Scrap Around the World September 2014 Challenge

This is the delightful moodboard for the month of September 2014 at "Scrap Around The World", a wonderful challenge site. I am playing along in the challenge this month after a too long break away from scrapping! Here is the link to this month's challenge at Scrap Around The World.

I was inspired by the image in the upper left corner of the moodboard of the gossamer winged fairy in her lovely draped dress, and by the fairy tale quotation in the upper right corner of the moodboard. Also, the whole magically charming atmosphere of the board and its sweet pinks and blues really captured me!!

Here is my layout, entitled "Their Own Special Fairy Tale":

THEIR OWN SPECIAL FAIRY TALE

I took a vintage photo of my Mom and her little sister from 1930 and placed it in a little Fairy Garden I created. The photo was taken during the height of the Great Depression. Mom and her sister were the youngest in a family of 10. They were very poor, and their mother was a Polish immigrant, so there were no toys and no luxuries. But they created their own little world that sustained them. They were children of the meadows and forests that surrounded their hometown, and their childhood was spent outdoors. The private world they created included lots of "make believe" amongst the streams and flowers and trees. They loved to make up fairy stories with themselves as the main characters, and were free to spend untold hours outside in the summertime, playing and dreaming.

I found a poem that was written by my Mom when she was in her late 70's. It is so clearly nostalgic and filled with yearning for the lost days of her childhood. So I carefully altered this fragile bit of paper to fit into my design by tearing and distressing the edges, inking it, and tracing over her own handwriting (which was written in pencil) in ink. So what you see is truly a piece of her!

After I applied molding pastes and sprayed various inks, I layered on pieces of an old, vintage bureau scarf and a piece of old lace, along with the chipboard piece, which was inked and applied with crackle paste. Then I built up the "fairy garden" with lots of fussy cut elements. I tried to include some of the favorite flowers of my Mom's, especially ones she may have encountered on her walks all those years ago. Along with the gossamer flowers there are also dried elements, pods, dried flowers and a stalk of a pressed weed, which seemed fitting!

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of my family story. And even though my Mom and her sister had nothing and lived in poverty as children, their "fairy tale" dreams eventually came true! They made beautifully satisfying lives for themselves as adults, married handsome "princes", had lovely homes, many children, made some money, traveled and lived to old age. So......fairy tales can come true!!

I believe I have followed the 10 golden rules of The Scrap Around The World challenge site, and I hope you like my layout.

 

May CSI entry, such a beautiful Spring palette!!

Norah Through The Appleblossoms #70

#70, used all colors
Evidence: flowers, wood, something woven, circles, distressing
Testimony: Documented Spring with the poem excerpt on the page. Then I chose to use the "roll-role-the roles you play" prompt. With this I've written about the role of women in the garden throughout time, and then about my role as a gardener. I wrote my words on the little "sc-rolls" and tucked them into the little basket.

The photo shows my garden "mascot" Norah, named after an inspirational woman gardener. Photo shows her through the frame of the blossoming apple trees.

Testimony: "Throughout the ages, gardening has always been an accepted form of self expression for women. From the humblest cottage gardens to the grandest estates of splendor, women have left their mark!
Oftentimes, the garden offered the only delight in the lives of hardworking poor women. And conversely offered solitude and peace to the ladies of the upper classes. Gardens fed the soul.
Over the years, many women recorded, painted, designed,stitched, and wrote about their private paradise. So many remain unknown to us. And then there are the more famous women who courageously established their place and made a name and a career for themselves. The greats such as Gertrude Jekyll, the illusive Norah Lindsay, the bold and quirky Vita Sackville-West, the sweet and earthy Elizabeth Lawrence, the refined Edith Wharton, and many, many more, still inspire and instruct.
My role as a gardener began at a very young age, poking around in the dirt as a child! When I finally had a piece of land to call my own, the real work began! I read as much as I could, learning about plant lore, design, soil and site conditions, organic methods,etc.,....so much to learn. I drew inspiration from the greats as well as the humble. I dug, planted, hauled barrows of manure, built walls, carved out paths...learning as I went along, editing as needed, always learning from my mistakes, there were plenty of those! To use the words of Miss Jekyll - " a garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness, it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."
So I am the gardener, I have the calluses, the broken fingernails and cranky knees to prove it. But I am also the recipient of much delight, and every year when the fresh and lovely Spring makes its eternal reappearance, I feel blessed beyond measure."