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One hot day during the summer of 2006, my then 5 year old daughter Bailey brought me a drawing and asked if I could bring it to life. I told her I was no magician, but if she'd be patient, I'd see what I could do with my knitting needles and her choice of yarn. I spent all afternoon fussing away over this, this thing that Bailey wanted, and after a few hours and a few dozen attempts, of getting it just so I was finished. This was what Bailey brought to me that day:
And this is what I came up with:
Soon, Bailey had filled an entire notebook with drawings of her monster friends. She begged me over and over to knit all the monsters she had drawn. She wanted to share her creations with other kids, and asked about having her own store. You see, Bailey comes from a long line of WAHMs- her mama, her grandma, her greatgrandma all created items in their home studios for sale. She decided she wanted to break into the field at a very young age, and asked me to help. She named her line of monsters, BaileyButt's Monster Guts. You see, "BaileyButt" has always been my nickname for her. And "monster guts" because, well, it rhymed! So, for the last year, she drew and I knit almost continuously. You see, every monster I knit was first drawn by Bailey. She names them and tells me where they live in "Monsterworld." Most of them come from Downthedrain, Underthebed or Inthecloset. We decided to keep going until she wanted to stop, but as it is, she's got volumes of sketch books, full of creatures she wants me to knit. The first few BBMGs had vintage button eyes, but after requests from our customers, Bailey and I decided on embroidered features. Since then, our monsters have evolved, and Bailey has decided on a particular "look" for her BBMGs. 
Bailey receives a portion of the sale of each monster that is purchased; most of that goes into her savings account, but part is spending money. She often saves up and buys each of her siblings a treat- and they are quite appreciative!
Our BaileyButt's Monster Guts Mini Monsters were created in the spring of 2007 and are by far our favorite rendition! Bailey calls small things "Bailey-sized," and was thrilled that we could shrink her monsters. At Easter time, they come in plastic Easter eggs. In December, if you celebrate Christmas, your monster may arrive in a tiny stocking. The rest of the year, they come in tiny "velvet" bags. As we find more accessories for the BBMG Mini Monster, the options will increase.
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