sunny sunday

Today was the third day of an unseasonably warm sunny spell in the middle of what really should still be winter here. Jessie took the opportunity to tan her tummy.

Some of the flats where I live are having new uPVC windows and frames installed, and the old wooden ones are getting chucked out. They aren’t particularly quaint, since the complex was only built in the 1960s, but still – an old frame’s an old frame, right?

I bought new sandpaper last week for the belt sander that Rob inherited from his dad. I asked the man in the hardware shop for very coarse sandpaper and he said, Okay but be careful, it’s really coarse. Maybe you should try something a bit finer? Nah, I said, I don’t want to mess around. I should have listened – a couple of secs of power sanding with the coarse stuff got me right down to the wood, much further than I’d wanted to go.

I had to repaint it.  And put Rob in charge of the sanding process this time:

And now I have this:

Not owning a spirit level meant we had to go by eye, but my eye never was very good when it came to getting things straight. I used to do a lot of sewing in my 20s, and never ever managed to get a straight hem on a skirt or a dress.

Anyway, skew or not, I’m very pleased with my window with the turquoise doily bunting.

Back soon x

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through the window

I picked up this old window frame from one of those little hole-in-the-wall shops off Main Road in Salt River. Set me back a whole R40.

This week, with all this lovely sunshine-in-winter we’ve been having, I finally a) got it outside, b) sanded it down a bit, c) blobbed on a bit of blue paint,

d) sanded it some more, e) screwed in some picture hooks on the inside, f) added some hearts, and g) hung it up.

  

As you can see, I left the back pretty much untouched and, even though I got a couple of splinters, I still couldn’t be bothered to fix it. It’s the rough look, okay. I like it. And yes, it’s because I’m lazy.

The mosaic double-heart was made for me by Rob, and the one underneath is a ceramic heart by a very talented Cape Town artist whose name I simply cannot remember. I do remember buying it for R90 at the Constantia Waldorf medieval market a couple of years ago.

Back soon x

flower frame

Looking for a quick and easy project when everything else you’ve been working on seems to be going seriously wrong or you lose interest or is clearly not viable or the cat vomits hairballs on it? Yes, I was, too.

Take a plain wooden frame. Paint it with white acrylic paint.

Crochet some flowers. (I got my pattern from Little Birdie Secrets, they also have other lovely stuff).  Stick the flowers on the frame (by the time you’ve made enough, the paint will be dry).

Insert photo.  Take a pic. Show and tell.  Feel sense of achievement. Acknowledge that this project is very similar to the recent wreath thingie, but perhaps no-one will mind?

To be continued…

in the spirit of….

Just to prove to you that I don’t actually hibernate over Christmas, I made a photo frame with a darling season-appropriate message:

I have done frames with various captions, and for some reason they have flown off the sales table.
Bonus: this will be my entry for Maryanne’s December Made-It Challenge.

An aside – the heat is still rising here in Cape Town. I have no words to describe how ghastly it was yesterday, and Alex and I had to drive around doing stuff. Pure utter hell.

To be continued…

Drink up – I need the empty bottles!

I really like GoCrochet‘s idea of letting things evolve. Last night I realised that it’s working for me too.

As you know, I’m fixated on lampshades. I have been crocheting onto the wire frames that Zenzo made for me a few weeks ago, and when they are displayed at our markets everyone says, Wow, how pretty, what a stunning idea blah blah blah. But that’s where it ends — no-one has ever bought one of these girls.

The last time we were at Kirstenbosch, I had grabbed two empty bottles (vodka and wine, I think) to take with to use as props to display the shades. Lolling around nibbling on her fudge, Anne comments, They look quite nice on the bottles actually. Rob says, Yes they do, and I think people would prefer to buy the whole thing rather than just a shade that they may not have a base for. Anne replies, Rob’s right. Now pass me the rest of the fudge.

From there, we got to here:

Rob has turned into a Very Clever Electrical person and also invested in a diamond drill bit, so now he can turn these amazing liqueur bottles into functional items. I add the shade and some beads for an arty-farty gypsy look (?), and voila – upcycling and repurposing and crochet and handmade and beads and glitz and baroque ALL ROLLED INTO ONE. I feel like all my birthdays have come at once. (And I always knew Rob wasn’t just a pretty face…)

Apologies for the lousy photos, I took these quite late last night in a state of enthusiasm and happiness that outweighed the need to take a bit of care with styling.  Yes, that is an old avocado box in the background.

Tomorrow Jam Tarts is at the River Club Boutique Market in Observatory, where I hope to have a few more of these to show off.

To be continued…