Last year October i had the pleasure of teaching some ladies at a Spa retreat - 9 friends got together and booked into a spa in the beautiful Magalies mountains close to my home. On the Saturday i met up with them and did a morning scrapping session, and after lunch and a neck and back massage we did an altered canvas class.Here's my sample canvas...

we used loads of flowers from Prima and Petaloo as part of the decorating

gold acrylic paint was used to stamp some circles, and then a white pen used to add random scribbles around the stamped circles

the small brown dots was stamped with the back of a pencil using the eraser part dipped into brown acrylic paint - love these perfect little circles

I gave each of them a recycled plastic test tube to use on their layouts - i used a piece of rolled up sheet music in mine but this could be a perfect spot for a little love letter

the beautiful rose on the canvas was done using texture paste - i found a plastic place mat at Pep Home and we used it to add the texture paste right through it before adding the inks and paint to it

i love how something cheap and ordinary can be turned into a scrapbooking/art tool to make something beautiful

i used a combination of 3-4 different Mister Huey inks combined with different stamping inks and acrylic paints to achieve the background colour - i even used a text rubber stamp with white ink to stamp onto my background in selected areas

i love how this canvas turned out - simple in decorating with plenty of hues and shades to revel in!

hope you are having a wonderful week!

it's time for another sketch challenge over at scrap Africa.i loved working with this sketch - maybe because of my thing i have with circles - i just love them! and maybe because i used most of my scraps from a left-over layout done the week before.

here's the original sketch by evgenia...

i used the beautiful Prima paper - perfect for fussy cutting and layering with different elements like tags, stickers and washi tape.

i used some mister Huey ink to splat on my background picking up on the colours in the patterned papers and stickers from simple stories. my title was done using stickers and dressed up with a little heart sticker and a diamante.

don't forget to play along with us this challenge - you can win some awesome stencils and a chipboard pack - plus we would love to see how you interpret this sketch! so head on over here to see what the other design team members have done and play along...wishing you a creative week filled with colour!

This weeks' challenge over at Scrap Africa is a fun one and right up my alley!The challenge is to use texture paste, a stencil and inks. 

*Remember* to head on over to scrap Africa and play along - there are some great goodies up for grabs and we would love to see what you do with this challenge.

For my tag I used an old Heidi Swapp circle mask (yeah i still have those) on my background. I added some texture paste through the mask and let it dry - by the way i worked on a smooth white cardstock that works really well with inks and paints. Once the past was dry I used a combination of Mister Huey inks and water colour paint to add colour to the background. And lastly i inked the edges using Walnut stain distress ink.

the pretty sentiment sticker that worked really well with my colours is from Amy Tan - to mimic the pink paint splat on the bottom left of the sentiment I used some pink water colour with a water brush and added my own splats all over. Love that pink!

the rhinestone and pearl swirl from Prima were the wrong colour so I used my alcohol inks to change the colour to suit my project - quick and easy. I simply dripped the alcohol ink directly onto the swirl and the inked spread itself out to colour the entire thing!

a few finishing touches and there you go! I love all the different elements thrown together to form a unit - and i love tags. they are quick and easy to make and so much fun to experiment with different looks. We have a long weekend here in South Africa and i am still faffing around in my work space sorting things and purging! What a great feeling as i get rid of things i probably will never use in my lifetime. Plus my in tray of projects and articles are still full and I am working my through it all. i love what i do. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and a blessed creative week ahead.

it's been a while since i have blogged -sorry for being absent without even a word!while returning from my travels and dealing with life i picked up a bug and 3 weeks later i am not better. so after antibiotics and lots of meds later it is back to the doctor today. so inconsiderate when life and crafting has to be done! any how - i have been busy and this layout is one of my favourites lately. it's one of those that when you start it you sort of have a plan and then it takes on a life of it's own and turns into magic where everything just falls into place and works. it's simple but effective and i love how everything just works together perfectly.

 For most people travelling is a big part of their lives – for me personally I think I love traveling more than most people but don’t get to do it often. So when the opportunity arises I want to capture those special moments in an equally special way. This is what I did with these photos from way back when – I was lucky enough to go on a cruise and visit the islands off the African coast. The photos was never really scrapped in a decent way and when I first saw the new All Aboard range of DoCrafts products I knew it was time to revisit some older memories. The colours and designs on this range of products are so versatile – ready and willing for any travel related photos to be scrapped beautifully.

the All Aboard range has the most amazing stuff in it, like these ribbon clips. they are so easy to assemble and the printed ribbons are simply gorgeous! they make for fabulous little touches to any project and can be done in seconds

i used my favourite go-to coffee AC cardstock to die-cut my title on my Cuttlebug

the range also has some beautiful washi tapes in it. here i used the washi tape and tore it into smaller strips overlapping them onto each other for added texture and interest

things are slowly getting back to normal and into some kind of routine after a hectic 2 weeks of traveling, teaching, parties and more scrapbooking events. but it's all good and i love it. the only negative is that you have to get back into normal/diet eating habits, design team responsibilities that have gone astray along the way and the mundane like washing and packing the dish washer.but God has been good and this year seems to be better than the last couple. God is good in so many little ways and then in so many miracle BIG ways. I think it also has to do with a change of mindset from my side. i will no longer be abuse and used and take a back seat to those who think they are better than everyone. we all deserve a piece of the sun! one of the projects i have done lately and am  very proud of is a specially designed mixed media canvas for Scrapbook Studio JBay's Retreat. I love how this canvas turned out. it started off slow and then turned into this thing i love with all my heart - it's amazing what paint and Mister Huey inks can do for the soul!

the base of the canvas consists of patterned papers that are covered up in a process of layering. the girls were totally freaked out but in the end the result was spectacular. some punched flowers with beaded centers.

beautiful prima flowers for a touch of the unexpected

old rusty nails straight from the farm shed combined with delicate ribbon and lace

hope you have a wonderful creative week filled with blessings. i am blessed each and every day! 

my totally messed up story is worth telling....this is what scrapbooking is doing for me this week!

It’s the month of love, the month of red and white and pink, of eating overpriced chocolates and flaunting ridiculously priced red roses – yip it’s Valentine’s month. Sad that we haven’t cotton onto the idea of celebrating love each and every month, each and every day of our lives, instead we wait for the one month to publicly and privately declare our love to each other. I have learned early in my life that it’s the little things, the seemingly unimportant things that show real love. The things that money can’t buy but that comes straight from the heart and sometimes even the hand. 

For Valentine’s Day I made this little canvas decorated with lots of colour and texture. I started off by adhering some DoCrafts patterned paper to the base using gel medium. I then used a stencil and texture paste to add a pattern directly onto the paper. Then it was time to add some colour using Mr Huey inks. I combined pink, silver, gold and white mist onto the canvas and left the inks to dry naturally. The decorating part was the most fun – I used a combination of different Petaloo flowers to form a dimensional corner on the canvas. As a finishing touch I added some DoCrafts tags and punch outs and chipboard letters. This is a really simple project but loads of fun playing with colour and texture. To create the dimension using my flowers I adhered everything on the canvas using 3D glue dots, this way I could adhere the flowers and then manipulate them until the glue dot settled.

i love the texture and colours variations on these beautiful Petaloo blooms...simply delicious

a docrafts tag peeking out from underneath the layers of flowers

more blooms in reds ...

As a young crafter I always loved working with inks paints and other weird materials. I love the artistic, anything can happen look inks can give a project. It’s hard to know how ink will re-act initially when you start working with a new product – and for that reason I love experimenting with it. There are many different kinds of inks available on the market today - they have grown in popularity as more and more crafters start to create their own artistic elements instead of using the pre-manufactured goods. Artistic and handmade is the new in thing ladies! 

Today we are playing with Mr Huey inks *Love*. 

For my layout I used Mr Huey inks in 3 subtle ways. I love using techniques on my layouts but like everything in life and in design the key is to know when it works. I use techniques in little subtle and interesting ways – ways that will enhance my layout and still let the focus be on my photos and the story I am telling.

 I used the silver to mist my cut out stars for beautiful handmade elements. 

On the smaller stars I used the nozzle to draw squiggles on the stars after the first layer of ink was dry. I love how it turned out.

So for my layout I used 3 different Mr Huey colours and created coloured splats on my background, then I used silver Mr Huey together with a stencil and created a pattern on my background

splats in 3 different colours....