A recent layout inspired by tim holtz and rhonna farrer. The live title image is one from the 21 day challenge by rhonna and painted with H2O's - then some glitter glue added. The mask is tim holtz and sprayed with 'glimmer mist'. The light blue map cardstock is the backing used from a sheet of K&Company stickers. A quick and easy layout!

I will be able to recognise my work during which I had no eye sight in my left eye....can you see how skew the left side of the layout is? Oh well - that's life and thats OK.
PS if you are going to copy it please credit it! Have a wonderful week!

The smell may be long gone but the memory and (blurry) images will still remain! Beulah (one of my students) from Sweet Scrappins gave me these roses from her garden. They sure were a sight...and the smell!

It reminded me of the good old saying: ...stop and smell the roses! This week's events lead to this post. After dealing with some 'stuff' it ended on my mom breaking her toe while cleaning the flat to look after a friend who had a heart by-pass...good fun! While at the doctor with mom I asked him about my eye - he said that it is still "skew" and that it is really sensitive for light and something is not functioning right. Anyhow he said that is can take up to 9-12months before everything is back to normal. It only confirmed what I suspected - my left eye has been "lazy", skew and very sensitive - frequent tearing up and some blurry vision in bright light. So I guess stressing is out of order.
I am hoping to get back to my normal work schedule soon and post more projects that are piling up in the photo shoot bin! Have a good weekend everyone!

Debbie from our RSA (Rubberstamping South Africa) group recently hosted a Luscious Lime ATC swap. These are my two cards. The first is an image from Crafty Indivisuals stamped with green Pallette ink onto glossy white cardstock. The strip along the edge is done with glitter.

It’s the little things in life that make a difference. Every year with our Card making Retreat I realize again how precious friendships and life in general are. Every year for the past five years Tarryn and her Gran Shirley attend our camp. Every year I am amazed at their special bond and relationship and every year I go home thinking how much more I could have done for my grandparents and how much more I should have and could have appreciated them. If only I took gran for one more cup of tea or did something small for her instead of being afraid of what people would think. Every year with camp we have mother and daughters attending and you see the special bond they have and every time I think the same thing….
Every year I take camp for granted – getting home tired and having to unpack and repack and organize everything you used for your class. Then I think back on how appreciative the ladies are for everything they receive. Nothing is expected so every little thing that they receive is welcomed with open arms instead of resentment as to the amount of the actual gift. So a special thank you goes out to all our sponsors and those who gave gifts like Absolutely Scraptacular, Paper Crazy, Paper Enterprises, Scrapbook Direct, Scrap Sheets, Sogno Mio, Sunday Tribune, Glitter Factory, Carrots Crafts, Country Crafts, Great Impressions, Stamps Galore, Studio J and University of KwaZulu Natal.

Then our last minute sponsor who so generously and freely gave Scrapbookex! Thanks Glenda for all the marvelous things you gave away. The ladies all went home with a stunning Kaisercraft bag filled with STUFF!! Your generosity is much appreciated and that at the very last minute! Literally! Our annual card making competition at the camp went down really well with the winners who received stunning prizes. Well done Amanda de Jonge for winning…and that after last years’ fourth place – just goes to show how much you have improved your skills! To all the other ladies who attended and made camp a huge success – you know who you are – thanks a bunch! It seems like our humble little camp is getting status all around the country and growing with interest and stature each here! Well the same camp site has been booked for 2010…what was Carol thinking? Anyhow…see you all next year!

In light of the recent post and comments on my blog I would like to clarify a few matters. It seems that people are under the impression that I was not treated the same as all the other teachers (internationals). In light of my post “What I have learned” I would like to clarify – the things that I have learned have in no way any implication towards Glenda, Scrapbookex or any of the helpers and volunteers. The things I have learned are based on my experiences of life in general. If you know me at all, and if you have read many of my comments on my blog then you will know that I often have days and moments where life and people just doesn’t make sense and I being myself voice my feelings. I feel ripped off by the high costs of internet in SA (one of the highest in the world) – but this doesn’t mean that I am pointing a finger at any of the service providers in the country…it simply means that I feel someone should be doing something about it and that it is not fair!

So to get back to the convention….From the word go, Glenda treated me as she treated all of the other teachers. I won’t refer to them as internationals because in my eyes they were my fellow teachers and just as down to earth and honored as myself to be there. To have been asked to teach at such an event that is rated as one of the best in the world is a great honour. I can honestly say that the lot of us – Melissa (OZ), Tracie (UK), Tami (USA), Cathie & Carol (Canada), Mike (USA), Laura & Erin (USA) and I were such a fun bunch. I pride myself in being a very Religious person as were all of them – realising that God has opened a door, an opportunity for all of us. We spent a lot of time together, made friendships for life and shared personal experiences with each other – we laughed and cried. I met some really special people that became friends! And I don’t take my friendships lightly at all!

So in light of all that has been said about me not being treated fairly – here is my answer: I was given a wonderful opportunity and have been truly blessed by the experience. Because I taught the KI Memories class and the KI Memories products were sponsored by them and the other was sponsored by the convention, the same deal did not apply to me as would to all the other teachers who represented their companies. I knew this from the start and everything about it was discussed and the decisions made were agreed upon by both of us. I chose not to go to Kichaka. I chose to spend the Monday and Tuesday at home catching up on some work, because I had other commitments. I chose to travel to Cape Town a day earlier and spend it with my brother and his family and then meet up with Glenda and the teachers for the day trip on the Thursday. I chose the day trip in the hopes of going up Table Mountain – so it didn’t happen but neither did it happen the previous times I happen to be in Cape Town. And that’s OK! I had a wonderful Convention and teaching experience and made a whole bunch of new friends, got some new customers who are attending my regular classes and got some wonderful comments from people in the industry whom I look up to. Glenda and all the other teachers are most generous individuals whether it be with their knowledge, creativity, friendship and products! We as South Africans can be proud of the event that is put together by Glenda, Gary and their team.

I now consider this matter closed and will post more wonderful pictures of our day trip as well as the convention!

PS. Between the lot of us there were close to 12 000 photos taken in a matter of days, and it will take some time to filter through all of them. We all shared the photos that we took which was such a nice gesture! Thanks again for a wonderful time guys and girls!! Miss you all stacks!

Today we head out to Card making Retreat or stamp camp as it is commonly known...

we have 75 ladies attending the 3 day event starting this afternoon

and ending on Sunday after lunch. Thank you in advance to all the special suppliers, wholesalers, manufaacturers and friends who have donated product, prizes, time and stuff to make this annual event even more special than what it already is. WE really appreciate it all!

I have quite a bit to do still this morning and will be running around all day...

at this moment functioning on very little sleep but excited!

I will post my project that I am teaching here on Sunday afternoon as well as random pics so watch this space.

So many of you wanted to know where I have been lately…
Well after teaching at the convention in Johannesburg I spent a few days at home before flying to Cape Town. Unfortunately for me I did not get to go to Kichaka with the others. I have never been to a Game Farm and certainly nothing as luxurious as that so it was a pity, but that’s life.
I flew down to Cape Town on the Wednesday and spent the day and night with my brother and his family – it was nice to see the kids again as we only see them maybe once a year.

On Thursday morning my brother drove me to Sea Point to the Winchester Mansions Hotel where I met up with the rest of the teachers. We took in some sights – it was the perfect day then as luck would have it the wind came up and I still didn’t get to go up Table Mountain! It is my third try and no luck. Yes I hear you say but you are South Africa – well I have never been up Table Mountain OK!! We did however get to see some Penguins at Boulders Beach, had the most awesome piece of hake and calamari for lunch and took in some vintage window-shopping in Kalk Bay. We had a good day before heading out to Spier.

What an experience to actually stay there in the Village. I taught my class on Saturday after lunch and sneaked out the morning to go and see the Raptures and the Cheetahs. Had a Barn Owl sit on my hand and got some really cool pics up close and personal – what an experience. Didn’t get to go into the Cheetah enclosures though and had no-one with me to take a single photo so figured it wasn’t really worth my while!

I did get to meet some of my Cape Town friends, fellow crafters and talented stampers and we got to visit for a short while which was good.

On Sunday morning early while the delegates were arriving I caught an early plane back to Johannesburg. Wish I could have stayed for the day – but things didn’t work out that way. In a nut shell that was my time away. Will post more picture collages soon, and working on some exciting new projects that I will share as well.

For now it is finalizing the last of the kits for Stamp Camp this weekend and redesigning a card or two as I am not quite happy with what I have done…mmm

In the last month I have learned once again....

1. how fragile life is

2. that not everything is as it seems

3. that some of my fellow teachers at the convention earn more in 4 days of teaching than what I earned all of last year

4. there are still good people in this world

5. there are still people who give freely and without measure

6. i cannot afford to scrapbook in my own country because it is made to be so expensive

7. that someone in South Africa is making a killing through the Internet and we are paying through our ears for it

8. that scrapbook companies overseas look after their workers and value people

9. that i still love what i do in spite of everything...

10. that i have worth even if no-one else thinks so

mmmm....and all this so early in the morning! hope you have an awesome day

How to make this nbeautiful little lace flower in a few easy steps.

After covering your scallop edged circle in lace paper, make a hole where you want your flower to be. Use a paper piercer and work on a piercing matt.

Here are some of the cards that I made at the same time when designing the layout for the Convention. It really is amazing what one can do with even the tiniest of scraps. So even if you are not a scrapbooker - with the wonderful products that you got from the convention you can make loads of cards with the kits or just use your left-overs and make some really great cards.

The first card is done using some of the glitter strips and a piece of the lace paper. The lace paper consists of a light green flower design and this is literally a single flower piece that I inked using Wisteria Colorbox ink on the one corner to get a purple look. I then added a layer of dimensional glaze and some glitter and left it to dry.

The second card mimics one strip on the layout using the Sparklers paper with diamantes added to the centres of the sparklers design. The glamorous rub-on was decorated by adding a strip of double sided tape and glitter.

This is the layout I taught for KI Memories at the SA's International Scrapbook Convention held in Johannesburg and Cape Town over the past two weeks. It has been hectic and I am finally home before we head out again for the annual Card making Retreat in Johannesburg. I still have to do some die-cuts for the kits which should keep me busy enough as well as 3 classes in between it all that needs to be designed.
I loved every minute (well almost) of teaching at the convention - the support and compliments have been overwhelming and I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

Here is the first technique I wanted to show the girls. Because the KI papers are quite bright and bold I wanted to give them the option of toning it down a bit. We used a fine glitter from the Glitter Factory to add a layer over the paper and created our own glitter paper, but also toned down what once was a very bright striped paper. It really is incredible how easy it is to use products that you already own to alter and change the look of something