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!

Last of the siblings

Good morning Bloglanders

The last card in my retro range:

I love making sets of cards in different sizes - when they are wrapped in a glassine envelope, it looks much more interesting.  This one was inspired by a sketch ex Scrap RDV and I love the beaded body of the butterfly. You can click here if you want to have a peek at the original.

And this is the sketch:

I wanted to recap on the rest of the family members but it seems that my friend Blogger is being difficult. I'll come back to this post and add them when the strike is over.

I have to get back to the Haunted House bag that I'm making. So, have a great week and please come back to play.

Hazel

Pet Layout

Good morning Bloglanders

Only one day to go before the weekend!  I hope you are having a fabulous Thursday.  Today I'm sharing a layout of my cat, Tossel (like a pom pom) who died a little while ago.

And a bit of the detail:

We had Tossel for 20 years and she was our first cat (actually she was my son's) and she will probably be our last as my husband and I are considering a lock-up-and-go lifestyle. Tossel even had her own "catbook" - an album with pictures and journaling about her.  I'm so glad I made it - it stands next to my son's childhood album on my bookshelf. I knew since the beginning of this year that her health was deteriorating and that she would probably not live until the end of the year.  So, I got myself a notebook and wrote everything down that I want to remember about her. Eg. she used to climb our thatched roof and hang upside down like a bat for a whole day! She was really, really funny and unique and I completed the 72 page notebook before she died in August.  It is awesome reading! This will probably become a mini book / journal that I can add to her "catbook".

The challenge at Scrap RDV is  an "Animal" project using a picture of an animal or animal shaped embellishments or stamps. As my family are huge animal lovers, the hardest part was to decide which layout to use. I have a beautiful layout  in my childhood album  album titled "to all the pets I've loved before." I have included pictures and journaling about pets from days gone by.  Such fond memories. This is one of the first pages I've done when I started scrapbooking many, many moons ago (2006 actually) and I still love the page. Click here to hop over to Scrap RDV to see the other entries.

I hope you have enjoyed our chat. Have a great Thursday and please come back to play.

Cards, cards and more cards

Hallo Bloglanders

Do you remember the card that Alexandra chose for the Scrap RDV fave's in July?  It looked like this:

And if you missed it, just click here.  I had some open space when I printed the cover for my "words i live by" mini book and decided to fill it up with little pictures.  I made this card for the CPS Card Sketches of the week:

And the inspiration:

Please click here to see what the rest of Blogland did - you can't believe that the same idea could spark such different ideas!

And I did another card with the thumbnail pictures:

Basically I doodled around my pictures by hand, glued punched out frames (from scraps) over the pictures, added a few bits and bobs, a sentiment and my card was done. The last one will go to the 52 card pick-up of The Old Back Porch.  I think it's a great idea to make a card every week and as a result you will have all the stock you need for 2013.  The early bird catches the worm (or rather the card).

I have wrapped the whole "card family" in a glassine envelope - ready to be given away! I actually love the different sized - it gives dimension to the pressie.

That's it from me. Thanks for stopping by to check out what happened om my craft table.  Please come back to play as I'll be sharing some more of my projects right here on Play as U Go.

Have a great day!









Blob mini album

Hi there Bloglanders

We are having horrible winter weather even though it's supposed to be spring in sunny SA.  I don't really mind and stayed inside doing admin and my school supply mini (told you about it yesterday, remember?). 

After die cutting all my "ink splatters go wrong" into more acceptable shapes, I printed my pictures and off to my craft table I went.  Here it is - my ink blob mini album:

I used pictures from our camping weekend and plan to incorporate the whole mini album in a layout for my 12 x 12 album. Of course I'll share once it's done!  And the inside pages looks like this:

There is still some journaling to be done but the nice part about this mini book is that it can be taken apart without any hassle.  Maybe I'll include some more pictures or  souvenirs at a later stage.  Now for the challenge.  We had to use school supplies and do the "ink splatter thing". I think you know how I feel about the latter but the first requirement was easy even though I don't have any school going children.

I use craft folders from the stationary shop all the time.  They cost R1 for a huge one. (Card stock will cost about R8 for a single 12 x 12 sheet) The other paper I've used is purple paper that we use to cover school books - it looks like the normal brown variant but I love to use it as they come in all the colors of the rainbow.  Once again - very cheap and you get the school labels that I've used included!  All my white pages are recycled office paper and the envelope is a used wage envelope.  What more?  A bit of washi tape, a few die cuts and I even printed the alphabet that I've used on the left over space of the pictures I did.

I love it when something worthwhile gets done by using stuff for alternative purposes.  Also, to recycle is very important to me.  Even though I have mixed feelings about this project, I'm rather proud of my effort.

That's it from me. Have a great day and please come back to play. I'm off to link my project to Scrap RDV.  If you want to check it out, please click here.

Some more cards

Hallo Bloglanders

I have made a carry-along barn for a little boy and tomorrow I'll share with you how I did it.  Want to peek?

I'm sure you still remember the card I made for the CPS challenge (bottom left) and if you read my blog regularly, you will know how I hate cards without family.  So without further ado - the rest of the siblings:

I only used offcuts of paper and what was left of a sticker sheet used in another project.  The one I'm submitting for The Old Back Porch card pickup week 34 is this one:



The frame I used here is actually the backside of what was left after I took out the die cuts used in the bottom two cards. Hop over to The Old Black Porch to see what the rest of Blogland came up with. Just click here.

While you are out there, hop over to Scrap RDV and see my take on Aurore's card.  Mine was actually chosen as Alexandra's fave!!

Remember?

Please come back tomorrow to see how my barn turned out.  My instructions are Afrikaans but I'll kindly translate for my foreign Bloglanders. See you tomorrow!





Scrap RDV July 2012

Hi there Bloglanders

Today I have a card that I'm submitting for the July 2012 Scrap RDV challenge.  I have to thank my dad for our past vacation and thought that while I'm at it - I can just as well combine the challenges. Here is my take on the challenge:

I actually used small vacation pictures on the card as this would make it more personal. And of course - DANKIE is THANK YOU in Afrikaans. All the frames are different tones of cream and white. Don't you love the fraying ribbon?  It all happened by accident!

This is where I got the idea:

Want to visit the Scrap RDV blog? Then click here. The great contributors are currently having a summer break but so save the link - so worth your while to see what they're up to.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some crafty fun.  To tell you the truth, I've got so many projects lined up, I can't decide what to do first!  Please come back to play.