American Crafts

The eleventh sketch challenge has been posted at the SCRAP & MUSIC challenge blog! Head over to the site to grab the sketch and play along. This eleventh sketch came with the song “Sweet child o’ mine” by Guns N’ Roses.

My layout

My maternal grandparents lived in California, and because we lived in Ohio we didn’t get to see them very often. This photo is from their summer of 1979 visit (when I was 12 and Phil 11). My grandma and my Aunt Mary Lou were half sisters, so AML had also driven to our house from Pennsylvania to visit while Grams and Gramps were in town.

This photo, taken out in front of our garage (because that’s scenic), shows from left to right: Mom, me, Aunt Mary Lou, Grandma, Grandpa and Phil. Daddy took the shot, and it looks like they may have been heading somewhere (perhaps to the airport?) because Grams is dressed up a bit more than usual and holding her purse.

So that’s all I can tell you about the surface details of this photo. But there’s a lot more it brings back to me when I inspect it. For instance, it surprises me how much I remember those outfits that Mom, Phil and I wore, as if it wasn’t 34 years ago at all! I specifically recall feeling a little nervous whenever I wore that terry cloth “onesie” because it was strapless. What a terrible idea for a girl who liked to play with the boys! And I have to cringe when I think about how much I loved to get a tan during the summer. And boy did I love to sit in that outdoor rocking chair and read. And I always find myself smiling when I contemplate photos of Gramps because he was an entertainer; he made us laugh a lot.

It’s the magic of photos, isn’t it? A simple picture of people lined up in the driveway with their arms around each other doesn’t look like much to anyone who wasn’t there. But we all know how very much they mean to those of us who were.

Product/technique notes

Once I had decided to use that busy background paper from American Crafts’ “Lucky charm” collection, I rifled through my scrap bin in search of papers that would coordinate that I could use to fill in the sections of my spinner (a freebie shape from Silhouette that I cut on my Cameo). I used papers from American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Lily Bee Design, Making Memories and My Mind’s Eye. I also designed and cut the title using the Cameo.

The challenge

The challenges on this blog involve following the sketch and using a title on your layout with a line from the provided music. Below I’ve included the video as well as the lyrics for this song:

“Sweet child o’ mine” by Guns N’ Roses
She’s got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh
As the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stare too long
I’d probably break down and cry

Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet love of’ mine

She’s got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I’d hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain
To quietly pass me by

Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet love of mine

Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child of mine

Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine
Ohh! Ohh! Sweet child o’ mine

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go now
Where do we go (sweet child)
Where do we go now
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Where do we go now, now, now, now, now, now, now, now
Sweet child
Sweet child o’ mine