Optomistic Art!

My daughter is busy finishing off her Final Art Piece for her Last Year at School! It is an Interactive Work of Art. Thanks to her I have learnt about this artform and come to recognise and enjoy it!

Something else I have enjoyed lately is the work of Jean Shin [via Caravan of Curiosities]. She prolifically creates beautiful works from cast off objects, giving them new life and showing off their beauty in a different way!
How many times have I thrown away a broken umbrella in frustration? Jean's work shows me I should have been collecting them instead!
I love the art of clothing hanging as decor objects! Jean deconstructed this clothing and left only the seams!

She used some of her own clothing to produce these Collograph Prints
Visit her sight and take and take a enlightening tour of her work!

Tapestree!

This is the prototype for a series of bags I am making using some found tapestries. Usually I buy some dusty framed ones, but this one was stitched by my clever mom before she was married and was never framed! So here after half a century - it is having it's debut!

I made the bag from a sturdy cotton or light canvas. Inside it is lined with a South African 'Granny Print' from Berg River Textiles. I have included 3 generous pockets on the inside - and a little bit like my Glove Cushions - I am adding a stitched comment to each. This one is - Tapestree!

Inspiration Time

On Monday my husband arrived home with these mags, sent to me from a friend via him! What a delightful surprise! Thanks Kerryn!!!

What I liked a lot was her very good suggestion to my husband, which she attached to the front cover of the Selvedge magazine!

Today is a public holiday here, so I have got a few bits and pieces to paint white in the garage - otherwise it is going to be me, the couch and these mags! So looking forward to it!

Objekt

Selvedge

Clothing Lamps

Private Circle sell plexiglass lamp supports from which you can hang items of clothing to create your own customised lamp! Being the Avid Collector of interesting vintage clothing that I am, I can just imagine what I could do with these!
via Doubletakes

via Cooked Brains

And the Winner is...

I am really pleased with some new cushions which I have just made out of Prison Fabric. I was struck with the pattern that the wording formed - a typographical polka dot - made up of Correction S - which stands for Correctional Services. I am happy that the fabric is black and white as most prisoners wear orange.This series is significant to me because I am delighted that I managed to 'Freshly Find' this fabric! [Most of the stuff I make is from Freshly Found Vintage!] It has added meaning to me because I have spent a few really memorable sessions visiting some of the ladies at the Westville prison. [They don't wear this fabric - that seems to be reserved for the men only - they wear navy or denim with white.] After overcoming any claustraphobic fears I might have had - I soon realised the humaness, bravery, humour and optimism of these ladies - and that there - but by the grace of God - could so many of us have gone.Last week I had a Giveaway to celebrate 1 year of blogging! The prize for the winning Commentee on my blog is a Cushion Cover from this series.
I printed out all the names on pieces of paper and helped by my daughter yesterday afternoon, who did the draw, we came up with a winner!
Anairam from the delightful blog Fra[a]ings is the one! So a cushion cover will be on its way to you soon! Congrats and I hope it brings you joy!

New Carpet Day!

Spring has arrived here, but it's been a bit too dry and very windy. So our garden is looking a little worse for wear. Even so, yesterday I found some encouraging signs of Spring peeping through!

The 'Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow' is blooming, the Swamp Cyprus is getting it's leaves back again, the Strelitzias are stunning and I could pick some of those deep orange Palm Stems with their black seeds again! Inside my house will be a little bit like Spring today as my lounge and bedroom have the 80's carpets like this taken out and brand new ones put in instead! Yay!

Pink Thoughts

Yesterday I picked up this beautiful Sari from a local thrift shop. I just had to have it. I don't know what I will do with it yet - but maybe I could use it to make some soft squishy pleated bags, or some cushion covers, or some Furoshiki wrapping cloths. It was made in Japan after all!

It made me think about how much pink I used to have in my life - from cerise pink lipstick all the way down to my cerise pink shoes. I wear no pink now at all!

It also made me think pattern - and how my appreciation for pattern has grown in the last year. I love the simplicity yet cleverness of this mostly geometric design.

There's a little bit of pink to be found out there at the moment -

IAFR - Interior Adventures for Real were also thinking pink when they designed this cabinet engraved with grafitti!

Wallpaper designer PvanB 's pink thoughts:

Pink need not be pretty - it can be classy too!

Limoges Scarf Cushion

I have been doing a bit of research into one of the cushion covers I recently added to my etsy shop.

It is made from a silk[?] scarf, which is decorated with trinket boxes. The research has revealed that these are probably what is known as Limoges Boxes - small hand-painted Porcelain boxes made in Limoges France. Most Limoges are hand painted and always have hinged lids. Quite a few different boxes are illustrated on the scarf -

Limoges boxes are still manufactured today. Read about this interesting porcelain art here. I have learnt a lot, but there is still more I would love to know about the scarf itself.

Black is Also Beautiful

I LOVE to paint things white. But there are exceptions to every rule. I decided to paint this cute number black. It does show off my white things quite nicely! I decorated it with a white pot. Instead of filling the pot with fresh flowers, I filled it with a freshly found vintage floral scarf! I added 2 pink chinese bowls and 1 [painted] white protea for company! The white lamp base is a brass one, which I painted a while ago.
By the way, this is what the table looked like before:

1 Year Old, so I am Giving Something Away!!!

Freshly Found is One Year Old! It's a year ago that I started blogging! To celebrate, I am going to give a surprise gift away! To qualify, please just leave a comment telling me about your favourite Pillow or Cushion Cover!
Closing time will be 15h00 Sunday 21st ,South African time, after which I will put the names in a hat and choose a winner!

I will send the winner a Cushion Cover.
This is what I can tell you about the prize for now...
It is not part of my range yet.
You probably don't have one like it!
It is not vintage, but it does have a Freshly 'Found' aspect to it!
It is 100% cotton and made in South Africa.