snowgoose

I’ve never really been much of a brand-slave. Guess, Puma and the other high fashion brands have never held much appeal. That is why my growing obsession with Springleap t-shirts took me by surprise – I would not normally have paid R183 for a t-shirt (I’m really cheap and buy most of my clothes at Mr Price).

Springleap is different though. When I put on a Springleap shirt, I am wearing a piece of limited edition art that is truly Proudly South African. I feel special knowing I’m not only supporting a fantastic local initiative, but I’m also one step ahead of the clones in their mass produced designer gear.

So you can imagine my excitement when I ordered my 1st Springleap ‘piece’ and I was told that a bonus shirt was on it’s way to me – free!! I got my awesome bonus shirt in the mail and 3 days later, the print got ironed over. I threw an epic tantrum and – to shut me up – my friend got me a replacement shirt for Christmas! Yay! To celebrate, I ordered another shirt. Not 2 days later I got an email to tell me another friend had bought me a Springleap shirt for Christmas… Super yay!

But wait, there’s more… I went to collect all my awesome artworks at Springleap’s offices in Cape Town today and Eric gave me & Shaun 2 more promo Springleap shirts!!! It just keeps getting better!

I think this will be the start of an extensive collection of these awesome shirts – I’m even thinking of wearing only Springleap t-shirts, dressed up with jackets and heels, to work (maybe I’ll even start a trend).

HUGE thanks go to Eric, Eran and the Springleap team for all the great work and fantastic service… and if anyone is looking for inspiration on what to buy me for my birthday, My size is Ladies Large.

The start of what will undoubtedly be a HUGE collection

My niece strikes a cheesy pose in designer Springleap gear

The only constant is change. No truer word was ever spoken, and especially for me this year.

It’s hard to believe that in January 2008, I was a blonde graphic designer who weighed over 82kg and had no idea that social media extended beyond Facebook. In less than one year, I have somehow managed to flip my life around dramatically. 2008 for me will forever be the year of the ‘great weight loss’ (12kg and counting), the year I decided that 24 years of being blonde was enough, and – most importantly – the year I discovered that a sense community in South Africa does exist.

Let me expand: In May, I managed to stuff my foot in the door of Online Marketing at Standard Bank. No mean feat considering I had no Marketing experience or education, and that the competition for this prized position must have been pretty stiff. I’m still not sure how I did it – I’m just waiting for the day the bubble bursts and they realise there are literally thousands of better candidates out there. I feel that I can, in part, thank the fact that in February I was introduced to web 2.0 and Social media in earnest. I had been a digital designer for over a year, but only seriously dabbled in social media this year – and all I can really say is “wow!”. I don’t need to expand on how this medium has changed my life… I did that in my 1st post on this blog.

What I will do is confidently shout “Roll on 2009! I’m ready for a lot more change, growth and more fantastic friendships.”

Me in December 2007 and last weekend at a super hero fancy dress party (I went as “Little Miss Twitter”… I am such a chop!)