Beautiful creatures

I have listened to this CD at least twice a day the past two weeks (since I have been back at home). Baby C loves it, it's quite easy to sing along and it's educational too. You can listen to three tracks here.

Origami crane mobile

I have been fascinated with origami since I was a child, when I folded all sorts of things during school holidays with my mom. I once folded a telephone directory into a Christmas Tree, and a working Jack In the Box.

Now I don't do much origami anymore (have run out of uses, sad excuse I know), but when baby C came along I got cracking, and made her this origami mobile to hang above her cot. The great thing about it is that the cranes have an interesting shape when viewed from underneath (not all mobiles take into account who they are intended for).

The quilt in the photo on the right was made by Granny AfricanCotton

If you would like to buy an origami crane mobile from me, please send me a message. To make it yourself, you need

• 6 pieces of origami paper (or any square paper). I used the size 20cm/8"
• some wire (soft enough to bend, but strong enough to hold the paper)
• some thread
• 6 small beads
• Needle

Step 1
Fold 6 cranes. Follow this YouTube video or these instructions with photos If it's your first time you may wish to practise before using your special paper.

Step 2
Cut 6 pieces of thread about 15cm/4" long.
Tie the beads to one side of the thread and trim off any extra thread.

Step 3
Thread the needle with the beaded thread and push from the bottom through the crane.

Step 4
Cut 3 pieces of wire. The first piece should be around 45cm/17" the second 35cm/14" and the third 25cm/9". Bend the wire into a curve with a loop in the middle and two loops on either side.

Step 5
Tie the cranes onto the loops on the edges of the wire curves. Take care to make the thread length equals on both ends of a piece of wire so they are balanced.

Step 6
Cut 2 pieces of thread and use them to tie the middle points of the wire curves together from the twisted circle points in the middle. The large curve should be on the top and the smallest curve on the bottom. Cut one more piece of thread and use this to hang the mobile.

Threads of change - it's about Time

This latest Time magazine, well it's the Style and Design supplement (April 2009), has an article titled 'Threads Of Change' which really struck a note with me. They say "Global fashion executives are forging ties with artisans in East Africa. The result is an upswing in employment and building of local businesses that has the potential to change many lives".

The article explained how Aid to Africa, being charitable donations, doesn't have a lasting effect. So true - all those second hand clothes (which arrived about 20 years ago) really decimated the local industry. (And also food doesn't do much for the farmers who can no longer sell their own produce locally - why when food is being given away?) It's tough because we all want to help people who are suffering.

But there is good news, through investment and development of business it is possible to make a lasting difference, and this article was about the companies doing just that.

• Max & Co. (& Africa & You) who are working with the UN's International Trade Center (ITC) to harness the skills of local artisans and use them in collections of accessories of its youthful brand.
• Made - ethical jewelry company (whose customers include Kate Moss)
• Suno, whose founder wants to fuse African talents with those of designers in New York City.
• Toto Knits, a company that employs disadvantaged African women to knit baby sweaters for export.

On a similar note, check out Kiva - a website that allows you to give small loans directly to collectives or small businesses in developing nations. Wow!

Weekend designer

I am just blown away by this blog, Weekend Designer - there are a lot of blogs with howtos and free patterns, but this one is for serious dressmaking. Don't worry though, his (I assume it is a he, not sure why) instructions make it easy for the averagely experienced sewer (that word always looks funny). According to him 'it ain't rocket science'. The patterns featured are super hip (from the world of fashion and design) - another thing that sets this blog aside from the rest - they weren't created by the average crafty woman who gets excited by tissue box covers.

History of shwe shwe

Shwe-shwe (or schwe schwe) fabric was introduced to South Africa with German settlers in the 19th century, but over time Xhosa women, who took a liking to the stiff indigo-dyed fabric, replaced their animal skin clothes with shweshwe. It is said to be named after the sound the skirts make when you walk.

It is now available in three colours (blue, red and brown), two toned, and double sided prints. Its distinguishing characteristics are a repeated geometric pattern, the use of local fora and fauna (and even political figures!) and the trademark logos on the back of the fabric. The characteristic designs are made by patterned copper rollers brushed with a weak acid solution.

Here are some other websites with information about shweshwe
TheWren - The shweshwe story
FreshlyFound - Shwe shwe
Shweshwe lovers - about shweshwe
SouthAfrica Info - Shweshwe
South of the Sahara
Durbana - isishweshwe
And this is definitely not shwe shwe, but I loved all the African prints, used for cushions!

Tips from Etsy buyers

I stumbled upon a post 'What turns you away from Sellers' in the Etsy forum which gives a lot of insight into why people would buy from one shop and not from another. It's a 72 page (at my viewing) post, so I'm made a summary of the interesting and frequently repeated points. I found quite a few issues raised made me think twice about my shop so hopefully it also gives you some ideas on how to increase those sales.

Sellers they won't buy from:

1. have an empty profile
2. don't specify their location
3. are people who are nasty on the forums
4. do not reply timeously to requests for information
5. have poor or no communication - especially after sale email which some people said put them off repeat purchases (whoops I was guilty of this one)
6. don't buy from other Etsy sellers

Shops they won't support have:

1. no shop policies
2. policies containing negative language
3. policies that make it sound like the customer is the enemy
4. long shop announcements (so that you have to scroll to see images of what is for sale)
5. no sections (which makes it difficult to browse)
6. no international shipping listed (people don't want to send you an email to find out)
7. no recent sales or listings (they think they are inactive)
8. not enough items listed (doesn't look professional)

Products they won't buy have:

1. inflated shipping (with emphasis on prices they knew were too high vs stuff that cost a lot to ship - they wanted information why shipping is so expensive - e.g. includes insurance)
2. blurry photos
3. not enough photos
4. pictures of the product on someone else when you wouldn't want it pre-worn (like earrings or underwear)
5. pictures of the item on a dirty floor or next to a full ashtray
6. inaccurate tags
7. descriptions that are too short or too long (and contain useless information)
8. have bad spelling or grammar or use subjective adjectives (like gorgeous and beautiful) in the item descriptions
9. don't specify measurements (must be in cm and inches)

Crafters

Oooooo a Crafters Forum, something new to get addicted too. I love the voyeuristic opportunities - checking out what other people have been doing, and also getting recycle/reuse ideas!