Pfff! Tea Towels Are Not For Cleaning.

It seems quite typical that I, who was born without any genes of domesticity, should fall in love with retro tea towels.

In a bid to use the fabulous funky tea towels I seem to acquire, I have shed the dream of me flitting around the kitchen in an apron, and instead settled in to the image of me with a needle and thread.

Perfect timing too, with the BrisStyle Eco Market just around the corner.

November 12^th St Augustine Church in Hamilton will see Monkey & Mum’s wares shine a rare ray of recycled beauty, when I share a stall with the lovely Kristina from Elk & Ina.

It won’t only be refashioned tea towels which make their mark at this market; there will be necklaces, bracelets and bibs fashioned from unwanted clothes, pillowcases, and other discarded materials too.

I am only limited by my imagination (a worrying thought for anyone who has seen the inner workings of my obscure mind), so come along and give a home to a once unloved (but now stunning!) piece of fabric.

For those of you who cannot wait until then to get your Monkey & Mum fix, you can find me at:

MARKET DATES

October 22^nd 10am – 1pm, Suitcase Rummage, Queens Park Ipswich

SHOP DISPLAYS

The Collective Store, Wynnum

Belle Bazaar, Mount Gravatt

Cultiver, Ipswich

ONLINE SHOPS

Etsy: www.monkeyandmum.etsy.com

Made It: www.madeit.com.au/monkeyandmum

Cheers,

Tess and little Harry xx

SCORE!

Two vintage wooden crates for my market stalls.

Now only a new trestle table, two hand embroidered signs, a fabric flower pot (...you'll see), and a small collection of a previously explored product range to go...phew!

MONKEY & MUM JOINS TWITTER

Like many of our parents who do not understand the phenomenon that is Facebook, I did not understand Twitter.

I bit the bullet, popped my twitter cherry, and created my own personalised background while I was at it.

Like a parent who joins Facebook and gloats to the family hairdresser that they changed their profile picture without assistance, I too am gloating about my Twitter expertise. The only difference is I don't tell my hairdresser, I blog it!

Please come over and join me. This is all very exciting for me! xx

I LOVE OP SHOPS!

A trip to Wynnum today to visit the lovely Collective Store saw me scouring the many op shops that Wynnum is renowned for.

I cannot wait to play with some of these fabrics. I can already see the pieces coming to life! xx

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

I thought I was not meant to be exhausted until at least November! It is July and I am knackered!

This year has been wonderful, and full of some very exciting Monkey & Mum achievements - I am going to take five minutes now (perhaps my first five minutes of 2011) to enjoy them.

The new and wonderful Cultiver has opened and I have been lucky enough to adorn this beautiful store with some of my pieces. It is a step in the right direction for Ipswich, which of late seems to have had an emergence of arty folk and great cafes!

I am still stocking The Collective Store and having so much fun being apart of the great supportive community out there. Harry and I adore our trips to Leonie's store, and tend to spend hours getting lost in the handmade goodies and enjoyable conversation.

Leonie has been especially nice to me this month, and featured Monkey & Mum on the website and in her shop window.

Monkey & Mum also has some exciting advertising spots coming soon, with a spot in the next Peekaboo magazine, and a possible a listing in the 2012 Hello Babe - Mummy Tree Small Business Directory.

We are now on Twitter, Flickr, and Linkedin - so come and join me there too!

Add in my editing job which helps to pay the bills and feed our hungry tummies (unfortunately Monkey & Mum is yet to be that job... that's the dream though!) and you have one exhausted mummy here.

Now I just need to find the time to sew... and smell the roses.

PICTURED ABOVE: 'A Dozen Petals' available at The Collective Store for $28.

WALKING ON SOLID GROUND

New Year's resolutions of the past have always been so predictable for me. Get fit. Lose weight. Be happy. Blah blah.

They are boring, and give me no solid grounding to work from.

I am excited this year, because I have an entirely new goal (and a convenient excuse not to lay off the choccies!), and it stems from the love of my little boy – and with something that sturdy and beautiful to stick my roots in to, falling over should be near impossible.

Monkey & Mum is more to me than just a business venture, it is something that I believe in as a mother, and that is really important to me.

2010 marked some very big things for my little rosebud of a business, with my jewellery now stocked in three stores – The Collective Store, In.cube8r, and Thousand Island Dressing.

December proved a busy month filling orders for these stores, and it saddens me that during this time I couldn't share my designs with you online as much as I would have liked.

Never again - this year I plan to upload pieces to the online store every Wednesday night without fail.

I have a room bursting with gorgeous fabrics at home, fabrics I have acquired and dreamt up wonderful fates for, now to start making them come true.

Thank you all so much for supporting Monkey & Mum this last year, where we go from here only time will tell.

But I hope you will come along for the ride.

Tess Xx

www.monkeyandmum.etsy.com