Finally I am back!

My poor little blog has been very neglected. Those of you who know me, will know that the last two months of the school year has been incredibly busy. I hardly touched sides. With final exam papers to be set and marked, new leaders to be chosen and an album for our retiring head mistress to be scrapped in a week I had no time for anything.

 

I did manage to finish a few last minute Christmas cards. Don't you just love this image from Make it Crafty?  She was coloured with my beloved Copics and there is some Flowersoft on her hat for a little added texture. The card was made using a sketch from the MIC Facebook sketch challenge. Such a lovely sketch to work with. This one is definitely going into the file to be used again.

 

My daughter really loved the card when she saw it and wanted to send it to her bestie in America. The only problem? Ellie has ginger hair, so the elf had to have a little make over. LOL I quite like the ginger elf.

All the papers are scraps from last year's Christmas LO's and the ribbon and flowers came from my stash. 

 

My DH and his friend has been very busy too. They built me this awesome storage for my ribbons and punches. I LOVE. love, love it!  They made the ribbon storage on the right about 2 years ago and added the other two units today.  

 

May you all have a wonderful 2014, I hope that it will be a year in which I manage to do a lot more crafting and a lot less running around.

WOYWW - I am still here.



A very good morning to all of you who came to visit. I am still here, life has just spiraled out of control and my poor little blog was tha one that got left behind. I really missed all of you and hope to be back more with more regular posts and visits from now on.

A you can see, not much has happenef on the desk, other than just dumping stuff and running. Those eagle eyed WOYWW visitors, did you norice my new and beautiful Big Shot? I could not resist buying it, I mean, its beautiful, isn't it?



 

I did do some crafting, and here are the results. first this card made from a Make it Crafty digi stamp. I just LOVE the images from Zoe's store. They are such a delight to colour and she is just the most amazing person. When we were burgled a month ago and I lost all my digi stamps, not only could I retrieve my stamps from her website, but she even sent me a gift voucher to make me feel better!!! Who does that? Only Zoe, so please do yourself a favour, go and visit her, you will not be sorry.

Of course she was coloured with my beloved Copic markers and the paper is Graphics45 



Lastly I thought I would show you grandie nr.3's Birthday invitations and party packs. She is having an owl tea party. Thank goodness for my Silhouette! I had so much fun with these,

That's it from me folks. Have a great day and a fantastic week. Thank you for visiting, I will be around soon (at least before next Wednesday for the WOYWWers.

So sad and so very angry!

I wrote the title to this post yesterday and then I just could not finish the post. Too many emotions and so afraid I would say something really scathing and unnecessary.
Yesterday was the funeral of one of my girls' mom who passed away from a stroke at 46. She leaves behind a daughter of 17 and a son of 13. It just breaks my heart that children have to grow up without their mother. I taught the mom when she was at school, so it is doubly sad for me. She was one of the most creative people I have ever had the pleasure to teach.
You ask why the anger? It has nothing to do with the funeral or the passing of an incredible lady. One of my friends from school asked to travel to the funeral with me and when I asked the normal 'How are you?' , expecting to get the normal 'I am fine', she broke down and wept, like I have never seen her weep. It took her a few minutes to recover enough to share her story with me.
This friend, an incredibly kind and caring lady, was childless for many years when she heard about a newborn baby who was found in a black bag in a garbage can. This was 19 years ago. She and her husband opened their home and their hearts to this precious gift from God and raised an incredible young woman.
She grew up knowing she was adopted, but was never told the circumstances of how she was found because my friend felt that she did not want her to feel that she was worthless and that her birthmother did not care about her.
This year she went to University and shared a room with a girl from the East Rand, who obviously told her parents and family about her lovely room mate after which the aunt, a social worker started asking all sorts of questions. What is her mother's name? Where do they stay? etc. Only to exclaim 'Oh! I am sure that is the girl I found in a garbage can all those years ago!"
The room mate went back to University after the holidays, asked the girl whether her mom is her biological daughter and when she said no, she proceeded to tell the whole story, not only to the girl, but to everybody that wanted to hear.
To make a long story short, the girl ended up in a hospital for three weeks after a break down and was completely suicidal! Mom is distraught and can not stop crying. I ask you all to keep them in your prayers and to make this girl realize that mom kept that from her out of love and not because she wanted to harm her in any way.
I am so angry at the social worker who discussed this with her family. Is there no code that prevents them from talking about the cases they deal with?????

Scary thought - Make it Crafty design team call

A while ago I discovered Make it Crafty. Not only do they have the most wonderful images, but Zoe, the owner, is one of the most talented artists I have ever seen. She is my colouring idol!!! Not only is she talented, she is also one of the nicest people in the business and the Make it crafty Facebook group is just wonderful. I have learnt so much there and when we were broken into recently, the girls there gave me such support and love that I could not help but feel better already.

Zoe has decided to start a design team for the Facebook group and challenged us to crawl out from under the table and give it a try. I would not say I have crawled out completely, its more like peeking out, but hoping nobody sees. LOL Those ladies are SOOOOO talented, I would love to be part of the group and the recent release hop was so much fun, I just had to give it a try.



 



Here she is, The Red Queen ( you can find her here ), I think she is magnificent!!! AND... She was such a joy to colour. Of course I used my beloved Copic markers to colour her and such a lady can not possibly have just an ordinary card, can she? I made an easel card and used some butterflies and some flowers from my stash.  I took quite a few photo's, but all with my phone as I haven't had time to replace my camera yet (the computer was priority.... I NEEED those digi's!) I tried to get an angle where you can see how I glitterified the trim on her skirt and the jewels.
OK Here's to holding both thumbs and both big toes and my breath while I wait to hear.

WOYWW - Lets see if this works,

Yay!!! Finally my phone let me upload some photo's! And DH lets me use his laptop from work for a little while, so I thought I would quickly update my blog and join in the fun. The desk is not looking too great I am afraid, I did clean it, I promise, but the frustration of not having a computer or a camera is getting to me. it has had one good side effect though, the only thing i could do, was haul out all my UFO's ( or more to the point, my unfinished LO's and work on them.  Hence the mess on the desk

 



Here we go, two of those unfinished LO's finally finished. They have been lying around waiting to be done for a very long time. The first is of GD 2's 5th birthday. She is turning 9 this year! Hanging my head in shame now.



 

The last one is of mt DS's famous Hubbard Squash! He is always growing something or the other and can really make a broomstick grow if he tries. This hubbard was gigantic and the local supermarket owner told him that he would buy anything he grows from him. LOL (Like he would ever part with anything he grows!)

Wish me luck and patience as I continue to wait to hear from the insurance about my computers and camera! Nothing teaches you patience quite like living in Africa!
Have a great week and remember to visit Julia to join in the fun of seeing some really awesome desks.

WOYWW Not much left, very sad story.

 Am afraid that I can not even post a pic today, because we had a burglary on Sunday and everything wss stolen. Computer, laptops, tablets, camera, external hard drive with all my back up files and all my jewelery. Thank goodness they did not know the value of my Silhouette, Cricut or my Copics.
I have been colouring up a storm and wanted to show you a photo, but the blasted phone won't let me. The teenage DD is on her way, so I hope to have a photo on here soon.
Have a great week and remember to visitJulia if you want to see some actual pictures of inspiring desks

MIC New release hop - so Exciting!!

Welcome to the very special Make it Crafty Tea Party!

 Today, I'm joining the fun with a collection of Make it Crafty fans from around the world, serving you a delicious array of crafty delights to celebrate not only the magical release of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ but also Make it Crafty’s THIRD Birthday!!  What better way to celebrate than a tea party full of Make it Crafty fans?

 As you chase the white rabbit down holes, through small doors, around corners and more…keep your eye out for hidden letters, collecting them along the way.  Simply decipher the ‘question’ and then enter the answer at the end of the hop for a chance to win the grand prize!  It wouldn’t be a fun tea party without hidden prizes along the way,  so make sure you comment as you chase the rabbit for a chance to win more prizes!

When Zoe asked who would like to play with the new digi's before they were released, all thoughts of essays to be marked, prefects to be chosen, functions and meetings to attend, flew right out of my head and I jumped at the chance. I mean. really? Have you SEEN the gorgeous digi's in her store? '

 

 Hopefully you’ve found your way through the door from Kathleen, but if you’ve just fallen down the hole then you might want to start back at Zoe.

I asked for the Queen image to colour, because she reminds me so much of my mother, not the 'off with her head' part but the way she looks and the obvious regal attitude as if to say, 'now try me, and we will see what happens' LOL It is also the absolute ideal image for a friends birthday tomorrow.

I have wanted to make a zig zag card for ages and this was just what the queen ordered! Over the top and very fancy. This is the front of the card, sporting trees cut with my Silhouette, a watch from a gear and some lady bugs.

 

 

When you open the card up, it gives the illusion of a garden path (I Hope!) with the queen waiting at the end. You will see some pocket watch charms, tags by Magnolia, some queen of hearts playing cards resized and printed, lots of grass and more lady bugs. There are even some doilies cut up and folded.

 The queen herself was coloured with my beloved Copics and given some obligatory bling and Stickles.

 

The two sides look exactly the same, but I thought I would show you the one side a little closer. On the one tag is the sentiment Áll hail the Queen!'and on the other I intend to write a special message to my friend. I really hope she and you, like the Queen as much as I have enjoyed colouring her!

 If you came to collect the letter, then ... here it is!

 

The fun doesn’t stop here and if you head through this door you’ll find your way to Linda…

Remember to have a look at the other fabulous stamps in the Alice in Wonderland release! I am rushing off there right now to get mine.

Have a great day everybody, its school holidays soon and then I will be back with photo's and news from DD's trip to Barcalona for the FINA World Championships.

WOYWW -I am still here!

Good morning everybody, from a very cold South Africa. I am still here, life is just a little more demanding than usual, that's why you haven't seen or heard from me in a while. Its been exams at school, so I was marking like a crazy person and then its also time to choose the new leaders at school, so I am running around with all the organisation for that and then I also went to Polokwane last week to attend the annual Drum Majorette Nationals. So proud to say that our girls wiped the floor this year. They won everything that there was to win. Just reward for months of hard work and dedication.

As you can see, my desk looks like a dumping ground. Nothing much has happened over there, no time and no energy.





 

 

As most of you know, the postal service in South Africa has never been renowned for their hasty deliveries, and to top that we have had a Postal strike on and off for the last six months! I was overjoyed when I got back from Drummie Nationals to find that the first WOYWW ATC had arrived when I was gone. This one is from Annie, thank you so much. She must have posted it before the due date because she even wrote on the back of the envelope - do not open till the 29th LOL (No chance of it having gotten to me before the 29th!) I also received the magazine with the article about Julia and WOYWW - so very cool!!! I felt a bit famous. The mag was immediately snapped up by the school's art teacher, so no pic there I am afraid.



 

This is the only card (actually the only creative thing) I made in the last month, that is if you don't count the picture on my desk that I am busy working on.

That's it for this week folks, have a fantastic week and I hope to be able to thank more people for ATC's next week.

WOYWW -Its been a very hard two weeks.

Good morning all the wonderful people from WOYWW and all the other amazing people that come to visit me and leave such wonderful comments. Today I took a photo from a different angle so that you can see the 'shove to the side' method I have been using to make space to create. That pile on my right is starting to take on life threatening proportions. I fear for my life every time I walk past the desk (or some poor grandie walks past!)

 The last two weeks have been very hard indeed. I have been trying desperately to stay on top of things and I think I have just about done most of the things I should have done. The principal at the High school I teach at lost her dad and the funeral was yesterday.
One of the girls in my homeroom class was fetched from school on Thursday last week to be with her mom while they switched off the life support. She had been suffering from brain cancer for a very long time.
That caused mass crying in the grade 11 group and we spent a good hour or two in the chapel, just praying for her and her family and counselling the rest of the girls. That funeral is today at 11h00, so please remember Megan and the rest of my girls in your prayers.

 I leave you with the cards I made doe her and her family as well as for the principal and her family. As you can imagine a whole lot of people needed sympathy cards. The first one is from my homeroom class to Megan.They all signed and wrote messages inside

 The next two card were made using white embossing and household bleach. LOVE the results I was watching a video on StampTV and just had ro try.

 Then there were a whole lot of other quick, clean and simple sympathy cards. Also made after watching Gina K on Stamp TV.

Hope you have a great week. Hopefully I will get to visit some of you now that things have calmed down a little bit.

WOYWW - Happy Birthday to you

Good morning and a very happy fourth Birthday to all the WOYWWers out there. It is hard to believe that this has been going on for 4 whole years and I think I joined somewhere around the 6 months mark and have been hooked ever since!

In the four years we have laughed and cried together, I have learnt so much from so many of you, you have made me buy things that I did not even know I needed and you have shamed me into cleaning my dreadfully messy desk once or twice. Some of you have even help me find my glasses on that desk. Most of all, I have found some fantastic friends through WOYWW and I love my weekly visit to the many talented artists out there. Some weeks life gets in the way and there are not many visits at all, but I am always forgiven and welcomed back when life finally calms down. 

In the four years we have laughed and cried together, I have learnt so much from so many of you, you have made me buy things that I did not even know I needed and you have shamed me into cleaning my dreadfully messy desk once or twice. Some of you have even help me find my glasses on that desk. Most of all, I have found some fantastic friends through WOYWW and I love my weekly visit to the many talented artists out there. Some weeks life gets in the way and there are not many visits at all, but I am always forgiven and welcomed back when life finally calms down.

WOYWW - Still not very much.

Good morning all. Thought I would not make posting this morning because I was up half the night, thinking this was the way I was going to die - hugging the toilet. Feeling a little fragile this morning, but OK, must have been something I ate.

My desk is still looking very neglected - silly season at school (I have essays to mark, exams to set, parents to se, etc, etc... won't bore you with the details.) I am proud to report that I have made some ATC's and there are some in the process of being made.

I have also finished this card for a friend, our Maths teacher. Its her birthday soon and the Birthday club still has to all sign the inside of the card. I am a bit worried that I am starting to like playing with inks. Looks like WOYWW might be contagious in more ways than one! 

That's me folks! Nothing more to report, other than the fact that I am late for school and I have to run. Have a great day.

WOYWW - What happened to Autumn?

Good morning all! School has started and I am running myself into a coma again, trying to get to everything. We started last Tuesday and since then I have had 10 meetings, the school had Matric Dance, we had parents day yesterday and I am in the middle of metings with parents of girls that are failing to try and help them pass at the end of the year. You can understand then that there is very little time for crafting.

 

 It feels like we went straight from Summer into Winter and that Autumn has decided to skip South Africa this year! It is bitterly cold in the mornings and only the colours on the leaves are an indication that we should be having Autumn right now. My desk is looking very lonely. Just the left overs of the last bit of crafting before school started. There is a little box I made and forgot about (I wanted to fill it with some chocolate for a friend)

My DD made the local papers this week, I am a very proud mom (Please note, they used one of the photo's I took at Nationals last year! ) Such a good feeling to see it in print.
Have a great week everybody, hope to see you all this week at WOYWW

WOYWW -still looking OK-ish.

Good morning all, from a very cold South Africa. School started yesterday and we are right back hitting the ground running. .It doesn't feel like I have just had 3 weeks of rest and play. I have to apologise for my lack of visits to all at WOYWW, I was hit hard by a stupid chest infection and could hardly lift my head, I did read all the lovely comments and  appreciate each and every one.

I am happy to report that the desk still looks relatively tidy after I cleaned.

 I did a LO of DD's wedding. Used a sketch from Let's Scrap and managed to fit 19 photo's on one LO. I cut the filmstrip borders with my Silhouette and used some cardstock.

 I have wanted to scrap this photo of my DH and his 2 best friends for a very long time, but it landed on the 'to do' pile and I never really got round to it. Then the guy on the left committed suicide and it became just that much harder. I cut the chipboard with my Silhouette, just to see how it cuts chipboard and suddenly the idea popped into my head. I showed DH (not knowing if it was the right thing to do, because he was and still is, devastated by the loss of his friend) He looked at it for a very long time and then handed it back to me with tears in his eyes and a whispered thank you.

It is moments like that that remind me why I scrap. To preserve those precious moments that we often take for granted,
Personal rambling to follow, stop reading if you only came to see the desk.
My youngest DD is a waterpolo player and has been playing goalie for about 13 years. She has been considered to be one of the best goalies this country has ever seen by many, but because of many reasons (mainly political), she has never been chosen for the senior National side -in spite of being the goalie of the tournament' at Nationals consistantly for the last 11 years! I am so very proud of her for not giving up and for working harder than ever this year.
She finally got the nod from the selectors and will be going to World Championships in July this year. The only problem is that Swim South Africa has just lost their sponsorship and she will have to pay her own way. She has launched a fundraising campaign on indiegogo and I am asking everybody I know to please donate 1 dollar to her and to share this link with as mant people as you know. Please help me make my special girl's drems come true. Go here to read about the campaign and please share on Facebook and everywhere else you can, you can also follow her journey on Twitter @waterBOKKIE1
Have a great week everybody, see you soon.

WOYWW! I cleaned!!

Good morning all, its a public holiday over here in South Africa (and in 80 other countries in the world!), so if you are enjoying Workers Day at home, I hope you have a great time visiting all the other wonderfully talented people that make up WOYWW. I was shamed into cleaning my craftroom after last week's picture with the result that I am rather proud to show you my desk this week. There is still some scraps of left over paper, but I plan to use those today. Even the tablecloths were washed and put back on, just wait a second while I polish my halo quiskly. LOL

 I have been very busy playing, my friend, Audrey, came over for a play date and it was awesome! We talked more than work, but it was still great and this is the card I made with the image I coloured while she was here.

 It is my new Wee Stamps digi (that I accidentally deleted, if anybody knows how to recover my digi file, I will be grateful!) She was coloured with my beloved Copic markers. The paper is from a paperstack by DCW and the cardstock is Bazzil. Her wings were glitterified with Stickles.

 I have been scrapping up a storm and using my Silhouette a lot.This LO is of my two grandies (cousins) having a conversation about how to eat a fizzer. They were unaware of the camera capturing the whole thing. I love these pics and just had to scrap them.The butterfly border  and title was cut with my Silhouette. Paper is Upikit and Bazzil.

This is a LO that I made of my other grandie' first day of school. Details can be found here.
A warm welcome to my new followers and thank you all for your kind comments. I think I made it about half way through the list last week, I am going to try to make it through the whole list this week.
Have a great and arty week everybody!

Loving my new toy!

I don't know if it is because its holidays, or because I am loving my new Silhouette so much, or just because I have had a break from scrapping, but I am having a ball and I am scrapping up a storm!  These photo's have been lying on my desk since January 2010, I kid you not! I love them and I have wanted to do something with them for such a long time, but no matter what I did, nothing felt right. I must have tried a gazillion different traditional 'back to school'LO's and colours, but nothing would work, so they remained on my desk, waiting for mr. Mojo to return.

 And he did, in the form of a new challenge blog Its about a Girl. Their first challenge is a mini challenge in the form of a sketch. I used the Sketch for the left side of my LO

 These are photo's of my GD, Hannah's first day of school. I love the first day of school photo's, with perfect uniform, perfect hair and most of all the brand new school shoes! There is just something about brand new school shoes that melts my heart.

The journaling will be done in the top left corner of the right page.
Cardstock is Bazzil, dp is the last piece I had from a paperstack (I think by DCW) and some Prima cut up for the banner, Washi tape, twine, flowers and ribbon from my stash. I cut the title, decorative border and photo frame with my new best friend, my Silhouette Cameo.
Have a great day everybody, I am going to be very busy today running errands for DH, but I am hoping to make another dent in that pile of photo's on my desk.

WOYWW - Can you say active?

 Good morning all! It is cold and very misty in Boksburg, but who cares? I am on holiday!! I can stay snug in my little bed untill it is warmer and read my book. or I could get up, make coffe and start playing in my play room, as long as I don't have to clean firs, all is OK! My desk is still looking like a war zone and there is no sign that its going to get any better, I am having way too much fun. In fact, Ihave had so much fun, I am finding it difficult to find enough clear space to work. LOL

  No worries, I will just pick up and spill over to the lolunge, there is still lots of space on the couch. As you can see, I had to move to put all the cards I made into baggies. Those of you that have very sharp eyes will spot my new Gina K StampTV kit that arrived yesterday on my desk as well as some lovely new goodies I discovered in my basket when I went to buy small baggies for the smaller cards I made. Nasty habit these things have of jumping into the basket when no one is looking.

 I did have to play with my new stamps too and this is what I did. I was inspired ny a video on Stamp TV to make my own background paper and I must say, I really like the result. It still needs some work, but I like where its going.

Apart from making loads of cards, I have also knitted a jersey for the new member of our family, a doll called Angela. Julia, our leader at WOYWW was one of many fooled by the picture I put on Facebook of my 'new' grandchild. She looks so real, it is actually quite freaky. I also found the softest fabric in the local store and just had to have it, I made blankies for all my grandies and apparently they all love theirs and Liam even took his to school this morning..1 Sorry, no pics, they were claimed as soon as the sewing machine stopped working. LOL
Hope you all have a wonderful productive week, I am climbing back in bed with my coffee and my book right now.

WOYWW - Loving my holiday crafting time!

Good morning to all the wonderful people from WOYWW and all other visitors from everywhere. Firstly I would like to say thank you for all the wonderful Birthday wishes. I had possibly the best birthday, ever! DH gave me a Silhouette Cameo and then, when we got it home and hooked up he decided the old computer was just too old and promptly went out to buy me a new computer too! Am I lucky or what? The girls at school spoilt me with good wishes and a LOT of chocolate. My DS sent me the most wonderful flowers to school and when I got home, there was flowers from DD1 and 2 too! DD3 came home on Sunday from the National water polo tournament with the promised National colours (she left me a card before she went, telling me that she hopes to bring me home National colours) I am so very proud of her for keeping at it for 12 years and never giving up on her dream.

OK, now I am getting to the desk. As you can see, I have had a bit of a creative frenzie. It looks like a bomb went off in there. LOL I am so happy to be on holiday and to have time to craft, I am definately not stopping to clean untill it becomes life threatening. 

Some of the results of the frenzie. Some 3inch cards made from scraps of left over Graphics 45 Secret Garden paperpack.

I used two of the Spellbinders die cuts to make the mats, quite like how they turned out.

And of course, I had to play with my Silhouette! I have made paper dolls for the grandies and a lot of cards (30 is a lot, isn't it?) All the toppers on these cards were printed and then cut out with that clever toy, LOVE, love, love it!

All papers and ribbons are from my stash.
Have a great week everybody, I am off to play and I promise solemly that I will visit this week, because I am on holiday, so I have time.