Hello there - it's time for another sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa. Denise created this wonderful sketch and i loved working with it.it's a wonderful sketch that is versatile and can be whatever it is you need to get your creative juices flowing. i used my favourite Mister Huey inks to add colour to my background and then worked onto that to create my layout...

I used some Docrafts Madame Payraud patterned papers under my photo and together with some washi tape on the left edge. A Marion Smith doily stamped image was cut in half and used with some beautiful Petaloo flowers for a pop of colour.

i found a matching Prima Butterfly with just the right look and enough bling and glitter to make a statement.

some stenciling in the background...

and some hand sewn detail

the other half of my stamped doily was used in the opposite corner for repetition

i hope you will play along with us...you could win some awesome goodies and we would love to see what you come up with - wishing you a wonderful and creative scrapping week!

There's a new challenge up over at Scrap Africa - recycle! right up my alley! With the challenges i like to make tags - they are a quick and easy reference for me to just play and create and experiment and get things done of course.

i used this tag as my starting point for a gift tag - it's from a new fitted sheet i got a couple of months ago and i just love that recycled emtini liner cardstock it is printed on! i only used the 'care instructions' part of the tag though

i used Graphic 45 and Dina Wakeley stamps for my background...

some coloured ribbon, washi tape and pearls add some finishing touches!

we hope you will play along, so hop on over to the blog and see what everyone else did with this challenge! hope you are having a wonderful week!

it's time for another sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa.i loved working with this sketch - i turned the sketch 90 degrees so i could use portrait photos. for my background i used a stencil and inked through it using distress ink and an applicator tool. i moved the stencil and kept inking to create darker and lighter areas. love how it turned out. for my patterned paper i used scraps of Kaisercraft paper, some Prima word stickers, buttons, diamante and sewing.

as a focal accent i used one of my die-cut felt hearts cut on my Cuttlebug - yes it cuts felt perfectly - and scrunched up some gold thread underneath it. the heart hold the thread in place with a small amount of Tombow Mono Multi adhesive, and a small cross stitch sew afterwards holds it securely in place....just to make sure. simple and elegant, perfect for a layout of a little guy reflecting on life.

head on over to Scrap Africa to see what the other design team girls did with their designs. and why not play along to win some awesome goodies.

there's a new challenge up over at Scrap Africa - which i am co-hosting and challenging you on this month...I love themed challenges as inspiration and a starting point for creativity, having said that i hate following rules too but i usually use them to trigger an idea, colour scheme or theme. so if you are in need of getting a creative jump start this festive season then join us and come and play along...

the challenge was snowflakes, stencilling and glitter, and here's what i did with my tag.

the background was coloured using Mister Huey inks and Distress inks. Once dry i used a circle stencil and stenciled two different colours of ink over each other. i also inked the edges a bit darker to add definition.

i used the same colours of ink to colour my seam binding ribbon - you can get yours from www.scrapbookstudio.co.za - they have loads of colours ins stock and their service is really great.

the snowflake is from Celebr8 and distributed by The Wholesaler. i love these snowflake layered chippies - they are so detailed and delicate. i misted the top layer with Mister Huey and then once dry added a layer of Star Dust Glitter glue.

to finish off my tag i added some stamping and diamante for texture and dimension and added pattern. this would make a great gift tag for a pressie....

head on over to the blog and see what the rest of the amazing team came up with - truly different and unique. and for a chance to win some goodies....play along with us! we would love to see what you do with your snowflakes.

Can you believe here we are in December. it's time for another sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa. Again it's such a versatile sketch and the design team came up with some stunning layouts, and all so very different. below is my version of the sketch...i pulled this photo off of FB of my little nephew and my brother - such a cool pic.

i used a combination of inks and texture paste on the background. I then layered some patterned papers, tags, strips of paper and washi tape before adding my photo. the silver and gold leafed squares was left over from another project (as usual) and i cut them into smaller squares and added them for a fun and metallic twist.

and as usaul i added some sewing and washi tapes but no buttons (oh dear)....

i had loads of fun with this one that came together easily and kept true to my style.

after a rough week of lots of violent electrical and hail storms we finally have power again so i can work on my 25 days of Cuttlebug tips and tricks again. i will be back tomorrow with day 4 of 25. wishing you a peaceful and crafty Sunday afternoon.

it's time for another challenge over at Scrap Africa. This time the challenge is to use 90% white and 10% colour and i love those kinds of layouts - white is just my thing! i wanted to use my cricut machine and create a bigger scale of white on white than what i recently did in my Project Life album class i did for scrapbook studio at pine lodge. i love the effect.

this time around i cut several hearts using my Cricut Expressions 2 machine. some of the hearts were left white and i added some sewing around the edges to make them stand out a bit more. other hearts were filled in with paper to add some colour and some hearts i only used the border with some stamping on them. i added gold dots onto my background to pick up on the gold in the washi tape and embossing i used - i used these earlier in the year after having them for about 10 years in my stash. now that i am in love with them, i am just wondering why i threw out the rest and how i can get more! typical scrapping illness....collect just to purge to look for it later!

i used the lovely Kaisercraft patterned paper as inspiration and the starting point for my colour combination. i also added some washi tape strips and this gold script is a firm favourite. the gold dot heart in the bottom right hand corner was covered completely in washi tape, also a gold dot, and then trimmed around the edges for a nice clean finish.

i love how this turned out! to play along head on over to the scrap Africa blog - you can also see what the other design team members did with their challenge layouts. hope you have a wonderful creative week filled with lots of white and some colour too!

it's time for another sketch challenge over at scrap Africa - we got to work with another great sketch. i stuck to a single page this time around as sometimes you just need those for the front page of an album now don't you. the girls outdid themselves this week and there are some lovely sample pages with loads of creativity. so head on over to the blog and come play along...

i used this gorgeous new stamp from Prima - love the wording and it really is so versatile!

i used my much loved collection of washi tapes and some scraps of paper from my desk - i love my 'messy' desk as that is the place i find most of my treasures. the stencil i used with my texture paste is also from Prima and a beautiful design. i lightly inked some of the paste using my applicator tool with some Walnut ink distress ink on it - i didn't re-ink but just used what was on the sponge.

my usual sprinkle of buttons, pearls and diamante add some colour on the background. so head on over to see the original sketch and what the design team came up with - then play along and you could win some awesome goodies and be a guest designer. 

i have a hectic week and after this one not feeling quite myself - i am once again cleaning and moving stuff around, organizing, purging and getting organized for another hectic week. but really all i want to do is paint the wall in our bedroom that got some fixing done to it with grey plaster - if only i had more time and energy...i think you know you are getting old when getting up on a ladder and painting just isn't fun like it used to be. maybe an incentive is needed....

hope you are having a creative week planned! thanks for stopping by and hanging around so faithfully!

i have always loved a good resist - its almost like breaking the rules instead of conforming to what society thinks is right. i am a rule breaker - a rebel at heart.

5.a substance that prevents or inhibits some effect from taking place, as a coating on a surface of a metallic printing plate that prevents or inhibits corrosion of the metal by acid
 our challenge this week at Scrap Africa was to do a resist technique. there are many different forms of resist but one thing is clear....
basically anything that is white will resist
white wax crayon, white wood glue, white lotion, white rub-ons, white embossing powder, clear embossing powder, white pan pastels, white pastels, white water colour paint, white quache, white oil paint, white gel pens, masking fluid, fluid stamping ink - to name a few

i used wood glue as a resist to create a coloured background for my card

step 1 - i first stamped a script stamp onto plain smooth white cardstock
step 2 - add a small amount of wood glue and spread it out using an old credit card. don't cover the entire surface with the glue - you want some cardstock to show through

step 3 - leave the glue to dry really well
step 4 - once the glue is dry, ink the cardstock using different colours of distress ink using an applicator tool and sponges

**remember to change the sponges as you change your ink colour to prevent contamination
step 5 - lightly mist with water and leave to dry
step 6 - use a soft cloth to wipe any ink off of the glue
use your background on a tag, card or on a layout

i love the interesting effects you can achieve with the glue, ink and water - totally unique and always different

hop on over to see what the other design team members came up with and play along - we would love to have you as a guest...happy resisting! thanks for stopping by and have a wonderfully creative week.

PS. at least i have one Festive season card done and dusted - how about you?

it's time for another super sketch challenge over at Scrap Africa. This time we got to work with a sketch from page maps (www.pagemaps.com) and i simply love their beautiful fresh clean lines. for my layout i used some elements that will be launched in South Africa soon - i promise! but i couldn't resist sneaking them into this layout design - simply because i love it so much!

the sketch can really be anything you want it to be and to prove it you need to check out and see what the rest of the design team did with it - truly amazing!

recently i have started using a lot more of my precious stamps in my layouts. i went through a phase where i didn't simply because people attending my classes just couldn't or wouldn't respect my stamps as i do and they would get messed up. so my 'scrappers' did not have the privilege which in return hindered my creativity to use them. a vicious circle. but reality.

so on this layout i used this beautiful leaf stamp. i stamped the image onto white cardstock and painted them using watercolors. i really love painting and watercolors are my weapon of choice...i first adhere them to my layout and then added a layer of dimensional glaze to make them really stand out. the effect in real life is amazing! i also added in some washi tape strips, because a girl can never have too many rolls of washi tape! the scallop edge is a punch by American Crafts and distributed in South Africa by The Wholesaler - love this design so much!

to add texture to my background i used a 'cupcake' wrapper and inked through the beautiful design using an applicator tool and some Old Paper Distress Ink. the effect is amazing and delicate and soft. Those diamonds....are from a scrap of technique paper i created myself about 2 years ago - yip that's how long things can float around in my work space before it finally finds a home OR i have the heart to thrown it away. a couple of buttons and diamante adds some colour through from the patterned paper and embellishments. 

thank you for stopping by...and a special shout out to Janet - i blogged! 

wishing you an amazing week filled with creativity!

welcome to another challenge at scrap Africa! it was an easy one...but boy did it take me a long time to get it done - it was too funny! i started off with a few layout ideas since i so love washi tape and have a fair share of it in my stash, but just couldn't get it together! so finally i created this card and loved it. it just worked and came together! how big is your washi stash? do i need to know?

love me some twine in pretty colours  -so versatile and functional too!

i used a big variety of washi tapes in blues - love the one with the butterflies on!

the sentiment is from a Teresa Collins sheet of paper from her Memorabilia range. *love

hope you are having a wonderful week. please head on over to scrap Africa and play along to win some awesome prizes!

Hello everyone...sorry for being missing in action for a while. it seems that August is always such a busy month and with that i lost a bit of blogging time (ok time everywhere it seems). the house is a mess, the work area is a mess, i am behind on washing and so many other things it seems.but i did manage to play with the amazing new Teresa Collins Family Stories this past week. First up is a new Scrap Africa sketch so pleas head on over and play along with us

i had fun creating with inks and the washi tape in this range - so many little things to add details to your layouts.

and then there was this layout i made for The Wholesaler - you can visit their blog here to find out what i had so say about this amazing range of papers - this all while Teresa Collins is in South Africa visiting and teaching our shores. such a lucky girl - but i am unlucky to not attend her classes. maybe sometime soon in America!

i used a combination of the papers and cut out elements to spread the colour around my layout which i totally love. i am so in love with the beautiful soft pink combined with orange of all colours and that amazingly soft blue and delicate turquoise - pure perfection.

i used a recent stamp i found to create a paper pieced flower - and am so in love with the look. i am not a huge fan of paper piecing but have had the perfect flower visualized in my head for this for ages and when i found it i was over the moon. it worked so well with this paper range as well! pure bliss.

ahh and the simple sticky note - well she did it! turned something so simple and functional into something playful and fun and scrapbookingy.

i also added a few Ali Edwards' stamped words, pearls, diamante and brads to finish off my layout. i hope you will hop on over to The Wholesaler and see what other beautiful products are currently available! a well designed range of paper and embellishments has gotten me back into being excited about new papers after a rather long dry spell waiting for the new releases to land here in SA.

wishing you a wonderfully creative week - i have about 2 more days of 6 days left in the studio photographing.....well you will just have to wait a bit longer. let me just say i am giddy with excitement and have rekindles my love for publishing and photography, and am so thankful to God for this opportunity and privilege! have a stunning week!

Welcome to another Scrap Africa challenge. This month Marelize is challenging you to create something with a patchwork background. I used some of the beautiful Vintage Bliss paper by Simple Stories to create my card background. I used my square punch to punch the paper scraps into squares, inked the edges and adhered them to my background.

a quick sew with my machine to add texture to the seams did the trick to make it more authentic

the so happy sticker is from the Vintage Bliss sticker sheet matted onto grey cardstock and finished off with a pretty bloom and leaf

the pink square is a scrap from a technique i was playing with - markers and water to get a funky new look - nothing special but just the way i like it

and if you play along this week - you can win an awesome set of washi tapes in black and white. so head on over to the blog here and see what the rest of the design team came up with

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.