Monkey Beanz on facebook

Well, Monkey Beanz is beginning to get its social networking feet wet at facebook. You can find us at http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Monkey-Beanz/23072617751?ref=share. Come take a peek, become a fan, write on our wall. See you there!

MEGA GIVEAWAY

The summer has been crazy and busy all around but more on that later. Just wanted to put up a quick, and much belated, post about this amazing giveaway at http://www.purplepinkandorange.com/blog/. There are 30 super cool shops sponsoring (and yes, Monkey Beanz is one, of course) and 30 giveaways! So, yes, you have 30 chances to win some great clothes, jewelery, cards and more. Up for grabs is our adorable Cassandra dress so go check it out. Just make a comment on at least one of the sponsoring shops and you will be entered to win. How easy is that? It's almost over, though, so click over now. The comments close at midnight August 23rd. I know, I told you, this was a very overdue post! More to come soon on some new things cooking over here at Monkey Beanz ...

Monkey Beanz at Kripalu Yoga Center

Okay, one market down - now onto the next! To celebrate the 4th of July, we will be participating in the Cultural Survival Bazaar at the Kripalu Yoga Institute in Stockbridge, MA. To learn more about the great work that Cutural Survival does to support fair trade and work with indigneous people, go to http://www.culturalsurvival.org/events/bazaar/index.cfm. This is a wonderful chance to get some truly unique gifts and support businesses who care about where their products are coming from as much as the product itself. 40% of proceeds from all purchases go directly to Cultural Survival.

Another Monkey Beanz interview hits the blog world! Read all about us on this business blog http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2008/06/20/mom-brings-thailand-home-with-her-business/. Check it out before June 30th, leave a comment and you'll get a chance to win this featured dress from the Monkey Beanz new summer collection - oh my!!

Monkey Beanz features

Well, the word is spreading about Monkey Beanz. This last month, we've been interviewed for features on two WAHM/small business blogs. Check them out at http://www.thewahmspot.com/2008/06/spot-light-is-on-monkey-beanz.html and http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2008/06/20/mom-brings-thailand-home-with-her-business/

We're participating in the Bayside International Fair & Market here in Portland, ME tomorrow which is a wonderful mix of the international flavor in our little corner of the world. We're pleased to be able to bring Thailand into the mix.

Lucky for us, Sasha rocks the boy look great as well! Here she shows off the outfit Bee has been planning for the last year - he is devoted to building up a good collection of super cool clothes for all the rock star boys out there. This 100% linen outfit sports blue thread trim to make the pockets really pop. Summer wedding, anyone? Your son will surely steal the spolight away from the bride and groom in this one.

This is one of my favorites for this summer: our Thai cowgirl outfit! The skirt and front shirt trim are a traditional Thai cotton fabric - about as unique as you can get!! During one of our many fabric choosing outings, we were able to meet the man who makes this fabric himself and hear him talk about the process. I love working directly with people, seeing the amazing things that they create, having the opportunity to help them continue doing what they love and sharing their creations with families halfway across the world.
Oh, and for those of you with boys, have no fear! We also have the Thai cowboy version of this outift with matching shorts. Summer birthday parties, here we come - yee haw!!

Can you tell how much Sasha enjoys the new Monkey Beanz line?! Here she is in two of the dresses that will be available this summer. She would definitely agree that Monkey Beanz clothes are super comfy and easy to play in and I'll keep putting up previews so you can see how great they look as well!

Back in Maine

Well, we made it back to Maine though not without several bumps along the way! Both girls ended up getting sick during the trip, we spent a week in the hospital and extended our stay for two weeks in order to finish up samples of all the new pieces for the 2008 summer clothing line. We did it though and the clothes are being made as we speak and I am trying to get everything in order on this end for a Monkey Beanz Grand Opening.

Here is a picture of Bee, my husband, working with Nuung, our super talented and amazingly dedicated seamstess in Southern Thailand. We had many, many all day work sessions trying to get the patterns right and testing different stitches and fabrics and everything else. Fortunately for Monkey Beanz, Nuung takes great pride in her work and is not satisfied until she too approves of the final design. Also to our benefit, she has a 6 year old daughter so she and our older daughter were able to entertain themselves for hours despite the lanuage barrier.

News from Thailand

Apologies for no earlier posts. Within the first week, Sasha, our 3 year old came down with a nasty bout of food poisoning and was wiped out for about 5 days. It was terrible to see her in such pain but once she cleaned out her little body, she was back in action and has been fine since.
Aside from that, the trip has been wonderful. It is so great to be back after our nearly 2 years away. We have found some amazing new fabrics for the Monkey Beanz clothing line and have been working with our seamstresses on some new designs. Bee has been hard at work putting together some great Monkey Beanz clothes for boys so no one will feel left out! We saw some of the samples of the new clothes a couple of days ago and I am, once again, amazed at the talents of these women. They are able to take our ideas and sketches and create such perfect clothes - I love seeing the final product of a new design.
We have also been working on our diaper bag that is coming along nicely. We are making a few changes to the sample we created so that should be finished by the end of our trip as well.
We have a meeting set up with Nuung, one of the two main seamstresses we work with, for Saturday to see many more designs she has been working on. I will post again with a few sneak peak photos of some of the new stuff!

Well, we are gearing up for our big trip back to Thailand. This is our first trip home since moving to the US almost two years ago. Part of me doesn't believe we are actually going to be there in just a few days. It was 100 degrees there the other day and in the 20s here; I can't wait to shed the coats, gloves, scarves and many layers. We will be picking out new fabrics, meeting with our seamstresses and working on the new Monkey Beanz designs for 2008. We're continuing the Monkey Beanz site wide sale during our trip in preparation for our official launch in the spring when we return. So keep shopping, we need to make room for the new line coming in! Enjoy the savings and check back here for more about our trip and the making of the Money Beanz line!