Notebook Layout

Happy Sunday Bloglanders!!

I hope you are having a wonderful time!! It is VERY hot down under in Sunny SA and even though I try to keep up with my crafting - today I thought it too hot to do. Therefor I'm sharing a project from a few days ago.


This page is all about the similarities between me and my mum. Not a lot but still worth mentioning - for the rest of my life, I will remember her sewing - she made ALL our clothes and it looked like designer outfits. I suppose they were - we drew pictures and she made it come to life.

Here you can see the whole page:

My inspiration came from this week's Magazine Monday Challenge:

and the colourful background came from last week's challenge:

Who said you only have to be inspired by one thing??? I loved the black title and doodling but as I decided to simplify my crafting this year, I only used black letters, journaling and a flourish on  my "busy" background. It was super easy and finished in a flash.

I added a picture of me and my mum. The frame is from one of Wilna Furstenberg's classes. Love it and have used it on numerous projects.

I love how it turned out and can't wait to get inspired by next week's Magazine Monday!!

Thanks for looking at my blog. Tomorrow is the 1st of February - if you haven't started on your New Year's resolutions - now is the time!! Get going with the first thing on your list - by the end of the year you would have accomplished 11. Even if you only get to 5 - it's 5 more than before!!

Have a GREAT week and a LOVE-ly February!

December Daily - A Late Start

Hello Bloglanders

I hope you are enjoying the holidays!!  My mum passed away last week. Thanks to everyone who sent me emails. It has been a LONG year for all of us. She has been sick for nearly 2 years and as we took turns sitting with her, it made our weeks a LOT shorter.  I did craft - at home and while sitting with her BUT just didn't get the time to take pictures and blog about it.

It means that I have LOTS of "old" projects to photograph and share with you right here @ Play as U GO. But, let's start with a new one - my 2015 December Daily.

I actually decided to skip the DD this year but as the month included so many big events, I reconsidered and decided to join in the fun. I got this free planner from this site, made a few tweaks to translate it into Afrikaans and printed it A5 size. Into my journal, a few supplies and ready to GO.

This year I'm limiting myself to these supplies:

2 sheets of Silhouette print and cuts , my Planner Pens, colouring pencils. a label sheet from my local dollar store (Crazy store for my fellow South Africans) and a few stamps.

I did start off a bit late and had to use my iPhone Collect App to get up to date. I have included a monthly Collect print-out in my PL spreads as well - will show one in another post. Great keeping track of events and pictures and also a good way to keep busy while standing in queues at the supermarket / keeping the sick company.

Have you tried it?? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I first met "Collect" over @ Amy Tangerine's. Read all about it here in her post. Even if you don't want to try out Collect - hop over there and see the GORGEOUS Jack - I just love that little boy.

And a few close-ups:

We normally travel a lot over the December holidays therefore I've added the little red cars to mark our trips. It's like a mini travel journal all in one glance.

I'm so glad I did it!! I'm sure that I would want to remember December 2015 in years to come. Normally we do a lot of fun things, have a lot of occasions to celebrate and do "summery" stuff  but I think this year would be EXTRAORDINARY for all of us - forever!!

Thanks for looking at my blog today. I'll be posting my next DD page tomorrow and share a bit of my plans for 2015. Let me give you a hint - I'm converting my PL to 12x6 next year.  Check back and all will be revealed.

Have a GREAT day.

PS. It seems that the Blogger devil re-arranged some of my I's - I will try to fix it. Please bear with me!!

I've got a Crisis!!

Hi there Bloglanders,

I told you that my mum is very sick and will most probably not survive 2015 and therefor, I'll be blogging less for a while. I do craft but just don't get to taking pictures and writing posts. It's not that I have to look after my mother full time - she has a carer BUT with running our own business, my own  family and home added to the crisis, my days are just not long enough. To top it all, she lives 4 hours drive from me so, every trip there takes nearly a full working day out of my week!!

For some time now, I've tried to do it all but now I'm giving UP. When I have time, I'll be BACK but if all else fails, you know that I'm still here, crafting on, reading blogposts, trying new things and getting inspired while I just hang in there ..................................

Thank you SO much for understanding.

Sunday Summery Week 22 and 23 / 2015

Hello Bloglanders

I'm back!!! LOVED our holiday but glad to be back home with my goodies, sleeping in my own bed and having all my clothes washed, ironed and packed in my closet.

Did you see the lion we've seen while on holiday???? I posted a pic on Instagram because I didn't want you to miss out, It was awesome ................................. two young ones in one go.

I'll add more pics later but I don't think I'll get to off loading and sorting before the weekend. Let's make a date to view the rest next week.

With Father's day coming up, I mailed off my dad's card ..................... or rather mini book. I've made a few variants some time ago and when an occasion comes up, I just "grab and mail". The colour scheme for this one was inspired by the SimonSaysStamp Wednesday challenge - "Make it Masculine"

You can read how I made these mini books here.

I've got 10 mini pages inside and on each I wrote a reason why I love my dad.  Maybe I should do 2 more books  for the boys to fill out for Wynand. Think he would LOVE it.

And I made these Parmesan Scones:

I'm still trying to cut back on Carb's and this is SO yummy. I'm sure all recipes comes from somewhere but I really, really invented this one all on my own - and it's LOW CARB!!! Let me share it with you:

Parmesan Scones:

Blend together in a food processor:

1 cup Almond Flour

1/4 cup of Coconut Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder

Pinch of salt

Pinch of red Pepper

45 grams butter

Add:

1 Egg

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

Blend again.

Scoop into muffin molds. (I used 4 medium ones)

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius in pre heated oven for 20 minutes.

Serve!!

It's rather flaky but that makes it even more scrumptious. Normally, I don't like the "graininess" of almond and coconut flour but it really works here. 

And my mum turned 77. We all gathered for Sunday lunch on the farm to celebrate.  As I opted for a gift card, I made this little bag to add a bit of sunshine to the "wintery" day.

I feel that my post is getting a bit too long so I'll add the info on how I've adapted a lip balm holder to make this gift "card holder handbag" tomorrow. Check back and all will be revealed.

In the meantime, have FUN and remember to try something new - TODAY!!

Small Break

Good morning Bloglanders

Thanks to all of you sending me mails and messages to ask about my mum. First of all, she is REALLY sick now and the whole family spend as much time possible with her. I don't know where we go from here but we pray that she will not suffer or have pain.

Secondly, I'll be taking a break for a few days as I go the the hospital in the early morning and come home late in the evening. Therefore, no time for fun right now.

I will keep you updated and will resume my crafting fun when things calm down.

In the meantime ............................... have FUN and remember to try something new - TODAY!!

Hazel

Sunday Summary Week 42

Good morning Bloglanders

YES!!! I know - It's Tuesday but I still want to recap on what happened the past week. My Sunday Summaries became my Project Life of sorts and by no means do I want to miss out on one. During August I made a layout that said "Weird August". Then I listed all the funny and not-so-funny things that happened.

Just a few:
My appendix had to be removed and I spent a week in hospital.
Wernich's long term relationship ended after more than 10 years.
Princess lost her engagement ring.
THE wedding.

Now it seems that 2014 is altogether weird. My mum got diagnosed with cancer last week - she survived breast cancer, a heart attack and numerous other ailments over the past 20 years but now she is 76 years old and weighs about 50kgs.  Not good. Fortunately she has all her children nearby as well as a doting husband - seems to be all she wants.

Now for some crafting news.  I had to clean and clear two rooms in my house.  It's going to be converted into a flat for Wernich who is returning home next month. This is what the bathroom currently looks like:

Somewhere beneath all the junk is a whole bath, basin and toilet!

Downsizing is no easy task - especially if you are a crafter and hoarder like me but over the next few months I'll be turning my home (what's left of it) into a super efficient living and storage space for Wynand and me. And of course - I'll share with you!!

Let's start with my cube. It's shop bought and I inherited it from our Princess.  She is an interior designer and black is her fave colour so the cube was a very faded and stained black velvet.  I love purple and washed out blues but I do want to tone down my "smaller" space so I opted for a cream cover.

It is loose which means that I can take it off to wash. I added pockets to the sides as I always have stuff  lying around.  A magazine, the TV remotes, a craft product that I want to look at. You name it, it now fits neatly into the pockets. I did take "work in progress" pictures and will share it later this week - super easy DIY!!

My husband's solution for every crisis - some time out of doors!!

We also spent a wonderful evening with friends in Cape Town - this is the view we woke up to the next morning:

 From their apartment you can see the larger than life Cape Town soccer stadium, the waterfront and Robben Island - Awesome!

And I joined another of Wilna's classes. There is some calm in watching her paint away that I need right now. It also inspires me to try new techniques. Yesterday I did Lesson 1 - Stencils and this is what I did with my knowledge:



































Weird colour combo??? My inspiration came from the SimonSaysStamp Wednesday blog -

COLOR COORDINATES 

and I enjoyed every second working with it!!! I still have to add some journaling and I'm going to try my hand at Wilna's  famous ink spatters. Wish me luck!

And last but not least - a pic of my Amaryllis lilies. They are totally beautiful and I took this pic on my iphone to send to my mum.  As she is visiting my sister, 800 kilometres away and I can't bring her flowers, I thought I'll send her a picture instead.

That's it. I'm off to practise my ink splatters!! Thanks for looking at my blog today and please come back to play as I have lots more to share right here on Play as U Go. Have fun and see U soon!