Memories of a Princess - A Closer Look

In my post of 2 December 2010, I promised to give more info on my "Memories of a Princess" pendant once the next issue of theBeadBook has hit the stands...  

I love tins, especially ones with teeny tiny sweets inside!?  Having built up quite a collection of these “gems” over time, I’ve decided it was time to see how I could give them some purpose.

Sand the tin allover and choose papers to cover (some of) the back, sides and front.  I've used gel medium to adhere the papers and added some pearlised ink to give them a shiny finish.

For the front I chose an image from ARTchix Studio, added a crown charm...

... some bling, a paper flower and rubber-stamped "Memories" to complete the picture.

(You can also go to Etsy and search for digital images to purchase on-line)

The dangles are from earrings that I'm allergic to!?  They are attached to a very short length of chain and attached to the tin with brads from my paper-craft stash!!

With a bit of patience you should be able to slide the top of the tin off to remove the inside “thingy”.  You can now fill the inside of the tin with a mini album of photos, a love letter, favourite quote(s), or whatever has special meaning to you...

Thank you for visiting!

Renovation Therapy

 Elna and her hubby are busy with renovations, which include a lot of  digging, hammering, welding, concrete, dust and unorganised chaos!!

We are in a very busy part of our creative calendar and knee deep in designing projects for the Bead Book, finalising Elna's project & kits for next week's Hobby-X (see picture above), sourcing products for our two Soul Sisters projects to be presented in July (85 of everything needed!?), experimenting with Ice Resin and constructing a "Brag Board" to display our works of art...

The last thing Elna needed was to be "locked up" in her home in the middle of summer, with all the windows closed (to keep the dust out), 15 strangers in her yard and enough noise to drive her into a new blood-group.

When I visited her on Monday she was in a complete "flat spin" - South African for "having your knickers in a knot" and not her CCC (cool, calm & collected) self !?

The solution - Cupcakes and Tea of course!!

Yesterday I visited again, but this time I came bearing gifts...

... yummy cupcakes to make all of her troubles go away for at least the five minutes it took us to finish them off...  I did not make these myself, but you should know that they tasted even better than they looked!?

Thank you for visiting.

Soul Sisters Project

Elna & I presented a mixed media project for the Gauteng branch of Soul Sisters over the last couple of weeks...

Our inspiration came from Lisa Pace's book "Delight in the Details" and the students just loved their completed works of art!!

This is what the final product looked like.  There were also additional kits available for purchase in five different colour-combinations...

 

We had  a wonderful time and cannot wait to present our next class in July / August!?

My White Picket Fence

I have always wanted a picket fence.......

To display our cards at a new venue where we will be teaching, we had to create a display board.

 So this is what happened...

I really had to stop myself at some point not to over decorate it.

I was enjoying myself immensely!Because it's purpose is to display,

I could not go overboard and had to keep in mind what it is that we

want to display. Anything from cards to mixed media.

Very soon the aprons, bunting and bags will be hanging from the picket fence.

What I also still want to put on, are a few doorknobs

 and maybe a place for our business cards.

Firstly I had to do a bit of sanding, then painting and then the long

prosess to find the right "stuff."Things I considerd was,

gaffer tape, handles, rub-ons, elastic, leather strips and much more.

But there had to be washing pegs.

These are not your normal washing pegs, and they are just the right size. 

 Then a little bit of stamping and bling.

 and ...... a cuff for each of the two side planks.

Bias binding, lace, ribbon, flowers and bling!

Happy Valentines!

 I hope you had a wonderful day. These are the cards from our last class which obviously had a love theme. We like sharing our ideas, so we hope you will feel inspired to tackle your own.

This one was made with the Martha Stewart score board, double sided paper works best.

Instead of double sided tape, Benice used two eyelets and some ribbon at the bottom, so that your card doesn't get stuck on the glue from the double sided tape.

Here your envelope is your card. Any plain card can be used inside,

or you can carry your theme through to your card.

I used vellum and a Fiskars circle punch, to punch out the doily.

Girls, doilies are seriously 'in'!

This one is my favourite. I used bias binding, sequins, rayon ribbon, glitter,

 7Gypsies paper, a butterfly cut out, etc.

All my favourite stuff.

Tomorrow I will show you the picket fence that I changed into a display board.

Oh my Goodlyness!

Michelle sms'ed me early this morning: Do you have Jam?

I am bringing muffins!

Thursdays are my scrap booking mornings with a few longstanding clients who has become dear friends. We are always hungry and love to drink tea and have something to eat. So this is what she brought!!!

I call them: Michelle's scrap Muffins

here is the recipe (that's the best of all)

 One small packet of self raising flour

One 250 ml tub of cream

One can of Sprite!

a pinch of salt

Mix together and spoon into muffin pan

           Bake for 20-25 min at 190 ° C  

  

I must still try it myself,

and it is hard to believe that it really comes out this well!!!     

It tasted gorgeous....    

A Charming Parcel

This parcel arrived in my mailbox last week, all the way from New York!?  We celebrated International Charm Day on 28 April 2010 - the brainchild of Amber Dawn from Inventive Soul and this parcel was her way of thanking us...

Here is just a sample of the treasures inside.

Amber even made personalised charms for the two of us!  Are we blessed or what?!  The charms measure about 1" each.

These charms measure about a quarter of an inch each.

My favourite - these tiny bottles with even tinier cupcakes inside...  Just to give you a better perspective, look at the size of my thumb (in desperate need of a manicure!?) next to the bottle...  I've encircled the cupcake for your attention.

Thank you to Amber for her vision to start the International Charm Day initiative and especially for spoiling us with her works of art!!

We plan to host another event on the 28th of April this year...

New craft market discovered - Rosemary Manor

Elna & I went to a local craft market on Friday and were once again in awe of the creative minds here in Pretoria...

 The market is open on the first Friday of every month and their aim is to showcase local "craftists".   They also offer craft classes on a regular basis and hopefully we will present some of our workshops there in the very near future!?

We both bought items from a company called Zoetlief Lein.  They provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities and offer a wide range of handmade products.

Well done to Gerlinde & Liesl for having this vision and thank you for your warm welcome!

Thank you for visiting and hope you have a creative week...