The Mookah Studio Space.....

Have I bored you recently with how limited the Mookah studio is getting in terms of productive space? As our little label is getting busier and busier, we are having to stock and store more and more fabrics, cushion inserts, hobbyfill, packaging etc etc. While we have quite a large work bench (about 3.5m x 1.5m) Nicole and I often argue over who gets to use it.

Today however, it all just got a little out of control. Not only was Nicole and I trying to work in there with Cooper running around, but Mookah Man was in there on creative duties as well as an old friend who we shall refer to as 'Lucky Phil'.



Mookah Man has been busy working on some new pendant light shades to go over the kitchen island bench, to finish off the recent extension project. I'll give you a peek when they go up!


Lucky Phil on the other hand was not so lucky recently, requiring a knee reconstruction after a skiing injury and has come to stay at the Mookah Headquarters for a bit of rest and relaxation in the fresh country air. As it turns out, she is fantastic at felt circle work, pinning, cutting and I'll find out what else tomorrow!

I was on beanbag duties yet again today.....

Nicole got the most exciting job, a custom project out of one of our latest fabric finds. This fabric is called 'Blade' and is another australian hand screen printed fabric, from Surface Art.

Yummy isn't it?

The project is three very large cushion covers for a day bed in a brand new designer house here in Inverloch from one of our favourite builders, Martin Builders. While I'm here, congratulations to Dave and Jenny on the birth of their baby!

And the Mookah Studio? Well who knows, we'll just keep dreaming about our studio extension for now.

A day off with Coops!

Yesterday was my one day off for the week, and what better way to spend it than looking after my favourite nephew. So what did we get up to? Well, a bit of cooking (licking the bowl)....




Some mucking around......

And a trip to the beach with Nan Nan.....

Aahh...it's a tough life....

And damn I'm cute.....

Time to stop & smell the roses.....or eucalypts!

It's been a little hectic in the Mookah studio of late, with the illnesses we've all had, orders flowing in and trying to build up some stock for all the markets we have committed ourselves to before xmas.



So yesterday we took a little time out in the middle of the day to go for a walk, and enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine on our faces.



It was nice just to take a slow stroll and take in all the beauty surrounding us.

Of course no stroll is complete without checking out the progress in the vege patch.

Cooper was intrigued by these with their super tall flower spikes (not shown).

We must all remember to stop and smell the roses.....or eucalypts.....at times, mustn't we? It's good for the soul.

To Plan or Not To Plan?

Friday. No markets on the weekend. The last day of the working week. With lots to be done I had written a list of tasks and projects to be completed and my plan was to 'get into it' and have a really productive day. Nothing like a plan!

I was awoken at 7am to the sound of a closing car door, and thought, 'shit, that's here', and jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on, thinking it was probably the Australia Post guy coming with a delivery, cos he's always early. Instead, I opened my back door to this smiling face.

Apparently my sister had had a sleepless night and was tired and grumpy, so thought it would be easier (for her) to come over to Aunty Lulu's and let her deal with the very energetic Cooper. For what seems like the first time in a long time it was a beautiful morning, so after brekky we went for a walk along the beach, and then came back and had an explore in my back yard, where Cooper found a friendly eagle.

By the time I arrived at the studio at 10am I received a phonecall from a friend saying it was a beautiful day and he was going to go for a ride on his motorbike and come over for a visit. I'm thinking, okay, you gotta have some fun too, so I'll do what i can after he goes. Well after a lazy BBQ lunch in the sun, and by the time we were able to drag Cooper away from the motorbike (brrm, brrm) it was about 3pm.

Well everyone knows you can't start working at 3pm on a Friday afternoon, that's nearly drinks time after all, isn't it? So instead we had a drink and started our weekend a little early....

Everything doesn't always go to plan, but hey, things always seem to work out in the end don't they?

Winter Vege Garden.....

Previously I have never had much success in the vege garden in winter, but to be fair I've never had much of a vege garden before and who wants to spend time out in the cold wet windy weather turning over the soil?

Well now I have more vege garden than I know what to do with and I'm determined to produce all these fabulous goodies that are going to make me strong and heallthy and maybe even save a few bucks at the shopping centre each week. I must confess, it's technically not my vege garden, its 'theirs' or 'ours'. That is, it's at my sisters place where our studio is situated and as I do half the work in it, then surely that makes it 'ours', or 'mine' even when I feel like it...yeah?

Since big sis moved in about 5 months ago, we've been slowly working to get it back to health with lots of digging, turning and horse poo, and Daz has worked hard to put up a fence and gate to keep all the critters out (rats, rabbits, kangaroos etc) and has moved the potting shed for us to a nice convenient position.

In autumn we planted silverbeet, spinach, beetroot, parsnip, broccoli, celery, cabbage, strawberries, and what we thought was leeks, but has turned out to be onions. About a month ago now we went out to harvest our first planting of beetroot, only to find that the wildlife had 'just' beaten us to it, as they were okay only a few days previously. Lucky we had a 2nd and 3rd planting of beetroot, and anyway we've fixed the suckers now, with that fence and gate! You don't suppose they can open gates do you?

Today I dropped in on my way home from Melbourne to pick a few things to go in my dinner, and can I just say that I think I cooked my best fried rice ever, which included fresh broccoli, celery, and spinach leaves from 'our' vege garden. It's a pity I'm not a rhubarb fan, look at it, it's going crazy!
I've got to say, its pretty darn good being able to 'take 5' from all that creativity and production and just go and work in the vege patch for 1/2 hour, and its even better picking fresh ingredients to cook with. All the family is benefiting from this little patch of dirt.

Oh and in case you hadn't noticed, my nephew Cooper also loves being in the vege garden, and he doesn't mind his photo being taken either!

Life is a Carnival...

Life is a carnival....

Only very recently our small family was scattered over theplace, but in a short space of time we as sisters (& family) have had a seachange to Inverloch and our parents have finally moved into their brand new dream home in town as well. After moving out of the family home 15-20 years ago, and going our separate ways, we are all within 7klm’s of each other again. So where is this going you ask?

This journey we are currently on at Mookah is reflected in one of our new fabric additions, we have aptly named ‘Carnival’. We actually bought it a little while ago and hadn’t done anything with it until last week when a customer (Christine) went out of her way to visit us at Mornington market because she wanted to place a special order in this fabric. She has ordered a Pod and 2 matching throw cushions and will drop by to pick it up this Sunday at the Lardner Park Craft Market.

What do you think? Be honest, all comments appreciated. I can tell you now that Cooper thinks it is ‘FANTASTIC’! As soon as he see’s it his eyes just light up.

The dream, the inspiration....

It has been our dream for many years to be able to run our own business together, which would allow us to be our own boss, have flexible working hours, for Nicole particularly with Cooper to be able to work from home as he has only just turned 1, and to do something that we both love to do.

We share a love for renovating/making over properties and selling them, which we have both had successful and separate experiences of, and our ideal dream would be to do this full time, or part time and make a living doing something else as well for some diversity. So the question was what else?


Nicole and her partner were told by a local real estate agent that if they ever wanted to start up a business making over properties for sale, he would be able to send plenty of business their way, and while this was appealing to all of us in some ways, they are now moving from Melbourne to Inverloch (in just 6 more days!), and didn't know what this would mean.

The inspiration for our current plans has come from Cooper, Nicole & Darrel's 1 year old son, and my favourite (and only) nephew!

Over the xmas period we had lots of discussion, research, and trawling the internet etc, in combination with looking at what skills and experience we have, what skills and experience we would like to have, and came up with some thoughts on what things we could make ourselves and sell at local markets, some 3-4 day exhibitions around the country, as well as through our own web page, ebay and other more specific target market web sites.

Our thoughts included a range of items directed specifically at children, as well as other furnishing/homeware products, including a range of cute and cuddly stuffed animals, co-ordinating fabric throw cushions, ottomans and wall hangings, as well as a range of screen printed items such as t-shirts, satchel bags, and fabric for decorator items.

It all sounds like a lot I know. I'll post some piccies next time, when I can work it all out!


Leisa