USA Holiday 2010

Dereck and I are finally packed and ready to leave shortly for a holiday in the USA.  We have set up a holiday blog, so while we are away, this blog won't be updated but our holiday one will.

Please pop over to:

http://www.ramsayusa2010.blogspot.com/

and see what we have been up to and leave us some love.

Jetsetter signing off .........

Some cards I made

After attending a recent card class with Bee, I decided to make these two cards - the first one ia a shirt card, which has a lot of folding and I quite enjoyed the challenge...

The next one is just a tri-fold, but I used my EKSucess edge punch on the outside and the inside and I must say I quite like the effect ....

Off to carry on with a scrapping layout I started this afternoon.

Thanks for looking.

Crafter signing off ....

A very formal dinner

It was the annual Commodore's Dinner at the Point Yacht Club last night and Dereck and I were invited as my boss is the current Commodore.  I was also asked to please make the menu cards to put on the tables, which I must say, I had a lot of fun making.  The theme was "twilight sailing" with the colours being black and orange.  Dereck hired a tux and I had a black outfit which I wore.  Sorry no pictures of us, but here is a picture of the menu cards which I made ... the front ...

and the inside .... 

 My friend Wayne has a laser cutting machine and he made the cut outs of the yacht and palm tree and then I stuck them all down.  I had to make 30 of these cards, so had a bit of a production line going on in my craft room.

It was a great evening and we only left there at midnight.

Midnight dinner guest signing off ....

Card Crafting

Last Saturday I went to the Hobby Hut in Queensburgh for a card crafting lesson with Bee.  Always a lot of fun and very inspirational.  These are the cards we made:

This was the shirt card.  To open , you pull from under the collar.

You would put your sentiment on the white card on the inside ....  To get the sleeves, took a bit of origami type folding - bit tricky but what an effect ....

This was just a simple card, where you double folded the sides inwards ...

This was a pull out card, you pull one side and pullouts come from both sides - a bit of a technique to get this one, but what a lovely effective card ....

Then yesterday, I went to a card class with Bee but at a friend's house.  Loads of fun and again very inspirational and this was the first, simple tri-fold card.  Also nice to use as an envelope or made into a little handbag ...

Another simple card, but with a lovely corner decoration.  We didn't use double sided paper, but merely attached a square of different paper on to the right hand corner which folded over to give the effect.....

An easle card which has its own section holding it up and then balancing against the brown bit in the front - another nice and easy but very effective card.

I have another class with Bee on 26 August in Durban North which makes it 3 this month.  Someone at one of the classes called me a "card stalker" - ha ha ha.

So I suppose ... card stalker signing off .....

Canvass Art - 3 July 2010

Bee held a canvass art lesson at The Hobby Hut at Queensburgh Nursery on Saturday, 3 July 2010 which I attended.  Wow, this was an amazing class and I so enjoyed creating my canvass.  We used all sorts of bits of tinfoil, embossed paper, leaves, chipboard, flowers, lace and what ever else there was around.  We painted the canvass black and then stuck down all the other bits to get a nice textured base.  Then we painted over the textured bits black again and then dry brushed the colour we wanted.  I decided to do my theme of Dereck and I in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary last year.  I really like how this turned out.  The colour in the picture is deep purple and I already have it hanging in my craft room .....

I used stickles over the number 25 to give it a bit of a sparkle.  With the photo, I cut out a 1cm border all round, sanded the edges and then inked them.  I did the same with the cut out bit and then I mounted the cut out bit with double sided tape to give it a bit of a 3d look.

Canvass crafter signing off ....

Cards Made from Card Class in June 2010

Bee's card class at Durban North on 17 June 2010 was again a funfilled, inspiring class.  Here are the cards we made....

 This we called the "swing" card as the scolloped circle in the middle hangs from the top and bottom of the circle.  A simple, yet effective card.

This card we called the "money slider" card as in order to stick the scolloped quote, we needed to use 5cent pieces so that it moved nicely when the inner tag was pulled out.

This card was called the "spinner" card.  Before you close the card you twist the inner circle and then close the card.  When the person opens it, it spins around.  Very nice card and if you wanted, you could extend the white card inside to go all the way to the edge which would give you more space to write your sentiments.

Always a great evening as Bee is just to inspiring and positive.

Inspired cardmaker signing off ....

Peter Rabbit Tatoo

When my son Grant had his first tatoo, I jokingly said that he was mad.  When he got his second one I jokingly said I should get one.  When he got his third one I said that I would get one when I had lost 10kg's.  I have now lost 16kg's and was still thinking about it.  My niece, Samatha offered on Wednesday this week to come round on Saturday (today) and do it for me.  I looked for my picture of Peter Rabbit (I have loved this bunny since I was a little girl and collect the figurines) and I fetched her after my craft class this afternoon.  I was rather nervous, but we set up in my craft room and off she went.  It really felt wierd and at some times I had to grit my teeth, but it was not a pain that lingered at all.    Here are a few pictures of the outline being drawn and then the finished tatoo.  Samatha is really very artistic and it was an honour for me to have her do my tatoo.

I am thinking of having a Jemimah Puddleduck done on my left shoulder ...... Grant says I am now one of the tatoo gang!!

Tatoo mom signing off ....

Flower Treats

For my recent birthday, these are two of the flower arrangements I received.  The purple ones from Penny at work and she even wore a purple outfit as she remembered that it is my favourite colour.  Then when I got home the rose arrangement was waiting for me from my good friend Desire and I am certainly going to enjoy eating the huge apple in this arrangement!!

I also received a lovely purple pair of soft slippers, a purple check pair of pyjama pants, a sleeveless windbreaker, some scrapping goodies, a chocolate, a Milady's shopping voucher, some money from Dereck and a two foot single slipper (you put both feet in it when you are watching TV or crafting!!)

Flower power birthday girl signing off ....

Durban Beachfront

Today was such a lovely, sunny day, that we decided to go down to the Durban beachfront to see what it looked like at the Fan Park before one of the soccer games at 1h30.  We parked at the Suncoast Casino and then walked along the beachfront to the Fan Park - about 2 km.  We really enjoyed the sights and the improvements that have been made to the beachfront and the Fan Park was already very festive and I am sure would have been even more so later on when people got there to watch the soccer game.  After looking around, we headed back to the Suncoast Casino where we went to the Circus Circus restaurant and had lunch.  Thereafter we headed off home where I made some soup. 

Here are some pictures of the beachfront area ...

This is at the Fan Park where there is a huge bit screen and stage where the soccer games are broadcast.  There was a lot of entertainment going on in this area.

The MTN entertainment - these guys were quite funny they way the mooved these "men" making them look like they were walking and dancing!!

Jennifer and I waiting for Dereck, but enjoying watching what was going on.

These guys who do the sand art are quite amazing.  The picture above is of the Moses Mabida Statium including the arch and flags.  The guy sitting in the car below had music playing and he was bopping and bouncing as if he was driving a car - it was quite funny to watch him.  Every now and then he would put his hand behind his head and lean back like a real cruiser!!.

Of course the dolphin display at the entrance of the Suncoast Casino Complex had a make over to blend in with the whole World Cup Soccer theme - I must say they do look rather nice and hope that they stay like this after the soccer is over.

Durban fan signing off ....

A bit of painting

I recently finished this plate, which I painted onto ceramic and then had it glazed.  I will be using it in my kitchen as a spoon rest as the traditional spoon rests always seem to break their handles and are a bit small.  I had fun painting this fat lady and my teacher - Susan - helped with painting the outline and doing the face features.  I had another appointment to go to and knew that I would take a while doing the outline and face.  I am quite pleased with the finished product and I know that it is going to be well used ...

Fat Lady painter signing off .....

World Cup Soccer - 16 June 2010 Spain v Switzerland

Grant and I got the tickets from Dereck to go and see the Spain v Switzerland soccer match at 4pm at the Moses Mabida Statium in Durban.  We got a lift to the Pavilion and then caught the shuttle bus to the Workshop and then another bus to NMR Avenue and then had about a 1.2km walk to the stadium.  After we went through the South entrance there was a long walk way to the stadium and everyone was in such a festive mood!!  These two Swiss guys were bouncing around and some people asked them if they could take a picture of them.  I went up to them and squeezed myself between them and Grant took the photo!!

Then we headed on up to the stadium and this picture below is just before we went through the turnstills....

We found our seats easily and there were lots of officials available to assist if needed.  We had a lovely view and as you can see we didn't have to squeeze past anyone.

All standing for the national anthems....

A near goal ....

There were 62453 people attending this game.  It was a very exciting game with Spain dominating the field by about 83%.  They had some many chances to score, but unfortunately the Swiss just held them off.  The Swiss on the other hand managed to score a goal early in the second half.  The end result 1-0 to Switzerland.  Oh, by the way Grant and I were supporting Spain.  We were both kitted out in the supporters shirts and Grant had a hoodie flag.  We were given a neck warmer and Grant had fun making different outfits for himself ....

After the game, we had a long walk back along NMR Avenue all the way to the Workshop where we caught the bus back to the Pavilion where Dereck came and fetched us.  What an amazing experience!!!!  The sound in the stadium was awesome and I didn't even need to wear the ear plugs that I had.

The organisers have certainly done a great job as everything was well managed and totally under control.  There was a big police presence and they even came to sort out two guys sitting in the row behind us who were horribly drunk and smoking (the statium is non-smoking). Everyone clapped when they took them away!!!

Soccer fan signing off ....