Laughter

Our youngest is getting married in two months and so much has been going on during the past months. Come to think of it, even more will be going on during the months to come!

On Saturday we surprised her with a kitchen tea and had a lot of fun with her. She received beautiful gifts for their new home and we had a special time together as family and friends. There was so much laughter and joy and I get to share the pictures with you on my new layout for Saturday’s class 🙂

This is a fun layout with lots of unexpected detail including washi tape, a tiny button card and a transparent overlay.

The paper is from Kaiser Kraft’s Pickled Pear collection and I used parts of it with 7G tags to create bundles tied with waxed cord.

Come create a layout for your special pictures having fun with your loved ones while we catch up on everybody’s news 🙂

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…and they all lived happily ever after

The four of us sat huddled together on the couch.

The boys listened intently to me reading – in character – from Rumpelstilskin:  “……and a small, funny little man entered the room and asked:  Rumpelstilskin, why are you so sad?”  Upon hearing about Rumpelstilskin’s dilemma of having to spin straw into gold before the morning, the funny little man sat down at the spindle and completed the task for her.

For a while we were transported into a world of magic and wonder through the story.

As adults we do not often have the opportunity to be part of this mystic world of magic and wonder.  Aaaah … that feeling of drifting away on a soft cloud with your eyes closed and reality just a distant memory…  But when our family comes together we LIVE a story for a while!

My layout for this week is titled ‘Tell me a story’ and I used old book paper to create fluffy clouds to carry me away 😉  I used pictures of me and my siblings having fun.

The film strip above the zig-zag paper is from a real old movie roll that Frans bought in its case from a second-hand shop!

Postage stamps remind me of the letters we used to have before e-mail and sms’ that brought news and stories from someone else.

I punched flowers from book paper and used it with the stamps and buttons to create clusters on the background that lead the eye from left to right on the layout.

The book paper and film strips tie in with my ‘story’ theme and part of the title sits on a fluffy book paper cloud .

Join my story on Saturday and together we will float away on a cloud of fun…

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Once upon a time…

(actually just before the end of 2012) in the Drakensberg not too far from home, a Grandpa, Grandma and three grandsons decided to climb one of the peaks.

They took the long way and explored as far as they went.  Up and up they climbed until they came upon a beautiful protea bush in full flower and Grandpa insisted on taking a picture.  He would set up the camera and run to take his place behind Grandma and the boys.  It took some time, but he managed to get this picture 🙂

As soon as Grandpa was happy the boys were running up the mountain again and Grandma came huffing and puffing behind.  Soon they reached the top of the world with views on the most beautiful wetland below.

When Grandma’s huffing and puffing had slowed down enough they set off down the mountain on the other side to take care of some boy’s stuff.  Serious boy’s stuff!

Of course Grandpa kept a watchful eye and every time one of the boys managed to light a set of crackers they scattered in all directions – the anticipation and joy on their faces priceless!

The day ended with the most beautiful sunset and they felt privileged that they were able to enjoy the beauty of this remote spot in the Drakensberg.

A few days later they set the table for their Christmas meal with friends and family.

Then Grandma’s sister and her husband came to visit and the two Grandma’s and Grandpa’s set off exploring (being very adventurous spirits, they couldn’t sit still for long!).  They came upon this waterfall tumbling down a forty-foot gorge with an inviting pool at the end of it.

Inch by inch they made their way down the steep mountainside and when they got to the pool rewarded themselves by getting into the ice-cold mountain water to cool down.

And then 2012 ended with a beautiful sunset.

 

For this year I would like to wish you the best of God’s blessings.

May you be granted the wisdom to figure out the lessons from 2012 and apply them to your life in 2013.

May you be granted the strength to face the adversities that may come your way this year.

May you live an inspired life in 2013.

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Off to the wild wild west coast

I was overwhelmed with the beauty of Goegap Nature Reserve in Springbok where the spring flowers were blooming abundantly at the time.

We had only a week to explore this beautiful part of our country and I think that our stay in the Honnehokke in Hondeklipbay was the highlight of it all.  Never in my life will I forget this vista as we crested a hill on the Groenspoeg 4×4 route.

Now, only four years later, we are even more privileged to tour the Northern Cape and this time the Western Cape as well with three of my siblings and their spouses.  I cannot wait and am busily making lists and gathering recipes for long nights around a campfire.  Yes!  We are going to camp this time and we have anxiously been watching the long-term weather forecasts to find out what we can expect.  Several cold fronts have rolled in during the past weeks and several more are forecasted but that doesn’t scare us.

Our tent is now equipped with a lining that can be clipped on and off as needed and I really hope that it will make a difference to the temperature inside the tent (not only because I like to sleep snugly, but also to prove to my husband that it WILL make a difference 😉 )

I’m signing off now to pack and prepare but I will hopefully share beautiful pictures of our family camping trip with you when we return.

Watch this space…

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Snow bowl

All warm and fuzzy inside I looked out at snowflakes feathering down on my garden.

That’s what I did yesterday – I tried hard to concentrate on my work but couldn’t help myself.  Every time the snow started again I just had to get up and stare in amazement.  Pictures cannot do it justice but I have to share one with you and I bet every South African who experienced the snow yesterday will get warm and fuzzy inside while looking at it!]

It felt as if I was inside a snow bowl with magic all around me 🙂  After a little while the plants started looking like this:

Snow on blue salvias

When the kids came home from school they had a ball dancing in the falling snowflakes:

Secretly, everybody who played in the snow yesterday had let their inner child free to enjoy the snow with abandon!  The children even dragged great-grandma out to pose with them:

It was very special for her to be able to enjoy the spectacle with her great-grandchildren. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did and looking forward to scrap with you on 18 August 2012!

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Time out

Up until now the winter has not really bothered me, except for the darkness that creeps in so quickly just after sunset.  But I know that the only constant in life is change – things will change, always!

And so it is that today the wind has a chill in it and the weather forecasters use foul language like ‘very low temperatures’, ‘extreme cold’ and ‘sub-zero night temperatures’ when they talk about the weather for the upcoming weekend.  As it happens we are heading to the Drakensberg for the weekend that looked like this on our last visit:

This picture was taken from the top of the koppie to the west of the cabin and if you squint and look carefully, you will see the cabin and the kombi down by the stream.

Apparently we can expect it to look more like this over the weekend:

Now picture this:

and you know how busy I will be this weekend 🙂  A fire like this in the fireplace does not feed itself you know!  Every now and then someone actually has to get up from the couch to poke it and add more wood.  It’s tough, but someone has to do it!

I need this time out like a baby needs milk and I intend making the most of it.  Who knows, we might even get snowed in… in which case we will have to postpone next Saturday’s class  I promise to take lots of pictures and post them on my blog next week together with our layout for Saturday 16 June.

So, whatever you do this weekend – cover up, stay out of the cold and look after yourselves!

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Note to self

I sometimes experience a moment in life when I want to chip away the walls around my heart and allow softness to creep in.

Everyday life is hectic and I tend to be very focused on matters at hand, driving for results and often forgetting the people I work and live with have unique feelings and needs.  Because I am able to push my needs and feelings aside, I expect others to do it as well 😦

But then a magic moment happens unexpectedly and I have the opportunity to align myself again with the people around me.  That is when I make notes in my head about how things should be.  How I should treat others (mostly my husband) and nurture them and what we have together.  My layout this week is about those notes to myself that I wish I could live by every day!

My layout was inspired by one that The Scrapbooking Den did on their Mayday Mega Crop.  I haven’t used Basic Grey in a looong time and the colours of the paper complemented my pictures perfectly.

I love matchbox folders on a layout and I used the words ‘Follow your heart’ on the bottom flap of mine

The journaling strips are from Cosmo Cricket and I used it throughout the layout.

The title is printed on a transparency, painted on the back and stuck to the page using the paint as adhesive.  Four cream brads define the edges of the title and is repeated next to a tab on the left page.  The trim is from Making Memories and I dyed it to match the colours of my layout.

I am looking forward to scrapping with you on Saturday and would like to hear from you what notes you make to yourself (if you do!)

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The most important is love…

Amcare is an organisation that have faith in humankind, that give hope to the homeless and helpless out of love.

Tomorrow night, 30 March 2012, Amcare is hosting a night market on their premises at  15 Heidelberg Road, Newmarket Estates, Alberton as a fundraising event.  They really do excellent work in the community and is a cause that is worthwhile to support.

When I heard about the Amcare night market I decided to join in the fun and make scatter cushions.  The idea to make scatter cushions for sale was born when my sister told me about their very successful Christmas market in Rustenburg every year in November.  Ideas were stockpiled and researched but I was very relaxed about it since November is still seven months down the line.   I have worked very hard for the past two weeks to complete a range of scatter cushions to sell at the market and am so happy to show you the result of my crazy sewing!

The range will be bigger  for the November market but I love what I have done so far and after taking pictures in front of my picture wall I want to keep all of them for myself 🙂

That does not mean that I have forgotten about scrapbooking – by teaching only every second Saturday I have more time and less pressure to create a beautiful layout for you (and I get to do other creative ‘stuff’ that really stimulate my right brain)

Now I have to run to finish off a few last minute details to be ready for tomorrow’s market.  The market starts at 16h00 and ends at 21h00 (for those of you in the area wanting to attend) and they promise to have more than 100 stall holders.  They will even have the two most adorable tiger cubs at the market!

Happy creating until I see you again 🙂

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Surprise!!!

I have a confession… my name is Marie and I am addicted… to creating mixed media canvases…

So I thought that coming back from a whole weekend of creative bliss with only one canvas to show our loved ones maybe just won’t cut it…

Being in the process of packing everything we would need for the weekend I was surrounded by blank canvases and tubes of paint and paint brushes and the next moment I had a brush in my hand and paint on a canvas…

This is just a teaser to excite you for things to come.  Expect to play around with paper, texture paint, resist techniques, rub-ons, transfers and  lot more!

When painting there are often times when you have to wait for a layer of paint to dry or a transfer to ‘cure’ before you can take the paper off.  Usually I would just use my hairdryer to dry it quickly but in the mountains we have to rely on the sun to do this job.  While waiting for one canvas to dry we will work on the other until that needs to dry and then start on the dry one and then change again.

So… Surprise!  You will come back with two masterpieces each without a lot of extra effort 😉

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Deck with a view

Just to make sure that everything will be in place for a visit by my honoured friends, I dragged my husband to the mountains over the past weekend.

And of course everything was in place there was a lot of stuff to do.  We had to relax, have a nice braai, sit on the deck and watch the beautiful sunset…

 

That was Friday night.  Saturday morning we hiked to the waterfall and enjoyed the sight of crimson river lilies dancing in the breeze.  Although it isn’t as wet as previous years at the same time, the waterfall was still beautiful with a variety of flowers and ferns covering the rock face.

 

 

The rest of the day we spent doing some more necessary stuff 😉 and again relaxed on the deck watching another magnificent sunset reflected in the water.

 

 

The pictures were taken with a cell phone because I forgot to pack my camera 😦 but you get the general idea of what you can look forward to on our breakaway this coming weekend.

Temperatures dropped lower than I anticipated and the moment the sun went down I reached for a jacket.  Day temperatures are around 22 degrees and at night it dropped to about 8 degrees, so please make sure that you take a jacket and warm pj’s if you get cold easily.

I can tell you one thing ladies, there are lots of stuff to do this weekend…

 

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