The reverse side of the tag has the bag details which before was only conveyed in conversations with me or in the etsy product description. This way the person recieving the bag can read about it and know where their bag came from.

…and indeed another snippet of the new bag: ‘The Wren Tote’ that will be added to the Jute Range soon. To see all the new bags listed yesterday visit my etsy shop.

Along our walk on Saturday I collected small snippets of flowers from the veld. To avoid carrying them I pushed them into my pony-tail. Bruce took a picture whilst I was unaware and although the others said I had plants in my head, seeing it now I disagree. I think it is quite a lovely bouquet. These flowers now fill a tiny vase on my desk.

The orchids will bursting with orange, the tree’s blooming in pink and yellow and the mountain side full of Heather, Erica’s and all sorts of other wonderful plants in flower.

…and this picture (below) was too wonderful not to capture: grey walls, corrugated red roof and a little girl standing in the doorway wearing pink pants.

I couldn’t resist – I have to share this new bag with you even if only in part. It is such a wonderful bag – Jeremy keeps ’stealing’ it and everytime I want to use it he has got his ’stuff’ in it. We have to book the bag! It is deceivingly big and because it zips closed, its perfect for everything.

This *WREN TOTE* will be available next week from my etsy shop.

The ‘Swan Spats’ were for a 3m Super-sticky Post-it notes competition. Basically, inspired by spats which by definition is a short gaiter covering the instep and ankle, I extended the functional boundaries of a spat and made the function a decorative one.

Why a swan? The swan is a very sensual, graceful and elegant creature and similarities between the female ankle, curve of the calf and lines of the pointed foot are easily made. The plan was to make a spat in the shape of swan that wraps around the ankle and calf and use 3M Super-sticky notes for the wings. This would also create an effect similar to that when a breeze tussles the downy feathers that cover a swan.

Technically it was a challenge but I have always loved doing things differently and pushing my own knowledge of materials. I first tried to make it out of paper mache but this turned out to be a flop so I resorted to making the spats out of ABS plastic. The coverts and neck were then bent with a heat gun and several layers of paint was sprayed to be a similar colour to the post-it notes. The coverts were then punched together with eyelets which allowed them to still be movable.

The competition rules required that 60% of the surface area of the fashion accessory be covered with 3M super-sticky. To create the fluffy effect I wanted, I found an origami pattern and using a pencil, rolled the folded paper to create lovely little feathers.

I had great fun prancing them around during the making but the photo shoot really shows them off best.  The shoot was a bit unconventional but effective, elegant and wonderful (special thanks to Marisa for modeling).

In the end, I won third prize and sadly, I do not know where they are anymore.

I have been working on a borrowed PC and last week I got a mac which is exciting, but the new interface and operating system has really pushed my patience. I’m at my wits end with these machines …where do I start and where does it all end? Please, cant I have some normality back? It will be nice to just work and not have to ‘made-do’ with temp docs or programs.

On it I found pictures of my Seaweed Lamp. I made the lamp as an entry for the ‘No Kak’ environmental competition when I was studying. It won third place and I won a years bursary.

The lamp was made from seaweed, glass pieces found on the beach and fishing gut. I collected wet seaweed and cut slits into it or used the holes that were already there to lay the sandy glass pieces in. The seaweed was then left to dry around the glass and because when seaweed dries it shrinks, it held the glass in place without any glue. When the lamp is turned out, the light shines through the colourful glass and the effect is quite wonderful.

I then stitched the pieces of seaweed together over a lamp shade frame with fishing gut. For the ’spine’ of the lamp I used a seaweed stem and ran the cables up the middle.

It was a very successful piece, a lot of fun and for once (honestly) this piece did get eaten by my dog… twice.

Local hardware stores are encouraging you to bring in your half full bag of cement, re-bag it and with the help of a few others, the bag fills up and potential waste is eliminated.

Now you know what to do with that half full bag in your garage that you have no need or use for.

[Thanks to Stuart & Cindy from Douglas&Co for getting one of the bags for me.]

Dusty pipes from Colour-stripes, Mushrooms from Skinnylaminx, breaded okra lunch from Smoothpebble and yellow shoes from Sakurasnow – all lovely yellow sunshine highlights to brighten up your day.

It was by far one of the best openings I’ve been to – small, not pretentious and good food (made in awesome small clay ovens).

Henry (and Eve who are the designers behind Casamento) used to work on film settings and it really shows – the layout, composition and selection of products showcased were wonderful.

There was such an array of South African design. Bamboo lights by Weyers Marais, Bulb lights by Porky Hefer, furniture from Peddersen+Lennard, ceramic cows, a standing light laser cut out of cork, artworks, …and spot the Wren bags resting on the cabinets.

Being a bad blogger, I forgot my camera so I grabbed Jeremy’s iphone and shot away. I am sorry the quality is not great but I thought it was more important to show you why you really should go and take a look at Casamento’s Pop Up shop and showroom. I’ve always been a fan of Casamento’s work but this….all together….is a real treat.