mother's day challenge at scrap africa.

Over at the scrap Africa blog we have a mother's day challenge. we here in SA celebrate out mom's in the month of may and so we got a head start on creating some cards and other beautiful projects. i was inspired by Easter for my project. as soon as i saw the Easter box at woolies i knew i was going to up cycle it into something. the vision was there but to execute it took a bit of time - once i got started however everything fell into place.and so here's the little guy that started it all...not much to look at if you know what i mean, well maybe if you are 4 years old.
and here's what i turned it into. if i can just add - my family totally doesn't get what i do creativity wise. but on this project my mom actually said she loves i, and best of all i didn't even had to explain the whole Easter egg box thing - she knew what it was. so there's still hope afterall!
the original plan was to cover the roof in moss - but since i ran out of moss on another project i decided to try and find something in the store room instead. well what would you know? the perfect alternative - some flower decorating stuff! i say stuff cause i really have no clue what to call it! but it was a beautiful grey silver colour and worked wonderfully with the prima papers and flowers.
along each side i decorated it using something that was already on my desk - it's just to fitting for me. so some bar code scraps from the new prima range of papers turned out to be paper beads for the tim holtz die-cut bird to sit on.
and some beautiful diamond pins were stuck into the roof for pure bliss - and because we love bling!
a beautiful pink sprig of flowers from prima! yes prima indeed!
and some 7gypsies quotes! what would a project be without some 7gypsie humour.
...some inks and perfect pearl mists and ranger goodness had to follow.i also joined the prima papers on the edges using some tim holtz paper tapes. the bird card is from a sheet of graphic 45. and since my mom is a bird artist i had to add some birds to this little project.
and a whole bag full of old watch pieces found its way out of storage and i couldn't resist adding some time to this masterpiece.
 i also added a strip of Tim holtz border die-cuts coloured using the totally awesome sunflower perfect pearl mists. delicate and yet so very Tim like.
our challenge projects had to include a quote or saying and i found this totally awesome quote that so applies to both my and Jayson's moms. truly meaningful!
and another glimpse of the full gift box house.
i absolutely loved working on this project! and although it is totally not functional anymore after having hot glued the lid closed - i think it is a pretty something that can be looked at and bring a smile just because of it's prettyness. oh and did i mention that i was relieved to start using some of those flowers i have been hoarding for 15 years. and no the pink bottle has not dropped in fullness at all! mmm...a trip to woolies may be in order! hope you have a wonderful long weekend! FYI it really is much prettier than any picture could ever begin to show you :-) thanks for stopping by!

another sketch over at scrapbookchallenges.

there's a new sketch over at scrapbook challenges and the girls did a really awesome job of this one. over scrapbook challenges Brynn (the owner) gives us the opportunity to design some sketches for the site that becomes branded with the awesome new look to match the site. well this week's sketch was designed by me - a plain and simple one but so versatile when you look at the samples the girls made. so why not hop on over and show us what you will do with the sketch. here's what i did with my layout using some old and pretty ordinary photos...
the new paper lines from Prima were absolutely perfect for these photos and i love how it turned out. a couple of simple embellishments and tada - one more layout done.
a used the barcode strips at the bottom of the paper and punched a few dots from it. these where scattered randomly around the layout for some extra texture.
in the top and bottom corners i added some more texture using silver acrylic paint dabber. i added a piece of sticky magic mesh and inking right through it using the paint dabber. it makes for a simple yet effective texture and pattern.
hope you have a wonderful week ahead. i have a busy week ahead filled with scrapping, card making, furniture painting and so much more. so much to be thankful for.

in other news.

Scrapbook studio in J-Bay announced their Design team for 2012 and i made the team. i have had a long and interesting relationship with this little jewel in the cape. they are a wonderful fun group of ladies and have an amazing array of just-my-kind-of-goodies in their shop. so i look forward to working with them and all the other wonderful design team members.

what i value most is that they include my motto of scrapbooking - don't sweat the small stuff. i love scrapbooking too much to be worried about 'stuff' - i scrapbook because i have a story to tell, i love the ordinary things in life and i value real life. so often scrapbooking involves 'fake' and 'pretend' and i try in all my ways to simplify it so that i can enjoy the process and the realness of the creativity. so watch this space for some upcoming projects and tutorials.
and while you are here why not hop over to their shop (www.scrapbookstudio.co.za) and get some of the goodies we will be playing with over the next few months. stay tuned....real is on its way!
and my thought for the day...

hope you have an amazing weekend filled with paint, ink and paper!

memories and more retreat Saldanha Bay.

just a reminder not to miss out as we head for the beautiful Cape and a little bit of heaven while spending a few days getting rid of all those creative clutter and letting go of fears and comfort zones. Memories and More Retreats is a wonderful initiative putting together the ultimate in break-away for friends and family. Not only for the creative but for everyone who wants to get in touch with their creative self and those wanting a bit of fun while being creative.
this is a sneak peak of the double page layout you will do. we are planning several projects including some surprises to really spoil you on this weekend.
so don't delay and Contact Christel. visit the memories and more website to get the perfect package deal for your and a friend. hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

scrap africa sketch 4.

It's time for a new sketch over at scrap Africa! Wow - i can hardly believe how time has flown and ho the site has grown with followers from all over the world. so happy that this little place can show case local talent to the rest of the world. i love working with this sketch (and the new ones are even better) so hang around why don't ya. here's what i did with the sketch. i create a funky border using my olba heart punch. it took quite a few hearts punched from patterned paper to create this border.
i first drew a circle using a large plate in pencil. i then adhered the first lot of hearts by easily picking them up with an ordinary wax crayon - it works really well.
i then flipped the second lot of hearts over and fitted them into the space formed by the first lot of hearts. it really is a stunning effect and so easy to recreate.
and some close ups of my journaling. i printed my journaling in a circle shape and punched it out using a circle punch, inked the edges and then added it to the center of a clock sticker. a single cross stitch adds some detail.
and a close-up showing the finishing touches on the heart border using purple diamante.
and some technique strips used throughout. i love using scraps of things i love. pieces of technique sheets are perfect for punching shapes and adding strips randomly on layouts - fabulous for adding texture and colour.
hop on over to the scrap Africa blog to see more fabulous designs as well as see what guest designer and scrapping icon Iris has done using the same sketch!
supplies used:
Patterned paper: MME, Kaisercraft, Cutmates. Lettering: Basic Grey. Distress stains Ranger. Chipboard strip Basic Grey. Rub-on Bo Bunny. Heart Punch Olba. Other Buttons, thread, diamante, star punch.

a little something something.

it's amazing how a couple of days at home can be good for the soul. this means i can reflect on what is really important - and no it really isn't the superficial stuff that everyone thinks make the world go round. it really isn't all the hang ups people have over other people...it really isn't even about you! so i did some cleaning and purging and chucking and dusting and i feel amazing! i am always amazed at how quickly we tend to gather and hold onto stuff that really mean nothing - like the thousands of sheets of paper, or hundreds of stamps and other stuff that clutter your soul. my desk is sorta clean and a can actually go from one end to the other without tripping over a pile of crap -pardon my french if you will! i also did some catching up on projects for some design teams and got a head start on some other projects that are seriously over their deadline! yikes. but in all things and especially creativity there comes a time when a project just doesn't fall into place. so i played around with something really pretty, yes loads of pink flowers and things. but you will have to wait for a week or so for it to be revealed.
until then...i hope you are feeling inspired with whatever you are doing. and remember to wipe the dust from your soul this week!

monday came and went.

so Monday came and went and scrapbookchallenges released another fabulous sketch! this is right up my alley since it contains lots of circles. so the thing with circles is that it really is so versatile. since scrapbooking and being creative is all about lines, repetition, shapes etc it falls right into the basic design principles don't you think? be it as it may you can use the sketch and take from it what you want...like it or love it, change it or keep it as it is - the possibilities really are endless. so this layout is not my norm...cause instead of working on white as a background i worked on kaisercraft patterned paper. so everything else was kept to a minimum. Oh and in case you were worried about me running out of white card stock for my layouts - i just got back from a shopping trip to the paper factory where i stocked up on my favourite smooth white card stock ....a whole 200 sheets - just enough to keep me busy for at least a month of layouts! (smile)
so if you wanna play along head on over to scrapbook challenges to see what the design team has come up with. you may just be inspired to work with circles once again!
have a wonderful crafty white background kinda day!

still in love with colour.

although i have come to a place in my life and in this life where i am ready for white again all around...i still love colour. and nothing quite says colour like distress inks, distress stains and perfect pearl mists. and nothing creates the effect of playing and re-inventing and discovering quite like these products.
made with love...
hope you have a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

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