Niaje: What's up fall?

I was once asked what makes me feel sexy. You know in the summer time when the sun is shining on you and you get that warming sensation? That is precisely when I feel my sexiest. That warming sensation puts me in tune with my skin getting its luscious sun baked brown tint that gives me a sensual glow. I absolutely love it! So the end of August has to be the saddest time of the year for me. Having to temporarily say goodbye to the tube tops, dresses, flowing skirts and sexy sunshine hurts. While not as sensual as summer, I must admit that I do adore the flavour of fall! The colours, the layers and everything else that comes with it has a certain swag that is sexy in its own way. 

I have been steadily working against the disappearance of summer to complete my fall swag and I have come up with a simple quadra-purpose (is that a word?) scarf I am really amped to wear! This pink, %100 wool, 120" x 10" shell stitch scarf is long enough to be wrapped in multiple ways to face the harsh and temperamental forecasts of fall and winter. So kwaheri majira ya joto in kiswahili means 'goodbye summer', but I'll be saying niaje which in sheng (Nairobi slang) means 'whats up' to a new kind of sexy come fall! In my own fashion I had to add some additional floral flavour for originalities sake, peep the pics below!

NIAJE
(knee-ah-jeh)
1. A regular scarf 

NIAJE
2. A hood

NIAJE
3. An infinity Scarf

NIAJE
4. A shawl

When saying goodbye to something old, we will inevitably have to say hello or niaje to something new! So my way of coping with the loss of summer is making something that will get me excited about, and feeling sexy in the new season! 

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Meno: Eco-friendly?

MENO
[meh-no]
$20.00
wooden necklace w/ teeth

 I was recently approached by a classmate of mine who asked me to make some pieces for an organization she works for. They are looking support local crafts persons who make eco-friendly products. I was surprised to be approached because I have never really thought of my products as eco-friendly, but after a short conversation I realized that being 'eco-friendly' is a large concept that encompasses many different components. If you have been following my blog for a while y'all know how I feel about recycling and saving, but my point of view was more from personal economics. I never thought that being broke helped to reduce my environmental footprint! 

Instead of throwing away a necklace of mine that had broken, I decided to take it's best parts and make something new! I love wooden beads, they have a beautiful look that no other material has. This recycled black and white double stranded necklace is detailed with four teeth, so I decided to call it meno which in kiswahili means 'teeth'. I like to wear this on days when I am feeling fierce! 

Now, not only am I saving money & looking fly, but through reusing existing materials I am to a small degree reducing my personal eco-footprint!

Reduce, reuse & look fly!

Tuly Maimouna

Uchungu na Tamu: Life Lessons

This has been a very interesting week that has brought about a lot of reflection on the people around me, family, people who say they are my friends, those who are my friends and those who have come into and left my life. Through this reflection I have leaned that life can have a harsh way of providing us with lessons, and you can only learn these lessons through the mistakes you have made along the way...but from mistakes arise new opportunities. If you choose to ignore the omens placed before you or doubt your intuition, ultimately you are the only one who will suffer from regret or loss.

So onto my not so new creation. I made this scarf a while ago and I got really upset because after I washed it, it stretched about three sizes and didn't look all that good anymore. My mom and I went out for dinner one day and when she put in on I realized it looked amazing as a shoulder poncho!  I added a button to the front that works to adjust the size of the poncho at the neck...I also thought it looked really cute! So this once scarf that I though I had mistakenly ruined provided an opportunity for my 'newest' old creation to come to fruition, which left me thinking of the kiswahili proverb:

 Mla cha uchungu na tamu hakosi: he who eats bitter things gets sweet things too

Uchungu na Tamu
Shoulder Poncho with button
$35.00

Life is an interesting experience and sometimes the lessons we learn leave us thinking of what we should have, could have or would have done...the thing is we have to be able to translate these lessons into our existing relationships and en devours. Otherwise we are at risk of living in vain and rendering those relationships (or in this case a scarf) meaningless. 

I guess we can only know sweetness through tasting bitterness. 

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Daraja

Daraja [Dah-Rah-jah]
$25.00
Pendant and Earrings
Materials: Bamboo beads
Size: o/s

When I was about 8 my aunt bought me this Jazzy Jewelry kit. It was this box filled with beads and attachments for making earnings, bracelets and what have you. At the time I was thoroughly unimpressed, but smiled in false appreciation none the less. Now check me out!

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Tulysikia Joto

-Tulysikia Joto-
 rope chain infinity scarf
 material: %100 acrylic size: o/s
length: 35" width: 8"

When I was in high school I found a pair of my Maitus (mothers) knitting sticks in the closet and asked her to teach me. As is somewhat typical of me, the frustration of not being able to do it and the esthetically appalling rhombus shaped scarf defeated me and I gave up. She offered crocheting to me as an alternative - which to me at the time kinda seemed like the not so cute sister between the two- and despite my initial prejudice towards crocheting I really got into it!

I now make and sell handmade crochet jewelry and accessories. Initially, I only made things for myself inspired by, one the thinness and often emptiness of my wallet, and secondly driven by "...(laugh) why would I pay that much for something I could make myself?." I decided to start selling when random people would stop me and ask me where I got my things from, and it's been an uphill process since then.

My name is not Tuly, it is actually the well thought out result of combining the first two letters of my first and surname, and Maimouna is a childhood nickname that only up until recently I have come to adore. So Tuly Maimouna is the name of my side hustle. My actual name is of Kiswahili origin, a language that is a combination of Arabic, Bantu dialect, and more recently English, originating from Tanzania in East Africa. Tuly is a play on words, in swa (swahili) tuil [too-lee] is the prefix for 'we', and from that I name my creations ex. Tulysikia [too-lee-see-ki-yuh] Joto [joe-toe]  meaning; we feel warm.

Not only do I use the art of crochet to make money, but I also use it as an education tool. For many years I have been heavily involved in HIV prevention and awareness in my community and facilitate workshops where we make crochet condom cases as a way to normalize condom carrying, and make it more fun and personalized. I love to crochet, I love making jewelry, and more over I love the work that I do. I am thankful that I can indulge in both my passions, and use them as tools of expression and education.

Keep posted to peep more creations to come!

Smiles :)

 Tuly Maimouna