Sardinian Cork

I had not given them a second thought until arriving in Sardinia - CORKS.

I've certainly come across a few though!

http://mysardinia.com/1481/galluras-cork-oaks/

Now I know that:

-  Sardinia is the main place for cork production in Italy.

-  Cork comes from the bark of special cork oak trees. (Quercus suber L.)

-  The cork is  harvested every nine years in a rather labour intensive process. One tree can grow around 2.5 to 5 cm of new cork in three to ten years.

- The estimated lifespan of the cork oak is around 150 years and the bark of the tree cannot be harvested until it is around 25 to 30 years old

-  Calangianus is the hub of the action, the cork capital.

- The cork is boiled to increase flexiblity and to remove unwanted extras then pressed before being processed.It is scraped clean by hand.

- The by products of production are used to dye wool.

-  You can make a lot more from cork than wine bottle stoppers!

 This is a very short video on the method of removing cork bark from the trees.

http://www.youtube.com/user/usfloorsinc

The shops are full of cork products that range from pens, to actual cork paper to containers and lampstands. Amazing!

By buying wine with corks rather than plastic stoppers you will be helping to keep this sustainable tradition alive and preserving the ancient cork forests of Sardinia.

Go ahead drink more wine, just do it sensibly and with a cork stopper!

So I just had to browse my favourite shopping mall for cork inspired items.

Please click on the pictures to go directly to the ETSY shops that sell these unique cork products.

Recycled Wine Cork Cufflinks by Miss Courageous

Cork Oxford Shoes by August Ballarinas

Beach Tote in Cork by Flux Productions

Custom Cork business Cards (set of 24) by Wearhouse Industries

Handmade Salvaged Wine Cork Mosaic by Bheaded5

Wordless Wednesday!

Folksy Friday

                                                                              Italy!



Continuing with the Italian theme for my Folksy Friday this week I have found lots of Italian inspired items. I lost count of the number of times a little Fiat zoomed into a parking space ahead of us as we manoeuvred the rental tank through winding streets looking for car parks! Can you believe we got a bill this morning for refilling the car. We filled it up on the way to the airport so it really was quite full already. £18 Euros to fill it before adding the pennies worth of petrol that it needed!






Please click on the images to go directly to the Folksy shops. The tags with stamps from Flying Away reminded me that we didn't post the postcards. They must be in an unopened bag somewhere, probably covered in sand.  The soap from Miss Poppy's Lovely Soap Shop looks great and has been created to remind you of warm Italian evenings. The hand drawn map from Capri Maps locates Sardinia. It's the island off the west coast.   Rome's Colosseum by Vanillaa and Venice by Fresco Photograhy are places that I still have not visited but would love the opportunity. I think a trip to the Murano glass shop near Venice would be right up my street.

Wordless Wednesday!

Buon giorno!

Buon giorno!

We've just returned from a family holiday in Sardinia. I've been inspired by the trip and hope to blog about the crafts and culture of this Italian island in my future posts.

The first stop is Fordongianus. We visited this roman spa town to view the famous ruins.

 Unfortunately the lack of shade and burning sun on pale English skin made the gelatti shop more of a draw than a pile of rocks for the children! The site is located on a river bank and whilst searching for some shade (to eat our ice-creams) we chanced upon a playground. Kid heaven!

While they played on the single swing I had a wander and stumbled into a rough clearing with some big rocks. The site turned out to be the remains of an international sculpture competition ! Each summer sculptors chisel away on the site to create amazing work from slabs of the local red trachytic stone.  ( a fine grained, light coloured igneous rock)

These are some of my favourite entries. Sorry I can't match the entries with the sculptors but there is a list of participants on the poster.

The rock was so smooth and tactile. It cried out for little hands to touch it. We all liked this last one best. It seemed almost prehistoric. The boys thought is looked like the tail of a dragon.  

Sardinia Rocks!