Happy Monday, all! Boy, do I have a treat for you! This week's giveaway is for the mamas this time. Sorry kiddos, I'll have something for you next week. Our Monday meltdown today is coming from Cecilia, from South Africa. She does not have a shop (yet) but you can finding her blogging at Heavenly Handmade. Now, let's get to know Cecilia a little bit better.This Cosy Life- Hi, Cecilia, and welcome to Meltdown Monday! Tell us a little about yourself so we can know the person behind the work.
Cecilia- Hi, and thank you so much for giving me the opportunity. I'm the mother of two girls, one 17 and one 5. No, we didn't plan them 13 years apart, God gave them to us like that, hahaha! I live in South Africa, Gauteng Province to be precise, in the capital city, Pretoria. I'm 42 years old and married to a lovely guy for the past 18 years. I work full time out of the house and complain about it a LOT!
This Cosy Life- What do you create and what are your favorite materials?
Cecilia- I have always made stuff, from wire-work to knitting, papier mache, sewing - oh anything and everything! At the moment I'm totally enthralled by making bags and purses, but I must confess to a life-long love affaire with paper. The only type of craft I'm not crazy about is scrapbooking - I don't really "get" it? I love to experiment with new crafts and new techniques on old crafts. I've only recently realised that I can probably also sell stuff that I make after coming across the book "Crafting a Business" - published by Country Living US. That was a turning point in my life, and I'm looking forward to going forward from here on out!
This Cosy Life- What inspires your creations?
Cecilia- Living in South Africa I am exposed to so many different cultures and traditions, not least of all my own culture, Afrikaans. I am an African and the bright sunlight, the wide open spaces and vibrant colours are in my blood. My favourite cultures are SeSotho, Ndebele and Indian. I'm also very fond of old things, movies starring Fred Astaire, my mother's 1950's wedding dress, the elegance of 1920's gowns and architecture.
This Cosy Life- How do you balance 'making' with mothering?
Cecilia- Working full time is hard for any mother, but not really all that much harder than a stay-at-home mom's. I think the guilt might be worse, though. I'm very blessed to have firstly my wonderful husband who does try his best to help where he can. And secondly my teenager is such a big help with her little sister. She would entertain her for a couple of hours while I get to finish preparing dinner or sit behind the sewing machine. Also both the girls are very creative, and they love to work on their own projects. It's actually so nice to look up from where I sit at the dining-room table to see the one head bent over painting and the other head bent over writing. I also hope that the girls see from my example that one should find your passion and live it, not wait until it's too late. I encourage them where I can to make stuff, just like me :-)
This Cosy Life- Thank you so much for for joining us for Meltdown Monday!
Cecilia-- Thanks again for the opportunity, it means such a lot to me. I hope your readers like the bag!
Cecilia will be sending one very lucky reader the bag you see above. Here's a bit about the bag, in Cecilia's own words.
I don't know if you've ever heard of shweshwe? Shortly it's a fabric that is indigenous to SA. The only one really. It originated in India but was sort of taken over by the Basuthu people. It's cotton and normally heavily sized which gives it a distinctive smell. When I was a little girl, my mother made our dresses out of it because it was really cheap and we were poor. We also called it 'sis' because of the shushing sound it made when you walked. Today it's very fashionable here, which makes it quite expensive, and it's called by the black name of shweshwe. The traditional colours are blue and brown. The big thing with shweshwe is that it shrinks to about 2/3 its size when washed to remove the sizing.
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And for this giveaway you can gain one additional entry by 'Following' Cecilia's blog.
I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday July 31th and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)
PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!
