indigenous music

years, and years ago, when I worked for Darwin City Promotions, we were lucky enough to be gifted with sample music cd’s… to be played and piped through the Mall sound system…

And we staged events, with bands to keep the locals entertained…

there grew a love for indigenous and tribal music…and the didjeridu. One of my all-time favourites would have to be Drum Drum. Mostly a lovely PNG family, the “Ingrams”, who played beautiful music, with – you guessed it – drums. Not the “drum kit” kind of drum, but TRIBAL drums; LOG drums. Drum Drum in concert was a wonder to behold. The songs were stories, quite dramatic, and unforgettable. I still remember, and it’s 9 years since I first saw them in 2001.

Not long after that, we had Saltwater Band and Nabarlek at the Arafura Games …. um..”do” in the City (long ago – I forget what it was!!). The music and atmosphere was AMAZING!!! alive, electric, everybody, from you and I, Indigenous, itinerant and beyond, all dancing and SMILING together, palm to palm. I’ll never forget it. But I [perhaps] regret that moment where I walked away instead of staying to dance. but anyway…

Then we have Gurrumul Yunipingu. A friend gave me his solo CD a while back and I was suprised to learn that he was the lead of Saltwater Band! I felt silly for not knowing. How could I not???

All of this beautiful, indigenous, tribal music is what I listen to when I sew. Of COURSE there is more, but tonight I’m just talking about these wonderful bands, and my personal experiences.

If you’re interested in sampling or buying some of your own amazing Australian music, then visit Skinny Fish Music.

So pretty! Looks like a pile of photos

Originally uploaded by monsoonsandmangoes

these are Lily Rainbow’s completed school books. We are both completely in love with them, and Lily told me she was “so proud” of me for making these for her.

She cut out her favourite flower parts of her last years calendar, and had them all waiting in a pile for me (I was blissing out in our power-free monsoonal morning, reading in bed!). then I joined her with some straighter cutting (can’t help myself!!), the glu stick & roll of contact…

Contact is a challenge, isn’t it!!!

CRIKEY!!!

Even when I finally had a “method” down pat, I still ended up with streaks and bubbles… Lily, ever the diplomat, kept telling me, “It’s OK. I don’t mind, Mum. I’ll just remember that was the third one we did.” bless…. :)

and to match her homework book, I covered my Monsoons & Mangoes work book* in the calendar cover :)

And we made bookmarks!! :)

* the work book is where I draw new designs and ideas, keep track of custom orders, addresses, that kind of thing. If you’ve requested a custom order in the past year, chances are, you are mentioned in these (now) very pretty pages <3

powerless

The power was off for hours this morning. It was blessedly cool and damp, and we had a lovely wind still blowing from days ago. Funny how it’s a relief sometimes, but other times it spooks me silly. Perhaps it’s a lingering ‘thing’ from growing up in Tasmania, where wind either threatened to tear the roofing iron off the house, or send sparks into the mountains.

My man cooked our breakfast on the bbq: eggs, baked beans in a tin, toast and coffee. The simplicity of camping and we loved it.

The girls fiddled with an old flower calendar and papers, planning how we might cover Lily’s school books, while Danny and I read our books in the dim morning light.

When the power finally came back on, I jumped up from reading to turn off the fan (amazingly still unrequired!!), and since nobody else noticed, I didn’t tell them. Why spoil it? :)

The rest of the day will be spent covering books, eating, sewing and…probably cooking later. Hopefully it stays cool and damp all day.

handmade personalised birthday card!! :)

birthday card!

Originally uploaded by monsoonsandmangoes

I realise this is probably SO unoriginal, but the idea unfolded this morning when I realised I didn’t have a birthday card for the little girls party we were headed too.

I not only stash and hoard fabric, but also keep all kinds of paper and card, even some of the girls paintings for thank-you notes & the like, in the packages I send. I had a booklet of ’samples’ that I found at work a couple of years ago. I found the most card-like, and cut that page out.

Folded in half, then let Maisie choose fabric… then I drew on a number 4, cut out and sewed on. Voila! handmade personalised birthday card!! :)

I am thinking of making some for my Etsy shop – what do you think??

upcycling my own vintage apron pants

I made these funky vintage apron flares a few months ago. They ended up a “slim” 2-3 and really not very flarey. so rather than waiting around for a Mama with a slim, tall child to discover them, I decided to turn them into wee toddler ruffle pants!

I just cut off 8″ or so from the bottoms (yes, I kept what i cut off, as I can add to something another day), and added a ruffle in one of my fave vintage prints.

What do you think? they’re going up on ebay one of these days.. :)

latest sewing fun!!

Apron Skirt, Size 3-4

Originally uploaded by Monsoons and Mangoes

I’ve been having SO MUCH FUN!!! With the freedom of time, I find myself not anxious at all about what I make. Maybe I consider what size I have gaps in stock with, but that’s about it.

I adore this skirt I made today (already sold, sorry!). I shall make more, I promise. It was fun to make, and I adore the birdy and lop-sided heart :)

If you haven’t already, please come over and join my fan club!! I preview everything there before anywhere else, so if you’re a buyer, and want to stay ahead of the fray – that is where you need to be :)

http://facebook.com/MonsoonsAndMangoes

ebay – a dirty little secret?

I “boycotted” ebay 2 years ago when they hiked their fees up to the ridiculous. Moved to Etsy and well…it wasn’t the best move for me at ALL!! Though I’ve earned some new customers, largely my clothing stays sitting on there for sometimes months!

How disheartening!! No wonder I went back to part-time work. That wasn’t the ONLY reason, but definitely one of a list of them…

So I’ve been selling again on Ebay and LOVING it!! There’s nothing quite like the thrill of Ebay, is there? :)

I pulled up my old Turbo Lister files last week and nearly died with excitement! it was soooo wonderful to ‘reunite’ with my old listings!!! :) :)

But now, I have to make some new graphics for the page, as the old ones are… well, OLD :)
See:

Ew! LOL I thought they were soooo cool, way back when.

Monsoons & Mangoes on ebay :)

vintage shoe dream

Dreamt last night of visiting a thrift store and finding a gorgoeus pair of two-toned vintage shoes, tan and white. I fit and I love them, and wore them as I browsed for fabric options (clothing, bedding, linen etc). I found only one scrap of vintage fabric, and while I was making sense of the bundled, sticky-taped mess, the op shop lady was frantically looking around the store… and then found me in the shoes.

I was asked to remove the shoes, that she had a regular customer wanting them. “But I love them, and am wearing them with the intention of purchasing them. I’m a regular too!”

“But this other lady seems so nice. and I told her she can have them, so if you would just hand the shoes over.”

“I’m nice tooooo!!” then I got angry and slapped this woman clumsily in the face, then BIT her finger!! I stormed out, ranting and predicting awful things for her and her store.

haha…

miracles..

do happen!!

Well, it turns out my man is not only a gifted avionics technician, he can also fix sewing machines! Who knew! LOL he just kinda undid everything, oiled it and put it all back together and voila! it worked!

I’m not thinking it will last though, as it was making strange clunking noises today! :)

Sewing machine

It’s been slowing down for a while… I didn’t clue onto oil immediately, but when I did, it made a difference – momentarily! Today I sat down, all industrious after cutting out some baby pants & gorgeous roses skirt…

start gathering and.. ohhh… :(

turned the handwheel and was sooo stiff! more oil.. started unscrewing and couldn’t find any more places to put oil. Then the handwheel started er…clunking….

SO disheartened!!!

Because I have orders to complete – (and new customers, to boot) I’m going to replace my old machine. I’ll buy a new one hopefully tomorrow, and then (if ever) I have some money saved, I’ll fix the broken one as a backup. Good plan?

I’m excited about one-step buttonholes, decorative stitching, and *blanket stitch*! who knew sewing machines did THAT?