BELIEVE IN THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS ~ PIXELS AND PAPER CHALLENGE

Hello !
Well today the sun has been shining , which is a good thing, still a little chilly though.
 I would like to share a layout for the challenge at Pixels and Paper, which is to use frame/frames on your layout.

Believe in the Magic of Christmas

A dear friend gifted me the gorgeous flowers and ribbon yesterday and said she thought I would like to use them on Christmas cards. Whilst they would look beautiful on Christmas cards, I like them far too much to use them on something that may be thrown away.

So what more special than a old Christmas photo of my two boys when they were little.

I 

I have framed their sweet faces with a lovely die that I think Cheryl or maybe Jo had on our recent girls get away . The star is a stampin up Die that Cheryl kindly lent me .

How gorgeous are those flowers and ribbon ! I have used really old Kaiser PP and also a old Kaiser Paper from a 6 inch pad, that I loved and never wanted to cut it, so I have managed to use it on my page in one piece and still showing the beautiful images. The reindeer ribbon is a favourite of mine as well.

I also used three old Kaiser brads in the corner, love using up old stash.

I really enjoyed creating this and I am happy with the end result.

Thank you for calling by

wishing you a fantastic new week

Love, Peace and Kindness

Mary x

COUNTING OUR CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS ~ SCRAP AFRICA OCTOBER CHALLENGE

Hello !
Tonight I would like to share a layout for the lovely Moodboard challenge at Scrap Africa

I was inspired by the lovely colours and this is what I came up with

Counting our Christmas Blessings

Our beautiful Grand daughter Christmas Day 2014

The flair is from Funky Flair . I have used lots of silver as embellishments .

Cheryl kindly lent me her stamping up star die to cut out some sparkly silver stars.

The PP is the new Kaisercraft Christmas range. I am a liking using this lovely range as a change from the Traditional Christmas colour palette.

Thanks so much for calling by, I really appreciate when you take the time to leave some love.

Love, Peace and Kindness 

Mary x

WE ARE ALL A LITTLE BROKEN ~ ARCHISCRAPS ZENTANGLE CHALLENGE

Hello !
Back again to share another challenge with you. Like I said the beginning of a month is a BUSY time.
The Challenge at Archiscraps this month is Zentangles , which I have to admit had me stumped for awhile. Here is the inspiration picture

So I sat down and came up with a layout. Remember you can make a card, tag etc, doesn't have to be a layout

I recently spent 3 nights in the mountains with this bunch of girls and it was definitely good for the soul. We scrapped , we talked , we laughed. 

I have kept the page fairly simple . The flair is from  FunkyFlair Studio I believe. The title is a mix of Alpha's , you know how there is never enough E's or S's ( I think they should put a extra sheet in of each) but I guess it makes us be resourceful to come up with other alternatives.
"lovin this group of Humans" is a sticker and was just perfect.

So being all deep and meaningful now, over the course of the 3 days the thought came to me "that we are all a little broken" 
Not saying that these girls are lol , but I guess we just never know what the next person is going through and just being life we all have stuff happen, and then Jo had the lovely sentiment that "Our Friends help to put us together again" which she allowed me to use on my layout. I am certainly lucky to have such beautiful friends.

I hope you can find some time to join in the challenge. I have to say doing the Zentangle pattern is quite relaxing.
Thank you for calling by 
Love, Peace and Kindess
Mary x

EVERYDAY ADVENTURE ~ A 2 Z SCRAPLETS

Hello !

Gosh a new month brings so many layouts to share! Today I will share a couple I have done for A 2 Z scraplets. 
The new challenge is up on facebook here  and  a look at the challenge inspirtation

I was inspired by the little tents, made me think of our camping days when our children were little

I have used the corner chippies and embossed them with Orange Zing to brighten the layout.

The chippy is a fab addition to frame the layout.
The photo quality is not the best, unfortunately a lot of the older photo's are not so great, but still hold the memory. We loved camping (now days I prefer comfort) , but camping was a lot of fun when the children were little, out in the fresh air and nature, nothing better. Sometimes we would go with two other families , as in this photo. So 6 adults and 8 children. Our campsite was a shambles , but it didn't matter
.
The next layout I would like to share is totally the opposite. A vintage layout.
It is a photo of Dad and myself, once again the photo quality is poor, but I have always loved this photo (not even sure who snapped it ) ,so I thought I should scrap it.

The lovely big flourish from A 2 Z Scraplets is perfect. I painted it with gesso and then used a ink blender to cover the flourish with Tim Holtz Vintage paper ink.

Besides the gorgeous flourish  and the frame from Lizzy, every thing on this layout is OLD ! The circle of material my photo is sitting on is from a old vintage hat , this round piece used to sit on the side of the hat , covered in flowers, which I have since  taken off and used on various layouts. The little beads were in a jar in my Mum's craft stash, so I have adhered them to the circle hat piece .The flowers are from my Mums stash as well .The photo is old :) and the Graphic 45 Paper I have had for AGES 

It suddenly occurred to me whilst scrapping the photo why it is so special to me. Besides a couple of photo's taken by the photographer of Dad walking me down the aisle, this is the only other photo of me and Dad together , just the two of us.

Thank you for calling by, I hope you have enjoyed your long weekend , nearly over :( and I hope you can join us in the challenge at A 2 Z scraplets
Love, Peace and kindness
Mary x

TUSCAN DREAM ~ ANOTHER FREAKING SCRAPPY CHALLENGE

Along with a new month comes a lot of new challenges :)

This month at AFSC it is all about dreams ~  where you dream of going, what you dream of becoming , a day dream, an old dream, or literal dreams ~ nightmares, unusual ones, a photo of a child or adult sleeping. 
Lots of ideas there.

My layout is about a dream I have of living in Tuscany fora few months when we retire. I have lost that dream a little, so maybe I should start focusing on it again :)

Tuscan Dream

I took this photo at the villa we were staying in , near a little Tuscan Village named Pievescola in 2008 

The views , scenery, people in the village , it was all amazing. Yep I better reignite that dream I think.
I hope you join us in the challenge, we would love to see what you come up with. Pop over to the blog, the girls have some lovely layouts to inspire and I know they would be happy to get some love .
Thank you Lizzy for the Dream word . 
Until next time
Happy Creating
 and 
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

FOUR GENERATIONS ~ MEGS GARDEN ~ VINTAGE JOURNAL RANGE

Hello on this Wet, wet day, gosh I don't think I have seen so much rain!
I am up at Meg's Blog today and here to share with you a new range at Meg's Garden called "Vintage Journal".
Anyone that knows me , knows that I do like a bit of Vintage, actually I like it a lot 

Four Generations

This is a photo of my husband with his Dad and two Grandfathers , pretty special.

I have actually fussy cut the book image from the 4 x 6 strip that comes with Megs 12 x 12 Papers and added a ribbon and bead from Megs Shop to look like a book mark. If you pop over to the blog, I have explained how I put my layout together and the products I have used from Megs Shop

Thank you for calling by, I do appreciate your comments. I hope you visit Meg's Blog and be inspired by the DT's gorgeous work.
It is the long weekend here , so enjoy , travel safe and hopefully it doesn't go too quick.
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x

I FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING ~ SCRAP IT WITH A SONG

Hello ! Well I have just returned from a  3 nights away with some lovely friends, scrapping in the mountains. 
Lizzy has documented our 3 nights perfectly, so if you wish, pop over to Lizzy's blog to see what we got up to :)

Last night I discovered Scrap it with a Song challenge for this month has a song "I feel better when I'm dancing " as one of the choices and seeing I have a Grand daughter who dances I knew I would like to join in the challenge. Scraping in by the skin of my teeth (odd saying)

I feel better when I'm dancing

I was a little frustrated though , as I could not get the layout to photograph it's true colour. The background is actually more red.

all the embellishments , besides the music button which is from Craftqueen and the music notes which I had in my stash are from Lizzy, who on the weekend gave me a bag full of goodies :)

I quite like using this pleated paper effect to add a little something and I don't know what has come over me, but I have gone quite cas again.
I am at a crossroads with my scrapping at the moment I think, not sure where it is going or if it will continue to go at all .
The photo is of my Grand daughter and photo credit goes to Winki Pop Media

Today the weather was quite nice , so I had a lovely walk with my  Grand Daughter. Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be awful again :( So over the cold

Until next time
Happy Creating
Love, Peace and Kindness
Mary x