I’m really happy to tell you that it looks like we’ll be bringing a new jewellery project on board. We don’t have much in the line of jewellery at all, so it’s a great addition to our range. The project is known as Earth Butter Beads and they make the most beautiful ceramic beads (by hand, of course) and then string them together to form one-of-a-kind designs.
The owner of Earth Butter Beads is Desiree Malan, a ceramic artist from Cape Town. She’s helping to create jobs for marginalised women who live near Cape Town, mostly single mom’s who are unemployed or otherwise seasonal farm workers. Well done Desiree!
Here’s a little peak of what to expect.
I think they’re stunning. Just love the “earthy” tones and feel. Hope you like too? Be sure to keep a look out in our shop.
I have a question to ask other female entrepreneurs out there. What are your thoughts on or experiences of running your own business and raising children at the same time? Or maybe there are Mom’s who decided to leave their business or not start it all, because of their children. What were your reasons for doing so?
For me, the closer the time gets, the more worried I get. I’m feeling a major pull to being a full-time Mom and my baby isn’t even born yet. I believe it’s a natural urge, built into all (or maybe just some?) of us. The thing is, when you’re running your own business, you can’t just go on maternity leave. You can’t just shut the “doors” for a couple of months and hope it’ll pick up again when you’re ready to return. And what if you just love being a Mom so much? Or find giving your full attention to your baby more important than running a business all together? Then what?
If Babazeka was turning over huge amounts of money, I think the whole situation would be different. I could hire somebody else to run the business, or at least large parts of it for me. But someone who’s experienced in retail, online marketing, accounting, etc is going to want a decent salary – a luxury I haven’t yet been able to afford myself!
It’s a tough one all around. Maybe a question I’ll only really know the answer to when my bubba comes along. But in the meantime, if any of you have advice to offer, it’d be much appreciated as always :)
Normally when I write a post, I try to stay within a certain range of topics. But today, I’m going a little off topic, because what I’m wanting to show you is the AMAZING little cottage we stayed in this weekend. For those who don’t know, Calitzdorp is in the Klein Karoo in the Western Cape, along the R62. The region is quite well known for it’s wine, port and olives. Klipkraal is 13km’s outside of the town, right in the farmlands, and is just one of the most quaint places I’ve stayed.
It was a particularly memorable weekend because of the owners, Paul and Renee, who just had a knack for making you feel welcome and adding special little touches – think iced water and wine in the fridge, a crystal decanter of sherry, freshly baked bread, tea, proper coffee and rusks – and this was all offered free of charge in a self-catering cottage! There’s something about people being unexpectedly generous that makes my heart smile.
And then, the main reason I wanted to tell you about it, is because of the beautiful, simplistic decor. Renee is an interior designer from Cape Town – it shows in every little detail. Take a look!
We were also both so inspired by the farm’s sustainable principles. A lush veggie and herb garden, no electricity or cell phone reception at all and their water, pumped by solar power from the river, tasted sweet. It’s good to have a little injection like that every now and then.
Anyway, I promise to be back on topic tomorrow, but hope you’ve at least enjoyed your taste of the fabulous Klipkraal Cottage :)
Another stand which I loved at the Indaba was that of Hellooow Design. They make the most beautiful jewellery, gift bags, cards and stationary and support women from local communities of sunny South Africa. What I also really liked is that they’re very different to most of the other projects’ products, and this is always refreshing to see!
Take a look below.
Hopefully someday their range will be available on Babazeka…
Oh, and I’m off to a farm near Calitzdorp for the weekend (it’s our one year anniversary!) so will be back again on Monday. Happy weekend to you all :)
I pretty much spent the whole day at the Indaba on Saturday. My morning started with a talk by Martha Stewart, for Woolworths customers and the general public. I enjoyed listening to what she had to say, but believe that she gave the exact same talk to all the creatives at the Indaba on the Friday and I hear that they weren’t very impressed. I can totally understand why, not spending very much time on design ideas or creative topics at all.
Next, I watched a fashion show put on by one of my very closest friends – Sarah Webber of I Love Leroy . Her clothes were just beautiful – I felt so so proud!
From here, it was stall to stall, viewing the country’s greatest creative talent on display. Take a look at some of my favourites below.
Some amazing things, don’t you think? There were SO many more that I’d love to have shown you, but not everyone allowed photo’s and often the stalls were just too busy to sneak a pic!
Overall, it was a wonderful experience, filled with lots of eye candy and inspiration. If you didn’t make it this year, be sure to be there next.
I must apologise for my recent lack of posts. Been too busy galavanting… I’m back in Knysna now though, and after spending the morning playing catch-up, I’ve decided to write a quick post today showing you two special goodies I brought back from Cape Town.
They’re bloomers made by Me & U (who were at the Indaba) and are just too cute for words! Can’t wait to see my bubba in the them… Thanks Kimmy!
The next is another present for my bubba, but this time from me. I’ve been dying for a creature from Woo-men for ages, and thought this is the perfect excuse to get one. I’m planning on only giving hand made soft toys to my baby, and thought Funny Bunny would add nicely to the collection.
I was seriously hoping to get a Heartworks Bear, but unfortunately they weren’t for sale at the Indaba. I’ll definitely get one next time I visit the Mother City.
So, sorry that I still haven’t shown you my sneaky pics from the Indaba, but soon, I swear :)
For a while now I’ve been admiring these colourful, cute, wobbly ceramics in shops around South Africa. I haven’t seen them everywhere, but when I have, they’ve certainly caught my eye. This week I decided to track down who the artist is, and thanks to Cape Town Creatives and Spice4Life, it wasn’t too hard to do!
So, the talented lady behind these works of art is Gemma Orkins, born in Joburg, now living in Cape Town. She took part in an evening ceramics class a while back, and so enjoyed herself, that she decided to turn it into a career. Gemma feels that if you love what you’re doing, and put in lots of effort, success will easily flow…
Aren’t her pieces just so beautiful? So original?
What I was also really excited to read was that she’s involved in the non-profit beading organisation, Monkeybiz. This means she’s giving back to her community too. Love it.
Yesterday was the first rainy day that we’ve had in Knysna for what feels like months, and so I seized the opportunity to “get stuff done” . I’ve got a growing list of DIY jobs, and with the baba arriving in three months, I think now’s the time to get it all out the way.
I finally hung my Afrohead hooks which I bought from Tincity. Love them. And then I used some more of my Amy Butler fabric, this time to upholster the seats of two second-hand dining room chairs which I fixed and re-painted. I’m OVER THE MOON with how they’ve turned out!
I started to work on a very simple but pretty cotton dress. Got to finish off the hems etc and then I want to add some lace edging for detail.
Did a whole bunch of other things, but nothing else that’s really worth showing. Must say that I just adore DIY days. I feel like I achieved so much, but because I was working with my hands, the time just flew.
I’m so very excited because this time next week I’ll be whizzing off to Cape Town to visit this year’s Design Indaba! It’s my favourite expo of the year, always displaying the country’s most promising creative talent. The products on show have just got so much more of a fresh and quirky feel to them, compared to other expos. I’m really hoping to find some new crafters to supply our shop, and of course, to leave Cape Town feeling filled with inspiration for the year ahead.
For those interested in attending, it’s open to the public from Friday the 26th until Sunday 28th Feb, from 10am until 8pm (only 6pm on the Sunday). I hope to see you there :)
