Jeaunes

LET'S SCRAP SKETCH 1-18-12

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Oh my word ladies, can you believe we are in the third week of January 2012 already? Well that means that over at Let's Scrap Debby has an awesome card sketch for us and it is Team A's turn for the front page :-)

Here is this week's gorgeous LS card sketch by Debby, along with my take on the sketch.

I must say I was not particularly impressed with my take on this week's sketch. But, unfortunately I also did not get round to making another card before d-day........ Maybe I'll get a chance later in the week and redo the card :-)

I used some black cardstock for the base of the card. The pattern paper that I used is from BoBunny's Crush collection. The cardstock die-cut which I used for the title of the card is also from the same range.

There is also of course some prizes to be won. Here is this week's sponsor...........

Here is a little about them:

WeScrap offers monthly and limited edition kits always at low prices and never with any commitments! Make sure to check them out at:

http://wescrapkits.blogspot.com and http://www.etsy.com/shop/WeScrapKits

Here is the wonderful price they are giving away!

Hope you enjoyed it,

Scrappin Regards

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

One of the more recent blogs I started to follow on Google reader is "Keeping the best.........." It really is a beautiful blog with authors and designers from all over the world. Their main aim is as follows:

Sketches and excellent prizes are waiting for you twice a month. We will be glad to see your work and we hope that your sketch will help you to preserver the best memories of life! We wish you never ending inspiration and happy scrapping!

Well they are replacing their DT partly, and not sure how many new designers we're going to add to our DT, because they're afraid they'll be so amazed by the beautiful works that they won't be able to limit themselves - so go ahead! The new members of the DT will have a 6 months term, some of them may stay longer after that period depending on the results of their work.

Conditions:

make a layout based on the any sketch;
post a banner announcing the DT call to your blog and place it on the sidebar too (optional);
send your project to our email keeping.the.best@gmail.com, include your real name, nickname and a link to your blog;
one project from one participant only;
your projects are accepted till the 30th of January inclusive!
results will be announced on the 31st of January.

Requirements to the members of "Keeping the best...." DT:

create a new project (layout by sketch) twice a month;
make a new post with your projects to your blog (live journal or any other resource) after the challenge is announced in "Keeping the best..." blog;
leave comments for the projects of challenge players;
take part in voting for the guest designer and the top works;
create one tutorial during your term.

So hop on over to "Keeping the best..........." and have a go!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Hi there blogger friends! I am very excited to announce that there will be a MASSIVE blog hop during the entire month of February!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my talented DT collegues, over at Let's Scrap - Mindi Brown from Montana, US is the organizer. And she is doing an AWESOME job, thank you Mindi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of talented ladies, 50 to be exact (yes 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) that will be hosting with each one offering some wonderful prizes! Each hostess will be offereing some wonderful blog candy along with 2 chances on each blog to win some RAK!!!!!!!!!! That means you have 100 possible chance to win, is that not AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The blog hop will be running from the 1st to the 29th of February 2012, so make sure to mark your calandars and be ready to make some beautiful cards and of course win some AWESOME blog candy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As Mindi states it - you only get a chance to Leap Around the World every 4 years :-)

Luv

Jeaunes

Thursday, January 5, 2012

And here we are, not only at the beginning of 2012, but the first sketch for 2012 has arrived

This is another stunning sketch by Cheri, and I really enjoyed making the layout. The thing I love the most is the banners!!!!!!!!! Here is my take o this week's sketch.

When I saw this sketch I battled a bit to get some portrait pictures, but once I found some I really enjoyed making the layout. The pictures I used in this layout is from my trip to the Lowveld in Mpumalanga during August 2011. I took the pictures on one of our day trips up the panorama route. This place is called Bourke's Luck Potholes.

The paper I used is from Kaisercraft - their Hunt and Gather range. I really enjoyed using this range. Initially I bought the range to scrap with some of my husband and dad's fishing pictures (but unfortunately there have not been that many pictures this year, as the fish are not really biting). So I then decided to use some of it on this layout. The best part is that there is not that many paper that I used - only 2 sheets for the background and another 2 sheets of which I used both sides of the layout, that is awesome (I think!!!!!!!!!!!).

When it came to the embellishing I really battled. I made the layout prior to Christmas, left it for a week and then finished it just in time for the post :-) Here are some pictures of the detail.

I used some of the Hunt and Gather chipboard embellishments with the banners that I cut from the left over paper. All of the swirls are from BoBunny and the flowers are Prima flowers. I wanted to do something different with the chipboard swirls and the chipboard letters of the title. So I inked them with Tim Holtz distress ink; I then used some dimensional glaze and just after glazing the elements, I squirted some Perfect Pearl Mist (heirloom gold). You cannot really see it on the pictures, but I really like the effect (you should try it)!!!!!!!!!

I am also not a massive journaller. I do however like to add some general knowledge about the area. So here I included how the potholes were created and how it got the name. The journalling reads as follows:

The natural water feature marks the beginning of the Blyde River Canyon. Through countless eons the swirling whirlpools which occur as the Treur River plunges into the Blyde River caused waterborne sand and rock to grind huge, cylindrical potholes into the bedrock of the river.

The potholes were named after a gold digger, Tom Burke, who staked a claim nearby. Although his claim did not produce a single ounce of gold, he correctly predicted that large gold deposits would be found in the area. Hence the name - Bourkes Luck Potholes.

This week's sponsor on Let's Scrap is

Here is a little about them:

Hi I am Sheila Oxley, owner of That's Jazzy Stamp Dreams!

You can see the stamps at my Etsy shop and if you are the winner and find one you would rather have, please let me know! My goal is always to please you!

I have been making and selling my stamps since October 2007 and I've been a member here since September 2009!

If you have any questions, or just want to chat with me drop me a note!

I also want to thank you all for the inspiration I see every time I'm in the Gallery. So I hope you'll keep up with my shop. I'm always working on new designs to turn into stamps in fact I have several almost completed!

And for my Let's Scrap friends for the month of January you get 20% off at my Etsy shop! Just use code LetsScrap20 at checkout!

Here is the wonderful prize she is giving away!!!!!!!

So head on over to Let's Scrap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Wow, can you believe it - Christmas is over! And here is the last sketch for 2011.

As you can see, it is another stunning sketch designed by Cheri - and what makes this one so awesome is that there is a flap on the left hand side, where you can add another 6 pictures!!!!!!!!! Here is my take on the sketch.

So what did I go and do - swap the sketch :-) I must say I had a bit of difficulty with this layout and it did not really turn out as I wanted it to, but in the end I just left it. I could actually not decide what else I could use and do with it.

All the elements in the layout (paper and all the embellishments) are from Simple Stories. This is one of their newer ranges that have just landed in South Africa - Year-O-Graphy. I really enjoyed using this range! It really is such a fun and versatile range!

Here are some pictures of the detail:

With the DT at Let's Scrap being divided into two groups, we each get a week off. Now this was my week off (ending this past Sunday, New Year's Day) so that means my layout also gets placed in the draw for the weekly sketch draw. This week we have another awesome surprise by

That's right, they sponsored us again this week, isn't that great!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a little about them

In 2007 I started with Art from the Heart, with a vision to create locally produced Scrapbooking products. During this time, Scrapkits.co.za was also launched, offering correspondence kits to scrapbookers. As a graphic designer, my time is divided between being creative in my different fields. With a job that is drived by briefs and stringent deadlines, I find scrapbooking a therapeutic way to record my family's stories. My goal is to leave behind documentation for my 2 daughters, about our everyday lives here and now, our experiences, the good and the not so good.......... Hopefully when they're my age one day, they will be able to reflect on these albums and learn more from them and remember days gone by. I hope you enjoy these products as much as I've enjoyed creating them.

Warm regards, Tracy

http://www.artfromtheheart.co.za/

Here is the wonderful prize they are giving away!

There is still some time, so head on over and have a go at the sketch!

Happy scrappin!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Just after I joined Let’s Scrap in April this year the Design Team call was posted with this sketch below (designed by Cheri O’Neill). I started the layout, but never got round to finishing it and submitting it. But I have finally finished the layout!!!!!!!!

The pictures in the layout were taken by me at the Heidelberg Castle in Germany during May 2011. The pictures are not really of the castle, it is bits of the castle that you can see from the entrance.

Most of the paper in this layout is from the BoBunny Gabrielle Collection, with the exception of the brown piece in the middle and the pink paper at the bottom – this is Prima. The main reason it took me SOOOOO long to complete this layout, was (1) I lost one of the pictures and (2) I did not really know what to do with the embellishing. But I finally just sat myself down today and finished it…………………………

The first tiny set of embellishing is in the top left corner of the layout. I used Prima’s Flocked Rub-ons combined with the rubons from the BoBunny Gabrielle Collection. I placed this embellishment here just to emphasize the picture.

The main set of embellishing is under the main picture on the left hand side of the layout. The cluster of embellishing has quite a bit of elements – there is a paper and chipboard die-cut elements from the BoBunny range; small piece from the flocked rub-ons by Prima; different flowers; Enmarc design element (daisy curl). This chipboard element I split into three pieces, the two doodle pieces I used in this clutter of embellishments, the third piece I used on the other side of the layout. For all three pieces I inked the, slightly with brown ink and then glazed them. The last piece of this clutter is the banner – I created the banner pieces from the left over paper; I used glimmer mist and Tim Holtz distress ink to colour the ribbon (originally it was white) and attached it with two brads; lastly, I hanged an embellishment from the ribbon.

The last bit of embellishing was on the far right side of the layout. Here I used the same elements from the left hand side – you will see under the orange flower is the third piece form the Enmarc design element that I cut into pieces.

The last piece to the layout was of course the title.

I decided on the title “HIDDEN FORTRESS” as the pictures are all behind trees and the castle really looks hidden in these pictures;
I used Prima alphabets that are made from canvas;
Originally they were cream, I used some Perfect Pearls Mists (heirloom gold) by Ranger to give them some colour and blend in with the rest of the layout.

I hope you enjoyed that, but now it is time for a bit of history and geography regarding Heidelberg and the Heidelberg Castle.

Heidelberg is a city in south-west Germany. The fifth-largest city in the State of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg is part of the densely-populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. In 2009, over 145,000 people lived in the city. Heidelberg lies on the River Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald.

A former residence of the Electoral Palatinate, Heidelberg is the location of the University of Heidelberg, well-known far beyond its and Germany's borders. Heidelberg is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape, including Heidelberg Castle and the baroque style Old Town. The US Army has had a military base in Heidelberg since 1951.

The Heidelberg Castle (in German language named: Heidelberger Schloss) is a famous ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg's Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.

The earliest castle structure was built before AD 1214 and later expanded into 2 castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning-bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning-bolt destroyed some rebuilt sections.

The castle is a mix of styles from Gothic to Renaissance. Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398–1410) erected the first building in the inner courtyard as a royal residence. The building was divided into a ground floor made of stone and framework upper levels. Another royal building is located opposite the Ruprecht Building: the Fountain Hall. Prince Elector Philipp (1476–1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall's columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne from Ingelheim to Heidelberg.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Prince Electors added two palace buildings and turned the fortress into a castle. The two dominant buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected during the rule of Ottheinrich (1556–1559) and Friedrich IV (1583–1610). Under Friedrich V (1613–1619), the main building of the west side was erected, the so called "English Building".

The castle and its garden were destroyed several times during the 30 Years' War and the Palatine War of Succession. As Prince Elector Karl Theodor tried to restore the castle, lightning struck in 1764, and ended all attempts at rebuilding. Later on, the castle was misused as a quarry; castle stones were taken to build new houses in Heidelberg. This was stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg, who then began the preservation of the Heidelberg Castle.

Although the interior is in Gothic style, the King's Hall was not built until 1934. Today, the hall is used for festivities, e.g. dinner banquets, balls and theatre performances. During the Heidelberg Castle Festival in the summer, the courtyard is the site of open air musicals, operas, theatre performances, and classical concerts performed by the Heidelberg Philharmonics.

The castle is surrounded by a park, where the famous poet Johann von Goethe once walked. The Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway runs from Kornmakt to the summit of the Königstuhl via the castle.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful place!!!!!!!!!!

Romantic view of Heidelberg Castle ruins

Heidelberg Castle

LET'S SCRAP DESIGN TEAM CHALLENGE 125

Over at Let's Scrap we not only get a sketch every week, but there are also challenges posted by the Design Team every two weeks (on a Friday). This week's DT challenge was posted by Cathy van de Bruinhorst. Her challenge was to make a layout and use a song title as the title on your layout. The rules for this challenge were as follows:

The layout must be a "new" layout made just for this challenge.
The challenge cannot be combined with the weekly main page sketch, special month-long site sponsored sketch or the Scrap-our-Stash challenge.
You much tag your layout correctly so that it gets placed into the correct album (challenge125, sketch #)
You have until 29 December 2011 at 11:59 pm according to the clock on the main page.

I used sketch 8-31-11 designed by Cheri O'Neill.

Here is my take on the sketch.

The pictures in this layout was some of the very first pictures I took of Sherlock, they were taken on the day of my birthday this year in our backyard. We had only had him 2 days at that stage and he loved sitting on my lap. The pictures at the bottom of the layout are of Zorro - he was still checking out this little thing, that was smaller than him with the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ears (that he kept falling over.......).

All the paper and embellishments I used were from a fairly old BoBunny range named Olivia. Here are some pictures of the detail.

And finally the title - I used the title "You're nothing but a Hound Dog" of Elvis Presley. When I saw the challenge intially I really thought I would battle to come up with a song title to fit my pictures (I am not very good at song titles), but when I really looked at the pics, this song title just came to me :-) I really thought it fitted with the pictures perfectly! For the first part of the title I used Kaisercraft mini-aplhas; the second part I wrote with the hand and made a little flag with a toothpick; and then the last part is from the Olivia range's aplhabet stickers.

Head on over to Let's Scrap and have a go at Cathy's challenge!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Hi there everyone, here is this week’s sketch over at Let’s Scrap and my take on the sketch.

It is another stunning sketch by Cheri O’Neill.

The pictures in this layout are of our cat, Zorro. I have not done a layout in months on him and when I saw the sketch I realised that these pictures were just right. I do not have a lot of portrait pictures and I really battle with portrait based layouts. But luckily I found these pictures as I really loved the sketch. The pictures were taken last December at our holiday house in St Francis Bay, Eastern Cape. He just loves climbing on top of the roof and having a chill day/night………………

Until recently I have not bought any paper from Simple Stories. I never really knew what to do with it. But when I saw this range (along with one or two others) I just had to buy it……………… I did however buy this not with the intention on using it with these pictures, I actually wanted to use the paper on some layouts I do for another lady, but I then decided to rather use it with these pictures of Zorro. Due to the fact that he is so dark and the pictures were taken at night, I did not really want to use black and white paper (which would have been the obvious choice of paper). In the end the pastel colours worked very well with the pictures.

Here are some close-up pictures of the detail bits and pieces.

One of the great things about Simple Stories is that as part of their paper collection they have paper that is filled with bingo cards. I matted one of the bingo cards with black cardstock in order for it to stand out. I added some green pearls to the edge of the paper, all around the scalloped edge, just to give it some dimension.

This layout was again one of those that I did in phases, going back to it and back again and only on the third day did I get to finish it. One of the main problems I had was the embellishing. While I did the embellishing my husband was sorting out his fishing stuff, that's when I came across the "swiffle" (that thing they add to the end of the line which the hook and sinker and bait is attached to). Well I used it in my layout (as you can see above) - I added three small embellishments to the end of the "swiffle" and adhered it to the layout with a brad. Two of the three embellishments at the end were Tim Holtz Idea-ology type charms where I just cut two very small pieces from the paper and adhered it to the charms.

For the title I used some fancy pants alpha-stickers for the first part and some Tim Holtz letters for the second part.

The last part of the embellishments was this cat from Enmarc. I inked it with Tim Holtz' black distressing, added some stickles to the edges to give it some dimension and for it to stand out, and lastly I added some pearls for the eyes.

Now for some prizes……………

This week's sponsor is:

Here is a little about them:

I took over Shoestring Scrapbooking in 2007 & our shop was based in Melville, Johannesburg. More & more customers started to order on-line & that’s when I decided to start the on-line shop & close the store. We are now situated in Hartbeesfontein, Klerksdorp in the North West province. We offer scrapbooking, card-making, candle making & antiquing classes for all ages. We have a huge selection of wooden & chipboard products. Our customers appreciate the fact that they get good quality products at good prices due to the fact that we don’t have high overheads.

I have something new to share everyday on my blog http://shoestringscrapbooking.typepad.com & you can see all of our products at www.shoestringscrapbooking.co.za.

Canica Van Loggerenberg

Here is the wonderful prize they are giving away!

Would love if you head on over to Let's Scrap and join in the fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Over at Let’s Scrap it is the first week of the new design team. I am very proud to say that I have been chosen to be on the DT for another term, very excited!!!!!!!! However, this term we do not have to do layouts and cards for the main page every week, just every second week. This means that we will have a bit more time to compete in the DT Challenges and be eligible for the weekly prize on our off week. Very exciting!!!!

Here is this week’s sketch, another stunning sketch designed by Cheri.

Here is my take on the sketch.

I really loved using this sketch and will definitely use it again, it is definitely one of my favourites. I used one of BoBunny’s ranges that I have had for quite a while. I really loved the paper and wanted something special to use the paper on. Well what is more special than my own little family J All the paper and embellishments (even the brads) were from the Mama-Razzi Collection from BoBunny.

Now for some prizes…………………….

Our sponsor over at Let’s Scrap for this week’s sketch is…………..

Here is a little about them:

Apron Strings is a great little monthly kit club that knows crafting time can be precious and budgets can be pesky, so their kits are designed to help you make the most of your time and your dollar. Not only do Apron Strings provide you with three different kits to choose from, starting as low as $19 a month, but each kit is filled with plenty of pre-coordinated patterned paper, cardstock and embellishments to create fantastic layouts and cards quickly and with ease. There’s enough in the kits you could even do a mini album and home décor pieces with them. Their blog has plenty of ideas and tips to get inspired by, plus challenges to keep you motivated. Their monthly newsletter is jam-packed with more great examples from the design team, plus more tips and hints. The All Year Cheer Card Kit comes with full-colour instructions to create at least six cards, but you’ll be able to create far more with the included items. Apron Strings is an auto ship club (though you can purchase outright, too), so kits come straight to you each month, but there’s no time commitment to meet, plus they allow unlimited, penalty-free skip, flips and substitutions*(*some restrictions apply). The decision to join is easy. The only hard part will be which kit to get.

Here is the wonderful prize they are giving away!