The Jilly Jumbles Story

“While we’re sleeping, our mum sews cool stuff!”

– My kids have been known to explain of my work, proudly.

 

If only running a small business, as a second job/side hustle, from home, single handily, while single parenting my three (awesome) children, was as simple as that sounds!

 

I am a dedicated mum, and a passionate designer. Before my children crashed beautifully into my life, I worked as an Interior Designer in Sydney, and a Design Manager in London. Along the way I collected a colourful array of skills, skills that would form the solid foundation on which I would build my dream business!

 

The seed for my dream business was planted when someone said to me ‘you should sell these’, about a humble home sewn project. Those four words sparkled into my life just seven years ago, and I’m here to tell you that true, heartfelt encouragement, heard often enough, can water the seed of a dream business, and make it grow!

 

I launched Jilly Jumbles  in October 2011.

 

I designed and stitched away earnestly, whenever my children slept, subsisting on coffee and big dreams, and within a year I released my ‘Handbag Sanity Saver range of travel toys for young children – the response to these was exhilarating!!

 

The concept for my ‘Sanity Savers’ was and remains simple - they stemmed originally from my own needs as a parent when out and about with young children – to provide an instant distraction for little ones in any given situation, saving parents and caregivers ‘sanity’, while also providing developmentally stimulating activities for the child at play. They were a HIT!

 

Uniquely table top sized, Jilly Jumbles ‘Sanity Savers’ range in design from my own exclusive illustrative prints, sewn as car mats and farmyard scenes, to my own building brick wallet designs. With more creativity underway and emerging in design stage, to be released over the next twelve months! They are designed to be fun and engaging, they can be played with independently or shared, and each comes with it’s own unique set of features to encourage learning through play. Then they all fold neatly to be stored in mum’s handbag, until next time…

 

My customers’ are glorious! They not only ‘get’ my products and purchase them at lightening speed, but they also share photos on social media of them being used by their beautiful children! Everywhere! (Cafes are a favourite!) Check out #jillyjumblessanity on Instagram to get an eyefull of how awesome my customers are! Many have shopped again and again, to share the sanity as birthday gifts, or to add to their own collection! Teachers have purchased them, and occupational therapists and speech pathologists have recommended them to their clients – Jilly Jumbles may 'only' be a one woman show, but let's face it - women are a force to be reckoned with - in business, and in life! Bring on every challenge and every adventure this business journey will take me on, I say!

 

And I know I wouldn’t be anywhere without your extraordinary support (yes you – the legend who’s taken the time to read my story thus far – thank you)! I'll be here earnestly designing to saving your sanity until there's no more sanity to save, or no more design in me! (And neither is likely..!)

 

Surround yourself with people who lift you up, and there's no limits to what you can achieve with a bit of hard work.

 

You can follow my story on Instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/jilly_jumbles/

and on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/jillyjumbles/

 

Thanks for the support!!

 

~Jules

(Designer)