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

Monsters Beware!!

Hi there Friends...
I am posting in a rush....and all I need right now is a new Blogger set-Up!
Anyway I had some Mojo to scrap this week-end and thanks to the inspiration of the challenge on CSI and a lovely photo of my daughter...this is what I came up with, oh yes I also used Elina's sketch on that is on Get Creative

.

I must thank Michele Singh for here lovely free downloads...I had fun using the prints especially the monsters....you can see the one has a chain around his foot..and the little orange one is double...he has a little acetate double (Double trouble!)
The little poam I wrote says. "Monsters you had better fear,
                                                when my Mommy is near.
                                                Better for you to be,
                                                far than near!
I used a bit of dictionary paper as a mat and just by chance, right at the bottom it has a definition of Night Lighting!!! How apt.
I used a metal chin to grab the monster and on the top I have a metal washer and a brad.
I don't know if you can see that the word Imagination is printed on acetate.
I also gave my L.O. a zig-zag stitching around the border, so as to pull everything together.
have a good Sunday afternoon, I am off to lunch with my sister and family.
Love
Zeffy

June the 1st...

Hi there my Scrapbooking Friends.
Firstly ,have a good month!! ca you believe  we are in the middle of 2011...
get yourselves a cup of coffee this is a long post.
Yesterday afternoon I was wondering what to work on ,on USTREAM on my show Zeffy Scraps with Freinds  so I did some serious blog hopping and I felt challenged by numerous things.....so I decided to challenge myself and combine the various challenges into one layout!!
Here is the L.O.

Butterfly Kisses was inspired by the beautiful Gabrielle papers from Bo Bunny and their challenge on their blog to do a L.O. inspired by fabric.....I loved this photo and my inspiration came from the girls sashes!!
You might wonder what the next photo is all about?? Read on....

Well it all started with the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog that wanted us to show our favourite stamp...the result will not be entered !!!
I have always admired the Color Combos Galore challenge,and I loved the colors this month ,here they are..

So I used the colors in my L.O. and while browsing on this site, I went onto Helena Virpi's blog, where I discovered Studio L3 and Linda is responsible for the experiments that happened last night, her Grungy Monday celebrates the great TIM HOLTZ we had to use a technique TIM used on his Christmas tag in 2007!!
The conclusion is I stamped with my favourite stamp...embossed,dabbed,rubbed,,,,,made a boo boo,,,,used gel medium and gesso ....embossed, dabbed, rubbed!!!  I came to the conclusion that my stamp had a very intricate pattern (That is why I love it!) for this technique and maybe my background should have been black! As Tim suggested....but I used the all the samples anyway ,to make background paper,flowers and leaves for my L.O.

And lastly, I want to take this opportunity to celebrate and thank, all of the Scrappers and Artists out there is" Scrappy -Cyber -World" that inspire me daily.....thank-you, I salute you!
God Bless you all.
Zeffy.