Scrapping the past...

I love scrapping old photos. I'm not a scrapbooker who exclusively scraps current photos, I love going back and reliving memories through older photos - although I do get frustrated when I can't remember the facts LOL. Scrapping much older photos - ie from before I was born - is fascinating to me, part of the fun for me is finding out the who, where, when, why and what of the photos.
On Two Peas, I have been taking part in Heritage challenges. This month, the challenges were to use photos without people, to use photos from the 1930's and to use a sketch. I don't have any old photos not including people, but as you can split the challenge up, I did what I know best - use a sketch!
I used PageMaps (what else?) as my sketches, and the first one is from the August 2010 selection.
This is a photo of my 2 Aunts on my parent's wedding day in 1970. They were the bridesmaids. I used bazzill card, My Mind's Eye paper and then plenty of Prima flowers. The title is Papermania alpha stickers and American Crafts foam Thickers.

The next layout meets 2 of the challenges - a photo from 1930's and a sketch. This sketch is from the July 2010 selection at PageMaps. This is a photo of my Great Grandmother, taken in 1933 when she was 57 years old. By this time she'd had 10 children, and was a grandma many times over. She reminds me of my Gran - her youngest child - the resemblance is uncanny. She died in 1967 aged 91, I just wished that I could have met her, all the evidence I have of her is that she was a strong, determined woman.

I used My Minds Eye and Making Memories papers, plus some scraps. The type paper is K&Co. I rolled 1 inch squares of paper and stuck them down to make the border. The swirl is Maya Road chipboard covered in Bazzill bling card. I then used 2 sizes of retro flower punch for the bloom. The title is using Basic Grey chipboard numbers.

I can't wait to see what challenges the girls come up with for September.

TTFN

xxxx

Coffee and a chat...

The summer holidays are almost over, and one of the things I am looking forward to doing when the kids have gone back to school is to catch up with friends over a coffee. But over the summer, I have lost a few friends who have been posted to bases in England, a downside to Forces Life :( One of them in particular, I will miss the most. I was in Starbucks a couple of weeks ago, and spied their VIA coffee sachets, and thought, "hmm I'm sure I can do something with this", followed shortly by, "I know I have a stamp that is perfect for this", followed again by "I must pop by my LSS and pick up the perfect Sugar Nellie stamp for this"... So, armed with my stamps and a kit I have had for donkey's years - not even sure whose kit it is, it could be a Sarah's Cards kit, or even a ScrapaGoGo kit - I set to make a little something to send my pal through the post :)

The Sugar Nellie stamp is called "Coffee Time", and I coloured her in with my ProMarkers. The papers are Jilly Beans Soup - Minestrone. I used Bazzill kraft card for the base. I card lifted from one of my favourite Dutch cardmakers - Tiets - I love all the layers she uses. The flowers are Making Memories.

Inside, I punched out a 2 1/2 inch circle from another coloured image, and layered it onto a 3 inch scallop circle. And then I added the sentiment stamp from Elzybells that I have owned for years, but never inked up onto the front of the second flap.

I made a little pocket from kraft card to house the coffee sachets, and then covered the front with patterned paper. To keep the symmetry, I added some patterned paper to the other side, and added a square of kraft card to add a message.

On the back, is another of my Elzybells stamps, I don't always sign the back, but seeing as I was happy with the result, I thought I'd put my name to it LOL. I added a bit of blue organza ribbon to tie the card/booklet together.

I'm sure my friend will like it, and I hope that she enjoys the coffee too, although it's not the same without the chat :(

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Not unlucky for me at all, in fact 13 crops up a couple of times in our family, and never in a bad way. Today is our 16th wedding anniversary, and no we got married on a Saturday, not a Friday! Also my daughter was born on the 13th April, and no not on a Friday, although many times I have thought that she should have been, and have searched endlessly for the 666 sign on her head....

TTFN

xxxx

New supplies and new projects...

I like a nice bit of stash shopping as much as the next scrapbooker, and this week I had a double whammy! On Monday, I found some lovely Making Memories stuff and an American Crafts D ring album in TK Maxx of all places... Then on Wednesday, I went to my LSS for a quick Sugar fix and to generally have a nose around. Of course I left with a bag of goodies, including Prima stamps, Bo Bunny papers and Personal Impressions stamps. Oh and the Sugar Nellie stamp I went in for in the first place...
As it is the beginning of August, the new PageMaps are out, so after printing them out, one caught my eye and before I knew it, I had delved into my new stuff and came out with this...


Mark took these photos of Jemma doing a spot of harbour jumping. Now Jemma is a bit of an adventure girl, an adrenaline junkie. Anything remotely dangerous or adventurous is real magnet to this girl. She was really up for harbour jumping, but when the time came, all of a sudden she was really reluctant to do it. Even after a few visits, she still faffs and delays before jumping in. Very odd. She is a confident swimmer, and has jumped into pools from rocks before, and off diving boards. Not sure what the deal is with the harbour. Anyhow, these photos were taken last weekend, using the continous mode on my camera.
The papers are BoBunny Abbey Road - I love double sided papers. I used punches for the scallop circles and journalling spots, and my threading water punch. Title alphas are Sizzix Nouveau for "leap" and Papermania mini foam stickers for "of faith". The script paper is actually a Prima stamp, stamped onto Bazzill card.

Then, I did an unusual thing, I made a card from my scraps! I know I should do this more often, but alot of the time I am just plain lazy LOL.

This card is for a friend over the pond.
I used brown Memento ink to stamp the Sugar Nellie Manga stamp onto cardstock, and then coloured her in with ProMarkers. I used the BoBunny papers again, and then cut out a flower from one of the papers, and layered it with some Making Memories felt, paper and voile flowers. I finished it off with a pearl brad. The sentiment is from Elzybells. I added some Stickles to her hair, just for fun!


I can't believe it is Friday again, another week has flown by. The kids have had a whale of a time at Funtazia, and Tom especially is thoroughly worn out. It's my weekend off work this weekend, so I am sure that will fly by too. We need to get Jemma's camping kit sorted, as she is off camping with the Scouts next week. And they want to go to the library, so they can get the next stickers at the reading scheme. I think Karate Kid is on the agenda too, and probably a bit of gardening (weather permitting) as there are a few jobs that need doing.
Me and the boy have to go shopping for uniform and shoes, I seem to have left it a bit late this year, as next week is the last week of the hols, so no doubt will be a hellish experience. But that'll be a job for when Jemma is at camp - taking one child shopping is just that little bit easier...

TTFN

xxxx

One sketch, 2 layouts...

Hello, my name is Sarah and I am a sketch junkie. 'Tis true. Sarah's Cards Ltd have a sketch challenge on their blog, and my two layouts today are based on that sketch. You can find all the info here.

This first layout has been a long time coming. I found the letter and drawing at my Gran's house on the day of her funeral in December 2007, and have wanted to do a page about it ever since. But I needed to find both information and inspiration before I was happy enough to commit to paper. This past couple of weeks I have found both. Information, via Wikipedia and my Dad (some people would say they are one and the same, seeing as he is King of Trivia), and inspiration from the sketch and also from Alexa. I had a lot of information and journalling to put onto this page, but I didn't want it to overwhelm everything else. So, I hid it. Inspired by Alexa's fold out pamphlet, I made a section of the layout lift up, and I had lots of journalling space.

The crux of the layout was a letter and drawing sent to my Grandad after the 1959 General Election, by Arthur Champion. He was the sitting MP for South East Derbyshire, but at the 1959 Election, he lost his seat by 12 votes. My Grandad was Secretary of the Derby Branch of the AEU (Amalgamated Engineers Union) and the Union had sponsored Mr Champion during his campaign. The drawing is of my Grandad, at the ballot count, drawn by Mr Champion. Arthur Champion went on to become a Life Peer, taking the title Baron Champion of Pontypridd. Researching all this was fascinating to me. I love the programme "Who Do You Think You Are?" and would love to have the time and money to go and research all the stories from my family. Especially as it appears we have relatives in Florida...

Back to the layout, I used Bazzill Kraft cardstock, and Crate Paper "Hampton" papers. The title is cut with the cricut, and the buttons are Papermania.

Now onto the second take on the sketch....

I flipped it, so the photos were on the other side of the page. I have a thing that I don't like people in photos looking off the page...
Anyway, this is Tom doing his finest harbour jumping - known as dookin' around these parts.

Again I have used Kraft Bazzill, and the papers are Scenic Route. The chipboard is Maya Road, the "right now" chipboard is Scenic Route, and the tiny tag is Fancy pants. The title alphas are American Crafts Thickers. I added a smattering of brads from my extensive collection, and did a bit of machine sewing to finish it all off.

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic around here, what with the village Gala week, and then a week of family adventure... Mark booked us all to go Gorge Walking, then go up in the tree tops to do a high ropes course, finishing off the week kayaking... To say I was needing another week to recover was an understatement, I needed to go to work for a rest LOL. This week the kids are off at Funtazia, an organised programme of activities based at the RAF camp where Mark is stationed. So I have a bit of me time. Finally. Mind you, a fortnight today the kids will be back at school... The summer has gone rather quickly...

TTFN

xxx