A few months ago House of Orange asked if I would help out with one of their ideas for the Tribute to Orange Babies fashion event which was held last Sunday. The concept involved a ‘reverse goodie bag’ of sorts – so instead of people coming to the fashion show and leaving with a goodie bag, they would donate a piece of clothing which would go into ‘goodie bags’ that would be sent to the children in Africa. How cool is that?

So, the idea was to make some photographs displaying the kids clothes that were to be donated. The photographer Hans, fashion stylist Sabine, and I sat down to brainstorm some ideas about what we could make. We came up with an idea of creating a mini set with children giving away their clothes in bundles, like little gifts. We decided to use African fabric as a backdrop, and to make some fun creatures and objects out of the clothes. Then we thought it might be nice to have the kids draw something for the African children, and we would somehow incorporate the drawing into their photo and make little postcard-like images. Hans later added a polaroid look to the images…

Off to work I went, trying to think up how I could make creatures out of clothes without damaging the clothes at all. Tricky huh! I decided to start with some simple ball shapes – I made piles of clothes and then began to wrap them up tightly into balls with thick, colorful cotton thread. I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped until I was happy with the shape and size of each ball.

Then I got a bit more creative. I made a big bunny of sorts by stuffing left over wadding I had in my cupboard into little pants to make floppy ears. Then I made a head by putting the wadding into a stripey t-shirt and wrapping the thick thread around the base and top. I attached the floppy ear shapes to the head by binding the ends tightly together. I added a little white fabric flower to the head to make it ‘pretty’. I made the rest of the body the same way and soon, I had a funny looking bunny creature that I was rather fond of…

…it turned out to be a rather windy day when we were on set (which was the ijburg beach), but lots of fun. Hans and Sabine had rounded up friends with kids so we had lots who were willing to get in front of the camera and strut their stuff! I love working with kids – they are so natural and perfect in every way – no matter what they do, where they look or how they sit, they’re always gorgeous.

In the end I made all sorts of things like balls, flags, bunnies and I even grabbed a windsurf board from the local surf school and wrapped the clothes and thread around it! The boys loved that one.

After the kids had their photo taken we gave them a piece of paper and coloured markers and they sat down and made a drawing. Here is a little poster of all the images together…

I really like the images as little promo cards. I hope they come in handy for Orange Babies, and I hope the children in Africa get all those fab clothes soon. I even saw some tiny white KLM slippers that were donated! So sweet. And tiny flip flops too. Oh, playing with all those baby clothes did make me a wee bit clucky, but what’s new. 🙂

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all photographs by hans van brakel for orange babies.

afternoons by ash of one blue wren.

blue strawberries by riley salyards of roe.

my toscana, by jenifer altman, found via paper cameras.

liivian talossa .

morning glory by tarky, on flickr.

…by cordellia, found at the ever-beautiful 46th at grace.

People tell me I should go to Barcelona. It’s a city I have never been. And I’m told I would like it very much.

Perhaps I will go one day. But not today. I have many things to do.

Love. Jen’s. polaroids.

I will actually be at the beach tomorrow! Technically working, on a shoot, but still, it’s the beach, one can’t complain (unless of course the weather turns).

If you are having a July 4th bonanza, can you please tell me all about it? I just love hearing what everyone gets up to, it’s one of the funnest days of the year.

I have some special things to share with you next week. Oh oh oh! I’m really looking forward to next week.

Have a great weekend!

mrs. french, via her recent post on sfgirlbybay, reminded me how much I love the work of cig harvey by posting the above photograph. bliss indeed.

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I’m very excited about the weather lately. Others may be complaining about the ‘heatwave’ but I could not be merrier. I nearly choked on my vegemite toast this morning when I heard the BBC warning viewers about the current heatwave in the UK… “temperatures could reach up to 30C” announced the newsreader.

Um, where I come from that’s called “summer”.

So needless to say I’m soaking in this sunshine like there’s no tomorrow. Amsterdam glistens when the sun shines. I would go so far to say that it’s the happiest city in the world when the sun is out. People’s smiles are broader, there is a spring in their every step, and life just feels like it could not get any better.

This is my third ‘summer’ for this particular european stint I’m on, but it is really only the first as the preceding two summers were ridiculous versions of the season. Last year I was in Sydney in August you may recall, and considering that is the peak of winter, it was by FAR hotter than the summer here in Europe. But that was last year! As we know life is all about the here. and. now.

self-portrait, sitting at mona vale beach in sydney, australia.

When the weather is this warm, I am more Australian than ever. I find myself listening to midnight oil. and craving a glass of ice cold milo. I walk easier in my light summer dresses, and my feet are so happy to be carefree.

Most of all, when the weather is this beautiful, I crave water. I crave jumping off the jetty back home, getting splashed (or bashed) by waves, letting my feet play at the water’s edge.

a favourite photograph from this post.

Oh yes. I’m a happy girl when the sun is out. I know you’ve heard me say it again and again. and again.