mel's lightbulb moments

'Vintage Summer' in store!

2012-01-27T09:38:00.001+02:00

Hellooo everyone!

I have a new kit in store and i am sooo excited about it! In sunny South Africa, we are roasting away, summer is in full swing and i am LOVING it. :) Check out all the previews of 'Vintage Summer'. This is a bumper sized kit, it consists of 12 papers, folded krafts, painted krafts, a whopping 48 elements, a word art pack and two alphas, one in a vintage bronze eyelet style and the other a shabby styled alpha. It is also on sale at the moment for only $3-99!

Get 'Vintage Summer' at My Memories here!

I have also made a stacker freebie for you! I hope you can make good use of it.

Download the freebie here.

I also wanted to put it out there, I am feeling SUPER lonely without a creative team, soooo, I think it might be time to have a ct call sooon!

hHave a great day and MUCH love,

'New Beginnings' and a sale!

2012-01-24T11:38:00.002+02:00

it's good to be back! i always miss scrapping and designing when i go awol, so right now, i am loving it!

i have uploaded a new kit to my store at 'my memories', check out the sneaky:

and also, in the spirit of Valentine's day coming up, i have marked down my lovey dovey kits in my store. you can grab them for $1-99 each! i am battling to work against a deadline to get kits out in time for major times in the year, so right now, i am just gonna do what i love. i do however, have a halloween kit and a xmas kit ready for this year... LOL!!

i am also doing project 365 this year. (yes yes i know there are 366 days this year...) i am LOVING it! i cant believe i waited 3 years to do it. if you think you cant do it or it is too hard, trust me, if i can do it, anyone can!

i will upload my first months pics at the end of jan and will post it then. in the meantime, if you want to check it out, visit me on facebook!

much love fellow scrappers,

happy 2012!

2012-01-19T20:23:00.000+02:00

happy 2012 everyone!

its been a while and i hope someone out there still reads my blog, lol!!

wow, so, working from home isnt really what i thought it would be. it is really reaaaally tough. i honestly thought that i would hit the ground running, but it was more like being a deer in the head lights. too petrified to move and paralysed with indecision.

also, in hindsight i think it was silly to try to start working from home in december. what was i thinking??

we also went to visit my mom's, it was great to see the whole family again, but i didnt get anything done. and the outcome after all of this is massive amounts of useless guilt. guilt is such a petty emotion that helps with nothing whatsoever.

so after my birthday, i decided to take it easy... breaaaathe. i spoke to a couple of friends that work from home also and i was so stoked to learn that i am not the only person that battled with this kinda thing. i got very good advice, (thanks vicki, sue, corrina, i love you's) and i am now on the up and up. well.... for how long i dont know but for now i am getting there. its all about the journey right?

anyways, so i have had this kit on my HD for a looong time... looong. but it is finally ready and will be released sooooon. check out the sneaky.

much love everyone!

caitlyn & brendon = FUN!

2011-12-14T20:10:00.000+02:00

what a wedding!

on the 22nd of october, we had the opportunity to celebrate caitlyn & brendon's wedding with them. what an awesome couple, they are truly made for one another. they are both creative passionate people. brendon's talent lies in music, he is a drummer in a band, one of the many creative things he does. you know those people who's whole demeanor shows how they feel? well brendon is like that. he expresses himself with his hands, eyes, words, the works. caitlyn is a dancer and designer, she just ooozes femininity. she is totally bubbly, totally in control and a LOT of fun! the wedding went off without a hitch even in the blazing 38 degree heat, caitlyn made sure of that! it was a great day, full of fun and festivity, exactly what a wedding celebration should be. take a peek.

caitlyn's colours were ooooh soooo bright!! i love it. her shoes were red (YESS!!) and all her accessories made it a feast to shoot. needless to say, i had a LOT of fun!

on the way to the ceremony, it was hot... really REAALLY hot! at one stage it was 39 degrees. crazy!

beatiful!

check out the funky red gumboots :)

we made them dance and clap in the dirt road.. they didnt need much encouragement, hehe!

true to form, MAD pushed the boundaries.. again.. thanks sooo much guys, we have been planning these shots for ages, you guys pulled it off like champions! *lots of bow down smilies here!!*

*more bow down smilies*

love it!!

this wasnt planned by us, caitlyn and brendon decided to show us a thing or two about being spontaneous!!

what a sunset!

thanks to caitlyn and brendon, you guys are fabulous.

i MUST post a sneaky pic of our shoot of yesterday.. i MUST. when i saw it in camera, i wanted to blog it immediatly!!! just to awesome to keep hidden for months, so off i go!!
much love,

christmas come early!

2011-12-07T09:03:00.001+02:00

soo much excitement!

i finally decided to buy myself something. something that I really want. so i did it.

i bought myself prints from the most fabulous, awesome, creative Suzanne Woolcott. i just love her little girls. there is something mystical, sad and childlike about them, whatever it is, i cant get enough of them. to choose my favourites was such a mission. geees!! but i have a feeling that wont be a problem for too long, i really really want some more prints now.. hehe! take a look:

'the streak' was an obvious choice because of the zebra. this print will definitely become a gift for someone... hie hie!

and 'torn'?? i just always loved this one. its pretty powerful isnt it?

if you havent heard of suzanne woolcott, go check out her work here. if you have heard of her, but kinda lost touch, please go and read this post by Mr. G. i didnt realise that Suzanne was ill and was heart broken when i learnt about her story. Mr. G, like i said to you before, you are a legend.

have a great day everyone!

much love,

christmas goodies on sale!

2011-12-04T08:20:00.001+02:00

it truly is turning into silly season pretty fast !

i have decided to add my old christmas goodies to my store at my memories at a reduced price. and i have marked them all down to $0,99 until the 15th of december!

check out the golden oldies:

'Starry Starry Night' acrylic alpha pack:

'Starry Starry Night' element pack:

'Starry Starry Night' paper pack:

And some printable tags:

i also have another christmas pack out on sale called 'Silly Season'. there is also an add on quickpage pack available. these two packs are at 20% off! check it out:

The 'Silly Season' quickpage pack:

i still have some christmas cheer in me, me thinks... i will have a new christmas kit in store soon!

have a great sunday!

much love,

where in the world is mel hains...

2011-12-03T14:21:00.001+02:00

helloo everyone!

its been a loooong long time so let me bare all.

it has been one crazy year. dont you feel like that too? it kinda seems like everyone is in the same boat, 2011 was a hard challenging year. personally, i am glad 2011 is winding down. i am keen to start 2012 anew with new challenges and please... a new fresh beginning.

for those of you who dont know me too well, here goes.

hi! my name is mel. i am a digi scrap designer .... uuuhmm.. well.. thats not entirely true is it? since i started digiscrapping and designing, i have had a full time job as well. soo, i was(hint!) a part time digiscrapper and designer. all the other designers out there will know that to be a designer is not for the faint hearted. the pace in scrapland is absolutely crazy. i am sure there are a lot of designers already busy designing their Valentine's kits or even Easter kits. yes. that is how far ahead we have to plan, to get our stuff out just at the right time and to give our creative teams time to come up with their wonderful works of art.

over 2011, i have closed my personal store, joined the fabulous my memories and hoped for the best. needless to say, hoping will not get you there. no way. if you are just hoping for the best in scrapland as a designer, you will soon be closing up shop, frustrated and wondering, what went wrong.

never mind scrapland, cause like we all know, we still do have personal lives and children and husbands and etc. etc. etc... damien and i also have MAD photography to worry about, which brings me to my other passion, photography. we have had a really challenging year with MAD too. damien and i had to learn to appreciate each others passions, to understand each others weak points and to work together as a team. it is NOT easy working with your partner. not for us anyways. damien and i are both passionate people. sometimes there is a bit less passion and a bit more bickering. sometimes a LOT more bickering. sometimes, well, lets just say, we can still be professional whilst secretly wanting to kill each other. i realised in october this year, after much tears that you will always have a half baked business if you only give it half of your time.

basically, my life this year felt like i was constantly putting out fires, constantly trying to catch up, feeling guilty until i finally realised.. SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GIVE.

in the current economic climate all over the world, me, quitting my corporate, well paying job, seemed like suicide. especially if you were taught all your life to play it safe, make sure you have a new job before you quit your old one and plan everything to the last possible detail. never mind telling people you are now going to pursue your dream, and not just any dream, an airy fairy dream of taking pictures, making pretty kits to scrap them digitally and to then design them all up in an album. NEVER!!! are you crazy?? is it financially viable?? will you make enough money to survive? or the worst response, ooooh... and the blank stare that follows. in the beginning i tried to justify myself, but i soon realised that i cant do it and even more so, i dont need to justify myself to anyone. it is hard though, i am not gonna lie.

i had many discussions with my mom, my friends and damien. i looked for answers everywhere.

so i did it.

life is grand isnt it.. if you are walking around looking for answers, you will surely find them. on the last day of october, i handed in my resignation and left my secure cushy corporate job on the last day of november for the life of a photographer / digital scrapbook designer / album designer. this is what i always wanted to do. i have always said that i needed a chance to do it, to give it my all and to do what i really wanted to do. i have resigned myself to going back to the corporate life if this does not work out (which may seem premature or negative, but i am a realist too) but this is an itch that needs to be scratched.

so here i am, shall we try it again?

hi! my name is mel and i am a FULL TIME digiscrap designer / photographer/ album designer! i am busy designing up a storm, you will definitely see me around more often.

my store at my memories is filling up nicely, you will even find all my christmas items on sale. i am also teaching myself how to use the my memories software, it is pretty awesome! i will post a lot of my updates on facebook, read my page here.

thanks for reading. its good to be back.

much love,

so blow the candles out my dear...

2011-09-19T22:47:00.004+02:00

helloo everyone!

we had a pretty busy weekend, savannah had a fun day at school, which means, we spend money to buy back the things we bought already, LOL! but it was great fun, with massive sugar rushes and all.

it was also damien's birthday on saturday. i decided to bake him a cupcake cake just covered in a chocolate ganache. it was totally completely YUM! even at 7 in the morning.. hehe! check out the pics:

savannah decided to help blow out the trick candle.. she just loooves them!

how gorgeous is she?? :)

my store at 'my memories' is also growing! check out some of the latest additions:

you can also check out full previews on my pages here.

thanks for looking!
much love

scrapping the night away..

2011-09-08T10:45:00.002+02:00

hellooo everyone!

we had a blast at my mom's over the last weekend, it was so much fun to see all my family again and to finally meet my niece...oooooo hooow gorgeous she is! we did a family shoot with her, i will post pics asap. luckily, she is a tightly wound thing, so i am very happy to report that i am NOT broody at all! hehe!

family is just soo important. you only realise how quickly life goes by when you look at pictures from a while ago. my mom turned 60 this year, so i was faced with the ultimate dilemma. WHAT to get her. and my mom isnt the easiest person to shop for either. she is very pedantic, she likes what she likes and she is a neat freak. soooo not what i am like... lol!! so i decided to make her a photobook with all the pics i have collected over the years. i also got my brother to scan old photographs for me so that i could cover as much as i could of her 60 years. the result was really special. and this is where i want to thank my muse, yin, from simply yin. if you havent seen her templates, head on over to her blog and be inspired! thanks yin, the way you document your family and your life is absolutely amazing, you are STILL an inspiration to me after all these years. THANK YOU

yin has reignited my passion for scrapping and to actually make my memories real by putting it into book form. THAT to me is the full circle of scrapping. we need to have something to hold in our hands, to cherish and to shed a few tears over. even for me, the process of putting the book together was quite emotional. but most of all, it was a journey. a wonderful journey of love and joy, peace and harmony, but mostly LOVE.

i tried to make a nice online 'book' but slide will do just fine right? check out my mom's book:

happy scrapping everyone!

much love,

i love my mom

2011-09-01T14:45:00.000+02:00

hellooo everyone!

do you also feel like life is going by sooooo quickly? i remember i used to talk about 'the two year old' quite often and sometimes i catch myself saying 'bla bla bla bla the two year o.....oh wait. she is EIGHT already!!!' lol!

the only thing it means in my book is that the kids are growing up too fast and we are getting older.. quickly too! hehe!

we are going to visit my mom this weekend for her 60th birthday. i am sooo excited. a lot of things are going on with our family at the moment, my brother and his wife just had the cutestsweetestgirliestmookiewookielittlestpicklepie. i cant WAIT to meet her. obviously i will take a LOT of pics and i think i might design a baby girlie kit as well? i am sure i will be inspired!

my mom's jack russell also had puppies last week. oh my word what a rollercoaster ride. my mom was awake the whole of last sunday night to see to minki, and eventually, after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, she gave birth to 7 pups. 2 of them didnt make it (shaaaame! :( ) but my mom says the other pups are gorgeous and doing fine. i cant wait to meet them either!

my mom is one of the most special people in my life. she's always been there for me, she loves me like no other and she will protect me with her life. she is also a source of inspiration, she tells stuff like it is for which i am very thankful and she is just plain AWEEESOME! you all know the mama bear in you right? that uncontrollable feeling that rise up in you when your kids are being threatened? that was some of the inspiration of my kit, 'mama bear' that sadly got swept under the carpet with the close of Scrap that Idea and all the madness that went with it. i never made a big hoo haa of it, but today, in honour of my mom's BIG 60 and the celebration of motherhood, here it is.

'mama bear' in subtle shades and cute furry felt styled bears, is on special too in celebration of my mom's birthday. check out the preview and go to 'my kits' to see all the finer details. i have also scrapped!!! can you believe it. i am busy making my own scrappy photo book out of all the layouts i have scrapped over the years, and this layout will make a great addition.

and do you fancy a freebie? i hope so, this poor one has been collecting dust, i hope you can make good use of it? enjoy!

grab the cluster freebie here!

sending lots of love to all the mothers out there, you are truly special!

much love,

alexis and darren, MY friends :)

2011-08-29T15:46:00.001+02:00

hellooo everyone!

i have some pics to share today from our recent trip to the usa and from our friends, darren & alexis' wedding. they were the reason we went to the states, we had the fantastic opportunity to shoot their wedding in boston. it was amazingly crazy. usually we only arrive an hour or so before the actual wedding ceremony, but we were part of the proceedings for about a week before. its crazy stuff man. to all the prospective brides out there, good luck ladies! i would much rather stay behind the camera than fit dresses, make sure all the flowers are ok, stress about the weather, fight with my fiance.. phew!!! BUT, it was an awesome experience. boston was fab. we spent the morning with all the boys at state street barbers. wow!!! i have never seen a bunch of grown men, ooooh and aaaah so much about a shave. i even heard, 'THATS why chicks spend so much time at the hairsalon / nail salon/ beauty palour'. oh yes!! some of them (your secret is safe with me guys, i wont name names... lol!!) even swore to finding their own barber right here in south africa to go for a treat once a month. yes!! we have converts!! lol!! check it out:

afterwards, we raced to meet up with the girls to see how their preparations were coming along. it was the typical chaos, except that alexis was totally calm & collected. she looked beeeauuutiiiful! greek goddess doesnt even come close:

when i went to see how the boys were doing, it was the opposite of the cool and calm alexis. the boys were stressing like it was no tomorrow. i swear at one point i could hear nervous giggles all round!

the church in boston was breathtaking. luckily for us, we went to the wedding rehearsal and that was essential for us to check out light and our angles from where we could shoot. the minister was fabulous, he called us over, very sternly (yes... at that point i was worried, lol) and told us that we are allowed to do whatever we want, as long as we avoid a tiny staircase. YAY! the ceremony was a typical greek orthodox ceremony and it was very intense. i love symbolism and rituals, so it was pretty neat to see all the rituals.

then it was time for the creative shoot! we had limited time and rain threatening the whole time, plus a bunch of over excited mates trying to give damien and i as much advise as possible on HOW to exactly shoot in that weather. needless to say, after i threw my toys (it wasnt a pretty sight.. lol!) things went smoothly and we had a GREAT time capturing these special moments.

sweet story this! alexis got coke made in mexico especially for darren because the coke in america is made with cornsyrup and not sugar like here in SA..and mexico. how sweet is that???

thanks guys! it was EPIC!

i will be posting some more pics soon. much love everyone!

officially back! :)

2011-08-19T15:12:00.001+02:00

hellooooo everyone!

as you can see, i am busy fixing my blog, i am so challenged in this area.. lol!! i will be back soooooon with some pics from our trip to the usa - i LOVED the us - LOVED IT!

i cant wait to get back into the swing of things! i am also going to post all my new kits on my brand new pages section at the top. i am trying to figure out how to make pretty tags for that, but i am battling! if you have any hints or tips to give me, pllleeease do!

i have some kits on sale at my brand spanking new store, My Memories. i love it there! go check it out if you want to see some fabulous goodies. check out my store here. and freeeebies to follow sooon!

have a great weekend! much love xx

hellooo!! goodbye!!

2011-06-02T10:27:00.000+02:00

helloooo everyone!

oh my word so much has happened i dont even know where to start so i will just tell you everything as it pops into my head.

personally, A LOT has happened! we have been given an opportunity to shoot a friend of ours wedding in Boston, and the preparations for this started in december last year. it has been a struggle of epic proportions to get everything prepared for this trip. i found out that my passport expired so first off i had to apply for a new passport, only to find out that i have to be verified first to get a new passport. no, i am not sure exactly what that means, but eventually i got verified and eventually i got my brand spanking new passport! this took a month to sort out so by then the race was on to get everything sorted out. hats off to the pinetown department of home affairs, they were brilliant.

after the passport saga, it was time to get our visas sorted. when you travel on a green passport (south african passport) it is a mission to visit just about any country in the world without a visa. we even need visas to travel to nigeria and sierra leone.. !!!!!!!!!????????? anyways, the visa applications were insane. i have never been asked so many questions about so many things. to make a long story short, damien was denied his UK visa so the race was on to get his US visa ASAP. we literally , after a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears, we received our passports WITH visas to the US yesterday afternooon. no really. yesterday afternooooooonn!!!!! oh yes, i have the gray hairs to show it... wrinkles to prove it.... ;)

so we are set for our trip!! MAD photography is going global! i am sooo excited.

more personal news, damien asked me to marry him!!!! i was soooo super shocked, we have never been ones for the traditional kinda thing, so when he asked me, my first reaction was WHAT??? and then, what are you doing on the floor there?? are you feeling ok?? LOLOLOL!! so on bended knee, he asked, i had heart failure and we are now engaged. we are not planning to get married anytime soon, we have always wanted a 'honeymoon' wedding, so that will probably happen in a whole couple of years. ringwise, i dont wear any jewelery, its just not something i am into, so we are now looking for something suitable to show our commitment to each other. who knows, vegas wedding, dice ring... (this is for you pamperladies... LOLOLOL!!)

on other scrappy news, i am sure most of scrapland knows by now that we had to close our scrappy 'baby' down. it has been a tough decision, but in the long run, i think it will work out the best for everyone. i have been honoured to have worked with my fellow designers, vicki, sara, stacey and laramie. how awesome it was to learn, love and laugh with each other. i am not giving up designing, i am selling my designs at my memories at the moment and i am very happy there. so i will not be gone for good, when i come back, i will have some fabby new designs for you. stay tuned. a makeover is also imminent, i have already got some new scrappy 'gear' so see me on 1 july to see the NEW mel hains designs. very exciting stuff. so while our store is closing down this month, pop by and grab your favourites. some of them will be gone for good, i am not going to sell everything at my memories, so grab it now at 50% off.

so with that, is farewell STI, i will miss you. goodbye chilly durbs, see you soon soon. hello adventure!! hello new beginnings!

i will see you soon! if you are on facebook, i will have regular updates there.

much love everyone,

do you like to camp?

2011-05-12T15:31:00.000+02:00

helloooo fellow scraplanders!

i have had a FAB time over (i)NSD last weekend, i am super stoked with all the lovely goodies i got, cant wait to start using all of it! YAY!

this week has been pretty hectic so far, all the final preparations for our trip is going uhm... very HECTIC!

hopefully the rest will go well and we will have a faaaab time.

i want to show you some of the layouts that my creative team made with my (i)NSD grabbag, Camp out. This is a huge mega super dooper kit. I have revealed the kit in store and all the 'pieces' are available separately in our store.

Check it out:

thanks for looking everyone!

i will be back later with not one, NOOOOO, but TWOOOOO sneaky's for release tomorrow! YAY!

much love,

happy (i)nsd everyone!

2011-05-07T09:29:00.000+02:00

helloooo scrapland!

a very happy (i)NSD to all of you. how awesome to celebrate a craft that makes us cherish and save our memories for future generations or to just have fun and remember good times.

to celebrate his today, we have a 50% off storewide sale (some dollar items excluded), so grab your favourites now.

i have made a grab bag for (i)NSD, it is MASSIVE, camping themed and on sale at the moment for only $3. on monday this kit will be revealed and all items will be sold separately at full price. also, this kit includes a mystery coupon that you can use after (i)NSD to get a 40% discount on your next mel hains designs purchase at scrap that idea! check it out:

get my camp out (i)NSD here for only $3!

enjoy (i)NSD everyone! keep on making memories.

much love,

check out my (i)NSD grabbag!

2011-05-05T18:55:00.000+02:00

tick tock, tick tock! have you begun your shopping yet?

today i have the preview for you of my (i)NSD grabbag! YAY!! this grabbag will be sold as a bag for the weekend only, then it will be revealed and added to the store separately. grab it while you can, this is $10 worth of value for only $3!!!!! insanity!!! i have also added a secret coupon in the grabbag, which will save you 40% on your next mel hains designs order !

see you all tomorrow!

much love,

some more 'frolic' and a sneaky!

2011-05-04T11:09:00.000+02:00

i am SOOOOOOOOO excited about (i)NSD!! soooo very much!!

i have been filling up my wishlists at all my favourite stores, have you been doing the same? this is truly my favourite part of the year, when the scrapbooking celebrations begin, YAY!!!!!

i have some more layouts for you that was made with my kit 'Frolic', check out Kim and Sharon's layouts:

i have a really really REALLY cool deal for (i)NSD. It is a grabbag that will be sold at a ridiculous price, more info on this later. well, lets just say that its a $10 product that will be sold at only $3!!! tomorrow i will show you how the grabbag preview looks. but today, i have a sneaky for you!

chat tomorrow everyone!

much love,

'Frolic' freebie up!

2011-05-03T11:43:00.000+02:00

are you just as excited as i am??

(i)NSD IS COMING SOOOOOON!!!

i have something MASSIVE planned, i am sure you will love it, i have never done anything like this before for (i)NSD. check out our flyer for our store:

and i also have a freebie for you today! YAY! this word art freebie coordinates with my latest kit 'Frolic':

grab the word art freebie here!

chat soon everyone! have a fabulous day!

much love,

RAK winner & 'Frolic' has hit the store!

2011-04-30T08:55:00.000+02:00

hellooo scraplanders!

did you have a FAB time yesterday with the royal wedding? i am SUPER impressed with will sneaking a second kiss, well done. i did get a bit concerned, will looks more and more like charles everyday, but everything in his demeanor and his body language is sooo his mom. and how handsome is harry? sigh.

we had a great time, catching up with friends and watching some of the wedding.

today we are off photographing a wedding in Killarney Valley. i cant wait, this is going to be a special one. check out the sunset i caught with my phone when we went there 3 weeks ago:

tooo gorgeous!

today i have a new whimsical kit out called 'frolic'. i have also tried my hand at some 'scenepapers' it was so much fun making them. i loved it! i also made a set of add on word art. check it out:

and now the scene papers:

and some word art:

the girls on my ct blew me away! check out their fab layouts:

AAAAND!! the lucky RAK winner is Dawn B. i hope you like the kit dawn, enjoy!

i will have a freebie that coordinates with this kit up tomorrow.

much love everyone!

sneaky!

2011-04-28T09:37:00.000+02:00

hellooo everyone!

a quick post in this madness of all these holidays and such!

1. VERY excited bout the royal wedding, WHOOOOOOO!

2. having a FAB time with my mom here, i cant believe she is leaving again tomorrow.

3. a special kit coming out tomorrow! check it out!! as usual, i will RAK one reader with the kit and the add ons. leave a comment on this post WITH your email addy and it could be you.

have a great day everyone,

much love

our collabs!

2011-04-22T14:46:00.000+02:00

hello scrapland!

i hope you are all having a fabulous easter time and spending quality time with your loved ones.

i did have a sneaky and a new release planned, BUT some unexpected gremlins popped into the woodwork. i am back at the drawing board but the newbie will be up soooooooon!

today, just in case you havent seen it, i want to show you our april collab! it is a mega collab and has a sweet garden theme. check out 'garden friends':

you can grab this one in store for only $4!

have a great weekend everyone,

much love,

RAK winner! :)

2011-04-20T13:56:00.000+02:00

congrats to Sunfire!

just by leaving a comment on my blog, she receives my latest kit 'Crazy in love' as well as the gradient papers!

enjoy your kit!

check back tomorrow for a sneaky of something a bit different.. ;)

much love,

wedding bells! 'crazy in love' is here!

2011-04-18T18:03:00.000+02:00

hellooo scrapland! winter is definitely here now, big booooo hooooo! :(

we were cooped up at home for the whole weekend. savannah and i sneaked out for breakfast on sunday morning, but then raced home again to get under the covers. we are in for a chilly willy easter!

i want to show you all my latest kit,'crazy in love', inspired by all the wedding photography we do. i designed a full kit and an add on gradient paper pack. check out all the previews!

you can grab the gradient papers for only $1:

i just loved all the layouts! jenn, well done girl, i looove your layout! thanks ladies!

i also have a small cluster frame freebie for you, download here!

and still more! i will RAK one reader tomorrow, leave me a comment with your email addy and you might get this kit in your inbox this week!

much love everyone!

Congrats !! & a sneaky!

2011-04-15T15:38:00.000+02:00

congrats to noteable scraps! you will receive 'caterpillar stories' in your inbox sooon!!

easy peasy, just like that!

a new sneaky!!

much love everyone

finally retiring... forever!

2011-04-14T15:47:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

just a quick post to tell you that all my items that are in the 'retiring soon' bin over at scrap that idea is going to be gone in the next 24 hours! grab them now or forever hold your peace. all these items are only $1 each, bargain!!

here is a look at just some of the items:

much love,

bugs, worms, a RAK and a freebie!

2011-04-14T11:23:00.000+02:00

hellooo scrapland!

i am back, i have been battling a tummy bug (thanks family!!!!) and am now up and semi running again.

i went for a vit b co injection yesterday with thoughts filled of me frolicking around and jumping for joy cause i will have soooo much energy, just to have my hopes dashed by the clinic sister. she warned that it is not for everyone and that i should come and see her again on saturday if i am not frolicking yet.

well. i am not frolicking.

and the injection was @#$#%$ SORE.

hence, i will be visiting her again on saturday.

but on to better and brighter things! this new kit is very special to me. my ct member kim, sent me a link to hana lynch's blog where she used my 'alice' kit for her daughter's birthday. it was magnificent! hana is a very good photographer too, so it was a real treat to see how she used my kit. she then asked me if i had anything that looks like the book, 'a very hungry caterpillar', and i set off on a designing mission. it was LOTS of fun. this is how the kit, 'caterpillar stories' and all the add ons came out:

grab the full kit here!

i also designed an add on set of counting cards in 4x6 format from numbers 1 -9:

i also designed another add on beady alpha!

and even more! i made a set of stickers as well:

Check out some eye candy !

and i also made a small add on freebie!

grab the clusterframe freebie here!

also, i havent forgotten! please leave a comment and your email addy if you want to be RAK'd with this kit, i will announce the winner tomorrow!

much love and thanks for looking,

sneaky!

2011-04-08T15:49:00.000+02:00

who knows a caterpillar that was very hungry???

much love,

i got a new baby!

2011-04-08T09:30:00.000+02:00

yes finally i can start using my latest baby!

i have decided to get myself a new notebook, mine was due for an upgrade and so far so good. i got a HP DV7, 8 gigs of ram, 1TB space and an i7 processor. whooooooo!!!

i am very curious to see how this machine is going to handle. currently i am using my dell (i looove dell) studio 1558, 4 gigs of ram, 500 gigs of space (erm.. waaay to little.. lol!!) and an i5 processor. it looks purrty too!

it is HUGE though.. massive. and it does weigh quite a bit. hopefully if i carry it around long enough i will develop strong slim arms. one can always hope right???

now its to install all the programs etc. sigh. maybe i can get damien to do that for me.. LOL!!!

other than this, i have to tell you that i have finally managed to apply for my passport to visit the states in june. its been a massive story. going to home affairs here is not a joke. but regardless, i was help very swiftly and efficiently. lets hope. cause if we dont, i wont be able to visit.... :(

i will have a sneaky up soon. and i am going to RAK one reader with my newest kit over the weekend.

chat soon everyone!

much love,

sing a long with meeee! for a freebieeee! :)

2011-04-05T11:49:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

its a rainy day here in durban and i soooo wish i could be in bed, snuggled up with a book (erm.. most likely my laptop..) and just be shut off from the world. how nice.. one can always dream hey... LOL!!

i have to show you my latest kit, called 'Sing a long'. sometimes i wish we could all be like kids again and just do the fun things in life. surely that is what life is all about? i LOVED making this kit. i made an add on word art pack too and some gradient style papers. check out the previews and the layouts by my ct:

the plain paper preview:

the patterned paper preview:

the element preview:

get the full kit, 'Sing a Long' here!

the wordart preview

get the word art here!

the gradient paper preview:

grab the gradient papers here!

and now some eye candy!

thanks so much ladies! mwah!

i also have a little cluster freebie for you, i hope you enjoy it!

grab the cluster freebie here!

thanks for looking everyone!

much love,

uhm.. a VERY late sneaky!

2011-04-01T08:46:00.000+02:00

its been a hectic week, but here it is! VERY excited bout this kit, in store later today! YAY!!!

much love,

the one and only 2 week shot gun wedding, kim and clint

2011-03-31T19:35:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

i am very excited to tell you about this wedding. i have never ever seen a wedding executed to perfection like kim and clint.... all in 2 weeks. yes, yes. from when they decided to get married until they said i do, was two weeks. and it was fabulous! kim was 7 months pregnant and she looked gorgeous. her dress was made by a friend of ours, corrine from bougilias designs she is FABULOUS! check out her stuff here.

kim and clint decided to get married not because of her pregnancy (they have 3 kids already) but because they thought it was the right time and the right place. they said to us when we asked them about their wedding madness that they felt that if they wanted to receive more blessings in their lives together, that getting married is the right thing to do. how awesome to have such a clear and definite reason for wanting to get married?

they made the whole family part of the wedding. it was very informal but intimate at the same time. while they were saying their i do's, breakfast was being prepared and the smell of frying bacon was definitely quite enticing!

everything was held at their lovely home in the plantations manor, we did the creative shoot right there and made the family part of the shoot.

thanks so much guys! what a fabulous day. enjoy their pics.

look at kim's striking eyes!! stunning!

mommy's handsome boys giving her some love before she walked down the aisle

whoohooo!!!! all done and dusted!!

a bit of cousinly love.. whether you like it or not!!! haha!

i love this photo, all i see is love.

how sweeeeet!

and now proof that wedding 'togs are not JUST wedding 'togs. here damien is a wedding dress fixer as well. we are also bouquet finders, cake repairers and impromptu wedding planners..... well done baby... hehe!

many times i have to hold my breath because of the things damien get up to. this is him getting ready for the group shot on the second story balcony. i almost had heart failure. and i swear i heard someone in the crowd scream 'dont jummmp!!!'

thanks for looking everyone!

sneaky coming soooooooooon!

much love,

'as sweet as me' and a freebie! :)

2011-03-28T14:49:00.000+02:00

hellooo everyone! i hope you have had a faaab weekend, mine is always too short.. LOL!!

today i want to show you my latest kit in store, 'as sweet as me'. this is my first full sized kit for the year and i am enjoyed making it a LOT! this year will be one for the kids, my niece is arriving soon so kiddie kits galore! haha!

i want to thank you all for looking at my pics, i really appreciate the feedback. i will show you more pics tomorrow,i cant wait to share this one. lemme just say, i have never EVER seen such a well executed 2 week shot gun wedding... LOL!!!

let me show you some more of 'as sweet as me'. i have also made an add on alpha, i really enjoyed this one. its a kinda glazed cookie style alpha, one 'strawberry' flavour and a chocolate one.. YUM! i also tried my hand at making some 'stackers'. its basically like a quickpage, but you get to choose where you want to add your pics. check it out!

this is the add on alpha:

and here are the 'stackers':

now onto some layouts, thanks ladies!

gina used one of the stackers for this layout!

kim also used a 'stacker'!

now onto the freebie! i made a little frame cluster for you, i hope you like it!

grab the freebie cluster here!

thanks for looking everyone!

much love,

and so the journey starts, alexis and darren

2011-03-24T21:04:00.000+02:00

i told him i would blog about them this week. i dont think i have pondered a blog post for as long as i did this one. it's a bit of a personal post, as darren is a very good friend of mine and we are fortunate enough to capture their wedding in june this year, in alexis' home town, boston. i am sooooo excited about this!

ok so onto the story.

we have been friends with darren for a couple of years now. in those years, darren and i have discussed many movies and lots of music down to the bone. everything gets pulled apart, dissected and then a verdict is given. i love it. the first thing i would do after i have seen a good flick, is to tell darren and see what he says. he says i loooove happy cheery movies, something that makes you smile after, which isnt really true, but that is the nature of our friendship as well. we rip each other off. A LOT!!! in all the years i have known darren, there was never any girls. eventually, we thought he would be another one of our bachelor mates!

needless to say, when he dropped the bomb about alexis, we all almost had heart failure. from pure joy and from absolute disbelief! worst part, they have known each other for 10 years! he kept her under wraps for all this time and i can honestly say that i have never seen him so happy. alexis is perfect for darren. she is a digiscrapper in the making, i can just see it. when this wedding is over, i am seriously going to get her to scrap all their beautiful memories together! alexis now lives in the states and their wedding will be in boston, so they decided to have an engagement party in south africa for everyone that would not be able to make it to the big day. it was soooo stunning. the venue they picked was avianto, it is any photographers dream. the staff was super professional, i was very impressed with the service there. his tuscan style gem of a venue is just outside johannesburg and we had a ball! check out the linky to see more of this gorgeous venue.

we decided to conceptualize a shoot for them that incorporates everything that they love about each other and what they have in common. movies was our number one idea, followed by music. darren is a VERY good dj, its a pity he never took it any further, DUDE, you could have been famous!!! ;)

and then we also decided to try the latest craze in photography, 2D! oooo so much fun!!!!

we organized two huge bags of popcorn, asked them to bring movie covers and told him to bring his favourite tunes that he used to spin. we really had a lot of fun! because we were all there for the party, some of our other friends helped out with the shoot, it was really special. we also did a whole lot of romantic images, we didnt need to pose them much, they are naturals! also, we abused them a lot, thanks for that as well guys, i dont know of a lot of people who would just be happy to be dragged around everywhere just for a good pic. love you guys. xx

now we are counting down the days to the wedding. guys, i cant wait! its going to be a lot of fun! part two will follow soon. enjoy their journey.

there is a huuuuuge rose garden at avianto, all the roses were in bloom, it made for a stunning romantic background!

there is just something about this pic, its actually a boo boo, but after converting it to black and white and adding some grain, i love it!

a bit of an old school look for this pic.

how happy do they look? :)

here we started with the 'movie' part of their shoot. our friend, andrew, drew the doodled "fony" tv on our blackboard! hehe!

to fit in with the 'film' theme, i put some of their pics into these film strips.

the perfect 'peck'!

alexis is so much fun! nothing was too way out for her!

las vegas baby!!!! all the tables were named after city's the two of them have visited together. their stag and hen's night will be in vegas.. and MAD will be there to capture it ALL!! bring it on!!!

it was also darren's parent's wedding anniversary! how special!

stuffing around while we were waiting for the tables to arrive for group shots!

andrew, our crazy snake friend and uhm... yes he does look a LOT like al pacino hey!!! no its not.. its alexis' uncle!

2D was soooo much fun!! we had a BLAST!

our most fabulous friends, liam, hacket, tarryn (can you see her preggie tum??) and andrew. love you guys. even you hacket... ;)

liam and hacket taking 2D to the next level. impressive guys! HAHA!

jumping for joy! i love it!

this is one of my fav's!

thanks guys. MAD loves you long time ! see you in vegas!

much love,

sneaky!!

2011-03-24T11:46:00.000+02:00

time for another sneaky! or is it time for tea? or maybe a tea party?

much love,

it's all about the teenagers!

2011-03-22T16:02:00.000+02:00

hello everyone! we have had a great weekend, yesterday was a public holiday and we surely made use of the extra time off, YAY!! it was fab to just laze around for a day, bliss.

on sunday we had a fabulous time with mara & chris, their wedding was so gorgeous. i cant wait to share their story with you. sooooooon!! :)

today i have some new kits to show you. savannah is growing up so fast, i cant believe i will be entering the teenage years pretty soon. she is such a sweet kid, i have told her many times to stay this way and not to hate me too much when she gets bigger. and true to form, she always promises me that she will never ever hate me... ooo how i love that little girl...

anyways, to get back to my point, i wanted to design something funky for all the teenage moms out there. check out my latest two mini kits in store, 'yeah' and 'pause'. these two mini kits both consist of 5 papers, 10 elements and a full alpha. you always need an alpha right? ;) first up, 'yeah!'

grab 'yeah!' here!

now on to 'pause'!

get 'pause' here!

thanks ladies!

tomorrow i will tell you about alexis and darren. big things everyone, big things!! (in my best mayor from horton voice!!)

thanks for looking everyone,

much love,

sneaky's!

2011-03-17T23:49:00.001+02:00

got teenagers???

then you have to check out these sneaky's! in store tomorrow! YAY!

much love,

two people made for each other, tracey and chris!

2011-03-17T17:34:00.001+02:00

when i met tracey and her mom at the heritage bridal fair last year, i liked her immediately! she liked all our weird and wonderful photos, i knew we would work well together. tracey is absolutely in love with camelot castle, where her and chris celebrated their wedding day last year in october. we imagined all kinds of fun and exciting shots, just to have our hopes all dashed when it absolutely poured with rain for the entire day. we had to make other plans and we had to make them quick! tracey was as calm as a cucumber, i have never seen anyone so in charge and cool and collected on their big day. she is an event planner, that maybe helps right?? the following monday we did a 'trash the wedding dress' shoot for them at the haunted house. it was fabulous. most of all, it didnt rain! in february this year, we saw them again. tracey wanted her castle shots and we went to camelot again. it was soooooo cool to see them all dressed up again. it was a reunion of sorts, it brought back pleasant memories and yet again, we had a lot of fun shooting their extra pics. take a look at their journey, enjoy!

tracey had these FAB red shoes, i love them!

her flowers were just as gorgeous. red roses, pink orchids and purple arum lilies. to die for!

this is just some of the paraphernalia at camelot

tracey took a bit of time out just before the big moment, i love it!

chris getting ready for the big moment. i have never seen a person smile so much!

a clear moment, just before it turned dark....

thanks so much tracey and chris! what an awesome experience.

much love everyone!

'spice', cause in some places its getting chillier!

2011-03-16T09:13:00.000+02:00

like i mentioned before, we are entering a very very warm autumn here in durban! i love the colours of autumn, its warm and cosy, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside! needless to say, it was very easy to design this kit, i loved making it. this is 'spice':

my creative team has been inspiring me lately to design more simplistic kits. i am trying my best, i think it is harder to keep your kits small and simplistic that to give a huuuuge amount of elements. check out their fab layouts!

you can grab 'spice' here!

what do you prefer? lots of different elements? a variety of colours of different elements? fewer elements or more simplistic elements? i would love to hear from you!

much love,

hello 'mute'!

2011-03-15T17:27:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

we have had an eventful weekend with lots of editing in between. savannah played cricket on saturday morning, its quite cool to see how they are starting to grasp the concept of a team sport. last year it was so unorganized. one player would wander off talking to a mate, or just sit down and play in the grass or even worse, just walk off the field to spend time with mom and dad! we have had a lot of chuckles next to the field. i love watching her play. they unfortunately didnt win and needless to say, they all still have a loooooong way to go to not be bad losers.. hehe!

it was so hot over the weekend, i can barely believe that we are entering autumn here. on saturday it was 47 degrees here at one stage. if i could melt, i would!!! haha! i have 2 new minis in store, first up i want to show you 'mute'. i am not really a fan of vintage, so this will probably be as vintage as i can get! i do like the alpha with the teeny flowers on! check out the previews and some fab layouts by my creative team:

thanks for all the lovely layouts ladies!

you can grab 'mute' in store here. thanks for looking.

much love,

2 new mini's in store tomorrow, check the sneaky's!

2011-03-10T19:02:00.000+02:00

Yes!!

2 new mini's in store tomorrow, check it out:

see you all tomorrow!

much love,

well done sharon!!!

2011-03-09T10:09:00.000+02:00

im so super proud!!!

sharon, one of my most awesome ct members, has made the most gorgeous layout with my latest kit 'fresh'.

it has been nominated for LOTW over at gingerscraps!! i am sooo stoked!!

go check out the forum here and vote for sharon's layout, it is gorgeous:

sharon this layout is so gorgeous girl, well done!

you can grab 'fresh' and 'blues' here, they will be going to full price on friday.

thanks for looking!

much love,

kim and winston's love story :)

2011-03-07T10:53:00.000+02:00

in december we had the opportunity to be part of a beautiful wedding celebration in the picturesque tala valley.

we met kim at a bridal show last year and so the journey started. when kim and winston look at each other, you can see deep, profound feelings. they share something wonderful and it is almost tangible. thanks guys! i hope your new life together in cape town is going well, we hope to spend some time together again in future.

their reception was at the Shalwyn conference centre. all i can say is WOW. it was so beautiful. i have also never seen a proper cabbage patch before, oh my word what an experience! kim was such a sport, she took a walk through the cabbage patch with some gum boots on, the pics look fab! the reason for the gumboots, the rain left the whole area very mudd, how nice of Shalwyn to supply her with her own set of gumboots, haha!

take a look at their journey, i hope you enjoy!

i love spending time with the girls prepping! i have gotten some of the best make up advice ever from these girls. if you need your lipstick to stay on for a while, try rimmel's lipstick lock! thanks ladies, awesome tip!!

even the little pooch that hated me with my flash, came to say good luck! i had to run for my life after though, she was not having any of the noise my camera made... HAHA!

kim couldnt wait to say 'i do'!

the moody skies of the tala valley, gorgeous!

the gumboots and some snacks for the happy couple, how sweet of Shalwyn to do this for them!

the fabulous cabbage patch!

here is damien lying in the road, needless to say, the passers by found it very amusing...

this is my confused look... uhmmm.... lol!

and my best supermodel shooting pose, how embarrassing..LOL!!!

thanks for looking!
much love,

'Fresh' is here!

2011-03-06T10:54:00.000+02:00

are you having a good weekend?

we are having fabulous autumn weather. we just finished off a lovely engagement shoot with mara and chris, we are shooting there wedding on the 21st of march. i cant wait to spend their special day with them! they are a lovely couple!

but today i want to show you my latest mini kit, 'fresh'. in shades of green and yellow, its fresh, crisp and clean.

i am so impressed once again with my creative team, thanks for all the great layouts ladies!

grab 'Fresh' here for only $2-50!

thanks for looking everyone!

much love,

sneaky time!

2011-03-03T16:11:00.000+02:00

it's time for another sneaky!

'fresh' will be in store tomorrow. if all things green, fresh and froggie tickles your fancy, this kit is for you.

chat tomorrow everyone!

much love,

a little bit of the 'blues' ;)

2011-03-03T08:05:00.000+02:00

no no i am not blue! haha!

here are the promised previews of my first kit for 2011, 'Blues'. i have decided to get stuck into designing a couple of mini kits, cause i find it very difficult to STOP, once i have started a design. less is sometimes definitely more and i find my creative team make more 'simplistic' layouts if they have less elements to play with. it is VERY hard for me to have limitations, so it was a big learning curve for me. i restricted myself to 5 papers and 10 elements. at first i was unsure about an alpha, but lets face it, a kit (mini or not) is just not a kit without an alpha right? all my mini kits come with a complete alpha set.

so here it is, 'Blues'. my creative team did such an excellent job, ladies, i am very pleased, much love! :)

i will have a sneaky for you tomorrow, i have another mini that will be released on friday, YAY!! if green is your colour, be sure to check it out.

much love everyone!

Happy 2nd birthday Scrap that Idea! :)

2011-03-02T09:57:00.000+02:00

hellooo everyone!

Scrap that Idea is turning two this month, i cant believe how far we have come in two years and how much fun it has been. scrapland is such a part of me, i dont think i will ever be able to leave... willingly.. hehe!

we are having a fabulous birthday celebration, our new collabs are out and i have my first kit for 2011 to show off. YAY!

check out our birthday flyer!

i would LOVE winning points like that!! whoohooo!

we also have our new collabs in store. spring is in the air for most of you, although here in durbs we are heading for autumn. the weather here is awesome at the moment though, nice mild days with no rain, yay! so in the spirit of spring, check out 'what spring brings':

and a preview of our individual parts:

for some fabulous layouts, check out our STI blog later today.

i will also post all bout my new minikit, 'blues' later today!

much love everyone,

sneaky!

2011-02-28T14:49:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

hope you are having a fabulous monday and that it is not too blue?

i have a sneaky for you today, this is of my first kit of 2011 to be released tomorrow, YAY!

i cant believe its march already. that of course means its our birthday! yes, Scrap that Idea turns 2 tomorrow, i am very excited. check out my blog tomorrow to see what we have got planned.

much love everyone!

charne and dale's gorgeous wedding!

2011-02-26T10:28:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

on the 8th of january we had the opportunity to shoot a really awesome wedding. damien and i were a bit nervous, it was a huge wedding with almost 300 guests, gulp!! i enjoyed this wedding so much. the time i spent with the girls before the time was super special, charne was a very calm and collected bride, and needless to say, GORGEOUS! take a look and enjoy! thanks guys, you were fabulous!

charne's mom lily, you can see where charne got her fabby looks from!

the first kiss! dale didnt even wait to for his cue to kiss his lovely bride, we had a good chuckle in the church!

too sweet!

loving the funky shoes! yes!!

the boys doing what boys do best! horsing around! lol!!

and the girls showing they can do it toooo!

catching the bouquet is always fun! these girls went all out!!

and what will a shoot be without a bit of the behind the scenes action? damien and i have decided to post some pics of us with every shoot showing off how we work. hope you enjoy, hehe!

'erm.. flowers out, not stab your partner..' LOL!! look at my hair. it was BOILING hot that day...

ugh.... my very big generous arms. this was the weekend before i started bootcamp. i am happy to report that my chicken wings have shrunk with 2 cms each! YAY!!!

the boys having a chit chat.. i think they were hating the hot weather on the beach in their suits!

chat soon everyone!

much love,

'new things' .. how i love scrapland! :)

2011-02-24T11:56:00.000+02:00

oh my word! i thought no one would even notice that i am back and i have just received loooooove all over! thanks to everyone that left me a comment, i love it and i know now why i love scrapland so much.

as promised yesterday, i have a little freebie for you just because.. :)

i have been designing a couple of minikits, i have seen with my creative team that their layouts seem to be 'busier' with lots of elements, so i wanted to see what they would come up with with only 5 papers and 10 elements. i am LOVING designing these little kits. its a huge challenge for me too, i always try to keep things simple, but when i look again, its filled to the brim with elements, extra alphas.. you know the drill right?? for me, its much more of a mission to make a simplistic, minimalistic layout. but i am trying, i am trying! haha!!

this freebie called 'new things' is also a kinda mini kit, so i challenge you all to find your inner minimalist and scrap something plain and simple. i hope you enjoy!

download 'new things' here!

tomorrow i will show you what MAD has been upto. lots of interesting pics to share. have a fabulous day everyone!

much love,

hello world!

2011-02-23T12:24:00.000+02:00

helloooo everyone!

yes yes i know its been ages, but i am finally back here in scrapland and i have truly MISSED everything about it!

as always, time goes by too quickly and i wish i could have more time for scrapping, but this year i am determined to try and stay on top of things.

on a personal note, savannah is now in grade 2, she turns 8 this year and i love to see how her personality is unfolding. she is a pretty level headed chick, but just as dizzy as her mom. haha! she has matured so much over the last year, i love her to bits. it looks like she is more blessed in the math department that what i am, and she can pretty much read anything by spelling out the letters. she has also lost another tooth last week, she looks too cute! this term she is playing cricket and she loves it. i think she is finally beginning to understand what a 'team sport' is and how everyone needs to work together. she is one awesome kid!

damien is doing well, he is giving his all to MAD Photography at the moment. he is also busy with their photo school, Photo 101 and shoots of all kinds of weird and wonderful things. we have a couple of special weddings this year and have so far done lovely shoots with great people. i will show off some of our stuff on my blog in the near future. if you want to check out our photogroup on facebook, go here. you can also check out our wedding portfolio on our website, here!

onto me.. hehe! i am well, i have started the year off well with a brand new exercise program that i LOVE. its called adventure bootcamp for ladies only. each camp is 4 weeks and even though its hell (especially if you are as unfit and untrim as me.. ) it really is worth all the effort. if you live in sunny sa, check them out here. the thing i like about it, is that the trainers push you, its definitely not boring and it is only for 4 weeks. also, your camps get cheaper the more you do! i love it. i have lost 22 cms in my first bootcamp and i am still losing more. upon the instruction of our coach, i have tossed my scale, i hated the bastard anyways and now only measure myself. its awesome not having to chase that elusive number on the scale.

we are also going overseas a bit this year! i am super excited, we are going to be in las vegas, new york and boston. after that we will also be traveling to london and ireland, man oh man, its going to be great!!! we are shooting a friend of ours' wedding in boston and i am going to be able to meet up with some fab scrappy friends in the usa, caryn and erin. girls, i caaaaaant wait!! YAY!!

other than that, i am very exciting to be designing again, i really and truly missed it and i am gearing up for a jam packed year of designing. i am going to try and blog a whole lot more too, uhm... lets see if that happens right? LOL!!

i have a little freebie for you, that i will give away tomorrow. also look out for some photos and sneaky peeks of my latest kits that will be in store by the 1st of march.

thanks for reading everyone!

much love,

a very happy new year! grab 'grandma's quilt' today!

2011-01-01T15:55:00.002+02:00

are you ready for the new year?

i cant wait to get going. 2010 was a tough year for me, but those days are OVER and new adventures are about to begin!

for those of you who are wondering WHEN i will ever be back designing wise, not to worry, i am busy with a couple of ideas and i am loving the time off to mull over it! i dont thing the scrappy bug will ever let me go. YAY! lol!

so with that, i wish everyone a FAB 2011, i hope your dreams come true, your journey is eventful and that all your days are filled first and foremost, with love.

i am the last stop today for the massive blogtrain! previous stop was my4princessess designs, and now you get my part! i hope you enjoy my part of 'grandma's quilt' which is part of a MASSIVE DST blogtrain. enjoy! if you are looking for the whole list, go here.

download my part of 'grandma's quilt' here!

chat soon everyone!

much love,

the cat is out the bag!!

2010-12-01T13:02:00.000+02:00

finaaaally!!

i have been waiting for months to share this all with you and finally, TODAY, i can share!

i am a guest designer at Gingerscraps for the month of December! I AM SOOO THRILLED! everyone over at gingerscraps has been so wonderful to me, its been a pleasure working with all the gingerbread ladies.

i have a couple of new kits that i designed exclusively for gingerscraps, i will share the new kits plus a freebie or two, :) from friday.

you can check out my store here and remember that today is $1 bake sale! i have 'Silly Old Bear' up for only $1, for today only:

grab 'silly old bear' here for only $1!

i also have a little freebie for you! this is a cluster made with 'Silly Old Bear'. i hope you can use it and enjoy!

grab the cluster freebie here!

have a great day everyone,

much love,

black friday sale & HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :)

2010-11-26T08:35:00.000+02:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my scrappy friends who celebrate this special holiday!

i am going away for the weekend, i cant wait to just chill and lie on the beach. YAY!!

i am having a 50% sale today as well! you dont have to have a coupon and your discount will appear in your cart:

go to my store here!

have a great weekend everyone!

painting the roses red.. we painting the roses red!

2010-11-25T12:02:00.000+02:00

hello everyone!

yes you all know i am CRAZY about anything 'alice' so just imagine my absolute excitement when we got an opportunity to photograph an alice in wonderland theme party. sean and jade decided to move to mexico and this was a farewell/anniversary party.

all i can say is WOW!

wowey.. oh me oh my... curiouser and curiouser.... it was soo much fun! everything was done perfectly. there was the teapot, a skew clock, a lot of queens of hearts, a mad hatter cake, murals to die for, mushrooms and cards everywhere. at one stage a couple of guys even played a bit of croquet! thanks so much to jade, sean and their family for making this super special for us.

enjoy the story!

painting the roses red. oh yes... they were painted red friends! how cool!

just one of the fabulous murals!

the attention to detail was fab! i just love this!

the cake!

drinkkkk meee!

jade and sean!

i love this pic. amidst all the chaos, they still had time to hold hands. too sweet.

fun and games!

i just had to snap this. i LOVE flower pics as you know, this was just incredible.

everyone had a funny pose for us when we did the group shots! i love it.

of course the mad hatter does NOT wear shoes.. very cool toesocks. thats it!

thanks for looking everyone!

i will be posting soon about my Black Friday sale. whoohooo!

much love,