Welcome to my blog and thanks soso much for spending a little while peeping into my world

ARTS, BELLYDANCING, CRAFTS
BELLYDANCING, ARTS, CRAFTS
CRAFTS, BELLYDANCING, ARTS

whichever order I put them in, these are my passion!

... all from my little home studio in Durban, on the east coast of sunny South Africa!

"I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone doing anything weird wasn't weird at all and it was the people saying they were weird that were weird." -- Paul McCartney









Saturday, June 30, 2012

SEWING SEEDS OF LOVE AND THANKS

I have just added my last post as a Guest on the Inky Impressions Design Team on the Inky Impressions Blog HERE. I have had a great time being here, and it got me playing with my inks again, and I was reminded what fun that can be, especially if they are being used on the fabulous Inky Impressions rubber stamps.

I leave you with this little saying to ponder on ...
My mind is a garden.
My thoughts are the seed.
My harvest will be either flower or weed.
Mel Weldon

and this little card that features "Gardening Lili", a fabulous rubber stamp available in the store HERE
The image, after being coloured using a variety of alcohol markers, was fussy cut and pasted onto a scalloped oval diecut. I sewed on some sequins and beads and attached it to an offcut of  DP. A length of velvet ribbon, a velvet bow and a three layer flower were added as embellishments.

Here is a better look at the cute Gardening Lili:

I have thoroughly enjoyed my GDT term here at Inky Impressions and am amazed at the wonderful quality of the rubber stamps. So much so that I highly recommend that you visit the store where you will find a delightful selection of rubber stamps, as well as a whole lot more to enhance your papercrafting fun!
 
Thanks once again to all the lovely Design team as well as the followers of Inky Impressions for leaving such wonderful comments on my Inky Impressions projects.
 
I would like to add this card to the following challenges :

luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
(Durban, South Africa)
GUEST DESIGNER
INKY IMPRESSIONS

Friday, June 29, 2012

WITH LOVE FROM US HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA TO Y'ALL IN THE USA!



From all the South African followers of Digistamps 4 Joy in South Africa to all the USA Digistamps 4 Joy followers, we celebrate your wonderful day with you ... 
HAPPY  4TH of JULY!!!

Facebook comments, images & graphics

The image on my card is "Little Ms Liberty" that I coloured using alcohol markers and a white gel pen.  The link to the image in the Digistamps 4 Joy store is HERE.

Remember to pop by on Sunday to check out our fabulous new releases!!!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

 
luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICA

FREEBIE FRIDAY AT BUGABOO STAMPS

This week's Freebie is the cutest little Sewing Mouse - needle ... 
To make my card I printed the image  onto cream cardstock, and coloured with my alcohol markers.  The nose and tummy are coated in Glossy Accents.  The sentiment and button card are from a friend whose blog candy I won earlier this year and they seemed perfect for this card.  I added two red buttons to accentuate the redness of the mouse's tummy.


Here is a close up of the image:



Click HERE to find out how you can download this to own for yourself ... for free!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges

365 CARDS, DAY 120, ‘ADD SPARKLE AND SHINE  USING 2 PRODUCTS’ ( I use a white gel pen and Glossy Accents)

luv'n huggz
Jen leeflang
Durban
South Africa


Thursday, June 28, 2012

A BUGABOO OLDIE BUT GOODIE

With all the heat of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the US 4th of July looming, I think the cute little critters in the Bugaboo Stamps store are being neglected.

Today is BE KIND TO BUGABOO CRITTERS DAY !!  That's it, I have declared that!!!

And so to celebrate and bring attention to all the cute little guys, I have made an easel card with Scruffy Puppy - topper who is sitting on some suitcases that were a free coloring page on the internet - sorry I can't give you a link but I tried to find it again and just couldn't :(


Click here to see the other Oldie but Goodie images used on some really fabulous projects by the Bugaboo DT!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges: 


luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Durban
South Africa

TERRIFICALLY THRILLING THURSDAY AT SHELLY'S IMAGES



Well, here we are again ... it's THURSDAY and it's TERRIFICALLY THRILLING ...

Why ... cos we have a new image to showcase and a great new challenge!

 This Week's Featured Image is Picnic, make sure to stop by Shelly's Images Store, to get your copy.


  Our challenge for you this week is 
Stars, Stripes & SPARKLE

And here is my card to showcase the new image and to inspire you for the challenge:


Here is a closer look at that fabulous image :

I coloured the image using alcohol markers and a white gel pen for some highlights.  Glossy accents form the shine on the watermelon, grapes and juice.

Striped DP and stick on star gems for the challenge requirements and a lovely green organza ribbon complete the card.

Are you now inspired?  Click here to find the linky for the challenge at Shelly's Images blog, and while you are there, please check out the wonderful projects made by the rest of the DT!  You will be amazed!!!

I would like to add my card to the following challenges:
 

luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICA

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

THE OUTLAWZ 2000 MEMBER PARTY CHALLENGES

I would like to share with you the card I made for the Color Challenge on The Outlawz, where the theme is "Where in the world are you?" and your creation should be inspired by the colours of your country/flag.


As I live the the wonderfully diverse South Africa, I have a myriad of cultures to use as my inspiration and the colours of my flag are just wonderful:
DURBAN,  largest 'Indian' city outside India.   "DIVERSITY" is the one word that best describes South Africa, and the Indian population in Durban have contributed to the eclectic mix of cultures here.  I have used one of my very favourite images by Guylou, the beautiful "Fahri"...


 I coloured the image using my alcohol markers using the colours of the flag. 

The highlights were done with a white gel pen and some glitter flue was added for the bling.

The DP was some junk mail I received earlier in the week, and I thought it was just perfect for this image - all the ingredients needed for a delicious Indian Curry!

A black satin ribbon to depict the Indian ladies' beautiful and glossy black hair, and red gems to depict their love of bling.  red is a colour very important in the Indian culture as it is traditionally used for weddings.

I would like to add this card to the following challenge too:


LUV'N HUGGZ
JEN LEEFLANG
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICA

THE OUTLAWZ 2000 MEMBER PARTY CHALLENGES

I would like to share with you the card I made for the Greetings Challenge on The Outlawz, where the theme is "Where in the world are you?"

As I live the the wonderfully diverse South Africa, I have a myriad of cultures to use as my inspiration.  For my Greetings challenge card, I designed an image called "My South Africa Flag Dress" which has one of the Cuties wearing a summer dress inspired by the colourful South African flag.  The image is not yet available in the digistamps 4 joy store, but I am hoping that it will be released on Sunday.

 

And here is my card for the challenge:

I coloured the image using my alcohol markers and added a black border.  The only embellishments are the two tabs on the right.  I purposely omitted to add any dimensional embellishments so that this card can be sent in the overseas mail without any risk of it being opened by inquisitive mail officials.

The dress lends itself to paper piecing and does not have to be coloured using the South African Flag colours.  I can picture the dress paper pieced in different floral printed DP, can you?

I would like to add this card to the following challenges:


luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Durban
South Africa


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

MY IKEBANA ARRANGEMENT

I have this very pretty shrub in my garden called a Red Powder Puff. I looked up the info and found that it is native to tropical America :  

Family: Mimosaceae
Genus: Calliandra 
Species: haematocephala


For our Women's Institute competition last night I needed to make an Ikebana flower arrangement, and as it's winter right now, there are not too many flowers in my garden, except this beautiful shrub.

Here is my Ikebana arrangement:


I used a little square plate (3"x3") and added some glass pebbles and stones in the bottom.  Three flowers, two leaf sprigs and a twig with some buds on it are all that it took (and about 5 minutes of my time).

I got a perfect 10 and first place for my creation! I am so proud of myself as I am not good at arranging flowers at all!  When I get a bunch of flowers I 'dump' them in a large upright vase and that's it.  

I will share my creation on
Inspire Me Fridays, #64, 'Anything Goes'


... still smiling this morning!


luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Durban
South Africa

Monday, June 25, 2012

A WHITE, PINK AND GREY 'PROM GIRL' FOR CARRIE

I needed to make a birthday card for a client who wanted it for her daughter's birthday.  She chose the image "Prom Girl" from the Digistamps 4 Joy store after she saw my "Prom Girl" with the green dress.

Here is the  Joy- Fold card  I made:


I coloured the image using my alcohol markers and added a little white gel pen for the highlighting:


When i delivered it this evening, she was really happy with it and said it looked just like her daughter Carrie, with her light blue eyes and blonde hair. - Yippee - another satisfied customer!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:


luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Durban, South Africa