Project a Day: #13 I made an Owlknit

Ah, what lovely rainy weather we've been having. It's so good to be back on my blog again! I've missed out on so many of my fellow bloggers' posts, I can't wait to catch up. So, how perfect is this? That my 30 Projects challenge would pick up right where I left off...

So many has happened in the past two months, I'm sure we all could attest that. Our Paster's wife, Tinneke, had her baby shower in June and they're expecting a girl (Kristen). I've had this idea for a while now and finally had the opportunity to test it. A little, plush, knitted owl whom I call: Orea. She is an Owlknit. Orea is a real softy and she loves staying awake at night to watch over her soon to be born friend.

   -and just for the fun of it, I added this cute, pink, rubber ducky and pink ice-cream bubbles. Just to round it off, what would a gift from me be without an OddOneOut postcard-

-Orea was hand knitted with much love and carefully assembled. I do hope that little Kristen will enjoy having her around. Aw, isn't she a cutey?-

PS. Did you see my new knitting needles? Aren't they lovely? Since I've started knitting, I've realised that the size of your needles makes a huge difference, so I'm starting to collect some needles.

xxx   

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #11

Man, I'm so tired tonight, I just started falling asleep while editing the photo's. Now I'm completely lost for words! I named this dress/outfit Plain Jane simply because it's a one-colour dress and the fact that it's made of a knit fabric, makes it oh so comfortable. My aunt Bernadette gave this dress to me for a birthday present quite a number of years ago. I wear it so often, it's just such an easy going dress. What I love most about this dress is that it isn't Plain Jane at all! It's got the cutest little details around the neckline, with the finest lace.

 -this dress is perfect for a busy Saturday. We cleaned the house, went out to get some goodies for the braai (or barbeque as most of you know it), came back home, baked this tart. Drove out to the property my Dad just bought, had some bubbly, came back home had a braai with my parents and they just left, few-

-Ah... my Odd Ones! Just some of my older products. I always try to keep at least one item when I make a batch of products-

xxx 

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #6

Shades of Grey and a tiny hint of red... I must say, it is getting much cooler now. I'll have to start wearing a bit more layers. This outfit was fine till about 5 pm, then I had to put something warmer on. What I love about this dress is that it is a great "between seasons" kind of a dress. The knit cotton fabric makes it warm enough for cool breeze of Autumn. The cold shoulders makes it cool enough for the heat of the midday sun, which (by the way) is still quite scorching.   

 -man, I love it when Dave takes my photo's! just look at the lovely flair he managed to get for me-

oh deer! what happened to the D in "Cold Shoulder Dress"? above

 -here you can see my dress' cold shoulder detail-

-this one's for my aunt Bernadette, I know you'll absolutely love these! I do-

So day 6 is done and I am really struggling not to put my jeans on in the mornings... This is a much bigger challenge than I thought! It has it's good points though. This challenge forces me to plan my wardrobe for the next day, it forces me to get creative because of the cooler weather and it forces me to wear the stuff I have in my closet. Not to get stuck on a hand full of items which have become my comfort zone. 

Oh, I'm participating in another group giveaway! This one is for my friend Natasha's birthday, it starts tomorrow! Keep an eye out...

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #5

For some reason this outfit reminded me of the 1920's. Don't quite know why, maybe the very fine polka dots on the dress or my polka dotted stockings... Anyway, this dress is made of Viscose, one of my favourite textiles. It's light and flowy and oh so comfortable. The colour scheme reminded me of the Autumns back in Pretoria where we used to live. All the trees would be covered in shades of red, orange and yellow, some even turn deep dark plum before throwing off their leaves. I do miss that, being able to see the seasons change... Here in our new town, Hermanus, in the Western Cape, we have winter rainfall. This means everything turns green, it's quite strange but nice in a way.

 -this dress is awesome, I have worn it many different ways and right through the year. Did you see my cute little Alice band with the bow? It was a gift from my father-in-law, I just love it! The bow is stuffed which makes it squishy-

-this lovely brooch(top) is from my Country Charm range. It's earthy and goes with almost everything. My awesome pumps (below) are so comfy and versatile, as you'll notice in my other post that I tend to wear them a lot-

xxx

30 Days of Dresses: Dress #3

The other day I was blog hopping and came across the term "Mori Girl". This described a Japanese street fashion style meaning "forest girl". This style is basically a feminine layering of textures and fabrics in earthy "foresty" tones. I then realized that I might just be a Mori Girl! Aside from the "trend" items and styles that I love, my default fashion seems to be Mori Girl.

 -It was quite a cool day and surprisingly enough I kept warm in this outfit-

-I must say, I'm quite enjoying myself with this challenge. I love how the colours and the textures came together on this one-

-As each item I own usually carries a story, I would like to add that the Ivory necklace around my neck was purchased when I was very young and naive. I bought it at an African market in Hartebeestpoort Dam. The lady who sold it to me said that it was made of bone. At that time I wasn't too clued-up as to how these things work. If I had known it was Ivory, I would never have bought it-

xxx

Happy Monday Makings #6

Happy Monday, Friends! It is such a lovely day here in Hermanus, it seems that winter came early this year. There's an chill in the breeze, the sun is dimmed yet hot and the shadows are so very long. This coming weekend I'm taking part in a local market, hosted in the Sandbaai Hall here in Hermanus. Their theme is Recycle, Reuse, Re- claim and so on... As most of my products are already made of fabrics sourced from local charity shops, I was asked to exhibit at this market. So now I'm working on some new ranges, experimenting with new floral patterns, for winter.

 -this pretty was inspired by the little navy piece above, I found it in a bag filled with scraps and offcuts, it had already been sewn. As I went through the rest of the bag I found this lovely Teal hem offcut and thought it the perfect opportunity to try out this folded rose pattern with leaves-

-and there you have it-

xxx

  

Outfit Love: Minty and Trifty

There is no better way to give your wardrobe a boost than a bit of thrifty, up-cycled awesomeness! I thrifted a jean from one of out local charity stores, cut off the legs and sewed on some pretty cotton lace and now I have brand new shorts! They are so lovely and really brighten up everyday boring outfit.  

-Oh just look how pretty my OddOneOut bow looks in my hair-

• burnout, minty, loose fit, high-low shirt - Mr.Price
• up-cycled denim shorts - Thifted and up-cycled by me
• pastel blue, capped-toed flats - Mr.Price
• agate necklace - from my grand mother
• leather sling, shoulder bag - Matchbox
• vintage silk scarf - Hospice 

-inspiration for my shorts found on my Pinterest board for me to sew-

Happy Monday Makings #3

Okay.... I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Can you believe we're standing at the end of 2012?! With only 15 days 'till Christmas, 19 days 'till we move to our new home and 21 days 'till 2013! Not to mention all the December birthdays in between... So on this Monday, the 10th of December, a cold and windy overcast day, I decided to share with you my new Pink Roses. These are painstakingly made by cutting hundreds of little pieces of fabric, melting each and every little piece and then assembling them into these lovelies. They are then sewn together by hand with beaded details to make them oh so pretty. Most of the fabric I use is sourced from local thrift- and charity stores, some of my fabric is donated by my lovely readers and now and then my fashion designer aunt would send me her off-cuts. I see potential in everything, so this heap of off-cuts just became a lovely garden of pink roses.

-amazing how this bunch of pink can brighten up one's day-

xxx

OddOneOut at the Market

Hi friends, what a strange and hectic year this has been... in the midst of all the chaos I'd been preparing for this private market, Saturday past. What a lovely bunch of people and some interesting beautiful ones too:-)

 -something old, something new-

-pretty new lovelies-

xxx

Outfit Love: warm vintage browns

So...I had this bag full of off-cuts my Gran gave me a few years back and the other day I decided to go through it. Guess what I found? Rolled in a bundle and tied up was the hem of one of my Gran's vintage dresses which she probably shortened and couldn't get herself to throw the excess fabric away. So I decided to make myself a bodycon skirt.

• Thrifted Crochet Scarf - a lovely warm vintage brown scarf
• Fabric Brooch - an OddOneOut Vintage Range from R40 each
• Carved Shell Necklace - Found this beauty in Matchbox, it was only R10, I had to replace the chain, but now it's good as new.
• Knit Pullover - from Mr.Price, they have them in a variety of colours, but this one goes with almost everything<3
• Bodycon Skirt - Here it is, my one hour skirt. Yes, it was that quick and easy to make. I will doing a d.i.y. on a similar one soon.
• Leggings - also from Mr. P, love them!  

   -This gorgeous bag, my Gran made me when I was still studying, she saw me struggling with my heavy library books when I visited one day and the next time I saw here she gave this bag to me. Now isn't this necklace just something else?-

xxx

Outfit Love: hues of a storm

This Outfit Love post is titled hues of a storm, just because the colour combination reminded me of a stormy sky right before the first crack of thunder... Man, I really miss those Gauteng thunderstorms!

• Vintage Scarf - Matchbox @R10, this is a beautifully designed scarf with an amazing colour pallet.
• Textile Necklace - OddOneOut @ R190, this silver is my most popular colour in this range.
• Purle Coat - Zoot, I can't remember what I paid for this one, I bought it a few years ago but it wears well. I love the style of this coat, it almost feels like it was tailor made for me and it goes with almost everything.   
• Cindy Leigh Armstrong - Mr. Price, Project @ R169.95, this dress is beautifully made, simplistic yet it has subtle details which make it interesting. The fit is perfect and I love the colour. 
• Vintage Floral Dress - My Mom's @ Priceless, my mom wore this dress back when she was about twenty, she dug it up last winter and thought I would like it... I love it and it fits perfectly!

I wore this outfit to choir practice last night where we had to sit for a photo with the Mayor (before practice). The photo was taken for the Hermanus Times, our local newspaper, to accompany the article about our choir achieving a Cum-Laude at the Eistedfodd in Stellenbosch last week, yay! Congratulations to all of the members, we did good! 

xxx

Outfit Love: My thrifty silk shorts

There is nothing quite like finding a beautiful silk item in a thrift store! The sheen of silk attracts me like a light attracts a moth. Although silk is very fragile, it is one of my favourite natural fibers. It feels amazing against your skin, it's light and airy, perfect for summer! I just added leggings to make my outfit a bit warmer for our nippy Autumn weather. This pair of shorts is also ideal for our windy conditions, you don't have to worry about it blowing up like a skirt would.

• Textile necklaces - OddOneOut, these range from R60 to R200
• Vintage leather belt, this super awesome belt, I found in a thrift store in Pretoria, East-lynn
• Vintage floral silk shorts, found these beauties at Matchbox (see my Friday Finds post, here)
• Leather wedge sandals, these edgy wedges I found at the Rage factory shop in Pretoria, Atterbury

-just love the stud details on the belt and on the wedges-

xxx

Outfit Love...

This was one of those days when I woke up kind of down, took a shower and started getting my outfit together... when I was done, I was completely cheered up! This one is all Vintage! I'm just loving this outfit! It's so pretty, feminine and fun. The colours are so beautiful and every "unrelated" item worked together perfectly to create a whole lot of happiness.

• Minty Rose Brooch - These OddOneOut beauties are available @R40 from MishMash
•  Ivory Necklace - This beauty came from the market in Hartebeestpoort Dam, back when I didn't know much about the whole poaching thing. I would never have bought it had I been wiser then.
• Vintage belt - This lovely multi-strand-braided, metallic, belt was in a bag full of scraps my Aunt Leiro gave me some years ago.
• Vintage Floral Dress - this piece of art is not just any vintage dress, it is handmade to perfection. I found it at our local charity shop, Rotary Ann's it was only R25.
• Vintage leather handbag - many years ago, I found this treasure at the bottom of a crate in some thrift store, I paid R20 for it.
• Leather sandals - my lovely Mr. P sandals, I love this colour<3

-Minty Rose Brooches-

Ps. check out Bamboo Blossom's 100th post giveaway and interview with me here.

xxx

Outfit Love - warm in autumn

The strange thing about this outfit, is that every item has been in my closet for quite some time now. They are odd pieces that never went with anything else, yet I couldn't get rid of them. Then out of the blue they all just came together, like they'd been waiting for each other :)

• Leather necklace(trio of hearts) by OddOneOut @R100 from MishMash. This is one of my favourite pieces, it simply goes with everything
• Silk scarf a gift from my Gran, it is hand dyed using the Batik method
• Yellow tank top from Mr.Price, I bought this one a year ago
• Plum cardigan from Meltz, I bought this one two years ago
• Floral skirt from Smiley's, I bought this when I was still in school. Smily's doesn't even exist anymore but I love this skirt, it's made from a lovely Viscose fabric
• Brogues from Mr.P, they are so comfy and versatile, I sometimes don't even notice how much I really wear them<3  

There's nothing like a pretty outfit to make you feel good!

xxx

crochet gifting

One day I strolled into my favourite secondhand shop, Matchbox, to show my friend, Irma, a owl hat I had crocheted for my friend Adrienn's baby photography business, Baby Tale. Irma loved it so much that she commissioned one for herself...only, it were to be in soft pastelly pinks, should have a flower and need not look like an owl:) Off course, now I had to find a pattern that would fit an adult... and I did, well, it fits! I found one right here. I changed the pattern to suite my friend's needs and she just loves it, yay! It makes me so happy when people get all excited over something I've made them...

...and just in time for winter which is right around the corner<3

xxx

Autumn is here...

Oh, dear! I'm so sorry that I didn't post my Outfit L.O.V.E. on Tuesday... We were on the road back from George, after spending the Easter weekend with Dave's parents.  It was quite the chilly weekend, rainy with the wind blowing like crazy and just freezing weather. Now we're back and it seems the turn of the season had snuck up on us over night... This outfit love is a perfect Autumn outfit and the orange is so fitting as the leaves start to change colour.

• Textile necklace @R140 in turquoise& orange is part of my latest range of Textile jewellery by OddOneOut available at MishMash
• Crop-sleeve knit, I bought from Mr.P quite some time ago
• Crochet Bracelet/bangle @R50 is always a favourite accessory by OddOneOut available at MishMash
• Turquoise dress with frill detail I bought from Exact a while back
• Leggings with Lace are from a local shop
• 50's Style heels are from Edgars, also bought some time ago

  Love this fun yet sexy little number<3

xxx

Ah, I felt like pastels today...

So.... I woke up this morning and felt like wearing pastels. After a bit of digging, I decided to put on the following:

• Dave gave me the butterfly ring as part of a "lucky packet" Christmas gift three years ago
• The "B" brooch I bought from my most favourite little second hand shop in Hermanus, Matchbox
• This beautiful vintage blouse, I found at Rotary Ann's charity shop, in town. I absolutely adore this fabric design
• I love my trio of OddOneOut necklaces, the rainy cloud necklace is R95 each, the pearl drop necklace is R80 and the three step pearl necklace is R90 and they're all available at MishMash
• The braid bracelets I made from a Pinterest DIY
• My stripy shorts are from Mr. P
• My grey gladiator sandals are also from Mr. P

these colours make me feel like Spring even thought our Autumn has just begun<3

xxx

Outfit Love

 Man, I just love these colours! 

• My lovely leather trio of hearts necklace, is hand cut &made by me. They will soon be available forsale at our facebook shop, MishMash at R100 each.
• This amazing Viscose, Navajo print scarf from MishMash is R95. 
•  My favourite crochet bangle by OddOneOut seems to work with a lot of my outfits and it just adds that lovely detail that makes your outfit unique(similar crochet bangles R50 each from MishMash)
• The tie-dyed dress is my own d.i.y. It was a beautiful white dress I bought at Mr.P some years ago. One day it came out of the wash full of yellow blotches because someone had put a new garment in the bundle which wasn't colour-fast. The dress was too pretty to throw out but I couldn't wear it like that, so I decided to dye it dark blue. It came out so nice, I wear it almost every day (weather permitting, that is...).
• Lovely leather-look Brogues from Mr. P, they're so comfortable and the go with pretty much any outfit<3

 Love this outfit on a warm day<3

xxx

Summer OddOne's at Deja Vu!

Some lovely Summer goodies to look out for at Deja Vu's new shop in Hermanus (right above the Mug'n'Bean). They've got a beautiful spot there, over looking the centre of town and the sea... So whenever you're in the area, pop in at Deja Vu and support all the really awesome gifts and crafts that are handmade by the local Artists and Crafters.

-Above-

My vintage, fabric, yo-yo brooches are so much fun and brighten up any outfit! Then I've also made some statement crochet bangles...love wearing these myself:) The vintage denim bows are hairclips but you can put them anywhere you like;)

-Above-

These Turquoise&Orange textile necklaces are my favourite out of all the textile necklaces I've made! The colour combination has such a positive effect on a person. When you put one of these babies on, you feel like you can do anything! I really loved making these, I even made an extra one for myself...

xxx

Vintage Country Charm... mmm

Here are the photo's of the finished product as I promised. The first 20 are the babies of the range, there are two more sizes in the making and they will be just as yummy as these ones, if not more. If you like them so much that you just have to have one... they are R25 each and will be available at the Hemel&Aarde Village Market on Saturday.

I'm really happy with how these beauties turned out and my new brown cards are a lot more "flexible" than my old colourful cards... tell me what you think:)

Ps. Thanks to David for my awesome product photography<3

xxx