Monthly Sketches...and Pickles

There are two sketch challenges that I'm involved in every month....one created by Lynette at The Urban Scrapbook and one designed by Jill Sarginson for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine. 


First, here is the March sketch from Jill....

Play along and join  the Sketchy challenge over at Canadian Scrapbooker and you might get published!

How can you get so many photos on a single page?  Scrapbook a birthday, of course!  BabyOfTheFamily celebrated her 12th birthday last month (sniff).  She is going into Junior High in the fall (whimper).  I might not be able to call her "BabyOfTheFamily" anymore (tear rolling down cheek).


And here is the layout of the happy event....

TaDa Creative Studios papers and stickers (BFF collection) and Harmonie yellow ribbon and black alpha stickers.

Pretty bright, isn't it?  Perfect for BOF, who lights up a room and has the sweetest personality :)


You'll be seeing more of these title banners in my layouts ....I suddenly realized I've put them on the last 4 pages I've created....including my next design for Urban Scrapbook's monthly staff challenge....

Jan at Urban Scrapbook put together an amazing kit with these fantastic October Afternoon papers and stickers and all these wonderful embellishments. Drop by the store...there still might be some kits left for sale. 

In the Urban monthly kit, you also get a Maya Road vintage ruler, twill ribbon, a piece of Tim Holtz Filmstrip Ribbon and a 7Gypsies antique pin.  The butterfly and "My Family" are stickers from a sticker sheet also included in the kit.

The Dusty Attic chicken wire chipboard is from my own stash.

I'll never get tired of banners!

The mat behind the photos is just a crumpled and flattened piece of Tim Holtz Kraft Glassine paper.  I also cut a bit of the glassine to make leaves for my ribbon flower top left.


I have to tell you, I'm in love with these photos of my mother, which are from her scrapbook, handed down to me.  I think she's about 18 years old, and to see her in the farmyard (the farm where she grew up) with the chickens and also playing with the dog, well, I am completely enchanted.  The last photo on the right is especially precious....because I've never seen  my mother run.  NEVER. 


When I grew up (here I go sounding OLD again), mothers didn't exercise or play outside with kids.  My  mom spent all of her time looking after us, doing the traditional chores of laundry, housecleaning, groceries, shopping.  All our food was homemade and she did canning, bought whole chickens from the farm....bottom line:  we ate very very well and our underwear was ironed.  I remember the first time I had store bought pickles (or cookies or jam).  YUCK.  I was appalled. Couldn't believe people paid for that stuff and ate it.  LOL!


Yes, I was blessed to have a stay-at-home mom and a dad who ran his own business and worked 24/7 so she could do so.


I think of myself as following in her footsteps, staying at home to raise my children (and not go insane)....but she is in a different league, from a different era and I can't possibly compare my homemaking skills to hers. 


So I don't make jam, and my daughter has taking over the baking responsibilities around here....but my mother did teach me how to make pickles....just like her mother made them :)

Three generations of picklers:  BabyOfTheFamily, my mother Sophie, and me (Summer 2009).


I still can't keep up with my mother's homemaking skills, but I know I can RUN faster than her :)

Exciting Times!!

Last Friday, Graphic 45 announced their Top 30 Finalists.....and yours truly made the list!  I still can't believe my lucky stars!  I'm so thrilled and honoured to make it this far....who knows what will happen on March 30 when the Final DT is announced, but for now I'm very very happy :)

Here is the post on the G45 Blog announcing the finalists.....all their blogs are linked, and I highly recommend checking out these super talented and creative crafters.  The projects you'll see will amaze you!

Another blog post worth checking out is on the Canadian Scrapbooker magazine website (Editor Jackie's blog) where you will find my tutorial on how to use DCWV Fabric Paper to make a card.

This card is made ONLY with DCWV Fabric paper on a white cardstock base. And the vintage button is Tim Holtz.

This self-adhesive Fabric Paper is soooo cool and super easy to design with.

Don't you just love the blue and brown colour palette?

I also made a similar flower for this heritage page of my mother's class at school, using Graphic 45's ABC Primer collection.

"School Days"  published in the Spring 2012 issue

My mom is the girl with the dark pinafore dress standing beside the last girl seated in the front row on the right.  I am so blessed that my mother was a scrapbooker in the days of albums with black pages and photo corners.  Now I have many wonderful heritage photos to design with.....they are very precious to me :)

So if you feel like making a simple but pretty flower, head over to my Canadian Scrapbooker blog post tutorial, pick up some DCWV Fabric Paper and and get started!