A Gift Affair

If you're looking for carefully selected beautiful handcrafted products and inspirational ideas - then get to A Gift Affair at Welgemeend, Welgemeend Avenue, Gardens (Jan van Riebeeck High School), Cape Town on 26-27 November (10am – 7pm) & 28th November (10am – 4pm). You'll be sure to find exclusive and original gifts, sensational home and garden accessories, gorgeous fashion items, hand-crafted toys,delicious deli treats and Heartfelt goodies of course. Perfect for finding something special for Christmas & we'd really love to see you there.

A heartfelt thought for the day

'May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in God, in yourself and others.. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are.. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us..'

Fairtrade Fair in Oundle

It was a busy day for Heartfelt on Saturday in Oundle, a little Fairtrade village in the UK where we exhibited with a group of other Fairtrades. Abantu & Injabulo were also there with their gorgeous products and offering their heartfelt support. Everyone had a great time and our new range of Heartfelt cards went down a treat!

Welcome to Rosendal

If you’ve never been to Rosendal before then it’s certainly worth a visit. In my opinion it’s the creative capital of the Orange Free State. But don’t expect a big town, in fact it's a little 'dorp’ and its quaintness and locals are where its quirkiness lie. Walk the streets (literally two up, two down & two across) and you’ll find some of South Africa’s best artists, a theatre & lots of creative talent (oh and a big beautiful sandstone church). All giving Rosendal its buzzy little atmosphere.

The reason I’m so excited about this little place is that it’s where we’ve started our second project – in a sewing factory at the Mautsendal Cultural Village at the entrance to Rosendal which opened in 2003, with a donation by the Government of a number of sewing machines, overlockers, and other sewing necessities. Some of the local women were also trained to use the machines. Various projects have been started to try and ensure some community upliftment, but these have largely failed due to lack of market access. A core group of twelve women have teamed up with us, thanks to Samantha Yeowart who is a Rosendal local and who’s taken on the task of running the project with Heartfelt. Here we’ll be creating unique, contemporary designs, which will help to empower these women and the Rosendal community as a whole. We’ve recently completed our first major order – thanks to KKS and Woolworths who put their faith in us. We are busily developing a range of products soon to be available in Rosendal and through our website so keep a look out for info on our new products and do pop in to meet the Rosendal ladies if you're ever in the area – you can’t miss us, simply turn left into Rosendal and we’re on the corner.

Our Little Bundle of Joy

Lena gave birth to a healthy, bouncy baby boy last month – so there’s been a lot to celebrate! She looked beaming and so proud to be a new mum. Staying with her sister (just up the (dirt) road from Martha’s house) she told me that her ‘boyfriend’ had also paid Lobola (an age-old African custom where a price is paid for the right to marry a woman and based on a process that brings the two families together) so she is also soon to become a wife – a very exciting time in her life. I also learnt a bit more about Sotho traditions from her, like the fact that she is not allowed to take little Zack out the house for a month as it’s bad luck if his feet touch the ground (for girls, the baby has to stay indoors for three months after birth). Then we got into the nitty-gritty of the actual Labour and having her water break in the middle of the night – and the difficulties of not having her own car. Well, I won’t go into the rest (for now) but all I can say ladies is shoo - we just don’t know how lucky we are!

Abantu People for Fairtrade

Mulled wine and home-made mince pies kicked off our festive season on Wednesday night at Abantu's Fairtrade shop in Bourne in the UK. Abantu is a small ethically run individual business selling unique hand crafted fairtrade products, offering stylish gifts sourced from third world countries. Wendy Slade the shops owner, a fellow South African living in the UK, has been very supportive of Heartfelt from day one and has sold a lot of our hearts over the years. Wendy's passion for fairtrade is inspiring and we are currently in the process of starting a beading project with her in Makapanstad. Wendy's mantra is Recycle, Reuse, Renew -everything this gorgeous fairtrade wreath we found at her shop stands for! Love you Wends.