Two Cheeky Monkeys

Refashioning Sneak Peek

2012-02-10T16:23:00.000+11:00

Are you wondering why I've posted a photo of a shiny purple picture frame? With pretty much all of our regular activities back into full swing this week, I haven't had much time or energy to blog about my creative endeavours. But I thought that I would tease you with a little look into a work in progress which has been a WIP for cough most of the summer. This frame started off as a functional, but boring, picture frame we found at a local op shop. It is half way through its refashioning process, but you'll have to wait until at least next week before I unveil the final creation!

What's New - Pride and Prejudice Necklaces

2012-02-08T10:25:00.000+11:00

I mentioned last month that I have been plugging away at expanding my Pride and Prejudice jewellery range and I thought I'd give you all a little sneak peek! I am quite enamoured of teardrop shapes and have been pretty excited about making these cute necklaces. Each one features a snippet of text mentioning Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet or Darcy's home, Pemberley, and has been teamed with a ribbon or lace bow. So what do you think? Which of your "mad keen on Mr Darcy" friends would love one of these? And what colour bow do you think I should add to the collection?

Things I Love...

2012-02-06T10:30:00.000+11:00

Continuing in last week's "thing I love..." vein, I want to share another cute tutorial with you all. For those of you who love all things macarons, now is the time to start squealing with delight! Now you can not only eat your macaron, but you can have it too by following the step-by-step tutorial on Craft Passion. You probably can't hold much in one of these tiny purses, but who cares when they're so cute?! I think they would make for great party favours or as a super sweet way of wrapping a small gift such as a ring or earrings. So are you going to rush off and make a stack of these cuties and then torture yourself trying not to eat them??? Do let me know. :)

My Sewing Projects: Otherwise Known as "Deb's Insanity"

2012-02-03T10:25:00.000+11:00

For those of you who remember back to my post on skirt tutorials in August last year (see here), you will know that this current post is rather late in the coming! I had planned to make my girls a stack of new skirts, but have shamefully only managed to put together two, yes, two. Sooo, to encourage myself to get back into my skirt sewing, I am showing off my rather meagre attempts so far. :)

This first skirt was inspired by the Heirloom Skirt tutorial on the Dana Made It blog. I made it for my youngest cheeky monkey (who happily wears it to kindergarten) using fabrics we found at our local op shops (thrift stores). I think that the next time I make a skirt in this style, I will decrease the size of the lace panel. All that bright pink is just a bit too much for my eyes!

The skirt above is a reversible skirt I made for my oldest cheeky monkey. Although it's just a simple gathered skirt, it took me the better part of a day to sew it as I've never sewn a reversible anything in my life, LOL. Oh yes, and I have this incurable habit of choosing fabrics which are totally unsuited to my sewing abilities.

Although I tell people not to look too closely at the wonky hems and seams, my girls are quite pleased with their new skirts. And once I've forgotten that it took me a whole day just to make one simple skirt, I'm going to really challenge myself and attempt to make a few fluffy chiffon skirts using some more great fabric we found at our op shops. Hopefully my family won't have to commit me after this!

Valentine's Day Tutorial Roundup

2012-02-01T10:15:00.008+11:00

Although Valentine's day is not widely celebrated in Australia, and while I don't support the commercialisation of "love" (not that I would say no to an eternity ring, wink wink), there are a tonne of fun Valentine's day tutorials out in blog land which I would love to try out! I've shared a handful of my favourites below; I like them because they're relatively simple, easy to do on a large scale, and could be adapted for other celebrations such as birthday party favours or Christmas greetings (which both the cheeky monkeys hand out en masse at the end of the school year). So what about you? Do you celebrate Valentine's day, or are you like me and only notice the date because of all the advertising?

Valentine matchboxes by Inchmark

Valentine's cards by the Purl bee

Valentine's crayons by the long thread

Butterfly Valentine by Skip to my Lou

Things I Love...

2012-01-30T10:17:00.000+11:00

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I almost squealed with delight when I saw this cute wooden spool letter tutorial on the papernstitch blog! I seriously want to make one for everyone I know (okay, maybe only the females I know, LOL) and am already in the supply shopping stages of making a few to give to the cheeky monkeys for their birthdays. To whom would you give one of these sweet and original "letters"?

Happy Australia Day!!!

2012-01-26T10:30:00.000+11:00

La Femme Jewels

Today I want to wish all of my Aussie readers a very happy and enjoyable Australia Day! We'll be child free for the next few days thanks to my in-laws, so we will probably spend our Australia Day at the movies and enjoying our various pasttimes which are hard to do with little ones. How will you be celebrating this Australia Day?

Embroidery Fun - Home Sweet Home

2012-01-25T10:30:00.000+11:00

I recently saw a quirkily fun tutorial on the kojo DESIGNS blog for creating location/travel-oriented wall decor and thought I would try it out for my creativity journal. Being someone who has lived in a few countries and also loves to travel, the idea of an embroidered memento of the places one has lived or travelled to really struck a chord with me. Admittedly, my attempt is pretty rough and ready, having been completed in under an hour, but I had a lot of fun with this sewing project. I've been thinking of the various ways this idea could be applied and can't wait for a chance to try them out!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000+11:00

Papercuts Studio

Wishing all of my Chinese readers a very happy Chinese new year! I hope you've enjoyed all of your celebrations so far; we've only had a small family dinner this year as none of us felt up to going all out as we have in the past. Do feel free to comment here with anything exciting you've done in your celebrations. :)

Friday Finds - Home Storage Solutions

2012-01-20T10:30:00.000+11:00

To celebrate being married to my amazing husband (yes, today is our wedding anniversary!) I thought I would share some clever home storage solutions which I'm sure my storage-crazy husband would love. :)

Bike Shelf by Knife & Saw

Stairway Storage by Unicraft Joinery

CD Wall Rack by Anthologie Quartett

Hanging Rail Laundry Storage by Atypical Type A

What's New at Two Cheeky Monkeys?

2012-01-18T10:30:00.000+11:00

As you all know, I have been trying to enjoy my summer break with the two cheeky monkeys by spending my days relaxing, sleeping in and trying out lots of fun new crafty projects. I have also been slowly, but surely, working on new creations for Two Cheeky Monkeys, focussing particularly on my vintage "glam it up" range as well as my Pride and Prejudice range of jewellery and brooches. I've started listing some of my new creations in both my Etsy and Madeit stores, but here is a little sneak peek of what I've been making as well as some works in progress.

1. Brooke, Morgana, Petronella and Eirenne vintage Glam It Up cocktail rings.
2. Pride & Prejudice rings and Darcy ear studs.
3. Siobahn, Valentina and Pansy vintage Glam It Up necklaces.
4. P&P brooches.
5. Teardrop vintage jewels which will be turned into rings.
6. WIP - I heart Darcy rings.

Repurposing a Vintage Book Into a Diary Cover

2012-01-16T10:15:00.000+11:00

As if you needed further confirmation that I am more than a little obsessed with vintage books, today's post is about a vintage book I recently upcycled into a cover for my very cheap and, while not ugly, not very classy-looking diary for 2012. I found a very straightforward tutorial for my project on the Just Something I Made blog and I have to admit that I now want to make vintage book covers for all my boring notebooks!

This repurposing project really was quite fast and simple, with most of my time spent waiting for my glue (I used the very handy Gutermann fabric glue) to fully dry and cure. I did tweak the tutorial a little to improve the look and function of my "new" diary cover. Firstly, I glued a strip of cotton fabric onto the inside spine of my old book to protect and strengthen it. And secondly, I cut the pockets for the diary's covers a little narrower than the cover of the book so that the spiral binding of my diary could sit nicely along the spine. The best part about this project is that I'll be able to re-use my upcycled cover every year as long as a I buy a similarly-sized diary!

Kids Crafting Roundup

2012-01-13T10:15:00.000+11:00

We are now at the end of week three of school summer holidays (or week four for youngest cheeky monkey as her kindergarten always finishes up a week before the schools do) and I have been madly researching ideas to keep my cheeky monkeys entertained all summer. We've been having fun deciding on projects together and here are just some of the kid-friendly craft tutorials we've tried or are planning to try. Enjoy!

Sunshine Clay

Making Prints

Iris Folding

Salt and Coffee Watercolour

My vintage book obsession continues...

2012-01-11T10:30:00.000+11:00

I know, I know, you are probably starting to think that I might need some "help", but I really can't get enough of creating new and interesting things with vintage book pages! I got the idea for this funky flower while surfing the web for repurposed creations and I love its quirkiness. The book page flowers are strengthened and stabilised by being sewn onto felt and then a vintage button from my stash was added to the top for a bit of colour.

I haven't got a use for these flowers as yet, so my prototype flower is sitting in my creativity journal waiting to inspire me to make some more for a concrete purpose. Perhaps I'll turn them into brooches or hair accessories for Two Cheeky Monkeys or string a bunch together to make floral garlands for Domum Vindemia. What do you think? Would you wear a vintage book flower brooch or hair clip? Or are you more likely to hang a garland of these unusual flowers in your home or office?

Mango pudding - a gorgeous summer dessert

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000+11:00

Quite a few people have been asking for my mum's super simple mango pudding recipe so I thought that I would share it on my blog with all of you! I absolutely adore mangoes, perhaps because of spending the first seven years of my life in Singapore, where my aunt had an amazing mango tree in her garden. One of the desserts that just screams "summer" to me is mango pudding! Here's how you can quickly whip up your own sweet summery surprise.

A portion of mango pudding sitting in my bowl waiting to be devoured!

Ingredients:

2 x 85g packets of mango jelly crystals

1 Tb gelatine

375 ml evaporated milk

425ml hot water

1-2 mangoes, diced

Method:

1. Dissolve gelatine and mango jelly in the hot water.

2. Thoroughly mix in the evaporated milk and mango pieces.

3. Pour your mango mix into a large jelly mould or other suitable container and refrigerate until set.

4. Unmould your mango pudding to serve or serve it in the container - either way, you will utterly delight your guests!

I'm back for the year! (aka Zentangling fun)

2012-01-06T09:37:00.000+11:00

Hello! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and new year's with family and friends. We have had a hectic time with several family get togethers as well as catching up with old work friends and various relatives whom we do not get to see very often. It has also been a fairly emotional time for me as Christmas marked the six month anniversary of my dad's passing and it was this time last year that we first had inklings that he was seriously ill.

But, after a few weeks away from blogland, I'm back on a semi-regular basis! I say "semi-regular" because it is still summer holidays for the two cheeky monkeys, so I am spending a lot of time crafting with them or otherwise entertaining them. Although I haven't been blogging, I have managed to spend some of my free time trying out craft techniques and projects which have been on my "to try" list for some time.

My first zentangle which I drew while I sat on the beach watching Malcolm and the monkeys playing in the ocean on new year's eve.

My favourite by far has been zentangling, a technique I was introduced to about 18 months ago but which I have only just had a chance to try. Although zentangling seemed a little daunting to someone like me who does not draw well, it is not that different from the doodling my sister and I used to do to while away the hours (of course my doodlings were never so elaborate). I've had a lot of fun with zentangling and have already started thinking about what designs to try next! Have you tried zentangling? If you have, I'd love to see what you've done!

A stylised toadstool zentangle (I have a thing for toadstools).

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T09:59:00.000+11:00

To all of my friends, family, faithful readers, supporters and customers, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed and joyful 2012. Thank you all for your love and support throughout this year, which has probably been the hardest I've faced so far. I appreciate your sweet comments and constant encouragement through each step of my life and my business.

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Douglas Curran Designs

Myriam Powell Designs

Arks and Animals

Mosaic by Real

Home Indulgence

Last Minute Christmas

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000+11:00

Yes, I'm still rushing around trying to get ready for Christmas and keep remembering things I've left off my "to do "list! Yesterday was spent internally debating with myself whether to let the girls make Christmas ornaments or special Christmas cards for their cousins (all three of them, LOL). In the interest of simplicity, I went with the card option, and here is the card my cheeky monkeys designed. Of course, I was left to do the difficult bits (such as adhering the fabric onto the card blank with heat 'n bond and working the hot glue gun), but they did the rest. Are you fully prepared for Christmas? Or are you starting to feel a rising panic???

DUST Team Christmas Swap

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000+11:00

After all the fun I had participating in the last DUST craft swap, I decided that I most definitely had to join the Christmas swap! It was decided that the Christmas swap would be run under a kris kringle/secret Santa format where recipients wouldn't know from whom their gift was coming until it arrived. The secrecy involved in this swap has added a lot of excitement to the whole affair and I can tell you that I was very excited when a large package arrived on my front doorstep!

A gorgeous spoon pendant!

My girls and I love this shabby chic fabric wreath

I was so thrilled to see that my package was from Del of Delicious Designz. Del creates the most amazing resin jewellery (my sister and I are proud owners of Del's funky resin bangles) and fun crochet hats, beanies and shoes. And how lovely are the surprises she sent to me?!?! I have admired Del's spoon pendants for some time now and I have worn the necklace she sent to me almost every day! I also have a fondness for Christmas wreaths and Del's fabric wreath brought a big smile to my face. My girls love it too, especially the crocheted hearts dangling from the wreath hanger. Thank you so much Del, we will love your creations for a long time to come!!!

Here are photos of two of the items I sent to my recipient: a beaded book mark and a vintage text Christmas ornament. The ornament is a brand new design which I had a lot of fun creating but I wasn't able to roll it out in time for Christmas this year. The cameo setting holds a snippet of text from a vintage encyclopaedia and a is a definition of the word "rose", one of the favourite flowers of my recipient. What do you think? Would you hang these ornaments on your Christmas tree?

Edible Christmas Ornament Tutorial

2011-12-16T10:00:00.000+11:00

It's been a while since I've put together a tutorial for this blog so I thought I would share a quick tutorial for the edible Christmas ornaments I made as small thank you gifts this year. My idea for these came from the various Christmas trees and wreaths I've seen in blogland which have been made with a variety of lollies and candies.

Materials

Styrofoam balls (I used 9cm balls)

Curling ribbon, raffia or decorative cord

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Lollies/candies/sweets of your choice (I used wrapped, soft chew lollies but use whatever is your favourite and make sure you have enough to cover your entire ball)

Method

The most important thing to do first is to turn on your hot glue gun so that you don't have to twiddle your thumbs while you're waiting for it to heat up! If, like me, you are terrible at estimating mid points on objects and/or a bit OCD about things being precise, measure your foam ball and mark the top and bottom (or north and south pole, if you like). This will give you a guide for attaching and tying the ribbon hanger for the ornament.

Cut a length of the curling ribbon so that it is long enough to wrap around the foam ball as well as tie into a loop for hanging. Find the mid point of your ribbon and glue this to your marked point on the bottom of the ball. Following the manufacturer's line that usually runs around the middle of foam balls, wrap both ends of the ribbon around the ball and tie a double knot at the mark on the top of the ball. Glue the knot down and then tie the ends of the ribbon to make a ribbon loop for the ornament.

Okay, now for the fun part! Trying not to eat too many of your supply of lollies, glue a row of lollies around the middle of the ball, covering up your ribbon as you go. I think at this point that I should suggest using a low melt glue gun so that the hot glue doesn't melt your foam ball or your lollies. The added advantage of low melt glue guns is that your screams of pain will be less if you should accidentally put your fingers on the glue instead of the lollies (as I did a few times because I'm uncoordinated).

Once you have attached the first row of lollies, keep gluing on rows of sweets, making sure to pack them as close together as possible so that the foam ball doesn't show through. Keep reminding yourself that you cannot eat too many of the lollies or you won't have enough to cover the foam ball!

Once you have completely covered the foam ball in lollies, you can hang it up to display! If you are giving these as gifts, you might like to wrap them in cellophane or tissue paper to add an element of surprise to the gift, or you could include one as part of a festive foods hamper. The beauty of using wrapped lollies, as I have done, is that your recipient can safely eat the goodies attached to the foam ball without worrying about how much glue (or germs from inquisitive and grubby little fingers) they're consuming in the process! The possibilities are endless with this project, limited only by the availability of suitable lollies at your local store. For those who would like to use unwrapped lollies or candies, you could try attaching your lollies to the foam ball with icing or melted chocolate to eliminate the worries about mixing glue and food.

My Creative Space

2011-12-14T10:12:00.001+11:00

I have been meaning to blog about this cute little project for some time now and I've finally gotten around to doing it! In October, I was blessed to be one of the winners of the Sister Outlaws giveaway during Blogtoberfest. What did I win? Two very cute Christmas ornament kits consisting mostly of recycled materials and supplies. Isn't that such a great idea? So far the monkeys and I have managed to make the ornaments from the Christmas pudding kit. The pieces of the candle ornament kit are sitting on my craft desk waiting for me to put them together... Have you been making your own Christmas ornaments this year?

Rainbow Lollies Giveaway Winner

2011-12-09T22:53:00.000+11:00

Congratulations to Lee who is the winner of last week's feature Friday giveaway by Rainbow Lollies! Having seen Cassie's cute creations in person, I know Lee will love her prize. For everyone else who entered Cassie's giveaway, thank you for your support and don't forget to visit Rainbow Lollies regularly to see what's new instore.

Flowers and Filigree: New Headbands in the Making

2011-12-09T10:00:00.000+11:00

You all know how much I love wearing and making headbands! And because of my black hair, I generally prefer to wear headbands made in a darker color, such as black or brown, no matter how colourful the headband adornment. So when I recently sold out of all the antiqued brass headbands in Two Cheeky Monkeys, I knew I had to get cracking and make some more before Christmas! The previous batch that I made featured chrysanthemum cabochons but I got a bit more "adventurous" with this lot and used a range of floral cabochons. Although I'm not a huge fan of pink, the Roslyn headband (top left) is definitely my favourite, design wise. Which one would you wear? And if you prefer a silver headband instead of my darker options, there are still several of this style in stock in both my Etsy and Madeit stores.

1. Roslyn headband

2. Michaela headband

3. Liesel headband

4. Joleen headband

Festive Food Roundup

2011-12-08T10:20:00.000+11:00

You should all know by now just how much I LOOOVE celebrating Christmas, so you won't be surprised to find that there may be a lot of Christmas-related posts this month. Although Christmas this year will be a bit of a sad one for my family and me because it will mark the six month anniversary of my dad's passing, we can still joyously commemorate the birth of my dad's Saviour (and ours too), Jesus Christ. Today's post is a roundup of festive food tutorials full of fun food ideas for your Christmas celebrations or for gift giving to friends and family. Enjoy!

L-R from top left corner:

1. Christmas Candy Trees by Life is a Party

2. Christmas Tree Cupcakes by Bakerella

3. Gingerbread House by oopsey daisy

4. Eggnog Cake by Bakingdom

5. Cupcake Wreath by Party Like Paula

6. Christmas Macarons by Sweets and Loves...

My Creative Space - Christmas

2011-12-07T10:20:00.000+11:00

A few months ago I bought a set of snowflake wire blanks with the thought that the cheeky monkeys would just love to create some beaded snowflake ornaments. After four days in a row of beading, complaining about dropped beads and going cross-eyed, we finally have a set of beaded snowflake ornaments for our Christmas tree! The monkeys had a lot of fun choosing which beads to use and deciding on the designs, although they did find threading seed beads onto the thick-ish wire a bit trying for their little fingers. I prefer the snowflakes which have the same design on each spoke, but they are all so pretty and sparkly hanging on our tree that I can't help but smile when I see them all.

Monday Inspiration - Give New Life to Old Books

2011-12-05T10:00:00.000+11:00

As you all know, I just loooove to upcycle old and unloved books into new and beautiful creations. So today's post is an inspiration board of creative ways of re-using old books (including a few of my own creations, wink wink).

From L-R starting at the top left corner:

1. Hollow book safe by Secret Safe Books

2. Book Purse by The Write Stuff

3. Flower Ball Ornament by Greencycledesigns

4. Alice in Wonderland Brooch by Two Cheeky Monkeys

5. Cross Ornament by Moose and Nigel

6. Recycled Book Journal by red punch buggy

7. Vintage Book Wreath by Simple Joys Paperie

8. Chandelier Dictionary Print by Two Cheeky Monkeys

9. Athena Pencils by missIsa

Feature Friday - Rainbow Lollies

2011-12-02T10:20:00.000+11:00

My featured artist for the week is a fellow creator whom I met through DUST and I have also had the lovely opportunity to meet her in real life too! So let me introduce Cassie of Rainbow Lollies!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello lovely people. Firstly thank you to Deb of Two Cheeky Monkeys for featuring me as one of her Friday Featured sellers. Since you are here that means you are somewhat curious as to who I am. I am Cassie and I am a craftaholic. Ok maybe not that bad but I certainly have a very busy life. On days when I am not working as a Payroll Administrator (my day job), I am looking after my active toddler and making sure that there is always dinner on the table for hubby. Oh did I mention that I also run my little handmade business online called Rainbow Lollies? My hobby is crafting (if you have not guessed it by now) and also reading (children books are my favourite). I think that chocolate should be zero calories and yet still yummy. A day should have more than 24 hours so I have time do all things I have to do. We can still function like normal human beings despite having very little sleep.

Dr Who cufflinks!!!

Describe yourself in five words.

Shy, busy, sweet, dreamer, easily excitable (ok that was a phrase - sorry exceeded my 5 word limit!)

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

My earliest crafting memory was when I started making board games from pieces of plain cardboard because my brother and I got bored with the store bought ones. I think I was around 9 or 10 years old. I also made a scrapbook filled with my drawings of animals and stories to go with it.

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I love trying out all kinds of craft. My creative space is like a natural disaster. Forever messy and filled to the brim with all kinds of projects. My Rainbow Lollies label carries a range of cufflinks, earrings as well as fun accessories like brooches and key rings. I must say my favourite material will always be Japanese fabric simply because I love anything cute (and the Japanese are well known for that!)

Christmas button magnets

When and how did you start selling online?

I started selling online a little over a year ago. I remembered thinking that I really want to be able to work from home and spend more time with my son. Of course I don't want just any work. I want to do something that I am passionate about, which is to be able to sell something that I make myself. I did some Googling and stumbled upon Etsy. Googled some more and then found Madeit. Both sites I fell in love with and decided to set up online stores to try my luck.

Describe your store in five words.

Fun, colourful, cute, happy, quirky.

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?

I would say children because the world always look different when you see it through their eyes. Also the handmade community. Everyone is talented in their own way and I am constantly amazed and inspired by the new creations that pop up daily.

Pink apple keyring

Where can we find you online?

I am on these social sites and I would love it if you could hang around longer
Twitter : www.twitter.com/rainbowlolllies
FB : www.facebook.com/rainbow.lollies.handmade
Blog : http://www.rainbowlollies.blogspot.com/
Store : www.madeit.com.au/rainbowlollies or http://www.rainbowlollies.etsy.com/

Special Offer:

Both my Madeit and Etsy shops are having a pre-Christmas sale where you get 10% off any item (excluding shipping). Mention "Two Cheeky Monkeys" in the message to seller when you checkout and I will include a bonus gift in your package.

And a GIVEAWAY!

Cassie is offering a lucky dip pack including 1 pair of button earrings, large button hair elastic, large paperclip bookmark and 2 button magnets valued at $20. What do you have to do to win?

Do any of the following and leave me a SEPARATE comment for each entry:

1. Tell me your favourite item from Cassie's stores.

2. Follow my blog or Cassie's blog.

3. Follow me or Rainbow Lollies on Twitter.

This giveaway is open worldwide and a winner will be drawn at 8pm (AEDT), December 8 using random.org

Buttons, buttons, buttons

2011-11-30T10:00:00.000+11:00

The Verdant necklace

If you were to visit me right now you would find that there appear to be buttons almost everywhere in my living and dining rooms! Why? Because a fellow school/kindergarten mum saw the button bib necklace I made for myself (see here) and commissioned one for her "artiste" friend as a Christmas present. I really enjoyed putting together a custom button bib necklace and ended up sorting all my buttons by colour and designing a few extra necklaces which I will list in my stores. I don't think I'll be adding these necklaces as a regular item in my stores, they'll probably just be the occasional "special feature". So what do you think?

The Anne necklace

Feature Friday - Saponify

2011-11-25T10:30:00.000+11:00

I know it's been a while since I've had a feature Friday post, so I am pleased to introduce Sarah of the wittily named Saponify. Those who know me will know that I love body products, especially soaps, and Sarah has some amazing products in her store!!!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi! My name is Sarah McManus, and I'm the owner, founder and maker at Saponify - luxury handmade. I moved to Sydney from New Zealand 6 years ago, and live in the sunny Inner West. I work from home, full time on my business.

Describe yourself in five words.

Creative, generous, loyal, playful, loving.

Rose, geranium, lavender and may chang soap

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

I'd say my love of creating started when I was very young - watching both of my parents making amazing things seemingly constantly. Mum is a wonderful cook, and was always baking and making preserves when we were little, and Dad is very clever at building things from scratch. One of my earliest memories is 'helping' him build a jetty through the mangroves at the back of our house.

I started crafting in my early twenties, first knitting a scarf, and then progressing from there. Now I have a hand made business, so I guess you could say that things have come full circle. I still love to stitch, knit and create, but for now my focus is on Saponify, and I don't have a lot of spare time to make all the other bits and pieces that I'd like!

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I make beautiful, skin-loving Cold Process Soaps, Body Butters, Shea Butter Sugar Scrubs, Lip Balms and more! One thing I couldn't live without is Fair Trade Organic Shea Butter. It is an excellent natural emollient (moisturiser), and is incredibly soothing to dry and chapped skin. I use it in generous amounts all of my soaps, and in almost every other product that I make. I LOVE working with it!

Rosemary and mandarin hand and body butter

When and how did you start selling online?
I've been selling online for about 18 months now, through my website http://www.saponify.com.au/

Describe your store in 5 words.
Botanical, nourish, scent, colour, yum.

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?

I have a background in food, so that influences a lot of what I do, and how I come up with ideas for new products. Nature is also a big influence for me, the scent of flowers, the texture of ground nuts and seeds, the colours you can create by infusing herbs. I strive to create the most skin-loving products that I can, so everything in my range has been designed to make the most of what nature has on offer, and turn it into something that's effective, nourishing, and beautiful.

Spearmint and eucalyptus soap

Where can we find you online?

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saponify/135484216468031
Twitter - @Saponify
Store - saponify.com.au
Blog - blog.saponify.com.au

Special offer!!!

I'd love to offer your readers one free soap of their choosing with any purchase over $25.00 from now till 2 December 2011.

To claim your free soap, just write down which one it is that you'd like in the "Instructions to Merchant" screen of your website purchase, and I'll pop it in with your order. Yay!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

2011-11-24T16:11:00.000+11:00

Yes, it's that time of year again when I start madly organising presents and Christmas cards for my girls' various teachers! I am quite proud of how organised I have been this year as I have already gotten all presents and cards wrapped and ready to go, and it's only November. Wonders never cease!

This cute little cupcake stand was made for cheeky monkey #1's Prep teacher, a woman who deserves a present just for spending the entire year trying to help my oldest monkey be less forgetful and more mindful of where she places her belongings! And to make the gift even more special, I've topped the cupcake stand not with a cupcake, but with a pile of delicious, gourmet chocolates (which are, obviously, not pictured, LOL).

Due to my limited time this year, I haven't been able to make cupcake stands for all of the teachers. However, I did manage to hunt down a stack of vintage sweet and condiment bowls which I filled with, yes, gourmet chocolates! I am so very attracted to giving edible gifts which have a little something you can keep when all the yummies are gone. The only problem with being so organised is that these pretty packages are sitting in my walk in wardrobe just tempting me to eat the chocolate!!!

What are you giving your children's teachers for their end of year appreciation gift? Do you make something with your kids or do you madly hunt for something at your local shopping centre? If you're still racking your brains trying to find something other than the usual box of chocolates or bath products that most teachers seem to receive, then hop on over to Domum Vindemia where you will find lots of pretty cupcake stands (as well as other goodies). And if you need some gorgeous Christmas gift tags, then I got mine from the very talented Percival Road Designs and dkshopgirl!

My Creative Space

2011-11-23T10:30:00.000+11:00

It's been a while since I've made anything new for my stores so I decided to kick back and relax by putting together some new creations for both Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia. The first of my creations are these ring sets for little girls. Cheeky monkey #2 was home with me so she helped me to put together the colour combinations in each set. These sweet, little rings will fit your average 4-5 year old up to about an 8-9 year old child (and maybe older).

My next lot of creations have been sitting around for weeks waiting for me to put them together. I have a lot of fun sourcing supplies for my vintage cupcake stands and this lot was no exception! And, of course, it is all made sweeter when I find the perfect base for each beautiful plate or saucer. :)

Hyacinth stand

Nora stand

Marion stand

Pretty Things in My Letter Box

2011-11-18T10:41:00.000+11:00

In the past few weeks I have been blessed to receive some beautiful goodies in the mail care of winning a few handmade giveaways. The first is a cute brooch from the lovely Tess of Planet Treasures. I "met" Tess via DUST on Etsy and have long admired her bright and funky jewellery creations and her beautiful sewn creations, especially the fabric brooches like the one she sent me!

My other gorgeous package came from sweet Daffy of the aptly named Sweet Heart Studio. Daffy is another online friend whom I met through CAST on Etsy. Like Tess, Daffy creates a range of beautiful items from inspiring glass tile magnets, to glass jewellery, to hair accessories and beaded jewellery. Here is what she sent me:

Thank you to both of you wonderful ladies, it is a privilege for me to know you and count you among my online friends!

My Creative Space

2011-11-16T19:06:00.000+11:00

If you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know how much I love making flowers and adding them to my various creations. I have admired zipper flowers for a while now but haven't really had the time to experiment with making my own or hunt for a simple DIY tutorial. So when I found this zipper flower tutorial the other week, I decided to get creating with a few old zips I found at my local op shop.

I really love the turquoise blue flower and have since attached it to a plain headband so that I can look glam (or attempt to) while keeping my hair out of my face. The cheeky monkeys snapped up the pink flower to add to a headband which they are sharing with each other and I have been asked if I could please, please, please make another flower so that they can have two zipper flower headbands to mix and match!

I am quite addicted to making these funky zipper flowers, but I would suggest using a good quality fabric glue instead of the hot glue gun recommended in the tutorial (although I did get glue all over my fingers). I'm thinking that I will turn some zipper flowers into ornaments for our Christmas tree and these flowers would probably make great brooches too. So what's in your creative space this week?

Friday Finds - Dresses

2011-11-11T12:53:00.000+11:00

Since I started working again, I have been madly shopping for some work clothes. Disappointingly, all I've managed to find so far is a bright turquoise cardi (which I loooove), but a search of Etsy has got me all excited that I may yet find the wardrobe additions that I'm looking for!

A "Pride and Prejudice" Custom Order

2011-11-09T19:12:00.000+11:00

As you must most definitely know by now, I have a bit of a thing for making Pride and Prejudice-inspired jewellery and accessories for my Two Cheeky Monkeys stores. Although it pains me to cut up books (I was raised with the "books are your friends" maxim), it does comfort me to know that the books I use for my creations were rescued from op shops and second hand bookstores where they had been sitting unloved and often in a rather battered condition.

Mr Wickham ring

In fact, once I get past the horror of cutting up a book (and a classic, no less!), I really quite enjoy putting together each P&P-themed piece. So you can imagine my pleasure when I recently received an email from a customer saying that, while she liked the look of the Mr Wickham ring (see above), she wanted to order a similar ring bearing Mr Darcy's name to give to her friend (who is, as many seem to be, a Mr Darcy fan). After several emails back and forth discussing the finer details of the order, I put together the ring shown below and now have a very pleased customer. Hopefully the recipient of the Mr Darcy ring is just as pleased with my efforts!

And so you know, I am always thrilled to receive enquiries about custom orders, even with unique pieces like my P&P and Alice in Wonderland creations. As you can see with this custom creation, I took the general design of a piece instore and created something for my customer which is not currently available in my stores. But I like the look of this ring so much that I think I'll be making a few more rings using the same design!

Adventures With Oilcloth

2011-11-07T11:00:00.000+11:00

Yes, once again I have been a little slow on the craft uptake, but I have finally tried my hand at sewing with oilcloth. I have wanted to make something with oilcloth for some time now but the impetus for my decision came when I was looking for suitable (and preferably eco-friendly) ways to transport my lunch to work and when I realised that Miss 6's old backpack was a bit small for carrying all her swimming gear to and from school swimming lessons.

The tote turned out to be a little bit on the BIG side, but Miss 6 won't let me alter it to a more suitable size. That being said, such a large bag is probably a good thing since the kids store their school uniforms and shoes in the bag during their lesson and sopping wet swimsuits and heavy, wet towels after their lesson. Miss 4 is now asking me for an identical swimming tote and I have told her I will make her one once I've had a bit of time for my sewing machine and me to recover from our struggles with the oilcloth, ha ha ha.

I am really pleased with how well my oilcloth lunch wraps turned out, although I did have some initial struggles with estimating the correct size for a wrap. My main problem was that I didn't have a sandwich handy for measurements (and nobody was needing any food so I didn't want to go and make a sandwich that would then be wasted). In the end, I used a stack of sandwich-sized serviettes as my measuring standard, LOL, and I think it worked out pretty well! And, of course, these oilcloth lunch wraps were so easy to make that I'll be making a few for my girls to use at school and kindergarten too.

I have mostly enjoyed my sewing attempts with oilcloth, but I think it would all have been easier if I had bothered to buy a Teflon-coated sewing foot for my machine or at least bothered to cover my existing sewing foot in masking tape to prevent sticking. I'm not sure what I'll make next with oilcloth (aside from another swimming tote and more sandwich wraps). Have you tried sewing with oilcloth? If so, what did you make?

Simple Button Headband Tutorial

2011-11-04T11:00:00.000+11:00

I have been meaning to blog about some cute and simple button headbands I made for the girls in September but I keep forgetting to do so! This project is so simple that anyone who knows how to use a needle and thread could tackle it. In fact, you could probably get away with just using your handy dandy hot glue gun for this project, but I am much better at using a needle and thread than a glue gun (LOL) and my kids are so destructive that I have to make things really sturdy!

Cute novelty buttons from Jambo Chameleon

I got the beautiful buttons for these headbands from my lovely online friend Sally, who runs the drool-worthy Jambo Chameleon. Aren't they just so bright and cheery? Sally kindly sent them to me as an extra prize from a giveaway she ran on her blog and my girls fell in love with them immediately. They weren't sure what they wanted to do with the buttons until they started planning their outfits for cheeky monkey #1's rainbow-themed birthday party. It suddenly became quite obvious to them that what they really needed were rainbow headbands! So here is a quick little tutorial showing you how I made these headbands while in the midst of cooking and preparing for a birthday party.

Supplies

Buttons in your desired colours and shapes, preferably not shank buttons

Strong ribbon, such as grosgrain or thick satin/polyester

Sewing needle

Thread to match or complement buttons

5cm length of hat elastic

Method

1. Measure your child's head (or your head!). Cut a length of ribbon approximately 5cm/2 inches shorter than your required length. Don't worry, you have the 5cm of hat elastic to add to the headband still! Sort your buttons into your desired order and sew or glue them onto the ribbon. The easiest way to ensure that you have sewn your buttons evenly along the length of your ribbon is to find the midpoint of your ribbon and sew the middle most button on at this point. Or, if you have an even number of buttons like I did, sew the two middle buttons on at either side of your mid point. :)

2. Fold over the ends of your ribbon to neaten the edges and prevent the ribbon from fraying. You can glue or sew the fold into place if you want. If you are doing this in a rush, like I was, you can kill two birds with one stone by simply sewing the ends of the elastic over the folded ribbon, thereby securing your elastic and the folded edge at the same time! (The photo shows a neat and messy version and I am a little embarrassed at how awful the messy version looks, LOL).

3. And there you have it, one very simple, yet pretty and stylish, button headband to adorn your little one's head. Use some elegant vintage buttons and you could have a funky headband for yourself too!

My Creative Space

2011-11-02T11:00:00.000+11:00

Well, I've been back at work as a research scientist for a week and a half now so I am definitely not finding as much time to work on my handmade creations as I used to! But sitting on my craft desk this week (and tempting me to get back into my creating) are a stack of pretty saucers waiting to be turned into cupcake stands and some spools of thread ready to match the beautiful, vintage bias tape I will be adding to doily buntings for Domum Vindemia. What's in your creative space this week?

A Bevy of Buntings

2011-10-21T10:30:00.000+11:00

Okay, so it is highly doubtful that "bevy" is the correct collective noun for a group of buntings, but I just couldn't resist because you all know how much I love alliteration! I have been busily sewing up vintage doily and napkin buntings after my order of vintage bias tapes arrived and after I made a rather expensive trip (care of a little splurge on gorgeous oilcloth) to the fabric store. I'm glad I found the time to make these buntings as the various bits and pieces that make up each doily have been sitting on my craft desk and creating a total mess for some time now!

The Alice bunting combines mint green bias tape and hand embroidered vintage napkins

I should mention that, because of the vintage nature of the doilies and bias tapes I use, each bunting is absolutely unique, one of a kind. I know this can be disappointing for the brides wanting multiples of specific buntings, but I think this is the beauty of using vintage, and therefore limited, supplies. And I can always try my best to make a collection of similar-looking buntings if the doilies I have used are not too rare or hard to find.

The Adele bunting features a strip of ruffled pink ribbon sewn over the bias tape

So what do you think of my new buntings? Which style is your favourite and do you have any colour suggestions?

I love the vibrancy of the Florence bunting

The Meredith bunting is so summery and cheery

The autumn-inspired Theodora bunting

My Creative Space - The Letter D

2011-10-19T11:00:00.000+11:00

When my dad passed away several months ago, I was overwhelmed by the love and support I received from everyone. Many of you sent me cards and sweet gifts, and the artwork pictured above is just one of them. It came as a black and white print from Mel of wiccked, who is our hardworking admin guru for the DUST team on Etsy. Mel sells the most amazing artwork, including PDFs of her illuminated letters which you can purchase and colour in yourself. I haven't finished working on mine (it is amazing how hard it is to find the exact shade of colour I want in a house full of texta and marker pens!) and it certainly doesn't do Mel's artwork justice, but head over to her store to see her beautiful versions of the alphabet. What's in your creative space this week?

DUST Craft Swap

2011-10-17T10:11:00.000+11:00

It has been a while since I participated in a DUST craft swap (DUST being a group of Australian artists, crafters and supply sellers who sell on Etsy); I think it has been over a year, in fact. So when I saw the latest swap being organised, I jumped at the chance to participate. And let me tell you that I practically squealed with delight when I found out that I was being paired with Mich of michvanetta and koot! Mich creates gorgeous vintage-inspired jewellery as well as pretty tags, cards and beaded accessories. Just look at the multitude of pretty items she created for my girls and me!

Vintage button magnets

Beautiful tags, stunning cards, a gorgeous doily and the sweetest bookmarks for the cheeky monkeys!

Since Mich is a fellow jeweller, it made sense for me not to send her jewellery, but to send some Domun Vindemia creations. She mentioned that she liked to host little get-togethers with other mums so I made a dessert stand and a bunting to add a vintage look to her functions. If you look carefully at the bunting I made, you will notice that the bias binding has been adorned with a strip of delicate, blue lace. Thanks Mich for the great swap and for inspiring this new style of bunting!

Althea (III) dessert stand

Augusta bunting

Funding a School in a Needy Community: Can You Help?

2011-10-16T11:00:00.000+11:00

It is sometimes so easy for me to take for granted everything that I have been blessed with in my life. Sure, my family and I have been through some really tough times, especially recently, but when I look at the big picture, there really isn't much, if anything, in my life that is lacking. I have cars to take me where I need to go, I have a nice home which only seems small because of all the excess belongings we own, I have access to relatively good health and education systems, I can attend church without wondering if the government will have us arrested for holding a church meeting, and I have so much food in my pantry that I struggle with overeating issues.

Lydia's List: helping impoverished women.

When I opened the doors of Two Cheeky Monkeys I decided that I wanted to use some of the profits to benefit those who do not have access to even the basic things many of us take for granted in the developed world. (Let me hasten to add that I'm not some super holy charity-funding saint. I simply believe that we should use what we have been blessed with (and I've been blessed with a lot) to help others.) I decided to support TEAR Australia's Lydia's List project, which was involved in women-focused community development projects in countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh. Sadly, this project has come to an end so I have been thinking about new projects which I can support. Since I have been blessed with the opportunity to undertake more years of study than I care to count (honestly, don't make me count, you'll probably run away screaming!), I decided that I would like to use Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia to support the development of community schools in developing countries.

School children in Zambia

So comes the point of this rather lengthy blog post. Firstly, I should say a big thank you to those of you who have helped me to support the Lydia's List and community school projects so far through your support of my online stores. Your committment to handmade living has not just benefitted me, but has also helped women and children in far away lands. Secondly, I would ask if you are able to help me further by contributing to a once off fundraising auction I am hoping to set up on Facebook. There are several ways in which people can be involved: you can spread the news via your preferred social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc), you can donate a handmade item (or gift certificate to your store) for the auction, you can bid on items in the auction, or you could do all of the above!
All proceeds from the auction will go to TEAR's community school project. And due to the far reaching benefits of education, this should hopefully help not just the current generation of children, but the entire community and many generations to come. If you would like to find out more about helping the Community School auction, please leave me a way of contacting you in the comments, or you can email me directly (see the "contact" tab). Thank you so much in advance!

Before and After - Picture Frames

2011-10-14T10:10:00.000+11:00

The cheeky monkeys have been eager to decorate their bedroom walls, so during the recent school holidays, we tackled a project which I had been interested in trying out for some time. I found the project years ago at Living Creatively, which unfortunately, no longer exists (at least not in a format that I can find). I love this little project because I'm fascinated by silhouette art and I studied French in high school (and amazingly could translate most of the text used in the artwork!) The monkeys were eager to try it out because it involved painting, cutting and gluing, ha ha ha.

Of course, me being me, I made the project harder by deciding that, instead of just buying suitable picture frames from a store, we would repurpose old, unwanted picture frames from our local op shop (hence the "before and after" in the post title). Both girls wanted their frames to be pink (of course...sigh) so that's the colour that we painted onto the old frames. Although I spray painted the undercoat onto the frames, I foolishly let the girls paint the rest by hand rather than going out and buying a can of pink spray paint. So, turning our old, brown frames into new, pink ones took the better part of a day with all the drying time required between coats. I know better for next time! The girls are really pleased with how their artworks turned out and I know they will have pride of place on their walls.

My Creative Space - Bunting

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000+11:00

Adele Bunting

I am absolutely loving sewing buntings for my Domum Vindemia store at the moment! Although I always get a little nervous cutting vintage napkins and doilies to size for each bunting, I really enjoy the creative process. And viewing the completed product is a sure way to bring a smile to my face! This bunting is a little different from my previous creations as the crocheted edges and corners of the beautiful napkins I used inspired me to try something a little more "girly". Rather than merely joining each napkin "flag" with plain bias binding, I added a strip of vintage, pink ribbon to the bias.

I also folded the rayon ribbon into ruffles to add interest to the design and am quite pleased with how it's turned out. Unfortunately, I ran out of ribbon just before I reached the end of my bunting, so I am impatiently waiting for my supplies to arrive so that I can finish sewing the Adele bunting and hopefully sew a few more buntings in this style. So what do you think? Do you like my extra girly bunting or do you prefer my standard style?

Monday Inspiration

2011-10-10T11:59:00.000+11:00

I woke up today to an overcast day which did not help the already present gloom that comes with the start of the school term and the realisation that I am back in the routine of waking up early, making lunches and washing school uniforms. But I can't help but smile every time I see this little teacup of flowers sitting on my dining table. I don't know what species they are, cheeky monkey #2 and I picked them on our walk yesterday, but the monkeys and I think they look like cute, little floral pom poms. Perhaps they are waiting for a miniature cheerleader to come and pick them up!

I Love Pasta!

2011-10-07T13:52:00.000+11:00

Although titled "I love pasta", this story starts with Chinese noodles. You see, I have memories from my childhood of using a pasta machine to make Chinese noodles with my parents. My mum would make the noodle dough while dad would help us kids to roll and cut the dough into noodles with our handy dandy pasta machine which they apparently brought all the way from Singapore to Australia (are you confused yet). And then when all the noodles were made, my mum would cook us a delicious noodle dish for lunch or dinner! Now I LOVE noodles and I LOVE pasta, so I decided last year that it was about time I tried making my own pasta with the "help" of my cheeky monkeys.

My faithful pasta machine cranking out the spinach lasagne sheets.

Since my parents were no longer using their pasta machine for pasta or noodles, they passed it to me to bring it back out of retirement, so to speak. The cheeky monkeys have absolutely enjoyed our attempts at making pasta so far. Being me, I was not content to make just plain pasta, it had to be flavoured, so we've made herb pasta (using herbs from our garden) as well as pumpkin pasta (which nobody liked, even me, the pumpkin lover). And this week we made spinach pasta (using store bought frozen spinach) which I turned into lasagne! Now, at this point my dad would have made some comment about how the Italians got the idea for pasta from the Chinese, but I digress...

The lasagne - you can see the layers of green pasta if you squint!

I have to say that, although I was absolutely exhausted after my mammoth day of pasta and lasagne making, it was really fun making this dish pretty much completely from scratch (it's not completely from scratch since I didn't make the cheese myself or grow the vegetables...). There's something nice about not eating plain old regular pasta (yes, I get bored easily so like a little bit of excitement in my meals, LOL) and, as you can see below, it certainly helps the cheeky monkeys to eat their meals better (well, faster, at least) when they've helped to make it!

The cheeky monkeys enjoying their dinner.

My Creative Space

2011-10-05T10:00:00.002+11:00

Skye necklace

After the relative success of making a button necklace for myself, I was inspired to work on more jewellery pieces for...myself! I wanted a few simple necklaces which I could wear pretty much anywhere, especially as I head back into the world of research science where I never felt comfortable wearing my statement or delicate jewellery pieces while sporting latex gloves and protective lab coats or surgical gowns. I probably won't be adding either of these designs to my stores, but if you would like a custom version for yourself or a friend, then contact me via email and I can work out a quote. :)

Freedom necklace

New Beginnings and Directions

2011-10-03T10:15:00.075+11:00

Malcolm, cheeky monkey #1 (who was 16 months old then) and me (with cheeky monkey #2 in utero) after my graduation.

As you may know, I have a background in research science and my pre-handmade business day job was as a scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. I spent all five years of my PhD, and the one year that I worked after graduating, studying the biology behind serious side effects of radiation therapy until I decided to quit my job when cheeky monkey #2 was born. I always hoped to return to the research world when both of my children were older, but the competitive and government-funded nature of the industry meant that it was impossible for me to find anyone willing to hire me on a part-time basis. And hence, Two Cheeky Monkeys (and now Domum Vindemia) was born out of the time I now had to re-explore my creative side.

Monash Institute of Medical Research

Although I missed my old profession, I have enjoyed my immersion into the handmade world and feel blessed to have met (both online and in real life) so many amazing artisans and craftspeople both from Australia and around the world. In fact, I have been starting to feel like I was finally settling into this new world of mine when I was offered a part-time job out of the blue, which I have since accepted. Although I have some reservations about taking up this new position, I am thankful for the opportunity and do realise what a miracle and a blessing it is to receive such an offer. Because my new job is part-time, I hope to keep running my online stores as well as tending to this blog, although I obviously won't be able to devote as much time to them. I don't know how things are going to work out, but I hope and pray that I can balance the many facets of my life. I would appreciate your prayers on my behalf and look forward to enjoying both the science and handmade worlds together. :)

Friday Finds - Chandeliers

2011-09-30T10:00:00.000+10:00

Last week I shared about my love for sushi and sushi-themed items (see here), so I thought that this week I would share my love for something a little more classy, he he - chandeliers! I love chandeliers and would dearly love to have a big fancy one (or two) in my home but that kind of thing doesn't particularly fit in with the style of our 1980s home. That being said, it hasn't stopped me from plotting to fill my home with chandelier-themed artwork or creations, although I am yet to make a chandelier dictionary print for myself despite the number I have made for my customers, LOL. Here are just a few examples of handmade items which can help to introduce a chandelier theme to your home. :)

1920s Petite Dewdrop Chandelier

Chandelier Fine Art Print

Chandelier Pillow Cover

Chandelier Print T-shirt

Chandelier Canvas

Lovely, Lovely Snail Mail

2011-09-28T10:15:00.051+10:00

Reel Colour Print Set

Over the last few weeks I have been the recipient of some amazing snail mail and today I am finally going to show off what I received. The first package came from the very sweet Kellie of 74 Lime Lane. She was the coordinator of the snail mail swap I joined a few months back and she very kindly sent me a package of her gorgeous photography creations when she was told that one of my swaps hadn't reached me and that I had been unable to contact the other swapper. Talk about above and beyond the call of duty!

Brownie Beauty Print

The second package I received in the mail was a giveaway prize I won from my friend Jess' Epheriell Designs blog. Jess had the privilege of reviewing and hosting a Hardie Grant giveaway of the book Design*Sponge at Home, by Grace Bonney. I have loved Design*Sponge ever since I discovered their site back in early 2009, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to be announced as the winner of the giveaway! My girls and I have had a lot of fun looking through the book and I am getting some ideas for ways I can decorate my home...though this may just be a pipe dream. ;)

Design*Sponge at Home

My Big Girl!

2011-09-26T10:30:00.025+10:00

I can't believe that my oldest baby is six! I can still remember struggling to finish my PhD thesis while I was pregnant with her and then while she was a demanding newborn who wouldn't breast feed properly. Those were crazy days indeed! But now here she is, able to do most things for herself (except, apparently, tie her shoelaces), reading, writing and waiting impatiently for the day she grows taller than me (I estimate it will take her 2-3 years to catch up to me - eep) and is allowed to own and drive a car. Here is a montage of pictures from her rainbow-themed birthday party (and other areas of her life), she really loved all the colour in the food and decorations. Happy birthday, my cheeky monkey #1!!!

Sushi Creations

2011-09-21T17:14:00.003+10:00

I love to eat sushi, I love it a lot, and I think my kids would happily eat it every day if I let them. I've never been a big fan of eating rice (I know that's weird given that I am Chinese), but there's just something so appealing about eating rice which has been wrapped around delicious fillings and then further wrapped in seaweed sheets. But I don't just like to eat sushi, I also have a bit of a thing for sushi-themed items (such as the humorous sushi t-shirt my sister owns, but that's another story). So how could I resist putting together a collection of handmade sushi creations, none of which, I might add, are edible? Do you like to eat sushi? If so, what's your favourite?

Felt play food sushi

Sushi Valentine's card

Ikura sushi earrings

Sushi soaps

Sushi onesie tutorial

My Creative Space - Necklaces

2011-09-07T11:34:00.001+10:00

Hooray, my creative space isn't filled with little fabric bags this week! Okay, so I'm still slowly making the party favour bags, but since I've got most of them done, I managed to find a little time to make some jewellery as well. And even more exciting than not having fabric bags on my craft table is the fact that some of the jewellery I made this week was for ME!!! Yes, I actually made something for myself - amazing, ha ha ha.

As most of you know by now, I am mad, crazy in love with buttons, especially vintage ones. I have several jars and drawer trays full of buttons and I was recently blessed to win a shabby chic button giveaway from the lovely Sally of Jambo Chameleon, which has further added to my stash. Anyway, I was enjoying some handmade blog reading when I stumbled on some photos of funky button bib necklaces and thought, "I really want to try making one for myself!" I have to say that this necklace was harder to put together than I thought it would be, but that could be due to the fact that I am somewhat uncoordinated and struggled to get the wire looped through the most secure spots and not scratch the buttons or stab myself. It's not the perfect button bib I envisaged, but I'm fairly happy with my efforts. What do you think?

The second creation sitting in my work space this week is this luxurious and elegant Pride & Prejudice necklace. I have had so much fun making the P&P brooches and rings that I decided to expand my range of creations into necklaces and hopefully bracelets and earrings too. As is my wont, I went for an asymmetrical necklace style and teamed the vintage text cameo with beautiful glass pearls. The snippet of text in the cameo mentions both Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet and I thought this necklace would be a charming addition to the bridal outfit of a P&P-obsessed bride! So that's my creative space for this week. What's sitting in your creative work space?

All New to Domum Vindemia - Teacup Candles and More

2011-09-05T10:00:00.004+10:00

Esme teacup candle

Perhaps you're not as sadly addicted to the online market, Madeit, as I am, but I found myself rather out of sorts last week when hurricane Irene caused problems with Madeit's web servers, meaning that I was unable to shop or list items for sale for almost two and a half days. Oh the horror! Not to worry, though, I spent those days working on new designs for Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia, and today I want to show off some of the new additions to the latter.

Pansy teacup candle

One new range of creations I've been eager to introduce to Domum Vindemia is my teacup candle range. I have been making these for years now but was unsure about the demand for these items. But with two days offline to work on creations and hunt for new supplies, I decided to give it a go and see how things pan out. I personally find teacup candles to be irresistable, especially as you get a gorgeous teacup to re-use after the candle has fully burned down!

Violet teacup candle

For the time being I am only making vanilla-scented candles using regular candle wax, but if the teacup candles prove to be a popular addition to Domum Vindemia, then I will seriously consider using soy wax and adding a range of other scents as well. And as for the "more" part in the post title, head over to Domum Vindemia on Madeit and you will see that I have listed a multitude of new cupcake and dessert stands as well as several new doily scarves and buntings.

Pride and Prejudice Giveaway Winner

2011-09-04T18:44:00.001+10:00

I am so sorry that I forgot to post about the winner of my most recent giveaway! The lucky winner has already been contacted and it was Lizzi of Lizzi's blog who said:

"http://www.etsy.com/listing/58046948/brooch-mr-darcy-dramatic-pride-and

I love this brooch. Mr. Darcy *swoons*"

Congratulations Lizzi! For everyone else who missed out, never fear. There are still plenty of Pride and Prejudice creations, as well as last season's stock selling at 40% OFF, available in my Etsy and Madeit stores. Thanks to everyone for joining in the P&P fun!

Things My Dad Said - A Father's Day Tribute

2011-09-02T10:15:00.000+10:00

Once again I want to say a big thank you to everyone for your prayers, kind words and gifts over the last few months. Even though things improve a little bit every day, I still really miss my dad and feel an ache in my heart every time I have to help mum deal with each new bit of paperwork or red tape and I won't even go into what it feels like when I hear dad's voice on mum's answering machine.

Dad with cheeky monkey #1 at my sister's wedding, four years ago

The fast approaching celebration of Father's day (which in Australia is celebrated on the first Sunday of September) has brought fresh reminders of my grief. So I decided to act on a nebulous thought I've had for some time to record some of the more embarrassing, cringe-worthy or bizarre things my dad uttered during the thirty-four years that I knew him. I'm sure most, if not all, of you will be able to relate to the embarrassment a child can feel at their dad's comments.

Dad with cheeky monkey #2 when she was born four years ago

To my beloved husband and all the other fathers out there who love to dish out the "dad comments" to their kids, I wish you a happy Father's day for Sunday. And to those of you who, like me, will be mourning a little this Sunday, I send my love and pray that your heart would continue to heal too.

Dad with me, the baby he referred to as a "wizened monkey"!

Things my dad said...
1. Okay, this one is possibly the most embarrassing of them all. I hit puberty relatively early and by the time I was ten it was fairly obvious that I needed to start wearing a bra. I was adamantly against such action so, in a desperate attempt to make me see some sense, my dad said to me, "You know those African women we see on the documentaries with saggy, hanging breasts? Well, that's what you get when you don't wear a bra!"

2. My dad was the unfortunate parent who got the job of teaching me how to drive. Teaching a directionally- and spatially-challenged teen to drive was obviously frustrating, especially when I was learning such difficult techniques as 3 point turns, gear changes and parallel parking, because it was at these moments that my dad would stress, "FEEL the car, FEEL how it moves." I couldn't get him to understand that all I felt at those times was a fear that I would crash the car and frustration at his apparent lack of helpfulness...

3. As long as I can remember, dad has had a running joke about how the Jews are descended from the Chinese (due to the various cultural similarities displayed by these two races). It was very embarrassing when he mentioned his theories in front of people who weren't in on the joke and we were treated to confused and "is he mentally unstable?" looks.

4. Dad didn't just limit his embarrassing comments to the spoken word, he put them down in writing too! He was forever writing letters to the editors of newspapers or magazines as well as writing notes to our school teachers addressing various issues. One such note he wrote to my PE (physical education) teacher when I was sixteen read, "Please excuse Deborah from swimming lessons today as she is indisposed." My teacher just shook her head and said, "Your dad and the notes he writes! I get these for your sister too!!!"
Cringe...I guess it was better than having him write, "Please excuse Deborah from swimming today as she is experiencing monthly womanly troubles and the last thing she feels like doing while undergoing such hormonal fluctuations is splash around in a pool and feel like she's drowning for an hour." Although that note would have been more accurate!

5. At my 21st birthday party, during his speech, my dad told everyone that my Chinese name (which I use as my middle name) meant "summer leaves floating on a peaceful pond" and everyone laughed, thinking he was soooo witty and hilarious. Not! What he didn't explain was that my Chinese name is supposed to mean "summer peace/peacefulness", but my maternal grandmother had insisted that it be written in the feminine form which actually changed the meaning to something along the lines of "summer duckweed", ack. Actually, I just wish he hadn't mentioned it at all. Middle names are not something we willingly talk about in public, right?!

So that's just a summary of some of the highly embarrassing things my dad said when I was growing up. Thanks for sticking with me on this rather lengthy, and self-indulgent, post and feel free to share the crazy and embarrassing things your dad has said to you!

My Creative Space - Party Favours

2011-08-30T10:00:00.005+10:00

Once again I find my creative space cluttered with creations for a birthday party rather than creations for my stores. I think it is safe to say that I am insane and foolishly don't learn from my mistakes! It is cheeky monkey #1's birthday in a month's time and we are planning to host a birthday party for her with her little school friends. I have, as usual, suggested that she have a handmade element to the party and she decided, after looking through several blogs with me, that handmade party favour bags would be a great idea. And an even better idea would be for her to rummage through my fabric scraps and have me sew the party favour bags. And me, being the crazy woman that I am, said, "Okay, sure, that's a GREAT idea."

Six little bags, multiple stabbed fingers and about 4.5 hours later, I am thinking that this was a really stupid idea. Not only do I still have another four bags to sew, but most of my fabric scraps are not of lovely, quilting quality cotton, but are of slippery polyesters and cotton sheers. Plus I'm working to a "simple" pattern I devised in my head which includes shaped bases for the bags as well as lining for the bags made from equally slippery and unmanageable fabrics. And to make matters worse, the bags aren't perfect due to my inexperience with these kinds of fabrics. Hope nobody notices! What's filling up your creative space this week?

Excitement Plus - a "Pride and Prejudice" Giveaway!

2011-08-24T20:00:00.004+10:00

So I've been thinking about hosting a blog giveaway for some time and realised that with all my thinking and not much doing, it's been a long time between giveaways. But that situation is easily rectified with a Pride and Prejudice giveaway! What could you win? I was a little undecided about what the prize should be, so I thought I would let the winner decide. Up for grabs is your choice of a Darcy or an Elizabeth P&P text brooch. That's right, the winner will get to choose one of these beautiful brooches!

What do you have to do to win one of these brooches? As is usual for me, there are a number of ways to enter this giveaway:

Mandatory Entry:

Look through either my Etsy or Madeit stores and tell me which is your current favourite Pride and Prejudice creation (feel free to look through the "sold" section too).

Optional Entries:

1. Let me know your favourite Pride and Prejudice character or quote and which brooch you would choose if you are the winner.

2. Become a follower of my blog.

3. Become a liker of my Facebook page and let me know.

4. Blog, Tweet or mention on Facebook about this giveaway. Don't forget to leave me a link to your mention! If you do all three social media mentions, please leave a separate comment for each.

Please leave a SEPARATE COMMENT for each entry as well as a way for me to contact you should you be the winner.

This giveaway will run until midnight, 31 August 2011 (Australian Eastern Standard Time) and is open to entrants WORLDWIDE. The winner will be chosen via Random.org.

Two Cheeky Monkeys Clearance Sale and Store News

2011-08-17T10:48:00.000+10:00

Today's post is a mixed bag of news relating to various goings on in my crafting life. Firstly, I want to announce a very special clearance sale currently running in my Etsy store. I know I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I have been constantly reminded that, as a mother with young children and many crafty interests, I need to focus my creative energy to more optimally use my time.

In the interests of better running my business, it is also better if I focus on a few popular design styles rather than creating everything which catches my fancy. Therefore, I am selling off all of my old stock at a 40% discount, that's right 40% OFF. For those of you who prefer to shop in AUD, I will slowly be discounting the old stock in my Madeit store too, just keep an eye out for the "SALE" tagged items.

Red Berries Earrings

Secondly, those of you who regularly visit my Facebook fan pages will notice a slight change to the options on the left sidebar. Yes, as I mentioned, I am a little slow, so I have only finally added a "contact" tab to both my Two Cheeky Monkeys and Domum Vindemia pages. So from now on, you can easily contact me via my Facebook pages without having to worry about looking up my email address to send me an email. This new way of contacting me should come in very handy for events such as my upcoming Domum Vindemia market night this THURSDAY, 18th August, where I will be selling a mix of old and new designs via my Facebook page.

Gwendolyn Cake Stand

And finally, while I am excited about the recent decisions I have made to try and manage my unruly craft life, this post is written with much sadness as I remember the tragedy which struck a fellow jeweller and online friend on Sunday night. Those of you who are regular readers of my Feature Friday posts may remember Julie-Ann, one of the lovely DUST team leaders on Etsy and a wonderful woman who committed a lot of her time and energy to both the online crafting and her local communities as well as taking care of her children, some of whom have special needs.

I was shocked to discover yesterday afternoon that Julie-Ann and her teenaged daughter were among the victims of the light plane crash I had been hearing about on the news all day. Julie-Ann was critically injured in the accident and is being treated in hospital in the ICU, but sadly her daughter and the plane's pilot were both killed.

I would like to ask you to pray for my lovely friend and her family, as well as for the family of the pilot, as they all come to terms with their sudden loss. As someone who has recently experienced a very personal loss, I can only begin to imagine just how painful the days, weeks and months ahead are going to be for Julie-Ann and her family.

One For the Star Wars Geeks...Uh, Fans

2011-08-15T10:29:00.031+10:00

You probably all know by now that my beloved husband is a big time geek, he he he. And being the good geek that he is, LOL, he is a big fan of the Star Wars movies and liked to pretend to be Luke Skywalker when he was a boy. (I hope he doesn't mind me telling you that!) So, when I discovered the amazing My Sushi World blog and all the mind boggling Star Wars-inspired vegetable carvings pictured in it, I just had to go on the search for more Star Wars-themed food creations. Enjoy!

Carrot Darth Vader at My Sushi World

R2-D2 cake at Birthday Cake Pictures

Yoda cookie/biscuit by East Coast Cookies

Millenium Falcon cake at Cakes! Cakes! Cakes!

Friday Fun - Skirt Tutorials

2011-08-12T10:07:00.000+10:00

Hello to all of my faithful readers! I find myself, yet again, wondering how I'm going to get back into some regular blogging. I am afraid that the various goings on in my life, some of which are self-inflicted (such as a last minute decision to host a sale on my Two Cheeky Monkeys Facebook page), have left me with little time to come up with witty, educational and all round rivetting posts for you to read.

Anyway, on to the point of today's post, which is to share with you some cute skirt tutorials I recently found. My two cheeky monkeys are absolutely enamoured with skirt wearing, which is kind of irritating since they own quite a few pairs of pretty shorts and they also steadfastly refuse to sit (or act) in a ladylike fashion. But I digress... Having decided that I am fighting a losing battle over the whole skirt wearing issue, I have decided that I would like to try out one (or more) of the following skirt tutorials. If you have any other links to simple skirt tutorials, please feel free to share them with me!

Heirloom skirt tutorial at dana made it

Super speedy skirt tutorial at luv in the mommy hood

Breezy skirt tutorial at make it and love it

Reversible skirt tutorial at Bored & Crafty

Shoe Re-Fashion - My Holiday Project

2011-08-01T10:15:00.008+10:00

Something that you might not know about me is that I loooooove shoes! And I love all types of shoes, be they flats, heels, boots or sandals. Considering that I spend most of my time barefoot and often prefer not to wear shoes or socks, you might say that this love of mine is a little strange. Be that as it may, I love shoes so much that when I was a teenager, my dad used to refer to me as "Imelda Marcos", although I didn't (and still don't) have a wardrobe full of shoes.

Anyway, because of my rather small and wide feet, I find it quite hard to find shoes which fit me in Australia (unless I am willing to pay a tonne as well as searching high and low). So, as you can imagine, I spent a lot of our recent holiday in Singapore trawling the many shoe stores we passed (and there were a lot of shoe stores situated right next to our serviced apartments!) for three particular styles of shoes which I "needed". The first style of shoes (sexy peep toe stilettoes) was found relatively easily and I very quickly gave up on finding a pair of sandals which met my rather rigorous criteria. The third pair I wanted, *cough*, needed, was a pair of embellished ballet-style flats in a light or "nude" colour.

As I mentioned, I have a lot of requirements when I buy shoes, so I really struggled to find a pair which was just right. After a while I realised that I wasn't going to find exactly what I wanted, so why not have a go at re-fashioning a plain pair of flats into an embellished pair? The first picture above is the actual pair of flats which I purchased. Aside from the fact that they are completely unadorned and rather plain, they are pretty close to what I wanted. The rest of the photos in this post are from my inspiration board, I just have to decide which elements to incorporate into my project!

Happy Birthday, 4 Year Old!

2011-07-29T15:09:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday, my youngest baby reached a new milestone, turning four years old. She was never little (being a nine pound baby!), but I still marvel at how big she's grown in the last four years. In fact, she's grown so much that she is at least two thirds my height already (okay, I know that's not such a hard thing to achieve). My cheeky monkey #2 has had a seemingly ongoing birthday celebration starting with a small party for close friends and family in Melbourne, graduating to a party in Singapore with our family there (that was our last day in Singapore) and ending with a popcorn celebration at kindergarten on Tuesday (phew)!

Snail Mail Received!

2011-07-08T11:43:00.000+10:00

You may remember my post last month (see here) about the Creative Collective snail mail swap. Since that last post, I have received two of my expected swap packages and I have to say that I really love the mail which has arrived so far! To top things off, both of these packages arrived on the day of my dad's thanksgiving service, which was a nice distraction on such an emotional day for me.

This sweet notepad and notecard set arrived from Cat of beloverly, along with a hand written note in a pretty handmade card. Apologies for the shocking photo quality, Melbourne weather has been pretty gloomy this past week. Not unexpected, I guess, for the middle of winter!

This beautiful collection of goodies arrived from Charlotte of Charlotte Vallance. This photo is just a sample of the lovely items she sent. There was also a cute magnet of one of Charlotte's illustrations and a fun folding book. And for those of you who wanted to see all of the items I sent to my swap recipients, check out Bridget Harvey's blog post, say "hi" to her and let her know I sent you. :)

What's New - Jewellery and Doilies Galore

2011-07-05T15:38:00.000+10:00

Before I get into today's post, I want to thank everyone for their support and well wishes during this time of my loss. I still haven't gotten off the emotional rollercoaster which is usually part and parcel of losing a loved one, and I guess I won't for quite some time, so thank you for sticking with me and my erratic blog posts.

The Kitty Bunting

Okay, now for my promised jewellery and doilies galore. Actually, "galore" may be a bit of an exaggeration, though if you ask my dear husband, he is probably a bit over the seemingly endless piles of doilies he keeps finding around the house, ha ha ha! Well, some of those piles of doilies were finally turned into bunting and scarf creations for Domum Vindemia.

The Wilma Bunting

Some of my new buntings will feature only crochet doilies while others will continue to feature embroidered doilies and/or vintage embroidered napkins and placemats. For those who like a bit of colour in their decor, I am also experimenting with coloured bias binding for my buntings, with pink, blue and grey coming soon! For the smaller doilies, many are now being upcycled into funky doily scarves. The first such of these scarves is already spoken for, but don't worry, there are more coming as soon as I can get the energy to play with my sewing machine.

The Thora Scarf

And although my Two Cheeky Monkeys jewellery stores are looking a little neglected, there are new creations waiting to be listed in those stores too. I am quite excited about a new range of vintage glass jewel cocktail rings to complement my range of vintage glass jewel earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I know it's taken me a while to get into making cocktail rings, partly because they look silly on my little hands and fingers, but mostly due to the fact that sourcing supplies for these rings is not easy! I haven't decided whether to list my new jewellery pieces on my Etsy or Madeit stores, or both, so please let me know which is your preferred online shopping platform to help me get a better idea of your shopping preferences. :)

The Marisol, Esmerelda and Undomiel Vintage Glass Cocktail Rings

Farewell My Father

2011-06-29T22:08:00.001+10:00

By now I am sure that many of you will have heard that in the early hours of Saturday morning, my mum lost her best friend, my sister and I lost an amazing dad and my daughters lost a loving and doting grandpa (or Gong Gong, as they called him in Chinese). My beloved dad, about whom I posted only a few short weeks ago, unexpectedly lost his battle with cancer, dying peacefully in his sleep at home.

While the grief is still raw and sometimes almost incapacitating for me, I wanted to put down my thoughts about my dad as a tribute to him because I know that I will not have the courage to share about how much he means to me at his thanksgiving service on Friday and cry in front of what I expect to be a large crowd of people. I can, however, handle crying over the laptop while I type these words from my heart.

I have always believed my dad to be a godly, humble and amazing man, but it is only now, after his passing, that I truly see how much he impacted everyone around him as my family and I receive outpourings of love, condolences and good memories about dad from the many people who loved him as a friend, colleague and/or mentor. So many of dad's friends, fellow church members and colleagues have sent us such beautiful letters telling of how much he meant to them and made the effort to befriend and encourage them. I want to thank each of them for sharing with me just how much you will also miss my dad.

From a daughter's perspective, my first impressions of my dad were of how much he loved my mum and made the effort to take care of her and us kids. Every evening my dad would call mum from work to say that he was headed home for the day and that he would see her soon. And when he arrived home, one of the first things he would do would be to head to mum and give her a peck on the lips. There were other things he did to show his love for mum too, but you cannot underestimate how much of an impact his little signs of love and his way of living had on me as an impressionable child!

As I grew older and got to know my dad more as a person rather than just as my "dad", I swore that I would not marry a man like him because he was just such a complete dag who had no style and was a little old-fashioned and geeky. Shallow, I know, but that is how my teenage mind worked! But when I married my best friend, Malcolm, I realised with a bit of shock that I had done the very thing that I had sworn not to do, I had married a man who was a lot like my dad. Like my dad, my beloved husband is a bit of a dag and a lot of a geek. But, the important personal characteristics I saw in my dad - humility, intelligence, compassion and caring for others, love, faithfulness, kindness and most importantly a strong faith in God and understanding of his word, the Bible - have stuck with me and influenced my choice of life partner.

Another strong memory I have of my dad is of his wicked, and very dry, sense of humour and the constant "dad jokes" and comments that my sister and I endured. He had a way of delivering comments that would have people, including, sometimes, those of us who knew him well, staring at him in confusion as they tried to work out if he was joking or being completely serious. I was an accident-prone child (and am now an accident-prone adult) and often asked for bandaids (because they cure all childhood hurts!) but my dad, being ever practical, would examine my wounds and refuse to give me a bandaid unless it was a gaping wound gushing copious amounts of blood. If I whinged non-stop about a stubbed toe or banged funny bone (which I did quite frequently), dad would say, "Well, just chop it off and then it won't hurt any more, will it?" As a parent, I now see the wisdom in his bandaid judgements and the humour behind his "just chop it off" comments, but it was hugely irritating at the time!

Once my sister and I became teenagers and insisted on buying our own clothes and accessories (with mum and dad's money, of course!), dad unleashed his wit on our choice of clothes and shoes. Clothes he deemed to be too skimpy were always greeted with, "Did that shrink in the wash?!" and I remember returning from a shopping expedition with a mildly expensive pair of sandals and having dad exclaim something along the lines of "You paid WHAT for a dried out strip of leather?!"

But in spite of all his comments, my dad always happily provided for us, paying for music lessons, expensive musical instruments, school excursions and sports equipment and uniforms. He was often frugally-minded, but he was only frugal with himself. While he owned clothes which were almost as old as I was, he was always generous with his family and friends. He was generous with not just his material wealth, but also with his time, always showing interest in people's lives and goings on. One example of this was his little notebook in which he wrote down all the funny stories mum told him about my two "monkeys" whenever she babysat or came to visit us while he was at work. Another example were the many emails he sent to me full of links to interesting scientific papers, articles on child raising, photos he'd taken of the kids, etc, etc. He used to send me so many emails, which I did not always read, that I joked about dad being my own personal email spammer. And now I realise with sadness that this is something I will no longer have and will miss.

The way my dad led his life in the last six months leading up to his death has also been an example to me and, I hope, to many others too. There has been much recent debate about "dying with dignity" and "the right to choose", but I want to show you an example of both true living and true dying with dignity and integrity. From the time he first felt his symptoms of illness and had uneasy thoughts that it might be cancer, to his diagnosis and through every stage of his treatment, he never ceased praying to God asking for comfort, strength and healing. He also never stopped communicating with his friends and family and enquiring after others, even though the pain he suffered made it hard for him to sit at the computer. I have to admit that if I had been in dad's shoes, I would probably have given in to despair and spent my time moping or ranting, but he continued to send encouraging emails, letters and helpful web links on Facebook to everyone right up until the night he died.

He also spent the last few months of his life completing his tax return and trying to sort out important paperwork so that mum would not have to carry that burden. In his unassuming way, he prepared for the eventuality of his passing, but he never sought to hasten it, choosing instead to keep trusting God and to keep living his life to the best of his ability. And so I truly believe that my dad could say, in the words of Paul:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

My Creative Space - Doilies and Flowers

2011-06-23T12:36:00.000+10:00

My apologies for my relative silence in blog land of late. I am really struggling to balance being a mum (the winter months are so painful due to the heavier clothes I need to wash and dry and not being able to let the kids play outdoors), running my online stores and crafting! Anyway, with cheeky monkey number two's birthday coming up in a month's time, I have been doing a little birthday crafting this past week. Of course, there are flowers involved as well as my button stash. And the vintage doilies under the flowers are feeling a little forlorn as they wait for me to turn them into buntings and scarves for Domum Vindemia which is now open on both Etsy and Madeit. :)

Creative Collective Snail Mail Swap

2011-06-17T17:37:00.000+10:00

As many of you know by now, I am enjoying taking part in monthly projects inspired by the Creative Collective monthly themes. The project for June is a snail mail swap, which was designed to provide something fun in your recipient's letterbox rather than the usual slew of bills and junk mail trying to convince you to buy the latest DVD, vacuum cleaner, etc. Being a "snail mail" swap, I immediately got thinking about paper craft and vintage books (I know, I need to get out more, LOL). Sooooo...here is a sneak peek of some of the items my three swap recipients will soon find in their letterboxes. I know I've photographed the items in their entirety, but it's a sneak peek because I threw in a couple of extra little goodies into my package too. :)

My Crochet Lace Belt

2011-06-14T16:23:00.000+10:00

I am sure that by now most of you will know that I just looooove vintage lace, especially vintage crochet lace. I love crochet lace so much that, not only have I used it in some of my fabric cuff designs, but when I saw a funky lace belt tutorial on the Versus blog, I decided that I had to give it a try! It was a nice, quick project to whip up and the only thing that held me back from completing it straight away was my complete lack of useable belt buckles in the house (I say "useable" because we have plenty of belt buckles already attached to people's belts but I didn't think my family would approve of me plundering their belts so that I could complete mine). In the end, I found a retro-looking belt buckle at the op shop, though I think I will stick to using D-rings the next time I make one of these belts.

Fabulous Friday Find - A Sewing "Periodic Table"!

2011-06-10T10:27:00.000+10:00

Okay, this week I have another geek meets craft find I just had to share with you! Carla, of the Scientific Seamstress blog, has put together the funkiest version of the periodic table of elements - a periodic table of sewing elements!!! This brings back memories of high school chemistry classes where I struggled to learn the periodic table off by heart (I think I had it remembered all the way to krypton [Kr]), ha ha ha. For those of you who love your "scientific craft", Carla is kindly sharing her periodic table with her blog readers. Follow the link to her blog and you will find a download for the print version of the table so all you have to do is print it out and then hang it up in your craft room with pride!

Happy Birthday Dad

2011-06-09T20:33:00.000+10:00

Today is my beloved dad's birthday, so as he "celebrates" his birthday in hospital (mum told me that the nurses served him an ice cream ball topped with candles and sang "happy birthday" to him), I thought I would share a little montage of photos taken over the past five or so years before he got sick. Happy birthday dad (aka Gong Gong - grandpa in Chinese)!

My "Pride and Prejudice" Range of Jewellery and a Sale

2011-06-07T16:20:00.000+10:00

Mr Darcy headband

I was shocked to realise today that although I have been creating my Pride and Prejudice pieces for at least six months now, I have not once blogged about these slightly quirky additions to my stores. For those of you who aren't already in the know, I started on this side of my jewellery making when I found an ancient and battered copy of Pride and Prejudice at a local fundraising bookstall. Knowing that many people (including many of my friends and family) love this Jane Austen classic, I decided to set snippets of the vintage pages into cameo settings and turn them into jewellery.

Elizabeth Bennet brooch

My Pride and Prejudice range originally started out with brooches and bouquet pins but has since expanded to include necklaces, bracelets, rings and hair accessories. The response to these creations has been so positive that I am preparing to expand my range of vintage text jewellery to include snippets of text from classics such as Jane Eyre and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as other Jane Austen novels. But in the mean time, I am having a quick Facebook sale on my current range of Pride and Prejudice creations which you can find here. You'll have to be quick so you don't miss out on your favourite piece!

Fabulous Friday Find

2011-06-03T10:15:00.001+10:00

This post is for all of you life science and/or knitting afficionados (I sort of count myself in the former group) out there! While surfing the web the other day I found this AMAZING knitted skeleton artwork by Ben Cuevas. It is part of a special mixed media piece he created for an exhibition in New York and I am just blown away. I mean, how does one even come up with a knitting pattern for the various bones in the human body?!?! You can find more pictures and the full details about this fantastic knitted skeleton on Ben Cuevas' blog.

A Sweet Pair of Mushrooms

2011-06-01T10:15:00.046+10:00

While I was shopping for the felt to make my felt flower wreath (see my last post) the other week, I came across this cute little book at one of my local craft stores. This book, Felties by Nelly Pailloux, is full of sweet little felt creatures which can be put together using your felt scraps, fabric glue and a little hand sewing. Needless to say, the two cheeky monkeys were very taken by this new addition to my craft book collection and immediately started pointing out the projects they wished me to make for them.

We all thought the "mushroom girl" pattern was really cute so the rummaging through my felt stash began! Those of you who already own this book will probably notice that I haven't followed the pattern to the letter. My girls seem to have inherited my inability to follow patterns exactly and both decided that they wanted to choose their own colour combination rather than follow the one in the book. I also discovered that I have absolutely no sequins in my craft stash (how remiss of me) so I had to raid my bead stash for some beads to make the little flowers on the mushroom girls' stems.
These little toys were fun to make, although the small size of the project and the fact that it is all done by hand did result in a lot of moaning and grumbling on my part when I stabbed myself in the finger or dropped whichever part I was working on at the time. That being said, the advantage of this teeny project (the finished girls are about 8cm tall) is that I carried it around with me in a little pouch and pulled it out while I was waiting at school/kindergarten pick ups and at swimming lessons. Once the memory of my needle-stabbed fingers fades, I will decide which "feltie" to try next. I think several of the designs could be adapted into brooches for adding to birthday cards or using as present toppers.

My Felt Flower "Wreath"

2011-05-30T09:29:00.001+10:00

You might vaguely remember me mentioning back in November last year that I was going to be organised and make a Christmas wreath before Christmas (see here). You might also have noticed that I never posted about the wreath I made. Well...ahem...that would be because I never got round to making a Christmas wreath. Yes, I got too caught up in the end of year madness that hits our home every year in the lead up to Christmas, made worse last year by several unexpected and stressful events in December.

Anyway, when the Creative Collective announced that their May project theme was "in the hoop", it was the impetus I needed to finally make my Christmas wreath! I have long had a bit of a thing for fabric flowers and creative projects using embroidery hoops, so when I saw the Purl Bee's tutorial for a felt flower wreath, I thought I would combine the two ideas.

As you can see, I have gone for an asymmetrical look to my flower arrangement on the hoop. Looking at this project had me thinking that I use a lot of asymmetry in my creations (such as my asymmetrical necklaces seen here and here), but I guess that's not very surprising given that I used to wear mismatched earrings as a fashion statement when I was a teenager, ha ha ha. And although my French knots aren't perfect, this was the first time I sewed them without somehow getting the technique wrong and then having to repair my odd-looking knot.

I am showing you the rather embarrassing back of my hoop project only because I wanted to share a great link with you. I got the idea for backing my new wreath from a lovely little tutorial on Crafster. This method is great for hiding all the unsightly stitching and excess fabric on the back of your hoop project. However, if, like me, you aren't feeling up to accurate sewing and small, neat stitches, your end result won't be as pretty as the one in the tutorial.

Feature Friday - New Earth Soaps

2011-05-27T10:01:00.000+10:00

This week's featured artist is another fellow Australian artisan and DUST member and I can personally attest to the beauty of her products. Let me introduce Karen of New Earth Soaps.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live?

I currently live in Bunbury, Western Australia. It's a port city with lots of busy, hard working people. My artistic side is my escape from that world. I feel I don't fit in. I know I don't belong. But I have a future coming soon, in the most beautiful town on the south coast called Denmark. It's an artists feast. I can't wait for the first day of the rest of my life.
I do have a dayjob. I work in a little health shop with the most amazing people. My boss and co-worker are both Naturopaths and I learn from them something new everyday. I can use my knowledge of healthy skincare and the dangers of many toxic commercial ingredients to help customers make more informed decisions. I feel I am doing a little bit of good each day.

Describe yourself in five words.

Relentless
Dreamer
Tree-hugger
Intuitive
Respectful

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?
I sewed a lot when I was a kid. We lived in this big old house that had a few out-buildings. One used to be for the generator and the other for storing the coal. We had one converted to a sewing room. It was packed full of stuff and I used to make my own toys and dolls outfits from scraps. I'd watch an old black and white movie, then go and create a dolls costume modelled on what the leading lady wore.
I once upon a time could draw too. That ability seems to be MIA right now but I plan for it to return someday soon.

Sweet sweet flowers soap

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
I create handmade soaps and skincare items such as lip balms, creams and scrubs and I am just developing some new oil based perfumes right now. I am really enjoying that, putting my aromatherapy knowledge to use in blending my very own fragrances. It's a slow process, getting them just right, but I am loving it.
My favourite materials, well, thats a tough question. I love so many, but right now, I am enjoying using some new essential oils I have just introduced to my collection; sweet marjoram, clary sage, rosalina, rosewood and clementine. I love the healing properties of jojoba oil and rosehip oil too.

When and how did you start selling online?
It's been a little over 2 years ago I found etsy. It can be fun, especially since I became a part of the DUST team (www.dustteam.com.au) but I am frustrated at times that I can't give it my full and undivided attention. I need to work my day job right now, but when I move south, the story will be quite different.
Right now, my store, well my whole business really is having a bit of a transformation. A good friend is designing me a fresh new logo, something that represents new life. The overall look will be earthier, more natural. It's putting some things on hold till it's done, but it will be worth the wait. I just know it.

Ginger poppyseed soap

Describe your store in five words
Earthy and natural with much growing to be done. (You'll see lots of new things over winter. Watch this space!)

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?
I haven't really been influenced by anyone in particular recently, but in my early years of choosing a life devoid of chemicals and unnecessary additives, the great Anita Roddick of the original Body Shop was an inspiration, both in business and her pursuit of all natural and fair trade ingredients for her products.
I have always believed that a product doesn't need to be snow white or a pretty perfect pink to be beautiful and function well. It just needs to be of great quality and of a sympathetic blend to address the situation or problem. My recipes start off as a tiny idea, then I will research ingredients, looking for the best ones to use, then formulate, experiment and test, over and over till it's just right. And I know when it's just right, it just is.

Orange and spice soap

Do you ever get "creator's block"? And how do you get past it, if you do?

Creators block can be common, especially if you work hard at a day job too, have a lot going on in your life and sometimes your all important creative outlet which doubles as all important therapy gets left until last. I find that when I have some of that precious time and space, firstly you must look after yourself. Often I want to dive in to my soapy lab and get on with it, but I am better off taking time out and getting myself off to yoga or an afternoon exploring a beautiful beach or forest. It may feel a touch guilty at first, but creativity flows so much more after you spend some quality time in your happy place.

Where can we find you online? (FB, Twitter, store, Flickr, blog, etc)
Website - http://www.newearthsoaps.com.au/
Web Store - http://www.newearthsoaps.com.au/shop.htm
Etsy Store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/newearthsoaps
FB - https://www.facebook.com/newearthsoaps
Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/newearthsoaps

SPECIAL OFFER:

Have you enjoyed reading about Karen and her beautiful soapy creations? Karen is offering readers a discount on her soaps and body products. She says:

"This time of the year is kinda like my end of season. My biggest soap production time is during the wet winter months, so please bear with me as my stock levels are a bit all over the place. Just use the coupon code "endofseasonsale2011" for a 15% discount off everything in my store."

Zinnia Pea Giveaway Winner

2011-05-26T19:37:00.002+10:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Zinnia Pea giveaway and had a look through Christabel's stores. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner and that winner is:

Comment #17 which was lil' red aka Katie of Giuseppe Poli - Artist. Congratulations Katie, I will be contacting you soon!

Birthday Wishlist

2011-05-23T10:00:00.001+10:00

I'm the one in the middle being held by my maternal grandma, the other two children are two of my cousins.

Yes, as much as I don't want any big fanfare or fireworks, I have to admit that it is my birthday today. I was originally thinking of hosting a super special giveaway to celebrate, but I am still battling a bit of a sinus infection and don't have the energy to do anything. I am rather put out that I forgot to sign up for the Sew Mama Sew blog giveaway event, which is starting today, but maybe next time...
Anyway, after all of that waffling, I will leave you with a selection of items which I would most happily receive for my birthday (cheeky face). Although, all my little annoyances pale into insignificance at the moment as currently, my biggest wish is for my beloved dad to win his health battle and get better.


Sea Urchin Cup/Bowl

Brain Hair Tie

Tearose Bracelets

Round Domed Flower Magnets

Mother Periodic Table Pillow

Feature Friday and Giveaway - Zinnia Pea

2011-05-20T09:41:00.007+10:00

My featured artist this week is a fellow Aussie who creates pieces which are a little different but very funky. Please welcome Christabel of Zinnia Pea!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello! I'm Christabel, the full time designer behind Zinnia Pea and I live and work in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. My house is a little converted art studio so it works very well for both living and designing. It has a tiny kitchen, a big overgrown garden and way too many books. I love it!

Describe yourself in five words.

A bookworm, nerdy, shy, creative and a history buff. That's not really in keeping with the 5 words thing so I guess you could add in rule-breaker.

Bronte Sisters Teacup Set

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

Well my mum tells me I was so "creative" when I was little that I had to wear a plastic raincoat and rubber boots whilst painting on the back verandah so I think you could safely say from an early age!

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I use porcelain inks to put quotes and little designs onto all kinds of china pieces, including teapots, teacups and coffee mugs. I love finding old ceramics in markets and op shops and deciding which quote fits. The upcycled pieces are definitely my favourites.

When and how did you start selling online?

I opened Zinnia Pea mid way through last year after inking a set of plain white plates and cups for myself. So many friends commented on them and asked for their own so I decided to open up shop and see how it went! I'm so pleased I did because it has been a wonderful adventure so far.

Pride and Prejudice Tea Pot

Describe your store in five words.

Quirky china with a literary difference. (Ok, that is more than 5 words again.. I'm definitely a rule breaker!) [Edit: You crack me up Christabel!!!]

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?

There are so many different influences behind my designs. Obviously Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and the other amazing authors whose work I ink. But also, my Grandma for her love of tea and interesting china and my Mum, simply because of her tea addiction. The smell of freshly brewed black tea always reminds me of her, in her blue dressing gown reading the paper at an insanely early hour.

Alice in Wonderland Coffee Cup

Do you ever get "creator's block"? And how do you get past it, if you do?

I read. Since starting Zinnia Pea I can't read a classic book without grabbing my notebook and noting down quotes I want to ink!

Where can we find you online?

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zinniapeadesigns

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/zinniapea

Website: http://zinniapea.com/

Blog: http://zinniapea.blogspot.com/

Shop Made It: http://www.madeit.com.au/zinniapea

Shop Etsy (including international post): http://www.etsy.com/shop/zinniapea

Special: Christabel is offering a 10% discount to Two Cheeky Monkeys readers. Please mention that you are a blog reader at check out to receive your discount.

Giveaway!!!

Christabel is also kindly offering an amazing giveaway prize of a Jane Austen coffee mug (see above). To be in the running to win this fantastic prize please do one or all of the following:

1. Visit either of the Zinnia Pea stores and leave a comment with your favourite item.

2. Follow both Zinnia Pea and me on Twitter.

3. Become a follower of this blog and the Zinnia Pea blog (but only if you want to!)
4. Tweet, blog about or link to the giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment with a link to your Tweet/blog post/etc.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. This giveaway is open to my Australian readers only (sorry international peeps) and will run until 6pm, Thursday 26 May 2011 (Melbourne time). A winner will be chosen via Random.org.

Creating For Fun - My Multistrand Bracelet

2011-05-18T09:30:00.002+10:00

I have been a fan of multistrand stretch bracelets for some time (I was very disappointed when Miss 5 broke my favourite set in the middle of church when she was a baby) but have never actually tried making any for myself. And to be honest, working with beading elastic kind of scares me. I've just had too many pieces of stretch jewellery fall apart care of the two cheeky monkeys. So while I was "resting" (not procrastinating, I promise!) and idly wondering what to make for myself as a birthday treat (it's my birthday next Monday, wink wink), I decided to woman up and make a multistrand stretch bracelet.

It took me two days to put this bracelet together because I kept changing my mind about the colour scheme. I didn't make it any easier for myself by deciding that I really wanted to use up the various odds and ends in my bead stash, he he he. I ended up going for a fairly "neutral" colour scheme which should match most of my outfits. Two of the strands were put together simply by threading the same colour and style of Czech glass beads per strand. The third strand alternates gorgeous hematite beads with cute Czech glass leaf beads and the final strand is a random mix of lampwork, glass and semiprecious stone beads chosen to complement the existing colour scheme. And, of course, I just had to tie the strands together with a pretty organza ribbon.

So what do you think? Do you like this style of bracelet? I am seriously considering making a range of these for my Etsy and Madeit stores, although I will probably focus on using a combination of Czech glass beads and freshwater or glass pearls in keeping with the vintage feel of my other pieces instore. If you are interested in a specific colour or combination for a special occasion, please contact me and I can get designing!

Doily Inspirations

2011-05-16T11:16:00.001+10:00

It's no secret that I adore vintage doilies (both the crocheted and embroidered linen kind). But what does one do with a large collection of doilies other than covering every available flat surface? Well, here is a list of ideas that should keep you busily creating for some time!

Doilies are great for embellishing plain tops, totes or even a dress.

I have been having fun making fabulously feminine doily buntings for my Madeit and Etsy stores.

Making a doily bowl has been on my "to do" list for a while! See here for a straight forward tutorial.

These doily lanterns by Glamour Grace are just GORGEOUS!

I'm not sure I'll be able to resist making my own doily scarf!!!

My Mother's Day Haul

2011-05-15T22:07:00.000+10:00

I know I'm a bit late, but I just had to post about the funny mother's day presents I received from my cheeky monkeys, some of which were handmade! You can see in the photo above that they take this "cheeky monkey" business seriously when posing for photographs, he he. I am disappointed that I forgot to get a photo of my mum with the monkeys and me; she has been working so hard to take care of my sick dad and I think she would have liked a photo with her crazy granddaughters.

Right, so Miss 5 year old monkey gave me the most bizarre presents of the lot! She bought all of them by herself at the mother's day fundraising stall at school. The first of her purchases were these psychedelic, rainbow stripey socks. She bought them because I don't wear shoes around the house and because the rainbow socks were "much prettier" than the "boring" grey socks that were also on sale - LOL. Admittedly, these socks do keep my feet very warm.

She also bought me a little pink coin purse, which I think she has already "borrowed" and a bag of sugar candy because, as she put it, "There was chocolate, but you're on a diet. So I bought you some lollies so you could still have fun." Her reasoning may be a little faulty, but at least she put some thought into her choices! The card above has me thinking that I spend too much time on my handmade stores. She said almost the same thing last year at kindergarten when they were asked to share the reason their mum was special...hmm.

This cute calico tote was Miss 3 year old monkey's offering to me. She made it at kindergarten (she has also decorated the back with various stamped shapes in other colours) and seems to think that since she made it, she should get to use it whenever she pleases. The tote is currently filled with lego and I had to search hard just to find it this morning!

My dear husband didn't forget either, he bought me Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals and the Twilight official illustrated guide...not that I'm admitting to being a Twilight fan or anything....ahem...

Friday Finds - Mother's Day

2011-05-06T10:46:00.000+10:00

I put together today's handmade finds as a tribute to my lovely, godly mum - these are all items I think she would like. And I want to send happy mother's day wishes to all of my readers who are mothers and my love and condolences to those who especially mourn the loss of their beloved mother at this time of year.

Ode to the Persimmon

2011-05-02T12:29:00.000+10:00

Round, smooth and orange

Very delicious to eat

I love persimmons

I have to admit it: I am bored and procrastinating, and I just indulged in a beautifully sweet persimmon from my parents' tree. So I just had to share this haiku with you, he he he. If you haven't had a chance to try a persimmon yet, you don't know what you're missing out on!

What's New Instore - Ribbons, Pearls and Bows

2011-04-29T10:00:00.003+10:00

Today I am showing off a "new" range of necklaces which I have been working on over the past week. Actually, this is not techinically a new range of necklaces since the basic design style has been available in both my Etsy and Madeit stores for over a year now. But it wasn't until I was recently commissioned to make three Margarita necklaces for a bridal party (see above) that I was prompted to expand my colour range and also to play with the design a little.

One of the design variations I am adding to my store is a Margarita necklace with a ribbon bow added to one side of the chain of beads, giving the necklace a feminine and asymmetrical look.

And unlike the original Margarita necklaces, which featured 10mm Swarovski crystal pearls, the new range of necklaces contain either smaller glass pearls, shell-shaped baroque glass pearls or semi-precious stones (such as chrysoprase and onyx).

For those of you who love the design style but are looking for a less "girly" look, I will still be creating the original style of necklace which does not have the ribbon bow. And should you have a specific colour combination in mind, I am more than happy to take custom orders!

Domum Vindemia Launch!!!

2011-04-27T10:53:00.000+10:00

I am thrilled to announce today that I am finally launching my homewares store, Domum Vindemia!!! As you will find when you head over to my store, I am opening with a small range of vintage doily buntings and upcycled cake stands. For the time being, I will only be selling my Domum Vindemia creations on Madeit, but I do have plans to open a store on Etsy once I have more items created.

To celebrate the long-awaited launch of my new venture, I am offering all of my blog readers, Facebook fans and Twitter followers 10% off your first purchase. Just use the code "LAUNCH10" when you make your purchase and I will refund you the difference via Paypal. For those of you who would prefer to pay in USD, I am happy to send you a new Paypal invoice in USD until my Etsy store is opened.

Fun New Creations

2011-04-25T21:16:00.000+10:00

I have spent the last two and half weeks of school holidays entertaining the two cheeky monkeys, including trying out several new crafting techniques and ideas. Mind you, not all of our projects were successfully attempted (it's better that you not see my highly dubious attempts at rolled fabric flowers and singed petal flowers). But, we did manage to knock up some fun (and for me, rather girly) accessories this holidays!

One project which turned out quite well were ruffled ribbon bracelets. I got the idea from Craft Snob, which is full of great floral and fabric tutorials and ideas. The girls had a lot of fun shopping for the ribbon (of course, Miss 3's ribbon just had to be pink) and these bracelets were very quick to create. I have to say, though, that I have been tackling so many sewing projects involving ruffles of late, that I am getting a little bit tired of ruffles!

One thing I haven't gotten over is my love of fabric yoyos (or Suffolk puffs)! The girls love the yoyo clips I made for them (see here) so much that I thought I would make a few for myself. Of course my clips are a little "classier" than the ones I made for the girls since I am more "mature" than they are, he he he. To achieve my classy look, I added ribbon, lace and stylish vintage buttons to my yoyos. I also attached my yoyos to bobby pins rather than the snap clips which I normally use for kiddie hair accessories.

I'm thinking that these yoyo clips would make good hair accessories for flower girls or even bridesmaids (especially the lace-covered ones), so I might add a few of these to my stores when I've found some more suitably fancy buttons. What do you think?

Friday Finds - Easter

2011-04-22T10:00:00.003+10:00

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

Grace Sterling Silver Necklace

I don't know about you, but I really love the "Easter season"! And not because Easter often means loads of chocolate, hot cross buns and an extended public holiday period in Australia (although these are all great things). I love Easter because, as a Christian, it is a time of year when I especially remember and celebrate an essential part of my faith. I know the thought of Jesus dying in our place (and taking the punishment we deserve) because we are not good enough is not an attractive one to many, but it is one that gives me hope, peace and comfort. Whatever your beliefs, though, I wish you all a blessed Easter with your friends and loved ones and hope you enjoy these beautiful Easter-themed handmade creations.

Vintage Fabric Eggs

Sterling Silver Cross Necklace

Stained Glass Peace Dove

Happy Easter Banner

Domum Vindemia: A New Venture and Store

2011-04-18T13:30:00.002+10:00

Victoria Cupcake Stand

Yes, you read right, I am adding to the craziness and busy-ness here at the home of Two Cheeky Monkeys by trying out a new venture - a new store!!! This new line of creations, which you will be able to find on both Etsy and Madeit, will be sold under the label Domum Vindemia, which means "vintage home" in Latin.

Louisa Vintage Doily and Napkin Bunting

I was originally planning to launch my new store earlier this year but circumstances led me to postpone it until now. Actually, not quite now, since a recent kitchen mishap (long story) has led me to yet again delay the launch. However, I am hoping to open the virtual doors of Domum Vindemia after the upcoming Easter break! In the mean time, I hope you're enjoying the sneak peeks of what you'll be able to find instore.

Primula Cupcake Stand

So what will you find in this new online venture of mine, I hear you ask? Well, my love of upcycling vintage crockery and linen has led me to decide to sell my upcycled creations. I will be stocking Domum Vindemia with cupcake stands, cake stands and doily and napkin buntings - the majority of which have been created using vintage parts. I might also add my vintage dictionary page prints one day if I can ever work out how to combine the shipping of art prints with kitchenware!

Margaret Cupcake Stand

Feature Friday - Inspired Wish

2011-04-15T10:00:00.036+10:00

For the feature Friday post this week, we welcome Jeanie of Inspired Wish, a fellow Aussie and Madeit seller. Her store boasts a range of colourful and funky creations to catch your eye - are you ready to find out more?!

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi, I'm Jeanie and I live in Geelong with my husband and our two turtles Aristotle and Gertrude. I relocated from Queensland almost three years ago. Although it gets a bit cold here, I love the life style change. I'm a full time Receptionist. I'm the only Admin person supporting 20 Engineers and Surveyors. My day job keeps me busy and a little stressed. My hobby is the stuff I do outside work that helps me unwind, and fulfils my creative and accessorising desires.

Describe yourself in five words.
Easy-going, positive, purposeful, perfectionist, chocoholic.

Express yourself style necklace

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?
I've always been crafty but didn't think of myself as a creative artist until recently. My passion for jewellery making was sparked early 2010. I'd been feeling dowdy and dull and wasn't sure how to turn that around. I thought a new hair style might help so I set out on a mission by googling face shapes and hair styles. I stumbled across a blog for an Image Consultant. I found the answers I was looking for! I met with Imogen Lamport who helped me discover my personality style and colours.

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I create modern jewellery with the aim of inspiring women to feel fabulous. I love to work with resin and sterling silver. I also adore colourful beads. I'm planning to work more with gemstones soon. Colour plays a large part in my pieces. I love achieving an original look by colouring metal (copper/brass) with patina. I have some ideas for a few sterling silver pieces. I'm sure somehow they'll end up with a hint of colour, I can't help myself.

Sweet & chic blue heart resin pendant

When and how did you start selling online?
When someone first suggested that I should sell my work online I thought that was outrageous. After several prompts it didn't seem so ridiculous and I looked into it. I decided to go with an Australian site to be amongst fellow Aussie creators and set up shop on Madeit. I launched Inspired Wish on 3rd July 2010.
If someone had told me in just 10 months I'd be working with a graphic designer, developing a jewellery line, taking custom orders, and wishing this was my full time job, I'd have laughed out loud. I've never been busier or happier. There's a lot of work that goes in hand with creating and selling your jewellery online, but its also deeply satisfying.

Describe your store in five words.
Contemporary, fun, colourful, modern, fabulous.

Rockmelon orange and purple candy kisses ring

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?
I'm influenced by a lot of things. I'm influenced by a need to create pieces that compliment my wardrobe. I'm often inspired after visiting a gallery or garden nursery that has interesting sculptures. A huge metal contraption or water feature can spark an idea for a pendant or earrings. A lot of my pieces are created because I had an urge to learn a new technique.

Where can we find you online?

Store http://www.madeit.com.au/InspiredWish
Blog http://www.inspiredwish.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/InspiredWishJewellery
Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspiredwish

School Holidays Tutorial Roundup

2011-04-13T10:00:00.022+10:00

It's school holiday time - yes! No, I'm not crazy. I know that having to entertain two small children non-stop can be a bit stressful, but I am happily envisioning two weeks of lie ins (sleep ins would be better but with a 3 year old and a 5 year old, you take what you get!) and excited about not having to stress about making lunches every morning and finding clean (and dry) uniforms for the kids to wear.

However, in order to stay sane during the coming two weeks, I have been madly organising play dates and other activities for the two cheeky monkeys. I am also, of course, planning some crafty fun for the girls and myself so today's post is a roundup of craft tutorials which we are hoping to try out. If your kids are young, like mine are, you will probably have to do most (if not all) of the steps in each project, but the end product should still keep the kiddies entertained. Enjoy!

Cuuuuute felt mushroom tutorial by Oh the Cuteness!

Felt pot sticker tutorial by Craftiness is Not Optional

Pinwheel brooch tutorial by Betz White

Fabric Cuff Winner

2011-04-12T09:38:00.001+10:00

A big thank you to everyone who entered my fabric cuff giveaway! I cherish my readers' comments, especially the responses to my creations. :)

Anyway, you probably want to know who Random.org picked as the winner. That would be commenter #18 who is Stephanie of Over It! Congratulations to Steph and my condolences to the other entrants.

For those of you who didn't win, never fear. You can still be the proud owner of a Two Cheeky Monkeys fabric cuff AND I'm offering 10% OFF all cuffs for the next week! Simply use the code "FABRICCUFF" when you purchase a cuff and I will send you a revised invoice ASAP.

Hordes of Headbands

2011-04-11T10:00:00.046+10:00

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little when I say "hordes", but in between creating pieces for my Etsy and Madeit stores, I have been putting together an assortment of headbands to add as "present toppers" for the gifts we bring to the various birthday parties to which my girls are invited. (Now that the school year is in full swing, the birthday invitations are coming in left, right and centre!)

This headband was made simply by pulling apart a fabric flower, re-layering it and then adding a cute pearl button. Oh, and of course, lots of hot glue to attach the flower to the headband!

As I have a low tolerance of repetitive creating, every headband is different. However, I am planning on making more headbands with the ruffle adornment which was made following Twirling Betty's easy-to-follow ruffle tutorial which I ADORED as soon as I read it! I mean, it wouldn't be a normal headband-making session if the cheeky monkeys and I don't get some for ourselves, would it? Especially as we just can't resist headbands in this household AND they are great for bad hair days!

The last headband pictured is still a work in progress (obviously). I got all excited about making kanzashi fabric flowers only to find that putting the final flower together was harder than it looked given my dubious fabric choice. Oops!

I had fun matching different colours of felt to the gorgeous floral fabric I used for this headband. Snipping all the notches in the felt was a major pain, however.

Feature Friday - Jewels by Trish

2011-04-08T10:00:00.060+10:00

My featured artist for this week is the talented Trish of Jewels by Trish. Trish and I are both members of the Christian Artists Street Team on Etsy and I just adore the way she uses beads in her creations! Before I give too much away, let's find out a bit more about the creator behind this US-based label.

Red & Green Glass Christmas Bracelet

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Tricia, but my friends call me Trish. I am a 1st grade teacher and love handcrafting jewelry! I have two kids...a 13 year old girl and a 5 year old boy.

Describe yourself in five words.

Loving, compassionate, shy, independent, fun.

When and how did you first start crafting/creating?

I have been crafting in some form since I was a little girl. I found beads a few years ago through a good friend. My husband bought me an expensive necklace and when I discovered I could make it myself for much, much less; I was hooked! Creating with beads offers me stress relief too! I just love it!!

Red Antique Brass Filigree Necklace Twilight Inspired

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?

I create jewelry and so far love every material I touch! I love pearls, gemstones, sterling silver, wire wrapping, suede, leather, chain, memory wire...

When and how did you start selling online?

I started selling online over a year ago. I found Etsy through a jewelry forum on about.com.

Describe your store in 5 words.

Eclectic, elegant, funky, classic, affordable.

Pink and Green Flower Lampwork Glass Dangle Earrings

Who or what are the influences behind your creations?

My creations are influenced by the beads themselves for the most part. I usually start with a focal piece and then rifle through my collections until something "pops" into place. The beads just "speak to me."

Where can we find you online?

Etsy: www.jewelsbytrish.etsy.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jewelsbytrish

Twitter: twitter.com/#!/Jewelsbytrish

Blog: www.jewelsbytrish.blogspot.com

Special Offer: Trish is generously offering 15% OFF to all Two Cheeky Monkeys readers! To take up this fantastic offer, simply use the coupon code "blog15" at checkout when you make your purchase.

Sewing Adventures - A Kisslock Purse

2011-04-06T10:07:00.001+10:00

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog may remember my post back in January when I wrote about several sewing projects I was hoping to tackle over the summer (see here if you can't remember). One of those projects was a kisslock frame purse, which I did eventually finish sewing, but I have only just gotten round to securely gluing the metal frame to the fabric part of the purse.

You might also remember that I was a little worried about tackling this sewing project because there were several rather complicated steps, including drawing up my own pattern for the purse. Well, it turned out to be a little easier than I thought it would be and I only really struggled with gluing on the metal frame and sewing the part of the purse where the frame hinge sits. Somewhat bizarrely, I also struggled a little with ironing my wadding onto the outer fabric. I still have no idea why, maybe I had accidentally put my iron onto the wrong setting...

Anyway, as you can see, I finally got this little purse finished and am loving the somewhat lopsided results! The front of the purse features an embroidered section salvaged from a vintage napkin and the back (which isn't pictured) has a strip of vintage lace at the top under the metal frame. I lined the inside of the purse with a cute red and white floral fabric salvaged from an old Sheridan pillowcase. In fact, the only non-upcycled part of this purse is the kisslock frame - everything else was salvaged from my local op shop!
This little purse has come in quite handy for my short walks to and from school with Cheeky Monkey #1 when all I need to carry with me are the house keys, my mobile phone and some tissues (mothers need to be prepared!). I have one more kisslock frame waiting to be turned into a cute little purse, perhaps I should make a more "fancy" purse for the rare occasions when I get to go out on a date with Mr Cheeky Monkey... ;)