidery thread, buttons, hot glue, and googley eyes later, the animated pair have manufactured their own burgeoning menagerie of stuffed monsters, creatures crafted from their imaginations.

The toys might look crudely constructed—with purposefully bare thick thread-lines and imperfect stitches—but it’s that sweet and flawed textile that makes it more endearing than an immaculate teddy bear from, say, Hallmark.

Each creature can take up to eight hours to make. Regina, when not working at the Art Supply Warehouse, spends much of her time on her rocking chair working while watching movies. “I don’t mind because we are in our thirties . . . and we’re over the whole drinking and partying thing. I love to sew. It’s fun,” she says.

They draw from their love of old toys, cartoons, and bits and pieces from their youth. Molly’s a big monster fan. Regina’s into old Japanese ceramic statues. And their assorted styles come together and produce felt monsters, cats, owls, bears, and ghosts that are all together cute and creepy.

The two also paint and make art on the side, and their work will be showcased at the Koo’s Art Café Halloween show this year. Monster and the Squirrel merchandise can be found online at Etsy.com or myspace.com/monsterandthesquirrel and at the Kids Are Alright boutique (on the corner of Redondo Ave. and E. Broadway). In addition, the two frequent other local art vendor fairs in and around Long Beach.