Saturday 31 October 2009

Definitely an "Out of the Box" layout for me...

I "followed" a sketch for this layout {flipped it...} - the one above from this month's selection at Pencil Lines. I don't "do" circles generally...why I don't know...just don't gravitate towards them, so I did this as a personal challenge - to "stretch"' myself. The end result is kinda weird, but anyway! Another layout done...

Printed paper:- Prima "Delight" {Harmony Collection} Backing paper. Floral d/s paper:- Prima "Breeze" {Harmony Collection}. Alpha stickers:- American Crafts Thickers - Typo - Mustard. Flowers:- Prima. Velvet floral ribbon:- Prima Elysee Collection. Polka dot ribbon:- American Crafts. Gemstone Brads:- Chatterbox Deluxe brads {Fabulous Collection}. Paper flower with bling centre - Sassafras. Computer journaling & smaller circles:- various offcut papers.

BTW Jelly Tots are local sweets that are somewhat of a South African institution here...tiny little sugar-coated jelly sweets that are very popular with young & old alike.

They are brightly coloured - hence my rather bright colour choice!

I gathered the ribbon up by simply folding it along the circumference of the circles onto some pre-applied double-sided tape then secured it with some cellotape then readhered it to the base.

And there you have it...I added the paper Sasaffras flower with the blingy centre {above} & the glittery brads {spot the 4 on the layout...} as they look kinda like jelly-tots themselves. Happy Weekend to you all!


Thursday 29 October 2009

Daddy's Little Girl


I took this photo of Chelsea & Shane cooking on Sunday afternoon not long ago. I had to edit them to oblivion because neither of them was looking their best, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the closeness they share & the way they delight in sharing everyday tasks together.

Printed paper:- Prima Morning Song Collection "Chattering". Plains:- Colourmates Lime green & Bazzill Dark Purple. American Crafts foam thickers - "Daiquiri". Dark purple velvet flower - taken off hairclip. Prima "Say it in Pearls" self-adhesive embellishment flourish. American Crafts polka-dot ribbon. Prima "E"Line crystals - purple. Blue velvet brad & fabric-covered brads- Sassafras Lass. Paper flower embellishments - Sassafras. Polka dot & hexagon print brad - Basic Grey Lemonade. Machine-stitching. Inking with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inkpad (Lime Pastel) & Turquoise.

I'm so glad I subscribe to Cocoa Daisy kits because they keep me in Thickers! {My fave alpha stickers}

My Sassafras warehouse box included an eclectic selection of brads in various sizes & textures.

I've got my sewing machine out permanently positioned on a small table in my bedroom now so it's quick & easy to add a row of stitching here & there...

The green scalloped card seen here {at the top of my layout} & under the lettering is the backing card from the Prima pearls. The calendar card I saved from a little freebie calendar {I cut up the months & have them in a caddy on my scrappy desk}|- I just crinkled it up in my fist then inked along the creaselines. So there you have it - a layout to add to Chelsea's {beautiful WRMK Country Blue ... yes she has one now...} album!!!


Wednesday 28 October 2009

Wednesday Reveal



I suddenly got attacked by a pang of conscience & an "obligation to my stash" attack & completed 4 layouts yesterday! Having recently acquired some blinging pearls (Prima - the real deal) from my dear friend Jacqui, recently returned from Australia & some more from my online friend Vicki, I decided that I needed to see what could be done with my little haul. As you know Mercy recently had her daughter Farai visiting so I made sure to snap a quick pic of them together on her last night & have made a layout which I have framed for Mercy for Christmas.

Cardstock:- Bazzill Dark Brown. Printed papers:- Pink - Prima Whisper Collection - "Flutter" . Green - Prima Whisper Collection "Sigh". Inks - White, Pink & Copper 93 Versa-Colour. Pearl butterflies - Prima. Pearl self-adhesive beads - Prima E Line pearl crystals. Velvet floral ribbon - pale pink - Prima Elysee. "Love" ribbon & gold adhesive sticker strip- local craft store. Brown Velvet Flower - taken from hair clip. White paper flowers - Prima. Pink flowers & leaves - Sheet Street. Self-adhesive rhinesone button - Jenni Bowlin. Pink self-adhesive bling strips - Everlasting. American Crafts Thickers (alpha stickers)- foam - Rockabye. Gold Glitter glue - Bostik. Gold Pen - Uniball Signo.

I buy the bling in 10cm strips - designed to use on cellphones - as that is all that is available here - but you can bend it into swirly designs.

I found the brown velvet flower at Gateway over the weekend, in a handbag shop! It was attached to a hairclip so I carefully prized it off. I have 3 dark purple & 2 chocolate brown as those are the only colours they had.

There was even more bling in the centre of the flower so I adhered a Jenny Bowlin rhinestone button to tone it down somewhat.

I distressed the top of the green print & inked with a bit of pink. Glad I could finally use the "Love" ribbon I have had for years!

Tommorow I will upload the next layout ;-D


Tuesday 27 October 2009

Online Class & Scrappy Shopping


How cool is this? Iris Babao Uy is teaching an online class for only R40! I'm all booked & paid & can't wait to take part. And the best thing about it is that all the proceeds are donated to charity. So not only will we have tons of FUN but we'll be helping to make the world a better place at the same time. That sounds like a win/win situation to me! You can find Iris's blog here - that link will take you straight to the post you need. There is a link there for you to follow to Pay Pal.

If you don't know Iris's work you should go take a look. Awesome loveliness...

10/04/2009

A Class For A Cause (01)

Hello everyone. Our country has recently been ravaged by the tropical storm Ondoy (International name: Ketsana). This site will show you the damage brought about by the storm. Hundreds have perished and thousands are left homeless. Families are cramped in evacuation centers without enough food and medication. Children are becoming sick and so much work needs to be done. A lot of children are suffering from lack of medication, basic supplies, and food.

Children - Ondoy

In an effort to help the victims in whatever way I can, I am offering an on-line class in which all proceeds will go to the donations for the victims of Ondoy. "Enjoy The Process" is a layout class that is all about having fun and enjoying the process. It will be freestyle with lots of embellishments and photos. Plus, there will be NO PATTERNED PAPER at all, except for the cardstock which is meant to support the fabric layout.

Teaser 4

The class will be taught via a blog which will go live on November 6. The blog can be accessed only by those who purchased the class. A detailed supply list will be emailed to you one week before the class goes live. We will also have a section in the blog where all the participants can share their work.

Thank you in advance for your support. The on-line class costs only $5.00 U.S.

The latest news is that Prima are giving away one awesome stash-pack too! Anyone going to join me???!!!

Next up is a sneaky peaky of some goodies my darling DH bought for me to use on our family albums, on our recent sojourn through Joburg, aswell as some of the contents of the Sassafras Warehouse box recently received.

All those Sassafras buttons are pre-threaded & pre-glued so all one needs to do is stick 'em on! The woodgrain paper you see is sticky-backed contact paper {basically wallpaper} that I found locally at the Hypermarket. Woodgrain paper is big news right now & impossible to buy here as far as I know so this is a good substitute & reasonable priced at about R20 {USD$2.67} per roll. Not sure how much is on the roll but it looks like a good few metres so I should be in wood-grain paper for the rest of my life!

The "Carefree" chipboard sentiment I found in Joburg & comes from local manufacturer, Enmarc, who are doing a sterling job at creating world class chipboard embellishment at very reasonable prices. The flowers & ribbon were purchased with my Botswana photos in mind & the the ones at the top - "Easily Suede" - are made of soft, gorgeous, imitation suede fabric. An interesting twist on the basic flower...


I got a couple of Heidi Swapp pre-glued chipboard alphas. I chose pink as it was the lightest colour, so that I can re-ink or paint the letters if necessary. As you can see there are plenty of vowels in these alpha stickers & the font is very clear & straightforward - making these a firm favourite for me.

How are you all getting on with your December Daily? If you are anything like me the answer will be "not very well"...I have decided on a less ambitious project than last year, in the form of an A4 "mini" album , bound with metal book rings, using up my older Christmas papers. Yup, I am not buying ANY new papers this year. I have been given ONE sheet of fancy die-cut MME paper from their new Christmas range & everything else paperwise is going to be taken from my stash. I am going to be using a few new bits & bobs in the form of Making Memories alpha stickers & chipboard buttons & found these great Fiskars border strips in Joburg.

Thinking of taking Iris' class?

How are you planning to record your Christmas memories this year?


Monday 26 October 2009

Weekend Photo Post


This weekend I decided to take a complete break from scrapping & enjoy my family, which I did immensely. I finally loaded the photos from my little digital camera onto the computer & found a photoshoot I had done of Cami at a party a few weeks back. The camera is soooooooo bad that this was the only shot that was worth saving. I'm too self conscious to go everywhere with my big Nikon DSLR so at times like these I use my small, inconspicuous one & get very average shots, despite the 10megapix. I still love this photo & can see the change in Cami & how she is growing up, aswell as how much longer her hair is.

I took this one of Jack a few weeks ago whilst in the waiting room at the doctor, when he was about to get his cast removed from his hand/arm. He put on my glasses & I took a few shots of him being silly, this one being the only one worth keeping, but we both enjoy looking at it & having a giggle...

On Saturday afternoon I ventured off to Gateway alone, in the hopes of getting some Christmas shopping done. I really enjoyed some downtime on my own & a good look around but came back almost completely empty handed. As I had parked down the Cinema Nouveau end (because Shane was joining me in the evening to watch a movie) I had a good look at the furniture shops, bearing in mind that we are house-hunting at the moment. So much of what I saw looked like the photo below - shopsoiled - and still marked full price! So that was rather worrying...

I loved these reclaimed & distressed picture frames I found at Loads of Linen & Living - can't WAIT to decorate a wall in our new home with some of these!

And, for the first time ever, I walked into "Tall Trees"...I loved it! The woman within was so nice & let me have a good look without hassling me with any type of sales talk at all, which was a pleasant change for these parts, & I found an awesome dresser which I would love for our new dining-room. For now though I came out with only a trivet - but a mother of all trivets it was & a beauty!

I haven't measured it but I reckon it's about 10" across so it's pretty massive & it weighs a tonne!

It sits in the centre of our dining room table but I tried to photograph it against the wall to give you a clearer look at the design, as the red & white table-cloth is rather busy & distracting.

I found these artificial palms & ornamental banana trees & just had to photograph them for Cami, who wants to change her bedroom theme from Pink & Purple to "Hawaai!" so I thought the palms would be perfect for her new look...

Not sure if her new bedroom will have space for a ceiling height palm tree but it sure would be fun for her if we could squeeze one in!

I found & purchased these 2 photo boxes from "Mr. Price" to use for our Botswana holiday photos. One is for our family & the other is for Granny, so her next gift is sorted. These photos aren't the best because I had to take them inside today, using the flash, because the weather has been rainy & overcast of late. I chose the more intricately designed box for her & the simpler brown linen one with the bead detail for us.

My plan is to print the photographs out 4" x 6" {10 - 15cm} with a white edge & mount them onto chocolate brown bazzill & hand-journal on them using a white "milky" pen. I may lightly embellish them as long as there is nothing too 3D as I want them to all sit flush within the boxes. I thought this would make an interesting change from adding them to the next "Holiday" album & varies a bit from the standard mini-album too. My next task is to print the photos I have edited so I hope to be able to complete that this week.

I popped into "Claire's" & loved all the summer handbags they had on display. I thought the "Live, Love, Laugh" bag was rather scrappy looking & am considering buying it for Chelsea as her summer beach bag - maybe as one of her Christmas gifts!

We watched a movie called "The Informant" starring Matt Damon. It is based on a true story & was riveting. I dare not say more in case any of you choose to watch it but I highly recommend it. Sunday saw us out on the hunt again & we found the perfect house! Of course the only downside was the price...always the case! We are not in a rush to buy as we are still tying up loose-ends but we are ALL IN AGREEMENT that this is THE house & to get all 6 of us to agree on a house has been impossible until now!


Friday 23 October 2009

This is the Fall of your Life


Today was delightful. All the kids finished early because it was the Matric's last day of school & the new line-up for next year was announced, Head Girl/Boy, etc. Before collecting them I met with a friend for coffee & grocery shopping at Gateway, where I needed to exchange some shoes dh had bought in two different sizes {I mean, who does that???!!!} ;-D Finally we had some groceries in the house {I have been too busy scrapping to think of much else LOL!} so we all enjoyed a delicious lunch & now my teens are out & about gallivanting & my two littlies are enjoying their downtime. Life is good...

Here is a layout I completed yesterday. Recently my mojo has returned & I feel inspired to create!

Here is a close-up of my journaling but I have typed it out below as it's photographed rather tiny here.

"In the SPRING of your life you were just a little girl in awe of all around you & hung on my every word

In the SUMMER of your life you were a child enchanted by your life but still very much a mummy's girl

In the FALL of your life you are a teenager, delighting in the camaraderie of your peers & convinced you know best

In the WINTER of your life you will be an adult, making your own decisions & then realising that I only ever wanted the best for you"

Yeah that's machine stitching!

I love the Sassafrass letter stickers I used here (the big white ones with the dark red outline).

The flowers are pretty good Prima look-alikes I think...

Bazzill cardstock - brown
Metallic cardstock - copper
Craft board
K & Co. Wild Saffron Decor Stripe
Basic Grey Doilie (inked with Versa Color metallic pigment inks in "93 Copper" & "94 Bronze" & Gold
Photos edited & printed using Picasa Collages
Font - Lucida Calligraphy
Transparency (used to print journaling on)
Thread (Burgundy) used for machine stitching
DCWV Glittered Chipboard flower & butterflies (recoloured using Versa Color metallic pigment inks "93 Copper" & "94 Bronze"
Flowers & metal leaves purchased at local craft store
Prima "Love" pebble
Sasafrass Lass "Item #21105 Robotics" cardstock alpha stickers
Scenic Route Chestnut Bristol alpha stickers
Making Memories Glitter alpha stickers
Dodz adhesive dots
Tombo Mono Multi Liquid glue
Double-sided tape

I have been eyeing out so many scrumptious Fall Layouts on the Internet recently that I really wanted to create my first one EVER {as we don't have a defined Fall/Autumn where I live as there is not a vast contrast between the seasons} & had these photos of Chelsea, taken recently in Botswana, which looked "Fallish" {is that a word???!!!}. I didn't know how I was going to make it actually pass as a "Fall" layout though, then inspiration hit me & I came up with the journaling! So there you have it...

End of year madness reigns my side as & I have a full agenda of functions to attend next week & the kids need my help with various projects, etc so my presence here may be rather scarce but I will try to keep popping in with a post here & there if possible!


Thursday 22 October 2009

Oh the Places you'll Go! {aka Link Thursday}




How would it be if I attempted to post some of my favourite links every Thursday?
I don't like to write anything in stone but I think that could be quite fun for a while, considering that I have now removed all my links from my sidebar & moved them over to my private blog {this is working very well for me by the way}. I haven't forgotten about the Calendar Series & will go back to that as & when as there are still 8 more months to go, which I will cover in 2 weekly instalments, but as I am bored with it, I figure you must be too, so we'll take a break from that for the time being. I also have a new layout to share this week but am going to try to reserve Mondays & Fridays as reveal days.



I took this awesome photo from a blog I have been following for about a year now - Colour Lovers - it is not a scrapbooking blog, but has some awesome inspiration regarding colour schemes in particular & is a site I highly recommend if you are looking for your mojo...

Now for a new blog {new to me & also newly created}. I am popping in here regularly as there is always some interesting information to be found - The Paperlife -a bit of everything so shouldn't lose interest... interviews, inspiration, tutorials, scraproom tours, the list goes on...

Because I'm going through a bit of a Prima phase at the moment I'm enjoying their blog, full of ideas & often giveaways, etc, too - the Prima blog. It's full of inspiration, interviews {one recently with one of my fave scrappers, Nic Howard, Queen of the Layers} and more...

At the other end of the scale {think HAPPY not PRETTY} I love to hang out on the Sassafras Blog because their products are just so cool...there's no way you can't love them...and their blog is packed full of inspiration & give-aways. By the way, I received my Warehouse Sale box FUUUUUUUUUUULLLLL of Sassafras Goodness just before I left for Botswana, and boy, was it worth the money. I got MASSES of stuff & worked out that the prices were unbelievably cheap by SA standards. (How it works is you pay a set price for a medium sized Flatrate box PAAAAAAAAAAACKED with an assortment of "old" {3 - 6 months behind their latest range} stuff). Will definitely be doing THAT again...Their site is one of my regular haunts - bright, fun & friendly!

Well I think that's enough for a day...Hopefully you will find something there that will appeal to you & you may just add it to the list of "Blogs you Follow". I've managed to whittle my list down from 87 to 65 so I actually have time to scrap too! Follow any of those blogs already? Let me know what you think...If not, let me know if you've been inspired by any of the links, or if you're in a rush, you can always pop back in once you have a chance to go take a looksee.



Wednesday 21 October 2009

How to Download a Font




This weekend was the first time I attempted to download a font. I am always slightly nervous & procrastinatory about things that are "unknown" to me, but I really am getting sick of the selection of fonts {large as it is} on my pc. I had heard of a site called 1001 Free Fonts. I took a look. It appeared that most of these fonts weren't free after all {go figure...} then I remembered another name I had come across in several of my Scrapbooking magazines. Da Font. Here I found loads of fancy fonts, although what I am really after are more script fonts, ie:- the handwritten/typed type one would use for journaling more than titles. Anyway, I did find a few, and yes, they were free.

Downloading them was a breeze as there is a button on the right of each font example that says DOWNLOAD. When you hit the button a pop-up box appears - choose SAVE FILE. It will then download to your default destination. I configured my pc a while back {can't remember what I did though!} to get my desktop as the default place for all my downloads to "land" as they were all going to my documents {which doesn't seem to sort them alphabetically BTW} and as there was a lot in there I was finding it time-consuming to locate my downloads within My Documents. I suggest you do the same before you start downloading fonts, digital files for digital/hybrid scrapping, etc.

So here I am...downloading fonts at last! But...now I have a zipped file sitting on my desktop & I'm thinking...okay, you look good there but what now???!!! So here is a very quick step-by-step for other cyber dummies out there {like me!} on what to do next. Yes, you've downloaded the font, but now you need to add it to your list of fonts so you can actually make use of it! You need a program called "Winzip" to download zipped files. I am not sure if there is any other program that allows you to download zipped files {which is the format all fonts & digital elements I have so far downloaded come in}. Winzip is not free. You have to pay for it, but if you want to "get with the program" as far as starting to investigate digital & hybrid scrapping, downloading fonts, etc, there is no way around purchasing it as far as I know. I had my IT man install it months ago although I have actually only really started using it recently.


Left double click on the file on your desktop {it will look like a little yellow folder with a zip running through it. A box will open with test on the left that says "Extract all files" - click this - now a box will pop up that says "Extraction Wizard" - click next - now another box will come up with the title "Select a Destination". DO NOT CLICK NEXT as the default destination {in blue} is NOT where you are able to utilize a font. Rather click "Browse" underneath the highlighted blue text in the browse box. Choose MY COMPUTER by clicking on it. Now choose "Local disk C" by clicking on that. Now scroll down to WINDOWS and click on that. Lastly scroll down and select "Fonts" & click on that! When you do this you may see ANOTHER fonts folder below. DO NOT CHOOSE THIS. Choose the first fonts folder. Now click OK {finally!}

If you look at the browse bar {the one highlighted in blue} on your Extraction Wizard box it should now read C:/WINDOWS/Fonts. {the slashes/slanty lines actually face the other way but I don't have a key for that on my keyboard! Now click NEXT. Tick/check the box that says "Show extracted files" then click Finish & your Wizard will complete the process. Now a whole page full of little icons will appear {these are all the fonts you have in your computer} with their names beneath them. Scroll down to locate your font. While working minimise the Dafont site so you can call it up again if you forget the name of your font as you need to ensure that it has downloaded & to do that you need to locate it alphabetically. Yay it's there! Now you can close up & open Word & "Hey Presto!" there's your font...

Now I don't know about you but I always ask myself why all these sites can't just have simple step-by-steps to help us utilize all the loveliness they have on offer. I almost always regret clicking "Help" as this often serves to confuzzle me further. From my {limited} experience I have found that the best way to learn is through common sense, trial & error & now that I have worked it all out I need to WRITE IT ALL DOWN because, unless I do it every day, I fear that I may go "back in" one day & not remember how I did it! So here it is, all written down for me, & I hope that it may help some of you out there too...Tell me, do you download fonts regularly too & do you ever pay for them?



Tuesday 20 October 2009

Who wouldn't want to win this!


Prima loveliness...Just copy & paste this entire post to your blog then log into the Prima Blog & leave a comment with your link! Easy peasy...

This time we have an AMAZING selection of gorgeous NEW products from Prima!

The orange and yellow hues in our choices this month reflect the changing leaves on trees as we enter into Fall, and are perfect for a variety of seasonal projects! Halloween, Fall and Thanksgiving are just a FEW ideas for using these products. (They would also fit in for spring & summer for our international scrappers.)

If you would like to WIN a few of these products simply peek below for details!

Prima Product Pick Oct

Today's Picks Include:
  • Tropics Paper-840976
  • New Alpha Letter Stickers in Orange and Yellow-531096, 531102
  • Trellis Roses in Orange and Yellow-533144, 533151
  • Jewel Box Butterflies-532376
  • Say It In Pearl Centers-530679
  • Sultan Centers in Autumn Gold-535094
  • Gypsy Petals in Burnt Orange and Goldenrod-531621
  • Donna Downey Wildflower Iron-On-920234
  • Country Elegance Hydrangeas in Orange-533465
  • Parlor Petals in Sunflower Yellow-534423
  • Crystal/Pearl swirl in Burgundy-530471
  • Gossamer Wings in Dark Orange-533953
  • Medicci Flowers in Orange-532949

Here are a few samples using these FUN products:

Prima - sisters
--featuring Parlor Petals by Jo-Anne te Raa Chater


Adri6
--Gypsy Petal and new alphas by Adrienne Looman


Cari walkonthebeach (Large)

--featuring Medicci flowers and Tropics paper by Cari Fennell


Brittany art close-up
--featuring a Gossamer Wing Butterfly by Brittany Laakkonen


Jen Engaged j (Large)
--featuring Parlor Petals by Jen Jockisch


Sharon Breanna layout 2 (Large)
--featuring a Jewel Box Butterfly & Pearl/Crystal swirl in burgundy by Sharon Laakkonen



.......................................................................................................................................

Each month we will be posting some of our FAVORITE picks and post them right here.

What would we like you to do:

1. Post this Prima Pick photo or whole entry on your blog (or other online gallery/site)

2. AND then post your link right here in the comment section.

(You are welcome to make a project with our PICKS too! We would love to see the link to your project.)


We will randomly pick a winner a month later from the links posted and send you a prize pack!



Monday 19 October 2009

Journaling Junkie Challenge 67.


Herewith my latest design team submission. Challenge spec: Journal your guilty pleasures.

Backing Cardstock: We R Memory Keepers. Doilie: K & Co Que Sera Sera, (used the reverse side & glittered). Black cardstock: Bazzill Basics. Horizontal photo-strip (raised on 3D board). Photo strips cut from Picasa Collage A4 size with 12 photos. Journaling strips typed onto photopaper using Renaissance font (free from Da Font). Turq & black velvet floral strips - Prima. Alpha stickers - Basic Grey. Cellphone Bling - Everlasting (cut into strips & bent to shape). Pearlescent Heart (removed from broken alice-band) Fan embellishment- made from Making Memories printed paper. Butterfly - Cocoa Daisy kit. Tissue paper-taken from new shoe packaging - to represent the packaging used at upmarket lingerie shops.

I loved this challenge. For my photoshoot I laid everything out on a flat surface by an open french door, covered with a co-ordinating cloth & used a feather boa as a pretty accessory.

This challenge runs until Friday 30th October (12 midnight GMT) so you have plenty of time to submit. There is a prize up for grabs if 5 or more entries are received!