Hi!
Can't believe this week has gone so quickly! Thank you to everyone who visited my blog, but unfortunately, I have more sad news! Since my last post the number of rhinos killed for their horns this year, has risen to over 400!!!!
Please go to the links on my previous page to see how we can all help save this magnificent animal!!!!!!!!
This week I have been making a few new cards for the world card making competition next month. Wish me luck!! Remember October 6 is World Card Making Day. Enjoy it! It only happens once a year!
This past winter I taught myself to crochet and oh boy, did this bug get a hold of me!! I have always been a knitter but now I really prefer crocheting. Much less complicated and so much quicker. You can make yourself a blanket in just a couple of days. My new thing to do in front of the telly these days is to crochet flowers. You can make so many different flowers and the best of all is that you get to use up all the little bits of leftover wool that's been lying around in a basket for years. I use the flowers to decorate my cards, transform scatter cushions, mosquito nets, necklaces, brooches, on denim jeans, scarves handbags, the possibilities are just endless. I have included a couple of photos of everything I made this winter! I had a lot of fun doing this!
Hat and scarf
Baby blanket
Large blanket
Large house blanket
Shoulder bag with flap
Beach bag
Are they not just too beautiful! I can really recommend this wonderful, fulfilling craft for you to try.
Must go now but can't wait to see you again later.
Love
Amarie
Hey There
With 22 September being World Rhino day, I want to share with you our experience with these majestic animals. We started with a bull and a cow about 12 years ago, Big Daddy and Cupcake (her horn looked like an upside down cupcake, hence Cupcake!) and during this time they successfully grew the herd to 7.
They are incredibly clever animals. We have very dry and cold winters here and towards the end of winter we have to put extra food out for the game, needless to say, we put the food out close to our home so we can sit on our veranda and watch the game as they come to eat. So every afternoon at about the same time, the rhinos will waddle up to the house and wait for us to throw out the lucern. If we take a little too long, they come right up to the house and blow and shuffle and demand their food. It's so darn cute!!!!!
I really hope you can appreciate the uniqueness of this photograph, I don't think many people have seen rhinos mating.
Unfortunately, Cupcake, she's the one being mated, was "poached" for her horn about 4 months after this photo was taken. I will save you all the horrible details. but needless to say it was BARBARIC!!!
Her absence left a huge void on this farm and is felt every single day. We miss her terribly!!! and it's something we cannot forget or get over.
Life would never be the same again. Fence patrol took on a new meaning just trying to keep them safe and suddenly we were walking around with guns! Our game farm paradise had turned into a nightmare and we were always fearing for our lives as well as theirs and so due to the security risks, they were all sold and hopefully they will stay safe in this unknown location.
The future for rhinos in this country looks really bleak, with 381 rhinos poached this year alone!! If you want to know more about the plight of the rhino, please go to the following links and help save the rhino.
http://www.savetherhino.org
http://www.jacarandafm.com/kagiso/content/en/jacaranda/jacaranda-blogs-rhino-files
Here are more photographs of some of the other game.
Buffalo....
Impala
Sable
As soon as I have nice pics of the other game, I will post it! Hope you enjoyed this page and thank you for caring about the rhinos!!!!!
Well, it's supper time and I will see you soon.
Thank you for visiting with me!
Love
Amarie
Hi again
Today I want to show you a very special card I made using a very old letter my mother-in-law wrote to a friend in 1933. I photo copied the letter onto "aged" paper (I aged the paper myself by scrunching the paper and rubbing it with dirt and coffee) and clear parchment paper. Then I added strips of wrapping paper, ribbon, lace, a small button and a little paper rose and viola, it's done! It "feels" and looks romantic without looking too fussy.
Making this card was quite special to me. I never knew my mother-in-law, she died when my husband was just 15 years old. But I really wish I could have known her. She was an extra ordinary woman.
She toured through Africa in her little Jeep with a friend of hers in 1933 (which was unheard of in the old days... 2 girls unchaperoned, through Africa, from Johannesburg to Egypt...)
She was a pilot and flew a Tiger Moth plane, raced in figure 8 races and was a nurse during the 2nd world war in Italy.
A special lady indeed!
This is really a special cards to me and I hope you enjoy it too.
Have a wonderful day, 'till next time!!
Amarie
Hi there
I started this blog to share my love of paper, beautiful fabrics, pewter, paints, flowers and hearts, party planning, craft gadgets, crochet and knitting, stitch craft, decorating, cooking and entertaining, with other people like me out there.
Just the process of creating something, be it a large table cloth or just a gift tag, is food for my soul and lifts my spirits to another level.
Here are some of the cards I made...
A few of the Mother's Day hampers I made:.JPG)
I live on a farm in South-Africa situated on the fringes of the Kalahari. My husband of 33 years is a keen conservationist and together as a family we raise and care for many different animal species. We are so fortunate to have our 2 lovely daughters, Molly 21 and Jesse 19, still living with us. Molly is doing research for a book she's writing and Jesse is in her 1st year, doing a B.Com in Financial Accounting.
These are my daughters, Molly in red and Jesse in blue...
and the one and only, hubby John
We live quite an isolated life out here but it's peaceful and quiet and we love it. Every so often family and friends come to visit and sometimes that could be the first people we see in months!
When it feels like we are suffering from "cabin fever", a trip to town and a soft serve ice-cream does wonders.
This is our outside lounge area:
This is my favorite place: My workroom.!!!
I am so spoiled to have this wonderful place that is just mine and I can escape to it whenever I want to and just let the creative juices flow.
Pictures from Molly's 21st Birthday earlier this year:
That is all I have time for today. Tomorrow I will share with you all the animals we share our lives with.
Love
AMarie
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