GLITTERBABES SKETCH CHALLENGE

Stef's Glitterbabes group on CDAC has a sketch challenge on at the moment. In addition to the sketch, the card must be glittered, blinged and shiny. I used one of her freebie digistamps of a birdhouse, cut and pasted a few more swirls and printed it in purple ink. Then the OTT glitter treatment. Once it was dry, I sewed on some tiny, siny flower sequins (normally used for nail art) and completed the card using ribbon, flowers, and flaback pearls, according to the sketch. kinda sweet ... but o so shiny!

UPDATE - 30 SEPTEMBER ... I have just received an email to say that I won this challenge!!! YIPPEE My prize is three digistamps of my choice from the Glitterbabes store - how cool is that.

I also get a winner's badge to display on my blog, and you can see it on the right hand side....

A NEW CHALLENGE AT DIGISTAMPS4JOY

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we have all been affected by this terrible disease, either personally, or someone near and dear to us. So in support, Digistamps4Joy has decided to Think Pink for this challenge.
For my DT card I have used a digistamp I designed myself, one of a set of two, and they are available as a FREEBIE at the Digistamps4Joy challenge Blog. Included in the set is a couple of sentiments that can be used with the digistamps, and I have used “think pink”. The layout of my card is very simple, with the digistamps coloured in soft pinks using copics, watercolour and regular coloured pencils, and set in a simple oval shape. I have embellished the card with a couple of roses and stamens and added some sparkle to the bra.
I didn’t want to overwork the card, in sympathy for the seriousness of the cause, and I think I have achieved that.
Why don’t you join in the challenge and show some support for Breast Cancer Awareness. Make a card, and if you don’t have anyone to give it to, drop it off at your local Cancer Association where they will gladly use it at their next fundraising function. But before you do, remember to photograph it, and upload it to the Digistamps4Joy Challenge Blog…. You could win some great digistamps of your choice just by doing so!

A last and a couple of firsts ...

But let’s start with the “last” first… This card represents my final card as September Guest Designer for Laurie’s Doodle Pantry. I feel tremendously privileged to have been chosen as the Guest Designer, and to have had the opportunity to showcase Laurie’s awesome digistamps. This month I have come to realise that although each and every image is fabulous, the flower digistamps are definitely my favourites. Thank you for choosing me, Lawrie, and for having the confidence in my cardmaking ad colouring skills – I hope that I did your images proud!
And then for the “firsts” : This card also represents my first attempt at combining challenges, as it will be entered into Doodle Pantry’s September Challenge, as well as the MMSC72 weekly challenge.
Another first is the watercolour pencil colouring that was done on an image printed on handmade paper.
And the last “first” is the little orange flower sequins that are actually nail-art decorations.
I love the look of this card, and look forward to hearing whether you think the colouring on handmade paper is a technique I should pursue and perfect.

A SYMPATHY CARD

I was asked by a friend to make a sympathy card for her to give to a friend and I thought, what better image to use than one of Laurie's lilies! This is one of the great flower digistamps that are available in the Doodle Pantry online digishop. use the Doodle Pantry link on the right to check out the other great images that are there!
In my opinion sympathy cards need to be un-fussy and un-cluttered, and that's what I think I achieved here! The lily digistamp is matted on dark green cardstock, and then onto glossy cream cardstock. A ribbon, three flat backed pearls and simple, heartfelt sentiment complete, what I think, is a really serene card.

and now for a bit more of the BELLYDANCING COSTUMES ...

I recently started a bellydancing outfit for my very good friend and owner of the BELLYBUTTON DANCE STUDIO in Durban. The bra and skirt are finished and Gwen wore them yesterday at the Stables Lifestyle Market in Durban, South Africa, where our bellyrinas danced to entertain the visitors. Although the belt is not finished (or should I say, not started yet) Gwen looked absolutely fabulous in the red and black combination. I am really pleased at the finished look of the bra with the longer fringing, and the printed chiffon of the skirt makes a lovely change - so often bellyrinas wear satin skirts. I would love to know what you think. Please leave a comment - I think Gwen wold love to read them too....

YIPPEE YIPPEE YAY!

I recently applied to become a Design Team member on Pattie Gomez' group, PATTIE'S CREATIONS on Crafters Digital Art Centre.

Well ...

Pattie announced her new DT yesterday, and I am overjoyed and really, really proud to announce that I was selected, and not only that, I am the Lead DT for Team Two!!! What an honour!!! I am so excited!!! And I have been given five other really talented crafters to work with on my team. Girls, if you are reading this, Congratulations! It's going to be really exciting getting to know you, your work, and working together to showcase the fabulous digistamps that Pattie designs.

To the other DTeam members and Sandi(the lead DT on Team One), and especially to Theresa and MelanieM, my fellow South Africans, congratulations to all you girls too.

What an exciting ride this is going to be, I can't wait to get started! Keep a close check on her blog, become a follower, and participate in the great challenges here.

The badge at the beginning of this post is the one that I will proudly display on my blog, for all to see!

Pattie signature: Pattiboop is her "girl" and Allie is her "cat" and these two always feature in the digistamps,either separately or together, in one charming situation after another, and her online etsy shop is well worth a visit. You never know what you might find there.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS SKETCH CHALLENGE #71

Unfortunately due to work pressures I was unable to take part in a couple of the Midnight Madness Challenges, but YIPPEE!! I have just completed my card for challenge #71. I used a digi from Digistamps4Joy, one that I desgined myself, and I apologize that I don't what her name is in the shop, I just call her "The Gypsy". Please click on the digistamps4joy badge in the right hand column and it should link you right through to the online shop where you can see all the really lovely images there.

I used a Nellies die cut for the frame of my digi, and sewed on the sequins and the curly embellishments in the top left and bottom right hand corners. Six dusty pink flatbacked pearls were also used to adorn the digistamp.

The silver braiding is an offcut from one of the bellydance costumes I made recently, and the laser-cut silver sequins were sewn onto it.

The square embellishment has been made from a coffee tin seal (already embossed) and a slide frame and three paper roses have been attached to a square of silver cardstock using the same silver sequins.

The plum coloured bp is a beautifully textured handmade paper from Nepal, and has been matted onto silver cardstock with a linen texture.

A silver stick-on sentiment completes the card.

That's it - that's how I made it.

My cards are always made according to how the digi 'talks to me' and it really doesn't matter to me whether the card will take half an hour or half a day (as in the case of this card)- I do what needs to be done.

What do you think ... do you not start a card if you feel that your ideas will take too long .. or do you go with the inspiration ... let me know...

DIGISTAMPS4JOY NEW CHALLENGE : "RECYCLE IT"

Yesterday started off really badly – I woke up with no strength at all in my right thumb, my neck was really sore and I needed to start wearing a foam collar for the pinched nerve in my neck. It was a really hot day 35˚C with a really hot dry wind blowing, making me really uncomfortable and irritable. Then last night our electricity went off at 8.05 due to a blown substation in the area – and now 16 and a half hours later, …… we have (the) power …. Yippee!
So that is the reason why my blog post for the new Digistamps4Joy challenge is late. Luckily, those of you who have been to the Digistamps4Joy Challenge blog have already seen my project in the “Recycle It!” challenge.
I decided to recycle one of those old VHS video Tape boxes and made a “Shopping List for Granny”, using the “fashion faux pas” digistamp from the Digistamps4Joy store. To create the background, I used a couple of old cash register receipts and the glue I used caused the thermopaper of the receipts to turn black, but what a fortunate mishap – it looks great! I also used the handbag digi (not yet in the store) and matted both of them, as well as the label on red and blue cardstock, and added a couple of flowers and a heart as embellishments.
Inside the video tape box, which conveniently has a place where the tape is secured, I placed the shopping lists, which were made by scanning the digistamps from the cover of the box, and adding a few lines for the listed items that granny needs to buy at the store.
This project has turned out really great, and I think it will be a lovely little gift for my mom-in-law when we visit her in the retirement home this coming weekend.
I hope you are inspired by this ‘recycled’ project and you may come up with an idea for all those VHS tape boxes you still have at home …

DOODLE PANTRY GDT CARD - CALLA LILY

Today I'd like to show you a card I made with another of Laurie's beautiful flower images, the Calla Lily, or otherwise known as the Strelitzia in Southern Africa. It is available in her digistamps online store here along with other beautiful flowers. The sentiment is also from her online shop and I think fits perfectly with the feeling of serenity this beautiful flower has. The lines of the card are simple and clean, to echo the lines of the flower, and as embellishment I used two miniture flowers, and some gold cord. As one of Laurie's two Guest Design Team members for September, I get to showcase her beautiful designs, and I hope that I have done justice to this one. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

WINK*WINK*INK DESIGN TEAM CALL

There is a DESIGN TEAM CALL ON wINK*wINK*iNK and because it is such a great group with fabulous digistamps, I decided to try my luck. I used Wink*Wink*Ink images and created a set of three papercraft projects for a baby's room : a door hanger, a door plaque and a little notebook for mom to write down all those little things that she doesn't want to forget, such as baby's shopping list, time of the last feed, etc. All three items feature the same digistamps, but in different groupings, and the colours I used will be suitable for both baby girls and baby boys.

There is a competition over on Some Odd Girl.com where you are asked to name the latest digistamp of a cute little monkey. Now because that cute little guy reminds me of the Tellytubbies that my boys used to love watching on TV, and beause I remember that one of them was called TinkyWInky, I think that MINKI is a cute name. What do you think?

There are some really fabuolous prizes to be won, so why don't you go on over there and join in the fun!

WHAT IS TYPOGRAPHY

.............. No this is not a geography lesson, nor has it got anything to do with those typo's we all make!

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).

For this week's Vickie Quickie Challenge I printed the topography owl and coloured the words "leaf" and "trunk" in my gel pens, cut out the image and layered on a die cut oval. The BP is rubber-stamped with a Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad ,and white embossing powder was heat set onto that. The embellishments were kept to a minimum as the image and BP are so busy, so I used only a glass pebble with the word "Believe" etched in black. The green border is vellum layered onto black cardstock.

DOODLE PANTRY : NEW CHALLENGES : NEW DESIGN TEAM!

Well, the long awaited day and hour have arrived …. The new challenge on the Doodle Pantry Challenge Blog …. Clearly Delightful!!!!
Laurie has been really busy designing some wonderful images for us all and you will be able so see them in the shop.
As you know, I have the honour of being one of the two Guest Designers for Doodle Pantry this month, and to work alongside the very talented and creative Doodle Pantry Design Team. My card for this challenge features the images related to Breast Cancer Awareness Month and of course the colour theme of my card just had to be pink! I chose to make a tri-fold card because the technique really lends itself to lots of space for awesome BP’s, images, sentiments, embellishments, etc, - a perfect showcase for Laurie’s cute digistamps. The image of the birdie with the ribbon was coloured in watercolour pencils and Artists’ White Spirits (and I have found that although the Dala is not quite odorless, it does seem to work a little better with the Raffine’ and Renoir watercolour pencils I use.
An while you’re looking at my card, spare a thought for those affected by this dreaded disease – and for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere facing the very hot summer months – remember “Slip, slap, slop” – slip on a t-shirt, slap on a hat, and slop on some sunscreen – that sun is lethal!
And remember to visit the Doodle Pantry shop to purchase some of her images – we all have someone that that would love to receive a card with a Doodle Pantry image!

DOODLE PANTRY'S NEW CHALLENGES COMING UP ON 5 SEPTEMBER

I just love these Doodle Pantry images and being a part of Laurie's group on Crafters' Digital Art Centre is such fun!

This is a card I created with "Ants Sledding" one of the CUTEST of Laurie's Digis. I made a frame and used mini styrofoam balls to create the "snow" - and how effective is this! It NEVER snow where I live - and can you believe - I have only seen snow in my over-HALF-CENTURY of life! I am thrilled with the outcome. What do you think?

MIDNIGHT MADNESS SKETCH CHALLENGE #69

Yes it's that time of the week again and this challenge is one of my favourites! This week I have used one of my own design digistamps again, and this one is called "Daisy Dee" available from Digistamps4Joy (see the link thru tab on the right hand side here. This digi was fun to colour and just perfect for the circular shade that the sketch called for. As usual, there is some beading on my project as I just can't seem to separate my two passions!
A = art .... the digistamp is one that I drew myself
B = bellydancing .... the beads i used for the costumes are used on my cards too
C = crafts, cards, combining beading embroidery and papercraft projects
Yip ... that's jen's signature

Oh and look, I learnt how to "watermark" and edit my photographs ... so I am feeling particularly chuffed with myself today!

MAKE IT CRAFTY BLOG CANDY!

Zoe of Make it Crafty has just announced her Design Team, and to celebrate is offering this fabulous blog candy.... How would you like to win it? I know I would! click here to find out how!

DT CALL : PATTI'S CREATIONS

Over on CDAC, a new group with the cutest digistamps, has posted a Design Team call. I will give it a bash, and use my card that I made for the first official challenge at Digistamps4Joy, starting today!

BRAND NEW SEASON : BRAND NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!

Well, the day and the hour has finally arrived and I can proudly announce that I am a member of Digistamps4Joy’s very first Design Team. A couple of months ago, when Mel asked me to design some images to be used as digistamps, I wondered whether I had lost my “eye” for drawing, and the first drawings were a bit of a stretch for me. Then my mojo came back, and the drawings were all in my head, waiting to flow out of my pencil, to the point where Mel now still has quite a few drawings to prepare and add to the “shelves”. And so the shop started to fill up, and Mel now has not only my designs but her own fabulous ones, and the creations of two other talented artists, Margie and Laura. The result is a shop filled with an AbFab selection of digistamps – and what a joy it is to see those images being used as stunning creations.
Back to the Design Team announcement – Mel, I am sure I speak on behalf of my fellow DT members… you are a pleasure to work with and for, and each of the forthcoming challenges are going to be such fun! I am really looking forward to these next few months!
I would like to congratulate my fellow DT members who, I am sure, would like you to visit their blogs to leave a message to congratulate them too: These fabulous ladies are:
Jen (South Africa) http://jencraftsa.blogspot.com
Debbie (South Africa) http://dkhdesigns.blogspot.com
Margy (South Africa) http://deniquecrafts.blogspot.com
Louise (New Zealand) http://www.punknscrap.com
Audrey (United States) http://hippieaud.blogspot.com
Gemma (United Kingdom) http://handmadebygem.blogspot.com
And then our Guest Designer for September Jen (no not me) http://jenmcgee46.blogspot.com
Aren’t we just such an international bunch? And to celebrate the announcement of the first Design Team, and the first of Spring here in South Africa, Mel has used the fabulous colours of Spring in an Interior Decorating photograph as her inspiration for the colour challenge, and my card for you uses the Digistamps4Joy’s “Primavera” freebie for September. You can link here to the Digistamps4Joy Challenge Blog to check out the creations of the rest of the DT and to read about how you can enter … YOU could be the winner of that fabulous prize!
Good Luck - I can’t wait to see your creations.