Working towards a Green Christmas

A Freshly Found update - I am so happy with my beautiful now-white chest of drawers that came back inside today.  

A recent vintage-colourful-striped-jersey find has been repurposed into 8 happy Christmas Stockings! 

A previously-loved cricket pullover has been made into some textured, cabled Christmas hearts

And I have been crocheting flowers to decorate red and white dishcloth linen hearts too.  The yarn is South African, hand-dyed and an absolute pleasure to work with.
Right in the middle of all this Christmas rush, we are going away for a few days to the Drakensberg.  I will be taking my crochet with, and hope to get quite a bit done in time for the next i♥market!

Paint Stories

I always enjoy the work of my fun, lively, talented, artist friend Marlene van Jaarsveld  Just love her latest project!

She used to live in my street.  Since then she's lived all over the place.  Now she lives on the other side of the world in Bangkok!  

I am also loving what's going on in my garage at them momemt. We have a painter who is putting lovely coats of white paint on some of our old furniture.  

Can't wait to have them back inside all fresh and lovely!

More Record Wraps

 I've made a huge batch of Vinyl Wrap Vases today.  This top set is for a special order - a customer who wanted some of her own collection made into vases.

 And then while I was about it, and because it involves vintage records, gloves, heat, steam and perspiration,  I made a whole lot more for the Christmas Gift Rush!

Interpret Durban

I am passionate about my home city Durban, and fascinated with the creative talent that we have here too.   

So last night was a very good evening to experience both.  Streetscene Alternative Tours hosted an Interpret Durban T-shirt Competition at the Colomba Coffee Factory in Durban.

I so enjoyed all the clever ways people found to interpret our city.  Inspiration came from:  our recent street name changes, bunny chow [local delicacy], the sun, the sea, our local telephone code and alien bird population in the form of Indian Mynahs! 

See Lauren's take on the evening and the gorgeous judges' and winners' rosettes by Nadia too!  Not sure who the winners are, but

if I had been a judge - the design at the top of this post could well have got my vote.

Kusudama

 Claire Norden creates these amazing Kusudama projects for Freshly Found.  

They have attracted so much attention at the market. 

I love the way Claire has captured her Japanese-type origami creations so beautifully in these pics!

More amazing work from Claire coming soon...

Paper Sculpture

We had a lovely market on Saturday. The Freshly Found Paper bracelets have been getting quite a lot of attention. The woven rounds are covered with an acrylic sealer which makes them fairly robust and resistant to water. 

I have worn my own one many times, and it shows very little signs of wear and tear. I have brightened some of them with strips of lace and rickrack!

Helen Strydom bought a bracelet on Saturday and told me that she had a vintage sculpture at home, made with a similar technique.  She so kindly sent me a pic of the paper dog and told me that it was apparently made by a sailor in a Pietermaritzburg hospital around the time of World War II.

It seems as though it was made from cigarette papers. Thanks SO much for the inspiring pic Helen! What a treasure you have. See Helen's perspective on her blog!

Bows for the Market

 

I have been making some sari bows as a variation to decorate the sari garland necklaclaces.  

 

I love working up close with sari fabric and enjoy the different patterns on the sari, the border and the end piece.

Lots more work today as I get ready for the i♥market tomorrow.

See you there!

Movember

 It's the month of Movember, so I decided to join in.  Fortunately I can't grow my own mo, so I created my own version of Handlebars and Fu Manchu with my crochet hook . 

Posing here with my reading/crafting glasses - an essential piece of equipment since entering my 6th decade! 

Read Bear Thrylls for more info!

Welcome to our home!

This past weekend, my husband hosted a course in our home, and we had the course leader staying with us. I used my vintage Scrabble set to welcome her to her room [aka my studio!] 

I was so delighted to walk in after she left, and find that she had left a message in response...

Can you work out what her name is?

Shopping at Night

On Thursday night last week, we went to the first Wholefoods Night Market at the Colombo Coffee Roastery.

We were amazed at the turnout of Durbanites.  The place was crowded. We enjoyed shopping amongst the giant roasters

and came home with freshly roasted coffee beans and some pesto and olives too. 

Visit the Colombo blog to see the story behind their innovative packaging by Hardy Boys and to enjoy some of their journey!