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Monday, September 26, 2011

“You could make that” Giveaway

 

Nan has this gorgeous blog called “You could make that” where she shares tutorials, loads of eye candy and her lovely paintings….

She and I enjoy many of the same things even though, as she says, “we live around 9000 miles apart”, in different countries and on different continents. She’s over in Wisconsin in the USA, and I’m here in Gauteng in South Africa. It would take me an 18 hour flight to New York, and another 4 hour flight to Chicago (correct me if I’m wrong here) and then a 3 hour drive to get to her part of the world! Blogging sure connects people!

A quick heads up to pop on over to this site: (click on the button)

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Isn’t his pillow adorable?  -  I love the soft natural colours of your bedroom, Nan!

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Nan made two of these lovely pillows and so she has one of these as a  giveaway…so do pop by! She’s celebrating having almost 300 followers!

To qualify for entry into the giveaway – you need to

  1. Become a follower
  2. Leave a comment, stating you’re a follower.
  3. Mention the giveaway on your blog and add her button to your blog.

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Printable Bookmarks

Links have been repaired! Sorry for the mix-up!!

Today I have some printable bookmarks to share with you.

They are so easy to make. It’s a case of print, cut, a dab of glue, an optional embellishment and voilĂ , ready to use.

There are four bookmarks to choose from -

Alice corner bookmark example

1. Alice in Wonderland

a good book corner bookmark example

2. Book Quote

vintagebird corner bookmark_example

 

 

 

 

3. Vintage Bird

4. & 3D Vintage Bird background  & here is the bird. (same as Vintage bird, but the bird is printed separately from the background).

Here’s how to make them...

corner bookmark instructions

  1. Cut out
  2. Fold back the two sides (A & B) so they fold back onto each other.
  3. Trim these sides a little if necessary so you don’t see the back sticking out from the front.
  4. Dab glue onto side B. Glue the two backs together by flapping side A over side B.
  5. For 3D : Add the vintage bird using foam squares to pop it.
  6. Add an embellishment – optional.
  7. Your book page slips into the little pocket opening of the bookmark.

All graphics courtesy of the Graphics Fairy.

Linking up here:

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Have a great week!

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Digi friends

Happy Saturday! A little cooler here today, but it’s weekend nonetheless! Yay!

Here is my latest digistamp design. My last one for the “two legs, four legs or both” digi drawing challenge over at CDAC.

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Thanks for popping in.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Thursday, September 22, 2011

World Rhino Day

rhino day

Today is a day very close to my heart. We regularly go to the bush to enjoy seeing our beautiful natural African wildlife we are fortunate to have here in South Africa.

Not once have we been and not seen a rhino – often more than one. These beautiful pre-historic animals are protected in a reserve with very a aggressive anti-poaching system in place. They are, however, still targeted every day.

Almost everyday in South Africa, a rhino is murdered for its horn and the carcass left to the scavengers. Sometimes these poor animals are not even dead, they are left to suffer. That is the reality of rhino poaching. All for the greed of men, all to make money.

Today is International Rhino Day. Let’s save our rhino’s for our children and their children. Make sure we still have the “Big 5” in years to come, not just the “Big 4”. It won’t be the same will it?

Here are two anti-rhino poaching labels I made today using a label from the Graphics Fairy which I altered. Grab one or both, and display them on your blog to make more people aware of this terrible crime.

 

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For more information on how to help make others aware, CLICK HERE

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Have a great day!

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Monday, September 19, 2011

Mini cards with apples

Hi everyone, another week and another set of cards…

I received my new set of digistamps for the 3rd Progressive Challenge over at CDAC, so I’m making cards again like crazy! In fact, I have quite a little stash of cards piling up.

I find this is so handy to have. It’s so quick to grab a card when I need one in a hurry.

Here’s the original digi image from Glitterbabes:

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I coloured the image in Photoshop, then added a couple of filters, distressed the image with an action from Atomic Cupcake (rubon), then I added a background from The Graphics Fairy and finished it off with a deep red border.

I bound the cards together with a strip of gingham fabric just for some extra prettiness. I love the Autumn country feel of the finished cards.

apples

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Hope you have a great week!

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Linking up to image

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tuesday Tutorial : treat cones

Today is laundry day in our house. So while the washing machine is busy with its cycle, I was browsing around the internet and found this cute tutorial for making a sweet treat gift.

I got thinking how pretty it would be as a hostess gift, or perhaps a teacher’s gift filled with chocolates or soaps. It would also be ideal to put birthday money or a gift card in.

So, after adding another load of washing, I used some images from The Graphics Fairy and created two gift cones. {Nothing like being creative to make the task of doing the laundry so much more pleasant!)

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The hydrangea paper cone:

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The Toile paper cone:

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The finished cone is around 9 inches (23cm) from top to bottom.

Toile Cone Gift BagDOWNLOAD

Hydrangea Cone Treat BagDOWNLOAD

Note: I found double-sided tape worked really well to secure the cones so you don’t see any cellotape on the outside.

Love,

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I’m linking to:

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Monday, September 12, 2011

Cubs & Mice

Hello!

Well firstly, let me tell you about our weekend. We went away with friends for my son’s friend’s birthday. The game farm we stayed at allows you to play with the lion cubs as they are hand-reared. There were three 6 week old cubs. So cute! The one cub was named “Kylie” as Kylie Minogue adopted her when she visited South Africa. There was a photo of her on the front page of the Sunday paper with Kylie the lion cub.

These cubs were such a highlight for the kids!

Here’s the birthday boy feeding the one cub and getting a little nip on the finger too!

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Taking a break…

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If I can’t have a bottle, I’ll just settle for a finger…

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Just look at those claws!!

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Now I also have to tell you that my son won the Junior Victor Ludorum trophy for athletics at his new school on Friday at their Inter-house athletics meeting! I was amazed how determined he was. He broke the high jump and long jump record and also won the 100m, 1200m and came second in the 70m hurdles race. So we’ve discovered a little athlete in the family!002

Today I’m also sharing my second drawing for the CDAC Drawing Challenge for September… a trio of mischievous mice.

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I also drew another version with the same little mice, only this time with a cupcake….cupcake mice_sml

And today, I have a freebie… You can grab last month’s (and my first) digistamp – just click on the image below, right click to download.

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If you make anything with the image, please share it with me, I’d love to see what you do!

Have a great day!

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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Losing stuff & … a painting

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I’m happy as I (once again) found something I lost! LOL I don’t know what has come over me! Sometimes I think I am losing my mind! Or perhaps I am “artsy and odd” as my husband fondly refers to me!

I spent the entire day yesterday searching my studio for the power cord for my Silhouette machine. Not a good thing to lose! When I tidied my studio I distinctly recall putting it away as I tidied and even said to myself “remember where you put this!”. Have you ever done this? Have you ever put something away in a safe place so that you won’t lose it only to forget where you put it?

Well I eventually found my power cord – last night. In the first drawer of my desk- yes right next to me – where I had already looked 3 times! {sigh}. So today I’ll be cutting out the African Party goodies for the birthday party this weekend. {Yesterday I thought I’d be cutting with scissors!}

Thought I’d share my latest completed painting. It’s a nice size this one, I guess about 60 cm x 45 cm (30x20 inches)- and one of my favourites. It’s drying still, and as soon as it’s dry, It’s off to the framers and onto my wall. I have to say it’s a copy of a painting by a fantastic American artist called Piero. I love his work!

It reminds me of my son who has been through a rough time this year. He moved to a new school in the middle of his second term as he was so unhappy at the school he started at in January. Fortunately since moving, he is so happy and enthusiastic about school. There’s a school for every child and thankfully my once sad little boy has a huge smile on his face again.

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Monday, September 5, 2011

Pen tablet & a puppy

Hi everyone! Hope all is well with you. Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week while my blog has been quiet…

Would you believe that I managed to ‘lose’ my Wacom pen tablet? I hadn’t used it for quite a while. Well I spent about 3 days searching, unpacking cupboards, and silently cursing! Eventually I found it in a cupboard in my bedroom! I guess it was on one of those days when I did a quick tidy up after I had been doodling on it in my room and it ended up being tucked away in a strange place!

I have always struggled to get the results I had hoped for from the minute I bought it about 2 years ago. I simply accepted that I needed more (and more) practice.

I decided there must be another reason… So I used my faithful ol’ Google… Would you believe my problem was sorted out with a quick software upgrade? So now I can draw without looking like I have the shakes and the pen pressure works perfectly!

Long story short, Here’s my latest digi drawing for the September contest over at CDAC – hand drawn on my pen tablet…

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I have also been designing some cute party goodies for a friend of mine’s son’s birthday. The party theme is African Safari as we’re going to a game farm nearby for a sleep over. The birthday boy requested this as he wants to play with the little lion cubs.

So the kids get to cuddle with the cubs – they’re gonna love it! (And I will too!) I’m hoping to take some awesome photos of the kids and the cubs as well as the party decor. Will post some pics next week!

Have a great week!

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