Bird is the Word October Challenge - Inspire

Bird is the Word has brought us another interesting challenge word this month - Inspire. I had started with a plan to use the sketch and some elements of it are still there but the page took on a life of it's own as it often does.

I was once asked what or who inspired me with my scrapbooking; I am far from a major talent in this craft but I continue to create because of the story the page tells. My answer to this question was 'My family', the men in my life, the women and children in theirs, my extended family and friends, my favourite places and the stories that belong to all of them. They are the inspiration that keeps me involved in this craft.

I am also inspired by the talents, openness and honesty of others. I have explained in a previous post; You Inspire Me about meeting Heather Jacob, someone I was drawn to by her talent and a shared story of grief. It is interesting that I have titled this page in the same way; it is about meeting Becky Fleck of Pagemaps fame. I can't remember how I came to learn of this great website but I do remember buying her first book and not only looking at the pages there but reading some of the journaling. Her page about losing her faith after losing her friend to cancer really spoke to me and I emailed her. We conversed in this way for a couple of years including the period when I lost my eldest son in an accident. Becky announced a trip to Western Australia in that same year and I contacted her in the hopes of meeting her. She and her lovely husband were very generous with the time they spent with me and I will never forget their compassion and kindness.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

  

Scrap Around the World and ScrapFriends Palette Challenges - October

Scrap Around the World has bought us another beautiful inspiration and sketch this month; my favourite colour in the left top corner popped out at me straight away and I knew what photos I wanted to scrap for this page. This is our beautiful granddaughter; she is a rare gem in our family of four sons and seven grandsons. My son doesn't want her to be a 'pink' little girl which is a good thing since it is not Nan's favourite colour either. We recently went girly shopping and had fun putting this little outfit together. She was staying with us and we were making our way to her Gran's 80th birthday party. We had a few minutes to spare before needing to get into the car so had a mini photo shoot in the front garden. I am lucky she doesn't mind Nan constantly clicking away with the camera and is not averse to striking a pose. This page is titled 'Sassy'.

 

 

 

I have also had time to complete the ScrapFriends palette and because the two palettes were so similar I chose to do a second page of the same subject. Our granddaughter doesn't mind being in front of the camera but she also loves being allowed to use it. I was able to snap these last few photos as she made her way toward me. I have included three small plum coloured pearls on the left and have changed the colour of the butterfly to the deep red. The flowers and pearl/bling flourishes complete the palette. This page is titled 'Sweet'.

 

 

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.



ScrapFriends Sketch, 123 Get Scrappy and Sketchabilities Challenges - October

I guess the title of this post is a little misleading; I haven't combined the challenges as much as completed each one separately but on the same subject which is why I am going to load them together.

First: Scrap friends; I really enjoy these sketches as they push me to work out of my comfort zone. The sketches often ask for multi-layering and that is something I struggle with.
This is our third grandson and many regular visitors will know the trials and tribulations he has been through. These photos were taken at a family gathering for my MIL's 80th birthday but we used it as an opportunity to give our grandson his 4th birthday presents as he would be celebrating mid-week. As soon as the gifts came out he was surrounded by his cousins so that they could see what he had received. It was a magical moment as we do not often get the opportunity to be together as a family. Here is my page for Scrap Friends. Magic 4.

 

123 Get Scrappy is an interesting challenge site as it allows you to choose elements of the challenge; for example I have chosen  3 left to right diagonally: Chipboard; the title, Diamond Shapes, More than three different pattern papers.
We have a tradition in our family; Christmas and birthdays you get a book, DVD or CD, some clothes and a toy or game. All the children know that it is what we give and there are no favourites, no-one gets more than another; here our grandson is opening the card after looking at the book we gave him; it was a Graeme Base book and had some incredible art work in it. The excitement was building as we had already opened and set aside the clothes; that meant the toy was last!
Here is my page for 123 GS. Growing Up.

And finally Sketchabilities; another challenge that pushes me to do more than the norm.

We gave our Grandson Lego but as we were at a function he was not able to undo the package and build it then. The man in the photo helping him to build his toy is not his Dad; he died 6 months before this little fellow was born; this is the man who will help our daughter-in-law guide her little boy through life. This man is now her fiancé; a widower with two children of his own that she will help guide through their lives too. We received these photos by text later the same evening; two thumbs up for a job well done. This is a Magic Moment.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Once Upon a Sketch - October 2013: Journey

Once Upon a Sketch has another great sketch and subject this month; I had wanted to cut the photo into three to match the sketch but they are so close that I could not separate them. The journaling is on the back. This a  companion page to my previous post My Heart Belongs to You; I could not talk of my whole family with such love without concentrating on the reason I have all of them. Many regular visitors to my blog will know I have four wonderful sons, all married, all with children and although one of them is no longer with us here, he is always in our hearts; for the first time in 27 years he is not in the family photos. This is a photo of my husband and our remaining three sons, they are my reason for living, my true north, my first thoughts in the morning and my last at night are for them and their families. They are my childhood dream come true and no matter where I am in the world they are the compass that brings me back home. They are my destiny.

 

Thank you for looking and for any comments you may leave, best wishes.

 

  

Combined 1 2 3 Challenge and Sketchabilities - October Challenge

It's not often I get to combine two of my favourite challenge sites but these two just work together so well for this month.

Regular visitors to this blog will know that we have a family photo shoot every five years on or about our wedding anniversary in April. This year we celebrated 35 years of marriage but we were not able to get the whole family together until June due to FIFO and shift work. The photos are always taken outside as we are very much an out of doors family.

Living in the southern hemisphere means that it is winter in June and I had been watching the weather reports for a couple of weeks. This was turning into one of our wettest winters in many years and the forecast for the chosen weekend were dire to say the least with storms and heavy rain predicted. I sent up a prayer both to the Good Lord and our eldest son who would not be with us for the first time. We drove to the park chosen as it is one of our gathering places and it rained almost the whole way with more heavy clouds closing in. The rain stopped when we arrived at the park. All the families arrived and had various photos taken; we gathered together for a shared morning tea and some more casual photos taken of the little ones at play. The family has grown a lot in the past five years and there are now sixteen people in our family photos.

After three hours of fun and photos each of our families and the photographer got into their cars and drove away. My husband and I gathered the last of our things and headed off to watch our third sons game of hockey. The skies opened up as soon as we got into the car and it poured down for several hours and to such an extent that the game was called off.

Our eldest son is not in the photos but I believe he was with us that day; he knew how important these photos are to me and made sure we stayed dry.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

With thanks to Nathan Maddigan Photography

http://123-challenge-blog.blogspot.com.au/
http://sketchabilities.blogspot.com.au/

Let's Get Shabby #50

Buttons - that was the challenge; to make buttons the hero on your layout.

I have been carrying around two incomplete layouts for five years, they were layered, stuck down and stitched but I just could not seem to finish them; every time I took them out I would go through my stash, be unhappy with anything considered and put them away again. I think the size of the photo, 5x7 added to the difficulty but they have such cute faces and I wanted the photo to stand out! This has been going on for five years!

A couple of days ago my niece Bel sent me the Let's Get Shabby challenge to use buttons and I decided it was time to complete the layouts. I tried everything but my style has changed somewhat over the years and it wasn't working for me; to add to my challenge, it is late at night and I had to use only what I had here and had to complete a double layout. I had to do it; I pulled them apart and put them together again and although I am not completely happy with the result - they are finished and there are just few buttons!
My two eldest grandsons who are now seven and half and six; cute Little Rascals and 100% Boys!

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

 

 

http://letsgetshabby.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/challenge-50-and-introducing-newest.html