Looking back on April 2011

Oh my word, can you believe it? Not only has April come and gone, but May is already halfway... Where is the year going, before we know it, we pulling out the Christmas stash :-)



April was a slow month for us here in South Africa, due to Easter and some more public holidays :-) We had 3 days of work in a 2 week period. This is good for the soul (as well as your scrapbooking) but not so good for business, but we survived, LOL :-)

My month of April kicked of with one of 2 annual Scrapbook Conventions that we have in South Africa at Emperor's Palace. It was on Saturday, 2nd of April and this time we were very fortunate to have Margie Romney Ashlett along with sir Tim Holtz come back to South Africa. I enjoyed them thoroughly! And the creative juices were definitely flowing :-0

 





 

During the rest of April most of the time we spent watching my sister jump.  There were 2 big shows on during this time – The President’s Cup and the Nissan Easter Festival.  In both the shows she and her horses did exceptionally well. 

In the Presidents Cup, she and Antarctic came second on the one day and she and Phoenix won the 1m championship on the last day!

 

 

 

During the Nissan Easter show they also did very well :-)

That was our April!  Hope you enjoyed it!

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Kaisercraft DESIGN TEAM application 2011–2012

I have decided to apply for the Kaisercraft Design team 2011-2012 This will be my very first application, and I am very excited about it. Below are more information about myself as well as the projects I made for this challenge. I hope you enjoy it :-)

Layouts I have made using Kaisercraft products, along with layouts I have not used Kaisercraft products, but are my favourite out of the ones I have made lately.

Friends are the Sunshine of Life – The picture in this layout is of my sister’s horse, Glastnost. This was one of the first pictures I took of him and due to his soft nature I used the warm, earthy tones in this layout. I used the Peachy Keen collection, and along with Glastnost, my favourite! All the embellishments go with the paper, which makes it some much more fun! Due to the fact that the picture was taken at an angle, I made a frame which was twisted at an angle, opposite to that of the picture. This emphasizes the picture even more. All the journaling on this layout is about great memories, things I love about you, friendship and sunshine. The reason for this is the fact that no matter what your mood, Glastnost will ALWAYS lighten your day and put a smile on your face. He is definitely the silver lining on a dark cloud!

Free Admission - I took these pictures at the Regional Team event last year (2010). They were taken while my sister and Phoenix were waiting at the gate for their turn to jump. I love the way not only my sister is watching the contestant prior to her, but Phoenix is also paying attention and concentrating very hard on what he has to do. The paper and all the embellishments used in this layout are Kaisercraft, Up, Up & Away. The main theme of this layout was admission, the reason for this is the fact that they were waiting at the gate to enter the arena. I thought it suited the pictures. I mainly used tickets as embellishments, stating “admit one”. The title “Free Admission” is also aimed at getting permission to enter the arena, and to put emphasis on the “admission” portion, I enclosed it with curly brackets.

Family – For this layout I used Secret Bird Society. I made the layout at the South African Scrapbook Convention in September 2010. It was part of a competition, where you received a pack of paper and embellishments and you had to create a layout with the theme being “Homestead”. I used pictures of my family (the top picture is myself, my sister and my mom and the bottom picture has the two of us with my dad) as that is what “homestead” means to me – FAMILY.

Explore, Adventure, Discover, Experience – For this layout I used the Kaisercraft Lush collection. The picture is a postcard I bought while I was in Paris in January 2011. I just loved the postcard, and could not keep myself from scrapping it. And I found that this specific collection worked very well with the picture due to the colour combinations. It is a very simple layout, so to not take any accent away from the picture.

Diploma of Cuteness – For this layout I used the Class of ’87 paper. I loved the range, but the school pics I have of myself are not very nice. However, these pictures I had taken about a week prior to getting this paper, and amazingly enough, they worked with the paper! So I used dog photos on school paper I decided to name the layout “Diploma of Cuteness” due to the fact that he is cute and to link it to the paper range.

Beach – these pictures were taken on our beach holiday in 2010 and this range was perfect for these photos. I loved using them and making this layout.

Journey of a Thousand Miles – this is another layout I made with a postcard I bought in Paris. I used this specific range and colours due to the fact that the umbrella in the picture is orange.

A Dream come true - the first time I saw this range from Kaiser, I did not think that I would use it, as I don’t have any kids, so no fairy pictures, etc. However, when I saw the rub-ons about dreams and these pictures, I immediately knew that I must use these papers. The title “A Dream Come True” is exactly what these pictures are all about – my sister got a balck stallion during December that my dad bought for her, it has been a lifelong dream of hers.



The next three layouts are some of my favourite layouts, but I have not used Kaiser products.

Hope you enjoyed it!

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Scrapbook Convention at Emperors Palace (02 April 2011)

Finally, after months of waiting, Saturday the 2nd of April arrived, and along with it the 1 day Scrapbook Convention. It was held at Emperor’s Palace, with 2 of scrapbooking’s greatest idols, namely Margie Romney-Aslett and Tim Holtz.

This is what our seating gift looked like. It was a paper doll, along with a handmade paper handbag filled with lots of goodies, incl. a Ranger distresser, some sweets and even a plaster. 

I was in Group B. So our first class was taught by Margie. She used some of the new Girl’s Paperie that was launched at the CHA at the beginning of the year. As you can see, our goodie bag was filled with tons of nice stuff. We made a mini album, as well as a double layout. Both items turned out stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Margie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 


After lunch we had the wonderful Mr Tim Holtz Oh my word, what an awesome man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He gave a stunning goodie bag filled with not only Ranger products but also some of his newest Ideology products. Along with that we learned some wonderful distressing techniques and made a stunning Journal. And he even signed the back of my book :-)


    

As all of Glenda’s events, it was awesome, even though we were exhausted by 6 o’clock!!!!!!!!


Thank you to Glenda, Scrapbook Factory Shop and everyone else who made it possible. I trust the event in Cape Town will be just as big a success. I cannot wait for September :-)

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I just received this email and thought it very cute :-)

Dear Tech Support, Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend to Husband and noticed a distinct slowdown in over-all system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend. In addition, Husband uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance and Personal Attention and then installed undesirable programs such as Rugby, Football, Sailing and Continuous TV Conversation no longer runs, and Housecleaning simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running, nagging to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do? Signed, Desperate


Dear Desperate, First keep in mind, Boyfriend is an Entertainment Package, while Husband is an Operating System. Please enter the command: ‘http: I Thought You Loved Me.html’ and try to download Tears. Don’t forget to install the Guilt update. If that application works as designed, Husband should then automatically run the applications Jewelry and Flowers, but remember – overuse of the above application can cause Husband to default to Grumpy, Silence, Garden Shed or Beer. Beer is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband. In summary, Husband is a great system, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. It also tends to work better running one task at a time. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food and Hot Lingerie… We hope this helps. Regards, Tech Support

Hope you enjoyed it!

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Looking back on March 2011

Usually when you come to the end of a year, you always look back and think where did the year go. Well, I am feeling like that at the moment, and it is only April. But three months/the first quarter of 2011 have passed, easter is upon us, along with Autumn, and I cannot believe it, where has the first three months gone? That is why I have decided to look back at March and see what we did during March.

The month started with my husband turning 30. We had a big party on the 12th of March on my parents’ farm. The party was cowboy themed with a mechanical bull. Everyone dressed up and had a wonderful time. Here’s my husband, Pierre with some birthday cake :0

Later that week, the 17th (St Patrick’s Day) was his actually birthday. We then had another great evening at a local pub with irish music and entertainment. I think the pictures talk for themselves.

  

Last year Pierre and 2 close friends (Juan and Chris) joined the Round Table. They were inducted in February and on the 19th of March we had the formal (black tie) induction dinner at a fancy restaurant (La Scala) in MonteCasino. What an absolute wonderful evening. We had a chance to dress up in evening gowns and feel all pretty and elegant. This would definitely be the highlight of the month (as well as the year, so far)!!!!!

 




Lastly, we had a track day, on Saturday, 26 March. The day was organised in conjunction with the Round table, Investment cars for children with hearing trouble. I even got to ride in a Porche that day :-0

 

 

March was definitely a busy month for us. But luckily, I could still find sometime to scrapbook, even though it was not a lot.

Let’s see what April has in store for us :-)

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Long time no blog

Oh my word. It has been about 7 months since my last blog, it is terrible. I have been terrible. Hopefully this will change very soon.

I am busy finalising my BoBunny design team audition. I am very exited about applying for one of the best design teams in the world. I just love BoBunny. They always design the most stunning ranges with paper and lots of embellishments for your pages. But even if you just buy the paper you can always add other embellishments to the page that will match. The application has to be in by Saturday. I have finished my layouts and my other project, just still need to finalise the cards and the application form then I am done. Then it is thumb holding until they annouce it on August the 6th. I cannot wait.

Hang on, lets not get to carried away, I need to finish that application form.

P.S. watch this space as I will be uploading my layouts I have done in the last couple of months!

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Canvas Scrapbooking

It is a lot of fun to alter and scrap on a canvas. It is also a great gift to make for someone else.

I did a class with a lady called Anna-Karin over last weekend about Textured Canvas Scrapbooking. We made a canvas with a lot of texture and using different paint techniques.



I started with one on Friday. But to me it was not that big a success. The final product is growing on me... I was a bit disappointed. The picture I took to put on the canvas are one of my wedding pictures, and it's a very special picture. But in the end I used another picture on the flop one and on Saturday, I made a second one, which I love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Tutorial: Textured

Supplies:

• Canvas
• Gel Medium
• Acrylic Scumble Glaze
• Acrylic Paint (white/cream and a dark brown)
• Patterned Papers
• Embossed Patterned Papers
• Chipboard Embellishments and Letters
• Die-cuts

Method:

1. Paint the canvas with a thin layer of cream or white paint, the edges are the most important. If you want to you can paint some of the chipboard pieces too. Let it dry.
2. Cut and tear up the different patterned papers and embellishments and place them so that they cover the entire canvas. They should overlap a bit. If you have decorative scissors, you can use them on a few of the edges. The goal is to get a lot of interesting texture. Don't worry if the colours or patterns don't seem to fit together.
3. Collage the papers and embellishments onto the canvas using the gel medium. Simply paint a layer of the gel on a part of the canvas and palce the papers on top of it. Make sure there are no air bubbles underneath and press down the edges of the paper. Continue to the next section. Let it dry.
4. Do the same with the embellishments and the title. Let it dry.
5. Paint the entire canvas with the gel medium once or twice. Make sure that everything is firmly adhered. Let dry in between and after.
6. Mix a bit of white and cream paint, and add about the same amount of scumble glaze. The amount of scumble glaze depends on the thickness of the paint and on how transparant you want the mixture to be. Scumble glaze makes the paint a bit transparant and also gives you more time to play with the paint as it dries slower.
7. Paint the paint mixture over the entire canvas. If there are any areas that you think got too much paint, use a cloth or a paper towel to carefully wipe off some of the paint.
8. Mix about 1 part brown paint, 2 parts scumble glaze and 3 parts water. Paint this over ther entire canvas and leave it for a minute or tow. Rub off most of it with a cloth. Leave it in some places to add dimension. Let dry.
9. If you want to, add a rub-on or two. Stamps also work great.
10. Adhere your photo to the canvas.
11. You can also embellish the edges of the canvas with rub-ons, journalling, stamps, etc
12. Add a hook to the back. Enjoy!

This is what the "flop" looks like:

And the pretty one!!!!!!!!!!!!! (as you can see this one is a whole lot nicer than the first one!)



Happy Canvas Scrapping!

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Yummie!!!!!!!

Here are some devine recipes that I got on Facebook for all those chocolate fanatics, like myself!

Chocolate and Mint Tart with Creme de Menthe Cream


Ingredients (serves 6)

• 3 eggs
• 160ml thickened cream
• 60g good-quality dark chocolate, melted, cooled
• 2tbs cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
• 40ml (2tbs) creme de menthe, plus extra to serve
• Whipped cream and mint leaves, to serve

Pastry

• 225g plain flour
• 40g icing sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
• 2 egg yolks

Method

1. To make the pastry, place the flour and icing sugar in a food processor and mix for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and process until the mixture comes together to form a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigeratge for 30 minutes.
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C.
4. Line the pastry shell with baking paper and fill with rice or pastry wieghts. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights and return to the oven for five minutes until dry and crisp.
5. Place the eggs, cream, chocolate, cocoa and creme de menthe in a bowl and beat to combine. Pour into the tart shell and bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until just set. Set aside to cool (don't refrigerate).
6. Swirl a little extra creme de menthe through the whipped cream. Slice the chocolate and mint tart and dust with cocoa powder. Serve with the cream and garnich with a few mint leaves.

Choc-chip Pudding with Jam and Creme Fraiche


Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 120g unsalted butter, softened
• 120g caster sugar
• 1tsp vanialla extract
• 2 eggs
• 120g plain flour
• 60g cocoa powder
• 2tsp baking powder
• 60g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup raspberry jam, warmed
• Creme fraiche or mascarpone, to serve

Method

1. Grease a 1-litre pudding basin.
2. Cream butter and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer, add vanilla, then add eggs, one at a time, beating after each until just combined. Sift floar, cocoa and powder and add to mixture with enough water (about 1-2 tablespoons) to make a dropping consistent. Stir in chocolate, then spoon mixture into basin. Make a pleat in the centre of a sheet of baking paper (to allow for expansion) and use to cover pudding. Secure with string, then cover with foil.
3. Place basin in a saucepan and add enough water to come halfway up the sides, then bring to the boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and steam for 2 hours. Remove basin from pan and set aside for 10 minutes. Turn out, cut into slices and serve with warmed jam and creme fraiche.

Here are the rest of the names and pictures, the recipes will have to wait.... Just making sure I make you come back for more..... Sorry, am I mean?!?!?!?!

Choc-a-Block Trifle


Ingredients (Serves 6)

• 4 good quality chocolate brownies (about 85g each)
• 1/4 cape (60ml) Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
• 275g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 tbs caster sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 600ml thickened cream
• 150g white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup (30g) toated chopped walnuts
• Dark chocolate curls (see note), to decorate

Method

1. Break up brownies into small pieces and place in the bottom of a 1.5 litre dish or 6x1 cup (250ml) serving glasses. Drizzle over the Kahlua, then set aside.
2. Place dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Allow to melt, then stir very gently until smooth. Remove from heat and add 225ml boiling water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring to make a sauce (don't add water more quickly or the chocolate will 'seize' and become grainy). Pour sauce over the brownies, then cover and chill for 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a bowl with electric beaters until thick and pale.
4. Heat 300ml of the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until just below boiling point. Pour the hot cream mixture over the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Transfer to a clean saucepan and place over low heat. Stir for 2-3 minutes until a thick custard forms.
5. Place two thirds (100g) of the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the custard into the bowl, stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined. Cool completely, then poor over the chocolate brownie base. Chill for 2 hours.
6. Place the remaining 50g of white chocolate in a food processor with the walnuts and pulse until fine. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks, stir in the walnut mixture, then spread over the trifle. Chill for at least 2 hours until set, then servedecorated with chocolate curls, if desired.

Notes and Tips

• To make chocolate curls, melt good quality chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water not letting the bowl touch the water. Spread evenly on a flat board or baking tray, then refrigerate until set. Use a sharp knife to carefully shave off curls. Refrigerate until needed.

Chocolate Cake with Caramel Frosting

Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
Ingredients (Serves 12)

• Melted butter, to grease
• 200g butter, at room temperature
• 155g (3/4 cup firmly packed) brown sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 265g (1 3/4 cup) self-raising flower
• 35g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
• 185ml (3/4 cup) milk
• 70g (1/2 cup) pecans, coarsely chopped
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

Caramel Frosting

• 250g butter, at room temperature
• 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 2tbs golden syrup
• 1 tbs milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a round 22cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to lightly grease. Line the base and side with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter, brown sigar and vanilla in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until just combined. Sift the flour and cocoa over the butter mixture. Use a large metal spoon to fold in the milk until well combined.
3. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, to make the caramel frosting, use an electric beater to beat together the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium bowl until light brown and fluffy. Add the milk and beat until well combined.
5. Use a large serrated knife to cut the cake in half horizontally. Place the bottom half of teh cake on a cake stand or serving plate and spread with half the caramel frosting. Top with the remaining cake and spread with the remaining caramel frosting.
6. Sprinkle the top of the cake with pecans. Place the caster sugar in a medium frying pan and stir o er low heast for 3-5 minutes or until sugar dissolves and caramelises. Remove from heat. Set aside for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles subside and toffee cools slightly. Use a spoon to drizzle cake with toffee.

Chocolate & Cinnamon Flan

Chocolate and cinnamon are a favourite combination in Mexico.
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 60 minutes
Ingredients (Serves 8)

• 215g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 60ml (1/4 cup) water
• 500ml (2 cups) milk
• 100g dark cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Strawberries, washed, hulled, quartered, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line the base of a large baking dish with a tea towel, folded to fit.
2. Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
3. Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. Cook, without stirring, occasionally brushing down the side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water, for 7 minutes or until golden. Use an oven mitt or tea towel to hold a round 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with one hand. Pour in the caramel and swirl to coat the base and 2cm up the side. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile, place the milk and chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring for 4-5 minutes or until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.
5. Whisk together the eggs, condensed milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl. Gradually add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Place the cake pan in the lined baking dish. Pour the custard mixture into the pan. Pour enough boiling water into the dish to come halfway up the side of the pan. Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until just set.
6. Carefully remove the cake pan from the baking dish. Set aside for 40 minutes to cool. Place in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight to chill.
7. To serve, run a flat-bladed knife around the edge of the pan. Carefully turn the flan onto a serving plate. Cut wedges and serve with strawberries.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse

Broken Heart Chocolate Puddings with Mocha Sauce

Bittersweet Chocolate Mud Cake

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Bowls of Hot Chocolate

Blackforest Cheesecake

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

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Oh my word...

It has been ages since I was last here. so much has happened since the last time I came to blog. It is scary. And the worst part is, that the last time I blogged I had just come back form Christmas holiday. Now it is already June... It is terrible how time flies. Before you know it the year is done with...

Lets try and catch up. One thing at a time.

Let me start with February. A lot happened - it was Valentines Day as well as our first wedding anniversary. Here are some pics...

These pictures have luckily been scrapbooked. (Will download them later...) So even though I have not had time to blog. I do however make time to scrap...

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