Flying Unicorn In the Pink Challenge - February

The challenge was for 75% pink on the page; the only problem is that with four son's, four daughter's in law who never wear pink and one little granddaughter who is rarely dressed in pink it left the field a little tight and I had very little paper with pink in it! I will have to submit with 75% pink flowers!

I used to work with this young ladies' Dad; he is extremely proud of his long awaited daughter and was always showing us photos of her. When I became a DT member for my local scrap store they would often challenge me with feminine colours and I would 'borrow' photos of his little girl to scrap. When I stepped down from the Design Team I gifted all my layouts and off the page pieces to the family. Several years have passed and my colleague moved on to another company; a few weeks ago I received an email with his daughters' graduation photos attached under the title "my little girl is growing up'. Indeed she has, she is a beautiful young lady and a credit to her parents; their long awaited dream is a reality. I thank them for entrusting me with this and several other photos that just may appear over the next several months.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, kind regards

 

 

ScrapFriends - February Sketch Challenge

These photos of our fourth grandson were taken two weeks ago. We had just been given his surgery date and wanted to spend some time with him prior to his hospitalisation. It was a really hot day but he really loves the sandpit his Dad had made so we went and spent some time playing in the sand; I was shovelling sand into the funnel and he was fascinated by the result.

The surgery was required to fix a problem in his stomach that went undiagnosed for 19 months because all the previous doctors wouldn't listen to his mother; she finally found one that took the time to run the tests and a specialist team was put together quickly to repair an anomaly before it became critical; the type of surgery required was a first in our state. When I last saw him two days ago he was laying listlessly in his Dad's arms with tubes everywhere; only his eyes were moving, looking around the room at each person. I would love to know what he was thinking. He continues to improve though and we are praying for a full and complete recovery.
I am not happy about how the photo turned out; for some reason it has a blue tinge!

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

Once Upon A Sketch - February Challenge

I have never doubted that our sons would be awesome Dads; they have a wonderful Dad as a role model. I love to see them with their children, how they interact with them, how they teach them new things and how they are not afraid to show their love for them.

This is our second son, the biggest of the four, my diamond in the rough. He is holding his youngest little boy; the smallest and youngest of our grandchildren born five weeks early. Both have been the subject of previous posts: Daring you to Scrap - July and The Color Room #142. This photo shows the enormous love he has for his little boy and it melts your heart just to look at it. My letter to my son is tucked into the tiny envelope behind the flowers.

Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, kind regards

Let's Get Shabby Challenge - January

I can't take credit for the photo, it is from Google images but important to this piece; willy wagtails are very quick little birds and difficult to photograph by an amateur.

This piece was inspired by a conversation with a young friend who had a near death experience within a year of our eldest son's accident. Their lives were running in parallel and both accidents happened at about the same time in their lives. When waking from a coma, one of the first questions he asked of his mother was why he had been fortunate to live and our son did not; he struggled with this for some time before we were able to visit him a year after our sons accident. I like to think that we were able to help him in some way to come to terms with his question.

He has now moved back to our home state and we caught up with him last weekend, nearly three years since his accident. He still struggles a little but we talked at length about both our sons death and his own accident. He told us that he has seen a willy wagtail when he has been at his lowest and feels that it is his much loved grandmother telling him she is watching over him. We feel the same way about wanderer butterflies; I often see a single one when I am thinking of my son. Our connection to our loved ones that get us through the bumpy bits of life.

I have made a card the same as this layout to send to our young friend; Believe and Live Life Beautifully.

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