Scrap Around the World May Challenge Epic Event 2015

The Scrap Around the World Challenge site is having an epic event this month! There are lots of wonderful prizes to be won! Also, it is a special celebratory month, as it is another birthday for Scrap Around the World. Previous winners who were featured on the Wall of Fame are being asked to participate to determine the top ten winners of the year. The year runs from May 2014 to April 2015. Also, anyone can enter who has not been featured on the Wall of Fame. There will be 20 featured layouts, and I'm sure it will be an amazing show!

Since I was featured on The Wall of Fame for January 2015, I decided to participate in this month's challenge as a VIP. That is the designation previous winners are being given, VIP. Pretty humbling, as there are so many vastly talented and gifted previous winners. But, I thought, well, why not, might as well give it a try!

Here is this month's challenge and the celebratory Moodboard, composed by the site owner, Helen Tillbury:

As you can see, this board has something to offer everyone!

Because I felt inspired by the celebratory nature of the moodboard, I decided to create something lighthearted and playful! But I was also very much inspired by the basket of roses in the lower right corner, and took my cue from that. I also took inspiration from the softness of the ice cream, and from the crystals around the outer edge of the glass - both images in the upper left. 

Here is what I came up with:

I have titled this layout "A Bed of Roses".

I wanted to create something light, so I stuck with a lighter color palette, but worked in some brown tones along with the pinks and pale orange. Working with some antique silk velvet, I twisted and turned the fabric, trying to emulate the folds and softness of a beautiful rose. I was seeking to emulate the many layers of the rose, so I first of all tore and layered a lot of paper strips, again seeking to emulate the many layered rose. Over this base I put down my velvet fabric pieces. And then I placed a cut out photo of my Mother and her little sister taken in 1929. They look as if they were just having a happy time, carefree, loving life, celebrating the everyday. Behind them I placed a lot of fussy cut images of roses, and then placed bits of lace and crochet, and floral roses. Then I went in with a stencil and molding paste, which was inspired by the little round bumps on the shoes in the moodboard. There is also some stamping and some spritzing of mists, very delicate. And as the final touch, I scattered little glass beads in the upper right and lower left corners of the layout, as inspired by the coating of crystals around the glass on the moodboard, and added some twine.

Here is a close up of the velvet work:

Thanks for looking at my layout, I hope you like it!

Vintage Card Cafe Challenge

Totally by accident I discovered this beautiful site and was instantly captivated by the latest challenge, which is called "Family Values". The site is a Russian one, and such incredible work is produced here! There is a translate button, which helps a lot for all of us "foreigners", and I think I understand the general drift of this challenge!

Here is the challenge:

As luck would have it, I needed to make an introductory layout for a family heritage album, and I knew which photograph I wanted to use. So I set to work! I also knew that the layout I needed to make had to be fairly flat, with no bulky embellishments, as the album was already full. So I decided to go with an old fashioned vintage layout, mostly with layered and torn papers, and flat embellishment, without any mixed media, flowers, or fabric. (all of which I love to use, but couldn't!) It was a bit of a challenge to use restraint!

The challenge requires the use of a photograph with more than one person in it, and done in a vintage, retro style. Well, the photo I used has 30 people in it!! This is what I came up with:

The layout is entitled "Today - delivered - 1950". And the photograph shows the entire family of my Mother at the family picnic reunion in July, 1950. My Mother took the photograph, and because she was not in the photo for obvious reasons, I felt I needed to include her. So I cut out a small photo of her and layered it over a chipboard element and paper elements, and placed her on the far left, next to the larger family group. So now, everyone is present! There were 9 siblings in the family, and they are all present along with their spouses. The family Matriarch, my Grandmother, is standing on the far left. All of the children and babies are in the front. There are 12 children in the photo. All of the adults have now passed on, and 3 of the children have also joined them.

I like to use old elements that belonged to the person/place/timeframe I am scrapping. In this case I used an old lock surround that belonged to my Mom and Dad. I built up a lot of paper layers, along with drywall tape, to frame my photograph. I also inked and applied crackle glaze to the chipboard elements, which are the "Today" title, and the clock surround underneath my Mom's photo.

Thank you for looking at my old fashioned vintage layout. The photograph is a very special one to me, it holds so many memories of people who were dear to me and with whom I shared my earliest years of life!