Note Pads made with Washi Tape

These are quick, easy and not expensive,

but very useful little gifts for Christmas.

Make your own Washi tape out of crinkle paper,

tissue paper, napkins/serviettes,

or tissue wrap paper from Tim Holtz.

Cut some craft card stock for your cover,
a little bit bigger thanyour notepad.
Score and fold on the right places.

Adhere the note pad to the cover with some double sided tape.

Apply your washi tape while holding your cover closed.

Start on the front and end at the back by just tearing it off.

Secure the top and the bottom of your cover

with an extra piece of washi tape,
just to help with the wear and tear.

There you go...!

All done

Washi Tape - Learn More

You cannot open a craft magazine, read a craft blog or go into a craft store,
without being confronted with Washi Tape.

There are literally hundreds of sizes, colours, designs,
brands and finishes to choose from.

Crafters, mixed media artists and the like,
love using them for a variety of reasons:

They are super thin;

Tear easily;

They have a translucent property which allows
for some of the colour below to show through; and

They can be dyed, stamped onto, written onto, crumpled, etc.

We are teaching a class on how to create your own Washi Tape
and how to use it to create lovely Christmas gifts on October 27th, 2012.

For more info go to our other blog - 

Papier Plesier.

Turning 90

It made me feel good today, that I could inspire someone else,

although I didn't feel like having any inspiration myself.  

It was card making day for Marie and me.

Her card is for someone that is getting engaged,

and mine is for my mother in law who is turning 90 tomorrow.

We took out some paper, flowers, ribbon and tools.

Both of us used the same elements.

She went for detail and layering

and

  my card was more plain and simple.

Benice arrived and added the little heart charm to

Marie's card to finish it off.

We discussed life, laughed a lot and had a few cups of tea. 

Thanks girls, I love you!



La Vie - Part 8

Pages 14 & 15

(Love Simply theme)

Page 14
I used a few die-cut images from Fancy Pants Designs,
a bit of bling, more of the La Vie quote and some foil rub-ons to create this page.

Loads of layering, a butterfly pin, a foil rub-on and bits of paper make up page 15.

Here in Centurion, South Africa, it is drizzling with rain and a little bit miserable.
The perfect incentive to stay indoors and
"Play with Paper".

Thank you for visiting and may you have a weekend filled with joy...

Soldered Dream Bottles

I think all of us, sometimes find it hard to cope.

We all have our worries and our fears, but sometimes

something hits you. It hits you so hard that you cannot

breathe and you know you haven't planned for it.

 It wasn't part of your dreams, it wasn't even part of your fears.

 

 

Then you need to slowly start making sense of it. 

Sometimes it will never make sense. But we all have to move on and

let go........

 

 

Here are the dream bottles we created. I think we should all

have a few of them, or give them as a thank you gift, to someone that

keeps your dreams alive.

 

 

 We must have used all our favourite stuff to decorate these bottles.

Bling and solder, buttons and seam binding.

Flowers and beads and a whole lot of special goodies.

 

 

Then these gift voucher envelopes. These were created so you can reuse

all the goodies on top of the envelope.

Seam binding, tags, flowers and stuff.

 

To all of us ....

.... keep calm and keep breathing....

xx

 

Crafts in Mozambique

During our visit to Mozambique I was amazed at the beautiful crafts.

At Barra Lodge we found Alex. He is the Land Cruiser guy.

These are about 20" long (about 45cm) with doors that can open,

wheels that turn and the little logo in front.

In Tofu where we stayed, I liked Enok's Zimbabwean refugees,

the school scene and the market place

Just look at the detail and the colours.

The clothes for sale, the bananas, pineapples,

paw paws and the fish.

The bags of sugar, the Omo washing powder and the packet with biscuits.

He also told me that his brother makes these batik pictures.

They were nicely displayed so that the light could shine through

then and the colours show off better.

In Inhambane there was a man that made these Coconut radios.

And it works! It opens up at the back and it works with a battery.

The  aerial comes out and the small red light shines brightly to show that it is working.

The knobs on the right hand side are for the volume and to find the station.

So very clever!

The Food at Chateau Dumas

We were treated like royalty during our stay at the Chateau Dumas with Kaari and the team from French General.

Charlotte is a chef from the UK and she made sure that we never wanted to miss a meal, not even two hours after an indulgent High Tea!!

We were fortunate to join her a few times on her visits to the local peasant (farmer) markets.

She would spoil us with the freshest ingredients

in super delicious salads and starters.

For our last dinner we even had Duck Confit that was simply to die for.

After one of our outings we were treated to a very hands-on masterclass on how to make walnut wine and french mustard, to name but a few.

How cool is that??

Elna, Lizette and I are still battling to get rid of all the extra weight we put on during our week with Lizzy, Charlotte, Christopher and the rest of the gang at the Chateau Dumas.

If this sounds like your kind of "happiness", go check out the Chateau's website for a complete list of workshops they offer.

Also go to the French General website and check for the 2013 Chateau Getaway dates due to be published very soon.

Thank you for visiting!

Ice Resin and French Beaded Flowers

During our stay in France at the Chateau, two classes

 were presented by Debbie and Shea from A Gilded Life.

A bracelet using Ice Resin and a crworn decorated with French beaded flowers.

Seeing a package like this waiting for you at your spot in the studio was very exciting.

Inside were all the treasures to make the beaded crown and the bracelet.

I really thought that I would not be able to make the crown, or even a flower,

but I started and I enjoyed every moment.

These pictures were taken of the one Debbie made....

mine is still in progress.

Lizette spent an extra few hours in the studio, and she finished hers!

I am so jealous.... but instead, I got to do her woading!!



All our bracelets turned out beautiful.

I think it was somewhere during the bracelet making process that I was completely blinged!!

"BLINGED": when an addiction starts,

on anything that sparkles

and shines when the light reflects on it.



I think from the smiles you can see that
I was not the only one blinged beyond return!

Go check out Debbie & Shea's blog for even more Bling Inspiration...