sunshine

i've been putting all my photo's onto my external hard drive and found this picture i took a long while ago.
its a collection of things that rita and i inheritted from our mother.
i love the way the afternoon sun is shinning on the sculptures and it seems like the light matches them- the black doll in the shadows with her eyes catching the light, the girl full on loving the light and the mans head turning not to get the light in his eyes/ \and the shadows from the king protea...
its all so beautiful!
click on the picture to see it full size. its worth it ( i think)

what do you think?

hi there dear readers (yes you-the 4 or so that read my blog) please tell me what you think of the new format... (i really would appreciate and value your opinion)
i am undecided as to which i prefer- the old one or the new one? so maybe i'lll let you decide!

yay.
x

sometimes

image from le love image
i feel like this today about a certain someone

eating grapefruit sitting on my bed

why are grapefruits called "grape" fruits? they are nothing like grapes!
:D my dress is the same colour as the grapefruits skin!

I'm sure i have work to do

today i know i have work to do but i can't seem to think what it is.
maybe its also that i don't feel like doing it. (ah yes, thats it!)
Also know that from tomorrow till the 3rd october its going to be non stop cooking and boiling water, washing and cleaning and boiling more water, and drinking coffee and red wine and smoking cigarettes and then its matjies and one non stop party. and a puppet show
so maybe taking it easy today isn't so bad?

sorry to all the shops i supply-i know stock is running low-in october supply will resume and hopefully better than ever with my new employee!

And i will have new shoes by the end of October, 2 new styles, 3 old, some in new colours some with minor adjustments, some just the way they were cause they were rad and worked! all with new logo and comfy cushioning in the heel.
I am very excited about them and having 200 pairs! going to have an introductory sale at my new studio-jewellery and shoes!

so not that i am a regular poster of things on my blog, but i won't be posting till i get back.
maybe i wil be a more active poster on my return?

so much to do and i am going away

Things are really starting to get busy! i have taken on new projects and still doing making jewellery.

This weekend i go off to a farm just outside Albertina, where i will be catering for a workshop Run by Al Kaplan and Sue Davidoff (its their farm) and with the help of their 2 sons Luke and Greg, we'll be catering for 23 or 24 people for 5 days.
the first time it was for 19 people but for 7 days, so i guess its kinda even and will be a similar experience.

the farm is pretty amazing, has a river, mountains, caves, walks, space... also they have used a type of eco architechture, where all the building are very organic in their shape and they all have a hexagonal sky-lite in the roof- really looking forward to being able to look at the stars and the night sky ever so slowly going by-it awsome and you're in the comfort of a down duvet. bliss after a long days work.

after that i am off to matjiesfontein! YAY
my contribution is a puppet show, with dannali, marietjie, rory and eve. we have alot to do in one more day...we almost have the set finished- and i have to alter the one and only marionnette in the show so he can move smoothly. and then learn how to use him smoothly, and then they have to figure out how to do the rest of the puppets.
you can find out more bout matjies here: matjiesshowntell.blogspot.com
its supposed to be fully booked this year! yay lots of friends and lots of contributions

other things i am busy with and things that are busy with me:
1) new range of shoes
2) book sculptures (waiting on final confirmation from the big cheeses before completion)
3) new jewellery label with Dannali Wilson
4) top secret project with Marietjie Beeslaar
5) moving into a awsomely rad new studio in the woodstock industrial centre (after i am back from Matjies)
6) new range of jewellery for the shops i supply
7) finding somebody to employ to make jewellery for me-let the one in the pipeline really be the one!
8) new housemate...and possibly 2

i will post pictures of new shoes, matijies, farm, etc when i am back home
x

book sculptures

I have been asked to make some book sculptures for a new resort in Abu Dhabi. here is the first one that still needs to be finished. I used a scalple to cut out the patterns.

earrings

Earrings

I've been thinking about making new earrings. And this last week i have been asked to make some books (folding and cutting of old books into objects) for a project in Abu dhabi, and it made me think of the earrings i made about 3 years ago, maybe even 4. time goes by so fast!
these ones are sterling silver that are either plain or gold plated, and hand cut out.
even if time does go by so fast, atleast had time enough to hand cut out a whole bunch of these earrings!
they took awhile to sell though, think cause of the time it took-it made them expensive. ah time...

Ring ring

here are some of the latest rings i have made for Shirley Fintz, a ceramic artist and collector of many wonderful things-including rings!

drawings

Making coin embossed hearts

this was me yesterday and today making lots of brass and silver hearts that are embossed with old coins, oxidised and sanded, to make the embossed image stand out more.
i use them for necklaces, bracelets and bangles- still need to take photo's of the finished product.
there are also photo's of my home studio
and a cut out heart, with beetles-i'm really liking them at the moment-the plat ones didn't work so well-thinking bout getting some cast (real dead one's) in brass...and then get a mold made so i don't have to keep using insects-maybe i'll carve one instead...... need to think more...

tattoo

i have booked my appointment to get a tattoo (only april 7th-manuela is fully booked till then) and finally use the birthday voucher i got from sissie sam raffie and dans...way back in august 2007....
the image is of the roses in the coffee bowl-from previous post...

the perfect bowl of coffee at birds cafe

emma, sissie and i went for a farewell breakfast at birds cafe this morning and emma bowl of coffee could possibly be the perfect design for a tatoo for me to finally use the birthday voucher

"Good Fortune"

This is the pinata that my very talented sister made for Marietjie and Rosy Parker's wedding gift.
She spent many hours paper mache-ing, getting the perfect sweets and trinkets for inside, making a giant (3 balls of wool big) pom-pom tail,glueing ruffle's down, and even getting a stick to hit with- decorated with ribbons, a polka dotted blind fold..... its all sorted out and ready for a merry bashing, bringing good fortune to all...

new shoes

These ar the new colours i have for the "Stefania" sandal
The leather is a burnishable one, so the shoes will gradually shine up with wear.

jewellery beauties

Here's some photo's of the newer jewels that i am making, the skulls are inspired by the mexican day of the dead.... El Dia de los Muertos....Turkish dream cloud, cause i really wanna go to turkey one of these days...and some ever popular birds for fun, and hearts cause they sell and they are easy enough to make (and its always a surprise to me the way the coin imprints onto the silver...) I have some really old coins from Brasil that are really beautiful-waiting for the right heart to use them for...and a key oe 2 cause they remind me of old bulgy...

and the beautiful beaded necklaces that i am getting some ladies in kayelitsha to bead for me, using czech seed beads only available in durban, and now available in cape town in the form of these fantastic necklaces!

new shoes, monday blue shoes....

i have started making the shoes again, but alas am experiencing, some teething problems that are starting to get me down....
but hope to start a shoe making course next week-so i'll know more about what i need to, the right leather to buy, patterning, shaping, and more......

i bought my self 'n maar kat and a rabbit

I had a dismal day at the market, and so i bought myself some toys.
this hand made felt cat is by a girl who's name is also Stef, she sewed this one up herself, but she also has some women in the eastern cape making some for her.
and the other treasure is a wind up tin toy rabbit, to go with my frog and mouse.

gift sets: hand made ship pendant from brass soldered onto silver backing, and oxidsed, placed in a cut out cavity in an old story book

i've been thinking of new things to make.
things that are also different to what other folks at the market are up to...
also since i seem to not be selling too much jewellery anymore.... gotta do sumin different?
so was thinking of making sets that are something like this....
maybe they will make good christmas gifts??

new displays for the neighbourgoods market

these are my new displays that stuart helped me make-laser cutting is fantastic!
only problem is that i forgot about the summer south eater that blows through woodstock and the displays are not wind friendly....or rather the wind is not so friendly with my displays...

hey look a paw paw has its own star

making a swan

some more of my older work

enamelled bambi ring, bokkie belt buckle, lovebird pendant,

some things i used to make

I have found another shoe maker, with the help of Alexander Hojer, and he has definite potential-ordering 20 or so, in patent yellow leather, blue-green embossed leather and some black. All with leather soles! 1 step up from Angels....(who used to make for me)
and have also found someone who is in observatory who gives courses on hand making shoes--starting end October, so hopefully i will be able to make a pair of shoes my ownself real soon! maybe even some high heels......

funny jewelley things i been making

i also took some pics of flowers while on the n7

top of the world in Nieuwoudtville

Back in Cape Town

Being back in cape town is turning out to be harder than i thought, i am feeling a little lost.
I had thought that i would figure out where i was going and how i was going to get there, while i was away... i didn't.
it was fantastic to not think about it and it was good to step out of my life, and into helping someone else achieve a dream-that was actually pretty amazing!
i seem to not be able to focus myself to figure things out.
Making things for the market last week, i made things because i had to, and they felt like i had regressed design wise. and i felt that they weren't what i would normally make, and needless to say they didn't sell at all!
i seem to have hit a wall jewellery wise, and my old tricks in wall climbing aren't helping me over/under/around/through anymore.
Alex has given me the name of a shoe maker who is making up a sample for me, lets hope he can deliver and i can be in the shoe business again. ALex and i went together to the shoe maker and its pretty amazing to see the way she deals with people who will be working for her-saying that she expects nothing but the best, and promising that if its up to standard that they will be rewarded, which is the truth, I don't think i would have thought to say it though. She knows what she wants and is very busy making it happen! its great!

Ceramic things that i have made...

Bitterfontien

blommetjie b&b, bitterfontein

Back in Cape Town

The trip was fantastic!
I somehow thought that more things would have changed for me. But my life is pretty much as I'd left it, which isn't a bad thing either!
I am really happy to be back in my house and in my own bed and the luxury of city living. Its also so busy! and so much to do and so many people to see. Its a very different pace to what it was on the road!

Greg has all my photo's on his computer, so as soon as i get them from him i'll post some new pictures.

Bitterfontein, Blommetjie B&B

Drawing in progress- Doringkraal

Stayed at Blommetijie B&B last night, was real sweet to stay in doors out of the wind.
and in a sweet B&B. Its quaint and rustic. Owned by Maretha Coetzee. She inheritted the cottage from her father and grew up in Bitterfontein, and has moved back after 20 years of being away.
She is passionate about conserving resources and skills. And employs locals to restore the building using traditional cob building. She also has Oom softening some animal skins by hand, to make blankets or throws. a skill that seems to be fast forgotten.
The way Blommetjie is, is somehow how i had pictured more of the Wetsern part of our country to be.

Today Greg and I move on to Nieuwoudtville for a weekend off and some time with friends. So excited! am in need of social activity.....and familiar faces.

succulent on the knersvlakte

n7 wildflowers

so today is 2 weeks done and dusted on the n7 wildflowers walk (that Greg is doing-I am the back up)
it has been quite the adventure.

I have realised and discovered a few things:

1) I have only been camping a few times in my life-countable using less than a hand... other than parties of course and thats too many to remember and not sure they count?
2) The western part of our country sure is beautiful, but also desolate, harsh, warm, comforting, lonely, windy! so windy my tent blew down at 3 a. bloody .m!, awsome, inspiring, funny-seen some things that will make me laugh for a while to come. And cold.
3) That I can handle being away from comforts (including watching Oprah)
4) That i like sheep-and have had some conversations with one or 2 of them....yes yes probably cause i didn't see or speak to anyone else other than greg for a day or 2.
5) I sure do like succulents.
6) After reading the last American man...I have the grandmother from c
Courage the Cowardly dog (cartoon on dstv) saying "Eustaaace!" randomly in my head--oh to put in context-the last American mans name is Eustace.
-the mind will find all sorts of ways to entertain itself......"Eustaaace!" and have to remind myself that i am still normal, even if i do speak to sheep and have Eustaaace--going through my brain sporadically.
7) That lamb tastes the way it did when i used to eat it- I have stopped being vegetarian. (not on this trip though-a little while before.)
8) Springbok has lank bottle stores and electrical/&lighting shops. And that all the supermarkets and stores sell wool and knitting needles and crochet hooks. And that the people seem to be a little red in the face. So greg and i decided that the main activity of Springbok is sitting outside in the sun drinking and crocheting. (yes this is one of thoughs things that will make me laugh for a little while to come.)
9) Hondeklipbaai-has the most mussel shells I have ever seen on a beach! Mounds of them.
10) That the Western part of our country has quite a few mines--and it makes me sad to see them, them way the earth is sug up and sifted and left in dumps--and it makes me question being a jeweller and my part in this. I know i didn't make the world the way it is, but in which way do i want to contribute?
11) I knew time would go by real fast and it is. Have to make the most of it!

and i am sure the list will continue......

rainy rainy days

i think that this is one of the wettest winters we've had in a while!
and its oh so cold

does anyone know of someone who has a camper van who is rad-oh so rad that they would let me and greg use it on the n7 walk??

i'm about to make some phone calls to some camper companies--(universe: my pleases and thanks)

its cold and rainy today and i am thinking bout going to gym so that i can get my body temp up! but its so cold to go out side! the woes of winter!

Taryn my house mate got me hooked on greys anatomy---i watched 4 episodes in a row last night!

and tomorrow our new house mate emma moves in which'll be exciting to have someone in the house that'll be here regularly...and who is a fantastic cook!!!
and both of us have decided that we wanna loose some kilo's so hopefully we'll come up with some fantastic delicious food thats not fattening.... i'll keep it posted here!

Here are some of the felt things that i've been making and trying to sell at the neighbourgoods market...but alas no-one has purchased one...i have however really enjoyed making them--its nice to make something and be able to sit outside in the sun too!

Blue Steel

It is finally time to say farewell to Blue Steel, My 1973 Opel Manta.