It's a Creative World

Theme Day - Going Green

Hi from Caz

Going green screams recycling and I am making a huge effort to recycle everything that is convenient and fits into my life. We have 3 bins. One for household and garden waste, the brown bin, and everything from peelings, to cardboard to plate scrappings goes into it. One for tins and glass and we recyle ALL tins and glass. And lastly the black bin. And everything else goes in this bin. I haven't started recycling plastic yet as I can't justify the trip to the tip. Does the recycling cancel out the CO2 I chug out on the way to the tip each week??

As part of my 'Going Green' drive, I am making use of tins in the garden. Instead of using plastic pots which I now take back to the garden centre, I am using tins for growing on my seedlings. At the end of their usefulness, they go into the recycling bin!

 

Be sure to make a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage!

But Going Green at this time of year also means the green that is sprouting up around me in the garden. Last year I went in search of perenials. Plants that would come back again the next year. And boy is my garden sprouting green-ness, lol. I've recorded spring 2009 in this 12"x6" layout. (but just realised i've put 2008!)

 

If you're going green and have good tips to share please share in the comments and a link to your blog would be good too. We love to nosey :)

Thanks for visiting!
xx

Its "theme" day again and its a "Simple" theme...

Hi from the cReative giRls who today have been challenged with the word "'SIMPLE". OOPS, the meaning(s) of "SIMPLE" seems very complicated!!!

1.	easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.: a simple matter; simple tools.

2.	not elaborate or artificial; plain: a simple style.

3.	not ornate or luxurious; unadorned: a simple gown.

4.	unaffected; unassuming; modest: a simple manner.

5.	not complicated: a simple design.

6.	not complex or compound; single.

7.	occurring or considered alone; mere; bare: the simple truth; a simple fact.

8.	free of deceit or guile; sincere; unconditional: a frank, simple answer.

9.	common or ordinary: a simple soldier.

10.	not grand or sophisticated; unpretentious: a simple way of life.

11.	humble or lowly: simple folk.

12.	inconsequential or rudimentary.

13.	unlearned; ignorant.

14.	lacking mental acuteness or sense: a simple way of thinking.

15.	unsophisticated; naive; credulous.

Hi from Di - and here is my take on "simple". I love simple clothes. Because they are never in fashion they never go out of fashion. My style of dressing is simple, often white, mostly natural fibres and I have  very few problems co-ordinating! here is my VERY simple layout!

 

and not being  in fashion I am mostly timeless!

 

Hi from Caz

Living in 2009 can certainly be complicated. We rush about, getting from A to B and most of the time we forget about the 'simple' things in life. Stopping to admire the flowers or spending time with loved ones.
This year and making a HUGE effort to go back to the simple things in life. And i'm starting in my bedroom. I want a room that is plain and clutter free, a space to relax and sleep well.

We have a major storage issue in our bedroom, so with my bonus I am going out to buy a decent chest of drawers. I want a tall unit with deep wide drawers that I can pack away all the clean laundry and get it off the floor, hich is where it spends alot of time.
I am also working on decluttering side tables, both on top and inside.
Once I have cleared away the junk, I will need storage for my jewelery and trinkets, and to start this off I have covered a tin very simply...

 

Organisation is the key. Once you have 'a place for everything', you tend to keep 'everything in it's place'. I've been a bad blogger so far in 2009 but I plan to cover my progress on my blog, feel free to pop over and see if I manage this 'simple life'.

Thanks for visiting IACW and please let us see your take on "Simple"

XXX

Theme Day - New Beginnings

Hi from the cReative giRls who today have been challenged with the word(s) "New Beginnings".

Here is what the girls have come up with!

Hi from Caz

Today i'm sharing 2 "New Beginnings" projects. The first is a wedding card for my cousin. He is getting married in March in SA. He and his new wife will be embarking on a very exciting journey, and beginning a new life as husband and wife.

Inspiration for the card came from the lovely Anam. You can see the layout on this post, 7th one down.

The second is a baby welcome card for some very dear friends who are due to have a baby boy in April. (nothing like being prepared, eh?) It will be a new beginning for baby and a new beginning for my friends as parents of two :)

Hi from Di

I have set pretty realistic goals for this year and am really inspired by the changes - I am really living my "New Beginnings" so decided to make a collage using cut outs from magazines to reflect all the new beginnings in my life.

I went through lost of old and new glossiy magazines and tore out whole pages of the things that reflected my "New Beginnings", then just cut out the bits I wanted.

 

Then the fun part - I used an old canvas from my painting days and just laid out the bits till I achieved the effect I wanted. I used a spray glue to attach everything. It is removable so was great for repositioning.

 

Hi from Maria.  My take on new beginnings is this glass coaster that I keep on my desk. 

We were very boring and didn't live together until we were married so this, our wedding day, was a new beginning for us. 

A very simple reminder that it is forever.  Mind you, I sometimes have to resist the urge to throw it at his head ...... Hee hee!!!

Hi from Jakey. As it’s January and the start of another new year I thought I’d share with you my word for 2009. This year I thought I’d go for Enjoy. Should be easy enough to achieve, eh?

But seriously, my word is not as flippant as it sounds  Obviously, I do hope to enjoy my year, but on a deeper level my thinking goes like this:

I want to Enjoy my food – without overeating. No more mindless stuffing. Eat what I really want to eat, not what I feel I should eat, and that way I’ll feel satisfied, and not feel the need to gorge.
I’ll Enjoy a few drinks at the weekend, but keep it as a treat, rather than just opening a bottle when I’ve had a stressful day… enjoy a glass or two – and put the top back on the bottle! Lol!
I really want to Enjoy time with the family – and participate in making the memories, as well as scrapping them.
Learn to Enjoy each day - with all the challenges and small achievements it brings.
Enjoy the things I have, and all the blessing bestowed on me… and stop pining for the unobtainable and wishing my life away hoping for miracles which will probably never happen, and for things I’ll never have.
Make certain to Enjoy the here and now, for it’s a certainty that we’ll never live this moment again.

And just Enjoy being me… being the best me I can be, inside and out.

There are many more Enjoy’s.. but you get the picture, I’m sure. I don’t know why I chose this word... maybe because in my line of work I often encounter people who feel angry that they never enjoyed their lives enough, never had the time… never made the time…and now at the end of their lives, they wish they had the chance to do it all again…

So my wish for me this year is to simply Enjoy.
My wish for you all is the same.
jkxx

 

Since im the new girl on Its a Creative World this really is a new beginning for me.  I love the fact i can now create, make, bake and show all the things i love doing so thank you to all the wonderful participants who have made this possible for me. 

This year is going to be so different as I started meditation and have booked a weekend retreat which looks at teaching yoga and meditation on a deeper level.  I really think this is so positive in my life and has given me a sense of a new beginning for the future.

For anyone wanting a good, move forward and be yourself book then check out Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  A one woman story about travels through Rome (eat), India (pray) and Bali (love) with an underlying message of how we have to make ourselves happy before we can please others.

Thank you and ommmmmmmm! ;)

Debbie

x

Katie Here!

For 2009 I intend to experiment with any new craft that takes my fancy. I want to go wherever my inspiration takes me (assuming I have some inspiration!!)

So in celebration I made this piece to remind me to stay inky, arty and altering for another year!!

Have fun!

GlitteryKatie x

Thanks for visiting IACW!
Creative girls.
xx

It's Theme day and the theme is INVITATIONS!

Hi from the cReative giRls who today have been challenged with the word INVITATIONS!

We all are invited to special occasions - baby shower, kitchen tea, birthday, wedding, anniversary, house warming - whatever! Do you ever have to make INVITATIONS???

So Just a reminder: We choose a word and several members of the team will INTERPRET that word, create, and share their creations!

Lets see how the creative girls got on with this challenge!

Hi from MadDi, - the Queen of Easy Peasy, who at the last moment realised I had to make some invitations for my niece's farewell party. I started with Microsoft Powerpoint!

 

Using Word art you can do marvellous things but I kept mine real simple.

I printed the invitations as 'handouts' 6 to the page (very economical), on card board coloured cardstock.

Then I cut out the invitations, inked the edges then attached them to fluted red cardstock (corrugated paper) punched a hole and attached some twine. Finally I attached the Welsh flag. SIMPLE!!!

I was amazed that this was about a 2 hour project to make 30 invitations!

Hi from Caz
When I got married last year, I wanted to make my own invitations. And luckily, when I was still in the planning stages, I had a Scrapping Weekend away with some awesome, talented ladies who lent me their mojo and helped with the design.

I found the most gorgeous vellum in a bargain bucket, and snapped up as many sheets as I could. I cut a template out of some stiff card and set about cutting all the pockets. Each sheet made 2 pockets.

The invitations were created in WORD, using a table and it took a little while to get the spacing right so I went through a few sheets of paper. But I did use both sides and even occasionally more than twice!

Each invite was printed on a sheet of A4 and had to be cut out, scored and folded. The edges were then inked, and finally they were popped into the pockets.

I also made a little info sheet, with hotel and train details on, and the order of service sheets for the day.

It was great fun but also hard work!

Thanks for visiting us and love from the cReative giRls X

It's Theme day again, and the Theme is...

COLOUR COLOUR COLOUR !!!

So Just a reminder: We choose a word and several members of the team will INTERPRET that word, create and share their creations!

Colour

“Colour or Color is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors.

The science of color is sometimes called chromatics. It includes the perception of color by the human eye and brain, the origin of color in materials, colour theory in art, … “

The creative girls have been challenged with the word COLOUR - lets see what they have come up with.

Hi from MaDdi

Yes I do know that black is NOT a colour LOL. The brighter the better for me and any colour will do. Here is my tribute to the colour in my life! If you need to know what colours 'GO" together, just look at nature!

"Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too."

I started with loads of pics some fabric and cardstock and just had FUN!.

 

Caz

I love colour and really battle to do 'un'colourful layouts or art journal pages. As well as loving colour I also like to do unconventionally coloured layouts. Like opting not to do a red/pink 'love' layout

 

lol, I love this photo of my niece showing off her magic skills, although i'm not sure the owner of the spoon was too impressed! These basic grey papers just scream colour and where perfect for this page.

Changing photos to black and white means you can use any colour your heart desires on a page. My niece again using up some of her boundless energy. The bold background colour doesn't destract from the photos but brightens the page.

If you use any of the layouts for inspiration please don't forget to leave us a link. It's always lovely to go visit our visitors blogs!

Don't forget to leave your comment if you would like to suggest a theme to challenge the team!

 

here are a few sites that just love colour!!!

http://www.colourlovers.com/

http://www.colormatters.com/vis_bk_white.html

Thanks for visting IACW XXX 

It's a Theme day and the Theme is....

Wedding...

Some of the feedback we received from you on our birthday was that you liked to see different members of our design team doing for example cards so that you got different view points

Well one of the ways we are responding to that feedback is to introduce a monthly 'Theme Day' day to challenge the creative girls. This is how it will work. We choose a word and several members of the team will INTERPRET that word, create and share their creations!

Today is the first of our 'Theme' days' and the word is WEDDING!!!! So here goes..,We have Lemon, Di, a guest (Wild Roze), Trish, Caz, Jo and Jakey.

Lemon

Like most people I have old family photo's where I dont know who most of the people are. I decided that I didn't want this to happen to my wedding photo's in the future.

 

I traced the people in the photo onto acetate using a slick writer pen. After numbering everyone I backed it with a piece of card and wrote on the back who they were. It now sits in a pocket behind the layout so that it is easy to see who attended my wedding.

 

From Maddi - some special bits and pieces and a special moment...

Firstly here is a real simple idea, with an African theme, for party favours. My friend Wild Roze, had these made for her son's wedding in Brighton this year. They are very South African and are made from wire and beads. Each of the guests received one and they also added lovely decor to the table:

 

With the leftovers we made tiny bouquets as gifts for the flower girls:

   

A special moment of the wedding for me, was when the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom were presented with beautiful bunch of flowers. My friend Wild Roze the mother of the groom was touched to tears:

(just a reminder from me that sometimes those simple, special, unposed moments captured on your camera, make great memories.)

And we have more!!! maddi's dear friend "Wild Roze" from Cape Town South Africa has these wedding layouts to share with us.

This is Roz and Simon at his wedding in Brighton August 2008. I just love that she has removed all the clutter from the photo background! How did you do that????

 

And Shannon - a gorgeous bride in a really once in a life time unposed pose LOL. Shannon is the daughter of Wild Roze's friend Jan.

 

Thank you so much Wild Roze for joining in our theme day! (Hugs from Di in Johannesburg)

Hi from Trish, as some of our followers know I got married 3 weeks ago this Saturday, we had a very quiet and relaxed wedding at a local registry office.  There were only nine of us in total and no official photographer, so my sister took these pics, other than the one with all of us in.  I have used one large and three small photos and used one piece of patterned paper and 2 sheets of card, these came in a Scrapaholics kit about a year ago. 

 

I gutted (cut out the middle) the green sheet of card so as not to waste any, cut about 1cm off of two sides of the paper and stuck it to the card. I used a silver gel pen to outline most of the swirls on the paper and the word 'AMAZING'.  I mounted the large photo onto pink card and placed it on the LO in the position I wanted it, I then used a craft knife to cut round the swirl and the star so the picture sat slightly under them then stuck the picture down.  For the three small pictures I wanted to keep them all together so mounted them on one piece of pink card and trimmed it to the size I wanted and placed them at the top of the page.  I picked a few rub ons for embellishment as I wanted the  focus to be completely on the pictures.

Hi from Jo (and my first posting on IACW!)

For the wedding theme I decided to go with a photo of my fiance's cousin and her husband who married earlier this year. I'm hoping that her Mum may like this for Christmas.

I started with a really awful frame (zebra print) that I found in a bargain shop a while ago for the princely sum of 50p, I painted a layer of cream acrylic paint over the print to try and cover it before using plain calic to cover the frame and sticking it on the back. I then arranged various Prima flowers, stamping on a few of them, in two corners of the frame and used buttons, brads, beads, sequins and Stickles in the centres. Then I used a pale green chalk ink to lightly stamp a few flourishes on the remaining calico.

Hi from Caz

My own wedding is a not too distant memory, having gotten married in March last year. And the one thing that I remember quite clearly was the stress of getting everything just right.
One thing you will need is a place to write notes, stick fabric swatches and keep track of the finances! My journal came from Oh So Cherished, and I love it! This isn't the one I had, they don't seem to do it any more, but it's the same make.
Stick to your guns! Don't let anyone tell you your ideas are not good, or bully you into doing something you don't like. I have my poor mum on the other end of msn ALL DAY talking about the wedding and she was very supportive of all the decisions I made. She didn't even freak out when I told her I didn't like my dress, TWO DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING!! We just got another one! If you have that sort of support, hang onto it for dear life.

Here are just two of my favourite photos from the day...

 

 

I'm doing my whole album using this basic grey paper. It's like sweeties!

Jakey

Just a very simple creation from me.

 

Made with scraps it took seconds, and could be used as a wedding card or even an invitation. Cut a simple aperture card either by hand or on the Robo; back it with a scrap of paper, and glue a foam die cut shape in white in one corner. Add an identical die cut, cut from black card over the foam, leaving a tiny shadow showing. Run a silver leafing pen around the edge - and you’re done!

xxJakeyxx

If you would like to suggest a theme - please leave us a comment!

As usual thanks for visiting IACW and love from the cReative giRls X