Goodbye to 2015

The year is heading for it's end... and in one way I can't say that I am sorry to see it go. It's been a tough year for our family health wise but also a good year... we have lots to be thankful for

This year started off on the right foot... lets see if we can recap:

January
Visit with the family from Canada
Aaron starts high school

February
Scout camp for Aaron
Mom, Aaron & I participated in the Cansa shavathon

March
Mom & I went to Wyndford for a weekend

April
School camp for Aaron
Hot air balloon trip for Mom & I - absolutely awesome experience

May
Theresa & I went to the Midlands scrap... wonderful creative weekend away

June
Family weekend away at Magalies Park, including a ride in the Harties cable car

July
The start of the ouch.... broke my sewing machine needle in my finger
Aaron got pneumonia
Mom fell and broke her hip
Scrapping at Helderfontein with Theresa

August
Keith went to Canada
Mom recuperating from her hip op
Lots of theatre shows
Another weekend at Magalies Park and a hot air balloon trip for me and Aaron - breathtaking
Began training a new lady to take over my job while I will be on sick leave in Oct... hectic!

Sept
Family from Qatar and Cape Town visiting and celebrating Mom's 75th birthday
My hysterectomy

Oct
recovering from surgery at home (but worked in between)
Keith's birthday

Nov
A week trip to Wynford for Mom & I... perfect place to recuperate
My birthday - and work year end function at Madam Zingara
Aaron's birthday
Aaron's bunny died suddenly

Dec
Finished school year... end of Grade 8
Family holiday in Scottburgh
Bumper bashing and back spasm
Christmas - a quiet affair
Lots of physio
Keith finally finishing the new bedroom extension


Phew glad that's all behind us. A few other highlights include:
Lots of scrapping classes done with Jowilna.... not too many pages 100% completed this year but I did learn lots.
Did many hours of overtime and private work which helps to pay for my scrapbooking
Read over 60 books this year


So now it's on to the new year... here's hoping that 2016 will be good year, full of lots of blessing and adventure.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 462

I seem to have missed posting this one... gulp... only by like 3 months (today being the end of March 2016)! Guess that's why a catchup session is good....

Remember, you can always check out the blog to see more layouts with the sketches.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 461

Can you believe it's already a week into December? Wow. Christmas is around the corner and 2016 is just a little further... soon we will start the count down to the next holiday. BUT for now, I am just trying to get through this week before the holiday starts. Thankfully I got to do some scrapping yesterday so feel a bit more relaxed.

This layout is about my niece, from a few years back.... been meaning to scrap these pics forever but couldn't get it to work. This sketch was perfect for them.

Check out the blog for some more ideas with this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 460

Where to start? so much happening in my little brain right this moment that I think I am going to explode! Emotions running from happy (birthday weekend) to sad (one of our bunnies just died) to absolute frustration and nearly anger (waiting for my new cell phone to be delivered after a month of delays!)..... grrrrr. But I can also add very thankful to the list to for the five nights of rain that we had last week.

I am also so very busy at work and with my private job that as times I don't know whether I am coming or going. At least the school year is now over, besides going to fetch the report sometime in December... Aaron wrote his last exams today.

I sure am hoping that sometime in the not toooooo distant future I will actually get some quality me-time and be able to scrap up a storm. At least I did do that just before the end of my sick leave so I can show you this week's layout for the sketch reveal.

This is another page from our boat cruise for last year. I made the rays by simply laying a scrap piece of paper on my background and then drawing in the sections I wanted. Cut this up and then cut out each section in the pattern paper. I cut red strips which I then just laid over the joints and hey presto a fun page put together. I added in the extra stickers and such off  the sticker sheet that came with the range of paper that I used.

Check out some more ideas on the blog.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch #225

Wow what a weekend...started with my birthday on Friday... had an awesome day with our work year end function at Madam Zingara. Yesterday we went to the Joburg Theatre for the pantomime of Sleeping Beauty... what a great show. Today we all went out for lunch to celebrate both mine and Aaron's birthdays. Truly a packed weekend. So needless to say I never got around to posting my layout for Friday's reveal, so here it is now.

I really had fun creating this page. I used a page from the Couture Creations collection that I won a few months back for my background. Firstly I made an autumn coloured piece of paper with a variety of inks from which I diecut a few trees. I then used the negative of this to shadow ink the tree in green along the bottom of my page, before pasting the diecuts over this. Was actually quite chuffed with the end result.

There are once again more pages to see on the blog, so go check it out.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 459

It's two days to my birthday.... slowly getting excited... for no apparent reason than it's my day.... oh and my work are treating us to Madam Zingara on that day too for our year end function... so typically no work! hehe.

I decided with a few of the sketches that I am doing this month to tackle the leftover photos from our boat trip last year... slowly working through them and crossing the layouts off.

To make my photos work for the sketch I rotated it 90 degrees and then replaced the pretty flowers with cogs to tie in the with games Aaron was playing.

Check out the blog for some more inspiration on this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 458

Phew six weeks of six leave have now come and gone. Today I went back to work. Doc gave me the all clear yesterday. The few aches and pains and tiredness I still get will eventually subside... just need to keep taking it one day at a time and get over a major op. I hope to find some more time soon to scrap... a couple of busy weekends coming up but hopefully I can squeeze in a few hours of me time.

This page is from our boat trip last year... the teens were supposed to meet morning, afternoon and night for activities but due to the scrappers having commandeered the same venue, they only met at night... which meant VERY late nights for Aaron but he did seem to enjoy it.

Check out this week's blog post to see some more layouts with the sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 232

I was away last week at Wyndford... oh what bliss. Got back midafternoon on Friday but just didn't feel up to blogging (Sorry!). So better late than never, here is my page that I did for the Flashback Friday post, which by the way, is of a sunbird taken at Wyndford in 2014!

There are lots more ideas to see on the blog too.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 457

Well this is my last week of sick leave but also in a way my best... Mom and I are at Wyndford for the week... rest and no worries about anything with lots of sightseeing thrown in.

I managed to scrap LOTS on Friday... did all my November DT commitments in one day... scrapped six pages. This one is one of them:

As I am away from my blog, I can't link to the actual post, but remember you can find this sketch on the blog and see what the rest of the team are doing. (link updated!)

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 303

Another week has flown by... and now I only have just over a week left before I go back to work... wow 5 weeks of sick leave sure have gone by fast. Only thing is I haven't done a third of the stuff I was hoping to do while at home... not just because I wasn't able to do much, but also because I spent quite a bit of time actually working. Oh well, today at least I have spent in my scraproom and so far have made five pages... feeling soooooooo happy about that. Got a few more still to tackle tonight.

But, back to the business of this post... a flashback Friday layout.

I put my own sort of spin on this page and had fun creating one all about my BFF's birthday last year.

You can see more ideas on the blog... and even check out my previous take on this sketch here which was a double page.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 456

Another Monday and we are just about at the end of October...wow! In one month my birthday will be done and dusted and in two month's we will be finished celebrating Christmas too... counting down to the new year... scary thoughts indeed.

Oh well, on a happier note, I am slowly getting more agile after my op... did quite a bit of stuff today without simply collapsing on the couch to read my book. Still no scrapping... aww... but I did get inspired so hopefully before the week is out I will actually get to put a page or two together.

Today's layout for the new sketch I actually started working on last weekend, but only finished printing out the photo and journalling yesterday... seems to be taking me longer and longer to finish pages lately.

I used the new "Cafe Friendship" range by Celebr8 for this page... though I can't say I fell in love with the papers, I must admit I really like how my page came together. i still have a few sheets of this paper so might do another page in the theme too.

Check out the blog for a few more ideas with this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 361

I had all good intentions of posting this on Friday and then nothing... guess better late than not at all.

There is an old but updated sketch on the blog .... so nice to be revisiting a sketch again and giving it a new twist.  Last time I did this as a double page, but decided this time round to only do a single... so used the left side of the sketch.

Check out what some of the others did with this sketch by visiting the blog.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 455

Well today marks three weeks since my surgery and so far I feel ok. Yesterday was a tough day... feeling sore and achy again, but after a good night's sleep I seem to be back to normal today. Will definitely not be overdoing anything today but rather taking it fairly easy.

I started driving again on Friday... just short trips to school and back, plus am tackling a few things for work to keep my brain in the loop. All adds to a quick recovery but also ends up tiring me out a bit, hence me lying on the couch and reading or dozing each afternoon. Hopefully I will be able to tackle a bit more scrapping or even some sewing in the next week.

The new sketch is up at Scrapbook Challenges, and her is my take on it.

mmm nothing nicer than breakfast in bed on mother's day prepared by my boy... not that I've had any of that while I've been recovering... ah!

Be sure to check out the blog for some more ideas on this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 454

It's Monday and the first reveal of the new team... yes I actually got to scrap last week instead of just sitting reading all day long. It really felt good to scrap and create again.... I managed to do four pages in three days. Hopefully will get to do some more during this week.

 I swopped a few things around on the sketch, but made it work to suit me. Also tried my hand at a technique piece that I learnt a few weeks back from Jowilna (my letter J)... not as successful as I wanted but hey, I did attempt it.

Head over to the blog to get some new inspiration from the new team of girls.

quick update

Just a quick update to tell you that yes I am still alive and kicking... not a great deal of scrapping has been happening, plus I had a hysterectomy last week so am more vegging on the couch with my book than anything else at the moment. Hopefully part of my recovery will include loads of scrapping time.

Other news though, is that the new DT announcement for Scrapbook Challenges has been made, and I am once again on the team... yippee.

Well off to put my feet up some more and maybe tomorrow I will tackle some scrapping (or not!)

Scrapping again - yippee.

It's been ages since I managed to spend a day in my scraproom ... since back in early July. It was sooooooooo nice to be able to create a page again on Sunday. I used the new paper range by Celebr8... it is gorgeous. I also scrapped a layout designed by Jowilna with my own little twist on it.

I really enjoyed making this page ... playing with paint and stamps and adding in different stitching bits too.

The new stamp by Celebr8 is gorgeous and I wanted to add some colour to it... well that wasn't as easy as I though at first, so along came "plan b".  I stamped the flower onto a piece of transparency with Staz On and then added some distress paint to the back of the transparency. Once it was dry I cut out the flower and added it onto of the stamp which I had stamped directly onto the background... voila lovely coloured stamp.

The other flowers are from a Theresa Collins set which I stamped onto a piece of leftover paper and then coloured the centers lightly with watercolour pencils before adding a blue pearl to the middles.

If you can, please go vote for my page on the competition on facebook... here

August update

Boy can you believe it, August has come to an end...in one way it's been and extremely long month but in another seems to have passed in a flash... where does the time go?

It's been a busy month for me but can't say I've done any scrapping this month,besides one class on the 15th... the page is still sitting on my table waiting to be finished!

This month has included:
1. Lots of trips backwards and forward to the hospital and then to the rehab visiting my Mom
2. Dealing with a sick child
3. Going to Joburg Theatre to see Sister Act
4. Going to Monte Casino's Pieter Tourien Theatre to see Little Shop of Horrors
5. An afternoon visit with old friends... Aaron got to ride a horse
6. A weekend away at Magalies Park
7. A visit with my Great Aunt (who is 98) and spending time with my Mom's cousins
8. A trip in a hot air balloon with Aaron - total awesome and well worth doing again!
9. Keith has been in Canada for two weeks visiting his family
10. Mom moved in with us for the same two weeks to continue her recovery from the fall and hip replacement

Phew.... and never mind the work and extra overtime, plus training of a new lady at work... and taking Mom for a checkup at the eye doctor (she will be having another round of injections starting in Sept). It's been a tad BUSY I'd say!

So now you know what I've been up to and why there haven't been any updates.... hopefully things will return to a form of normalcy in September and I can get back to scrapping.

Blog catch up

It's been a few weeks since I last posted...life took a twist when Mom took a tumble nearly three weeks ago and landed up in hospital with a broke hip.  I haven't touched my scrapping stuff besides one Saturday class that I had booked before this all happened.Hopefully I will find a few hours soon where I can scrap and rejuvenate myself.  For now it's work, family and going back and forth with hospital/rehab visits to see Mom.  Thankfully she is well on the way to recovery and will soon be mobile and independent again.

So for now, here is a catch up post of two layouts that I missed showcasing at the end of July for Scrapbook Challenges. Remember you can see what the rest of the team did by just clicking on the links below.

Flashback Friday - Sketch 226

Sketch 449

I haven't done much else since these layouts so it will be a while before I post again... I do have some projects in progress so look out soon for some more inspiration.

Just as a side note: today is the third anniversary of my Dad's death. Besides a few odd moments of remembering him the day has actually been fairly easy to get through.  It was a lot harder back in July on his birthday.  Remembering Dad always brings a smile to my face.  The sadness is when I think of what he is missing out on, but I can safely say that he is rejoicing with Jesus, so maybe it's us who are missing out?

Scrapbook Challenges - Mood Board

The theme running through July at Scrapbook Challenges has been all things Nautical... today's mood board was just the thing I needed to get a kit finished.

This is a layout that was designed by Sharon Coetzer which I've had sitting around for a while and just needed to get photos printed.

Check out the blog for a few more ideas.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday Sketch 206

Last week Friday was the actual reveal of the Flashback Friday but I didn't get my layout done until yesterday... opps. It had sat on my desk for a whole week while I stewed over it and hunted for my diary of our boat trip... which I still haven't found! Anyway I decided to change plan a bit and added some technique detail to my page instead.

You can of course see other layouts on the blog for more inspiration.

Monday Mojo - July reveal

It's the third Monday of the month, so time for me to share my layout based on the Monday Mojo sketch.

For my layout I chose to scrap photos of Shaun's dip in the Antarctic... brrrr.

I stuck to the positions of the photos but changed things up a little with adding in the certificates as part of the photo block.

The blue background piece was a leftover piece of paper that I had laying around from a mixed media class I did at the beginning of the year.  I also did a technique on the blue banner... embossed it and then ran my white inkpad over the raised areas.  I also added some white embossed vellum flowers. A simple page yet full of fun techniques.

Check out the blog for some more inspiration for this month and see where it leads you.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 448

I love weekends when I get to scrap lots... and this past weekend was a very productive one in that regards... so there will be some more posts coming soon with lots of different layouts.... but first today's reveal that I managed to scrap two weeks ago.

As an added extra on this layout I used the actual coaster that I got with my coffee... says everything!

Check out the blog for a few more ideas with this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Sketch 447

I had a productive weekend... I managed to get some scrapping done, plus edited and printed 100+ photos for more layouts... even stuck some of those printed photos down onto layouts that were needing pics... really feels good to complete some pages.

Today's reveal was one of the new ones I did on Saturday afternoon.

I found a set of Karen Foster gym embellishments in my stash that I have had for a few years waiting for the perfect photos...well I used them! Yay... used up stash on a page.

Check out the blog for some more great ideas with this sketch.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday #180

Boy oh boy am I ever glad it's Friday today....been one of those weeks with work and all.  To crown it all we had load shedding today at work so I came home to work only to have it go off here too! grrrr.  But am thankful for small mercies of fully charged laptop and a 3g modem so I could still be productive. Also very grateful that today's power outage at home was only for 2 and a half hours not the 4 and a half they originally said.

Anyways, enough griping... I'd much rather scrap and if I can't get to that at least I can post about what I have scrapped... namely today's reveal.

You know when you have a plan in mind and then end up finding your photos are too big?  Well I just used them anyway... still love how the page turned out.

Head over to the blog to see some more great ideas with this sketch.

Yummy Stamped layout

A few weeks back I did a class at Scrap-A-Doodles with Jowilna learning about cutting my own stamps... though I have yet to actually try this on my own machine, we got to play with the stamp Jowilna had made and of course did a layout to showcase it... the lovely owl.

Though the class layout was only a single, I changed it into a double just by adding in two more pics and repeating the squares at the bottom... and so chuffed that I also found the right photos to match this gorgeous paper.

Now to get play with my machine and make some new stamps.

Scrapbook Challenges - Flashback Friday #214

This layout was only completed on Sunday but the reveal was actually done in May already... yip there are times when deadlines come and go and layouts don't get finished on time... better late than never I guess.

This layout is about visiting my Great-Aunt Isabel who will be 98 this year in December... wow!

You can see more layouts done on the new sketch on the blog.