{Interview with} Mable of Happee Monkee

Hello everyone,

It's Friday and time for a little interview of an artist on Etsy I admire and I'm friend with... Today I am welcoming Mable of Happee Monkee and her absolutely gorgeous photography. Mable has traveled Europe and it shows on her pics. She's also an avid food lover. 

We have loads in common!

Mable and her sweetheart... {via}

ECS: Mable, please kindly introduce yourself, your work, where are you currently living and anything else you would like to share about your background? (travels etc…)

Hi! I’m Mable and I’m the creator of HappeeMonkee. I’m a freelance photographer and travel writer (copywriter, and when needed, book editor) that sometimes lives out of her suitcase. I’m very fortunate to be married to a lovely man who brings me along his travel. My job is to cook and give him head scratches. 

2012 calendar by Happee Monkee {here}

ECS: What are your sources of inspiration for blogging and creating your lovely photographs?

Michelangelo said David was already in the stone and all he needed to do was chip the rest away. It’s the same with photography. I firmly believe that the shot is already there,I capture the essence and share its glory. God gives us so much beauty and good wherever we go and so, our job is to see beauty in everything. 

ECS: How did you get started on Etsy? Is it your day job or do you have another activity?

Long story short, my husband and I were posted to a small town in Sweden for six months and I needed something to occupy myself with. I’m a wordsmith as well, so occasionally I do some writing for magazines or copywriting for fashion catalogues. I find myself needing a good balance between words and visual. I love taking photos and I love writing, can’t live without one or the other!

© From Russia with love by Happee Monkee

ECS: Not only do you run your Etsy shop but also a great blog with super good recipes (I have tested a few of them…). Tell us more about it.

Haha… In 2006 I had just moved to Melbourne (from Malaysia). I didn’t have a job or many friends but I had all this creative energy in me. Having worked in a magazine house for years, I learned how to style food. So the blog was an outlet for me to express myself. Moving out of home meant I had to learn to cook for myself and as I explored different recipes, I thought, ‘Hey, why not document it so I’d remember what I did?’ 

ECS: Do you have plans to expand your brand? Feel free to share any of your ongoing projects and dreams!

I’m passionate about writing a cookbook. I truly believe that everyone should learn how to cook because it’s healthier and so much fun. There is huge satisfaction when I’ve just made something from scratch. And I think (not unlike Auguste Gusteau, from Ratatouille)‘Wow that was easy! If I can do it, anyone can!’

I want to write a cookbook for teenagers or young adults who have moved out of home for the first time. I think there’s just too much junk around us. And why eat junk when you can have beef bourguignon?

© Sweetness by Happee Monkee {here & here}

ECS: Are you celebrating Christmas? Are you decorating your home? Any tips?

This is in fact the first time I’m celebrating Christmas. We’re celebrating with Gavin’s family this year and we just brought out the Christmas tree. I love a silver and navy blue theme. Ever since I was a kid, I had always wanted to decorate a Christmas tree. I’m Chinese so we usually have red, red and red at Chinese New Year. For once, I can actually have a different colour scheme!

 © Celebrate Xmas with Happee Monkee! {here & here}

ECS: Now I am asking you to pick up among your favorites on ETSY (6 items from one or different shops) as a mini-gift guide for Christmas for my readers. 

Mini Gift Guide, from top to bottom, left to right

1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6. 

ECS: Last, what are your favorite items in your own shop? 

Hooray! I love promoting my shop. I’m really proud of my photos. It gives me great joy to look at and serve people from all over the world. My thoughts are, ‘These photos make me really happy, I hope they make others happy too!’

I love Venice so very much. I would love to go back. It’s such a beautiful place. I don’t care if it’s touristy or sinking, it is just amazing.

© Venise, Italy by Happee Monkee {here & here}

This was taken in Florence. Italy is gorgeous! 

© View of Florence, Italy by Happee Monkee 

I have too many favourites because each photo represents a very special memory. I see it and I remember the sight, smell and what I was doing at that moment. It’s like looking through a family album. I have one last photo to share; this was taken in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, Paris. It was a dream come true to walk through this hall.

© Galerie des Glaces, Château de Versailles by Happee Monkee

Mable is very happy to share with you readers the following offers:

ECStudio readers and Twitter followers will receive 10% off any purchase with this coupon HAPPEE10.

Note: For one day - on Cyber Monday (28/11/2011), as part of team FPOE (Female Photographers on Etsy), HappeeMonkee is offering 20% off all the goodies. Just enter FPOE2011 at checkout. 

{Happee Shopping!}

Thank you so much Mable for sharing so much of you and the "behind the scene" of your beautiful photographs with us today. Your photographs bring loads of memories to me (Italy, Paris...).

I am leaving you all wishing everyone a great weekend, and with this lovely message:

{here}

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