Dates to Remember!

The end of the year is fast approaching and we don't want you to miss out on any I heart market fun. 

So, here are the dates for what is left of 2013. 

2nd November 

17th November - World Day of Remembrance at People's Park

7th December 

14th December 

21st December

We hope to you you all there! 

:)

Wake up Wake up its a beautiful day

Coffee Culture
Everyone loves a cup off coffee or tea to get going in the morning or even just to relax during the day. 

Specifically, coffee culture in South Africa has grown substantially in the last few years making more and more taste buds craving the taste of roasted goodness. To meet this demand, cafés have popped up everywhere offering a warm and creative atmosphere for social gatherings and coffee enjoyment. This enjoyment isn't only limited to hot coffee delights though as iced coffee and tea and hot artisanal teas  are also often part of this wonderful parcel.

So where can one go to experience such wonder one may ask? Some of our favourite places are right here in Durban and The Factory Café is one of the cafes at the top of our list.

Housed in the Colombo Tea and Coffee factory building on the Gale street (number 369), this café is one to visit.

The wonderful atmosphere will sweep you off your feet and take you down a friendly and delicious road. The Factory Café also hosts events showcasing the creations of artisits, fashion and furniture designers and musicians. We often pop in there on Saturday morning and durning the week form time to time, it is definityle a place to visit.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Images thanks to The Factory Café.

Sweet Saturday

Treats and coffee

The May I Heart Market held last Saturday was a wonderful success! We had such a great time seeing everyone perusing through the stalls and socializing wirh friends and traders.

The day was chilly but the atmosphere was still amazing and we thank all those who stopped by. We all warmed up with coffee from the Coffee Guys and munched on delicious muslie with fresh fruit and yogurt from our new trader Juice up. 

We also indulged in some homemade crunchies, a favourite in the I Heart Market office and loved by our team. There are always a few stashed in our bag to snack on so here's the recipe. They are oh so delicious and a must for every kitchen. So bake up a storm everyone and fill those jars with these tasty treats that are close to our hearts.

 

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image thanks to Pinterest

To make:

250ml cake flour

250ml sugar

500ml oats or muslie

100g margarine

30ml syrup

5ml bycarb

5ml hot water

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Melt margarine and syrup in a pot.

Mix bycarb with the hot water, then add to the syrup mixture.

Pour the syrup mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well unitl all the dry mixture has been incorporated.

Grease or line a baking tray with foil or wax paper and empty the mixture in.

Tighly pack it in, pressing it down.

Bake for 4-15 minutes. Test if it's ready by pressing gently on the top, if firm, remove from the oven.

Cut into squares, wait 5 minutes then remove from tray onto a cooling rack.

 

Our secret tip:

Melt some dark chocolate and spread or drizzle it over the top once the crunchies are cool.

Simply delicious. Enjoy.

 

 

Creativity, crafts and cake

Lets get creative kids

Today's the day, I Heart Market for the month of May and we are rather thrilled. 

Come visit us at the market, held at the Imbizo Lawns opposite Nino's at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Bring friends and family for a wonderful day of crafts, clothing, trinkets and tasty delights with a whole host of fun activities and good music.

Speaking of activities, make sure you bring the kiddies along to have an afternoon of enjoyment with one of our new stalls, Your Mum's Cakes for some cake decorating.

Icing, icing everywhere. But what a fun way to spend the day! Make sure you keep a look out for Your Mum's Cakes today and get decorating.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

A Gardening we did go

Planting Pretty

This weekend we were feeling creative and decided on a bit of D.I.Y.

We came across this wonderful idea for garden pots from A Beautiful Mess that is simple, inexpensive and a lot of fun.

All you need is some Lace, craft glue, a box of old ceramic or clay pots, scissors, paintbrush and plants. We decided on some lovely succulents to go in these renovated pots but any plants will do.

Start by brushing glue all over a pot with the paintbrush. Stick the lace over the glue covering the pot or to a design of your creation. Then to Finnish off, brush a layer of glue over the top of the lace and allow to dry. Once they are completely dry, start potting those plants and decorate your garden.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Images thanks to A Beautiful Mess.

Reminiscing

An afternoon to remember

On the weekend, we stopped in at Spiga d'oro to check out the live music, sip on some BOS Ice Tea, relax and soak up the courtyard sun on the terrace. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It got us chatting and reminiscing about I Heart Market's Suitcase Showcase event that took place here a short while ago, such a great success.

The people, the sunny day and the inspiring display of creativity. We have such fond memories of that day so we thought we would share some special moments of that market with all of you. Enjoy.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Locally tailored

Dirty Indigo
Good product, right message and keeping it east of the coast.

Think trendy, design and style – Dirty Indigo has it all. Described as an "indigenously" tailored product, crafted the ”old school” way, it satisfies the need for authentic localism in the City of Durban and so much more.

Where most commercial fashion brands display the usual imported humdrum, Dirty Indigo gladly stumbles through the beautiful chaos of our local culture, searching for an honest, clean, clearer and more tangible identity. The designs and styles are cut and sewn locally with each item touched by the hand of its creators from conception and artwork through to hand held screen-printing.

Owner and designer Tav Naidoo is one of I Heart Market’s fantastic traders, adding a unique and diverse element of style to the market atmosphere. We spent some time with Dirty Indigo recently to find out more about Tav’s success and inspiration for his work.

1. Tell us a bit about your product and how you started the brand Dirty Indigo?

Dirty indigo was created with the idea of Authentic Local ‘flava’. By this we mean with the chaos of our local culture. As we know, our country is filling up with international brands and there philosophies. When I walked around Durban I saw so many people
wearing t-shirts saying “I LOVE NY”, that just caused us to clinch our teeth. So from there we decided that we were going to create cutting-edge, trendy prints for t-shirts
using our city and its culture as inspiration.

The big question was…how would we get the formula right?
The plan was to keep it fresh with an ‘all hands on deck’ approach creating simple, one colour prints with a 160gm local sourced fabric base to be stitched in a local factory with our unique fit. Since the t-shirts are printed by us we ensured no mass production and no two t-shirts being the exact same.

2. How and why did you choose that name for your brand? Is there a story behind it?

The name was created from the love of denim. Dirty Indigo denim is just the way forward in our opinion and will always stand the test of time. We feel Durban is known for being a city of denim; it’s simply worn every day.

4. What inspires you to create, design or innovate?

A simple passion for fashion, design and the city of Durban.

 

5. What is unique, conceptual or interesting about Dirty Indigo?

Dirty Indigo is unique because it's all about Durban and our quality of the fabric and our prints we use sets it apart from the rest. Our prints are highly trendy and encompass an element of vintage which makes them special. Our packaging too is unique and edgy, reminiscent of those late nights and after hour’s mission for a Johnnies Roti.

6. How long have you been with I Heart Market and what do you enjoy most about it?

We have been with I Heart Market from August 2012 and it’s simple, we love the atmosphere and the trendy people that are there every month. You guys are rock stars.

7. How has Durban and living in Durban influenced your creativity?

It has inspired us to create a new fashion brand, DIRTY INDIGO . A brand that is local and creative and celebrates design and quality fashion merchandise.



Connect with Dirty Indigo for more trendy designs.

Strike a pose

Retro Photo Booth

Step right up, step right up and strike a pose.

There is a new attraction at I Heart Market, one that's full of nostalgic charm. Round up your friends and family and head over to the Retro Photo Booth for some photographic fun.
Dress up, pose and create memories every time you stand in front of the camera.
Don't miss it at the next I Heart Market at Moses Mabhida Stadium, the striped backdrop awaits you!

Connect with Retro Photo Booth to see more fun and memorable snap shots.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Splendid soaps

Rondavel Soaps

What could be better than beautiful handmade soap? Created with only natural, sustainable and local ingredients from the Midlands; these nourishing products are a must have for every house. Experience a range of unique soap flavours such as Blue Mountain Sage, Cape Chamomile and Geranium, Naartjie and Mieliemeal and Karoo Lavendar and Honeybush.

Each soap is wrapped in gorgeous packaging which is beautiful and biodegradable, inspired by the wild bush in Malawi.

Make sure you get your hands on this wonderful soap, great for everyday and perfect for gifts. Keep an eye out for them at I Heart Market.

View Rondavel Soaps and follow them on twitter.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.



Change in venue for 6th April I heart market

Hello all, 

This Saturday, the I heart market will take place at People's Park on the south side of the stadium.
People's Park has an amazing children's playground and People's Park cafe, which a great place to sit back and people watch...

There is ample parking across the road in Mustering Fields, NMR.
Parking will cost R20 per car and there is an access bridge from the parking to the stadium.

Here is a video of the last time we were at People's Park. It is quite lovely. 

Hope to see you there!

Fashion festival

Extreem Glamour 

An outfit just isn't the same without a gorgeous accessory to complete the look.

Extreem Glamour is a small fashion label owned by local designer Zamokuhle Nsele. She will be displaying her creations at I Heart Market, showcasing her newest line of clutch purses and collar accessories. Each beautiful unique collar and the clutch bag are made by herself at her home based design studio in Mandeni.

The richly patterened fabric with bold colours elevate her designs into fashion items that make a statement and create drama.
These are a must for every wardrobe, catch Extreem Glamour at I Heart Market soon.

See more fashion forward style on her blog, Facebook or twitter.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Shop, Sip and Savour

It's been a long and leisurely weekend for us here at I heart market. But, we are super excited about our Suitcase Showcase at Spiga on Monday, Family Day public holiday. 

Nestled in the village square-like courtyard at the back of Spiga we will be having a gathering of great craft and fashion, delicious Spiga take away treats, great tunes, a cupcake decorating area for kids (young and old) and general all round good family fun.
We are also having a photo competition called Capture the Heart.
Capture a photo of a heart wherever you find it.... in a shadow, cup of cappuccino, fabric.... wherever!
Instagram it, tweet it or FB it and tag both @SpigaDurban and @iheartmarket and automatically stand a chance to win an awesome hamper. 

We hope that we will be seeing you there!

See more about I heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter. 

Easter is upon us

Easter Eggs
Around the time of Easter, the air is always filled with so much excitement and light hearted cheer.

A strong contributor, we feel, is the abundance of chocolate in various shapes and forms. Excitement just seems follow in its path. Its also a great time for social gatherings and fun activities. We just love these beautiful hand painted easter eggs and drawing from this inspiration, why not try this great Easter activity? Send them out as gifts or just nibble on them yourselves; either way, its wonderfully fun.

All you need is a bunch of white candy coated chocolate easter eggs (the famously delicious ones), small paint brushes and food colouring (in various colours). Pour the food colouring into shallow dishes. Dip your paint brushes in and start decorating those eggs!
Leave to dry once done. Then share, eat and enjoy.

See more about I Heart Market and our traders on Facebook and follow us on twitter.

Deliciousness

Spiga delights
Here is just a tasty reminder of what to expect at our Suitcase Showcase market next week Monday.

Along with creative products from I Heart Market traders, magical courtyard atmophere and exciting activities; there will be a whole host of delicious Spiga food to enjoy and indulge in.

Like this tantalizing panini, did someone say lunch...?

Spiga d'Oro is a restaurant central to the lively atmosphere created on Florida Road. Dine on fantastic food with family and friends in this wonderful resturant, reminiscent of a typical Italian pavement bistro.

Find out more about this I Heart Market event here.

Suitcase Showcase, not to be missed!

I Heart Market Suitcase Showcase

April, is certainly a month of market magic. I Heart market will be having not just one amazing market, but two, on the 1st and 6th of April. 

We have so many plans up our sleeves and we can't wait to share them.
First on our list the market on the 1st of April. We have got together with Spiga, the famed Durban Restaurant on Florida Road to bring you a wonderful day out for family and friends.

This is a unique market event, I Heart Market on a smaller yet equally special scale. So escape into a world of charm to the beautiful Spiga courtyard space for a fun day out at I Heart Market's Suitcase Showcase.

Inspired by informal, old school junk sales, the exhibiting traders will showcase their products using a smaller display area. This certainly makes for some innovative ideas as traders have to use their imaginations to create displays that define the principles of this space. This market not only has its usual impressive crafts, fashionable items and artistic expressions but other activities too. There is a 'Lil Spiga Masterchef' area for kids to make their own fun pizzas and a do-it-yourself craft area. So bring your friends and family and pop in for a day of fun and delicious Spiga treats.

Have a look at some of the wonderful displays we found, just a few ideas to excite and inspire.

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Pictures with compliments of Pinterest