If you want to get a Hat

Caussade is a small town in the heart of south-west France, in the green valleys of the Midi-Pyrenees, about 70 kilometres north of Toulouse. It’s known as la capitale du canotier (capital of the straw boater hat). Their long hat-making tradition started with Perrette Gleye (better known as Petronille), who was born in 1770. Whilst tending her sheep, Petronille came up with the idea of assembling pieces of straw to make hats. She began weaving straw hats by hand for her family. Having 13 children she was an extremely busy lady …  ! Later, she made hats for her neighbours. In 1796, she installed the first hat-making workshop, and an industry was born. The button hat above is from 2011 and not my favourite despite the buttons but had to include her.

To celebrate, there’s a hat festival every July. It’s dedicated to all hats – whether made of straw, wool, felt, fur, leather or even paper. Pretty much anything goes!

There’s a wonderful atmosphere and sitting in the cafe this morning I saw people wearing all sorts and styles of hats and just for a few days it’s truly is a feast of hats. Everybody wears a hat – in fact, it’s compulsory – there’s a 1 Euro fine if you’re not wearing one, I wasn't though and never got fined! Everywhere you look there are stands where hat designers are proudly displaying their work. 

Perception, Taste & Priorities

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.7

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . ..


How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy LIFE now....... it has an expiration date.

Featuring "The Flowerpress " + Fabulous Giveaway

I  was recently browsing Etsy and came across this wonderful shop called TheFlowerpress and fell in love with it. Necklaces,rings, earrings,brooches and more all recycled from T-Shirts and used in such a clever way that I had to buy one of her adorable necklaces. It arrived beautifully gift wrapped and I am wearing it right now and yesterday I wore it as  headband.

The girl behind the Flower Press is Anne Pinaglia, a multi-faceted late twenty-something. A little over a year ago, Anne packed up her pug, left her home and career in nonprofit work in Portland, Oregon, and moved to Paris, France to be with her long time boyfriend. Not yet having a work visa, she poured herself into her passions, one of which being music, joining forces with the Paris-based English band This is the Kit, playing a plethora of instruments from the Autoharp to the musical saw.

During the summer of 2010, taking two weeks to walk from Porto, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain (following the old pilgrimage routes of Saint James), she ran across a necklace made from used fabric. Admiring it, she inquired and was told that it is a longstanding Portuguese tradition to use old fabric and turn it into "new" items. With this in mind, upon her return from Spain she gathered some old tee shirts and started cutting.

"I really didn't know what I was trying to make, I was just testing my creativity," she explains. Slowly but surely, those old tee shirts were turned into simple necklaces, and within a matter of months those simple necklaces became more elaborate, with collections of brooches, earrings and even up cycled clothing added into the mix, some of which are even stained and colored with tea, wine, and vegetable extracts.

Anne adds that she gets tee shirt donations often, and laughs "people must think it's a bit odd when they see my excitement after handing me an old white tee shirt with holes in it. In my mind, I'm already thinking about the size of the necklace and the type of tea I will use to stain it." Those tee shirts would have otherwise been thrown away; after an hour in Anne's hands it is given new life (and hopefully a new home!).

Now at four months into its life, the Flower Press has seen - and continues to see - success, both at craft fairs and on Etsy. "For me it's not just the sales that mark its success, but the response that I get so often on my pieces.

Anne has made a special pair of earrings valued at $10 that one lucky winner will be able to have for their very own. These earrings are (of course) made with up cycled tee shirts which have been stained a lovely soft pink colour  with loose-leaf floral tea. Hanging on silver-plated wires and hoops, they would make a lovely addition to your valentines outfit!

 

Simple Rules to Enter:


1)Please follow my blog yes you know it makes me smile:)

2) Please visit Anne's shop and pick your favourite and post here only takes a few minutes of your time http://www.etsy.com/people/theflowerpress

If you would like to follow Anne on Twitter here she is : http://twitter.com/#!/FlowerPressShop

This giveaway will begin January 17th, 2011 and end at 11:59 pm EST on Feb.7th 2011. It is open to anyone worldwide to enter so come in and have a go. Random.org will pick a winner!

There is no limit as to how many times you can enter! oh and Happy Valentines Day.

Good luck and thank you Anne.