Keeping it together

My father used to say that his best years were when he could still cover all his children with one blanket.

I didn’t realise how true his words were until my own children started growing up and worries about minor (and some major) cuts and bruises turned into more serious worries. Worries about their future in uncertain times, would each of them find the right person to love and cherish and spend their life with, etc. (in the meantime three of the four have already met wonderful life partners and worry didn’t have anything to do with it!) I could go on and on and I’m sure those of you with teenagers or grown children could add many items to the list.

But I have learned that we have to trust that our children’s roots will stay firm and that the wings we helped them develop will let them soar high and strong! Now I try to just love them while trusting that God would look after them. That way I manage (sometimes) to keep it together!

My layout this week is about the people I love and try not to worry about too much 🙂

The printed paper is from Authentique and I fell in love with the designs and colours the moment I saw it!

The envelope on the left page is bound with measuring tape trim with flowers from Creative Talents as detail. The trim is repeated on the title and the small pictures on the right page. Because I didn’t use a lot of fine detail on the page, the patterned paper is the star of the layout.

Looking forward to scrapping with you on Saturday!

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Let yourself fly

After a long scrapping drought, I am back in action and I really enjoyed it to sit down and fiddle with scrapping goodies again!

With a dead underperforming thyroid and hormones out of whack it has been a battle to keep my boat afloat over the past few months.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel and although my memory is still often out of action I just  hope that people will forgive me if they have to jolt my memory on occasion.

When I started with my layout for our class on Saturday I haven’t decided what pictures I wanted to use yet, but as the layout came together I remembered these pictures and they were perfect!  It was early morning in the mountains and with everybody else still asleep, I slipped out quietly and sat down at the water’s edge.  As I enjoyed the view of the impossibly green summer mountains I experienced the most serene and peaceful feeling.  It was as if the water  ran right through me, taking with it all the stresses and worries that is so part of being human.  I didn’t realise that Frans had woken up in the meantime and was photographing me through our bedroom window.

I made envelopes with fragile photographic dry mounting tissue that I bought from a dealer in second hand goods some time ago.  I used black ink to stamp onto the envelopes for added texture and filled them with music paper tags and tags made from Tim Holtz’ Kraft resist paper.

Back flourishes and cards from red lead paperworks add to the theme.

Come  feel your soul blossom en let yourself fly on Saturday!

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Dream a little dream

In this case the dream was huge and it came true after years of hard work -sometimes in the face of adversity.

On 1 March 2013 Tjaart officially received his B.Sc Electronic Engineering degree at North-West University and we are so proud of him!  To top it all Tjaart and Corli got engaged on 28 February so we have reason to celebrate and above all a lot to be grateful for.

I started some time ago with my layout for this week’s class but it was one of those that just didn’t want to fall in place and I put it aside until yesterday.  When I took it out again everything came together perfectly and I love how this page turned out (maybe I just needed the pictures to boost my creativity 🙂 )

The paper is from 7G and some of the tags are also from these clever travellers.

The washi tape is from Tim Holtz and buttons are from my stash.  The layered ephemera is stitched to the page to bring everything together.

The ‘To Do’ card on the left page was the perfect spot for me to journal and I used three beautiful quotes as inspiration for his life.  By changing the stamp on the right page this layout could be used for any pictures but it is perfect for my pictures the way it is.

Keep well and dream lovely dreams until Saturday when we scrap together again!

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Hello 2013!

One moment I was leading the race and the next moment my head disappeared under water and I came up spluttering…

We were having fun in the pool after a hectic course of cheese making on Saturday.  My two sisters and three brothers with their husbands and wives decided last year that we wanted to do something together and we chose cheese making since most of us were interested in the process.  Little did we know…

Let’s just say that cheese making is far more involved than I am prepared to invest at this point in time.  But we had loads of fun and after Sunday lunch tried to take a family picture.  I say ‘tried’ because we ended up with a lot of funny, funky pictures… but a proper family portrait?  Well, we’ll just have to try again next time.  Promise!

However, the pictures were perfect for my layout this week 😉

I used stickers from Echo Park and paired it up with paper tape from Bazzil Basics.

Slits in the background provided a place to slip cards with the months of the year and some journaling on it into.  I lined the slits with dotted tape in the same colour as the background that draws the attention to it.

The title was stamped and highlighted with white and I added black shadows when the paint was dry.  Stickers on top of the stamped  title repeat the title for added detail.

Now all that remains to do is to live, love, laugh, pray, play, pause… and then start all over again!

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Joy!

I enjoyed putting together my layout for this week so much!

It is a celebration of different paper and techniques with a lot of work involved and I am so happy with the result 🙂

The wall with the door on the right page is an idea that I scrap-lifted from a Christmas card by Shelley Hickox.  The blue buttons echo the colour of the bird in the bird-cage.

Pinterest is such an inspiration and the idea for the Christmas tree is an example that I found on one of Alisha’s Pinterest boards.

The rest added itself onto the page and I had trouble tearing myself away and declaring the layout finished!  I love the look of the gold foil on the bird cages, ‘house’ and Christmas trees.

As you can see, there is a lot of work involved in this layout so put on your big-girl scrap-panties and come scrap on Saturday!

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How do I measure the things I love

Problem is…I have a wandering mind and being a Gemini the measure I use today for something I love is not the same one I will use tomorrow 🙂

I love life and only realised last week the influence that my love of life has on my grandchildren.  On the weekend of 19 October the weather bureau issued a warning for severe thunderstorms and many of us suffered serious losses because of the extreme hailstorm that buffeted Gauteng. We were in the mountains with Kobus and Alisha where we also had a terrible thunderstorm with hail and a flood that scared me silly!

We were like children when the rain stopped and couldn’t wait to see what the stream we have to cross on our way home looked like.   Alisha and I ventured into the calmer water at the edge of the stream because Kobus wanted to take a picture.  The water was freezing because of the hail and I couldn’t stand still.  My feet were burning because of the cold and I made a fuss (Kobus said I was doing a rain dance).  The picture was taken with a cell phone so the quality is not that good but just look at that face!

Because we pick our drinking water up directly from the stream the water in the holding dam was muddied and we had to let it run clean.  I tried to open the flush valve by leaning over the edge of the deck but couldn’t reach it.  I gritted my teeth and stretched a bit more… and cracked the rib that was pressed against the sharp edge of the deck!  OUCH!!! 😦

Needless to say, I was very sore when we got home and didn’t move about much.  The kids couldn’t understand why I was so subdued and when they saw the video of me dancing in the water, Frans said ‘Now that is the ouma Marie I know!’  I was still loving life – but in slow motion 🙂

Our layout this week is about the things we love.  I love being creative – be it scrapbooking, handcraft, crochet, knitting- whatever I have an urge for at any given time.  Family is another of my great loves but one layout cannot picture everything I love.  Mmmm, maybe that calls for a new project?

I used ‘Hands’ from 7G’s Off the Wall collection on a Nightmist (Bazzill Basics) background.  Because I had two printed pages I could play to my heart’s content and apart from the two faux folders I made a large envelope and tore it in half after folding it to create pockets for tags.  Two small closed envelopes feature on the right page.

A card with a few nik-naks are held together with 7G elastic and a measuring tape trim.

I used Tiny Text from Cosmo Cricket on the tags, envelopes and on the background.  And…wait for it…film negatives for good measure 🙂 🙂

That is what I will keep you busy with on Saturday.  Cannot wait to show you some of the projects we are working on for the Platinum Market when we scrap on Saturday.  Patience…

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It all begins and ends with family

On Saturday we had a huge get-together for my brother’s and his wife’s sixtieth birthdays this year.  All his brothers and sisters and all her brothers and sisters were there with some of their children – I would guess about 100 people!

Here is our bunch:

My sister and her husband (in the insert) unfortunately had to leave early and missed out on the family picture.  We caught up on all the news and had a family meal together on Sunday before everybody returned home.

The eight of us who went on the Namaqualand tour regaled the others with all our beautiful memories and what do you know – the next tour is being planned now.  I don’t know where or when yet, all I know is that I want to get on the road and make some more memories with my family 🙂

I used some pictures that we took at the West Coast National Park at Langebaan on our recent trip for my layout this week.

The paper is from DCWV and I hope you will love the flocked paper as much as I do.  The two pockets in the bottom corners of the layout were taped onto the background with 7G paper tape and provided space for tags that I used for journaling.

The chipboard wings were painted red and matted on dotted cardstock.  The word ‘beautiful’ came from a 7G card and were also matted on the dotted cardstock.

I used cotton twine to fasten a metal charm to one of the pictures as well as for a photo corner on the main picture on the left page.

It all begins and ends with family and I look forward to getting together with my scrapping family on Saturday 13 October!

 

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Special memory

The sun was setting in a haze of yellow while lazy waves rolled onto broken shells with a rhythmical shhhh…

We were sitting on the wooden stairway leading to the beach at Leentjiesklip (Langebaan) eating fish and chips with our fingers.  An icy south-western wind tried to drive us into the cars like the rest of our entourage but we refused to budge.  What a memory!

Needless to say, back at our tent with the wind still blowing strong I had to make myself two hot water bottles and got under the covers to warm myself up.  Frans and I looked at the pictures on the camera’s screen with the voices of the others talking and laughing in the neighbouring tent.  That’s how I fell asleep on 3 September 2012 – totally content surrounded with loved ones and knowing that I had beautiful pictures to enhance a special memory!

BoBunny’s Weekend Market Combo sticker and alphabet sheet matched the colours of my pictures exactly and it inspired me to create this layout:

Can you imagine a more beautiful end to a special day?

The paper with the blue and white chevron stripes is from My Mind’s Eye and the reverse side of the paper looks like journal paper.  I love how it fits in with may layout 🙂

I used the alphabet to create words that compliment the pictures.

Blue Distress Ranger Ink and a script stamp transformed the letters into grungy words and tied it in with the blue background.  Manilla tags dyed with walnut ink were treated to numbers with the script stamped on them as well as stickers and parts of stickers.

I am looking forward to scrapping with you on 29 September 2012 and would love to show you more of the beautiful pictures we took during our tour of Namaqualand and the West Coast!

 

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Steampunk

I have been thinking about doing a scrapbook layout with a steam punk theme since I bought 7G’s lovely steam punk rub-ons (it’s been a while now).

Several weeks ago the layout started out with black and white paper but that didn’t make me happy, so I put it away and took it out again a few days later.  Adding red paper, I tried my hand at it again but that also didn’t please me and I had to pack up once more 😦  Sigh…

When I took it out last week I resolved not to put it away until it was completed.  This time I added Mail Room from Bo Bunny’s Et Cetera range with red and mustard in it and ta-da!  The heavens opened and the angels sang 🙂

The steam punk graphics are printed on old library cards to add extra detail and lends itself to a strong, masculine layout.  The red paper on the top border is from FabScraps and the black and white print is 7G’s Old Newspaper Print.

The three embellishments were created by cutting them out of the Bo Bunny paper and covering it with dimensional glaze.  The steam punk rub-ons cover white space on the left page and I used it on the border, above the border and even on the paper tape on the right page.

The pictures of Kobus on his quad bike matched my layout perfectly and I love how the blue sky in some of the pictures provides a nice contrast to the mustard and red.

Keep warm this week and come scrap and bond on Saturday 18 August!

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How lucky can a man be?

Riani recently took the beautiful pictures that I used on my layout for Saturday.  With four gorgeous ladies sharing his life I believe this man is in seventh heaven 😉

The stickers and letters are from Bo Bunny’s Country Garden range and I used an assortment of flowers with it.  A few blue pearls here and there on the layout complete the embellishments.

I used two of the smaller tags pinned together with a safety-pin inside a sticker frame to complete a block of four squares.

I cannot wait for spring (even though we still have to get through August and the wind and dust…) and am excited to report that my jasmine started flowering – almost a month earlier than in 2011!

Looking forward to scrapping with you on Saturday 🙂

 

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