SCRAPBOOKING at last ....

As promised, here are some layouts from Le Shabby Cafe's October Kit ...

My favourite ....

Left-hand side ...

Right-hand side ...

Close up of embellishment cluster ....

Every Day ...

Left-hand side ....

Right-hand side ....

Those were the days ....

Left-hand side ....

Right-hand side ...

Embellishment cluster close-up ...

Thanks for looking - I hope I have inspired somebody in even a teensy-tiny way today ....

BTW, we only have 3 kits left so please order our our website asap if you wold like a kit ...

Love,

HELLLLLOOOOOOOO .... (am hearing echoes ....)

SURPRISED TO SEE ME HERE???  No more surprised than I am to be here .... tee hee ...

Gosh, it HAS been a while ... I have missed you, Dear Blog (and dear blog Readers) ...

Well, what can I say ....

1.   Bryce is 15 ... YIKES!!!  I do NOT feel old enough to be the mother of a 15-year old ....
2.   I am working for Greg {almost} full-time .... mostly good but sometimes GRRRRRRRR ....
3.   I haven't scrapped in about a gazillion years ...
4.   I haven't taken any photographs for quite some time until about a week ago ...
5.   I have a new little niece, Kelsi - she is adorable - I now have 4 nieces and 7 nephews - WOW - how blessed am I ....
6.   I am decorating at home ... just simple stuff like painting, upholstering and putting up frames, etc - loving it - not the mess in between but looking for fabric etc is awesome ...
7.   I miss my brother and sister .... ALOT!!! ...
8.   My mom is not well ... sigh ... wish I could wish her pain away ...
9.   I LOVE my Greggie more than EVER ....
10. I dealt with some nastiness in the scrapbooking industry .... why, people, why???? ... I just want World Peace ....
11. I am planning a "I-am-turning-another-decade-older" party .... eeeeek .... eeeeeeeeeeeek .... (at first I thought I'd sleep for say 3 days and wake up after my birthday had passed but then I figured I'd rather dance all night and listen to ALL my favourite songs through the decades (eeeeek - I've been alive for DECADES ....) and spend some quality time with my friends) ...
12. I scrapped today - well, I finished some projects that are waaay overdue for Le Shabby Cafe - will load them in a separate post ...
13. I have had some horrid emotional dips over the last few months but am happy to say that for today at least I FEEL GOOOOOOD ....
14. I am blessed beyond measure - way beyond measure ....
15. I cried like a baby on Saturday evening when a young boy knocked at my door and told me that he needed money to bury his 13-year old brother ...
16. I adore my cats ...
17. I am planning a Christmas Breakfast ...
18. I helped my BFF, Sophia with Chole's Birthday Party invitations on Saturday - they are soooo cute - I am going to wear Fairy Wings to her party for sure ....
19. I need to work on my relationship with my mom ...
20. I need to get my A into G to do everything that needs to be done .... sigh ...
21. I am "pinning" too much .... grrrr ...

Pop in and tell me what you've been doing ...

Love,

"LIKE" US ON FACEBOOK AND YOU COULD WIN SOME SCRAPPY GOODIES ...

LE SHABBY CAFE is giving away some Blog Candy ... all you have to do is LIKE our Facebook Page then tell us on a post that you like us (**wink**).  Then go spread the word that we are looking for attention and tell ALL your friends (and foes - we like just about EVERYBODY).  Your friends will then need to LIKE our page and tell us on a post that they LIKE us and that you referred them to us.  Once we have reached 200 Followers we will tabulate all the referrals and choose our WINNER ....

YAY!!

So EASY!!

We LIKE you ... (** wink wink**).

Love,

LE SHABBY CAFE JULY 2011 KIT

It seems like ages since I last visited my own Blog - just life, girls .... just LIFE ...

Le Shabby Cafe has released it's July 2011 Kit and our sales have started off with a BANG!!! - THANK YOU to all the ladies who support us and voted our Kit Club best in SA ... WOOHOO!!!

This month we are privileged to present you with a kit full to the brim with "It's the Little Things" from Fancy Pants - such an awesome kit loaded with heaps of product .... here are some sneaks just for you ...

And of course, we picked another awesome designer to show you what you can do with your kit ... This month we had the pleasure of hosting Jowilna Nolte on our Blog ...  Her projects are A-MAZING .... This is my favourite of her Gallery Projects at Le Shabby Cafe ...



I am certainly going to C.A.S.E. on this page - will post mine here soon ...

So, whatchya waiting for???    Go to Le Shabby Cafe NOW and order your kit - there are only a few left (while you're at it, browse our previous kits and pick up one of the few remaining kits from a past month).

Love,

COME VISIT US ...

Hello Strangers ... (well, I am the strange one and I HAVE been MIA - life .... you know .... )

Le Shabby Cafe will be at the

this Saturday (4th June 2011) - Please pop in and say "HI" - it would be awesome to see you there ...

Ingrid from Wrap For You will be there - we will be piggy-backing a little piece of her table ... Ingrid has awesome wrapping ideas so leave the hard work to her and come and get your gifts wrapped professionally ...

Love,

MY SCRAPBOOK NOOK VIRTUAL CROP ...

Wanna know what I'm doing now??



Some awesome challenges to get the OLD mojo operating ...

Love,

LE SHABBY CAFE MAY 2011 KIT

 

"JOIE DE VIVRE"is available NOW .... go here to take a look ..

The very fab Tracie Hudson is our Guest Designer this month ... she is so awesomely talented - just loooove her work, which is always bright and elegant and she pays the most amazing attention to detail ...

Here are my projects using the "Joie de Vivre" Kit ...

FAMILY RULES - This page was inspired by this "Family Rules" poster, which I saved to one of my Pinterest Boards - OH Mother Louis, like I need another addiction - BEWARE PINTEREST - that is all I can say about that ..... The 7 black mats are for photos and my journaling will be written on the red mat on the RHS page

close up 1 - the flowers on the edge of the mat are not stuck down completely so that I can just place my photo underneath when I am ready ...  I am also quite enjoying curling the edges of  some of my embellishments and so do not always stick them down completely ...

close up 2

close up 3 - I adhered rub-ons to a cloud journaling tag ...

BRIGHT EYES - this is one of the few pictures we have of my mom as a young girl ... I can still see her "older" self in this young girl and I see intelligence in her eyes ...

close up 1

OUR DAY - I intend using a wedding photograph for this LO - when I find my wedding photographs that is ... The black mat to the left of the frame will be used for journaling ...

close up 1

close up 2 - I wove a thin strip of spotted paper through the floral paper to break the colour in this LO ....

close up 3

I say this every month and I really mean it every month .... this was such a fun Collection to work with and I was totally inspired - in fact, I'll let you in on a secret - I even finished these pages before deadline - what??? YEAH BABY!!!

There are only a limited number of kits available this month so PLEASE get your orders in fast - you truly don't want to miss out on this one ...

Love,

IN MEMORY OF ...

GILLIAN AND CONNOR BELL ...

I will always remember your bubbly laugh and sunny smile, Gill ...

Love,

SCRAPSTREET.COM MAGAZINE ...

What a nice surprise ... This page of mine was featured on Page 11 of the March 2011 issue of Scrapstreet.com Magazine ...  YIPPEE!!!  I always get really excited when my work is recognised, particularly because I'm so self-critical of my work and I don't often "put it out there" ...

Thank you Scrapstreet.com Magazine ... oxox

Thank YOU for looking ...

Love,

ON REDEMPTION ISLAND at TALLYSCRAPPER ...

You may recall my post here when I mentioned that I am playing Survivor over at TallyScrapper ... Let me tell you a little more about the Game ...

Survivor : Redemption Island is currently being aired on CBS in the United States with the usual two tribes competing against each other to avoid Tribal Council every week.  This Season has called for a change in the way that the members who are voted off are dealt with ... When someone is voted out of their Tribe and thus off the Island, they are sent to Redemption Island.  Here they stay alone until the next person is voted out of their Tribe.  This person then joins them on Redemption Island and the two compete to remain on the Island.  So basically, you now have a game within a game ... intriguing .... I am following the Episodes online here ...

Survivor at TallyScrapper is a little different in that we are not being "voted" off the Island or out of any Tribes ... There are hidden Immunity Idols which allow you to "skip" a week's challenge.  There are two Tribes, Team Boston Rob (I am a member of Team Boston Rob at this stage ...) and Team Russell (I see Russell was voted off the Island in the 3rd Episode of Survivor - HA! HA! HA!).  There is also a Redemption Island ... (play JAWS music here ...)

This was my contribution to the Challenge for Week 2 ...

We had to use the words "that just happened" on our LO as well as scrap in a straight line, vertically or horizontally, AND use the colours ORANGE, YELLOW, OLIVE GREEN and BURGUNDY ...

Whilst minding my own business (ie. not causing any waves in my tribe - I plan to remain "low key" for now - tee hee), I noted that I had been banished to Redemption Island for the 3rd Week.  5 Members from each Team were sent to the Island where we had a different Challenge to the other Teams for Week 3 ... our challenge was: -

You must use one of these three words in your title...

        Outwit

        Outplay

         Outlast

In honor of the island....you must use Blue/or water somewhere on your page...

Because Team Russell has the purple buffs...you must use purple as the dominant color for your page...

And because there are 5 of you sent to Redemption Island from Team Russell...you must 5, AND ONLY 5 of the same embellishment on your page...

Redemption Island is pretty cool - HOT Cabana Boys and cool drinks on the Beach - excepting I heard that the Cabana Boys were carrying sand fleas (allegedly planted by Team Boston Rob to irritate Team Russell????) so I'm hoping to get off the Island asap - you know how I feel about fleas - read my story here and here.  

Here is my take on the 3rd Challenge ... (please bear in mind that my mojo has been missing for, like forever, and I am hanging onto a tiny thread of creativity so I am keeping it simple ... tee hee ...)

I used all 3 words and an orange button.  My 5 embellishments were the layered star - I layered 5 different sized stars one on top of the other ...


I am now patiently awaiting the results of Redemption Island - I may be selected to "cross over to the other side" which I am not looking forward to - will keep you updated ...


Love,

TODAY'S SENTIMENT ....

source

MARCH 2011 KIT at LE SHABBY CAFE

YES!!  You heard right!!!  The March 2011 Kit from Le Shabby Cafe is now selling .... It's filled with goodies from Pink Paislee's Parisian Anthology Collection ... simply out of this world gorgeous!!!

Here's a peek ...

Go here to reserve your kit - they are flying ....

Love,

SURVIVOR ...

I am playing Survivor over at TallyScrapper - having sooo much fun!!!  This was the LO I created for last week's challenge ...

I have sooo many "old" photos and decided at the beginning of the year to use them up (no matter how "nasty" they are) - they are after all, MEMORIES I want to document ...

The Challenge was :-

1.   The LO must have "white" or "negative" space;
2.   It must have at least one photo with more than 2 people in the photo;
3.   Must contain the colours tan/brown and blue;
4.   Must use at least 2 staples and a piece of recycled scrapbooking packaging.

This week's challenge is waaay more challenging ... (tee hee) ...

1.   Scrap in a straight line (either vertically up the page or horizonally across the page (not diagonally ...);
2.   Use the colour combo orange, yellow, olive green and burgundy;  (THIS IS WHERE I AM STUMPED ...);
3.   Use this one-liner from Ricky Bobby - "That just happened".

EEEEEk .... and if that's not enough of a challenge, then a twist has been added to the Plot ...

"Finish your challenge this week then quick!! 5 members from TEAM ROB and 5 members from TEAM RUSSELL will be whisked away to REDEMPTION ISLAND!

You will find a group for it and you wont be a part of your team anymore!!

You will have a completely seperate challenge and group. 

For week 3 whomever WINS the Redemption Island challenge will CHOOSE where the remaining 9 members end up....5 for Team Rob and 5 for TEAM Russell!!

At least 2 members must be on opposite teams though. :)"

Ok, so I'm off to scrap (well, to try and find something in the colour combo to match the Challenge - so not seeing the combo as working in my head - wish me luck  ... chat later ...

Love,

CHILDREN SAY THE FUNNIEST THINGS ....

On our way home from school yesterday afternoon I was lamenting about my grey hair and how I wished I could just pull them all out ...

A quick comment from next to me (my teenage son, Bryce) - "but then mom, you'd have no hair left ...."

Ha Ha Ha (I laughed sarcastically but inside I was smiling a real smile - that was quick and probably very accurate ...)

So, off to the Salon today and "I washed that grey right out of my hair" ... I feel MUCH better now ...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

to my Greggie and my Brycie-boy ...

I

you both soooo much!!!!

SOME MORE GALLERY LOVE AT Le Shabby Cafe ...

I have added a few more images to the Le Shabby Cafe Gallery ...

Here is a Layout I did - these Paper Trunk papers are so awesome to work with - I was a little worried that I would be restricted by the Black/Kraft colouring but I have discovered that the possibilities are actually endless ...

I cut Flag Pennants from Chipboard and then covered them with pattered paper, threaded tulle through the holes I punched at the top and added Bling.  The flower was created by layering a punched flower and adding Platinum Stickles to the centre of the flower.  I also used Irridescent Gold Glimmer Mist on the black cardstock background just for a bit of fun!!!

To get the glittery "FAMILY" Title I applied Platinum Stickles to the letters

I cut out three hearts (2 from patterned papers and one from cardstock) and then stitched them (down the centre) to the Postcard. I adhered this Postcard to a cardstock base to create a Card.

I created this heart "just for fun" since it is the month of LOOOVE.  The wings were cut out of black cardstock and then I used Platinum Stickles to create detail on the wings - first, I "drew" the detail in with the Stickles and let that dry.  Then I "dotted" Stickles all over the wings and rubbed the Stickles all over the cardstock.  So very easy and yet so effective ...

Thanks for looking.

Love,