*~PARADISE~*

Hi there to all my Scrappy & Arty Friends

I have surely missed you all!

I am sorry I have been so quiet... We have had a very busy few weeks and I haven't scrapped a lot lately, but finally the holiday season is upon us for which our family are very grateful.

I would like to share this layout with you which I created using this week's fabulous Let's Scrap Sketch designed by my very talented scrapbook friend Michelle van Wyk...

Well here it is and I hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed creating it {whilst dreaming of Paradise!} ;-)

Sketch #12-10-14

*~PARADISE~*

Have a Wonderful Day!!

Hugs

~Erica~

*Teddopher*

Almost going to sleep tonight, I realised I need to still take a picture of this layout I have been working on for a week now and post it before the time expires for me to take part in Let's Scrap's beautiful sketch #9-24-14 this week designed by the very talented Michelle van Wyk.

 {The photo is not of the best as it is already dark here now.}

This layout is about a very special Teddy in our lives called Teddopher.  He got his name when my husband brought him home to me {yes, he is mine!} and our then little daughter called him: Teddopher... a mixture of Teddy and my hubby's first name Christopher. :-)  He is very much loved, cherished and adored by all in our house, even our doggy Ruby {who has been in doggy heaven for a few years now}.  Ruby just loved cuddling up to Teddopher and the two of them were great friends.  Such very special memories to cherish! ♥

♥TEDDOPHER♥

Thank You for looking & visiting my blog!

Have a Fantastic Day!

Hugs

Erica

*Tee Party*

I loved scrapping this layout... I can definitely work with Marion Smith's beautiful designs, everyday, all day!!  Here I used the Mad Tea Party range for this week's fabulous Let's Scrap Sketch #9-10-14.

My layout is also called "Tee Party" ~ Tee is Tea in Afrikaans {easy peasy ;-)}~ and the bow in my girl's hair could just as well be a Mad Hat!! ;-)

 

 

Thank you for looking and I hope you enjoyed this layout as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Hugs

Erica

*10 Years of SA Scrapbook Convention*

This year commemorated a very special achievement for me... in September 2014 I attended the South African International Scrapbook Convention for the 10th consecutive year!! This has been such a milestone for me and I am proud to say that I have been there, done that, got the T shirt & scrapped what could be about 80 layouts and mini books through the years at the convention!?!  Wow!!!!

 Just thinking about it make me gasp for air!!

As I went through the list I could not believe how many teachers I have had the most wonderful privilege to learn from!

And here they are {as taken from the SA Scrapbook Convention website}:

 "Some of the teachers and companies that have participated in the events over the past ten years are:
 
Tim Holtz (Tim Holtz LLC, Ranger, Stampers Anonymous and Advantus), Jodi Sanford (Fancy Pants Design), April Foster (Studio Calico), Allison Black (Basic Grey), Teresa Collins (Teresa Cillins), Amy Tan (American Crafts), Kerrie Gurney (ArtDeco Creations), Tracie Hudson (Authentique), Matthew Lanoy (BoBunny), Trisha Ladouceur (Pink Paislee),
Amber Crowell (Simple Stories, Melissa Kennedy (Kaisercraft), Paula Cheney (7gypsies), Nic Howard (Prima Marketing inc and BasicGrey), Diane Schultz, Aimee and Charee Filimoehala (Graphic 45), Debby Schuh(October Afternoon and Pink Paislee), Stephanie Barnard (Sizzix), Mike Stevens (American Crafts), Jeri Tanner (BoBunny),Laura Funk and Erin DeSpain (Glitz Design), Tracie Hudson (Prima Marketing inc and Sassafrass), Jenni Bowlin (Jenni Bowlin Studios), Cathie Allan (Clearsnap), Kah-Mei Smith (Fontwerks), Margie Romney-Aslett (Making Memories and The Girls Paperie), Jayme Shepherd (Making Memories), Becky Higgins (Creating Keepsakes), Stacy Julian (Simple Scrapbooks and Big Picture Scrapbooking), Heidi Swapp (Heidi Swapp), Janet Hopkins (Heidi Swapp), Heidi Grace (Heidi Grace Designs), Rebecca Sower, Faye Morrow-Bell, Tracy White, Donna Downey (Simple Scrapbooks and as an independent), Jessica Kopp (Making Memories), Melody Ross (Chatterbox), Julie Comstock (Cosmo Cricket), Denny Ruffner (Prima Marketing inc), Stephanie Rahmatulla (Me and my BIG ideas), Suezi Guerzi (Me and my BIG ideas), Wilna Furstenberg, Annette Hardy (All My Memories), Jodi Holbrook (Making Memories), Celine Navarro (Rouge de Garrance and American Crafts), Karen Foster (Karen Foster Designs), Jennifer Strauss (Around the Block) and Kelly White (My Minds Eye)."

Anyway, this year we {again} had some lovely teachers attending from mainly the USA, but also our wonderful South African teacher and owner of the Convention: Glenda Viljoen.

I am planning on doing a very special layout of the conventions I have attended from 2004 to 2014 and can't wait to get started.

Well, in the meantime, here is some photos of the Convention this year... 

 

 On this photo is myself {in the purple!} and my friend Heidri {in red} with Jeri Tanner & Vicki Bentley from Bo Bunny.  Don't you just LOVE Bo Bunny?!?!!! The fun never stops with Bo Bunny!!!!

 Here we are with Charee & Jeff Filimoehala from Graphic 45.  We made the most beautiful book with them!

 

This is the book we made... with the "Come Away with Me" range...

 This is me getting my hands dirty in Glenda's Fancy Pants Designs class!

 

 With Layle Koncar from Simple Stories.  She is such a lovely person and her class was STUNNING!!

 

 The beautiful Simple Stories project ~ A Charmed Life.

 

 

This is my third time attending a class with Debby Schuh.  This year she represented Ruby Rock-it.  The mini book project was absolutely beautiful and I especially love the flowers in the range.
Debby is definitely one of my all time favourite teachers and I always enjoy her classes very much!

We also attended a class with Jayme Shepherd from Hazel & Ruby...

I will update this post with a photo of her soon...

 Thank You to everyone who made this 10th year of mine such a special event!

 And I hope you enjoyed looking through my special photos as much as I enjoyed posting it!

Have a Fantastic Tuesday!!

 Hugs

Erica

*Family Gathers Around our Hearts and are Bound Together*

Hi there!

I hope you are doing well?   We are having full blown Summer right here in September and it is lovely, eventhough it is very hot already.  Still waiting for Spring... and would love for the rain to come, so that our garden can be green GrEEn GREEN again!!

I have been working on this special layout with snippets of our families for a while now using Let's Scrap Sketch #5-14-14. {In case you missed my previous post, Let's Scrap Sketches can now be found on this blog...  Let's Scrap Sketches.} It just did not want to look right... but it grew on me... and with a few changes here and there, I can say that I am as happy as I can be with it.  I suppose no scrapbook layout would ever be or feel finished to me and I will never ever be 100% happy with it!! ;-)  I have my OCD times, eventhough not much with scrapbooking, as I feel life is stressful enough, no need to incorporate it into scrapbooking! I enjoy my scrapbooking therapy way too much to be a "perfect" scrapper. ;-)

Birth

The photos are all about our families... on my husband's side as well as my side.  Family dear to us, family members we have lost, family looking down from Heaven on us, family we would like to remember for the good times we had together and family we love.  In the middle photo is my Grandfather Eddie.  He was in his 80's and still working when he passed away last year October {2013}.  On the day this photograph was taken, he laughed so much with us and enjoyed especially his great-granddaughters company very much. We walked in his lovely garden and enjoyed the views.  He gave the girls cookies from the pantry and took us up into the mountain behind his house, walking the steep stairs all the way up on his own. He showed them the beautiful plants growing there and they picked fruits like grenadillas for them to take home.  Good times indeed. ♥

Well here it is... I hope you enjoy it with me! And please remember to leave a comment, it is always much appreciated!!

Thanks!

*Family Gathers Around our Hearts and are Bound Together*

Hugs
Erica

Card Challenge#1 ~ Let's Scrap Sketches

I haven't always been much of a card maker, but as time goes by, I have really learned to love & enjoy the craft of creating special cards.  I especially enjoy finding interesting quotes and sentiments to use on my cards.  One of my favourite things to do, is write it in my own handwriting, but sometimes using a ready made tag, chipboard or sticker, can be just as special.

Chriss' Card Challenge #1 back at Let's Scrap Sketches caught my eye right away, so I decided to make this card with some scraps I had on my table.   I used Sketch #4-24-13.

The following items should be included, which has all been used on my card:

3 patterned papers
1 Sentiment
1 image
2 buttons
Some twine.

And this is my card I created for this Challenge:

Thanks for an awesome challenge Chriss, I really enjoyed playing along!

Hugs

Erica

*PLAY* ~ Let's Scrap Sketches #9-3-14 {New Let's Scrap Blog}

I am so excited to tell you about the new Let's Scrap Sketches Blog which opened last week!!  Let's Scrap was previously known as www.letsscrap.ning.com but has now changed to Let's Scrap Sketches so be sure to hop on over and join in the fun.  We are all very excited to play with and enjoy what the wonderful group of Scrapbook Ladies have in store for us.  Awesome sketches, fantastic inspiration, great challenges & even better company!!

To start with the first sketch on the blog, here is my take on the gorgeous Let's Scrap Sketch #9-3-14.

*PLAY*

And here is a closer look:

 

I hope you enjoyed looking at my layout as much as I did creating it!!

Hugs

Erica

*~Change of Blog Address~*

Sadly my previous blog address (www.ericajoannie.com) has been terminated.

As to date I have not been able to fix this and decided to start a new blog... which is where you are now!!

So... VERY WELCOME to my "new" blog!!

Please follow me & join me here on all my Creative Adventures!!

Hugs

*~Erica~*