Treasure Hunt

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Wow! What a busy weekend!
It is celebration time over at Scrapbook-Elements. They are celebrating 5 years in business and we are having a bunch of challenges happening. I've seen some amazing prizes being offered! Come on over and check it out!

I am hosting a Treasure Hunt
I took a scenic drive through the store and collected 25 items in my treasure chest. These items here used to put together this rather unusual 'scene'
I invite you to browse the store and see if you can list all 25 items for me. (this does not include the 4 pieces of paper that I used!)

And I have prizes galore : There is a participation gift : for any list that is submitted to me, even if you don't have 25 items on there :


and for getting 20/25 items correct....I'll give you this :

Find and correctly list 25/25 and I'll add this to you package :
and while you are 'digging' find where I got the papers from....and I'll give you this :


And that should give you a fine helping hand towards getting some scrapping done! You'll need it as you'll be spending some time in the store, finding all the goodies! LOL
The challenge runs until April 4th....come along and join us.
You can find all sorts of other challenges in this thread. And did you notice the Sunday Afternoon Collab Kit in my previews? That is a free with purchase deal...and it is beautiful :

Till later....happy hunting!

Spring Time!

The hummers are back...finally! A friend and I were just talking about how slow they are in returning this year. This morning we were watching the Northern Flicker drumming away on an empty birdhouse, when the little male Rufus came for a loooooong drink. It has been a long journey for him, all the way up from Mexico!

I took the picture through the window...hence the slightly blurred effect. I have not seen any Red Flowering Currants in bloom yet, but with the nice warm days were having, I think they will be opening en masse soon.

Well when I typed that this morning, it was warm and sunny...we are back to drizzle and clouds, and some one even mentioned snow for tomorrow, but I don't think the hummers would stand for that KWIM?

ROFLOL.

And I just noticed a female hummer on the feeder. I don't care what the weather is doing, I'm telling you, it is spring!

Star Light Star Bright....

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This LO was fun...I wanted to do something a little more whimsical, and the expression on this boy's face seemed to suit a 'sweet' LO like this one!

Whenever I do a LO like this, I wonder why I don't do more whimsical ones. They really are fun!

I used Gypsy Couture's new Head in The Clouds Page Set. (Still on sale today!)
Till tomorrow...happy scrapping!

It's Out At Last!

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Poor Tim had a rough start with his teeth. The new ones were already going strong while the old ones were still clinging on for 'dear life' Very frustrating! We eventually had to take him to the dentist to remove that first one! Unfortunately that kept on happening and in the end his teeth were really very uneven.
Enter the orthodontist and horrid braces : but the results are worth all the discomfort! At least I think so, but of course it wasn't my mouth, teeth and braces!
This picture was taken after we returned home from the dentist in 2000, getting that first one removed :
and here he is, December 2008 after the braces came off...what a relief!
I used Cathy Krenek's "Laugh" page set for the 'No More Braces' LO. Click here for full credits.
The first LO celebrating the first lost tooth, was made using a little kit I put together for the purpose, and then expanded a little (like adding a bow and buttons etc) for use with girl pictures.
It does not pretend or claim to be wonderful and wow you, but if you think you may find it useful, then please download it and enjoy!

Download the Papers HERE
Download the Elements HERE
I'll be back tomorrow with a new LO for you, using Gypsy Couture's new kit.

Reading the Sunday Paper

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A snapshot of a peaceful afternoon...I don't think he was aware of the camera at all! I used Rina Kroes's new Moroccan Nights Page Set for it. Scroll down to see a preview of the kit as well as the Quick Page Freebie I made for you from this LO.

Thanks for dropping by!

Moroccan Nights

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Rina Kroes has a new kit in her store over at Scrapbook-Elements, called Moroccan Nights.

Take a look :

Apart from the colours that are just wonderful : they vibrate together in a way that both contrasts and compliments, thus creating a vibrancy and excitement, that makes you look and look and look. But what stands out to me most, is the vast selection of textures that Rina included in this set. Treated with her customary incredible attention to detail, I see satin and glass beads, rough stone walls and cloth, brass and copper and woven baskets. Truly a feast for the senses.

See what I mean?

The Page Set as well as the Alpha, decorated frames and the Danglement are on sale Sunday and Monday.

Freebie time! And what a selection for today!

From me to you : A Quick Page to download HERE

and over on Rina's "Reluctant Recluse" blog you will find this beauty, made by Kabra,

and...! Over on Debbie's blog, you'll find a set of wordart:

Wow! Now that is the way to start the week!
Happy scrapping! I'll see you later with my LO from which I made the Quick Page!

One Day in October

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I love it when I see a kit and I instantly know which picture/pictures to scrap with it! this is what happened when I saw Monica Larsen's "New and Happy" Page set.

I intended my LO not as a wedding LO but as a portrait, and I'm very happy with how it turned out! Full credits here.

Incidentally, although you cannot really see the font that I used on the tag, it is called "Dear Theo" and is based on Vincent Van Gogh's handwriting.

I used it for this LO below, done for an EOL (Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life) type album. (EOL is where you go down the alphabet scrapping about words related to that letter, telling about yourself. An interesting way to do an autobiographical album)

Click here-or on the picture- for full credits!

My friend Kabra is hosting a challenge - Alphabetically Speaking- over at Scrapbook-Elements that has a similar concept, of scrapping by the letter so to speak! LOL And you are never to late to join...it has no deadlines...except for the letter 'z' Which is just as well, for although I have several LO's in my head....I have not yet committed them to....err...screen?

A New Danglement!

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Remember I told you of a new Danglement by Rina Kroes coming today? Boy am I ever glad I can show it to you...at last! LOL.

Now this beauty is available at only $1.00 for today and tomorrow. Rina also has some decorated frames and a gorgeous alpha in her "Dollar Bin" for today.
Here's the Alpha
Now maybe you don't need a calendar for this year anymore...but take a look at this deal! You get 15 unique decorated frame clusters in this set (remember these are sized for CD cases) For someone like me who does tons of bragbook size LO's these are PERFECTO!
and the price of $1.00 is hard to beat...
Remember to check out the rest of Rina's Dollar Bin..those frame clusters are the best (and they come with handy cutting mats...it could not get any easier than that! and while you are there, take a bit of time and look around at Rina's Close-Out Products. Some FINE deals to be had there.

And remember the Scrapbook-Elements March Madness Sale is today and tomorrow only!

See you there !!!

Visiting on The Farm

By now you all know that I love old black and white pictures of my family! Here is a couple of particular favourites and when it came to scrapping them, I found the perfect items in Gypsy Couture's new "A New Chapter" The warmth of the kit, combined with the freshness of the elements, was just what I was looking for! 'Koedoesfontein' was the name of the farm.


and here is a look at the beautiful "A New Chapter" kit by Gypsy Couture...don't you just love that book?!?
I thought I would like to share my page with you, so I made a Quick page Freebie for you all


You can download the Quick page HERE.

Thank you for dropping by....see you tomorrow!!

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" Spectacular Moon"

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We have the most amazing view of the moon as it rises, and although the picture doesn't do it justice, it serves as a reminder to us of this spectacular sight.

In the spring and again in the fall, in particular, the moon is so big and so stunning. The night we took this picture, the sky was painted in these beautiful blues, pinks and purples as well. I wish I had a camera that can really capture it all!

But even so, I'm glad for this picture, that will be something to help us recall this in years to come.

I used a new kit by Gypsy Couture "Midnight in the Garden" for my LO. It is available at Lisa's PlainDigitalWrapper Store.
I found it hard to decided what to choose out of this kit for the LO! I kept having to remove items as the picture called for something uncluttered, but I reeeeeeally wanted to use all the lovely goodies! LOL. As it is I combined two papers to make the smaller paper square....yummy stuff indeed...who needs candy with so much eye candy around?
I feel another LO coming on...
And if you check back tomorrow, I'll have another new kit to show you, and another freebie QP!
See you then!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

No I don't have, even one drop, of Irish blood in me...but that is not enough reason not to join in the fun! So I put together a couple of Bragbook Quick pages for you, for you to quickly scrap the fun pictures you take today!




I used papers and elements from Kimmi Stewart's Ted E. Rabbits Kit and frames and journal blocks from Kimmi's Spring Bears Kit. The clovers, leprechauns and other "St. Paddy's" goodies came from Kimmi "Lucky Elements set"
Got to run...I'm on gallery duty today...will catch you all later...you can download the freebie Quick Pages HERE
Have a Happy St. Patrick's day!

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I got it!!!

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So I threatened and twisted her arm...I winced and whined...I blackmailed and.....

Whaddaya mean you don't believe me?.....?!?!?!?

you are right....but I did get you this peek at the new kit coming to Rina Kroes's Scrapbook-Elements store this Sunday (March 22) and the new Danglement on sale Friday and Saturday....is made with this kit....do yourself a favour : don't miss it!

See you tomorrow : with a freebie...Top o' the Evenin' to ya!

Have you seen these Danglements?

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What is a danglement you ask? A Danglement is one of Rina Kroes's elaborately decorated frames. I think Rina gets an enormous amount of pleasure out of making these, and I must confess, I love the way they look on a page. And seeing as she makes them so beautifully, I am just too 'lazy' to make my own! Besides, Rina does them so well!

Now a little birdie told me -LOL- that there will be a new one in Rina's store this Friday....during the 2 days March Madness Sale....and really, to pay one $1.00 for one of these is quite 'ridiculous'

Let me show you what I mean : Here is my LO of Edith

I took this danglement that co-ordinates with Rina's Summer Garden kit

for the background I used a couple papers from the Summer Garden paper pack. (I blended them using a grunge brush as my eraser)

and used an overlay for Rina's Elegant Page Overlays to add a delicate border to the page.

Then all I needed to do was add the journalling and I opted to use the matching Summer Garden Alpha and the TXT LongHand font.

In no time my LO was done...and I love how it turned out!

Searching for 'Danglement' in the SBE store leads me to these results. The danglements are included, in the results, as well as the kits they co-ordinate with.

Here is another example of how I used one of these decorated frames :

For this LO I used some items (papers & folded Ric-Rac) from Rina's Polka Dot Prism series (now on close-out -great bargain!)

and the Red, White & Blue Danglement

Very quick and easy....and very pretty indeed.

For more danglement LO's (including the latest ones in the store) : head on over to Rina's Reluctant Recluse blog

Go ahead! try a Danglement today!!

Till next time : Happy Scrapping!

Feeder Bullies : Stellar's Jay

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There is just no denying it : The Stellar's Jay is a beautiful bird; the Stellar's Jay is a bully!

Arriving at the feeder with a raucous screeching announcement, they promptly chase away every other bird and proceed stuffing their cheeks with seeds. And they are not choosey either. Any seeds will do. Bad mannered too huh?

But oh so pretty, when the sun catches those blue feathers, the bird looks like a gem, a costly Lapis Lazuli stone. And as a besides-the-point : The Stellar's Jay is the provincial bird of British Columbia. Not a bad distinction for a 'bully' is it?

Kidding aside, some days we do feel like chasing them a milion miles away, yet the other day when a hawk cornered one on the deck, hubby lost no time in coming to it's rescue...isn't it a quirk in the English language that a heart can be both big and small, at the same time, and mean very much the same thing in the end? Gotta love English....

I made another LO for our "Critters At Our House" album : this time featuring our favourite bullies! LOL for my LO I chose Gypsy Couture's Carefree Days Kit

The template (which I turned, moved and in general rearranged) for my LO I got from Denise's The Rich Scrapper blog...you can find this great freebie HERE

Gypsy Couture is having a sale this weekend at her Digichick store:

And finally for today, I have a little freebie Quick Page gift for you. Made with Gyspy Couture's Kiss of Spring Kit. I hope you find it useful. If you do use it, leave me a link in the comments and I'll drop by at your gallery!

Freebie no longer available...

Thanks for dropping by!

Another 'Summer Love' LO and a Freebie

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I may as well post LO's full of summery yellow...our world is white again this morning! Not that I hate the snow. On the contrary, it is very very beautiful...as long as I don't have to go places in it! Ha!

I used Vickey Morrissey's "Summer Love" for this page too. (see the preview in the post below)

I did another LO with a decidedly Spring feel to it. Now tell me that bonnet is not the cutest, and see if I believe you!


I used Kimberly Stewart's new "The Bears and The Bees" Page Set

and finally I have a freebie bookmark for you, created using Kimberly Stewart's "Spring Has Sprung" Page Set. The bookmark features "The Lord's Prayer"

You can download the freebie bookmark HERE or HERE

Happy Scrapping...till next time, thanks for dropping by!

A Special Aunt...

We all have them don't we? The one that kind of stands apart from the others. Here is a special picture of me, and my special aunt. I don't look too happy in the picture, I wonder if I reckoned that staring straight into the camera may speed up the process and I can get down from there and out of the wind quickly? LOL

I like this picture very much though, and I like the way this LO turned out.


I used Vickey Morrissey's new Summer Love Page set for this page.
I need to get scanning on my new pile of negatives. I can hardly wait to see what's inside. It is such a treat to see the pictures appear on my computer screen.

Catch you all later!

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Springtime Memories...

Well it sure looks like it on these pictures. that is my sister...and no her name isn't really Jane, but then again, there was a point in time when my Mom called each one of us 'Lady Jane'

I just love these pictures of her, I tell you these negatives I'm receiving, of these old family pictures, are a treasure beyond words. Many I've never seen.

Oh the album ideas I have in my head!

I used a new Collab Kit (Through My Window)over at Plain Digital Wrapper for my page and the template is by my friend Denise Rich. You can find it on her blog The Rich Scrapper.

Now I just received more negative yesterday, so I have scanning and house cleaning to do.

Remember the March Madness Sales every Friday & Saturday over at Scrapbook-Elements! Don't miss out on these bargains...they are amazing!!

Join us for some March Madness and Crazy Prices at SBE Friday and Saturday ONLY Click the ad above to go directly to the March Madness section.

Till the next time : Happy Scrapping!

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Back in 1980...

...that was only yesterday, right?

I only had these two small pictures to work with, so the small multi frames worked well! The figures are just the contact sheet prints that we made of the entire film, before enlarging our pictures.

I'm talking about the days when we were at Art School. "We" here refers to myself and the dear friend who took these pictures. We were 2nd year students and were given this assignment to do for the photography class, on the campus of the University of Pretoria....and she took these 2 pictures of me...aaahhhh those were the days.

This page is part of a year-by-year album, done in 8x8 featuring my school pictures and the years after, until we got married. At that point it switches over to a yearly anniversary picture. Now if I can just get all the dates correct on hubby's pictures...I'll be doing the same for him, up until the wedding pictures, that is!
Later gators!....the robins were everywhere next to the road this morning...they're building nests I tell ya!

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Summer Babies

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Lots of babies in our yard every summer. Baby birds, squirrels, rabbits...and last year a baby raccoon. We've seen baby deer (some mothers will teach their babies to eat the pansies in a planter on a deck!) and one year Tim -almost- met up with a young black bear on the driveway.

The birds provide the most entertainment though, and oh how I love to watch my bird friends!

Like this one :

Scrapped using Gypsy Couture and JanaM's New Collab "Garden Friends"

Here is a LO - Helping Hand- I did quite a while ago, of a young finch that flew into the window.... click the LO for the -long- list of credits.

More baby animals another time. The hummer feeder is out, I heard the Pileated Woodpecker call this afternoon....now all I need is to see the first crocus. The snowdrops are blooming, the daffodils have growing buds and I even detected colour on the maples down the valley this afternoon.

Talk to you soon!

Snowy Marina

I was greeted this morning by the sound of a robin's spring song. Now we have robins at our place year round, but of course they don't sing all year round...so when I hear that song...I know spring is here.

The food is made for the hummingbirds' return...I'm ready!

I guess I did this LO just in time then : Snowy Marina. There is something decidedly 'odd' about the look of a marina in the snow, but it is undeniable beautiful. You can click on the LO to go to the gallery for complete credits.

I love using Jeri Ingalls's kits, as the elements in them look just like the things outside my door and in my pictures. They look so 'right' decorating my pages. I had to smile at the gorgeous papers in her Sailor's Logbook kit...I have seen many a boat hull that looks like that in local marinas!

Next time : something for spring....

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Gorgeous New Kit : In Memoriam

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It may not sound like something you are interested in, but before you dismiss it, do yourself the favour to take a good look at this amazing collaborative kit by Kimmi Stewart and Rina Kroes.

In Memoriam and here I'm going to quote Rina in her product description: " Anyone who has lost a loved one knows how much they cherish them and want to preserve their memory. Putting together a Memory Album is one way of remembering them, now and for future generations. Rina and Kimberly have come together in bringing you the "In Memoriam" collection that exemplifies gentleness in strength. Inside this large collection you will find a myriad of embellishments and papers that are suitable for both softly feminine and more rugged masculine pages. It is delicate and sensitive, yet strong and thoughtful. The colors are peaceful, yet with an intensity that gives them strength. You will be able to choose from a number of color combinations: from crisp silvery white and lavender, to the soft glow of gold leaf and sky blue, from warm caramel and taupe to shades found in nature, and finally to accent colors of scarlet red, navy blue and dark purple. "


And still quoting Rina : "Often times our emotions are still very raw from our loss and we may find it difficult to draw on our own creativity to assemble tribute pages that will bring justice to our loved one's remembrance. So in addition to this basic page set we have also put together an assortment of ready-made items that are so quick and easy to use so that you will have gorgeous pages in no time with the minimum of effort. Among these items (each available separately so that you can choose your own look and style according to your needs) are a variety of Stacked Papers and clustered frames ("Danglements") which you can mix and match. More items will be added shortly. "

Head on over to the Reluctant Recluse blog for more previews.
And here is a couple of special treats from a couple of Muses (CT members) :
Debbie has this super Wordart on her blog here.
and Lorilei just posted this beautiful QP on her blog here
I'm looking forward to showing you the rest of this gorgeous collection in the near future!
Till a little later!