Is this Liam or Luka?

This is my grandson, Liam. He is adorable, but definately on the wild side. For the first year of his life he almost never slept, waking his mommy up 10 times some nights. He is now sleeping, thank goodness, but afraid of nothing. He climbs on everything and tries out every new adventure. He is often full of bumps and bruises and mom says she is afraid people will start to think he is an abused child - not the overindulged little boy he actually is. LOLWhen I saw this little Luca from La-La Land crafts, I just HAD to have him, because he reminds me so very much of Liam. I do not put it past Liam to have a red Mowhawk one day.

I coloured him with my beloved Copics (what else would I use?) The papers are from Fabscraps and a little piece of striped paper from my scrapbox. The ribbon is from Realy Reasonable Ribbon and the cardstock from Bazzil.

Hope you all are having a great Tuesday. I am finally on holiday, so I am crafting up a storm.

I will be entering this card on the La-La land customer gallery http://lalalandcrafts.blogspot.com/p/customer-gallery.html and the bright challenge at Ooh La La http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/

WOYWW - Hanging my head in shame.

Good morning all the beautiful people out there. It is Wednesday today isn't it? Things go by in such a blur lately, I am never sure what day of the week it is. I have been sick at home with Bronchial Pneomonia (again!, so frustrating!!!), but that meant that I had lots of time to play, so that is my excuse for the absolute embarassing mess you see on my desk this week. Even the floor looks terrible! On the floor you will see the new paper that I bought yesterday - I know, I really need more paper don't I? On the right, under the box of ink pads and on top of my back up cutter, you will see the bag with coloured images that I found when moving my room. I am determined not to stop making cards untill all are gone. Made a good dent too - current card count is 12!
Here is the first one I am showing you today. I recieved this stamped image as part of a RAK about 3 years ago (could be longer), loved it and coloured immediately. It just never made it onto a card. Papers are all from my scrapbox. Cardstock is Bazzil and lace and bling trim are from my stash.

I found these images too and remembered I had a lot of Fabscraps paper left over from a class I taught years ago, so out came the paper and the fun began. I made a total of 9 cards and decided to make a gift box for 6. Dp is Fabscraps, Cardstock is Bazzil, Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts (LOVE that store!!!) and some from my stash. Sentiment stamp is from WOJ.

The cards all follow the same sketch. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the butterfly border and added some bling to the bodies. Ribbon is from my stash. Images were coloured (ages ago) with my beloved Copics.

I made matching envelopes too. (told you I am on a roll!) Used the same MS punch and some of the butterflies from the cards to decorate them. Quite pleased with myself this week for getting so much done.

Please remember Cindy in your prayers. She has lost all her hair and is now sporting the most wonderful wig. Still being the lady she has always been and fighting the good fight with courage and dignity.

Have a great week and don't forget to visit the rest of the WOYWWers at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com

WOYWW - I am on holiday!!!!

Good morning all of you out there. When I say GOOD morning, I mean it in every sense of the word! It is 6h15 in my house, DH has left for work, DD is fast asleep and all is quiet. I have nowhere to go today, well, nowhere I don't want to go!! Marking? Done! Marks? Submitted. Reports? Done and dusted! School year is officially over for me. Can you all say: YAY!!!
This is the only space I could find to actually do some crafting last week. But, the good news is, I found a little flat surface not covered in DD's junk and if I climb over and sqeeze behind all her furniture, I can actually get to most of my stuff! I made this card for a dear friend and a fellow teacher who had a Matectomy on Monday. They discovered the cancer when she went for her yearly check up! She is one of the most amazing women I know, so strong and so dignified. I think I would be freaking out. I saw a card like this one a while ago on Becca Freeken's blog and knew I had to make one for Cindy. Hope Becca doesn't mind. ( http://amazingpapergrace.com )

Please say a prayer for Cindy for a full and speedy recovery.

I have been telling you that mr. Mojo has been back, but I had no time to share. So here goes, some of the Christmas cards that I made. First one is an image from Mo Manning called Sugarplum Fairy. I just love her! All papers and embellishments are from my scrapbox and from whatever I could get to. Cardstock is Bazzil and all images were coloured with my beloved Copic markers.

The next one is a Magnolia image that was sent to me as part of a RAK about 2 years ago. I just never got round to colouring her. Isn't this little Tilda adorable? She got a liberal Stickle treatment to her wings, halo and stars.

Lastly the wonderful La La Land stamp by Irena Blount. I fell in love with her Marci and Luca stamps at CHA and had to have most of them. LOL This one is so wonderful, because it is so hard to find summery images for Christmas! My son keeps having a hissy fit when I use snowmen or Reindeer on my cards. I get the whole 'for goodness sake mom, we live in Africa, it is 35 degrees out there!' thing from him every year, so finding the Summery Marci and Luca was such a bonus!

Have a great week everybody! I am going clothes shopping with the grandies today. We are leaving for Jeffrey's Bay on the 15th and the all need new costumes ans of course ouma has to take them (because I will buy what their mothers won't AND we always go for lunch afterwards!LOL)
Remember to pop over to Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com for your weekly WOYWW fix.

WOYWW 120 - you guys made me!

I am writing this post in my bed. The breathing problems from last week has just progressively gotten worse, and I finally gave in to my DH's plea to go to the dr. It turns out I have a bad case of Bronchitus, bordering on Pneumonia. Dr sent me home with strict instructions not to leave my bed for two days (threatened to put me in hospital if I didn't listen LOL), so here I am, in bed, feeling very sorry for myself and terribly guilty for not being at school.
The card reader decided it would upload my pictures today, so here you have it, my desk is still quite tidy with just a little bit of leftover stash from recent projects. You can see two cards I made with my new La La Land stamps and the black plastic sheet that I use when I am using my glue gun.
The glue gun was used extensively this last week. My granddaughter ordered cup cakes for her Birthday party invitations. They had to look real, be big and pink - those were the requirements. This is what I came up with - Had to make a lot of them and my DD's only comment after she saw them? What are 'we' doing next year mom? Told her I think we just tear some old newspaper and stick it onto toiletrolls. Tie a pink ribbon around it, stick a blom (flower) on and thats that. LOL She was NOT amused.

Here is a close up for you. I was a little bit worried, because Tertia-Lee just stared at them and nodded her head when I asked if she liked them. Thought she did not like them and did not want to hurt my feelings, but she was just overwhelmed I think. She told her dad they are 'Extremely beautiful!" Makes all the hard work worthwhile.

And then, I though I would show you what you MADE me do!

Yes, I did, and it is all your fault, ladies who come and peek at my desk every week! (If you have no clue what I am talking about, go here: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ ) I gave in and made the first Christmas cards for this year!

I fell in love with these elves from Mo Manning and just could not resist them. There are 4 of them and I bought all of them. I could not quite bring myself to do the whole red and green thing yet, so thats why they are not in traditional Christmas colours. I used only cardstock (Bazzil), my Cuttlebug and some bling. Both images were coloured with my beloved Copics.

Here is another one, done in blues.

Don't you think they are just too precious?

Hope you are all well. I am off to visit some desks.

WOYWW = bet you thought it wouldn't last 3 weeks!

Here we are, its Wednesday and everybody all over the world is snooping around other people's desks! (not sure what I am talking about? You must be the only person in blogland that doesn't, so go check out Julia, our leader's blog to find out http://stamping=ground.blogspot.com )
I bet you did not believe that my desk would be clean for three weeks and actually get better with time, well, I did not believe it was possible, but here it is in all its wonderful glory! Looking even better than ever.
You will see the usual got to have close tools, a zillion scissors, some pens, some glue and other important things in my orange buckets and my caddy. There are the stamped MFT image that I want to colour later, the LO that I still haven't gotten to (Mr. Mojo is gone, OK?!) and the beginning of a batch of wedding invitations for a friend's son. Other than that, only clean 'white' space. How did I do it? Its all DH's fault. He found a paper stand at a shop thats closing down and bought it for me, bless his little heart. Thinking and saying that I would never be able to fill it LOL! Well, I had to prove him wrong didn't I, took me a whole day to rearrange the playroom, but look! Now I have my old single paperstand and the glorious new double one!

Of course I have to remind you of DH's other contributions to my playroom. First there is the ribbon storage, that he said I would never be able to fill, poor man, he never learns, does he? Look at the overflow on top and on the shelves!

Here is my sewing cabinet (a gift from my dear mom and dad, many years ago) with some of my creations on top and next to it the chocolate stand that DH saved from the dump.

Tired of looking at my room yet? Thought I would show you the gifts I made for the top four leaders of our school. Their term of office starts when we go back next week. Made each of them an altered notebook and a postit holder. Hope they like it.

Here are some close ups of the note books. All coloured with my beloved Copics and glitterified with Stickles. All cardstock is Bazzil and dp from my scrapbox. Ribbon is from my stash. The first one is for the SRC president, She has the loveliest black hair and this new WOJ stamp reminds me of her.

Next one is for the head girl, the'queen' of the school. She has the poise and grace of a real princess, so I thought this image would be perfect! Also a new one from the WOJ club.

Next one is for the head of Committees, she is an avid swimmer and water polo player, so hence the mermaid from the WOJ club.

Last, but not least, the head of Houses. She is responsible for the Spirit in the school, so out came the Cheerleader Tilda from my new Magnolia club. Coloured her in school colours and the poms are for the three houses.

Congratulations if you made it this far, this was a marathon post!

Have a great week everybody, see you soon!

WOYWW 116 = More new stash!

Very good morning to all. I am pleased to anounce that my desk is still relatively clean. Two weeks in a row now, must be some kind of a record! LOL! You will see some really yummy new stamps on my desk today. The mini Maggies that I ordered at CHA and my Whiff of Joy Stampclub! They arrived yesterday and I have already stamped all of them, they are so gorgeous! The biggest problem was which one to colour first. There are some finished cards and I am sorry to say, the same photo's from last week (month? since Christmas?) waiting to be scrapped - mr. Mojo is not feeling the scrapbooking thing right now.
Here are some of the mini Maggies I used. The first one is an oval card cut with my Nesties. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the bling from my stash.

Another mini Maggie. How cute is she? Papers are from my scrapbox and a paperpack that came free with a magazine. Ribbon is from my stash and the sentiment from the Magnolia Spring Club from last year. Her wings were glitterified with Stickles once again.

The last card for today is the first one from the WOJ Club. How beautiful are those princesses from Elizabeth Bell? Paper is from the scrapbox once again, ribbon from the local habby store and so is the butterfly. All images were coloured with my beloved Copics.

My 4 scrapgirls are coming for a playdate tthis morning. They were here last week and as always I loved having them. It is very exhausting to work with 5 girls between the ages of 4 and 14, but very rewarding! Kids are so creative and not afraid to try a new technique at all. This afternoon a friend is coming to look at the samples I made for her son's wedding invitations.

All in all a great day ahead for me.

My thoughts and prayers are with my friends in America that were affected by the earthquake, I hear there is a hurricane heading their way too, so I really pray you all are safe.

Happy WOYWW everybody and don't forget to visit Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to find out what I am talking about if you still don't know!

Mo's free image = how cute is she?

I hope I am not too late posting this. Mo Manning posted this freebie paper doll on Facebook and of course, if its one of Mo's I have to have it (even if its not a freebie, but shhh... don't tell my DH)
She was printed and coloured as soon as I downloaded her, but you know how it goes. One of my grandchildren got the Adeno Virus (nasty stomach bug!) and I had to take him for a day to give DD some rest, I wanted to play with him too, so it was actually for me and not DD that I offered. Then there is CHA that I need to pack for, and do some last minute shopping! Did I happen to mention that I was going on my blog before? Maybe once or twice? More like I am wearing you guys out by now, LOL.
Friday night we spent with old friends and only got home in the early hours of the morning - nothing like old friend and good memories hey?
Yesterday we took the three eldest grandies to the Pretoria zoo. Great day, lots of fun, but no crafting or blogging time for me. This morning my DS came to visit and we had a braai (barbeque for those of you that don't braai) One ray of sunshine in mid winter and we braai, so South African!
OK, now I have run out of excuses as to why I didn't finish my card, so here she is - al done and looking really gorgeous I think.

Here's a close up, hoping you can see the bling on her dress, shoes and bow. Paper are Bazzil and 3 bugs in a rug. She was coloured with my beloved Copic markers. Flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts and the bling and ribbon from my local Chinese market.
In case you missed it, let me remind you - only 4 more sleeps till I leave for Chicago!!!!

My baby girl left home today and some cards

I have just stumbled back into my house after helping my baby girl (23) moving into her own place. She has been living on her 'own' for the last three years while studying, but that was not really leaving home yet, because she still came home most weekends. Now that she is teaching, she needs to stay closer to her school and found the loveliest place. Its on a smallholding where the owner built six apartments. Lots of security. I am sad to see her leave home for good, but also very proud that she is spreading her wings and flying like a pro!
Here are some of the cards that I made for the art exhibition at school. I apologise for the bad pictures, but I was so busy that I clean forgot to take pictures untill I was at the exhibition and the lighting was not ideal for photo's.
The first one is a Bugaboo image that I have had coloured for a very long time. She was coloured with my Copics and the heart and collar got some Flowersoft treatment. The flowers and seam binding are my new delivery from Wild Orchid Crafts, aren't they just gorgeous? The lace border was cut with a Nellie Snellen Die, Cardstock is Bazzil and the dp is from Paper Explosions.

The next three cards all use images fom Mo Manning. I just LOVE her images. All cardstock is from Bazzil and all images were coloured with my Copics. Dp is from Paper Explosions.
The green dp in this card is Melissa Francis. I used my MS punch for the heart border and the seam binding and flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

This one got some Stickles on the star and the ribbon is from my stash.

This image was cut with a Nellie Snellen die. The pillow got some flowersoft and the bunny some fluff. The trim is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and I added some blue pearls.

There are a whole lot more where these came from. If I have time tomorrow (have to go back to DD's new place with the last bits and pieces and hang her pics and her lounge curtains) I will post some more.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

WOYWW and more wedding cards

You did not seriously expect a clean desk two weeks in a row now, did you? When I got home from school yesterday the postie had delivered my whiff of Joy Spring kit. What is a girl to do? Of course I had to mount and stamp immediately! So on my desk you will see the first coloured image with all the papers and embellies I am considering to use.
And to the left of that, my Copics at the ready. Waiting to get to work on the other stamped images. They are absolutely gorgeous, I am so happy that school closes tomorrow for mid-term break, a whole four days of crafting awaits! Hop on over to Julia's blog at (http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com )to have a peek at everybody else's desks,

I did have some time to play over the weekend. I made two more wedding cards for friends. It seems to be wedding season at the moment. The first one uses a sketch from Mojo Monday ( a very old one) Cardstock is Bazzil, Dp is Making Memories, the ribbon is from Realy Reasonable Ribbon which I stamped. The image was a freebie with a magazine a while ago.Bling is from my stash.

The next one uses the LOTV image again and the same MM paper as the previous one (I am not sure why it looks so different in this pic. The ribbon and dragonfly are from my stash.

I hope you all have a fantastic week, I am a happy girl because I get to play with my new stash and there are some new orange paper in my LSS that is calling my name. (keep me a few pieces Audrey please!)

Sketch Saturday and LOTV

I have been incredibly busy these last few weeks. It is silly season at school, meaning that everything is happening at once. Between marking tests, attending school functions and reading my girls' blogs there has been virtually no time for crafting. I was going mad and becoming grumpy, so this morning I decided to set the marking aside and make some cards. I am feeling a lot less grumpy, but a lot more stressed about those tests waiting for me, oh well, some you win, some you lose.
The first card is one I made for a friend who asked me to make a card for a 21st Birthday. It is for a young man who loves playing guitar and loves cats too! Not easy, I used two digi stamps. The rocker boy is from Squigglefly and the cat was a freebie some time ago, I can't remember where I got it.

I used the fab sketch from Sketch Saturday ( http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.com/ ) All cardstock is Bazzil and the Dp is from Kaisercraft. The wooden buttons I found at my local Habby shop. The image was coloured with Copics and the guitar and his shoes were given the Dimentional Glaze treatment.

The next card is for the LOTV challenge. They are asking for your favourite colours ( http://liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ ) If you had to ask me what my favourite colour is, I would answer - colour! I love any colour, even black, so this was a real challenge. I went through my photo's of cards over the years and discovered that this combination popped up very often. Cardstock is Bazzil, Dp is Melissa Francis. The flowers are Prima and some I found in my Habby shop and coloured with Glimmer Mist. The lace is from my mom's sewing box and the ribbon from my stash. The half pearls I bought from Paola and the image was coloured with my Copics and her wings glitterified with Stickles.

If I do not go and mark those tests right now, I will never finish before tomorrow and then there will be a whole lot of disappointed girls, so better I go mark now.

Have a great week everybody, see you soon.

Hanging my head in shame (Lynette, moenie hier lees nie)

I am really hanging my head in shame today. There is a huge difference between creative chaos and a 'hot mess' and what we have in my craftroom today, is a 'hot mess'. That is why I am only showing you a very small portion of my workdesk. To my shame, I have not yet put away the flower containers that have been on my desk since last week, in fact, they have been joined by even more flower containers and... and... and, so I am not showing that today. You will see some red embellishments that I bought to finish Lynette's birthday present. I adore the wire hearts that I found at Creative Talents. For fear of incriminating myself, I am not saying another thing about my desk. If you would like to know what I am talking about, check out Julia's blog here: ( http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ )

I thought I would show you what caused the 'hot mess'. I made a birthday present for my dear blogging friend Lynette. Hope she likes it. I think you are bored with the new Sugar Nellie stamps, but I can't help myself. Before I know it I am busy colouring another one! I made a set of cards for her and then needed a box to send them in. Found a cheap box that really needed to be altered, so here is the finished box. Papers are Making Memories, Cardstock is Bazzil. The image was coloured with my Copics. The flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts (how beautiful are those tulips?) and from my stash. The butterfly is from Creative Talents and so is the wire heart.

Here is a close up of those flowers. They were all given a liberal Stickle coating.

Inside the box I put some cards and some flowers for her.

And here are the cards. All Sugar Nellie digi stamps. You can buy them from Funky Kits. I think the embossed paper is by Doodlebug, but I am not entirely sure. The ribbon is from my stash and the beads from the local Chinese shop. I do apologise for the bad photo's but it has been raining here all day, so the light is really bad.

This one uses ribbon found at Habby and Lace. I just love that I didn't have to gather it myself.

The next one I used paper from my scrapbox. yeah me! The ribbon is from my stash and the lace from my late mother's sewing box.

So what do you think? Will she like it? I really hope so.

I am off to read the blogs that the girls at school started as a creative writing exercise. I hope they like it as much as we all do and that some of them will carry on blogging long after the project finishes.