Perhaps Christmas is a little bit more ~ Off the Rails scrapbooking

Hello ! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas , it is a bit of a crazy time of year , but I hope you got to spend it with those near and dear.
I managed to sneak a layout in last night and finished it off today. I did this for the challenge at Off the rails scrapbooking . 

I originally was going to turn my photo to black and white and do the mauve/blue/gold palette.

But.....

They all obligingly were wearing Christmas Colours, so the layout ended up going the way of the second colour palette.

The birds I have fussy cut from some lovely vintage Christmas paper . Lovely flair and December 2014 laser cut from StudioFourteen40 , they have gorgeous new Christmas Ranges and a Christmas kit , perfect to document your Christmas pages , PL, or Christmas mini album. The Reindeer chippy is from Scrapmatts, I LOVE reindeer's, I added a bit of kindy glitz to give it some Christmas sparkle. I think Lizzy may have given me the chippy stars ? I have Tucked some journalling in the top of the photo saying that I think Jedd may be getting to big for this tradition of being lifted up to place the angel of the top of the tree.

Some washi tape from Craftqueen, yes reindeer's again. I have also used a bit of watercolour paint and some texture paste and a mask.

Thank you for calling by. Wishing you all everything good for the New Year.

Love , Peace and Happiness

Mary x

We have to Believe in Love , Peace and Hope ~ Sketch Challenge at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge

Good afternoon, 

I am running very late with my layout for AFSC. With the events in Sydney a couple of days ago , I just could not settle to do anything and my heart was not in doing a layout. 
I then decided the best way to get started again was to put my feelings into the layout and dedicate it to the innocent victims and those that tried so hard to bring it to a peaceful end .


So this is the sketch 

Believe in Love & Peace and Hope

So this is my little garden of hope. 

Studiofourteen40 flair. Vine Ribbon Craftqueen. The heart is from a parcel you sent me Lizzy

Courage for the Cafe Manager that lost his life attempting to help his fellow workers,  courage for the lady who lost her life and put herself in front of another lady who was pregnant, also for the courage displayed by the hostages in  such a terrifying experience. Be brave be bold for the Police and emergency workers faced with this situation and worked so hard for a peaceful outcome. Faith ~ that as a society we will care and look after one another & Ultimately hope that in our world there can be Peace one day for all.

Believe chippy is from Studiofourteen40. I have gessoed and painted and added crackle dimension to all the chipboard pieces.
Thank you for calling by. Sorry its a bit of a downer of a post, I think we have all had heavy hearts the last couple of days. Even though not knowing these innocent people personally , we know it could have been anyone one of us or our loved ones. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.   We have to keep on living our lives and making it the best life we can , or evil wins.
Now to cheer yourself up pop over and check out the DT's gorgeous layouts and visit their blogs and leave some love :)

So
Love, Peace and Happiness for all
Mary x

FAMILY TRADITIONS ~ CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Happy Sunday everyone , still think weekends go way to fast ! 
It has been a little while since I have posted, just the silly season and like everyone else , busy !
I managed to do a layout for the Current Challenge at Challenge Yourself
and the challenge is.....

Challenge YOUrself #13: Traditions

What are some of your traditions for the upcoming holiday season?  Do you have an old tradition that you continued from childhood or did you start your own?  Tell us about it.

{PS:  Challenge does not have to be "holiday themed".  It can be any tradition through the year.}

Remember to include YOU in the layout.

Family Traditions   

We have always put the Christmas Tree up as a family and we continue to do so.

 
We have a family dinner on the 6th Dec ( our daughters birthday ) and then drag the decorations out , erect the tree , and decorate together. There is always lots of silliness and laughing. I have carols playing in the background, we wear Santa hats and in the last couple of years the boys have taken to see who can find the highest spot to hang their bauble, so we have baubles hanging from light fittings and the like.

I have also kept every Christmas decoration, drawing that my children made since playgroup, so we have one legged Santa drawings , faded chain strings and the like. Our tree ends up so full , it is a wonder it doesn't topple over . Not what you would call a very co ordinating tree, but one with lots of love attached. We also each have a bauble with our names on it and we have to put them on the tree , even Scruffy has his own bauble.

I have used one of StudioFourteen40 new Christmas flairs ( they are beautiful ) The Chippy and PP I have had for ages, so always nice to use things up.

This is my Grandson and my Eldest son in the photo.

This year we are running late putting the tree up, as we were in Sydney celebrating my daughters birthday ( a big one ) and now trying to coordinate a night when we can all be together is proving to be difficult. I refuse to put the tree up without the family though, so hopefully next week , fingers crossed. Another Tradition is that a angel I made when I was just a girl gets put on the top of the tree by one of the Grandchildren. Jedd has taken over from Meli, but last year it was a struggle to lift him as Jedd is now a teenager, so I am thinking we need some new troops coming through ;)

I also would like to share from my art book journal. I love this form of creating. I think I find it very freeing, just playing around with colours , mists and papers. I have been busting to play and got a chance last night.

And I love how flowers brighten and make a space look so much better

thanks for calling by and don't forget to pop over and leave some love on the lovely creations from the lovely DT at Challenge Yourself

Love, Peace and Happiness

Mary x

THE MAN THAT IS LEONARD COHEN ~ TGIF CHALLENGE

Hello ,

 One of the loveliest Cyber Scrapping friends I have had the pleasure of being acquainted with Kerri Smith has just started a new challenge blog called TGIF  on facebook. So naturally I wanted to join in. The theme this week was to scrap someone or something you love, to also have some stamping and journalling. I scrap about those I love on a regular basis , so I thought I would go with something I love which is music.
I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen since my teenage years and when I had the opportunity to go to his concert last year  I jumped at the chance. He didn't disappoint, the concert was fabulous, one of the most enjoyable concerts I have been to. The man is 80 and can still get down on his knees and bounce back up again ( me when I get down I am worried I am never going to get back up again)

I have added random stamping and used a Georgia Heald stamp around the outside.
I have journalled  which is a bit hard to see because the paper is so busy , but it is above the Georgia Heald washi tape and also on the side.

I have added my ticket under the photo . Texture paste and mask and then I painted the pattern with gold. Used various washi tapes

The PP is quite busy, so hope I have done OK with it.

Thank you for calling by, I hope you can join in on Kerri's challenges.
Love, Peace and Happiness
Mary x

MEMORIES OF GRANDMA'S KITCHEN ~ ANOTHER FREAKING SCRAPPY CHALLENGE

Hello ! The new challenge is up at AFSC and I am running late ! 
The challenge is a beauty and I really appreciated doing this as it made me remember and document a wonderful memory for me.

This month's prompt is 

Scrapbook or art journal about a favourite recipe or a memory of something your mother/grandmother cooked for you.

Memories of Grandma's Kitchen

This photo holds so many memories for me. This is a scene that happened everyday at Mum and Dad's , "put the kettle on for a cup of tea" Here we are celebrating my nephew's birthday. 

Memories ~ I can see the lid of the sugar bowl , it is the only one I remember us having, besides when the fancy one came out on special occasions like Christmas. The teapot ( so many cups of tea came out of that pot) The teacup and saucer, the cream bowl and the lid of a jar of pickles . The cake tin in the background that at times had Mum's famous gem cakes in them ( Gosh they were sooooo good) . I have the gem irons, but unfortunately never thought to get Mum's recipe ( I guess you just think they are always going to be there to make them, and why interfere when they were already made by the best ) Gem cakes were round chocolate cakes, cut in half and filled with cream and chocolate icing on the top. Sounds easy, but I don't have the recipe for the cake part. My Mum was well know for her cooking ( shame for my husband it didn't rub off on me )

Gorgeous StudioFourteen40 Flair. A flair for every occasion , they are brilliant flairs. Little rosettes, pearl flowers and satin seam binding from Craftqueen. The brass butterfly on the ceramic block I got from my2angels ages ago.

I usually try and add elements to a layout that have meaning to the picture, so I have added a doily mask and texture paste ( Mum loved a doily or two and I am lucky to be the recipient of some beautiful embroidered doily's my Mum made ) A bit of lace curtain at the side of the photo , that reminds me of curtains Mum had. The lace was sent to me by my Pen Pal. I have also added stamping randomly.

Can you see the plastic doily poking out the side above the sentiment ? They were the go back in the day and I have a few of Mums . I cut this one up to use .
The other strong memory for me is Dad sitting at the end of the table. This is where he always sat. One of the hardest things after he died was having breakfast the next day and the empty chair. We must have all felt the same as the next time I went out my brother had turned the table around the other way. I think this is what scrapbooking is all about , preserving these precious memories, so that in future our children will remember also. I know my children have strong memories of their Grandparents and hopefully these pages will serve to jolt them back every now and then.

Looking forward to seeing your layouts of your memories
and joining us at AFSC 

Love , Peace and Happiness
Mary x

ARTastic DEC CHALLENGE ~ THE CHILDREN WERE ALL NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS

Welcome to December and another year is about to speed past us.  Hopefully everyone is getting excited by the prospect of Christmas and spending time with family and friends.

This month we are being inspired by this painting, To wish you a happy Christmas and New Year by Ethel Spowers.

Criteria is to use this colour palette - your entry does not need to be Christmas themed

 (unless you would like it to be).

To read a little about Ethel Spowers pop over to ARTastic's blog and also be inspired by the DT members take on the challenge.

THE CHILDREN WERE ALL NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS

I took my inspiration from the colour palette and also decided to scrap a photo of Christmas Eve , inspired by Santa setting off in his sleigh and all the homes being ready and the children tucked up in bed , in anticipation of his visit.

A StudioFourteen40 flair was just the thing for documenting the year, and they have a whole heap of new Christmas Products , very gorgeous indeed.

Little Reindeer is ribbon from Craftqueen that is great for cutting as many reindeers as you want. the gold beads are also from Craftqueen.

The Reindeer washi tape was on a parcel sent by my Pen Pal all the way from Ireland ( Erin Knows I have a thing for Reindeers :) )

Looking forward to seeing what inspires you in the prompt and seeing your lovely creations

Love , Peace and Happiness

Mary x