A crafted celebration of our uniquely South African Fynbos.
This past Saturday we headed down to the local craft market to grab some breakfast and pick up a couple of local goods which we like to keep in the house. It is always a nice morning outing and to be honest, after spending so many days in bed last week, it was just great to get out of the house.
As I have shared in a post before, the market is a healthy balance of local food producers, farmers and then crafters. Whilst most of the stalls are pretty consistent, every now and again there is a new face here and there, so we always take a walk around just to see everything nonetheless.
So that is actually what I wanted to share with you. I am always pro supporting the locals who create something completely unique to our beautiful country - plus it is just nice to give back to the community in whatever small ways we can. I spotted something on Saturday which I now only fell in love with on face value, but then after having a wonderful chat with the actual artist - decided to share it here.
To give a little background before I share the product, I thought you should probably know what you are looking at... which is FYNBOS - which is pronounced "fane bos". To quote:
Fynbos is an evergreen, hard-leaved mediterranean type shrubland that occurs on nutrient-poor soils derived from predominantly quartzitic sandstones and limestones. The name is derived from the Dutch word Fijnboch which when literally translated means ‘fine bush’. This vegetation type is distributed in an arc-shaped belt northwards from the Cape Peninsula as far as the Bokkeveld Plateau above Vanrhysdorp and eastwards to the city of Port Elizabeth.
TEXT SOURCE
So the artists company is called "FYN" for a reason which I hope is now obvious, lol. The artist is locally based here in Hermanus and what I fell in love with is that the absolutely exquisite pieces created are such a wonderful celebration of something that is truly uniquely "South African" as well as putting this one of a kind slice of nature into the spotlight for the rest of the world to appreciate.
Each piece of jewelry has inside it a sustainably sourced piece of Fynbos within what looks like a form of crystal glass resin. As an example, the above two photos which I took at the market are whole little Erica flowers encapsulated within. I have grabbed a pic below to show you what the actual Erica fynbos plant looks like:
Many of the local crafters products are only available locally, but what impressed me with this young female artist was that she has not only given quality attention to her creative art, but to the business side of it as well. Their jewelry and accessories are available for purchase both locally and internationally and their range is delightfully extensive!
With the advantage of the exchange rate when working things into ZAR, the items are also very reasonably priced, so I thought I would support a little local by sharing this information internationally on here :)
Whilst I may not currently be in a position to have supported them at the local market or online - I thought it would be a nice gesture to share what they do with all of you! If you like what I have shared, then please do go and have a look at what else they offer on their website - there are some truly beautiful pieces!
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Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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Hello!
Fynbos... It is the one thing I am missing here on the eastern coast of our beautiful country. I cannot open my backdoor and cut a Protea or Candelbra Lily for my coffee table. Here it is replaced with "green." My stepson asked the other day if we are now in winter or not, as everything is still so green. (•ิ‿•ิ)
Okay, I should not only complain. Here, the bird of paradise flower, the Strelitzia, grows in our backyard.
Back to fynbos, I don't know if you are aware of the fact that fynbos needs fire. It blew my mind when I first heard of it when we had a fire in Keurbooms. It is amazing that with too little or too much fire, it will no longer exist.
As for the jewelry, It is the first time that I have seen this. It is beautiful. I know the ladies in my family will love it!
PS: It is great that you are using #southafrica
It is so beautifully unique, isn't it! I have to say that I am very blessed - I actually have a HUGE king protea bush on my front garden which seems to grace me with blooms all year round.
Definitely also a blessing and yes, SUCH a beautiful flower!!!!
Yes - a curious thing really, isn't it haha! When we first moved into this place, the garden had a fair amount of fynbos in it and I made a point of educating myself because I figured that the care of fynbos would be somewhat different to that of other plants - which in some aspects it is. I never really used to be much of a fan... but I cannot lie, it has really grown on me!
It is isn't it!!! I thought the same thing - very unique. Some of the SA craft markets I think can get a little monotonous sometimes, so it is always nice to see something different - and especially so pretty! Also, like I said... always nice to spread a little proudly South African love :D <3
:) Mostly I just forget lol!
Have a beautiful day Pat xxx
Believe me, as you grow older you are going to find this happening more and more. (•ิ‿•ิ)
Thank you!
A beautiful and blessed day to you also.
No complaints from me in that regard :)
MWAH!
Wow, wow, WOW!! 😍 Such beautiful, special pieces of jewellery. It must take a lot of patience to craft something so beautiful like that.
It reminds me of my necklace, though mine is pressed Fynbos...
I will definitely take a look at the website & a trip to the market is in order for next time, haha!!
Also, there's a lady there that makes the most delicious pumpkin fritters!
Glad you are feeling a bit better ❤️
Oh that is pretty!!!
HAHAHA!!! They are all yours, lol.
Thanks xxx :)
Everyone looking so happy while celebrating the good times
Indeed @treyball! :) The markets are always good family fun!!