Safe spaces...

I would love to share some pictures of a few of my favourite spaces in our home... 

(I want to apologize for the quality of the pic's.... aaaa... I get so inspired by Instagram on my husbands' iPhone... but actually I must have just done this with an actual camera!)

Heaps of crocheted 'african flower' motifs in our guest room ... a very long term project... but still whenever I crochet one of them I feel the everyday-stress floating away...

...a second hand display cupboard - we love to display books and art that have meaning to us and thus share a piece of our hearts with all who visit us... 

...some of the books in my studio bookcase... just to look at there names displayed from the bookcase make me all excited and inspired :)

I used to love little fairy objects... and still have a small collection of them... reminding me of being sensitive and quiet some times so that my inner voice can speak truthfully...

The 'Ideas magazine' all filed in order with reminder flags of where inspiring projects were...

Journals make me smile every time... a few recent and not-so-recent ones...

Whenever I see my oil painting bag ... my heart wishes for some quiet time to do some detail paintings with little petite brushes ...

...this drawer with all my different punches just asks for playtime :)  ... decorating a special gift ...

... and all the same for my stamp drawer :)

Odd pieces of fabric used in projects or still to be used in new dreamy ideas... :) 

Mug warmers

A while ago on a cold winters evening... a few friends and I gathered around a cosy fireplace and we crocheted and knitted...

I found this simple pattern on Ravelry and decided to try it out on this creative evening...

It gets a cute color lining around the top and along the handle...

Eventually I made 6 mug warmers ... playing with red and sand colours.  I think it would be so cute to use for soup when served as a first course during a meal...

Reflecting...

About a month ago my dad's wife of 8 and a half years suddenly died at the age of 68 years.  This post few weeks I spend a lot of time contemplating the extreme frailness of our lives on this earth... on what is really worthwhile and what not.

One of the most important things to me is to keep exploring the burning passions that God put in my heart... because according to me here is some key to what your purpose is in this world.

Live fully!

...and to appreciate the loved ones around myself consciously everyday!

Holiday knitting and crocheting...

My husband and I had a 9 day holiday recently. We made a road trip from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. We stayed in Glentana for 2 nights... one of the main reasons for staying more than one night was to have a day to drive around and in particular to Toucan - a wonderful wool shop close by to Mosselbay!  Yes, I have the most amazing husband, who armed with his iPad waited patiently for me to feast on all the wool :)

On our way back from PE we were lucky to stay in a beautiful setting close to Plettenberg Bay called "Alkantmooi" (the English meaning - "every side of this guest house is pretty").  

After the visit to the Toucan wool shop... I couldn't wait to start knitting... and what a pleasure with such a beautiful setting as the sea at Glentana!  

Not long after getting inspiration from the Glentana coastline this scarf was finished...

In PE we connected with lots of family... but in between all the chattering... I tried this doily from the Ideas magazine... used for decoration over a milk jar ... must just add the beads ;)
On checking the spelling of doily on google I came across this on wikipeadia:
"A doily (or doilie) is an ornamental mat, originally the name of a fabric made by Doiley, a 17th-centuryLondon draper.^[1] Doily earlier meant "genteel, affordable woolens" "

In Plettenberg Bay I encountered a wonderful lady with lots of positive energy named, Martie in a little wool shop where she was spinning wool that was sheared by her husband.  After seeing this beautifully soft coloured purple-pink merino wool spun by her I could not resist buying some :) .  I made scarf, and crocheted a scalloped edge...

Crocheting a fabric mat...

The inspiration for me to try and crochet a fabric mat is two-fold.  I love the blog of Isabeau Joubert, who seems to be a crochet artist in Cape Town at the moment (how cool!!).  She recently posted the most beautiful fabric floor coverings that she's made.

So inspired was I when I opened the new Ideas magazine and saw a Isabeau - fabric mat in there with the pattern to make it!

Pic's above:  Isabeau's beautiful creations!

I received my Ideas magazine on Thursday morning and after work I was on my way to source some fabric for my mat :)
Later on Thursday evening my husband and I took turns on cutting the fabric to strands for crocheting...

...this morning I finished cutting the fabric and could not wait to start and see how this would work ... so far so good...  :)

Crocheting a lampshade...

The inner frame of a lampshade from a vintage craft market bought a while ago, together with a lampshade on Ilaria's blog (also featured in Mollie Makes issue thirteen) were the inspiration for a crochet lampshade cover that took shape for my sisters' birthday present...

...the inspiration lampshade at the back of this pic by Ilaria

... the lampshade found at a vintage craft market

...fitting the granny squares

Yippee... 5 granny squares fits perfectly around the top part of the lampshade...

Crocheting white granny squares with spots of bright colours...  and attaching them to one another...

...a decorative pattern from a jersey becomes the 'lacy' piece at the bottom of the lampshade cover

...the lacy bit completed, as well as ribbon threaded through the treble crochet stitches 

...a scallop pattern for the top

...the finished product...

Just 'bearly' made it ...

Last week Thursday I had a wonderfully hectic time (as I have very little experience in working with fabric! ... but the fabrics are so lovely I just had to try!) filled with lots of concentration on the most beautiful fabric... learning form Sylvia how to make a 'oh so sweet' patchwork bear.  This all happened in the lovely setting of Dot's Quilts here in Cape Town.

Searching for just the right material for our bears was such a joy in the beautiful setting of Dot's Quilts...

With my material choice made...

... I started cutting out the pattern

...and then the stitching started, with no time to waist... as a whole bear had to take shape in 5 and a half hours... 

... the leg starting to show its form...

An o so sweet pleat in the ear...

Lots of concentration for me!! ... what goes where???

... everything coming together at the neck...

... and then suddenly it is time to add the legs and you can see your bear transforming out of the material... yippee!!

... my oh so sweet Sylvia bear... only in need of eyes and maybe a cute little nose... all in due time...

This was quite a breakthrough for me... I did not know that I would be able to do this... as I do not have much experience ... other than 'the stitching in a straight line' thing (ha ha)... I was nearly caught out!... but although I left the class last on Thursday, I made it!!  What a relief :)