Stay Young - Birthday Challenge at OUAS and Old Metal Challenge at Scrap for Help.

This is the second of my Jubilee themed LO's. The photo shows my friend in her Jubilee hat and ear rings.  What you can't see is her electric wheelchair decorated in red/white/blue bunting.  She is such an inspirational person to me, having had MS for nearly 40 years. She still manages to lead an independent life because of her tenacity and strength of character.  The photo shows how young she still looks despite celebrating her big birthday last year.  I used some backing papers from the Portobello Road collection from Papermania together with some of the paper sent to me by Mitra from Vintedge.

 I used the old time wheel from my out of date disability badge, with a sticker rosette in the middle.  The old metal  for the June challenge at Scrap for Help is my beaded fruit kebab skewer in the title. I tried to follow the sketch  by Nadia over at OUAS;  I journalled on my clock wheel and on my tag about my friend's birthday and what she means to me.I used the challenge word Birthday for the banner along the top of my page. My buttons are handmade from my stash.

 Hope you like it and thank you for looking and for the comments you leave.  I read them all but cant always reply to everyone if my hands are sore, please believe me when I say I love them all. xx

E II R - Out of the Hat Challenge

While I'm working on my secret project I thought I'd show you some of the other work I've been doing over the past few weeks. This is the first of my Jubilee Photos to be scrapped taken at Daisy's School Jubilee Picnic. I used the Portobello Road kit to make the flag to echo the flag top the stilt man is wearing in the photo. I made the buttons from clay rolled up in three layers to show the red, white and blue colours. I found this challenge at Out of the Hat for something using buttons which seemed appropriate but I missed the deadline to link it to them.. Hope you like it and thank you so much for looking.

Miss U days! - Once Upon a Sketch and Scrap for Help Challenges!

I'm still not up to doing much crafting or keyboarding because of the tendonitis in my right handwhich is still strapped up most of the day. I  have managed to finally finish this LO for the current Scrap for Help and Once Upon a Sketch Challenges.  I  wanted to do this page as my son is an alcoholic and had a relapse a few weeks ago.  It's been a traumatic time trying to help and support him through it.  As soon as I saw the OUAS challenge to write about someone or something you're missing I remembered the time when he was just a sweet little boy before life took hold of him. Being severely dyslexic as a teenager started his problems and then addiction hit him about 5 yrs ago!!  He is fighting back now and I hope and pray every day that he can overcome this evil disease before it destroys him.

I've written a poem about his struggle through life and I've included some of it as my journaling on some extra hearts under his photo. This was a difficult subject but it helped me to get through the last few weeks.  Thank you Nadia for another thought provoking subject!

I used Nadia's sketch from OUAS as my base for the LO adding spray paint in worn leather to a canvas on a roll to create the sombre, past times feel.  I added layers with stencilling and interest with stitching and embellishments.

<

/div>
I used some corrugated paper (the SFH requirement ) with added paint as background paper and under my extra titling. The alphas are by TH from a pack I bought at Art from the Heart, in their sale.  At £8.99 instead of £18 they were a good buy.

Thank you for looking and any sweet words you leave me, your support as followers is helping me re-build my life!!

My Valentines' - Bird is the Word Challenge!

This is another late entry to BITW here.  The challenge is to show anything we celebrate in our own countries connected with Valentines day.  Think I'm past the Valentine Celebrations myself but I love getting and sending Valentine messages to my Granddaughters.  I used some of the goodies I had from Mitra can you see them.

This photo is very precious as it's the only one of the 3 of them together when Daisy was little.
I found the heart patterned paper at a Craft Fair and have had it hidden in a drawer for about 12 months.

Here's my goodies!
Thank you for looking and for any comments you leave, they are all appreciated.

London - BITW Challenge - Journey

 The word at Bird Is The Word is Journey.  I'm just scraping in as it closes in 2 days!

My photo was taken in the mid 90's on one of my many journeys down to "the Smoke" as it's affectionately known in the Midlands. My daughter was living and working there then so on a Friday I would pack my rucksack,take the bus to work in the city, then get the train down to London after I finished. The journey took 90 minutes and then I'd get the underground to her flat for the weekend. We had such fun exploring London by day and sampling the Cosmopolitan cuisuine by night.

I used some new papers and stamps by Do Crafts  Papermania designed around the Portobello Road in London, for my layout. I made my own bunting from the papers and have hidden some info about Tower Bridge along with my journaling, behind my titling which pulls out.

I stamped the images of the London Bus, post box, taxi and telephone box and Big Ben, coloured with TH Distress Inks in Red, blue and black.

It's a big year for the UK this year with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympic's being held in London so I thought I'd make some souvenirs too to celebrate.

Watch out for a Giveaway coming soon!

Those Hands! - WW1 IFeb challenge - White with Lemon + 3 photos

This is the second attempt for the challenge at WW1 here.
I've been looking at this half finished LO for a while now so set to work today to finish it. I used a mask of a rose and stencilled with gloss medium tinted with lemon ink. I added butterflies with the same technique and left them to dry, I made the roses from some tumble dryer sheets again tinted with lemon ink. I fussy cut the three photos as there was such a difference in the sizes. Daisy was about 4 months old and just beginning to discover her hands.  Such a sweet age!
I'm sorry for the backlight flash on the photos but the light is so bad atm.

I added some bandage gauze and paper by Authentique behind the photos.  The heart trio were also painted with the gloss gel medium and left to dry. Thank you for looking and for any comments you leave I do read and appreciate them all.

Endless Love! Made for the OUAS Challenge

Well it's Valentine Day and I made this page for the LOVE Challenge at OUAS but I got totally confused by the closing date this time and also which blog I should be posting this on?? They've joined with Creative Scrappers for February and the DT's are swapping over too. What I didn't realise was although they shared a theme, which for this LO was Love of a male in your life, there was a different sketch for each with a different closing date??? Ah well you can't win them all. Check out their blog for the 2nd challenge of the month which is about journeys.

I enjoyed working on a male themed page for a change and didn't want it to be babyish. Nadia's sketch worked perfectly with my choice of papers and colours I think. Just a bit too late finishing it. lol  It's the age thing. lol

Thanks for looking and for any comments you leave me.xx

Daisy-such a Little Scrap! - Scrap for Help Feb Challenge -Using Bandage Gauze!

I loved the challenge at WW1 this month as it gave me a chance to use up some of the lovely photos I took when Daisy was tiny. HOWEVER, I think there's too much yellow not lemon, in it so I'm entering it for the current Scrap for Help challenge which is to use recycled items including bandage gauze. The title was a problem until I wrote the journalling first. I sometimes find I can find a title in my journalling as I've done here.

I sponged some lemon acrylic onto an old sheet of white card (which I'd drawn on and discarded) thro' a flower mask then punched it all round with my daisy punch. The flowers were fussy cut from some paper by Authentique. I also decided to cut the figures from the b/g as they were all different sizes and suited better this way. The little suit, coat hanger and butterfly were from my stock, not sure from where. The backing paper (lemon ledger) from WRMK I think.

I added the bandage gauze which I coloured with the lemon paint. I am working on another page for the WW1 challenge so watch this space!  Hope you like it and thank you for looking and the love you leave, I really, truly appreciate them all.

Smile Please - CSI Challenge # 5

The colours this month at CIS are so vivid and versatile. See them HERE for yourself. I chose a photo of a Christmas family get together where we wanted to be altogether with My Mom and her 4 Children, 8 Grandchildren and the four new Great-Grandchildren who had all been born during the previous 18 months.

It was hilarious trying to get them to sit with Mom and smile, as soon as we thought they were ok one of them would either get down and runaway or start crying which set the others off. In the end my son joined his Nan on the sofa with his daughter and his great nephew on his lap while Mom held on to the other two. Their faces made the picture!

I chose to spray misting inks to make the red pepper colour onto the background paper from WRMK white out collection. The aubergine is from Papermania colour coordinates and the patterned papers from Christmas backgound papers.  For my testimony I journalled around the perimeter, telling the hidden story behind the photo, about a slice of life, setting the scene with banner flags. I used face and hidden as my inspirational words.
For my evidence I used a frame around my photo which I die cut from my border die and decorated with die cut holly leaves, the photo had photo corners, I created a border along the bottom of my LO with small christmas trees which were also the tiles for my title. I cut the circles for my banner with my small circle punch from holly leaf paper and used bakers twine in aubergine and  red. The larger christmas tree I cut from another photograph along with the small parcels at the bottom. The santa/reindeer stamp was inked with  aubergine/eggplant colour TH Distress ink.
I know it's a busy page but to me it says HAPPY CHRISTMAS.  Hope you like it and thank you for any sweet thoughts you leave. xxx

Blossoming - CIS Challenge #4

The Challenge at CSI here,  is asking for you to look at your photo and write down your thoughts. Look for something unexpected and ask questions about it along with following the other clues. This is my second LO for CIS this week as when I was looking at photos to choose I liked this one too and as they're sisters I don't like doing for one and not the other. Plus I had all the colours handy too. lol  The background papers,  flourish  and pearls reflect Faith's personality and choices as she adores little flower sprigs especially roses in mute colours.

My testimony - Curious, unexpected written reflections on a hidden tag, framed  journaling, in steps.

IW- Wonder, Sense, Change

My Evidence - Photo - reflective acetate,  framed,  rhinestone brads
,Chipboard flourish sprayed with silver Mica and decorated with rhinestones and pearl string. 
 Shiny ribbon on extra journaling tag.
 I also added a little sock hanger to my dress form to make it into a question mark which I coloured and sprayed with pearl accents, then added white adirondac ink and a shiny heart.  The ribbon tie is a bit I cut from the tulle tucked under the photo.

I really enjoyed making this LO and my hidden journaling reads
"When I look at you, curiosity overtakes. What will you be like in 5 yrs? You are so sensible and always get on with things. Will you always be "the doer". You've always been your big sister's slave and her best friend, will you find your own niche when she goes to Uni? I can see how you're blossoming and I'm so very proud to be your Nan" xx.  I chose to hide this as Faith is a quiet girl and hates the limelight, unlike her big sister!
Hope you like it and thank you for any sweet comments you leave, I really love reading them.xx

In Your Eyes -Colour, Story,Inspiration Challenge # 4

The Challenge at CSI here,  is asking for you to look at your photo and write down your thoughts. Look for something unexpected and ask questions about it along with following the other clues.

My testimony - Something unexpected, written reflections, framed  journaling and formatted in steps.

IW- Wonder, Change.

My Evidence - Photo - reflective acetate,  framed, glossy accents and  rhinestone brads,the braiding and glimmer flakes on birdcage,  shiny ribbon and shiny flower with rhinestone brad centre.

My journaling reads: "I look into your eyes and wonder. I see no reflection of the years of pain you've endured. You have always seen the positive in life. There is no sadness that the 15 operations to your foot have been in vain. You are one of the most courageous people I know, never showing your doubts or fears, always smiling, laughing, caring and ready to help anyone. Now you're stepping into woman hood I know you'll welcome what lies ahead.  You'll accept the trials and embrace the opportunities that life brings you. You are beautiful on the outside but your inner beauty shines through your eyes.  I'm so proud that you're my granddaughter." The papers I used were all from stock, I know the lined paper is from Stampington, white, black and teals from Papermania but the light teal background paper I can't remember.  The birdcage and the coloured flowers are flocked onto the paper, I added black stitched flowers using my embroidery setting on my sewing machine.

You can see more details here, it's on until the 5th February why don't you try and solve the last of the January Challenges.

Thank you for looking and any sweet comments you leave.

Believe in 2012 - OUAS Challenge 15 Hello 2012/Goodbye 2011

Over at Once Upon A Sketch, the challenge for Jan 2012 was to review the year 2011 or look forward to 2012 and record your thoughts using Nadia‘s sketch. My LO is called Believe in 2012 because that’s what I want to do, believe I can achieve!

This photo of myself was taken in August last year, to use on my blog and is the only close up I’ve shown in the last few years as I’ve hated seeing myself.   Some of my journaling is hidden, tucked behind the tag above my photos, to the left of the photo.  It explains that my life was not very enjoyable until I took up writing my blog and entering challenges.  I now believe that I deserve to enjoy something in life and I’ve begun to believe I can achieve results which I am proud of;  not always but I’m getting there.

The little wooden frame held mini coat hangers, which I inked with THDistress ink in Denim blue and mahogany and cut my photo up to sit in the compartments.  That’s how I see myself usually, distorted and not very pretty.  .

I made the little flags by curling half a cocktail stick around the pre glued paper flag.  Again I inked the edges
with the inks.
Hope you like it and thank you for any sweet comments you leave me.

GROW - CSI Case study #3

Here is my entry for Case file 3. at Colour, Stories, Inspiration. Case file #4 is now up here ready for you to solve.

I've been working on and off on this for the last 2 weeks and I'm sure I've lost some hair in the process.  I found the colours hard mostly due to the wrong rgb codes being inserted, by moi, into my colour strips.  I didn't realise what I'd done until I came to upload it 3 days ago!!  Had to change so much on it I hate it now.  I'm not even sure I have the colours right anymore!!  I mounted the photo onto a circular patterned paper which I stitched to the backing paper with gold coloured thread. There is extra journaling under the patterned paper which I tucked under the l/h side of the photo which has details of the location of the photo etc.

My journaling is under the patterned paper on the circular tags, fastened with gold brads.  I also used see thru ribbon in lilac on the torn strip,a  gold doily and masked doily with spray paint in lilac..
Journaling reads "You were such a tiny thing when you were born, only 5lb in weight and you fitted in your Dad's  hand. Now you're 5 months old and you can still sit in your Dad's hand.  You're such a determined child we know you will GROW into a beauty"

I drew my inspiration from the word growth and from the teacup and saucer theme as it looks like my granddaughter Daisy is sitting in her Dad's hand like a teacup in a saucer.  Hope you like a small part of it somewhere..................

White with one Challenge Jan 2012.

Over at White with One this month the challenge is to use white with lime and buttons on your page.  This snap of Daisy at 3 months was ideal to go with the lime colour of spring.

I used a butterfly stamp which has a button in the centre. My journaling is hidden, tucked behind the tag to the left of the photo.  Hope you like it and thank you for any sweet comments you leave me.

Believe! -You are the Gift that made all my Dreams come true! - OUAS Challenge Happy New Year

Over at Once Upon a Sketch the current challenge is to journal about the New Year.  What are your thoughts, hopes or wishes.

My journalling is hidden under the second heart which is hidden under the top heart.  I tied the hearts to the flourish so you can twist them round to reveal the title and the journalling which reads:-
 “Seeing in the New Year” A time to look forward!
When my children were young I would kiss their sleepy faces at 12 O’clock.
I had so many hopes and dreams for them for their future!  I’d sit by their beds and just gaze at them in wonder!"

<

The photo was actually taken while we were on holiday in Ostend, Belgium in 1973.  We took the children to a nightclub and they were so excited to be out so late. In Belgium the law was  more relaxed about children being there but it wasn't a seedy place. Lol. I had great fun making this LO but it took a long time for the inspiration to hit.  Just about made it for the deadline again!  Hope you like it and thank you in advance for any sweet comments you leave me.  I love them all. xxx

OK let's comPROMISE! - Challenge at BITW.

Over at Bird is the Word the current challenge word is PROMISE.  I'm not sure whether I even like this LO now but you know what it's like.  It starts off what you picture in your head, then morphs into something completely different!!!  I'm posting it anyway as I've used some of my best paper from the Basic Grey, Indian Summer collection for it.
I used a paper doily cut in 2, which had been sprayed with Dylusions inks and buttons from a box of Papermania buttons from Christmas stock. The paper roses were from some handmade paper.
I love these photos of Abi and Faith from 2004, they are from a little series I took with my manual SLR camera and I still love the photos it produces.  It's too heavy for me now.

I used cream embroidery thread to make the trails up the sides then threaded bakers twine through the stitches.  I added bakers twine to the buttons knotted on top.  I do hope someone!!! likes it and thank you for looking and leaving any comments, I need the encouragement right now!!!