2013 Calendars for sale

I have been making my own calendars for family for a number of years, but last year I decided to sell Calendars with part of the proceeds going to sponsorship!  This year I will be doing the same and invite anyone who is interested to contact me via my email at laurette9@hotmail.com if you would like to purchase any as gifts. They are desktop calendars and are very reasonably priced. They include your desktop calendar, the 12/15 images at High Resolution on a disc for you to print out any size you like and a slideshow of some of my photographs of fine art, landscapes, nature etc. with a soundtrack!. Really a great gift and you will be helping others as well! Closing date for orders will be 16th December, 2012!  I will also be giving one of them away as a prize to the person orders the most calendars by the closing date! If you are interested in seeing some of my work which will be displayed in the calendars then please visit my International Portfolio on 500px.com!

This is an example of last year’s Calendars and what they will look like!

‘Four Seasons’ in Freeform Fibre Art

In 2009 I took part in the Freeform Fibre Art Challenge when 52 Freeform Fibre Artists around the world, created pieces for the ‘Four Seasons’ Book which was sold for charity through Blurb.com. We were allowed to take one, two , three or all four seasons and interpret them together or separately in our creations. As the only South African, I chose to do all four seasons separately!  Here they are:

NAMAQUALAND SPRING In spring time, not far from where I live, is Namaqualand, known world wide for its beautiful carpets of flowers in the fields that grow wild and attract thousands of visitors every year in September. I have created the front panels of a WAISTCOAT to depict their beauty into a piece of wearable art.

SUMMER SUNSET In the summer my husband and I love to go for walks along the beach and watch the sun set behind the mountains. This CUSHION that I have created depicts those special times.

On the back of this ‘Summer’ cushion I have created a bit of ‘Spring’

AUTUMN GLORY In the autumn, at our home, where we live, there are many trees and of course we are constantly picking up thousands of leaves. This WALL HANGING depicts this wonderful time where there seems to be such a magnificent variety of colour in all the leaves.

A WINTER DREAM Where I live we seldom get snow on our mountains, and never on our ground, so with this WALL HANGING I depicted my dream of snow and snowflakes, but also the large amount of rain that we actually do experience every winter, which feeds the ground, so that our spring times are always so beautiful.

If you are interested in Freeform FibreArt then why don’t you visit their website to find out more about this amazingly creative ART!

Photography is not all I can do …..!

I taught Modern Dancing and Rhythmic Gymnastics for 28 years before I stopped in June 2006 when my sister was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and we all knew that she wasn’t going to last much longer!  I made the decision to stop because I knew that I wanted to be with her to help her and care for her in the last few days, weeks or months that she might have left.  28 years was a long time and at the age of 52 I really needed a break as well to do something else in my life. I had always created things whether they were crocheted or knitted items, cardmaking with various crafting skills, sketching or painting etc. You name it I would try it out. So when my sister eventually passed away only about a month or so later, on the 30 July, I decided to pursue a career in the Arts and Crafts and started up classes from home teaching people many skills that I had taught myself. Over the next while I will post some of the various items that I created in the next 4 years.   The first craft that I have chosen to display is one of my great passions … Freeform Fibre Art!  I joined the International Freeform Fibre Art Guild and in my first year 2008 I entered their Annual Challenge!  The theme was ‘Through your eyes’ and her is my piece which I created and my poem which explained my piece of work!  My work was published in their annual Book which is an exhibition of all the members around the world who choose to take part. That year there were 35 of us and I was the only one from South Africa! Here is the link to the Published Book which is sold on Blurb.com which is sold for charity!

My Freeform Fibre Art Piece in the International Freeform Fibre Art Book titled ‘Through Our Eyes’

This is the poem I wrote which accompanied my Freeform Fibre Art Piece.

Karin’s Garden

I have a very creatively talented schoolfriend who enjoys beautiful things and her garden is one of those beautiful things!  Her name is Karin and she has two blogs which she writes. One is called KarinseGriffels and the other one is Finding Pretty Again. We share a passion for flowers and beautiful vintagey things!  I recently photographed her garden as part of the shoot I did for Helderberg Hospice’s Open Gardens Day and when Karin saw my photographs she asked me whether she could use some of them on her blog! Of course, I said yes to her and felt privileged and flattered that she wanted to use my photographs!  Here are some of the photographs that I took of her garden that day! You will notice many interesting things that she has placed in her garden to make it a lot more fun to visit with her!  Hope you enjoy the walk through her garden and visit her blogs if you will!

The lovely happy California Poppies with a visitor!

I love the little nooks and crannies that Karin creates in her garden!

Pretty pink!

Always a use for old bottles!

The bird has flown and left a shell!

I love the contrast of this vibrant pink against the grey/green leaves.

A fun arrangement of smooth stones and a guineafowl feather.

Beautiful Geranium.

I love rusted locks and this one is on Karin’s daughter’s old doll’s house in the garden.

An old bucket and not sure whether there’s a hole in it!

The colourful bunting criss crossing the garden in front of the doll’s house which is now used as a garden shed.

One of the most popular flowers I would think in most gardens –  the daisy.

The Pincushion – One of our indigenous flowers and such an interesting design.

I want one of those little houses in my garden!

Another wonderful find hidden in Karin’s garden.

I think I love poppies just as much as bees do! They always remind me of my trip to Assissi in Italy in 1988.

Geranium Maderense – one of my favourite colours.

Not sure whether this belongs to Karin’s dog, Chester!

Beautiful Perlemoen shells hanging in the garden.

Some rusty old bells to ring in the garden.

Karin’s son’s old motorbike adds an interesting conversation piece to her garden.

Hanging Impatiens – love the pink!

A place to sit and rest.

I love to crochet and my eye always catches crochetwork even in a garden!

I found the textures in this so interesting!

One of my most favourite spots in her garden where she entertains her guests with a pot of tea or coffee!

I hope you enjoyed your visit! Please leave a comment if you like?

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2012

This is a wonderful GIFT for family and friends!  Offer closes on the 31st December, 2012.

Kamersvol Geskenke 2012 Favourites

During my recent visit to Lourensford Wine Estate for the Kamersvol Geskenke 2012, I photographed some of the stalls that caught my eye. Here is a cross section of them!  If you are an exhibitor and would like to use some of my photographs then please contact me at laurette9@hotmail.com.

Some interesting gardening tools at The Pink Geranium Stall.

Ceramic dinnerware and pots from The Potters Gallery!

Christmas Decorations

Dinnerware

Rustic flowers

A pretty tutu for a little girl!

Laser cut metal!  I found laser cut goods were extremely popular with exhibitors this year!

A pretty pink appliquéd TShirt for a little girl!

More Pottery dinnerware!

Appliqué work!

One of my favourites is Vintage clothing!

Made friends with the owner of  Husse met lang ore.  One of my favourite stalls because of all the beautiful handwork that Nina does for children’s clothing and children’s rooms.

Handsewn baby shoes!

Handsewn hearts mobile!

Wooden Boxes from Cake Goed!

Linen Quotes!

Bits of Lace!

More lovely lace!

Lovely Brightly coloured Hats and Handbags

Lace and beautiful cotton and linen printed clothing

Interesting Black and White Pottery Dinnerware

Home Fragrances and Massage Candles from Royale Afrique du Sud

Ceramic female bust by Desireé Malan of Earthbutter

I loved these ceramic pieces created with lace from Love & Lace Ceramics

Handmade naturals by Antjies

Beautiful resin work capturing the reflection of Lourensford Wine Estate

Ink and Goldleaf artwork by Daya Heller

Laser cut serviette rings by Michelle Groenewald of Hug a tree Creations

Wooden laser cut rings displayed very ingeniously by Two Square Feet & Lemonade!

I loved these beautiful ceramic soup bowls created by Jess Ceramics

Stunning artwork created by Joanna Orr of  Head on Design

Lovely crochetwork from Love Lolla

Colourful Handmade Designs of Fashion by Beau Design

Vintage handwork from Big Heart Company

Laser cut leather trinkets from Trinket Design

Wooden Goods by Kiewiet from Barrel Craft Designs

Angels for Christmas!

Stunningly beautiful bespoke laser cut stationery by Pauline Irvine of Arty Miss

The extremely labour intensive handwork of Helen Du Toit of  HelenSilverSmit

Handmade Rag Dolls by Gwen Loves Harold

The work of Freelance Stylist Elsje Burger

Lace in resin and silver created by Moois & Meer

Beautiful Laser cut Butterflies by Bredasdorp Square

Pottery Bowls by Linger.

Beautiful artwork by Elsbeth Eksteen

Ceramics by Francois Korver of Stoor Ceramics

Laser cut silver spoon pendants by Anomali

Please feel free to leave your comments below!

Kamersvol Geskenke 2012 (plants & flowers)

On the 25th October, 2012, I visited Lourensford Wine Estate for Kamersvol Geskenke 2012. It was the very first time I had ever experienced this! As a Freelance Photographer I went there with the purpose of taking photographs to enter The Pretty Blog’s Photographic Competition that they were running. When I got there I received a ‘media’ badge which allowed me to ask the exhibitors whether they minded me taking photographs of their stalls. I had a wonderful five and a half hours walking around photographing all the wonderful things that interested me and managed to speak to, and make friends, with some of the exhibitors as well. I had had about 2 to 3 months of very busy weeks tending to family matters and thought this would be a great opportunity for a bit of ‘me-time’ which it truly was. In the end I chickened out of entering my photographs. So here are some of them and I hope that you will enjoy my perspective on the event. If there is anyone who would like any of the photographs to use for their blogs or websites then please let me know by contacting me via this blog or email me at laurette9@hotmail.com. This post is about the flowers or flower related exhibitors. In the following posts I will include some of the other items that caught my eye.

 

 

Absolutely beautiful colour greeted me as I walked into the entrance of the first Section!

These magnificent Irises I had never seen in my life before and I was completed intrigued by their colouring!

A couple of years ago I had been a stall holder at The Market at Hathersage and Succulent Oasis was one of the stall holders there.  This is one of her beautiful creations!

I loved this pottery wall container with one of our beautiful indigenous plants growing in it!

The colouring of this was magnificent with some of my most favourite shades!

The ever popular artichoke which is so in vogue right now!

I loved this display as pink is one of my favourite colours!

What one can do with the simple artichoke!

This stallholder called Opus Studio created the most beautiful  items, which I was told, takes hours to create.

Another one of Opus Studio’s beautiful creations!

Opus Studio created this beautiful hanging of shells!

Pansies which are one of my favourites as they are such happy flowers which fill our lives with ‘sunshine’.

Beautiful King Proteas were used to display the beautiful cutout Butterflies!

These Chincherees were used to display an interesting crochet covered bottle at the stall belonging to Elsebeth Eksteen the artist.