swim between the flags...

We are almost too tired to blog tonight - so far today we have been cycling, bush walking, kayaking, and swimming, we have played a bit of beach volleyball and spent a while at the children's playground too. It is just as well we have had all this exercise as we are eating ridiculous amounts of food! We could certainly get used to this life...

This photo was taken today at the beach. We are so grateful for the Aussie lifesavers who do such a great job keeping us safe in the surf.

busy bees...

Wow, have we been busy! With just over a week to go until our Saturday evening showing of our Spring Collection, a steady flow of orders to create, children on school holidays, and a blog to post to, it is fair to say that we are exhausted.

We are all looking forward to a weeks break at Stradbroke Island. With susieq and Dad back in town, JJ and her family, the seven in my family, and our little bro all going, we are going to have a fantastic time.

Here are a few of our latest creations. We just need a few more hours in our day...

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

spring cleaning

We have discovered these fantastic cleaning products that smell almost good enough to eat. Made from organic materials and completely non-toxic and biodegradable, they are good for the environment as well as being good for the home. Our favourites are the ones fragranced with juniperberry. The packaging is superb too, inspired by old fashioned brown apothecary bottles. 

Available online from the Murchinson and Hume website.

stripes...

We love, love, love these bigger buttons! After lots of bright florals it has been very refreshing to work with these black, neutral and cream stripes. We think this one will look great in a black frame, but it will have to wait until tomorrow as we are taking a break from working for the rest of the day - it is the first day of school holidays and it is time to do some activities with the kids!

Little Cotton Rabbits...

We mondo cherry girls have always been sew-ers and stick-ers, but none of us have ever been knitters.  Although our grandma (susiq's mother) has provided us with fantastic knitted jumpers throughout our childhood, and made our babies precious shawls and cardigans, the most we have ever managed is half a scarf!  Which might be why all of us are completely in love with these adorable knitted creatures by Little Cotton Rabbits.  Even if you have no kiddies to spoil, or your own children are grown, and well and truly past the soft toy stage, we still think it would be hard to resist the cheeky monkeys, lovable rabbits and perfect pigs.  How could you possibly choose just one!

If you want one of these gorgeous creations you have to be very quick as Julie sells them as fast as she can make them.  It is a good idea to join the mailing list to find out when new toys will be coming up for sale.  Julie also has a wonderful blog in which she shares the highs and lows of her day to day life and her creative endeavors.

dining by candlelight...

We love the atmosphere created by candles.  An evening meal seems so much more relaxing by candlelight and we often have a few candles on the table at dinner time - it seems to quieten the children a down a bit and some dim lighting takes the focus off the messy kitchen and the number of vegies I am trying to get into the kids!  This hanging candle wreath on my back deck looks beautiful on a balmy evening and we are lucky in Brisbane to be able to eat alfresco for so many months of the year. I bought this candle wreath in Sia - we are so sad that the Brisbane shop closed down as it was one of my favourite places to pop into for gifts.

birds in progress...

Here is a family of paper birds made from scraps of vintage illustrations. They are waiting patiently to be stitched. Sounds traumatic, we know, but we promise it doesn't hurt! 

driftwood...

Today has been a very warm day in Brisbane. Forget spring... it felt more like summer! Even though we don't live near the beach we all love the summery feeling that a few shells and a bit of driftwood bring to the home.  JJ found this simple driftwood garland measuring over two metres long at a gift shop recently. Wouldn't it look beautiful at Christmas time draped over a mantle or sideboard with baubles or fairy lights?

gorgeous greengate...

We all adore the Danish company  Greengate for their beautiful patterns and vivid colours. Here are a sample of the Greengate items we have in our homes - they look especially great in our girls' rooms. For those who shy away from too much colour, they also do some beautiful neutrals. Have  look at their catalogue for 56 pages of gorgeousness, and for those in Brisbane, Lily-G will be stocking Greengate from October...Hooray! 

note to any husbands of mondo cherry girls who may read this post... great ideas here for upcoming birthdays and Christmas!

flower power...

Here is one of the designs we have been working on this week.  It looks so pretty next to the lemons, limes and oranges that JJ bought yesterday. We can picture this in a kitchen. We really enjoyed beading this one, it sparkles beautifully and the cheery design helped to keep us awake late at night when the eyelids were getting heavy (well that, and a couple of cups of coffee!)

citrus colours...

JJ had a craving for some fresh lemons this morning, so she walked down to her local shops with a child in the pushchair and a baby in the sling, to satisfy the urge.  The lovely fresh colours of the fruit she came back with are inspiring us. We have started some projects working with yellows, oranges and citrus greens and they are gorgeously spring like.

With a lovely bowl full of lemons on the table, we are also getting inspired to clean and freshen up our homes. There is something about that fruit that makes us want to redecorate in bright, zingy colours, throw open the windows and let the sunshine in!

While we have been busy working on our spring collection, the youngest mini mondos (our children) have also been busy, trying to rival their mothers in mess-making.  The warmer weather has been great encouraging them to play outside again - there is hours of entertainment in something so simple as mixing and pouring coloured water.

Now back to JJ's craving... does anyone have a great recipe for fresh lemonade?! 

you are invited...

We are in the process of sending out invitations for our mondo cherry spring collection evening on October 4th. 

We are very much looking forward to getting feedback on our new work, and we so appreciate all the encouragement and support we receive.  It is definitely what keeps us going when we have those days when we wonder what we got ourselves into. 

With so much to do, and so little time to do it in, there are sure to be a few very late nights coming up. Having susieq back for ten days was fabulous and we can't wait to see her again when she returns at the end of the month. Some mondo cherry partners have more of a jet-setting life than others!

If any Brisbane readers would like to come to our evening, we would love to see you! Please email us for the details on mondocherry@mondocherry.com.au

Lucas the Legend...

JJ's hubby just returned from a working trip to Tokyo and here are some of the goodies he brought back for mondo cherry (under strict instruction). They are such beautiful colours and textures, we can't wait to start experimenting with them.

Nellie...

"Nellie The Elephant" was one of our favourite songs when we were little. Here is our version of Nellie, created from scraps of vintage children's book illustrations which were then stitched. She is presently trundling through the jungle on her way to Etsy!

things I've learnt...

The "Birthday World Games of the Millennium" Party we had for my son on the weekend was enjoyed by all the athletes.  Here are a few photos from the event, and some of the lessons I learnt...

There is nothing in the rule book to say that "The Cake" has to be all cake.  I was panicking about the athletics stadium cake my son requested unto we thought of the Duplo box and the Lego people. Very easy! 

A bit of crepe paper, some masking tape and a navy sheet makes an Australian flag tablecloth in  a jiffy.

I should never have attempted complicated flags with my limited icing abilities.  Apologies to all the Canadian readers for the rather dodgy maple leaf, and to the Australian readers for the stars! The Japanese flag was a whole lot easier.

Even 9 year old boys still like getting chocolate coin gold medals for amazing athletic performance.

not just coffee...

We were slightly naughty today... To celebrate susieq's birthday and her arrival back in town, we decided to venture out for a coffee and a cake.  With a beautiful, quirky gift shop nearby, we ended up coming home with more than just satisfied tummies.  Look at what we bought between us... not exactly essential items, but just the treat we needed.  Now, back to work!!!