All things bright and beautiful

So, it's been a few months since my last post. A few months full of exciting new things! To mention but a few...I've moved into a beautiful little house with two friends, bought a dog, and had the honour of making my friend's wedding dress. My heart is brimming with joy. It's amazing the joy God gives when you open yourself up to what He wants to do with you. Which brings me to what's next...

Along the lines of my previous post a few months ago, I've been developing a range of accessories to sell online and hopefully in some local retailers. It's been a challenging journey. I found my confidence quite shot to begin with, and I was nervous to start something completely alone. FEAT sock co. (the sock business I started with my friend Alison) is doing so well, but having a partner makes the risk-taking feel less risky (if that makes sense). And then, I found myself attempting to plunge into something all alone. But then I realised I'm not alone at all. I have felt this has been God-ordained right from conception to what will eventually be completion. The concept of honest & loyal product goes far deeper than just design, where God has breathed all over my experiences and hurts and triumphs and shown me that He has me exactly where He wants me - ready to use design to express what is on His heart about the way He wants us to treat each other and His majestic creation.

Last week, I took a deep breath and started a Facebook page for 'No. Don't Go.' I don't know why I was so afraid to start one to begin with. Within the space of 24 hours, I was receiving encouraging words from friends and friends-of-friends loving the product and telling me how excited they are about the concept. I also did some cleaning up on the website and now all there is to do is take some slightly more 'profesh' pics of the product and launch it onto the store front, ready for sales! Below are screenshots of the Facebook page and online store (followed by a cute pic of my new best friend, Teddie and my stunning friend Emily in the wedding dress I made for her).

More details about the store to come.

New things on the horizon

I have been working on a new and exciting range of products over the past few weeks. With all my talk about loyalty and simplicity, in both design and life, I have felt myself being nudged closer and closer towards starting a range of simple products and accessories that celebrate these ideals.

I managed to find an amazing importer of 100% organic fabrics and I have been drooling over the fabric swatches ever since I met with the owner of the company, Victoria, about a month ago. Below are a few samples I have produced so far. I will be taking them to a local sewing co-operative in the next week to see how effectively they can sample them. Excited!

Progress picture of 'No. don't go.' Multi-purpose tote in 100% organic cotton canvas and indigo-dyed denim.

Final product - 'No. don't go.' Multi-purpose tote in 100% organic cotton canvas and indigo-dyed 

denim.

'No. Don't go.' Ladies' pinafore-style apron in 100% organic, hand loom cotton 

'No. Don't go.'  Laptop and stationary case in 100% organic cotton canvas and indigo dyed denim

Measuring up

Two nights ago, I babysat a group of pre-teen girls who live just down the road. I always find it so interesting to gain insight into what goes through their impressionable minds. Usually, their insights are hilarious, soaked in fantastical naivety and strange observations of the world they live in. But, on this particular evening, I left with a heaviness, as opposed to the usual high-spirits I get from being around these funny little girls.

When I was their age, I remember spending evenings building blanket forts with my cousins, or making face masks out of ingredients I found in the kitchen cupboard with my best friend. And, most often, the evening ended with fits of giggles and dreaming about galloping horses through endless fields. Instead, I heard two young girls openly talk about the parts of their bodies that they hate. I witnessed them making lists of the 'pretty', 'skinny' girls in their class at school and saying how they wished they had their legs, or that they looked like them instead of themselves. I spent at least 20 minutes trying to convince them that God made no mistakes when creating them. That perfection doesn't lie in being "flawless", but in celebrating the bodies they have; by running, dancing and jumping because they can - because they are THAT blessed! What was even more sad to me was their reasons for wanting to look different. One being, their hopes of being models one day, or because they heard boys only like skinny girls. How bazaar that we think this way...

And it is 'we'. Because even though I felt saddened by the things they were saying...when I think about the things that run through my mind on a daily basis, I know that I am guilty of all the same thoughts. We compare ourselves to others, when we should be so elated by the fact that we are all so different and complex, and it is this that makes the world so beautiful. I found it so profound that just a few hours before going to look after these girls, I had decided to remove my scale from my bathroom and hide it in the back corner of a cupboard in another part of the house. So many times I have felt so great about being me, and I have felt so blessed with the body I have and the person I am, and then I step on that scale and think about how much I "should" weigh and how I "should" look, and suddenly I topple into a bottomless pit of self-loathing and feelings of worthlessness. When I hid that scale away I asked myself one question: "Who am I measuring myself up against?" Instead of my answer being 'the world' or some made-up model of "beauty", I chose Jesus.

Ezekiel 16:14 says: "And your fame spread across the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I HAD GIVEN YOU made your beauty PERFECT, declares the Sovereign Lord."

Building my wooden dreams

For about three years now, my dad and I have been chatting about building a little house-slash-studio together, for me to work and live in. Dad has been designing and building houses since before I can remember, and a lot of my love of architecture and structures comes from the input he always let me have in the projects he was working on. Even as a child, he would ask me for my advice on what windows to use and how I liked the layouts he designed. As a trained accountant, with no professional experience in architecture and building, my dad taught himself all he knows about it - which I find so uplifting. The idea that he could teach himself such a marvelous skill, one that has been used to build  four of our houses and renovated many others, is so motivating to me. 

Recently, we have dug a little dam at the bottom of our garden to be used to irrigate the property, and there is a raised level overlooking the dam that we'd like to use to build on. I am so excited to get stuck into the designing of the studio this year. My dad bought me my own drill and other little tools to encourage me to get stuck into the project. I have already used my drill in constructing displays for FEAT. sock co., and I can't wait to use it now to build my own little house.

I am inspired by so many different structural elements. And I'm finding it tough to straddle the line between the more rustic, log-cabin type cottage and the more contemporary, simplistic structure. There are certain features that I'd really love to include in some way:

Rough wood that fades with age, used in layered panels (as seen above). Narrow, bulkier panels set in-between wider, flatter panels to create noticeable ridges.

Open-plan space with a loft-area for sleeping. Large doors and panels of glass will let light in and create an outdoor-indoor space when left open.

I love the idea of using walls of poly-carbonate or glass to bring the outside inside; especially since it will be set in a forested area with the mountain as a backdrop. I also love the idea of exposing the skeleton of the structure in this grid-like way.

In some ways, the barn above looks both rustic and modern to me. The lines are minimalist, but still so inherently barn-like. The iron framed shutters are quite industrial and utilitarian, which I'd love to play with.

The sliding door = a must

Sometimes He whispers and sometimes He roars

I believe we were designed. I believe we have been thoughtfully and purposefully created by a loving God. He is a scientist, an artist, an engineer and a musician. And He created us in His image, with all  ability to design, create and inspire as He does. But, most of all, He is our Father and our friend. He disciplines and instructs us. He nurtures and pursues us. I realise this more and more everyday as pieces of the puzzle come together in my life. And to abuse the 'puzzle' metaphor even further, I have begun to see how certain areas of my life have formed those corner and side pieces that we all use to start off and create the framework for the puzzle. But, it's only when we start to fill in the middle bits with all the crazy, intricate pieces that we start to see the bigger picture. If you're anything like me, you want to just give up and look at the picture on the front of the box to see what it's going to look like. That would be too easy. I'm sure if you had to ask any puzzle-hobbiest where the beauty of building puzzles lies, I'm sure they wouldn't tell you it's in the picture, and that the beauty is in the challenge of the build.

Slowly but surely, over the past few years, I have begun to see how God has been planting little seeds in my heart. Things that I am passionate about have grown from little amusements, into grand ideas and dreams that I can't wait to see fulfilled in my life. He has also placed people in my life who help to feed and fuel these dreams - and in the strangest ways too. And as I have begun to recognise all of this, He has softened my heart too. Where once I was someone who struggled to shed a tear in one of the soppiest films, just two days ago I found myself tearing up over a cookery book in the Kalk Bay Books store because I found it so magnificent and moving. 

Some people hear God speaking to them in a loud, audible voice. I can't say that, that has ever happened to me. But, I have heard thunder roar of His power, and a summer breeze whisper of His gentleness. And where, in the past, I have felt Him whisper His plans to me silently, I feel like now He is roaring. 

Yesterday, I went for tea at The Annex in Kalk Bay with my friends, Alison and Frost; where the service was terrible but the Belgian Flourless chocolate cake is a pure dream. But, neither of us were even mildly concerned about the delicious cake or the terrible service. We couldn't shut up about the future and the way we think the world's going and how we feel we can make waves. Changes need to be made to mindsets, especially of our generation. We were throwing ideas around about community vegetable gardens in local, underprivileged areas, and about boycotting the 'me, me, me' mentality where all our money is spent on disposable technology, fashion and parties, and rather spreading an attitude of feeding and educating our communities. People these days are miserable. They spend their days tailoring their Facebook profiles according to how they'd like to be perceived and wasting endless hours on fickle friendships and toxic relationships. 

I believe in a God who can conquer the seemingly impossible, and I can't wait to see Him in action and be a tool for change.

And don't this look good...

Magical Germany

I was extremely blessed this festive season to spend two weeks over Christmas and New Years with my family in Germany and Austria. I got to experience snow for the first time when we spent two nights on the slopes of Lermoos, Austria. What a magical experience! Our friends from Munich came along and I'm so glad they did. One night, they organised a horse-drawn sleigh ride around the snow-covered valley. With shooting stars above us, bells ringing on the horses necks, hot air smoking up around our chilly faces and glasses of sparkling wine in our hands...I was in winter wonderland heaven!

We spent six nights in Munich, which I know quite well as I stayed their for two weeks with my friend Natalie on our European adventure in 2012. I love it that a completely foreign place started to become so familiar. I knew my way around the U-bahn and where to find the best little cafes and shops in the city centre. It felt like my second home and that made it so special. And it was great to share that with my parents and brother.

Our trip concluded with five nights in Berlin. I was so excited to go because Natalie and I so regretted not visiting the city in 2012. We had heard so many amazing things about it only after we had planned our entire journey. We were told it is shrouded in intriguing history and a wealth of different cultures of people that have made it a fascinating creative hub in Europe and the world. Given that we were only there for five nights and that most of the city was closed over New Years, I still feel like we got an amazing taste of the city. But I feel like my appetite has been wet, but I NEED to go back and be drenched! I'm not usually one for history, but visiting Checkpoint Charlie and learning the stories about the Berlin Wall, as well as visiting some prominent places during the Nazi Regime was eye-opening and actually got me excited to learn more about the history of places when I visit them. I drove a segway for the first time when we did a segway tour around the city. It was scary at first and extremely freezing being exposed in the frosty air for 2 hours straight - but so fun and invigorating once I got the hang of driving it and we zipped around to see all the hotspots.

But I have one favourite point that I learned and one favourite place that I got to see during our trip. One thing that really struck me was the European lifestyle. While everything in Germany is known to run so regimentally and smoothly, I also learned that they take their time to get outside and do more and spend time with each other (despite the cold). I love it that everything shuts down over the holidays and people take that time off to see their family and relax! On New Years day we bundled up and went for a walk around an icy lake. I thought we'd be the only ones braving the cold, but the lake was surrounded with hundreds of families and friends. People were jogging, walking their dogs, families were chattering and pushing baby strollers with toddlers tottering along beside them. We were staying with an extremely hospitable family, mere acquaintances of my parents who completely opened their house to us and showed us everything we could see of the city in 5 nights. Their little 11 year old daughter, Lara, couldn't speak much English and took a while to open up, but after 3 days, she and I were teaching each other English and German (and even some Afrikaans) and talking about bunny rabbits and horses and dancing. It really was so special.

Then comes to my favourite place. It's more an area, but there was one shop in the area that really captured my attention because it encapsulates everything I'm about right now. On one of our days in Berlin, our friends had organised to take us to a parliament museum, and I opted out and caught the train to Mitte (the creative and shopping hub of the city) to browse and explore. I visited a lovely shop called '& other stories' that sold clothing, accessories and beauty products, all in impeccable packaging! But, my favourite of all was a shop called 14 oz. And I fell in love with it even more when I watched the film that I've pasted below. It's definitely not a reasonably priced shop on first glance, but when you think about what they stand for in terms of their philosophy and ethos, spending more is completely warranted. I love the advice the owner of the store, Karl-Heinz Muller, gives when talking about filling your closet with classical, timeless pieces: "Buy less stuff, buy something good, and don't wear it out." Watch the video below, and you'll get why I'm inlove.

And...go to Germany as soon as you get a chance!

Please stay

Recently, I changed the name of my blog from 'Burrow' to 'No. Don't go.' and I have a reason for this. Initially, my reason for using the title 'Burrow' was purposeful. Firstly, I love rabbits, so that had a little something to do with it, but it was also something I thought of when I returned from travelling around Europe for 3 months. I missed home while I was away, but I realised this even more so when I got home. I spent hours in my bedroom surrounding myself with home comforts and reading and being surrounded by all the things I love and that inspire me. I realised that the place I am most inspired and fed is at home, in my burrow. It is here that I sit and reflect on all my outside experiences and I dwell on how beautiful life is and how blessed I am. This is all still true...

Over the past few months I have been reflecting on loyalty, both in relationships (as I mentioned in my previous post) and with the things we encounter everyday. I started to think about how design can be loyal. How we can choose to buy and use products that we can keep and use for longer, and that have a positive impact on their surroundings. For me, loyal design is simple and honest...it is what it is. It doesn't try to be something else. It's about quality not quantity. It's about timelessness and not glamour. It makes you feel like you're home. It takes you back to special moments in the past but also holds promise and hope for the future - because you know that it will still be there in 5 years time. To the more glamourous person, this probably sounds boring and unexciting. These people love trend, and they love what is transient and fleeting. They believe that nothing lasts forever so why try make it. This is true I guess, but how do you make memories in or with something or someone who you believe will be gone in a few months? I'm thinking about relationship - with people AND with design.

So, why 'No. Don't go.'? Well, while I was having these sporadic epiphanies about loyalty and honesty, I thought back to a trip my friend Natalie and I made to a Charity store in Somerset West one day after class. I found this tiny pair of striped, high-waisted denim shorts. I mean it when I say tiny...so I knew I would never be able to fit into them (even though I really wanted to try). But while I was analysing them, I found a little woven label on the back pocket that said 'No. Don't go'. I remember taking a photograph on my phone because I thought it was the cutest little label I had ever seen. I think I loved it because of how random it was. But I also loved what that statement meant - loving something or someone so much that you didn't want it to ever leave you. And this completely encapsulates how I'm feeling about basically everything right now. 

Below are just some images of things I love and think are timeless and beautiful.