ScrapFriends Palette - November

ScrapFriends has presented us with another beautiful palette this month; I absolutely love the blue/grey but the yellow has always been a bit of a struggle. The papers I have used have been used before and this page will be a companion to others of my family posted here.

Three of my four handsome boys; for some reason I have never been photographed with my young men in all the family photo shoots we have had in the past 15 years. This year I made sure this picture and one of me with each of my sons was taken. From left to right they are my third, forth and second sons. All fine young men who have rarely given me a moments concern. I am and always will be so proud of who they have become. My family is forever. 

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

 

 

 

Bird is the Word - Always

Bird is the Word has given us a wonderful word for this months challenge and I have chosen to use the sketch as well except the heart frame was replaced with a filigree oval. Making a tag is also a first for me; I have loved looking at them through other blogs and pinterest but have never bothered to do one of my own until I saw this sketch. It was a lot of fun but took nearly as long as a full sized layout!

Always; such a great word and with it comes so much potential so here are a few of the things I came up with... apologies if I am plagiarising some great quote by someone famous!

Today, Tomorrow, Always:

Be True to Yourself

Know that you are loved

Be Kind

Do Your Best

Don't Give Up

Smile, it may change someone's day

Do What is Right

Forgive Your Enemies

Forgive Yourself

Hold onto Your Dreams

I am sure there are many more you could add for yourself... feel free to add your favourites to your comments and have a wonderful day.

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

 

 

Kraft it Up - November Challenge...not!

I was on a scrap retreat on the weekend and had picked up a piece of Kraft cardstock; this is not something I would use very often and I know there is a great challenge site Kraft it Up so I decided to enter their challenge; I am not sure how I did it but I found a page that said 'This month your challenge is to create a layout using a different style than you normally create, for example if you are a textured/layered scrapper try clean and simple... so off I go and I create the page below using the kraft cardstock to separate and frame each layer. Using patterned paper as a significant background is a challenge for me; many of my pages are based on a plain cardstock base and patterned papers are only used as elements. Tonight whilst preparing to upload this page I found the actual challenge is quite different so I cannot enter this page. I wonder where that challenge went?

This is a photo of our beautiful only granddaughter; I was honoured to be invited to be present at her birth. She is surrounded by seven little male cousins so will probably grow up a bit of a tomboy. This page will be the first page of her album; she is soon to be two years old so I thought it was time to get it started!

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

 

 

 

 

123 Challenge - November

I am not a great fan of stamping; I don't think I am good at it so this challenge from 123 Challenge Blog is a challenge for me. This is another from our family photo shoot in June of this year. This little man is our third grandson and has been through an awful lot for one so young. He has a very strong, quirky character, a trait very much like his Dad. He takes on a different persona depending on his mood that day and comes up with some classic clothing choices and loves hats, these often being the basis of his character that day. His is a 'cool' dude but never too cool for kisses from his lovely Mum.

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

 

 

123 Get Scrappy #4

The 123 Get Scrappy board was an easy one this time; whilst in QLD for my friends wedding I took the opportunity to also spend time with my niece and her little family. We don't get the chance to catch up often as we are on completely opposite sides of the country. You may recognise the family in these photos; my niece Bel is DT for this site. I chose the top three across; mask/stencil, bird, 'family'.
I haven't spent time with Bel since her last trip home and she has added to her family since that last meeting. I was able to stay the night with her and spend some quality time getting to know the children, watch how they interact and playing some serious xbox; a first for me! What I learnt very quickly was that this young lady is an awesome, very organised, loving Mum who with her lovely husband are bringing up some truly beautiful, well mannered little people. We took some selfies just before I left for the airport; the littlest one was fast asleep in his cot.
Thank  you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Sketchabilities #102 and #103!

I have had a busy couple of weeks and am now at a scrap retreat doing a little catch-up; I thought I was doing really well getting Sketchabilities #102 completed only to find #103 came out today; it is fortunate that I had another photo so that I could complete a double page for this event.

Part of the reason I have been busy was being able to travel to Brisbane to attend my friends wedding; not only was I a guest but I was honoured to be her 'proxy' mother of the bride in her own Mum's absence. This beautiful girl and I have been scrapping together for many years and she was a part of a small group of girls who were a wonderful support to me after losing my son. I like to think I was of some support to her through losing her own precious Mum to cancer several years ago. Many evening was spent walking at the lake near our homes in all weathers; talking, shedding a tear and laughing together for the 5km circumference. Now she has moved to Brisbane we scrap by text; many a happy hour spent 'chatting' on line. She was a stunning, beautiful bride on the day and I was so happy to be able to support her in some small way.
Friends are the Family you Choose and Love this Moment.



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

 

 

ScrapFriends Sketch Challenge - November

ScrapFriends have brought us another interesting challenge this month; I'm not altogether sure I am happy with the result but wanted to tell the story of this lovely lady.

Jimmie and I met by accident; we happened to be put at the same table and were to share the same room at a scrap retreat several years ago and hit it off immediately. Jimmie has a large family and actively shares in her husband's ministry to the homeless, alcohol and drug affected of a suburb by the sea in my city. I am awed by her courage, strength and commitment to this very challenging work.

Jimmie and her family have to return to the USA every two years to raise more funds to carry on their work here in Australia. Just before leaving this year we celebrated her '0' birthday early so we could spend some quality time with her. The theme for her party was 'Thanksgiving'; not only for her years, her friendship and her mission but also because she is so dear to us; this Girl is Gold. We will miss her and can only hope that she will be able to return to us soon.

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