Introducing another newcomer to Piccadilly Market on Sunday 4th August

Tell us a little about yourself? Monday Monday specialize in handmade jewellery. We are a creative duo based in Geelong; I work as a full time Visual Merchandiser and Jake is a Graphic Designer, so working on a creative project together seemed only natural to us. We make all our pieces by hand in our home studio. We love that by handcrafting each bead, no two necklaces will ever be identical, each one is unique. Our range is sold online at Monday Monday and Piccadilly Market will be our first ever market stall. We are so excited that it is in our home town. We can't wait to see some familiar faces swing by on the day, and hopefully some new ones too!

 How did you come up with your business name? We were testing new ideas one night around the dining room table - mucking around with clay, sketching, brainstorming - and as always, Jake had his music blaring! We were trying to think of a name that was simple and easy to remember, but also had some relevance to travel. Then this song came on and we both just thought 'Monday; that's a cool name'. So Monday Monday was born! And if you're wondering about the relevance to travel... people start planning a holiday on a Monday more than any other day of the week. I think that might have something to do with Monday-itis :)






Tell us how your product/range/business came about? We both worked long hours when we lived in Melbourne and often didn't get to work on any fun projects together. When we moved back to Geelong and had a little more time on our hands I started playing around with Polymer Clay. Family and Friends were always commenting on my jewellery so we thought maybe we could start selling and put the money towards our wedding at the end of the year. I was really excited that Jake actually enjoyed helping out with everything from making the beads to designing the packaging. He's been amazing! Now, what started out as a hobby has become more successful than we could have imagined through our own websiteMonday Monday and the online gift store hardtofind.com.

 How long have you been in business for? We started making our jewellery in December 2012. Our website launched at the start of March and we have been growing strong ever since

 What inspires you? Our pieces are inspired by travel; Places we've visited and others that are on our wish list. Jake is a great photographer and has captured some amazing moments from our travels. We use these photos as inspiration where we can. Of course we all have our pinterest wish boards, and ours is all about travel destinations. This helps us inject some new colours and variety into our necklaces.



 Have you always been ‘creative’ or has it bloomed later in life? Jake has definitely always been creative. He knew very early on that he wanted to be a Designer. I, on the other hand, didn't realise I was creative until maybe 6 years ago. I was always good with numbers in school and actually wanted to study to be an Accountant. But working in retail led me to Visual Merchandising and I realised that I had a bit of a knack for making and creating.

 When you are not busy creating what do you love doing? We are super busy this year planning our wedding. It's only four months away and we feel like there is still so much to do, but we're definitely enjoying it. When we do get some down time we love just hanging out with good friends and family.

 What is something cool that most people wouldn’t know about you? When there's a lot going on in your life, sometimes things can get a little too serious. So we have a rule in our house that if one person is dancing, everyone has to dance! It's a great way to lighten the mood and remind yourself that life is meant to be fun! (what a fantastic rule)

 If money was no object what would be your dream destination? We've always wanted to take a few months to travel through France and Spain.

 What are you reading right now? I've just finished reading the Hunger Games: Catching Fire. But now its all 'wedding' business and I'm reading Hello May Magazine.( awesome magazine..makes me want to get married again)

 What is your favorite website(s) ? One of my favorite websites is Fancy.com. It is super cool and has so many unique items - from gadgets, to clothing to homewares. Lots of fun!

Kate and Jake will be giving away one of their fab necklaces in our giveaway on the 4th August.

Miss Bestie and I went out to the Geelong Vintage Market today for a little look see and to check out The Pickers Union Cafe. Looks like we may have found our new favourite place.





A business like this just goes to show that if you get it right your location does not matter. The Pickers Union Cafe is so welcoming with great quirky decor that is in keeping with the Vintage Market it is part of.






We started with a lovely Chai Latte that was perfect and not that sickly sweet that so many serve up. We both had the most perfectly poached eggs with field mushrooms on sourdough bread. Simple yet totally scrumptious and satisfying.

We should have stopped there but the array of amazing looking sweets hooked us in and on recommendation from the super gorgeous and friendly Bec we had the Rhubarb cake....Yum! and Crazy Slice which honestly must be tasted. Way to hard to explain, we were speechless.

After our lovely breaky we head into the Vintage Market which is 2000 square metres and 60 stalls of Vintage goodness. Managed to pick up a few little goodies.

With the crazy lead up to Piccadilly Market on the 4th of August this was a great way to spend a morning and escape from our desks for a few hours.




P.S  They have full cream milk like any excellent Cafe should.  Others need to step up.

The fabulous Superficial Sadie was In the Spotlight last year which you can read here. Darcie has added some new beautiful pieces to her range she wanted to share with you.



She is introducing a new gemstone range which incorporates beautiful faceted natural gems, with her own hand-rolled beads. They are a little more delicate, but still bright and unique with the Sadie look. Also - the tassel styles look great,   lots of big bold tassels in the current styles. She also started including a single 'S' stamped bead in each necklace as a Superficial Sadie hand-made signature.







I am sure you will agree the range looks great.


Darcie has very kindly donated this necklace for the 4th of August Hamper Giveaway

I really need to vent.

Have you seen the comments made by Katie Hopkins about children's names? If you have not, make yourself a cuppa and watch this and then let me know what you think.


How do you feel?

No matter how I look at it, I am saddened and disappointed by her words. My first thought is she is totally taking the piss and if she is shame on her, it is not remotely funny. My 2nd thought is she is trying to get her face on TV again so again shame on her for using this as her vehicle. My 3rd is that she honestly believes what she is spewing and that gets the biggest SHAME ON YOU.

Fancy judging a child or any person for that matter by their name. Katie will not let her children have play dates with people named Dylan, Phoenix, Chelsea and the list goes on. She says knowing a child has a name like Dylan is a short cut to knowing that the mother is most likely overweight, wears stretch leggings and does not read a newspaper. WTF!!!!!  Really!!!!

The same day that I first heard this story, I also saw that the 3 girls who were locked in a basement for 10 year in  Cleveland had made they first TV appearance. Someone had commented on a FB post and I so wish I had it word for word. They were basically saying what amazingly strong women they are and that they will make it and their experience will make them appreciate life, the meaning of life and why we are here on Earth.

Sadly this Katie is so full of herself and her crazy ideas that she has no understanding about life or people.

Aghhhh!!!!! She has so pressed my buttons and she goes on to say that people who have had their buttons pushed feel that way because they agree with her. Disagree Strongly.

You know the truth is, maybe if one of my kids came home and said they had a new friend called Chardonnay, I may stop and be  little surprised by the name choice but there is no way the story would end there. I would never, ever judge someone on something so shallow. I would meet Chardonnay and her family and see is we shared the same value system.

I wish she could use her passion and conviction towards something real and something that matters.

She disapproves of State names like Georgia, Savannah and Indiana but her daughter is India, somehow that is different. No Seasons like Summer are allowed. Where does it stop? Her daughter is Poppy, so flowers are allowed.

I absolutely know this woman and I would never get along. What a sad life filled with sad, pompous people she must live. She is a self confessed snob to the highest degree.

I hate that the media is giving her air time and kind of mad I am giving her blog space but I have to let it out.

How do you feel?

Ok, so for years now I have been hearing about the fabulous Thermomix and all it can do and how I of all people really needs one. Upon hearing the price I have just blocked my ears and said La la la every time someone talked about it.

THEN it started showing up in my newsfeed on Facebook.

"Wow look at the sorbet I made in 2.4 minutes"
"I just made me own pesto, stock and tikka paste"
"Look at my amazing green smoothie"
" I just made the kids snack for the week in 1 hour"

Aghhhhh!!!!!  Make them stop.

So when my Aunt announced she was going overseas I found myself asking if I could loan hers for a few weeks and thats when I entered the slippery slope of no return.

One of my friends Sophie became a consultant and I told her she could practise on me and BFF Peg but 100% no way was I buying one.  10 minutes into our demo Peg and I looked at each other and were "Holy Crap I really need one of these"

Day 1, I started with my own beautiful, amazing Tikka Paste that in turn made amazing butter chicken that had the kids licking their plates. Tick.

Day 2 was the crazy, amazing fried rice from Quirky Cooking done on all 3 levels of the Thermo. No oil and totally relish. Tick.


Day 3 and why don't I make my own chicken concentrate from scratch that now gets dolloped into lots of meals.



Day 4 lets try some of the super creamy, delicious, lump free custard that everyone raves about...yep its that good.

Think I should pull out the paperwork and see how I can pull this thing of.

Day 5 Beef Stroganoff yumminess that had some more licking of plates

Day 6  I cant believe I waited 6 days to try fruity dream. Raw sugar and frozen fruit whipped up with an egg white in 3 minutes to produce the best dessert ever.



Hook, line and sinker

In the days that followed was shortcrust pastry, pizza dough for school rolls, lemon curd, vegetable concentrate, tuna casserole and much more.



"Hi Sophie, how quickly can I get my Thermo baby"

I so did not want to be one of 'those' people that post pics and boast online about their Thermo adventures. I am currently sitting on my hands to not post daily, we will see how long I last on Facebook. You really will want to scream it from the roof tops. Crazy I know.

Why Do I Love my Thermomix?

I would like to introduce a brand new business to Piccadilly Market, the lovely Hayley from love.heart.home






What inspires you? Other small business owners. I know first hand how hard it is to have an idea and then make it into reality, but the success of others just makes me more driven to grow my own business.