I miss my Polish/German/Canadian friend so much. I have learnt so much from Anna, not just about scrapbooking. I really miss all our visits, chats and that awesome coffee. I can't believe what a good friend I found in such a short time during their stay in South Africa.

Anna and I have decided to take part in one challenge a month together. That way it feels like we're sort of scrapbooking together. Please have a look at her layout here and leave her some love.

This month we are doing the challenge at Sketchbook365. I always love their sketches.

This photo is one of the 3 that appear on my previous layout. I loved it so much that I had to scrap it again.



I did some background stamping and used my filmstrip roller stamp (new favourite)! The paint tube and pencils are from a pack of art-inspired chipboard stickers.

Here is the Sketchbook365 sketch:



Thanks for looking!
xx

As promised, here is the second canvas for the wall at the entrance to our house. I tried to copy Finnabair's style. Don't think I did her justice but I like the end product.



I used textured material and ribbons for the background, painted gesso over it and misted. After I placed the photo I added metal and wooden embellishments, flowers and Tim Holtz grungeboard elements (keys and lock). Everything was covered in gesso and misted in different shades of brown. I also used some alcohol inks for added colour.

I combined two challenges for this layout, simply because I loved the colours on the Scrap Around the World mood board and the 3-photo sketch on Stuck?!

These photos were taken in the Cape Town Botanical Gardens earlier this year. Karla and I were feeding squirrels and one little guy kept coming back for more. She ended up sitting down in the middle of the pathway, waiting for him to come running back every time. It was the cutest thing. I also managed to snap some “unposed” photos.



I was inspired by the pink, blue and green colour palette and the doiley on the Scrap Around the World mood board. Their challenge can be found here.



The layout was based on the sketch over at Stuck?! found here.



Some close-ups of the cute embellishments:







Thanks for looking!

What a surprise when I received a message from a facebook friend to congratulate me on my projects appearing in the latest Scrapping & Kie Magazine! I immediately phoned my local scrapbooking shop and asked them to keep me a copy, which I rushed to pick up after work this afternoon.

It was their Mixed Media Issue and they asked for mixed media layouts and projects. I submitted a few photos and never heard anything again and sort of forgot about it. The chose TWO of my projects, the only 2 non-scrapbooking photos on the 4-page spread.

This was one of my first She Art attempts done on canvas:



This was a more recent page from my art journal:



Such an amazing feeling seeing my name in print! Thank you, Scrapping & Kie.

I ran into this baby at our local PNA (stationery and craft heaven).



I decided to take her for a test drive. I tried paint at first but it all came out in blobs, so I tried mist instead. It worked fine but a lot of detail is lost. Next time I will add shading and definition.



I am not a HUGE Marilyn Monroe fan but I do love pictures of her. She really is an icon of her time. And there are so many cool Marilyn Monroe quotes. I still have a lot more to use on future pages.



I also had a lot of fun playing with my new roller stamps (the doily border and filmstrip).

I recently decided to revamp the wall at the entrance to our house. It currently contains 6 photo frames with A4 photos of my daughter, some of them alone and some with my cousin. While the photos are gorgeous they are getting old and some of the frames have been damaged from flying through the air when the front door is opened while the back door is open. We experience this strange phenomena where our house attempts to lift off when both doors are opened. It comes with living in one of the windiest places in our province.

I decided to replace the frames with canvases. I want each canvas to be different, yet they have to fit together. Easy task? I think not!
Last year for my birthday I received this cute canvas from a friend:



I decided this would be the first addition. The rest will be hand made. Mixed media canvases are a bit time consuming because you have to wait for each layer to dry. I prefer to wait for drying rather than use my heating tool. Not sure why, just personal preference I guess.
So the first canvas was finally finished last week.



It contains a lot of texture. I used textured ribbons, cheesecloth and stencils with texture paint to create dimension.



The flowers were misted the same colours as the background.



And finally, the photos... Aren't they just the cutest?



I am busy with the next canvas (in more neutral colours) and will upload as soon as it's done.