What a year

I had been determined that I would enter every challenge that Merly Impressions offered and started to panic that time was running out.  It was easy to think about what was the most memorable event of 2013 but hard to choose a photo to reflect this.  2013 was a year I had dreaded for 5 years, ever since I realised that I was close to 50 than 40!  However I was determined to make my birthday an occasion to look forward to and a positive experience rather than a negative one.  So ... we arranged to take a cruise in Alaska.

And what an incredible experience.  The scenery itself was awesome and almost didn't look real.  I drew my curtains one morning and was met by a vision that could have been a canvas painting and almost didn't look real.  A striking scene needed to take centre stage which then led me on to decide that a plain background would make the photo more impressive.  This meant that I could tweak the colours to fit the palette for challenge 107 on CSI:

It was hard to narrow down the photos to use and I don't have access to fancy printing sizes and just use the basic service provided by my local store.  So I decided to create a collage in Picasa and use that.  I particularly love the photos of the dogs from our phenomenal experience dog sledding across a glacier.  A photo cannot possibly capture the delight, thrill and awe that such an experience brought but it can at least trigger the memory for me.  

The title becomes the journaling as it details that 2013 was the year I turned 50, a year I dreaded, a year I loved.  The rest of the journaling is scattered around the photo as brief descriptions of the activities and feelings: A helicopter ride,  Dog sledding across a glacier,  Exhilarating,  Awesome,  Emotional,  Hearing a glacier calve, like a gunshot,  Phenomenal.

I used hearts and wet medium as evidence and brads that were small, even if not 'mini'; and possibly a long title.  My testimony included the word Awesome and was scattered (albeit in an ordered way around the photo.  The colours are there and although I was uncertain about the pink it does provide a small contrast and makes the journaling more noticeable.

I know that additional colours should be a small portion but I'm hoping the colour in the photo doesn't count as I can't do much about that!  I'm making great progress at using wet medium and this time ventured into acrylic paint but I still struggle to get messy and am so afraid I shall 'spoil' it but I'm surprisingly pleased with the finished result.

Thanks for looking, and for sharing my great experience.

Side Tracked

So far this year I haven't scrapped much and looking at all the layouts on other blogs it's making me feel a little remiss and guilty.  However it's not that I've done nothing, but have been side lined by my knitting needles.  I started jackets for my granddaughters last year and felt that I really ought to finish them.  So, here we go ...

Try again

Thanks to my wonderful daughter-in-law to be I am now able to upload the photo. Despite thinking I'm techno savvy, I'm not as adept as I thought.  This layout was a challenge for me as I wasn't comfortable with the colour palette and when forced to do something it doesn't flow naturally.  The paper was one that I bought years ago in Australia when meeting my Godson for the first time.  The photo was taken 3 years later.

CHALLENGE is the right word

I have faced the biggest challenge of all yesterday and today ... trying to upload my latest entry to csi challenge  I have been foiled at every turn.

I seem unable to upload any photos to this blog and I cannot fathom why.  I have done nothing different than any other occasion and yet Google cannot follow my instruction to 'add selected'.  Any suggestions from successful bloggers gratefully received.  This is not such a great start to 2014.  If you want to see my layout then I guess you'll have to join csi.  However this isn't going to help me submit my next layout to Merly Impressions  because that was the whole point of me starting a blog!  Arrggh!  some things in life are sent to try us.

Wishing everyone a Scrappy New Year

The festive period has flown by and we can soon get back to normal.  I am making a start to return to normality by finally getting around to the challenge on Merly Impressions.  Despite being allowed an additional few weeks I did not plan effectively and have only just got around to putting stencil to paper.  

 

 

 

 

The challenge was to do whatever we liked but must use stencils.  I have recently bought a new Crafters Workshop pebble stencil and was keen to try it out. 

 

The next stage was photo selection and what better for these dark winter days than a day out at the beach.  My gorgeous granddaughters came to visit in August and we had a very windy day at the beach.  The wind was so strong that we were completely unable to put up our new windbreak as we could not fathom the instructions and the paper kept flying away while the girls kept trying to crawl away!

 

They enjoyed eating the picnic and also eating the sand.  They had great fun splashing in the shallows and watching Nanna build sandcastles.  Most of all they enjoyed watering the sand with their new watering can and then crawling through everyone else's sand castles.

 

Scrapping this layout brought back all those memories and gave me a warm glow in this dismal week.

 

I started out with brightly coloured Basic Grey 'Sweet Threads' paper and decided to spread the Deco Art decorating paste through the stencil like pebbles on a beach.  The paste went through and appeared white until it dried and then I was astounded to see that it had taken up the colour of the paper and showed the pattern through it. I'm new to using paste and had not expected this effect:

 

 

In an attempt to differentiate the stencilled area I thought it might be a good idea to use some blue colour to represent the sea so I used Tim Holtz distress stains with good effect in another area of stencilling, having mixed the stain with the paste.

 

I used a mix of papers from my scrap pile and the Kaisercraft Remember collection to mat the photo and then softened the overall look by painting gesso haphazardly around the edges and over some stencilling. 

 

 

 

A Kaisercraft wood flourish found its purpose and when hunting for a title from my stash, 'Wonderful' summed up how I feel when looking at this photo.  The distress stains also worked well for colouring the chipboard title and I would be lost without a glossy finish.

 

I used some small paper strips left over from a previous layout and used them to underline the photo secured by a link from a necklace of my mothers.  Sometimes it's good to be a hoarder as I couldn't bring myself to throw away the broken jewellery and it seemed a perfect embellishment to use as it appeared to me to look like a wave.  I also have very fond memories of being a child at the beach with my mother ... so generations of beach memories!

 

Although not very visible on the layout I used Kaisercraft mini alphas to spell out that little things mean a lot and then journalled on the hidden tag.  Organza ribbon is my personal favourite for attaching to tags and adds a certain softness.

 

 

 

 

In creating this entry I have realised that I really must make a note of all the products that I use.  I used to list them all on the back of a layout and when I looked at a layout done in the middle of the year (as I used a little of the left over scraps today) I was disappointed to find no record of those products.  This is one resolution that it should be easy to keep in the coming year.

 

Thank you for looking and I wish you a very Scrappy 2014!

 

Having submitted this entry by the skin of my teeth I was thrilled to see that two days later I was one of the 'Top Acts'.  What a wonderful start to the year!  And another badge to add to my blog, and it begs the question do I display it down the right hand side with the other one or is it too boastful?