Midlands Revisited

Jan 142012
 

With the hol­i­days not com­pletely over, a new friend came to visit me. What bet­ter way to show him a bit more of my world than take a road trip to browse the Mid­lands Mean­der? The Mean­der (as I call it) takes you off the beaten track criss­cross­ing beau­ti­ful val­leys and farm land with unex­pected finds of farm­stalls and quaint lit­tle shops every so often. It is the place appre­ci­a­tion, of artists and peo­ple liv­ing honestly.

We set out in lovely over­cast weather and cruised along the windy farm roads, stop­ping here and there at places that took our fancy and had lunch at a delight­ful lit­tle place called Caver­sham. And, I’ve dis­cov­ered that this kind of road trip is an excel­lent idea to get to know another person’s likes an dis­likes. If you pay atten­tion, you catch a glimpse of what the world looks like, from their eyes.

So come along for the drive… This is my Meander

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Who says you must have a tree?

Dec 222011
 

If you have chil­dren, you put up the tree at Christ­mas time.  It’s been a fam­ily tra­di­tion for as long as I can remem­ber.  Well, since the kids were born any­way. This year none of our chil­dren are home for Christ­mas.  I was mid­way through putting the string­lights up at the stairs when I got this bit of news.  Need­less to say, I didn’t feel like putting up any­thing any more.

I left it for a day or two, and then it hit me:  who says you must have a tree? Christ­mas is a time of tak­ing spe­cial care; a time for dress up and  a time for tak­ing a lit­tle bit more care to make it all nice.  Def­i­nitely don’t want to miss out on that… Gotta have something.

Here are some of my favourite ideas.

Source: hgtv.com via Irma on Pin­ter­est

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An Unexpected Gem

Dec 182011
 

We were hun­gry and my vehi­cle was run­ning low on fuel.

10 Kilo­me­ters down the road loomed a Petro­Port and we decided to stretch our legs, re-fuel and grab some­thing to eat.  A fill­ing sta­tion, restau­rants, take aways, cof­fee shops and rest rooms and play sta­tions for kids at a One Stop con­ve­nience sit­u­ated all along the main high­ways of South Africa. Towns are quite far apart on this stretch of road and these One Stops pro­vide an oppor­tu­nity to catch a break and relax­ing for a while, part of the “Arive Alive” ini­tia­tive.

Bel­lies full and legs stretched, we decided to explore and found enStyle, a shop spe­cial­is­ing in Proudly South African hand crafted prod­ucts.  A warm smile and friendly greet­ing made us feel like old friends drop­ping in to say hello. I guar­an­tee you will find some­thing here to take home — no mat­ter which style or colour you pre­fer, or what­ever your budget.

Step inside with me and have a look…

Those rein­deer had me — aren’t they just too cute?

Inslee Haynes Illustrations

Nov 292011
 

I dis­cov­ered the fash­ion illus­tra­tor Inslee Haynes a while ago and although we don’t nor­mally blog about fash­ion, I’ve decided to show you some of her work today.  Her illus­tra­tions are just gor­geous, light­hearted & cheer­ful, yet still ele­gant & sophisticated.

Inslee’s work includes a com­mis­sioned series for shoe designer Jacque Levine and her art fea­tured in recent issues of Ivy and Piper and Wash­ing­ton Bride & Groom.  She has a beau­ti­ful blog show­cas­ing her illus­tra­tions and sta­tionery range, where you can order  your very own note cards, cal­en­dars, or com­mis­sioned work…What a unique gift that would make for that spe­cial someone!

Source: inslee.net

2011 Ultimate gift guide

Oct 292011
 

With the sea­son for giv­ing just around the cor­ner I was brows­ing the web in search of some gift ideas. A small pin on Pin­ter­est caught my atten­tion and am I glad I found it! Dani Marie of dm designs must have worked on this for quite a while. Imag­ine an online guide with 101 Gift ideas! I don’t know about you but it is very spe­cial to me to receive a hand­made gift. All the items listed were cho­sen with a “gift-giving” mind­set… So, whether you need a house­warm­ing gift, baby shower idea, birth­day or hol­i­day present, you’ll be sure to find some inspi­ra­tion here.

Just click on the Gift Guide and fol­low the links to var­i­ous amaz­ing sites for step-by-step instruc­tions, tuto­ri­als, and recipes. Enjoy!

Here are some of my favourites

Chalk­board coasters

Trans­fer Pho­tos to Canvas

Sug­ared Jelly candy

Infused Vodca

Mini Mason Jar Sewing Kit

Sewing Book

Etched Tree Plate

Sun­burst Mirror

Lemon Sugar Scrub

Home­made Lip Balm

Mono­grammed But­ton Art

Painted Stone Tic-Tac-Toe

Rice Heat­ing Pad

Pic­ture Frame

Quotes on Canvas

Hang­ing Notepad

Oil-Based Sharpie Mug

Puz­zle Piece Necklace

Sten­ciled Mugs

Sweet & Spicy Nuts

Painted Umbrella

Sim­ple Can­vas Art
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