Happy New Year.

Wishing all a wonderful 2010.

"Today accept the challenges
and the possibilites of the year that lies ahead"
Helen Steiner Rice

Thank you Jayne for my lovely book!

Blue Skies & Bottlebrush

After five consequetive days of rain, the sun shone today. What a warm welcome to sunday and I couldn't wait to get outside and walk around the garden. The bottlebrush trees are in bloom, enticing the beautiful sunbirds and bees. The weavers are out in full force, the robins and kurrican thrush taking turns to bathe in the the bird bowls. Yes it a warm fuzzy feeling walking around today!

Sshhhh........ don't tell !

Each year my club have a christmas luncheon on the last saturday in November. Its a bring and share luncheon and much merriment is had. Santa also visits us and brings along his sack of goodies ( all handmade by each member). Each gift is dated with the year and this year I decided to make a table ornament instead of one for the tree. I've called it, "I'll take this one". I have needle felted the snowman , added snow and mica flakes, a rusty sleigh pulled by a flocked deer.
I can't wait to see what everyone has made!

Returning Robins

Last spring, the cape robins built their nest in my wreath I made for my front door.
This spring they returned and two babies are growing rapidly. Here are pictures to show you how they have filled the nest with hardly any room for mum.

Christmas Time

Christmas has arrived at Marcella-Mia's. Pop over to see some pictures taken from around my shoppe.

Roses.

These beautiful roses all come from one bush, Double Delight. After cutting the blooms, I was still left with another eight on the bush. I am so excited and happy with my rose bush as it the first time in many years that I have been successful in growing these. The perfume from this beauty is wonderful as well - a real double delight!!

Nature's Glory.

Despite the severe fire that raged through our property this year, nature has a way of dealing with the damage. Trees have started to show new green leaves again, grass has sprung up in bare patches, and wild flowers appear magically once more.
While walking the dogs through our bottom untamed acre I came across some new wild flowers.
These delicate lily-type pale yellow beauties looked so fragile amongst the burnt undergrowth.
I can't wait to see what nature brings each morning on my rounds.

and the winner is......................

Congratulations Sue from Collector of Crafts, your Happy Harvest give-away is on it's way to you.
Thank you too to those who left comments, sorry you couldn't all be winners.

Harvest Give-Away

It's time for another Whimsical Prim Give-Away and what better than a box full of goodies.
All you have to do to go into the Harvest Give-Away is leave a comment to this post. You have three days to do so -closing date for the draw is midnight Sat 31st October.
The lucky winner will be announced on Sunday 1st November.
This lovely box is from Primitives by Kathy and inside are goodies made by Whimsical Prims.

Autumn in Summer

I love how this flowering cherry tree has its autumn colouring in spring/summer.
All the new leaves are first a beautiful coppery colour and finally turn dark green. It just stands out amongst all the other trees and shrubs in the garden with their new shades of green leaves.

Clocks

Both hubby and I love clocks and the older the better. We have quite a collection, the oldest is a cuckoo clock bought on our first anniversary. The poor thing really battles sometimes to sing to twelve and has to be helped along. One gets so use to the different chimes, but my favourite are the Westminster chimes. As well as clocks we have a collection of watches including fob watches. I love the intricate patterns on many of these. I will have to show you a few one day but for now here is a lovely metal clock.

New events

Read all about our new events at Marcella~Mia. Our latest event is a coffee tasting morning.

Decadent Delights

If you ever travel through the Natal midlands, you have to stop at the Belgium Chocolate and coffee shoppe. What delightful treats and their chocolate cake served with a berry compote is pure decadence. Just looking at the picture gets my taste buds drooling again.

A Meandering Day

Today was a meandering day. My daughter arrived last wednesday for my opening of Marcella~Mia and today we took time off to spend meandering through the midlands, one of our favourite pastimes. It was a cool day but bright with the signs of spring. New green leaves and flowers were bursting out everywhere, it really was most picturesque.
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

A cute friend we met along the way.
Old wagons with many stories to tell in their final resting place under some trees.

The angels took flight!

It was a day to remember with the opening of my shop, Marcella~Mia. Customers streamed in from 7am and many items sold out, including these beautiful angels.
Thank you to all those who could attend and those who sent well wishes and flowers.
You can view more pictures at Marcella~Mia blog.

A New beginning

Well its great excitement all round as Thursday 1st October draws closer - the official opening of my new store front shop, Marcella~Mia. You can read all about it on my new blog, Marcella~Mia.

Gone to Soon!

This title reminds me of that beautiful song by Michael Jackson. Its so true, I can't believe August had come and gone! I had good intentions of posting on my blog, at least once.
Well spring has arrived and perhaps I will be inspired once again to blog. Winter seem to have taken all the stuffing out of me.
I had my son and daughter-in-law visitng for a month. They did a fair bit of travelling the country side and took some spectacular photos.
A close-up of a giraffe and zebra at Tala and lion at Shamwari.
My daughter and DIL on one of their many walks along the beautiful beaches in the Eastern Cape and a lovely rock pool seen along the way.

Friendship Pins

Last year our club swapped friendship pins.

Each member was given a pin with seven rings. We added our name tag to the end of the pin and gave our empty pin to a member. We then each added a chain to one ring with beads,charms and trinkets and a tiny disk with our name. These were then passed onto the next member to add their bit until the pins were fill and returned to the original person. In all we got three friendship pins each filled with love, charm and friendship and a wonderful reminder to the great frienships we have developed over the past 12 years.

The old and the new!

Every picture tells a story. These little carts pulled by small donkeys are a common site around Grahamstown. You could choose to ride in the old or new version of a taxi to take you around to the different shows throughout the town if you were too tired to walk.

Fields of pineapples growing on the farm where we spent two nights while meandering around the areas from Port Alfred, Bathurst and Grahamstown.

Holiday

I have just returned from a wonderful 9 days spent with my daughter in the Eastern Cape.

What a beautiful coastal area, unspoilt beaches for miles and miles, rock pools to explore, wide open sand to walk, rivers mouths with small clutches of homes built right to the edge. East London where my daughter lives has so many quaint coffee shops and crafty country stores to explore. The Grahamstown Festival was alive, with shows, buskers and stalls but the journey to Grahmstown was the most spectacular with the natural vegetation of red hot pokers in all their splendour. I will write more soon on some of the quaint parts we visited.

In Memory of Mum

Its almost a year since the passing of my mum, I can't believe how time has flown. Not a day goes by when I don't think of her and I so miss all her little mannerisms. Mum was the life and soul of every gathering, family or friends. She knew of all her loved ones whereabouts and worried about all. Mum was like a true mother hen, clucking and fussing about her brood.

Having run her shop for the past year, trying to wind up things has been an emotional roller coaster ride. Her shop had been her passion for the last 30 years, one I hope to continue for more years to come.

We love you mum, you will always be with us!

Spring is in the Air -New stuff on Etsy

I have so neglected my Etsy shop, time just seems to run away. So today I made a point of going through my stuff and found some items to list that bring a feeling of Spring to mind.

Take a look if you feel so inclined, just to enjoy!

Collecting Collections

How many of you out there collect different things? It's said that having more than two of similar items starts a collection. Well then I am surrounded by my collections of all sorts and so I decided to share with you some of the things I collect.

Today its shoes, not the ones you wear but miniatures and shoe trees.

Here are a few miniatures shoes which I may eventually turn into pin cushion or something similar and an enamel jug of shoe trees. Oh by the way I collect enamelware too, will have to show that later.

Winner of March Madness

time has come to pick the winners of my March Madness 4 week give-away.

I used a random number generator and this is what came up;

Week one -Trivet and tags ..............winner is Sue of

Collector of Crafts

Week two -Drawstring Bag with eggs and tag ...................winner is Karen of

My Colonial Home

Week three- Head bands and rose posies ..................winner is Bettina of

Glass Dragon Bears

Week four - Vintage Aged bunny ..........winner is Patti of

Wild Berry Primitives

Congratulations to all the winners, your give-away will be posted airmail on Monday. Please just drop me an email when you receive it so I know it hasn't gone astray.

Thank you to all who left a comment, wish you could have all been winners. There will be many more give-aways on A Prim on a Whim this year so if you haven't already added me to your favourite list, make sure you visit often.

Two days left............

Only two days left to enter my March Madness give-aways.

There are four weeks of give-aways for you to enter. Enter one or all, its up to you, just leave a comment to the one you want to enter, (don't forget to make sure your email is availble for me to let you know if you have won.) Thank you to all those who have entered so far.

Have fun!

4th and final March Madness give-away

It's hippity-hoppity into my 4th and final weekly March Madness give-away.

This week you could be the winner of one of my aged bunnies. I dyed the calico in a paintwash then sewed my "vintage style" bunny. Next he was given my aging process, then little embroidered features and finally a vintage organza ribbon was wrapped around his neck in a pretty bow. Bunny -hop would look great propped up amongst your Eastery displays.

If you would like to be in the draw for one of my simple "vintage" bunnies, just leave a comment (make sure I have your email) and you could be the lucky winner.

March Madness -3rd Give-Away

Its the 3rd weekly give-away in my March Madness Month.

This week its something for all those who love miniatures - two handmade rose hairbands and two rose posies, all made in silk ribbons and wire. These are perfect to embellish a miniature bear or doll (will fit a 3inch-4inch) or use in your scrapping. Perfect for a spring or Eastery look.

Just leave a comment to this post, make sure I can get your email and your name goes into the draw. Click on picture for a close-up view.

March Madness -2nd Give-away

Yes its Sunday and it time for my second give-away.

This week its a little drawstring Easter bag, embellished with a fabric egg, sprinkled in mica flakes. Inside you will find four fabric covered cardstock eggs, all aged and sprinkled with mica and an aged Easter tag, all handmade by me.

So leave a comment to this post, together with your email, and your name will go into the lucky draw.

March Madness -Give-Away

Yes it my March Madness, a month when I love to do something different from the other months of the year for my loyal customers and friends ----------soooooooooooo join in the fun for my weekly March Madness give-aways. That's four different give-aways for March Madness.

The first starts today, Sunday 1st March. Every sunday throughout March, I will put up the new give-away. You can enter all or the ones you want, just leave a comment each week for each give-away. On sunday 29th, the March Madness give-aways will close, the four names will be drawn, one name for each weekly give-away and the four lucky winners will be notified on monday 30th. Remember to leave your email so I can contact you if your name is drawn. Your give-away will then be airmail posted to you anywhere in the world.

If you leave a comment to this post, together with you email, your name will go into this week's give-away draw for the month of March ending on Sunday 29th.



Well after all of that what is this week's give-away.
Here it is!
A hand appliqued and quilted trivet or pot holder (can be used as either) and two "vintage" bunny tags with a fabric back for you to write your message.

Summer Time

It sure is summer here -birds are singing, flowers are blooming, butterflies are fluttering, and I am getting ready for Easter. Easter falls in our early Autumn but Easter display colours tend to be summery or spring-like, pastel eggs and bunnies hopping everywhere, green grass and fluffy chicks. So I have decided to make things for my Easter Open House (date still to be finalised) in both gentle colours and others in more earthy shades.
Above is a lovely summery-spring basket, decoupaged in colourful pansies and decorated with 3D pansies, butterflies and bows, a perfect small basket to gather those easter eggs.

Eggstra Surprise!

What's it all about! Well follow my blog and find out more on 1st March!

Eggs are hatching!

Sue, my very talented friend, who is a constant inspiration to me has just made these beautiful eggs. Soft gentle colours in lovely wool, appliqued and embellished, who can resist.

Waste not, Want not...............

The old saying, "Waste not, want not," couldn't be more true in making this pincushion heart.

I had been saving all my scraps of fabric from my recent sewing activities, I just can't bear to throw any away and knew I would come up with an idea to use them up. Well here is my 'waste not, want not' pincushion heart, made entirely from scraps of fabric, a combination of wool, cotton and ticking, sewn together in a crazy patchwork style and stuffed with more scraps of fabric. Two buttons and a bit of ribbon finishes it off.It was fun to make, oh so easy and I love the weight the fabric stuffing gives to the heart.

Isn't it great!

Sue, my friend, created this gorgeous vintage-look tea cosy from fabric we bought the other day. Isn't it great and what a neat idea with the outside pockets to hold serviettes/spoons/or other bitty pieces. This tea cosy will be for sale at Granny's Cottage Shoppe Valentine open house on Thursday 12th.

No, no, no she cried..........

You can't possibly want more fabric. Well that's what I told myself on my recent "just looking" trip with my friend, Sue. What happened?? I couldn't resist and came home with a bagfull of fabric, wonderul textures and colours that conjured up all sorts of things to make. Of course it didn't stop there, i had to add meters of ribbon and it was just as well we ran out of time, (or was it money LOL) otherwise who knows what would have been next.

I love these trips with my friends, who are so wickedly inspirational, it makes for a most satisfying day.

February -a month of love

Yes its February already and yes the air is filled with love. February being Valentine month, certainly puts the world into the mood - adverts a-plenty, movies, shop displays and so on.

One can't help but feel that love is in the air.

I am busy preparing for my Valentine open house on Thursday 12th Feb. and Saturday 14th.

It will be the first open house at Granny's Cottage Shoppe and there is still much preparation to do with rooms for bedroom, bathroom, lounge, dinning and kitchen displays and the outside garden to sort out. I can see it all taking shape, even though its slow progress but am happy and sure my mum would have been too. This was mum's home, hence the name Granny's Cottage Shoppe. I hope to get lots of pictures up soon but for now if you haven't already visited my Granny's Cottage shoppe blog, just click on the link to take you there.

Valentine give-away -Love bug ............

Love Bug Needle Keeper.

Everyone's a winner in my valentive give-away.

Would you like the pattern and instructions on how to make my love bug needle keeper?

All you have to do is leave a comment to this post together with your email and I will email you back the full pattern and instructions. This is an easy pattern but makes a great gift for your loved ones who enjoy sewing or someone who just needs a place to keep those extra needles.

This Valentine give-away will run until Saturday 14th February.