30 Skirts in 30 Days: #1 Purple Paisleys

It's Spring! Well okay, we're still freezing our butts off and there is snow on our surrounding mountains... But it's Spring! Happy Spring everyone! I Love this time of the year, there's a smell in the air that just so invigorating that one cant help but wanna sing or dance or do something silly!

Being the last month of my 20's, I'm doing a 30 Skirts in 30 Days challenge. Ah, the shops here in our little town are already stocked with summer clothes and after searching for pastel clothes for the past 2 years, I now see pastel lovelies everywhere! 

My first skirt is one of my favourites. My parents bought me two skirts way back when I was still in high school. This is one of them. It's from Edgars Woolworths, it's the loveliest 100% cotton and it's screen printed with the most beautiful paisley design. I don't think I'll ever get rid of this skirt. After so many washes and having had it for 12 odd years, it hasn't faded or anything. So here it is...

 -this skirt does have a bit of a Boho feel to it. I wish I were a fashion-gyspy, I just can't seem to pull it off. Anyway, as you can see, we had quite a chilly Spring Day here in Hermanus-

-here a closer pic, so you can see how pretty this skirt really is. The funny thing about this skirt (being a 100% Cotton and all) is that I have never had to iron it, not once. Isn't that awesome?! What's your favourite fibre and why do you like it so much? I would love to talk fibres with you!

-Hope you all had the loveliest Spring Day-

xxx

Outfit Love: Aztec prints and an Owl

Wow! I'm super slow today! I've seem to be coming down with the flu or something, so yesterday Dave brought me some meds to help fight the bug before I really get sick. But now it's making me super lethargic! But non the less, here I am, doing my Outfit Love post. Just to share with you a few pretty items I found and to show off our beautiful surroundings.

NOTE TO SELF: next time tie hair up for photo's shot in crazy wind

~Nude button-up shirt: found at local thrift store

~My awesome antiqued bronze Owl necklace with enamel detail: from Mr. Price

~This Aztec print, high-low skirt is so lovely and flowing: from Ackermans

~Genuine Leather thong sandals: from Mr.Price

~ Oh how I have searched for an owl just like this one and there it was at Mr. Price, just waiting for me to take her home. And so I did! These photo's were taken at one of our favourite spots. It's called Sievers Point and it is such a lovely quiet place on the rocks with the most beautiful view of Walker Bay and Grotto Beach, Hermanus.

xxx

Clearing space ...and my head

As most of you probably know, when you move house, you tend to sort things out and get rid of stuff you don't use anymore. Well, I have been sorting and when I packed out my boxes I found that I had accumulated a collection of yellow glass. I had found these at antique and charity shops all over Pretoria(when we used to live there) and a few pieces are from the local charity shops here in Hermanus. As Dave and I want to start clean and I've grown tired of warm colours in the house, I decided that this collection needs to move on. So if you're ever in the Hermanus area and love thrift shopping, visit Matchbox where you'll find my yellow glass collection for sale. You might have to hurry though, the stock in this little shop moves fast!

   -some of these are vintage, some Italian glass and some new-

-I do hope they find lovely homes where they are appreciated-

xxx

Love is all around

Yesterday morning Dave woke me with a big bush of flowers and a lovely little gift bag filled with goodies. After work, we took our picnic basket and drove to "Brekfis Baai" (it translates to: Breakfast Bay), a small isolated beach in Vermont, Hermanus. We walked the nature path down to the rocks and found a nice spot to sit. In our picnic basket I packed Marsh Mallow Sunday soda's, a Sushi platter for two and Vanilla yogurt with Turkish Delight pieces for dessert. It was a bit tricky to sit and eat sushi with chopsticks and balance the platter on the rocks, but it was delicious!

  -we had the most beautiful scenery, clouds and sunset-

- everything was so yummy, the sushi was so fresh! Thanks to Dave,
this turned out to be such a wonderful day-

-when the sun went down and we started walking back to the car, we realized that we were trapped! Swarms of Sand Fleas were coming from the plants, the sand and everywhere you look. All of them heading towards the sea. It was like we were in some kind of sci-fi movie, we had to make a run for it. These things were all over that beach, I've never ever seen something quite like this before. It was freaky and disgusting-

xxx

  

Lucky Friday Finds #5

Yay, it's Friday! Gillian found all these really cool stuff at our local charity shops here in Hermanus. How amazing that one of my reader friends not only loves thrifting but loves sharing too?! I can't thank you enough, Gillian! This is such a nice package, with the vintage lampshades, fabric and buttons. I know just what to do with those cute lampshades... I have a friend who makes the most awesome lamps from vintage books, doilies and crockery. I'll post you some pictures when I get them done:)

 -Oh what a nice surprise this was-

xxx

Welcome my Toady friend

For the past year and a half we've been hearing the strangest screeching noises outside of our lounge window. Thinking it might be the wind causing a tree branch to scratch against the window and then realizing that there is no wind and non of the plants in our front garden are anywhere near the windows... Having heard my grandmother's toad croak one night when he was hiding in her flower pot, I thought that it could just be. And I was right, our Toady friend had made an appearance once last year and then we never saw him again. So for a few nights I've been hearing those same screeching noises every night, then forgot about it. Then when David took Vicky out for her last walkies, I just heard him shouting for me to bring a flashlight. All I could get in the midst of panic was my cellphone... and there it was! On his way up the stairs for a visit, I suppose.

 -This lovely amphibian is known as the Raucous Toad-

-thanks for the visit, dear friend, come again soon-

xxx

Hermanus Whale Festival

Every year busloads of tourists flock to our little town for the Whale Festival. This Festival marks the peak of the Whale season and if you're lucky you can see the whales playing in the water from the shore. This year we have had quite a lot more whales than last year. They are also not shy, we've seen the most awesome displays of whales breaching, so close it feels unreal! We have a Whale Crier who blows his bamboo horn when he sees the whales, this notifies the tourists who the swarm the view points, taking pictures and even applauding when they see the whales breaching. For amazing aerial photo's of our whales, click here.

 -fun for the kids at the Festival was moved to Gearings Point this year-

 -Old Harbour: this is where you go for kayaking and other water activities

-Are those people hanging about in the freezing Cape waters?

-It can't be?!: Our Family friends, all the way from Gauteng! We didn't see them, they didn't see us and when I went through our photo's after meeting up with them, I was astonished! We walked right past them, Dave took a random photo and then we went to the Checkers tent-  

 

-What a beautiful display of local Fashion designers' latest ranges and local food prepared by two of our well loved celebrities, David Flock and Sharleen Surtie-Richards.

It's my Party!

Hiya Friends! I know this seems a bit late (as my birthday was last Thursday) but I have my reasons:)

So if you would like to join me for the most delicious croissants ever... meet me (and Dave) at the Belgian Bakery in Hermanus on Saturday at 11:00. If you would be so kind as to RSVP by Thursday so I know how many party favours to make<3 p="p">

Hope to see you then, have an awesome week!

xxx

Lucky Friday Find #3

Here's what I found at Matchbox... I know, I just can't keep myself away from that little shop. I've been looking for the right tea strainer for quite some time now. So when I stepped into Matchbox to visit my friendy, this awesome retro tea strainer was just waiting to come home with me. It's perfect. You make your tea with the leaves in your pot, simply put the stainer over your cup, and the strainer catches all the leaves. My other two strainers are the type which you put the leaves inside and then put the whole thing inside your pot. The one only makes one cup and the bigger one doesn't fit into my teapots at all. I've got lots of different tealeaves, I can't wait to start brewing some real tea! These cute little frames are made of plastic with old withered printed silk flower portraits inside. They have "slide-open" backs which makes it very easy to replace the fabric. I thought of doing some embroidered art for our bedroom to put in them. I'm not yet sure whether to spray paint them or not. What do you guys think? 

 Ah, these little vintage deer were hidden away, lucky for me, I saw them just before I left Matchbox. I snatched them up and brought them home with me, aren't they pretty? 

Enjoy Your Weekend<3

xxx

Outfit Love: Achives

Well, I found this lovely outfit photo that just had to be shared. We were invited to go to Dave's grandfather's 80th birthday last November and I really struggled to find something nice to wear. I went through every clothing shop in our little town... then I saw this lovely pair of floral trousers in a small local shoppy. This one item added to my wardrobe really expanded my outfit possibilities, it is quite versatile in that by adding accessories you can dress this outfit up or down. I really believe that you can do so much more with the clothes you already have if you add an interesting item which complements every other item you own.

• Heart Brooch - My Dad brought it back from England when he was there on business
• Birdcage Necklace - My favourite Skermunkil jewellery piece
• Sheer Blouse - from Mr. P off course
• Floral Trousers - From a small local shop here in Hermanus

- I will share the diversity of these trousers with you soon in future Outfit Loves, look out for those-

xxx

MATCHBOX...hello!

This is my most favourite secondhand shop in Hermanus! I first stumbled upon this little shop when I was on holiday in Hermanus, a year before we moved here. I've been going back to Matchbox regularly for the past two years now. The owner, Irma, has become quite a good friend of mine and I like to just drop in for tea but I always come home with something awesome! I just can't seem to help myself... Matchbox sells anything from records to vintage treasures and the goods are reasonably priced. I wish I had a truck-load of money to spend there, I would clean her out!

 I love how she displays everything! She even painted the walls and put up the wall paper herself, she is such a creative lady<3

 ...me &my camera shy friendy:)

 Oh, Irma found Mr. Bunny at an auction, he look to be quite old...even vintage. So she let Mr. Bunny visit me for a while so I can investigate how he was made (I've been working on some plushy OddOne's...shhhh!) 

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

making new stock...yay!

Here's a little taste of some of the lovelies that I'm busy making for Deja Vu and The Village Market at the Hemel&Aarde Village Centre.

These lovely brooches were inspired by the French theme at the Hemel&Aarde Village Market. I was going to make them in shade of blue with Toile de Jouy printed fabric. So when I set out to source my materials, I couldn't find any French-themed fabric.  I then decided to go through my stash of vintage fabrics and came across a piece of beautiful vintage sheeting that my Gran had given me a few years ago. This beautifully soft 100% cotton with it's dainty felt-flower design became the focal point of my new range of brooches... I call, Vintage Country Charm.

I will post some more photo's of the finished brooches soon.

xxx 

Finished at last...

It all started when I found a lost and abandoned crochet blanket at my friend Irma's shop, Matchbox. I took it home, washed it and worked in all the little loose ends. Then I noticed that this little granny square blanket was crochet together and not sewn and I've never done that before. So I decided to make my own version of this orphan-blanky. It took a while to figure it out but I did it!

(I can't seem to find my photo of the original blanket. I will take a new photo and post it soon)

As soon as I figured it out, it was a breeze! Now I started using the same method to assemble my box full of sextet-motives. Also my first try at that pattern.

Dave left last night for Cape Town to join the rest of the candidates at the Yuri Arcurs Boot Camp, he is so excited and nervous! I'm holding my thumbs and my toes and my breath for him. It's an amazing opportunity and after the Boot Camp, the chosen 15 participants undergo three years of training. So now I have a lot of time on my hands, being alone and all:( 

Man, I miss him and it's only been one day....!    

October flash back - It's my Party!

4 October, again! The years are just piling on! But it was FUN! It was my 2nd birthday living at the coast. Last year it was freezing on my birthday, so we tackled the Mountain. This year we took to the beach! Grotto Beach is the most beautiful beach in Hermanus, it is also the biggest. You could walk for hours on the white sands. On a clear day you can even see Danger Point whilst sunbathing on this beach. So off we went with yummy snacks (thanx mom & dad) and delicious Strawberry Daiquiri's! Oh, okay.... it was cold this year also. Hence the jersey's, blankets and sherry:) 

Thanx to all who helped make my day Awesome.

...and a special thanx to my Dave!  

xxx

Whale Festival Day1: The yarn bombing begins!

Since it's only me working on this project and time is of the essence, I came up with a "time-saving" plan. I recently started taking apart a blanket I had bought at our local charity shop, it looked like it had been chewed up in places. So I thought to fix it because it's quite big and so pretty... I then got this light-bulb-moment! I could use the motives of the blanket that I had already taken apart, crochet on to them and use them to bomb the age old Olive tree in front of the shop:)

mmm...'tis coming on quite well! These were taken Friday morning, I actually got a lot further by the end of the afternoon... will post more pics tomorrow!

Have an awesome weekend and if your in Hermanus for the Whale Festival, do come and have a look at my yarn-bombing and don't forget to say "hi"!   

Alice in Wonderland

Last week one of my new customers (Yvette) came into the shop and mentioned that she was hosting a High Tea with an Alice in Wonderland theme in aid of Camphill Farm (a comunity village for the disabled). The High Tea was held at her shop, Yves's Pudding and Pie, Hermanus. Yvette and her Mother worked until two in the morning to prepare for the High Tea and half of the proceeds for the day went to Camphill Farm. Some of the Camphill people attended the High Tea  in full costume as there was a prize for the best dressed and a lucky draw.

Here I am with my friend Venessa in the Scrapbooking shop Veronick's where she works. We had so much fun dressing up, I can't remember the last time I went to a dress-up anything! Venessa went as the White Rabbit and I went as the Mad Hatter. I still wanted to go crazy with accessories but we ran out of time... we had about five minutes to get dressed at Veronick's and went to straight Yves's Pudding and Pie from there. 

Yves's Pudding and Pie... everything was so pretty and so yummy! The Lucky Draw winner received an Alice in Wonderland cake and donated it to Camphill Farm. The 1st prize for the Best Dressed went to two playing cards (a mother and her son who looked like the playing cards from the Disney animation, Alice in Wonderland)

...and then Yvette took out another cake, turned to me and said "the 2nd prize for best dressed goes to you" pointing at me. I turned around to see who she was pointing at and then she started talking about MishMash and how I'm a new business owner in Hermanus... then I new she was pointing at me:) So I won this awesome Alice cake that Yves's mom baked and it was yum, and it is gone now but I've still got the little Alice. 

Thank you, Yvette, for all your hard work for an awesome day and for your caring heart.  

xx

Hello, MishMash! Where have you been all my life?

Ta-dah! Welcome to my little shoppy. My name is done at last, finished and up where it belongs and looks oh so pretty! happy-happy-happy:)

I would just like to thank David for making the name with his own hands, oom Joppie for the router work beneath the name, my Dad for always helping (and for all his advice) and last but not least, myself for designing it (hehehe)

It's still in working progress, getting shelving done, finding the right suppliers, and so on... but it's coming on nicely. Oh yes, another thanx to the three mentioned above for making my cloud-shelf:)

If you're in the Hermanus area, do show your face. MishMash is in the Victoria Square, behind the Pick'n'Pay.  

Mean! Mean! Mean!

How awful, that some mean-spirited troll could just walk up to these poor defenseless little pickets and kick them down:(  Who would do such a thing?!

It felt like someone kicked me in the stomach when I got to work and saw my pickets like this. So sad, we worked so hard to get it looking pretty.