Making fridge magnets

Hi there Bloglanders

I'm back to share some fridge magnets I made a while ago to keep the neighborhood kids busy. The inspiration actually came from a project that Monika Wright did with some ready made embellishments from Momenta.  However, it's a mission to get nice goodies in sunny South Africa and I had to adapt the idea.

What's the solution?  Use / recycle what you have and give it a personal twist. I used scraps and punched out different shapes. ( you can cut them out by hand as well but I USE the tools that I have) In the middle I punched out another circle and filled it in from behind with some transparency off cuts. Remember my blindside-son is an architect and uses it all the time for windows in his models. (lots of off cuts!).  At the back I added a frame that I cut out of corrugated carton (then its ticker), filled it up with left over beads, glued it shut with another die cut and added a magnet.

The magnet in the middle of my picture was punched out of black craft foam and I omitted the frame and beads at the back.

To make the fronts nice and shiny I added glossy accents. The secret here is to leave it to dry properly.  I recommend that you do this yourself and store them away for at least a day if you do this project with children as they keep touching it and that totally spoils the effect.

That's it from me for today. For those of you who are proposing - hope your wildest dreams and expectations come true. Please come back to play tomorrow as I'll be sharing the album I made for my mom.

Mini Folders

Hi there Bloglanders

I'm still sitting detention (snowed under with office work) but I have a quick project to show that will reduce your stash and tidy up your desk.  I only used paper I had left over from other projects or old one sided paper that I'll never use.  The white pages is recycled copy paper from the office.

This is what my finished folder looks like:

First I cut the paper off cuts to size and practised my stamping on some of them.

I used half a sheet of cardstock and scored and folded it. For the front I just traced the pattern onto the cardstock and cut it out with my scissors.  To close the folder, I added a string clasp (home made out of a punched out circle) and some eyelets. (you can just punch holes, it will work fine)

I inserted my pages, added a colored one for the front (with a border I punched out) and punched holes through the folder and pages simultaneously with my office punch.  Everything is kept together with an office clip that I bought from our local stationary shop.

The one on top is for my own desk and I made 3 more for pressies.

Packed and ready to be given away.

What I really like about this folder, is that you can refill it once you have used all the blank pages.  I use it all the time for notes and when I refill, I go through all of them, trow away what will never be used and file the rest away in personal or business files. Much better than notes that always gets lost!

Back to detention for me!  Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday and remember, tomorrow is the 29th - if you want to propose, get cracking on your speech.



Thank you pressie

Hi there Bloglanders

Once again I'm sharing a card I made yesterday evening (in about 5 minutes from start to finish).  I used the color palet of  The Play Date Cafe.

Here is the inspiration:

I'm starting to like challenges like these as they get me to use color schemes I don't normally do and also, to use a lot of my stash and scraps. Normally I tend to use the paper and embellishments in tones that I love and the rest gets filed away. While I'm at it, I try to do a set of cards as this makes the perfect pressie for someone. All my tools are out anyway so I can just as well use them X4.

Here is my card:

And the rest of the family:

And my packaging:

These are going to a friend who did me a huge favour last week and I decided to add a little tin with a see through lid just for that extra specialness.

That's it from me for today. Hope you got inspired to give something recycled, reused or re purposed next time you have to thank someone.





Another layout

Hi there bloglanders

In South Africa it is finally weekend!! Nothing like a Friday evening.  I'm still trying to get my work up to date and will probably spend a few hours over the weekend in front of my computer but hopefully I will have less housework and meals to prepare and some time left to do some crafting.

There was a page map at Write.Click.Scrapbook yesterday and even though I didn't have time to submit my take on it, I loved the layout so much that I decided to give it a try.

Here is the sketch:

 

And my take on it:

And the story:
My mom and dad moved into a smaller home last week and she had to take a lot of pictures out of frames as they just don't have enough wall space to put everything up again.  I volunteered to put them into an album for her.  As they are mostly originals (some 70+ years old!) I'm using them as they are.  This one had a huge water stain in the top left hand corner and I positioned the journaling tag over it.  I added a small glassine envelope with a tag to the right of the layout.  This is where my mom can add her journaling. Nothing special but I love the layout so much that I'm going to duplicate it for my own album.  FYI it's me on the right!

You will also see that I stamped the sentiment three times on the journaling card. Actually, my first attempt had some letters missing, the second moved and I finally got it right with the third attempt.  Normally I would redo it but this time I decided to leave it as it makes a fun story about my progress as a stamper. (and there I was thinking that I'm getting better!)

That's it from me. Have a wonderful weekend and please come back to play!

Hybrid crafting

Hi there bloglanders

Tomorrow is Friday and I still have a lot to wrap up before the weekend. To top it all we are very, very busy at work as our financial year end is coming up. Today I'm sharing gifts I wrapped for a friend's children.  As I've told you before, I don't spend a lot on presents but I always try to give something special and wrap it beautifully.

Also, I'm submitting two cards for The Twinery and CPS Sketches card challenge. It's so nice and bright that it ties in perfectly with my tween gift wraps. Enjoy.

First up - my pressies for the girls:

And this one for the boy:

And now for the card layout I had to use for inspiration: (If you want to see the other entries, click here)

And now for my take on it:

I hope you enjoyed my toys and that you will come back to play tomorrow. Have a great day!





Layout day

Hi there bloglanders

As you know by now, I prefer to be playing with mixed media but duty comes before pleasure.  I'm here to share the layout I made this week of our camping trip earlier this month.  Actually, I used a sketch from Enmarc as inspiration. Normally, I don't do stuff like this but once you start moving around in blogland, you sort of get hooked and inspired by all your playmates.  My style is normally more pictures and less paper and trimmings but it was huge fun to try it out.

Here is my interpretation.

and this is what the sketch looked like.

I had to use two Enmarc products. (I chose the scalloped photo frame on the right and the bird on the branch on the left) I didn't even color them as they fitted in with the natural, organic look of my layout.  Nearly all the paper (except the 2 background pages) are mismatched scraps left over from other projects.  The journaling is underneath the big picture where it says "storie". (Story in Afrikaans)

And here's the story.  I'm not really a "camper".  My parents did the fly everywhere option and we stayed in hotels and ate off the menu most of the time.  My husband on the other hand, is a CAMPER!! So, we share!  Half the time we do what I'm used to and the other half we go camping and what an adventure it turned out to be.  The best one we have done up till now is the Kaokoveld in northern Namibia - you need a 4x4 and nerves of steel (and all your own food, water, pretty much everything)

In short this is what this layout is about - you never now how much you can gain by giving in to something you had set your mind against.

Hope you enjoyed my layout. Check back tomorrow and we will play some more.

Playing with recipes

Hi there bloglanders

I was supposed to share a mini book yesterday but a card got in the way.  So, without further ado I’ll show you the recipe book I made for a friend’s kitchen tea.  I thought it would be a great idea if all her friends brought along a tried and tested recipe to write in the book. I took a lot of pictures – ENJOY!

First up is the front of the book.  I did the layout in Photoshop, included the bride and groom’s initials and printed it onto photo paper. You will also notice the glare on my picture but this time its not due to my lack of photography skills – I put a sheet of transparency over the front and back covers as this little book will be used in a kitchen where it could get messy.

This is the first page. On the left I wrote a note to my friend on a Scrap RDV journaling card (freebie from here) and on the right is my Pinterest Risotto recipe. (Got it here)

The inside pages were copied double sided onto thick paper as this was the cheapest option. You will see at the bottom of each page that I included a space where my friend can write whose recipe it is as well as the date that she first made it. I love cookbooks with dates and notes – even the shop bought ones. There is also a space where she can rate every recipe with marks out of 10.

On the back page I included a dictionary description of the word “cook”.  ( Kook in Afrikaans) It seems that there is a lot more to cook than food! (In Afrikaans even your temper can reach boiling point!)

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  If I can figure it out, I will post the artwork on my blog as freebies for you to use should you want to. BUT – I first have to figure it out!! Enjoy the rest of your day. See you tomorrow!

Another Tag

Hi there bloglanders

I actually had today's post ready when I came upon this challenge and as always I'm up for it!  I love twine but the black, pink and white colour scheme didn't suit my style.  So, the only thing I do in colour schemes I don't like, is cards.  Therefore, please bear with me as I'm posting another "tag" today. Here is the challenge brief.

I actually learned something from this challenge!  I have tried to do stitching with twine before but it is always looks too chunky.  This time I divided the strands and used only the pink one for the stitching.  I'm planning to do another card with the white strands that are left. 

Even though my play date was short and sweet today, I hope you enjoyed it and that it will inspire you to think out of the toy box next time you look at twine. Please check back tomorrow. Have a great Monday!

Lets play Tag

Hi there bloglanders

I'm back to show you a tag I made.  The idea came from here. I love the Scrap RDV blog!  If you have ever wished for a blog with lots and lots of creative ideas, look no further.  This  month they are doing tags (amongst buckets full of other stuff) and sharing the most wonderful freebies that you can use to make tags, cards, layouts or hybrid projects.

I've used quite a few of their freebies already and today I'm sharing a shipping tag I dolled up and used (yes, you guessed correctly!!) for a front cover of a notebook. 

I used a shipping tag from here, embossed it, inked it and added the die cut leaf , vellum birdie, the Scrap RDV sentiment and some twine from The Twinery. Easy Peasy done within a few minutes.

Here is a picture of my notebook stash before I gave some away as Valentine's  day gifts.

Have a wonderful week and please come back to play.  I'm off to add a title to the camping layout that has been on my table for the past week. Once it's done, I'll share the pictures and the story.

Scrap flowers

Hi there bloglanders

As promised, I'm here to show you how I recycle all our empty cereal boxes into flowers that I use on all my girly presents.  Yesterday I showed you the pressies I did for my mum's friends. Every one of them had one of these flowers on and they didn't cost me anything. Normally I have a whole box full but after my mum's gifts and my Christmas presents my box is empty and I have to start all over. When the box is full, I keep looking at them - they look like jewels to me!

Without further ado.

1. When I have time and scraps, I punch and cut them up - ready to be used or to be given away for multimedia projects.
2. I flatten all our boxes and use them for mini books and die cuts whenever I need them. Normally I will glue a piece of scrap paper (in this case an old dictionary page) onto the printed side of the recycled carton and then punch out my shape.  This makes a nice and sturdy shape. (It's like making my own thickers)
3. I choose a few shapes and sizes; add a little ink to the edges and a button for the middle.
4. Before I add the button, I punch two holes into the middle of the flower and then I thread the twine through the holes and the buttons simultaneously.  Tie the twine with a knot or a bow.
5.  Ready to be used whenever needed.
6. This is my jewelry box - now full of scraps but by next week I'll have a whole new batch of jewels in there.

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for playing with. Tomorrow we'll play "tag" again.

Toy of the day: Reuse, recycle and repurpose. This makes scrapping so much cheaper and more worthwhile.

Making mini's for mum

Hi there bloglanders

This was suppose to be my post for "mini Monday" but then all my Valentine's Day projects got in the way. Actually, I wanted to show you a layout today but the one I did, still needs a title and until I come up an original one, it will stay on my craft desk.

These are the little books I made for my mum’s friends. She is 74 years old and an eager photographer. All the pictures and quotes came from her. I did the layout in Photoshop and had it printed on ordinary paper (thicker than normal copy paper) and laminated (they are going to be used a lot!). The pages are kept together with an ordinary key ring and I added a laminated heart shape and some ribbon.  

I even gift wrapped them for my mum – tissue paper, dictionary page, ribbon and a scrap flower.  I love these flowers and will show you how I make them in tomorrow's post. All our cereal boxes gets cut up and recycled into scrap flowers.

Here they are packed and ready to be delivered- all 20 of them!

I hope you enjoyed our play date. Please check back tomorrow and we will play with the DIY scrap flowers. 

Tip of the day:  I saw the very best method to print directly onto tags today.  You can check here if you want to know too.

  

Last Valentine's playdate

Hi there bloglanders

I hope you are enjoying every minute of this "love"ly day!  All my goodies have been distributed and our picnic basket is packed to the brim with wonderful goodies for a picnic in the garden this evening. When my son saw what I was doing, he asked for a basket for him and his girlfriend as well.  Easy (and cheap) as I just divided everything in two.

The last idea I wanted to share with you is the bottles of sparkling wine that I packed in the baskets. Little red hearts stamped with a sentiment and some Maraschino twine from The Twinery and this ordinary treat is dressed in a festive red apron.  Now I'm done for the day and off to play!

Tomorrow all the Valentine's day goodies will be removed from the shelves and everything will start all over - this time with eggs and bunny's. I'm excited and have already been thinking up a storm how to make it special for my family. Please come back to play and I'll share my ideas with you.