Scooter Heaven

I have an ongoing love affair with scooters. Unlike most people, it didn't start with endless reruns of Roman Holiday, but on a rental on Magnetic Island where I crashed a sum total of three times due to some dodgy brakes, but couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face the whole time. After that I was totally hooked.

I'd actually always fancied myself as a bit of a hot chick on a motor bike, channelling my inner Pinky Tuscadero or just like Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2. But being a person of rather small and light stature, I didn't really want to be commuting about town on a pee-wee 50, so a scooter it was. A sleek and ultra cool Vespa was way out of my price range, so I opted for a Piaggio. More plastic, less storage, less prestige, but hey, it still sounds italian right?

So my misadventures see me scootering around town, getting burnt to a crisp in the tropical heat. Third degree burns on my butt when trying to ride in a skirt and then there was the time I got stung on the cheek by a very angry scooter hating bee! I loved every minute of it right up until when riding home from work in a storm a gust of wind caught me and blew me right into the side of a removal truck whilst I was navigating a round-a-bout.

The stories I heard back later were much elaborated and actually sounded much cooler (one I may or may not have started myself had me sliding mission impossible style right under the truck), but in all reality I just put my arm out, bounced off and wobbled the rest of the way home very shaken and doing about 40km under the speed limit practically on the footpath. After that I road my beloved scooter less and less and eventually we parted ways when I sold it too another scooter mad chicky with a pink leather jacket. I'm such a scardy cat :(

However I will always look back upon my scootering days with a certain fondness one has for miss spent youth, and when I'm a reckless old lady with little to loose I'll be back out on the highway on my scooter. I'm just hoping it won't be the type you can hire at the chemist.

Here are a few ways I can still get my scooter fix until I can live the dream once more...

Bike, Scooter, and Chopper Projects for the Evil Genius (Evil Genius)


This one will have you ditching the kids and planning a real Roman Holiday! It's a fun read as well as being a bit of a travel guide.

Vroom with a View: In Search of Italy's Dolce Vita on a '61 Vespa


How cute is this coin purse? And in pink too! Available from Retrospettive on Etsy

This one makes me wish I'd pay more attention every time my Mum tries to teach me how to knit! Available from Leah Sutton's shop on Etsy

Retail therapy

We're stuck at home today with the car in for a service and I'm trying to psych myself up for the bike ride into town later this afternoon to take parcels to the post office. Don't usually mind the ride, but it's hard work going up the hills with the two girls in the trailer yelling at you to go faster.

So I've been indulging in a little retail therapy today. Few early Xmas presents organised, looking for Father's Day pressie for my husband from the girls and for my Dad, but so far all I've found are things I want myself (surprise surprise :)

This fantastic necklace was on the front page of Etsy this afternoon. I just missed out as it got snapped up so quickly. I'm really into silhouettes and shadow themes at the moment.

Find the artist The Mymbles Daughter on Etsy and check out all the other awesome designs she does. I love all her Alice in Wonderland pieces too!

Speaking of shadow's, our Mermaid Seascape Shadow Puppet was featured in Shop 4 Kids magazine which came out on Monday. Super excited to see ourselves there, now we just need to get more in stock cause were already sold out :( Don't worry they'll be back soon!

Hump Day Helper #7: Happy Birthday Wheel

Yay!!! Monkeytail & Wellington is 1 today! Just 12 short months ago my hair brained scheme became reality and I can't believe how fast the time has flown! My children still think that Mummy's "Shop" is a figment of my imagination (and sometimes I wonder that myself), but I'm fairly sure I'm not hallucinating, just extremely sleep deprived!

Now that the financial year is over and there is just the counting left to do, I can start looking for some delicious new things to bring to the store! I've already got my eye on some very lovely tid bits I can't wait to show everyone, but for now, I'm off to eat a birthday cupcake (or 3 cause no ones watching) and a much needed cup of coffee!


I think that today's hump day helper is a stellar idea. I am terrible for remembering birthday's! I like to ignore my own, but other than my immediate family I have a huge problem remembering. even if I write it down in my diary, you can put money on it that I will forget to look... must be a subconscious metal block... I've got no other explanation.

But today I'm going to have a crack at making myself a Birthday Wheel! This idea is courtesy of Enchanted Learning.

What do you need?

Cardboard or stiff paper
A compass or something to help you draw a circle
Scissors
A brass paper fastener
A pencil to mark the circle
Crayons etc to decorate

How to do it

Cut out two circles of equal size. Divide one circle into 12 equal segments, then draw a series of concentric circles.On the second circle, cut out a shape equal to 1/12th of the circle
Write the name of each month around the edge of the first circle in each segment.
Place the second circle over the first and secure with the paper fastener. Then write the birthdays of your family and friends on the wheel and decorate! No more forgetfulness!!

March resolution

On my recent trade show trip to Sydney I managed to indulge in a pleasure I have long since given up for the sake of not enough hours in the day. Reading a novel for the sole purpose of enjoyment! It was heaven. I paid a pretty overpriced dollar at the airport for a copy of "A First Among Sequels" by Jasper Fforde, who is one of my favourite authors, and pulled it from my bag at every available moment just so I could finish it uninterrupted before I returned home.

I managed all but the last chapter, which I stayed up extra extra late to finish the second night I was home. Bliss, true bliss and Fforde witty satire did not disappoint. I highly recommend the Thursday Next series and The Nursery Crime series is awesome too!

Anyhoo, I was in a bookstore this morning looking for a present for my husband and feeling sorry for myself when I spotted all the new titles out that I once coveted and would have purchased on the day they were released, when I made myself a March resolution.

I will attempt to read 1 whole book per month! Doesn't sound too bad, but considering my only non child or business reading time is when I read the Weekend Australian magazine in the toilet, it could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

So, instead of spending money on something I probably won't finish, I came home and chose another book of the shelf that I already haven't finished! (this means, when I tell my husband my brilliant idea, I get extra points for not spending any money also!!)

So the challenge I have given myself for March is to read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I chose this one for three reasons...

1. I can tell myself I'm much smarter now cause I'm reading "the classics"
2. It was the thinnest book with only 213 pages if I don't read any of the notes or appendix
3. My other choice was the last Harry Potter novel, but I have to re-read all the others first cause its any annoying habit I have when i read a new book in a series. So this one book alone could potentially take me 6 months!

So wish me luck, I'll let you know how I go! Vicki xxx

Behind the scenes....

If your interested in a behind the scenes glimpse at Monkeytail and Wellington, hop on over to Style Collective. Its a fab site to peruse and I find something new and fun each time I visit. You can also win stuff!!!

But enough about that and more about me.... just kidding :) Amanda, the divine soul behind Style Collective interviewed me last month about how Monkeytail and Wellington came to be... read all about it here!

Gone Shoppping - Yeah!

I'm off on a little shopping adventure this weekend... shopping for you that is (OK, and me too!) I'm off to the Trade Shows in Sydney to see what new goodies I can find for Monkeytail & Wellington. I'm hoping to take some lovely happy snaps while there to share with you of the treasures I find.... stay tuned!

I actually don't know whether I'm more excited about going shopping or the fact its a big girl adventure all on my own in the big city!!! That translates to getting to take my time looking at something without a toddler tantrum or 6,000 toilet trips to make in the process (remember what it used to be like... once upon a time? ahhhh)

So, as I'm already on my adventure (I'm so techno savvy now I'm even posting this while in transit!!) no parcels will be shipped between today (Friday 20th) and Monday 23rd. Everything will be processed and shipped on Tuesday 24th.

Cheers ;) Vicki xx

A Monkeytail and Wellington Adventure

I have a little story to tell you about a beetle.

Those of you who know me, know that if something is going to go wrong around me, chances are it will snowball into a catastrophe fairly quickly. And with two very precocious little girls constantly at my side you can guarantee a disaster of some proportions is at hand just about every day. You’ve got to laugh or you’ll cry right? Well, we laugh a lot around here!

My husband is the champion of my daughters’ lives. He is always taking them out exploring in the garden, digging for worms, collecting insects and the like. Somewhere along the line, Monkeytail became especially fond of beetles. Not cute little ladybug beetles either… unfortunately. Rather the big, black, rhinosaurus looking kind with nasty sticky claws. The only other animal that runs a close second in her affections are guinea pigs. I personally would rather clean the cages of 10 stinky guinea pigs each day than touch another beetle. But I refuse to let her catch my insect allergy, and bite really hard on one finger whenever one of her beetles wants to give me a cuddle.

One very rainy day a few weeks back, my husband phones while we are out and about on our mornings adventures to say he has found the “Mother of all Beetles” at work and he’s been saving it for Monkeytail. Quote “She’ll love this one, it’s feisty”. That should have been the first warning.

We swing on past and pick up the newest family member. Monkeytail insists on his sitting on her lap while we drive home and I think nothing of it, I took a beetle grocery shopping only last week. Our new feisty friend promptly hops up on his back legs and gives Monkeytail a good ‘talking’ to. Second warning.

“Mummy, he says he wants to go home and have some bread and honey.”

“Sure sweetheart, tell beetle to put his seatbelt on and we’ll go home.”

Beetle continues to state to Monkeytail his demands and they enter a lively discussion about where he’ll sleep when he gets home.

We make it about 2 minutes down the road when Monkeytail starts screaming, so loudly and in such a way that I was certain the beetle had just gone for her throat. She was petrified, to say the least. I try to pull off the road to find out what s going on, when the biggest beetle I have ever seen does a fast lap of the car, passing about one inch from my nose (which is considerably close to the windscreen considering how hard it is raining).

Now I start screaming too. I just can’t help it. Wellington, also in the back, to this point has been watching Monkeytail’s interaction with Beetle with her usually bemused smirk. She starts screaming too cause she doesn’t like to be left out.

I swing off the road and pull up haphazardly at the curb, leaping out into the pouring rain. I fling open Monkeytail’s door hoping that the beetle will just fly out. No such luck.

Beetle has landed on Monkeytail’s head and is stuck in her hair. He’s trying desperately to get free by flapping his wings like mad - only blowing more of her hair up and around and getting even more tangled in it. I, biting very hard on one hand to suppress the fear, try to grab him. Now he’s flapping and hissing and he’s got hold of the skin on her head too.

I look madly around the car for something to whack him with and come up with an umbrella. Monkeytail starts screaming louder because now she thinks I’m going to smack her over the head with my Pooh Bear brolli. Wellington has stopped screaming and is laughing herself stupid.

I manage, very diligently and very bravely to flick the beetle off of Monkeytail’s head without clobbering either of them. At this stage I don’t know what’s going to be more scaring for Monkeytail - the memory of the day the beetle attacked, or the memory of the day Mummy beat her new best friend to death with an umbrella.

The beetle does another few fast laps of the car while I run around flinging open doors trying to usher him out. He finally lands on the cloth trim on Monkeytail’s door. One more swift flick and he’s legs up (still kicking) on the footpath in the rain. I slam all doors shut and hop into the car to console the hysterically crying and hysterically laughing children.

A few minutes later we are all composed if not much wetter and disheveled and are headed home. I’ve made the call to Monkeytail’s dad and had a few words regarding feisty beetles and keeping them properly restrained for transport. Another 2 minutes down the road and Monkeytail says…

“Mummy, where’s my beetle? I want him, he’s going to sleep in my room.”

“Honey, your beetle just tried to take out one of your eyes and has given you a rather bad haircut. Why would you still want him to sleep in your room?”

“Cause I love him.”

What can you say to that?


This is a picture (posed and taken by Monkeytail) of our latest beetle family member. We sometimes struggle with the release part of our catch and release programme, but this one has since been returned safely to his mummy! Here he is sleeping soundly in the dolls house master bedroom. Nothing but the best for our house guests :)

Woo Hoo, MT & W on Facebook

I'm becoming more technologically advanced by the second here (OK, its taking quite a bit longer than that), but Monkeytail & Wellington now has its very own Facebook page.... Yeah!

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/pages/Monkeytail-and-Wellington/51368197858

Hope to meet you there!

Happy Birthday Wellington

My sweet little Wellie today turned 2 whole years old (sniff, sniff, how time flies). Celebrated with a spanky new dolls house and a happy birthday black eye thanks to an overexcited lunge towards more presents! She had a black eye on her first birthday too, must be her own personal tradition. Next year I might get her a full face helmet and make sure she wears it while unwrapping pressies, just to be on the safe side and guarantee a nice bruise free photo. Love you Wellie xxx

IT'S ALIVE....

After a very long wait and many, many, many late nights programming, sorting, writing.... sleeping face down on the keyboard.... the Monkeytail and Wellington website is officially LIVE!!!!!!

Thank you so much to my ever suffering husband and to Monkeytail and Wellington for putting up with a very distracted Mum for the last few months as this all came together. And also to all the suppliers, artists and designers who have helped along the way.

There are lots of lovely items already in stock, I hope you'll take the time to visit and have a look around, but of course, new stock is arriving all the time, here is a sneak peek of whats coming soon...


I'm really, really, really (no really!) excited about these products from designers that have made their wares especially for Monkeytail and Wellington. So look out for the coolest handmade jewelery from the UK; super capes, masks & power cuffs; and handmade felted hobby horses, and so much more, coming very, very soon!

Sock Monkeys, the critters that started it all, are currently preening for a photo shoot and will be available in store ASAP.

...Oh, and some more groovy wooden toys and books just arrived, so look out for those this week!