Sunday 30 September 2012

P.S. I LOVE YOU Layout - Creative Scrappers Sketch 228 - Glitz Design Cashmere Dame





Hi there.  Creative Scrappers reveal day today! Sketch 228
has just been released & here it is together with my DT layout.
I guess my page doesn't look too similar right
now but if you come back tomorrow for the
tutorial I've prepared for this page you will
see how the sketch inspired me - and you can 
see the patterned paper under my photos
follows the same design as the sketch :)




















Supplies List for P.S. I Love You Layout

Printed Papers - Glitz Design - Cashmere Dame -
Gingham, Cherries & Floral
White Cardstock - American Crafts
Red ink - Prima - Blossom Bud
Aqua ink - Martha Stewart - Ocean
Brick Mask - Crafter's Workshop - 6inch
Alphas - Basic Grey - Origins - Micro Mono Stickers
Butterflies - Martha Stewart Butterfly punch
Glass Buttons - Glitz Design
Bling - Prima
Stickers - Glitz Design
Punch - Martha Stewart Crafts - Floral Arches
Twine - Purple Pumpkin
Glitter chipboard butterflies - Bo Bunny



Friday 28 September 2012

'Cherished' Layout - Prima Product Pick September 2012





Hi there everyone!  Happy Weekend!!  The kids had their last day of school today so they have a week off now & already I have made 14 trips out & back just today!  They all went out tonight - with their respective friends - to different places - so I truly was 'mum's taxi' this evening :) 

It's almost midnight here & I'm squeezing this post in now in case I lose the internet again - been offline for a day or so here with a server problem & I need to get this challenge loaded before month end.  It's been pouring with rain so I had to take these shots indoors - will replace them when the weather clears up!

This month's Prima Product Pick has the most gorgeous colours.

I decided to play along FOR THE FIRST TIME!


I used some alterable Prima paper from 2008 that I recoloured with inks & water then stamped with a brick stamp & texturized with some gel medium and microbeads.


I used some gold pigment powder mixed in with my texture paste to create the brick wall behind the photo.


I used some gorgeous Scrap FX chipboard from Australia, that I embossed in gold & bronze.


I used various Winter CHA wooden and metal embellishments to match.


I hand-journaled unobtrusively in various places on the page.


I altered a Prima 'Namazzi' flower with microbeads & Diamond Dust to match.


Supplies List for 'Cherished' Layout

Bronze cardstock - stash
Prima Printable Paper - Iron Orchid Design #811273
Inks - Color Box - Dark Brown, Black, Chestnut Roan, 
Burnt Sienna, Yellow Cadmium
Brick mask - Crafter's Workshop - 6"
Modeling Paste - Reeves
Gold Pigment Powder - Barco
Gold Microbeads - stash
Gel medium - Claudine Helmuth
Glossy Accents - Ranger
Embossing Powder - Olde Golde & Bronze
Twinklets Diamond Dust
Brick stamp - Cocoa Daisy
Chipboard - Scrap FX - Steampunk Clockface, Stem - Reeds, Sign Post
Flowers - Prima (Namazzi, etc)
Die-cuts - Prima Rondelle
Lace - Prima
Metal lamp, metal cogs, wooden bird, sign & clock - all Prima
Journaling Pen - Schachihata 0.4

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend & manage to get some of those last minute challenges finished before they close on Sunday!




Wednesday 26 September 2012

Our Chix Layout - Guest Designer for Studio 75 {Poland}





I was offered a wonderful opportunity to Guest Design
for a new Polish company this month - Studio 75.  You
can check out their blog HERE.

Studio 75 GD
I got to work with their first collection "Summer & Latte." 

Studio 75 LOGO

Summer & latte 01 - 12x12`


Summer & latte 02 - 7x12`


Summer & latte 03 - 12x12


Summer & latte 04 - 7x12


Summer & latte 05 - 12x12


Summer & latte 06 - 7x12


Summer & latte 07 - 12x12

Summer & latte 08 - 7x12


 Summer & latte Alphabet - 2,2x12

  
Summer & latte - Cyfry - 2x12

Summer & latte - Znaczki - 2,2x12
S 75 Chipboard
This collection is very mild, subtle and delicate,
which makes it very easy to work with.



See HERE for a list of suppliers or buy direct from their store HERE.
One US$ is equivalent to 3 Polish Zloty so the complete set of papers
& elements at Z19.50 for 16 elements is about $6.  Bargain!



I used the letters and papers from Studio 75 but created
my own title 'Chix' {my daughter's nickname} with my
Ranger Liquid Pearls in Peacock.  To do this I wrote with
a pencil first then went over with the Liquid Pearls, 
using white cardstock as my base, and leaving it to dry 
overnight before fussy-cutting around my word.



All the chipboard you see is also from Studio 75 & I dressed 
it up with Ranger Liquid Pearls too.  The trick to avoid
spoiling your work is to do this just before you go to bed then
leave the pieces somewhere away from kitty paws to fry 
overnight as this product needs many hours to dry completely.



I created the dots around the photo with my Creative Memories
pen {the thicker ones that come in the set} which are prefect for
creating these uniform circles.  I dressed up my white cardstock
background centre section with stenciling & templates using inks.



As usual I put my Martha Stewart punches to good use,
inked up my edges as always & built up my background.



I used flowers from Prima, Petaloo & bloomer tape from Webster's
 Pages, as well as resin ones from my local Indian Sari store.



I chose a photograph with a strong palette {taken at night}
to contrast against the subtle papers for more POP & used
embellishments in brighter tones than the papers for a more
dramatic effect, yet still sticking with the bluey green shades.



Thanks for looking at my page!  I hope you are all 
enjoying a wonderful weekend!!  The rain has gone
away from Durban for the meantime so I am very 
happy about that!

Supplies List for 'Our Chix' Layout

Patterned Papers - Studio 75 - Summer & Latte
Base (03) Scallops (06) Banners (01) Photo Matt (07)
Chipboard - Studio 75 - Summer & Latte
Cardstock - American Crafts - White
Inks - Color Box - Chestnut Roan & Dark Brown
Stencils - Studio Calico & Crafter's Workshop 
(6" reverse chicken wire)
Pen - Creative Memories Brown - thick
Liquid Pearls - Ranger - Peacock, Mint Green, Baby Blue
Bloomers tape - Webster's Pages
Resin roses - stash
Turquoise flowers - Prima Everyday
Blue Flowers - Prima - Miss Godivas
Green Flowers - Petaloo
Punches - Martha Stewart Scallop Dot & Deep Edge Daisy Fan




Tuesday 25 September 2012

Free as a Bird - She Soars Layout {C'est Magnifique Guest Designer September 2012}




Hi there everyone!  I do hope you are well this fine Monday,
well Tuesday already for some over to the East!  I am in fine
fettle.  Spring has Sprung and being a born and bred African
warm weather brings out the best in me and I was back in the
gym first thing this morning & have a Zumba class booked
for first thing tomorrow morning!  When the sun is shining
and the rain has gone away then all is right in my world :)

Today I am sharing my 5th and last layout made for my
Guest Designer stint over at C'est Magnifique this month.
I had a blast there with Leslie and her team of fine designers
& thank them all most warmly for having me.  I only
have the main photo to show you, no close ups as they 
were lost on my hard-drive along with my last 6 months
worth of photographs :(  I will retake them soon!


I created the photo collage in Picasa after editing the photos
with the Focal B + W function.  I added a lot of depth and texture 
to the background paper first using gesso, gel medium, inks, 
mists and various stencils. I tucked some frayed bandaging 
under the photo collage, fussy-cut the hot-air balloons & tucked
 in some blooms & bling that I had split up from one flourish. 
 A Prima wooden bird, Heidi Swapp banner delights inked in lilac
& Dear Lizzy Thickers complete my layout.  


From my Own stash :-

Gesso & Gel Medium - Claudine Helmuth Studio
Chicken Wire Stencil - 12 inch - Crafter's Workshop
Reverse Chicken Wire Stencil - 6 inch - Crafter's Workshop
Inks - Color Box - Dark Brown, Burnt Sienna & Chestnut Roan
Lilac Ink - Pretty Color
Bandaging - stash
Journaling Pen - Schachihata 0.4

All papers from Riddersholm Design


Sunday 23 September 2012

2 New Design Teams for me & Featured at Prima!





Some of my blog friends are also my Facebook friends too
and we have a lot of fun there - I enjoy Facebook even tho'
I don't spend a lot of time there.  It's too time-consuming!

It's a good place to catch up quickly on snippets of news here
 & there & get an overview of what everyone is up to.  I
have it on my phone which is SO convenient although of
course I can't see the images clearly most of the time LOL!

I announced there a couple of weeks back that I had received
 some exciting news & a few of you have asked me to elaborate. 
 As frustrating as it is I'm not able to do that right now but I can 
say that I have 2 GREAT new Design Teams that I will be
 starting with.  One in November and one in January.  

I know!  It's ages to wait!!  I'm as impatient as you are! 
 For me of course I am dying to see what they send me!!  
What I can say is that one of the teams is based in the US 
and one is based in Australia. So there's a little clue for you!  

More good news too!  My layout 'Time Will Tell"was featured
 at Prima for their August BAP HERE.

Bap Helen Tilbury

Despite the very challenging sketch there were some
remarkable features & a lot of well-known names 
{and friends!} in the line up.  Congratulations girls!
Anything 'Prima' makes me go weak at the knees so
for me this is ultra-exciting!!  I blogged this earlier HERE.

So 2013 looks like it's set to go off with a bang!  I will be
having a roaring start as I have 2 new teams and am
staying on with 2 of the ones I'm on right now.  I'll be
sad to say goodbye to Creative Scrappers but I've had
2 terms there now :) 

 Have a great week everyone!!

***Just adding here that I often get Facebook requests
from people I have never heard of.  As I have my kids,etc
 on Facebook for safety reasons I don't accept those
requests but if we are blog friends & your name is
 familiar to me then of course I would love to be FB friends!***



Saturday 22 September 2012

A BIG Giveaway! {Don't forget about mine either!}






Hi there!  It's the weekend!! Woooooooo!!!  I just LOVE weekends,
mainly because hubby does the cooking {HUGE bonus} & he also
takes & collects the kids (doesn't this make me sound like a terrible
mother?!? LOL) BUT I just love being able to 'do my own thing' in
my studio and really 'get into the zone' which I find very difficult
during the week with the kids constantly needing to be taken,
collected, helped with homework, projects, etc, and that dreaded
time in the KITCHEN!!  Hats off to all you single mothers out there!

My dear friend Keren has a lovely giveaway going on right now,
over at her blog HERE so pop on over and leave your name in
the linky tool, and advertise for her for a second chance to win!


I also have a giveaway going on right now HERE where you can
win some yummy Glitz Design product.


You have until the end of the month to enter!
Hope you are all having a super-duper weekend!!




Friday 21 September 2012

Celebrate Layout {Berry71Bleu} Studio 75 Poland





* Copied over from the Berry71Bleu blog where I posted on Monday *

Hello there!  Helen here with my monthly project
for Berry71Bleu!  Isn't my tag just the cutest?!  Just
like my little girl {well she is a 'tween' now so not so
little any more!}.  Here's a look at the tag I was sent.


I used the beautiful "Summer & Latte" papers from our
Polish sponsor this month, Studio 75.


All the chipboard that you see on this layout also 
comes from Studio 75.  See their blog HERE.


I embellished with die-cuts from Pink Paislee 'Soiree' collection,
which really helped bring out the colours and add some 'zing'!


I used the new Donna Downey for Prima 'Poppies & Peonies'
stencil on my white cardstock base & hand journaled my story.


I used 4 different patterned papers from Studio 75 on this layout.
One to matt the photo, one as a punched strip, one as my base &
one for the border around the layout.  I inked all the edges to give
some depth & a bit more variation as the papers are beautifully subtle.


I used a metallic pen to doodle the circles around the edge of my
white cardstock and a thick 'Creative Memories' pen to create the
dots around the border of my photograph.  I hope you enjoyed my
page today & that your week is going well for you so far!

Supplies List for 'Celebrate' Page

Papers - Studio 75 - Summer & Latte -05 - photo matt
Studio 75 - Summer & Latte - o3 - Edging
Studio 75 - Summer & Latte - 01 - Base
Studio 75 - Summer & Latte - 07 - punched strip
White cardstock - American Crafts
Punches - Martha Stewart - Flower Bed Deep Edge Punch
& Deco Flowers
Tag - Berry71Bleu
Inks - Ocean {Colorbox} Yellow & Green {Pretty Color}
Maroon - Prima - Blossom Bud
Stencils - Donna Downey for Prima - Poppies & Peonies
The Crafter's Workshop - 6' Brick Stencil
Chipboard - Studio 75 - Summer & Latte
Embossing Powder - American Crafts - Aqua - Zing
Pens - Creative Memories & Pental Superball Metallic
Resin & doily - stash
Mist - Maya Road - Granny Smith Apple Green
Maroon flower - American Crafts - Thickers Asterisk
Embellishments - Pink Paislee - Soiree
-----------------------------------------------------

Don't forget our challenge that runs through 'til the end of the
month.  It's easy peasy - create a layout with some element
of STEAMPUNK in it - use our image for your inspiration.


I've included a definition to give you a hand!

Have a wonderful weekend all!!