Patrick Fahy's Steam Engine Hotel ~ Soul Scrappers

Hello ! 
While I should probably be making a food list and cleaning the house, all the prep for Christmas, I scrap. Yep thats what I do when I procastinate , anything but what I should probably be doing.
But I would like to share a layout that I have done for Soul Scrappers

Through the power of Social Media I have came across a few photo's of my heritage. It always inspires me to scrap them straight away and get the story told.  I guess vintage is also one of my favourite styles to scrap.
Outside this Hotel  my Great Great Grandfather got kicked in the head by a horse and died from the injury.
Not a nice story, but still part of my heritage. I hope by my documenting this , that one day years down the track my Great Grandchildren might come across this and so the story continues.

Thank you for calling by and I appreciate any comments.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Our Little Elf ~ Archiscraps Dec Challenge

Hello ! The count down is on and Christmas is nearly upon us . 
Today I would like to share my take on the challenge at Archiscraps which is anything Christmas.
We had our traditional Birthday dinner for our daughter and putting up of the tree and our beautiful Boo (well my eldest sons dog, but we all love her) loved being amongst all the excitement and chaos.

Boo just loves being with people & wants to be friends with everyone. She is a beautiful girl 

thanks for calling by and I wish for you all a peaceful, joyous Christmas and all good things for the New Year

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

MORE THAN WORDS ~ BELIEVE

Hello !
Today I wish to share a layout for the challenge over at More than words.
The criteria ~ to use the word Believe and stamping 
And this is my take

BELIEVE

Our Daughter with the first nativity scene we owned. A little plastic number we have had since the Children were little, and now we have a nice ceramic one, but I still like to put this little one out.

My stamping is very subtle but never the less is there . I stamped some tiny little stars to my layout. The stamp was gifted to my by my lovely Irish penfriend.
Thank You for calling by, I appreciate if you take the time to comment.
I hope the lead up to Christmas is not to crazy and hectic for you. I tend to try and avoid going down the street as much as I can .
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Challenge Yourself ~ Dec Challenge ~ A Christmas Miracle

Hello ! Gosh hard to believe how fast this year has flown by !
The last challenge for the year at Challenge yourself is....

THE CRAZY CHRISTMAS GROUP PHOTO

It is our tradition to have a family dinner and put the Christmas tree up on our Daughters birthday. As the children have grown up and have lives of their own the last few years it has been hard to have everyone home , but this years the stars aligned and a Christmas miracle occurred and we had everyone home ! One happy Mumma.

So it is a lot of craziness and noise, but I love having them all home together.

The cute little deer die was gifted to me by Lizzy Hill (she knows I have a thing for deers )

Thank You for calling by , I really appreciate any comments you kindly leave. 

I would like to wish you all a very Happy, restful, peacefilled Christmas and all good things for the coming year.

Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

SCRAP THE BOYS ~ NAUGHTY OR NICE

Hello ! This morning I would like to share my layout for the challenge at Scrap the Boys which for December the theme is Christmas ~ naughty or nice

LOVE YOU DEERLY 

Our Grandson , Christmas day a few years ago

Really loved this paper and of course the deer certainly won me over.
Thanks so much for calling by and I really appreciate and comments .
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

kraft plus ~ Tell Your Secrets

Hello ! 
Tonight I am sharing a layout I created for the challenge at Kraft Plus , which is ....

Think Needles and Pins !

Tell Your Secrets 

I used stitching on my layout as well as staples to hold the old packaging and cardboard in place that I used to layer up for the photo.
This photo was in my Mums Photo album and I had no idea who is in the photo, hence the title "Tell Your Secrets"
So I have done a bit of investigating and from my Dad's Sister discovered the the man holding the dog is my Great Uncle (my Grandfathers brother on my Dad's side) . I have another photo obviously taken on the same day of a group of men and my aunt told me that my Grandfather is also in this photo with my Great Uncle. I am now keen to scrap that photo.
A Bit of a close up 

I love creating the wax seals these days, it is really addictive once you start.

Thank you for calling by and I really appreciate any love you leave.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Family ~ Artastic

Hello ! It's starting to look a lot like Christmas ! I've noticed that the houses are starting to be decorated and the trees are going up . We will be having a family dinner on my daughters birthday this week and putting the tree and decorations up as that is our tradition.
Being all things Christmas this month at Artastic I thought I would share a layout of this night 2014

My second eldest son and my Granddaughter and Grandson

I really love this Christmas Range from Couture creations as it is a little different to the norm.

Thank You for calling by and I really appreciate any comments .

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

The Colours of Tuscany ~ Archiscraps

Hello !
Today I would like to share my take on the challenge at Archiscraps. The criteria is to use use stone or brick texture on your layout.

This is my take

I was not sure when I started the layout , but I ended up being quite happy with it in the end. I used the brick stencil and a  stamp for the criteria

Tuscany is one of my favourite places and one day my plan is to spend a few months living there.

Thank You for calling by and I really appreciate any comments.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

TUSCAN VIEWS HAS MY HEART ~ ARTASTIC CHALLENGE

Hello, on this windy, cold, dusty day in Australia. The weather has forgot it is suppose to be Spring here !
Today I would like to share my take on the challenge over at Artastic , which is to be inspired by this artwork  of Arthur Baker-Clack  and to use paint / ink on your layout

This image reminded me of the villages overseas and so I decided to get anothe travel photo documented .

Tuscan Views has my Heart 

and a close up

I have used distressed oxide on my textured areas and also lots of random stamping with ink

Thank You for calling by and I really appreciate any comments that you take the time to leave.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Wonderful days fly by so quick ~ Challenge Yourself

Hello,
Today I am sharing my take on the current challenge over at Challenge Yourself ,which is .... 

This is what I came up with

The pp buckled from the glimmer mist, but that is ok , it won't matter in the sleeve, just a little hard to photograph.
I received the stencil and leaf stamp as a prize in the mail and was keen to use them, so that is how my layout started to take shape. It is not often I create my background first , but with this layout I did and then looked for a phot to suit.
The flowers were given to me by my neice and I have been wanting to use them as well, such pretty hues of blue.  I have added a butterfly flair as well as a stamped one and lots of  bling and the button near the tassle.
My title came from the fact I wanted to use the big Font "Wonderful"  it goes well with the colour scheme & to use it up.

But seriously the time does fly by (Still processing turning 60) can you tell ! lol  I just feel old these days But.....
I just have different wonderful days now, with my family and grandchildren and looking forward to planning holidays , Oh I am sooo looking forward to the beach after Christmas.
Thank You for calling by and listening to me lament getting old .
I really appreciate any comments 
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

YOU AND ME = LOVE ~SCRAP THE BOYS

Hello !  Tonight I would like to share my layout for the challenge at Scrap the Boys 

This is my take . With my Grandson on his 15th Birthday

thank You for calling by , any comments are appreciated.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Scrap the Girls Nov Challenge ~ Evil Fairy

Another new month , dare I mention Christmas is around the corner , Yikes !
A new month also brings new challenges to choose from and I thought I would join in with the Scrap the Girls challenge as the Photo of my Granddaughter playing the role of the Evil Fairy in a dance production would be perfect for the moodboard

A Bit of a close up 

I have to say Amelia played the role brilliantly (born for drama ) . Thank You for calling by and I really appreciate and comments left.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Christmas Birthday ~ Scrap the boys

Hello ! Today I would like to share a layout for Scrap the Boys which is a moodboard

I recently purchased some Christmas Papers and embellishments which I think is perfect for the challenge

My eldest son was born on Boxing Day (which I tell him is his fault as he came a week early ) So on boxing day we line up for another celebration :)

Thank You for calling by and I do love to receive comments to make my day.

Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

The Things that make me different, are the things that make me ~ Challenge Yourself

Hello ! Today I would like to share my take on the challenge over at Challenge Yourself , which is ....

This is my take

I really loved the image of the girl in a magazine and wanted to use it on a layout, so I used her to create my background. I then carried the circles over on the side of my layout using texture paste through a stencil and  using Distress Oxide with water to create the colour and drips. I also used a circle stamp with the distress oxide and stamped a little more with black archival ink.
The photo is of me when I was probably around 17 . Oh where do the years go!

Thank you for calling by and I hope all are safe in this crazy weather Australia is having at the moment ( not only Australia, also Florida , Indonesia to name a couple) .  Very windy here the last couple of days, but that is nothing compared to what some places are experiencing. Stay safe everyone.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Beautiful Boo ~ Challenge Yourself

Hello ! Popping in to share my layout for the challenge at Challenge yourself which is 

I had a photo of myself with my Eldest Sons beautiful dog "Boo" that I knew I wanted to scrap. The lovely Kerri over at home and Scrapped was also doing a step by step that I wanted to join in with, so I used the photo for both.

Beautiful Boo

The journalling tag documents that after I lost my little dog Scruffy after 17 years I had a bit of a wall up. I love animals, but I found myself not being able to let myself get too attached. Then along came Boo who worked her magic and I gradually felt the wall coming down. I still haven't been able to get myself another dog, but you never know , maybe one day. But in the meantime I have Boo to love.

I really enjoy participating in Step by Steps or blind scraps as well as it makes me scrap in a way I normally wouldn't think to do.
Thanks so much for calling by and I really appreciate any comments
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

FRIENDS GOOD TIMES ~ SCRAP THE GIRLS

Hello !
So I did this layout a little while ago for the challenge at Scrap the Girls and it has been sitting in my craft room ever since.
I sometimes loose confidence in my scrapping and think it isn't good enough and wastn't going to post . But then I think it is a special time with friends documented and that is the main thing. At the end of the day we all differ in what appeals to us style wise.
Anyway here is my take on the sketch 

I have used the pink and white polka dot tissue paper under my photos as my present was wrapped in it. The feather washi tape was from Bec

Thank You for calling by , I really appreciate any comments to brighten my day.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

Be a Elegant Thinker ~ 13arts

Hello !
Recently I have been fortunate enough to receive some wonderful family photo's . They are beautiful treasures and Vintage being one of my favourite styles I thought the 13art pp's would be perfect to create with and to enter this months challenge. And the challenge is..... Vintage !

My Grandmother was one of 10 children and was also a twin. This beautiful photo is of one of her sisters 

Be a Elegant Thinker

In this layout I have used the satin seam binding and thread from the moodboard.

My next layout is of my Great Grandmother with her Twins (my Grandmother and my Aunt )

In this layout I have used lace, twine and a key inspired by the moodboard

When creating with these papers I couldn't choose a side , so I did layouts back to back.

Thank you for calling by and I really appreciate and comments you take the time to leave.

Love , Peace and Kindness

Mary x

Happy Heart ~ CSI Colour inspiration challenge

Hello today I would like to share my take on the CSI Colour inspirtation challenge.

This is my take on the challenge

Happy Heart

This was a really lovely day that I recently spent with two of my children at Bondi Beach.

I have used the colour palette, a large title and the prompt reminded me of this lovely day by the sea.
Thank you for calling by , and I really appreciate any comments that you take the time to leave.

Love , Peace and Kindness
Mary x