Pajama Monsters

We Recommend… Elephant and Piggie

2010-12-01T10:53:00.005-05:00

In a household of writers, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we are big into reading and encouraging our 7 year old son to read as well.

We found Elephant and Piggie books on a trip to the Library last year. I loved the simple design, animated characters against a stark white background, illustrated in a comic style.

Ethan at the time was just getting comfortable reading independently and these books made him excited to try reading dialogue in what he imagined the characters voices would sound like.

While simple for a 1st Grader to read, these books are far more fun than other “The cat is fat” type material.

They are laugh out loud funny. Hank and I get a kick out of reading them and having Ethan read them to us. He has all but worn out the pages, which is always a good thing.

Mo Williams has written a lot of great children’s books, if you have not yet – you should definitely check them out.

I love reading back through my favorite books as a child, passing them down to Ethan for added years of enjoyment.

Mo’s books are like that to me, timelessly entertaining.

- Megan

Its Fall Already???

2010-11-09T12:35:00.003-05:00

Well, since there is nothing worse than endless apologizing for something as miniscule as not blogging. I won’t.

I will tell you that we have been incredibly busy which is no good reason for all the radio silence.

For non-monsterly news which is for the most part Champion related, you can always check here updated at least 3 times a week.

Today I’m sending Stinky to a 4 year old girl who goes by “lulu” could a name get any cuter?

She loves all things sparkly and red so I’m wrapping her monster up special and sending it off to Colorado where he will be able to enjoy some REAL fall weather.

I hope you all are enjoying your week,
-Megan

Shoes, News, and Stinky too..

2010-04-14T11:21:00.011-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Isnt this Spring weather wonderful? Ethan (our 7 year old son) just returned to school from his week- long spring break and I am happy to say that all we did while he was off was PLAY!

Picnics and bike rides, trips to the beach to fly to kite, afternoons on the front porch swing with big books and iced tea. It was all too marvelous. Now it’s back to work and with full force!

Boy, things sure have been busy around here…

Hank and I have had many different projects going on as we continue to work with our Monsters.

Just to give you a little peek on what we have been up to…

Hank painted a rockin pair of Spring kicks for Underbelly’s Sneaker show.

They are on display right now if you would like to go check them out - 1021 Park Street, Jacksonville

In the news…

Our little Monsters are taking on the world starting with Australia, one of my childhood dream homes! I sent off a nipping little Nipper over to the delightful people at LMNOP magazine. They did a sweet write up about the Monsters and It’s been rumored that Nipper will be making a guest appearance their upcoming print edition.

(Stay turned)

We also have had some really wonderful bloggers writing about us and I would like to share them with you.

Joslyn in Taxas Simple Lovely

Becky in Florida B-Real Happy

Jen in Australia The Brothers Trimm

Thank you again everyone for your kind words and honorable mentions ;-)

For freeee

Last month Trina hosted our first Monster giveaway! Congratulations to Sarah!!!

You can enter for our current giveaway until April 20th

Only the Best of Etsy

Follow our Twitter or Find us on Facebook to find out about upcoming giveaways this Summer.

Tiny Mitted Typing Paws…

To wrap everything up, dont forget who has climbed onto the couch and opened a laptop to share his thoughts with the world…

Everyone’s very favorite Monster, Stinky himself, now has his own Twitter page.

http://twitter.com/StinkyPjMonster

Stop by and say hi!

So Long, Farewell!

As always, we thank you for your support of our itty bitty company. Without you we would not be growing as we are and we so appreciate each of you.

As we like to say around the Champion household, making Monsters is not always easy, but it sure is rewarding!

-Megan

Not tall enough to turn the doorknob…

2010-04-01T00:06:00.000-04:00

But he has his own Twitter: http://twitter.com/StinkyPjMonster

Don’t forget to find us on Facebook!

And check out our group Twitter page too: http://twitter.com/PajamaMonsters

Add us as a Friend or become a Fan, both ways will keep you up to date about the upcoming contests we have and how you can win Free Pajama Monsters…

It’s going to be a busy Summer!

-Megan

Bumps along the way...

2010-03-28T16:36:00.002-04:00

This week, Hank tweeted that making monsters was not always easy.

That is surely the case.

With some many wonderful things going on in our company, lots of sekret projects and a whirlwind of busyness in the Champion household, it’s no wonder that some chaos would follow.

(It always does come at the most inopportune times you know)

There have been problems in every category, from fabric to the website and I will tell you, my day started hopeful early Friday morning only to end at 1 something Saturday morning with my last unsuccessful call to PayPal, trying to resolve the issue with why we cannot take orders on our website.

I will save you the gruesome details in between.

So… making monsters is not always easy and it’s not always fun, but it is where our heart lies.

It’s something we believe in.

And on Saturday afternoon when we went looking for materials, Hank, Ethan and I; it was no surprise to me I felt a little nostalgic, a little whimsical and a little starry eyed.

Because we are living out a very small dream, no matter how hard it is at times, it is something that cannot be taken away, these tiny steps may lead down some bigger path, or they may lead us right back to where we started.

But it’s something we are doing, instead of letting it sit and pondering over it,

“Oh I wonder what could be if only I would try…”

It makes every impossible day suddenly possible, and every doubt and fear seem inconsequential.

And… we are doing it together.

Which is pretty fantastic,

If you ask us.

- Megan

We Recommend… The Big Apple Circus

2010-03-09T13:36:00.005-05:00

Do you relish in the few moments when you are able to slip back and taste a bit of what it is to be small, bright eyed and wonder filled?

Experiences that make you feel raw and green, inexperienced and uncertain of what will happen next.

It can be completely exhilarating, and leave one feeling like a child, clutching the edge of the seat, holding your breath.

The Big Apple Circus brought back a lot of that for our family.

Walking up to the large red and blue tent, with its peaks and towers, little flags waving and bright yellow blub lined arch ways inviting us in.

I felt a little curious, what could that big tent hold. My mind wandered back to times when my brothers and I made our own tents from blankets and pillows, sheets and baseball bats to prop up the insides.

Yes, tents are something special.

We walked inside to be greeted by ambient lighting, and classical, playful carnival type music.

Popcorn and cotton candy filled the inside of the tent and with the sound of music were mingled children’s laughter and the soothing voices of adults who were not in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything.

The tent was warm inside and I was surprised to find that the seating was so intimate, the ceilings so low, reminiscent of the Dr. Lao’s carnival and his own, darling tent.

The farthest seat from the performing area is only 50 feet away, the clowns heavily participating with the crowds, sitting in the seats with the children throughout the show.

This is not your Big Box circus.

All the acts are wonderful, maybe its sitting so close that draws you in; with acrobats doing flips and swinging from one platform to the next only feet away from where you are sitting, it’s hard not to be excited.

The feeling that you have stepped into another world makes you a bit sad when it comes time to leave.

An experience not to be missed, though Hank has been many times, we drove 6 hours one way to take Ethan and it was worth every mile.

-Megan

Daisy goes to the moon

2010-03-03T10:53:00.007-05:00

“One day…” Daisy told Vincent,

“One day I would like go somewhere… special.”

Vincent, being the kind the monster who would rather dream up and a place than visit it, replied.

“Well, if you like, you may come to the store with me for more crayons.”

Daisy blinked her two large eyes at him, twisting them into one large pretzel like shape.

“No Vincent.” She sighed in frustration. “I mean somewhere REALLY special.”

Vincent did not really seem to care much about the somewhere special that Daisy had in mind so she went off to talk to Stinky.

“One Day…” Daisy announced, sliding under the bed where Stinky was eating dust balls, “One day I would like to go somewhere special.”

Stinky, with his mouth full of dust and dirt, smiled at Daisy.

“Me too! Let’s go under the couch together… Oh Boy! I can’t wait to see what kind of dust grows there.”

One of Daisy’s eyes drooped a little and she didn’t bother explaining to Stinky, who had already toddled off to the sitting room for an afternoon snack, that dust was not special to her.

Fluffy was sitting on the couch, one ear drooping then the other as she almost nodded off the sleep.

“Fluffy!” Daisy shouted with excitement as she slithered up the side of the couch.

Fluffy jerked up in alarm, rubbed her tired eyes and Daisy went on.

“I have decided that very soon, I am going to do something REALLY SPECIAL!”

Fluffy raised her eyebrows, “Oh good, will you get me a pillow and blanket too when you get yourself one?”

At just that moment Daisy heard loud grinding coming from the kitchen so she left Fluffy to her nap and went to find Nipper, crunching away at the table legs.

“Daisy!” He cried out.

Daisy smiled, maybe Nipper heard the news about her plans, and was calling to congratulate her.

“Oh Nipper! Have you heard? I’m about to do something incredibly SPECIAL… today!”

Nipper took one last nip at the table leg,

“I want to come with you!”

Daisy clapped her hands,

“You do?”

Nipper nodded, his eyes lighting up,

“Yes, take me with you outside where the table legs grow out of the ground and are as big as garbage cans!”

Daisy only starred at poor confused Nipper as it dawned on her that something special was different for everyone.

She would just need to do her something special on her own.

So she did.

She searched everywhere until she found a very special pink balloon, “Oh how exciting!” She thought.

“It matches the pink parts in my pajamas.”

Being the very small monster that she is, Daisy was able to fit right through the puppy door, though the balloon got stuck for a moment or two.

Out in the backyard, a gust of wind came by and Up up into the sky she went, clutching the balloon.

“I cannot wait until I get there. I cannot wait until I get to see the moon.”

Dear little Daisy floated up and off for quite some time before she began to even get close, but finally she reached it.

The moon, all made of Munster just as she had supposed.

After a bit of snacking, and a bit of sliding around, Daisy began to miss all her monster friends and she decided to take her balloon, and go home.

She pulled a tiny pin from her pajama pocket and poked a tiny hole into the pink balloon.

Slow, very slowly, she floated back down until at last she was home, in her very own back yard and who do you think was there to greet her but Vincent, Stinky, Fluffy and Nipper.

“Hello Daisy!” They cried, rushing up to greet her.

“Why did you go? What did you do? Tell us about your adventure!”

Daisy was so pleased that her friends wanted to know about her trip.

Even though flying to the moon was not their own something special, Daisy was something special and they all loved their friend.

So Daisy told them about birds and wind and the moon made of Munster.

“But..” Daisy finished, “While I am very happy that I have gone to see the moon, I am very happy to come home to all of you. My dear Friends.”

The End.

Art by Hank Champion
Story by Megan Champion

We Recommend… The Wind in the Willows

2010-02-26T06:28:00.002-05:00

I think you might catch a glimpse of this book in the props we used for the photo shoot on the website.

It is by far one of our favorites, why we need to own 6 different copies is beyond me, but if I had to guess it’s because of the different illustrators.

This book is about the relationships between gentlemen and it puts it into terms that children can understand coupled with the excitement of Mr. Toad and his antics.

Thinking himself brilliant and wise, Toad makes daring escapes from many precarious situations which in which he lands himself.

A recent fugitive, dressed as a washerwoman, he heads home on a bounding train, behind the gusto of a captain who has shown mercy on the flagrant and seemingly undeserving Mr. Toad

When wait… A train is gaining fast behind them and who do you think is chasing them? Why the prison guards, the magistrate, and more than likely the pope too. All wanting to get a piece of the un forgiven Toad.

The book follows much in this pattern and as the affluent and foolish Toad makes decisions that leave him at the compassion of his friends.

The lessons are timeless, the book is both sweet, thrilling and the language does not leave you wanting.

A must read for any age, old or young.

I hope your having a lovely day! it’s chilly here in Jacksonville, but spring is around the corner and I’m excited :-)

-Megan

Updates for the new year!

2010-02-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

Things have been very busy around the Champion house – so I’m sorry it has taken so long for me to make another post.

On our to-do list is to be more regular about updating this blog, hopefully from now on once a week at least.

That is my goal!

Don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter – Our 250th friend on Facebook will receive a free Pajama Monster of their choice!

We are also looking for drawings and photos of you and your monster for our website! Please email your name, location and photo to megan@pajamamonsters.com

We love our fans and appreciate the support we have received from the community.
I am happy to announce that Pajama Monsters are now available in 2 new boutiques in the Jacksonville area.

Anomaly Five Points – 1021 Park Street – Jacksonville, Florida 32204

and

Hollywood Celebrity Styles – 1704 Hendricks Ave – Jacksonville, Florida 32207

If you are interested in carrying Pajama Monsters in your retail store, please contact me!

The business of managing a small business is a busy one! Hank and I are working hard at it and we could not do it without all of you talking about us and sharing us with your friends.

Pajama Monsters is close to our hearts and we thank you for your continued support.

Have a great week!
-Megan

Website Launches Today!

2009-12-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I am happy to say and with much sweat and tears, we are finally launching the website today.

YAY!

I am more than excited.

We are taking Pajama Monsters to the next level and it’s thrilling to see where it will go.

Right now a labor of love (and we do love our little friends :-) we hope to see big things happen with the introduction of the website, facebook and twitter.

It’s so much easier to sell things online!

Stay tuned to the Blog, Hank and I will be posting fun things soon, like drawings and stories about the monsters, as well as general updates about our itty bitty company.

Hope you are having a fantastical Holiday Season!