Stuck Sketches and the Mood Board for Life Paper Scrapbook April Challenges

Stuck Sketches is a site I heard about through my niece and this sketch for the second half of April was perfect for me to complete the first of the pages  below:
 I just happened to check out the mood board from Life Paper Scrapbook and found it perfect for the photos I had chosen to use. In case I was breaking some rules I was unaware of, I have completed a double page; the first using the Stuck Sketch sketch and the second using the colours and triangles in the Life Paper Scrapbook mood board.
This is our only granddaughter of 8 grandchildren by birth (we have another grandson and grand daughter through marriage). The photos were taken on the occasion of her 2nd birthday and I do not get to use pastel colours often so really enjoyed creating these two pages. My favourite wish for you, that magic happens and you have a long, happy, successful life full to the brim with love.

I have struggled to scrapbook for quite a while and have chosen to go 'back to basics' in the hope that I regain my creativity; I am really quite happy with these two pages.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Scrap Around the World - April

The Scrap Around the World challenge site has a few rules that I had forgotten when I loaded an 'off the page' piece a week or so ago. The first quote speaks volumes! I love the colour and butterflies so much I decided to complete a scrapbook page as well.  This photo was taken at our 5 yearly family photo shoot in June 2013; one of our daughter-in-laws, our only granddaughter and two of our grandsons just sitting and playing while my husband and our sons were having a group photo taken. I hadn't realised we were being photographed and was caught in a very relaxed moment. Relaxed and unguarded moments are rare for me; I am almost always very aware of what is happening around me, what people think of who I am and what I do; I am a perfectionist and need to be seen as perfect; one of my many faults and one I struggle to correct. I wish I could 'not over think it and let it go'. I love this photo, I love that it is me being a mother and being Nan without the concerns of who is watching and what they are thinking. 

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

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An Event that Changed my Life...

I have hundreds of rubons in my stash which I rarely use; I was going through them the other day and thinking 'what a waste' until I saw this sketch; I knew that I had the perfect ones to complete it... no additional papers, just rubons!
The subject for the Once Upon a Sketch challenge is interesting and can be used in so many ways; birth, death, marriage, travel etc... so, as some of you would know, I had a lot to choose from but I didn't want this post to be sad, I have scrapped a few of our weddings and most of our births. I decided, and it was probably prompted by our recent wedding anniversary, to scrap this photo taken at a friends wedding in February.

I have always loved the idea of a photo booth but have never been game to try one until my niece's wedding in October 2012. I was surprised by how much fun it can be but also how conscious I was of looking silly. Nothing had changed between that wedding and the one where this was taken!

My husband and I; too tightly bound to really let go and have some fun with it but I like them anyway. The Event that Changed my Life... meeting this man; the love of my life, my protector, my friend. We have just celebrated 36 years of marriage, have been a couple for just over 40 years and met 43 years ago at the ages of 14 and 15 at a monastery. I thank God for him every single day. We live simply, are grateful for what we have, laugh and love our ever growing family and dream a little!The journaling is on the back.

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

Scrap the Boys - April Challenge

Scrap the Boys has asked us to use flowers this month; I have never found that a hardship! Regular visitors will know that I have four sons and 7 grandsons and using the odd flower to soften a page or just add a finishing touch is something I am very comfortable with; having three sons who were trained in various aspects of horticulture makes it even easier!

Regular visitors will also know the story of this young man, our eldest son, so I won't go into it again, suffice to say we have just commemorated his fifth anniversary; it seems both like yesterday and also a lifetime ago since we lost him in an accident. He was so comfortable in his life; he had been head hunted to be the manager of a large council parks and gardens department, he could mix with his motorcycle mates, tell stories around the campfire after a day four wheel driving, abseil the highest buildings in our city and plumb the depths of both the ocean and caves, attend the races looking very much the fashion plate and be comfortable at concerts from blues and roots to the latest rock sensation. He was happy to address his peers at a business conference on 'Managing Generation X and stand beside his best friend at his wedding and give one of the greatest Best Man speeches I have ever heard which is where this photo is from. He was happy in his own skin and in his life and his happiness spread in ever widening circles around him. He knew who he was and shared himself with others.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Inspiration for this page layout is from: http://the-lilypad.com/store/So-Major.html



Scrap Around The World - April Challenge

How could I not love the Scrap Around the World Challenge this month; my favourite colours and the butterflies are so beautiful!

I made this box to hold my medication; my sisters and I really struggle with the fact that we each have to take tablets every day, a legacy from a mother who has, for some years, abused prescription medication and made us all very wary of being like her. I have titled the box Heritage as the medication is for blood pressure, thyroid and osteoarthritis issues; all inherited through our mothers line of the family as several of the generations before us have or do suffer the same ailments. We are very fortunate as there are many ailments or diseases that are much worse and my heart goes out to those and their families who are suffering.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Once Upon A Sketch - March 2014

Once Upon A Sketch has posed an interesting inspiration this month also; You only live once but if you do it right, once is enough.

I am acknowledged as a bit of a perfectionist and I will also acknowledge I have lived most of my life trying to do the right thing by everyone; I was recently told I have high expectations of myself and do not handle criticism well. I am not sure that is a bad thing!

Don't get me wrong; I am no saint! I do struggle with many aspects of living my life well, the least of these an addiction to chocolate and Coca-Cola and very little patience with a difficult mother. I am also not great when it comes to community service and tend to leave that side of things to my husband so there is definitely room for improvement.

I would not suggest for even a moment that I am a great wife and mum either but I do everything I can to support my husband and children; we are soon to celebrate 36 years of marriage and our four beautiful boys are successful young men with wives and families of their own so I must have done something right. This photo is of my wonderful husband with our youngest grandson; I am so thankful for this life! The journaling is on the back.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes

Let's Get Shabby #52

Let's Get Shabby is back and have given us a beautiful inspiration; Sabrina he movie is an all-time favourite and I have both the original and the new versions but Audrey Hepburn will always be the quintessential Sabrina.

My immediate response was heritage using as little colour as possible although I have picked up the green in the striped, punched piece and the pink ribbons in the flower centres. I also needed this to be flat for a heritage album and used only scraps from my stash.

Sabrina is about a young girl, daughter of a chauffeur who aspires to a better life. The photo below was taken when I, the one at the back with long hair was about 12 years old. We grew up in a 'broken' home in very low socio-economic area and to say money was tight would be a understatement. Mum went back to her nursing career a few years before this was taken but was never a good money manager or house keeper so our living conditions did not improve much. The one thing she did try to teach us was that we didn't need to be a product of our environment and encouraged us to strive for better; to Dare to Dream of a better life for ourselves. We might not have everything but we have enough.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.