Scrap the Girls - Texture Paste and Paint

After having blogged last month that I do not use multimedia well I found that Scrap the Girls have asked us to use texture paste and paint! I must admit that I am not entirely happy with this page, especially the yellow, paint tinted mask but I am resolved to use it anyway.

This is our only granddaughter, she is surrounded by four uncles and six male cousins; her Mum and Dad met on a road crew in the outback when working on a major road link between our remote state and the rest of Australia so it is of little surprise to see that they had found some hi viz work gear complete with her name embroidered, little work boots and work socks that repeat the pink and navy of the shirt. We had gone to help complete some paving and the little miss was determined to help shovel the sand and, with a tiny pair of work gloves, carry some bricks. 

I have completed a second page as I love the connection between our 'hi viz miss' and her Pop; we had stopped for a tea break and Pop had plonked himself down on a stack of bricks and crossed his legs whilst drinking his coffee, seconds later the little miss has stacked some bricks beside him, grabbed her drink and after checking Pops position, crossed her legs in the same way and taken a drink. 'Hard work Pop, hard work!' said the little miss. 

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

Once Upon a Sketch - Numbers

Another great sketch and subject from Once Upon A Sketch; numbers. I have a huge stash of photos so just went through them all and found this, quietly waiting to be scrapped; it is my first family, our family of 5. Our mother, a nurse and siblings taken in the mid 60's. Our eldest brother was in high school and a member of the Army cadets; he later went on to join the reserve army and the police force and served both well for over 25 years. I am the one at the back with long hair; I met the love of my life only a few years later; he loved my long hair which finally got cut the year my eldest son was born, my next sister is the one with dark wavy hair wearing her holy communion dress who went on to join the defense forces and after having her family went to work at a bank and our baby sister, the little blonde at the front who is now a nurse living, saving and healing lives in the USA.

I chose the quote carefully: 'The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.' We didn't have a lot when we were kids but we were taught one thing; we did not need to be defined by where or how we lived, by what we didn't have and our future was only limited by ourselves and our imagination. Our family of 5 have successful careers, beautiful families of our own and enough of everything else; we made what was considered by our peers to be impossible, possible!

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

Sketchabilities 118

Sketchabilities always comes up with such lovely sketches that encourage you to use a lot of texture and be really creative; unfortunately I did not seem to get that gene and I find my pages left wanting... the solution is to not even try but to complete a page that makes me happy, after all, apart from family I am who I am doing this for! I am also challenging myself to use my scrap stash and scraps of which this page has many!

There are not a lot of photos of me with or without the grandchildren; I am usually the one running around taking happy snaps and often have to hand the camera to a family member and ask them to take a photo of me or they don't think of it! This is our youngest grandson at only a couple of months; his parents had dropped in to see me at work and I got to have a cuddle. I had to hand my phone to my son and ask for a photo to be taken! I must have printed it and then forgotten about it; I was looking for my photo stash for this challenge and found it; I am so happy I did. it is a simple page but I am happy with it. Our little one and I.

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

Scrap Around the World

My husband recently commented that I rarely scrap 'things' so I have completed this page with the challenge from him... to scrap a 'thing' instead of a person!
The quote used in this months Scrap Around the World mood board resonated with me; it was a mantra something like this that got me through the dark days; the colours are some of my favourites but the image of the dandelion seeds blowing in the wind is a lovely image so I decided to focus on that. I love this image I found on Google; a butterfly (in Irish mythology it represents the souls of the dead come to visit) and the dandelion, a beautiful combination of colour,  imagery and personal belief.
I know we used to pick dandelions as kids and make wishes... mine were probably for something like a horse or the latest fashion article or a little bit more money, but as we grow our wishes change. Although I rarely take the time to pick and blow a dandelion these days my wishes and prayers are for the good health and safety of our children, grandchildren, family and friends; if I can't have all of them safe and healthy I wish and pray for the strength to cope with whatever life brings... and a little bit more money! No matter how dark the background or how dark the days, our wishes and prayers are being carried on the wind.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes.

Let's Get Shabby - 56: Transparency

This will be the last page for June; I am pretty happy with what I have completed this month and Let's Get Shabby offered me one final opportunity to complete yet another page. The acrylic photo overlay has been in my stash for ages and to be honest I don't even recall were I got it from but I have finally used it; I love the flourishes but the birds across the bottom are just beautiful.
These photos were sent to me by my sister in the USA a year or so ago; she knew that they would be very precious to me and remind me of this special moment; this is our eldest son at her wedding, he was two and a half. She chose to be married at 6.30am on a cold June morning and we were able to have our little ones come with us. A friend had made a little wedding favour for him to give my sister after the ceremony and the photographer caught this lovely moment when he went up to the altar to give it to her. He had a wonderful time playing with it during the ceremony but had been so good throughout. I love that no matter how well he was dressed, his little shirt tail still managed to escape; such a little cutie.

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

Life Paper Scrapbook - June Mood Board

I am not sure how I found so much time to play this month but have really enjoyed the challenges and catching up on so many pages; I was looking for another challenge and chose the June Mood Board from Life Paper Scrapbook to complete another page for the USA November 2012 album. Obviously the colours were  an inspiration but I also took inspiration from the travel and photography.

I have always wanted to see Monument Valley, the Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon and this trip ticked all the boxes for that. Our only entertainment as children was a fortnightly trip to the cinemas and I was a big fan of the John Wayne westerns. The images on the big screen don't seem quite so real and you often wonder if they are just painted backdrops. It was so awesome to stand on the balcony of our hotel room and look out and see how very real these monuments are. We had a lovely American Indian take us on the back country tour and was more than happy to point out the different vistas and explain the tribal ways to us. We came across some wild horses watering at a creek bed; no-one else around, just us, our guide and these horses backed by incredible scenery.
Thank you for looking and any comments you may leave, best wishes

Life Paper Scrapbook - June Sketch

I am on a roll this month and am getting quite a few challenges done; none of them are winners but they are helping to complete my children and grandchildren's albums and that is a good thing. Life Paper Scrapbook has offered this sketch and I am hoping to get the mood board done before the end of the month too! This is one of those pages where you wish you had bought that Splash mask when you saw it; I don't trust myself with actual paint!

This is our 4th grandson; his mum is an early childhood teacher and tries to expose him to a variety of experiences. For one of his birthdays he received this little kitchen and play food to go in it. Other members of the family bought him pots and pans, plates and cutlery etc. I found this lovely little chefs hat, apron and gloves and he looked quite the part all dressed up. He has since realised that if he takes the plastic sink out he can fit in the cupboard underneath to hide and gave his mum quote a fright when she couldn't find him one day!

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