Babazeka blog

Just love these wall decals by Shanna Murray.

Have a wonderful weekend :)

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Design Stuff on September 3rd, 2010 | View Comments

Forgive me for not writing a proper post to day, but it’s my 30th birthday. I decided that it’s a big enough occasion for me to take a break! Not that I’m resting altogether, though. I’m having a tea party in a couple of hours and so am baking up a storm.

(images via 123rf)

Can the cupcakes and lemon meringue be counted as what I’ve made for the week?

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: About Babazeka on September 2nd, 2010 | View Comments

I love people like this: In 2006, an American traveller, Blake Mycoskie, was visiting Argentina.  He made friends with children who had no shoes to wear, and so when he went back home, he made it his mission to start an organisation which would help underpriviledged kids. The organisation is called One for One. How it works is that shoes are made, called Toms, and for every pair that are sold, they donate another to a child. Blake returned to Argentina later that year with 10 000 pairs! And is due to donate the millionth pair this September!

I think the shoes are super cute, and are for such a great cause too. I wish someone in South Africa could do the same for our shoeless children!

PS. Thanks Kim for telling your readers about Toms, and congrats on becoming a finalist too :)

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Social Upliftment on September 1st, 2010 | View Comments

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who voted for Babazeka for the SA Blog Awards. We made it into the Top 10 of the Havana Rum Design Category! I’m so excited I could scream :)

The voting round for the winner ends in a few weeks, so please can you head on over to the Blog Awards site and vote again for us. So appreciate your support :)

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: About Babazeka on September 1st, 2010 | View Comments

Thanks to Urban Sprout, I came across the Harvest of Hope veggie project. If you’re in the Cape Town area, this is one to support! Through the Abalimi organisation, hundreds fo people in townships surrounding Cape Town are trained how to grow their own organic vegetables for their families and to sell.

The veggies are picked, packed and delivered to certain school depots around the city for customers to collect. I love it.

Not only will you be supplying your family with fresh, quality, REAL produce (not the perfect-looking, plastic-covered, chemical-sprayed types!), you’ll be helping unemployed people earn a fair wage. I’m smiling!

To read more about this amazing initiative, and to get involved, click here, and to contact Harvest of Hope, click here.

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Green Issues on August 31st, 2010 | View Comments

Ooh, a new handmade designer find! Not quite sure how I’ve missed her up until now, because Genevieve Motley’s products are just so up my street! She has a huge range of jewellery, mostly carved from wood, and some made from perspex. Her designs are simple, elegant, beautiful.

I adore EVERYTHING Genevieve’s made! If you also do, you can find her products here.

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Design Stuff, Handmade Things on August 30th, 2010 | View Comments

“Pretty Pretty Friday” is just an excuse for me to show you anything pretty that’s caught my eye during the week. This week I’ve got to introduce you to the blog Everything Fabulous that Kim Gray introduced me to. Actually, there are so many pretty images on this blog, that I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s try, with some of my favourites.

Good Morning

Summer Retreat

Dipped Basket

Picnic Time

Friday Flowers

Hope you think they’re pretty too? Have a wonderful, filled with everything fabulous!

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Design Stuff on August 27th, 2010 | View Comments

I was up in Joburg seeing my family last week , and because they live near to Greenside, I thought it was the perfect time to pay Papercake a visit. Unfortunately though, I could only go on Friday afternoon, and they were closed for their staff party. A real pity that I couldn’t meet Anneke and Andy, and see their beautiful products right up close, but I did get to have a really good peek through the windows…

Isn’t everything just too gorgeous? I love the bright colours they’ve used, and the texture on each piece. I’m so dying to get my hands on some tiles, plus one of their mirrors. Without my mini income from Babazeka though, I’m going to have to speak really really nicely to my man ;)

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Handmade Things on August 26th, 2010 | View Comments

I got an email a few days ago, telling me about the most wonderful guesthouse in Cape Town. It’s called Makazi’s, and is set right in the heart of Idlovu Projects. The building is totally eco-friendly, made of sandbags and eco-beams, and was built by the local community.

All income from the guesthouse is used for a daily soup kitchen, learning centre and community clinic. You can read all about the community and project here.

My heart just smiles when I read about initiatives like this. I serioulsy think it is one of the coolest ideas I’ve heard of, and hope to hear of more and more of the same thing being set up all around SA!

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Social Upliftment on August 25th, 2010 | View Comments

My favourite organic and natural online shop, Faithful to Nature, has just started a blog. Very exciting. Yay!

So far, they’ve been uploading all of their newsletter content onto the blog, so there’s LOTS of seriously interesting reading for you to do. There are topics like  Steps to Going Organic, Synthetic Ingredients to Avoid and The Ultimate Superfood Guide. And there are recipes too, for things like Homemade Foot Treatments and Rustic Pumpkin Bread.

I just know that this blog is going to evolve into more and more of a fantastic source of info, thoughts and experiences, all focusing on natural and organic things. Definitely one to follow!

PS. On the subject of blogs, have you remembered to nominate mine?

Written by: Sarah
Filed under: Green Issues on August 23rd, 2010 | View Comments