I can’t wait to see what you get up to

Photo: D Sharon Pruitt

Sjoe! 
So the kids are back at school and we’ve eased into 2012. 
Arn’t you glad that years do come to an end
and we’re able to start new ones?

 Driving down Buffelsfontein, a road in our city a couple of weeks ago
I and saw an awful headline, it went something like this;
” Bleak year ahead for Bay residents”.
I didn’t buy the paper.
I refused actually.
I felt dissapointment at the darkness predicted.
I felt anger at what that headline threw at me.

This is MY broadcast!
2012 will not be bleak.
2012 will be a year where we grow
and build on the lessons learnt from the last one.
2012 will be a year where we use our 
creativity in the way we run our homes,
the way we love, the way we work, the way we live. 

 Headlines are not set in stone.

Struggle doesn’t have to wipe us out.

When you come to a dead end,
get your creativity out and see if it can help you to scale the wall
or the fence for that matter…

 Say no to needing more and become more creative with what you have.

I spent the other morning moving plants around my garden instead of buying new.
I am determined to upcycle that old wobbly art deco coffee table that belonged to my gran.
To upcycle means to take what is and to convert it into something new and workable.
Look around your garage and see what you can get creative with.

The year ahead is going to be one filled with the creative solutions of the Bay residents!

That is my prediction.

Have a fantastic 2012.

Upcycle.

Recycle.

Plant herbs and a little veggies.
Get up early one morning and go for a swim at the sea (before school)!
Do simple things that have soul.

Visit Humbleways and pray.

This is me, Tania Ahlfeldt and I cannot wait to see what you get up to in 2012.

Creative Christmas

 

Santas Boots? No way! Photo: Tania K Ahlfeldt

Play with your decoration skills this Christmas!

 

Grab a pair of your old boots, stand them
next  to the tree and get creative with them.

Yes, I am serious!

 
These are my gumboots, I’ve placed desert roses

on top with some twinkly bits for fun.

You can even stand a vase in them and
have flowers sprouting out!

 

If a creative thought comes your way ACT on it,

even if it seems silly.
Christmas is  about celebrating Christ,

do it to the full – boots ‘n all!

 

Be bold.
Send your Christmas boot pic to

taan@neurolabinc.com and I will post the

best one here.

Oh and get the kids involved –  if you dare…

 

Warmest!

Tania

This is artist Sonia Strumpfer and she is opening up her home…

The Artist in her Studio Photo: Tania Ahlfeldt

When you walk through the home of Eastern Cape artist Sonia Strumpfer you find yourself surrounded by vibrant, yet calming work that sits easy on the walls in her home.
She herself has a calming vibrancy about her and a personality that draws one in.
I love the fact that at the end of the month Sonia is opening up her home
and studio to the PE public,
so I spent time chatting with her about what made her tick and
about how she entered into the art world.

As long as she remembers she’s always loved drawing and making art pieces.
Sonia was at school back in the seventies when art wasn’t a subject,
so studying art wasn’t an option that she considered.
Her studies led her to a BA in Communication and Journalism instead.
Interestingly enough Sonia also trained as a Intensive Care Nurse
and even now her skills and knowledge don’t go waste.
That’s why once a week you’ll find her at Kleinskool where she helps runs a
Primary Health Care Clinic for people living in very poor conditions.

It was only 10 years ago that Sonia took the brave step to become a fulltime artist.
To her art like a flower is there simply to be beautiful and to give one pleasure.
As I walk around her home and stare at her works, I find that to be true.
For me her art is abstract and beautiful with strong feminine flair.
Art is meant to be celebrated, it’s meant to be a part of the community,
and galleries can be intimidating spaces…
So here is a chance to visit Sonia in her home at Nobbs Rd, Summerstrand.
Her open house is on the 25^th, 26^th and afternoon of the 27^th of November,
come and chat to her, sit at her kitchen table, sample her
freshly brewed coffee and melt in the mouth shortbread.

Come and be inspired!

This it Tania Ahlfeldt and I am taking time to celebrate the artists in the Eastern Cape.

You can phone Sonia on 082 861 2914 for more information.

How to live before you die…

 

Steve Jobs The iPODFATHER

 

I confess…
I am addicted to TED talks.

I watched this piece – one of the first TED talks ever
and felt inspired enough to share this with you.

Does destiny find us?

You decide.

http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

 

My 73 year old Mother in Law Facebooks!

 

Sharon D Pruitt

Hi this is Tania and we’re talking creativity.

If Facebook were a country it would be the
3^rd largest in the world!
I am always on the lookout for things to
comment on in my moments with you.
Right now I am in awe at the creative
developments of technology.
Let’s take Facebook, literally a realm on its own –
the other day my cousin commented that she won’t join FB
as anyone would then be able to connect with or contact her.
The quaintness of her statement amused me as I am at present
able to Facebook my 65 year old mother
and 73 year old mother in law!
Last year my mom in law bravely bought her 1^st computer and now
she Skype’s more than I do!
Over the weekend I commented on her glorious orange cake.
“Oh just Google “orange cake and click on Grandma’s Orange Cake”
she commented breezily.
I am so proud of her.

Let’s go back a couple of years.
Do you know that many people were appalled at the thought
of installing a telephone?
What if they received calls from someone they didn’t know
or didn’t want to talk to?
Most just did not see any sense in that new fangled invention
where your voice traveled through a wire!
We are facing technological revolution after revolution!
The creativity of minds and computers is moving faster than we dare think of.
Within the next 5 years technological knowledge
will have increased by a million fold.
That is you, in 5 years time, being faced with more than the dynamic convenience
or intimidation of Facebook.
Imagine having had great grandparents that refused to use a phone?
The idea is preposterous.
It takes a courageous mindset to move towards the vast future.
It takes new insight to anticipate the creative wonders of the communication that waits.
Do not be content to live in the dark ages
and imagine that being ‘phone-less’ (and I say this tongue in cheek)
will solve your fear.
Know this thing that intimidates you.
Glory in the freedom it gives to communicate.

One day we will be sitting in our cyber rockers knitting with our digital yarn,
remembering and laughing at the old-world charm of Facebook.

This is Tania Ahlfeldt trying to work out where we stand in the fast paced, creative world around us.

PS: It is called Social Media and already many universities no longer issue email addresses!
This is the new way to communicate and by the way, telephones are SO one dimensional…

 

Life can be Bumpy

 

Sharon D Pruitt

Hi, it’s Tania and we are talking creativity

Life in general can be a bumpy ride and 2011 has gotten off
to quite a start for many of us.
I sat writing this piece in the early hours of the morning
and to be honest, wondered if there was anything
that I could share with you.
In my life I am struggling with the art of change.
There are certain paradigms  that just remain.

All around me I see people living out their life patterns,
stuck in a way of doing that is virtually set in the
stone of personality and circumstance.
Our preferred style is fine of course, but at some stage we must grow!

Growing can be painful.
As I lie at night and rub my son Aaron’s growing legs,
I am reminded of my growing pains as a child.
Now as an adult I sense that in certain areas of my life
my growth has stunted and those areas cry out when I try and change.
Then of course I settle back into the old way.

I watched a man the other day,
he flaunted his authority and it was a little ugly.
I could see he couldn’t help it, it was his pattern.
His behaviour only got half the desired result,
there was compliance but without respect.

What if he had approached the situation in a different way to his norm?
My thought process is that we need to use our creativity to change.

But can we be brave enough?
Brave enough to break out of the old skin so to speak.
It takes prayer and faith, but it also takes action.

Creativity is the art of inventiveness, ingenuity, vision and resourcefulness
so maybe growth and change is but a creative moment away!
I am a traveler on a journey to discover change.
I am seeking out the creative spark,
not the one that splodges paint onto paper,
but the one that ignites the ability, the capacity to look at that
which I don’t like and modify it.

This is Tania Ahlfeldt, pray with me for creative transformation!

Who is Annemarie Meintjes?

Annemarie Meintjes - VISI Magazine

“Annemarie is Chanel-red lips and black Chinese suits – but I am sure you already know that. She’s also the best storyteller in the world and the kindest heart alive. The only thing she loves more than good design is Sonny Boy her Maltese poodle and Paris, her daughter and favourite city.” Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly

Homemakers Expo 2011 – In a move to help you find exciting solutions to your decor dilemmas, Homemakers have invited VISI magazines deputy editor, Annemarie Meintjes to this years expo.

Born in Klerkdorp in the days when it was still part of the Western Transvaal, Annemarie is rooted both in South Africa and the soil of the nations she has explored on her travels. After studying at Stellenbosch she joined the SABC at the time when TV training started and loved it. This girl was born to be in media. Huisgenoot and You magazines invited her to edit their In Die Kol and Spot On fashion editorials. She then joined fellow media genius Karen Roos and together they spearheaded a brand new magazine that made a deep impression on the SA fashion scene, namely RED. It was with joy that she welcomed her daughter Paris into her world and with it birthed another home-grown effort, one that South African Decor aficionados cannot live without – House and Leisure Magazine.

In the whirlwind of her creativity, alongside Karen Roos, Annemarie published a number of books. They included Shortcuts to Storage, Fast Décor, Outdoor living and South. Clive Morris picked up Fast Décor and felt a TV series coming on; Huis-Huis on SABC 2 followed.

Her current life is filled with the style bible – VISI magazine. VISI, SA’s design wunderkind, holds its own beside the finest overseas decor magazines and carries within its hallowed pages the top designers, trends, plus structural and interior design that South Africa and the world has to offer. Annemarie’s life overflows with the production of pages filled with mind blowing architecture, homes and gardens. She constantly thinks up cheeky ideas with junk, known as ‘dustbin decor’ and literally oozes with great ideas. When at home, she quirkily sinks her toes into Dura Turf artificial grass flooring and like many of us, loves her dog and has a deep passion for traveling and her family. As I write this she is winging her way to the Black Forest in Germany – who knows what delicious inspiration awaits her there.

If we were to peak inside her head we’d be sure to find magnificently stored boxes of information and inspiration gleaned from her travels, her love of this land and her natural knack for seeing the extraordinary embedded in the most ordinary things.

Homemakers EXPO are delighted to welcome Annemarie as part of our endeavor to connect expo visitors and industry with the newest trends and those on the very forefront of them. Known in the office for her down to earth story-telling abilities, let Annemarie entertain and liberate you as she imparts what she thinks and knows.

“Conversations with Annemarie” will take place at the Algoa FM Homemakers EXPO on the 28^th to 30^th July 2011 at Moffett on Main Lifestyle Center, Port Elizabeth.

BOOK  MEET  KNOW
Bookings for “Conversations with Annemarie” will open on 31 May 2011. Get onto the YES list. Email your details to Tania@2birdslanding.co.za to receive regular updates, the inside story and a chance to win free 2 tickets to meet and engage with a woman who has been instrumental in the creative design trends of our nation.

 

Thirsty?

Photo: Sharon D Pruitt

Hi this is Tania Ahlfeldt and we’re talking creativity

The zany and very alive author SARK advocates succulent living,
now I have many succulent plants growing in my garden,
but succulent living?
The word succulent means juicy, moist, tender and luscious.
The opposite is parched, dry, dehydrated and thirsty.
We all want to live lives that aren’t thirsty and dried out.
How do we become more succulent, more exuberant?
To experience richness is to step out of the comfort of
saying no and dwelling on the negative.

It’s so easy to find people to be negative with.
It’s easy to complain and herd together with those
who have been wounded in some way,
be it simply the boss or the irritating bank experience .

To practice succulence you shake off the draining behaviour
and start sharing joy.
It’s about becoming a life giver and knowing the giver of life!
Jesus gave life and a new take on living it.
At every corner he astounded people with his words and his ways.
He came up against the religious and the dry parched souls
by giving true living water.

Sark says that we must insist on succulence!
Our lives are too rich and rare to have less.
We will grow more as we practice, but growing can be uncomfortable,
loud and unfamiliar.
It involves breaking out of our cages, boxes and stereotypes
and being who we really are.
It means separation from being victims,
it means change.

Letting go of what others think (that’s hard)!

Letting go of narrow possibilities, (and I like this one) letting go of tight clothes and uncomfortable shoes.

Growing means making the most alive choices.

This is Tania Ahlfeldt encouraging you to say yes to succulence!

Are you Free Spirited?

 

Photo: Sharon D Pruitt

Hi, it’s Tania  and we’re talking creativity.

What does it mean to be free spirited?
The words open and lively, gutsy and energetic come to mind.
Years ago I received a book
The Creative Companion by Sark
as a Christmas gift.
www.planetsark.com
The way that she viewed the world and creativity fascinates me.
She is open and vital in her creativity yet so honest about the difficulties of her life.
In her book Sark encourages us to
loosen up, open up and relax.
People often describe her as a free spirited person.
But aren’t spirits meant to be free?
Freedom is often a choice.
Practice freedom in the way that you love, says Sark.

Old people especially need extra love, not less.
Here’s how to treasure an old person Sark style.

Seek them out.
Give them some joy.
Listen closely.
Develop your patience.
Tune up your sensitive humour.
Remember that every old person is a library.
Bring the gift of yourself.
Be voluntary.
Hug willingly.
Consider your future old person.
Try respect.
Handle with caring.
Be gentle.
Pray together.
Pay attention and the treasure will be revealed.

As we approach the New Year, choose to be free spirited by making more eye contact with elderly people.
The aged are often ignored.
Strike up conversation in que’s.
Take a moment to really talk;
the elderly have walked a long road in the skin of their own humanity –
they have much to share.

Consider who you will be at 80…

Embrace  your life now.

This is Tania Ahlfeldt and I pray that 2011 will be a time for you to live and love more creatively.

Delicious Christ mas!

Photo: Taan

Hi it’s Tania and we’re talking creativity

Christmas excites me; it’s an excuse to celebrate!
It’s an excuse to hail a king, an excuse to feast,
to give and be generous.
There’s the fun of dragging a tree into the house
and decorating it, the fun of flashing lights,
the awesome experience of the innocent faces of
my children, dizzy with excitement.

Christmas tells us that the year is almost at an end
and the new one is about to make its way around the corner.
It is about the new beginning of Christ’s life and ours.
New beginnings are delicious things and in our household
we rejoice in Christmas.

Christmas is also a time to be creative.
When you set your Christmas table put floating candles in crystal vases,
or put a huge bowl of them in the center of the table instead of flowers.
If you have small kids you can take a sheet of newsprint and let them
paint it in reds and greens or a profusion of colour
and use it as a table cloth.
Tie long streams of ribbons from the top of your tree cascading to the floor.
Uncover the meanings of the names of each person
who will be sitting at your table and print or write it out on nice looking paper,
even thick tracing paper does the trick.
Stick it to the back of each chair or make a napkin ring out of it.
Little touches here and there are meaningful,

I love to hang the names of those coming to us for Christmas Eve onto the tree.
it’s a simple exercise of Googling “meaning of names”,
or going to www.babycenter.com and clicking on baby names
on the left hand side of the page.
For example I’ve just discovered that my Uncle Casper’s name means
One of Treasure and Casper was apparently the name of one of the three wise men!
Print, or write the names onto card, punch a hole,
put ribbon through it and tie it to the tree.
At one part of the evening everyone can  find their name
and read the origin and meanings,
you can add an extra note or scripture of your own as well.
This year I am adding the names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
we’ll read them out and weave the special story
that Christmas is actually all about.

Revel your relationship with God this Christmas.
Give love and creativity.

This is Tania Ahlfeldt encouraging you to remember Christ and celebrate life.