Weekend in review

I am loving the London Olympics!!  This weekend I watched archery, synchronised diving and gymnastics; I can't wait for the synchromised swimming.  And it was so great to wake up to the news that Cameron won gold last night for South Africa.

"London - Cameron van der Burgh was the king of the pool on Sunday night, bagging South Africa's first medal of the London Olympics when he won gold in the men's 100m breaststroke in a world record time of 58.46 seconds.  The South African led from start to finish as he annihilated the rest of the field" (news24.com)

The rest of my weekend was spent pottering around at home, tidying up a bit, playing with some art supplies, going for a walk, and reading.  Lovely - I need many more weekends like this. 

I did all the work - tidying up and uncluttering, and guess who passed out exhausted on Sunday afternoon??  Not me.  Miss Ruby was sooo tired, so she had to have her beauty sleep.  She's such a sweetie!

Mixed media artwork

This is a piece of wall art that I created last Sunday at the Seedpod Studio in Broadacres.  The process is wonderfully messy, and it's a lesson in 'colouring outside the lines'.  I was fortunate enough to be the only person attending the class, so Michelle (the teacher) and I could play with various tools and techniques.

I will hang this in my craft room as a note to self for when the dark, difficult days overwhelm me, and for when I feel unloved and forgotten and alone.

Layout to share

Just sharing a few scrapbooking layouts from my trip to Italy last year...

I am so enjoying the act of creating again.  After immense challenge and change during the past 8 months, I'm rediscovering me the creative person, me the artist, me the writer.  The sound of paper and the smell of adhesive and the texture of paint on my hands all say "shhh, everything is going to be all right".

Christmas in July

The Scrap Addicts celebrated Christmas in July at my home on Saturday.  It was an awesome day together.  Everyone contributed something yummy towards the meal, and we shared Christmas gifts. 

the 6th member of the Scrap Addicts group - gorgeous miss Ruby

Leonie tries out a new gadget...gotta get one of those

a simple but delicious (Christmas) lunch of roast chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes and salad

I love and appreciate this group of women so very much

Linda

Leonie

Alison

Lynn

Doodle notebook

I have registered for Stephanie Ackerman's A whole new Doodle online doodling course.  A requirement for the course is a lined notebook for practicising in.  Of course I could not just have a boring old black notebook...nooo!  I covered my book in scrap paper, strips of washi tape, added a stamp and letter stickers, and then covered the whole book in repositionable plastic. 

This will be my playbook for a while...

Cape Town

I did a quick trip to Cape Town to attend the graduation of our Company's Java Developer Academy learners.  In about July 2011, I put together the business case for the JDA, and after much persuasion (and frustration), I convinced our partners in the USA to fund the Academy, which ran from mid January to July 2012.  I am so proud of these 7 young people for completing the 6 month qualification; they now join our company on a 12 month learnership.

Couldn't help noticing the mountain in the background.  Those of us from Jozi notice the mountains ... a lot

Weekend in review

I spent the weekend with my family in the Northwest province.  It was bitterly cold, but so good to connect with family

Elizabeth is soooo gorgeous, and a fiery bundle of non-stop crazy energy

We did prints of the girls' hands and feet onto canvas

These tiny little feet belong to Kataryn at 3 and a half months old

Randomness

I'm enjoying Susannah Conway's blog, especially her post on 5 ways to turn a day around:

1. create a feel-good folder
2. treat yourself
3. look for eye candy
4. pick up a book
5. go for a walk outside

I need it today.  On Monday, I was feeling really blah, nothing serious, just a low grade constant level of blahness.  Know what I mean?  On Tuesday night, I developed a severe pain on the left side of my chest, and it didn't ease by Wednesday morning.  As there is heart disease on my dad's side of the family, I headed off to the doctor.  He checked me out, did an ECG, and all seems fine.  Apparently, the muscles and joints over my heart are inflamed.  What's that all about??

I'm going to visit my family in the NorthWest province this weekend.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Kataryn has grown, and of course, seeing princess Elizabeth and everyone else.

I'm off to Cape Town on Monday for a few days of work.

Have a great weekend!

Layout to share

Just sharing 2 recent layouts...

This past weekend, we were talking about how some scrappers stick to the same style over and over, and all their layouts eventually look the same.  Hmmm, I hope this is not true of me.  Or do I care...?  Yes, I do like to group several photos together or use lines of photos on a layout, I like circles and stamps and punches and always add journalling. 

Actually, I don't think it really matters what your pages look like.  As long as the person who is doing the scrapping is enjoying the process, then it's all good.  Scrapping really is paper therapy for the soul.  And that's what's important.

A little home decorating

Things are s l o w l y  coming together in my new home.  I've done a little bit of decorating in the guest bedroom.  I've used the existing cream duvet covers which I love, and added warm orange and chocolate tones in the throws, night frills, carpet and cushions.  I also replaced the table with a small butlers tray and added a gorgeous gold lamp shade to the existing bedside lamp.  Love the result!  Some of the Scrap Addicts will be sleeping over later this month.  I hope they will feel welcome and be very comfortable

before...

after...

Weekend in review

It was a gentle weekend of scrapping, and treating the birds....

So funny. Ruby was not happy about her mom going away again, so after I packed my bag on Thursday night, she lay on it and glared at me

I scrapped with friends at Tuishuis in Pretoria, and got 8 pages done.  It was Tanya's birthday (she's in the middle in the red shirt) 

I bought this sweet little bird feeder at Mr. Price Home.  It's outside my bedroom window.  I'm looking forward to seeing who comes to visit and say thank you for the pear

Layout to share

I know... you've been wondering if I still scrapbook.  Of course I do.  Here is a layout that I did recently, using lots of T!m Holtz products.

The original page was designed by Glenda Viljoen,

who hosts the National Scrapbooking Conventions in South Africa 

This is the T!m Holtz silver crackle paint, I think I really like it

This tag was made using stamps and washi tape

I'm scrapping this coming weekend with Leonie and some new friends in Pretoria.  Off you go - now it's your turn to be creative

What's on my iPhone

It's interesting to see what photos we have on our phones.  These are some of the photos on my iPhone, many from my sister-in-law, Tonia.  The key themes are Elizabeth, Kataryn (my 2 adorable nieces) and Ruby (child of my heart).

** Elizabeth **

** Kataryn **

** Ruby **

What's on your phone?