cards, scrap pages and laundry room tiling.

Hello! It's been a while I know! I have been so busy with the kids because it's holidays and we are busy with a lot of different things. I am also holding kids art classes once a week and a weekly ladies scrap book class, so things are busy! But in a good way!

I finished the tiling for my laundry room! Well actually I attempted it twice and got so frustrated and fed up as it was just not working! So I called for help in the form of my brilliant mom in law who is a pro at tiling. I have tiled before-I tiled a floor area and I tiled two showers (floor and walls) so I know how to do it, but with mosaics it is a different story as each little block shifts!
So she came to my rescue and then later on when it was dry, I grouted it myself.
And then my hubby got me this rather industrial shelving unit for the laundry room, but it is in a nice cream and it had wooden shelves, so I covered them in a vintage type wipe able roll-on backing. And he is going to make me a wooden strip for the edges to hide those ugly holes.

close up of the surface I used to cover the shelves.
Moving on....I made these two cards last week.

I really like how this once came out.

And last night I did two scrap pages. I used my new hand made embellishments which I sell at Etsy
I am making complete page sets, so everything you need for one scrap book page-flowers, ribbon, buttons, etc.

This is another page I did-I stuck a card stock over a paper and then tore it here and there, made it messy and did some sewing on a piece too.

I must say, I love this look!! It's like a messy vintage look!
Anyway that's all I have to share this week and I hope you all have a super weekend!!

4 YEAR Blogaversary GIVEAWAY!!!

Yip, I have been blogging for 4 years!!! This month is my blogaversary!

So I am hosting a giveaway! This giveaway is special because It is all handmade goods by me.
It contains:
6 ATC's made by me

1 card with envelope, 1 embellished tag, 3 Bird Parisan tags (digitally designed by me) and 2 Marie Antoinette tags (also digitally designed and printed by me)

3 sets of my NEW stock going into Etsy this weekend!
All handmade with felt, foam, vintage music sheets, fabric and buttons. Perfect for scrap booking or card making or any other projects.
2 embellished posies, 1 felt butterfly, 1 felt bird, hand stitched.


close up of the fabric-felt and music posiesclose up of the embellished foam and felt.

1 cardboard bird made from recycled board and vintage music paper. (measures 17cm from tail to beak)
2 large embellished flowers




All you have to do to ENTER this giveaway is the following:

1) If you have a blog, you must save the blog button below and put it on your blog sidebar and link back to THIS post and Tell others about the giveaway on your blog. Then once you have done that, come and leave a comment in THIS post.

2) If you don't have a blog, you can still enter, just leave a comment in THIS post to enter.

3) Either way, you MUST leave me some way to contact you....
* an blog address
* an email address
-no contact details, no entry
-only comments in THIS post will be accepted as an entry for the giveaway

4) Giveaway closes the 23 July 2010 and the prize will be randomly drawn on that day.
The prize will be shipped by registered air mail at the end of July.

Here is the button to grab for your blog.
{Please note, if you want to enter and you do have a blog, you MUST put the blog button in your sidebar and link back here.}


Have fun!
PS check out my Etsy store for new goodies!

Laundry Room Reveal

My laundry room has been bugging me for a while now. Yesterday, I went in there and suddenly decided I had to do something about it! So I unpacked the whole thing, dusted the walls down, vacuumed, moved the appliances and cleaned behind them and then started to paint. The peach color bugged me the most.... It just was too "there" and nothing matched. I also had never painted the shelf my hubby put up for me and I decided it would look nice in the same color as the wall, and it does-it is fantastic!
I then threw out a lot of stuff, reorganized, repacked and put things back where they belonged.

Before

After

I made some signs for the walls out of cereal box's and pretty paper and some ribbon.
The bunting I made myself too, a few years ago, it used to hang in my daughter's room, then I found it again in the linen cupboard and knew it had a new home! I love my hubby, as I was putting it up, he came up behind me, hugged me and laughed and said "You are so cute, always playing house!" ha ha! of course, I am playing "house", it is our house!! ha ha.

I have a "thing" for jugs, especially pretty vintage ones with roses on!
Before
After ( okay nothing dramatic, but still....)
Actually I have done that a lot since the school hol's started...I have sorted out my linen cupboard, all our clothing cupboards, repacked my pantry, and my cupboard under my kitchen sink. It's amazing the things you find you thought were missing for years!! ha ha! No, not years, I must say I am a seasonal re-packer! Each year, just before spring or during winter like it is now, I repack and resort all my cupboards and throw away or give away a lot of stuff. I hate keeping clutter and rubbish or things I haven't used in forever nor will use. I also have to do it on a regular basis because I have a family of hoarders! My husband hordes box's...no matter if he knows he won't need to take the gadget or the shoes back or if the guarantee has expired...he clings onto those box's! My son is even worse...he keeps anything and everything.... you know the little papers you get with the MacDonald's toys? He keeps all of those.....he hordes things like there is no tomorrow...I even found a stash of acorns under his bed....hmmmm....seriously worried I have a half-human, half-squirrel for a son!!

Anyway....so here are the before and after photos. This weekend my hubby promised to put up some shelving for me and wall hooks for my ironing board and other things like broom and mop...so if that happens,I will be sure to show you the other photos.

Thanks for looking! I am quite busy at the moment too making new goodies for my Etsy shop...lot's of creative things mostly for scrap booking or crafts like journals, notebooks. So will be back to show you that too.
Have a great weekend

Oh...be sure to check back soon....I have a GREAT giveaway as it is my blogaversary this month-4 years of blogging this June!

Gift in the post...and SNOW

My CT member and long-time Blog friend, Amy sent me this gorgeous pendant she made
using some of my designs in a kit -"House of Dreams" I think it is from! I was so shocked to get it as it was a total surprise! Isn't it gorgeous!

She wrapped it up so nicely in a beautiful little box she decorated.
A big thank you to Amy!! I will always treasure it!

photo credits from Amy's blog HERE

Today was a busy day, I had a kids art and craft class which I gave here this morning for my two plus another 4 for two hours. And we also took a drive to see the snow scattering our mountain peaks.







The last little thing is for my Friend Emma...She made that gorgeous round pillow for me, She embroidered the rose onto it too. Such a talented girl! And yes, this is my room. I did the motif on the wall.It has more birds on it, just the photo doesn't show it all. And yes, my hubby puts up with all the pink! ha ha. My walls are actually a french blue...doesn't show up so nicely in this photo.

Tiffany Doodles June Sketch challenge

hello!
I am entering the Tiffany Doodles sketch challenge.

This is actually quite a large card, I don't normally work with large cards, but i felt the sketch called for it. The little birdie stamp is a wooden rubber stamp, I don't know who it's by-I think my friend Emma will know, as she is the one who bought it for me! The other stamp is by Callvinni Paris stamp set. I used a webster page for the tag and little cut out butterflies. The wish ticket is one i made on the PC, for sale in my Etsy store.
The rest I can't tell you, they are bits of scraps I have in my collection! Cannot remember the details! Thanks so much for looking!

quick explanation

My friend, Emma asked me what a vuvuzela is....
They are plastic blowing horns, or as wikipedia so nicely puts it:
"A vuvuzela, sometimes called a "lepatata" (its Setswana name) or a stadium horn, is a blowing horn, approximately one meter in length, commonly blown by fans at soccer matches in South Africa. They require some lip and lung strength to blow and emit a loud monotone like a foghorn or an elephant.^[1] A similar instrument (known as Corneta in Brazil) is used by football fans in South America.^{[citation needed]} Vuvuzelas have been controversial and can be distracting to players and coaches,^[2] and may also damage hearing."

Basically loud, irritating things!! Must be getting old! haha.

June caardvarks challenge

The caardvarks challenge for June is to create a new card using stamps and wet or dry embossing.
I embossed some hearts onto a plain piece of card stock. I then used some scraps (keep all my scraps!) of paper hence I can't tell you the brands, cos I have no idea! And some felt flowers with pretty brads and a little cage which I mounted along with the little vintage image of a bird I printed out onto card. Finally stamped "I love you" onto it.
Thanks for looking! Would love to hear what you think of my card and if you drop a comment, I will be sure to pop over to your blog too!

It's started....

What has? The holidays! A whole month of school holidays! I have loads planned so it should be a good one for all of us! The soccer fifa world cup starts here tomorrow too, I can hear people blowing their vuvazela's already! It's going to be a noisy and busy month here in South Africa!

Anyway first day of the holidays, you would think I would sleep in late right? Wrong! I woke up to the lovely sound of my cat puking outside my bedroom door!! So gross.... And then I was awake after that and couldn't get back to sleep! sigh.

These are the cards I made the other day.
Em, do you recognize the paper? You sent me this little 6x6 sheet a while ago and I didn't want to use it because I loved it so much, I finally used it! Printed out these vintage images of roses onto 200gsm card and the little ticket I chalked and stamped with the word Love. It has a message inside too.
this is an anniversary card, also the bg paper is one you sent me, Em. Just used a corner punch on both strips of paper and then a stamp.
And one more anniversary card, as all my friends keep requesting them! Made the little paper posies from scraps in my scrap box! (I never chuck them away as long as they are over4x4cm!)
That's it!
Will be back to post the card I made for caardvarks challenge!

cards abundant

On the weekend I had a chance to make a few cards as my hubby had to work.
I am happy to say that my card sales amongst the people I know is really doing well and I have orders coming in all the time! Keeping me busy!

This one I hand painted in water color the background on mixed media card and then cut it out and stuck it on. The bee hive is a free clip art image I got off the internet and the little bees I drew and printed out. I then used water color pencil crayons on them.
This one is another hand painted background with a little bird cage (from American Crafts) and a little birdie I think is also from AC. Some blooms wrapping around the top and a Friend stamp.
A friendship card. The little coffee cup is one I drew and printed out on card. and I came up with the little sentiment too which I did on the computer and printed out.


Another Friendship card, I love the colors of this one as I love green! I don't really like red, but I always love the combo of the green and red together.


This is what is says insideFriendship word art is by Ruth Melody.
This card is for a special friend.

The pink card is a get well card.
And another friendship card! With another Ruth Melody friendship quote I printed out.
This one was a fun card.
The clouds and washing are my own designs . The clouds are from my kit Bursting with Sunshine and The washing from my kit Country Bliss (both for sale here on my blog)I printed them onto card stock and mounted them. The word art is from Sueli Colbert.
This one is for a friend of mine.
And I made 4 cards last night, but I will post those tomorrow!
I am so enjoying making cards. Check out my friend, Emma's cards, so sweet!!

And for some really beautiful word art try Bethany's word art!
Have a lovely day, it' freezing and raining here!

PS leave a comment to win to the clouds, washing and coffee cup digi images!!
I will announce the winner on Friday!

Busy , busy....

Things have been very busy the past week and this week is another hectic week!
It's been a merry-g0-round of kids school activities, tests, homework, extra mural activities, baking, outings, making cards, selling cards, end of the month errands and accounts,Etsy shop orders and the list goes on!
I had some card orders this week , these are two I sold today to someone that wanted happy anniversary cards

I must say, I enjoyed making them, because I don't normally work with red, it's not one of my favorite colors. But I like how they turned out.

I hope your week is going to be a good one!

Request....

I have a big request for those that live in the USA and read my blog....
A few years ago someone sent me some Anthropologie catalogs. I enjoyed them so much, I found them so inspiring and used them in my art journal pages. Unfortunately, they won't post them
to anyone out of the USA, and I was wondering if anybody would be so kind as to post me some, it doesn't matter how old or new they are. I am willing to pay for the postage costs.

Please email me (email in sidebar) if you are willing. In turn I can send you something from South Africa to say thank you for your trouble.

I really appreciate it if you could help me out.

I have also extended my digital full kit sale until the 31 May. All full kits for only $.180.