~ Brother from another mother~

This is my oldest son Jarrod (left) and one of his best friends Ross. They've been in the same class at school since Grade 2 and have become very close. This year they've started calling each other "Brother from another Mother" as a joke.
I did this LO to use as another example for my D.I.Y. challenge I'm hosting at sb.com. Why don't you come along and join the fun.


First I made my own backround paper by using 3 diff colour mists against Tim Holtz masks. I then used bubble wrap and craft paint on the corners. I got my inspiration for this from one of my favourite artists Finabair at sb.com.



I took a clear cuts frame by little yellow bicycle and cut the centre out and then divided the frame in 4 to fit the picture and make it a little more abstract.

Here are a few more close-ups of the paint and 3D embellies I hand cut from the BO BUNNY pp I used.

PRIMA, PRIMA, PRIMA!!! You just gotta love them

I'm a self confessed Prima addict!!!! What's not to love, everything they produce is simply stunning.

Here's their March product pick

D.I.Y. Challenge

I'm hosting my first ever challenge on sb.com this month and I'm sooooo excited. For the challenge participants are required to do a LO that has at least one embellishment or piece of paper that they have created themselves from scratch.
I am totally addicted to tutorials and have links to a few of my favourites on my blog (scroll down the right hand side) and I would just love to add to my list. I just LOVE creating something absolutely beautiful myself and there are incredibily talented artists out there who are kind enough to share their talents with us so I'm hoping that this challenge will inspire a lot of people to try making embellishments themselves.
I've also seen the most creative backround papers being made using all sorts of tools and I'm so eager to learn the secrets to these amazing pieces of art.

So please come along and join in the challenge and have some fun.

The winner gets a RAK from me!!!

~ Precious Dreams ~

This is my little darling Matthew just a few weeks old. I just love watching babies sleep, they're just so precious and I'm so glad I have this pic to rekindle those emotions. I decided that I had become far too engrossed in challenges and had somehow lost my own "style" along the way so this LO was done for pure enjoyment with no rules to follow and I must admit that I'm absolutely delighted with the result and feel like this is definitely a "Wendy Page" as my mom would call it. This is a really busy page with a lot going on so here's a brief summary of the pieces.

I made this flower myself by following Gariella's round petal tutorial which you can find the link to along the right of my blog under "tutorials". I wanted to make my own flower to use as an example for the new "D.I.Y" challenge I want to start on sb.com where entrants will be required to have made something themselves on the LO and hopefully I'll find a whole bunch of new tutorials which I mus confess I've become totally addicted to.

Now this butterfly is one of my favourite Prima purchases I got online from franticstamper.com, they are incredibly beautiful IRL and worth every over priced cent.....LOL!

These beautiful vines were actually a single large vine I received as a gift from my dear friend Katie. She sells these amasing works of art in her etsy shop which can also find the link to along the right of the blog (now how convinient is that....LOL). I halved the vine, misted it with a combination of antique brass and chocolate mist. I also intertwined a prima pearl vine

These large embellishments can sometimes be a nightmare to attach to the LO so I simply sewed it on with some thread. If you look at this close-up under the leaf you'll see the thread.

I used some "tattered leather" mist on these flowers to bring out the brown against all the yellow and gold. I just love the new range of white flowers from prima that allow you to change the colours to suit your needs, yet another brilliant concept Prima have come up with.

To finish off I just punched out a few of these mini butterflies, added some glitter and liquid pearls and scattered them around the LO randomly. They're so cute.....

This is just another close up of the title letters and the weaving of the ribbon with the lace which I put on top of some gold mesh I've had in my stash for as long as I've been scrapping and have finally got round to using.
Hope you like and TFL

~ ERI ~

When my dd was born part of the reason we chose the name Erin was that it was short and could therefore not be shortened into a nickname...........if only we knew! Erin has had several nicknames in her short 4 years. Everything from "The Erinator" because of a very destructive personality to "Eri Peri" because she has a bite like peri-peri.....LOL! Now she's just Eri (hence the page title)
This LO was done for a couple of challenge on the sb.com site. The colour challenge for Feb was pale yellow and pink. This is also for the "Use your supllies challenge" which is 4 challenges in 1 (diffrent challenge per week). I started off doing this for week 4 which required that you only use supplies OLDER than 6 months. Well I had a good start with the pic and pp's but then everything went pear shape when I couldn't resist adding some mist and liquid pearls (which are only about 3 months old). So I'll submit it for week 3 instead which required using punches or die cuts to make other items. I used the small and medium size 6 petal punches to make the paper roses. The tutorial by Gabrielle is listed on the right of my blog.
The design is based on a sketch by Beghuna.


This is just a close-up of the little roses which I punch out of the checked pp. I just love making these. They're time consuming but just so adorable.


I used an old butterfly die cut as a mask here. It's amazing what you can do with items in your stash that you think you'll never use again.
TFL

~ Pucker Up ~

This is my dd Erin just before she turned 3. I just love this pic of her puckering up for a kiss. She used to love blowing kisses to anyone who would take them. I did this LO for week 1 of the "Use your supplies" challenge on sb.com. You had to use 2 or more pp's for this challenge. I used the Kaiser Flutterby collection for this LO.


The twist for the challenge was to cut something from the pp so I cut 2 butterflies and then layered them, added some stickles and gems and viola!!


I also tried doing these heart flowers which were this weeks item in the "Technique Tuesday" group on the Pages In Time site. The tutorial link posted by Alda Steven (Flying Unicorn)is posted on the right hand of my blog with some other great tutorials. I not completely happy with how my flowers came out so I'll try them again another time perhaps using some printed paper instead of plain cardstock.


Here are some more close-ups

~ Boys with @itude ~

I finally had a few free hours to do a LO. This is my ds Jarrod (on the left) with one of his best friends. the pic was taken the day of their Hip Hop exam in 2008. I did this Lo for a couple of challenges on sb.com. I always struggle with boy LO's and always end up using the same old techniques, namely: painting, paper tearing and a lot of distressing.


I painted the backround cardstock with some black craft paint using an old toothbrush. It's such a fun technique. I used the same paint on the picture to give a more ditressed finish


I followed GarielleP's cabbage cardstock flower tutorial for these "flowers" but tried to make them not look feminine by scrunching them up and adding a lot of chalk and mist. I then attached them to a contrasting piece of cardstock which I also ditressed.


Here are a few more close-up of the various embellishments and finishes I used to create a distressed finish to the LO

~ First Kiss ~

This is Erin giving her brand new little brother a kiss for the first time shortly after he was born. I just love the pic and the memory......
This design has been used many times by other artists and I honestly don't know where it originated but I simply love it and wanted to do a LO of my own using the basic design. I still feel that the LO has my own style in it though.
The pp's are from a local Durban supplier (fab scraps). I just love their paper.



I started by tearing the 2 pieces of pp's in half diagnally and the tearing all the way along the border as well as tearing out a photo "frame". I used charcoal (the colour) chalk along all the edges to give it a more distressed finish. Then I tied the 2 pieces of pp together with some black floss.



I stuck the picture onto the grey backgroud cardstock and painted around it with white craft paint using an old toothbrush. I just love the effect............
Such an easy technique with great results. I also painted the pp's in the same way.



I made these adorable fabric flowers myself by following Gabrielle's "Kanzashi's bloom" tutorial. You can find the link on the right of my blog under the slide show. I just loved making these. It was so much fun trying out a new technique and never in a million years would I have thought I could make these myself. You just have to give it a try. The best part is you can mix and match fabrics to accomodate your own design needs.



Here I made my own flourishes again using some silver liquid pearls. I drew the flourishes myself on a piece of paper, covered it with a transparency ad traced the flourish with drops of the liquid pearl........VIOLA, you have the perfect flourish!!!



Now this butterfly I SIMPLY ADORE!!!! They come in a set of 2 from Karla's fabulous etsy shop (kaylori77.etsy.com). Again you can conviniently find the link on the right of my blog. These are so incredibly beautiful IRL.

I really enjoyed working on this LO and trying out some new things together with some old favourite techniques. I hope you like it because personally I'm delighted with the end result. TFL.

~ All I want for Christmas ~

This is VERY VERY early Christmas morning, hence the kids look a little dozey...... just as well you can't see what I look like on the other side of the camera....LOL!
I did this LO for the "Jan no patterned paper" challenge on sb.com. That said, I obviously only used plain cardstock and plenty of embellishments.

Most of these embellishments are from the Candy Cane kit I bought from KatiesKreations4U.etsy.com. Again, these are just fabulous kits that the extremely talented Katie Atkins puts together. Included is this adorable candy lollipop vine. I used the Prima Opus clear stamp on the backround paper.

Don't you just love this stunning ribbon and red & white candy cane that's also included in the kit. I layered these all together and attached them to the paper with some clear thread (a trick I learnt from the brilliant GabrielleP. The flowers are Prima and are just gorgeous IRL.

Another favourite item from the kit are these stunning pins. I used some silver liquid pearls along the circle frame to add some definition.

I made these swirls with some liquid pearls on a transparentsy and then sprinkled some loose red glitter over. It gives the flourishes a velvity texture and looks really beautiful IRL.

Lastly I made these really cute rose buds by following Gabriellep's tutorial. She is just incredible and I find her tutorials so easy to follow. You can find the link to the tutorial along the right panel of my blog along with a few of my other favourites. This is the "6 petal punch rose bud"

~ Wedding Bliss ~

This is a picture of my in-laws on their wedding day almost 50 years ago.......
I just fell inlove with this picture when my MIL was showing me her wedding album recently. It's such a natural picture and they look so happy and inlove.
I tried to add a vintage feel to this LO so that is why I chose to have the pic re-printed in sepia. I used the beautiful Magnolia kit from Katie's wonderful etsy shop (link listed on the right). This is such an amasing kit with stunning embellishments.


Included in the kit is this stunning Magnolia vine which I altered slightly by using some Creme De Chocolat glimmer mist to give it a more aged feel. I also repalced the centres with the rhinestone centres that came with the kit.


These cute rose buds were from my stash. The stunning decorative pins also came with the kit. Aren't they just beautiful!!!


Another favourite item in the kit are these lovely cardstock butterflies. I added some Antique Brass glimmer mist and some gold liquid pearls along the wings. I also added some rhinestones to the large butterflies wings.




The brass flower was something I already had in my stash and felt worked prefectly for the LO. I also finished off the perimeter of the circle with some gold liquid pearls. The ribbon on the LO also came with the kit.




I just love these dragonflies I found in a little craft store up the coast the other day, it added the perfect finishing touch to the LO.
I also used some of the creme de chocolat mist on the top right and bottom left corner to complete the vintage feel.
Thanks for looking.