Special Moments and Say Cheese Faces

Hello Friends.
I do hope that all in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying their Summer and that all of my Friends down under are keeping warm and snug.

I have not participated in challenge blogs for ages...I was very inspired by the mood board of Scrap Around The World iy is the first time that I have joined the chalenge on this very interesting site.....

The cotton reels inspired my Grid design and I used tulle on the birds to represent the feathers....I also decided to use a blue and pink button....the shoe inspired the placement of my arrows.

AND because I always play on CSI and I am always inspired by there Case Files I played along this week...and I hope to join in again on a regular bases!

As I always like to challenge myself  to use a lot of the evidence, I have two pieces of paper one with polka dots and the other with gingham...can you sot them? I have a birdie with blue tulle wings and a little fox too....What does the fox say??

I am currenrly on a lace binge so I wanted to use a doilie.....I have a scrap of ribbon too , the arrows are a stamp that I carved onto a cheap eraser....

I journaled around the edges of the pages and I wrote how happy these two little faces make me....their Mommy took these photos with her mobile phone one morning...in fact the morning of her birthday!!

Keep well dear Friends.

Love

Zeffy

BLOG HOP with a DIFFERENCE

Hi  Dear Friends.

My very good friend and Guru as we love to call her Eleni Gratsia has me to join this blog hop.
Eleni is always an inspiration to me and she always knows a thing or two or three and I am honoured that she asked me to play along, and for giving me a kick start to get my blog going again!

The aim of this hop is to tell our readers a little bit about how we function as crafters......I have spent an hour ot two reading blogs and trying to trace the origin of this blog hop but, to no avail......I went as far back as June 9th to Lynns' blog A Moment In Time...but it still goes further back and it has many, many branches as each blogger introduces another 3 Friends......so happy surfing!

What am I working on right now?
As many of you know I am currently at my FIL home on the island of Lesvos, so I have a limited amount of things with me.... see previous post for video.
I had packed photos for P.L. and for a couple of L.O.
I had packed a pack of precut cards...to decorate.
And lastly I wanted to catch up on some of my Life Book 2014 lessons, this week the lesson was a short one by Finnabair

This is a mixed media page...I had limited Distress Inks with me.....and for the base I used Prima ATC cards ripped up.....the laces are sprayed with very old Black Tea leaves that I found in my FIL pantry....at least 25 years old!!I have used some of my vintage findings to embellish my page.

How long does your creative process take?
I only spent an afternoon on this page as I immediately knew which photo I wanted to use and what I wanted to say...even though it was not according to Anna's prompt!.... Creative licence.
The time I spend on a project varies according to many factors for example how much time I have time to craft, I often need to come back again and agian to finish of a project, due to othe commitments.
MOJO...... decision making.that can take long when MOJO os missing!
I often take things that I think I may use from my stash and lay them out...I never choose papers in the night!

And lastly time spent on a project depends on the project itself....  for example a mini album can take me days to complete as I do tend to get very finicky about tiny details and finishes.....luckily I have a space where I can just leave my things till I am ready to take up again....as long as my Grand-Son is not around!!

What are my current favourite things to use when creating?
My favourite things vary, and my appetite for creating is very vast..I like to try new things all the time....currently my fetish is lace and doilies, and lots of vintage (junk) items.

I found this stash of treasure in town last week and I have used it on my projects...the lace , the star and the chain with leaves...

I love flowers, my Gesso, texture paste...I love making my own stencils on my Silhouette....as well as my own stamps.
Often one thing leads to the next...for instance on this page we needed to use tea to spray our page...I ended up dying pieces of lace and doilies as well as paper.. these items lead to further inspiration.

My Style??
I do not know how to answer this question, I know that it is not CAS as much as I try when crafting with my friend Aliki.I do not seem to get it right...and I hate to copy other peoples work....I want it to be my own...
Maybe you guys can tell me what you think my style is?
I guess my style is what story I want to tell and what emotion I want to show......My style also depends on what project I am working on.....I love Mini Albums, ATCs, tags, altered matchboxes, scrapbooking L.O. and Art Journaling, Gelli printing.....
I also do believe that when creating we should  just let ourselves go and not overthink things too much, and in this manner our projects will become are our very own and individual creations.

What  Inspires me and how do I remain inspired?
I want my work to tell a story.......I want my children and Grand-Children to be able to look at photos and to know what I was thinking and what I was feeling....
I scrapbook to create a lagacy for the next generation...I want to tell everyday stories as well as stories from yesteryear......I want to express my emotions through my art and at the same time I want to heal my soul....
I am inspired by my children and by my family.....
I remain inspired by all of my crafty friends in Athens..and by all of the many wonderful friends I have made on the net......each and everyone of you sows a seed of inspiration.
Each and everyday brings new inspiration by things and colours around me.....I am so blessed...I just wish I had more time to create all the things in my brain....I often dream of my projects!

3 Old Friends.....and very talented to boot!
I met Irini Liolia on the same day as I met Eleni. It must have been on a winters day in 2008...we had been chatting on the web, so we decided to meet in the center of Athens, ...all 3 of us are of Greek heritage but we were all born in different parts of the world! Irini in Australia, Eleni in Canada and I was born in South Africa.....a crazy concoction indeed!
What I love about Irini is that she just gets things done...nothing is a big deal...she just does it...and she is a wizz with her mists, spraying and dripping. She also makes the mosy beautiful little crochet flowers......a lady of many talents!

I went to our first crop in 2010 with  Vicky as we  both live in the same area in Athens......I sat next to her....she had never done a L.O. before...she only used to make guest books and cards.....she dared to dare....and once she started playing with paint, pretty paper and photos, she became crazily addicted to scrapbooking and moved from strenght to strenght and has not stopped since...go for it Gal!!

Last but not least I need to tell you about Roula....my sweet sweet friend, who LOVES glitter!
I love her fresh, crisp and always original style, a person that can accomplish anything she sets her heart on, from guest books to L.O.s to party favours, to jewellery, to decorating sandals......but best of all was her latest idea a 'Lemonade Stal' to refresh guests at functions...I loved the concept!
Please pop over and visit these blogs they are a true inspiration!

If you made it to the end of this post I thank you for reading to the end...
Many Blessings.
Zeffy

My Inner Eye...lesson by Tamara Laporte                              A    card with vintage lace

August Again.

Hi......
Yes I am still alive and kicking! I have neglected my poor blog......
It is Summer here in Greece and I write to you from a lovely balcony overlooking the cool Agean with a soft wind gently blowing.........the very same balcony  on which  I set up my blog a number of summers ago....

I have  taken some time out and have been very busy being a Grand-Mother to the lovely addition to our family....she is 5 months old now....

I have been doing some arting namely Life Book 2014.//..and I highly recommend.the course. I will post picture of my work in my next post.

As my poor neglected blog shows I have not done any challenges, but I have been scrapping I have been doing Project Life type of  pages with the odd full page spread thrown in betwen the PL sleaves.

My latest craze is lace and I have just finished a guest book for my Grand-Daughters' baptism next month....I guess you will have to wait till then to see the creation!!!

As you can see from this quick video I did bring a couple of things to keep me busy, here on the island....a suitcase full in fact...my poor Hubby had to lug it onto the ferry for me!

LIfe here has been hectic, we go for a morning swim at 7 am.......a lovely habit, and it is great to have the whole beach to ourselves...then I have been slowly spring-cleaning the house, we had painters over, so there was a lot of cleaning to do...washing and hanging up curtains is a tiresome job to do when it is so hot and when you have a pile of crafting waiting for you.

I have however managed to do most of the things on my To Do list....I had made and packed a packet of about 15 blank cards in various sizes, I have made about 6 and in closing I will share one that I made with my new Julie Nutting stamp.

Remember Life is Good...go out and enjoy it and make some fantastic memories....promise to chat again real soon.
Zeffy.
In Lesvos.

Wednesday 246

Hi Folks..
It is Wednesday again and I have been MIA...again. So I thought that today I might play along with the curious crowd of WOYWW
WARNING it is not NEAT!

Under the pile of junk..that I need to put away or maybe even throw away, I rarely throw away paper...what can I do?  I hoard the stuff...hence the messy enviroment...
Anyway, as I was saying under the pile of papers ,I have some images from my Life Book 2014 lessons...I succumbed and signed up. And I have not regretted it at all!...These images are going to become pop-ups,this was a very challenging workshop for me, it was hosted by the amazing Jane Davenport.
I do not know if I will be brave enough to post the finished page....we will see...
Keep well, I am off to see what everybody else is up to.
Zeffy.
 

Learn and Grow

Hi everybody.
Yesterday was my little Boys' birthday, so I decided to do a page about him.....and yes time flies, this photo was taken 18 years ago!

 

Case File 109 on CSI was mainly about reading....and I promise you this photo has been in my pile of photos on my desk...it is slightly scratched....and I am on a quest to get that pile of photos documented!!!I decided to make a pile of books as one of the pieces of evidence is to stack something,

 

I have journaled in the little book that says memories.
Michaels photo is on an excercise book that is labelled 'Life Skills"
I am so proud of my title in my own handwriting, cut on my new Silhouette....

Ok back to CSI dor evidence I have: book pages, something stacked, silver element,
My testimony is im my book of Memories.
Keep well ...enjoy your Sunday.
Zeffy

Reflections.

Hi there Friends .
I want to share a L.O.that I created on Zeffy Scraps on USTREAM this week.

 

I was inspired  for the colours of thos L.O. by the Special Case file for Scrap365 on CSI I love the challenge icon and the colours are my absolute favourite!!!
I have flowers, jewels, metals, fabric, decorative border,  textured paper, lace and velum...I did not stamp on this L.O....wonder why?
For my Testimony I journaled in a blinged up journaling spot and I wrote a little love note to my daughter that is hidden in the vellum envelope under the photo.

The crazy Masking and Misting that altered this BoBunny paper beyond recognition is due to the fact that SCRAPBOOKING GREECE wants us to get inky this month.

I used my LindysStamp Gang Mists and an old tattered Angels mask to mist my page.....I also gessoed out some of the details on the paper especially the top corner that is all glittered so that I could add my journaling...The butterfly was an image on the paper, that I cut out and covered the hole in the paper by my photo.You see my process on my video.
Some details on my masking with various mediums.

Thanks DeAar for helping me name my L.O.

Keep well.

xxx

Zeffy

 

Art Diva...

Hi there Friends.
Today I want to share a fun.arty L.O. that I created....one does not need to have expensive pattern papert to have fun....I used a tiny photo, some newspaper, my inks and a very few embellishments as well as some rub-ons to make this page.The Scissors are made by using a stamp from Sfragidomania.

 

I was completely inspired by the Challenge on Color,Stories, Inspiration. This is Case File 108

For Evidence  I have used: MIxed Media. newsprint, bird, music, flowers,border punch, rub-ons,stamps and a few doodled hearts.
My Evidence says what art means to me "My art,scrapbooking and arty friends have kept me sane and happy. These past two years have been incredibly difficult. My 'art' is what has given me a lot of satisfaction and it has kept me from being completely overwhelmed by difficult life circumstances."
 wishing you a happy Sunday.
God bless.
Zeffy
 

Silence...Art Journaling

Hi there Friends.
I had a bit of time this morning so I made my entry for The Craft Barn Quote and Lyrics Challenge
I decided to do this page in my dictionary seeing that it still has some space...
The word this week was Silence or Dazzle...I chose silence....The quote that I used made me cry when I read it.......

I always say that I scrapbook for the days when I am old and senile...the quote however reminded me of my late Dad that would sit in silence for hours....for days.
"When words become unclear, I shall focus on photographs.
 When images become inadequate I shal be content in silence"
Ansel Adams.

 

While editing the photos I noticed that I have a woman on my page....can you see her???

 

Keep well.
Love
Zeffy.
 

My tourist guide to my Neighbourhood...

Hi there People.
Today I have a very unusual  project to share.....
Some very talented ladies from all over the world are having fun and games in the Supreme Scrap Challenge. I am on the Greek Team.
Our first prompt was posted on Sunday the 1st of February....a cold, cloudy and windy day..
We had to document our favourite spot that was 1000 steps away from our home...and make a double page spread....I have not done one in years......So I got warmly dressed and went for a walk.

Oh yes and we were to use no spray inks....but a L.O. without color does not work...so I used some Distress Paints to add some dimension to my boring cardboard paper....I needed 2 pages that were the same...

My journaling reads" I am blessed to live in one of the nicest areas of Athens. Coming from South Africa open spaces were a must for our new family home.Our apartment is just around the corner from a huge green belt which runs down from the end bit of the Hymmetus Mountain Range.
I love trees so this place is so special yet each year in the summer my heart hurts because this mountain is always set alight. and burns.You can see the burnt bushes in my photos, the grass is green now but come June and it will dry to a golden colour."
"The antithesis of our neighbourhood. A sports car abandoned by some rich guy. and sheep from the shepards down the road, grazing on empty plots ( only a few left now) This is 2 houses down from us"
Then I also have little comments all over the page and on the photos too...
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Love.
Zeffy.

The Candy Sucker..

Hi there My Friends,

 I told you last week that I would be back with the rest of the photos of me as a little girl....These photos were in a group of 4.I scanned them and then cropped them apart.
Here are the 3 you never saw last week. They are of my Brother Lee and I.
My page design is from the page design #108 from Sketchabilities

My inspiration was Case File 107 on CSI



The long face I have in the photo is because they gave my brother this huge sucker that my dad sold in his shop, so that he can at least sit still and behave for the photo shoot....I must have been drooling, the final stray was when he started opening the wrapping.
Anyway back to CSI.
I have  flowers, ribbon, clouds, diamond shapes wet medium and brads as well as a very long title.
My testimony, journaling is scattered all over the page

 

I used a combination of Mustard Seed and Rusty Hinge Distress Paints to achieve the mustard colour.
the pink banners and spotted heart are from Heidi Swapp and I coloured them with Picked Raspberry and a Fuschia NeaocolorII.
I want to thank my friend Aliki for the title of my page,she had cut out a couple for me when she got her Cameo last year.....

Stay tuned we have a Greek Dream Team participating in the Supreme Scrap Tournament and the first challenge is up...so I went for a walk in the freezing cold this morning to take photos of the area  1000 steps away from my home...
Enjoy your Sunday.
Warm hugs,
Zeffy

WOYWW 243

Hello Arty Friends.
 I was happily cleaning my house this morning....then I remembered it was Wednesday.
And, on Wednesday there are a whole bunch of people out there that love to take a look at peoples desks...yes it is What Is On Your Workdesk Wednesday 243

This week I signed up for Life Book 2014..... and I am SO So happy!

Not so happy with the Love page.....I copied the teacher,well almost...need to say it in my own way ...me thinks...However I loved this page of my Art Guardian!

lots of arty love.
Zeffy

Ode To My Tonic Scissors

Hi again..
If you take a look on my previous post you will spot two paper embellishments, a bee and a flower.
You might know that I am participating in Creative Jump Start over at Natalie's blog.
One of the lessons was by Marsha Valk. she showed us how to make paper pulp from cardbaord boxes...I made some molded embellishments...

I trim the excess off the molds using my Tonic scissors I love the way they get into all the tight corners! I have 3 red Tonic scissors and a little green one...I am now eyeing the new shears.!!I tried to cut steel by mistake,,,yes the flowers with the long metal stems.....so that scissors isnow the junky one now....the one with the cover is my good one....
they are magic I love them. My friends husband used them to cut open lobsters the other day!
Here is a video showing how I clour my embellishments with Luminarte Twinkling H2Os

Have fun......love Zeffy.

Little Girl

Hello dear Friends,
I hope that you are all having a good week-end.
Fistly I would like to thank you all for the very kind comments that I received this week, both here, on my You Tube channel and on CSI:
As most of you know I am having a problem with my eye so my computer time is very limited!

I do manage to scrap however! Thank The Lord!
I was Star Witness on CSI: last week, and I am playing again this week....here is my L.O. and a photo or two of my page foundation. I used my Derwant Neocolor II to colour my page.

I chose a long 6 word title for my page...Little Girl Me &You Make Zeffy

Let us see if you can spot the rest of the requirements!

As most of you must know 13arts is a new company specialising in paper and art media products, I do not have any in my possesion, so I used their sketch this week, hopefully I may win some of their goodness....

 

 And last but not least...home. Scrapbooking Greece has started the new year with a challenge asking us to make a page wth a personal photo taken in our childhood.
This photo was taken in a series, with my brother...you will see the rest  of them in my future pages.
Keep well.
Zeffy

CJS Post Script.

I am here again....
I forgot to mention that I often work 2 or even 3 backgrounds at the same time.....You see I  am inpatient...have no time to let time dry..oh yes and as you can see no time to tidy my desk either!
The plus side of being slightly dyslexic is that you can function in a mess!

 

Here I have added a layer of Liquitex Bright Aqua Green and before it has even dried I have started stamping with Titanium White using my favouriye circle stamp...the inside of a Alluminium Foil roll...yes it is much more sturdy than a toilet roll so your circles are perfect!
Next Journal please....

Here I have added yellow to the white andi have done some stenciling....then I used a diamond shape that I found, by chance  on the inside of a  cardboard box...in fact I think it had Bazzil paper in it!!

I will definately,eventually ,decoupage it (the diamond shapes) onto a page..

Paint is almost dry....must get on with the pages....

Bye again .

Zeffy

Creative Jump start

Hi there Friends,,
I want to tell you about Creative Jump Start an online workshop hosted by Natalie Kalbach.
I first met Natalie at PACS in France.she is an awesome artist and CJS is always very inspiring.
This year she has an impressive range of artist doing demos on the series....the theme this year is to use household items.....A thing that I have been doing for ages, due to the cost of art supplies in Greece!!

I usually art in my own hand made journals...the one on the desk is an old diary from2009 and the one on the side is made from a re-cycled cereal box,paper bags and advertising brochures,an idea I got from Jennibellie on You Tube
I am using an anti-slip cupboard lining and a plastic doilie as masks...toilet paper and newspaper are always on standby....in fact I have used a page from a free newspaper as a base for my one page....baby wipes are always on hand...dry ones are good too!!!
Oh yes and before I go I pour my Gesso into little medicine bottles...so I just squirt it onto my page and spread it with my fingers....
Have a good week-end,
Keep creating.
Zeffy
 

Smile.....

Hello .
A little art journaling that I did this past week-end......did you know the correct word it to JOURNALIZE...according to the Collins English Dictionary...
The Craft Barn has a Quotes and Lyrics on the go for 2014......and I am playing....
This year I have decided that I am allowed to cry.....because in the past I just smiled while my heart was breaking!!

This page is done in my homemade art journal...we were at a crop so I used whatever scraps I had with me....some gelli printing on brown paper...some pattern paper a heart I had made ...and some gold Viva Ferro...thanks to Elina....
Life got in the way at the end of last year so my dictionary pages are not all done...so I thought I would do some pages there,when appropriate.
Be Creative...
Love Zeffy

A Post On Wednesday.

Hello..
Today I want to say a special hello to all of the crafters that love to spy on peoples desks...yes I am talking about all the lovely people on WOYWW.
A quick apology before I share my desk....I have not been around and my computer time is very limited due to a very sensitive eye, as a result of an operation that I had late last year.....it is getting better, but very very slowly.
Now the scrapping area...some big changes.....I swapped up my 2 small Expedit shelves for this big chest of drawers the Mandal from Ikea.

The Mandal was a bitch to put up....I reinforced the drawers with extra screws....then the whole frame was rickety so I added four black corner brackets on the egdes....you can see one in the photo...so we now have a grungy result. But.....the good news is I now have easy peesy accessibility to my goodies.

On my desk you see a page that is to be posted to Scrappin Happyxo in Australia.
Keep well and stay posted I am planning to do a video of my craft area this week....
Please forgive me if I do not leave a comment on your blog....
Lots of love.
Zeffy

Hello......

Hi there everybody in Blogland....
Happy New Year! Yes I know it is almost the end of January....and I have MIA for AGES!
Guess what I made a L.O.......
Yes CSI inspired me once again.
I decided to scrap my Father-in-Law...I have the utmost respect for him and he is amazing, for someone that is over 80!

 

closer details of my home-made heart and foil paper embellishment...

 

Thank you Irini for taking the photos for me ,at the crop, with your new phone....they are fab!
Wishing you all a good week...hopefully I will be back soon.
Zeffy

Altered Matchbox

Hi everybody......
I hope that you all have had a blessed holiday and have had a jolly good time.....i made some altered matchboxes at the beginning of December,that I would like to share with you

I am sure that you will recognise the Graphic45 ballerina from the "Nutcracker Sweet" paper ..
I have resorted to making my own matchboxes so that I can customise the size according to the size of the images.

 I added a lace skirt under the ballerina image and I added some tulle in the matchbox behind the balletshoes.....because tulle equals tutus....

I have also made a matchbox using the gingerbead men....here is the video...

keep well...take it easy...
Zeffy

WOYWW 231 and a Card

Hi There....
Yes it is Wednesday again...time to look at some desks and try and spot some busy bees on WOYWW. This is how I left my desk last night after streaming on ZEFFY SCRAPS.

 

I altered some Prima packaging...it had some flowers on it and I made this tag...once that was done I started making a matchbox.that is to become a Christmas tree decoration....you can spot the Gingerbread men that will adorn the box....I like to make my little boxes from scratch!!

 

The card above is made for Eleni's card challenge on Get Creative. She challenged us to use a mask or stencil on our card....I used both,and I was totally inspired by Tom Holtz!!
That is it for today!!
Keep well.
Love.
Zeffy