Bronze Bunny!

I am now the proud owner of an Original Bronze Bunny by Janine De Waal! Just look at the delicate sense of airiness and style it adds to my dining room! What made this extra special, is that Janine herself presented it to me in Cape Town. It was part of a PIF Gift Exchange.

Janine is an architect who is studying Jewellery Design and has many artistic interests! I think I can recognise my bunny in this family shot which appeared on her blog Fourwalls a while ago!

Mmm.. Let me see...What shall my sofa wear today?

I have made some more Cushion Covers from re-cycled shirts!

The Yellow Shawl Collar is decorated with hand embroidered flowers. The Satin Frill Collar is backed with a paisley sari print and is scandolously Purple! They will be in my etsy shop soon!
PS. This one is happily living in Canada now!

The Neighbourgoods Market

The Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock, Cape Town was a real gem of a find. It runs every Saturday morning from an old Victorian Warehouse and is a hive of activity. Their official web sight states "The Neighbourgoods market has been created along ethical, eco-friendly and organic lines, to offer a wide range of products from the community of Cape Town. ""It is as much a source for farm fresh as well as organic foods and locally produced specialty goods, as it is a meeting point to enjoy community, swap ideas and stories..."

A highlight of my day was to meet some of the producers of those speciality goods and enjoy the benefits of the blogging community!!

What a treat for me to meet with 2 of my blogging and etsy mentors, Jesse of Jezzeblog and Heather of SkinnyLaMinx !

It was so good to get together with them in real life and to see their many products, which those of us who are avid readers of their blogs are so familiar with!

White Manna

I've just returned from a wonderful few days in Cape Town. There is lots to tell! I will start by showing some scenes from Manna in Kloof Street, Cape Town. Manna Epicure is a delightful coffee venue. I love the way they make use of everyday and unexpected elements to decorate the shop.
I am passionate about White and Excellent Coffee!
Manna Epicure is a very tasty and inspirational environment to be!

Cape Town

am off to Cape Town in the Morning! [I have to wake up at 4am!]

Some exciting places to go and people to meet!

I will be back on Tuesday.

I'll tell you about it next week!

Everyday Exotic!

I love the humour and design of the textiles of these t-shirts by Sway Design. I enjoy the fact that the design is based on everyday objects like pegs, scissors and light bulbs!Sway is going to be at the Design Indaba Expo too and I am looking forward to seeing what they have this year! Maybe some prints like - 'Toothbrush Tartan', 'Dustpan Daisy' or 'Staple Stripe'!!!???

You Make My Day

Thank you Kath Black of anything goes who has presented me with a 'You make my day!' Award! I am so glad that you visit and enjoy my blog!

There are so many bloggers out there who make my day. Many of them have already received the award.

So I'm going to pass this award on to...

Alexandra of Living in Andyland. I enjoy the Scandinavian culture of the blog she co-authors with Ulrika and I love the fact that she frequently visits mine too

Bronwyn of Smoke and Ochre - is a prolific and lively blogger - Lots of Inspiring Stuff! Wander through her list of favourite Scandinavian Blogs like I do!

Carolina Saunders of Carolina Eclectic - enjoys touches of eccentric style - and so do I. Very inspiring pics!

Heloise of My Imperfect Garden has been a long-time favourite. Her humour and photography really do it for me! Keep up with her current a series of 'Visitors to her Garden'!

Aphrochic is a girl of African Descent living in San Francisco! I am a girl living in Africa. So I like the connection and I enjoy her perspective. Lovely and lively!

The rules are:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make your day.

2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.

3. Tell the award winners that they've won by commenting on their blogs.

Busy Day...

Yesterday was a busy day and I am not yet quite finished what I started out to do - but I am almost there...
The Design Indaba or South African Design Week opens in Cape Town on Saturday and guess what?! ... I am going to be there!
I managed to book air tickets and car hire yesterday, and accommodation should be sorted out by today.
I applied for a week's Time Share months ago - but nothing came up, so my hubbie made a call today and said "let's go for the weekend anyhow" He has some business to do in Cape Town too!
I usually steer away from crowds, but I am going to have to join in with them at the Expo this weekend.
It is going to be good to see the work of people like Yda Walt and so many others.
I love her "Post Mark" Bags and Cushions. Visit Yda's web sight and see some more of her lovely print work.
I'll be telling you more about the Indaba soon!

Crochet Panel

A while ago - on one of my essential Thrift Shop excursions - I came across a beautiful piece of crochet work. It was more or less the size of an unremarkable window in my guest loo! I wanted a window treatment to soften it - without a lot of fuss - so I started thinking! With the help of an old art canvas frame - I made this lovey lace panel. It leans against the window. I like the way it has given an almost stained glass touch to the room, especially with the addition of the anthirium from my garden.

Here is how I did it:

I have a bigger cloth in my stash here. I think I will it again!

Monster Blooms

The Delicious Monsters in our Garden have produced the most amazing giant blooms. The outer casing is tough and helmet-like and the inner stamen is almost like a corn or mealie cob! With a huge dose of inspiration from SkinnyLaMinx and her paper cutout tut - I decided to find my box of craft knives and declare my Valentine love for my man in a crafty way. The Monstera Deliciosa Spathe added a fresh and quirky finishing touch to my naive work of art!

Freshly Found 'Foundling'

I came across designer Betsy Carr of Foundling and her lovely work. These delicate Bobby Pins are made from thrift Polyester blouses! Her own philosophy rings true with mine -

"All of my limited edition jewelry and accessories are made with vintage, found or recycled materials.

I love the notion that these buttons, bits of paper and scraps of fabric had stories of their own before reaching my hands." Visit her blog, her shop, etsy shop, or BTC Elements who stock her beautiful work too.

Art Deco Lighting

Andryn2006 has a series of Durban Art Deco pics on flickr well worth looking at. This is the Memorial Building Tower at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal. It is a lovely example of Durban Art Deco Architecture. StrayJon has another interesting view of the same tower.

This tower reminds me of Charles' light fitting in his study. It is based on the shape of a high rise building and is part of his amazing collection of Art Deco Lighting!

Here are some more of his collection. Each piece comes with an interesting story... He has sourced enough authentic light switch plate surrounds for his whole home! Even more on Art Deco Charles and Art Deco Durbs next week!

Load Shedding

In South Africa we have been experiencing some problems with our power supply and many of us have had intermittant power cuts - termed 'Load Shedding' by the Power Suppliers. The frustration that most of us feel about this has also brought about some humour and innovation.

Danny Seo had a competition on his blog that inspired me to think about using my old candle holders.

I have filled this vintage cutlery tray with decorative goodies - some of which are useful too. The old candle holders store some tea lights and some matches. It is on my coffee table in my living room. I cut some of the striking paper off a match box and glued it on the bottom.

So now - if the lights go out ....
We know where to get help straight away.

Vintage Print and Pattern

I was browsing through The Saturday Book - part of my Vintage collection, [published in 1961] and I noticed how 1 single basic design was the building block of pattern throughout the book: Each page is topped with this version:

Headings are surrounded with this border:

Or this one.

Or this one!
I love the liveliness, simplicity and diversity of these different interpretations! I have enlarged the design and am going to try out some of my own experiments! Watch this space!

Wedding Week!

The Big Wedding Date in April is drawing closer! My daughter took leave this week and has managed to shorten the 'to-do' list.
Here are some glimpses from the past few days - not too much info though - I can't let too much out of the bag!
She looked like a movie star yesterday - with her trial hair do and make-up. It was quite emotional when she tried the dress on too!
The hairdresser said it's one of the nicest tiaras he's ever seen... The inviations were posted this week...

And we had a trial run with the table setting!

Not much longer to go now.

Deco Durbs

My home city - Durban is rich with Art Deco architecture! Our good friend - Charles Wilkins - has a unique house that adds huge value to the Art Deco heritage in Durban. His entire home is full of Art Deco artefacts, which he has refurbished and collected from all over - Durban, South Africa and the world. It has been so much fun helping him to arrange his collection - and in the process I have learnt about a style and era I hardly knew anything about before.
Next week some time I'll tell you more about his home and Durban as an Art Deco destination!