Notebook out of Recycled Paper

Good morning Bloglanders

I just didn't get to writing a post yesterday as Wernich came home from university and I cooked, cleaned and just counted the hours until I could pick him up from the airport. But I didn't forget about you - here is the notebook I made for my new venture with Craft Storage Ideas:

I upcycled the card I made for the Scrap RDV challenge for a cover for my notebook. Inside, I used colored paper that came from my purge pile to divided my book into divisions. All the inside pages are office paper that has been printed on one side - I only write on one side of a notebook anyway and I love to recycle. Here you can see a bit of it:

Don't you just love the tabs that I've added to the different divisions?  They are so cheerful - I'll be adding some to my diary as well as they really makes me smile. The size of the notebook is 8x8 as this made using the office paper easier - just cut 3 inches off at the bottom.

And another pic:

I've already started working on my first blog post for Craft Storage Ideas that will be going live in a bit more that a week. Therefore I blocked out my "crip notes" - don't want to spoil the surprise for you.

Once again, thanks for visiting my blog.  It is a long weekend in Sunny SA and I have a bit of extra time that will be used to work on my plans for the house revamp. Yes!!! I made another recycled paper notebook just for this.  I'll add the tabs and take a picture for you.

That's it from me. Have a great weekend and please come back to play as I'll be sharing more crafting fun right here on Play as U Go.

Great News!!

Hi there Bloglanders

And a warm welcome to all of you! I hope you are having a Wacky Wednesday.  First up - I have some great news.  I've been chosen to be a contributor at Craft Storage Ideas.  Never heard of a crafter who doesn't want her stash organized so I'm a regular visiting sites with storage ideas.  I also told you that as my family is growing smaller, my house needs a mayor update. My idea is that as I do things, I'll blog about them (amongst other things) - maybe it will get done quicker.

I just feel that I'm at the right place at the right time.  Please!! If you have some storage ideas or craftrooms to share (even if it is not your own and you stumbled upon it while hopping around blogland) - I would love to see. Email me, leave a comment, snail mail, ANYTHING - just get it to me.

I'm privileged to have an extra room to use as a craft room but I'm just not that kind of person.  I get much more done while being part of my family. Therefore, I have a space about the size of a walk-in-closet where most of my stuff is stored as well as where my sewing machines are.  You still remember that I make prom and wedding dresses? I don't think it's a good idea to move sewing machines around so this is where they stay.

The rest of my stuff is all around the house - all out of sight and mostly in recycled containers.  I hate dusting and therefore I try to keep them in Ziploc bags, CD cases or whatever makes sense at the time. If I do something, I'll pick what I need and will sit at the dining room table (mine seats 12 people) to do it. Once done, I sort everything back to where it belongs and start on a new project. This really works for me as I'm one of those people who will never return to an unfinished project once I get bored / start on something new.  In the meantime, my husband always complains that I do too much stuff on my own, is happily watching TV / working on his iPad  where he can see and chat to me. Works for us.

Why tell you all this??  Because as part of being a contributor at Craft Storage Ideas, I'll have to share my craft space.    I'll ask for the last slot of the year but I plan to get everything that I have in mind done to the house by then.  So, keep watching this space .................... I'm on a roll and I'll share it all.

Some more great news! Yes, Wernich is flying home tomorrow for the university holidays.  This will be the first time that I have my whole family  in one place since he left. His girlfriend is turning 25 next week and we are about to have heaps of  family fun.  And great pictures for MY LIFE, MY WAY, of course.

This is turning into a marathon post. Last but not the least, I decided to make a notebook for my new venture with Craft Storage Ideas as my head is buzzing with ideas that I'll probably forget if I don't write them down.  I'm a notebook kind of person.

I used this sketch from Scrap RDV as a page map:

And this is what mine looks like:

From the picture above you can see the nice texture of the card. I've applied pink crepe paper with mod podge to cardstock, let it dry and then ran it through my Cuttlebug.  It looks like handmade paper.  The journaling card is from MME and it is SO ME - PERFECTLY IMPERFECT. Love it!

Now for the admin:
If  you want to stop by to say hi at Craft Storage Ideas just click here.
And please hop over to Scrap RDV as well - there is always something wonderful to see. Just click here.

Thanks for visiting my blog and reading my very, very long post.  Tomorrow I'll be back to show you how I've converted my card to a notebook.  Please come back to play.  Have a great day!

Flower Hair Clip with The Play Date Cafe

Hi there Bloglanders

I'm back to share my contribution for The Play Date Cafe color challenge of the week: A hair clip!

This picture is the actual size of the clip and this is the color combo:

I just love these colors for clothes and for my house but for cards and layouts??? No go!  I couldn't even find cardstock in one of the colors in my stash so I moved on to plan B.  As I do a lot of sewing, I have scraps in every color under the sun and as these are ones I particularly love, I could pick and choose.  

The purple flower is felt and the blue and green trim  was left from a previous craft project.  Just added the emerald bead and it was done.  I do use a lot of hair clips and brooches and this one can be used for either.  To tell you the truth - I wore it before I took the picture to share with you.

Want to see what the rest of  Blogland made with the same colors?  Just click here.

That's it from me for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  If you go away over Easter, please drive safely and enjoy your mini holiday.  I've got a lot of projects ready to be blogged - so, for those of you who stay at home -  please check back as I'll be sharing some crafting fun right here. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

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Easter Bunny Garland

Good morning Bloglanders

It is a beautiful Sunny Sunday in Sunny SA en I have some extra time to share my week's crafting fun with you.  My whole house went into Easter mode this past week!

This is my Bunny Garland that hangs above my fireplace:

I made the twine and ribbon garland a few months ago to use as decor on my table at a craft fair and afterwards decided that I'll re-use it for Easter (and maybe more in the future).  I cut bunnies out of cardstock and recycled carton, glued them together (they are actually double sided) and added them to the twine banner with little wooden pegs.  In future, I can just take them off and store away for next Easter.

This is a close up of  one of the Bunnies:

I even rolled little Twine tails for them - that's another story.  I can just conclude that I don't like the mess.  Maybe I'm using the wrong glue but still - I'm surprised that it turned out looking this good.

A few more pic's to show you the dimension of the banner - I love it that it's so chunky and cheerful:

Do you still remember my Easter project from last year?  I do - my photo taking skills are still not the best but that picture was simply awful. I'm using the felt bunnies again this year - maybe I'll try my hand at another pic for U.  If you missed it, here it is again:

I'm submitting my Bunny Garland for The Twinery's challenge:

Just click here to see what the rest of  Blogland did for the challenge and while you are there, leave some comments and wish the Twinery well - they have the best twine in the world and you can even buy it in Sunny SA!!!

Thank you so much for visiting my Blog. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see U again soon right here at Play as U Go. 

My Easter Mobile

Hi there Bloglanders

Once again  my post is late but it was my picture taking skills that let me down. (Again!!) It is like raising children, just when you think you have the hang of it, something unexpected comes up and cuts you down to size.  The real secret is to keep going, isn't it??

And so I decided to write my post and use the pictures I have.  If  I somehow get better ones, I'll just come back and replace the bad ones.

This is my Easter Mobile:

As we have this wonderful weather in sunny SA, we love to entertain outside.  To get us in the mood of a holiday, I love to hang a mobile over the table. It just makes me smile to see them happily dangling around.

I'm sure you will remember that I made some of these little birdhouses a while ago for a WCS challenge. I made some more using the old Creative memories paper pack, painted a branch that I've picked up in the park white and started stringing them up with fishing line.  I've added some feathery birds to the painted branch and a few Easter trimmings from my stash.

This is what the branch part looks like:

And a close up of the little birdhouses:

And it is up above my table ready to share in the holiday fun:

That's it.  Thanks for stopping by at my blog as please come back to play. Have a Fabulous Friday and kick up your heels and enjoy the weekend. See you soon.

He asked and she said YES!!!

Hi there Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Wonderful Wednesday. Mine is Wonderful X10 as I'm the proud mother of a 25-year-old engaged son!!! I've know some time that a ring has been ordered and yesterday my son brought it home to store away in our office safe until needed.

To tell you the truth I nearly cried as I was super-sure that he would pop the question yesterday on the Princess's 25th birthday but as I said before, I tell them what I think and then let them decide what is right for them. I always go to bed quite early so I was surprised when my son woke me up at 11.30 to get his ring.

As I suggested, he asked the princess after they came back from dinner with friends what she wanted and she told him that she would love him to ask her on her birthday to marry him. So he did and she said YES!!! Only problem was that they didn't have a ring. So, they had to drive all the way across town to our house to get their engagement ring.  Want to see?

Sorry for the quality of the picture but my son took it on his iPhone when he collected the ring and as I thought the ring would be staying in my safe for some time, I thought I would get a chance at another shot at it.  Anyway, the princess is now proudly wearing her beautiful engagement ring and no second chances for me. Everything worked out very well and I'm so happy for them and for myself - this is AWESOME!

And now for a picture of the happy couple:

That's it from me.  I was so super excited that I couldn't get myself to share this post with a crafting idea.  

Thanks for visiting my blog and tomorrow I will be back to crafting fun.  I'm working on a wonderful Easter project and can't wait to share it with you right here on Play as U Go.  Please come back to play. Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Princess

Hallo Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Terrific Tuesday.  I am and as I've told you last week when I made the "Some Bunny Loves You" mini book / maxi card, it's girlfriend #1, the Princess's birthday today!  The funny thing about her is that her parents had a beach house only one street from ours.  Here is a picture of her:

And one of  Pieter - about the same age, same beach:

What's funny is that they've never known one another and went to different pre and primary schools. (400 kilometres apart) At 16 her parents sent her to the same school that Pieter attended at that time and they met.  I can still remember the day Pieter said to me "that's the new girl in class and I like her a lot".  They actually only started dating on a permanent basis a few years later and now, 7 years down the line, she is as much part of my family as girlfriend #2 and the boys. The girlfriends didn't get numbered according to my preference - if you wondered, I did it on age which means that girlfriend #2, Chandre's birthday is coming up soon. Enough about ages and dates. Here is the card that I made to accompany my pressie:

You all know that I just love cats and when I saw a card made with this stamp on Write.Click.Scrapbook, I immediately sent an email to ask where to get hold of one. I got the info immediately, ordered one and it arrived last week.  I'm not big on stamping but the quality of this stamp is amazing. My husband thought it was printed!! The stamp is from Catslife Press and the card where I first spotted it was from Christine Newman. If you want to have a look, just click here. Thanks Christine for sending me the necessary links so quickly.

The princess just loves pink and black and when I saw the color scheme from The Play Date Cafe, I just had to use it.  This is it:

And while everything was out, I went into factory mode:

Top right you can see the cats have been fuzzy cut and put onto pop dots. I just wanted to add a bit of texture as these will be used as tags.

And another one with a bit more coral:

Even on the inside is a kitty:

Not bad for one evening in front of the TV??

And packed to go to the princess or should I rather say "Fit for a Princess"?

And of course I had some mishaps while stamping. I call them my stray cats and they got pasted into my diary:

OK!!! I know you have to lie on your side in front of your computer to see this one but Blogger is ignoring my request to rotate it.  I'll do it in Photoshop and re post the picture.  So sorry but at least you got a chance to lie down a bit.

That's it from me.  I hope you enjoyed my cat cards.  Thanks for visiting my blog and please come back to play at Play as U Go.  Have a great day!

Fly Away Art Journaling

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Marvellous Monday!  I enjoyed my camping weekend but there's nothing like home (and my own bed!) Lately I have been thinking about freedom - like "agree to disagree".  It is so easy to say that what you do is best - I think we all try to influence someone at some point but if you take a moment to reflect and think about it.  Your choices, your thoughts and your deeds are your own. And only you have to take responsibility for it.

I always tell the boys that I don't mind if they tell me that they've been wrong but I would hugely regret it if  I influenced them into making mistakes. What is wrong for me is not necessarily wrong for them.  So, I got to the point where if we disagree, I tell them what I think and ask them to decide for themselves. I really want them to be free to live their own lives, make their own mistakes and to take credit for their achievements.

This is what this week's Art Journaling is all about - to be free, to fly free, to SOAR!

I started out with the color palate from The Color Throwdown:

I painted the background light pink (doesn't look light now but that's how it started out), added white Gesso via a stencil of a bird and branches. I added an orange boarder (used wax crayons) and painted my whole canvas with orange fabric die. This makes the wax crayon part pop out (and it made my pink a lot darker!!). Lesson well learned - next time I'll only paint the die over the boarder.  Then I added some stamping in black and weathered vine as well as the birdcage die cut. Done!!

Once again I added it to my 2013 Art Journal:

And a close-up of my left page:

I'll be adding my thoughts to the left page in white ink.

That's it!  Please hop over to The Color Throwdown to see what the rest of Blogland did and while you're there, leave some comments.  Just click here to be redirected.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting my blog. Please come back to play as I'll be sharing more crafting fun right here on Play as U Go.

Sunny Summer

Hi there Bloglanders

I'm still on my way to the camping weekend but before I leave, I wanted to share with you the little mini book that I've made for my trip.  Last year the whole of blogland made summer mini's but that's a huge problem if you live in Sunny SA as half of the 2013 summer is NOW and the res is at the end of 2013.  Too long for me to wait.

So, I decided to use the die cuts and paper I've bought for the summer mini to record my camping weekend.

Here it is:

The goodies is from the MME range On the Sunny Side - just love the colors.  Next time you see my Sunny Summer mini it will be packed with photos and journaling.  And it's already chubby! My red binder ring is from Monika's  I Love it all shop on Etsy.

Now I'm on my way. It's weekend and you probably have some extra time. Hop over to MME to see what the rest of  Blogland did with their die cuts. Just click here.

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday!

Mini's to give away

Hi there Bloglanders

This is my last post for the week as I'm off on a camping weekend.  I'll be back after the weekend so please come back to play.

It seems that it has been a week of mini books here at Play as U Go.  My last effort of the week was this:

 Remember I made a mini book of the cat that I share with my neighbour?  Click here if you missed it. But neighbour, Maya has another cat called Tigger so I volunteered to make a mini book for her as well.  I used the same method that I've been doing for the "some bunny loves you" card / mini album that will become a birthday card for the princess.  Have a look!  Just click here.

And a picture of the inside:

And a close-up of the front:

But I didn't do only one - while everything was out I did one for me to keep and 3 more to give to the girls going on the camping trip with us.  Packed and ready for delivery:

Oh and now for the translations. "Kattekwaad" means mischief but it is such a beautiful word Katte = cats; kwaad = mischief.  And the My(s)kat comes from a friends grandson who said that there are ginger cats, striped cats, black cats and "myskatte". His grandma used to call him My skat (something like my love) and as the word skat included "kat" he thought it was another type of cat!

Hope you enjoyed it - not nearly as funny in English but at least I tried to tell the story.  Have a great day and please come back to play at Play as U Go.  Have a Wacky Weekend!

Green chevron Art Journal

Good morning Bloglanders

Already half way through the week! Time to get the weekend plans sorted.  Wynand has a camping trip lined up and I'm rather excited - good company, lots of outdoor activities and experiencing something new.  And the Princess is turning 25.  Perfect opportunity to take some photos - I can see great layouts coming up. Oh yeah, I know - you don't like my layouts. Sorry about that - I love them.

According to my blog stats you love my Art Journaling.  Why??? I think it's IMPERFECT like ME and I work very hard at myself not to throw every attempt in the trash.  So be it - it happened again when I tried this one:

I wanted to participate in The Twinery's challenge:

Last week in Blogland it was Washi tape, this week it's clovers and a lot of green.  I'm not a very green person so I came up with a color scheme of black, white, green and a dash of red. Also, my clover looks like a flower but that's part of my artistic flair.

This is how I created this "Lucky ME" canvas:
I applied a layer of Mod Podge over a sheet of Multi Media paper.
Scrunched up some printed tissue paper and applied it on top op the wet Mod Podge.
2 more layers of Mod Podge.  This actually looks great - like leather. Will do again! See my tip at the bottom.
Dried the whole thing outside in the sun. Yes, it's summer in Sunny SA.
Used a die to cut the chevrons in my card.
Next up I made some grass by gluing Peapod Twine onto cardstock and glued it to the back of the negative chevrons on my card.
Some stamping.  This is where I wanted to trash the project but I think I didn't allow enough drying time.
Anyway, now it has sort of a bleeded effect but it's growing on me.
Last up I added a four leaved clover made out of die cut hearts and some twine for the middle and the stem and my title.

Done and dusted.

I didn't want to throw the positives of the die cut chevrons away so I added it to my Art Journaling book as well.  And because I'm very, very lucky, I added another four leaved clover.

This is what my Art Journal book looks like:

I'm so glad I didn't trash it after all.  I normally sit down on a Sunday when everything is quiet to do the journaling. With the camping trip coming up, I don't know if it will get done, but I like it anyway - if all else fails, it can stay as it is. "LUCKY ME" says it all.

Now for my tip:  Running the "canvas" through the die cut machine to cut the chevrons, it flattened the surface to a perfect texture. Next time I try this technique, I'll run it through the machine without cutting. I'm really, really excited about this - will be making some more for book covers! I call it my "leather look".

That's it from me.  I'll be back with some more crafting fun.  Have a great day and please come back to play at Play as U go.