Stampfairy Challenge 2

I've hurt my hand and I'm really battling to type and do all the things I like to, but it doesn't get me down, I wrap it up and bear with the pain and continue doing what I like. It's got something to do with a type of rheumatism, and I've had it since college days, there's just times that it gets almost unbearable. I think the weekend didn't help - went drumming Saturday night and the banging on that drum is quite hard on the hands. And I still played poi (fire spinning - and also singed my hair...), and did a lot of colouring in. So my hand is currently wrapped up and smothered with cream...

But enough about that, and onto a challenge I'm entering. I discovered Stampfairy a few weeks back, and recently bought some images - they have a special on this month - all images are discounted.
They've got some really cute images, which are very easy to colour, which I like... I've been looking around for some teddy images, and they have quite a few.

This week's challenge is an easy one - "Anything goes". I've used one of the Donny and Donna images.

This card almost put itself together, and was not what I envisioned for it at all. But I absolutely LOVE the result. I mentioned in another post that my friend sent me a "lucky packet" of paper off-cuts... well most of the paper used on this card is from that pack (except the floral background paper). The embossed cream metallic paper is backed onto a metallic red card and the image is backed onto metallic cream cardstock which is backed onto the same red card. The only embellishments are the 4 pearls. I added just a little red glitter glue and it goes to show, less is more... The card has a vintage/ antique type feel and I think it would be great as an anniversary card.

I'm entering this card into:
Stampfairy - Anything Goes

Patties Creations Challenge no. 9

This was a fun card to make. The theme for this one : Use a punch / punches.


I have to be honest, I don't own much in the line of punches. I have 2 corner punches (one small, one medium - and I use them all the times), and I have 2 Fiskars punches, that I have only because I won them in a raffle a few years back. The one is a fancy corner punch (that's the one I've used for this project), and the other is a beautiful border punch. Oh, and I also got a butterfly punch in that same prize (I think the majority of my stash came from that - that was a really "WOW" prize and it all came in a stunning designer travel case). Everyone was insanely jealous of my win...

But back to this week's project.

I decided to use one of Pattie's new images - she's been experimenting with new images and has added a range of stunning images to her store, including parrots, daisies, tulips, dragonflies and lots more. Do yourself a favour and go check them out.
I used "Baby Mine". It's such a cute pic I had to use it. I guess she is a girl, but I don't see why you can't colour in blues and make "her" a "him"... I'll still give that a go :)
I went against the usual soft pinks for a new baby card and decided to go bright and cheerful. It worked! I love this.

The sentiment is something I found and printed. I cut it a little too small so needed to stick it to another piece of white, but it doesn't look bad. I cut away the background behind the baby, but left the bottom half. I backed it against bright pink, and again in silvery white (which both come from a pack of paper off-cuts I received from my friend Jen - it's a real lucky dip and every time I go back into that packet I find something new). I found a piece of pink polka dot paper which worked great, and a bright pink ribbon. I like the way nothing is really lined up - I do that a lot, it makes the card more fun.

I added three flowers and a dash of baby pink with the pearls...

Hope you can join in the fun at Patties Creations Challenge Blog - you'll even find some freebies here and another here, so no excuse that you have no Patties images...

A little bit of what I've been up to...

I haven't got around to posting much lately but I have been busy, so today I'll share a few cards I've made recently. I'll leave some over for other days...

These are all using images from Digistamps 4 Joy.

This one is using "Sammy Jo" from the Freckle Faced Cuties collection. Paper, flowers and ribbon from my stash.

Another Freckle Faced Cutie, again using paper, ribbon etc from stash.

Mel waving hi... this is me....

One of the new designs - Preggie Tilly... love this... 2 cards made from the same image in 2 different ways...

Manger and star. One of the Christmas images, which is now discounted to half price!!
Hope you enjoyed, and I hope to share some more cards with you soon (I have been rather busy)...
Till then...
Keep well

Notepads and Drama

I'm sure many of you are in the same boat as us around this time of year. Money is tight and there's gifts to send out...
My daughter wanted to give her friends something, but with limited cash and a few good friends I started worrying...
My daughter found a notepad a few days ago in a shop and loved it. It cost R45 and the cover was a plastic cover that was printed to look like it was covered in paper with a ribbon around it.
So off to the local supermarket to buy some plain notepads. They cost R8 each.
Ashleigh got home, covered the notepads with some scrapbooking paper on the front cover and the back cover, stuck a strip of ribbon down the front and voila. A few really pretty gifts.
The drama?... Ashleigh's speech and drama concert...

Ashleigh has been attending speech and drama classes with the Helen O' Grady Drama Academy for a year now. And she's doing really well.
She got the part of Jack (of beanstalk fame) in their annual concert. The concert was called "Storyland" and the storyline was about some of the well known storybook characters who are convinced by the "new ideas" to change the storylines... Goldilocks should pay the bears back for the damaged caused, Jack should help out the old lady (who lived in a shoe), with a golden egg to help her financially (as living in a shoe is not very hygienic).

Ashleigh played her part really well and we were so proud of her (that's her on the far right).
Here she is receiving her certificate.
I really hope to share some projects with you soon. I've bought a whole load of new digi images and I've been busy colouring (at night in bed), now to just find some time to put some cards together, but you know how it goes... Companies will be closing for Christmas soon and I need to get orders out before then... work has certainly been keeping me busy...
Till later...
Mel

Digistamps 4 Joy Design Team Call

Digistamps 4 Joy are having a design team call.

For more details go to the blog : http://digistamps4joy.blogspot.com/2010/12/dt-call.html

My baby is not such a baby anymore...

Today was another proud Mom day for me.
My little boy graduated from Pre-Primary (Grade R/0).
He looked so smart and cute in his cape...
They put on a short presentation for us, and all did so well.
Once that was done, all the kids at the Nursery School had their Christmas Party, and a visit from Santa.
Kayden and his friend Ofentse.
So next year it's big school...

Patties Creations Challenge #7

Wow, challenge #7 already!!
This week's week's challenge is "a recipe". For the Recipe, you must have a ribbon and at least 3 embellishments. Use 3 embellies either the same or different from each other.

For more info please visit Patties Creations Challenge Blog.

I used Holiday Reindeer, which can be found here.

My 3 embellishments are the flowers. To jazz it up a little I used some stamens behind the flowers. I liked the contrast of the striped paper against the red paper. I also liked how the striped paper almost mimicked the scarf around the reindeer's neck. I just stuck a simple white ribbon with red stitching along the bottom half of the card. I tried a few variations - this worked best.

My image is coloured in watercolour pencils, blended with spirits. I stuck the reindeer on a white scalloped cut-out (edges chalked in chestnut roan).


I stuck red dewdrops in the centre of each flower - don't they look yummy - almost good enough to each (but I wouldn't recommend it...).

Hope to see your entry in our latest challenge, and please visit Patties store - there's a lot of new images there, including stuffed toys, birds (parrots & cardinals & doves), as well as some other gorgeous images, including dragonflies and flowers. Most of the new images are only $2 each!

I know I'll be getting a few, but which ones?

See you soon, and have a fantastic day.

Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner'

This was so funny, I had to share it. If you have cats you'll relate to it, if not, you'll still have a good laugh

Kenny K's Krafty Girlz DT Call

This has been a case of "do I... don't I" for the past week or so - since I saw that Kenny K is looking for their next design team. I love Kenny K images. They colour up so nicely and they make some really great cards - they're always the first to go amongst my cards and are so suitable for those people who especially don't like "pretty and cute"...
Kenny K images are fun and you can make them into what you want them to be - the goth girl, or the pre-teen ... anything really. Colour them in bold colours or in soft colours, depending on the finally look you want.

You can't do that with all digi's...

Id like to have the opportunity to work more with these images. I was still "unsure" about applying until last night when my friend phoned me and again insisted I apply. So here I am, Jen...

Choosing just 2 of my favourites could be difficult. But here's probably 2 of my most favourite:
This is still one of my all time favourites. I gave this to my friend Jenien, just because it shouted her name at me...

One of my more bright and funky cards - great for young teens...

And then one extra (for good measure). See how the same image as above has been made into something so girly with pinks and purples...

So now we wait until the first week of December when the new DT members get announced.

Patties Creations DT Challenge 5

The theme - ANYTHING BUT A CARD

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make for this challenge. I started with the idea of a bookmark, then changed the idea to a calendar page, and in the end went back to the bookmark idea.

I chose Angel Pattieboop for this project. And then I searched for an Angel quote/ poem. I found one I really liked and went with that. I like the end result. Plain and simple, but soooo pretty.


Because I had used a lot of gold in the image, I used a gold eyelet in the hole at the top, some gold thread and pink check ribbon. I threaded an Angel charm and a clear bead onto the ribbon and just tied the edges of the gold thread. 2 little blingy cloth butterflies finished it nicely.


This has inspired me to make some more...

Christmas is Coming!

Scary, but true. Have I started making Christmas cards? NO!!! How is it that Christmas sneaks up like this?
I have a market stall at my daughter's Carols by Candelight at the end of the month and I seriously need a lot of cards. And the more I make, the more I keep selling before the day. I guess it's a good thing - must mean that people like them...

Here is my first Christmas card I've made. I made this one on Saturday at our Craft day get-together. The image is a Phindy's image and I'm entering into their challenge :

Challenge #30 - Christmas is Coming!

Isn't this the cutest little puppy? I have to make one for my sister - she recently got a puppy and found one of her (quite pricey) shoes that had been used as a chew toy.
I kept this card quite "simple" - just lots of layering of papers, and didn't want to overdo it with lots of embellishments, so finally settled on a red ribbon with white dots and a simple bow. Works for me :)

Hope to share more soon

Love Mel

Weekend full of Fun, Friends and Crafts

Yesterday morning a few friends and I got together to meet in "real life". We've all been chatting online at in2crafts for a while and made a plan to meet up and craft.
Well, as you can imagine, not too much crafting actually happened, but a great day was had by all!!

Lucia's cats thought we all arrived there for their amuzement - well I guess they kept us amuzed as much as we kept them amuzed.
I took my camera, but didn't take pics (we are all chatting to much), but I did get some of the cats - how cute are they?? They are Sphinxes, and they have the most adorable nature.



Then in the evening we went to the drumming and fire evening at The Grange. It was a great night out, and we saw some friends we haven't seen in ages.

The drumming....
And my favourite... the fire....
The camera takes some amazing pictures of the fire.
That's all for now, I hope to share at least one card with you tomorrow...

I'm still here, but just barely....

So let me share some of what I've been doing lately.

I've made some ATC's a few weeks ago and sent them out to the various recipients.
I"m still so far behind with some of the swaps I signed up for, that I'm not sure if I'll ever catch up.


And some of the individual pics. I made 16 in total... The theme was Mystical Creatures. I printed the pictures from the internet, and embellished them further. A bit of bling, some glitter, flowers and ribbon.

































And talking about mystical. On the 1st November we were treated to this rare and phenomenal sight.

It's called a sundog. Its like a 360 degree rainbow around the sun. It was quite something to see, even though it was slightly worrying at first.

Hope to share more soon.

Love Mel

Patties Creations - Another Challenge

It's been a while since I posted anything, and I've had every intention to show off a few things. Time has not been on my side.
That's where it's nice to be "forced" into posting... today is the 3rd Pattie's Challenge, my second as DT and the theme is Christmas.
I used Pattie and Allie waiting for Santa, and went to town on this one. I wanted to keep the focus on the image, so my paper has been kept very plain.

I printed 3 images, and 3-D'd the image in 3 layers. I cut acetate to fit the windows, and made the top part of the window a shaker box. Lots of glitter, bling and flower soft.
Here's the side view of the card, you can see a little more detail, and how the windows have been left "open"...
Hope to post some more of what I've been "up to" lately... nothing bad, I promise.

Love Mel

Found some Mojo

I've been battling a little with inspiration lately.
I often find when that happens, if I surf some "inspirational sites", it often helps...
I have some plain chip albums that have been sitting as plain chip albums for months. They're ring-bound albums that you "do up yourself", but mine haven't made it very far. Until this week.
I actually only started this one yesterday afternoon. I didn't really know where it was going but where it went seemed to be the right place...
I collected a parcel at the post office in the morning - this was a long awaited parcel. I belong to a group on in2crafts and we often have "stash swaps" (RAK swaps)... I've used a lot of items from that parcel, previous RAK swaps and some of my stash. I guess opening this parcel also helped the inspiration flow...

I started by podging some mulberry paper on one side of the front of the album, and a button patterned serviette on the other (which I bought yesterday morning - I just knew there was a use for it).
Then I cut out another serviette and podged a pic in place, then just starting sticking...
In this pic below, you can see where I stuck the Sunny Beach serviette pic, some mesh, some flowers and skeleton leaves. I glittered around one of the flowers and stuck a pearl in the centre. I've played a lot with paint - green, brown and metallic blue and metallic navy.

Mulberry paper, some more flowers, ribbon down the side...

Finally I walked into my daughter's room where her and her brother were playing on the PC, managed to get them to have a pic taken, and added that to the album.
Added some ribbon...


The end result... quite something, if I may say so myself...

Thanks for looking...
Mel

Wee Memories

I've just discovered this challenge blog that looks like loads of fun.
Hop over and take a look at Wee Memories and enter the challenges...


I look forward to entering some challenges there.
And if you hurry there's a great give-away, but it ends soon.

Pick of the Week @ Phindy's

I was so excited when I hopped over to Phindy's blog yesterday and discovered I got the "Pick of the Week" award. That means my card was chosen as the "card of the week" by the DT.
It's a real honour to accept this and proudly display the blinkie in my sidebar.
Phindy's images are gorgeous and the DT are very talented.

Just some cards I've been working on...