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It’s officially SPRING in South Africa. The 1st of September is the day celebrated but it always rains and this year was no exception. So for or me Spring starts on the 2nd of September becuase it is always sunny (which it is today).
As part of the celebration I am letting my birds fly….
For every bag bought during September a ‘Bird Purse‘ (valued at $18) will be sent with for FREE.
*the small text: this offer only applies for bags bought online or through email. No biggie.
The sun is shining and there is no wind – the weather is gorgeous today and I plan to spend most of the afternoon outside. Spring is here (well almost).
Beatnik Bazaar has put together an amazing competition called ‘pretty young spring thing’ to celebrate the coming of spring. There are many fabulous and delicious gifts up for grabs and one of which is a WREN TOTE (and a bird purse for the runner up). Other sponsors are Charly’s Bakery, MAC makeup, Take Care Clothing, Lauren Fowler, Paige Nick and Honest Chocolate.
To enter visit Beatnik Bazaar.
The new bag to the Wren Jute Range is the ‘WREN TOTE’. A tote by definition is “a large handheld bag that is used to carry things, such as books, beach wear, or everyday items” and this is exactly what the Wren Tote is: practical, durable, eco-friendly, useful, secure and plentiful in space.
The bag is made from reinforced Jute Coffee Sacks that come from fair trade tea and coffee plantations all over the world (including some Groundnut bags that come from South Africa). The reinforcing is a fused black cotton that adds durability, helps maintain the shape of the bag and lines the inside.
The bag closes with a strong metal zip. On each end of the zip is a pres stud cap that clips down (or unclips). This changes the shape and size of the bag.
When I made the first sample Jeremy and I fought over it. Jeremy used it for his gym stuff and I used it to fit my handbag, my jersey, books and papers that I needed for a day of errand running. Now we each have one and I am never turning back. I keep my handbag inside and when I want to run into a shop I grab my handbag from it but when I am at a meeting or shopping, it fits everything in (including all sorts of odds that always end up in bag and you have no idea how). Packed or empty the bag is still petite and does not make you look like a camel carrying around the world.
To see the new WREN TOTE bags visit my etsy shop.
The Wren range of bags made from Jute is growing and encompassing more styles so it felt only right that the tags have a similar and unifying feel. After an ink cartridge and hours of deliberation, I decided on a card tag with three different designs.
The reverse side of the tag has the bag details which before was only conveyed in conversations with me or in the etsy product description. This way the person recieving the bag can read about it and know where their bag came from.
…and indeed another snippet of the new bag: ‘The Wren Tote’ that will be added to the Jute Range soon. To see all the new bags listed yesterday visit my etsy shop.
I couldn’t resist – I have to share this new bag with you even if only in part. It is such a wonderful bag – Jeremy keeps ’stealing’ it and everytime I want to use it he has got his ’stuff’ in it. We have to book the bag! It is deceivingly big and because it zips closed, its perfect for everything.
This *WREN TOTE* will be available next week from my etsy shop.
This is another project I did when I was a student and probably my favourite.
The ‘Swan Spats’ were for a 3m Super-sticky Post-it notes competition. Basically, inspired by spats which by definition is a short gaiter covering the instep and ankle, I extended the functional boundaries of a spat and made the function a decorative one.
Why a swan? The swan is a very sensual, graceful and elegant creature and similarities between the female ankle, curve of the calf and lines of the pointed foot are easily made. The plan was to make a spat in the shape of swan that wraps around the ankle and calf and use 3M Super-sticky notes for the wings. This would also create an effect similar to that when a breeze tussles the downy feathers that cover a swan.
Technically it was a challenge but I have always loved doing things differently and pushing my own knowledge of materials. I first tried to make it out of paper mache but this turned out to be a flop so I resorted to making the spats out of ABS plastic. The coverts and neck were then bent with a heat gun and several layers of paint was sprayed to be a similar colour to the post-it notes. The coverts were then punched together with eyelets which allowed them to still be movable. 
The competition rules required that 60% of the surface area of the fashion accessory be covered with 3M super-sticky. To create the fluffy effect I wanted, I found an origami pattern and using a pencil, rolled the folded paper to create lovely little feathers.
I had great fun prancing them around during the making but the photo shoot really shows them off best. The shoot was a bit unconventional but effective, elegant and wonderful (special thanks to Marisa for modeling).
In the end, I won third prize and sadly, I do not know where they are anymore.
Today is the kick-off of the Soccer World Cup. The feeling around South Africa is quite special. Almost all the cars have flags and even our post-man was dressed in Bafana Bafana gear with a flag.
In all this World Cup maddness I’m going on a road-trip up and through South Africa to the Kruger National Park. From there we are camp hopping all the way up to the Mozambique border. I will be back on the 24th of June – see you then.
I know this is a little late as the June issue of the House and Leisure has been out for a few weeks already (thank you to those who spotted me and commented on the feature). In my defence, my laptop crashed and has caused endless troubles and my scanner would not make friends with my borrowed PC and somehow the magazine got pushed to the bottom of the pile…but here it is, my few moments of fame. 
In rows, from top left: Cool New Stuff, This is Awesome, Fashionably Geek, Green by Design, Tech News Hourly, Gadget Lab on Wired, Myweku, Babazeka, Urban Review, Embalagem Sustentavel, Eco Salon, The Cool Gadgets, Mad About Bags, BoingBoing, Imod, Cool Things and Gadget Sin.
Thank you to everybody who wrote and and posted about about Wren Bags in the last two months.
I never thought I would be sending orders off that boxed all the way up to the roof. Stacking them was fun, packing them – not so much.
Instead of the fabric labels the PPC Cement Laptop Bags now have a fabric bonded paper label that is stitched onto the strap.
The black webbing that I use for the PPC Cement Laptop Bags is a special weight, width and strength. I have found one company that stocks this webbing but the supply is unreliable. This is why I was so excited when I was told that I could buy it cream and dye it. I tried to do the maths working with weights, prices and meters but got it completely wrong so I decided to just jump in, trust the sales reps and buy and dye. This turned out to be a bad idea.
I spent my Saturday afternoon shaving the black webbing that came back from the dyers messy, fluffy and unraveled (weave included). It also works out that I saved about R1 per meter. Not a great success.
When I started making the PPC Cement Laptop Bags I sent Alexa – my friend in Switzerland – one to ‘test’ for me. I knew she would love the bag but I also knew she would not handle the bag with any special care (becuase that is her personality). This was perfect for me becuase if it lasted for Alexa and lasted through a Switzerland winter then the bag’s durability could be counted on.
Here the bag is, 8 months old, stuffed to the brim and leaning against rubble found in an empty factory where Alexa was having a birthday party. The bag looks right at home and by all accounts, it has still got many adventures left in it.
If you could not decide between the black OPC or the red Surebuild PPC Cement Laptop Bag then the RAPO bag is your answer.
The RAPO PPC Cement Laptop bag is a mix with the text red and the background black. I think it looks very cool.
The inside instructions have changed a bit – no more measuring by wheelbarrow. Rather, the inside panel and back list the ‘Uses and Advantages’ of using RAPO Cement. My favourite ‘Use’ (which translates very well for the use of a laptop bag) is: “To assist in counteracting of cold weather …”
Go to the RAPO PPC Cement Laptop Bag listing in my etsy shop.
