We often get asked why we called our business mondocherry and what made us start in the first place, so I thought I would fill you all in on a bit of background. 5 and a bit years ago, Clare and her family (then 4 children, now 6) moved back to Brisbane after a number of years living interstate and overseas. Mum (Sue) had just retired from working as a teacher-aide and I was just taking maternity leave from my teaching job to have my first baby (I now have 2). We started spending a lot of time together - we had lots to catch up on!! - and we all get on really well and think alike.
I had been making and selling fabric bags embellished with beads and sequins, and Mum and Clare started helping out. We then experimented with some fabric covered canvases and when we started getting orders via word of mouth we thought maybe we should make it more than a hobby. Setting up our own business was a huge step as none of us have any sort of marketing/sales/business experience (Mum and I trained as early childhood teachers and Clare studied pure mathematics and law at uni - totally useless!) and it has been a steep learning curve ever since. While we were trying to think of a name for our new business, we were working with a fabric called 'mondo' and it came in a red or 'cherry' colour way. So we used to call each other up and say "What time are we meeting up to do the mondocherry?" and after a while the name just stuck!
We have had such fun working together over the last five years. All three of us need a creative outlet in order to stay sane, and being involved with markets and the blogging community has enabled us to meet lots of lovely people. We haven't always get things right first time and we have evolved a lot, but I guess most things do. We do know how lucky we are to be working with people we love, doing something that we enjoy, and still getting to spend lots of time with our families.
So there you have a potted summary of mondocherry and there are no cherries involved! I thought about posting a photo of the three of us but it is almost impossible to find one that we all like (isn't it funny how judgemental you are of yourself in a photo?). So instead I thought I'd post a photo of these pom pom cherries I made to make a gift look a little more special. I had forgotten how enjoyable it is to make pom poms so I might have to experiment some more...
