Hayley recently hosted an artistic envelope swap on our Rubber stamping South Africa group. Needles to say the results were amazing and made for some interesting conversations at the Post Office. The purple envelope is my design. For the base I used a layer of gesso on book paper scraps and then added a layer aubergine paint dabber. I stamped with bubble wrap in the same aubergine for some pattern. the house is made up of a stamped image, collage pieces and printed tape measure.To finish it off i added some more stamping around the edges with a favourite flourish from Fancy Pants. the envelopes are C5 size so we had enough space to work on...

this is Hayley's amazingly colourful envelope...

and one by Penny with loads of flowers stamped...
...and yes for those who notices i did send myself an envelope through the post. although i must say i am quite disappointed as the PO workers obviously neglected to put some effort into their stamping. you would think they would come to the party and add some serious postmarks to these beauties to help along the process....

today's layout features the gold perfect pearls splattered across the bottom edge. it makes for a nice subtle difference in colour and texture and the gold really stands out against the patterned paper. mix some perfect pearls with a bit of water on your palette. the consistency should be something like a creamy paste. load some onto your paintbrush and lightly tap the paint brush onto your finger to create the splats. remember to do this step before adding your photos - or make sure you cover your photos with scrap paper...

experiment with different colours onto different backgrounds for stunning effects...

supplies: card stock KI Memories. Patterned paper Webster's Pages, 7Gypsies. Tags, brads, scallop paper by Making Memories. Perfect Pearls by Ranger Industries. Other Buttons, thread and rub-ons.

Thursday's class layout features some perfect pearls in gold. i think i have fallen in love all over again with perfect pearls - after the weekend's play with UTEE and pearls. perfect pearls really are versatile and there is so much you can do with it. we are also working on a perfect pearl class for later next month at sweet scrappins. so if you are interested watch their blog and mine for some dates and join in the fun... as usual the layout will go public after class on Thursday...hope you have a super creative and inspiring week ahead.

so here's the layout...the girls made stunning versions today! The silver strip on the left is the invisibles paper sprayed with Clearsnap Smooch Spritz. I love the silver...although i have to say that one small vile of smooch does not go a long way...it literally gets chowed up in thin air...so be warned. this one strip used half of the vile...so can you imagine if i tried spraying the whole 12x12 inch sheet....i don't think so....i will have to mail my friend Carol from Clearsnap and have a word with her...mmmm

a scrap piece of paper folded into a tab and a single sewn stitch added as detail

the 7Gypsies tab was also sprayed using the silver smooch spritz. i really liked the metallic look it left behind - although when you handle it a bit too much it does come off onto your fingers

yesterday we did a class at sweetscrappins Pretoria. I was really excited to get to teach people who are willing to learn and who got so excited about the possibilities once you start up your melting pot. so this morning early i cleared out the left over UTEE from my pot and made this...the left and right are two CD halves covered in UTEE and stamped - the stamp was inked in bronze Encore pigment ink. I then dripped some UTEE on top and added micro beads. Lastly i added some gold and kiwi perfect pearls. so it really was a positive day with lots of play and people who were excited about using their melt art on cards and layouts...

this technique has been around for years...well ever since I have been stamping - resist. and now i have finally gotten my hands onto some of Heidi Swapp's new invisibles paper as seen above. I used the circle frame design partly onto my layout for next week's class. i really enjoyed playing with the invisibles as well as the silver smooch spray...which by the way is in a totally not user friendly container - a glass vile! what were they thinking!? I would hate to know how many broken returns (well if any) Clearsnap will get back into their warehouse. you would think that a woman crafter would know better and have it in something like aahhh plastic (duh). That's where Ranger and Tim Holtz are one ahead in the practical game of crafting with their mini misters...i will let you know when my first vile breaks....

roll on monday when i will post the layout...

in the meantime you can head on over to

and check out some of the latest public articles to keep you busy until then.

this weeks' challenge over at scrap and stamp Saturday is this sketch. below is my interpretation.
i used the sketch a little differently. instead of using two 6 x 4 inch photos i used an article out of a magazine about my book. it is a piece i wrote about crafting and how important it is in today's society...and for keeping me sane. I used American Crafts' Everyday paper pack for my patterned paper and a circle punch to punch reverse scallops out of the edge. The photo is an actual image out of the book showing supplies you can use to make your own cards.

Have i mentioned lately how much fun it is to do all these crazy adrenaline sports...it really does get the heart pumping again..and have i mentioned lately how much i have enjoyed scrapping! It's been a while since i have loved it - simple because of the dust of everyday life. but creating is a joy and a privilege and i simply adore what i do! This is the latest in zip line layouts...i am sure there will be a few more as i have loads of photos.so i can't help but share this one as i loved working on it - free and uncomplicated! (and the pics of special friends help made it perfect)

love this quote on the 7Gypsies sticker sheet...

so i don't really have a life at the moment and yet my days are filled with lots of stuff...hence i forgot to post my scrap and stamp challenge layout. The challenge was to use an image as inspiration...I used the fours squares and hearts as my challenge...

the inside puzzle parts are from the scrapbook convention in 2007 i think...never did finish that layout (sorry Sarah)..but couldn't bare all the cutting...but did find it appropriate to complete this layout.
i used one of my favourite flourish stamps from Fancy Pants and stamped it in flannel grey ancient page. I then used silver relief outline by Pebeo to make the little dots to add some dimension.

after completing a recent layout I used the one page as a sketch as well as the left-over paper and card stock to make this card. the colour scheme lent itself to a male card and so i grabbed my trusty old truck stamp. a really quick card and so easy because i literally copied it from my layout page.

this little guy or girl has been done for a while now. It is a box canvas measuring 3 x 4 x 4 inches. I used some left over pieces of clay to complete it and then just added a few new pieces. It really is a mixture of colours and textures and i love it. The inspiration for the piece came from the old and worn door handles i discovered while clearing out the store room. they used to be gunmetal but now are silver, gun metal and rust. the face is a mold i made years ago after returning from Ranger.
copper and bronze UTEE mixed and poured into the mould for the face...

since it is the month of love i made this layout with some photos of my sister's wedding i had....ok even before i continue...

why do we (the world) celebrate a month of love with a special day on the 14th - when in actual fact everyday should be a day of love. why do we have to commercialize something so that people can overcharge the rest of the country for the usual goodies like chocolates and flowers.

anyhow just my 2c worth for this morning. and just in case you were wondering no...we don't celebrate valentines day...we celebrate love everyday! how about you?

The layout consists out of photos that i had that were printed. they are all a mixture of colour, black and white and sepia. but i loved how it turned out. the 5x7 photo is matted twice onto brown and a pattern and then onto the large pattern. all around the photo i pierced holes and then threaded embroidery thread through and made a simple knot. once you have done your knots take your fingers and ruffle the edges so they look a mess - that is part of the charm. it really is effective and looks really cool. the strip on the photo is a chipboard strip with holes punched with my cropodile and then embossed with several colours and layers of embossing powder. i did the same with the bracket on the left of the layout. the square block rub-ons are by Daisy D's. to finish off the layout i added a chipboard heart inked with chalk ink in brown and then added a layer of dimensional glaze. the back is filled in with book paper.

Supplies: Patterned paper Daisy D's, K&Co & Jenni Bowlin. Rub-ons Daisy D's. Sticker 7Gypsies. Chipboard Fabscraps & Fancy Pants. Pearls Kaisercraft. Other thread & staples.

lately i have been busy on my little private project which will be revealed later this year...so i have had little time for other stuff. but i managed to complete my artistic envelopes for the swap that needs to be posted off later this month.

here's a little glimpse of what mine looks like...and now for the anxious wait!

this weekend i am hoping to catch up on some other projects and to post some on the blog which may or may not feel a bit of neglect...

till tomorrow.

this is the layout i made with some of the zip line photos. I love how it turned out especially with the blue k&co patterned paper. The large chipboard word is from a local company Fabscraps.

patterned paper mixed with book paper...