Friday Friends - Dusty Divas - Two Cheeky Monkeys

Welcome once again lovely readers to Edition 2 of my Friday Friends - Dusty Divas series. I want to take time to quickly make special mention to all those who have contributed, in any way, big or small to the donating of goods, administration or promotion of the Etsian Australian Flood Appeal store. To date, there have been 380 sales, there are still 279 items available for purchase and US$4323.85 has been raised (less Etsy and Paypal Fees) for The Queensland Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal. This week I have great pride in introducing a fabulous Dusty Diva who has been working behind the scenes, helping with listing and the administration of the Etsian Australian Flood Appeal store - meet Deb
of Two Cheeky Monkeys !
I am really excited about the new range Deb is introducing this year - these gorgeous shabby chic fabric cuffs! These ones aren't quite completed yet (they need their button closures sewn on) according to Deb but I think they are gorgeous !

and I quite partial to this sweet brooch

I mean who doesn't swoon just a little at the thought of the lovely Mr Darcy ?

I also have in my personal collection these lovely Two Cheeky Monkeys goodies - a girl can NEVER have too many earrings right ?




I invite you lovely readers, to take a load off your weary feet, to put them up and rest awhile, and enjoy the this tale of Deb and Two Cheeky Monkeys.
PS - sending lots of Maddabling love to those affected by the floods on the East Coast of Australia - stay safe xo




The Enticing Tale of Deb & Two Cheeky Monkeys

I was born in Singapore and lived there until my family emigrated to Australia in the mid 1980s, but think of myself as an Aussie and a Melbournian. In fact, I am so Westernised that my family, husband and close friends often refer to me as a "banana" (Chinese in appearance but "white" in my outlook and lifestyle). I live in Melbourne with my maths/computer/theology geek husband and our two little girls.

I still find it a little strange when my friends call me crafty or creative because, although I have loved to craft since a very young age and have also been heavily involved in musical activities for most of my life, that's a side of me which has sat in the background while I spent years chasing my dream of being either a lawyer or a geneticist. As it turned out, law wasn't really for me and I ended up studying science and history at university, eventually completing a PhD in molecular biology.

It wasn't until my second daughter was born, and I found myself unable to find a part-time research position, that I returned to my love of creating. I love my daughters, but being at home all the time with a baby and a toddler and little adult stimulation was slowly driving me crazy. I started making birthday cards for our family and close friends and jewellery for myself while the girls napped and eventually ended up surfing the web for online bead stores and new craft projects.

Reading the blogs of many creative individuals opened up my crafting world and I found craft projects I could do with my young children as well as projects I could make for them. By this stage I was giving our friends and family not only handmade birthday and Christmas cards, but handmade birthday and Christmas presents too.

So much so that several of them suggested that I try selling my creations at markets or online. I thought long and hard about such a scary step for about six months before my Two Cheeky Monkeys "label" was born. My husband helped me to come up with my label name, inspired by our two gorgeous, but cheeky, little girls!

Although I don't think of myself as a very "girly" girl (some of my favourite movies are the Matrix, LOTR and X-men series), I absolutely love vintage items and wanted to sell a range of vintage-inspired and feminine jewellery and accessories. Many of my pieces contain at least some vintage beads or cabochons from the early 20th century as well, to keep with the vintage feel I am trying to achieve.

Using vintage supplies also makes me feel like I am "recycling" and being at least a little eco-conscious in my creating. Earlier this year my love of op shopping and vintage books led me to create a line of black and white vintage dictionary art prints which have proved to be surprisingly popular. This further led me to create a line of Pride and Prejudice jewellery pieces which contain a snippet of vintage P+P text set into cameos.

I am constantly amazed at the wonderful array of vintage items I can find at op shops and every new find inspires me to create something new or to expand my already existing lines of jewellery and art.

While I originally started my business as a solution to my unemployment and "boredom" at home, I feel very blessed to live in a first world country and to be able to access pretty much everything I need so readily. I don't want for food or shelter, I didn't have any trouble getting an education and I can even practise my faith and religious beliefs as I wish, for the most part. Because of these blessings in my life, I was challenged to think about how I could use my crafting to help those less fortunate.

After some research, I decided to donate a portion of all of my profits to the Lydia's List project which helps women in developing countries to fight poverty, discrimination and lack of education. I thought it was fitting that as a woman with her own small business, both my customers and I are helping other women to get on their feet and hopefully influence their communities for the better as a result.

And as for my dreams for Two Cheeky Monkeys - I would love for my fan base to keep growing and I want to find more stockists for my work as well as pursue more opportunities (especially paid ones) to write for beading or craft magazines. I know a lot of that will have to wait till my children are older and not so dependant on me, but it's nice to have a goal to work towards.
Want to snap up some Two Cheeky Monkeys goodies just for yourself ?

You can buy online at :

Etsy : http://dspdavey.etsy.com


Madeit : http://www.madeit.com.au/TwoCheekyMonkeys

or why not connect through :

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

The Two Cheeky Monkeys Blog :
http://twocheekymonkeysdesigns.blogspot.com

or how about some lovely tweets from Twitter :
http://twitter.com/dspdavey