Mushroom village....

Once apon a time there was a glorious village in the woods right next to a beautiful river...

The beauty of this place would make you shiver...

It was filled with secret spaces and amazing places. 

The trees whispered words to one another as the wind blew through and the butterflies fluttered...

Every hole and tree bark had a secret entrance filled with mysterious bugs, hiding inside doing their daily jobs. It was amazing this village, all the different flowers and ferns where scattered all over the place, it was truly a beautiful face...

Walk carefull and silent and you will find true treasure behind it...

There is no place like this, the true spirit of nature whispers in you ears, the magig that is here...

Discovering the Inhabitants  of this magical place was what made me so amazed...

I named each and every one, others more special than some...

To find them you have to look hard and long, while listening to the birds singing their song...

My mushroom friends has revealed themselves to me, and I was gratefull of how special it would be...

Underneath the beautifull spread of plants and flowers, I studied these umbrella shaped things with magnificent powers...

I will introduce you now to my special friends

Be carefull not scare them because on you they depend...

Yellow Flippie

Yellow Flippie likes lazing in the sun, 

he has a sqeecky voice and always has a lot of fun!

He wiggles his umbrella through out the day, and he will always help you find you way...

Tree-hugger Timmy

 Tree- hugger Timmy loves his tree friend he is growing on...

He chats to his tree friend all  day long.

They make jokes and sings,

For you will enjoy the fun that Timmy brings...

 Jolly Jeffrey

Jefffrey likes to play in the mud, the leaves on the ground are his best buds...

He likes to read poems about love and the way travelers roams!

He is always ready with a story, and will never bore you!

Tiny Twins

 

The twins are always playing pranks, on every Tom, Dick and Hank...

The will always entertain you  with a trick a joke, even a prank or two!

Never knowing who is who, they will come from behind with a loud BOO!

Billy Brown

Billy Brown is a naughty one, 

He is always up for some fun...

 Teasing here and there, 

Always having some funny joke to share.

The Willy Brothers

 The Willy Brothers are a lazy bunch

Always thinking what they will have for lunch...

Yahwning and sleeping all day long...

Always wondering why they never get strong.

Phat JOE!

Joe is a little fat one,

Wishing he had more friends than none.

He is a friendly shroom with a good heart

The only thing he does more than eat is fart,

Joe struggles with this a lot,

wishing that someone some day will give him a shot!

And now you have met them all, the whole bunch in one call.

Be as it may, they are all very happy anyway.

Good bey my mushroom friends,

We will see you next year after the rains just around the river bends...

The beauty of nature....

During my new year traveling, I went deep into the Drakensberg mountains, way up on the top... There you will litarally find your soul in the beauty of nature...It is one of my favourite places in the world. Every time I visit mother nature has a special gift to offer, and all her little secrets are revealed to me...

 

This year was more magical than ever, my discoveries of what nature had to offer blew my mind...

There was the lovely gift of a pretty flower here and there...

 

And can you spot the little snail on the bottom of the flower on the left? That was one of my favourite parts of the trip, all the wild flowers, that are free... You will find them everywhere.

Then there were the mushrooms...in every size shape and color!

This was a tiny one we found...

Obvious;y all the ferns were amazing... This ons was in a spiral around the tree... 

My last favourite picture of the trip was this Protea, right on the ecge of the mountain.. as the clouds formed a floor, I found this one, it was old an dead but it still had that proud feeling of the Protea

And this is why I love the beauty of nature...

Freedom...

Okey so my world came crashing down on me, and I got completely side tracked... My tribal range is currently on hold as it is and this is the reason...

First of all, that new job I took just completely took over my life. I am not complaining I am still getting to do what I love ( being around sewing machines and fabric) but it just got so business-like... all serious and stuff, which I am only learning now is the fate of the average working class girl, yes Average! So apart from a whole list of things dramatic and weard that happened in the past few weeks I will tell you only about the main peanut, the big one...So, this beautifull little town I live in got hit by the side of a syclone that was heading to Mosambique and this just opened a whole new chapter in my little world. I got a rude awakening on 17 or 18 Januarie? I know its all still a blur, My dad woke me and said in a very serious panicky voice that I have to get up, someone phoned to ask for help at one of my dear friends's houses, they were stuck in thier houses in the middle of a quick rising Blyde River. It was pooring down hard that day... So not to be too dramatic, we went there, almost everyone got out safely, including their two dogs, and a meerkat called GRAATJIE.  I was in shock that whole day, we were stranded between a flooded bridge and a closed road ( obviously due to a flooded stream crossing the road). So I spent my whole day from 07h00 to 14h00 in the rain walking barefoot staring at the horific scene of these masses of water streaming down like a angry monster, demolishing everything in it's path....The little town called Hoedspruit as most of you know, was declared a disaster area, my dear friends among a lot of others, lost their home and the only known sanctuarty I had here, their beautifull adventure camp, that was situated on the banks of the Blyde river. Obviously the whole river flooded and took everything with it...Including one of my dearest animal friends called Valiant....

 

Let me tell you a little about him...If you ever had the pleasure of knowing this amazing animal you would be blessed with the freedom he had. He would roam free at the camp every day, eating his way through the grass, wild figs, lunch boxes, leftovers, we even found chocolate wrappers in his droppings! He was a free spirit! I would feed him bread or sugar and braid his hair, putting feathers in it, he would look like a true Indian horse, I think he liked it a lot... Sometimes I would just play dress up with him, putting his main up in a ponytail, or putting my scarf on his face to make him look like a Desert Arab!!

The week after the floods, we were all still a bit shacky and I was very happy and blessed not to have lost any of my friends or my house for that matter. But the only bad news was that someone saw a horse in the main stream of the floods and a few days after posting messages and pictures of him on facebook, Valiant was found, but he did not make it...

I realise for a lot of people this is probably so stupid and they might think I am crazy... but Valiant was my dear friend, he would always bring me joy and happiness. He had this free spirit that could not be tamed. I was inspired by his freedom. I am sharing this with you because he ment a lot to me, and I want to honor him in the only way I know... by telling his story and sharing a bit of his spirit...

I am going to miss you my dear animal friend. I will never forget you. Have fun in horse heaven, I am sure you are now more free than you could ever be. Love Nicola

The inner tribal warrior...

We'll since moving back home and starting a whole new life, or I won't say "whole" not everything changed. Mostly just my surroundings and my job title. I went from being a freelance designer/BLOGGER, to a project Co-ordinator for a small sewing project called Bavaria Fairtrade. I am working with 3 South-African workers, 2 female and one male, and then 3 ladies from Zimbabwe. Most of them are still learning and doing training, but they manage pretty well. One of the ladies from Zimbabwe has "papers" as they call it, to sew. She is basically my right hand, and the person to run to when something has to get done. Being thrown into a completely different setting, I was inspired by the different cultures that I am getting to work with daily. These people come from such different places and lifes that it was just an inspiration to get to know each of them... that is where the idea for my range emerged... Tribal influence... Also my travels to Mosambique and the beautiful fabric I brought back was such an inspiration as well. Let me just add that this job just consists of getting new orders for the sewing project and empowering these people to,in the end, set out into the world and find jobs.

I am also finding myself getting a bit lazy these past few weeks, my job as project co-ordinator gets done, but my personal work/ creativity is slowely falling behind. Thus inspired by the movie Julie Julia project, I am (if not interrupted by the bad weather that flows over the mountains tha past few days, it's summer in South-Africa, this means a week can consist of 40 degree ' days and rain/ hail all in one week) going to Blog everyday on the progress of my range. I am away from all my friends and the one I love, so this I suspect is the perfect time to do this. I am 24 and I was asked today by my father what my Light Castle is? At first I didnt know what he was talking about, then he explained; he asked what  my plans are for the future? Where do I see myself in a couple of years? What do I want to achieve in life? And I realised, I don't know! I had so many plans for myself, I saw myself as this great achiever and now I am clueless. So, this is for me, if I can get this range done and finish it before the end of the year, I believe the year 2012 will have great things in store for me. It is time I take charge of my life and DO THIS! My inspiration starts here....

Also an inspiration was the feature in Elle magazine's November 2011 issue( S.A), "Water for Elephants".  It absolutely caught my attention, and it was exactly what I am about!

For the fashion lovers;

Blake Lively

I found this vintage piece of fabric in my grandma's old pile of material, and it has this similar type of color pallette, I absolutely love this!

This dress is just so colourful and full of life! Love!

INSPIRASIE OP 'N MOOI DAG SOOS VANDAG...

Wel, met al die dol dinge van die lewe, het ek myself weer kans gegee om bietjie inspirasie te soek... Daar is niks so ongelooflik soos om in een prent of foto soveel kreatiewe idees te kry nie.

Hierdie foto het my laat dink aan die saligheid van somer... om met 'n sagte somersrokkie in die tuin te stap en die son op jou vel te voel... iets wat ek ongelooflik baie gemis het deur die winter.

Ek het nie woorde nie... ek is 'n herfskind, dis my beste tyd. Dis asof die natuur met my praat en my soveel gee om mee te werk, die kleure wat verskyn soos elke boom verjaar.

 Dis ongelooflik mooi!

 My ideale huis in my kop, vandat ek nog 'n klein dogterjie was, was ene met so balkon, en toegerank met 'n plant...

Die jeans, die t-shirt, die sonbril en die hoed maak van die 'n baie cool en unieke foto...

Die kleure in die foto het my dadelik getrek. Ek is aml oor die blou/ turqoise, met die rooi bruine. dis 'n "stunning" kombinasie!

My liefde vir teken... Ek moet begin tyd maak vir my kuns!

What you will find in store that is amazing!

I surfed the net to see what will be in different stores this summer... and they left us with a bunch of cool outfits!
The first exiting thing is the Mr Price 031 Collection, designed by Mr price and styled by Agyness Deyn....
The collection is inspired by everything '70s and bohemian!

The asymmetrical jumpsuit, R139.99

This over sized henley is a very exciting piece this summer, R79.99
and the denim shorts, R89.99

The knot- tee is a very popular item for this season, R49.99

as well as the maxi-skirt, R129.99

The high neck tunic in a soft fabric, R99.99

This tribal inspired maxi-dress is very Boho-chic, R139.99

This maxi-skirt is one of my personal favorite items in this collection, R129.99.

This collection will only be available in selected stores from the 23 of September! 

Pure cafe, Pretoria

One of my favourite places in Pretoria ( South- Africa) is a little cafe in Colbyn called Pure... The owners of the restaurant had a dream of opening their own restaurant and it finally happened. They started by renovating an old neglected corner cafe, and it has been up and running for 4 years already. The idea was to give their customers "honest, pure food" which I believe is the key to their success!

Pure specializes in Freshly made deli-style foods, that includes breakfast, lunch and Pretoria's best cuppachino's! Because the Pure crew take so much pride in their products and business, they roast their own coffee beans! They also have freshly baked products such as; Italian Ciabatta, Rey- bread and the most amazing cakes, every day!

Dishes include items like smoked salmon omelettes with avocado and lemon zest cream cheese, French toast with chopped almonds and maple-flavoured syrup, a salad with marinated biltong, avocado, parmesan shavings, pumpkin seeds and rocket, cheeky chicken livers, delicious wraps and pasta dishes like a creamy anchovy and broccoli pasta with a hint of garlic and chilli.

A personl favourite item on their menu is the Strawberry Fields Forever quencher! It is a strawberry, berry and mint smoothy, with a extra suprise at the bottom of every glass! That part I will leave to you to find out what it is!

Pure is really an amazing one-of-a-kind restaurant, which has much to offer to the taste buds!
 For more info visit http://www.purecafe.co.za/

Address 137 Thompson street. Colbyn, 0121 Pretoria, South Africa ·
Phone:     012 342 1443
Status Open until 4:00 am
Hours Mon:  7:00 am - 4:00 pm
Tue - Fri:      7:00 am - 4:00 am
Sat:                7:00 am - 3:00 am