gotta love the new bo-bunny Christmas paper for this year. i love the colours put together and the general old worldly feel of them. so these are some of the card i made with left-over paper - the rest are turned into class projects and into samples for a presentation i am doing in October and November. some exciting stuff happening again as we race ahead to the end of the year!

this first card is done using an image from PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange) from way back then! i have always loved this bunny and bought him but never used him before - i must also say we never had Versafine ink before so that may very well be the reason! i coloured him with my water colour paints...as that is just who i am and really love the look it gives. i added some glaze to areas and glitter glue to others.

then i rediscovered some of my six rolls of silver thread from when i was teaching card making a lot... and did some hand sewing - which turned out to be really amazing! you see every cloud does have a silver lining!

the second card is also an image from PSX. i don't own this stamp *sadly*! but would you believe this painted image has been floating with me for an entire 8 years now! wow how time flies and means really nothing! anyhow he also found his way onto a card.

the finishing touches, a simple bow and some golden bells sewn to it.

the Santa was also painted with water colours and highlighted with glossy accents when it first hit South Africa in 2002 and we were the importers! man i glazed everything and loved it!

i had a very productive meeting yesterday with a one of the biggest publishing houses in South Africa and have some exciting projects coming up with them! can't wait to show you some of the stuff and tell more...for now you will just have to wait and see! hope you have an amazing day and happy birthday to a very special friend JO-JO! you are a real gem, an amazing true friend and we will miss you next year!

another great sketch to challenge your creativity this week over at Scrapbook Challenges.
i have had a thing for stars lately...that being after my circle craze - shapes really are so versatile, so i loved doing this layout. i used some older pics of my dalmation Bailey...and still have a whole bunch to scrap of him.

and here's what i did with the sketch...i started off with white card stock and spritzed with brown ink to take away some of the intimidating whiteness. i then added a centre piece of patterned paper, rounded the corners and added some sewing around the edge. next i place my stars cut from various pieces of patterned papers and self-made textures using different supplies. some grunge board stars got a coating of gold paint dabber and glaze.

i added a star over the 'o' in my title for some dimension and interest. shapes inside of other shapes is a great way of adding interest and getting rid of those empty spaces.

texture created on my star using acrylic paint and sewing.

and diamantes for added colour.

yeah it's Saturday! and another challenge over at Scrap and Stamp Saturday. this week the challenge is embossing...heat embossing or blind embossing whatever you fancy - and with at least one stamped image used on your layout. remember that you can enter your layout featuring embossing and stand a chance to win some awesome prizes! for my layout i chose both - i used a tim holtz embossing folder, inked it using my Versamark ink pad and then embossed my card stock. once done i added silver embossing powder on top and heat set to add my thermal/heat embossing. i absolutely love this effect!!

and here's a close up shop of the embossing with the folder and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder onto green card stock...but there's more

i heat embossed this arrow stamp by stampers anonymous and then sprayed it with espresso colorwash and left it to dry naturally

and then embossed some metal sheeting with a cuttlebug folder and punched into a circle accent

embossing is such a versatile technique and the possibilities are endless. play along this week and share in the fun - we would love to see what you girls come up with.
supplies: Patterned paper by Tim Holtz, MME. Card stock by Coredinations, Fabscraps. Embossing folders by Tim Holtz, Cuttlebug. Embossing powder by SAG. Ink by Tsukineko. Stamp by Stampers Anonymous. Colorwash by Ranger. Other diamantes, metal foil, circle punch and silver thread.

yip...its Monday again!! where has the weekend gone? well at least i got a lot done this time around. but for now here's another fabulous sketch by Pamela from scrapbook challenges. a great sketch to follow, rotate or just inspire...and so easy to transform into a double with some imagination.

here's my take on it...plain and simple! i combined some scraps of patterned paper from another project, grabbed a couple of tags, left-over technique stars, rub-ons and bling and there you go.

the orange rub-ons are a gift from Pamela (the one and only) and the best i have used so far this lifetime. the little black rub-on is an ancient making memories rub-ons - and yip it still worked! the tag is from kaisercraft's up up and away range! love them.

the stamp is from tim holtz

and an embossed and distressed star with some coloured diamantes for fun.

join us in the fun at scrapbook challenges to win some easy product...just enter your layout into one of the challenges!! and while you are there, become a member and check out the totally awesome layouts in the gallery section! there are some absolutely "have to scrap" layouts to inspire you! hope you have a fabulous week ahead... it's a short one for us with a long weekend coming up! yeah!
supplies: Patterned paper by Art from the heart, scrap within reach and Kaisercraft. Card stock by Bazzill basics. stamps by tim holtz and stampington. Rub-ons by Hambly Screenprints and making memories. striped tape by Heidi Swapp. Tags by Kaisercraft. Distress inks by Ranger Industries. Butterfly by K&Co. Other diamantes, embossing powder, embroidery thread and staples.

i can hardly believe it's Saturday again! time just seems to fly by as we head into summer and the end of the year...i am currently working on Christmas cards...no way! it's hard to wrap my head around it, but took a break to work on the numbers challenge over at scrap and stamp Saturday when i remembered about this baby...i still love it and had to share. it's one of those crazy layouts where i used everything and anything that didn't have a home at the time - all those odd card board frames, one left rub-on, tags, brads, stamping and much more. the challenge was to use numbers...either on the page or even on your photo or as a title. head on over and play along to win!!

to emphasize the number 2 i used acrylic paint and a plastic cup to stamp around it.

these are old id tags from a switch board - i love using stuff like that - it has so much meaning and is applicable to my life, oh and then there is the part about recycling i am passionate about too. something from my late father's days and so fitting for a layout about his grandson whom he never knew.

and more stamping on a card board little car inside a frame. the stamp is a favorite from Hero Arts. i also stamped some numbers with another favorite Tim Holtz stamp. the car part was glazed to make it stand out even more.

PS. the Ferrari car cake was make by my brother himself!! he really is good when it comes to stuff like that! and needless to say Jonathan loved his cake.
hope you have a fabulous weekend!

i am honored to have been chosen as a guest designer for Darkroom Door!! thank you so much Rachel. i have always been a big fan of her photography and work and now i too get to play with some of her fabulous products!! whoo-hoo! i can't wait. Please visit the darkroom door blog to see some fabulous samples using their products and watch out for my contributions over the next few months.

another Monday...means another sketch over at Scrapbook challenges. I love this sketch - quick, easy and so very versatile! why don't you hop on over to the site and join in the fun. there are loads of sketches and challenges to try out, tutorials and inspiration galore.

this is my take on the sketch...the photo of my nephew is not that great but i just loved his expression and had to use it. for my layout i used my favourite product supplies...scraps of patterned paper.

and my favourite Hanna silk ribbon to create a beautiful textured ruffle.

sewing for more texture, pattern and colour.

and stamping for ah well...some personality! don't you just love that truck stamp - it's from artistic outpost and one of my favourites!

this week's challenge over at scrap and stamp Saturday is a fabulous sketch by fellow design team member Paola. a versatile sketch with so many possibilities. remember that you can rotate your sketch four ways to give you a different look each time.

and here's what i did with the sketch. i used selection of my jillybean soup patterned papers together with making memories and 7gypsies.

core'dinations card stock embossed with a tim holtz embossing folder for some stunning texture.

bricks cut from my patterned paper and then layered on top of each other for dimension.

and some awesome printed tickets from house of 3 printed on photo paper.

my stamped image is in the bottom left hand corner on top of the lemon paper. hope you have a fabulous weekend filled with creativity.
supplies: cardstock by core'dinations and fabscraps. patterned paper by making memories, jillybean soup. tag and rub-ons by 7gypsies. tickets by house of 3. lettering by fabscraps. glitter glue by ranger industries. embossing folder by tim holtz. other diamante, embroidery thread.

it's a brand new week with a brand new sketch at scrapbook challenges. so why don't you head on over and take part in the challenges to win some awesome goodies. this month the fabulous Jennifer McGuire is our guest designer...so to see her fab take on the sketch head on over to the site, or get a glimpse on Pamela's blog....

and here's my take on the sketch...

some close up details: a glass slide with a suze weinberg piece of art behind it, and finished off with some grunge wings coloured with gold paint dabber.

sewing around the edges of my circle and some rub-ons. after sewing half way my green ran out - needles to say a trip to the store and six green later i still had not matches the orginal colour. so i then made the inside of the circle a different colour and i loved the end result. it just goes to show, why you should write down the colours of the thread you buy like my friend Sonz! LOL!

this week's challenge over at scrap and stamp Saturday is using multiple photos on a layout. I did this two pager with 7 photos on, but you can always use the left hand page along and then count 5 photos on a single page. now for those who scrap single pages a lot that may be a challenge. the trick is to use some smaller photos combined with larger standard sized photos. smaller photos are also great fillers for white space. for my stamping part i used two stamps from a little making memories travel set - relaxation and life is a journey. i embossed them in black onto white card stock and then added some colour using distress ink. the final product was glazed.

hop on over to scrap and stamp Saturday and join in the fun. you could just be a winner!! remember to use at least one stamp on your layout!
supplies: patterned paper by MME, K&Co, Pink Paislee. Stamps by Making Memories. Distress ink by Ranger Industries. Lettering by Fabscraps. Other Diamantes, buttons and embroidery thread.

welcome to the Scrapbook Challenges Season of Change blog hop!! whoohoo! so why all the excitement....well for quite a few reasons. i am a returning Design Team Member for Scrapbook Challenges. a fabulous site where you can learn, gain inspiration, win prizes and just become a part of the family. to start the blog hop you need to head on back to Pamela's blog and then follow the paper trail of inspiration ...

if you have arrived here from Rene's blog...then you are in the right spot! i am an avid scrapper (read obsessed crafter) who really is into anything creative regarding paper. as long as i can cut and paste and glue then i am happy. i guess that's why you are here as well! Below you will find the sketch for this blog hop...it is a super cute and versatile sketch that Pamela made for this challenge. you will get so many ideas from all the design team members so go ahead and check it out...

and without further a due...here's what i did with the sketch. i opted for a canvas project this time around and i love the way it came together. i actually prefer this sketch for smaller projects rather than a layout.

supplies: Patterned paper by Jillybean soup & Graphic 45. Grungeboard by Tim Holtz. Button by Jenni Bowlin. Perfect Pearls & Paint Dabbers by Ranger Industries. Die-cut by Cricut. Sheep chipboard by Dhoodhaas. Other diamantes, dimensional glaze and canvas.

remember that there are loads of RAKs up for grab during this blog hop. you can win really cool paper packs from Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper, stunning flowers from Prima and a whole bunch more ...all just for following the design team around their blogs!

in case you get lost here's the order of the blog hop
Pamela
Dani
Racquel
Sookie
Debi
Amanda
Jackie
Jolanda
Rene'
Jowilna
Ana
Jenn
Amy
Sarah
Shannon
Jamie
Natalie
Holli
Brynn

i hope you will join us for a fabulous weekend of inspiration. remember to head on over to Scrapbook Challenges
and become a member of this super creative community - guaranteed to be loved!

Now hop on over to Ana's blog for some more inspiration