5 ways to tie a scarf

Okay so today is the first day of 5 ways to... it is our new series with cute and easy tutorials made either by us or our many hours prowling through the internet and best tutorials we can find. With tutorials, it is going to be either quick and simple with 5 steps or 5 different ways of doing something most of us do every day.

Clara and I wear scarves a lot, she wears them for slightly different reasons than I do but in the end we are both scarf obsessed and it is odd to see either of us not wearing a scarf at least once in a week so I figured why not share all the wonderful ways we like wearing our scarves with you.

What do you need to follow these tutorials?

1. Square scarf preferably a smooth fabric such as silk, satin or very fine cotton.
2. Normal scarf pashminas work wonderfully
3. Superlong scarf 

PinUp Hair scarf:

I love the pinup scarf look, it is a great way for me to get my curly bob under control when the weather is rainy and my hair just won't listen to anything that I say or want. I use a silk scarf because it helps smooth my hair and doesn't dry my hair the way cotton would. 

Steps:

1. Fold scarf in half then fold till it makes a funny sort of rectangle.
2. Have the broadest part of the fabric at the back of your head, the ends facing forward.
3. Tie into a knot
4. Either tuck the ends back into the scarf or tie a bow if your scarf is long enough. 

The Bow

Is there anything that makes one feel more like mini Mouse than a bow?

Steps:

1. Using your normal scarf, drape it around your neck with the ends hanging in front of you.
2. Knot loosely more or less where you want the bow to end up (This takes practise to get the distance right).
3. Carefully tie it into a bow, wither by knotting to loops together or by doing the bunny in a burrow method. 

Too infinity: 

Sometimes your favourite scarf really just needs to be infinite for a little while.

Steps:

1. Tie the end of your scarf, again pashmina or shorter length works well.
2. Knot the one end to the other end, either both ends directly to each other or just a corner of each end, this is personal taste.
3. Be bold and wrap this around your neck a few times. 

My Favourite: 

Whether the weather is wintery or summery this is my usual go too, the perfect casual but oh so smart way to a scarf. 

Steps:

1. Fold the scarf (Longer the better the drape of the fall) in half.
2. Loop the half around your neck so the loop is on one side and the ends on the other side.
3. Push the ends through the loop and pull tight. 

The Summer Sunner:

Pretty over a basic top or dress, this one is a pure statement.

Steps: 

1. Fold a giant triangle,  out of your widest scarf.
2. Putting the triangle over a shoulder, carefully pull the ends tight so that it hangs around your neck. 
3. Tie into a simple knot and voila.
4. If your scarf is superheavy, you can use a fun broach just to secure it onto your clothes. 

I used rather bright scarfs as they are the easiest to see what I was doing on a photograph. you honestly don't have to go buy bright scarves, these look just as wonderful with more neutral scarves. 

800 Drawings

Tshwane University of Technologys'; Fine Arts department is busy with a really great fun raiser.

It is called Every Other Day and it is this Thursday, they are hosting it at Asbos Theatre, Corner Albeth & Lynnwood rd, Die Wilgers, 0184 Pretoria, South Africa. The aim of the fundraiser is to have money for art students in need of everything from material to food money that study in the department.

There are over 800 artworks all the size of an A5 on display, the artworks will be sold for R100, though some of them are for more as they are by professional artists and worth so much more.

The varity itself that is available is rather astonishing so the chances that there is something that you won't like or want to own is pretty darn slim. There are even a few done by me, Chandre aka the Cinnamon.

Happy art buying,
Cinnamon

Breakfast of yum and chubby thighs

One thing about me and Clara is that we are both foodies, which means we spend way to much time in restaurants and a lot of our money on food. So when we or one of us finds a good place that makes us go oooh yum, we feel the need to share it with the world.

The model, since I forgot to take a selfie or have him take a picture of me, is Fluffy (Stephen).

We went to Craft in Parkhurst, they have a wonderful breakfast menu and have a few Paleo or banting options , so fairly diet friendly unless you are on an insane diet, they even have fruit and muesli. Though Fluffy and I didn't do diet friendly, we seldom do when it is the two of us.

Fluffy likes a good burger and when they had a breakfast burger including any two coffee based drinks of your choice for R90, we both decided cool deal. This was still fairly on budget since 2 cafe lattes work me out on average R45 when I go out and a decent burger is roughly R70. This means although it isn't cheap it still is fairly affordable in a weird way.

So want to see the amazing burger that tastes like 3000 calories in one bite but is so good you land up licking your fingers?
Yes?
Cool, here the breakfast burger:


Oh did I forget to add the best part of it? Scrambled eggs instead of chips, makes it feel more breakfasty.

Here is their website, address and contact number is on it.

Dress my imaginary house

I am starting to nest, that stage in life where planning the future home is getting important, to be able to put up any curtains I want and to have a say in the couch.

My need to nest is not helped by the internet and certain pc games that allow me to build whatever home I want to build. I am fairly sure my fiancee is getting sick of me dragging him into furniture stores and sending him pins of things I am convinced we will need when we live together.

I may or may not have bullied him into letting me decorate his sort of flat, (Its part of his folks home but has a kitchen and own area so I am counting it as a flat). He teased me that I will be using the special box of stuff I am collecting of cute fun stuff for when we have our own place but somehow I doubt my owl teapot will be of much use in his area.

Things I learnt from  months of crawling through the internet:

1. White paint, is nearly 1000s of different shades and how to take the light you have in account with the shade of white that you chose, learnt this here. Not that we will be painting his room, but future home yeah.
2. The layout of the room is probably more important than what we often think.
3. Figure out all the thing the area needs to fill and then what you need in order for the room to work.
4. Sometimes you can do small things that have a big impact, for cheap.
5. Organise your space, seriously just that can make any place look better.

Inside story and burnt coffee with the Ginger

We have a ritual on Tuesdays, actually almost any day we both are on campus. We get coffee and sit and chat for a while, this can be quick or a lazy period of time. Sometimes we are having moments when we both wonder why the arts was a good decision, when we are tired and broke and hitting a wall, or we just compare pictures of cats and corsets, we haven't found cats in corsets though I am sure we would compare those too.

We have red benches on campus, outside of the cafeteria, if the weather is nice, the two of us and a lot of our friends, can be seen there when we aren't in class. I think; a lot of our lecturers think we are each others partners in crime. Don't worry we will be giving tours of where we work on campus soonish.

So here is the lovely Clara Jansen, the textile designer of our little duo or The Ginger on the blog. Clara is busy with her BTech in Textile design and an amazing dyer of fabrics. She and other designers and Arts have a Stall at DecorX in Johannesburg soon. 

What makes you giddy with excitement about your field? 

A room full of brightly coloured textiles e.g: indian fabrics. A lovely wallpaper or fabric, I will die for a scarf. (She wears one pretty much everyday, between her pixie cut and scarves, she has a signature look that is amazing.)

Are you inspired more by local design or more internationally?

Traditional crafts excite me, especially traditional textiles. Internationally crafts a craft unique to its country holds its own fascination. Locally the boom in hand printed textiles is also a source of different inspiration.

Are there particular countries that you want to go too?

Unsurprisingly the first thing she said was Scandinavia, she loves vikings and folk art of these regions. Eastern Europe and the Middle East, were also on the list of places to go and people to see.

What is the difference between a conceptual textile designer and a technical textile designer?

"Design for me doesn't have to be conceptual based, so that is a difficult question." Conceptual textile designers do more once off pieces and they do more art pieces or statements. Where technical designers will be more geared towards industry and the world of more mass produced textiles or textiles that are more towards the needs of people.

Would you rather hug a honey badger or a grizzly bear? 

"Grizzly bear," was replied with a huge giggle.

Coffee with Cinnamon

It was 8:00 and the two of us are holding on to our coffees for dear life (because nobody functions without coffee this early) at the Hazelwood Food Market at the Greenlyn Village in Pretoria. More details about the market later. The reason we came together was to kick off the first official post for our blog.

Introductions are in order, I think. My name is Clara Jansen and I am clutching coffee with my fellow blogger, Chandré Nortier. The aim of this escapade is to introduce her to our readers. Many other escapades will follow as the two of us will be visiting craft and flea markets, conventions, tradeshows, share some DIY ideas and good restaurants in the ways we understand how. The blog, for me, is all about getting out and enjoying whatever I may find.

Down to brass tacks; this post is not about me. It is to introduce Chandré…

Chandré is a second year Fine Arts student at the Tshwane University of Technology majoring in Painting and Printmaking. She defines printmaking as a traditional form of art capturing an image on a two dimensional surface by not drawing or painting it. Methods of printmaking include Silkscreen printing, etching and lino. She admires British-Nigerian artist Yinko Shonibare and South African artist Desireé Malan. The end goal for this talented lady is to have a career in restoring art or become a lecturer for Art Theory.

In a world where artists are making more and more extreme art statements and try to shock the viewer, she feels that art is allowed to still be beautiful and does not need to make a statement or be extreme. In her art she focuses more on the aesthetic value and technique of the painting or print, rather than the concept. She considers her skill to be stronger than her conceptual development, which links to the fact that she is also a crafter.

Yes, this lady has many talents. Some of her other skills are very much related to craft and textiles. She can knit, crochet, sew, quilt and do fibre art. Ironically she prefers crafting over her majors at university due to the fact that she does not like to have dirty hands.

To conclude our first official post I had to ask if she would rather hug a Grizzly bear or a Honey badger. Her answer was the Honey badger. Good luck with that…

Have a splendid week filled with coffee, good food, beautiful things and good friends.

Peace and Love

Clara