Getting Crafty with Plastic Bags...

.

According to some estimates, between 500 billion and a trillion

plastic grocery bags are used globally each year..

There has been recently, in Europe, at least, a concerted effort by many individuals

and some foodstores to ban plastic bags.

Certainly an excellent move for the environment -

.

If, like me, you've well and truly kicked the plastic habit, chances are you may still

have a few floating around the place...

What better idea than to, either recycle these yourself, or, give them away

to help those a great deal less fortunate than ourselves,

particularly women with young children..?

My great friend, French fashion designer, Delphine Kohler

(see Mme Figaro press article)

runs a non-profit making association

les Filles du Facteur

(associated to NGOs in West Africa)

and one of their many, many activities is the recycling of plastic bags...

.

The income generated from the sale of products, both online and offline, is used

mainly for community educational projects both in the Paris

innercity suburbs and in * Burkina Faso...

.

Plastic bags can be deposited directly, or sent to:

(la Maison des Associations du 3ième arrondissement)

Filles du Facteur,

5 rue Perrée
75003 Paris

.

Clockwise from top: Bouquet of flowers in a vase, a penny purse,

floormats in black and multicoloured with flowered edging...

Portrait de Delphine Kohler,

à lire sur

lefigaro.fr madame

.

A djellabah crocheted from black plastic bags

.

Bathmat nearing completion

.

Balls of plastic bags cut into strips ready to crochet

.

Lady at work in Burkina Faso

.

Ladies at work in Paris

Pour tout savoir sur les Filles du Facteur, c'est
ici

Le premier Bidon

"Recycle le sac plastic"

est à la mairie du 3èm arrondissement de Paris (depuis le 9 février) pour

Les Filles du Facteur....

Les sacs récupérés sont découpés et crochetés par des femmes en difficulté

en banlieue parisienne et au Burkina Faso.

.

Elles fabriquent des objets en vente sur

ICI

.

envoyez ou déposez vos sacs plastique :
(la Maison des Associations du 3ième arrondissement)

Filles du Facteur,
5 rue Perrée

75003 Paris
.

merci de faire passer l'info
.

* Delphine is currently in West Africa, and, only last week, she visited the local orphanage

to donate money on behalf of the association to cover babyfood costs...

.

****Initiative génial au Niger :

Bâtir des routes avec des sacs plastiques: un autre exemple de recyclage

du "sachet" plastique au Niger, où Stéphane Blais

témoigne de la transformation au moindre cout du sac plastique

en pavé pour les routes..!

source de cette info.

Coup de Ceour...

.

These stunning photos stopped me in my tracks...

the beautiful models, fabric and design of the dresses,

the choice of accessories, hair styling...

I just had to share
.




In fact, I love these so much,

I'm going to keep the photos and have similar dresses made up

by the local dressmaker on my next trip to West Africa.

I always have clothes made for me by the local tailor or dressmaker

when I travel afar

- in fact I'm the proud owner of an entire wardrobe full of the most beautiful creations,

both locally inspired and "copies" of european designs...

If you've never tried doing this,

I'd highly reccommend trying on your next trip abroad - a good idea

is to first have a favourite dress "copied", then if you're

happy with that, be more adventurous and

try something more locally inspired...
.

Paris Passionnément...

.

Source

.

.° paris is, and always has been, so breathtakingly beautiful,

° parisians are just so fabulously chic,

° paris was unbelievably cold for this time of year

° parisians were, as i've always found, amazingly friendly,

° paris is full of surprises, each and every time i visit

i discover something new and different

(and i've visiting regularly for decades...)

° parisian taxi drivers were noticeable by their

absence outside our hotel,

° paris is the first European capital i ever visited,

decades ago, and i fell instantly, wildly, head over heels,

in love with the place..!

° parisian bistros (checkout my latest find)

are quite simply the best

° paris is where i met the most delightful,

multi-talented lady,

whose hilarious blog is quite simply unique...

.

.~~~

.

"A daughter is the happy memories of the past,

the joyful moments of the present,

and the hope and promise of the future"

Author Unknown

.

18 years ago today,

I became a mother, for the very first time,

and, what I want to know is, where

did all that time go..?

It only feels like yesterday that I was strutting

around with my huge belly..!

.

Bizarrely, after all this time,

I still don't feel like a 'mum', more like a lady

who is taking care of the

most amazing and precious person on earth...

I love this quote by

Harry S Truman:

.

"I have found the best way

to give advice to your children

is to find out what they want

and then advise them to do it"

.

.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J..!

.

Things I'm Wondering...

.

* where I could purchase the beautiful

mohair blanket below...

.

Image: JJJJound

* why we can't all just get along...
.
.* how long it takes to forget things...
.
* why people are so concerned with the opinions of others...

* how long it takes to "get" that some people just aren't
ever going to "get it"...
..
* why people choose to sit at the table next to you
when the restaurant is practically empty...
.
* could I really live without my cell phone...
.
* why everybody, but me, can wink...

* how come I'm so excited to be going to Paris
tomorrow when I've already been there zillions of times...
.

On My Desk Today...

.

A very good non-blogging friend of mine,

(whom I suspect will soon be blogging as she's so full of great, fun ideas for posts...)

asked me to either show, or write a list of,

what's on my desk today;

so, here goes...

.

source

.
commissioned translation ready to send
.
strategically placed strong morning coffee
.
my FiloFax i use everyday
.
photo of Husband and Daughters
beautifully framed by a very dear friend
.
West African fabric samples and beads that inspire
me endlessly
.
handwritten cards and letters to friends across the globe
to send tomorrow
.
mobile phone
.
painting by Daughter that i love beyond words
(awaiting frame so I can hang it above my desk)
.
friend's CV that needs updating by him before i can
translate
.
collage in progress for a dear friend in need of
home decorating inspiration
.
the usual suspects...

.

If you'd like to join me, please do

- i'd love to see, and/or read on your blog,

what's on your desk today...

The Weekend Strikes Again...

.

What's your idea of a perfect weekend..?

. Photo: Nicolas Mathéus

.

Going away somewhere,
away from the daily routine or the familiar surroundings
and taking in new sights, new surroundings,
new experiences..?
It certainly has its attractions:
the chance to get away, if only for a couple of days.
Or staying home and making plans:
having friends over, or throwing a dinner party or
filling the days with activities and errands that you never otherwise have time
to do during the regular hectic week..?
Or, even better, staying home and just enjoying yourself
with no definitive plans..?
Sleeping in, giving yourself that much-needed manucure perhaps,
having a family night with a good old film classic.
Spending Saturday watching the blue sky and the first signs
of an early Spring in the garden.
Enjoying a leisurely bike ride by the lake, pond or river.
Folding freshly-washed, sweet-smelling laundry.
Making paper thin savoury crêpes to fill with goat's cheese, aragula and
sun-dried tomatoes for Sunday brunch.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the subject...

.

BON WEEKEND..!

.

Better late than never...

.

I was tagged quite a while ago, by a non-blogging friend,

and asked to use the letters of my middle name
to say things about me
that you may not already know...
.

One of the several Sri lankan families that I, personally, sponsor...
.
I - Inconcistant: as in the inconsistency of this blog’s tone,
which, as I've said before, must be very frustrating

for some readers...
I'm passionate about so many different things, have so many different

facets to my personality, and, am so fiercely
independant, that I'd hate to feel constricted, particularly here,
of all places, on my blog..!
So I guess I'll just carry on posting
whatever I feel like...

.N - NGO: we created, with the help of friends,
family, neighbours...a humanitarian NGO in the wake of the 2004
SE Asian Tsunami, to help the poorest of the poor

'forgotten victims' in the SW of Sri Lanka.
We currently have an entire village (Gonagola) up and running
(complete with primary school, water pump, medical clinic and
cooperative providing jobs for the fishermens' widows and their children...)
and practically self-sufficient...

D - Dalai Lama: as in, the spiritual leader of
Tibetan Buddhism,
whose philosophical teachings I follow...

I - Independent: as in, I am (fiercely) independent:
Definition :
1. free from the influence or control of others
2. not relying on the support (esp. financial support) of others
3. capable of acting for oneself or on one's own


A - Aware: as in, I like to know what’s going on,
although not in a gossipy way.
I don’t watch the TV news as I don’t like its slant on things
I take my news via Newspapers or Internet,
where I can click off when something is too disturbing
but also seek out feel good stories on my own...

Photographers of Distinction...

.

Paolo Roversi’s visual style is unmistakable:
paint-like colours, camera blur, timeless-looking subjects and clothing,
resulting in images that look more like 19th century painting
than 21st century photographs.
His breathtaking images and deep knowledge

of photography/art history
put him in the elite of elite fashion/editorial

photographers globally.
.Photos of Liya Kebede by Paolo Roversi (via AVM)

from the Afrocentric slideshow

featured last year in the NYT Style Magazine

.

In my opinion, Roversi's work is timeless
and stands apart from anything anyone else is doing

- I love, love, love his work..!

En Attendant les Premières Brocantes...

.

heureusement que les dépôts-ventes et

les blogs de brocanteurs sont là
pour les chineuses impatientes

et trépignantes...

.

Images: Inredningsgalleriet Knut&Svea

.

On peut aussi feuilleter des magazines spécialisés

ou consulter des livres comme:

.

BROCANTES

de Sébastien Siraudeau
chez Flammarion

.

"Il nous y livre ses coups de coeur :

collection de lieux et boutiques de brocanteurs,

choisis pour l'originalité de leur marchandise,
la fantaisie de leur mises en scène
et la personnalité

de leurs propriétaires"

.