welcome to the January blog hop! here we welcome and and give a big shout out to the new design team members and some of the old returning members like me - Jowilna...and let me just say what an honour it is to be a part of this family of super talented girls.
we have an awesome weekend planned for you filled with give-aways, games and lots of inspiration in the form of layouts and sketches.
you should have arrived here from Devi (super talented girl)
Devi

and here's what i did....
for my background i added some tracks using my black versafine ink pad and a little red jeep car to ride all over my white card stock. i then set about to add my photos and patterned paper pieces. i added some stamped images using distress stains, metal hinges and some really old rub-ons from various companies. the red patterned paper is a piece of Christmas paper that i snuck into the mix for fun...you could never tell could you?

and some of the amazing give-aways up for grab this weekend are...

and also up for grabs is a custom make over for your blog from Brynn herself (i wish) *hint*hint. hope you will have an awesome weekend and play along with us...
next up head on over to
Chanell
for some serious inspiration and have a fabulously creative weekend!
also head on over to the scrapbook challenges new .com site and become a member to join in all the fun - if you don't you will miss out!

sorry for being missing in action for a while longer than i had planned. i hope you - all my wonderful virtual friends had a really amazing festive season! Christ-mas here went down as usual with it's oh-lets-mess-her-life-up kinda day on the 23rd and so i kept things under wraps and low key just in case there was another curve ball waiting ...

and so here we are...twenty 12.
is this the year? the end of the world? the end of it all?
one can only wonder. and that's what i have been doing - wondering - a lot - about all sorts of things - about God's promises and His timing. but those are my issues i am dealing with so i won't bore you any longer.
in the meantime i took some time to :
play - with paint and inks and stamps and created stuff just for me
painted the bathroom - the 2nd in my restoration series
(while still needing to finish the kitchen - yes i know)
cleaned and cleared and purged
lived
got my word for twenty 12 -
Restoration
to restore my life
to restore old and new friendships
to restore my home and make it comfortable
to restore my heart and soul
to restore my faith in God
restore my faith in humankind
restore my work studio
restore love
and where it needs to i will dare to fail and restore myself again
- each and everyday if need be - i am made new in HIM

thanks for hanging around. thanks for making the journey with me. thanks for failing with me and thank you above all for restoring my faith in humankind. i promise to be back later this week....

i love it when simple ordinary things become an idea and turn out totally awesome. as crafters/hoarders there is a reason why we never throw things out right? right! 'cause there's always a light bulb moment. to make things out of old things and strange things...as was the case with this little project i recently did for a local television show recently. when my car went for a service and the little rear light bulb was replaced - it stayed in the garage for over 2 months before it was put to good use. add 2 other totally useless (dunnu why i bought them) light bulbs, some wood glue and glitter and there you have it. a totally rad new way of getting some 'up-sized' Xmas lights around the house as part of your decorations.

these are so easy to make. i simply squeezed some wood glue directly onto the bulb and spread the glue using my fingers. the shake on some glitter and let the bulb stand (and yes they can) upright on a smooth surface and leave to dry. shake off the excess glitter and let your light shine! the thing is that i didn't even use my expensive glitter - but instead opted for the kid's version - a much coarser version.

the paper bauble consists out of punched circles glued together to form a dimensional paper decoration. easy enough for the kids to do and nice enough for grown ups to want to hang on the tree.

this little reindeer fellow was made out of a Styrofoam ball cut in half. it was placed on a base made out of different paper layers and then attached to the lid of a plastic container using glue and brads. the reindeer antlers were cut from grey felt and glued inside small slits in the Styrofoam. the rest is some googly eyes, pompoms and little gold bell. the inside of the tub is filled with strips of old book paper that will hide a little gift.

an old coffee tin becomes a quick gift box. simply cover it with decorative paper, add a ribbon and some brads. the top is decorated with the same 'circle' paper bauble made as before. this time it is adhered to the lid using glue.

hope you are having a creative festive season. i have been sorting and purging some old products that is in need of a new home...and cleaning and re-organizing again! truly a never ending job...

last night we had our annual scrapping Christmas dinner. the bunch of regulars including Christine who came from Prague for the big event, old friends and new friends from Bulgaria we literally represented the entire planet. it was so awesome to come together as friends and creative partners! we each designed a place setting for our secret Santa that had to include a hat, place mat, napkin, cracker and name tag. this is a small glimpse into my place setting...
my cracker of course could not be the normal - instead i used a postal tube and decorated it as the cracker. but let me tell you - it's not the easiest to open since the top and bottom gets sealed off with plastic lids....part of the anticipation of getting to a small little gift.

i covered the tube in old book paper and gel medium. the top features a small little bird house made by hand and decorated with moss (kindly donated last year by my friend Niki), glitter, old sheet music, vintage images, bling and charms.

and don't forget the silk ribbon! the base of the little bird house are 2 wooden frames glued to each other - and really really old. they are one of those oh my why do i have these 'cause i will never use them things in my stash - well they were meant to be...

the place mat is a piece of wood painted in a layer of dark brown craft paint, then a layer of cream. the reindeer was drawn onto the wood, some silver leafing added and then a layer of brown paint. i then sanded the whole bunch to distress it and then added a layer of antiquing liquid oil.

the bird house template is an old favourite by PSX (personal stamp exchange) from way back when. they made the absolute best rubber stamps with stunning images...but sadly not around anymore.

i love the vintage antique feeling of this project.

the front is a chipboard star covered in dimensional glaze and glitter, a large button and a large diamante to finish off the center. two silver leaves from Prima adds some texture.

and then there's the silver bauble ! aah yes the bauble that took 4 hours to complete as i very patiently sat and added each sequence piece with a pin into a Styrofoam ball. these are my favourite baubles to make. i made my first one for a Christmas photo shoot in 2005 and have loved making these for all kinds of occasions. a great go to craft doing in front of the TV if you will.

hope you are having a peaceful week! thunder is roaring in the background outside as i type...here's hoping and praying for much needed rain and relief from the pressing heat - and a couple of dogs at my feet scared of lightning...so logging off!

so for today here's a glimpse at what got me up at 4am to leave home at 6am to get to the urban brew studios in JHB at 8am studio call. as usual i over planned and prepared but with good success i think. it has been a long morning and i am ready to take a nap.

sitting around for hours on end doing nothing is quite frustrating...but such is a day in the life of famous people like the one below...and many others i shared the day with like Elvis Blue, Tobie Cronje, Annamart v d Merwe, Carmen, Ed and and and....

i am glad it's all over and done with....i get very nervous doing these kinds of things. but it's just another thing to cross off my bucket list. i must say i have crossed off many things off of my list in the last 6 years.

i have so many projects done and waiting to be completed and shared with you all. also in the pile to be photographed is my December daily album i have been working on. for the first time i have chosen to skip tim's 12 tags of Christmas - ooh gasp! yes i may include some ideas in my other project i am working on. instead i have chosen to do something different - a look at things happening in and around my life in December. i am not a fan of mini-albums but this year seems to be different like lots of other things. hoping to share my album sometime soon. i hope you are slowing down somewhat in daily life and being creative to feed your soul.