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.

Layout with My Mind's Eye

Hello Bloglanders

It's been a while since I did a challenge!!  But, rather late than never. And my contribution for the My Mind's Eye challenge of the month:

I've used leftover bits and bobs from the "Find your wings and Fly" range.  The paint strokes are from Wilna Furstenberg's shop.  I don't follow a lot of blogs (less than 10) but her blog, "iheartblog" is ALWAYS on my list. What I totally love, is that she does a video every week (sometimes more) which shows exactly how she made her layout. Here is the link to one made with the paint strokes.

Problem was, IMPERFECT ME didn't have any paint on hand that fitted my color scheme - SO, plan B.  I scanned the MME bunting that I've used on my layout and opened it up in Silhouette Studio. Then I picked the colors and colored my paint strokes cut file accordingly.  "Print and cut" and another layout done.

I will surely try my hand at the painted ones but you will have to wait a while until I figure that one out. My new year's resolution was that I'd use what I've got ............................. recycle, reuse and re purpose but no new stash!!

That's it from  me for today. Have a lovely weekend and please check back as I'll be sharing some more crafting adventures right here on Play as U Go.

Make your own "washi" with MME

Hi there Bloglanders

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did a lot of crafting. Still working on the farewell dress but I also managed to sneak in some Project Life layouts.  I know you don't like to look at layouts but I'll be showing as I'm rather impressed with my efforts. Seems that Project Life is growing on you and the more you do it, the nicer pages you turn out.

As part of one of my spreads I did this 6x6 mini layout. It will probably become a title page but I'm still thinking about it.

Once again I made my own washi tape.  Remember, I explained here how to do it.  At first we couldn't get washi down under in Sunny SA so I made my own but now it's readily available and we can buy it in any shape and size UNTIL ...................................... this month's MME challenge: use 3 different tapes!!!  I've been everywhere and can't find any MME tape.  Normally, we struggle to get nice goodies but never before have I come up empty handed and if I order online from the USA, it will take at least 6 weeks shipping time. Well, I'm not discouraged that easily so I decided to try my hand at making my own "MME tape".  This is how it works:

1. Get hold of some tissue paper. I recycled some from packaging material and used a powdery blue and white. Stick some double sided tape to the tissue paper.

2. Now get hold of all your MME stamps that are just screaming to be used.

3. Stamp on the tissue paper where the double sided tape is at the back.

4. Cut "tape" to the size of the double sided tape with your trimmer. Actually, scissors works much better!

5. Now you have a whole stash of different tapes to use on any project. Peel away the other side of the double sided tape and stick. No extra glue / effort needed.

As  easy as that!! I did some extra strips that will go onto my PL layout and as I said - this one will probably become a title page for one of my March weeks.  We are nearing the end of summer and shortly it will be fall - think my colour scheme will fit perfectly.

That's it. If you can't get something, don't despair, just page through your stash and think out of the box. If you want to see what the rest of Blogland did in the MME challenge, just click here to be redirected.

Have a Marvellous Monday and please come back to play.

Bye
Hazel

Hearty Notepads from recycled office paper

Good morning Bloglanders

Yes, I'm still staying outside near the pool and under my veranda .......................... keep reading and I'll share a sneak peak.  First up: My project: Note Pads from recycled office paper:

Wynand and I have our own business and we recycle all our office paper.  We have a box where we keep it and every once in a while I convert it into notebooks.  I've shown you one I made here and here.  We do use a lot of notebooks to write down messages because if  I use a loose piece of paper, it normally gets lost. So, I decided to try my hand at "hearty" notepads this time round.  Best part is if you fold one A4 sheet in 4 you can cut 8 hearts from every sheet and what remains, can go directly in the recycling - no need to shred - you can't figure out a thing.

Here you can see the front and the back:

I don't write on the back of my notes anyway therefore I don't mind that it is partly printed with office info. Best part is: I've made nice, funky, sturdy covers and in future, I can just add more heart notes. For the covers I've used scraps from my MME "My Girl" stash.  I've glued them onto sturdy carton (recycled from packaging material).

And now for the sneak peak into my workspace:

Left is my view up into the vines that cover my porch and on the right my temporary work station on a garden bench looking onto the garden and pool. I'm staying out here until winter!!

That's it. I'm off to splash in the pool. Thanks for looking at my blog today. Have a great day!

Bye
Hazel

It's a Brand New Year

Hallo Bloglanders

It's a Terrific Tuesday in Sunny SA and I'm on my way out to work in my garden. Maybe I should take my camera with and share a bit ............................. watch this space!

I follow about 5 blogs on a daily basis - on of them - the Silhouette Blog.  The reason??? I got a Silhouette for my birthday and decided to follow along to make sure I get to know my machine without spending money on training.  It works ................... I love my Silhouette and I can't believe how easy it is. Do you know that we will be getting "cut able" Washi from them?  I can't wait!

I did this page with my New Years resolutions for my brand, spanking, new 2014 Project Life Album:

The inspiration came from 2 blogs. First up - Silhouette.  "Revisit an old project and create something new." This was my old project:

LINK

The second idea that I used is the My Mind's Eye challenge of the month. "14 things in 2014". So, I made a list of 14 things that I wish for myself for 2014 and ta-da .............................. layout done and dusted. I used paper and embellishments from the "My Girl" range. Just love the cheerful pink, blue and yellows.

I made the page and then added a chipboard bunting and some more dimension by cutting some of the words with my Silhouette and adhering them with foam pop dots.  Don't you love the "eet koek"? (= eat cake)

Now some inside info.  I normally only buy one sheet of cardstock from a specific range.  It keeps my hoarding habit in check.  Which means that I normally don't have enough paper for a project. So, I make plans to stretch my stash.  Here you can see how I cut the back of my cardstock away to re use.  I just glue a piece of recycled office paper over the back and it's done.

Unfortunately I only had small pieces left to cut my dimentional embellishments. Cutting small pieces with the Silhouette is fine but to cut and print - well, my 6x4 printer only prints half the image (????)  so I came up with plan B.  Works just as good if you glue your cardstock onto a piece of A4 recycled office paper and then the office printer does the trick.

That's it.  Enjoy the rest of your day and please check back as I have lots more to share with you.

Hazel

Gratitude mini book for Project Life

Hi there Bloglanders

And I'm back with another Project Life mini book!! I went through a bad patch a while ago and everywhere I looked, inspirational messages popped up. You know the feeling ............................. as if it's meant for me. So I decided to make a mini book out of them and include it in my Project Life album. Here it is:

I just printed everything and added it to pieces of paper and cardstock. (bottom left pic gives a peek) The only one showing is the one with the word "breathe" on and I liked having the word as part of my cover. I stacked everything together, punched holes in and added a word, embellishments, tabs and an office file binder. As I didn't have any MME embellishments on hand (you know how I struggle to get them down under), u used my Silhouette to cut my own out of MME papers.  Looks great doesn't it?

Normally I do a gratitude project during November and this will be the one for 2013. I'm thankful for being a believer, for friends out there trying to cheer me up and for life. My focus for 2014 will be "if you have life, you have purpose" and this book will be there to remind me of that. The picture on the right shows how it fits into a 4x6 slot of a PL page protector. I've still got to print my pictures but you get the idea, don't you?

That's it!  Another (not so good) episode recorded as part of PL.  If you want to see what the rest of Blogland did to record their gratitude, hop over to the MME blog. Just click here to be redirected. Thanks for looking at my blog and have a Terrific Tuesday.

Hazel

PS. On Thursday I'll add a list of all my PL mini books / albums thus far. If you want to look, please check back or use the search button top right of my blog. And here is the link to all my PL Mini's.

Gratitude Time

Hello Bloglanders

I hope you are well. We have beautiful, summery weather and it's really wonderful to be outside. However, I make sure that I do get some crafting done as well. Every day I put something out on my craft desk and even though things sometimes get rough, I mostly get it done. Yesterday I moved everything outside and did my crafting in my beautiful garden!

We don't celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving in Sunny SA but I try to join in the fun as I love ANY occasion.  So, every year during November I do a gratitude list / mini book or layout. Yesterday I made this:

This a gratitude banner and it's hanging above my fireplace. I used my Silhouette to print and cut little chalkboard frames with Afrikaans "gratitude words" - even made blanks.  Did you know that a white dressmaking pencil works as well as chalk and it's much easier to write with?? In between I've added little envelopes made out of all my leftover MME "the sweetest thing" papers.  Inside each envelope is mini, mini notecards. The idea is that the rest of the family fill out notes of gratitude and add more gratitude words to the banner - then everything will be converted to a layout / mini book / Project Life page. If you missed my effort last year, you can read all about it here.

Of course, twine from The Twinery (Mandarin) and the color scheme evolved around my Halloween decor.

Here is a close-up:

For my non-South African Bloglanders: Geluk = Joy; Vrede = Peace; Geloof = Faith; Hoop = Hope; Liefde = Love; Seen = Blessed. Now you know!  Any more gratitude words ex Blogland? Leave me a comment and I'll translate and add your word to my banner.

That's it from me. I've got the orange layout ex the Big Picture class challenge on my desk and today it's getting done - sort of a curveball for me. I'm not an orange person, I don't like orange (except for Halloween pumpkins) and I don't own orange embellishments. Will have to get my Silhouette to print and cut to get me out of this fix.

Thanks for looking at my blog today and please come back to play. Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Hazel

Nail varnish embellishments for Layout

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Wynand is back from Vietnam, Wernich is back in Bloemfontein and Pieter's classes resume today so it's back to business for us. I did have a little crafting time and this is what I did:

Can you see the splatters in my layout?? I don't buy mists and inks so I used ordinary nail varnish for my dots and it worked very well.  Just another way of using what you've got without breaking the bank!

And my inspiration came from My Mind's Eye's challenge for September:

I you want to see what the rest of  Blogland did with the same sketch - just click here.

I'm off to get the office admin sorted and making a dress for a friend's daughter.  More than enough to keep me busy for the day and of course, I plan to sneak in some crafting fun as well. Thanks for looking at my blog today.  Have a Marvellous Monday and please come back to play.

Hazel

Labor Day Layout with MME

Good morning Bloglanders

I'm well and for those of you sending me messages about the Princess's accident - thank you so much.  She is bruised and sore but otherwise fine.

Today I'm showing a layout for the MME Labor day challenge.  My American Bloglanders just celebrated Labor day but in Sunny SA we do it in May and for me working from home ............................. well, I just go on as usual.  So I made a layout about being thankful that I can work from home and have time to play as well. Here it is:

It's a mix and match of MME papers from different ranges but that's the thing about their stuff - you can use very, very old scraps with brand new ones and they fit like a glove.

My layout also portrays that I work in the office, in my craft room AND from a table in the middle of our open plan living room. This is my fave spot. I can see and hear everything ................................ from the washing machine, dinner on the stove to the pot of spring flowers on my "stoep". These days people live in really small flats up in the sky and I'm sure they are content but I'm SO thankful for my home, garden and the rural area I live in. To top it all .............................. Sunny SA has the most wonderful weather ..................
nothing like fun in the sun.

Talking about fun in the sun ............................. tomorrow I'll be showing a mini book made out of just one sheet of paper AND I'll be fitting it into my Project Life. Hope to see you tomorrow and thanks for looking at my blog today. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Hazel

Layout with MME

Good morning Bloglanders

First of all - I've had the best blogging month since I started about 2 years ago. Thank you very much for all your support.  I really enjoy blogging about my crafty life and my blog motivates me to try out new things, to think up alternative ways to be creative and the best part - I get to finish about 5 projects each week!!

Now for my layout:

I started with Project Life last year and it's really intimidating BUT I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of things.  I don't do a page a week.  Too conventional for me. When I have pictures, I add them and at the end of the month - I go through my monthly file and add whatever I missed. (mostly the iPhone or iPad ones) I love layouts - I include at least 2 every month and I do mini layouts as fillers for my PL pockets. If you missed it and want to look, just click here.

Back to my layout.  I used 95% MME papers - some very old and some more recent.  The "other" 5% are recycled paper - the craft from a parcel I received and the cream from an old notebook. (one I actually used when I went to university - see the hole - 100% authentic) I used this sketch from MME as inspiration:

100% MME embellishments and the die cuts were done with old MME papers. I totally love that speech bubble with the heart. Here is a close-up:

And I totally forgot about my journaling - had to add a tag.  Bottom right you can see what I did it.

Now for the story. Wynand, Pieter and I have our birthdays within a fortnight. Each year I make a layout where I tell what we did on each occasion. This year we went "wedding venture hunting" and the pics in my layout is of  THE ONE.

Back to my papers.  I stumbled upon an old kit with papers from the Life Stories range - never heard of it before!  For the background I added woodgrain from Miss Caroline and the flowery paper is from Find your wings and Fly. I don't think I would ever have used this specific print but against all the muted colors - I LOVE it. Let me tell you a secret.  All these papers (except the woodgrain) were in my "use or lose" pile and I'm totally chuffed with myself for saving them.

Thanks for looking at my blog today.  Have a Terrific Tuesday and please come back to play.

Hazel

Silhouette for a dummy - Waterfall card

Good morning Bloglanders

OK, I said I would keep HETTE for Fridays but I couldn't wait to share my project.  Yes, it's a digital cut of sorts but it went into my PL album and I wanted to share the layout before I forget.

I told you I "invested" in a digital cutter because I'm fed up using English titles and journaling cards as I'm actually Afrikaans.  Surprise, Surprise!!  First one that I did was English!!  I wanted to make a "Summer bucket list" title card for my PL page and so the Afrikaans "SOMER" with the English "bucket list" didn't work for me and I couldn't find a similar word in Afrikaans.

Here is my title card:

As my whole layout was a bit flat, I wanted to add some texture to my page with the title card.  Also, I had a lot of pictures that wasn't included in my page - this waterfall card proved to be the perfect solution. I got the tutorial here and it worked like a charm except for my little holes that vanished every time I "welded". For those of you that are new to electronic cutting (like dummy me) - it is not welding with iron or steel - it is when you group artwork together with a cutting edge around all of them.  My first attempt at making a title was very unsuccessful as I didn't know this, everything fell apart. Note to other dummies: If you start out, this is the first thing you should lean - WELD.

HETTE and I had a bit of a lovers tiff over the title - it wasn't cut as perfect as I wanted it.  I used some older MME paper and it's not that sturdy so maybe that was it.  Have a look here:

The "2", "3" and the "e". Maybe the paper manufacturers can put the cut settings on their papers???????? All and all I would give myself  80% for the finished project and about 20% for the title. Some you win, some you lose.

Here you can see how the card flips up with my bucket list written on the top flap and another pic at the bottom.

And the waterfall in action:

And here is my PL page:

OH!!! I nearly forgot to mention - I got a $10 gift card with my Silhouette - it's great to buy a few goodies to get you going.  Also, on the blog is some great freebies and they have a weekly bundle at a discounted rate. Well worth checking out. Just click here.

That's it from me. Thanks for visiting my blog today. Have a great day and please come back to play.

Layout day

Hi there Bloglanders

And today I'm here to share a layout.  This one is about Pieter who recently got engaged - I'm SO glad I have them in my life!

I actually bought the MME chipboard sheet to make a girly layout.  But when I saw their July challenge, I decided that there will be more than enough to do 2 projects.  This is what I bought:

The chipboard sheet, 2 sheets of paper and the brads. Actually I didn't need the brads but as we don't normally get them in sunny SA - I just couldn't help myself BUT I could have used 2 more chipboard shapes instead.

And this is my attempt:

OK!! Not the best pic but well, so much to do, so little time!  And the inspiration:

I flipped the sketch and in the end decided to omit the arrows. Still don't know why but I loved the cardstock so much that I decided to keep it as is.

This is what the cardstock looked like before I added my goodies:

Just goes to show - if you buy wisely, your stash can go a long, long way. Now I'm off to do a layout for boy # 2.  Hop over to MME to see what the rest of  Blogland did. Just click here.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please come back to play as I have lots more to share right here on Play as U Go.

Hazel

Multimedia Covered File

Hallo Bloglanders

Still pouring wet in Sunny SA!! Let's warm the air with some crafting fun!  I'm here to show what I made for my mother's birthday.  They downscaled a bit more than a year ago and now there is no room for clutter in their flat.  Still, mum wants to keep letters, pictures and info on her children, grandchildren, garden and home.

So, I came up with this Multimedia A5 covered file:

I used some calico, painted it with fabric dye and then added stamping, ribbon and embellishments from my stash. And this is what the file looks like from the back:

Imagine all that smiling peeping at you from your bookcase! I even made divider pages for the inside:

And some close-up pictures:

I love how my project turned out and best of all - I didn't buy a single thing!  Most of the stamps came from different MME sets and the dies used to cut the fabric are from Spellbinders.

That's it from me.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my mum's birthday gift as much as I did making it.  I think I'll do one for myself as well.  Thanks for visiting my blog today. Please come back to play as I'll be back with some more crafting fun. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Here and Now May 2013

Good morning Bloglanders

I'm running around getting everything done - new month, new things to do!  We will be going on a camping holiday soon, both the boys are writing exams and Wernich will be back home for the holidays soon. He hasn't seen Jessie yet - I bet he can't wait!

So, not a lot of time to think up new projects - I'm just trying to keep up with PL and the layouts on my craft desk.  I'll also do some more Craft Closet inside info over the weekend. If you are following, please check back.

This is the layout that I made yesterday:

Over at Monika Wright's blog she does a monthly recap of what she is doing at that time. She even supplies free printable that you can just fill out.  I wanted to do something similar but not to restrict myself to the set form.  So, as part of my PL, I journal about my family, my house & garden, work, etc on a monthly basis.  No formal rules, just the info.  This month I scribbled it down while waiting in the que for my passport to be renewed.  The idea was that I would transfer it to journaling cards or a digi layout but I didn't get to that so I decided to tear them out and add a glassine envelope where they can be stored.

I started out with a mini layout:

The inspiration for this came from the MME Sketch Challenge for May:

My Mini Layout is 6x6, I swopped the squares for stars and stitched around the edges to replace the journaling.

I've used the MME papers from the My Girl range but as I specifically bought it to make a mini book for Girlfriend #1, I didn't want to use too much of my stash.  This is what I did:

The back of my layout - I've cut away all the access paper to keep and use in my mini book. Just couldn't get myself to waste all that beautiful blue starry paper.

And a close-up of the glassine bag and the main title of my page:

And my notebook papers outside the bag:

I loved doing this layout and shortly it will be time to do my June "Here and Now". I'm a notebook kind of girl - always one at hand and it is such a waste waiting in queues - why not journal the time away.

That's if from me. Have a great weekend and thanks for looking at my blog today. Please come back to play.

Hazel
(Somehow I lost the Sunny SA!! - IMPERFECT ME)

Mini Layout Jessy Baby

Good morning Bloglanders

I hope you are rested and ready for the weekend.  Time to kick up your heels and have some fun!

Today I'm sharing a Mini Layout of the newest addition to our family - Jessy. Here she is:

First the story. My "blind side son" just loves dogs and when he came to live with us more than 12 years ago his first wish was to have a dog. So he got one - Skollie. (We are "cat people") Since he moved to another university at the beginning of this year, Skollie has been living with Wernich's girlfriend and I think it was he who got her through the loneliness of the past five months. So Chandre decided to get another dog and this is our new baby - Jessy. She is totally Cute, Wonderful, Little, The Sweetest thing and Delightful! Chandre works full time and on her way to work she drops off the dogs at our place for "daycare" and in the evening they get picked up again. Like real grandchildren - just "granddogs".

Now about my layout. Since starting Project Life, I try to make more mini layouts to use as "fillers", titles and / Journaling cards on my pages and this is one of them. It is actually very therapeutic as you can make a whole layout out of scraps and the process is much quicker (and cheaper). For this one I used a recipe from a JBS and MME:

1. Combine at least two MME products to create a unique handmade embellishment

2. Focus on the journaling in a creative way

3. Get painterly!

I made all my embellishments - the banner, the name - using a LOT of different products and ranges from MME - all scraps that would otherwise be wasted.

As my Mini Layout is only 6x4 I didn't have a lot of space for journaling but I think my twist on "the sweetest thing" might just work. I think it is very original how the "DELIGHTFUL"  covers up the "by Jen Allyson".

As for painterly - my canvas was a bit small and there were already a lot going on there so I just added a paint rub to the edges to give a bit of dimension.

Here you can see my Mini Layout in my PL album:

Yes!! I should figure out how to take pictures with page protectors on but you get the idea don't you?

Thanks for joining me on my blog today. Have a great weekend and please come back to play as I have a lot more of crafting fun to share right here.  I'm off to make some business cards - no custom printed cards for the world's biggest Hybrid crafter! Check back and all will be revealed. Have a Fabulous Friday!