Ten Seconds of Fame

Those of you who have been keeping up to date with my recent posts will remember my excitement at being nominated for two Ausmumpreneur Awards and may have been intrigued about why I was suddenly tidying up my work space last week.  Well, this week I can reveal that I received my "ten seconds of fame" via a short article in my local Weekly Review paper!  While my little business doesn't qualify for a cover story (shucks, LOL), I am pretty excited that the paper wanted to write an article about me at all.  And don't forget that voting for the people's choice awards starts at the end of this week, I'll be posting again soon to let you know how to vote for Two Cheeky Monkeys.  :)

Playing with collage

I have always loved the creative technique of collaging and have recently been quite inspired by books which focus on collaging with vintage ephemera.  I don't really have the time or storage space to take on another creative technique, but I took the plunge and purchased some vintage Bingo cards.  This is my first attempt at creating a Bingo card collage, a birthday card for a special little monkey in my life.  I'm pretty happy with how this card has turned out, especially as my design plans for it were rather amorphous.  Hopefully my design skills will improve as I create more and more collages!

 

Say what - a tidy craft desk?

Behold my "tidy" craft desk!!!  Some of you may look upon this spectacle and think, "That's not tidy!", but ashamedly, this is the tidiest my craft desk has been in cough quite a while.  No, no, there's nothing wrong with me, I didn't go on a hormone-induced cleaning frenzy or anything drastic like that (though Mr Cheeky Monkeys might wish I would, he he he).

Admittedly, I have been wanting to have a much tidier desk for some time and have been slowly chipping away at the chaos of WIPs and the two Cheeky Monkeys' crafting disasters.  But it took an imminent photo shoot of my work space and creative process to galvanize me into action!  I won't say much about the photo shoot right now, but I am a little excited and can't wait to share with you all.

Doily-fying Again

Okay, so "doily-fying" isn't a real word, but I thought it described very well what I frequently do around here: add doilies to otherwise plain items.  The two Cheeky Monkeys have been asking for winter skirts, and since we couldn't find any they liked in the stores, I agreed to make some for them.  

They chose a royal blue corduroy, which we scored at a huge discount at Spotlight, and the fabric then sat on my bench for about a month...oops!  Anyway, I've finally started sewing the Monkeys' skirts; here is the first one, which Monkey #2 decided to team with some very bright stripey tights.  What do you think? Are you a doily decorator too?

A funny story...

Have you ever unintentionally bought an item which turned out to be one of your best buys ever?  I was scrubbing my rice cooker bowl the other day when I looked at the brush in my hand and remembered that it was just one of those purchases.  You see, we came home from a shopping trip one day and Mr Cheeky Monkeys casually asked, "Hey, what are you planning to use this little brush for?"  To which I responded, "Me?  I thought you wanted that brush!"  We looked at each other perplexed and wondered how it had gotten into our shopping trolley.  At that point, our then three year old piped up, "I put it in when daddy was looking at the other cleaning brushes.  It's cute, I like it."  We all laughed and wondered if we'd ever use that small scrubbing brush, but it quickly became a very useful item in our kitchen sink and is still in use today!  So please do share, what have you bought accidentally which turned out to be an amazing purchase?

The Ausmumpreneur Awards

I was astonished last week to be notified that I had been nominated for two Ausmumpreneur awards - the handmade award, and the rising star award.  For those of you who don't know about Ausmumpreneur, it is an Australian network for mothers who run their own businesses.  Every year, the network hosts the Ausmumpreneur awards which seek to "recognise the best and brightest in the Mumpreneur industry, acknowledging success in business, product development & innovation and amazing service in both online and bricks and mortar businesses".

To be completely honest, I have never considered myself for a nomination in any of the awards categories, so to be nominated in two categories was a big surprise!  The rising star award will be judged by a panel of experts, but the handmade award is a "people's choice" award.  Which is where my lovely readers come in!  Voting for your favourite business won't start until August, but once voting is open, I would LOVE for you to vote for me (if you love what I do).  Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on the voting process once all information is available.  In the mean time, thank you for your continued support!

Holiday Baking Roundup

Well, we're into our second week of school holidays here at the land of Two Cheeky Monkeys, so I have been racking my brain for ways to entertain the small Monkeys.  They love to try cooking, especially baking, so here is a roundup of some fun, and relatively kid-friendly, baking recipes we enjoy.

Super grain and seed damper

Low fat whole wheat cinnamon scrolls

Cheese and bacon rolls

Orange and berry self-saucing pudding

DIY Zip Bracelet Roundup

It's almost half way through the Two Cheeky Monkeys' school holidays, so I thought it was high time I put together another craft tutorial roundup.  As you know, here in the land of Two Cheeky Monkeys, we are very fond of ways to upcycle the humble zipper.  So, today's roundup is all about bracelets you can make from zippers.  If you're looking for a tutorial for zipper flowers, then check this post here.

brit+co share several zip bracelet designs.

Go for the understated elegance look via zszywka.

Go all out with dottyspeckles.

ecouterre shares a tutorial for those who love the chunky look.

Water for life - Giving back to those in need

With the new financial year starting today, I realised that I have been very lax in thanking all of my customers for your wonderful support during the previous financial year.  As is my usual habit, I also want to remind you that your support of my stores also means support will be given to help those in desperate need.

This year I have decided to lend my support the Water Project Fund being run by Barnabas Fund, an international Christian aid and advocacy organisation working in many developing nations around the world.  The Water Project Fund provides clean drinking water for impoverished people in Asia and the Middle East either by digging wells for villages in need or by establishing water connections direct to people's homes.  Having easy access to clean water is something I take for granted, but for those helped by Barnabas Fund it is a dream they cannot achieve without help from others.  So thank you again for not only supporting me, but for providing much needed clean water to families in need.