feel good friday layout


supplies: Cardstock Worldwin & Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper 7Gypsies, Webster's Pages. Memory glass Ranger Industries. Lettering Basic Grey. Paint Making Memories. Stamp Crafty Individuals. Ink Stazon. Rub-ons Making Memories. Other Buttons, embroidery thread, brads, stickers & Lace template.
I have never been a fan of the Lace effects and cutting all those shapes and folding seemed to be just too much work, until now. I guess i have more time and in the end I quite fancied the look here that mimicked the flags on top of the jumps. They form a simple border in the quiet areas on this layout and just added something special. Oh..and the girls at Fridays class had a ball trying to figure out just what i had done, and then loved the effect on their own layouts. I included memory glass with stamped images behind them as some fun accents, again showing that you don't have to use an entire stamped image but bits and pieces are great too.

2 in 24 hours

and yet another puff adder! 2 in 24 hours is ridiculous. we were outside and the 2 small dogs were sniffing and barking at one of the flower beds. then black pulled back his head and we knew. Misha with her injuries barely able to walk ran up to the flower bed and just stood back....she knew that this is BIG trouble
Jayson grabbed the shotgun and minutes later the biggest mother i have ever seen, hidden between the flowers on the ground i couldn't even see it until it moved was dead. these things are so creepy and dodgy. we imagine that we got the mother and father...and now on the lookout for the babies either now or in the new season. scary man...we walk past that flower bed every day!
Misha is doing OK. we were able to bring her home yesterday but she is still in pain and so uncomfortable. she still has the babies for now, but the vet said she may still abort them in the next two weeks.
Come on doc - she just survived 3 puff adder bites, she is stronger than 3 lions. do you really think she will let her puppies go? you can see she wants this so badly!
anyhow, please pray that she will be fine! she is still in the danger zone.

snakebite + misha = aborted puppies

the bastard won this round....


why would life be so cruel? This is Misha (much younger then) our hero and guard dog, killer of many a snake like puff adders and cobra right outside my front door
not an inch of fear in sight ...


well she is pregnant (first time mommy) and so proud....


then


this morning while at scrapbooking she caught a puff adder and while she would normally tear it to shreds in seconds...
what with an overload of hormones and
a body less slender he got the better of her....


she is in hospital with two to three bite wounds to her leg and neck (strategic spot)...


with the anti-venom, cortisone and a drip she is more than likely to abort

the puppies in the night...


i am devastated!
please pray with us that she will be fine...



blessed...a reminder

above all else it is about leaving a mark
that i existed,
i was here. i was hungry. i was defeated.
i was happy. i was sad. i was in love.
i was afraid.
i was hopeful.
i had an idea and a good purpose and
that's why i made works of art.
felix gonzalez-torres
supplies: patterned paper Webster's pages & Chatterbox. Other Embroidery thread bobbin, buttons, string, paper flowers, bling, coloured staples & tiny hanger. Grungeboard Tim Holtz. Distress stickles & Distress ink Ranger Industries. Ribbon Hanna Silk.

my sport ate your sport for breakfast

supplied: Patterned paper & sticker 7Gypsies. Rub-ons Basic Grey. Other Resist ink, chalk ink, tags, paper clips, masking tape, brads, ribbon. Stamp Paperchain.
flying changes your life - and I am not talking about in a helicopter or on a plane...I'm talking flying as in having faith that God will give you wings and that you will fly instead if fall. I think that every person on earth should jump out of a plane at least once. I did several times and let me tell you it changes your life! Something inside of you happens when you deliberately jump (get pushed or fall) out of a plane. I will forever be grateful for the experience. I truly changes my outlook on life, how fragile it all is, how senseless it is and how we as humans crash and burn everyday. So if you are a scrapbooker or crafter...go jump out of a plane and see if you are still the selfish, ego centric b*^&% that you were. Yes I know it's harsh but its a fact. You will change the way you are towards people - all people!
to get back to the flying part...the thrill of strapping up your suit, getting into a plane that is duct taped together, the gages spinning around without stopping and the petrol leak as you head upwards off the run way...let me tell you...you actually wanna jump out of the plane. Then the door opens and you think to yourself...o God what am I doing...no-one knows you are here...and then the arch and the jump and a couple of seconds later you are on mother earth scared to death heading to the office to book your next jump! psychotic to say the least!
Then there's paragliding...where you run off a mountain and sit up in the sky, unstable air shaking you around, for hours....and hours unable to get down....and you have so much time to think about life and death and life and death....and you are in awe at the beauty and you pray for forgiveness and you are scared! and that changes you too...for good i hope....
here's to flying and living on a prayer and a wing!

sharing the sun


i love it when people can be inspired by others. that we can share our work and give a piece of ourselves freely. i am so inspired by others who share their work and creativity without the fear of someone taking away something from them - and i am even more inspired when Sonia comes to class, and for that matter all the other girls and share their work. something that they have taken, got inspired and made it their own.
ok..so Sonia lets see what you do with this one...
1. The blue green flowers are stamped images using H2O's. You can also use normal ink, distress ink, acrylic paint, jik or glue. what will it be?
2. The checkered pattern across the side of the second page is machine stitched. will you have the guts to hand sew, draw lines with a marker, make fake stitches, use ribbon or maybe something else?
3. Down either side of the layout to frame in in i used eyelets. these can easily be replaced with brads, french knots, buttons, paper squares or ....
4. The masses of paper flowers, and some stamped ones too can easily be replaced with buttons, circles, punched hearts, bottle caps and even squares.
5. Don't forget the "L" as a title hidden in between the blooms? and what about the journaling strip running just towards the right of the smaller photos on the right page.
i hope you find something and someone that can insprie you this weekend. as for me I am inspired by colour, inks, spraying, mess, paint, stain and lots of paper for next week friday.
have a happy and creative weekend. oh and don't forget that the sun really is that big and that it really can shine on all of us at once every minute of every day!

winds of change...

winds of change are inevitable. life will throw you curve balls even when you least expect it. today's post is dedicated to Tim Holtz who had to say goodbye to Cooper his loving dog and companion of many years. Here's thinking of him today and every other day! It doesn't get easier but somehow you manage!
we too had to say goodbye to something near and dear this week.
we too had to say goodbye to something near and dear this week. you see it's that winds of change thing again - changing direction again and again. throwing you twirlies and gusts and changing direction unexpectedly leaving you exposed. leaving your wings to do the work and to trust that you will fly again instead of crash and burn. You have to act quickly and recover to survive. i guess only time will tell! have a wonderful day and cherish this day!
photo by Jowilna Nolte taken at Dunnotar Airfield, Gauteng.

more birds...

"Some days I am not sure if I am whispering,
or
if everyone around me is going deaf".
(unknown)

supplies: Patterned paper Webster's pages. Stamps Cavallini & Stampington. Ink Versafine. Other Canvas, wooden blocks, feathers, wooden pot, tile, metals, rusted mesh, rusted nails, plastic bird egg, bee's wax.

resist bird canvas

another one of my bird canvasses - yes i know there have been a lot of them lately. Birds are such fascinating creatures and their beauty and versatility amazes me. For this canvas i used a little mint tin that i rusted and then added the bird on a branch inside as well as a little plastic egg. The background consists of my favourite material...dictionary paper with a glue resist to create the mottled textured effect. The little branch at the bottom of the canvas was given to me by my other half - he found it on one of our many walks on the farm and is really special.
1. Rusty wire is always a nice addition to altered and mixed media pieces.
2. Glue resist and distress inks on dictionary paper.
3. The branch stamp is from Hero Arts and a favourite of mine that gets used all the time.
4. Around the edge of my canvas I added a favourite quote about life. Printed on commercial paper and then cut into strips.

Supplies: Patterned paper Prima. Stamp Hero Arts. Ink Colorbox. Bird Image ATC. Postage stamp South African Post Office. Other rusty wire, old tin, branch & canvas.

feel good fridays


1. Ordinary gold brads from CNA embossed with denim distress embossing powder and forms a frame around a photo cropped into a circle. The scallop edged circle is Spellbinders die cut with the cuttlebug.
2. Tim Holtz mask used on the background with Old Paper distress ink.
3. A chipboard swirl embossed with the same distress embossing powder.
4. Cavallini bird tag used as an accent.
feel good Fridays...for various reasons will be an annual event on my blog. Friday is the day the girls get together for scrapping. I love Fridays because they are truly inspiring in many different ways and you can always walk away feeling satisfied and uplifted. So this was today's layout the girls did. Hopefully I can convince some of them to loan me their versions to show off here. These girls are true gems and so talented and I love them to bits!! Have a fabulous crafty weekend.
supplies: Cardstock Worldwin. Patterned paper Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories & K&Company. Flourish Enmarc. Mask Tim Holtz. Ink & Embossing Power Distress ink Ranger Industries. Rub-ons 7Gypsies. Tag Cavallini. Lettering Basic Grey.

pure inspiration

Do yourself a favour and head on over to this blog - it is pure inspiration and dedicated to designers and pure raw talent...
...although it takes a while to load, once the images and background are cached it will go quicker. Definitely not for the fainthearted - but so worth it! enjoy.
In the meantime I am working on some articles and projects for an exciting new web-based thingy...will keep you posted when it is up and running...

good times

This double page layout was inspired purely by the beautiful wrapping paper used on the left by Cavallini. So the photos had nothing to do with Paris but the colours worked perfectly. As for the other papers, only the background cardstock is scrapbooking related, everything else is imported handmade Japanese Washi and some of my favourite. The gold brads...well it's about time I used some of them - I'm not really big on gold brads. Everything else used was found on my desk i.e the rub-ons that just never seems to fit anywhere and the single red photo turn.
1. Beautiful wrapping paper used as a background.
2. Photo turn integrated into my journaling block. Journaling printed on commercial cardstock - just because I can.
3. Rub-ons used throughout the photos to finally finish the sheet.
4. Stamping for a title and then raised with foam.

Supplies: Cardstock Co'ordenations. Wrapping paper Cavallini. Brads Making Memories. Rub-ons, photo turn & stamps 7Gypsies. Ink Ranger Industries. Other paper Le Papier du Nord. Other Buttons, embroidery thread & foam.

grunge mini-album

Ok..so here's the front of my now totally decorated grunge mini-album as done in T!m Holtz class on Friday. I went with the word blessed on the front - because I am blessed. The inside is not done yet but, the inner circle has very conveniently let us know what we can use it for. You unfortunately will have to wait and see. I have to confess that I am not a mini fan anymore. They are hard work and I often loose interest just before I am done and then it gets files just to be pulled apart at a later stage. I have however made my share of these little gems - but I think I find it frustrating because they tend to accumulate much faster than what i can find space for them to come into their own. But as for this little gem ...i will and treasure it forever! It does after all hold loads of memories!

close-ups of the front of my mini-album. I'm not naturally drawn to orange and yellow. These two colours are meant for nature - autumn leaves and sunflowers and nothing else. But strangely enough the orange worked well with the red and it was nice working with different colours other than my normal blues and browns. I simply adore and love all the metals that we have finally gotten our hands on.
Tomorrow I will share some special layouts with you that I really enjoyed doing...

some pics

1. The girls finally had a photo opportunity with t!m
2. Benice finishes off her buttons OCD/VBG
3. T!m Holtz & Niki Zipp
4. Elna has her cake(pudding) and eats it
5. The man!
6. Benice and Claudene (AKA Mom) we just love her!
7. One too many Vodka Jellies at 8am for Val! Thanks girls - you rock

t!mtastic

absolutely t!mtastic! We had an awesome time at tim holtz class yesterday. what more could we ask for than a fabulously talented guy, so generous, funny and willing to share all that he can, and great friends to spend the day with. I have to say it was the most fun i had in a while, apart from the creating projects with the inner circle once a week. although i personally did not learn much as far as using his awesome products go, it was nice to get a glimpse into claudene helmutt's products and just to chill and have fun. of course the awesome t!m products i won (the very last one of the day - sjoe) and the free stuff is always great. don't get me wrong - it is not that i know everything and didn't learn, but if you are totally besotted with his stuff and ranger products like i am and have been playing with it since 2000 then you have pretty much tried and done anything and everything! of course it doesn't hurt that i was fortunate enough to spend lots of time with t!m and ranger in 2004. so on this high note...all i can say is how do you top this? well maybe a return visit by t!m in 4 years' time when his schedule opens up! waiting in anticipation! watch this space as well as imagine magazine for loads of t!m give-aways that are coming soon. I am just waiting on the box to arrive from t!m once he gets home and has a few relaxing days (yeah right). have a fabulous weekend!

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