3000 LIKER COMPETITION!!!

Well first of all... THANK YOU!!!!
I cant get over the amount of support I have received for my fabrics in such a short period of time. I am utterly flattered and am so excited to say this is just the beginning!! I feel next year is going to be a CRACKER!!
Lets get down to business:
To be a good girl and abide by facebook rules, I have to run this competition off my facebook page so this is how its going to work.
If you would like to win a half metre bundle of all five of my current in stock designs valued at $67.50 all you need to do is:
1. Sign up to follow this blog.  You can do this by clicking the 'join this site' button on the right hand side of the page.  My blog has been a little absent and mundane of late because of my pending interstate move at Christmas time BUT things will crank up and be much more fun in the new year, I promise!!
2. Do a shout out from your facebook page tagging twomonkeys fabric shop telling your fans about this competition.  If you dont have a business page you can do a post on your personal page by either sharing the post on my page or adding a link. It will pop up in my notifications and number of shares so I can see its been done.  I know you want to keep it to yourself so you have a better chance of winning but we need to be nice: sharing is careing remember!!
3. The last thing you need to do is comment on this blog post to tell me you have followed the steps and want to all this free fabric......!!

Make sure you comment on this blog post as that is your entry in this competition.

The competition will be ran over the next week and will be drawn on Friday 4th November at 8.30pm Brisbane time.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Terms and Conditions:

Prize consists of half a metre (50cm) each the five current twomonkeys fabrics designs:
When Im Big Like Daddy
Punch Bug
Fairy Land
Girly Parade
Night Watch
Winner will be drawn by random.org and list will be generated in order of valid comments on this post.
To be fair, I will be checking all entrants have complied with the steps to enter this competition.
If you live outside of Australia, I would love you to enter but you will need to cover the cost of the international shipping.
If you live within Australia, a $10 postage rate will apply to the winner.

Cushion Mad!!

So the past week has seen me craving a little down time and what better way to unwind than to hit the machine with simple projects that need little thought.  For me I had the urge to make a few cushions.
A few days ago, I posted a pic on facebook of a couple I made on the weekend.

Because they were so easy and there was no unpicking involved, this made them so much fun to make which gave me the need to make another one.......

I am pleased to say I think I have exhausted all my cushion mojo BUT now I have made this little Kombi motif, I have all these other ideas coming to mind :)

Until next time.....

Just to let you know.....

I am sitting here......and I don’t even know where to start.  My mind is so congested with so much going on I’m not sure what to write first.

So let’s start with this and I will get straight to the point:

I am moving. Yep packing up and heading south.  Now this is not the first time we have moved to Singleton in the Hunter Valley......it’s the third! I know, I know, CRAZY! Maybe I just love the thrill of packing! But on a serious note, we have really struggled to find the right place for our family over the past five years. I think that’s what made the decision so difficult this time because we knew this was a major decision being that Nathan starts school next year and we don’t want to keep moving once he does.  My husband works in the mining industry and the problem with living in Brisbane is he needs to fi/fo (fly in/fly out) for his job to be feasible and before we had the kids, it was never an issue, just a way of life we had grown to live with.  Now we have the boys, that lifestyle is a very hard one to go back to and if we stay here, it’s inevitable.  You see what sucks big time is it’s such a fifty fifty decision for us.  If we stay here, we sacrifice Michael being home but we have our family around us and if we move, we get a better family and work life but loose the help from our parents and the kids miss out on their grandparents. Sometimes it’s so hard to make the right decision and whatever you decide, who’s to say you have made the right choice?  So without babbling on too much, we have to do what’s right for our boys and that is to be somewhere that they can have both their parents around whenever they need them.  This has been on the cards for a long time (we really should have never moved back to Brisbane but that’s a whole other story) but we have had to make this decision so we can move after Christmas and get settled before Nate starts the school year.

So the house is on the market: oh the joy with two small children!! I just hope its sells fast so I can stop cleaning and go back to my carefree sticky floors.  All the planning has started including moving my business.  I wanted to tell you all what’s going on behind the scenes because just like you, I share the same issues and dilemmas that alot of WAHM have to deal with.  We all want endless hours and motivation to put into our business along with a faultless schedule to keep on top of everyday family life but we need to be realistic, life gets in the way.  In the past six weeks I think I may have clocked up, if I’m lucky 5 hours on the sewing machine.  It’s not that I don’t want to sew but with everything else going on and keeping on top of orders and the design and production side of my business, I just haven’t had the time.  To be honest, I don’t think I’m going to get much time between now and when we move after Christmas to sew L  By the time things settle down I will be having creative withdrawals and have to spend weeks making up for lost time! 

Over the past two months you have probably noticed I haven’t been blogging as much as I normally do and a bit absent on facebook but don’t be worried, I just have so much going on right now but I am still making time to work towards bringing you more and more twomonkeys fabrics. My new range is due late November/December and I have trade shows coming up so you will still see lots of things going on but I won’t be able to spare much time for the fun crafty stuff to share with you.  If only we could all have endless hours ......

So I will be keeping you up to date with my progress into the next few months of total chaos.  I have started preparing with increasing alcohol consumption, experimenting with the new tim tam range and I invested in an ‘extra large’ coffee cup.

So far so good J

A little peak at my second release

This is just a little taste of what is to come to twomonkeys.  This release is due November but may be a little late....will have to wait and see (fingers crossed!).

Something sweet for the girls.

and my favourite owls in an irresistible colourway.

This is the coordinating print to the boys design which is just adorable but you will have to wait and see what that one looks like :)  I have to keep something a secret and leave you in suspense.....

I hope you like!

So sweet

Nathan had a sleep over at his nannies last night (my mums) and I have to admit I couldn't wait for her to pick him up yesterday afternoon.
This is pretty much the only conversation I had with Nathan from the moment he woke up yesterday until mum picked him up about 2.30pm:
Nate: 6am "Mum, how long until nanny comes to get me"
Me: using all my strength to open my eyes and respond "Not until after lunch"
Nate: As the hours past he would ask around every two minutes "Mum, is it lunch time yet"
Me: Taking a deep breath with every response "No not yet. If you eat lunch early, its not going to make her come any sooner"
Nate: At lunch time...12.01pm  "Mum, I ate my lunch so pack my bag before nanny get here" he was very anxious.
Me: "Nathan, she is coming after lunch which means she will be a little while longer"
OMG the next two and a half hours felt like a lifetime!!! He just wouldn't stop asking because he was so excited.
When mum got here, I was the excited one:)
But as much a I lurve the peace and quite, you still miss them when they are gone. I still went to check on him before I went to bed out of habit and he wasn't there. Although I must say, I did indulge in a peaceful morning with just one child....bliss!
Mum said he was a total angel and did everything he was told, even went to bed on time! Why he can behave for everyone but me I just don't know... 
He made myself and his dad a special surprise.  It was all wrapped up and he was so excited to give it to me but I wasn't allowed to open it, he had to.  The whole present thing seems to go right over his head.  We keep trying to explain he cant open the presents he gives to others, just the ones given to him but he thinks he can open everything and he tells you what it is before you get a chance to see it! Oh so much to learn:)
So this was our gift.  He painted us a special coffee cup (I think he may have had a little help with the names) for each of us and they are so cute, I love them!  The perfect gift for two people that drink way too much coffee.  Next thing he will be hand painting me a wine glass.....

Such a crafty holiday project for the kids. Good on ya mum! :) Something to treasure forever.

Until next time:)

A little frazzled

Well it’s here... not sure where the last ten weeks went but school holidays are upon us once again. I don’t know why I’m worried about two weeks when SIX weeks of parent torture is just around the corner!! Good god, what am I going to do with him then!  I had great intentions of having caught up on my back log of work so I could just chill for the two weeks...never happened.  I have been really busy working on new designs, getting ready for the next release, organising trade shows, drafting patterns and deciding if I have enough time to add a twomonkeys handmade section to my website.  The answer to that is um...no way in the world! But I like the idea. Maybe next year when Nathan starts school.  At the moment, he only does a five day fortnight at kindy so those days are so important to me as they are the only daytime hours I get to work and I’m not a big night person...hence the workload constantly building.  If I was more productive at night and was more focused on work instead of pinterest and looking at my fave sites with style I can’t afford, like Anthropologie, I would be much more efficient! And now thanks to Janelle Wind, I am sitting her looking at Blythe Dolls!!

Anyway, enough said.  You get the picture of my lack of motivation past 8pm...

Now I have started writing this entry, I don’t even really know what it’s about. My head is all over the place at the moment, so many things going on I can’t think straight! I am the master of writing list after list to get organised.....STOP WRITING THE DAM LISTS AND JUST DO THE WORK!

This really is going nowhere.

It’s been over two weeks (yes I really have been so busy) since I last graced you with my poor attempt of creative writing so I thought I better say hi and give you an update and a sneak peek of what’s coming to twomonkeys.

This a quilt I am working on for Nathan.  The original pattern I cut out didn't work once I layed it out on the floor and I had to go back to the drawing board. This is what I came up with without wasting to much fabric I had already cut...

A colour scheme coming up in my next release :)

My little helper.....not so helpful at times :)

I have been super busy working with Pauline from Funky Friends Factory on so many up and coming things. SO excited, I wish I could tell you!

Until next time :)

Life as it is....

My Mum and Dad have one of those really fancy campers that slide on the back of a ute.  Its not exactly roughing it seeing it has air con, shower, toilet, full size queen bed and the list goes on.  And it all fits on the back of a ute (something way out of my price range for the next 50 years)!  Anyway, they have sold it because they just don’t get enough time to use it.  I did offer them the kids whenever they want and Michael and I would gladly get some use out of it for them but they didn’t think it was a great idea...I thought it was!!

They sold it to a couple in their early 30’s (my age) that are going to travel around Australia.  The couple don’t have any kids or a house. Their dream is to travel around the country and surf every beach along the way.  I was not taking this information in so well when mum was telling me over the phone with my kids going crazy in the background, I just wanted to break down in jealous frenzy and scream.

This got me thinking; why is that we all choose such different paths in life.  One persons dream could be another persons misery.  Of course we all make choices that make our lives what they are but is your life what you thought it would be?  Are you a meticulous planner and know exactly where you are going or do you ‘wing it’ like me and hope for the best?  Was it always your dream to marry, have children and a white picket fence or did you desire a life of travel and free spirit from a young age?  Did you make the choices you have made because that’s what you really wanted or was it because it seemed like the right and sensible choice. 

A friend of mine from way back in my primary school days has done nothing but travel the world working on private yachts of the rich and famous since she left school, a total free spirit.  Another is a professional performer who has danced in productions all over the world.  As kids we were so much alike, grew up over the years attached at the hip yet we couldn’t have more different lives now if we tried.  Some of my friends have chosen not to have kids and have a career, others sadly couldn’t be parents and would do anything to have a family.

Whatever we choose and where ever we are at, I think its human nature to have moments when we crave the opposite life to the one we lead.  I have a wonderful husband who is willing to support the family while I build my business, two amazing (crazy mad) little boys, a beautiful house and all the health I could ask for.  I am living the dream and doing what I love but there is always a little part of me that wonders if I would have ever chosen a different path in life.  I don’t think I would have, I think I was always destined to be a mum and a wife but I still wonder.....

This brings me to another question I have been asked about a thousand times over the past few months and that is; How did you get to do what you are doing? What made you decide to print your own fabric and how do you do it?

And the answer is:

I don’t really know! I don’t have an exact black and white answer to this question.  I'm not known for my future planning in life, as I said earlier my hubby and I are pretty good with the ‘wing it’ motto and 99% of the time it just works itself out.  It started from the determination not to go back to my old day job (pharmacy) once I had the boys.  I really wanted to build a business while they were young so by the time they started school, it would be established and profitable enough that I wouldn’t have to go back to work.  Mind you I have never worked harder in my life!!  It came from journey of ideas and trials trying to find my niche in an industry I am destined to be a part of.   It hasn't come handed to me, I have worked hard every.single.day, many a sleepless nights and I still have such a long way to go but I am loving it and twomonkeys has made a massive difference to my life.  I think the biggest thing is to make choices with your head and your heart.  Do the things you really want to do but don’t put anything you have and don’t want to lose at risk to reach your goal.  It may take you longer to get there but at least you have piece of mind if it doesn’t work, nothing is lost.   Draw inspiration from everywhere and keep yourself motivated, even when you feel its not worth it because it is.

So this brings me to the conclusion that the free spirited young couple about to set out on a journey of a lifetime to surf every beach in the country will have the time of their lives because that's their choice, the direction they have chosen, their destiny.

This is my life, my choices and the direction I have chosen; this is my destiny.  We don’t need to wish for better things or a different life, just love and accept the the things we have and we will all be much more content.

Until next timeJ