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I love colour in my life, it makes me happy.  I am increasingly becoming aware of the effect of simultaneous contrast. It’s the way in which two different colours affect each other, how one color can change, how we perceive the tone and hue of another when they are placed side by side. The colours themselves don’t change, but we see them as altered.

They make a strange pair. They are opposite, they require each other. They incite each other to maximum vividness when adjacent; and when mixed, annihilate each other to gray-black- like fire and water.

There is always one colour complementary to a given colour. Examples are yellow- violet, blue-orange, red- green.

Colours are most intense when two complementary colours are juxtaposed directly next to each other.

I absolutely love blue in all it’s tones and shades and because orange is it’s complementary color, I have been drawn to it too. Above are a couple of my silk necklaces that I usually wear in combination.

What are your current favourite colors and are their complementary colours  featuring in your life too?

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Tea, why do I have to have thee,

So early in the morning

To banish my feelings of the boring

Boil the water, warm the pot,

Tea leaves ready, not a lot,

Four minutes for an ideal brew

To reach the nearly perfect hue

Lift the mug to touch my lips

No such thing as taking sips,

Now the pot is drained of every drop

And my day begins to “bop”.

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I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to “Kamers vol Geskenke”( rooms full of presents), an annual Cape fair, on the Lourensford Wine Estate, yesterday. I had a small idea of what to expect, but I was really impressed with the creative talent . The setting was outstanding, so I did pause halfway through, to sit in the shade, have some tea and contemplate the view…..

“This year KAMERS celebrates a decade of women, their stories, dreams and growth through creativity, by providing a visual and creative feast of exceptional handmade & crafted products” , so say the organizers. This really is a show for women although there were quite a few men enjoying themselves.

My purchases above and below. I must be in a grey “mood”. I absolutely loved both these items. The light comes complete with the fitting and attaches to the wall.   I love proteas of all kinds.

I especially enjoyed meeting  and chatting to Andrea Semple, in between her organising and tidying her stock, “I employ a lot of the previously disadvantaged women from the local community and speak Xhosa fluently.

Due to the exorbitant cost of fresh flowers, we find our products are in ever increasing demand. We have had a wonderful response from the hospitality industry.

My Topiaries are handmade from Cape indigenous foliage, are evergreen and are treated specifically to maintain their natural colour. If kept away from direct sunlight, they will last indefinitely.

The benefits of topiaries are that they look wonderful all year around with minimal maintenance and are extremely cost effective.”

Being a hand crafter myself, I was most interested to know the how, and was fascinated to hear how each individual leaf is carefully placed. There was no way I was going home without one of her special pieces.

Below are a few of her wreaths for Christmas

W5 | P/G
Green		 W5 | Big leaf P/G Plain W5 | Big leaf P/G White W5 | Big leaf P/G
W5 | Big leaf P/G White W5 | Small leaf P/G W5| Small leaf P/G Brown W5 |Slangbos
W5 | Small leaf P/G W3 | Big leaf P/G W2 | Small leaf P/G W4 | Small leaf P/G
W2 | Big leaf P/G Charcoal & white W2 | Big leaf P/G
Natural		 W2 | Small leaf P/G Glitter W1 | Big leaf P/G Silve

I had a wonderful time and no doubt I will visit Kamers again next year…

 

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I am always looking for lovely ways to store, that also means protecting, and showing my jewellery pieces. I recently bought this slim cupboard that is turning out to be one of my real favourite. I hope to be able to take it with me to fairs and shows as my ‘little pop up shop”.

It has the mirror on the outside door which makes it so easy to check once I have put my jewellery on. Not the backwards and forwards to the different mirrors in the house or taking one with me for clients to look into. I also like the long mirror. I get the whole picture in one.

On the inside of the door are storage places for earrings, lighter necklaces and bracelets. I have tried the heavier ones here but it was not a good fit at all because the door did not shut and lock properly. The actual cupboard has places for rings, hooks for the heavier lariats and necklaces, the longer and heavier ones are even supported by a shelf. Little compartments make  excellent bracelet storage and at the bottom of the cupboard there are two little drawers.

I really like the fact that the cupboard has a lock and is very contained.

I think the most useful, non tangible for me, is that when I open it I can see all my options so orderly. The cupboard actually encourages me to keep my jewellery neat and tidy and that definitely helps preserve it.

What are your good jewellery storage ideas?


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