TuffCooki is fashionable, whimsical, fun and classy

I believe the in sisterhood of like-minded women. Seeing the result of the vision and the collaboration of these two artists was fascinating to me. Especially since they met through Facebook, they live in different countries and even so, they´ve managed to converge their talents to create something great together.

Mónica Kennedy has a Bachelor in Business Administration and is the founder of Tuffcooki.com that designs handmade handbags and clutches. Marián Muñoz has a Masters in Fine Arts and is an illustrator. They have both created a new handbag collection for Tuffcooki called The Girls, which features four types of women.

I´ve observed Mónica and Marián ¨cook¨ their ideas in the cauldron like two good fashion witches and it is inspiring to see the result of their art and know-how.

Here is what the two brave, creative and persistent women have to say about:

How they met and launched their project -

Marian Muñoz - We met thanks to the serendipity of Facebook, through a common contact. She had posted something on her wall about Tuffcooki handbags and when I saw it I made a comment, because I thought they were pretty and original. Mónica replied to my comment and that´s how the back and forth started and when we considered doing something together, that has finally come true.

Mónica Kennedy – The creative process was easy, because of the way we work. Communication is important. We know what we want and we talk everything over. In the end we always come to a middle ground. There is distance between us and we are on different times, but that is not an obstacle. She sleeps when I work and vice versa. It´s taken us many hours to decide on colors, styles, create illustration, print textiles, but the reward is worth it. The fact that a textile can turn into such beautiful and original designs is very fulfilling.

The inspiration for The Girls collection, by Tuffcooki -

Mónica Kennedy – This collection is inspired by women and their lifestyles. Every handbag has been carefully designed to tell a story, combining quality fabric with enchanting illustrations that make these classic styles one of a kind.

Marián Muñoz – When it comes to inspiration for illustrating, I find that in everything that surrounds me: passersby, friends, fashion magazines and trends, trips, art from all cultures and times, movies and fashion photography which is perhaps my greatest inspiration.

Success:

Mónica Kennedy – Everything is possible if you want it badly enough and you are willing to keep on going until you get it. I had a wish, a dream, and I made it true because I was so passionate about it that I was unstoppable. I’m no better than anyone else, but perhaps I have a fierce desire to do things and the get-up-and-go to do them. I’m persistent, a fighter and, at the end of the day, what fulfills me the most is to see where I started out in 2004 and where I am today. I love to think that the best is yet to come and that Marián will be a part of that journey.

Marián Muñoz – Mónica and I have had a very strong connection from the very beginning. We think alike and we are in sync. As Moni says “where there is a will, there is a way”. I have a quote on my Facebook profile: “When you don´t want to do something you find excuses and when you do, you find reasons.” In my case, I´ve always found reasons and, just like Mónica, I´ve always had a desire that started out as a hobby when I was a kid.

Mónica Kennedy and Marián Muñoz – We are proud that we can make a living doing what we love!

Visit Tuffcooki and also the world of Marián Muñoz to know more about these successful women and to purchase their creations. I hope you like them as much as I do and that they inspire you!

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/

Follow me on Facebook.

What French Women Know, by Debra Ollivier

I checked out What French Women Know from the library as part of my research for a book I´m writing on mid-life dating for a publisher in Spain. I thought I would speed-read it, just to get some facts and then move on to the next book on the pile I have on my bedside table.

Alas, I was hooked! I took advantage of a bad cold that put me to bed, to read every single page of it. Written by Debra Ollivier, an American who lived (and married) in France for many years, not only did I find it interesting but well-crafted.

Perhaps because I am of mixed heritage myself, I found it even more enticing. I am half Spanish (from Spain) and half American and I think I know both cultures pretty well. Throw in the mix that I attended a British school and that I grew up around people of many cultures, religions and ethnicities, a little bit of travel here and there and that provides me with a very open-minded perspective.

What French Women Know tells the reader that there really is another way of seeing and doing things, that is not the way the good old American woman is seeing and doing them, and which is making her try to be Super-Woman (and fail at it!), live a life in which every minute is planned (and priorities on her planner all wrong), and get that rock on her finger (after following the ¨rules¨ of courtship), no matter who slides it on!

Ah, says Ollivier, in France you will not see women sporting T-Shirts that say “Life starts at 70”, because it doesn´t! You will also not find a French word (or a Spanish word, may I add) for “dating”, since that is a concept that does not exist in the Old World! Women enjoy their feminity, they let men be gentlemen, they are ok with ambiguity, live-in relationships of decades (that don´t end in marriage: perhaps that is why the divorce rate is lower?) and looking voluptuous and elegantly disheveled. The French (and the Spanish, and the Italians, etc.) still make it a priority to enjoy life, to have long vacations, to sleep a siesta, to sip wine and break bread and to flirt innocently as a way of life. Ollivier mentions to what extent the U.S. is ruled by fear now: fear of being accused of sexual harassment if a man pays a compliment for one. What is wrong with that?

French women, writes Ollvier, are not trying to abide by the rules in life or in love. They don´t try to conform to the norm. In fact, it comes naturally to them to develop their own style. Different IS exotic in France, where the term jolie laide (pretty ugly) describes a woman who is not beautiful by Hollywood standards but is gorgeous in her own way. French women make their personal rules, they let their men be men and they don´t obsess about where a particular relationship is going, so they have more energy to enjoy life.

Of course, I know that this is probably not true of all French women. Also, although many French women may not shave, there are plenty who shave, wax and undergo electrolysis. In Spain, for example, the waxing industry for women is huge! No leg or underarm hair, ever, and people do shower! But perhaps our immune systems are stronger because we don´t abuse or even use hand sanitizer (wash hands, yes!), and we are not paranoid about illnesses. You will see friends drinking from the same glass at a bar. But, I digress …

Reading What French Women Know I realize why so many men in the U.S. today are so lost. Women here are trying too hard to play a certain role, a kind of alpha male woman hybrid. But hey, we have a mound and they have a penis! In a nutshell: Surprise! We are different! And we should embrace that!
Perhaps reading this book will provide some insights that in my case, were a reminder of how pleasant life can really be when you cast away stereotypes and embrace yourself the way you are, gender and all!

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/