Because of you...I am

Hallo to all my Blog friends...

At the moment we are having some sweltering heat again in South Africa...making it unpleasant to try and do just about anything that requires physical labour! Fortunately I have a little air cooler on which helps a little bit, given me the opportunity to create this page...

A few weeks ago I got a message from Sandra Mathis, owner of the Live & Love crafts store based in the UK asking me if I would be interested in doing a Guest Design page for her for the February challenge that is currently running on her Inspiration and Challenge Blog.  Live & Love Crafts is a UK based on-line store, specializing in vintage and shabby chic craft supplies. After a quick visit, and confirming that she really wants 'me' to Guest for her, as she has the most amazing designers who create wonderful little pieces of art with their cards...I agreed and set out to create this page using the criteria for the month namely Lace and Love as a theme....

I have to mention and thank a special Face Book friend, Alyce Keegan for mentioning me to Sandra...Thank you for your kind gesture Alyce...and I would love to send my viewers to your Blog, Kit and Clowder to marvel in your art works! I am always in awe of the amount of details Alyce manages to put on her cards, not even talking about her colouring techniques...just marvellous!!!!

I made this page using a wedding photo of my parents in Kerkrade Holland in 1961...

I used papers from Maja Design Fika; Kaffe Tack, Kärleksmums and Walking in the Forest; Birdsong.

Also used the following cutting Dies from Couture Creations, Crystal Star from the Royal Jewels collection and Bossa and Missoni from the Sophia collection. The doily was layered with flowers from Petaloo and some lace pieces.

The Prima resin Heart was coloured using Lindy's Stampgang Starburst sprays, Clam Baked Beige and Edelweiss Moss Green.

I absolutly love the Botanica Collection from Petaloo, and have nearly bought out my friend  Donna's stock over the week end! Here I have used a twig and several loose flowers to create

      this cluster.

By clicking on the photo twice you will zoom in and see how beautiful the Edelweiss Moss Green mist looks on the page.

The background got the whole mixed media treatment...from Washi Tape to stamping, inking and of course my favourite masking with home made texture paste...

A cluster using several cutting Dies, a flower and resin piece...I am loving the trend of these small clusters on the side of the page which are so popular at the moment...they give a finished touch to the page.

Thank you for having a short visit with me....

                   ~~~

If two stand shoulder to shoulder against the gods,
Happy together, the gods themselves are helpless
Against them while they stand so.
~Maxwell Anderson~

Giant Lilies / Sketch 26, Scrap Africa

Hello friends on a wet, rainy day...

Today I want to share my page created with the sketch from Scrap Africa for February...

This photo of the Giant water Lilies was taken in 2007 at the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden in Mauritius....unfortunately they were just done flowering when we visited, but the huge leaves were such an experience to see, it made the visit al worthwhile!

I used two sheets of paper from the Timeless Type Stack from DCWV, Lindy's Sprays, Stamps from Kaisercraft, Petaloo Foliage and Prima Trinkets and Mechanicals...

My background was inspired by Riika Kovasin's class that I am following through Pop and Colour 2...Must admit that having a little more knowledge of how these girls go about getting their Mixed Media effects, makes it a little easier to try and experiment with the different products and techniques!

I used Washi Tape, Builders drywall tape, Gesso, Alcohol inks, Lindy's Stampgang Mists and Stampendeous Aged Ivory Enamel embossing powder to achieve this look. On the 'Rocks' Stamp from Kaisercraft I used Rust Antiquities Embossing powder from Ranger.

I used the following colours of Alcohol inks, Lettuce, Pesto and Willow.

From Lindy's I used, Cape Cod Coral, Ghostly Gargoyle White, Sea Mint Green and some splatters of Midnight Rendezvous Raven.

The yellow is some Wild Honey Distress Paint.

Also used the 'Arty' Stamp from Kaizercraft with black Archival ink.

Loving these leaves from the Foliage pack by Petaloo Spring Darjeeling collection. Prima's Clock Face and Mechanicals add the perfect touch to my page... 

~~~~~

Thank you for visiting my blog...always appreciate any one taking the time to drop by!!!

Like all great travellers, 
I have seen more than I remember,
and remember more than I have seen.
  ~Benjamin Disraeli~

Moment Captured...Jan sketch for Scraps of Elegance.

Hello Blog friends...

How are you all doing? I am back on-line after Saturday evening's horrific storm that we had, resulting in no internet yesterday and also much cleaning up in the garden to do. The most heartbreaking part was having to clean up one of our 24 year old trees that was blown over by the winds....it was like saying goodbye to an old friend! We planted that tree just before the birth of my youngest daughter who turned 24 a few weeks ago...Driving through town showed many up rooted trees and broken branches, it feels as if our storms this year are certainly intensifying in strength and size...not something we are used to at all...

But enough chit chat from me...I want to show my page that I made using the January kit and sketch by Suepup for Scraps of Elegance...

Using Kaisercraft; Key to my Heart paper and stickers to scrap this photo of daughter Chantelle and my paternal Grandmother Agnes way back in 1986 when Oma came for a visit and I saw her again for the first time since immigrating to South Africa when I myself was only 5 years old...

I found the Clara flower from Prima to be a perfect fit for Oma's dress!!!

This is another Embroidery shape from Tilla Daydream by docrafts...they are so sweet and adorable...got another one left for a project...On the background paper I did some stamping and also some stencil work using Pink Grapefruit Acrylic Glaze Silks from LuminArte..

A Bellas flower from Prima...and some lace trim from Ruby Rock-It.

More stamping, stencilling and masking using the mask in the kit from Magenta.

A butterfly sticker from the sticker sheet got a painting with the Silks...A tip if you want to handle and fold the sticky images from a sticker sheet...give the sticky side a dusting of Talcum Powder...it dries the backside making it possible to bent and handle the stickers. 

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother, 

that's why the world calls her grandmother.

  ~Author Unknown~

Thank you for your visit...wishing you all a wonderful week...

~~~~~

A Beautiful Moment / SOE Jan Kit

Hello Blog friends...I am showing another LO  made with papers and beautiful embellishments from the "Delightful" kit from Scraps of Elegance for January...

I used two sheets of 'Frame It' from Bella Paperz...The papers have a beautiful soft sheen to it which would make it ideal to use for baby photos...I can envision beautiful Christening pages made with it.

I chose two 30 year old photos of my brother and my baby son for this page. I created a thin frame and also used the papers to die-cut some shapes from.

 I used the Inkadinkado stamp, inked with Blue Flame Silks Acrylic Glaze to do my stamping with. Loving the shadow effect that came from using the wet glaze on the stamp!

To add some dimension and texture to the paper, I did some misting with Lindy's Stampgang mists, Clam Bake Beige, Frosted Forget-Me-Nots and Steel Shimmer and also did some masking with texture paste.

I am in love with these Petaloo flowers from the Botanica Collection and will most certainly stock up on them when ever I can...The gems are from the main kit and I coloured them a little with the Blue Flame Silks.

The square Doily is from Tilly Daydream by Docrafts and is part of the embellishment add on. Also used a Pearl Brad from Kaisercraft.

This frame is an old plastic silver frame of mine that I embossed with a little Stampendeous Aged Ivory embossing powder and sprayed with the Forget -Me-Nots from LSG.

The Butterfly and words are from the Kaisercraft Key to my Heart Sticker Sheet.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog...it is always much appreciated!!!

A rose can say "I love you",
orchids can enthrall,
but a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,
yes, that says it all.
~Author Unknown~

Imaginarium Designs blog hop with Lindy's Stampgang

Hello friends!

Welcome to my blog if you have just hopped over from Julianne McKenna-De Lumen's blog. I am so excited to combine two of my favourite products in my first ever Blog Hop! Imaginarium Design  chipboard and Lindy's Stampgang Mists and Embossing Powders... 

"We are so excited to have the team at Lindy's team up for a full day of creativity. 
This hop will surely get your creative juices flowing so head on over to all these incredibly talented crafters to check out how they’ve combined the beautiful products from Lindy’s Stamp Gang  with our fabulous chipboard, it’s a match made in color heaven!
We have a great prize for you too!
We would love for you to show some love to all our crafters and leave them a little message

You will have the opportunity to win a fabulous prize by both ID and Lindy’s Stamp Gang so please let us know that you have done so by coming back to Lindy’sStamp Gang & here at ID blog at the end of the hop."

~~~ Time Flies~~~

(Double click to zoom in)

I am such a huge fan of LSG for they match up perfectly with my chipboard...Those who know me, know that I love the subtle shimmer and two toned colours of their Starburst mists and Embossing Powders and the vintage tone of the Moon Shadow mists.

For this LO of my children in 1993 I used Prima Papers from the Fairy Rhymes Collection, several ID chipboard pieces and the gift sprays and embossing powders from LSG.

The chippies are so sturdy, they can handle quite some media as on this Hot Air Balloon. I sealed it with Gesso and then applied some Texture Gel Medium to the top half. Once dry I sprayed several layers of the Bodacious Blush and Shabby Turbine Teal onto it, drying between each layer. I embossed the raised areas with the embossing powders we received, Cosmic Pink Blue  and Desert Moon Turquoise.

The small flourishes from ID were also embossed with the embossing powders.

The large Butterfly was also Gesso'd, and sprayed with Gag me with a Spoon Grey ( lol...some of these names are seriously hilarious!!! Loving it! ) I randomly embossed with the embossing powders as well. The black is a little stamping...

I embossed the title letters with Queen Sheba's Silver and also sprayed them with the Sprays. The bigger flourishes were first Gesso'd, I did not cover the piece completely, left some of the chipboard raw, resulting in an interesting colour mix. I then sprayed with the Bodacious Blush and Shabby Turbine Teal, finishing with some stamping.

This is my creation using amazing Imaginarium Design chipboard pieces and versatile Lindy's Stampgang Mists. Your next stop will be,

Sarah Routledge - http://sarahs-scrapbook.blogspot.ca

And here is the list of  my fellow Team mates. Thank you for hopping along with us...Remember to leave us a comment in order to stand a change to win some of these products.

Amy Voorthuis - http://www.amyvoorthuis.blogspot.ca
Denise Boddey - http://passionscrapping.blogspot.com.au
Evgenia Sokolinskaya - http://eva-inspiration.blogspot.ru
Ingrid Gooyer - http://www.ingridgooyer.blogspot.ca
Kaori Fujimoto - http://scrapgarden-kao.blogspot.ca
Karen Zueger - http://lostcoastscrapper.blogspot.ca
Louise Nelson - http://louise-justloolabelle.blogspot.ca
Sandrine Dawesn http://sandrinedawes10.blogspot.com.au
Maiko Miwa - http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.ca
Natalie May http://happydaks.blogspot.ca
Julianne McKenna-De Lumen - http://julestheblingprincess.blogspot.ca
Patricia Basson - http://patriciabasson.blogspot.ca  This is me!
Sarah Routledge - http://sarahs-scrapbook.blogspot.ca
Shell Carman - http://www.anotherscrappyday.blogspot.com.au
Solange Marques - http://solangescrap.blogspot.ca
Cindy - http://cynthialoowho.wordpress.com/
Nolwenn - http://inner-voices.net
Ivett - http://www.ivettcarrillo.blogspot.com
Irina - http://irinagerschuk.blogspot.com/
Lynne - http://www.mymadkow.typepad.com/
Mary- http://damselofdistress.blogspot.com/
Limor http://chicscrapbookdesigns.blogspot.ca
Lindy’s Stamp Gang - http://lindystampgang.wordpress.com
Imaginarium Designs - http://imaginariumdesigns.blogspot.com/

Casual

Hi again! Being the 15th I have another Scrap Africa challenge reveal as well for you today!  For challenge # 25 Billie-Jean Beveridge challenged us to use at least one recycled item on our project... I must ask you to visit Scrap Africa's blog for my fellow Team mates have created some outstanding works using all kinds of recycled items!!!

The image I used was taken from Google and although my PP are not recycled, they were taken out of retirement...Don't know why I have not used them before as they are beautiful...

(Double click for zoomed view)

I have lightly Gesso'd the top paper, stamped with black ink, misted with Lindy's Stampgang, did some masking, stencil work with texture paste and also used some washi tape...

Let me take you through my recycled products...

The black, sequenced 'leaves' are from an Alice Band and the clock face with some washi tape on was cut from a Prima backing. 

I know it's so difficult to see the shimmer from the LSG mist Bodacious Blush in the photo, IRL it's the most amazing Antique Rose colour adding a touch of mauve to the page. I layered two Prima flowers on top of each other.

All the layers in this photo are recycled items! Starting from the top I used the negative of the die-cut that I used on the right hand side of the photo, cut from Prima packaging. Next is some gauze  swab (technically it's not recycled, for it is a fresh one...lol! ) that I have stiffened with Tokreen. Next is a piece of plastic vegetable bag that I blasted with my Heat gun to give it some distressed texture. Lastly I have a clothing tag with it's added string and safety pin...

Another die-cut piece of Prima packaging with a little Tag that came with socks that I had bought. I have embossed the Tag with Stampendeous Aged Ivory Enamel and black soot distress paint.

My recycled products.

Do join us in this challenge to stand a chance to win one of these gifts!

Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. 
They recycle the bad into things of beauty.
Imelda Marcos