See my finished ceramic products, I did it !

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen 

In my last two blog posts I shared with you my amazing learning experience at a ceramic workshop.

I talked about the different methods I had learnt, some of the things I tried making and I also promised to come back with pictures of the finished products . 

Ohhh yessssss! Look at these!

I am super proud of my effort and level of creativity. In just three sessions I was able to design these beautiful items and here I was at the ceramic workshop to collect the items once they had gone through the final baking process.

I was so pleasantly surprised that I kept dancing.

Then the warm words of congratulations from the owners of the ceramic workshop absolutely made my day as well . As I drove home 🏠 I felt a strong sense of achievement and I thought to myself...it is amazing how much joy one gets from learning new things. 

Once I got home , my husband and our kids and were very proud to see the items I had designed; a ceramic tray two key holders, a candy holder and a beautiful small bowl . 

What a great birthday gift it was from my daughter! Thanks a million Ngwi.

To you who is reading this post , now that you have seen the finished project, how did I do?Please feel free to comment. Thank you in advance for your feedback .

My sincere appreciation goes to Valentina and her husband ( owners of the workshop) for such a great creative space where people can come and learn more about ceramics, pottery and actually design personal items. 

Try This, It's Easy!

Posted by Mabi Azefor Fominyen

My daughter returned from school the other day and requested I help repair the zip of her friend's pencil case. While in school the zipper had given way and she promised her friend she could ask her mum to help repair it.

Once home she asked me "Mum could you please help fix my friend's pencil case?She loves it so much and she was so sad in school when it got bad" .

At first I didn't know what to tell her! Then she went on to say "please mum I know you can do it , just use your sewing machine and sew it."

In fact I was wondering how I was actually going to put back the zip, given that I had never sewn a pencil case before.

At least I knew how to fit in a zip on a dress so I told her I was going to completely take out the old zip and fit it another one so her friend would be able use the pencil case again.

Just like my daughter had suggested, I was able to help fix the pencil case.

When I took a closer look at the pencil case I noticed it looked too small and faded so I decided to attempt a new one.

This is what I came up with!

The following day my daughter took both the old and the new pencil case to school and handed them to the friend. She was simply over joyed.

Since then a few others have equally asked me to make pencil cases for them.

This reminds me of many mothers out there who take delight in putting their passions, talents and time to use, for the good of entire households and communities when the need arises.

Oh Yes I Did It! I Designed The Hats!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

I once received a young and talented male hat designer as guest on the Cameroon TV breakfast show 'Hello'. He weaved a hat on-set and I was marvelled by the art!

I love wearing hats and have always wanted to design them. I couldn't figure out how to.

Recently I decided to investigate the art of millinery. I read a story about a reknown hat designer Patricia Underwoods and how she got into the art. Her story inspired me especially when she said: "A hat should not call attention to itself. It should flatter the face and relate to clothing...you have the material, the sewing machine and the mirror at hand...think of making a hat as an adventure, make one that suits you....".

Why not give it a try, I thought!

So I went to the market, bought a few items and accessories I imagined would make the hat beautiful, got home and started working on something.My idea was to come up with a, nice but simple piece. I checked in the mirror every now and then to see what it looked like.

Hey! Behold I did it! Oh yes I made a red hat !My sister Lynda couldn't believe it when she got me on the webcam as we chated and I was showing off what i just designed.

"You did that!?" she wondered.

Oh yes I did.

After making the hat I thought now that's interesting . The following day I was off to the market again to get more material so I could give it another try. See what I have been able to design since my debut in hat-making...

I am about to enroll in a milliners' course at a fashion Institute to perfect the art!

I'll see what my talent, my love for arts & craft, plus sewing would lead me into!