Decorated Cake stand

Good morning Bloglanders

July is birthday month at HQ Hamman so I thought I'd use my scraps to make a garland and decorate our cake stand:

Once again, I punched out hearts from scrap paper and stitched over them on two strands of twine. Such an easy way to pretty up a project. Here I've shown how I decorated a pressie the same way and here to give my solar lights a fall feel.

Back to seaming the 100 cream napkins!!! Will tell you all about it in Sunday's Summary. Thanks for looking at my my blog today and please come back to play.

1 Piece of Painted Paper

Hello Bloglanders

Two weeks ago I showed you my "spots and dots painting" here. As always, I used it for various projects. Here is my Multimedia page:

I do love my purple journal!

And a close-up of "be inspired":

I've painted with acrylic paints, used die cuts from glitter foam and the rose was done with my Silhouette. It's nice and dimensional with lots of new techniques that I've tried. For my non-Afrikaans-speaking Bloglanders: INSPIRASIE = INSPIRATION. The whole page is all about what inspires me.

For my layout I added pictures of my inspiration - "my" cat, plates and new blanket:

I was brave enough to do some ink splatters  ............................... perfect for IMPERFECT ME. And still ............................................. I had some painted paper left.  As it's wedding season at HQ Hamman, I decided to do two wedding themed cards:

The wedding cake was cut from my painted paper and I used a Sizzix stamp and die set that I've had for ages and never used. To give my cards dimension, I used my fave scroll embossing folder to do the backing paper. That idea came from the SimonSaysStamp Wednesday challenge. You can click here to see what the rest of Blogland did with the same inspiration.

I did some more stamp and die cuts but saving it to do Project Life wedding pages. YES, my son's!!!!! And if the fancy takes me, I can use the card on the right as part of my layout. SO many possibilities.

That's it. I've got more crafting to do, new things to try and a life to enjoy. Thanks for looking at my blog and please come back to play.

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Sunday Summary Week 30

Good evening Bloglanders

Without further ado, as promised my Sunday Summary for the past week. It's still very, very busy at Hamman HQ. We had Pieter's birthday yesterday and Wynand's is next week. Lots of  love, laughter and fun.

Currently we are having very, very wintery weather down under in Sunny SA with lots of rain, sunny days but COLD nights.  Just what I needed to warm me up - a new challenge from SimonSaysStamp - A mid summer's challenge.  We already had half our summer BUT the second half will be here in no time so I started on my summer bucket list. Or rather, my bucket bin (OK, TIN):

I printed some journaling cards, filler cards and fun titles from the Becky Higgins Hi Sunshine kit. Just love the fun, summery colors and the titles - it's like a bucket list without thinking them up for yourself!!

Everything went into a tin that I got from Monika' Wright's Etsy shop. And then I decorated the front with some scraps, a filler card and "2014" cut from yellow glitter foam.

One of the big advantages of living in Sunny SA - you get two summers!

And a peek inside:

I'm not going to bind the cards into a mini book as I would most probably include my list with the activities as we finish them in my Project Life album. 

Another project - some painting with acrylics, stencyl, die cuts from Wilna Furstenberg and DIY glitter foam letters. 

I'm doing a post about this project later this week so keep checking back. Love how it turned out!!

I did a layout, a Multimedia page, some cards and have enough scraps left to do a double page Project Life spread. 

I'm a bit new to ink splatters and curled pages but it's growing on me.  You will definitely see more of this right here on Play as U Go.

Big news at home is that we are looking for a house to buy for Pieter who is getting married in less than a month. 

Lucky for me, they are staying in Stellenbosch and will therefore still be within 10 minutes drive from me. Here is the one we wanted but was unfortunately sold just the day before we decided to make an offer.

And ................................. some time ago Wynand asked me to do some vinyl art for his truck with my Silhouette. I didn't think he was serious but he kept at it. Last week he finally got the wolf for his truck and warthogs for the camping trailer. Great project and he's SO chuffed. Our neighbor came over tonight to ask that I do one for him as well!!

I think the reflection in the Wolf one looks spooky, don't you?? Just what Wynand wanted.

Last but not the least. Even though it's very, very cold, our garden is beautiful. And here is the evidence:

When we bought our current home this plant was dry, neglected and nearly dead but Wynand nursed it back to life and now it's one of my favorites. I really love my house and garden.

That's it. Another Week done and dusted.  This week I will have to finish up the 8 black bridesmaid dresses and get some office admin done but I've already got some projects lined up for you. Please check back as all will be revealed right here on Play as U Go. Until we meet again .............................. have fun, craft on and remember to TRY SOMETHING NEW.

"Scrap-a-Doodles Design Team 2014 Audition"

Try something new links: 1. Jar of worms Halloween treats, 2. Multimedia DROOM, 3. Gift bag with Silhouette heat transfer, 4. Zuss-up glasses with stencils.

Hello Bloglanders

For those of you waiting for my Sunday Summary - it will be up later. First the admin.  As you see in my post title I've decided to audition for the design team of my favourite craft shop, Scrap-a-Doodles and as part of the criteria, I have to post projects that I've created. Not an easy task ........................... it's like choosing between your children!!

The good thing about this is that you get to revisit projects from the past - I loved every minute of it and decided to choose a few in each category and give you links that you can follow to see the inside info.

As you know I do the usual stuff but my forte is thinking up new projects to try out with the tools and stash I have on  hand. That's why My first category is

"Try something new": 

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April showers bring spring flowers. I used twine to knit a rainbow bookmark and added stamped die cuts from craft foam.

#2: Recycle, reuse and use what you've got:

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I love this wreath!! U used a Spellbinders die to punch out "Christmassy" shapes from scraps of fabric and felt.  For the dolls hair I used pot scroungers.

And the runners-up in my "use what you've got category:

"Use what you've got" links: 1. Embellishments on file cover, 2. Tin advent calendar, 3. Use scraps to zuss up presents and solar jars, 4. Multi media with negatives from punch-outs.

#3: Mini Books:

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This whole mini book is made from only one A4 sheet of paper. I've added it to a Project Life Layout and it looks great.

And the runners-up in my mini book category:

Mini book links: 1. For a friend, 2. Wedding guest book, 3. Gratitude mini book, 4. Project Life travel mini book.

#4: Layouts:

This one is hot off my craft table. I'll post the inside info later this week so, keep checking back!

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Acrylic paint, die cuts, stencil and DIY glitter foam letters. 

And the runners-up in my layout category:

Layout links: 1. Fish and Chips, 2. I love the sea, 3. My Cat, 4. I love you

#5: Project Life:

                                                                      LINK 
                      Waterfall Project Life card made to add more pictures to a layout.

And the runners-up in my Project Life category:

Project Life links: 1. Calender, 2. Wedded Bliss, 3. April, 4. Mandela

#6: Cards:

I love to give personalized cards. Most of the time it turns into a mini mini book / maxi card.

                                                                            LINK

        I'm sharing a cat with my neighbours and made this maxi card with pictures to thank them.

And the runners-up in my card category:

Card: 1. 3D Butterfly card, 2. Interactive Mother's Day card, 3. Retro card, 4. Thank you card with photos.

There you have it - my crafting repertoire in 1 post! Thanks for visiting my blog today and please check back as I have lots more to share right here on Play as U Go.

PS. Remember to try something new - TODAY!!

Multi Media Layout

Hello Bloglanders

I know you don't like to see layouts on my blog but I'm rather proud of myself for doing this one.  In my quest to try new things, to use my stash and not to buy things that will gather dust, I ticked all the boxes here:

I used acrylic paint for the background - only 4 colours in my stash - white, yellow, blue and gold - so I used them!! The butterflies were leftovers from my craft session with my little friend Alexa. I told you all about it here. I used the negative from the butterfly die cut to paint the gold butterflies and the poem is a die cut on vinyl that I adapted for my purpose. Definitely not perfect, but it works for me.

For those of you who can't understand my journaling, it's all about my focus for the month "the best things in life are not things." (DINGE = THINGS) I've used gold glitter foam for the "DINGE". I've had it in my stash for some time but never used it and then I saw this post - now I'm hooked!!

I've got some errands to run so, thanks for looking and have a great day! I'll be back .......................

Spots and Dots Mini Folder

Hello Bloglanders

Today I brought my "Spots and Dots" mini Folder to share:

Somebody once told me that nothing we do, is entirely our own idea - it always comes from another idea or inspiration.  This mini folder is the nearest I'll ever get to entirely my own idea.  At first, I only used office scrap paper, cut it to size and added the office binder, later I started adding cover pages and then I came up with the idea to make an entire cover and to decorate it.

I do make a lot of these and give it away as presents. It's so much more useful than a card and I decorate it as I would have a card and write a personal message on the first page to the lucky recipient. Best part is that you can recycle your stash and refill the folder once it's full. I do have stacks of these 6x4 papers ready to be used.

I showed how I make the folders here. If you can't figure it out, hop over and see my previous post and if you need more info, leave me a comment and I'll gladly share.

For this folder I used half a 12x12 sheet of cardstock (Simple Stories SNAP) for the cover, the die cuts are from iheartstudio and the XOXO is a die from Amy Tangerine cut from black craft foam. For a bit of dimension, I added a brad, a little heart on a pop dot and an ordinary office paperclip.

There you have it. Some recycling, a mini note folder and a personal message for a great friend. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day.

Sunday Summary Week 29

Hello Bloglanders

And I'm back with a summery of my week. Still busy, busy, busy @ HQ Hamman.  First up - I did get some time to make a few cards.  My inspiration came from the SimonSaysStamp blog. The Monday challenge is "About a face". Now, I'm not big on cards or faces but decided to try it out and get some pressies made for my Xmas stash.

I've had this cameo embossing folder in my stash FOREVER but have never used it. In my quest for "waste not, want not", I decided to go through my stash and see what I can come up with for the challenge without buying anything. Actually, I found more than these to fit the bill. And a close-up:

Now for the upcoming wedding.  Finally, I'm at 7/8 of the bridesmaid dresses. Bridesmaid #8 is in Hawaii and will only be back in Sunny SA a week before the wedding - that one will therefore have to wait.

The girls do look great in their custom made gowns but I'm rather tired of black and still has to do something for the "mother of the groom" to wear. I did get an idea from my friend Pinterest:

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I have enough fabric left over from the bridesmaid dresses to make this. Waste not, want not!! Of course I'll have to omit the white trim as only black is allowed in the winter wonderland wedding. Watch this space and I'll share my effort.

And this will become the name tags:

When our trees were cut back, we kept a few branches and Wynand sawed this into disks. Perfect for name tags. I have done some before and it looks like this:

I used these as table decor and afterwards added self adhesive magnet paper left over from other DIY projects and now they are fridge magnets!! Love them!!

I'm still in paint mood and while everything is out on my craft desk, I did a "spots and dots" page. 

You will see this one again - just keep checking back!!

Last but by no means least:

I did try something new!! To fillet a fish.  OK, please don't try your skills on baby hake like I did but still, it worked out wonderfully.  Wynand and I had a WONDERFUL fish and chips meal outside @ the pool. Love. love, love.

What more could you expect of an ordinary week. Food. Family. Occasions. Craft?? I love my life.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I'll be back to share some more crafting fun right here.

Have a wonderful week.

As free as a Butterfly

Hello

Happy day to you all!!  First up: My submission for the MME challenge "Let Freedom Ring". Well, down under in Sunny SA we don't do independence day, I couldn't find any suitable paper in my MME stash so off I went to Pinterest. And this is what I did:

As my home language is Afrikaans, I translated my quote from this (ex Pinterest):

Every month I try to focus on something and this is for July 2014. The best things in life aren't things and best of all - most of them are free for all. Thinking like that makes me feel free from worldly goods and  enjoy the preciousness of health, the love of my family and living life to its fullest.

For my project, I used a die cut from the Silhouette store for my frame and did the letters in vinyl except for the "DINGE" - I cut them out of glitter foam. The red flourish came from glitter foam as well and the flowers are offcuts from Silhouette printable canvas.  I added a bit of ink to the edges and a sparkly brad from the MME's "Lost and Found 3"  range.

My papers are rather old. I bought them from a close down sale at an online shop. The red check comes from the "Miss Caroline" range and the black and cream flowers from "Lush".

As promised yesterday, my Beady Butterflies:

This is an OLD project. Yes, ex 2005 when my boy's class  had to host the metric farewell. The theme was woody wonderland and our butterflies went on the menu's.  They were printed on green vellum, rolled around a glass vase and inside was an tea light. We glued the butterflies on randomly.  It looked magical!!!

How did we do it?? We used transparency to cut butterfly shapes, glass liner and paint to decorate and once again - beads for the bodies.   Every day after school about 10 boys used to sit around our dining room table making butterflies. They made 500!!! You see ........................ the memory is priceless and doesn't cost a thing.

These three little beauties in my photo are on my craft room window but you can also glue them back to back onto fishing line. It makes a GREAT mobile. And apparently the liner and paint never dries as mine (ex 2005) is still usable.  

There you have it. Something old, something new. Thanks for looking at my blog today and please check back as I have lots more to share right here on Play as U Go.