Inspired by Life

At Last we have a Pair

Renice is a debutant.  My hair stand on end just to think of it.  All that interaction and pressure we are already on a double dose of 5HTP, just to settle the nervous.  It is in times like these that one realizes her oddness, her inability to plan and stratagize .  However, God has a plan in this too and although, I work very hard to be a deb's mom and not the deb.   I must allow her to make decisions and live with the outcome.

 Wian is going to a ADD Lab tomorrow, after a week of turmoil.  I just hope and pray that they do not increase his Ritalin intake.  They will also do a qeeg on the 11 th October.

I had time to make the canvas to match Renice's and am quite suprise at the outcome.

 
 I felt a bit guilty for taking such a long time, so I made 5 canvasses.

 

Fly your dreams!!!!!

 

 

Inspiration Station

It"s school holidays and we just returned from heaven Kruger National Park.  Apart from the great time we had as a family, my daughter made friends with girls from America with e mail addresses and facebooks and the works.  This is such an achievement for Renice. 

But we are back at the grind stone, the class for the 12 th September is a canvas class and I need a bit of inspiration.

 

   

I love all this stuff and the stuff makes me tick so I am sure this is going to be a great challenge.

cOLLAGE PICTURE

 

The photo size will be 13cmx17cm portrait .  Packs available.

tHIS WAS A GOOD DAY THANKS LADIES

Feed your Gypsy Craving

 

Main Entry:	crave
Part of Speech:	verb
Definition:	desire intensely
Synonyms:	ache for, covet, cry out for, die for, dream, eat one's heart out, fancy, give eyeteeth for, hunger for, itch for, long for, lust after, need, pine for, require, sigh for, spoil for, suspire, thirst for, want, yearn for, yen for

The month of July means a lot of things to many people : July the middle of the winter month, July time to look forward to school holidays and for us at Papercrazy we look forward to CHA July - the release of all new lines from the Scrapbook manufacturers in the USA.

7Gypsies has honored us to show the release prior to the show date and boy Gypsy! are we inspired.  The release consists of 2 new lines :

• Padding ton - predominantly black and white with a twist.
• Conservatory - beautiful collage style retro

To wet your appetite, increase your craving and add to the general feel good anticipation

See below

 

 

Retailer can view the full release on our retailers blog - for your password (if you still don't have it phone Lizette)

The new release papers , sticker and rub ons(wait let me tickle your fancy)will ship to us End of July.

 

5 Mini Canvasses

I have made these awhile ago and really enjoy making them they are quick and very sweet.

I also worked on the back so if you buy them make sure the "back sides" are neat.  You can also obtain them from Paper Crazy they are 5 in a set.

 

I used commercial photos but you can insert your own family photos.

 

 

 

Most of the products are Seven Gypsies and the pictures are from Art Chixs

Have a great day in the sun.

Sleepless nights

This is one of those  Peters nights. Walking on water for the first two steps and then sink. (Math 14: 28-31) You know the kind that you go to bed with the best will in the world, just to wake up at 2h00 with all the worries in the world. You toss and turn, have a glass of hot milk and still, the worries seem to pile even higher the longer you lie on your back.  The only remedy I have for these  Peters nights is work.  The moment I wake up, on a  Peters night (usually Sunday nights) I get up have my glass of hot milk, read from Scripture, get up and work. I have also come to the conclusion that this is the devils hour, he likes robbing people from sleep the less you sleep the more irrational your thoughts and then he plays havoc but, he hates work the moment you get up and work the sooner he is out the door.

Tomorrow is make and takes and all prep is done.  I've also made a few Christmas Gifts.

 

 

Have a good nights rest and fly your dreams.

HOME COMPLETE

         

we had a wonderful day yesterday, sorry that i didn't but the images on the blog earlier.  Had a tooth removed this morning, not something i would recommend for a Tuesday morning.

These  were all the images of one side of the book, but it was bound to stand so it had rings or wire or string on both sides of each board.

             

Address the Possibilities

At last I finished my HOME book.  This services as inspiration in hard times, times when one must look up and not down.  I've included inspirational text, this is not so much scrap booking as art mixed media.

You can add photos if you like to but again like always I have dug deep and got my answers for my creative quest.

I have learnt so much from my daughter again as her life is so uncomplicated, she does what she can if she can't she'll find out and do it tomorrow and tomorrow is good because today was good and life is good and if we have hard times we'll dig out the hard hat and start to shovel.

Address the possibilities have taught me about my home my people and all the possibilities that is out there on a daily basis and the choices we make and if it is the wrong choice start to shovel.

 

   

Monday is going to be a lovely day of red wine good food and lots of creativity. Can't wait.

 

Mixed Media Canvasses

When we were in the Kgalagadi in the beginning of August the kids gathered some seeds for me. We love nature and we always pick up stones, seed, twiggs there is always pressed leaves and flowers in all our bird books.  When we returned, the seed pods in shoe box were bothering me, and so the nature canvas was born. I used wax and altered a book and pieces from a old frame.

There are three canvasses in this series  Dream Create and Live.

Monday was a very difficult day for all of us. A very close friend of the family passed away on the Friday evening and I contemplated to cancel the Monday class, I didn't, and all the ladies made their three canvasses.  Only later that evening did I realize this is all the things Alfred stood for.  He dreamed and shared his dreams with everyone, he created so much love, friendship and respect. He lived. He must have been the guy with the smallest feet but, left the biggest footprints.  These canvasses are for you Alf.

Fly your dreams.

Mix Media Canvasses

I have never been so fore-filed as in the last year.  The work that the ladies produce in our classes are stunning and people that has never done art or mix media are totally inspired and want more and more.

These are two of the canvasses that were done in the classes a few weeks ago the artist Tania and Verna really deserve credit for their work.

I will teaching more canvas classes in August.  All the pics on these canvasses comes from Artchix and the paints are Making Memories, stamps from Stampersanonymous.  I have a  gazillion stamps but, the basic ones will be a stamp with writing on and 2 frame stamps.

A post stamp and 2 face stamps, to start off with and after that, what can I say a girls got to have what a girls got to have.

Buy your canvasses and

Fly your dreams.

Canvasses

Another day, another canvas.  I've been working on a canvas for our new canvas classes.  I didn't use any photos on these for a change.

Washed with Making Memories acrylic paints and stamped with stazon inks( Timber.)

All the stamps are form Fancy Pants I first stamped with timber brown and then embossed in gold double thick embossing powder.

I've drawn all the music notes with a calligraphy pen and indian inks.

The butterflies is done with Cuttlebug and, yes,  it's 7 Gypsies paper.

Ooh La La

I discussed it with my mom and explained that this is art and that we need to alter these book in order for them to be preserved.  So here goes.....................

These books are just what ever and this one was a bit tongue in cheek as it was about ladies of night.

Secret pockets with old love letters on music paper very bright pinks with bronze embossed dragonflies.

 

Stamps in pocket from visits to Venice and Milan, old perfume bottle labels, the smell still lingering of hot summer nights.

A lock of hair  from a lover in a aged envelope roses from a roses garden in Vienna. Ooh la  la the  life of a courtesan.

Fly your dreams, fly ....................................

Altered Photo

It was a great idea when I started off, but then the question came what were you thinking. This is a work in progress and I will post my very slow progress very slow progress.

It all stared with a good photo of Renice in the haystack.  I enlarged it to A2 at my friend Mariam Agfa lab in Greenstone.  Then I was paging through all my emphemera and came accross the music sheet" I know of two bright eyes." (1940)

I love collages and thought at the time this will be great. Weeks later I'm still working and I don't know of the great Idea no more. 

First Altered Book

This was my first attempt at Altering a Book.  I must say I didn't have the courage to use a printed book. (My mother would kill me).  Books were handled with care and respect.  To rip them up and Paint them blue was not done in a good Christian home.

I made the book with great reservation if my mother catches me (I'm 46 years old) this small little lady will rip out my heart.

The original journal was a Maya Road ring binder with cardboard inserts.  I used mainly 7 Gypsies

Cover most of the pages with paper, inked and distressed the sides. The ring binders work well for the first time alterer, you can throw  the pages away if it doesn't work and no-one will know.

I didn't add photo's as it was a gift. (to my Mom for mother day).

To distress these pages is easy and very effective.  Soak the page in water for a few seconds.  Tear off layers .  Roll the damp thinned parts of the page to give it a well used look.  Always inks these books well.  I also sprayed the pages with walnut ink. 1 tube of walnut grains (7Gypsies) to 1/2 cup of  hot water dissolve and dilute as needed to age pages and tags etc. Store left over ink in an old hairspray bottle.

I love jump rings and beads and if I could put them on every page I would.  I was very modest at the time and only used a few beads  they are extensions of the pages and are dangling form ribbons.

Fill this journals with transparencies, old birthday cards, button cards and pressed flowers.

I've  since made more journals and has come along way.  I've even altered REAL books.

Altered books is a fun way with art altered books is giving yourself freedom to create.

Fly your dreams