puppy update

How cute is this little guy? Well the puppies are almost 4 weeks old now and the sight of 12 little balls of fur running on the lawn is quite the picture. The one cuter than the next and all so lovable. They are now at the stage where they are looking for things to chew on and play and simply love being outside. There is one specific one that is of course the naughty one and he was the first to climb over the little wooden fence and sit outside on the lawn - did you say naughty...mmmmm maybe adventurous.
Needless to say they are a sight - and it is then that you realise how great God is. These puppies are so innocent and are quite content with eating, sleeping and playing and life could not be more fulfilling or simple for them. Maybe just maybe there is a lesson in there somewhere for us humans. Have a wonderful puppy day filled with love!

in awe...and inspired

Thanks to Laurie Mika for the inspiration of her mixed media art works! This project is right up there with the best things in life - having fun and being creative. Thanks to the girls for playing with clay, the coffee, the chats, the inspiration, the free goodies and for just being there! We have had so much fun creating these canvasses - and using a lot of stamps and things long forgotten.

I'm not sure if this canvas will be in this golden frame fro sure...there may be another creation in a different colour for this one, but it will definitely be frame and hung soon...like today once it is totally dry.


Using pigment powders to add colour to the clay...

Linita's gold leafed rubber thingies...gorgeous!


Ceramic heart from Seedpod Studio in Fourways!


A collection of stamps, texture plates, golf leafing, mosaic tiles and lots of stuff!
Let me know what you think....the real thing does look much better than the photos...but just wanted to share whats been keeping me busy and inspired!
Have a great day!

cold evenings...sees me creating stuff

With the colder evenings I tend to wanna climb into bed early and just snuggle down...but then the creative urge sometimes gets in the way and well then I just make stuff. Why - because I can! This house template was designed by Linita a friend and put together with my own type of construction. OK so building was never on the cards as a career opportunity for me.

I wanted to make it a pretty little hide away and opted for the floral patterned paper with a vintage feel and look. I used elements found on my table as usual and then just added random elements.

This is one of my favourite things....if you are South African and more likely Afrikaans then chances are you know the game "Boereplaas". Well this vintage playing card is from that came. I remember as a kid we played the game on the farm with my grandparents and these are some of the remnants left over after my brother got hold of it.
I have to say strange how things change - we never had an affinity for old things until lately.
I collect old things to use in my projects and my brother now runs, buys and sells old vintage antiques in a store in Cape Town. He who could not value anything old back then...now a fine collector of valuables..mmmm. there's hope! Oh, and yes he does have a list of things I am looking for.
The roof was painted in a layer of gesso and then dark brown acrylic paint to make the textures pop. I used a baby wipe to remove some of the paint and worked the rest into the textured areas for a nice contrast.

Vintage people for a vintage home. These image are from Tim Holtz Distressables sheets. They are so fun to work with and compliments the rest of his product lines perfectly. The pink embossing on the flowers are Weathered Rose Distress Embossing powder. The number 55 is the number of my previous home in Sandton and a happy place for me.

The bow is from a soft toy the dogs are playing with...so I truly spotted the potential when they were done chewing the piece of ribbon and it landed on my desk - like pretty much everything else. The pin...well same story! From a convention kit I disassembled.
So here's to cold nights, snuggling up in bed, creativity, home sweet home and a happy place!

Supplies: Kit Scrapbook Direct. Patterned paper K&Company. Images & Metals Tim Holtz. Embossing powder Ranger Industries. Rub-ons 7Gypsies. Paint Making Memories. Other Diamantes, fabric, pin, flowers, stamps, ink, gesso & buttons.

published

I have been blessed with some of my cards being published in the latest issue of Take Ten magazine. I am yet to receive my copy and will then post some pictures of the cards...as I took none of the actual projects and didn't give it much thought to be honest.
Take Ten magazine publishes quick cards that can be made in ten minutes or less. So these are really easy and quick cards but with loads of inspiration. My cards have a baby theme but could so easily be adapted to boys, girls, men or women.
Thanks so much to the staff at Stampers' sampler for picking my work - it is always a great honour to be acknowledged by the best in the industry!
I am spring cleaning and hoping to finish off some layouts with titles, journaling and stuff to post later this week. Have a great day!

puppy debut

OK..so here they are as requested by many of you. Our little puppies. We have tried to distinguish them but so far there are 4 boys, 8 girls and 3 whitish ones.
Their eyes opened on Saturday and they are already tackling the world head first. Too cute to see how they recognize their mommy and go charging to get to the milk canisters first.
Yes ...I know they are adorable! There's nothing quite like puppy breath, little waggly tails and soft fluffy ears. God truly is amazing in the little details He puts into each new life.

So how many can we keep?


The thought of 12 little pups running around the garden...aaahhh the photo opportunities!
Now sit there and look that way and just look cute please!

feel good friday

Feel good Friday layout. I'm posting it early just because I can. Just one request -for those who feel they have the right to teach the layouts off this blog and not credit me for my work, well good on you. I am glad to see you are not faced with the moral dilemma of using other people's work and passing it off as your own. And if you don't feel that I deserve the credit that is fine too. I just find it sad that when people inspire others to do similar work or projects they can't even give the person credit. Again, there's a ray of sun that is worth shining on me too. On a lighter note - I enjoyed this layout. The patterned papers were chosen for their beauty and the fact that they picked up the colours in the photos perfectly. The journaling was printed on Japanese paper with gold leaf potpourri flecks in them - just love that paper too much! The black square is stamped and then coloured with perfect pearls(not clearly visible here) to add a touch of bling.
Hope you have a wonderful day, and count your blessings no matter how small!
Supplies: Cardstock Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper K&Co, Webster's pages, 7Gypsies & Basic Grey. Metal Frames Tim Holtz. Sticker 7Gypsies. Stamp Inkadinkado. Perfect Pearls Ranger Industries. Other Embroidery thread.

recycled cards

One of my favourite things to do is to recycle and re-purpose packaging. These cards were all made using packaging from a Prima scrapbooking kit. The front of the kit includes a visual of the paper inside as well as sample pages of what could possible be made using the paper. I took the 'cover sheet' and used my circle cutter to cut a few circles from it - I did pick the areas that I liked the most, then combined these circles with a few Cuttlebugged butterflies and other embellishments. The cards are quick and easy to make plus I got additional mileage out of my product packaging.
The single most important thing to me about packaging is that the designers spent years developing and perfecting their skills of putting colour schemes and designs together that work.
It's the perfect platform for anyone to learn from - to get great colour combinations for your projects as well as putting patterns and designs together. So I encourage you to look at professionally designed products with a new eye of learning - let it inspire you to use better colour combinations in your cards and layouts.
The Cuttlebugged butterflies as cut from different patterned papers and then sewn together using a sewing machine. Each butterfly is at a different angle so that you could see a bit of all of them. This adds dimension to the butterflies and to your card. Their wings are easily bent upwards while the sewing holds them in place.

Supplies: Cardstock Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper Prima. Other Book paper, buttons, diamantes and brads.

2+6=12 puppies and something to restore

so its been a while since i have been here blogging. you now the feeling when life gets in the way of creativity and other stuff get precedence...well that's where I've been - dealing with life,
and I've been working...so it hasn't all been bad.
for starters i cleaned and washed and scrubbed this set of drawers. they are drawers that my late father used in his medical practise - they held the stuff to put stitches in wounds....does this even make sense. oh well, i have great sentiment over these little drawers and so i finally got a set out of my mom to use. i am still not sure how i want to decorate them or what to put in them. i have managed to get some kind of system of storage that works for me and now i have these...decisions decisions.
i will let you know as they progress and post some pictures once it is done.
as far as Misha goes....our pregnant mommy who survived 2 snake bites, anti-venom, a night in doggy hospital...she is doing fine. she had her babies last week Thursday during the afternoon and the evening. by 2 pm in the afternoon there were 2 puppies, by 6 there were 6 puppies and the following morning at breakfast.....there were 12!!
they are truly adorable - healthy happy and growing rapidly! mmmm 12 puppies that you just want to snuggle up to. so there's your evidence of the true power of prayer,
the grace of God and a smart mommy dog who really loves her babies.
as for daddy Labrador...well he roams the yard like a true guard dog for the first time in his life. at least she got him off his butt to start doing something.
i will post some pics soon.
have a wonderful creative weekend.

feel good friday

This layout is about how my mom used to dress me and my sister when we were growing up. It was mostly the same pattern with a slight twist for me and a different colour. Can you see the rebel in me from a young age on? Well yes I am not very proud about my dress sense or hairstyle back then but then again what do parents know anyhow. The dress up theme called for some dress making stamps and the set by Crafty Secrets is simply stunning. Because the photos were really discoloured i scanned them and turned them to sepia.
The title is made using colourwash from Ranger and embossing - a really fun technique.


Supplies: Cardstock Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper Webster's Pages, K&Co & DCWV. Stamps Crafty Secrets. Colourwash Ranger Industries. Other Diamantes, embroidery thread & bobbin, buttons, mulberry paper, clear embossing powder, Versamark ink pad.

feel good friday

This was such a fun layout to do for Friday's class. You now the days when you search for photos to scrap and yet there is still a whole box full that needs to be done. Well these 2 just happened to pop out onto the table and there you have it. No huge life-changing philosophy apart from scrapping photos and getting them out of the box, and yet there's a story behind these 2 photos.
I used 2 pieces of patterned paper, some brown off-cuts and 2 pieces of cardstock for the background. The black strips along the edges of the red patterned paper is sewing with beads. And yes even though you may think it takes forever to do it really doesn't - and the effect is stunning. The butterfly is coloured with some glimmer mist (home made) and then cuttle bugged on the one side with an embossing folder for some dimension. The spots are...well holes punched with different sized hole punches for a stunning effect. I use old sticker letters for my title but gave them new life with a layer of paint.
Supplies: Cardstock Bazzill Basics. Patterned paper K&Co & Jenni Bowlin. Butterfly Cricut Home accents. Game Spinners Tim Holtz. Lettering Basic Grey. Paint Making Memories. Other Embroidery Thread & beads.

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