2012 in Review

Hallo Bloglanders

I hope you are enjoying the holidays with your family and friends.  I just love Stellenbosch this time of the year - outside, swimming, watermelon and wonderful times with my loved ones. Well, back to my memory keeping.

Every year I do New Year's resolutions.  Not the ordinary type where you want to lose 30 kilo's or start running marathons BUT I aim for more ordinary things like more "me time", go more places with my husband etc.  Of course I'll share my 2013 resolutions with you but first - a day or two before the end of the year, I review what I've achieved / not.  Today I'm here to share my "2012 in review" with you.

Look how I have altered the sentiment from MME. Just love it!

The front and back pages:

And the inside pages:



I blocked out some of the personal stuff - don't mind sharing my dreams and expectations with Blogland but I don't think the rest of my family feels the same. Sorry about that.  On the last page you can see that I've listed all my highlights and on the left my only negative thing for 2012 - my 20 year old cat went to cat heaven in August.

That's it. I'm off to a "braai" with some friends - more memories, more things to share and document.  Enjoy the rest of 2012 and I'll be back to share my IMPERFECT life right here on Play as U Go.

Some more pics

Good morning Bloglanders

A few days ago I showed my Christmas wreath which I made with Spellbinders dies, some sewing, buttons and bells.  It is hanging on my "stoep" and it makes me smile whenever I see the little figurines dangling around. So, I took some more pictures.

The nice thing is that it is hanging above our outdoor table where we have breakfast, lunch and dinner this time of the year. Every night, I light the candles and it looks magical. I think you will see my wreath in some more op my pics in the very near future.

Well, that's it - I still have some things to do before 2013. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.



December Daily 2012

Good morning Bloglanders

It is a beautiful day in Sunny SA. Perfect weather - not too warm, not too cold.  I've spent some time cleaning up my house after the Xmas celebrations and now have some time to spare before my office works starts up on 2 January 2013.  Yes, you have guessed correctly - I'll be spending it at my craft desk.

I started my own project life called MY LIFE MY WAY two months ago and as I wanted to include a December Daily type of project, I came up with this:

Basically it is a double 12x12 page that fits into my album but with fold-out flaps.  I made the flaps like pockets and all my notes and memorabilia will be stashed in here.

Folded out it looks like this:

And the other side:

I used a lot of my Spellbinders dies and paper from various MME ranges.  I'm not sure if I want to add more to the cover page but you can bet your life on it that if I show you the inside again, it will be full of "stuff".

Who said a DD have to be a separate book / album?  Not in the life of IMPERFECT ME!!

I hope you enjoyed my project. Please come back to play as my head is spinning with ideas to celebrate the new year.  Have a great Friday!





My Christmas wreath

Hi there Bloglanders

Didn't think you would hear from me?  Well, I made this great Christmas wreath and it's hanging on my "stoep" (a la porch)  where we live and entertain this time of the year.  Yeah, lots of sunshine in sunny SA!

Have a look!

In the back you can see the vines above my stoep but for those of you who want to see what I've done:

About 100 shapes, beads, bells and lots of ribbon. The wreath was recycled from many, many moons ago - just a lick of white paint.

I have used the following Spellbinders dies:
   Classic Heart
   Stars
   Sweet Folk Art - the angel, the tree and the stocking (perfect size for my project)

Most of the shapes were cut out of left over fabric, machine stitched around the edges, stuffed a bit and then onto fishing line.  As they were a bit bland, I also did some felt die cuts (Spellbinders dies again).

For the angel I did the body in fabric, added a button for a face and some pot scrouchers for hair.  Here is a pic - sorry for the quality but I really didn't have the time to re-do as my wreath is up and happily dangling in the wind on my porch..

For the wings I used gold tulle sandwiched between 2 sheets of transparency.  I used self adhesive sheets (Sizzex) to keep everything together. My good old hot melt glue gun secured the wings to the fabric body. Easy Peasy.

The snowflakes were cut from heavy duty craft foil - 2 glued together back to back to enable me to insert the line between them.

I have also done some hand stitching - when all the big moments have passed, I'll show more.

And another pic:

I'm really impressed with my effort and I've only re-used, recycled and re-purposed. Love it when a plan comes together.

Well, that's it from me.  I have a busy day tomorrow but will be showing my DD on Friday - you would not believe what I've done - 30 days fitted onto 2 scrapbook pages!  Don't miss this one!

Enjoy the last few days of 2012 and please come back to play.







Merry Christmas

I'll be back in Blogland on the 26th as I have a huge project that I can't wait to share with you!



Out of Office

Hi there Bloglanders

Just a note to say that I'll be away for a few days but will be back to wish you a Merry Christmas on Monday.

Keep crafting. (I will!)

Hazel
xXx

Inspired by an Angel

Hi there Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Wacky Wednesday!  Remember I said that my friend's angel inspired me? Well, here she is: Annie Angel.

And my inspiration: Anel's Angel.

I told you so!! IMPERFECT ME gets inspired - I don't normally copy and if I do - it turns out IMPERFECT like ME. Much more interesting.  My Anny angel was done by punching out the body with a Papertrey Inc die.  I've sewn around, added "hair" (actually, unravelled string) and a bead.  The wings were made by a sandwich of transparencies on the outside and silver tulle on the inside. Everything is held together by Sizzex's adhesive sheets.

You might think that this sounds easy. Think again!

You wouldn't believe what I'm going to tell you now!  I'm making 6 more. Stitching around the angel is pure hell but it is so worth it. And I have a huge plan for Annie Angel (and her family) but you will have to wait for my reveal. So, I'm off to do some more Angel stitching. Please check back to see where my inspiration  leads me.

Enjoy the rest of your day and remember to Play as U Go.



Best Friends Forever

Hi there Bloglanders

I hope you didn't miss me yesterday - I thought you would enjoy another day looking at my Birdie Brooch and the MME wishlist layout.  In the meantime I went to visit my oldest friend, Anel (the friendship, not the friend) who lives in Robertson.  For my non South African Bloglanders - Robertson is a bit more than an hour's drive from Stellenbosch where I live and about the same distance from Cape Town.

My husband and I went there, spent a wonderful evening with the family - drinking wine, sitting outside in the beautiful summer weather and eating wonderful food. We even decided to open our gifts even though her birthday is only the 19th and Christmas is still a week away.

Remember I showed you how I packed the goodies?  Now I can reveal what was inside:

A mini bag for her camera, a huge chock chip cookie and some white drinking chocolate, a heart shaped stamp, a heart shaped mini book, a #1 best friend medallion, tags, washi tape, DIY flowers, a notebook for grocery lists and my "Dankie vir 365 dinge" mini book (a Gratitude journal of sorts).

In the end I added a Brooch Birdie (yes! made another one):

This is how I packed all the individually wrapped pressies for Anel's birthday:

And the Christmas presents for the rest of the family:

Same idea, just stars and Xmas wrapping paper.  If you missed my post on how I did it, just click here for the inside info.

BUT!!! Look what I got!

The roses are real farm roses from her garden, the pin cushion and angel were handmade by Anel and a friend of hers. It is out of this world!  It will become CHERISHED possessions in my home.  I am so inspired - going to start on angels for my Xmas tree right now. Of course, I'm not going to copy hers - it is one of a kind and another thing, the angel's dress is knitted and IMPERFECT ME can't knit!

If you want to know what IMPERFECT ME came up with, please check back here as I'll be sharing.  Have a great Tuesday and please come back to play.

  



Busy, busy, very BUSY

Hi there Bloglanders

It's a long weekend in Sunny SA which means that I have an extra day to spend on crafting fun. I can't wait to show what I've already done!

OK, I know you don't like layouts - I'll show my hybrid project first:

Here I am wearing my Brooch Birdie.  To make it I used my scrapbooking dies to punch out fabric shapes.  They are all from Spellbinders - Nested Bird, Classic Scalloped Heart and the Classic Heart. I have stuffed the birdie a bit to get a bit of dimension and worked blanket stitch in embroidery thread all around. A bit of red for the beak, some black for a furry tail and a brooch pin to the back.

When choosing colors, I turned to The Play Date Cafe for inspiration:

Once again, I never in a million years would have thought about using this color combo but I love it and it actually goes perfectly with my denim jacket and scarf. Love it, love it, love it.  I will most certainly do some more Brooch Birdies.

Want to hop over to The Play Date Cafe to see for yourself? Just click here.

Now for my layout:

I have used goodies from the MME range "All is Bright" to scrap my Christmas wishlist.  The cardstock I received from my local kit club contained 4 sheets of  "Noel banner".  As I wanted to pile up the banner to give the layout dimension, the paper was just too white.  Having 3 sheets to spare I went ahead and cut the banner out and glued it onto plain cream cardstock. I added elements from the chipboard elements, brads and even cut some out of the packaging of the mini paper pad.

Then came the zig-zags: inked on with a mask, done with die cuts (Chevron from Die-namics), cut from the packaging and from the chipboard elements.

For my lists I simply cut squares out of the remaining piece of  "Noel banner",  added a Notebook edge (Di-namics Notebook Edge), journaling and a silver office paperclip.

The "JOY" was cut out of a 6x6 piece of cardstock. Sorry, no name on the 6x6 sheet.

Still don't like layouts.  That's a shame as I had a ball creating this one and it took me less than a hour. Just goes to show - if you use products you love, everything comes together quickly.

Do you want to hop over and see the MME Christmas wishlist challenge? Just click here.

That's it from me - I'm off to do some more crafting and a late afternoon movie with my hubby.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and please come back to play.

Hazel

xXx

December daily 2011

Hallo Bloglanders

Finally it's Friday! And NO!  I didn't get the December daily date wrong.  You remember that IMPERFECT ME use a tub system for mini books?  It works for me because whenever I have some free time, I just take out a finished tub and make the book.

This is what my December daily 2011 looks like at this stage:

Everything is in there - I just have to put it together - even the journaling has been done and the dates added.  This weekend I'll do the cover, some sort of binding (still not decided) and a few bits and bobs.  What I love about my system is that I get double fun out of every event.  I read through every page, look at every picture and smile all the way. 

While at it - let me show you what the little Christmas book (Kersfees in Afrikaans) looks like.  I include one in every DD or Xmas layout. 

In my Xmas mini books I record the food, table, presents, wreath and who joined in the fun. Everything in one place.

For my 2011 version I used 4 white envelopes, glued them shut, folded them double and stapled it together down the middle. In the bottom picture you can see that I cut out half a circle on top of one of the envelopes - this forms a pocket for some hidden journaling / souvenirs.  You can cut them open at the sides as well - perfect pockets!

And while all the goodies were out, I made 3 more to give away:

Want to know a secret?  I didn't even use new envelopes - old ones recycled from the office works fine - you just cover the writing / printing with some journaling / pictures or pretty paper. Frankly, I have covered the stamps in this case but I love the extra dimension it brings to a project and normally I would just leave them.  IMPERFECT ME!

That's it from me.  Please check back as I'll be sharing my finished DD right here on Play as U Go.  Have a great weekend!

Christmas Prep 2012 - Wrap up

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Thunderous Thursday.  I just can't get everything done!  We have beautiful weather and I spend my time outside with my family, in the pool or just reading in the shade. So, please be patient.

I did get something done yesterday - I wrapped a birthday pressie (actually 12 of them) and stumbled upon my 2012 Xmas wrapping idea in the process.

Here it is:

This is for my oldest friend.  I told you about her before but if you forgot - we were born in the same year, grew up on neighboring farms, went to school together, went to the same university and remained friends.  She loves crafts and I decided to gather some goodies and wrap them individually for her birthday next week.  At least her fun can last a bit longer.

I'll be seeing Anel next week and once I've delivered her pressie, I'll show what's inside. (Yes, she reads my blog). 

And my Xmas version of the same idea:

It's so easy and you don't even have to turn awkward shaped pressies into neat packages.  Just a tip: Fold your wrapping paper double over your present and cut about 1 inch bigger. Now stitch around keeping the folded side unstitched.  I added the white die cut heart and star and just stitched over them.  NOW: Cut open the folded side, slip in your pressie and stitch shut.  This way, everything stays nice and flat.

I used paper from our office for the die cuts and to print my messages.  Just use the unprinted spaces and you save on paper all the way!

Now I have to get back to wrapping the rest of my Xmas pressie stash.  Enjoy the rest of your day and please come back to play right here on Play as U Go.

Hazel

xXx



Dankie 2012 inside info

Good morning Bloglanders

I have a hectic day ahead so let's get started. Remember my Dankie 2012 mini book? (Dankie means thankful for)

It looks like this:

And if you missed it, just click here and you can read all about it. When I recently joined my husband on a business trip, I added the journaling and pictures while he conducted business. I can keep myself busy anywhere, anytime!

Want to see the inside pages?

And last but not least - my back page:



 I have sensored some of my journaling and a lot is hidden by smaller pages or envelopes. It gives it a bit of dimention.  The mini book is rather small - a bit bigger than 3x4.  I did it that way because I had a lot of smaller scraps that would normally end up in recycling.

I plan to add a few words to the back page as well but haven't decided on it yet.  No sweat - the bulk part of the journal is done and dusted.

I hope you enjoyed my Dankie 2012 mini book as much as I enjoyed making it.  Have a great day and please come back to play.