Scrap Around The World September 2015 Challenge

I have decided to join in this month at the new challenge at Scrap Around the World. The moodboard is absolutely delicious!!! I just love the elegance and beauty of it, so inspirational, very poetic!!

Here is this month's board:

You will find the link to this month's challenge HERE.

I decided to create a layout based upon my Mother's letters and writing equipment. As you will see, I was inspired by the middle lower photo of the pen nib with the writing. I also took inspiration from the books, book pages, and wooden elements, and the pink rose.

Here is my layout:

I have so many letters from my Mother! They are all in a box, waiting!! Throughout the years, Mom and I corresponded with pen and paper frequently, a thing of the past, I'm afraid. When my Mother passed away, her writing equipment found a new home with me. How I treasure it!! She liked to collect old desk sets, pens, inkwells, etc. And she used them! She had a most distinctive handwriting, as you can see by the bits of the letters I put on the layout. The photo shows some of her writing equipment, now on my desk. On the layout I have embellished with one of her pens (left hand side, by photo), and also used some fabric lace that was once a dress of hers. The keyhole surrounds also were part of her "collections."

I began by using molding pastes and various inks, and stamping, to work on the background paper. Layered under and around the photo are tags and old book pages, drywall tape, and various cut out roses. I thought that I would be able to use a lot of pieces of her letters, but ended up finding one piece that fit right in the space I had in mind, which was not an easy task! The sealing wax blob is a gift from my friend Patty (thank you!)

Many thanks to all who may look at my page, or leave a comment. I hope you enjoy it!

Scrap Around The World July Challenge

I am joining in this month at Scrap Around The World, July challenge. The gorgeous moodboard, composed by Pamela Ellis, provided me with a much needed inspirational kick!! It is a rich and colorful board, filled with glorious summery feelings!

Here is this month's moodboard, and here is the link to the current challenge:

There were so many ways to be inspired by this board, I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go! But eventually I found myself so drawn to the summery field and glowing sky in the bottom left of the board, that this was my primary inspiration for my page!

Here is my layout:

My layout features a vintage photograph of my parents and uncle and aunt. The occasion was a July gathering, a housewarming celebration for another aunt and uncle who were recently married. My Father and Mother are in the center of the photo, and although my Mother turned her head at the wrong moment, I still love the way her hair is draped over her face! My Father's older brother is on the right and his wife is on the left. I am amazed at how dressed up everyone appears! Who would wear white bucks and pressed pants and a tie (as my uncle Joe is doing), at a picnic these days?! And look at aunt Rose, she was always a classy dresser! Of course I think my Mom and Dad look just so perfect, Dad handsome, Mom, beautiful. They were not married yet when this photo was taken. And they were sitting in a wonderful field of meadow grasses.....perfect for the challenge!

I began by doing background work with inks and sprays, which I slowly built up to the intensity I wanted. I was looking for something vibrant but soft, if that is possible! Then I applied molding pastes through various stencils. I layered under my photo with various postcards and frames. All of the clustered elements are real dried flowers and pressed weeds, grasses and pods. There are also some fussy cut elements and bits of old crochet work tucked in here and there. I hoped to create a lovely, summery feeling, such as this picture perfect day conveys!

Here is a bit of a close up of some of the clustered elements:

Thank you for looking!!!!

Altered Book

Throughout the past several months I've been working on a little altered book project that I intend to give as a Christmas gift to my cousin. It's been a lot of fun! As the book is quite small, only 7 x 5 inches, it is like working in miniature. Not having to stress out about filling up a 12 x 12 space frees up my mind a bit and relaxes me in a way that making layouts does not! And I get to use up little bitty scraps that I can't seem to throw away.

The theme of this book is the family history, and it is titled "Portraits." Since my cousin and I naturally have the same ancestral family, and she very much enjoys our joint history, I wanted to make something special for her so she could record her thoughts, etc.  I left the "journaling" spaces blank in some cases so that she could write in her own words and handwriting.

I found the most difficult part to be the cover, and I can't say I am entirely happy with it! It was a huge learning experience - lots of pulling things off, wiping ink off, starting over - but at least I got something! It is my first ever book cover! Hopefully I will improve the more I do!

To make the cover I first gessoed the entire book. Then I applied molding paste through a stencil. After this I sprayed the whole cover with inks, many times, building up layers of transparency. I then positioned my title and main floral element (which was first colored with inks) and laid that down over lace scraps. Everything was secured using mat gel medium. Through much trial and error I proceeded to add more ink, spraying on and wiping off, to achieve the look I was after. I must have wasted a ton of spray ink doing this, and have now learned that applying the ink with a brush is the best way to go as I can slowly build up color intensity without wasting a lot of product. I finally secured the buttons and the roman numeral, with gel medium. The button serves as a wrap -around for a piece of twine which secures the book closed.

Grandfather

First entry is our illusive Grandfather, whom we never knew, and our parents did not know him either. He died when his children were very young, and his story is a tragic one, which I will not get into here. The individual pages were first given a coat of gesso, then modeling paste was applied through different stencils. The page was inked and elements glued down, and various touches of spray were applied, along with thread and ribbon.

Grandmother

This page, done in the same manner with gesso, laces and wallpaper is about our Grandmother. It also includes a photo of her tea set, as the page alludes to a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "A woman never knows how strong she is until she gets into hot water." Our poor Grandmother was in hot water an awful lot, and she was very strong indeed!!

Now we go back to the old country, to this lost place in Poland, and some of my Grandmother's family. The old woman on the blanket is my Grandmother's Mother, and the woman kneeling is one of her sisters. Those are her children alongside her. Again, the same technique, layering strips, gesso, inking through a stencil, applying paper strips and fabrics, some stamping.

Another page featuring Grandmother's family in Poland. I wanted to keep some of these early pages similar in feeling, so I stuck with a neutral, earthy palette, as I felt it suited the place and time.

This page features my cousin's Father as a little boy. He was my Grandmother's 4th son. He and my Mother were very close.

And this is my Mother. She was my Grandmother's 5th daughter, her 9th child.

Here we have my Mother with my cousin's Father, together in their first communion photo. Can you see how close they were?!!

That's it for now, more to come!!