March Vendor of the Month: Two Cheeky Monkeys

What do you get when you take an ex-scientist and add in a love for vintage beads and cabochon's? Well, a jewelry and accessory designer and owner of Two Cheeky Monkeys, of course!

With the encouragement of family and friends, Two Cheeky Monkeys began in July 2009 after being unable to find work in Melbourne as a Scientist.  With 2 little girls who are the inspiration behind the business name, she can no longer be found in the research lab, but is now a work from home mom with a thriving jewelry and accessory design business.

With a love for vintage beads, jewels, pearls, and Swarovski, Deb creates vintage inspired pieces, as well as pieces with a more modern flair.  All of the designs that you purchase at Two Cheeky Monkeys are either Limited Edition or one of a kind pieces, giving you the guarantee that no 2 pieces will be the same.  Deb does not stop at jewelry.  She designs and handcrafts hair accessories; brooches, and shoe clips.  You are one of a kind.  Shouldn't your jewelry and accessories be as well?  What's even better than that, Deb donates 10% to all profits to Tear Australia a Christian Aid and Advocacy Organization that helps people in developing countries.

Deb is available for jewelry parties and home viewings as well!  Contact her to discuss this further.

You can find Deb here:
Twitter  {@dspdavey}
www.twocheekymonkeysdesigns.blogspot.com
At her Etsy shop here.

The Paper Couturière

This is the first opportunity that I've given myself to sit at the computer and write a blog post.  As many of you know, I've spent the better part of the last 5 weeks or so completely overhauling the website.  Why did it only take you 5 weeks, you ask? Well, because I was working on it 7 days a week, for up to 15 hours a day. Over the top?  Yes. Necessary? Absolutely.

With the launch of the new website just last Thursday, on 11 March, I've not wanted to even turn my computer on, let alone do any typing or editing. I've had enough of it.  But, it's Monday.  A new week, and time to get stuck back into it.  I don't want to lose any of the creative juices that I rediscovered while on my website overhaul journey.  Which brings me to right now.

So many of you assisted me in this process from beginning to end.  You know who you are.  I sought help at 3am, and I begged for assistance at 1pm.  I was stressed beyond belief, and you listened to me, you offered advice, you gave me constructive criticism, and you never, not once, told me I was crazy {even though I'm sure you thought it}.  {By the way, I am.  Totally. Crazy.} 

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.  You helped me keep my sanity, and that means the world to me.  For those of you who offered the most beautiful compliments and feedback after the launch, I say thank you.  I am so proud of the finished result.  I see how all of my hard work, all of the insomnia, and all of the stress headaches, have eventuated into a website that I believe is perfectly Autumn, perfectly The Paper Couturière.  I am so blessed that you see the beauty in it, like I do.  It's made everything so worthwhile.

Rebecca: You are a God send. You are priceless. Thank you for always double checking on what I'm doing. Thank you for always being my "admin" person; telling me what I can do better.  You always have my best interests at heart and you are simply precious.

Tracy: You are genius! Thank you for your positivity and encouragement.  Thank you for reminding me why it's okay to not be the Comma Queen. :)

Steph: Vous remercier autant de pour vos réactions, et prendre le temps de votre jour pour m'aider dans le dernier peu de temps avant le lancement. Merci beaucoup!

Your wedding dress: white? white? or white?

Okay, so, we all know that white is not a colour right?  We all know that it's a shade.  Well, did you also know that there are about 392 different shades of the shade white?  And did you also know that you can get a wedding dress in all of those different shades?  Yes, my mind is also boggling with the revelation that there is a shade of white for every day of the calendar year.  But what are those shades?  How are they described?  And if you see a wedding dress that is blue white, exactly how is the mother-of-the-bride going to be able to picture it?

This a just a small sampling of the endless list of shades of white, but these are the most common and if you're doing hardcore dress shopping, you're sure to run into at least some of them.

Champagne or Oyster

Off-White, w/ pink undertones and suits the bride who has olive complexion, or other darker skin tones.

Diamond White/Natural White

Found only in more expensive fabrics, such as silk, this colour will suit brides with a light complexion.

Latte

This colour of dress is slightly darker than the Champagne/Oyster dress, but will still suit the bride with darker skin complexion.

Ivory/Eggshell

This shade of white has golden or yellow undertones and will suit the bride with fair complexion.

Stark White/Blue White

DO NOT wear this shade of white if you are have a fair complexion.  Step. Away. From. This. Dress. And. No one. Will. Get. Hurt. This shade is only suited for brides w/ a darker complexion.

Add some colour

It's 2010 and brides are increasingly getting more and more daring with their choice of bridal attire.  From White, to pink, or both {thanks Gwen Stefani}, to Scarlet red, and even black, brides are making the choice based on their personalities and what they would feel most comfortable in. C'mon now, you don't see a rocker-chic-glam-bride dressed in an Ivory ruffled number do you?  No.

Even if you want to go the white {or various shades of it} route, but you still want to add a splash of colour to better define your personality..add a sash in a coordinating wedding colour...choose shoes that give your attire a pop of colour, or, instead of a veil, choose a colourful hair accessory.  Go on.  Take the best of both worlds!  Wear white to make your mom happy, but make yourself happy by adding some colour.

For my wedding, I chose a champagne coloured dress and mantilla, and apple green sandals with rhinestone butterflies.  Those, were my pop of colour!  What will yours be?

Thank you to i-do.com.au for providing the definitions of these shades of white.

What style are you?

Are you bold? Outspoken? Fearless? Are you sophisticated and daring?  

If so, then black and white is for you.

Timeless, elegant, sultry, and daring, choosing a black and white wedding means you go against the grain..that you are sophisticated and elegant, but on your own terms.  Best for a night, formal wedding, the bride who chooses a black and white colour pallette will not be wearing ruffles on her dress.  Instead, she'll a dress that's sleek and form fitting, accentuated by a feather fascinator in her hair than a lacy veil.

The black and white bride pulls no punches.  What you see, is what you get.

For You

For my friends, these are what I wish for.

For my family, these are what I wish for.

For those who think little and small of me, these are what I wish for.

In giving these things away to you, 

I get these things back in return.

Making Things Happen

The past few months that I've been on Twitter, I've seen "tweet" after "tweet" after "tweet" referring to #MTH2010. What the heck is #MTH2010? "Oh, it must just be a US/wedding industry 'thing'", I thought. Well, yes, kinda...and no. I'll get more into what #MTH2010 is in a second...I just need to digress for a bit...

So, in my mind and heart, I started The Paper Couturière almost 20 years ago when I was age ??{You didn't think I'd tell you, did you?}. Paper & design have both been life long passions and it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized I could actually make a business of it. My plans; ideas, and dreams, really came to fruition in 2008.

Starting my own business has been such a blessing, however, I've struggled to "Brand" my business. Who am I? Who is The Paper Couturière? What image or style do I want to convey to my current and future clients? I've always struggled with finding the right image that perfectly conveys just who I am. {Am I bright; colourful; & funky? yes. Am I sheer, subtle, all light muted tones? yes. Am I retro, eclectic, & funky? yes. I'm all of those styles. Do I want to brand myself & my business based on my strong French/Cajun heritage?}

Yes. I need help. My name is Autumn, I'm 38 years old, I've lived in 3 countries and 15 of the 50 US States, and I need help...STAT. So you see, personal as well as professional branding is a current struggle for me..even though I'm knocking on 40's door. One of these days, I know the lightbulb will go off in my head and I'll know what style I need to convey. Until then...more on #MTH2010

Coordinated and run by Lara Casey, Editor of Southern Weddings Magazine, #MTH2010 is an intensive seminar intended to cut to the core of who we are. Once we learn who we are, everything about our life, and our business changes. We are all full of boundless potential, both personal and professional. This intensive is intended to harness that potential and lead it in the direction of positive outcome. It's meant to fire you up, motivate you, inspire you, want to change your weaknesses to strengths, and help you to make decisions in your life that will help you to succeed, succeed, and succeed some more. "From branding to bold moves to everything in between", this course, will change. your. life... if you let it, if you want it, if you are strong enough, serious enough, and determined enough. I am. I am. I am. And I am. {Did you see that word up there? Branding?}

Lara has been running the intensive all across the good ol' US of A and back, and it's been earning rave reviews from sea to shining sea. Well, I'm not gonna let a little body of water like the Pacific Ocean stop me, so, I contacted Lara. To cut an even longer story a bit shorter...

#MTH is Coming. To. Oz. Holy. Cow.

Melbourne {where I live now}, Brisbane, Perth, H0bart, Sydney, Adelaide..I don't care.

I. Am. There.

So you see? This is how my branding + Making Things Happen come together. I'm desperate to be a part of something that has changed so many lives and so many businesses. I want to learn. I want to strip myself bare to reveal the Autumn Du Pré-Moore that I really am.

Yes. I am going to Make. Things. Happen. Watch this space folks. Big things are gonna happen _______ here.

My Wedding Concierge

About 5 years ago when I was knee deep in wedding magazines and swatches, I was the typical Bride-to-be: lugging around a 15lb notebook {that's roughly 30 kilo's for all you Aussies out there} everywhere I went, & dropping clip outs here; there; and everywhere...like little Gretel dropping her bread crumbs to find her way home. It was not pretty. I used the internet as much as I could, but, even that was a patience tester given the fact that much of the planning for my American wedding, was done after I moved to Australia. No. Easy. Feat. What I needed was a "1-stop-shop", if you will. I needed someplace to go, where all of the wedding resources that I needed, in the town I was getting married in {The Seelbach Hilton, Lousiville KY, FYI}, was available at my fingertips. Sadly, in 2005/2006, I knew of no such place.

Almost 4 years after my wedding, I know of a place now:

My Wedding Concierge. *cue angels singing in harmony*

Imagine you're a bride at the infant stages of planning. You have no idea. You are swamped. You are overwhelmed with information overload. You need help. Imagine you're walking down the street with your 15lb. notebook and all of your clip outs are falling out of said notebook, flying around, you're desperate to catch all of them, etc. Got that visual? I do. And it's scary. So you're walking down the street and you happen to spot a cute little wedding boutique on the corner with a sign reading "My Wedding Concierge". It's cozy and it's welcoming, and you know that they serve the best latté around. Now, we all know what a concierge does right? They greet you with a smile at your favourite hotel; they carry your bags; they show you the way, and they are a great resource for all of the local "hot spots" that you're after. Do you see the emerging pattern? Imagine that in the Wedding Industry. Pretty awesome huh? This is precisely what My Wedding Concierge is in a nutshell: your wedding resource for local vendors right at your fingertips.

A little information on this Bridal Godsend:

My Wedding Concierge was launched in September 2009 by Founder and CEO Phyllis Cheung and is based on the "emerging market of mobile wedding marketing..." Essentially, it allows Brides who are on-the-go, the ease of on-the-go wedding planning. One of the core components of the My Wedding Concierge marketing tool is the "My Wedding Concierge" iPhone App, which is available free of charge, from the Apple App Store {or iTunes}. The only iPhone App that focuses solely on wedding vendors, it allows brides the ease of accessing; researching, and requesting vendor information, all from their mobile phone. When brides use this mobile tool, along with the website, www.my-wedding-concierge.com, they are provided "with a mobile collaboration tool, which will allow brides to not only find and rank vendors, but share and organize them..." On the website, vendors can upload up to 30 photos of weddings for the bride to look through, rate her favourites, and store them in her favourites folder. When the bride wants to refer back to her favourites folder, she can click on the "Request Info" button & an email is sent to the vendor for follow-up. Thus, effectively, ending the days of lugging around 15lb notebooks. Amazing, yeah?

Since launching, the App has had over 12,000 downloads and consistently 100-150 brides daily are downloading the app.

The future of My Wedding Concierge? Besides World domination? "To be the ultimate wedding search engine". Brides will be able to refer to the website for everything from images and news articles, to vendors and blogs, making it possible for brides to search through many wedding blogs in one location, rather than doing a different search for each blog.

For Vendors: The cost to advertise on both the iPhone App and on the website starts at $29.99/month with no contracts. The bonus is having your name and your business listed on an invaluable site.

For Brides, both current and future: How awesome is My Wedding Concierge? Can I just be honest for a minute? I haven't been a bride in years...and I have the app on my iPhone and the site in my favourites menu.

Get it now. Use it everyday. Love it forever. Enough Said.

Website: www.my-wedding-concierge.com

Email: info@my-wedding-concierge.com