Swimming and my Blooming Business!

Wow! SO much has happened since I last posted.

This is the exciting story so far...

I made a jug during the school holidays and because my passion is birds and flowers I put a little Gorgeous Bushrike on the top (in sculptural form) and in detail on the front.

After the final glaze firing, I posted a picture on Instagram and my personal Facebook page. From that one vintage jug - I got so many orders that it has turned into a little business!

I am so excited to share my journey on my blog!

I have added many more pieces to my range and created a website. You can go take a look at my work at shirleyceramics.com

I have posted all over South Africa and to Australia and France! So exciting! I have just got an order from a friend in Spain.

I want to blog my progress to share my love and passion for birds and flowers and also the slow but wonderful craft of clay and handmade and handpainted.

My pictures and thoughts will also be of my daily life as I swim everyday in a beautiful Tidal Pool just 15 minutes from my house.

I am also  a full time Mom to two teenage girls which is wonderful but it can be very overwhelming and stressful at times.

I hope you enjoy coming on this journey with me as I share my thoughts and pictures of life as a Mom and potter.

Please comment and share your thoughts about motherhood, creativity for the soul or even just to say "Hi"

This is Dalebrook pool - where I go every morning to swim! It ismy "happy place" and absolute  bliss!! 

My work and some of my orders ready to "fly " to their new homes! 

These are my little bowls with pressed ferns and local fynbos from Cape Town, South Africa 

I use the Roberts bird book to get accurate detail and colours when painting the birds. 

The Gorgeous Bushrike and King Protea Butter Dish 

One of my favourite orders for a customer is this Kingfisher jug. 

It is the beautiful blue Malachite Kingfisher and the stunning Pied Kingfisher 

Have a wonderful day! 

Shirley xx 

Love art ...

I live to make things .... with my hands ... everyday! I am passionate about art.

This year  I have started pottery lessons with a few of my friends. It has been so wonderful having new projects to work on each week. We started with coiling and I decided to make a large bowl with the theme of birds and flowers.

I am passionate about birds and all my pottery projects have birds on at the moment.

I spent hours painting the lilies and the little Robin using underglazes and small, very fine brushes.

I love using underglazes and building up the colours - almost like watercolour painting.For this bowl I also pressed dried ferns into wet clay and then after the bowl was bisque fired I used a sponge and put 3 different colour greens on the fern "pattern" .

The underglazes change colour so much after the final clear glaze. I want to build up all the underglaze colours I have so I can experiment more with colours.

The sweetest things ...

This is a pattern that is really easy and really fun and relaxing to crochet! I chose lovely "Vanilla",  "Ocean" blue and "Adventurine " blue yarn from Eco - Cotton. 

The circles of blues and cream are just so pretty and remind me so much of waves and my beloved ocean! So calm and peaceful.

It has been a busy week but I managed to sneak in some quick walks on Kommetjie beach. We can just feel summer is on its way! Its such a great feeling! 

 My happy place where I can breathe and relax and soak up the loveliness of this beautiful beach!

Spring is here and the cutest little flowers are popping up everywhere. I took a walk on the Noordhoek common which is bursting with these tiny little flowers!  

Living near this beautiful ocean is our treasure! I leave you with this beautiful quote that a friend shared this week 

 - 

"The best things in life are nearest. Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the starts, but do lifes plain, common work as it comes , certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Have a wonderful weekend of creating and loving the sweetest things in life!

Shirley xx 

Hearts and flowers...

I have been busy finishing off some new Teeny Tiny Tags. I couldn't resist making these little hearts and flowers with the MoYa yarn. Yes, I can't get enough of this beautiful yarn! It is so lovely to crochet with and the hand dyed colours are beautiful. 

 

I used white cardstock and my cuttlebug to emboss the designs onto the tags.  The ribbon adds an extra special touch and will make any gift look pretty. 

 

I found some cute little heart buttons and a simple teeny tiny white buttons for the centre. 

 

It is a real winters day here in Cape Town today with rain and clouds over all the mountains. The perfect weather for a cup of coffee and warm blankets and finding time to do some CREATING! I'm going to try and add some squares onto my granny blanket today! What projects are you busy with or needing to finish? 

Have a happy and creative Wednesday! xx

Hello Monday!

"More than anything, I must have flowers always, always." Claude Monet

My lounge is full of beautiful flowers as my husband spoilt me with a beautiful bunch of roses, sunflowers and daisies and I couldn't resist orange and yellow poppies that were about to bloom! 

I have just started following "floretflower" on Instagram. She is a flower farmer and has fields of the most beautiful flowers and she  inspired me with her  beautiful pictures to get into my garden this weekend and plant some little foxgloves and pansies! Enjoy her stunning fields of foxgloves and sweet peas! 

So happy Monday and today I am forever grateful for flowers and the joy they bring into our lives! Lets think of all the things we are grateful for this week! 

Winter ramblings in Kirstenbosch gardens...

Winter has arrived in our beautiful city and although we get lots of rain that can last for days and days - we have had the most beautiful sunny days! Kirstenbosch gardens is Cape Towns  treasure! It is over 100 years old and has the most stunning display of our indigenous fynbos and proteas. 

We went with my girls and family and took a picnic and of course we had to get  cappaccino's from the busy restaurant. We took our family on the new "Treetop Boomslang". This is a new walk on a bridge which is 11.5m high up in the tree top canopy. Here you can get the most beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and in the distance you can see the city centre. 

Rambling through the gardens and taking in all the scents, colours and beauty of the flowers, trees birds and little rivers is so peaceful and refreshing for the soul. 

A river runs through ....

My favourite little yellow Ifafa Lillies!

winter trees...

Magnificent Mandela's Gold Strelitzia - known as the Yellow Bird of Paradise! 

Amazing Treetop canopy walk - The Boomslng

logs and leaves...

magestic mountains

The pure joy of clouds, picnics, socks and feet - my girls!

Happy Friday! I hope you get to relax and find a peaceful place today that calms your soul.