So this is Christmas ~ Soul Scrappers

Hello to who ever may be out there , I actually have found a bit of creative time and I am joining in the challenge at Soul Scrappers to scrap your favourite Christmas Song. My favourite Christmas song is not a traditional one as such, but it is my favourite and it always makes me feel melancholy when I hear it. My favourite Christmas song is John Lennons " Merry Xmas"

I've used some old PP I had and the chipboard arch window I have had for ages as well .

I added some gesso to the chipboard window for snow. The snowflake stencil is from A2Z Scraplets.
"And so this is Christmas and what have you done,
Another Year over , a new one just begun "

I would like to wish one and all the very Best 2018
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

MERRY CHRISTMAS ~ ANOTHER FREAKING SCRAPPY CHALLENGE

Hello! Well Christmas has been and gone in a blink of a eye, I hope everyone had a lovely day and now I am wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy , Prosperous New Year. 
I feel I haven't been scrapping much lately, except working on a memory book as a Christmas Gift which I wll share at a later date.
Now that life has settled slightly over the last couple of days I have joined in the challenge at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge which is to use the word Merry and the colour green on your layout . Here is my take

Merry Christmas

Our tradition is to have a family dinner and put the Christmas tree up on my daughters birthday. It seems to get harder as the children get older to have everyone be able to make it. This year we nearly had everyone home, except our middle child unfortunately, never mind he was home for Christmas Day and that is the main thing.

I have used some old PP up and embellishments as well, always a good feeling to get that stash used.

Our daughter in law made us little elves this year sitting on top of a Christmas baubles for the Christmas table for seating, I thought they were too cute to throw away and decided to put on my layout.
I hope you can find some creative time in this busy time of year.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

QUOTE CHALLENGE ~ CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Good Evening , gosh the weather has warmed up over the last few days, I prefer Summer than winter , so I am glad to have some warm weather.
This evening I am sharing my take on the challenge over at Challenge yourself which is......

The quote I have chosen is one from a movie I love "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel " and the quote is ~

"Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end "

I chose a photo of my bestfriend and myself as we have said this a few times to ourselves and each other over the last few years. If not these exact words then things that basically mean the same. I know I say it to myself.

Unfortunately in 2008 when we were about to embark on a trip of a lifetime together with our husbands, we recieved some news that was not great and has impacted on our lives till this day. But we know that there is much worse that can happen and we will get through , it just means we are not where we thought we would be in our life and life is a little harder. But hey we have beautiful healthy children and our health is reasonably good (apart from old age ) so everything will be alright in the end.

I really loved the image of the girl with the suitcase ( it is from a Daphne's Diary magazine) so I wanted to use it on the layout

One of my pen pals sent me the gorgeous image of the three little boys and I decided to make a Christmas Card with it, so I thought I would share it with you also..

Thank You for calling by and I really do appreciate any comments and remember everything will be all right in the end so if its not alright it is not the end x

Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

SUMMERS HERE ~ A2Z SCRAPLETS

Hello ! today I am sharing some layouts that I created for A2Z Scraplets , including the one on the A2Z Scraplets Blog today, it is my last layout as a DT Member. I have enjoyed creating with the fabulous chipboard from A2Z Scraplets and being part of the team and I am grateful for the opportunitiy . I just decided a couple of months ago to step down from basically nearly all the teams I am on. I will still enjoy entering challenges as they challenge me, so we will see where my scrapbooking goes from here.

Summer is here

Summer when my children were growing up meant a annual visit to Granddad's with the country cousins. It meant swimming in the pool, trips to the beach , fishing , listening for the familar tune of Mr Whippy and the bell of the Baker van that came around the caravan park. They also liked to treck throught the little scrub track and over the creek to the servo for treats.They were good times

A2Z Scraplets current challenge is to reuse, recycle and repurpose ( always a good feeling to use up stash ) I used some netting and muslin on my layout. My three children along with their cousins are in the photo with their Grandad and Aunt. I thought the little Aloe Vera plant in the pot was apt, as Granddad used to grow Aloe Vera around his caravan.  Oh and this PP I have had like FOREVER ! 

Next is the actual layout that I did for the challenge.

Believe in the Magic of the Season

For the challenge I used a ripped up doily on my layout and old thread as well as product packaging under my photo.

My Graddaughter and Daughter in law

Next is a layout of beautiful Boo 

Boo girl is my eldest son's dog, but the whole family seems to have adopted her. We pop in and take her for walks (because she has HEAPS of energy ) .
She has got so big now and strong !

Isn't she beautiful . I haven't been able to get anothe fur baby after losing Scruffy after nearly 18 years , so I just love everyone else's dog :)  

Thank you for calling by, I hope you visit the blog at A2Z Scraplets and leave some love as it is always appreciated & the Shop has every chipboard word or shape you can imagine for your layouts.
Oh and don't forget to enter the challenge for your chance to win some chipboard. You can find the challenge and upload your entries on the Facebook Page .
Love, Peace and Kindness 
Mary x

What she Wears, What she Wears ~ Challenge Yourself

Hello fellow scrappers, I hope your day has been a good one. Today I would like to share my take on the challenge at Challenge Yourself which is to use Mists and inks and to include yourself in the layout.

What she wears, what she wears

The title comes from a Brooke Fraser song and once it gets in your head you can't get it out , but its a good song :)

I threw a little bit of everything at this. Under my photo I have used the strips from the bottom of PP's Scraped gesso on the black cardstock & over the strips , sprayed mists and used a small dot stamp with white ink along with the texture paste and rose stencil.

Lots of fussy cutting. The flair is from FunkyFlairStudio 
This was taken at our daughters wedding a few weeks ago .
I donot like shopping for clothes and I kept putting off looking for something to wear.
When my daughter made a day to look for a dress for me to wear it started off with the first few shops nothing taking my fancy. I thought Oh dear we are going to end up fighting and it will be a terrible day. 
She told me to put a smile on my face and we would try the next shop. This was the second dress I tried on at this shop and even though I tried on quite a few more (another thing I hate trying clothes on !) we all agreed this was the one. After the purchase we had lunch together and it turned into a really good day.
This is the nicest dress I have ever owned and I thought if I can't have a nice dress for my only daughters wedding well when can I? I did feel pretty special on my daughters wedding day in this dress. 
Thanks so much for calling by and I really appreciate any comments.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

A2Z Scraplets layouts ~ May Love and Laughter Light Your days and warm your heart

Hello ! Today I would like to share some of my DT layouts for A2Z Scraplets 

Our Daughter recently married ( can't believe it has been 5 weeks already !) and so of course I have been scrapping a couple of her wedding photos

May Love and Laughter Light Your Days

For this layout the Large frame which is new in the A2Z Scraplets shop was perfect for a 5x7 size photo. 

I wasn't sure if the "Blush" Zing embossing powder would stand out enough against the Blush PP behind the photo and so I decided I would make the frame two toned by Also using the mint colour embossing powder as well.

I was happy with the result of using the two colours. The ribbon on the layout was around the stems of the flowers on the bouquet .

The flair is from FunkyFlair Studio  

The next layout is using the True Love chipboard piece 

True Love

To  see how I treated the chipboard you can find it here on the Blog at A2Z Scraplets . I also used the staggered Stencil also from A2Z Scraplets for texture.

The PP and embellishments are from Megs Garden , I adore the PP .

It was pretty special for our daughter that her brother took her wedding photo's & special for him also.

As the post is getting a little long I might leave the other layouts  for a day  or two. 

Thank you for calling by and I do love to read your comments.

Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

THANKFUL ~ ANOTHER FREAKING SCRAPPY CHALLENGE

Hello ! Today I would like to share the challenge at AFSC
which is ~
Use words of thanks ~ Thank You, Gratitude, Grateful. Thanks as a title or in your journalling.

I am Thankful to have had the opportunity to travel, something I thought was only a dream for me.

I Have used PP with the words on it and underlined one of the Thankful words with ribbon to emphasize it. I have also added the word Grateful on my tag.

The photo was taken in Krakow , I really wish we had more time in Krakow. Due to being unable to book the overnight train there, we had to change our plans and book a flight. It meant we had a extra day in Budapest (Loved Budapest, so wasn't sad to have a extra day) and lost a day in Krakow (but was sad to lose a day in Krakow) There would have been so much more to see, but never mind I am grateful to have got there at all.
I hope you join the challenge , I think it is a good one to remind us we have much to be thankful for .
I will finish with a page I created to finish documenting Krakow

Love , Peace and Kindness
Mary x

SMILE ~ STUCK SKETCHES

Hello ! Today I would like to share my take on the challenge at Stuck Sketches 
This is the sketch 

and this is my take 

The photos are of my Grandmother and aunts and uncle at my brothers wedding , where I was his flowergirl ( many, many years ago )  They are the negatives of the photos taken at the wedding that you received from the photographer to choose your photos you wished to have enlarged.

Everything I have used to create my layout are from Megs Garden  ( I love the die cut) and the papers are so soft and pretty.

It must have been the done thing for the ladies to wear hats to weddings back in the day.
Thank you for calling by, I really do appreciate any comments , they make me happy.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

SISTERS OF THE SLIPPERHOOD ~ SCRAP THE GIRLS.

Hello ! when I saw the new challenge over at Scrap the Girls, I knew exactly what I wanted to scrap .

Last weekend I spent a few wonderful days with four lovely friends in the Mountains. It has now become a annual event for us and one we all look forward to being together very much.

Sisters of the Slipperhood

We Christened ourselves the sisters of the Slipperhood.We spend the few days, chatting, sharing ideas, scrapping, eating , and just enjoying each others company and supporting each other. Can't wait for next year !

I'm loving the cute fox washi tape. I have added my journalling on the tag & tucked behind my photo.
The first year we scrapped from the time we arrived basically until we packed up to leave. This year we had a bit more balance and got out and about as well , or just sitting on the balcony having a drink and dips and chatting, it was much better to have that balance. I even managed to get up early and go for a bush walk with Lizzy, which I am truly glad I did. Sometimes we have beauty right on our door step and don't even realise.

and the sisterhood of the slippers, gorgeous girls, treasure my time with them. 

Thanks for the cool challenge at Scrap the Girls
Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

THINK BIG ~ KRAFT PLUS CHALLENGE

Gosh a new month and getting soooo close to Christmas ! I am very honoured to be a GD over at Kraft Plus this month and this month it is all about think BIG .
At first I thought heavens what am I going to do and then I actually ended up creating two layouts . So I guess the trick is not to overthink things and then it is easy.
Here are my layouts .

The Perfect Day

We are celebrating our Daughters Hen dinner here, it was such a good day.
I used the BIG camera , as there was lots of documentation of the day 

Next layout I created is a travel page.

Beautiful Tuscany 

I hope you join in the challenge this month and pop over to the Kraft Plus Blog and be inspired by the DT's clever takes on the BIG challenge.
Love, Peace and Kindness 
Mary x

Friends are the Sunshine of Life ~ Challenge Yourself

Hello ! Today I would like to share with you my take On the Challenge at Challenge Yourself this month which is a moodboard.

Now living in a town that is called the Colour City and is truly beautiful in Autumn , I take quite a lot of Autumn photos, but I am rarely in them, and the ones I am in , I have already scrapped. Then I remembered I had a photo of My lovely friend Bec and Myself taken at a wedding where the theme was to dress as steam punk or Autumn Colours. See if you can guess who dressed as what theme :)

Lots of layers. I love these colours , they are colours I am drawn to

I also added some stamping.
Thank you for calling by, I appreciate any comments that you take the time to leave me.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

A couple of layouts to share

Hello ! Today I would like to share some work for A2Z Scraplets and also Megs Garden

You can find the link to the chipboard pieces here on the A2Z Scraplets blog. This is my daughter at her Hens lunch, such a beautiful day. The flair is from Funky Flair Studio
 and on the weekend she married her love ,  a magical day. 
Once again the link to the chipboard piece and how I treated it is here on the blog

For this layout I used the In the Water Colour Garden range of PP  from Megs Garden, such a pretty range, just perfect for wedding layouts. The large butterfly , flowers , lace , silver pearl trim (which I have used on the large butterfly )and ribbon are also from Megs Shop.
Now to get back to reality after all the wedding festivity. Thank you for calling by , your comments make my day.

Love, peace and kindness
Mary x