MOVING THE BLOG

We're in the process of moving the blog over here.

New project!

For more information about what's happening at Sanity Creek, go to Rebecca Kuder's blog.

Paperbite

Wee Paperbite doesn't just enjoy books, or devour them, she eats them! Fromspine to flaps, no fiber is safe. Although the Velvet Historian has banned her from his library, the green pearls spangling her limbs give her away--she has fasioned a secret doorway into Song's workshop, where he keeps an impressive collection of jewelry trad magazines, and snacks as she pleases.


However, she has recently discovered that these tasty pages contain WORDS, so she has modified her diet to focus on watercress and Citron-Cecile's pastry.

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Sanity Creek Sock Monkeys

Unnumbered Private Collection

Jonah

Jonah exudes calm like the slow trickly spring melt of Sanity Creek. If his cousin Ignatius is frenetic energy and high humor, Jonah is peace and ancient wisdom. Ignatius used to call him "Shanti" because of his attitude. He brings this serenity with him everywhere, and it affects everyone around him. Mama monkeys send their anxious littles to sit by him at the banks of the creek. His mellowing influence has effortlessly resolved many conflicts at school and beyond. He has simple tastes and needs. We could all learn a lot from Jonah.

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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey

Number 30

Iliana

Iliana is always thinking. Sometimes she is dreaming of new methods, new ways to see the world: not straight on, not upside down or backwards, but into and through a set of reflections. Like nesting dolls. Sometimes she is the doll, and sometimes she is the nest. She has trouble explaining her peculiar lens to other monkeys, but she knows that her work is important, and that she is headed toward a deeper manner of illumination. Something new, in a world where too many people believe there is nothing new in the universe. Her plan is to prove them wrong.

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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey

Number 27

The Inside Out Collection

Number 1

Monkey's Eve Blog photo winner!

The monkeys have spoken. After serious deliberation, the inhabitants of Sanity Creek have chosen their favorite photo(s) of all those sent in this year. Those of you in the know, know that, per the Sanity Creek calendar, as captured and maintained by Van Owen:

"Every year, on Monkey’s Eve (October 11) the current Sanity Creek Sock Monkeys will choose a favorite of these photos, and the winner will receive a very special monkey."

This year's winner is Shekina, who is taking loving care of her own original Sanity Creek Monkey ("Monkey") as well as our beloved Miss Minerva.

Here are some of the photos Shekina's family took and sent us. We couldn't resist; we had to post several.

Congratulations, Shekina!

Sanity Creek Sock Monkeys at Urban Handmade shop

Urban Handmade has opened a shop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. There you will find monkeys from Sanity Creek. Please stop by and say hello!

Van Owen and Petunia Grinberg

Van Owen is now residing alongside Petunia Grinberg in Seattle. How lovely that they can be together! All of us at Sanity Creek wish the two plenty of wonderful food and conversation, and very little rain.

Grigsby

Grigsby is a purist. Although aeronautical technology has progressed in the last hundred years, he remains loyal to the original paper airplane. As a paper airplane pilot, Grigsby gets a lot of indulgent smiles when he straps himself into his vessel with his blue rubberband security design system (patent pending). And takes off, confident in the growing nostalgia for simpler days, when a piece of well-folded paper was enough. In this economy, I wouldn't be surprised if he's onto something.



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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 32

The Simple World Collection
Number 1

Etsy shop is open!

Our shop is open! And slowly, surely, we will be posting more monkeys all the time on our etsy shop. Stop by and see us!

Yoga Class

Inspired by Penelope and Mitzi, the Sanity Creek yoga class has been steadily growing. They even convinced the crusty, ill-tempered raindog (far left in group photo) to join them this morning...

Happy 2009 from Sanity Creek!

From all the monkeys at Sanity Creek, we wish you a warm, happy, healthy new year, full of unexpected yet welcome occurrences. Yer the best!

Petunia Grinberg

Petunia Grinberg was born for the piano bar. A distant cousin to Stripey Joe, Petunia Grinberg watched as he rose to fame, lingering over glasses of Cesare's Dolcetto wine, lost in the music of the tiny piano. Obsessed with math and matchmaking, she has calculated the likelihood of various events and romances, and her predictions have been 93.9% accurate, most of the time. She would have been great at anything she decided to do, but for now, she is thrilled to sit back and observe the life that her calculations have created. And yet...the flag pin she wears is tangible recognition of something she never could have predicted would happen, and evidence that Petunia Grinberg, in November 2008, became more optimistic about the world.




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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 26

Custom

Baby Tangtang

Baby Tangtang is one of the sweetest littles ever deposited at the Sanity Creek Orphanage. She is sure to have remarkable adventures ahead. The monkeys at Sanity Creek will miss her, but they know that Guzzi and her friend Tyrone will provide Baby Tangtang a home full of warmth, love, and adoration as the new family travels the world.





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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 29

The Tinies Collection
Number 2

Natasha

Natasha may be the most intrepid monkey at Sanity Creek. It took her twenty years and eight days, but she did it: she climbed to the summit of Mount Sanity. Once there, she sampled the most precious of all fruits, the nightlemon berries, and tucked as many as she could count in her rucksack. She then folded herself up and rolled back down the mountain, laughing all the while because the flora tickled her so. When she returned triumphantly to Sanity Creek, the monkeys held the first annual Eight Day party in her honor.

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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 13a

The Tinies Collection
Number 1

Song featured at DVAC

How excited I was today when I went to the DVAC website, and found this photo of Song, featured on the home page! Just wanted to share.

Anton

The written word at Sanity Creek would smart at the loss of Anton. As Stationer, Anton creates exquisite paper and cards. Collaborating with Van Owen, Anton makes announcements and invitations for many public holidays, and some of the less public ones as well. His work nook is the first stop when monkeys have something important to announce, such as new ribbons for sale, or the timing of this year’s radish harvest. And he designs greetings for personal occasions too, often using his own infallible calligraphy and discretion to draft tender notes among affectionate monkeys.



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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 25

The Fancy World Collection
Number 10

Van Owen

As Sanity Creek Recorder, Van Owen has the responsibility of guarding legal documents (such as the recipes for ladencake and watercress fries) but most of his daily work is spent administering the holiday calendar. Sanity Creek has more holidays than you can fit in a year, so Van Owen is quite busy, arranging them. Botanical days are named for the plants that dot the landscape by the creek, Catalpa day being one of the more memorable because of Bruni’s gold leaves. And days are named for some of the more accomplished and celebrated monkeys, such as Stripey Joe and the Velvet Historian. As Recorder, Van Owen has pledged not to add holidays without consensus, but he can lobby for proposed celebrations. He was crucial, for instance, in getting an entire week dedicated to Princess Feist. And he legalized Natasha’s Eight Day party as a recurring event. Van Owen makes sure that each holiday falls on the same day each year, because as you know, holidays have a tendency to scatter and disappear if you don’t keep watching them. And for each official holiday, Van Owen orders the cake from Citron-Cecile’s patisserie.



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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 24

The Fancy World Collection
Number 9

Steen

Steen had a great aunt (he could never remember if it was three or four greats) who lived in the metropolis before the Big Wars. This aunt would perambulate the byways, collecting bits of discarded machinery, usually gears and bearings, occasionally finding a piece of metal that defied explanation. Through an oddly shaped family tree, her collection of detritus was handed down to Steen. He polished the collection every week, and when he reached adulthood, he decided to weld it all together to make a bicycle. But an ordinary bicycle would not do. He added five extra pulleys, and invented a bicycle that simultaneously makes espresso while he pedals! His mission is to ensure that all monkeys survive the 3pm slump. His days go like this: 5:30am, arise, start singing, and pedal down to the creek to fill the water reservoir on his contraption. He has concocted a series of levers and gears that grind the coffee beans to the perfect powdery consistency for espresso, steam the water, and fill the demitasse while he’s pedaling. He delivers this brew at half hour intervals, having mapped out each stop for the most effective use of his pedaling, and based on monkey work and play schedules, so that everyone is happy.



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Sanity Creek Sock Monkey
Number 23

The Fancy World Collection
Number 8

Dayton Visual Arts Center

Some of our monkeys are at the Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC) Holiday ARTtoBUY Gallery, through December 27. For more information about the gallery, go to DVAC.