vogelki

Marble butter bunny...

2012-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

A while ago I found a sweet little old mold at the SPCA to make... a butter bunny?! I was already planning on trying to make a bunny out of jelly - not that I like jelly, but just to see how it would come out. And then this weekend I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to do! I wanted to cast the bunny in to something... hard!!!! I'm extremly lucky that I have got a partner who knows a solution to all these sort of impulsive ideas. When I was a kid I remember having these sort of ideas all the time - but they would never work out as nice as I had them in my head. With Greg's help this bunny came out even nicer than I had in mind :) And it was straight away installed on the coloumn that leads to our gorgeous new kitchen!!!

Africa!Ignite at Ambiente

2012-02-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

My dear collegue Margaret will go next week to Ambiente, a big fair for art and craft in Frankfurt - Germany. I really wish I could go with... to see some snow and ice! But no I will stay in hot and summery Durban ( nothing to complain about :) But I will be there on the poster above with a bit of candlelight, ha ha.
Will show you some of the products we will take to Frankfurt...
Lots of turquoise, white, pink and... CHICKENS :)

Bottle caps...

2012-01-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

One of my absolute favourite crafters to work with is Go! She is unbelievable pretty... Comes to our office on bizarre high heels (although she is extremley tall already), she almost always wears panther leggings... But her real signature is in how she wears her hair. Today she really blew me away with this stunning piece of hair-art :) She used old bottle caps to decorate the thick braid that rests on her head like an angel with a halo. And I have to tell you Go is like an angel, a contemporary angel. Her clothes always seem to scream, but she moves so elegantly as if her high heals hardly touch the ground and she always whispers - as if windows would break if she would raise her voice... Cos you can feel that somewhere inside her sleeps a deep voice!

For some more beautiful, inspiring "bottle cap jewelery" please check Kotik Design ... I love it!

Let's start saving bottle caps :)

Small Seven

2011-11-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

For Africa!Ignite's WowZulu range I came up with this pile of animals that we call our "small seven"... Next to the famous big five, we decided to honour all the animals you see out in the rural areas and that are so important within most Zulu households. They all come with their own story ( it's so wonderful to see how rich story telling is in Zulu culture... ) My favourite is the Africanis dog - which used to be known as "the township dog". Recently they were officially recognised as a breed and people from all over the world are willing to pay a lot of money for them. We have a gorgeous Africanis at home, her name is Rosie and she actually really still came straight out of the township. I used her as a model for the little dog sillhouette you see in the pile...

Underneath you see some more little products I developed around the small seven: a bracelet set, with Rosie as a pendant :) brooch and earrings... They all come in red, yellow, purple, black and GREEN for COP17! These samples are all powder-coated, laser profile mild steel cut-outs ...

Recycled lightbulb-light

2011-10-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so thrilled with how lovely this little lightbulb vase came out! Inspired by the South African Elle Deco I decided to carefully saw the top of an old bulb with a handsaw... Wasn't as easy as I thought - seemed to take for ever to get through and after that it's still a bit of a mission to remove the inside of the bulb! But I do think it came out so beautifully in the end :)
I'm developing a green/recycled range for "WowZulu" with COP 17 coming up soon... Will probably work with these but then combined with bead work: maybe a delicate doily-like, white beaded cover around the bottom, or very simple - it hanging from a string of beads?!

Happy Diwali

2011-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

We just came back from the Durban Diwali festival! As most of you will know, Durban has the biggest Indian community in the whole of Africa and therefore Diwali is something you almost can't miss out on here! Last night Durban beachfront lit up with stunning fireworks to celebrate "the festival of lights" and today our little Hazel enjoyed the fact that during Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and fruit with each other :) In the pics you see her wearing her new dress and she got all sorts of delicious things offered all the time - from arms full of fresh fruit (pineapple with masala on a stick - yummy) to freshly squeezed sugarcane juice!

Wow Zulu at Lake Eland

2011-10-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have really been neglecting my own blog and Etsy-shop lately, mainly because I have been extremely busy with getting the little Wow Zulu shop ready that you see in the pictures above... At the gate of a lovely wildpark "Lake Eland" we got a great central space offered to open one of our Wow Zulu shops!

The concept of the shops is that it comes with our core range; a range I developed with lots of help of colleagues and crafters... The core-range has as a central theme, not "the big five" but "the little seven" :) A pile of seven farm animals that you see everywhere in KwaZuluNatal in and around Zulu farms.

The animals come back in all sorts of forms, on and as different products.

And next to the core range there is a selection of products made by local crafters! Beautiful things.

Lake Eland on it's own is wonderful, but I promise you that the shop is also worth going there for :)

Somama - dark chocolate goji berries!

2011-09-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

These lovely packaged ''dark chocolate goji berries'' by Somama are so absolutely delicious and supposedly healthy! Please check their website - I love their graphics :)

Quotes!

2011-08-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

My Dear Greg became a real master in finding a new quote daily to write on the bunny-chalkboard I made above our sofa... Today our quote is "Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option!" Take a look at some of these and if you like them please check this wonderful website inspiring-quotations-that-will-change-the-way-you-think ...

Albert Einstein :)

Shake the World!

2011-08-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

Please help us Shake the World!

Through the wonderful Dutch orginazation Rainbow Collection we (Africa!Ignite) are involved in an beautiful campaign about creating awarness around the Milenium Development Goals (MDG's).

The MDG's are eight targets set by the United Nations to end poverty by 2015.

The different coloured bracelets correspond with the different goals!

In South Africa you can buy them at selected Edgars stores and in Holland at de Wereldwinkels. Producing them created work for more then 800 of our (Africa!Ignite's:) crafters!

Photo-shoot!

2011-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our friend and wonderful photographer Andrew Griffin and I have had such fun last week doing a shoot together for the new E-brochure of Africa!Ignite... I did the styling and tried to be a model at the same time ( as you see above :) and my gorgeous colleague Sesembo and her sister were our other models! This E-brochure is gonna be a must have - I promise - ha ha.

Ivory Tower

2011-08-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

I love this work ''Ivory Tower'' by the South African artist Colin Richards! A poster version of it hangs above my desk in the office and makes me happy, calm and inspired every time I look up at it :)

Inspiration...

2011-08-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I love these Animal bookends by Japanese designer

Hiroshi Sakagawa...

I'm developing a range of animal silhouettes for Africa!Ignite, we will soon have our own "Wow Zulu animals" and we might even have "Wow Zulu animal bookends" :)

Africa!Ignite flowers

2011-06-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a little range of flower brooches for Africa!Ignite ... The idea was to use rejected material that was waiting for a new life - the rolled up centre piece was offically meant to be a lanyard but didn't come out the way it was supposed to... Instead of undoing them all I decided to use them differently and that was when these flowers were born... There is already a whole range of slightly different flowers with all their own character. To wear as a brooch, on clothing or a bag but also to wear in your hair on a alice-band or with a hairclip!

Recycled milk bottle...

2011-06-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hazel and I have been recycling a milk bottle today... Discovered that I love the soft plastic that South African milk bottles are made of - it's delicious to work with! I wish I started collecting them a while ago already cos today we only had one... But we managed to make a heart garland and a flower brooch. Because my assistant today was a two and half year old it did not all come out the way I pictured it, but I do see a lot of potential ( in both my daughter and the material :)

Bird coasters

2011-05-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Love these coasters made out of beads by MJ.VISUAL from South Africa - for Anthropology, USA!

Yoghurt-light

2011-05-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I found two of these little light stands at the SPCA-shop - without a lampshade! Urgently needed some extra light tonight and decided to create something temporary... But I have to admit that I actually like the yoghurt tubs as lampshades so much that I will consider keeping them :)

Plastic dollies from West-Africa

2011-05-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

I love these dolls made out of recycled plastic. They come from West-Africa and are made from a vintage mould. I first saw them in Cape Town at African Image and straightaway fell in love...

Still sometimes think "I wish I had bought one!"

And then there they were again when I discovered an Etsy shop that sells them aswell...

Love the little bunny on her arm!

Jewelery-rack

2011-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for inspiration in developing a functional way to show the beautiful jewelery at my new work. Bumped in to this wood-jewelry-rack-barnyard-edition... Love it! I have been working with a lot of little plastic animals over the last year - I have been cutting them in half, using front and end... For brooches, necklaces, earings, rings... but not yet for a actual jewelery rack!
Can really see an African version of this one with an elephant, zebra, rino, giraffe etc...
Front and bottom :)

Bird-pouch!

2011-05-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Weird how you can be working on a new idea that you think, only exists in your own head and then it turns out to be out there already... Just bumped in to these gorgeous little bird-pouches by The Wren Design.
I don't think these are still on for sale but you should really check Wren's gorgeous Etsy shop ...
And I will go on working on my own version of a bird-pouch in Shweshwe :)

Origami birds-light!

2011-05-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous lamp made out of origami birds is from Tas-ka:
A Dutch design company by Jantien Baas en Hester Worst.
They have a webshop filled with lovely products and a wonderful blog!

As long as I can remember I have been folding origami birds... ha ha! No, really I must have been maybe seven years old when a beautiful Japanese shop opened close to where we lived in Amsterdam.
Shortly after my Mom bought me my first pack of delicious origami paper and I started folding absolutely everything I could think of - but my favourites have always been these little birds...
When Greg and I met in New York it was Christmas and both of us ran out of money in the big Apple in no time... We bought a little Christmas tree but coudn't afford ornaments. I then started folding origami birds out of newspapers and old magazines. They came out so nicely that I ended up folding piles of birds for all our New York friends :) They brought me special paper in the colour of their Christmas trees or Christmas wrapping...

Today I still frequently fold these cute birds to include them in my parcels for customers :)

Shwe Shwe Poppis

2011-05-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love this wonderful initiative: Shwe Shwe Poppis

These amazing, charming and quirky fantasy figures are based on children's drawings made by kids in Zola, Soweto. They are lovingly hand-sewn by their mothers, grannies or other women from the community. All of them are inspired by stories from South African culture and create sustainable employment and educational opportunities for many women and kids from Soweto.

BiBaBob

2011-05-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

I love this little kimono by BiBaBob
It's so nice and inspiring for me to see someone in a similar position to mine, doing things that are very much related to what I already do or wish to work towards... Esther van Tellingen is also originally from Holland (that's why her website is in Dutch!) and now lives in Namibia.

She collects fabrics from all over Africa (a lot of them seem to be South African...) and makes them into all sorts of gorgeous childrens things. She also gives sewing classes for free and within those classes she develops new products...

I also love her Labelbiba's :)

Little white Zulu-girl :)

2011-05-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

I love this cute dress that Hazel got from her Auntie and Uncle... Can you believe it comes from the shop ''Zara'' in Amsterdam?! It looks as if it could have been bought here in Durban's Grey Street! Reminds me of the traditional Zulu-vests. I would love to try and make something similar for my Etsy shop... Lovely to dress up with, completed with all sorts of other traditional accessoirs - but also just so gorgeous to wear as a proper dress.

There's a crocodile under my bed!

2011-04-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

"There's a crocodile under my bed" by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert is one of the childrens books that I have been living in when I was a little girl - to see the beautiful drawings again brings back the memories as if I have really been alive within the story when I was little... I almost wanna say "Yeah, that was me who became friends with the crocodile under my bed, as soon as I started talking to him he became smaller and smaller and he really wasn't dangerous at all. I was actually more scared of the crocodile that him and I made together out of old egg-boxes... than I was of the crocodile himself!" :)

Hazel and I made her a crocodile tonight and... it sleeps under her bed!

Dream tree...

2011-04-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

The name for my blog "Vogelki" (a combination of the Dutch and Afrikaans word for bird...) - came in a way from the longing to be a bird myself! A bird with wings that could carry me all the way to Holland and back to South Africa again... Wings that could help me to fly overnight, strong enough to also have my sleeping little one on my back covered with soft feathers. Wings that would bring the two places on earth that both seem to be my home a little bit closer to each other...
Greg and I worked on this beautiful image with the idea to maybe use it as a print on 100% organic t-shirts!
You think you could be interested?!

Story Vases...

2011-04-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

The Story Vases are a beautiful project by Editions in Craft in collaboration with Swedish design collective Front and the Siyazama Project.
The 'Story Vases' were developed during a workshop held in Durban, South Africa in November 2010.

"The project began with a series of conversations between Anna, Sofia and Charlotte from Front and Beauty, Thokozani, Kishwepi, Tholiwe and Lobolile. They talked about their daily lives, their husbands and children. They shared their hopes and dreams, and talked about love, life and death. They talked about what beadwork meant to them and what they would do, or buy, if they could afford to. Their stories also touched on such serious subjects as the effect of HIV on their society, gender inequalities, poverty and unemployment.

"The last time a bought myself something was in 2007. I bought myself a skirt and a pair of red All Star sneakers that I love. My dream is to go overseas to have the experience of an aeroplane. When I would be up in the air I would close my eyes and relax." - Tholiwe Sitole

After Front and the women together selected the parts of conversations to work with, each woman formed their own story into text by threading glass beads on to metal wires. These wires were made into vase-shaped moulds, into which glass was blown. The glassblowing process was completed by master glassblower Reino Björk in Stockholm."

Such a beautiful project!

My new (Easter) products!

2011-04-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

I finally found a place for all my bunnies to go to :)

And there will be more this week: on cushion covers and mini-tote bags... Vogelki!

Upcycled Doily Lamp

2011-04-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

We urgently need some (new) lampshades cos our house is filled with sad naked lightbulbs (that didn't work at all until today... yeah!) So I was looking for some inspiration on the internet and totally fell in love with this Upcycled Doily Lamp by Shannon South! Look what gorgeous shadows it makes on the wall...

Memory-necklace

2011-04-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the beautiful neck-pieces that my friend Eunice makes, I decided today to make myself a necklace with some of the buttons that my Gran left me... Almost all of them were in a seperate little plastic packet with a note to explain where they came from and what they belonged to. The note above is about the brown button in the middle - "9 buttons of crocodile-leather made with matching belt (bought at Roel.Hartplein ± 1958)" - Incredible!

Double-sided fabric Bunnies

2011-04-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I found some gorgeous new double-sided fabric! Tomorrow I will have the first new items in these fabrics ready for the Vogelki-Etsy shop: reversable tote-bags. For now I just wanted to show you my bunnies... The first pic shows the one side of the fabric, the second pic the other side!
Don't know yet what I'm gonna do with the bunnies, but for sure something :)

Fluffy Donkey

2011-04-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

How wonderful are these "Wild Animal Clothes Hooks"

by Fluffy Donkey!

Hazel got them as a present but we also like them so much that we stole the blue buck for the bathroom :)

Also love these "Bunny Bookends" !

Doina Kraal

2011-04-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

"Sprookjesbos II"

“Extras, eight women, one man and a cardboard box”

"hemelvaart"

"Winterlandschap"

"Survival of the faintest"

(please click and read the info! Doina writes so beautifully about this work)

My sister Doina Kraal makes the most beautiful work! It touches me deeply and I'm very sure that that is not only because we are family and very close... The piece above ,"Survival of the faintest" just blew me away again. I did see it up for real, but she also managed to document it so carefully and in such detail, that I got totally lost again in all the stories it tells. Our beloved Oma Lola couldn't have wished for a better destination for her life-long collection of... everything!

Doina works a lot with our family archive.

She uses seperate elements out of old pictures and places them in a different environments / settings or just totally on their own. She mainly uses figures that are slightly out of focus or that were only accidently caught in the picture... She makes these anonymous extras her main characters!

The very first picture shows work that has a very special meaning for me. It was originally made for the Drillhall in Johannesburg. At night an enchanted forest would light up in the dark city centre through masked slide images projected onto laser profiled and powder-coated cut outs.

I came with her to South Africa, partly to help her with installing the work. That was my first time here and I didn't have a clue by then that I would one day live here!

Nathalie Lete

2011-03-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

I also got to know Nathalie Lete through the Soledad Senlle Gallery!
"She works in many ways, mixing different techniques and mediums, illustration, ceramics, textile and painting… She is inspired by her travels, but also by the mixing of vintage toys and old engravings of flowers and animals. Her work is colourful, naive and poetic, sometimes strange..." My sister is in love with her beautiful rugs (last picture) - I wish I could buy her one, so gorgeous!

Emilie Faif

2011-03-30T02:44:00.000-07:00

I adore the work of Emilie Faif ! It is so poetic, dreamlike, mysterious...

I got to know her work because she had an exhibition at the Soledad Senlle Gallery (the gallery that also represents my Greg:)

Part of the works shown in this exhibition were originally made for fashion designer Isabel Marant with whom she has been in an ongoing dialogue since 2003. Shortly after we also saw some of her beautiful pieces in the windows of Isabel Marants shops in Paris... I promise you, just to see those is worth going to Paris!

"Her colorful installations have something natural about them and at the same time they are mysterious; they resemble dreams in which the heavy becomes light, where wishes never fall back and in which light doesn’t create shadow." Beautiful, beautiful work.

Bunnies and shadows

2011-03-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

"The other day when I was walking throught the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree." - Stephen Wright :)

Bunny shadow puppet :)

2011-03-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

(Source: youtube.com)

Cereal-box-bunny-garland!

2011-03-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

This was our project today :) We made an early Easter-garland from bunny's cut out of an old cereal-box!

Park(ing)

2011-03-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

This beautiful image of Banksy reminds me of Joni Mitchell's song Big Yellow Taxi where somewhere in the lyrics it says, "... they paved paradise and put up a parking lot"... and we don't seem to have learned anything! If you haven't seen the new Banksy documentary "Exit through the Giftshop" ... you gotto soon.

Hare and bunny story continued...

2011-03-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

My Darling readers thank you so much for your advice around where to place our new family members - I have to tell you that I can be terribly stubborn and therefore my hare ended up above the couch in the kitchen. Hazel has the bunny in her room and we have a very practical classic square chalkboard on the wall next to the fridge... Loving them all. Let me know if there is anyone who is interested in having one themselves; for sure my rabbits will love to multiple... :)

SuperMoon!

2011-03-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hazel and her "Mammie" hypnotized by the full SuperMoon...
"The moon is making its closest approach to Earth (called lunar perigee) in 18 years. A new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth has been named a "Supermoon" by astrologer Richard Nolle. This term has been recently picked up by astronomers. An extreme "SuperMoon" is when the moon is full or new as well as at its 100% greater mean perigee (closest) distance to earth. By this definition, last month's full moon, this month's and next month's will all be extreme "SuperMoons".

Autumn and Spring for sale!

2011-03-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm selling my two favorite Vintage-skirts! Not because I do not love them anymore, but because I can't breathe while wearing them and I wanna stop torturing myself ( as long as they are in my cupboard I will wear them, with or without breath! ) ... so that is why. And I think it is absolutely the right time to sell them now because I always used to call them "Autumn" and ''Spring" - and Autumn will start here in South Africa this weekend and on the other side of the world it's gonna be Spring! Both my favorite seasons :)

Our garden gave us a present...

2011-03-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

Look at these stunning flowers! We did not plant them - after a weekend full of heavy rain, they just appeared... Beautiful and so welcoming. Thank you garden!

Hare or Bunny?

2011-03-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of convincing Greg, that we need a Hare or Bunny in chalkboard-paint above the kitchen table - to write down... all sorts of things! Made these two today out of brown paper, to get used to the idea. I want the Hare, Hazel wants the Bunny and Greg... doesn't seem totally convinced yet of the necessity of a chalkboard in general!

Artforms of Nature...

2011-03-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so thrilled with the beautiful second-hand books I found over the weekend! When I first discovered them I actually had in mind to try and sell them in my Vogelki-Vintage shop, but man I love them too much - I wanna keep them!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look at these wonderful pictures: both show Diatoms, unicellular and colonial algae under the microscope - they come in all sorts of stunning shapes...

Magical Bathroom...

2011-03-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

The friends that we stayed with over the weekend have superb taste in the first place - but their bathroom is what I love the most of all... Next to the Victorian bath is a wall filled with treasures, that all have their own story and history! I'm only showing you little bits of them, there is even much more... And all of them hang on little or big 'wands' that are stuck in to the plain cement wall.
So GORGEOUS! These are the friends that gave our little Hazel a real handmade wand for her birthday. Magic Auntie and Uncle! :)

Street-Art...

2011-03-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

... some pics from behind the wheel in the car! I love these grafitti spray-paintings - especially the first image with the little girls face. The first time I noticed it, I almost caused an accident. It looked so real to me that it gave me a fright and moved me deeply at the same time. For me these pieces really add character to the city - I would love to see much more of them...

This "Land and Liberty" is one of Faith47 on the Keizersgracht Street in Capetown - the spot where people traditionally gather when marching to parliment. I find it so beautiful! The image was inspired by a picture that Alexia Webster took in Macassar, Cape Town...
'of protesters, women, children, men and the elderly… “backyarders” – families who live in back yards because there is no space or housing available or provided by the state. They had taken over an empty piece of land in protest'… via CreativeRoots/Wooster Collective

MaManoush!

2011-03-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

I'm terrorising the whole family with my Etsy-shops (especially the new Vintage one) ... cos I now sometimes need Greg to take the pictures, so I can show the items myself! Poor bugger comes home from work, totally knackered and is forced straight away to be my photographer. I don't think he is that happy with his new after hour job, and our little Hazel is not happy with her Mom being in the picture instead of her... It therefore almost becomes impossible to take pics without her also being in the photo! I'm not so sure whether I can use these pics?! :)

Double-sided fabric's!

2011-03-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, someone with a little shop in New York asked me whether I was interested in creating some items especially for her... I was very much interested and immediately started looking for new fabrics and matching beads within a specific colour-range. We both were very thrilled with the fabrics I found (see pic) - they are dubble-sided! Both the two fabrics on the left, have the dot pattern on the other side... Sad enough, we could not agree on the price for the final products.

So Vogelki is not (yet) gonna go "New York", but I did decide to use the fabrics anyway...
Check the Etsy-Vogelki-Shop tomorrow for some new products that were born over the weekend (:

Cleaning out the garage...

2011-03-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

We have been cleaning out the garage today and... Vogelki Vintage is online! I have to say that I prefer to have my daughter (above in an empty paint container:) as a model with me taking pictures, instead of me trying to be the model and bossing my Love around...

Craft "Trattoria from heaven''!

2011-03-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

Neil Roake, who also owns the wonderful Freedom cafe at the Concierge boutique hotel in Durban, just opened a new restaurant out in Glenashley called Craft and I promise it's worth flying in for from the other side of the world :) Like I said tonight, while having my tricolore home-made gnocci "This is food that makes you happy!" Beautiful and delicious Italian dishes in a stunning setting by eggdesigns
These juicey lips above are the take-away counter outside... (Lip Service...)

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish we lived next door...

Finally, a restaurant in Durban with delicious food and a sea-view...

New banner!

2011-03-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of my new banner! Thank you my Love for helping me...
Vogelki-Vintage will be online SOON!! :)

Vogelki-Vintage!

2011-02-28T04:46:00.000-08:00

Vogelki-Vintage is gonna be online on Etsy soon!

Over the last month I have been collecting vintage pieces from all over Durban...

All sorts of different pieces that I fell in love with and that all would perfectly fit into my own cupboard - it is gonna be difficult to let some of them go, but I enjoy it so much to look out for new ones

that I hope to keep that challenge going :)

Egg-cellent Design

2011-02-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

We have had such a wonderful weekend... We were invited to come to our friends beach-cottage. I love the sea and it always makes me happy to be as close to it as possible and that combined with a beautiful house filled with sweet people, that make food that seems to come from heaven...
I wish this weekend could have lasted at least another week!
Our friends are incredible product designers. They make absolutely stunning pieces. The "wicker-swing" above is one of their designs. You will definitely have seen their stuff but you should go and check out their website anyway ... eggdesigns!

A tiny little garden to hang around your neck...

2011-02-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

A Wearable Planter by Colleen Jordan! Isn't this gorgeous? I discovered it through My imperfect garden and Colleen turns out to be a fellow Etsy-seller as well Made by Colleen

Hazel as my model?

2011-02-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not so sure whether I should try and make our little Hazel my model to show the childrens-cloth in the shop?! All of them have been specially made for her in the first place and it's not that she is not enjoying the little photo-shoots... Although, up to a certan point she is. She want's to decide what she is wearing and in which way. For example this little skirt could only be shown without a top, but with the necklace!!!!! So forced "African", so wrong... and cute at the same time! It was my only option in documenting the skirt. I did use one of the pics on my Etsy-shop, but actually am a little bit embarrassed about it!

A book I can recommend everyone to read!

2011-02-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying this book "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, so much! It is so beautifuly written. It tells the story of the Nigerian Civil War, when the minority, repressed Igbos in Southeastern Nigeria established the independent republic of Biafra. For me something I did hardly know anything about....
I can also really recommend Chimamanda's TED-talk in which she speaks about the danger of a single story: http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
A beautiful talk, by a beautiful woman :)
Thank you Kira for telling me about her!

Self-portrait

2011-02-15T02:49:00.000-08:00

I actually really have a lot of fun with the little photo-shoots I have with me, myself and I for my Etsy-shop! I use the mirror to try and to see how the object and I will look in the photograph ... and then I click - that's it. But I promise you that you can sometimes find me in the weirdest poses, just trying to catch some of that beautiful light :) Today I was looking back at pictures and saw myself in the mirror next to the house alarm and the switch for the fan... Both so typical for my life here in South Africa. Fan and alarm!

Babushka post!

2011-02-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

How cute are these?! They were a present from my sister-in-law, Sam for Hazel. They are postcards! With all their own individual envelopes. The smallest envelope fits into the slightly bigger one, and so on ... Such a lovely surprise!

Armbandjes

2011-02-13T04:05:00.000-08:00

My project for the weekend is making these little bracelets... Don't ask me why, but I got totally obsessed with it! The whole family is wearing them, inclusive Hazels baby-doll Thandi :)

I just use a soft elastic nylon thread which is so comfortable to wear and I love the way these colour beads go together...

I think they make such a sweet little present!

Monday Valentines day!

2011-02-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

How awesome are these je t'aime coffee cup-wrappers by
EAT DRINK CHIC?!
You can download them for free:
http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/post.cfm/diy-je-t-aime-coffee-cup-wrappers
I Love them!!!!!!!!!!

Baby swimming!

2011-02-11T03:19:00.000-08:00

Hazel yesterday had her first swimming class... We joined her two little friends Lorkin and Liam, who are the same age as she is (two and a bit...) They go swimming for a while already... I thought they would just play in the water where it's shallow, to get confidence and maybe learn what to do if they accidently would tumble over... But no, I promise you they are able to do what this little one does above and even more!!!!!!!! Both Hazel and I were totally in shock. Deeply impressed but above all also ANXIOUS! My God I thought my little one is never gonna be able to do that or actually to be honest I don't want her to do that! My fear made Hazel stick to me like a little Monkey and she would ask me all the time in Dutch not to wet her hair...
I decided next week she should go with her Dad! She loves it when he throws her up in the air so high that it makes me scream and think he is never gonna catch her - so he will probably also be brilliant in just dipping her under!

We are back...

2011-02-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

We have been back in South Africa for quite a while, but we have been without an internet connection until today! Weird to feel how totally dependent one is on the internet ... my little online shop, my blog and even more importantly the contact with my family and friends back in Holland all rely on its virtual connections!!
My 90 year old Granny who I love dearly, my baby sister who had a terrible accident on her bike last week... I normally speak with all of them through skype. Without internet I felt even further away than I already am. After many hours on the phone in surreal discussions with anonymous call centre "people" - that talk to you asif you are a child that doesn't understand anything - my Love managed to solve the problem. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are back! Back in the South African sun and back online...
Cheque the shop for all sorts of new items. This Mandela bag I only put on today was in an Etsy-treasury within an hour :)

And there is more lovely new stuff coming! I will give you a little peek already: here is my Mandela laptop-shoulder bag...

Holland...

2010-12-20T04:46:00.000-08:00

I thought I'm gonna use my latest find at the SPCA Charity shop ( a hologram brooch in which the arms of the windmill go round as you see it at different angles :) - to illustrate my upcoming Holiday! Tonight I will fly to Holland to spend Christmas and New Year there... From extreme heat to extreme cold - hope Hazels little body will find a way to deal with all of that?!

A day at the Natural Science Museum in Durban...

2010-12-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

It is raining, raining, rainig in Durban today and it is a public holliday here in South Africa - Day of Reconcilliation... That made us go to one of my favorite places: The National Science Museum in town http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/discover/museums/nsm It shows all sorts of animals that live in South Africa. It is done so carefully and the hand painted backdrops are really beautiful...

Adopt a Dog!

2010-12-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

The new PETA Ad ... so many abandoned animals looking for homes ... don't buy - adopt!

Bunny-butter?!

2010-12-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

This is the new member of Hazels bunny-collection! I'm not totally sure what it's for but the one thing I could think of was a mould for butter?! If you have any other suggestions please let me know :)
We found it at the SPCA in Kloof http://www.kloofspca.co.za/
The one out in Kloof has some wonderful charity shops - I always fall in love with something there...Sad enough in the first place often a dog that I would love to bring home - but also often with special objects with a lot of history!

A place filled with stories!

2010-12-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

We have been to this amazing place again that I have written about on the blog before... It's an old former hotel with a lot of rooms - most of them still have a bathroom connected - and all rooms and bathrooms are filled up to the ceiling with the most gorgeous antiques! Every piece seems to have it's own story and it really is a joy for young and old... Our little Hazel first ended up sharing an old cot with an image of... the Pope!!!

And after that she discovered this antique cupboard, of which we both liked the inside even better that the outside... Look at these lovely old images of old dress patterns?! I sometimes wish we would still dress like that :)

African Tree...

2010-12-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

Isn't this an amazing tree? I wish I knew it's name... If someone knows, please let me know! We spotted it in someones garden in Port Elizabeth. I think it's stunning. It almost seems as if the roots are it's roof.

Pretty present...

2010-12-03T02:41:00.000-08:00

I got such a gorgeous present from my friend Jenah ( the New York florist :) ... She used images from an old rose encyclopedia - folded them into little cards - and used that to stick these beautiful silver earrings through:

Home-made wrappingpaper!

2010-12-02T21:33:00.000-08:00

So many presents to wrap... I love to send my customers nicely wrapped parcels. Decided this time to make my own wrapping paper just by using some of my favourite stamps! Did not wanna stick to just the classic Christmas ornaments - does still feel a bit weird to me in the middle of summer :) But if you prefer to have a more traditional wrapping just let me know - I also made wrapping with Christmas trees cut out of doilies!

I'm totally in love with these stamps. My friend Arjen helped me to find them within a whole lot of other antique school stamps. Absolutely not all of them were as nice as these... These show all sorts of different situations in the streets - how about the little tent on the pavement? :)

Emerald green...

2010-12-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

I decided to make this emerald green treasury on Etsy, to celebrate the new earrings in my shop!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cf63b8e23038eefe93538e9/emerald-green?ref=pr_treasury

I was thrilled to bits to find telephone wire in this gorgeous colour - that seems to match every season and my beloved emerald green jacket :) I love this colour deeply - never heard of the specific description before: "emerald" green! Turns out to be the same in Dutch: emerald groen!!

Pretty presented presents!

2010-11-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

I totally love the way my sister Doina gave me these gorgeous presents... Two little flower earrings and a delicate antique brooch! She did punch them through an old post-card - and the incredible coincidence is that the post-card comes from Breslau in Poland, the city that my great-grand mother came from!

Hazels ''haasjes''!

2010-11-29T02:40:00.000-08:00

Our little Hazel starts to have quite an impressive collection of Bunnies and all of them with their own story... The one above was the very first one! It's a little antique one, that we bought just after finding out that we were pregnant. When you turn it's tail the head moves from one side to the other... so endearing!

This beaut is Hazels last one in the collection. A crystal bunny-box to keep little treasures. It was a present from our friends Jenah and Thomas.

Roses...

2010-11-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Jenah, who is a brilliant artist and florist based in New York, is now back in South Africa and manages to make our little Hazel love flowers as much as she and I do... What a richness to be able to pick all of these roses in your own garden. So pretty and they really smell so sweet that it almost seems to be artificial!

Check Jenah's floral arranging skills at the following link http://www.xylem-phloem.com/jenahbarry/index.html

Nailpollish...

2010-11-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

I was never allowed to wear nail-polish when I was a little girl, my Dad hated it! And of course (therefore?) I loved it and thought it was so unfair I wasn't allowed to have it!! So now I'm making up for that by allowing my two year old daughter to paint her nails - just like her Mama :)

Neck-lace!

2010-11-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

We had a little foto-shoot today at home to show off this gorgeous new necklace that I have in my Etsy-shop!
It is made in collaboration with Precious Simamane, a local Zulu crafts woman, who knows how to use this complex technique.
In my eyes this is such a wonderful contemporary equivalent of the traditional lace accessories worn in Victorian times. I love to wear it! With just a t-shirt or a more fancy dress... I like to combine it in all sorts of different ways.

Our little Hazel insisted on being in the picture with me and summer is really kicking in here in Durban so that's why she is not wearing anything!

(pink:)African Christmas...

2010-11-20T05:25:00.000-08:00

We were just at the African Art Centre to buy someone a present and I totally fell in love with their colourful Christmas tables... There was a green table, a white one, an orange one and what I show you above is little bits of the pink table :) There was some stuff that I have never seen before, really lovely and inspiring...
http://www.afriart.org.za/contentpage.aspx?pageid=4685

One of my favourite Etsy-shops...

2010-11-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

I love it when presents are playfully wrapped! And what a joy it is to receive a wonderful wrapped present in the mail :)

I ordered this "Bubbles Before Bed To Do Book" for Hazels second birthday:

It is so lovely! I think every home should have one!! It has gorgeous illustrations, tells you how to make the best hot chocolate ever, gives you wonderful things to play with in the bath and at the end there is a paper girl that you can cut out and put to bed - with even several different pyjama's for her to wear... Love it :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/belleandboo?ga_search_query=belle+and+boo&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Tickle is back home!

2010-11-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

Our little dog Tickle disappeared yesterday afternoon... We all were so upset about it. And especially Hazel. She kept on saying "Tickle is gone! Tickle sick?". He is a lucky little bastard and ended up with a sweet old couple that decided to let him sleep inbetween them in the bed and he had ham for supper, breakfast and lunch!!!!!!! Must be a bit of a disappointment for him to be back with us... ha ha. But we are very very happy and so is Rosie, our other dog who had been crying like a baby for her friend last night (outside... that is where they have their beds at our place - covered, but outside!)

Pineapple jam with basil recipe...

2010-10-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

I lost my Grandfather today... He was 91 and he has been very weak for a long time. What seemed to keep him alive was his anxiety of dying. Until today I'm still not sure whether he got rid of that fear or not. With all my heart I hope so. My dear Opa.

To distract myself I decided to make a huge pot of pineaple jam! It's a gorgeous recipe that I would love to share: 2 kg of pineapples (cleaned and cut in little pieces...) 1 kg of jam sugar, 3 lemons: juice + zest and two full hands of chopped basil. First heat the pineapples with the lemon juice and zest. When they start to go soft you can decide to use the blender to make them mashy, after that add the sugar. When the jam starts to thicken up take it off the heat and add the chopped basil. Pour into sterelised jars, let it cool and you will have a delicious jam :)

Protea... ring!

2010-10-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

Inspired on this gorgeous flower "the Protea" ( National flower of South Africa...) I now have this beautiful beaded ring in my Etsy shop. Check it out!

Make your own Play-Doh...

2010-10-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hazel absolutely loves Play-Doh... She plays with it for hours! Today her older brother and I decided to surprise her after her afternoon sleep with some self-made Play-Doh :) It's really easy to make and a lot of fun... Find the recipe here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/

Dark, dark flowers...

2010-10-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share these with you... Can you believe they sell them at Checkers - the supermarket? I think they are so pretty... and dark! It's called a Calla Lily - thank you Jen :)

Bunny-bird!

2010-10-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Bird-bunny's...

2010-10-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

My love for birds combined with our daughters love for bunny's inspired me to make these... They are double sided. The one you see on top are the same as the one you see underneath!
And even the left-overs I think are very beautiful:

Doilie animals...

2010-10-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

My theme is back (half an animal...) but this time in paper instead of plastic! I love love love paper doilies. Greg is working on some designs with a lamp base inspired on a doilie and therefore the house is filled with them... Playing around I ended up making these and ... these:

The brackets are up...

2010-10-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

The brackets that Greg made are up... and I love them! They created us a beautiful little library. This space used to be an ugly and dangerous staircase down to the grannyflat. Greg put in a steel floor that makes a gorgeous combination with the wooden floors that we have got and underneath he created space for a little kitchen! My man is briliant (: http://www.garagedesignlab.com/

The girl in Yellow :)

2010-10-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Finally rain!

2010-10-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

We have all been waiting for the first big spring rain here in Durban... It's been so extremely dry that even our garden started to lose it's colours and Monkey's have desperately come to steal the Papay's in the backjard, just because there is nothing else to eat! But last night we finally got a hugh rain and thunderstorm. I love it, must be my Dutch genes :)
Inspired on the gorgeous paper garlands that Monique makes http://studiomhl.blogspot.com/2010/09/ijm-day-8.html we have been celebrating this awesome shower! Hazel and I made an umbrella and cloud paper cut out and I photographed it on my shiny plastic rain-coat that I once got from my sister for my birthday...

Nailpollish red brackets!

2010-10-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

I took this picture to show the gorgeous bright red brackets on the table that are made and designed by my Love... I can't wait to show you how pretty they will be up against the wall :) And how about my birthday flowers, a week old today and still going strong! And not to forget my beloved apron with red duikers, by my friend Heather http://www.etsy.com/shop/skinnylaminx

Wall art?!

2010-10-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is a little message Hazel and I left her Dada a year ago when we went to Amsterdam for a while... It's still there on the wall above his side of the bed... I'm afraid it was this and a whole lot of different little pencil messages that I left my Love on the wall, that inspired Hazel to make her mural!!!!!!!!

This is just a little detail! She made it in about 30 seconds and it covers three different walls that were all freshly painted... Greg tried to touch up today, but the paint was finished and he had to get a new batch - which turned out te be ''almost'' the same colour -but- not quite! So now we just have to paint the walls all over again...

"The Hazel-garland"

2010-09-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous garland with Hazels name came all the way from Holland to South Africa!
I love it, such a sweet present.

Thank you Annamarike, Roel, Carlijn and baby Bas :)

It comes from Villa Vera:
http://www.villa-vera.nl/index_files/Page2339.htm.
Wonderful surprise...
Ours now hangs above Hazels cot!

Since I was a couple of months pregnant I have been writing in a book that I call ''Hazels diary''.
Hazel is almost two and the first book is full! I started a new one today and saw myself inspired to decorate the first page :)

Work in progress...

2010-09-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new range of mainly brooches... Combining antique bits of lace, felt, South African Shweshwe fabric and... slaughtered plastic animals! I love to play around with them just sticking there bum out or showing their faces as if the rest of their body still hides somewhere inside...

Purple rain...

2010-09-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Jacaranda's are blossoming in Durban! It fills the streets with it's gorgeous purple flowers and when the wind blows it creates a beautiful purple rain...

The street below us is filled with Jacaranda's. From our verandah we look onto a thick purple duvet...

Christmas ornaments...

2010-09-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

I can't really believe it myself, but yes I'm working on Christmas ornaments in Durban heat...
It's gonna be my first Christmas in the middle of summer :)
Maybe we should decorate the palm tree next to the pool, filled with beaded stars and little lights!

These are some designs I am working on for a customer in the USA. Not so easy to get these patterns beaded...

Staghorn plant!

2010-09-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm totally in love with the "staghorn" that we bought today! Also known as the air plant...
They get their nutrition substantially from the air. Pretty amazing, eh? I have been told that we have to feed it some banana-skin every once in a while and that's it. Doesn't need soil or even wood to live on.

Best business card ever :)

2010-09-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is a business card! And I love it... It is for The Concierge - a fairly new boutique hotel in Durban: www.the-concierge.co.za. A wonderful place in an unexpected spot. Filled with gorgeous South African "Egg design'' touches www.eggdesigns.co.za. There also is a little cafe, called ''Freedom cafe''. They serve delicious food... Our new favourite in Durban!

You find the friendly ''sausage-dogs'' everywhere... As benches - wonderful for little ones to play on...

And even pepper and salt on the table is carried on the back of a sausage-dog :)

Sick bunny...

2010-09-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

Our little one has been so incredibly sick over the last couple of days! Fever over 40 degrees that didn't wanna come down with paracetamol... Probably bacause she is my first one I really was panicking a bit. But luckily today she seems to be her own healthy self again :)

When my sister saw these pictures she said "Hey, I know someone with the same disease..." check this: http://www.missmorsepalmer.com/page25.htm

Pencil alphabet

2010-09-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Sam sent me a whole series of beautiful pictures of pencils made into pretty little sculptures... She was actually wondering if it's for real or photo-shopped?! I think I don't really mind, just love it :) especially this little alphabet!!