Monday 31 August 2009

Even MORE of the same...


Following on from my post last week Monday I am still busy editing & uploading my layouts from my recent scrapping frenzy. Along the very same theme I did ANOTHER layout of Cami using the same inspiration/ sketch. I layered a die-cut scallop sheet from Collage Press onto the red brick background then layered a piece of felt on top of it all & stitched around it. The felt is the inner section of a placemat I bought at "Home, etc." because it had an elaborate die-cut floral border around it. I cut off the border & set it to one side to cut up into floral embellishment vines, then hand-cut the remaining inner circle into a scallop/flower shape before stitching it to the layout.

I mixed up my manufacturers again & layered 3 different papers along the bottom strip. Making Memories Noteworthy Floral - both the floral side & the spotted side, and Cosmo Cricket {Dutch Girl I think}, I also added a sticker strip from the My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie collection. On either side of the pink felt scallop I had to put foamcore underneath the strip I created with the printed papers, because the felt is quite thick, therefore anything on top of it that extends beyond it needs to be layered up. I also put some little foam squares under the top half of the butterfly wings.

I used up some older Thickers & used "3"s for the 2 "E's" required. The flower & butterfly stickers are from a Basic Grey Urban Prairie sticker sheet & I added a bling centre to the main flower & some smaller ones down the centre of the butterfly. The pinky journaling spot is from my stash & the tiny letters spelling Camryn are Making Memories Tiny Alphas & always come in really handy. I inked the bottom scallop with dark brown just to help it stand out a bit more & used a strip from in between 2 scallop strip stickers down the left-hand side of the photo. I have kept the whole backing sheet so that I can use the negative strips (from the backing sheet) now that all the positive strips (the actual stickers) are finished.

So Cami is very chuffed that it has all been about her for the minute. But don't despair...there is no favouritism in this house & I have since done layouts about the other 3 kiddies too...

This next one is following the same recipe & of Chelsea. I printed the photo in Sepia for a change & used more of the Basic Grey Urban Prairie stickers, a K & Co. die-cut butterfly & some Prima basics flowers & sugar-coated brads. Letters are felt Thickers & crochet ribbon is Making Memories. I also handcut a scallop-strip from Making Memories Travel Collection from last year & inked it before adhering.

Chelsea loves brown & beige & is really anti pink & purple right now so she likes this layout a lot. The scallop bazzill is about double the price of the regular bazzill & initially I balked at that but at the end of the day it's AS nice, if not NICER than a print & saves me half an hour making a template & cutting it myself, so now that I have come to terms with buying it I am loving it!

I journaled by hand using my white milky pen. The trick is to be confident so that your handwriting is flowing with no shakes! Write out what you have to say on paper with a pencil then copy CAREFULLY...any mistake can be fixed at the end of the day but prevention is better than cure!

I layered up the BG Urban Prairie stickers here & like the effect a lot ;-D Also loved how the fuschia pink flowers "pop" so dramatically against the neutral background.

I added a strip of preglued pink bling to the centre of my butterfly {cell-phone bling bought at Everlasting in Pine Street - approx R20 for a 5 x 8cm solid square that can be cut carefully using your tiniest scissors}

This weekend I managed another 3 layouts so the good news is I have plenty of blog fodder for the next couple of weeks. Keep checking for more ;-D



Sunday 30 August 2009

Laid-back Weekend...

Poor Shane is exhausted. He has spent the weekend running around after the kids so I can take it a bit easier! I really am blessed to have found this one - he's a keeper!

This little girl is earning some extra money helping me sort out my scrap room. Here she is sorting cardboard that we save from cereal boxes, etc & cut into rectangles to use for mini-albums. Next week she is going to start compiling them with the help of my Fiskars threading water punch to mimic the Maya Road scalloped ones. You know I always make a plan...

Here I caught her air-drumming with my home-made Foamcore expanders...she was meant to be punching holes in them for me...you can see my single-hole punch on the carpet beside her.

For those of you who don't speak Afrikaans this T-shirt reads "Push off - I have enough friends already!" {so she tells me...let's hope it's true!} She stayed the night with one of her best friends last night - an Afrikaans girl - and came home wearing it. You know these kids & how they love swapping clothes - I was just the same. To think that just a few years ago she had NO friends here & felt like a fish out of water, and was unable to speak a word of Afrikaans, now she is soon to take it for matric! {end-of-school exams next year}

The other kids are not feeling photo-friendly today but these two couldn't care less...Cocoa is cuddled up in a ball on a chair in the corner of our dining room whilst Daisy is stretched out on Chelsea's bed. Funny how their sleeping styles are as different from each other as they are...

Hope you had a weekend as relaxed as this! ;-D


Saturday 29 August 2009

Scrappy Storage Locally Found!




I have been meaning to post about this all week after reading about it on Desire's blog over at Doing Life. She has discovered the most awesome local manufacturer of various wooden "blanks" designed to be decoupaged or mosaiced, but the most exciting range of all is the scrappy storage! After accepting this year that I am NEVER going to find a paper rack locally I went out & bought (3 eventually...) Waltons cardboard lever arch file holders & placed them on their backs in order for them to be able to serve as paper storage racks with the paper "hanging" vertically. Of course this would also work if you positioned the file holders vertically so that your paper was horizontal - but as the spaces between each divider are about 10cm (therefore quite a lot of paper fits into each section) I chose not to do this as I find it easier to flip through my papers from side to side as opposed to top to bottom.


Here is the link you need to peruse all the very reasonably priced offerings from local company, Pridiacraft. Yes, I know overseas you can get some very swish perspex paper racks & I have been hankering after a few for years, but at the end of the day these are well made & functional & could be customised to tie in with your scraproom decor too.


There are various other handy items on offer too. I am definitely ordering myself one of these as I am not entirely happy with my fancy AMM large tool tote, where things are always getting hidden in some deep dark pocket. I actually think this simple carry-all will cater to my needs much more efficiently as nothing can get lost! Plus I can have some awesome fun covering this simple beauty...


So you see, I'm not anti-local at all! At the right price & with the right product I'm all for it of course ;-D



RAK QUIZ TIME AGAIN!




Ready to play???!!!


Sandra, Vicki, Tania, Cathy & Michelle you are all in the running neck & neck LOL! I was hoping to draw some of my blog lurkers out of hiding but alas I failed! By the way, the lovely layout from last week was done by the very talented Kelly Goree, who is also a layout designer for Basic Grey.

This week you need to identify 1) The manufacturer 2) The line - of the 2 items shown and 3) tell me what the name is for the little round "thingies" (for example, are they called brads???no, they are not, LOL! So what ARE they called???) Off you go now...on your merry way...if you know where to look the answer is ever so easy ;-D

Happy hunting!

Remember THREE answers required! 1-2-3!!!

And just so you know, BOTH the paper AND the "thingies" you have to name are from the SAME MANUFACTURER and within the SAME LINE...

And as motivation for you the pizza-box is looking good & already has a whole host of interesting things inside, including wooden stamps, acrylic stamps, glitter, flock, paint, etc, etc ...





You have until next week Thursday 12p.m CAT to leave your comment/s with the answers ;-D

Friday 28 August 2009

Prepare to be amazed...




Dare I say that this young lady could be my favourite scrapper of the moment?!
I hate to limit myself like that but I do have 12 scrappers that are really doing it for me right now and Iris is most certainly one of them.

I have gone Prima & Webster's Pages mad. I don't know why. It has just happened. I have never considered myself a full-on floral girl before, expecially as I have 3 men in my life to scrap too. I think it is because the new florals are so "vintagey". Do yourself a favour & follow the link. She has her images stored in Webshots, which seems to be a very clever program that does not allow you to download & print the images. Pity because she was going to be my weekend inspiration, but I do appreciate her wanting to keep her very special style all to herself.

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my RAK, it's still on like donkey kong!!! Will put up my next 2 questions tomorrow & you have a week to answer (until next Thursday evening actually) so that I can hopefully post about it again next Friday. For now I am up to my eyeballs in cardstock, preparing a page for Journaling Junkie, so no time to hunt around the internet for a good question for ya! The answer to last week's questions were BASIC GREY and JUNE BUG. Will let you know tomorrow who is still in the running!

Happy weekend to you all ;-D



More of the same...


Still sticking with the same recipe here is no. 2 in my "Single Photo Scallop" range shall we call it LOL?! Some no-name brand glittered paper at the back & Bazzill vanilla scalloped circle cardstock laid over the top (If you are really adamant about saving you could cut the circle behind the cardstock out by tracing around a plate & using a craft knife but I was on a roll so didn't bother) The quality of the photo is not too good but I love how it depicts Camryn's daintiness so I really wanted to use it anyway. I had to zoom in a lot which explains the graininess. I layered FOUR strips of paper punched with my Fiskars Threading Water punch.

From top to bottom we have 1) Basic Grey Urban Prairie AGAIN 2) Bazzill swiss dot green 3) Making Memories Noteworthy spot (the reverse of the floral) 4) Red bazzill. The vertical strips are My Mind's Eye - Tres Jolie sticker strips (they have been available locally for YEARS - obviously whoever imported them seriously over-ordered!) & the shiny green strip at the side of & below the "2007" is from a set I bought at the Crazy (Dollar) store.

The glitter letter stickers are of course American Craft Thickers & the flowers are all Prima Basics reconfigured, with other little local extras, centres, etc & note that I have used the 3 *s from the Thickers set, as flower centres & to dot the "i" with. I have also taken to inking the edges of my flowers to tie in with my scheme if necessary - adds to their versatility. I don't feel the need to journal on these pages. I have plenty of journalling in my albums & these pages are just fillers using up left-over single photos that I still want to include.

I used to think it was "a waste" to create a layout for a single photo but for a while now I have become far more selective with the photos I actually TAKE in the first place, as so often they can be so similar, & when I upload them to my pc I try to edit them down further IMMEDIATELY in order to skim off the "less than best" photos again...so that the ones I actually scrap are now the ones I REALLY want. Or in a case like this, this was a stand alone photo depicting a physical characteristic, rather than an event. I love the freedom that comes with no longer HAVING to take enough photos to create a double layout crammed with photos. Not that I object to that type of layout IF I have the photos to justify it & if I can still create it in such a way that I still have some "white space".

Here in this close-up shot you can see a green spiky flower - that is actually a plastic part of some artificial flowers I was once given, that I saved when I eventually parted with the flowers (unfortunately they were too 3D to use on my layouts - otherwise you know I would have saved them LOL!) On top of it is a sheer flower that I was given at the 2007 convention, by one of the manufacturers but can't remember which one. You could recreate this effect by punching flower shapes out of vellum if you still have any of that awful stuff!

So there you have it - no. 2 of my many "Single Photo Scallop" layouts. A failsafe recipe really...

Thursday 27 August 2009

Layout photos at last!


Time is not on my side this week so I only have one layout to show you today. I have them all uploaded to my PC now so keep watching this space as I upload daily 'til you've seen 'em all! Remember to scroll down to Monday's post if you want to remind yourself about what inspired me to do these layouts (Katie Saylor's Page Maps Summer contest winning entry) etc, etc...

Who can tell I'd just come off the Prima site before creating this layout LOL???!!! Yes I did go a bit overboard on the flowers & the bling but I kept the background {scalloped} paper clean by choosing white. I love how the busy Jenny Bowlin paper comes through around the edges only...The bling is self stick {Thank Goodness...} but bigger than what I would have liked so doesn't give the perfect Prima swirl effect unfortunately. The patterned papers I used for the scallop punched strips at the bottom are Basic Grey Urban Prairie at the top & Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl underneath (yup - using up those older papers...) Love mixing manufacturers...

The letter stickers are also Basic Grey & the gorgeous velvet scallop ribbon is Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy from my Cocoa Daisy kit. Circle stickers are old Making Memories {Noteworthy perhaps??} - I raised the main one on some foamcore after adhering to cardstock & handcutting a flower shape then doodling around the edge with black dots. Flowers are a bit of everything...mainly Prima basics layered up in different combos. Used a cool American Crafts sunflower badge there at the top...some Fiesta Felt flower stickers {available locally online - see Doing Life on my blog roll of friendly & creative people!} My Claire's fabric flowers & last year's DCWV glazed brad.

So there you have it! Something to feast your eyes upon at last! And more on the way tomorrow...

Oh & by the way, I got the mat for the photo from behind the scalloped bazzill...just lay the scalloped cardstock on top of the print, measure in to see how much "border" you need & cut out the centre square to save paper - then place the plain on top of the print, just don't forget to leave a "seam" around the edge of the print so you have enough space to place your double-sided tape without it showing through!


Wednesday 26 August 2009

Prima Goodness


Have a look at these latest releases from Prima. Beautiful! Go & check out the wonderful Giveaway contest they have going on & take part - someone's gotta win! I am loving the more realistic looking flowers & definitely have them on my wishlist, aswell as the vines. Don't think there is any hope of getting them in South Africa any time soon though. Also love the pearly swirls & the "pebbles".

I am improvising as usual & bought 2 lovely satin rose hair elastics at Clicks over the weekend, cut off the elastics & kept the satin roses to add to my pages ;-D Also made a trip to Everlasting (Pine Street) recently & found some realistic looking artificial flowers too!!! Well worth the trip...cheap bling too...



Giving in to Temptation...{ & a bit about My Sister's Keeper}

The "Heat" review of My Sister's Keeper says " The Jodi Picoult cult hit finally made it to the big screen, but the movie is a lot more honest than that dreaded book"...well not having read the book I can't comment. I think it was a good movie but not a great one. I enjoyed Cameron Diaz's first performance as an older woman & thought she did a great job in a serious movie. The story line was actually very simple. Mother adores daughter & will do anything to save her...anything...but her love clouds her reasoning. That's it - quite normal. Sure we would all be the same.

Am more interested now in all the hype surrounding District 9, filmed in Joburg. Sounds like the perfect setting for a film about an inner city alien invasion. When I was there last I was shocked at how grey & dirty the high-rises were, not to mention all the broken windows & general collapse in the city centre. We got lost in Central Johannesburg - not fun - but I made the most of it & took some awesome photos of real slumdog urban living...




I've seen this around & about Blogland & tried to resist but you know how I love these things, so sorry to bore you but at least I can look back at this in the future & chuckle...


1. What’s the last thing you put in your mouth?

A sugar-snap.

2. Have you ever kissed anyone named Matthew?

Definitely not.

3. Who was the last person you rode in a car with under the age of 20?

My kids.

4. Can you play guitar hero?

I've never tried but would love to.

5. Last time you walked further than a block?

I've always wondered how far a block is...

6. How late did you stay up last night and why?

Late...We had a 2 hour powercut then I watched the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (set in Gaberone, Botswana, where I have family & have visited many times).

7. If you could move somewhere else, would you?

I'd close my accounts & pack up immediately.
8. Do you believe ex’s can be friends?

If necessary {ie:- for the sake of kids}

9. Do you like calling or texting better?

Texting. There are so many times that it's not convenient for me to speak, ie: when I'm with the kids or driving.

10. When was the last time you cried really hard?

Don't cry really hard.
11. Where are you at right now?

At the pc in the passage - a laptop is still on my wishlist.
12. What bed did you sleep in last night?

My own.

13. What was the last thing someone bought for you?

DH has just treated me to a whole USPS box full of Sassafrass Warehouse goodies!!! Love him!!!
14. Who took your profile picture?

Chelsea.
15. Who was the last person you took a picture of?

Jack - with his arm in plaster - he recently broke his hand.

16. Was yesterday better than today?

I enjoyed them both.

17. Can you live a day without TV?

I could live forever without it.

18. When was the last time you were extremely disappointed?

A few weeks ago.

19. Are you a bad influence?

No.

20. Night out or night in?

Prefer staying in but I can razzle on the right occassion!
21. Are you more of an individual or an outgoing person?

Can you repeat the question in English please???!!!

22. What items could you not go without during the day?

My car keys & cell-phone.

23. Would you share a drink with a stranger?

No.

24. Do you think it’s right for straight guys to get their tongue pierced?

As in, only gays do it???!!! I think it's fine for anyone to do it but why they would want to is beyond me...
25. Have you ever thrown shoes on a telephone wire?

Do people actually do that? Sounds like vandalism to me...what if the wire broke? And what about my shoe ???
26. What does the last message in your inbox say?

Hi Helen. Friday is good. See you then. D

27. How do you feel about your life right now?

Hmmm...how long did you say we have?

28. How many times have you been pulled over by the police?

Several - I drive too fast.

29. Do you hate anyone?

I wish I could...but no.
30. Did you have a Valentine this year?

DH is my Valentine every year.

31. Last person who phoned you and why?

My mother to tell me my sister is very ill in hospital.

32. Can you easily tell if someone is fake?

If we could conmen wouldn't exist..give me a while though & I'll crack you.
33. How’s your heart?

Honest.

34. Say you were given a drug test right now, Would you pass?

Yes. (Do you think many stoned people do this quiz??? Just wondering...}

35. What song is stuck in your head?

I gotta Feeling...Black Eyed Peas.
36. What do you have to do this week?

A lot.

37. Can you whistle?

Very well.

38. Do you sleep on your side, stomach, or back?

Side & back.

39. What gets in your way of your sleeping?

My mind.

40. Are your eyes the same colour as your mom’s or dad’s?

Neither. Makes you wonder huh???!!!
41. Do you think too much or too little?

Way too much. But I like it.
42. Do you smile a lot?

Plenty.

43. Why was the last missed call on your phone?

Because it was on silent as I was with a friend & prefer to give my company my undivided attention then return calls when I am alone.
44. Are you happy with your life?

Wow. That's quite a question. I love my life but I always want more.
45. Can you handle the truth?

Yes. It's lies I can't handle...
46. Do you get 8 hours of sleep everyday?

Hardly ever.
47. What was the last book you read?

Stacy Julian's "Photo Freedom."

48. Is there something you always wear?

Nothing in particular - {does underwear count?!}

49. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Sorting out my RAK.

50. Who was the last person to tell that they love you?

Reilly.

51. Are you an emotional person?

Who isn't?
52. What’s something that can always make you feel better?

Sleep.

53. Will this weekend be a good one?

How would I know - I can't predict the future?!

54. What do you want right now?

Get into a warm bed & read the Heat magazine.

55. Look behind you, what do you see?

Our bookshelf.

56. Have you ever worked in a food place?

Too long...it's called my kitchen!!! Seriously though, who didn't work as a waitress as a student...and who didn't hate it???!!!

Monday 24 August 2009

The weekend, the inspiration & the thought.



This weekend was a good one! Friday night saw dh & I grocery shopping together with our little one, who had been away on camp, so it was fun to have some time together & also to include her. As we suspected she fell asleep mid aisle so it was almost "just the two of us"... so we went out for coffee afterwards & managed a rare uninterrupted conversation. Saturday morning I took Camryn out shopping at a local mall as a little "mum & daughter" treat. She has become more demanding since she turned nine & less happy to "entertain herself" so we have been doing a bit of scrapbooking together & she has her own album on the go. We bought a couple of pillar candles & new candle stands as we have been experiencing power cuts here several times a week of late. Apparently all faults but obviously there is more to it. Either it is surreptitious load-shedding or cable theft. All in all annoying...

My two teenagers came & went, off to friends, Gateway & the rugby with dh faithfully carting them from venue to venue. Saturday afternoon I decided to settle down to some serious scrapbooking. Well I have hardly come up for air, although I did steal myself away to watch "My Sister's Keeper" with dh on Sunday night. It was a clever movie, apparently quite different from the book. Of course I spent a good portion of it in tears, as I'm sure a lot of the audience did! I was blown away by the scrapbook album featured in the movie & it reminded me why I am not really a gadget girl-always seeking out the latest die-cutting machine. It's because the way I scrapbook is like the girl in the movie, to get my message across in a fun & vibrant way, not a desktop publishing format.

I have spent some time this past week studying scrapbooking styles & on various manufacturer's websites being simultaneously inspired & overwhelmed. I have given some long, hard thought into "my style" & feel more set on the direction I want to move in right now, but more on that in another post.

For now here is the layout I have used for the inspiration of the nine layouts I have completed in the last few days. After being so bombarded with different "looks" all over the internet of late I wanted a break from it all to remind myself WHY I STARTED SCRAPBOOKING IN THE FIRST PLACE!

I found this
very simple layout that was easily customisable.

My criteria was that:-

A) I wanted to be able to enjoy the creative process with as little stress as possible,

B) while still creating eye-catching layouts to put in my albums,

C) and simultaneously ploughing through my stash and...

D) getting old photos out of my photo album & into my scrapbook

E) without worrying about the latest papers & embellishments, as the photos I wanted to use were all from at least a year ago so new product was not a huge consideration. (repitition of a "recipe" didn't matter either as all the layouts would be spread across the albums with at least several other pages in between).



This is the layout that inspired me. It is by Katie Saylor, who doesn't seem to have a blog, {I have googled her but only came up with a famous actress that I have never heard of LOL!} This was the winning entry in the Page Maps Apron-Strings summer sketch contest here recently. I never took part in the contest as quite honestly the sketch did not inspire me!


Well what I ended up producing looks very little like the sketch & slightly more like the layout, although of course each piece took on a life of it's own...The bad news is that due to the rain & grey skies I have been unable to photograph ANY of the layouts to show you!!! but I am hoping for a "better" day tomorrow {to be honest I LOVE rainy days...} so rest assured that I will be out photographing my handiwork at the first sign of sunshine.

For now I'll leave you with a quote I found in the August edition of Creating Keepsakes {Page 115} that I am planning to print out & use as the basis of an altered art frame I am hoping to start on this week. It is by Wilfred Peterson {who I have since discovered had some pretty worthwhile things to say!}

WALK WITH THE DREAMERS,
THE BELIEVERS, THE COURAGEOUS,
THE CHEERFUL, THE PLANNERS,
THE DOERS, THE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE
WITH THEIR HEADS IN THE CLOUDS
AND THEIR FEET ON THE GROUND.
LET THEIR SPIRIT IGNITE A FIRE
WITHIN YOU TO LEAVE THIS WORLD
BETTER THAN WHEN YOU FOUND IT.

Wow, that's quite a thought to ponder for the week ahead but I'm going to do it. How about you?

Saturday 22 August 2009

A NEW KIT! {Drool...}

I have made a new discovery! I am stark raving BONKERS about this new kit club! Take a look & tell me what you think....

It is really extra special in my opinion!

And look at these colours...exceptional co-ordination!!

These are all the close-up shots...(the brown cardstock is full of holes - like cheese!)

Just gives me goose-bumps...

It's definitely the most beautiful thing I've seen all month...

And you know anything with JB is good for me...


Okay the stamp isn't my scene but could come in handy...

I keep hoping I'll go off it but I am seriously in love! I have already done all the preliminary work & secured the best possible price but the catch is ALWAYS the massive shipping charge to Africa. I need 5 other South Africans to sub with me. I will post the kits on to you if you are not in KZN, charges for that will be additional as per your postage method & the padded envelope cost {as they will be arriving in one big box & need repackaging}. If you are keen to join me for a 3 month trial sub (Sept/Oct/Nov) please e mail me & I will let you know the costs involved & sign you up for my new kit club!

Personally I think for us South Africans ordering from US kit clubs makes more sense than online shopping from the States. Their websites are totally overwhelming & it is so time-consuming to choose items individually after all the surfing required to familiarise ourselves with what's hip & happening "out there". One also needs ALOT of money all at once in order to do one of these shops ALONE and fill an entire USPS flatrate box. So for me I would rather recieve my CD kit & this new one every month & be done with it.

I have calculated the saving on this (as opposed to buying it locally) although of course NONE of this IS available locally in any case, and the saving is VERY significant {at least R300 - USD$38 at the moment} & local prices are on the climb again - inexplicably...

So please E MAIL ME if you are interested in joining me on this one!



Friday 21 August 2009

Friday Surprise!

This is going to be a regular Friday post for the next 4 weeks! Yup, you have to be in it for the long haul for this one...but if you are I will make it worth your while with a pizza box chockablock FULL of stash...yes it will be old stash...otherwise I wouldn't be giving it to you...LOL...but I have plenty of Basic Grey & all brands & tonnes & tonnes of cardstock, etc!! Reason? Fun... Okay, really, as well as fun...well because Bloggy Dearest will soon {in 8 weeks} be a whole year old & I just feel like celebrating ;-D

So this is what you need to do...

1) Register as a Follower {rules are rules & I want my blog to look good so where's the shame in that LOL?!}

2) Guess what the BRAND and the LINE is of the products shown in the photos here today.

3) Leave me a comment giving me the answer
AND telling me why you follow my blog!

This is not gratuitous "fishing" going on here...it's just that I think it's time for a bit of feedback...

So that's not that hard right?! Join as a Follower{if you haven't done so already}, and leave a comment giving the right answer & why you follow my blog...easy!

Take part if you like, or don't. I'll still luv ya!

This is one of my favourites at the moment & it is from the CHA earlier in the year, not one of the latest releases.
This brand are prolific with their lines, so there's a good clue for you!

I DID NOT make this card {& can't remember who did...sorry...} but it is gorgeous & I think it's high-time I tried my hand at a coupla cards here & there...so watch this space...it could happen!


And I DID NOT CREATE THIS LAYOUT!!! But wish I had LOL ;-D Can't tell you who did or you will be off to her blog & then you'll find out too easily so I can always let you know once the RAK is over.

You can only be in to win if you leave a comment every week {answering the question I give that week,etc} for the FULL 4 WEEKS!!! Then {if there is more than one of you LOL} I will - get one of the kids to - draw a name for the winner} & will ship to you in Outer Mongolia if necessary. Yes, this is OPEN TO ALL!!! Even if you live overseas, no problem, you can count on it...

Win & your goods will be sent {albeit snail mail...but even that is pricey - but you should have your goods within 35 days...and that's how we have to do it here in Africa so welcome to our world - we order from the States & wait about a month for our goodies to arrive}.

I am intrigued by my Live Traffic Feed that often looks like this:-

With the only person I know on my blog being ME ;-D so I am hoping I might coax some of you out of hiding with this RAK too!!!

Thursday 20 August 2009

Look where I went!




I went here today
because I had a R200 (USD25) voucher to redeem {a perk one gets when buying season tickets to the rugby}. We've bought season tickets for the last two years & never used our vouchers until now. We get 6 vouchers each (dh & I) per season. Unfortunately they don't accumulate so if you snooze, you lose! So we have lost out on thousands of rands worth of vouchers & decided we really needed to investigate & get to grips with "how it's done"...so off we went.


And this is what we did there...


I had ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE as to what I was doing yet came away with R750 (nearly USD100!!!) and it cost me absolutely nothing...so I left rather gobsmacked & came straight back home, got online & found some treasures locally (no easy task let me tell you...)

Well I nearly fell off my chair when I found this (I don't need to tell you what it is...)

and these (on sale...) clearly unappreciated for what they are...

Just LOVED the Mimosa line..


And some other cuties that I just couldn't resist...

So all in all it's been a very good day! Funnily enough I decided a couple of days ago that I really needed to get serious about my prayer life & work on improving it & really being directional. One of my prayers specifically being "to be blessed financially" {a prayer I have never prayed before so blatantly but I am just tired of this year's struggle} then this...well I'm not saying that God blessed me in a casino...I'm just sayin'...{no such thing as luck so I know it wasn't that...}



Wednesday 19 August 2009

87 Blogs to Follow

Yikes! How does one cut it down? I have been refining & redefining my Blog Roll for a while now. Of course I read other blogs at times too but this is my weekly read...although obviously sometimes it takes a little longer...or I have to skip a bit here & there...because, really, 87 is quite a lot.

These are the peeps that are doing it for me right now. Take a look down my sidebar to see the hard work I have been doing (& chuckle at my titles) I have divided my reading into 8 sections.

1. Magazines 2. Manufacturers 3. Miscellaneous Scrappy Inspiration 4. Fantastic Scrapbookers 5. Kit Companies {the creme} 6. Inspirational Scrapbookers 7. Really Useful Blogs and 8. My bloggy friends {most of whom are also scrappers}.

Of course sometimes the lines are undefined as some blogs fit more than one category & I don't want to duplicate. If you spend some time looking at my categories you may find blogs you also enjoy. If so feel free to add them to your Blog Roll.

It has taken me months of blog hopping to put this little list together so you could save yourself a lot of time by checking out my faves, and, who knows, they could become yours too! Of course, this is all according to ME, because it's my blog LOL! I have given up on my Google Reader...I just don't like being told what to do & it always made me feel "behind" so I use my sidebar as a launching pad. So if you're looking for anything scrappy in particular you may just fin
d it here.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Scrappy Stash & Sticking it down some more!


I managed to find some Jenni Bowlin papers locally (online) so got VERY excited about that!

Also found some Bo Bunny that was quite cool & graphic...It's double sided & the one below the top one is the reverse-side (a nice take on tropical & good for last summer's pool pics!)

Then some good old American Crafts...just so sweet & happy! My 9 year old daughter (my baby) has grown out of pink & purple princess paper-type layouts so I thought this would be a good step up for her layouts...

Got some Thickers locally too! Priced pretty steeply I might add but was in totally dire need of some alphas...all outta "e's" and "a's"...you know how it goes with letter stickers!

Then found a few other fun products. Just love the tiny Making Memories alphas...always so useful...and got some Bazzill "Just the Edge" which I have been after forever {not the best colour but all they had...} and some DCWV jelly stickers priced at R50 on sale...not bad for all those! And they match my Cocoa Daisy kit papers from June perfectly. It takes about a month to get the kits so June is still only last month to me so still have a few left...

Am always a sucker for anything by My Mind's Eye & have always loved their little senitment cards (above)...then got these Scenic Route stickers for R9 a sheet {on sale}...that's less than ONE US dollar! I agree there are some pretty weird words there but for that price if I use hald the sheet it's still a good deal!

Had some fun making some layouts just for me for a change...have wanted to use the Pink Paislee bracket die-cut forever so finally did! Pretty sweet huh?! And note that I cut the outline out from my Love Elsie sticker sheet (the negative rather than the positive...double your money that way...){for the S & the I in Daisy}...& to think that I already had two cats, one called Cocoa & one called Daisy, before I even knew about Cocoa Daisy...that's gotta mean something???!!!

And here is the famous Mercy! I've actually done more layouts on her than Shane {better not overanalyse that one?!}

Loved this Penny Lane paper from My Mind's Eye but it was pretty challenging to use! A weird layout but I was trying to use up some old rub-ons & they were being very temperamental so I kept having to stick random things over the top of them LOL so it all became a bit too busy for my liking!

LOVE the one below but the family do not. But then again I'm never sure what to make of their opinions!

I was distressed to discover that NONE of my kids knew the song "Daisy, Daisy, tell me your answer do" {I'm so crazy all for the love of you...lalala...I could go on...} so had them all singing it by the end of this one ;-D

And here I managed to utilize some pretty random shots Chelsea had taken of the garden the other day...I realised they were quite significant in depicting the very little change that the seasons bring here...after seeing so many FALL layouts on display online I thought I would do my African spin thing on it LOL!

And this layout below is also one of my favourites...although again NOT a favourite of the household in general...It is very significant for me because a) It's completely true and b) It showcases one of my favourite songs of all time "Life for Rent" by Dido and c) Because I love that view & never cease to be captivated by it & never want to forget it.

So there you have it. A glimpse into what I have been up to this last fortnight or so...I've just noticed that the last 3 layouts are blue & remember saying recently that blue was one of the least used colours on my layouts. Just goes to show that sometimes it's just perfect for them though, which is why I'm never keen to pigeon-hole my style!