Lots of people have been asking lately, "where are you?"   "why aren't you sewing?"  "when can I have a grump?"    and so I thought I ought to explain why I am awol in the internets.   The reason is this you see...  (in a nutshell)...

There is an EU Directive which states that all handmade toys must confirm to certain safety standards and carry a CE mark to confirm this.   This has been in force since 2011 but it seems a lot of toy makers don't actually know about it.  (And those that do, now have big headaches).

Now, I have never considered my freaky little creatures as toys for children and have always considered them as collectors items for older children and adults with squiffy brains  (I mean, it's not as if children don't already have enough STUFF, the little darlings)... but it seems that this is quite a grey area, with differing advice being given by Trading Standards in different areas as to what can be classed as a collectors item and what can't.

And so, until I have spoken with my Trading Standards office, and am sure that I am complying with their regulations then I must stop with the sewing for a while.
Hopefully only a short while.

I was going to start sewing up some samples to show them today, but my dearly beloved hobbit has given me his head cold, and it is hard to sew when your head feels like it's full of cold porridge.

So maybe I'll be just a while longer....

But not too long...

I hope...

Atchoo!


p.s. this is how I feel...

So.  A little while ago, this little fella came to stay.

Isn't he cute?
He came all the way across the big water as part of a travelling sock creature project c/o the awesome and multi-talented (and very very funny) Hilary Emerson Lay.

After much deliberation and help from the gorgeous peepuls on our facebook page, we decided to name him Nobby.  :D

I had planned to take Nobby on lots of exciting adventures, but somehow or other life just kept getting in the way. 
(Also, I remembered that I'm not the kind of person who goes on exciting adventures).

So Nobby, has mostly just been hanging out with us and watching tv and chilling on beach.
Here he is doing some  things...

chillaxing on the sofa and watching tv...

watchin' the ships comin' in and goin' out again....

juss sittin' in a bucket.  natch....

havin' a lovely chat with a fish...

pointing at a crab...  (make your own jokes)!

falling out of a tree...

And now after all of that excitement, Nobby has decided he wants to go and live somewhere else for a week or two.  Somewhere where he'll get to go on 'proper' adventures and not be parked in front of the tv and fed bizquits and crisps to keep him quiet!

If you feel you would make a good temporary foster mother for this little chap, and are prepared to take pictures and keep his birth mom informed of his adventures... speak now or forever hold your peas.   (Nobby is packing his bags as I type)!

You can also read more about some of the other creatures adventures here.






Craft it Forward

Well, those of you who know me will know it's no secret that
J'adore Monsieur My Dog Sighs.
The man is a legend.
And a genius. 
And quite frankly a jolly nice chap indeed.  
Which is very lucky for me as he puts up with my stalking and all round general besottedness (is that even a word?) with such good grace.
Anyway. 
Imagine my delight when I flick on the computer screen just in time to jump in on Mr Sighs' 'Craft it Forward' post on good old Stalkbook, er I mean Facebook. 
Imagine my delight further when this little guy arrived in the post last week....

To be honest, I was expecting one of his cardboard paintings - which I would have been ecstatically over the moon with but THIS!!  Well now I am over the moon x 1,000!

I've admired these little tin can guys for a while, but to hold one in your hand gives them a new perspective entirely.  They really are just full of awesome and this little guy will fit in just nicely with all the other fabulous works of art that I have been collecting over the last couple of years and are just waiting to be hung on my Wall of Awesome.


And so with that, now it's my turn to Craft it Forward.
I will make something for the first 5 people that wish to take part in keeping this love train going.
Your end of the deal is to do the same for a further 5 people.
You can paint/sew/knit/crochet or whatever as long as it is handmade by you.
And then you need to blog/facebook/tweet etc about it to invite others (please leave your links here when you've done that, just to make sure that everyone is playing fair and not just nabbing something for free).

So if you want to play (I promise to make you something nice), speak now or forever hold your peas....  :) 

p.s. you can check out more of My Dog Sighs artwork by visiting his flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mydogsighs/
or his Facebook page here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Dog-Sighs/115489371467

or indeed by watching the Culture Show at 7pm on BBC2 on Friday 10th but please remember, you can't have him.  He's mine.  I found him first.

And the winner is....

Victoria - Reiki Mama.... Congratulations!!!






Victoria, if you could email us at oddsox.info@gmail.com then we'll have the little chap off to live with you as soon as possible.

The winners of the 'Say it with Soxies Cards' are   Socksy Beasts, Laura Beth Designs and Susann all the way from Oz...  If you could all email your addresses too then that would be splendid.

Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful entries, I wish there was a Woger for you all.

It's been fun though.  Let's do it again soon! 

x

Wonky Woger Giveaway

Well hello there and welcome to my rather empty blog.
I've never really been able to sit and find the time and learn how to drive it properly, but 2012 is the year of new things, and so here I am 'having a go!'

2011 was a funny ol' year for me... lots of big changes and not really much time to sew or be a top bizniz woman.  (Last year I would not have made Sir Alan proud).
And so, to celebrate a new year/new start kinda thing, and for thanking my delightful Facebook likers for sticking with me and not deserting me in harsh times, I thought it would be pertinent to start the year off with a giveaway... and to that end, I give you Wonky Woger...


Ta Daaaa....

You see... poor old Woger refused point blank to wear his brace as a child and now his teeth are entirely too big for his tiny little head.  He looks kinda... 'special' and he needs someone who can see past his odd looks and love him for the insanely grinning idiot that he is.

If you think that person could be you, then please leave a comment below indicating why you would be a suitable new parent for this little oddball. 
I will throw all entries into some kind of receptacle and find a small impartial child to pick out a winner on Friday 3rd February - exact details to be announced on my Facebook page HERE

Now, if you happen to make me laugh with your comment, I will give you an extra entry into the draw... and if you decide to publicise this giveaway in any form (re-blog, tweet, publicise on FB or whatever) then let me know and I will also give you another entry (you don't need to leave links as proof... you're an honest lot and if you say you've done it then I believe you).  
Of course, please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win, and at this point, I feel the need to point out that Wogers (as with all Odd Sox critters) are not made as toys for small children.  They much prefer the company of older personages - as they do not tend to swing them about by their legs or their funny ear type things.

So that's it I think... let the commenting commence...
*holds breath, crosses fingers and hopes that someone actually does want to welease Woger*